Thor (Thorny Devils MC Book 1)

by MLJ Quigg

  I fell asleep and dreamt of a different life, one with him in it fulltime. I missed him very much, and I wasn’t wrong when I said I wanted to take it slow. I was scared, but I was going to go for it. I knew he would help me with my issues of being touched, and I knew sex for us would be hard to start with, but I was willing to try. He was the only man I’d ever loved, and I still had strong feelings for him, that I did know. Only time would tell.

  Derrick

  A couple of days had passed since the barbecue and the kid’s birthday, and to say it had been fun was an understatement. The kids were fucking unbelievable, in a good way that was. I couldn’t imagine them not in my life anymore. I was sick of only talking to them on the phone, though. I wanted to have my family here with me at all times. I wanted the kids to have breakfast in the morning with me, I wanted to help them with their homework when they got home from school, and I wanted to kiss and cuddle them every night and put them to bed. I knew they weren’t babies, but I wanted to do everything with them.

  The same could be said for Monique. I wanted everything with her, too. I wanted to go to bed and wake up with her beside me, I wanted to make her my old lady, marry her arse and never let her go. I loved that woman so much.

  I was sitting at the bar and drinking a cup of coffee while cruising on my phone when I felt a tap on the shoulder. I turned and saw Blade’s dad, Knife, standing there.

  “We may have some information about the attacks,” he said.

  “All right, follow me to my office, and we’ll chat about it.”

  As soon as we walked in the door, I shut it behind me and walked over to my desk. I sat down and took a sip of my coffee.

  “Okay, what do you have, Knife?” I asked.

  “It looks like it’s the Russians starting up again. After we got rid of them the last time when your dad died, I thought we had them all, but we may not have. From the looks of it, there was a survivor, and he’s been rebuilding himself since we took out everyone else,” he said.

  “Okay, we need to up the search and find this fucker. I want no stone left unturned. They nearly decimated us last time, and I will not go through that again. Find this arsehole, and bring him in,” I ordered.

  “Should we go on lockdown?” he asked.

  “Not yet. We go out in pairs or groups for safety reasons, and keep an eye out for families like we do anyway. I’ll call church, and we will discuss it.”

  “Sounds good, Thor. How are Monique and the kids doing?”

  I had a huge smile on my face as I replied, “They are fantastic. I still can’t believe I have kids, and they are so fucking smart.”

  “I know. Hannah has been talking to Monique nearly every day. She’s such a beautiful girl, inside and out. I can’t believe all she’s been through. She’s stronger than any of us, a true warrior,” Knife said.

  “That she is. God, I love that woman. I felt like shit leaving her, but I’m on top of the world having her back. It would be even better to marry her, make her my old lady, and have her here full-time. I miss her all the time,” I said.

  “I bet. I don’t know what it’s like personally. I met Hannah, and that was that. I knew from the get-go that she was it for me. I couldn’t imagine my life without her,” he stated.

  “How is Hannah taking the news of Brian?” I asked.

  “Better than I thought. She knew it was over a long time ago. She’d thought she was just a fling and then forgotten. Blade’s been taking it harder, naturally, but he will be okay,” Knife said.

  “I can understand that. You know if you want to talk about anything, you can come to me, right,” I asked.

  “Yeah, I know. It’s all good, though. I told Hannah I would be there for her if she wanted to talk, but she’s been a champ about it. As I said before, she said goodbye to him a long time ago. Blade is my son—I may not have provided the sperm, but he’s mine, and he knows this.”

  “All right. No worries. Let’s organise church, then,” I said.

  At church that night, I let the guys know what was going on. They all agreed on the plan and would see that it was followed. At the end of the meeting, I asked the cabinet to stay behind.

  When we were the only ones left, I asked, “I need to ask you guys something. I’ve noticed someone has been accessing my room, so I’ve set up a camera in the lounge room. The night of the kids’ birthday party I had a feeling someone had been in there, but no one has accessed it since. You guys haven’t noticed anyone lurking around, have you?”

  “No, but we’ll keep an eye out more now,” Dozer said.

