by Shyla Colt
She hollows her cheeks and twists her wrists.
“Shit.” My control snaps and I thrust in her mouth. She takes it like a champ, sucking and bobbing her head. I curl my fingers in her hair. She hums. The vibration travels straight down my spine. My balls draw up. “I’m going to come, Nev.”
She sucks harder and tingles begin at the base of my spine. I explode, filling her mouth with my warm liquid. She swallows down as much as she can, slurping and licking me clean. I wipe the corners of her mouth and she catches the wayward drops on her tongue.
“How can you be so fucking perfect, Nevada?”
“Only to you and for you, Gage.”
I return to the present with a gasp. Fuck! I have erotica playing in my mind on a loop. I shake my head to clear it. Sexual attraction isn’t a reason to get bent out of shape. I can’t afford to be soft right now. I’m not going to read into the attachment I’ve formed after teaching her about the birds and bees up close and personal. Satisfied with my reasoning, I finish my shower and get dressed.
We’re going to ride tonight and I’ll tie up the last of my loose ends. You don’t fuck with me or Chaos and expect to come out unscathed. The thought of Fuse betraying us sticks in my craw, but I’m not shocked. We’d been watching his slippery ass for months. I’m out of the shower, dressed, and on the road in twenty minutes. It feels damn good to have my lady beneath me, the wind in my hair, and the open road all around me. My brain’s messages seem to be flowing just fine, and this is the only place I never feel misplaced.
* * * *
“You ready for tonight?” Stone asks. He’s been eye-balling me since we gathered at the clubhouse.
I can’t blame him. It’s my first night out and we’re about to do some major dirt. One wrong move could fuck this up. “I’m solid, Pres. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t risk everyone else. You know that.”
“True that.”
“My head’s on straight. I want these motherfuckers bad. I want to watch Trixie and Fuse hurt before they breathe their last breath. It’s one thing to be an enemy, but to betray your own people? That’s the foulest shit anyone could do.”
“They’ll learn the hard way.”
They’d been fucking with us. Ambushes here and there, fucking with our businesses, but nothing major. The 45ers aren’t the brightest in the bunch, but they don’t have a death wish. So, we’d put the revenge on hold and gathered information. Emotions are running high as we suit up to go to war in our Kevlar vests. We’re not sure how many people are in on it, but we’ve narrowed down their base of operation to a warehouse fifteen miles out of town. They’ve been quiet since their first string of attacks.
We went into lockdown and called up some of our crew from sister chapters, just in case. The stillness has us climbing at the walls. I double check my 9 millimeters, place them in my shoulder holsters, and shrug on my vest. We’re going under deep cover. Forty of us are loading our bikes into two semi-trucks. Trucks frequent the road that passes by the warehouse, so this won’t raise any alarms until it’s too late. We wait until everyone is loaded and go in last.
I’m to the left of the President. I’m not the Vice President, but I am the bringer of death. The man you want beside you when shit is going down.
The truck rumbles through the night, eating up the highway as we cruise toward our destination. The tension in the enclosed space is high and the silence is deafening as we all get into war mode. We handle our business with an air of professionalism that would shock most. One wrong move and one of us may not be coming home. The truck begins to slow.
I focus in on the task at hand, blocking everything out. We’ll go in fast, unexpected, neutralize them and begin the process of extracting information. We come to a halt and Stone opens the door from the inside out. Bikes rev and we ride down the ramp.
The club door opens. It’s Steel. He aims his weapon and we all scramble, riding erratically. When he slams the door I instantly know they don’t have the manpower to back it up. I grin. I like it when they run. It makes catching them and breaking them down that much more enjoyable.
We surround the building with our bikes—to prevent escape—and I take the lead, guiding our men to the front. I count to three, kick the door open and hug the wall. Bullets fly toward us and we return fire. With the door wide open, I can see inside the bare space. This isn’t an operation. It’s a handful of thugs and a whore.
