“Are you ok?” he asked as he nuzzled my neck, the feel of his beard caused goose bumps to cover my body and a shot of arousal pulsed between my legs.
I nodded my head, I didn’t want to think about last night. I was humiliated enough that he had seen me like that. I often suffered with night terrors but I just dealt with them on my own. I never slept much anymore because of them, I was used to only getting a few hours of sleep a night.
Once he released my body so he could stretch, I darted out of the bed and into the bathroom so I could release my full bladder and clean my teeth. As I washed my face, the bathroom door swung open and Drake stood there in his boxers with his muscles and tattoos on show; I couldn’t help but stare. His arms were holding onto the top of the doorway and my eyes snapped to his when he chuckled.
“Are you about finished, darlin’? I need to grab a shower before we head out.”
“Umm, yeah,” I stumbled over my words. I splashed my face with water, removing my face cleanser. On closer inspection, the shower wasn’t as clean as I would have liked it to be so I settled for a wash over the sink. “We’re not staying here?”
“Nope, we need to keep moving.” He brushed past me, opened the shower door and started the water running.
“I’m sorry, Drake.”
“Hey, what are you sorry for?” he asked as he pushed my chin up so I had to look at him.
“I’m sorry that you had to be the one to look after me.”
“I’m not. I trust all my brothers but I want to be the one to keep you safe. You’re mine, darlin’.”
He kept saying that I was his, what did he mean by this? That he wanted my body? I was too afraid to ask in case it was just a sexual thing, when I wanted so much more with him. I was snapped out of my daze when the shower door creaked, I looked over my shoulder to see a naked Drake climbing in. Oh, that tight ass of his was gorgeous, I wanted to sink my teeth into it to see how firm it actually was. My eyes shot to his when I heard him clearing his throat.
“You ok, darlin’?” He smiled. I nodded my head frantically and rushed out of the bathroom to get dressed for the day.
I HAD DECIDED to wear my jeans, t-shirt and the leather jacket that Drake had bought me, he said it would protect me better if for some reason we came off the bike. I was glad that I was wearing it as the weather had turned colder, I found myself tightening onto Drake even more, I had convinced myself that it was due to me being cold but I just felt like I needed be close to him to feel safe.
“Shit.” Drake muttered. I rose my head from laying against his back and was about to ask what was wrong when I saw his head moving as he constantly looked between the two side mirrors on his bike. “Hold on tight, darlin’,” he told me before he took a sharp left turn. As we turned, I heard and felt a clang against the side of the bike, shortly followed by a hot pain searing across my calf muscle.
“Fuck!” I cried out, followed by a sob.
“What? What is it?” Drake shouted as we sped along a back road.
“My leg hurts. What’s going on, Dray?” I noticed him looking behind us in his mirrors again.
“I think we lost them. I’m gonna pull up behind those trees over there so I can get a look at you. Can you hold on for a couple more minutes?”
“Yeah,” I spoke softly as I tried to ignore the throbbing in my leg and what felt like blood trickling.
A couple of minutes later, Drake stopped the bike, jumped off and pulled me off with him. He settled me on top of a tree stump and he yanked his helmet off before falling to his knees in front of me.
“Where does it hurt?”
“My leg,” I answered as I pulled my helmet off and raised my right leg in the air. As Drake gripped it, I cried out in pain.
“Shit, sorry, darlin’.” He tried to lift my jean leg over the pain but they were a skinny fit, so it wasn’t moving. I watched as he gripped his knife and sliced my trousers open. I whimpered as he moved the material away.
“What did this to me?” I asked.
“We were being shot at. I think a bullet must have grazed your leg as it’s only a deep scratch, not a bullet hole.”
“Oh my god, they’ve found me!” I cried as I jumped to my feet. I looked around frantically as I tried to figure out where to run to.
“Darlin’, they will not get to you. I believe it’s a scare tactic, I couldn’t get a look at their cuts but they were on newer model bikes. I think Switch wants us to know that he is watching us.”
“Oh god.” I sobbed, covering my face with my hands.
