"I was ready," she said quietly behind me. I felt the bed bounce slightly with her movements.
"And get back on birth control."
"You can't tell me what to do, Sax."
I stood and watched her as she walked around naked, snatching up clothes. Fuck, I liked what having a kid had done to her curves. Her full tits bounced with her brisk movements and turned my dick hard again. A smirk curled my mouth when she picked up her ruined blouse. She held it up for inspection, and then tossed it aside with a sigh and walked to her closet. My dick punched against my zipper at the sight of her shapely ass as she picked through her hanging clothes.
Holly was comfortable being naked in front of me, and for a minute I forgot that we weren't together anymore. I fought the urge to go up to her, lower my zipper, and take out my dick and bend her over for a quick, hard fuck. Jesus, I’d just gotten off, but the thought of losing myself in her again made me reach down to adjust my boner.
"You know what I find interesting, Baby?" She turned from the closet with a shirt in her hands. "That you broke shit off between us, yet you still let me fuck you."
She huffed. "I have needs, too."
"Are you saying you're letting me use you to scratch an itch?" She slipped the shirt over her head, hiding her fantastic tits from me. It was the kind that hung low, exposing one, sexy shoulder.
Holly stared at me for a minute, her eyes filled with hurt. "The sex has always been good between us, Sax."
An inadequate answer if I’d ever heard one. "Even hate sex?" I smirked. "Because I have to tell you, Baby, unless the word ‘no’ comes out of your mouth, I'm going to continue fucking you."
"So you really do hate me?" She cast her eyes downward, as if she were afraid of what she'd see in mine.
I barely made out the words, she spoke so low. I steeled myself from the regret I detected in her voice. She was the one who'd ruined us, and I would never understand it.
"I told you how I felt the other day." I didn't want to repeat the lie that I'd grated down into her face. I would never hate her.
After a few seconds of silence, I barked, "What? Nothing to say to that?"
She moved away to where her pants were. "There's nothing I can say," she admitted, slipping into a pair of panties. "Except that I ruined a good thing."
Ruined a good thing? "Understatement."
She pulled her pants on. They were old jeans, and tight as sin after the few pounds she'd put on. My mouth watered at the way they outlined the perfect curves of her ass.
"Is this suitcase ready to go?" I had to get away from her for a minute.
"Yes." She sat down on the bed to slip into her sneakers.
I grabbed it and headed out to put it into her car. Christ, a year ago, after the sexual assault, she'd told me that she’d needed time and that I should just move on, but now she was still letting me in her pants. That was a serious contradiction in my book. I'd wanted to help her deal with what she'd gone through. She was my woman, and I'd felt a measure of blame for what she’d suffered because I hadn't protected her. So I'd kept my distance physically, knowing that she would probably need time before she’d want me to touch her again, and had supported her emotionally. Fuck, the whole club had been there for her. But it hadn't been enough.
We needed to get to the clubhouse where Holly would be safe. We, including the Vegas Watchdogs, were going to war, and we were going to hit the Knights fast and hard. Both MCs wanted those little fuckers gone, and not just out of Nevada. They'd hit six of our businesses in one night, which had resulted in the deaths of innocent bystanders and two of Trip's brothers. Demon had called an emergency meeting, and the two clubs had hatched out the details of going to war.
But before we did, we had to lockdown our families.
Holly stepped outside, turned, and locked her door. I'd been leaning against her trunk and now I straightened, letting her come to me. Our gazes clung in the few feet separating us. I couldn't stop my eyes from drifting down her body in a lazy sweep, appreciating the way her nipples beaded against the soft material of her shirt. The enticing space between her legs was nice, too. I didn't try to disguise my body's reaction to her. It wasn't anything she wasn't used to seeing anyway.
It was going to be hell having her at the clubhouse again, the distraction something I didn't need right now. I wanted to stay away from her, but she was my weakness, my drug of choice, and we had too much fucking history. I'd known the very first second that our eyes had met that she was the one for me. Years later, I still felt that way.
