I can’t see an alternative. “Then tell them to suck it up or stand up themselves.”
He huffs a laugh. “Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
His head now moves up, then down, then slowly rises again. “Have you got anyone in mind?”
“Other prezes won’t like it if you start poaching one of their VPs. So I think you need to start looking down, maybe an enforcer or sergeant-at-arms ready to move on.”
“Like?”
“I won’t suggest anyone from San Diego. They’re still finding their feet after what went down a couple of years back.” A bad business. The old president, Snake, and seven of his members had hatched a plan to get rid of Drummer, become the mother chapter, and point the Devils in the direction of the drug running game. Snake and the ringleaders are dead, the rest of the traitors out bad. I shudder just thinking about such a fate, preferring death myself. No reputable MC would take in a member who’d been put out in bad standing by his club. Not being a brother would kill me for sure.
“Understandable. Lost and Dart are making a go of it.”
Yes, Lost moved up to the top spot, Dart, his new VP, was a member from Tucson who’d gone to help the club out, found his place and stayed. He’s doing well, settled in now. “Vegas is more stable. How did you take to Indian and Twister while they were here?” Indian’s the sergeant-at-arms, Twister the enforcer.
Demon snorts. “Look, our clubhouse was burning down around us. Men acted okay, had our backs, but it wasn’t particularly conducive to conducting interviews.”
I run through the other men that I know in my head. I don’t know much about any of them. Rope and Cuff I know best, and certainly not for any ability that shows they would shine as a new VP. “Maybe ask Red?”
“Could. But then I’ve got the problem of men here not trusting them to have our backs.”
“It’s simple. Find a possible. Get them here under some pretext. Let them sit around the table, drink with the men, share the whores. Let everyone see what they’re made of. Gives them a chance to see if Pueblo suits them, and your members the chance to know their mettle.”
Demon’s eyes flare, for a second giving me the reason for his name. “Good fuckin’ idea, Beef.” His hand thumps the table. “That’s what I’ll do. If they don’t like it here, or don’t match up, no harm no foul. I’ll get onto Red in the morning.”
My mind can work on two things at once. Now we’ve at least got an approach to him getting a new VP, it circles back to the problem he called me in here for. “Getting back to Skull. You can’t go on gut feelings or crediting him with shit in his head that isn’t there. Take Rock, for example.” My reference brings a wistful smile to my lips. I miss my best friend. We’re still close, though not so much as when we used to share women before his girl Becca came along. She’s one he won’t share, and I can’t blame him for that, however much I’d like to persuade him.
“Rock?” His brow creases.
“When Drummer set him up and we thought he’d turned traitor? I was the last person to believe it, but Drummer had set all the evidence in place. Before he painted Rock in such a bad light, he had it in black and white so no one could question it.” With a grimace I continue, “Even I believed my best friend had turned bad.”
“Your point?”
“You’re looking for a problem which might not exist because Wraith said something. Best way to piss a brother off is to keep watching for him to take a step out of line. You let him prospect, patched him in. Give him the same trust you do everyone else until the point where you think he’s fucked up. Then look at it all twice and make sure your case against him is watertight. That brother’s already been on the right side when you thought he was wrong once, don’t make the same mistake again.”
Demon takes in a deep breath, holds it, then lets it out. “You talk a lot of fuckin’ sense, Brother.”
Do I? I frown. Not sure I’ve ever been accused of that. Then I grin. “Has to be a first time for everything, I suppose. While I’m apparently being wise, give this woman of Skull’s a good welcome. Get Violet to take her under her wing. If Skull’s fallen for her, having her getting along with the ol’ ladies will cement his loyalty to the club.”
Demon digests that for a moment. Then he stands, walks around to me, and his meaty hand lands on the back of my cut. “You gonna stay for a drink?”
He’s offering, but my original intention to get back to Stevie hasn’t changed. “Nah, I think I’ll head back. Stevie’s all alone.” Well, she’s got the prospects with her, but I’d rather I was there.
