by Jayne Blue
He was still smirking at me. Damn him. “No claim on me?” he said. “Well, I’ve got one on you, baby.”
I jerked away from him. “Which one of those girls downstairs is into that sort of thing?” Oh God. What was I doing? What was I saying?
But Gunn never missed a beat. When he slid his hands around my waist, I tried to pull away. He didn’t let go. The smirk left his face, replaced with smoldering fire.
“They’re not here now, are they? You are. I meant what I said, Brenna. I damn well have a claim on you.”
He was bold, strong, swift. He took my breath away as he lifted me off my feet. It was all so fast. So hot. My quick spark of jealousy burned out. In its place, lust scorched a path through my heart and settled between my legs.
I wanted him. I said I had no claim on him but it was a damn lie. He knew it. He felt it. And he meant to make me act on it.
Just like before, Gunn turned me into a wild thing. He stretched me out, clasping my wrists above my head. God help me, I wanted him to use those damn cuffs on me. The thought of it made my sex throb with need.
But Gunn had other ideas. His own need burst through him. I felt him swell against my leg. Before I knew what I was doing, I fumbled for his fly. He let out a wicked laugh that churned my insides.
Oh God. This. Now!
We were quick. Gunn couldn’t stay. He hadn’t had a chance to tell me that, but I knew he’d only come up here to make sure I was settled. Soon, Sly or one of the others would call him back down.
Gunn pulled my jeans down past my knees. I so desperately wanted to spread my legs wide, but couldn’t. But he got me wide enough. He was so fast. So skillful. One quick tear of plastic between his teeth and he guided himself inside me.
“Say it,” he said, whispering in my ear.
“What?”
“Say it. You know what, Brenna. Say it. Believe it.”
“I’m ... oh Gunn!” I wanted to scream. Pressure built inside me. I don’t know how he did it, but Gunn knew how to position himself so he rubbed against my sex in just the right way. I was coming already. He’d opened the floodgates in me last night. Now I craved him like some sort of drug. I knew in my heart if I wasn’t careful, he’d make me addicted to him. God help me, I wanted to be.
“Say it,” he said, more forceful this time. “I want to hear it!”
“Oh. Oh!” I bit my bottom lip to keep from screaming out my pleasure. I knew these walls were far too thin.
He stopped and froze inside me. No! I had almost reached my apex. This was torture and he damn well knew it.
“Say it, Brenna.”
“Yes!” I cried out. “Fuck. Yes. I’m yours, Gunn. I’m yours!”
“That’s right,” he snarled, then went back to his delicious, thrusting rhythm. “You’re mine, baby.”
I was. Holy God. I was!
My whole body went rigid as my orgasm poured through me. Gunn was right behind me. He kept my arms pinned above my head as he grunted through his pleasure. When he crested down, he feathered my neck and forehead with soft kisses.
It was then the rest of the world flooded back in. I heard Sly calling Gunn’s name from down the stairs. He slid out of me and helped me to my feet. He had just enough time to adjust himself in the bathroom before one of the probies started banging on the door.
“I’ll be back,” Gunn said, pulling me to him once more. Then he was gone, leaving me breathless and wrecked in his wake.
Chapter Sixteen
Gunn
Just walking out of the room felt like thunder going off in my heart. It happened quick. It happened hard. But this woman had worked her way into my damn blood. I ran a hand through my hair and straightened my cut as I closed the door behind me.
Mo and Scarlett would take care of her. I knew I needed to leave them to it. It’s just ... Brenna was different. I was different when it came to her. More than anything, I just wanted to get her on the back of my bike and take her someplace where I could have her all to myself. Club business would get in the way of that. I yelled down to Sly to let him know I was on my way.
I had to edge my way through the growing crowd in the main bar. Staying closed for business would hurt everyone’s bottom line this month. It was the same down at the bike shop. The lust I felt for Brenna twisted and turned, becoming rage at whoever or whatever was trying to mess with the G.W.M.C.
“’Bout time,” Sly said as I walked into the conference room. The full membership was already seated. He caught my eye and I knew he knew. Sly Cullinan never missed a trick. He was onto me about Brenna. This was more than just some hookup.
