by Khloe Wren
“Put. Me. Down!”
“No way. Not until I get your fine ass up to your room. Bulldog will have me castrated if he finds out I even let you step foot in that room. What the fuck, Silk? You know better.”
“I was looking for Bulldog or Scout to order you off my ass. I don’t need a fucking bodyguard! Especially here inside the damn clubhouse. And especially one that won’t even let me have a few drinks. Put me down already!”
He had his arm firmly banded around my legs so I couldn’t kick him, and my fists thumping his back wasn’t affecting him one bit. Stupid leather cut was protecting him from my blows. Not that I’d be able to do damage to him, even without the leather. He was a former marine for fuck’s sake. Unless I had a sledgehammer to hit him with, he wouldn’t feel anything I did to him.
A few catcalls and whistles followed us as he calmly strode through the clubhouse and headed upstairs to the private bedrooms. My breath caught in my throat when he stopped in front of my room and proceeded to unlock the damn door.
“How the fuck did you get a key to my room?”
Fury heated my body as he strode into my room like he owned the damn place. After kicking my door shut, he allowed me to slide down his front. I did my best to ignore how good his hard muscles felt as I brushed past them. The second my feet hit the floor I took a big step back.
“Answer me!”
“I slipped it out of your pocket when I grabbed you downstairs.”
I growled at him when he shrugged like it was no big deal. I patted my back pocket, and sure enough, it was empty.
“Fuck you. You have no right! Give it back and get out.”
I could not believe how this night was going. And if Eagle thought I would even look his way after this, he had another think coming. I’d been waiting for him to patch in and not be off limits anymore. Sure, I’d intended to make him work for it, but I’d intended to give in eventually. Not anymore. If he was going to be all caveman like this, he could just piss off.
He dropped my key into my waiting palm but didn’t leave. He stood, returning my glare with one of his own. He also had his jaw clenched tightly and his left eye had this small twitch. Eagle was beyond mad, and that just pushed my temper higher. What the hell did he have to be angry about?
“What are you so pissed about? You can come and go as you please. You’re even allowed in all the rooms of this damn place!”
He shook his head. “Not all the rooms. Not yet.”
Ah, of course. A prospect wasn’t allowed in Church except for special occasions. Suddenly I had an idea as to why he was so mad. Well, aside from the fact he was pulling me out of whore central a few minutes ago.
“You don’t know why I’m on lockdown either, do you?”
He clenched his jaw tight enough I started to worry he’d crack a tooth, before he huffed out a breath.
“Just… Stay here in your room for the rest of the night. Okay?”
“Or what? You’ll haul me back up here like some naughty kid?”
I don’t know why I was pushing him tonight, but I couldn’t stop.
“Ain’t nothing about you that’s child-like, Silk.”
I licked my lips at his change in tone and his hard gaze tracked the movement. The air between us all but crackled with tension.
“Fuck it.”
Before he finished speaking he had me pressed up against the wall, then his mouth was on mine. His lips were soft, and oh, so fucking smooth. When he pulled back a little, I nipped at his lower lip before licking over it. He growled, and gripping my hips, moved me up the wall. I wrapped my legs around his waist and groaned when my pussy came up against his hard cock. The layers of denim did nothing to stop the heat I felt radiating from him. I drove my hands into his hair and moaned. It was as silky as I’d predicted. He took my mouth again, his tongue dancing with mine as he devoured me, all the anger and fury twisting into something sexual.
So much for playing hard to get...
Eagle
Fuck me. I knew better than this. Knew she was off limits until after I patched in, but I couldn’t resist taking at least a small taste. Not when she was all riled up and sexy as fuck. And having her over my shoulder earlier had flipped some switch in me I didn’t think I could turn off. I’d hated that she’d been in the room where the whores were doing their thing. She was above that behavior. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was still a virgin, with the way the club, especially Bulldog and Scout, kept a close eye on her, I struggled to see how she could have managed to spend enough time with any man to get kissed, let alone laid.
When she’d been in that room, I could tell she didn’t like what was happening in there, and I suspected she only went so far in because she was trying to rile me up. Well, she’d gotten me riled all right.
I pulled away a fraction, and she stayed leaning against the wall. My hands were still holding her hips and I gave her a squeeze as she continued to run her fingers through my hair. Fuck, her touch felt so damn good. I stared down at her flushed face, her lips dark red from my kissing her roughly. Her chest rose and fell with each breath, and it drew my full attention to her breasts. She had perfect tits, and I really wanted to see them naked. Wanted to wrap my mouth around her nipples and bite and lick until she was writhing against me.
One of her hands left my hair and trailed down my chest, lighting a fire in its wake. She had a tight black tank on under her cut so I could see she had ink from her wrist all the way up over her shoulder–huge, detailed, red roses with black and gray curly shit around them. The contrast looked fucking amazing. When she wrapped her fingers over the top of my waistband, shit got real. As much as it pained me to do so, I couldn’t let this go further.
Bulldog would kill me. Well, he’d try to kill me.
I didn’t have my damn top rocker yet.
