GUNNER: Southside Skulls Motorcycle Club (Southside Skulls MC Romance Book 3)

by Jessie Cooke

  “I’ll get it,” Tamara said in a nervous voice.

  “Damn, you almost knocked me down, what are you…? Wait, what the fuck is your bra doing on the kitchen floor? You were trying to hide it, weren’t you? And your shirt? That little motherfucker…” Gunner looked at the window and pondered jumping through the glass just before the bedroom door burst wide open and he was looking at the angry face of Tamara’s twin. He hoped all his affairs were in order.

  15

  “Tommy, don’t!” Tamara stepped in between them, almost taking the punch her brother meant for Gunner’s face.

  Tommy stopped himself before he hit her. “Get out of the way. If the little prick has the balls to fuck my sister then he better have the balls to stand up and fight for himself.”

  “It’s okay Tamara,” Gunner said. He wasn’t about to hide behind a woman to keep from getting in a fight no matter how big the guy was.

  “No! It’s not fucking okay. This is my house. I’m twenty-four years old and I can fuck whoever I want to fuck.”

  “Tamara!” Her brother acted offended at her words. She snorted and said:

  “You just told me you spent the night with a married woman. How dare you come in here telling me who I can or cannot be with?”

  “It’s not the same. We trusted him. We saved his fucking life and this is how he repays us?”

  “Maybe Tommy and me should talk,” Gunner said.

  “Shut up, Gunner,” Tamara told him, “this isn’t even about you. This is about my brother treating me like I’m thirteen years old.”

  “I thought you didn’t want to end up with a biker? You’re too smart for that. You’re too good for this guy, Tammy.”

  “First, who said I was going to end up with him? Do you end up with anyone you fuck?”

  “It’s not the same. You don’t just go around fucking random guys.”

  “Or so you think.”

  Tommy slapped his forehead. “Jesus, Dad is going to have a fucking coronary.”

  “Only if you run and tell him, you little snitch. You can’t pull your brown nose out of his ass long enough to act like my brother for a change.”

  “Don’t you fucking call me a snitch and a brown-noser. You know damned good and well it’s my job to keep Dad informed.”

  “Not about my personal life. You only do that to make extra brownie points with him. You’re already his favorite kid, Tommy, what the fuck else do you want?”

  Tommy snorted. “Right, his favorite. You’re his little golden girl who does no wrong.” Gunner folded his arms and leaned back into the wall. He felt like he was watching a kid’s television show about sibling rivalry.

  “Oh, I see,” Tamara said, “you’re jealous of the fact that he’s proud of me and you want to make me look bad.”

  Tommy gave Gunner a disgusted look and said, “You’re taking care of that yourself by fucking the likes of him.”

  “Hey!”

  “Shut up, Gunner,” Tamara said before turning back on her brother. “You go ahead and tell Dad whatever you want to tell him. What’s he going to do, ground me? I already can’t get a fucking job because of this club and its reputation. I’m not giving up my sex life too.”

  Tommy glared over at Gunner. Gunner did his best to maintain a neutral expression as he held the other man’s gaze. He kind of wished that Tamara would get out of the way and just let them duke it out. Sometimes problems were better solved that way. “It’s not enough that she’s opened her home to you, took care of you when you were half dead, cooked for you, cleaned up after you…”

  “Leave him alone, Tommy. He didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Dad would look at this as disrespect and you know it, Tamara. You don’t fuck with a brother’s family without his permission.”

  “So, you’re saying that the next time I get horny all I have to do is call Dad and ask if I can fuck so-and-so and then it will be okay?”

  “Why are you being so crude? It’s not like you.”

  “Because I’m sick of this shit, Tommy! I’m going to be fifty fucking years old one of these days, jobless and all alone, and you and Dad will be happy about that because you can be sure I’m safe.”

  “Why is us wanting to keep you safe a bad thing?” her brother asked. His tone had softened somewhat. Gunner felt like he was intruding, but they were still in the doorway so he went over and sat down on the bed.

