Inflamed: A Shadow Riders MC

by Kiki Leach

  Chapter Eighteen

  River threw a hand into Tiny's back and shoved him out the door of the club. Even after they reached the parking lot, he kept shoving a hand into him, hitting him harder and harder each time until the man tripped over his own feet and damn near hit the ground.

  He spun around then, and got in River's face, stepping up so close he could feel his goddamn breath blowing straight into his mouth. He smirked, then took a few steps back and pulled a cigarette from the inside of his cut and shoved it between his lips.

  "That was good, motherfucker," said Tiny. "Real, real fuckin' good."

  "What the fuck are you talkin' about, asshole?"

  "Makin' her think you really give a shit about her kid walkin' in on me gettin' sucked off. Lil piss shoulda kept her ass in the fuckin' bed."

  "She had to go and take a fuckin’ piss in the goddamn bathroom, asshole."

  He shrugged. "Sounded to me like she couldn't make it there first." He chuckled and threw a flame over the tip of the cigarette. He inhaled quickly and tilted his head back to blow out the smoke. "You think after that goddamn defense that her mama’ll be willin' to fuck you somethin’ serious now?"

  River threw his hands into Tiny's chest, grabbed onto his cut and jacked him up. Tiny nearly dropped his cigarette, then turned the lit tip toward River's leg, ready to jam it right into his thigh. Even as River felt the heat getting to him through his jeans, he stood firm. But when he couldn't take much more, he shoved Tiny back into his own goddamn bike so hard that it knocked both him and his bike to the motherfucking ground.

  Tiny laughed and rolled over to his knees. He shoved his palms into the ground and forced himself back up to his feet. He reached down for his now wet cigarette as it had fallen in a puddle of water, and shoved it back between his lips despite the burned out flame.

  "We'll settle this eventually, motherfucker," he said. "In the meantime, why don't you go and make sure your girl hasn't flown the goddamn coop."

  "That's what this shit was about," replied River. "You tryin' to get her the fuck outta here despite knowin' that we need her--"

  "No we DON'T need her, asshole, we never fuckin’ did which is the shit you don’t seem to be gettin’. Your cock might be in need of her pussy, but that's about fuckin' it." Tiny looked behind him and leered. "‘Sides, even if I tried gettin' her the fuck out, you think after that you could actually get that bitch and her kid to fuckin' stay?"

  His smile grew just as River turned to see Mia and Avery standing in the doorway of the club and holding hands, while the strap of her purse was hanging in the other.

  River glanced back at Tiny. "I'll deal with you later."

  "Yeah, whatever, asshole." Tiny reached down for his bike and tried lifting it from the ground.

  River headed over to Mia and Avery, who stared up at him with tears in her eyes. "She alright?" he asked Mia.

  "No, she's not alright," she snapped. "She just walked in on one of your club members getting a blow job. She's downright traumatized just like I would be if I had walked in on the exact same thing. Hell, she might even need therapy after seeing that--"

  River raised his hands to her in a defensive manner and shut his eyes. "Calm down here, alright? Ain't nobody gonna need any goddamn therapy. Look." He shuffled around her and moved back into the club. And when he looked over at the bar, he saw a set of bags sitting on the bar stools. He spun around to Mia and made a face. "You plan on goin' someplace?"

  She lifted the strap of her purse up on her arm and nodded. "I can't stay here anymore, she can't stay here anymore -- We cannot stay here anymore, I'm sorry--"

  "Babe--"

  "No, don't. I knew this was a bad idea from the very beginning and I told you that. I tried to adapt to it for the sake of my kid and for our safety, I tried, I really did. But a few days around here is all I can take."

  Verna peeked her head around the corner at them and hissed. "Cab's on its way," she said.

  "You called yourself up a goddamn cab?" asked River.

  "Styx told me that you screwed with the wires and my car engine to keep me from going anywhere else, so it’s not like I had that much of a choice,” she said.

  “Asshole,” he muttered.

  Mia moved her hands up to Avery's ears and sneered. “And this place, as it is, may as well have a sign out front that reads ‘Pussy Eating Playground and Shit Hole’ instead of what’s out there now. So yes, I called myself a cab," she said under her breath.

