Twisted Steel: An MC Anthology: Second Edition

by Elizabeth Knox

  I’d gotten lax, thinking he was beat, and didn’t see the knife until it was too late. The shouts from my brothers coincided with the burning pain of the blade sinking into my side.

  Shock held me frozen as the world moved in slow motion. I looked at the knife sticking out of my side, then to where Reaper had tackled Chet back to the ground, and finally to the wide eyes of Hailey where she stood by the edge of the building with her mouth open in shock.

  I dropped to my knees, and the pain of the gravel digging into them barely registered. Blood seeped through my clothing to drip on the ground, and I was transfixed by the sight of the growing puddle before I started to fall.

  As Apollo laid me down, everything went black.

  19

  Hailey

  “When It Comes To Loving You”—Jon Langston

  If someone had told me I’d fall madly in love with a biker, I would’ve laughed. Because hello, what a cliche after that show, right? But hell if I hadn’t. That’s why when he told me I couldn’t be pregnant with his kid I lost my shit. My feelings were all over the place between the hormones and facing the fact that I was head over heels for a man who’d told me not to attach feelings to what we had.

  Now, if that same person had said I would watch as a madman stabbed the love of my life in the guts, I would’ve punched them in the throat. Because what a fucked-up thing to say. Yet, there I was living it.

  Once the shock settled, I tried to run to him, but thick tattooed arms held me back. “Let me go!” I screamed as I thrashed to get free.

  “Ouch!” The man holding me shouted as my booted foot made contact with his shin. “Goddamn it, woman! You need to stay out of the way so Apollo can help him!”

  The fight left me, and I sagged. Thankfully, he didn’t let me fall.

  “There’s so much blood,” I sobbed as I watched one of the guys toss a bag to Apollo.

  “If anyone can take care of him, it’s Apollo,” Soap said as he cautiously loosened his grip on me. I didn’t care what had happened to Chet by that time. I couldn’t have cared less if they filleted him, quite frankly. He was a vile human.

  I turned to Hacker and Joker, who had moved up next to us. “He told me he framed you guys for Danielle’s murder,” I admitted as my shoulders curled in.

  “He tried. Little did he know, we caught his destruction of our clubhouse on camera. So even with the evidence he planted, he’ll have a hard time getting it to stick. Especially since I got his little minion pulling the bag out of his pocket before he went into Two-Speed’s room. His search was bullshit,” Hacker assured me with a satisfied grin.

  “What are you going to do to him?” I hesitantly questioned.

  “It’s probably best you don’t know,” Joker said before breaking his gaze from mine and stepping back. He quietly spoke with two of the other guys.

  “He was going to sell me,” I said. A shudder chased through me at the realization of how close I’d been to having that happen.

  “Jesus,” Soap muttered.

  “We need to get Snow out of here before his friends show up. Joker, I need you to pull the SUV up,” Reaper announced. “I’m going to wait to see who the mystery guests are.”

  “But they’ll see you!” I said in fear.

  “Don’t worry, if I don’t want to be seen, I won’t be.”

  “I’m staying with you,” Hollywood insisted.

  Apollo looked over his shoulder and nodded. He had supplies spread around him that he’d used and discarded. “We need cleanup out here,” he said as he went back to Luke.

  “Already made the call to Venom and the boys. They’re on their way,” said Vinny in his northeastern accent.

  “Wait, what about Luke?” I asked, worry heavy in my tone.

  “I’ve done what I can here. I think he’ll be okay, but I want Angel to take a look at him when they get here. Please tell me he’s coming?” Apollo asked as he held Vinny’s gaze.

  Vinny nodded. Reaper backed a dark SUV up to where Luke lay on the ground. They made quick work of loading him up and picking up their trash. Several of the guys had dragged Chet off as soon as they’d tackled him.

  I’d been angry that they didn’t intervene immediately, but they’d said that their prez needed the closure. I hadn’t understood what they were talking about.

  I also didn’t understand why he’d come after me after the way he’d reacted to the news I’d given him.

