Down to my Bones (Reapers MC: Ellsberg Chapter Book 1)

by Bijou Hunter

  “Look who’s awake,” she says while changing my IV. “Dinner is coming soon. Do you think you can eat?”

  “Yes.”

  “Would your friend like to order something?” she asks and gives Quaid a little smile.

  I think to point out how she’s flirting with my man, and I’m willing to kill over pretty much any small infraction. Well, assuming she’ll agree to stand still and not to fire back. Clearly, I can’t handle too many distractions.

  I don’t threaten the nurse since she has access to my medications and the thing stuck up my pee-pee spot. Besides, Quaid never so much as glances at her, though I bet he watches her every movement. He’s on guard in a way that I wish I could imitate. Since I can’t be a badass myself, I guess I’ll just have to settle for loving one instead.

  THE OUTSIDER

  Miranda—scratch that—MJ dozes off for the rest of the evening. She wakes to eat Jell-O, falls asleep mid-bite, and wakes an hour later to say she isn’t mad that I stole her food.

  The hospital food isn’t the worst I’ve eaten. I order a burger and fries with a slice of chocolate cake. MJ’s dinner consists of soft foods she ignores except for the Jell-O. Rather than eat, she shares sexy inner info with me.

  “When I she-bopped in the shower yesterday,” she mumbles while half asleep around six, “I pretended I was running my fingers through your hair. I very much like your waves.”

  “They like you too,” I reply, knowing she isn’t really listening.

  Whatever the nurse gives MJ just before dinner, my sweet brunette loses all of her conversation skills. She tells me more than once how much she wants to touch me, but her arms are broken, and she doesn’t know where her bones went. She asks me at least three different times if we can watch TV even after it’s turned on. She eventually requests to watch a movie called “Steel Magnolias” on the tablet Vaughn dropped off earlier. As soon as it plays, she dozes off with a smile on her face.

  While she sleeps, I take a shower and change into the clean clothes Vaughn brought me.

  “People were beginning to complain about the smell,” he taunts while shoving the bag at me. “When you drove to Ellsberg to get into Rando’s panties, I bet you didn’t plan to spend your third date in the hospital.”

  “I plan for everything.”

  “I bet you do, hotshot,” he says, giving me a knowing grin. “Now clean up. Be sure to stay frosty too. That shooter remains out and about.”

  “Johansson said he found blood near the road. Any news about the shooter looking for medical care?”

  “No one’s looked for care around these parts. He might have driven his ass into Tennessee or up to Louisville to stay off our radar. There wasn’t too much blood at the scene. I doubt the fucker bled out. I’d guess he’s hiding at his place and praying we don’t find him.”

  “Think people around here would rat him out?”

  “Hard to say. in this area, rough fuckers would protect a friend or family member even if they wiped out a bus full of kids and nuns. They don’t snitch on their own. Now if it were a college kid, he'd get ratted on by his buddies, but those New Hampton kids don’t mess with the Reapers.”

  “What if this guy is closer than you think?”

  Vaughn loses his smile. “Meaning?”

  “Meaning the Reapers have a lot of connections with bad people around here. If one of them went after MJ and showed up hurt, would other assholes close to him share that info with you?”

  “Cooper already plans to meet with the Roches tomorrow.”

  “I don’t know who that is.”

  “Those twats you beat on the other night are Roches, and they’re the most obvious suspects. No one else has a beef with Rando.”

  “That you know of.”

  “Do you know of something her own family doesn’t?”

  Glancing at my sleeping beauty, I sigh. “She makes minimal effort to play nice with others. People are known to get pissed over small things. Anyone could have gotten their pubes frazzled over her attitude.”

  “And you don’t think it’s the Roches?”

  “The three fuckers I met don’t own the balls to take a shot at a protected woman like MJ. I doubt they own the brain cells to lure her out there either.”

  “It wasn’t that great a plan.”

  “It worked, didn’t it?”

  Vaughn gives me a disproving frown. “You don’t know the Roche family.”

  “That’s why my opinion matters. I lack a built-in bias toward any of these people.”

