Taylor let me into her home, sent me off to shower, found out some of her husband’s old clothes for me, even fed me. The woman gave me a bed to sleep in and told me that I wasn’t going anywhere. She wouldn’t let me go back out there to fend for myself with no one to care about me. Both Jack and Taylor asked about my family, of course, they did. I merely told them I had none, which wasn’t a lie. Taylor then mothered me, fussed for days over everything. Made sure I ate three times a day, learned how to be respectful in her home. It’s not that I was disrespectful, but I hadn’t been taught manners the way normal kids are. But I soon learned with Taylor there to remind me. She taught me martial arts every day because she said it would help me channel the anger inside of me. Have to admit she was good at jiu-jitsu, the woman is a black belt. Wouldn’t like to meet her in a dark alley, that’s for sure.
I never had a mother, so it was strange that Taylor treated me like one of her own, but I liked her, I liked Jack, I liked their kids. Dante and Dominic were crazy little shits even then, but I loved the little idiots right away.
I was a prospect with the club within days. Jack told me that I needed something to focus my mind on, a way to learn that there's more to life than crying over things a man can’t change. Not that I’ve cried since I was a small child, but I knew what he meant. With my place in the club and Taylor’s teaching of martial arts, I knew I’d soon be someone other than the skinny kid from the streets.
I loved the club right away. Didn’t care about the shit jobs I was given to do. I did them with a smile on my face. I earned the respect of my elders within days, received my road name just as fast.
Stryker.
Why?
Because I had a habit of striking when a person least expected it. Strike them with my fists, my feet, my knife, my gun. Strike fast and fierce.
The day I got my road name, some jumped up cunt had broken into the garage the club owned. I’d been giving an apprentice job there with Cueball as my mentor, a way for me to earn my own money and my keep. I’d been in there fixing up the motorcycle Apollo had given me. Just some old broken down Harley that he said would be good practice for me to learn the art of mechanics. If I fixed up that bike, as soon as I became a patched member of the Snakes, he’d buy me a real motorcycle. Any Harley that I wanted. I mean, shit, come on, what kid of nineteen-year-old would ever turn that down?
The guy who broke in hadn’t seen me. I was there alone. I hid, watching him. He was there to cause damage that would kill half the damn club. God knows how he’d gotten in without being seen by one of the others hanging around outside. How he’d even gotten through the gate without being seen was beyond me. The garage was on clubhouse grounds someone should have seen him.
Cunt didn’t see me coming. I got him from behind, wrench to the head a couple of times. I was angry, even with the martial arts training, I still had so much of it built up inside of me that it was bound to come spilling out eventually. It just so happened to be right then.
I hadn’t even realized the garage was filling up with people. Not until I swung my knife across the guy’s neck. That’s when I noticed Shepard, VP back then, clapping, smirking.
It might have been funny to him, a proud moment, but I won’t lie and tell you I didn’t feel sick, didn’t feel my stomach drop. I’d never killed anyone in my life before that moment. That kill would haunt me for many months to come, but it wouldn’t be my last kill.
‘A real tough striker.’ BlackJack had said.
‘Stryker,’ Cueball, one of the older members of the MC, and the man in charge of the garage had said. Spelled the name out and told me it would make me stand out. ‘Welcome to the family, Stryker.’ I’ve been one of them ever since.
I’ve never asked for anything in this life. Anything I’ve wanted, I’ve gotten myself. I’ve worked damn hard to sort my life out, for everything I have now. The only thing I want is the one thing I can’t have. Shepard would kill me, just as he’ll kill Ice when he finds out what he’s done.
The little hands around my waist tighten, little fingers flexing on my abs, and my dick twitches in my jeans. Damn girl. I can’t give in to what I feel it would be more than my life’s worth. Would a taste of this beautiful woman be worth losing everything for?
Of course, it wouldn’t.