Demon shakes his head. “I can’t imagine it, you know? Being isolated at that cabin and not being able to see? She must jump at every fuckin’ sound.”
“She’s pretty damn smart. We hear a twig snapping. She could probably fuckin’ tell you the weight of whatever walked on it.”
“Yeah?” At my nod, he resumes, “Christ. We could use her as a lookout sometime.” He grins, obviously seeing a use for her talents. “Girl seems smart.”
She is. I find myself preening at the compliment he’s given her, but fuck knows why. She’s my job, that’s all.
I’m still grinning when I make my way, finally, to my bike. Before I mount up, I slap the palm of my hand against my forehead. I really must stop thinking about her as anything other than someone I need to keep safe. If she makes any offer to me tonight, I’ll have to turn it down and for more than one reason.
She’s a target for a killer, we already know that. Letting my guard drop might lead to her death, and there’s no way in hell I want to be responsible for that. My job is just to keep her safe until Max can take up his guide dog duties again and we hand her over to the marshals. They’ll give her a new identity for a second time, she’ll drop out of sight and be in another state where I’ll never be able to find her.
The dog’s doing as well as can be expected, at least I can tell Stevie that. I pause with my finger over the engine start button, wondering how long it will be before the dog’s fit. My days guarding the woman could soon be over, and if our plan works out, Demon will get his VP. Not too long and I’ll be breathing the air of Tucson. Sounds fucking good to me.
The brothers know I’m at the cabin, but until we get the message out I’m there by myself, or for all intents and purposes I am, I still need to be careful not to be followed. I go this way and that, turning an hour’s ride into two as I carefully make sure I’ve got no tail.
Once out on the open road and able to relax, my fucking head goes there, throwing up memories of Stevie sitting on my cock earlier today. I’d seen brothers fucking unconcerned in the clubroom after my impromptu meeting with Demon, it must have been that which reminded me and brings into my mind ideas of what I could do to Stevie.
It would be different, for sure. She wouldn’t be able to see what I was doing. What difference would that make? I wouldn’t be able to make love with my eyes, it would be my hands and tongue that would paint the picture of my desire for her.
Does she like being tied up? Sally certainly hadn’t. Not that we’d tried it. The look of horror in her eyes when I jokingly suggested it had made me backtrack fast. Nah, straight missionary was how Sally wanted it.
But Stevie? Yeah, I reckon she’d be quite adventurous. The thought of being in control with my hand twisted in her hair as I guide her lips to my cock, then start fucking her mouth…
For fuck’s sake! The vibration of the engine isn’t calming my cock at all. The only plus is that I’ll be able to hide it. Just got to keep my distance is all.
Chapter Twenty-Two
After my conversation with Demon and my circuitous route back to the cabin, it’s late by the time I draw up outside. Dan and Wills are hanging out by the railing and look impatient to be off. I just raise my chin at them, and then watch as they walk smartly to the truck and drive away, the noise of the engine gradually fading into the distance.
The need to concentrate on the road in the dark h
ad, at least, calmed my unruly dick. As I wheel my bike the last few feet into the lean-to, I hope it will stay that way. I also hope that Stevie will be in her own bed and sleeping, but, on entering the cabin, I have no such luck.
When I unlock the door and quietly enter the main room, she’s rousing herself on the couch, wiping sleep from bleary eyes. I take a moment to soak in the sight. Her hair is awry, strands coming down over her face, one cheek is red from having been pressed into the cushion. She’s fucking adorable.
Red embers are glowing in the wood burner. She laid a fire or had the prospects? Kept it going all night? Isn’t that dangerous? What if a log fell out and she burned the place, and herself, down? What were Dan and Wills thinking?
“What time is it?”
“Past midnight. You should be asleep in bed.” I wish you were. Then I’d be better able to control myself. My dick, which I had got behaving, has perked up in interest again.
