“Adonis.” My voice is breathy like a phone sex operator’s. It isn’t until his face turns smug that I realize what I’ve said.
“Goddamnit, why won't the words just stay inside my mouth? No more questions. Apparently, my filter is broken.” This makes Adonis smile and, oh my god, he should do that more often.
“The name is Orion but Adonis works for me too.”
A loud whistle has us turning to face the president. “All right, boys, focus.” He looks behind to the table of bikers and shouts, “Rebel, Agro, find Weasel and bring him to me.”
Turning back to face us, he points at me, making me gulp. I try to keep my face neutral, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing he has me rattled. “As I was saying, you can’t come on Carnage property, steal something that belongs to us, and just expect to walk away.”
Orion steps closer to my back and slides a hand onto my hip, which is both an odd thing to do to a stranger and rather comforting. I guess I’m not hiding my apprehension as well as I thought I was. Halo takes my hand again, looking down at me with a reassuring smile. The president looks to Orion and then to Halo. Whatever he sees helps him make up his mind.
“You can consider yourself our guest until I’ve decided what to do with you.”
“What?” Is he joking? From the grim-set line of his jaw, it doesn’t look like it but he can’t be serious. I look up at Halo in shock. He promised me everything would be okay. He must see the hurt in my eyes, as he tries to tug me toward him, but the hand on my hip refuses to let me go. Orion snakes an arm around my stomach and pulls me tight against his chest. Halo sighs and laces his fingers behind his head.
I’m not a stupid person and, although I have never encountered a real-life biker before, I have indulged in many biker stories. If this guy is implying that I’m to be a sweet butt or a club whore or whatever the hell they call them here, then president or not, he’s in for a rude awakening.
“Dude, I’m not sleeping with you. If you touch me, you’re going to experience firsthand what it's like to become a eunuch.” I might not have much experience with bikers but I do have experience with overbearing male assholes. I straighten my shoulders and glare at him, refusing to cower.
The arm around my waist spasms but I refuse to back down. The president’s lips twitch a little in response to my outburst.
“That’s not what I was implying. Besides, I like my women with a bit more up top,” he tells me straight-faced.
“Hey, there’s is nothing wrong with my boobies. I grew them myself.” I sniff with indignation. I mean, how dare he? Orion is shaking behind me and it takes me a second to realize he’s laughing. What is so freaking funny? I rub my fingers on my temples because I can feel a headache coming on. I am beyond ready for this day to be over.
“You’ll be expected to pull your weight in other areas, like cooking and cleaning, until you can prove to us you are trustworthy. I need to know you won’t pull that kind of shit again. You were lucky it was us and not another club. They might not have been so lenient.”
I stare into his eyes, knowing I should keep my mouth shut but I can gradually feel myself getting angrier and angrier.
“He was hurting him, and I couldn’t just let him get away with it.” I sniff and blink back the tears I can feel approaching at the thought of leaving King to suffer because I refuse to cry in front of everyone.
“Who was hurting who?” Orion asks from behind me. I look around and realize nobody knows what I’m talking about. Even Halo looks as confused as everyone else.
“The pockmark dickface—I mean Weasel—was kicking King in the ribs and I couldn’t just leave him behind.”
“What? That fucking fucker. Wait until I get my hands on that prick,” Orion spits out behind me. He’s so angry, he’s literally vibrating. I rub my hand backward and forward across the arm still wrapped around me to offer some comfort.
“Orion, calm down. You’ll get your turn. That little prick is done. He’s blown through all the chances Joker gave him. Gecko, get today’s security feed and bring it to my office. I want to see just what this little fucker is up to,” the president orders, yelling to the bikers drinking in the corner.
He turns his attention back to me, a gleam of respect present in his eye.
