Blade (Archer's Creek Book 3)

by Gemma Weir

  Puck laughs dryly. “That’s going to be because she doesn’t live an extravagant lifestyle. Her Facebook profile doesn’t have any photos of her out with friends or partying and the last time she was tagged in a picture with anyone else was nearly a year ago. She seems to live a quiet life and mainly it’s just her and her dog.”

  “What about a boyfriend or husband?” I ask.

  “Nope. I can’t find any indication of a relationship since Cue. I’ll keep digging, but in my opinion, she seems like an intelligent, motivated woman, who’s done well for herself,” Puck says, closing the folder in his hands and leaning back in his chair.

  “Any idea why she stayed in a hotel if she has a place in New York?” I ask, suspiciously.

  Puck smirks. “All of her property except for the house she lives in, are rented out and returning a tidy income.”

  Anders chuckles and raps his knuckles against the wood of his desk. “Both Dove and her sister are enterprising young women. We’re still no closer to understanding why Nikki ran, or why Jefferies told his family that she was dead. I think it’s safe to assume that Jefferies was abusive to his elder daughter too; maybe she just had enough and left?”

  I feel Daisy’s gaze on me and twisting my head to the side, I lock eyes with him for a moment and then return my attention to Anders. “Nikki got sent property info on some places in Archer’s Creek today while she was at Daisy’s new apartment. Her parents’ house was one of the available houses. She had a pretty strong reaction to seeing the pictures,” I say.

  Anders tips his head to the side, contemplatively. “Hmmm. What kind of reaction?”

  “Puked her guts up,” I say matter of factly.

  “Angel saw too. She was upset, but Nikki’s reaction was extreme. I don’t know what happened to her, but I’m willing to bet it wasn’t good,” Daisy says, his tone low and angry.

  “Where are they now?” Anders asks.

  “Shopping. Dino’s got eyes on them. Nikki and I had a chat. She told me she wasn’t gonna try to convince Angel to leave,” Daisy says.

  Anders twists in his chair. “And you believe her?”

  Daisy nods, blowing out a sigh. “I think I do. I don’t trust her yet, but she loves Angel, that’s obvious, and by the sounds of it she’s spent the last couple of years waiting. Angel wants her sister in her life and I need my woman to be happy. So at least for the moment, I’m gonna reserve judgment on her and hope for the best.”

  Clearing his throat, Puck speaks. “If she’s involved with anything she shouldn’t be, then I’ll find it, but it doesn’t seem that way.”

  Anders stands and braces his hands on his desk. “Okay. Puck, keep digging. Blade, back off Nikki for now. From what Puck’s found so far, it doesn’t seem like she’s got any skeletons that are gonna cause us problems. Daisy, I want eyes on Dove anytime she’s alone with Nikki,” Anders orders.

  Daisy nods. “I plan to. I’m not gonna give anyone the chance to fuck with my woman, and as much as I’m not as worried about Nikki, keeping Angel safe in my number one priority.”

  “Agreed,” Anders say with a decisive nod.

  One after the other we file out of Anders’ office. Puck lifts his chin at us then heads toward the exit. Daisy follows me and we both pull out stools at the bar and sit.

  Smoke’s working the bar and catching his attention, I beckon him over to us. “V.P. what can I get you?” Smoke asks.

  “Jack,” I grunt.

  Smoke grabs a glass and pours, then he turns to Daisy, his eyebrows lifting in question.

  “I’m good,” Daisy says. “Right, I’m gonna head back to the apartment and wait for Angel. I promised to take her to get a dog. We’ll be back here tonight,” Daisy says.

  “Alright man. Enjoy domestic bliss. I’ll be here with my Jack, and her.” I say pointing across the room at the woman in a short skirt and tight tank.

  Daisy pats me on the shoulder as he leaves. I lift my chin at him absently, my eyes not leaving the woman. Licking my lips, I tilt my head to the side as she sways to the music with Ali, one of the live-in club girls. It’s barely past lunch, so it seems a little early to be starting these flirty games, but I suppose it’s five o’clock somewhere.