The patch on her cut stood out like a beacon, sitting next to her luscious tits that I wanted so much. A blood-red heart with barbed wire wrapped around it. A Daughter of the Club patch. It made her untouchable to the likes of me.
“Fuckin’ hell.”
I pulled her legs from around my waist and forced myself to turn away from her.
“You can’t leave me like this.”
I glanced down at the large bulge in the front of my jeans. My cock wasn’t real happy at being left like this either.
“No choice, sweetheart. Like you keep telling me, I’m nothing but a prospect. Not good enough for a Daughter of the Club. No one can know what we just did. You hear me? You tell Bulldog about this, and I’m gone.”
I’d probably get the beat-down of my life on the way out too. I might have all the training and experience the USMC gave me, but these bikers could play fucking dirty when they needed to, and I didn’t doubt they’d find a way to take me down. But I didn’t tell her that. As much as I knew Silk had grown up in the club, I didn’t want to scare her in that way.
“I know when to keep my mouth shut, Eagle.”
She looked so fucking fragile standing there in the middle of her room. She’d moved forward from the wall and was finger combing her long blonde curls that I’d messed up. I couldn’t just walk out. I knew I should. But that’s not what I did. No, like a lovesick fool, I took two long strides and pulled her against me, holding her close as I breathed in against her hair. She felt so right pressed against me. I just needed a little patience to wait for the right time to claim her.
“The second I get my fucking top rocker, I’m coming for you.”
I pressed a kiss to her forehead as she frowned up at me, then spun on my heel and stormed out of her room, making sure the door shut behind me. Running my fingers through my hair, I made my way down to the bar.
“Hey, mate. Things not go well?”
Of course, Taz knew how I felt about Silky and the bastard had way too much fun constantly harassing me about it.
“Just give me a couple beers so I can get back up there.”
He grinned, but thankfully stayed silent as h
e passed over a couple of bottles. I stomped my way back up and made myself comfortable on the floor beside her door. It was going to be a long fucking night, but I needed to make sure she didn’t try to slip away before morning. I was grateful the rooms were upstairs and too high for her to make a jump from her window safely. Otherwise, I would have had to find someone to stay on guard out there too.
I scrubbed a hand over my face before I popped the top off one of the bottles. Taking a deep drink, I stared up at the wall in front of me. I was fairly certain her uncle knew I was feeling Silk. I hadn’t exactly hidden my interest, but I had been a good boy and kept my hands to myself. At least until tonight.
For the last two weeks I’d been asking around, trying to work out why Silk needed such close guarding but no one would talk. It was beginning to really piss me off. All I’d discovered from my questions was that every year at this time Silk would disappear for a week or so, alone. Apparently, this year Bulldog didn’t want her going for some reason, hence the lockdown. I knew Silk thought I’d caused this, but it was all her uncle’s doing. Once she was at work tomorrow, I was planning on calling Bulldog, and if he refused to answer me I’d put a call into Scout.
It made it near impossible to keep her protected her when I didn’t know what the fuck I was protecting her from.
Chapter 3
Eagle
By the time Silk had settled in to work on her first tattoo of the day I was about ready to explode. I’d only managed to get a couple of hours sleep the night before on the floor outside her room. Sure, I’d slept in worse places and at least no bastards were shooting at me at the clubhouse, but still. In the time I’d been back stateside, I’d kind of gotten used to sleeping lying down on a fucking bed.
At least when she’d come out and seen me sitting there she didn’t sass me. In fact, I’m sure I’d seen her face soften a moment before she put her pissed off mask back on and stomped downstairs to the kitchen. Scout was eating breakfast when she stormed in, and she’d done her best to smooth talk the club president. Pity for her, Scout knew her too well to fall for it. Instead, he’d demanded her bike keys and told her she’d be traveling with me until further notice. She could choose the back of my bike or a cage, but those were her only two options if she wanted to leave the compound. To say she was unhappy was an understatement. I could understand her anger. She knew as much as me about why she was being locked down. I’d be furious in her place.
Even with her hissing and spitting like an alley cat, I couldn’t help but grin as I rode over with her earlier. Having Silk on the back of my bike, with her arms wrapped around me, was a dream come true. As lame as that sounded, I’d had many dreams about it. Of course, my dreams never ended with me horny as fuck while she stormed off in a fury.
I pulled my phone out and shot a text off to Scout to let him know I could talk, like he’d asked me to do earlier. Minutes later, I watched the president walk up the path toward me. Clearly he’d been waiting on my text.
I nodded in greeting. “Pres.”
He glanced in the shop before he stood to the side, where, if Silk looked out the front window, she wouldn’t see him.
“Eagle. Thanks for staying tight with her. I know she’s a handful.”
“Wouldn’t mind knowing what I’m protecting her from. Make it easier to notice it coming our way.”
The older man sighed and stroked his beard. Scout was the stereotypical biker, complete with a scruffy beard, that was more gray than not.
“We’re not a hundred-percent on what’s coming. But we’ve heard whispers that something is. Fucking 9/11 bullshit. It never ends.”