  "Jesus -- Look." He waved over at Verna and pointed toward Avery. "Can you take her back into the bedroom and stay with her while I talk to Mia out here. And cancel that goddamn cab."

  "Don't cancel the cab," hollered Mia.

  "CANCEL the goddamn cab." River glared at her, then shifted his eyes down to Avery and sighed. "Just come and take her."

  "Sure," said Verna. She wiggled her fingers at Avery and smiled. "Come on, honey."

  Avery looked up at Mia for approval, who stared up at River and glared. "It's okay," she finally said, gently releasing her daughter's hand.

  She raced over to Verna and once they left the room, River wrapped his hand around Mia's arm and guided her over to the couch. He had always been somewhat of a grabby motherfucker when it came to shuffling people around, but for some reason, he seemed to like grabbing this bitch more than anybody else before. They each sat down and landed so close to each other, but neither of them realized just how close it was until the back of their hands brushed against each other. River's cock started to twitch and he wanted to pull back. The thoughts that were racing throughout his mind as he stared at her hand of all goddamn things consisted of sliding his own hand up inside her shirt, wrapping it around her breast and shoving her back into the couch to make her his. He still wanted to own this bitch, every single fucking part of her with the goddamn help of every single part of himself.

  And when he saw the way she stared up at him, with some kind of heavy, drunk look filling up those soft grey eyes while her tits swelled and her nipples pressed against her shirt as if she would've fucking let him have her in any way that he goddamn pleased, he wanted that shit that much more.

  He pulled himself together, just barely, and balled his fists. He rested them on his knees and exhaled. "I can't let you leave this club, darlin'."

  "I'll give you what you need from me, okay?" she said. His head turned and she sat back. "I’ll give you the cloth along with any information. I'll tell you everything else that I know about Ricky, but I can't keep staying here. Not after what happened tonight, River, I can't risk my child walking in on something like that again."

  "I know," he told her in a hard voice, one so deep and gruffly intense that it damn near sent them both reeling and straight into each other. He dragged his hand down his face to keep from grabbing at any part of her again and tapped his fingers against his forehead. "Tiny's always been a sick motherfucker," he said. "Can't keep the shit in his pants for more than a goddamn day when it comes to certain bitches around here. Your kid shouldn't have had to walk in on that shit -- nobody should have to walk in on that shit."

  "No kidding." She dropped the strap of her purse from her shoulder and slumped back against the head of the couch.

  River whipped his head around to stare at her and nodded. "Tell me about Ricky," he said.

  She made a face. "What?"

  "How'd the fuck did you two even meet?"

  "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

  He threw up his hands. "Fuckin' enlighten me."

  Mia crossed one leg over the other and wagged her foot. "We met at church."

  He arched his brows. "No shit?"

  "Nooo. Shit. He started coming there a lot. He knew one of the deacons or something and every Sunday he would come at the exact same time, just two minutes before the service started. And I knew this, or at least found it out, because I started to calculate it." She grinned. "And each time, he would sit in the row directly behind my mother, who was always on the first row."


  "Where'd you sit?"

  "I was in the choir so I always sat behind the pulpit," she said.

  "You sing?"

  "Yes -- no." She laughed. "I'm not very good at it. But I was involved, which is what my parents wanted, and that was a way to get me there. Anyway, I would see Ricky every Sunday and would think to myself, wow, this guy is really nice looking and he dresses well. I mean, he was in his early twenties and dressed better than my own dad when he wasn't at church. He'd come in a limo and he'd leave in a Jaguar." She shook her head, remembering back on that time and still remaining in disbelief. "It was just fascinating to me at the time, you know? We weren't completely destitute despite the financial issues from the money he put into the church, but the life Ricky presented was one I sort of admired."

  River nodded. "How'd the fuck you get caught up with him?"

  She smiled. "He asked me out one day when I was leaving choir practice. He literally followed me down the street in a limo and I was both flattered and embarrassed as hell. I couldn't say no to that, so I didn't. But aside from the blessing that was Avery, climbing inside that limo with Ricky Fontaine was probably one of the worst mistakes of my entire life."