  I catch the women’s eyes and they both smile seductively at me, then Ali steps away and the volume of the music increases. The other woman boldly turns to face me. She lifts her finger to her mouth and resting the pad on her lower lip, bites at her fingernail coquettishly. I smirk, twisting on my stool and resting my back against the wooden bar. Lifting my glass to my lips, I take a long gulp and the Jack burns at my throat. Ali moves behind the other woman and they start the faux lesbian seduction I’ve seen a hundred times before. They dance and grind against one another, hands touching and sliding along each other’s curves.

  Amused, I watch the show and slowly drink. The bar gradually fills around me, afternoon slides into evening and my biker brothers, club girls, and party goers arrive, ready for a good time. Ali and her friend eventually give up on amusing me and turn their attention to the other men in the room, but after several drinks I’m ready to be entertained again.

  Standing from my seat at the bar, I spot the woman from earlier and head across the room to where she and Ali are flirting with a group of men. I tap the woman on the shoulder and she turns, her lips twisted into an annoyed scowl. When her eyes fall to me, the scowl disappears, only to be replaced with an appreciative grin.

  Without a word, I holdout my hand and she immediately takes it. Turning, I lead her across the room and toward the dimly lit corridor that heads to the bedrooms. When we reach a corner, I stop and pull her into my chest. “I want your mouth around my cock.”

  Nodding eagerly, she sinks to the floor and immediately starts to unzip my jeans and search for my cock. Freeing me, she opens her mouth wide and swallows as much of me as she can, her tongue running along my length as she bobs enthusiastically up and down on my dick.

  “Fuck, yeah, that’s it. Take it all, I want to hear you gag,” I say, my hands tangling in her dark hair.

  Obediently, she pushes her face into my crotch, feeding more of my cock into her mouth until I hit the back of her throat and she gags at the intrusion. I expect her to pull back, but instead she does it again and again, deep-throating me until her eyes are watering and saliva is running down her chin. “I’m gonna come. If you don’t wanna swallow I suggest you move.”

  Looking up at me she pulls back, and I expect her to wrap her hands around my dick, but instead she opens her mouth wide and curves her tongue, then she jerks at my dick with her hands until I blow my load into her mouth. The liquid pools on her tongue and she looks up, her eyes locking with mine as she closes her mouth and swallows.

  Her eyes lower and leaning forward she licks every trace of cum from my cock and then rolls back onto her heels and stands up. “I want you in my ass,” she declares, hiking her skirt up over her hips to reveal her naked pussy.

  I stare at her. My balls are empty but I don’t feel any more satisfied because of it. I want to feel something, anything, for this woman. But I don’t. I could bend her over and fuck her, but at the end, I still wouldn’t feel anything other than emptiness. “Not tonight.”

  She pouts, and I lean forward and place a kiss against her forehead. “Go back to the bar and find yourself someone else, or, you can stay here, skirt around your hips, hands against the wall and I’ll send someone else in here to fuck your ass until you scream.”

  Nodding enthusiastically, she immediately turns to face the wall. Shaking my head with disbelief, I push my cock back into my jeans and zip them up. I head back into the bar and spot Puck on one of the couches. I cross the room until I’m at his side. “There’s a bitch in the corridor, face to the wall, skirt around her hips, desperate for someone to fuck her in the ass. Obedient, seems like just your type. Her lips have been on my cock, but I’ve not touched her.”

  “That would be Maz. I’ll go look after her,” Puck says with a wink
, rising from his seat.

  I watch him walk away, then scan the room. Same people, same party, night after night. When my eyes fall on Daisy, Dove, and Nikki, my heart stutters in my chest and my feet are moving without my volition.

  “Brother,” I say, clapping Daisy on the shoulder. Leaning down, I kiss Dove on the cheek. “Little Dove.” Then I turn my attention to Nikki. She’s still in the same clothes as earlier and despite the bravado that emanates from her, she looks uncomfortable. “Duchess, I’m surprised to see you here. I didn’t think you wanted to have anything to do with the Sinners.”

  Nikki scowls at me, opening her mouth to speak, but Dove interrupts her. “Nikki, Grits is here. Come on, you can meet her properly, and I can introduce her to Cedric.”

  Nikki’s face instantly softens, and she smiles at her sister. “Sure, let’s go say hello.” She lifts her eyes to me again. They narrow into an angry glare and she mouths the words, “Fuck You.” Then she follows her sister across the bar to where Grits is sitting with Anders.