  All the guys nodded, agreeing with Dozer.

  I thanked them and said, “I have a bad feeling about all this. The trouble we’re having, Monique, the kids, and Trina. I don’t know what it is, but something is off.”

  “You seriously don’t think Monique is involved, do you? No way.

  I don’t believe that for a second,” Dozer stated.

  “Fuck no... Oh, hell. What I meant was the timing. Since she’s turned up, I have a feeling something bad is going to happen. Never her,” I shouted, giving him a glare.

  Everyone looked relieved.

  “Sorry, I know that, but it just sounded that way,” Dozer apologised.

  “I know, man. Sorry for going off like that. Fuck!” I replied.

  Monique

  Wednesday morning after the barbecue and kids’ party, I sat in my office at work doing paperwork.

  I was looking at the background check I’d done on Trina. Everything checked out okay, but it still felt wrong to me. It just felt too perfect on paper. Something was just not right. I knew it, but I just had to prove it. Maybe I could get her fingerprints and run a check on her. I didn’t know what else to do.

  A knock on the door interrupted my musings. I closed the folder and placed it in my desk drawer, then yelled, “Come in.”

  “Hey, gorgeous. I was in the area, thought I’d drop in and say hi. How’s your morning going?” Derrick asked as he came through the door, closing it behind him.

  “Hey, Derrick. It’s good. What’s up?” I gave him my full attention.

  He looked like he was upset about something. He cleared his throat, then babbles, “Do you mind if I come over and stay this weekend. I want to see the kids and be there for them in the morning. I miss them so much, Monique. I swear I’ll be on my best behaviour. I just want to be there you know. I—”

  “Derrick, that’s fine. You can stay in the spare room. The kids would love to have you there, and I don’t have a problem with it at all,” I said, interrupting him.

  “Thank you, so much,” he said, smiling.

  “Hey, it’s all good. You can come over anytime you want. We have the room.”

  “Okay. Well, I have to get on the road. I’ll catch you soon. Ring you tonight, okay?”

  “No probs. Talk to you soon,” I replied, watching his arse as he walked out the door.

  Man, he has a nice arse. Focus, Monique. Damn.

  The day was long and boring until the kids turned up, and we went out and had an early dinner with Claire. I was chatting to the kids when, lo and behold, Trina walked into the restaurant with another girl. I wasn’t sure who the other girl was, but she had the same shifty look as Trina. When they sat down a couple of tables away, I took out my phone and discretely took a few photos of them. Trina poured them both a cup of water from a jug on the table and looked around.

  As I quickly returned my attention to the conversation the kids were having, Madilyn leaned into me and tapped my arm, getting my attention.

  “I don’t trust that woman, Mum. She is not a nice person,” she whispered.

  “I know what you mean, baby. I don’t trust her, either,” I whispered back.

  Hearing a clearing of a throat behind me, I straightened and turned.

  “Trina. Hi, how are you today?” I asked sweetly.

  “I’m excellent. Thanks for asking. So, what are you guys up to?” She’s fishing. What is she up to? Let
’s see.

  “Nothing much. Just having an early dinner with the kids. What about you?”

  “I’m catching up with my sister. I just told her about the pregnancy. She’s so excited for me. I can’t wait to hold this little one in my arms. Well, I have to go. See you later,” she said, and then walked off.

  From her background check, I knew she was lying because she didn’t have a sister. Actually, she had no family left. Somehow, I didn’t think Trina was who said she was.

  Trina returned to her table and said something to the other girl, who looked at me and smiled evilly just like Trina had when she’d smiled at me at the clubhouse. Actually, they did look alike—same black hair, same blue shading of their eyes, same build, and small features. They stood from their table and walked out the door without a second glance.

  Quickly making sure they were out of sight, I stood and walked over to the table. When a waiter walked over, I asked him to grab the manager for me, telling him a bold-faced lie as to why I needed them. When the manager arrived, I told him I needed the two glasses the girls used, and he just nodded his head without a care in the world. I asked for two zip-lock bags to take them, and when he returned with them, I wrapped the glasses up and took them with me.