“Let’s get right to it,” he said. “We’ve got a full house out there and Mo’s gonna start getting antsy. What’s the word on Josh?”
Switch leaned forward. “I’ve got Judd and Teague keeping eyes on him at the hospital. He’s gonna be okay. Tough bastard. He was lucky. A witness said the van tearing out of Hurley’s fucking broadsided him.”
“You have a chance to take inventory?” Sly asked me.
“No,” I answered. Along with Brenna, getting back to the shop had me jumpy as hell. “Angel told me to come straight here.”
“Okay.” Sly sat back. “After this, you, Curtis, Angel, and me are going back there. I want to go through that place with a damn magnifying glass. Check your tapes. Check everything. Josh gave a statement to the police. But I need to know if this was just some random punks looking for cash or if it’s something else.”
“What’s your gut telling you?” Charlie asked from across the table. It might have been a rhetorical question. As O.G., he’d been through this shit probably a dozen times over the last fifty or so years.
I didn’t like the look on Sly’s face. He rubbed his thumb across his chin. Dex sat like a stone wall beside him. The stakes were higher for both of them now. Dex had a wife and kid. Sly was just getting ready to settle down with Scarlett. Everyone else at this table except for me, Switch, and Angel had done the same. Those were our families out there. If the Great Wolves M.C. was about to get dragged down into the dirt, it would impact a hell of a lot more than the men at this table.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t like where my gut is on this right now. But I want to get out to Hurley’s get a feel.”
“What about the Hawks?” Dex said. “We know Kagan’s brother got sworn in as prez last year. They’re making a big show out of trying to go legit, but, you know, I don’t buy it. I don’t like what I’m hearing downtown. Word is, Brian Kagan’s got people trying to line the pockets of the leadership down near Sacramento. We need better intel on who’s connected to who. There’s an election coming up here in just a few months. It doesn’t feel right to me. There’s new blood coming in.”
“Yeah,” Sly said. “We had enough trouble with the old blood. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. What about shit down at the gym?” He turned to Curtis.
“No trouble,” he said. “Talked to the managers this morning. Nobody new has been hanging around. I checked with Grand City and the other charters. Nobody’s been messing with their fighters. Things are quiet.”
Sly pounded the table. “Fuck if I know if that’s good or bad. Let’s just ... stick with the plan for now. Keep everybody here this weekend. I’m not calling for a full lockdown. If anybody’s got shit to do, go do it. That goes for your families too. We’re cautious, not fucking scared. So keep your people close, but do what you gotta do.”
“You got it, Prez,” Angel said.
Sly closed the meeting. He shot a look to Angel and me. I felt a little torn. Brenna was alone upstairs. I didn’t want to spook her, but I damn sure didn’t want her going out without me or one of the probies right beside her. With this current shit, I knew Sly couldn’t afford to keep eyes on her old man. I’d have to rely on Susan’s neighbors to call something in if he showed up there. All I could do was make sure Brenna understood to watch her back.
“Come on,” Sly said. “Let’s get over to the s
hop and see what’s what.”
“Let me just …”
He put up a hand. “No,” he said. “There’s no time for that. Let Mo and Scarlett handle her. Ava’s on her way in from the hospital. Hopefully, she’ll have even more of an update on Josh. I’ll tell Scarlett to introduce her. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
Dammit. Once again, my prez knew right where my mind was. I opened my mouth to say something, but thought the better of it. He was right about something else. I needed to see what had happened to my bike shop.
Chapter Seventeen
Gunn
The good news was the shop was fine. Just a few busted-out windows on the ground floor. Broken glass littered the showroom floor. The bad news was Benny. Though I owned everything now, we kept Benny’s name on the sign. It was good branding, for one. People knew about Hurley’s all across the country. Plus, it mattered to Benny, and he was one of the best souls I knew.
Benny stood in the middle of the showroom, shoulders bent, tears rolling down his eyes. “Fifty years,” he said. “Not one break-in.”