I pull up outside the house she’s staying at with her friend whom I left back at the clubhouse after turning down her offer of taking her home and fucking her senseless. I didn’t even ask Coral if she wanted to go home, just wanted to get her away from Ice.
“How did you know where I live?” She climbs off my bike and hands me the helmet. I shrug.
Not like I want to tell her that I follow her home every night to make sure she’s safe. She’ll think I’m a damn stalker. I’m not I just don't like the thought of anything happening to her. She’s part of the club, Shepard’s surrogate daughter, and we all know what some motherfuckers would do to get to him. They wouldn’t think twice about hurting Coral.
She folds her arms around that tight little body of hers and huffs. “I know you’re not a man of many words, but it can be annoying having a one-sided conversation.”
I keep my eyes on her while I climb off my bike and then lean my ass back against it with my arms folded around my chest.
“Seriously?” She raises her eyebrow. I can’t help smirking. She’s so hot. She’s going to be the death of me. I know that right now because there is no way I can go through my life not touching this woman.
She rolls her eyes at me. I grab her hand and pull her against me. She gasps, eyes looking at my mouth before finding mine. “What are you doing, Stryker?” I slide my hand into the side of her hair. So soft it’s unreal. “You just had sex with my friend. Why the hell are you touching me like this?”
Oh. That.
“Why would that stop you? You just slept with Ice, or have I got that wrong?” Ah, fuck. Why do women always have to slap a guy with so much force you can feel it in your toes? For such a little woman, she sure has a powerful slap.
“How dare you!?” She takes a step back. “I did not sleep with that man. I don't sleep around, and I most certainly do not sleep with men out in the open.” Thank god for that!
“I didn’t sleep with your friend either. She offered, I turned her down. She wasn’t pleased, but it is what it is.”
“You didn’t sleep with her?” I shake my head and grab her hand again, pulling her against me. This is going to blow up in my fuckin’ face, I know it, but I can’t seem to stop myself.
With my hand on the back of her head, I pull her to me, our lips almost touching. Her eyes close, and I breathe in the scent of her, lavender and Jasmine.
Her little fingers clutch at my chest over my shirt and under my cut. She wants me to kiss her. She’s breathing heavy, bottom lip between her teeth. I want to kiss her, fuck, do I want to kiss her. Taste her, fuck her like she’s never been fucked before, but I can’t.
I can’t go against what Shepard has ordered. I have more restraint than that. Although, right now, it’s frayed.
I release her, she opens her eyes and narrows them. “I have to go.” I swing my leg over my bike and start it up.
“What just happened?”
“Nothing, Coral, and that’s the way it has to stay.”
“Why?” There’s a little whine in her voice. She’s disappointed, but so am I. I’d give anything to take her right now, but it wouldn’t end well. We’d fuck, I’d leave, she’d get hurt, Shepard would kill me twice over.
She tucks that long blonde hair of hers behind her ear and smiles slightly. I’ve offended her. At least this way she’ll despise me and stay away from me. “Well, thank you for the ride home.”
I tip my head and ride the fuck out of there.
Being near her is too dangerous. I want her too badly to keep my hands to myself, and I have to keep them to myself.
It’s nothing but lust.
That’s what I’m feeling, lust.
Ai
n’t the first time I’ve felt it, and it won’t be the last. Even if there is something special about this girl that makes me feel something I ain’t never felt in my life.
I’m the kind of guy who locks away his feelings.
What’s the point of them?
I’m the kind of guy who sleeps with whom he wants when he wants, without forming attachments.
I don’t know what the hell love is about, not because I’m incapable of it, but because I was never shown any of it. Ever. There was no one to guide me when I was a kid, no one there telling me they loved me when they tucked me into bed at night. No birthday’s celebrated, no Christmases. No one to walk me to school on my first day, no one to praise me when I’d done something good.
There was only ever hate.
