The Queen of Carnage

by Wright, Candice

  “I’m not running a fucking charity. If you make an exception for one, you have to make it for all of them and we are not a bunch of pussies. Halo needs to man the fuck up. If he can’t handle the role of enforcer, someone else will be more than willing to step up and do it for him.”

  I close my eyes in distress, remembering the blood on Halo’s ear. Halo must have been the one who beat Fredricks and the guilt was eating him alive.

  “If you were so fucking convinced of your actions, you wouldn’t have kept that shit from him to begin with. Instead, you rubbed it in his face after. You got an issue with Halo I need to know about? Because I suspect this has less to do with Fredricks and more to do with Halo himself.”

  “I don’t answer to you, Orion, now get the fuck out of my office.” It’s quiet for a moment and although I want to stay and hear whatever Orion has to say to him, I don’t want to get busted for eavesdropping.

  I make quick work of changing into gray ripped jeans, a simple white T-shirt, and my black leather jacket. I slip my ballet pumps back on, they would have to do, and pull my hair up into a messy ponytail. I hurry back downstairs, passing Joker’s office without stopping. It’s packed downstairs, girls grinding on guys as the evening progresses and the alcohol lowers everyone’s inhibitions and panties. I head back to where I left my guys but turn my head when I feel eyes on me. I see Joker sitting at the bar next to Chewy. Chewy is talking away to him, oblivious to the fact that Joker isn’t listening to a word he’s saying. No, his focus is all on me. He doesn’t even hide it. He drags his eyes up my body, hovering over my chest for a minute or two before meeting my eyes. It takes everything in me to stop my body from shivering but I’ll be damned if I’ll let him know the effect he has on me.

  There are a few guys in the MC I haven’t really warmed up to. Maybe that will change, maybe it won’t. Some people just don’t gel but Joker is the only one I can say hands down makes my skin crawl.

  I don’t give him any kind of reaction. I just turn and continue without looking back until I reach the table. Orion has joined the guys so I slip my hand into his back pocket and lean into his side. He looks down at me with a smile before dipping his head and pressing a surprisingly soft kiss against my lips.

  “You okay?” I ask him. He doesn’t answer for a minute as his eyes scan the crowd. When they focus on the bar I know exactly who he’s looking at. I can feel the animosity coming off him in waves.

  “Yeah, Cherub, I’m fine.” I pinch his ass with my hand in his back pocket, making him jerk.

  “Yes, you are.” I wink at him. He turns fully into me and before I can process his next move, he picks me up so my legs are dangling off the floor and kisses me hard and deep. By the time he puts me back down, my legs are wobbly and I’m a panting mess.

  “You want to dance?” he asks, nuzzling my neck.

  Doesn’t he realize when he kisses me like that I can barely stand, let alone dance? He lifts his head, showing a large smile that spreads across his face, dazzling me with its intensity, wiping away the frown from moments before and making me realize I had yet again said that shit out loud.

  “Halo is taking me for a ride.” I stop for a second when everyone at the table just stares at me. I play the words back over and figure out why they all look so amused.

  “On his bike, you perverts. Although, that being said…” I trail off and wink at Halo, leaving him to fill in the blanks.

  “Do you want to come?” I look up at Orion and see him focusing on Halo, a slight frown on his face, before looking back down at me.

  “No, you two go and have fun. I think Halo needs to blow off some steam. Go shower him with some of your sparkle.” He winks at me.

  “You got it, Adonis.” I turn back to Halo, who is talking to Gage, and whistle. When he looks up, I beckon him over with my finger.

  “Come on, Pretty Boy, show me what you got.” Laughing and jeers erupt around us but he only has eyes for me. He pulls me close, throwing an arm over my shoulder and angling us toward the door. I ignore Joker as we pass him and thankfully he returns the favor. I feel the nip in the air as we walk over to Halo’s bike. I snuggle into him a little more since he always seems to run a few degrees hotter than the rest of us. He hands me his helmet, which I put on begrudgingly. I know from a previous fight with Gage I wouldn’t win the argument. Thankfully, my own helmet should be arriving tomorrow so I won’t have to feel guilty for taking away theirs. If anything were to happen to them—I shut off that train of thought. Nothing was going to happen. I know it, but the more attached I become to these guys, the more I worry. I am falling hard and fast for them all, spiraling headfirst into something wild and reckless, already knowing that losing one of them would kill me. It’s too soon, Luna. My brain knows this but my heart doesn’t care about logic. It wants what it wants.