“It’s ok, let me wrap your leg up. Do you think you can still ride?” I nodded my head. I just wanted to get out of here. Drake pulled out a bandana from his saddlebag and secured it around my calf muscle to help stop the bleeding. “We’re nearly at the next clubhouse, it’s only about ten minutes away, but I think we need to stick to the back lanes. If the pain gets worse tell me.”
“Ok.” He pulled me up by my hand and hugged me close to his body. I hobbled my way back to his bike and he placed me on it. He kissed me on the forehead before securing his helmet in place and climbing on in front of me.
* * *
Drake
SHIT, I couldn’t keep her safe, it’s been two fucking days and she’s already been shot at and got injured too. I paced up and down the hallway outside of the door we would be sharing at the Leicestershire Crusaders MC. The clubs Doc was in with her, along with the prez’s wife Denise.
“Drake,” I answered my phone as it started buzzing in my pocket.
“Prospect,” my VP answered. “What’s going on?”
“We were followed. Ashlyn got grazed with a bullet. I think I lost them, I hope I did. I don’t wanna bring that shit to this club.”
“That’s what the chapters are for, to protect all the crusaders brothers. Patch or no patch. Is Ashlyn ok? Just a bullet graze?”
“Yeah, she’s fine, the Doc is cleaning her up now.” I heard a screech in the background on the phone.
“Cam, sit your ass down, she’s fine,” I heard the VP telling his Old Lady, who happened to be a close friend of Ashlyn’s. “You will be the death of me, woman.” He sighed. “Prospect, is Ashlyn up to talking. My wife won’t leave me alone until she speaks to her.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, let me get her.” I knocked lightly on the door and peered my head around it. “Can I come in?”
“Of course, we’re all done here,” the Doc said as he gathered up his equipment.
“Darlin’, Cammie wants to talk to you.” I loved the way her face lit up when I mentioned her friend. She grabbed at the phone and placed it against her ear.
“Cam? Oh my god, how are you? How’s Mason and the baby?”
“I’ve told Miss. Duncan to keep the wound clean and dry for at least a couple of days and try to rest too. I’ve left her some pain medication on the bedside table but she’s insisting that she doesn’t need it. It may help her sleep.”
“Thanks, Doc.” I shook his hand before he left the room. I looked at Ashlyn and she was chatting away to Cammie at a mile a minute. I couldn’t help but smile at her.
“She captured your heart?” Denise asked me.
“Yep, a long time ago.” Denise was the Prez’s Old Lady, she was average height with a curvy figure and she didn’t let anyone walk all over her, patch or no patch. She was good for the Prez, kept him in line.
“When you getting your patch?”
“When I can return home, once Ashlyn is safe.”
“Do you think you can keep your feelings in check until then? Not act on it?”
“Honestly?” I looked away from Ashlyn and into Denise’s bright blue eyes. “I don’t think I can, I’ve fallen in love with her.”
“If you had to choose, her or your brothers, which would you choose?”
Shit, that was a tough question. I loved all of my brothers, they took me in when I had nowhere else to go they made me a part of their family. I respected them all. Ashlyn was the one my heart yea
rned for, I didn’t feel complete unless I was near her. She was the one I wanted to ne with forever and build a family with.
“Is it likely to come down to that?” I asked her. Usually club women were kept out of club business but this Prez decided that he was going to run things differently. She was never kept in the dark.
“Possibly, just be prepared to have to pick one or the other.”
“And if I pick her?”
“Well, that would all depend on how your Prez was feeling. My old man wouldn’t stand for his rules to be broken.”
“Shit,” I swore, I knew exactly what she was saying. I wouldn’t get a patch and I’d be tossed out and that was the nicest scenario.
“All you have to ask yourself is… Is she worth it?” She patted my chest before she left the room. My chest filled with happiness when I heard Ashlyn laugh, I hadn’t heard that for a couple of days. I turned towards the bed and her smile was big and bright. She was resting against the wooden headboard and she was wearing her bed clothes with one of her trouser legs rolled up to her knee and the bright white bandage was noticeable. There was a small smear of crimson seeping through while it healed. I sat on the edge of the bed beside her and let my head fall into my hands.