A girl like Coral gets attached, thinks she can fix a guy like me. I’ve seen it plenty of times in the past, even had one or two think they can fix me. It won’t happen. There is no fixing a man like me. I don’t consider myself broken I’m a man, not a clock, but there’s no way I could let her fall for me. What a fuckin’ disaster that would be.
No. Coral deserves much better than the likes of me. Shepard knows it too, that’s why he warned me, along with everyone else in the club, not to touch her by pain of fuckin’ death.
Chapter Six
Coral
Friday’s are the best days.
End of the week.
Start of the weekend, which means no work for the next two days.
Since I’ve been back, I managed to get myself a job in the local department store. I’m only working there until I hear back from any of the office jobs I’ve applied for. I mean, I’ve been turned down for a few. They want people with experience, how are you supposed to gain experience when no one will hire you? I don’t have any experience. I may have graduated college a year early, but I don’t have any practical experience.
So the department store will do to pay the bills. There’s no way I could continue to stay with Denise without paying my way. My parents aren’t happy that I’ve got a job here, they thought I’d be home by now. But being back here, I don’t know, I don’t want to leave yet. I hope I’ve helped them understand why I needed a job, even if my dad did tell me he’d send me money to live on for a couple of months, as long as I don’t here any longer than that. I told him no because I’m not sure I want to go back to California. Bardsville is home, no matter how long I may have been away, here is where I feel like I can be myself. After all the bad things that happened to me here, and here is where my heart lies. He wasn’t pleased, but this is my life.
But back to Friday night. I’m not doing anything special. I’m staying in with some friends. Denise is cooking, and Ruth is bringing the drinks. Girl’s night, you just can’t beat it.
“You’re seriously making pizza? We could’ve just ordered it.”
“Baking your own is more fun.” Denise winks in my direction without actually looking at me.
I don’t see why she felt the need to dress up for a night in, standing there in a short red dress, her breasts so high up thanks to her push-up bra that they look fake. She’s even wearing four-inch heels and more makeup than is necessary for a night out on the town, let alone a night at home.
I look down at myself. I’m wearing pajamas, pink shorts, and a white tank, my blonde hair is tied in a messy bun atop my head, and there’s not a scrap of makeup on my face.
What the hell am I missing?
Denise doesn’t usually dress like this for our nights in.
Okay, I’ve only been home a month, but our Friday nights usually consist of us lounging in our PJ’s, eating, drinking, and talking about anything and nothing.
“Are you going somewhere?”
She turns to look at me with a smirk on her face. “I have a hot date with a very hot man.”
“What man?” I didn’t even know she'd met anyone. She’s not mentioned it before.
She places the pepperoni pizza in the warm oven and closes the door before taking off her apron and turning to look at me. She fiddles with her updo with a smile on her face before speaking. “You remember that guy at the biker bar the other week?”
“The bar was full of bikers, Denny. Could you be more specific?”
“The gorgeous one with the scars. Tall, blonde hair, blue eyes... Ice.” She says dreamily.
“You’re seeing Ice?”
“I am. Have been since the night Stryker turned me down. Why he did that I don’t know.” She says that like she can’t believe a man would say no to her.
Don’t get me wrong, she’s beautiful in every way, but not every man on the planet will find her sexually attractive. No one finds everyone sexually attractive. If that were the case, the world would be very dull. Variety is the spice of life and all that.
“I’m glad he turned me down,” She smiles. “Him turning me down brought me Ice.” She sighs dreamily.
I have to wonder if she knows what she’s getting herself into with Ice. Bikers are dangerous men. They kill and maim for a living. It’s life to them. Denise might act tough, but I very much doubt she could handle the hell that comes with being with a man like him.
What the hell am I talking about?
She has every right to be with Ice.
She’ll learn fast enough what it means to be with him. For all I know, it’s just sex between them, and it’s not like I wouldn’t drop everything to be with Stryker if he asked it of me.
God, I’m pathetic.
I can’t believe I’m this churned up over a man who doesn’t want me. A man who confuses me every damn day. There is definitely something between us, but his loyalty to Shepard always wins out over his want to be near me.