  “I’ll talk to Cooper about bringing you to the Roche meeting,” he says and instantly turns to leave.

  I sense he’s afraid to wake up MJ who will no doubt razz him about his hair. I’ve heard more than once at the farmhouse how she doesn’t approve of his shoulder-length blond locks.

  “Rando claims Vaughn looks like me from behind,” Raven announced the day after learning I was interested in the oddball. “Of course, that’s bullshit. His ass is bigger, rounder, more succulent.”

  While showering in the hospital’s weird stall, I think back to their in-joke and assume I’ll share similar moments with MJ one day. First, I need to help her get healthy. Second, I’ll need to kill whoever shot her. Finally, I’ll make her fall so hard for me that she’ll never want to get up.

  Despite rushing through the shower, I’m not surprised to find MJ awake when I emerge. Of fucking course, she would wake up when I’m not around.

  Running my hands through my wet hair while hurrying to her side, I regret not drying off better before dressing. My shirt sticks to me in much the same way as when I was sweaty earlier.

  “I dreamed you fell out of the window,” MJ says and sighs. “You can never leave me.”

  “I won’t.”

  “I need you to sleep in here. Climb into the bed. It’s time to sleep.”

  “It’s only nine o’clock, and I can’t sleep in your bed.”

  “Push me over and make space,” she says, wiggling under the blanket. “I can’t move. Go ahead and shove me over and climb in.”

  “Never going to happen.”

  A spaced-out MJ nods. “You’re right. Just climb on top of me and use me as your bed. That’ll give you more room.”

  “No.”

  “No,” MJ replies immediately because that’s what she always says when she isn’t getting her way.

  Gesturing toward the corner, I smile. “The nurse told me that chair pulls out into a bed. She brought me a pillow and blanket too.”

  “No.”

  “No what?”

  “No.”

  Laughing, I lean over and kiss her forehead before brushing my lips against hers.

  “No,” she says, now smiling. “The whore nurse wants in your skivvies, and I’m not letting her steal you away. Give me your gun so I can shoot her.”

  “You can’t lift your arms.”

  “I’ll use my teeth,” she says with steely determination that quickly dissolves into laughter. I chuckle too even while she glances at the door angrily. “No one steals my man.”

  “I have no fucking interest in that nurse, so who cares what she wants?”

  “You want me,” MJ says, super-focused on my face. “Only me or I’ll shoot someone.”

  “I know you will.”

  “I was scared today,” she says, losing the fire behind her eyes. “I felt like a little kid. I felt stupid. I froze up and didn’t know what to do. Now I’m scared to be alone. What if I’m too stupid next time and he kills me?”

  “You’re not stupid,” I say, caressing her face. “You’re drugged, and that makes you feel helpless. You were badass today, and you’ll be badass tomorrow.”

  “You want to leave me,” she whispers.

  “I’m not staying here to protect you, baby. I’m here because there’s nowhere else I want to be.”

  A smile lights up MJ’s face. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice you at that picnic. I must have been blind.”

  “I make
it my business to remain undetected.”

  “I like to lurk too, but still you noticed me.”

  “I almost didn’t,” I whisper. “I thought you were like your sisters. I nearly missed how special you were.”

  “You’ll never know how thankful I am that you did.”

  I kiss her forehead again. This time when my lips meet hers, she kisses me back. MJ reeks of weakness as I remove my lips and sit down next to the bed. She’s tired, drugged, and scared. I’m her security blanket, but I’m also a stranger. I can’t be sure how she views me yet. We barely know each other, but I would lay down my life to keep her safe.

  MJ grins at me very suddenly before falling asleep a second later. The meds are doing a number on her, but I don’t mind the quiet. The hospital room is a comfortable seventy-two. After so many evenings bored and hot in my tent, this place is like staying in a fucking hotel. I enjoy the luxury of putting up my feet and watching TV while the air conditioner cools my skin.

  I chill next to my woman until eleven. Ready to crawl into the pullout bed and get some rest, I’m interrupted by my cell. If I didn’t recognize Cooper’s number, I’d let the call go to voicemail.

