Fighter: The Devil's Highwaymen Nomads #4

by Claire C. Riley

  “Finally, a clear fucking answer.” Hardy looked back at me, his hard stare set on me. He dragged a hand over his short beard. “Razuuk wants her belly filled and our clubs united for the end of the month.”

  I scowled. “No.”

  “Our clubs either unite or they go to war. That’s your choice. He gave up Solomon to settle the score for you, and that was a big fucking ask. Now he’s showing his hand, and this is his ask.” Hardy stubbed out his cigar.

  Gauge laughed. “No one gave up Solomon. We hunted him down like the dog he was after he got kicked out of the Vipers for stealing from them. Razuuk can suck my dick if he thinks he gets to call any shots around here.”

  “What if I leave?” I asked, and almost every set of eyes turned to look at me. “What if I go nomad?”

  Penny wasn’t ready to be a mother. She wasn’t ready to settle down yet. I hadn’t gone through the past five months to turn around and trap her back in a cage, forcing her to get pregnant and become a fulltime old lady in the club. She wanted freedom. She wanted to make her own choices, her own life, and that was what I wanted for her too. One day we’d have all that other shit, but not now. not like this.

  Hardy sighed heavily. “Nothing’s ever fucking simple with you anymore.”

  “We could make that work,” Rider said. “We could send you on the road, give you and Penny some space, some time to do whatever the fuck it is you’re trying to do for that woman. Razuuk can’t say shit about shit then. Got a club up in Miles City that’s lost a couple of guys recently to the DOC. They could do with another set of hands while they sort their club out.” Rider looked over at Gauge and Gauge nodded. Hardy looked pissed off, but he couldn’t argue with the logic of it all.

  “I’m good with that,” I agreed. “I’ll set off as soon as you say, Prez.”

  Hardy glared at me, his mouth pulled into a thin line. “All right, I’ll sort it out with Razuuk. You leave immediately.” He lit a cigar and blew out a mouth full of smoke. “It only puts this shit on pause though. Sooner or later you’re going to have to bring that woman to heel, whether she likes it or not.”

  We sorted through the last of the club business and Hardy slammed the gavel down on the table. We all cleared out of church and headed into the main clubhouse to get a drink.

  I looked around at my clubhouse, at my brothers, my family, wondering how long it would be before I came back. Regardless of how long it was, I knew it was the right thing to do. At least for Penny. My whole life I’d only had to think about myself, my club, my brothers. I was selfish and rotten to the core, but Penny brought out a side of me that made me want to be a better man.

  “You really giving all this up for her?” Battle said, coming to stand next to me. He had Jesse and Axle in tow and neither man looked happy about the situation.

  “It’s just for a few months,” I said with a sigh.

  “Maybe,” Axle said. “But the last brother who went nomad still ain’t come back into the fold and that was four years ago. Going nomad is the ultimate freedom. Once you’ve done it, it’s hard to come back and settle.”

  “We’ll see,” I replied, taking a sip of my beer. I knew I’d come back at some point. After all, it was where my old lady was, and one day we’d have our time together. “We’ll see,” I said again with a heavy sigh.

  I looked down at my hands, still seeing Solomon’s blood on them. The sight made me smile.

  “You’re gonna be missed,” Jesse said, tucking his long hair behind his ears. He was turning into Axle more and more every day. Axle had long hair normally tied back and he was one of the best fighters I’d ever known. I’d seen Jesse and him fighting a couple of times, and it was getting to the point that I wasn’t sure who I’d be putting my money on. Axle was good for Jesse in every way. Since Butch had been assigned road captain status a couple of months back, he hadn’t been around much. Jesse and Butch had been working on an old bike for years, but not much had gotten done on it in the past few months. Part of me thought it was a deliberate thing by Hardy to keep the brothers apart, his hate for Jesse still growing even after so many years. A normal man would grow dark with that sort of hate coming from his own blood, but Jesse turned it round and changed it into something else.