“Get your fucking hands up and I won’t splatter your brains on the concrete right now!” Stone orders.
Guns clatter to the ground and hands go up.
Trixie remains on her knees in front of two men. Their pants are down around their ankles.
“Looks like we caught you boys with your pants down,” Stone says.
We all chuckle and the men move in, continuing to sweep the perimeter for stragglers. They return with a few more men and another woman. All three are obviously high as a kite.
“Make it easy on yourself, Trixie. Tell us where Fuse is.”
Her lips peel back to reveal a ghoulish grin. Her eyes are flat and dead. Track lines mar her inner arms. “Not here, Wizard. I guess you live up to your name, coming back from the dead and all. I told him he should’ve backed up over your ass until your head popped like a melon.”
The hatred blazing in her eyes is shocking.
“The fuck you mumbling about, junkie?” Stone barks. “When did you start this up?”
“When I couldn’t take being shit on any longer by the Kings. Fuse gave me what I needed. Attention, dick, and something to numb the pain.”
The reverence on her face disgusts me. “You’re fucked up, you know that?” I say.
She laughs. “I’m not, but you will be.”
“You got something to say?” Stone says.
She giggles. “My lips are sealed.”
I march over, grab a handful of blonde hair, and drag her across the floor. “The fuck you laughing about?”
“How late you are. There’s nothing you can do. I’m going to take everything away from you. The way you did to me. I should’ve been your old lady, not that uppity bitch. I been working my way toward it with you for years.”
“Are you really that fucking delusional?” I can hear Stone laying into the men in the distance, but my attention is completely focused on Trixie.
There’s a knowing look in her eyes. She’s got a loaded bomb yet to explode. “You’re going to learn all about pain soon enough, Wizard.”
“Start talking.” I jerk her head.
“Fuck you!” she screams.
“Fuck me?” I drag her across the concrete floor to the back until I find the bathroom. “Let’s see how long you can hold your breath for…darling.”
Fear appears in the depths of her blue eyes. She sets her jaw.
“I’m going to love breaking you down. Shall we begin?” I show her the dead smile others saw before they died and she begins to fight. I grip the back of her neck and force her over to the toilet. “I hope you have all your shots.” I shove her head in the toilet bowl. Bubbles and gurgling echo in the small room. She thrashes, but I keep her in position… I pull her out. “You ready to talk yet?”
She gasps and grips the sides of the toilet bowl. “Go to hell.”
“I’ll save you a place.” I force her back into the bowl. I slowly count to ten and pull her back out.
Her hair hangs limply in her face and her chest is heaving while black smears streak across her face, along with a cornucopia of other make up shades.
“This could all stop whenever you’re ready.”
“It doesn’t matter anyway. You’re too late. Fuse is on his way to get your little bitch, and there’s jackshit you can do to save her. Did you think we wouldn’t know you moved her? We’ve been watching her every move.”
“The fuck happened to you, Trixie?”
“I got old and tired. Fuse offered me what I wanted, or so I thought. But just like you, he only wanted to use me. So, I decided to get even for o
nce.”
“You chose wrong. You know you ain’t coming back from this, right?”
“It’d be a relief,” she snarls.
I shake my head. “This isn’t the 45ers, is it?”
“That was to throw you off our scent. It worked, didn’t it?” She grins like the psychotic bitch she’s become.
I want to be the one to make the light go out in her eyes, but I have no time. There’s no telling how far ahead of me Fuse is. “Get up and walk.” I keep my grip on her hair, careful to keep her in front of me, completely under my control. We reenter the room and I shove her at Stone’s feet. “Trixie’s got a story to tell and I need to catch a plane.”
“To fucking where?” Stone asks.
“Vegas. Fuse is going after Nevada, again.”
“Son of a bitch! Crash, make the calls. I want him in the air in thirty minutes. Call your old lady.”
I feel around for the phone and bring it into my cocoon of covers. “Hello.”
“Nevada.”
The voice pulls me from my slumber instantly. “Wizard? What’s wrong?”