“Your punishment still stands.” He holds his hand up as I start to object. “However, in light of the circumstances, I’m willing to give you some leeway. You will stay here for thirty days and help out like I said, however, you are free to come and go as you please. If, after thirty days, you want to leave, you can. But who knows, you might just decide to stay.” He’s looking directly at Orion and Halo as he says that last part and I feel as if I’m missing something but I’m too stressed out to think about it right now. Why on earth wouldn’t I want to leave? I contemplate his words, pissed for putting myself in this fucked-up position to begin with, and nod. I’m not stupid. This is their world and they follow their own set of rules. Putting up a fight now would be reckless and I doubt very much I would come out the victor. Maybe later the fear will come but at the moment all I feel is angry and disappointed with myself.
“Okay, fine, but I need my truck. I’ve left it in town. Plus I’ll need to go shopping to grab some clothes and shit.”
He considers this and nods his head in acknowledgment. “One of the guys can drive you home to collect some things.”
I shake my head, not keen on the idea of these guys knowing where I live. I might not be scared but I’m not stupid either. “It’s too far away. It will take about three hours to get there and another three to get back. It’s not worth it for the sake of some clothes.”
“You don’t have a man waiting for you at home?” Halo asks from beside me.
“No, I don’t, which is a good thing, really, because you guys are a bunch of touchy feelers. If I did have a man, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t like that.” Halo’s eyes spark with something I’m unfamiliar with, but before I can figure it out he looks at Orion and nods. Men are so weird.
“Give Halo your keys. He can fetch your truck for you,” King says, drawing my attention back to him. “The guys will take you to get some clothes tomorrow. Happy?”
Ecstatic. I bite back the sarcastic retort and nod, not trusting myself to speak. The events of the day are catching up to me and I’m going to crash soon. I fish my key from a little hidden zippered pocket inside my dress and toss it to Halo.
He gives me a panty-dropping smile before shocking the shit out of me and placing a soft kiss on my lips and heading out. I stand there gaping like a fish for a second before I’m being led by Orion through the corridor King first emerged from and up some stairs to another corridor that has half a dozen rooms on each side. Walking to the one closest to us, Orion opens the door to a bedroom bigger than my whole studio apartment was. A queen-size bed dominates most of the room with a dresser and a wardrobe on the left and a large screen TV on the wall facing the foot of the bed. On the right, through a half-open door, I spy a bathroom, and farther down is a large window overlooking the woods I was running in earlier. Underneath the window are an armchair and a floor-standing reading lamp. The room is decorated in blues and grays, a far cry from the baby-pink walls of my old apartment or even the lemon-yellow walls of my bedroom now, but it's clean and cozy and smells like the man behind me. He walks to the dresser and comes back with a T-shirt which he hands to me.
“Bathroom’s through there. Get cleaned up and get some rest. You look exhausted. I’m going down to sort out this business with Weasel, okay?”
I nod but I’m feeling all kinds of off-kilter. He places his hands on my face, much like Halo did earlier, and kisses my forehead. “Relax, you’re safe here. Nothing is going to happen that you don’t want, okay?”
“Yeah, okay, and thank you for the T-shirt and the use of the room.”
He turns to leave but he turns back and there is something in his eye I can’t quite get a read on. “No worries. It’s your room as long
as you’re here. Goodnight.”
“Night.” He leaves, closing the door behind him. I throw myself back on the bed and close my eyes.
How I get myself into these messes, I don’t know. Taking stock of everything, I realize I’m not scared, which is fucking ridiculous but not surprising. I always have been wired a little differently than other women my age. Most of my friends are looking for a good man to treat her right. I’m more interested in finding someone with a big dick who’ll pull my hair when he fucks me from behind.
I never was one for white picket fences, despite the fact that my look screams wholesome girl-next-door. I guess these guys will just have to find out what kind of girl I am for themselves. I smile to myself thinking the men around here are too damn hot for their own good.
I’m in so much trouble.
Chapter Three
It has been brought to my attention on numerous occasions that I sleep like the dead. However, finding someone’s morning wood pressed up against your ass when you know damn fine you went to bed alone… yeah, that will wake a girl up real quick. There are no gentle morning stirrings followed by lazy stretches; my eyes pop open and I’m out of bed a nanosecond later yelling out curses at the top of my voice. But what really tells me how shitty my day is going to be is the gun I find pointed at my face.