“Love you too, Cam. Bye.” Ashlyn placed the phone on the bedside table and I could feel her stare burning into me. “Dray.” She sighed. Fuck, I loved it when she called me that. “Are you ok?”
I took a deep breath and told her what I was thinking.
“I think someone else needs to come here and protect you.” She gasped. “I’m not doing a good enough job. Maybe Hitch was right, a prospect can’t do the job of a patched member. I don’t want to lose you.” We both sat in silence and I couldn’t bring myself to look at her. “I’ll call the Prez and get someone else sent here.”
“No,” she sobbed out. That sound broke my heart and I looked over at her with my head still dipped and my forearms resting on my legs. “Please don’t leave me.” She whispered.
“Darlin’, I…” She moved faster than lightning and before I knew it she was sitting in my lap with her bad leg resting on the bed.
“Dray, I need you. I want you to protect me, please don’t give up on me.”
“I’m not giving up on you. I want you safe and I’m clearly not doing a good enough job.” I pointed at her leg.
“You can’t stop anyone following us and shooting at us. That’s not your fault.” She gripped my face in her hands so she could look into my eyes. She was so beautiful with her long blonde hair tied up on top of her head and her blue eyes sparkling as she looked at me. “I wouldn’t feel safe with anyone else.” She lowered her forehead onto mine as she ran her hand through my hair. It felt good, so good that I could feel my jeans tightening. She was exactly where I needed her to be, in my lap.
“Dray?” She moaned as she wiggled in my lap. I looked up at her and that was when she attacked my mouth, her soft lips were pressed against mine. My hands found her hips and I dragged her body closer to mine in a possessive way. I bit down onto her bottom lip and her mouth opened for me. I thrust my tongue inside, taking over the control of the kiss. My jeans were growing tighter and tighter and I needed to feel more of her. Just as I was about to explore her body there was a loud bang on the bedroom door.
“Prospect, Prez wants to see you. Now.”
“Shit,” I swore. What the fuck was I doing? I was a prospect and she was being protected by the club, I wasn’t allowed to touch her. It was forbidden. I had managed to keep my feelings hidden for this long, what was a few more months? I climbed to my feet, holding onto her bridal style and placed her back onto the bed, under the covers. “Take these, they will help with the pain,” I demanded, holding out the pills the doc had left. She took them off me and placed them on her tongue and swallowed them down with a sip of water. “Get some rest.” I kissed the top of her head and headed towards the door.
“Dray?” she called out. I stopped and looked at her over my shoulder. She looked like she wanted to say something, her mouth was closing and opening like a fish. “Don’t be too long.”
I nodded my head, I got the feeling she was going to say something else and wondered why she changed her mind. I headed in the direction of the Prez’s office in hopes that he had found out some info on who was shooting at us.
Drake
I HURRIED down the hallway towards the Prez’s office and once I was standing outside the solid black door I took a deep breath before raising my hand in the air and knocking.
“Yeah?” Prez shouted. I pushed the door open and stepped inside the entrance.
“You wanted to see me, Prez?” He was sat behind a large black desk, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and his Old Lady Denise was perched on the side of the desk next to him, looking at me over her shoulder. Her shoulder length, straight red hair was messy and I wondered what I would have been interrupting if I turned up five minutes earlier.
“Have a seat.” He motioned to the one lone chair that was facing his desk. I closed the door behind me and lumbered towards it. Once I was seated, he stubbed out his cigarette and sighed.
“I think it’s best for you and Ashlyn to stay here for a few days.” I was about to object, to tell him that I needed to keep moving, that I couldn’t risk Switch or his men finding us. “She needs to rest that leg of hers and being on a bike isn’t as safe for her anymore. One of my guys is going to drop off a car here for you to use in two days. Your bike will be safe here.”
“With all due respect, sir, but I really think we need to keep moving. The Satan’s found us and they could turn up if they know Ashlyn is here.”