  “Aaah, don’t go crying for me, brother, I’ll be back soon enough,” I joked.

  Jesse patted my shoulder and headed over to Casa, and Axle held out a hand. I shook it and he pulled me in and patted my back.

  “Watch out for him,” I said, nodding toward Jesse.

  Axle nodded and smiled before walking away.

  I drank some more of my beer while I waited for Battle to say whatever it was he wanted to say. After several minutes of drinking in silence, I turned to him.

  “I’ll come back,” I said.

  Battle put down his beer and turned to me. “Need to speak to Quinn, but I’m pretty sure she’ll be on board with this.”

  “With what?” I frowned.

  “We’re coming with you, brother.”

  “Fuck off,” I laughed. “I don’t need you holding my hand. I can do this shit on my own.”

  Battle barked out a loud laugh. “I’m not going to be holding your hand, motherfucker. I’m going to be balls deep in my woman. Truth is, I’ve got bad vibes about this club, and I don’t want Quinn anywhere near when the shit hits the fan.”

  I thought about that for a moment before answering. “So this is about you and her?”

  “No,” he said with a shake of his head. “This is about her. It’s always about her. Everything is about her. And don’t make out like you don’t get it now, cus’ I know that you do.”

  A couple of months before I would have called him a pussy for saying something like that, but not anymore. Now I got it. Everything was about her—Penny. I’d walk to the ends of the earth to keep her safe, to make her smile, to help her sleep a little easier at night. It killed me to stay away from her, to give her the space she needed to find out who she was and to grow into that woman.

  But I wanted it for her.

  She needed it.

  And more than anything else, she deserved it.

  ~ 33 ~

  Penny

  I dug the spoon into the ice cream and crammed it into my mouth while I stared down at my notes. The nursing course was hard, much harder than the crappy online course I’d been taking when I was a Viper, but I was getting through it, slowly. Ice cream definitely helped.

  A heavy knock came at the door and I looked up sharply. I placed the carton and spoon down and headed toward it, a hundred names passing through my head as to who it could be. Charlie had a key and always let herself in, and Battle and Quinn had dropped by a couple of times but Quinn always called my name when she knocked.

  I stood on my tiptoes and looked through the peephole, seeing Fighter standing there with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. His shoulders were back and his chin high, uncaring of the scars my daddy had given him. He looked beautiful and fierce, his black eyes finding me automatically.

  I looked around the apartment, seeing the mess of it and feeling embarrassed. Then my gaze went to myself and I felt even worse. An hour earlier I had been dressed and had a full face of makeup on. But I’d gotten home, taken a shower, and thrown on some sweats to study. And now there I was, about to see Fighter for the first time in months and looking like crap.

  I unlocked the door and swung it open and he looked at me with those black eyes of his that were so empty and so full all at the same time.

  “Hey,” he said casually, like it wasn’t the first time he’d been to my apartment—an apartment which he’d paid for and furnished.

  “Hey,” I replied with a small smile, the butterflies in my stomach going crazy.

  I’d missed Fighter every day since he’d left me at Charlie’s house with his credit card and an order to spend as much of his money as I needed to. I’d barely spent a dollar that first week, but once I’d started to heal, Charlie had taken me under her wing an
d taken me shopping—first for small things like a new purse or makeup, and then for bigger things like an apartment and the home comforts to furnish it. I hadn’t wanted to go back to my old apartment since I’d left my daddy and the Vipers. I’d barely collected a suitcase full of things from it before locking the door and walking away from that life.

  I was still the feisty woman I had always been, but I was also discovering a new side to myself—one that wasn’t hidden from her father. One that wasn’t controlled by him either. I dressed differently, I spoke differently. Even the music I listened to was different. Because now I had nothing to fear. Now I was free. Thanks to Fighter.

  “Are you coming in?” I asked, holding the door open for him and stepping to one side.