  “She’s sleeping,” I say rather than hello.

  “I know. The nurse gave me an update.”

  Grinning at his need to work around me, I walk toward the pullout bed. “What did you need then?”

  “The cops are coming by tomorrow morning to ask Rando questions.”

  “MJ.”

  “What?”

  “She’s MJ now. It was your wife’s idea. Do you want me to stay in the room when the cops talk to her?”

  “I’ll be there when she talks to them. I’m the club’s lawyer.”

  “Okay then.”

  “After we’re done with the boys in blue, I have an appointment with the Roches.”

  “Vaughn told me.”

  “The head Roche agreed to let me talk to the three assholes you fucked with. He’s only doing it as a professional courtesy.”

  “Fear will do that.”

  “I want you to come with me to the meeting. If these assholes went psycho after you kicked their asses, I want them worked up again.”

  “Between you and me, I don’t tag them for this.”

  “You’ve been in Ellsberg for all of three fucking days. So between you and me, I don’t give a shit about your opinion.”

  Grinning at his rage, I don’t shut up. “My gut says they would hunt me down before they’d ever go after MJ. She did nothing to them, and hurting her puts a huge fucking target on them.”

  “Like I said, your opinion means nothing to me.”

  “Fine, but I shook down suspects back in my Army days.”

  “Don’t care.”

  “Admit it, boss. You care a little,” I taunt.

  “Don’t push me, Quaid.”

  “Sorry, but an outsider can see shit an insider misses. But you’re running the show, and I’ll do whatever you want.”

  Cooper doesn’t speak for a long fucking time. Before I can relax on the little couch, I need to check on MJ again. Having her father off the phone would help too.

  “I’ll see what you can offer tomorrow,” Cooper finally says before hanging up.

  Setting the phone aside, I kiss MJ’s forehead. Her skin feels cool and soft. She looks peaceful enough for me to forget where we are and why. Turning off the lights and TV, I collapse on the pullout bed and close my eyes. My mind wants to replay the stressful day, but I refuse to play that game. All I allow myself are memories of Miranda at the river. Her smile and how her dark eyes lit up when I followed her into the water. I suspect that was the very moment she opened her heart to me.

  THE ODDBALL

  My dreams allow me no peace. Gunshots. Someone chasing me through the woods behind my house. I run and run, but I can’t get away. Finally, I collapse with exhaustion. I turn to find Pop standing behind me. He shakes his head with disappointment. I should have practiced more with my gun. Mom cries somewhere in the woods. Then I hear Gram announce we’re eating kittens for dinner. When I ask my father where Quaid is, he only shakes his head again. “He’s something you imagined. Your brain ain’t been right since Uncle Tucker dropped you on your noggin. Poor Miranda.”

  I wake to find a new nurse checking on the IV. “No more pain medicine,” I say in a dry voice. “I can’t think straight.”

  “You should rest.”

  “I need Quaid.”

  “I don’t know what that is,” she says, sounding annoyed.

  “The man with the wavy hair.”

  The nurse frowns before glancing to the corner where a figure is curled up on a little bed. “Is that him?”

  “Yes. I need to drink something.”

  The nurse brings me a paper cup filled with water, and I sip at the straw just enough to wet my painfully dry throat.

  “I don’t want so much pain medicine.”

  Checking my temperature, she refuses to make eye contact. “You will once you start moving more.”

  “I need to stay awake.”

  “It’s two in the morning.”

  Blinking wildly, I realize everything is dark, and Quaid is sleeping. If I make more noise, he’ll wake up, and I want him to feel better. He looked so run-down the day before.

  “Okay,” I whisper and rest my head back on the pillow.

  Once she leaves, I stare at the dark figure and struggle to make out recognizable features of the man I’ve thought about nonstop for the last two days. Or is it three days? How long have I been in this hospital?

  The bed isn’t made for someone with his height and build. Quaid’s curled into an uncomfortable ball.

