“Seriously? Sledge had his old club’s vest on?” Creed asked, and Maxi nodded.
The room was quiet for just a second. I was sure they wouldn’t appreciate if I said that shit took balls from Sledge, but it was damn impressive.
“The fucking shit gets more messed up by the damn day. When we think we’re getting answers and close to piecing it all together, then more shit floats to the top,” Fork said.
I couldn’t have agreed more, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only Lady Rider in the room that did. But we knew when to keep quiet.
“Only thing we can do is take care of one issue at a time. First up is Sledge and the other Black Hearts. And we need to do it sooner than later. That was Crusher I hung up with. They rode hard and were on the outskirts of San Diego when he called. Told them to come on in since we caught the ones watching us, so they should be here at any time. Crusher said he had a little info for us when they get here, so after introductions, we’ll have a meeting,” Creed said, and he and the men headed out.
I moved off the wall and followed the other women outside. And as the door closed behind us, the faint sounds of pipes could be heard.
“I think company is coming, Pa,” Kink said and laughed, drawing a glare from Creed.
With the sound of the bikes drawing closer, more Ops members gathered to greet the club. We watched from our spots in front of the main building as the motorcycles pulled up to the gate followed by a Ford 3500 Diesel crew cab truck with a trailer attached. As the gate opened, the bikes began to filter through until finally, they reached our group. I ran my eyes over the men on the bikes as they were dropping their kickstands and began to dismount. I spotted Brax, the man was hard to miss. When he stretched my stomach flipped, and it had nothing to do with morning sickness.
“Holy shit! What the fuck do they feed those men in Washington?” Shady said, and her men turned to look at her.
“I know, right? I told you about Moon’s man when we got back from picking up Jas. The other two with him that day weren’t anything you’d kick to curb either,” Harmony said, and I smiled when Creed and Fork moved beside her.
“He’s not my man,” was out of my mouth before I could control it, and Harmony turned her head toward me. All I could do was shrug.
“Right, like you didn’t climb that tree and do some swinging.”
“Harm, we are fucking standing right here,” Fork said in a disgusted voice, and I was thankful for it because if Harmony was focused on Fork, her focus was off me.
“Moon, I think—”
“Freedom, I’d be cautious with what you think out loud,” Easy said, and Freedom rolled her eyes at him. I used the distraction and stepped to the side with the hope they wouldn’t notice.
“Not helping, Free,” Poke said when Easy growled. Freedom turned to reply to Poke, but instead, she grinned ear to ear with the other Lady Riders. I followed their line of sight and watched as an old biker stepped out of the truck and started toward us with the other men from Black Hawk.
“Well goddamn, they got some prime women in this club! You men sure these women aren’t underage.”
I would have laughed at the old guy if I hadn’t felt the tension as the men moved until they had us women closed in between them as the group of men got closer.
“Aww, I like him. I always wanted a grandfather.” At Shady’s words, I watched a huge smile spread across the man’s face, and I shook my head.
“Darlin’, my thoughts are anything but grandfatherly.”
Shady burst out laughing, and so did I and several of the other women. The men from both clubs, not so much. From Brax’s reaction of wiping his hand down his face, I figured the behavior was typical of the older man.
“Fuck, Roscoe. Can you give us time to meet these men and their women before you start.”
I looked at the man who spoke and noticed he wore the president patch. The old guy that he’d called Roscoe confirmed it.
“Sorry, Prez. Didn’t mean nothing by it. I just said what the other brothers were thinking.”
“Don’t even bring us into your shit, Roscoe,” was said by the man who stood next to him, and his comment had some of the Ops chuckling and becoming more relaxed.
Before anyone else could say anything, Jas came around the building and ran straight through the middle of us. She didn’t stop until she was in the arms of the big man who had just spoken.
“Dare!” Jas yelled, and the big man held her up in the air and out in front of him with little to no effort. When the large man’s name registered, I realized that he was the uncle to Trey, the Ops’ newest prospect.
I stopped hearing what everyone was saying around me when I looked back at Brax. He winked, then kept his eyes lock on me. Introductions were made, and he briefly looked away before he turned and headed in my direction. I opened my mouth to say hi but never got the chance to get it out. Brax grabbed me, wrapped me in his big arms, and covered my mouth with his. The kiss stole my breath and closed everything around us out. Being in his arms again felt like coming home.
When Brax broke the kiss and set me back on my feet, everyone from both clubs stood silently watching us. I’d never been easily embarrassed, but I felt the heat on my face.
“Well with that, Crusher, I think we should get you and your men squared away and then we can have a sit-down and bring us all on the same page with what is going to go down. We also have a ton of food in the clubhouse kitchen to eat while we talk,” Creed said.
“I agree. We haven’t eaten since breakfast, and if I’m lucky, the food may keep Roscoe’s mouth busy,” Crusher answered.
“Awww, Prez. At least I didn’t walk up and stick my tongue down one of the women’s throat,” Roscoe said and waved a hand in Brax and my direction.
“Roscoe, how has Sue not killed you in your sleep?” Brax asked, and the man’s face broke out in a huge smile.