Sly and I shared a glance. That wasn’t entirely true. Benny’d had his share of thieves over the years. But he was right that no one had ever done damage to the store like this.
“You have a chance to pull the cameras?” I asked him. Benny himself still lived in an apartment out back. I said a quiet prayer that whoever did this wasn’t looking to hurt him or that Benny managed to sleep through the whole thing. If he’d woken and come out here swinging his bat or his shotgun, I had a sinking feeling this day would have taken a much more tragic turn. It was bad enough his nephew Josh was lying in the hospital.
“Didn’t see anything more than what Josh told the cops,” he answered. “Black van. Windows and plates spray painted dark. Josh got the worst of it. The van sped off under its own power. But I’ve already put the word out to every chop-and-repair shop up and down the coast. Anything fitting that description or wearing a chunk of Josh’s chrome knows to get the word to me.”
“Good,” Sly said. He put a consoling arm around Benny’s shoulders. It lifted his spirits right away. Benny was smart enough to know things could be replaced. Josh would be up on his feet in a day or two. Whatever this was, it could have been a lot worse. Just ask Toby Barlow.
Sly, Angel, and I took the next two hours going through the inventory and rewatching the security footage. I’d had everything digitized a couple of years ago but the cops had already downloaded what they needed. As I watched it back, I felt Benny’s rage. This was no burglary attempt. It had been a drive-by. The van busted through the gate at the back of the property, slowed, and took two shots with a semi-automatic weapon to the front windows. Then it sped off, busting the gate at the front of the property. That’s what alerted Josh. He’d tried to get in the van’s way to slow it down but got sideswiped for his trouble.
“Jesus,” Sly said as we watched it for about the fifth time. Finally, I had to tear myself away. Rage turned my vision white. I had to keep my head. We all did.
“This wasn’t just some thugs,” Angel said, giving voice to what we were all thinking. “This wasn’t random. This was a message, Sly.”
We waited until Benny had gone back to his apartment before saying any of it. Of course, he was shrewd enough to know all this too, but he didn’t need to be part of club business.
“You think this is connected with what happened to Toby?” I was more thinking out loud, but somebody had to say it.
“Dammit, I don’t know,” Sly said. “What they did to Toby, carving his face up like that. It just feels different than this. But the timing, man … Just ... fuck.”
I wanted to punch something. I wanted to hurt someone. I ended up pacing the floor, kicking through the broken glass. It had been just this kind of shit that turned bad seven years ago. Only now, it was Josh lying in the hospital instead of Scotty in a pine box. But the vibe felt exactly the same.
“It’s fucking karma, that’s what it is,” I said. Once again, I was thinking out loud. Sly heard me though and came to me.
“Karma for what?”
I turned to him. I was afraid to say it. Almost afraid to feel it. Something good had just happened in my life. Now maybe it was time for me to pay for it.
“You think I don’t feel it too?” Sly said. “Jesus. I’m in the middle of planning a wedding. Everyone always asks Scarlett and me why we waited. Five years I’ve been with her. It’s taken five years for us both to feel like we have solid ground beneath us. If this is karma, Gunn, it’s mine. You’ve already paid enough.”
“Shit, man ... I didn’t mean …” Angel caught my eye over Sly’s shoulder. Fuck. I’d been selfish to think like I had. The weight of Sly’s president patch had to feel like an anvil.
“I don’t believe in karma,” Sly finally said, meeting my eyes. “Not like that. Not anymore. You deserve to be happy. And you need to stop beating yourself up over what happened to Scotty. I’ve told you before, that’s on me, if anyone. Not you.”
“Sly ... man …” He put a hand up.
“But I’m not gonna sugarcoat this shit for you or anyone else. I don’t know what’s coming. I just know it’s bad. We’ve been at peace for almost too long. People get complacent. Our enemies don’t. We can’t ever either. And I would never try to dictate the terms of your personal life, Gunn. I wouldn’t do it for you or anyone. But …”
But. The word hit me like a shotgun blast to the heart. It brought into focus everything I’d been thinking.
“This girl,” Sly continued. “It’s heavy with her, isn’t it?”