I hate this, I really do. The more Stryker denies me, the more I want him, and the feelings inside of me for him grow stronger every day.
It’s not supposed to be like this. I’m not supposed to be falling for a biker who won’t even look at me, and he won’t, no matter how much I stand and stare holes into the side of his head.
I hang around the damn clubhouse so that I can be near him. I sit in the chairs he’s sat in before me so that I can feel closer to him. How pathetic is that?
But the truth is, I’m falling hard for him, and I don’t know how to stop it. It’s not right. I shouldn’t be falling for him at all. I don’t even know the man very well, and I know I have to forget him somehow. Not that that will be easy, but I will stop making trips to the clubhouse to see him. I will get on with my life because that’s what I’m good at.
Coral Harmon is a free agent, even if her heart isn’t. I’m going to live my life the way I promised my baby girl that I would, so that one day when she finds me, I can be the mother she deserves. I’m going to get that job in a big office, and I’m going to work my way up to the top. I won’t stop until I am whom I set out to be.
I don’t need Stryker. Fuck him. He can brood his way through every damn whore on the planet for all I care. I’m worth more than some dirty biker. Boy, am I worth so much more.
“I plan on having some much-needed fun with my new man tonight. Don’t wait up for me, chica!”
“I won’t,” I mumble to myself as she slips on her coat.
It isn’t long before Denise is skipping out the door as Ruth enters it. She isn’t happy that Denise is out on a date with a biker. Ruth has strong views on women dating criminals. She doesn’t understand that under it all they have hearts just like the rest of us.
“At least she cooks a mean pizza. But why the hell she cooked when we could’ve ordered is beyond me.”
“That’s what I said.” I tuck my feet under my ass. This couch is so comfortable that I’m fighting to stay awake.
It has nothing to do with the company I’m in, Ruth is amazing, but all she ever wants to talk about is her boyfriend. I have nothing against Charlie, but he’s not all that. He’s the complete opposite to Ruth. Ruth is beautiful, classically so with her dark hair, slim figure, long legs, and blue eyes
. Charlie is short, chubby, looks like he belongs behind a computer screen. Plus, he’s twelve years older than Ruth, but whatever, he’s her choice. She loves him, and that’s all that counts.
However, hearing about him constantly can drive a person insane. There has to be more to life than listening to how wonderful he is, how romantic he is, how sensitive he is.
“Let’s go for a walk.”
“But it’s late, and we're in PJ’s!”
I roll my eyes at her. She's so dramatic. “Come on. It’ll do us good.”
“Fine, but just for five minutes.”
“Okay.” I chuckle.
The air is crisp out here. I breathe it in with my eyes closed and a smile on my face, my arm looped with Ruth’s. “I missed you while you were gone, you know?”
I look at Ruth and smile. “Missed you too, Ruthy.”
I missed all my friends when my parents took me away. One day I was here, the next, I was gone without any explanation to anyone. Still, to this day, none of my friends know what happened to me that horrible day when I was twelve.
Shepard made sure to keep it all secret, to cover it all up, even the men in his club don't know what happened that day.
As I said, just a handful know. Only a handful was there. Saddens me that Tank and Jett now know what happened. I don't know how they know, but I saw it in their eyes when I looked at them. Neither of them said anything to me about it, neither of them ever will. For that, I’m thankful.
“What was it like living in LA?”
“It was different,” I tell her with a shrug. “The life is more fast-paced. I don’t know, Ruth, I just got on with things. After a couple of months, I realized we weren’t coming back here. I had to make things work.”
“What made you decide to come back now?”
Good question.
We walk closer to the row of takeout shops along Heleton Street. Hadn’t realized we'd walked this far. Okay, not that far, but it doesn’t register how far you’ve gone when you’re walking and talking with a good friend.
Strike Fast: Prequal (Snakes Henchmen MC) Page 4