  "'Cause that shit led you here, and to me, twice."

  "No." She turned her eyes down toward her lap and entwined her fingers. "I think that everything that happens, happens with a purpose or a reason. I feel like my getting involved with him was a mistake, but at the same time, maybe it's something that needed to happen. Maybe not just to bring me here, or to you, but maybe there's something bigger."

  He smirked. "Just how big are we talkin'?"

  She opened her mouth to speak, then stopped and smiled at him instead.

  He turned on the couch and rested his hand between them on the leather. "Where the fuck do you think you'd go if you left here?" he asked her, his voice low, rough.

  She tightened her leg over the other, sucked down on her bottom lip and deeply, deeply sighed. "I don't know--"

  "I can't protect you outside of this club, darlin'. I need you with me at all fuckin' times to know that you and your kid are gonna be safe. And to know that I'm gonna get what I need from you."

  "I'll give it up to you without a fight," she said. "Besides, you weren't here with me last night," she retorted.

  He thought a minute and bobbed his head. "Yeah. But my boys were."

  "They could come with me somewhere else--"

  "No, doll," he replied, his response firm and tense. “No.”

  "Well, what about the necklace?" she asked. "Wasn't the point of that to--"

  "Know where you are at all fuckin' times. But I didn't give you that shit just so you could go runnin' off into the goddamn night with it and land God knows where."

  Mia looked up at him with soft eyes and rolled her tongue across and between her lips. The more he stared at them, shit, the more he wanted to know just how the fuck that twitching cock of his would feel right between them.

  "Okay. So if you need me around that much, and you're not willing to let me go anywhere else, then... what's your solution to this very real problem that we now have?"

  River fell back against the couch and leaned against her. His eyes trailed from her face, down to her tits, around her hips and down her legs. He dragged his hand down his face again, took a deep breath in and stared across the room. "I want you to move in with me," he mumbled. When he felt her pulling back, he arched a brow and snapped his head back in her direction.

  Her mouth fell open and she released a light chuckle. "Are you serious?" she asked. "I mean... are you serious?"

  He frowned and silently started to question himself. "Yeah, babe, I think I am," he said. "I ain't never lived with anybody else aside from my daughter and my mother, but I can't..." He swallowed hard and stared down between them. "The closer you are to me, the easier it is for me to help you, and for me to help my club."

  "So you want me and Avery to move in with you?"

  "I've got a four bedroom house," he said. "Shit's not much, but, it's livable. I've got one room, my mother's got another, and Madison's got one for herself, though she'll be leavin' it behind soon. There's another room back there and you'd never have to worry about your girl seein' the shit she had to see here with Tiny tonight--"

  "What about your friend?" she interjected.

  He appeared confused. "What?"

  "Your friend, the one that Tiny was talking about that you were with. The one I saw here when I came to you for help."

  He breathed in deep. "Oh. Yeah, uh... that's not some shit you've gotta worry about, alright? Whatever the fuck happens with her, I'll keep that shit in the club and outta the house."

  Mia nodded and wrapped her hands around her knees. "So... where exactly does she fall on that scale of club women for you? Just out of curiosity."

  He stared at her for a long while and then chuckled. "I don't fuckin' know about that just yet."

  "Hm." She dropped her head and brushed her fingers back and forth across the back of her thumb. "Well, if you're willing to put up with me and my child, then sure, I'll move in with you. Not that you're giving me much of a choice in the matter but--"

  "Nope."

  She leaned into him and pressed her arm against his. And he just went fucking stiff. "Thank you," she said. "I know that me coming back here and asking for your help has been a lot for you and your club to deal with, but--"

  "Not that fuckin' bad compared to the shit we've been through before."

  "Maybe, but it's nothing like I've ever been though before. And as much as you may not even realize it or think that you're doing it, you've made the transition somewhat easier." He turned to her and without even realizing it, found himself leaning in. Her eyes closed and she swallowed hard. "So again, thank you for that," she told him, her voice soft, weak, ripe with the same goddamn desire that he could feel coursing throughout his own goddamn fucking veins.