"Let's go," I snapped, showing my frustration. Holly just glared back at me, but climbed inside her car. She could push my buttons so easily, but she seemed to be holding back. I walked to the driver's side window and looked down at her. "Not expecting any trouble, but if we run into any you get your ass to the clubhouse as fast as you can."
"I will."
I could tell that she wanted to ask what was going on, but she no longer had that right. We didn't talk about club business with anyone, but when a brother had an old lady, some information was bound to be shared between them. I knew that Demon and Cole shared shit with their old ladies because once in a while they'd let it slip.
I started to walk away when she called me back. "Sax?"
I halted and looked over my shoulder and waited.
"Be careful."
I acknowledged her with a chin lift and continued to where my bike was parked in front of her car. Climbing on, I slipped my helmet over my head, and flipped on the Bluetooth. "Cole?"
"Here, Brother."
"Leaving Holly's now. Be at the club in a few."
"What's taking you so long?"
I could hear the smirk in his voice. "None of your fucking business," I grinned. His laughter came over, and then there was silence.
I started my bike and waited to hear for Holly to start the car, and then we both pulled out onto the road and made a u-turn to head in the other direction. I didn't like the location of Holly’s house. It was too far outside the city limits, and if she had any trouble it would take emergency personnel a while to reach her. The road she lived on was too quiet, houses too far apart and hidden by the native Nevada vegetation that grew wild throughout the state.
She was vulnerable and an easy target.
I was going to have to do something about that.
I remained alert for signs of trouble, kept my speed down so Holly could keep up. There were too many places that would have been ideal for an ambush, and the Knights had made it clear that they wanted to run us out of Nevada. There was bad blood between our clubs that had begun a few years ago. We'd killed some of Stretch's brothers and taken his blood brother, Freak, hostage after they'd tried to take Demon out. Stretch had been forced to meet our demands in order to get Freak back alive. That kind of shit always brought the possibility of retribution, even after years had passed.
Had to wonder, too, if the Knights had targeted Vegas Watchdogs simply because they were associated with us.
Shit. We were coming up on a wide corner, and I could make out a white van coming our way, the kind of utility van used in commercial business. No windows, except for the driver and passenger sides, and they were tinted darkly. There were no logos on it to indicate that it belonged to any business, and it looked fairly new. I instinctively reached for my revolver at my back and slipped if free, keeping it down at my side and out of sight.
A white or light-colored van had been seen leaving Trip's garage the night that it had been set on fire, and I wasn't taking any chances, not with Holly. I checked my rearview mirror. She was about sixty-feet behind me. I sped up, wanting to put more distance between us in case the people in the van made a move. As the vehicle reached us, I kept my eyes on it until it was well past, and then I followed its progress in my mirror to make sure that it kept going.
Satisfied, I tucked my gun away. No sooner had I let down my guard when a voice came over my Bluetooth.
"Brother, where are you?"
>
It was Cole, and something was wrong. I could hear it in his voice. "'Bout five miles from the clubhouse. What's up?"
"We're heading out as soon as you get here. Just got word Stretch has a meet set up somewhere at Copeland."
Copeland was an industrial park that had been built in the seventies or eighties and was far enough away from residential areas that nosey civilians wouldn't cause any problems. There were a lot of empty warehouses on the property, big, empty concrete buildings ideal for the kind of illegal activity MCs were into.
"What kind of meet?"
"With Toledo."
Fuck. That said it all. Toledo was a gun runner from Mexico, an evil bastard, loyal to no one, and he often worked both sides. The only reason he was still alive was that no one wanted to eliminate a good resource for weapons. He managed to get his fucking hands on anything you needed--guns, explosives, flame throwers, mortars, you name it, and he could get it. Desert Rebels had done business with him a long time ago, before we'd decided to go legit. If Stretch had made a deal with him, that could mean big trouble for every MC in Nevada.