“You’re not safe right now. I need you to get to the club down there and stay put. I’m sending Quick and Nasty to get you, and I’ll be there in another hour or so.”
“Wait, what?” I sit up and bed. “Why are you coming here?” Blind panic slams into me. I can’t see him right now. He needs to stay in San Diego. “What’s going on?”
“We figured out the source of our problems. The loose end is heading your way.”
“Why me?”
“Because it’s Fuse, and he doesn’t take no for an answer.”
The blood drains from my face. “No,” I whisper.
“Hey, I’m going to protect you, okay? Quick and Nasty will be there in a few minutes, and I’m not far behind. Are you with me now?”
“Yeah,” I sigh. Whether I like it or not, we’re going to have a come to Jesus meeting tonight. I close my eyes. I’d just gotten used to being here. The job was good, people were nice, and I was getting used to life without him.
Liar. Well, I was trying my damnedest. This is going to set me back to square one.
“All right, I’ll get my things together.”
“Stay on the phone with me until they arrive. I need to know you’re okay.”
I try not to read too much into his tone. I’m his property. If he can’t keep me safe, he looks weak. Nothing more, nothing less. I keep the phone pressed to my ear as I pack a small bag of essentials.
“So, how you been?”
“Good. I like the shop I work in.”
“Yeah? What about friends?”
“I haven’t gotten that far yet.”
“You been there for a few months.”
“Starting your life over from scratch is pretty damn time consuming.”
“I never asked you to leave.”
“No, you didn’t need to.”
“Fuck, come on, Nev.”
The nickname makes me want to rejoice and scream at the same time. “Come on, what, Wizard?”
“I didn’t ask to lose my memory.”
“No, but it sure as hell doesn’t make it any easier for me to swallow. So, I left. I did us both a favor.”
He sighs. “I don’t want to argue with you.”
“So don’t.”
“Do you have to be such a bitch about this?”
Yes, because I’m battling to save what’s left of my heart and my sanity.
“What do you expect, Wizard? You want me to pretend like this doesn’t bother me? I’m polite and respectful. It’s all you can ask of me. We can’t go back to the way we were before. There’s too many emotions involved.”
“We can’t even be friends?”
I close my eyes. “Of course, Wizard. I hope you always consider me your friend.”
“Then lighten up and we’ll ride this out together. It’s not set in stone that I’ll never remember.”
“No, but maybe by then, it’ll be too late.”
“You got something you want to tell me?”
Someone knocks on the door.
“There’s someone at the door, Wizard.”
“Go look out the peephole. Be quiet about it.”
I creep over to the door with my heart in my throat. I thought I’d left this behind when I moved to Vegas. I look out the round piece of glass and relief floods me. “It’s Nasty and Quick.”
“Good. Open the door and let me talk to them.”
I unlock the door. “Hey, guys, Wizard is on the phone. He wants to talk to you.” I hand Nasty my phone and walk away to finish packing.
My stomach seems to be eating itself from the inside out. I’ve been lying to everyone for months. I place my hand over my belly. The swell is slight, but there and growing rapidly. Now is the perfect time to place all of my cards on the table. I have to do this. I’ll let him know and then continue on. No baby of mine will ever feel the way I did, or grow up unwanted and tortured because Daddy couldn’t be bothered. Repeating my mantra in my head, I finish packing, change into a pair of loose fitting jeans and a long sleeved T-shirt, grab my duffel bag, and walk out of the room. I’m willing to fight for our freedom and happiness, the way I wish someone had done for me. “I’m ready.”
“You’ll ride with Nasty,” Quick says. “I want to bring up the rear. If there’s any trouble, he’s going to take you straight to the clubhouse.”
My heart is in my throat. I hate being on the back of bike right now. But the last thing I plan on doing is revealing my secret to them first. I owe Wizard that right. I’ve grappled with giving the baby up for adoption or terminating the pregnancy, but neither thing set right with me. This child was made out of love and I have the means to keep it. I make good money, and what I don’t have, I know KOC will provide.