  “You take it too far, you and Dad both. You’re suffocating me. I want to live my life the way other twenty-four-year-old single women live their lives. I want to live my life the way you do…” Tommy snorted, and she said, “Fine, not as loud as you do, but I’d like to at least to be the one to make that decision. I just want normal, Tommy. I want to go out on dates and to parties and I don’t want to look over my shoulder and see some guy with a leather kutte following me on a Harley at a not-too-fucking-discreet distance!”

  “All of a sudden it’s all about this guy?” Tommy pointed at Gunner. Tamara turned and looked at him over her shoulder.

  “It’s not all of a sudden. I’ve felt like this for a long time. I tried talking to Dad about it but he doesn’t hear anything I say. I worked my ass off in school for four years, graduated in the top five of my class, and now I can’t get a job.”

  “We can fix that. We can get word to Stitch and he can get you in over at Sacred Heart.”

  “I don’t want to work at Sacred Heart! I don’t want to be Stitch, working at that crappy hospital and patching up bikers in my spare time for the rest of my life.”

  Tommy rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t sound to me like you know what you want. Is it your time of the month?” Even Gunner, who spent very little time around women, knew that was a mistake. He thought if you listened hard enough you could hear the thunder roll through Tamara’s veins.

  “Get out!”

  “Tammy…”

  “Out! Get out of my room! Get out of my house. Tell Dad whatever you want to tell him, I don’t give a fuck. Get out!”

  Tommy looked at Gunner. “What about him?”

  Tamara looked at Gunner again like she’d forgotten he was there and said, “I’m going to fuck him again now.” She put her hands on her t-shirt and started pulling it up.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Tommy looked appalled.

  She ripped off her shirt and was standing there in front of her brother in a bra and shorts. Her hands went to the top of her shorts. Gunner’s eyes were wide and he felt sweat beading on his forehead. He was with Tommy on this one…What the fuck is she doing? “I told you I’m getting ready to fuck. This is my bedroom in my house. If you don’t want to watch you better get out.”

  “Don’t be stupid.” She pulled down her shorts. She only had on a thong and a bra now. Tommy covered his eyes like they were burning. “Fuck! Put your clothes on.”

  “Fucking is more fun naked.” She put her hands behind her where her bra was hooked.

  “You’ve lost your mind!”

  Gunner sat up straighter as she unhooked her bra. “Get out!” she said one last time. Tommy turned away from the door and as soon as he cleared the frame she slammed the door shut, hard. She twisted the lock and let the bra fall off her arms. Turning back to Gunner in nothing but a white lace thong, she said, “Take off your clothes.”

  Gunner couldn’t form words easily, but when he could he said, “You don’t really want to…” She pushed down her thong, and even though a few seconds before he thought he’d never be able to get it up, his cock twitched at the sight of her naked.

  “You don’t want me? You didn’t think I was one of the best fucks of your life?”

  Hell yeah he did, but this was…this was crazy. “It’s not that. It was great and I’d like to do it again but your brother is…he’s still out there.”

  “You’re afraid of my brother?”

  “No, I’m not afraid of him.”

  “Then fuck me,” she said, going over closer to him. He could smell their sex from the nig
ht before and her smooth beautiful skin was close enough for him to reach out and touch. He’d never turned down anything that caused such an ache in his groin before.

  “Tamara, I just don’t think it’s a good idea. You’re pissed off right now…”

  “You’re going to tell me how I feel now too? You’ve been in my life five minutes and you think you know? I hate men! I hate all of you. I should have been a fucking lesbian.”

  “I’m not trying to tell you how to feel. I just think this is a bad idea.”

  “Fine, I don’t need you.” She went over to the nightstand and opened the drawer. Reaching way in the back she pulled out a white box and flipped open the lid. Any moisture that Gunner had in his mouth when he saw it was gone. Sitting in the box was a big fat pink dildo. She pulled it out and pushed the button on the side. It started to vibrate in her hand and she wrapped her palm around it and said, “If you’re not going to fuck me then you’re useless. This is the only part of a man I need. Get out!”