It’s when the bathroom door flies open that I snap out of my stupor and remember where I am. Halo is standing in the doorway looking sleepy, yet alert, with his gun aimed at me too. My eyes drift back to the bed, knowing who I’m going to find now that my brain is starting to function. Which, let’s be honest, doesn’t usually start until after at least two cups of coffee. What I didn’t prepare myself for was the naked chest, the six—no, make that eight—pack on display because the sheet has dropped to his waist, and the thick, strong arms covered in full sleeve tattoos. Adonis may not be pointing his gun at me anymore but the smirk he’s aiming my way is just as deadly.
“Want to tell me what the noise is all about, sugar? I’m pretty sure you could teach us bikers a thing or two with that dirty mouth of yours,” Halo says while lowering his gun and making his way over to the side of the bed. His Texas twang sounds stronger this morning.
Shit, Halo is half-naked too. That is a lot of abs on show first thing in the morning. He’s covered in tattoos and has that sexy V that guys have—the one that makes me want to reach down and slip my panties off and throw them at him. And if that isn’t enough, he has a little trail of fine hair that disappears into his tented boxers. Fuck, I snap my head up, discreetly wiping my mouth in case I’ve drooled. I point my finger at Orion.
“He was pointing his gun at me and it took me by surprise.” I manage to get that out while edging backward toward the bathroom. I need to get out of here before my panties spontaneously combust.
“I only pointed my gun at you after you started screaming profanities like a drunken sailor in a bar. I thought something was wrong.” Orion rubs his hand through his hair, looking slightly baffled.
I sigh because it’s too early for this.
“It was the other gun you had pointed at me that woke me up.” I drag my eyes down his chest to his sheet-covered groin before quickly looking away. When they both start laughing their asses off, I realize I wasn’t discreet enough. I spin on my heel and stomp the rest of the way to the bathroom before slamming the door and locking it. It dawns on me that I never questioned why Halo was coming out of Orion’s bathroom clad only in a pair of boxers. Which begs the question, did he sleep in here too? How the fucking hell did I manage to sleep next to what might possibly be an angel and the devil without realizing?
You know what? Never mind. I need coffee before I can process anything else. I take a quick shower to wake myself up and cool my raging libido, only then realizing I didn’t bring any clothes with me into the bathroom. I wrap a towel tightly around my body, grateful for once for my lack of height and slight figure, and swipe my hand across the steamed-up mirror. There is puffiness around my eye and my cheekbone is red and tender but I’m grateful it was a slap instead of a punch or I would have been looking a lot worse this morning. I finger comb my hair and then braid it and pull it over my shoulder, freeing some tendrils to help hide my cheek. I check the cabinet above the sink and the cupboard below but can’t find any spare toothbrushes, so I decide to just use Orion’s. Hey, if he can rub his dick on my ass, I can put his toothbrush in my mouth. Not brushing is not an option. I gaze around as I brush. It’s a basic bathroom made up of a shower, sink, and toilet. There’s a cupboard under the sink with toiletries and toilet rolls and a cabinet above with razors and Tylenol. Nothing exciting, not that I snooped, much. All the fixtures are white, as well as the towels, and the walls are a dark gray. Classic, clean but all man. I tidy up my mess and figure I’ve procrastinated enough. If I stay in here any longer it’s going to look weird.
Orion is alone when I walk out, which is a relief as I might not be flashing the goods but I’m still only wearing a towel. He’s dressed now in a pair of dark blue jeans and a black T-shirt and sitting on the end of the bed fastening his black work boots. When he hears me enter, he looks up. Whatever he was going to say looks like it died on his tongue. His hot gaze scorches me as he takes me in. His eyes slowly glide up my body from my feet to my face. So much for having a cold shower. He stands and prowls toward me like a panther, graceful and deadly.