“I was too comfortable in front of the fire,” she pouts. “I didn’t want to move.” When she shivers, I pull the blanket down from the back of the couch and pull it over her. “Well, I was, before I fell asleep and the fire burned down.”
“Didn’t you ask Dan or Wills to build it up again?”
She gives me a look as though saying she’s perfectly capable herself. I change the subject, knowing the thought of her throwing logs into the fire is the making of nightmares.
“Want me to make you a hot chocolate before you go to bed?”
“No, I’m fine. Did you have a good meeting?”
I should tell her yes, or no. Make some shit up. Tomorrow’s soon enough to have the conversation that’s well past time, but somehow the words come out of my mouth. “Why the fuck weren’t you scared of me, Stevie? Why weren’t you worried when you came to the clubhouse?”
Her head tilts as though she can’t understand my question.
“We’re bikers, Stevie. Like them.”
Her mouth opens in an O, and her breathing seems to stop.
“We know it all, Stevie. What you’re running from and why.”
Her unseeing eyes shutter and close. “I didn’t have any choice but to accept your help. I knew you were different, I know not all MCs were alike. I knew you were good people, Beef, you saved Max and you saved me. I just couldn’t tell you, just in case…”
The reasons for her reticence drop into place. “I’m from an MC, and you thought we might be involved.”
“Not you, Beef,” she says fast. “You could never condone what they did. But your club? I don’t know what affiliations you have.” Swinging her legs off the couch, she sits up. “Will this change anything?” As her head tilts accurately in my direction, I see her brow is creased and her teeth are worrying her lip.
“No.” I go over and sit beside her. It seems natural to take her hand in mine. “You’ve heard of the Wretched Soulz?”
“Of course,” she scoffs. “I wasn’t born under a rock. They’re that huge club, everyone knows of them.” She shudders, the gesture gives away what she thinks of them.
She turns her hand in mine, and her fingers press mine gently. “You know it all?”
“The Warped Jokers robbing a bank, yeah. That you’re the star witness? That too.”
Her head rises, she stares in the direction of the dying fire. “I try not to think about it, else I’ll hear it all the time, Beef. Those muffled shots, those screams. The begging, pleading for mercy. The cries of fear and pain. They were firing again and again, gradually the sound getting louder. I smell the cordite, I breathe the odour of the man who held me and threatened me. I could feel their evil.”
She pauses, then adds, “I was powerless to do anything then, all I can do is help put those men away.” She pauses, her lips press together. “I feel guilty that they left me alive. How crazy is that? They thought I was a nothing, not even a person good enough to kill. I should have been one of those bodies, instead I wasn’t worth a bullet.”
“Fuckin’ glad they underestimated you.” It seems natural to pull her toward me, to wrap my arms around her and hold her close. This near, I can feel her shaking. It’s me who’s feeling at fault right now. I hadn’t considered how terrifying her ordeal had been, nor its lasting effect on her.
“Do I scare you?” I ask suddenly.
“You? No, why?”
“Because I smell like them. Oil and leather.”
Her head shakes against me. “You’re different. They smelled bad, your leather smells of some sort of polish.”
It smells of the conditioner I use to keep it supple. Care of my cut comes second only to the care of my bike.
“Why did you mention the Wretched Soulz?”
“You know they are a big club.” I explain as best I can. “They cover a lot of the states, other countries too. They’re what’s known as the dominant club, at least in this area. Any club that sets up in their territory has to get their permission. We live alongside them, know the boundaries, and don’t step out of line.”
“They’ve got a bad reputation.”
“All MCs have, darlin’. It’s par for the course. People don’t understand us. But one club is not like the next. We keep to the right side of the line most of the time, but family is most important. Someone crosses us, and we handle it in ways which citizens don’t approve. Our justice is swift.”
There’s a tremor in her voice as she asks, “Have I crossed your club by not coming clean from the start?”
“Nah.” I hug her tighter and kiss the top of her head, breathing in the flowery scent of the shampoo she must have used again. “But you’ve given us a problem. We need to stay on the right side of the Wretched Soulz. They’re too big for us to anger. The issue is, the Warped Jokers are also set up with permission of the dominant.”