I doubted the Knights could afford the big-ticket items that Toledo dealt in, but a few assault rifles and grenades would give them deadlier leverage. The meet was a new development, and the warehouse was a prime location for a fight that would probably lead to a shootout.
I exhaled loudly.
Looked like war was going to come earlier than planned.
Chapter 14
Holly
I couldn't wait to get Ava in my arms again. As soon as we pulled through the gates of the clubhouse grounds, I parked my car and rushed toward the door with every intention of snatching her from Lulu's arms, but Sax had other ideas. I'd barely noticed him getting off his bike, and was taken aback when he reached out and grasped my arm, halting my progress.
Our eyes clashed and I waited, sensing that he had something to say. "Some serious shit is going down right now, Babe. You and Ava stay here until it's safe to leave."
I knew that. I'd been around the club long enough to know that lockdown wasn't done without a good reason. Why did Sax feel that he had to warn me now? Was this his way of showing me that he still cared about me? And he'd called me "babe", had that been a slip up?
"I will," I said. He unclasped his hand, and I went inside the clubhouse. My eyes instantly locked on where Ava was playing on a blanket on the floor in front of the TV. Lulu was sitting with her, watching over Ava and several other children as they watched a Disney movie.
Ava looked up, and a big smile lit up her face when she saw me. I rushed over to her and scooped her up into my arms. "Oh, baby, mommy missed you!" I gushed, raining kisses all over her squealing face. Her tiny hands lost themselves in my hair as she hugged me to her. I looked down at Lulu. "Was she good?"
She nodded enthusiastically. "Very good. She's an angel." She got to her feet.
"You must be tired."
"Not at all. She took a good, long nap."
I laughed, looking toward the door when it opened. Sax walked inside, his eyes zeroing in on me and Ava. His sharp gaze moved over her as if he were searching for something. A resemblance, maybe? Everyone knew that he didn't want kids, but he'd never said that he didn't like them. Sadness sent a pang to my heart, and I wondered if anything would change if she turned out to be his.
Then I remembered my horrible betrayal and how I'd come to have her in the first place.
Still, even if I could have, I wouldn't undo what I’d done now that I had Ava. She brought so much happiness to my life, and since I planned on having more children, Sax and I could never be together.
He continued to walk through the room as if we weren't there. "Do you know what's going on?" I asked Lulu. Sometimes the club girls heard things when they were mingling with the men.
She nodded and looked around before speaking to make sure that she wouldn’t be overheard. "Some of the businesses were hit the other night, all at the same time."
God, I prayed that no one had been hurt. I wondered if Grinders had been one of the properties hit, but I hadn't heard from Samson. It didn't matter now, because we were all on lockdown and I wasn’t going anywhere.
"Now the men are all hyped-up for war. You can practically smell the bloodlust in the air."
Well, that was certainly descriptive. I smiled. "Bloodlust?"
She shrugged with a giggle. "You know these men. They like a good fight. Apparently one of the MCs they had trouble with in the past has shown back up."
I didn't need to ask Lulu how she knew so much. The men loved her, and more than that they trusted her. She was easy to talk to and good at listening, I'd heard Bull say once. She was more than just a club girl to them, she'd become a friend, too. I often wondered what had pushed her to become an outlet for the men to appease their sexual drives, but she seemed to like sex, too.
Suddenly, several men stormed into the room from the room in which church was held, led by Demon and Sax. Loco, Snake, Chewy, Cole, Colton, and Reid looked like men with a purpose as they made a beeline for the door. Lulu and I exchanged knowing looks, while the kids watching TV remained riveted to the screen. There were other mothers in the room, too, and they looked on with concern.
Movement at the top of the stairs drew my gaze there, and I saw Bobbie leading the way down with Raven, Ellie, and Annie right behind her. Ellie had her daughter, Izzy, in her arms. JoJo trailed leisurely behind, carrying her and Oz's son, Samuel. They were practically running, and I realized that they wanted to catch up to the men. They continued through the room and straight out the door. I couldn't miss the fear and worry in their eyes. JoJo was the only one who stopped when she came to where Lulu and I were standing with the kids.