I squeezed my eyes shut and exhaled. I didn’t want to say it. I was afraid if I did, I’d tempt the same karma Sly didn’t want to believe in.
“Yeah,” Sly answered for me. “And I’m not asking you to throw her over for the club, Gunn. You know that. I just need you and everyone else at your sharpest and best. And believe me, I know the kind of hypocrite that makes me. It’s not like my own eyes weren’t clouded when Scarlett first came into my life. You of all people know that. I almost brought this club to war because I couldn’t see straight where she was concerned.”
“It worked out,” I said. “You’re meant to be with her. Scarlett’s perfect for you. She’s family now.”
“I know,” he said. He came forward and gripped my shoulder hard. “I just want you to think long and hard about your next move. That girl … Brenna ... she’s special. You don’t have to tell me why. But her family has already paid the heaviest price of all because of this club.”
I knew he was right. I’d known it from the second I stole a kiss from Brenna. She didn’t deserve the heat my club could bring. She’d already been burned by it before. Only now, I knew I might be in way too deep to turn back or protect her from what was to come.
Chapter Eighteen
Brenna
Friday melted into Saturday and Gunn never came back. He sent me a text apologizing up and down, but club business was going to keep him away until later in the evening.
“Do you mind if I catch a ride back to campus?” I asked in one of my responses. I stared at the blinking cursor, holding my breath for his answer.
“I’ll be back by this evening,” he answered. “Can we talk then?”
It wasn’t a straightforward yes or no, but I knew what it meant. Whatever was happening out there, he wanted me to stay here. I didn’t know how to feel about that. It brought back hard memories about things Scotty used to say to me.
Brenn, sometimes I may need you to do some things for me and I won’t be able to tell you why. If I do, you have to promise me you’ll listen. This isn’t older brother shit. It’s important.
Then there were all the other things Scotty used to tell me, and now Gunn did too. The Great Wolves weren’t what people thought. Things weren’t like how they used to be back in the seventies and eighties. The club was legit. Except that hadn’t stopped my brother from getting gunned down in the street when he was my age.
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br /> I put on a fresh t-shirt from Gunn’s drawer. Mo had taken the rest of my clothes and washed them for me last night. I found them neatly folded outside the door when I woke up. I heard loud voices and clanging pots. Then the enticing scent of fresh bacon wafted up from the kitchen. I ran my fingers through my hair to try and sort it out, then headed downstairs, not knowing what to expect.
What I found made my jaw drop. Mo MacGillivray was a short, round woman with a shock of orange hair. She waved a wooden spatula and ordered six huge, hulking bikers around the kitchen like a drill sergeant. Switch I’d met the other night. He had thick, black hair and a full beard. She had him on table-setting duty. He carried a stack of plates. I acted on instinct, wanting to make myself useful. I smiled up at Switch and took the top three plates from him.
“Curtis, go make sure Teague and Judd are up. Last I saw they fell asleep in their damn beers,” Mo shouted. Curtis gave her a little salute and headed out the double doors into the main bar.
Charlie Brogan sat in the corner of the kitchen in his own little breakfast nook. They’d put some money into this room. The long wooden table reminded me of one you might see in a medieval castle. It was heavy oak with twenty place settings on each side. Mo flipped pancakes on a griddle with expert precision. Her face turned purple when Dex walked by and caught one mid-flip. She pointed her spatula at him. He leaned down and pecked her on the cheek. Mo tried to keep her face hard, but I saw the twinkle in her eye. It was easy to see how much she loved these men. They were her life.
“Thanks for these,” I said, smoothing my hand down the front of my jeans. “You didn’t have to put yourself out. If you want to point me in the direction of the laundry room, I’d be happy to take over.”
Dex laughed. “Aw, hell, no,” he said. “Only thing Mo lords over more than her kitchen is her laundry room.”
She waved her spatula at him again. “Lucky for you, ya dirty dog. Look at that. Yer trackin’ mud all over my floor. Take your boots off at the door.” She pronounced mud as “mood.” Dex lifted a foot and scowled.