  "Yeah, doll." Jesus, he wanted this bitch, and it wasn't just his goddamn cock that was aching for her this time either.

  Mia pulled her bottom lip into her mouth, then stared directly at his lips. "I'm going to go and tell Avery that we're moving again."

  "Yeah." He exhaled, then closed his mouth quick and locked his jaw. "I'll call up my mother and let her know what's up for tonight, have her get the room ready for you and your girl."

  "Thanks."

  As she reached for her purse and got up from the couch, she passed in front of him. And it took every goddamn thing he had inside to keep from wrapping himself around every goddamn inch of her body.

  He bent forward, rested his elbows on his knees and cracked his knuckles.

  Jesus Christ, he thought. What in the fuck have I done?

  He had just done a whole hell of a lot. A whole goddamn hell of a lot that was never meant to be a part of his initial fucking plan.

  Chapter Nineteen

  "Motherfucker, motherfucker." Blue stepped up behind River on the deck just outside of his patio and smacked him hard on the back. River peeked over his shoulder at him and grimaced. "Motherfucker," he said again.

  It was the day of the auction that was meant to take place at River's house, and as Mia, Madison, Verna and Jolene worked together to figure out how best to price her furniture for the people around the area, he manned the grill.

  "You are one slick, slick son of a bitch, you know that?" Blue grabbed a beer from a cooler situated behind him, popped the cap and chugged it back.

  "What the fuck are you talkin' about, asshole?" River muttered.

  "I'm talkin' about Mia." He turned to the opposite end of the yard and watched as she bent over to pick something up off the ground. "Mm. Mm. Mm," he said. "A perfect round ass with a sweet fuckin' pussy like that to match should not be goin' to waste on a sour, oversized cock like yours, yeah?" He lifted a brow and glared at his best friend, who kept his head down if only to keep himself from rolling around and drop kicking him into the middle of the goddamn earth. "But I guess
that's why she's here."

  "What?"

  "Easy access to her pussy, right? That's why you finally moved her in. I knew that shit would happen eventually despite you protestin' it before, and I feel you, brother. That shit was smart."

  River whirled away from the grill and pointed the metal spatula in his best friend's face. Blue pulled his head back and soured. "I moved her in here so that her kid wouldn't have to walk in on any more of that shit with Tiny at the goddamn club--"

  "Oh right, yeah, that shit with Tiny at the goddamn club." He grinned and disbelievingly rolled his eyes. "Heard from Wolf that motherfucker was with LuAnn again. How'd the fuck she even manage to sneak in there without anybody knowin' even as we all left?"

  River shrugged and turned back to the grill to flip his steaks and burgers as they sizzled. "I don't fuckin' know."

  "Hm." Blue turned back to Mia, then cut his eyes over to Avery, who was sitting at a popup table near the fence and working inside what looked like a coloring book with another kid that Blue assumed had been from around the neighborhood, given that he had never seen her before. And if a random kid was around someplace that he had never seen before, chances were that the kid's mother was nearby too; which meant fresh, un-pounded pussy. "So how the hell's your girl fittin' in, bein' here with you and your kid and your mother? You all one big happy family havin' Sunday dinners and shit now or what?"

  "It's only been a few goddamn days," he said.

  "Just a few goddamn days, huh?" He glanced over at her again. "Looks like your mother really took a real likin' to her, just like I thought. Madi too."

  "Yeah." He groaned.

  "That's a good fuckin' thing, asshole. 'Specially considerin' the kinda, uh, person, your mother can be when it comes to bein' around these new club bitches. Though I'm guessin' your girl doesn't exactly qualify as one just yet. Unless..." He took another swig of his beer and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "You get a look-see at those pretty brown titties yet?"

  "Jesus."

  "I'm only askin' 'cause I know it's what you want, asshole." He dropped back against a table and chuckled as he folded his arms. "I saw Snake and Miranda inside, but when's everybody else showin' up? The boys and the Dragons and the rest?"