“They support them?” she asks, incredulously.
“Support would be taking it too far, I suspect. I wasn’t party to the discussions, but even the Wretched Soulz don’t go around shooting up banks. The Warped Jokers were out of line.”
“Out of line?” she squeaks. “People were killed.”
“I know, darlin’, I know.” I hope my tone is soothing. “Leaving aside their crime, they’ve brought the attention of the feds down on all MCs. Motorcycle clubs like ours are classified as gangs by the feds, and when something like this happens, an easy target to take down. If the Warped Jokers get convicted, their club will be destroyed. Problem is, the feds won’t stop there. In their eyes it proves what MCs will do and that they’re right to go after us. We’re all tarred with the same brush, whether we like it or not.”
“I’m going to testify.”
I smile at her firm words. “Not asking you not to, babe. But the Wretched Soulz have a different take on things. They find you? They might try to persuade you not to take that stand.”
“They’ll kill me.”
I can’t deny the possibility, so I ignore it.
“The Wretched Soulz tried to run me down? Set fire to my house?”
“I wouldn’t think so, Stevie. They might want the problem with the Warped Jokers to go away, but I don’t think they’d get their hands dirty. I’d place my bet we’ve got some Jokers in town.”
Her shiver isn’t due to the chill that’s descended in the room.
“They’re the ones who found me? I don’t understand how.”
“Neither do we. But they did. Somehow, somewhere, the Jokers have got information they shouldn’t have. But they’re not going to find you.” I put emphasis on the final sentence, then take a moment to explain our plan. That for all intents and purposes I’m living here alone, and that when anyone comes she’ll remain out of sight. That the story will be she’s gone to the marshals and left town.
“The marshals will know that’s not true. What if the leak comes from them?”
Sighing deeply, I realise I can give no guarantees. “All we can do is our best, Stevie. Yeah, we’re reacting rather than dictating the situation as we don’t know where the threat
’s coming from, but believe this, everything we’re doing is designed to ensure your safety.”
She’s quiet for a moment, then her hand reaches for mine. I meet her halfway. “I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for you, Beef. I’m just worried how I’ve pulled you into this. What if they don’t believe your story? What if they come here and hurt you?”
I move her hand until she can feel the bulging muscles in my arm. “I can look after myself, babe. And you.”
She’s quiet for a few minutes, taking in what I’ve told her, reading between the lines of what I haven’t said. That in continuing to protect her, the Satan’s Devils are pitting themselves against the dominant club. I really wish I could speak to Drummer, get his take on events. In my heart I’m sure I’m going in the direction he’d be taking. In my head, I want to be certain. But I need to let Demon assume the lead. It’s not my place to approach the mother chapter prez. Unless… As Stevie stays quiet, I realise I am here as Drummer’s enforcer. If I don’t think things are being done the right way, I can alert him to any problems. But first, Demon has to make a mistake, and so far, I can’t criticise him.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course you can.”
“Will you come to bed with me?”
Fuck! I didn’t expect her to ask that. Immediately my cock goes from the zero it’s been at for this serious discussion to eighty. It feels impossibly hard, obviously eager to get inside her. But is that really what she’s asking?
“Darlin’, what is it you want?” She shifts as though feeling awkward, but my arms keep her imprisoned. “Speak to me,” I encourage.
“I don’t want to be alone. I just want to be held, like this, all night.”
Christ! That will fucking kill me. “I can do that.”
She swallows. “If you wanted to make love…”
“Darlin’, I’m not going to push you to do anything you don’t want. But I have to warn you, I’m a biker. I don’t make love. I fuck.” I got stuck in that trap with Sally. Had I warned her about my needs from the start, she and I may have recognised our incompatibilities and the whole darn mess wouldn’t have got off the ground.
Satan's Devils MC Colorado Boxset 1 Books 1 - 3 Page 90