  I finished dinner with my kids, then quickly ran to Henderson Security and asked our tech guy to run the fingerprints and face recognition on both women. He agreed to get on it straightaway.

  I’d been working for three hours when Sasha did her rounds. She walked over to me and discreetly nodded in the direction of a customer.

  “I tagged him when he walked in. I’m watching,” I said.

  “Fuck, you’re good. He hasn’t been in for a few years, but he was always a troublemaker,” she said.

  “I want to see the security tapes tonight before I leave, okay? I don’t trust this guy,” I said.

  “No worries, hon. That’s why you’re security,” she replied, then she squeezed my shoulder and continued her rounds.

  At the end of the shift, I went through the security tapes and watched as the guy came in and split from his friends. I took photos of all of them and sent them to our tech guy, asking for extensive background checks.

  Derrick

  On Friday, I finished the paperwork and then walked to the bar to have a drink with the guys before I left for the weekend. Trina was hanging around and was still pissed at me, but who the fuck cared? As I walked past her, she was texting on her phone. I ignored her and continued on. When I sat down, Dozer looked at me.

  “You all ready for the weekend?” he asked.

  “Sure am. All packed. The club is all yours until Monday morning,” I answered.

  I finished my beer and stood, stating, “See you guys later.” Everyone said goodbye.

  Making my way to the door, I noticed Trina had moved over near the stairs. Man, I seriously didn’t trust that woman. When I reached the door, I turned and saw Dozer looking at me. I discreetly nodded in Trina’s direction, and he nodded back. He knew what to do.

  I made my way to my bike, and as I left, I noticed a car parked down the street that had not been there before. After turning the corner, I stopped to call Dozer and let him know to keep an eye out for it. When I finished the call, I continued on my way.

  When I arrived at Monique’s place, she was waiting for me by her car.

  “You ready, gorgeous?” I asked.

  “Certainly am. Let’s go,” she replied, throwing the keys at me. I raised my eyebrow at her, and she just shrugged.

  I hopped in the car and adjusted the shit out of the seat—fuck, she was a short arse—then we headed to the kids’ school. After parking the car, we got out and walked to the gate. I received interested looks from some of the other mothers, but I ignored them all.

  When the bell rang, the kids all started piling out. I noticed my kids, but they hadn’t seen me yet, so I just stood there and watched. Madilyn finally saw us and started running over to me. She jumped into my arms, and I hugged her tight.

  “Hey, Dad, what are you doing here?” she asked.

  “I’m sleeping over for the weekend,” I answered.

  “Hi, Dad,” the boys said in unison.

  “Hey, boys,” I replied, putting Madilyn down to give the boys a hug before heading back to Monique’s house.

  After arriving and chatting with the kids for a while, Monique started dinner. While I helped her, we stole glances at each other, and when I brushed against her hand, she gasped and gave me a smile, which I returned.

  After dinner was finished and the kids had gone to bed, we made ourselves comfortable on the lounge to watch a movie, but I watched Monique instead.

  Halfway through the movie, she looked at me, and I leaned over as she leaned into me. I touched my lips to hers, and she slowly moved her lips against mine. When my tongue traced her lips, she opened for me, and I slowly explored her mouth with my tongue. I wanted to take this so much further, but at the same time, I didn’t want to scare her, so we just kissed each other slowly before pulling apart at the same time.

  “God, I missed that,” I stated.

  “I know. So did I,” she replied.

  “Fuck, I want you so bad right now, Monique.”

  “I’m not ready for sex yet. Please, don’t be upset about it, but can we just take it slowly?”

  “Of course, we can, gorgeous. We’ll take it at your pace. I just wanna be here. God, I still love you. I never stopped,” I told her. Not giving her a chance to answer, I leaned in and kissed her again, only this time, a little harder, and she responded so beautifully.

  “I’m gonna head off to bed, gorgeous. If I don’t, I’m gonna get in trouble.” I smiled cheekily at her.

  “I think I’ll do the same,” she replied.