  They had me climb in the backseat of the SUV, and I turned in my seat to reach over to touch him. I’d needed that reassurance that he was there.

  “He’s going to be okay,” Apollo quietly murmured. My gaze rose from Luke to lock on to his.

  My chest ached so badly I was afraid it was caving in on itself. “I hope so.”

  He groaned as he swung out with one arm. Apollo caught him by the forearm before he could make contact and tried to calm him down. His blue eyes snapped open, full of panic until they met and held mine.

  “Hailey,” he whispered before he winced.

  With tears in my eyes, I turned further in the seat so I could reach his hand. Though he squeezed mine back, I didn’t miss the tremor in his grip. “Don’t talk,” I begged him as a tear slipped down my cheek.

  He gave a slight shake of his head. “I fucked up. I’m s-sorry.”

  “Shhh.” I tried to comfort him by running my free hand along his hair. He seemed to relax, so I kept at it.

  The rest of the trip back to their clubhouse was thankfully uneventful.

  Within an hour, several men showed up. I had no idea who they were, but there was an odd energy that surrounded them. Not bad, but strange.

  A dark-haired guy they called Angel went into the infirmary with Apollo, and everyone else was made to leave. I wasn’t happy about that and was pacing in the common area.

  “Hailey?” I turned to see the oldest of the men watching me closely. Hands shoved deep in his pockets, he cocked his head.

  “Do I know you?” I asked nervously. He had two piercings on his bottom lip, one on his eyebrow, and a salt-and-pepper beard. A fitted ball cap was turned backward on his head with the letters RBMC embroidered on the back above his eyes that seemed to change color.

  “No.”

  The men had seemed to be friendly, but there was something about this guy that made me watch him curiously. He studied me further as I wrapped my arms tightly around my middle. It was taking everything I had not to break down.

  The other man had hair that flopped over the palest eyes I’d ever seen. Eyes that seemed to stare into my soul. He murmured something to the first guy about “the babies.”

  “What babies?” I hadn’t seen any children since we’d returned. My gaze scanned the room. The older guy shook his head in amazement as he continued watching me.

  “Who are you guys?” I asked as I looked from one to the other and over toward the hall where they had taken Luke. The older guy with the chameleon eyes came closer to me, and the other guy watched me quietly.

  “I’m Venom. This is Voodoo. Angel is with your man. That’s really all that’s important right now.” I was confused because more than three of them had arrived.

  Slowly, he pulled a hand out of his pocket and reached for me. Inside, I wanted to pull away, but something held me in place. When his fingertips made contact with my cheek, I sucked in a startled breath.

  “He’s going to be okay. I promise. You should go clean up and wait for him in his room. Get some rest,” he said softly. Languid warmth filled me, and I suddenly relaxed. Why I believed him, I couldn’t say, but I did.

  “Okay,” I breathed out on a sigh as my shoulders dropped and I gave him a tired half smile.

  Slowly, I shuffled back to Luke’s room, where the day had taken its turn for the worse. Yet none of that mattered as I stripped, showered, dried off, and crawled into his welcoming bed.

  As I drifted off to sleep, I had a smile on my face and not a worry on my mind.

  “Mmm.” I tipped my head to
allow better access for the kisses that were raining along my neck and shoulder.

  “Wake up, baby.” The rumble of a familiar voice had me slowly blinking and trying to focus on where I was. Drowsy still, I rolled over, and a sultry grin curled my lips as I saw the sexy bearded man lying next to me.

  “What an awesome dream,” I said as dream-me reached out to stroke the soft beard of the man I’d lost my heart to. “At least dream-you isn’t mad at me.”

  He chuckled. “I wasn’t mad at you, Hailey. I was just operating under a foolish misconception. I’ll explain it when you’re fully awake.”

  “Mmm, okay. Well, since we’re dreaming together, you should make love to me.” I gave him a sleepy smile.

  “Oh, I should, should I?” he asked with humor in his voice. I nodded decisively.

  “Absolutely.”