  I laugh. I can’t help it. Nikki is so openly hostile to me, I almost want to keep aggravating her just to see what will happen next. My eyes follow the sway of her ass, and the way each step she takes is sexier than the one before. Every man in the place watches her and even the women clear a path through the crowd for her. Her aura screams ‘get away from me’ but after only a couple hours I can see there’s more to her than meets the eye. She’s a fucking millionaire for one. I never saw that coming. Not that it makes a difference. I have plenty of money; not as much as her, but enough to live comfortably for the foreseeable future.

  Nikki Coleman, my Duchess, is an angry little enigma, but she has one hell of an ass.

  How the hell have I ended up at the Sinners clubhouse again? I swear my plan was to avoid the bikers apart from Daisy, but my sister was so insistent, and when she turns her puppy dog eyes on me, resistance really is futile.

  Shopping with Dove had been great. We’d got loads of stuff for her new apartment and she’d even let me treat her to a couple new dresses from a little store we’d passed on the way to the hardware store. It was the best afternoon I’ve had in years.

  I try to think when the last time I had any girly fun was, and it dawns on me that it’s been well over six months since I’ve seen my closest girlfriend and ex-roomie Erica. I’d forgotten what it felt like to shop anywhere other than the internet.

  When our arms were full of bags and we’d done all the shopping we could manage in small town Archer’s Creek, we’d gone back to her and Daisy’s apartment and eaten subs we’d grabbed for lunch. Daisy had been there waiting for her, and he’d grabbed the bags from her arms the moment we walked through the door and kissed her senseless, like it had been a year since he’d seen her, not a couple hours.

  I can see how she fell in love with him so easily. They really are an incredibly sweet couple and the badass biker becomes a total softie around my sister. Spending time with them both has confirmed that she’s happy, and although my stomach still twinges with regret that I didn’t come back earlier, I’m also gratified that she’s met a guy who is so obviously obsessed with her.

  They insisted I went with them to the rescue place while my sister picked out a dog, and for a moment I felt a part of her life again. I’ve stood at a distance for two years and to finally be allowed to step back into her world was amazing. Dove picked out a ball of fluff puppy that had been abandoned in a garbage sack at the side of the road. The white cotton wool ball had huge eyes that were full of fear until my sister carefully lifted him into her arms and lovingly held him to her chest.

  Both Daisy and I had watched as the little dog nestled against her and fell asleep. I’d watched in astonished humor when Dove had immediately turned her wide innocent eyes on her man, who had smiled and signed the adoption paperwork while my sister cooed over her new fur baby.

  Dove had christened the puppy Cedric, and Daisy had ridden in the front of my car while she’d cuddled with the puppy in the back. It had taken all of my concentration to keep my eyes on the road rather than watch as Daisy stared lovingly at my sister in the back seat.

  When we’d gotten back to their apartment I’d planned to say goodbye and go home, but Dove was not going to let that happen. “Come to the club with us,” she’d begged, and once again I’d been useless to argue. So with my sister in my car, Cedric asleep in her lap, and Daisy following behind us on his bike, I’d dropped Jock off at home and then we’d all come to the Sinners’ clubhouse.

  “Nikki,” Grits says with a tight smile, as my sister introduces us again.

  “Hi, nice to meet you again.” I say cautiously, cringing as I remember how much of a bitch I was to these people only a few hours ago. “I’m sorry about this morning; no real excuse but I was a little stressed.”

  Grits arches an eyebrow at me and lifts one side of her mouth into a sardonic smile. I feel the blush of embarrassment stain my cheeks. Grits smile softens, and she moves along the couch to allow us space to sit down.

  “Weird day, huh?” Grits says, her legs crossed at the knee as she leans across to speak to me.

  I scoff. “Yeah, just a little.”

  “I’m sorry about your parents,” she says, her eyes watching me carefully.

  “I’m not. Couldn’t happen to two more deserving people,” I snap back, my hackles rising.

  Grits face splits into a breathtaking smile and then she throws her head back and laughs. “I think we’re going to get on just fine, me and you,” she says, resting a hand on my thigh and squeezing briefly, before she reaches forward and snags her drink from the table.