  I checked the house out before we made our way upstairs. At the door of the room I was sleeping in, she leaned in, and I gave her a kiss. When it started to get heated, I pulled away, and we were both breathing heavily.

  “Please, Monique. I really don’t want to push you,” I begged.

  “I know, I’m sorry.”

  “No. No, don’t be sorry. We’ll get there. Slowly. I won’t push, but just let me know if you want to go further,” I said.

  “Okay. Goodnight,” she whispered.

  “Goodnight, gorgeous,” I replied.

  She walked down to her room, and at her door, she smiled at me before entering.

  I walked into my room, shut the door, and stripped down to my boxer briefs, getting ready for bed. Fuck, I was still hard. I ran my hand down my stomach and thought, Fuck it. I can’t do anything with a fucking hard on. I’ll have to take care of it before I can sleep.

  I pulled down my briefs, wrapped my hand around my cock, and imagined it was Monique’s mouth wrapped around it, sucking the life out of me. It didn’t take me long to come, and I used my T-shirt to clean up. I pulled my briefs up and the covers over me then relaxed and drifted off to sleep.

  I woke up to screaming coming from another room. Grabbing my gun from the side table, I ran in the direction that the scream had come from—Monique’s room. I opened the door and saw she was in the middle of a nightmare. I lowered my gun, engaging the safety. I knew not to wake someone from a nightmare, so I turned the light on and sat on the edge of the bed, talking to her. When she settled down and turned over on her side, I rubbed her back. Hearing a noise behind me, I turned to find the kids standing in the doorway before they walked over to me.

  “She hasn’t had a nightmare in a couple of years. They were so bad at one stage, but I thought they were gone,” Jackson whispered sadly.

  “Did it happen a lot?” I asked.

  “They did for a couple of years. Nan and Pop used to try to distract us when she had them, but we still heard,” Connor said.

  “Something must have upset her again. She only gets bad when she’s upset. What are we going to do, Dad? I hate seeing Mum like this.” Madilyn sniffled.

  “Come here, kids. We are going to b
e here for her, we are going to love her and show her this constantly. Okay?” I said, hugging them.

  “Hey, what are you all doing in here?” Monique asked groggily.

  “You had a nightmare, gorgeous. It woke us all up,” I answered, rubbing her back.

  When she burst into tears, I hopped into bed beside her, wrapping my body around her. She buried her head in my shoulder. The kids hopped in on the other side of her, hugging her from behind until she finally calmed down.

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t even know,” she said, sniffling.

  “Hey, don’t you dare apologise. This is not your fault.” I hugged her harder.

  “I know. Sorry, kids,” she said.

  “Didn’t Dad just say don’t apologise,” Connor stated.

  “That he did. I’m okay now. You kids go on back to bed. Get some sleep, okay? We’ll all spend tomorrow—or should I say today —together,” she said.

  “I don’t want to leave you, Mum,” Jackson said.

  “I’ll be here. I won’t leave your mum. You kids go to bed. She’ll be safe,” I said.

  “Okay. Goodnight, Mum. Goodnight, Dad. Love you,” Connor said, yawning.

  “Night, Connor. Love you, too, son,” I said.

  “Night, Dad. Night, Mum. Love you,” came from Jackson.

  “Night, Jackson. Love you, too, son,” I said.

  “Night, Mum. Night, Dad. Love you,” Madilyn said.

  “Night, baby girl. Love you, too.” I smiled, and then laughingly said, “Why do I sound like a broken record?”

  “It does, doesn’t it? Thank you, Derrick. Can you just hold me, please?” Monique asked, yawning.

  “Sure can, gorgeous. You go to sleep, and I’ll hold you all night.

  I’ve got you, babe,” I said, pulling her closer.

  I kept rubbing her back long after her breaths evened out. Then I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

  Monique

  I woke up slowly, cuddled with my face on his chest, with a heavy arm around me. I stiffened until I caught his scent, and memories of last night came flooding back to me. I couldn’t believe I’d lost it like that in front of him. He pulled me tighter to him, then opened his eyes and smiled at me.