“Because I got what she likes and I don’t need a blue pill to help with it either. I’ve told you boys that women love them some Roscoe.”
I assumed from all the groans at Roscoe’s words that the men from Black Hawk heard that frequently.
“Yep, I damn like him,” Shady repeated.
“You would,” Cajun said, and Shady elbowed him.
Before everything got out of hand, Creed and Crusher worked together getting everyone moving. It wasn’t the first time I noticed how everyone worked together as a unit. Sometimes it was easy for me to forget that the Ops’ men had been in the military and Brax had told me the majority of Black Hawk had been, too.
They proved it with the organized way everyone worked. It only took an hour, and everyone was back at the clubhouse eating. The women were allowed to attend the meeting if we swore not to interrupt, which left us sitting in the back of the large room while the men strategized on the best way to handle the Black Hearts.
“So, on your way in you saw a few of them?” Creed asked.
“Yeah, we passed ten of the Black Hearts going the opposite direction on I5. We rode to the next exit, got off and circled back around when we saw them take the exit ramp. By the time we did, they were nowhere to be seen. We drove around some of the area, passed a park called Petco or something like that. Not being familiar with the area, we weren’t sure of any places around that would be big enough for them to stash bikes out of sight. I’m sure the president was with them because as we passed, he looked in our direction and he nodded his head. Got to say, strangest encounter I’ve ever had, and shit, after serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, my gut feeling has become the norm. And mine says Sledge wants you to find him,” Crusher finished, and Creed sat back in his chair.
“Maybe the fucker wants to lure us to them because he knows our compound and the Furies is like a military armory. If they hit us on our turf, the outcome for them would be devastating. Could be they think we will leave just enough men here to cover, then they can send us on a wild goose chase and hit here,” Fork added to the scenario.
“The area y
ou’re talking about is close to the Tenth Ave. Marine Terminal. It’s roughly fifteen miles from the Mexico border, so that would be convenient for them if they needed to make a quick exit,” Creed finally spoke.
“Could be they’re in one of those warehouses the marina asked San Diego County to let them tear down. They’re empty and not serving a purpose like the open space would. The marina could use it and be able to stack more containers,” Boony said, and Creed looked at him and smiled. “What? I read the paper.” A few of our men chuckled.
“Boony, you never fail to amaze me. Maxi, take a few guys and check it out. If it pans out, this shit could be easier than we anticipated. Especially, if we plan a hit before daybreak. I’m not going to get excited until we know for sure. But, damn, it would be nice to catch an f’n break.” Everyone in the room agreed with Creed.
When Maxi stood, one of the men from Black Hawk stood, too. I looked at his patch and it read Enforcer.
“If it’s alright with my prez, I’d like to go with you. I have a new gadget I’d like to try out.” The man spoke to Maxi, but I noticed he looked at his prez for the okay.
“Works for me, Coast.” Crusher looked toward Creed, I assumed to see if he had a problem with one of his men going along.
“Might not be a bad idea for several to go, Maxi. On the off chance you run into a few of them while you’re looking around,” Creed said, and Maxi nodded in agreement.
Within ten minutes six men rode out of the compound. Maxi, Easy, and Poke from the Ops and Coast, Tank, and Bull from Black Hawk. I was slowly learning their names, but what I noticed most was the interaction the men had with Brax earlier.
I’d thought then that he had landed in a good spot. He’d needed a place to heal from the loss of his family and they’d given it to him. I’d even gotten to speak privately for a few minutes with Flirt. He’d been the one to convince Brax to go home with him after they left the SEALs.
When I focused back in from my thoughts and looked around at the men who were left, Flirt caught my eye and winked. I smiled at him and thought about what he’d said when I thanked him for helping Brax. His short reply of ‘That’s what family does,’ meant everything to me and showed me just how much they cared for Brax.
While we waited for the ones who left to check in, the men talked about how to handle everything if they found the others at the marina. I only caught bits and pieces as the other women and I cleared plates and put the leftover food away.
I wanted to be alone with Brax, but I was thankful for the extra time to deal with the feelings that crept up on me when I saw him again. I also knew I needed to talk with him and I wasn’t in a hurry there.
When we finished in the kitchen, we walked back into the main room and sat back down to catch more of the men’s plan.
“So, we all agree. Furies stay and cover both compounds, and your club and mine go. If they are in the warehouses, we hit before dawn. Preferably around three a.m. Now, if the men would check in with some good news, we’re set,” Creed barely finished when his phone chimed. All conversation stopped as he read the text. When his head lifted and he smiled, the whole room relaxed.
“Sonofabitch, the assholes are in the warehouses,” Fork said, and when Creed acknowledged with a nod, the room volume went up. Every man in the room threw out suggestions.
In all my time with the Ops, it had to be the first that none of the women spoke or even made one comment.
By the time the men hashed out a pretty solid plan, Maxi and the others walked in.
“Whatever plan you got, you’re going to want to adjust. Coast’s toy is a beauty, and if it works as he says, this shit is going to be a fuck of a lot easier,” Maxi said and looked around the room until his eyes landed on Data and Numbers. “Gonna need you guys to hook a screen for us. Coast has the frequencies you need to tap into. If it works—we’ll have eyes and ears on the Black Hearts.”
