Inflamed: A Shadow Riders MC

by Kiki Leach

  He grunted again once I was pressed against the wall, once his body was completely shoved against mine, though the sound was much softer this time, more arousing; and as my fingers moved up into his thick head of hair, his fingers brushed against me and dug deeply into my skin. I whimpered as my skin grew hot against his; just his touch made me feel as if I was boiling. His arm dipped even lower around me and when I felt the brush of his thick, solid rod against my inner thigh, that's when I closed my eyes and completely inhaled him. I inhaled every ounce of his scent that I could in one intake of air, and that's when I knew that this man was mine, all mine, no matter who he had before me, no matter who he thought to have after, if anyone; whether he knew it or not, whether he was willing to accept it or not, he was mine. Just as much as I knew without a single word of confirmation that I was his; completely, fully, wholly, entirely and incredibly his.

  When he finally pulled back from me, though it didn't seem as if it was what he had wanted to do, I looked up at him and it was like staring up into the eyes of an abyss. I was sucked in, completely sucked into them, into him, and there was no way in hell that I was going to search for a way to dig myself out of it.

  He brushed my hair behind me and dropped his hand to the side of my throat, directly against my pulse. "You good?" he asked me in a whisper.

  I blinked a few times before finally opening my mouth to respond to him. "Yeah, I'm good," I said, though my voice was so low, I wasn't sure if he could actually hear me.

  "Good." He brushed his thumb across my cheek before quickly pulling back. "The whole reason I came in here was to tell you that, um, the Dragons are comin' in tomorrow mornin' ahead of the Orlando and Miami charters instead of tonight. And I think it's probably best to have Wolf and Blue at my side to talk with the Prez and VP of each camp. I shouldn't have thought to bring you into this shit."

  "It's okay," I said. "I'm glad that you were willing to even tell me about it. I know that you weren't supposed to--"

  "No, darlin', I wasn't."

  "But like I said, I'm glad that you did. It shows me a lot and I appreciate that, and respect it.”

  His chest descended as he exhaled. His eyes went down to my breasts and for the first time that day, I wasn't eager to cover them up. I wanted his eyes on me like before, I wanted them all over me, like his hands. God, I wanted his hands all over me, embracing every warm inch of my skin.

  "Why don't I take this shit back out there for ya?" He reached for the bowl of potato salad and held it tight inside his hands. "You come back out there when you're ready again, yeah?"

  "Okay."

  Within a split second, he was gone and before I knew it, I was alone again; and in the silence I could hear my heart pounding even harder and louder than before, like the sound of a gong banging against my ribs.

  Who the hell knew that an embrace, a simple wrapping of your arms around someone else's entire body, could be so unbelievably stimulating and sexy? I didn't know that feeling, had never felt it before until him, until I saw him again, but now it was official. No matter who came into my life after, there would never be another man like Jacob 'River' Hawkins who could take my breath, and my panties away with just one single look.

  And no matter how he managed to make me feel in between all of those times, I knew that overall I was absolutely, positively and completely okay with that fact.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  River sat back on his deck alone, drinking a beer and staring off into the distance. It was early evening and everyone with the exception of Blue, had already gone home, taking their 'junk' with them and leaving the cash for Mia in a jar that Blue had locked up in a cabinet located in River's basement. Most of that time he had spent after being with her in the kitchen, even as everyone else was still around him, was spent thinking. He couldn't seem to keep his mind on anything else but her and how good it fucking felt to be wrapped up in all of that, in all of her goddamn, motherfucking sweetness.

  Jesus, how long had it been since he had wrapped his arms and hands around a woman like that, a woman that he knew he shouldn't? A woman that he would've gladly fucked right out in the goddamn open no matter who the fuck had come around to see? A woman he wanted to be so goddamn deep inside at that point that even his cock was starting to feel pain from it. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he had never wrapped his arms around a woman like that, never felt like he did as she slinked her hands around his throat and up into his hair, and curved her body into his and shit… it was like they belonged together, so goddamn perfectly molded into each other like they were one.

  That motherfucker didn't know what the hell to think anymore, didn't know how to fucking feel. For so goddamn long he had told himself that she was the enemy; people who looked like her had no goddamn business being with motherfuckers who looked, walked, talked or acted like him. He knew that shit stemmed back to his mother, to those two black motherfuckers who fucked her up and left her for dead on the side of that road. And somewhere deep inside himself, he knew it was wrong to feel that way about every goddamn motherfucker who looked like them, but he couldn't help himself. Then again, he had never tried to feel any differently – never tried to think it; he never tried to wonder what life would be like with the shoe on the other goddamn foot. Not until now. Not until her.

  Because from the moment she walked in, she fucked up his entire goddamn world; blew it to fucking bits. This woman. Mia Marie Sullivan. She fucked him up the second they locked eyes. The second he got a good long look at that face and her fucking smile and those goddamn legs and fucking tits with hard as fuck nipples that he wanted to wrap his lips and teeth and tongue around. She came in and everything he ever thought he knew about people like her, about his own goddamn self-changed; everything he had ever forced himself to feel or believe or find truth in over the years was suddenly fading away, fading so far off into the goddamn distance that he could no longer see it, and he didn't know how the hell to react to that shit, he wasn't prepared for it. He had generalized for so goddamn long because of something he couldn't control, and now it was like that shit was coming back to bite him on the ass and bite him hard enough to leave marks that he could never rid himself of.