  “Tamara.” Gunner didn’t know what he was going to say to her. He wanted to fuck her, he’d be crazy not to. He wished he’d known about that vibrator the night before, but he didn’t want her brother breaking in and killing them both mid-fuck.

  She put the pink latex toy down near her slit and actually let out a sexy moan as she rubbed it up and down. Gunner’s eyes were as big as saucers as he watched her. She asked, “So, are we going to fuck or not?”

  “I just don’t think…” he began again. That was the wrong answer.

  “That’s it! Get out of here!” He stood up off the bed and said:

  “I’m going, but if you need me…”

  She put the vibrator against her clit and said, “I won’t. Get out of my house!”

  Leaving her standing there gorgeous, naked and with a vibrator in her hand was one of the hardest things Gunner had ever had to do. He stepped out the door and before he could even look back she slammed and locked it behind her. Tommy sat on the couch with his head in his hands and his long brown hair flowing through his fingers. He looked up at Gunner when he heard the door slam and said:

  “She’s lost her mind.” Gunner didn’t respond. He didn’t know what to say. He looked back toward the bedroom door. “Stop fucking imagining what she’s doing in there,” Tommy barked. Gunner turned his attention back to the big man, who said, “You want to go get something to eat?”

  “Um…yeah, okay.” Tommy got up and headed for the door. With a shake of his head to make sure he was awake and not stuck in a weird coma dream, Gunner followed.

  16

  Breakfast was awkward, to say the least. At least Tommy got a lot of phone calls and messages he had to respond to, so Gunner didn’t have to try to make conversation with him. Afterwards Tommy didn’t take Gunner back to Tamara’s house. They drove for so long that there was a moment when Gunner wondered if he was taking him up into the hills to kill him and get rid of the body. He breathed a sigh of relief when they pulled off the road and he saw the gates, with the emblem of the white wolf and sickle, that formed the barrier between the Head Hunters clubhouse and the rest of the world. The guy at the gate made a sarcastic comment about the “ugly girl” Tommy had on the back of his bike, but Tommy just laughed and flipped him off. Gunner noticed there seemed to be a lot of armed men walking the perimeter of the clubhouse. It was a far cry from the family-type atmosphere of the Skulls ranch, but then again there was a war in progress with Eddie Munster, so they could just have their security beefed up because of that.

  Tommy parked the bike at the end of a row of Harleys and Gunner slipped off. Tommy didn’t say anything to him as he made his way to the door of the clubhouse. He pushed it open and Gunner was almost immediately overwhelmed by the smell of weed, alcohol, and sex. He was also surprised at how busy it was so early in the morning. It was barely after eight a.m. There were half-naked women on some of the couches but most of them looked like they were passed out, so they were probably left over from the party the night before. Several of the bikers were already belly-up to a long well-stocked bar doing shots. Another group was gathered around a seventy-inch television in the corner, watching porn.

  “Where’s Dad?” Tommy asked a young guy with a prospect patch on his kutte. The kid had a black garbage bag, and he was picking up paper plates and other discarded trash off the tables and other furniture in the room.

  “He’s still asleep, as far as I know. The party went late…or early, I guess.”

  “Looks like it’s still going,” Tommy grumbled as he literally used his boot to move a body on the floor. Gunner stepped over the guy. He looked like he just sat down against the bar and went to sleep. Tommy didn’t tell Gunner otherwise so he followed him through the room and into a long hallway. They were about halfway down when Tommy stopped in front of a door and knocked.

  “What?”

  “Sorry Dad, I need to talk to you.”

  “Fuck, boy, the sun is barely up.” In Tommy’s defense, Gunner thought, the sun had been up for hours.

  Tommy sighed. “Okay, I’ll come back.”

  “Fuck it! I’m awake now, come in.” Tommy turned the doorknob and stepped inside. Gunner didn’t follow him, but as he waited by the open door he heard sounds of flesh slapping against flesh like a big hand smacking an ass and then he heard Randall say, “Go make me a plate, baby.”

  A redhead dressed only in panties and a t-shirt came out of the room and brushed past Gunner. Tommy still didn’t close the door. “Your daughter has lost her mind.”