“You’re so fucking gorgeous that if I don’t leave this room right now, I’m going to do something I don’t think you’re ready for.” He kisses my forehead before heading toward the door. “I’ll meet you downstairs. Halo brought up the duffle bag that was in your truck in case you needed it. It’s in the chair by the window. If you need anything else, just help yourself. Got it?”
“Got it. Thanks, Orion.”
When he leaves, I place the bag on the bed and search through the contents. I always keep what my brothers call a bug-out bag in the truck just in case. Their reasoning is that if I ever need to get a hotel room or leave somewhere quickly for whatever reason, I have the essentials to keep me going. I’ll never admit to them the reason I go along with it is because I’m forever dropping food down myself so having spare clothes is a bonus. I select a pair of gray skinny jeans and a pale lemon-colored fitted V-neck T-shirt. For underneath, I have a white padded bra and matching lace panties. Once I’m dressed, I slip on the ballet flats from yesterday and shove the bag under the bed. I don’t really want anyone going through my stuff even if there isn’t anything exciting in there to see. My jacket and over the shoulder bag with my phone, purse, and keys to my house must still be in the truck. I take a deep breath and then one more, just to be sure, and head down to see what fun awaits me.
Making my way through the compound, I realize it’s still quiet. I guess the biker lifestyle doesn’t fit with early mornings. I find Orion in the same room I met him last night. He’s sitting next to Halo, a couple of guys I don’t recognize, and Rebel. Checking them out as I head toward their table, the first thing I notice is that Rebel is a lot younger than I initially guessed, at maybe twenty-one or twenty-two. He’s a good-looking guy. It must be a requirement here because they all are but he has a soft, almost baby-ness to him. His cropped strawberry-blonde hair and dusting of freckles only adds to his youthfulness. He kind of reminds me of myself in that way. I bet people underestimate him too. I glance around the table. Skipping over Orion and Halo for a second, I focus on the others. There is an older guy with a short gray beard and gray hair but it suits him in the same silver fox kind of way that King’s does. His laughter lines tell me he’s quick to joke but I bet he can be intimidating when he wants to be. I would put him at late forties, early fifties. The guy next to him is probably closer to thirty but he gives off an I-don’t-give-a-shit vibe. It goes quite well with his dark green hair and multiple facial piercings. The guy on the end is the shortest by far, closer to my height than theirs, at around five feet five but what he lacks in height he makes up for in bulk. If I stood
behind this guy, you wouldn’t see me at all. With his bald head and resting bitch face, he reminds me of a henchman from my brother’s comics when we were younger.
Which reminds me... I lift my arm and pretend I’m checking the time but I activate my GPS. I might, for some unknown reason, trust Orion and Halo, but I don’t know the rest of these guys in the slightest and if there are any more like Weasel, I want my brothers to know exactly where to find me. The thought makes me smile. They would burn this place to the ground if anything happened to their baby sister.
“What’s got you smiling?” questions Halo as he reaches out and pulls me onto his lap. Orion lifts his hand and places it on my thigh. What the fuck is going on with these guys?
“Erm… Just thinking of my brothers,” I answer, acting like sitting on a hot guy’s lap is an everyday occurrence for me.
Halo leans back a little, pulling me with him, making Orion’s hand drift a little higher. They are trying to kill me; I just know it.
“You guys close?” Orion asks. Huh? Oh, right, my brothers.
“Yeah, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen them and I miss them.”
“I’m sure they miss you too. Here, let me introduce you to a few of my club brothers. Guys this is Luna. Luna,” he gestures to his right, “this is Rebel, the guy with the green hair is Gecko, baldy on the end is Half-pint (I might have had to bite my lip at that one) and this,” he points to the silver fox, “is Inigo.”
“I’m sorry, did he just say your name is Inigo?” The silver fox nods his head at me, a smile playing on his lips like he knows exactly what I’m going to say. “As in ‘My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die?’”
That gets me a full-blown Colgate-worthy smile.
“That’s awesome,” I whisper, and it's true. My brothers and I were obsessed with eighties movies when we were younger and The Princess Bride is one of my favorites.
The Queen of Carnage Page 2