  But the crazy thing about it -- the crazy shit about it, was that the motherfucker liked being bitten. In fact, he was starting to like it a little too goddamn much, and too fucking often.

  "Yo, VP."

  River took one last gulp of beer, then sat his bottle back down onto the table and groaned. He peeked behind him and saw Blue standing in the doorway of the patio. "What?"

  "You gotta guest," he said, with heavy emphasis leaning on the last word.

  "Somebody that decided to stick around?"

  "No, motherfucker, somebody else that decided to show up. It's your bitch from the other night."

  "Shit." He slammed his hand down on the table and jumped up.

  "Be cool with her, Riv," said Blue, his tone now becoming one of deep concern. "She looks like she's been pretty messed up."

  "How messed up?"

  "Like somebody fucked her up somethin' good, brother."

  "Christ." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Mia and Madison still over at Meghan's with Jolene and the kids?"

  "Yeah, they're still over there."

  "Alright, keep a look out for 'em. Make sure everything's good and then I'll do what I can to get rid of this bitch and have Styx or some shit take her home."

  "Alright."

  As they both reentered the house, Blue stopped and turned back to River after spotting Courtney sitting alone on the couch. They looked at one another, then turned their eyes back over to her. She looked as if she hadn't bathed, her hair was a goddamn mess and wild all over her head. The hem of her dress was ripped in half with parts of it covered in blood, though it didn't look as if any of it had belonged to her. Her normally white skin had spots of what looked like the start of bruises and her eyes were so goddamn bloodshot that neither of them could actually ev
en remember the true color of her irises.

  "Fuck," muttered River. "You go take care of what I asked and I'll deal with this shit here."

  "Yeah, VP." He nodded at Courtney. "Darlin'."

  She smiled and threw her hand up at him to wave as he left.

  River moved over to the couch and hesitantly sat down on the coffee table in front of her. He brushed the hair from her face and shook his head. "Jesus. What the fuck happened to you?"

  She sat up straight and smiled wide. "I, um... I went to visit somebody this morning and, um..." She stopped and wiped her nose. “It didn’t go so well.”

  "Who the fuck did you go and see?"

  "My brother."

  "Is your brother the one who did this shit to you?"

  She nodded. "He's in jail," she told him. "Prison, actually. They have him locked up in some kind of solitary unit which means that he doesn't get that much outside contact. Not that many people would go and visit him anyway. Not even our parents.”

  "Why'd the fuck he do this shit to you?" asked River.

  "Because he could,” she told him. “I'm the only person that he ever wants to see. When I was getting ready to go up there, he called me beforehand which is something that he never does, and told me what to wear."

  "Why in the fuck was he tellin' you what the hell to put on just so that you could go up there and see him?"

  "Because he's a control freak." She grinned. "I just never thought that kind of thing would extend to me."

  "Why not?"

  "Because he always said he'd take care of me," she told him. "I'm his baby sister." She turned from him and breathed in deeply. "When I got up there..." She stopped to wipe a fallen tear and dropped her head. "When I got up there, they took me to him. And he looked so handsome like I had never seen him before with his hair slicked back and a smile so wide... He looked like the Don Corleone of prison inmates." She paused. "And then he hugged me. He brought me into this giant bear hug, the kind I hadn't gotten from him since I was a kid, and I felt so safe and happy with him... But then he started saying things to me, started telling me things regarding what he had heard from people that he knew on the outside... and then he started moving his hands around on my body and I didn't feel so safe with him anymore--"

  River sat back and dropped his hands to his lap. "Jesus."

  She wiped away another tear. "He shoved a hand inside my dress and that's when I kicked him off of me. But he didn't like that too much."

  "Nobody inside the entire goddamn place came to help you out when this motherfucker started losin' his absolute shit on you?"

  "He's got that entire place wrapped around his finger. Any scream from me, any cry for help was gonna go unnoticed. It wasn't until I picked something up and cut him across the face that they came in."

  "You go to the hospital or some shit?" he asked her.

  She rattled her head. "This was the first place I came."

  "Why?"

  She turned her eyes back up to his and exhaled. "Because my brother's name is Ricky Fontaine, River. We don't have the same last name because we don't have the same--"

  "Old man," he answered. "Holy shit. Did you know who the fuck I was from the very beginnin' of all this shit?" She stared straight into his eyes and without even saying another word, he knew the answer. "Jesus CHRIST!" He jumped up from the table and crossed the room. "What the fuck made you wanna come to the club that night?"

  "I had heard about you," she said. "About your club and so many others from him for so many years. I just wanted to know what it was like to be inside one, to be inside of that world. I didn't plan to go to the Shadow Riders, but my friend knew that you were having a party that night. And when I saw you and you spoke to me, I almost fell completely apart, I was so happy." She got up from the couch and moved over to him. "Ricky didn't know about me going out there that night. He didn't know about the other night either, about me coming here, but... he told me he's been hearing things about you and the club that he doesn't like."