“On it,” Data said, and he and Numbers left the room. When they came back in, it was with a large screen and a laptop. We sat patiently while the men hooked it all together. Data’s fingers flew on the keypad as Coast read off the frequencies and codes that would allow them to tap in. As the picture came up, the room fell silent as we looked at the screen filled with bikers. They sat or laid around in various spots of the warehouse as if they hadn’t a care in the world.
“Okay, how the fuck did you guys get a visual on them with sound no less?” Maxi smiled at Creed’s question.
“Go ahead, Coast, tell them.” Maxi chuckled.
“A remote-controlled car, specially designed with camera and mic incased. I took the remote apart and designed it to work with radio frequencies, giving it the ability to bounce from cell phone tower to cell phone tower, so it wouldn’t lose a signal and stop in the middle of operating,” Coast explained, then endded with, “I’ve got a couple more toys with me if we need them.”
“Geez, sometimes, Coast, you scare me with the shit you come up with,” Crusher said and chuckled.
“Oh, it gets better,” Coast said and preceded to tell us how he drove the silent running car through the partially opened door to the warehouse. He only needed to get it in and to a spot out of sight of the men. As he continued to explain, every set of eyes in the room watched the Black Hearts. Even on a screen, the confidence showed in the men. They weren’t the least bit worried of being found.
Coast kept moving the camera around, and I finally realized why. He was searching for Sledge. And as I watched the picture change with different bikers, none had been Sledge.
I knew the plan was going to start an argument. I looked over at my friends, and I saw the set expressions on Harmony’s, Freedom’s and Shady’s faces. It hadn’t taken long, and the bitching began. The new plan made it safe for them to go now. But I couldn’t remember a time I’d seen absolute resolve in the men’s eyes. I even found myself a little disappointed about not being able to go. And with the ‘no’ that followed out of each of their men’s mouths, I knew their ears were going to bleed after Harmony, Freedom, and Shady got done with them.
“Well, we are set. Everyone be ready to roll out at two-thirty a.m. The Furies will be here around two to take their posts. I think we should get some rest before we pull out. It could end up as easy as taking candy from a baby, but anything can go wrong. We still need to be prepared for that,” Creed said and stood.
“In agreement with you. I know my men could use a little shuteye before we head to the marina,” Crusher said.
The room started to clear out, everyone going their separate ways. I’d planned to stay seated until the last of the men left.
“Come on, baby, let’s go to your place,” Brax said as he walked up and held out a hand for me to take.
I looked at his hand, then up into his eyes. The boy had turned into quite a man. The past was the past. I could no longer live in it than he could. I placed my hand in his. He pulled me up, and we walked out.
Time, it seemed I was officially out of it. Hours had passed with everyone, including me, focused on what the clubs was going to have to do. It left me no time to think about my own dilemma.
Now, as I walked beside Brax, it was the only thing that raced through my mind.
Chapter Seven
Ghost
Luna closed the door to her place, and when she turned around, I stood in front of her. From the moment I spotted her when I dismounted my bike, I wanted her. Everything about her had always appealed to me. When I married Stormy, I pushed the earlier feelings I had had for Luna in a nice tidy box in my head. But once I saw her again, the sight of her blew the lid right off. As I looked down at her now, I knew Flirt was right. She might be a part of the Ops Warrior MC, but she had always been mine.
I pushed her back against the door, bent, and covered her mouth with mine. When I broke the kiss, it was only long enough to pull her shirt over her head, then my lips were back on Luna’s. My Luna. I found the hooks with my hand and her bra followed next. Her pants were more of an
issue, which caused me to break the kiss and step back to push them all the way down. I removed Luna’s boots, and I not only relieved her of the pants but her thong, too. There was something to be said about a woman naked while a man stayed completely dressed.
Standing back up, I looked down at Luna, and the expression on her face was one I would forever remember. Shock, but when I looked into her eyes a whole different emotion floated in their depth. Desire.
“Luna, you are as close to perfection as a woman can get.”
Luna said nothing, she just reached up and placed a hand on each of my cheeks, then went up on her tiptoes and closed the space between us until our lips met. She started the kiss, but I took over and devoured her. It was the only word to describe my demanding and thoroughly dominating kiss. One that would leave us breathless when it ended. I wasn’t able to get enough of her. Our tongues dueled, and I ran my hands over Luna until I settled them on her hips. Each area of skin I touched left her with goosebumps.
I slid my hands behind Luna and grabbed the cheeks of her ass. I squeezed and caressed until the need for her was too powerful to fight. When I lifted her, she wrapped her legs around my waist, bringing her bare pussy in contact with the material of my jeans. Luna shifted to gain a better grip with her legs, and it placed her center in direct contact with my hardened cock. She rolled her hips, and I groaned and broke the kiss. There was nothing more I wanted than to sink into her heat. The thought had my cock throbbing. With the smallest of adjustments, I held Luna with one arm, and the other moved between us to unzip my pants.
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