  “He sleeps like a cat,” I whisper to myself before closing my eyes. “Pop promised to torture that cat killer.”

  I doze off thinking of a faceless man begging for the kind of mercy he didn’t show those kittens. Pop won’t care about the slug’s pleas. My father has probably killed men for less than taking a shot at his kid.

  “Rando,” a voice whispers, drawing me out of my sleep.

  “No.”

  “MJ,” the voice whispers, correcting his mistake.

  Frowning in my sleep, I force open my eyes to find Pop leaning over me. He smells like the cocoa butter body soap Mom buys. I smile up at him.

  “You’re here.”

  “Yeah, baby, how do you feel?”

  “I got shot, Pop.”

  “I know,” he says, and I think he wants to smile. “Are you in pain?”

  “They’ve kept me drugged up. I think it’s a conspiracy. Are you here to bust me out?”

  Pop gives me a weird look I’m very familiar with. He finally sighs. “They’re bringing you breakfast soon. I want you to eat and get your brain organized. The cops will be here in less than an hour.”

  “Are they arresting me?”

  Pop frowns darker, clearly annoyed. He gets so grumpy when life isn’t going to plan. I once watched him scream at a rabbit after our RV conked out on the side of a road in New Mexico. The man has anger issues for sure.

  “Will you help me sit up?”

  Pop slides his big arms under my body and adjusts me before realizing the bed has a remote. Maybe he needs to wake up his brain too.

  “Doesn’t Quaid sleep like a baby?” I ask, gesturing with my chin toward where my man remains curled up in a fetal position. “He didn’t even take his shoes off.”

  “Soldiers need to be able to sleep in full gear.”

  “Pop, can you make sure they send up breakfast for Quaid too? I’m hungry, and I don’t want to share.”

  “Did he try anything with you last night?” Pop asks, and I struggle not to laugh at his serious tone.

  “Not even after I begged to be fucked.”

  “Rando,” Pop growls.

  Patting his face, I tease, “No, it’s MJ. Did you know forgetfulness is a sign of dementia, Pop?”

  “That’s hilarious,” he says and glances at Quaid. “I ou
ght to kick the bed and wake up your lover boy.”

  “Don’t punish him just because I’m annoying.”

  Sighing, he rubs my head. “You are annoying.”

  “Order the second breakfast so he won’t be hungry, please,” I say, stressing the final word.

  “All right, but you need to start planning what to say to the cops when they arrive.”

  “So not the truth then?”

  “Not unless you want them handling the shooter rather than your pop and his violent friends.”

  “The po-po won’t care about kittens, will they, Pop?”

  “I seriously suspect you’re fucking with me.”

  “You always say that,” I taunt. With much effort, I reach out to poke his stomach. “I’ll handle those cops like a pro.”

  Pop walks over to the bed to kick Quaid’s foot—gently—and wake him up to order food. I smile at the bedhead my guy’s sporting. He looks sexier than ever. I can’t wait until he wakes up looking like that after we’ve knocked boots all night.

  “How you doing, MJ?” he asks, after a trip to the bathroom.

  “My pop is here, and the cops are coming. Look, I’m sitting up too.”

  Quaid leans closer, and I realize he brushed his teeth. I wish my mouth were minty-fresh, so when I suck on his tongue, I’d taste better. Unfortunately for Quaid, I’m probably gross when he gives my lips a quick kiss.

  “Don’t be shy,” I say, reaching for Quaid with my good hand. “Pop knows what sex is.”

  “Damn. It. Rando,” Pop hisses full of frustration.

  I laugh so hard at his anger that I’m relieved to have a tube up my pee-pee hole. Pop tells me to shut up, feels guilty for telling me to shut up, realizes I’m still laughing at him, and tells me to shut up again.

  “Stop before I pull a muscle,” I say, wiping my eyes. “You’re so funny, Pop.”

  Once he storms out of the room, I immediately stop laughing. Taking Quaid’s hand with my more mobile one, I look him right in the eye.

  “I plan to keep you forever. If you leave me, I will kill you. Do you understand?”