  His beard tickled over me, and I gave a shiver and a giggle. He slowly pulled the bedding back to expose me to his heated stare. Leaning over, he pressed a kiss to my abdomen, then raised his blue gaze to mine. “Forgive me?”

  “Of course. Thank you for saving me,” I murmured as my fingers sifted through his soft hair. This was easily one of the best dreams I’d ever had.

  “Always. Any time you need rescuing, I’m your man. I just hope there’s no need for that ever again.”

  “Mmm,” I replied as I raked my teeth over my bottom lip. Dreams were amazing, and what I really hoped was that I didn’t wake up too soon.

  The heat of his mouth blew over my skin before his lips drew my nipple in and suckled. Gripping his hair tightly in my grasp, I moaned as he teased first one breast, then the other.

  With each touch, I lost myself to the dream-Luke, happy to leave the worries of the night behind me in my consciousness.

  When his thick length slid into my soaking wet core, I threw my head back and sighed. He sucked on the side of my neck, marking me as his before he thrust deep. That was when I realized I wasn’t sleeping.

  “Luke!” I gasped, wide-eyed with worry.

  He paused with his face buried in my shoulder. “Yeah?” he asked in a strained tone.

  “Oh my God! I thought I was dreaming!”

  “Well, I’m pretty much a dream come true.” He groaned into my neck as he stroked slowly in and out.

  “Luke!”

  “What?” he rasped before lifting his head to look me in the eye.

  “You were hurt! I don’t know if this is a great idea,” I argued, trying to carefully extricate myself.

  “It was barely a flesh wound, I promise,” he replied through gritted teeth. Not believing a word he was saying, I gave him a side-eye. When he continued to stare intently at me, I gave in.

  Maybe it had started in my mind as a dream, but it sure as hell ended as the real deal. The man knew how to work what the good Lord gave him. By the time we were done, we were both breathless and perfectly sweaty.

  “Look at me,” he said as he gently tipped my jaw in his direction.

  “Yeah?” I asked, panting in satisfaction.

  “I fucking love you.”

  “Way to be romantic,” I said as I giggled and raised my head to look at him. “But I love you too.”

  “We’re gonna figure all this shit out,” he said as he rose up to lean over me and pressed a kiss to my swollen lips.

  I raised my hand to cup his face. “Okay.”

  There were still a few unknowns, but I believed that with the two of us together, anything was possible.

  The Biker’s Second Chance

  A Second Chance Romance

  Nicole James

  1

  Green

  Shane and I stare down at the security footage on the laptop in the clubhouse IT room, which is about the size of a walk-in closet. Its footage from last night’s open party, something we have about once a month.

  I lean closer. “Who is that?”

  “Is that a Road Runner tattoo?” Shane asks, frowning.

  “I don’t know. You’re the one doing her.”

  “I don’t know who that is.” Shane runs a hand down his jaw, a sly smile on his face. “God, I love being a biker.”

  “Oh, oh, oh.” I point at the screen. “That’s Angeline, dude. You banged Angeline. Put ‘er there.” We exchange a high five.

  “Wait. Is that you?” he asks. “Who are you with?”

  “Desiree.”

  “Who’s she?”

  “One of Sonny’s newest strippers.”

  “Nice.” We fist bump.

  “Fast, hot women with no strings, that’s all I care about.” The words leave my mouth, but it’s a lie even I don’t believe anymore, and I swear to myself I’m done with those cheap, easy lays. I need to find myself a good woman, an ol’ lady like the ones most of my brothers have found. Problem is I just don’t travel in the circles where I meet those kinds of women.

  “Bro, look.” Shane bats my arm, and points to the laptop.

  “Wait. Who are those people?” I ask, noticing more bodies filling the screen, wondering if I missed something when my mind drifted.

  Shane frowns, leaning closer. “I have no fucking idea.”

  “Fuck. Is that the new female Deputy Sheriff?” I ask.

  He pulls back. “That is a big pile of naked.”

  I watch, making a face. “That is some wild shit right there.”

  The door is thrown open, and Cajun leans his head in. “Hey, what’re you doing?”