  He looked uncertain, his eyes looking around me before he nodded. “Sure.”

  “Drink?” I asked, and he nodded again, his dark eyes taking in every inch of the apartment. The vases filled with daisies on the window ledge, the books stacked on the shelving unit, the pillows and throws on the sofa. He’d paid for it all, but it was all mine.

  “It’s looking good,” he said.

  “Thanks,” I replied, reaching into the refrigerator to grab a bottle of beer. I’d bought a pack of four the day I’d moved in, saving them for the day that he came back to me. To our home.

  I popped the lid and walked back to him, handing it over. He nodded toward the papers strewn across my coffee table.

  “Working hard?”

  “Yeah. Who knew nursing was so difficult?” I took a swig of my own beer and laughed. “Can’t believe you survived the stitches I gave you.”

  He smiled at that. “You signed up then?”

  It had been one of the things he’d asked me to do when he’d left me with Charlie and Rider.

  “Yeah, thought it was about time that I did something with my life.”

  “Something you wanted to do,” he corrected firmly, and I nodded.

  We stood awkwardly for several moments. We were inches apart, yet it felt like miles. All I wanted to do was wrap my arms around him and press my lips to his. But that wasn’t what he’d come here for.

  “I’m leaving for a while,” he said, putting his bottle of beer down. “I just thought you should know.”

  I picked at the label on my bottle and looked away from him. “Is it something I’ve done?” I asked.

  “No. I need to go help another club out is all.”

  I frowned and looked up at him. “How long will you be gone?”

  “I’m not sure. Couple of months, maybe more.”

  I hesitated but eventually decided to ask the question that was on the tip of my tongue. “And then what?” I looked back up at him.

  No other man ever had the effect on me that he did. His woody scent wrapped around me, his dark eyes pulled me in, and my body responded to his before he’d even made a move. My nipples were hard, my breathing shallow. I wanted him to kiss me. To grab me and pull me to his chest, dragging kisses from my lips until they were swollen with the pleasure he gave me.

  “And then I’ll be back.” He shrugged.

  “Will you be back…here?” I asked, hesitant.

  He raised an eyebrow at me, his mouth tugging in a smile. “Is that what you’d want?”

  “Yes,” I responded immediately, my cheeks feeling hot.

  He chuckled. “Eager.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Arrogant.”

  We both laughed.

  “I miss you,” I said.

  “You hardly know me.”

  I shrugged. “I know you enough to know that I want to be with you.”

  “You need to live first, Penny. Find your own way, find yourself. I’m not going to be good for you, but I’m not willing to change who I am for you either.”

  “Love finds a way,” I said breathlessly.

  He straightened up. “Is that what this is?” he asked, his dark eyes grazing over my lips.

  “It could be, if you came back to me.”

  His gaze dropped to my lips again and I fidgeted nervously under his intense stare. His black eyes, filled with stars and planets and the whole damn universe trapped in them holding me steady, grounding me to him like an anchor.

  “What if you don’t come back?” I asked, and he smiled, a crooked sexy smile and raised an eyebrow.

  “Penny, when the moon fell in love with the wolf, the moon came back night after night just so he could catch a glimpse of her. Just so he could see those beautiful amber eyes of hers, and that long dark hair.” He placed a hand on my cheek. “No matter what happens, Penny, the moon always finds his wolf, and I’ll always find you.”

  Fighter reached out with one of his large hands, wrapping it around the back of my head and tangling his fingers into my hair as he pulled me close to him.

  “But just incase I didn’t make myself clear, you’re my old lady, Penny. I claimed you and I’ll be coming back for you.” He pressed a hard kiss to my mouth and I opened to him, letting him deepen it, my own hands finding his waist. He pulled his mouth from mine, but still so close that our lips were practically touching. “But I want you to know, if you meet someone else between then and now, I won’t do anything about it. I’ll understand it was your choice.”