  "What kinda things?"

  "Things that involve Mia and her kid."

  "Fuck," he muttered. He brought his hands up to his waist and locked his jaw. "What the fuck does he know?"

  "He knows that she's staying here and that she's with you. And he knows that you've got people who can take him down if he tries coming anywhere near her."

  "What about his own goddamn people?" he asked. "Motherfucker's got an entire goddamn army all over the fuckin' world."

  "Not like he used to," she said. "It’s still there, but it’s not nearly as many people as before; he just wants people to think that. He still has a hell of a lot of power, River. But it's different now, you know? It's not the same kind of power that he used to have, it's no longer physical. It's mental. All those years inside, he's had time to think about a lot of shit. And a man like that who can use his brain more than any weapon he's got is more dangerous than one who likes to use his fists instead."

  When the front door swung open and Mia peeked her head inside, Courtney shuffled across the room and wrapped her arms around herself while facing the corner of it.

  Mia looked between them both, and frowned. "What's going on?"

  "Um." River cleared his throat. "You remember Courtney from when you met her at the club."

  Courtney threw her hand up and waved at her without turning around.

  "Sure," she replied. She moved further into the house and closed the door behind her. "What the hell happened to you?"

  "I, um..." She spun around to face Mia and chuckled while at the same time trying to hold back her tears. "I got into a fight with a cactus bush."

  "In Tampa?" she asked. River and Courtney looked at each other. "I vaguely remember you mentioning something, sort of screeching about it that day."

  River stepped back over to Mia and nodded. "What the hell are you doin' back over here?" he asked. "Where's Avery?"

  "She's still at Meghan's with Madison, Lily and your mother."

  "Blue still over there?"

  "Yeah."

  "How the fuck were you able to get past him?"

  "Once Meghan started talking to him and offering up slices of her cake, it wasn't that difficult--"

  "Christ," he grumbled.

  "Actual cake,” she said with a laugh. “But it's fine. I just came back over to get Meghan's cookie tray."

  "You came all the way back over here for a goddamn cookie tray?" asked River. He crossed his arms and smirked as did she.

  "Well, truth be told, I thought that we could talk, but... seeing as you're busy, I'll just take the tray and go."

  "You gonna let Avery spend the night over there tonight?"

  "No," she replied. "I still don't feel all that comfortable letting her out of my sight for too long overnight just yet. Even if it's just around the corner."

  "I feel you," he said. He glanced back at Courtney. "Really fuckin' feel you on that shit, babe."

  Mia looked over at Courtney again and made a face. "Are you in need of some kind of medical attention?" she asked her. "I'm no nurse but I've--"

  "I'll be fine," Courtney responded. She wrapped her arms even tighter around her waist and gulped.

  "Okay. It's good to see you again. Just, wish it wasn't so much like this."

  She chuckled. "What, with me being in your man’s house?"

  "No, with you looking like somebody did a number on your face that didn't include 1 or 2." She looked up at River one last time, then grabbed the cookie tray from a table and quickly left the house.

  River turned away from the door and dropped his arms to his sides. "I can't tell her any of this shit. It'd freak her the fuck out even more than she already is." He glared at Courtney. "You know he's gettin' out in the next few weeks?"

  She nodded. "He told me today. I guess he has some sort of information on the judge that put him away and used that to threaten his family."

  "Jesus... shit." He rubbed the palm of his hand back and forth across his forehead. "Look, u
m, I can give you cash for a cheap motel nearby; one that's close enough for me to put one of my boys out front. I'll give you enough for the next few weeks 'til we can see where this fucker's head is at and when and how and fuckin' where he plans to strike next--"

  "With Mia," she interjected. "I don't know when or how, but he's coming for her, River. He wants her and his little girl and I think it's because he wants to try and make some kind of family out of them; sort of like the one we never really had."

  "Goddamnit." He dragged both hands down his face. "I'm gonna call up Styx, get his ass back here and have him put you up someplace, alright? And in the meantime, you don't say a goddamn thing about this shit to anybody, not even him, you hear? This is some shit I gotta keep... I gotta only let a few people know about this shit and that motherfucker can't be one of 'em, alright?"

  "Alright." She nodded.

  "Good."

  He left her alone in the living room and headed off to his bedroom to make the call to Styx. Once they agreed, he hung up and sat down on the edge of the bed.

  No way in fuck, he thought. He brought his hands up and clasped his fingers while staring down so hard at the floor, he could've burned a hole right through it. No way in fuck is that son of a bitch gonna snatch away somethin' that could be mine.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The next few weeks remained pretty quiet around both the club and River's house until he and Blue had officially decided along with the other members of the club for them to head out to Tampa to oversee Ricky's departure from the prison.

  After meeting up with the Dragons, Miami and Orlando charters at the club, and giving them the information he had from Courtney (though he willfully neglected to inform the other members, sans Blue, as well as the other charters about their blood relation), all agreed that it would be best to see when and how that son of a bitch was actually going to strike before they made any sudden moves against him. Doing so, now being fully aware that his mindset and skills had only enhanced over the years, was bound to work more in their favor than against it.