  “You girls want drinks?” Anders, the club president asks us.

  “Soda please,” my sister answers.

  Anders turns his assessing eyes on me. “Beer please,” I say.

  “So, tell me a bit about yourself, Nikki,” Grits says.

  I scowl, and Grits rolls her eyes at me. “I’m not looking for deep and dark shit, honey. But your Little Dove’s sister and I want to get to know you a bit better, that’s all.”

  Exhaling, some of the tension leaks from my shoulders. “Err, I’m twenty-four. I’m an investment banker, and I have a Scottish Terrier called Jock,” I say, unsure what else she wants to know.

  “You got a man?”

  “No,” I say, shaking my head.

  “Why not? You’re a beautiful girl, just like your sister.”

  “Err, just not a priority at the moment,” I offer dismissively.

  Anders reappears and hands me a cold bottle of beer. “Thank you,” I say, taking it and offering him a small smile. He sinks down onto the couch next to Grits and drapes his arm along the back of the seat, absentmindedly playing with her hair.

  Grits twists to look at Anders. “Me and Nikki are just getting to know each other a little better.”

  Anders nods and his gaze finds mine. “How you doing now?”

  “I’m fine thanks. I’m sorry about this morning.”

  Anders shrugs and waves off my apology. “You didn’t know what you were walking into, no harm.”

  “Guys, did you see the puppy that Daisy got for me?” My sister says, lifting Cedric into the air to show them.

  Both Grits and Anders smile at my sister indulgently like proud parents. As I watch them, all of the air sticks in my lungs. Is this what it looks like to be cared for by people who have no agenda? I have no idea. I wrack my brain for a happy memory, but as far back as I can remember, my father always had a perpetual scowl on his face and my mother always looked terrified. This was way before we moved to Archer’s Creek, way before my father decided to use me as a punching bag. My parents, the people who were supposed to love me unconditionally, the ones who were supposed to look at their children the way Grits and Anders are looking at my sister right now, had always been indifferent, bitter or fearful.

  The revelation shouldn’t shock me, but it does. I have no idea why realizing that my parents really never gave a crap abou
t me would surprise me, but seeing how much these people care for Dove, has just highlighted how empty our parents truly were.

  Am I like that? When I look at my sister, I know that she is literally the only person in the world I truly love, but does she know that, or am I just as empty as my parents were?

  “He’s adorable,” Grits says, scooping the pup from my sister and into her lap. “Nikki, what did you think of Dove’s new place?”

  Grits question forces me from my inner turmoil and I mentally slap myself. I love Dove and I’m not empty inside; I’m nothing like my parents. I turn my attention to Grits and force a smile onto my lips. “It’s a great place, lots of natural light and in a great location.”

  Grits nods. “It’s the perfect first home for them.”

  My smile becomes genuine when I think about the happiness on Dove’s face when she had shown me around and some of the tension leaves my shoulders. “It is. I’m happy for them,” I say, and I’m surprised to find that I really mean it. I’m genuinely happy for my sister.

  “So what did you say you do for work?” Grits asks.

  “I do wealth management. Stocks and shares, that kind of thing,” I say, shrugging my shoulders nonchalantly.

  “Is there a lot of call for that kind of thing round here?” Grits asks probingly.

  “I do okay. Most of my clients are from out of state, but I can work remotely from anywhere as long as I have my cell, my laptop, and WiFi.”

  “Huh, so you were serious about moving back to Archer’s Creek?” Anders asks, leaning forward slightly.

  “Dove’s here,” I say, like it’s the most obvious answer in the world. “Actually, that’s just reminded me that I need to call my realtor and arrange to go view a house tomorrow.” Standing from my seat I pull my cell from my pocket and lift it into the air. “I’m just gonna step outside and call Trish,” I say, turning to speak to Dove.

  Dove nods and I quickly offer Grits and Anders a small smile before I shuffle out from the couch and head for the door we came in through. Exiting the clubhouse, I pull in a lungful of fresh evening air. I don’t expect these people to understand why I’m here. If I were to try to explain, it would probably sound insane, but despite the niceties they’re offering me, the mistrust from them is so thick I can feel it in the air.