  Before I could argue with him about that, he pressed his lips to mine once more. He bit down on my bottom lip before sucking it gently into his mouth, his tongue dancing over mine. I groaned into his mouth when his hands reached around me, cupping my ass and pulling me tighter against him, his hard length pressing against my belly.

  My hands dropped from his waist to his jeans, fumbling with his zipper and buttons so that I could free him. I grasped him in my hand, feeling the slow pulse of his heavy cock in my palm, and my core tightened. I wanted this, wanted him, in me, filling me.

  “I need you,” I mumbled against his mouth. “Please.”

  And just like that, it was like old times again. Me begging him. Only this time I had some control too. Not just him. I dropped to my knees in front of him, my eyes widening hungrily. I licked my lips and held him as I slid him into my mouth, sucking hard as he filled my mouth and dipped into my throat.

  “Fuck, Penny,” he groaned, his hands in my hair as I played with his balls, sliding my tongue along his length.

  I sucked on the tip of him, tasting his precum, and let out a needy whimper. My core tingled with desire, my need dripping onto my inner thigh. I slid his length all the way into my mouth again, feeling the ridges and bumps from the pulsing veins in his dick, and then I slid him all the way back out with a throaty groan.

  I looked up at Fighter through my lashes, loving that he was watching me. His dark eyes looked even darker—black, almost—as lust filled his features. His nostrils flared and his lips parted as he sighed, another drip of precum leaking from the end of his dick and onto my tongue.

  “My turn,” he said, his voice husky as he reached down and pulled me up to standing, only to lay me down on my small sofa.

  His hands grabbed the waistband of my sweats and panties and started tugging them both over my hips and down my legs. He spread my legs, and his chest rumbled in satisfaction before pressing his face to my pussy, licking deliberately slow along the length of my slit until he reached my clit, and then he sucked on it, making my hips buck as I called out his name.

  And just like that, it was like old times again.

  “Fighter!” I whimpered.

  He pushed his tongue into my heat as his thumb circled my clit, and I whimpered and writhed underneath him, my hands grabbing at his hair, directing him to where I wanted him to be. And like a man possessed, he feasted on me until I came with a scream, my head thrown back and my hips bucking against his face.

  I panted, breathless, as I watched him drag the back of his hand across his mouth. “Taste like peaches,” he drolled, his tongue licking along his lips and making me whimper for more.

  My heady gaze landed on him, and I let a slow smile creep up my face. “Fighter?”

/>   He jutted out his chin. “Yeah?”

  “Fuck me, baby,” I begged.

  “Baby?” he said with a laugh, cocking his head.

  “Shut up,” I grinned, “and fuck me.”

  He smiled back. “Fuck yeah.”

  Fighter spread my legs further apart, resting one on top of his shoulder as he positioned himself between my thighs, the tip of his hard cock resting against my clit. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my mouth, slowly sliding himself inside of me, and I groaned. Fighter filled me up, body and soul, fucking my body and loving my mind. We hadn’t spoken the words, but we both felt it. There was no way we couldn’t.

  He had changed me in ways I never thought possible, allowing me to grow, allowing me to become. And I had accepted him. Every dark and dangerous part. Loving his dark soul as much as I loved his dark eyes. And in doing so, I’d allowed him to change and become someone else too. Someone he hadn’t even realized lived inside of him.

  Fighter and I had always been destined to be together. There was no way either of us were put on this earth to not find one another. And now that we we’d found one another, neither of us were letting go.

  No matter how long we had to wait for each other.

  Fighter held my gaze as he thrust slowly into me, dragging pleasure out of every part of my body he could get his hands on. His mouth dropped to suck my nipple into it, teasing the hard nub with his tongue as he thrust his hips back and forth until my core tightened around him and I came with another scream, pleasure .

  *

  When I woke, Fighter was gone.

  But I knew in my heart he’d be back. One day. One day soon, I hoped.