"Demon just text Bobbie and told her the guys are leaving."
"This is bad, isn't it?" I couldn't help murmur, meeting JoJo's eyes. She nodded, setting Samuel down on the blanket where the toys were. Ava, who was contentedly running her hands through my hair, saw him and indicated that she wanted down, probably because she'd claimed those toys as her own. "Where's Oz?"
She released a breath of relief for the safety of her man, but there was still worry in her eyes. "In the computer room. Demon has him looking for something."
The loud rumble of bikes starting up reverberated throughout the building. A minute later the girls came back inside, some with tears swimming in their eyes. God, this was not good sign. I knew in my heart that they knew what was going on, and glanced out the window as the men rode past.
Raven caught my eye and forced a smile, wiping at her eyes. "I'm just hormonal," she tried to explain away.
She was hormonal, yes, but those tears were caused by worry about Cole, and not by the baby she was carrying. She couldn't disguise the fear reflected in her eyes.
I went to her and wrapped my arms around her. "Honey…"
"I'm okay, really."
I pulled back and met her eyes. "None of us are okay with this," I murmured softly. I pushed thoughts of Sax and any possibility that something bad could happen to him aside.
"They'll be okay," Bobbie insisted, but she didn't sound very convinced of that. "Our men are tough."
Tough, but not invincible, I thought to myself. There was no reason to voice what they all already knew. None of us had been blind to the way the men in the club lived their lives when we’d entered into relationships with them, or that danger always seemed to be present. The Desert Rebels had spent years turning their MC around for the better, but they still walked the fine line between legal and illegal activity. The one percent patch that they all wore was a challenge to other MCs, and sometimes the Desert Rebels were forced to protect their reputation by showing their strength.
Ellie set Izzy down on the floor with Ava and Samuel. Apparently, Samuel felt threatened being sandwiched between two girls and got up and began to wander off. He didn't go far, just to where some of the other mothers were sitting. I guessed that they were the wives of the soldiers, because I
didn't recognize them.
"I'm glad the Vegas Watchdogs are in this with them."
Annie's comment piqued my interest. That was news to me, but hearing it made me feel better. I also realized that if the two clubs had joined together, the trouble they were facing must be huge. I tried to push aside the worry over something that I had no control of, but that had never worked in the past, and it wasn't working now. I loved everyone in the club--they were family to me—and I couldn’t stop myself from worrying over their safety.
"Did anyone check to make sure Annabelle is okay?" JoJo inquired, keeping an eye on her son.
Raven spoke up. "I did. She and Danny are at LD's clubhouse."
"Those two lovebirds are joined at the hip," Ellie laughed.
"Well, he does treat her like she walks on water," Annie added.
"Any talk of a wedding?" I asked. It was nice that we'd moved on to talk that was safe and would keep our minds off what might be happening to our men.
"Yeah, but not lately. Demon told them to slow down and for Danny to keep his dick in his pants. That Annabelle better not turn up pregnant." Bobbie made a face and rolled her eyes. "Typical big brother."
We all laughed at that. Annabelle had been through a lot, and I was pleased to see that she was happy and had found someone. Years ago she'd been attacked and left for dead. It had taken months of healing, and more months of therapy, before she’d gradually returned to her old self again. I knew that there were still triggers for her, and nightmares that kept her from forgetting entirely, but she wasn't letting it cripple her or keep her from living.
Danny was a good fit for her. He wasn't a member of the club, but he did jobs for them and he helped his sister, Jolene, run Illuminations, a lighting fixtures business next to the MC's construction office. He’d once been a pool hustler, but he’d gotten himself into big trouble owing the wrong people money, and after the debts had been paid, LD had nipped that behavior in the bud. Jolene had told me all about it. She also credited Danny's change for the better to Annabelle's influence.
SAX (Desert Rebels MC Book 4) Page 10