“You weren’t shot at by the Satan’s. It was the Soul Hunters.” He climbed to his feet and walked around the desk. “You’re wearing a Crusaders prospect cut, they probably think you’re prospecting at this club. We’ve been having some trouble in this town with them…”
“Pipe,” Denise cut the Prez off and when he looked at her over his shoulder her head nodded towards the security monitor that was in the corner of his office. He stood up straight and turned towards it.
“Shit, not another one,” he growled. “Den, get the Doc back here.” He stormed out of his office and I followed behind him. “Henry, Chase.” The two prospects looked up at him and he jerked his head towards the front door. The Prez marched his way through the clubhouse and threw open the main doors, he headed towards the gate.
“Prez, I was doing the security gate checks and when I came back she was here.” Eddie explained.
“Stay on the gate, prospect. I’ll get Wiz to check the CCTV to see if we can get a car reg.” Eddie nodded his head and headed back to his station of manning the gate. “Henry, Chase, let’s get her inside.”
“Is she alive?” I asked. As she was lifted from the floor a groan escaped from her mouth and my question was answered. She looked young, she had fiery red hair that was full of blood and her face was swollen and bruised. Her clothes were filthy and torn and she looked lifeless. I followed behind the Prez and prospects as she was carried inside.
“Shit,” Denise cursed as she ran up to us. She placed her fingers on the side of the woman’s neck. “It’s a very weak pulse. Doc is on his way. Let’s get her to his room.” We all hurried behind Denise as she led the way, I stopped in my tracks as we passed the room I was staying in and Ashlyn was standing in the doorway. Her hand was covering her mouth and tears were streaming down her face.
“Darlin’, what are you doing out of bed? You should be resting.”
“I needed a drink,” she muttered. “What’s happened?”
“I don’t know. I need to go and see if they need my help.” I palmed the side of her face in my hand and gave her a weak smile.
“What if it was… Sw…” Her body shivered. “Switch.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t. Go and grab a drink and I’ll meet you in the bar.” I watched as she hobbled in the opposite direction and I quickly scurried to the doc’s room. I stood i
n the open doorway, we all watched as Denise tried cleaning some of the blood off of the woman’s face and arms.
“What is this?” I asked as I stood next to Rooster, the clubs VP.
“There was a steady stream of women being dropped off at our gates, all bruised, bloody, drugged and had been assaulted. We had no idea what it was or what was happening. Unfortunately, none of them ever survived. This hasn’t happened now for a couple of months.” I gazed around the room at the Prez and the two prospects they looked enraged that this was happening again.
“Can I come in?” I spun around to see Ashlyn standing in the doorway. Rooster stepped away from me and she gasped as she saw the young woman lying on the bed. She hurried into the room and up to Denise.
* * *
Ashlyn
“OK, EVERYONE OUT!” Denise shouted to the guys after I told her I may know who did this but I needed to look at the woman’s body. She was still unconscious and we were still waiting on the Doc to show up.
Once the room had cleared out, I stepped closer to the woman.
“What are you looking for?” Denise asked.
“A mark,” I told her as I gripped the edge of the woman’s t-shirt and began pulling it up over her belly. I sobbed in relief as her body was clear of scars and cuts. She wasn’t tortured the same way that I was but there was still some sick people out there to leave her in this state.
“What have we got?” An older man strolled into the room, he was wearing faded blue jeans and a leather jacket. His hair was greying and stubble covered his face.
“She was dumped outside of the gates. Her pulse is weak but she hasn’t come around yet,” Denise explained.
“Ok, let me look her over.” He snapped on a pair of latex gloves and got to work. Denise gripped my hand in hers and led me over to the sofa which was under the window.
“Tell me what you was looking for? Who do you think may have done this?”
“I was looking for this.” I uncovered my tummy and Denise gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. I hadn’t shown many people this, Cammie knew about it as we were stuck at the Satan’s clubhouse together and most of the time they kept us naked.
South Coast Brothers Part 1 Page 51