That caught my attention. This year was the fifteenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks that brought down the twin towers in New York and tried to take out the Pentagon in Washington. Thousands died so it didn’t surprise me in the least that every year the anniversary was marked with celebrations and memorials for those lost. It was the 9/11 attacks that had a lot of people enlisting to go fight, myself included. I was seventeen when those planes hit the towers, but in early 2002, I turned eighteen and signed up to go get those bastards before they could strike us on US soil again.
“What does 9/11 have to do with Silk?”
Scout jerked back a little. “Fuck. You don’t know? Shit, I assumed you’d heard. Guess it’s been so long now we don’t talk about it these days.”
I scanned the street again before I focused back on Scout.
“No one’s told me a damn thing. It’s driving me fucking nuts, to tell you the truth.”
I figured the man knew how I felt about Silk, so being honest with the guy wasn’t going to hurt my chances of getting info. In fact, I hoped it would get me a little extra.
“Silk came to live with Bulldog and his old lady not long after 9/11. Before that, she lived up in Boston. She didn’t have siblings, it was just her and her folks. Then the evening of the tenth of September 2001, John and Claire dropped their daughter off with a friend–told her they’d be back before the weekend, then left. Her parents were on the flight that hit the south tower.”
“Fuck. Well, no wonder she takes off every year.”
The media talked about nothing but 9/11 for weeks around the anniversary, and this being the fifteenth was going to be bigger than usual.
“That’s why we’ve locked her down so hard. She’s planning on slipping her leash to run off to wherever the fuck she goes every year.”
“I still don’t get why she’s locked down. I’ve heard she does this every year, but I’ve never heard of anyone trying to stop her before.”
“We’ve had a reporter sniffing around. Doing some fucking story on the orphans of 9/11, or some shit. Silk’s parents were up to something. We’re still working out what, but their last minute trip to LA wasn’t just for fun. Someone was chasing them. And you know how quick shit spreads on the internet these days? All it takes is that reporter to mention Silk’s name once on some fucking bullshit online gossip site and boom–her location is up in fucking lights for anyone to find with a click of a button. Then, whoever was after them will come for her in no time. Bulldog’s been keeping an ear to the ground in LA all these years and the word from one of his mob contacts is there is a bounty out for John’s daughter. Again, no fucking idea why. All we know is they want her alive.”
I took a deep breath as rage flowed through my system. I scanned the street again, this time taking in every building, vehicle and person carefully.
“No way of keeping that reporter quiet?”
“Nah, bitch is from LA and we’ve sent her on her way, but not before she worked out Silk is Claudine. I don’t doubt the mob knows exactly where she is by now.”
“What’s the plan then? I’m good, but up against the mob? This shit could get heavy fast.”
The older man nodded. “That’s why I’m here telling you shit no prospect should know. Listen, I’ve seen how you watch our girl. We all have. Bulldog might not like it, but fuck. We knew she’d end up with a brother. That girl is way too tough for some civilian to handle. This isn’t me giving you permission to fuck with her. It’s me letting you know I see what you’re feeling for her. It’s why you were put on her ass. I knew you wouldn’t slack off and chase some whore’s tail instead of guarding hers. I heard what you did last night. You did good, getting her out of that fucking room and up to hers. You didn’t have sleep in the damn hallway, but I appreciate the lengths you’re willing to go to, to keep our girl safe.”
“I’ve slept in worse places, and I had a feeling she would have snuck out if I didn’t.”
Scout snorted. “She sure as fuck would have. I had Mac on the main door and her bike stashed in the back of the garage. She wouldn’t have gotten far.” He paused to clear his throat. “We need to work out what the mob wants from Silk. She was only twelve when it all went down so I doubt it’s something she knows. Probably something John left behind. Bulldog told me he had all their stuff packed up and moved down to a unit in our sto
rage yard here. He gave Silk the key and hasn’t bothered her about it since.”
“You want me to get into that unit?”
He shook his head. “It’s in our fucking yard, man. We can get into it. And we have. But none of us could find a damn thing that the mob could possibly want. It’s got to be something Silk took from there. We need you to talk to her, get her to tell you about anything she might have with her from her folks.”
“Can I tell her why? She’s hating this lockdown, but if I can explain why she might be more helpful.”
That, and I had no idea how I was going to be able to go through all her stuff without her catching me.
Scout reached up and adjusted the bandanna he had wrapped around his head.
“Bulldog don’t want her knowing, but you’re going to have to tell her. She thinks her daddy moved away and cut his brother out of their lives because he didn’t like the fact he was a fucking biker. That ain’t the truth, but Bulldog wants her to keep believing the best about her folks.”
I shrugged. “Can’t blame the man for that. He wants Silk to have a good life, with her belief in her parents intact, I get that. I want that for her too. But she won’t have that if this shit catches up with her. Is she still on lockdown at the clubhouse when she’s not here?”
“Nah, that was me getting her separated from her wheels. Take her home to her place tonight. I’ll have Mac and Taz meet you there. I know you’ll want your boys on this with you. Gabs doesn’t need to know what’s going on. She’s got her own tail but we’re keeping it so she doesn’t know about it unless she needs saving.”
“Speaking of my boys, you know Mac has contacts in LA that might help us out? I’ll ask him about it tonight. He might have heard something your guy hasn’t.”