  Fuck. Gunner wondered if they’d kill him there in the clubhouse or take him up into the mountains. “What did she do?”

  Tommy hesitated and then he said, “She’s just lost it. She’s yelling at me about wanting her life back and shit. She even said something about moving away.”

  Gunner heard Randall’s heavy feet hit the floor. “We ask a lot of her.”

  “She lives in that house rent-free. She doesn’t have to pay for food, electricity, anything. Her bike is nicer than mine…”

  “Did you fucking wake me up to whine about your sister having a nicer bike than yours?”

  “No, I just thought you should know that she’s making noise about leaving.” Gunner was still standing quietly outside the door. He wondered why Tommy didn’t tell Randall about his part in all of this.

  “I’ll talk to her, but we have business to handle this morning. I’ll go see her tonight.”

  “We going to San Antonio?”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “How many guys?”

  “Prez took Dick and Hanson with him to deal with that business up in the Hill Country. He told me to take as many as I think I’ll need today. Dax has six with him so I’m thinking we’ll go in about the same.”

  “What time do we leave?”

  “The original plan was noon but now that you’ve fucked up my morning…”

  “Sorry.”

  Randall grumbled. “It’s fine. I know this twins thing between you and your sister can’t be ignored. I’ve tried to do that in the past and it didn’t work out so good. If you’re telling me there’s a problem, I believe there is.”

  “I think it’s about that job she wanted…mostly.”

  “Well, let’s get word to Stitch. He’ll get her hired on at Sacred Heart.”

  “I mentioned that. She bit my head off. She doesn’t want to work at Sacred Heart. She wants to work in the ER of that hospital in San Antonio.”

  “Fine, then, while we’re in the city today we’ll go by and see what the problem is.”

  Gunner shook his head softly. Did Randall really not know what the problem was, and how much worse his getting involved would make it? “I have the fighter with me,” Tommy said.

  “Here?”

  “Yeah, he’s in the hallway.”

  “Tammy’s alone?”

  “Trust me, she’s better off.”

  “You think so?” Randall asked in a sarcastic tone. “We got Martini pissed o
ff at us and we’re getting ready to go break down fucking doors and shake up his business. You think she’s better off sitting there all alone?”

  “Shit, I didn’t know we left the fighter to protect her.”

  Randall sighed. “We didn’t. Malcolm is watching her. I just felt better with someone in the house too. You know how stubborn she is. She only let the kid stay there because he was healing. She’s not going to go for having one of the guys actually babysit her.”

  “Where the hell was Malcolm? I didn’t see him.”

  “Good, then he’s doing what he was told. He texted me last night and said she was out on her bike, but she had the fighter with her. Pete was going to go relieve him around noon. She’s been giving me a hard time about the guys following her around and I wouldn’t put it past her to try to give them the slip, so I told her I’d pull them back—but with this Martini shit happening I didn’t feel comfortable leaving her alone so I just told them not to be visible.”

  “Well, I still think she’s better off without the fighter in the house.”

  “Do I want to know why?” Randall’s tone was filled with disgust.

  Gunner held his breath. “No.”

  “Okay then, let’s get some breakfast. Dax and his boys should be up and ready to ride soon.”

  Tamara couldn’t believe she’d let herself have a meltdown in front of Tommy…and Gunner, of all people. Her face went hot when she thought about stripping off her clothes in front of her brother. Tommy hadn’t seen her naked since she was about six years old. She knew he wouldn’t look. She knew it would be one sure way to get him to leave, but she hadn’t thought about how it would make her look to Gunner until she turned and saw the shocked expression on his face. She hadn’t even thought about his being in the room at all. She was just sick to death of having her life mapped out for her by her father and brother, and for whatever reason that morning she’d been at her breaking point. She wanted to be “normal.” She laughed sadly at that. She wasn’t sure she knew what normal was any longer, if she ever did. She’d stripped off in front of her brother and told the guy she was beginning to have feelings for to fuck her with her brother in the next room. She was acting like a club girl, like the trash she’d always promised herself she would never be. She pictured herself holding that damned vibrator and ordering Gunner out of the room…what he must think of her…