You were dragging your feet because you know Wizard is going to flip.
Having me be his old lady damn near sent him over the edge. I can only imagine what becoming a father to be will do. I trail behind Nasty as we leave the apartment.
The two were assigned to me once I hit town. Both are over six-foot tall, broad shouldered with square faces and granite jaws. The brother’s would make any man think twice about causing trouble. As sons of KOC members, they were born into the life the same as I was. I remember seeing them growing up when we had big get-togethers. It’s amazing how the once lanky teenagers with braces and long black hair have morphed into a formidable riders.
I climb up behind Nasty on the bike, careful to keep as much distance between my belly and his back as possible. He chuckles, and I know he thinks I’m worried about keeping a respectable distance. You couldn’t be more wrong. The engine purrs to life between my legs and we pull off from the parking lot.
Immediately, shots ring out. I duck and scream. I can feel the bullets whizzing past my face.
Nasty weaves the bike to avoid the trajectory.
This is it. I’m going to die. THAWP! The sound explodes in my ear.
“Shit! Were you hit?” Nasty yells.
I glance down and see a circle of red blossoming on my arm. My brain regains its ability to function. I cry out. The pain is immense. My stomach rolls and my arm is a limp weight dangling against the left side of my body. I grip him tighter with the right. I want to look back, but I’m terrified I’ll catch one to my face. Tears roll down my cheeks. I breathe through my mouth to manage the pain. If I fall off the bike, I’m done for. The bullets continue. A searing pain begins in my thigh.
“Fuck! Hang on.” Nasty goes off road.
The uneven ground rattles my teeth. The bullets cease. I wonder if Quick got him. The feeling of hot blood flowing through my body terrifies me. White noise fills my ears and my vision fades. I battle my way back from oblivion. I have a tiny life in my hands. Please, God, don’t let my baby die. I’m trapped in tunnel vision. Nothing exists but Nasty in front of me. Just hold on. I chant the words in my mind over and over. I recall the tiny blob on the sonogram tha
t represented my child, as if I could hold he or she to me.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Nasty is swearing as we pop back from the back road to a main road. “Can’t take you to the clubhouse like this.”
I say a prayer for small favors. The faster I get to the hospital, the better off I’ll be.
“Ten more minutes, Nevy.” He roars off once more, at what feels like a hundred miles a minute, and talking is once again not an option. The landscape blurs and lights are meaningless as he breaks every law in traffic school.
We skid to a stop in front of the emergency doors. The relief is so intense, I almost black out on the spot.
Nasty jumps off the bike and swings me into his arms. He rushes through the front door.
The movement jars me. I hear a scream and realize it’s me.
Nurses rush over and he fills them in.
I’m in a strange detached state. I see what’s happening, but I can’t participate.
“She’s going in to shock, you guys. Let’s get her on a gurney.”
I’m strapped in and being whisked away in what feels like seconds. The air assaults my body as they cut off my clothes.
“Ma’am, are you pregnant?”
I focus on the kind blue eyes of the female nurse. My tongue feels heavy and my brain is fried. I manage to nod.
“She’s pregnant. Let’s get her stabilized, and bring in a monitor. Ma’am, relax as much as you can, we’re going to take good care of you.”
“Her wounds are clean. The bullets went straight through,” a male voice says.
“Good. Let’s get the bleeding stopped. Keep applying pressure,” the nurse I’ve dubbed my angel says. “Are you allergic to any medicine?” she asks.
I keep my gaze latched to hers and shake my head. The words become fuzzy as the world continues to rush by. The knowledge that I’m safe and the exhaustion that barrels over me, sends me into the ether where there is no pain or worry.
* * * *
I open my eyes and take a moment to orient myself. I’m not in my apartment. I wince and feel the IV. Previous events rush back with horrifying clarity. I reach down and palm my stomach. My monitor beeps angrily.