  Shane slams the laptop shut. “Nothing.”

  Cajun moves into the small space, closes the door, and says in a low conspiring voice. “Okay, listen, are we gonna talk about the orgy we had last night?”

  “What?” I swallow.

  “You were there?” Shane asks.

  “Hell, yeah. I banged the new Deputy Sheriff.”

  Shane stands and shoves out of the room.

  Cajun calls after him. “Where’re you goin’?”

  “Two’s company. Three’s a nightmare.”

  I stare up at Cajun. “Did you want something?”

  “Yeah, we’re leavin’ out soon.

  I stand and move toward the door.

  “Where’re you goin’?” he asks.

  “To have a smoke. What’s it to ya?”

  I walk out and through the clubhouse, where several of my brothers are gathered around a table quietly discussing our plan. I walk past, knowing and trusting that our VP will let me know whatever it is I need to know for this run.

  I push out the door and dig a pack of smokes out of my pocket, dipping my head to light up. Shane is already out here, smoking and talking with Wolf. He looks over at me.

  “What the fuck was that shit?”

  “I have no clue.”

  “If Cajun’s doin’ the Deputy Sheriff, we may have a problem.”

  “Why’s that?” I ask. “Maybe we’ll have her in our hip pocket.”

  “This is Cajun we’re talkin’ about. Have you ever known him not to piss off a woman? Last thing we need is him pissin’ off that one.”

  “Don’t worry,” Wolf cuts in, staring at the cigarette cupped in his hand. “She’s not gonna be a problem.”

  “Oh, and how is that?” Shane asks.

  Wolf grins. “We’ve got shit on her. Seems the Deputy Sheriff has a pension for Ecstasy. I got her on camera making a buy.”

  “Christ. What’s the world coming to when our city’s finest are druggies?” I chuckle.

  Mack, our president, walks outside, followed by Crash and Red Dog. They head to their bikes.

  Cole, our VP, comes through the door next, and lifts his chin at us. “Mount up, boys.”

  Wolf flings his cigarette, the glowing tip arching into the dark night and follows.

  Shane drops his under his boot, grinding it out, and I take a final drag before doing the same.

  Five minutes later, we’re roaring up I880, headed toward Oakland. Mack and Cole ride at the front of the pack, then Crash and Wolf, then Red Dog and I, with Cajun and Shane b
ringing up the rear. The hoard of eight of us zooms up the fast lane, cars scattering out of our way when they hear our load pipes behind them.

  God, I love wearing this patch. Evil Dead MC rules this state, border to border.

  Cole lifts his left arm up, giving the signal and in a synchronized move only a pack like ours with years of experience riding together can make, we swing into the right lane to surround a Silver Mercedes. It only takes a minute for us to force it to the shoulder, Cole and Mack in front of it, Crash and Wolf on the side, and the rest of us in back.

  I idle my engine behind the expensive car while Cole dismounts and moves to the passenger side. My gaze drops to the vanity plate that reads NTGUILTY. Behind the wheel is our MC’s lawyer. He’s a slick asshole, but he wins, and that’s all we care about.

  Plus, he’s dirty as hell; always giving Cole the down-low on any rats we may want to track down, like the one we’re after today—a small-time dealer that’s invaded our turf one too many times. He’s been warned, but that apparently hasn’t infused into his drug-addled brain.

  Cole leans down to the window and they have a short conversation, where I assume he’s getting the address for this idiot, who is—lucky for us—on probation. Cole slips an envelope out of his cut and passes it through the window. Then he straightens and jerks his chin at us.

  A moment later we’re back on the Interstate, hauling ass toward wherever our VP is leading.

  Ten minutes later, we pull up at a three-story apartment near Fruitvale and Piccoli Road and dismount.

  The place is run down, but it’s got decent security, with iron gates that prevent access to the outdoor stairwells.

  Cole stares up at the second-floor walkway that runs along the building, a waist-high iron railing traveling the length. “Someone gets up there, they can unlock the gate for the rest of us.” He turns and locks eyes with me. “Green, you’re up.”