  “You good?” Halo asks as I grip his shoulder and climb on behind him, wrapping my arms tightly around his waist.

  I nod against his back and give him a squeeze. We wait for the prospect to open the gate before tearing out of there. I don’t think the thrill I get from being on a bike will ever diminish. The world whips by at dizzying speeds where nothing else seems to matter. I close my eyes and empty my mind of everything other than this moment.

  All too soon, I feel us slowing down. I open my eyes and see us pulling into the diner Orion had taken me to once before. Halo parks and climbs off before lifting me off as if I weigh nothing. He gently unfastens the strap and pulls the helmet from my head, hanging it on the bike as I pull my ponytail loose and shake out my hair.

  “I’m starving. I figured we could grab something to go. There is somewhere I want to take you,” he tells me, grabbing my hand and tugging me inside.

  “Sounds good to me.”

  All eyes turn to us when we enter but when they see Halo’s cut, they quickly turn back to their meals.

  “Trust me?” He looks down at me.

  “Of course,” I answer without having to think about it.

  “Good. This place does the best burgers, hands down. Is there anything you don’t like?” he questions, pulling his wallet from his back pocket as a teenaged boy hurries over to take our order.

  “Nah, I’ll eat pretty much anything.” He glances down my body slowly and back up again, making me squirm as a bolt of need flashes through me.

  “I’ll remember that,” he mumbles for only me to hear before turning to the boy whose hands shake slightly as Halo places our order. When the boy disappears into the back, I watch as Halo turns and scans the room. Seeming happy with what he finds he hands me his wallet.

  “Be right back,” he tells me before heading to the restroom.

  The wandering eyes feel a little braver now that my biker has disappeared. I feel people looking at me, some out of the corner of their eye trying to be discreet, some just blatantly staring, but I’m not bothered. It’s nothing more than what I got in school whenever I was with my brothers. Even back then they had towered over everyone else and with their looks and air of menace, other guys had wanted to be them and the girls wanted to do them.

  The sound of a bike draws my attention to the huge window. Wondering which club brother would be joining us and praying it’s not Joker, I’m surprised when the bike slows but continues past. It isn’t until the rider turns that I realize the emblem on the back of his cut is different. I can’t make out the symbol from here but it's definitely not a deck of cards and the colors are black and white, not the blazing red and yellow of Carnage.

  “Hey, everything okay?” I turn when I feel Halo wrap his arm around my waist and take in his frown, remembering Joker and Orion’s argument earlier.

  “I’m all right but what about you, Pretty Boy? You doing okay?” He flashes me his dimples, making my vagina wake up and start preening. She’s so fucking needy.

  “Got my bike, great food, and my girl. It doesn’t get much better than this, sweetheart,” he replies, dipping his head and kissing me. He grabs a handful o
f my hair and slides his tongue along mine, making me moan, then he smiles against my lips before pulling away.

  I feel him take his wallet from my hand and open my eyes to find the bag of food on the counter. Halo pays as I turn and head toward the door. I hold it open as Halo grabs the food and heads over to me. I look at the people openly staring and can’t help but laugh. Halo—any of the guys from the MC for that matter—has this effect on people.

  “As you were,” I call out to them before closing the door behind us.

  “So, where are we going?” I ask.

  “You’ll see.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “It’s so peaceful here.” I lean against Halo, shoving the last of the burger into my mouth as I look out over the eerie calm of the lake. We are completely hidden from the road, sitting within the copse of trees that concealed this beautiful scene the many times I’d passed by here.

  “I come here to think or just for the quiet. I love my brothers but as you know, they’re a rowdy bunch of assholes,” he explains, making me laugh.

  “No! Really? Can’t say I noticed.” I snort.

  “We're not that bad.” He nudges me.

  “Nope, you guys are a family. Families are crazy. Trust me, I know.” I look up at him when I feel him staring down at me.

  “What?”

  “You are so fucking beautiful.” I suck in a sharp breath at his words and feel my face flush. “Any regrets?”

  “Regrets? You mean about staying?” I clarify.

  “That and having to put up with me and Gage for Orion.” I frown at that. That’s not how it is at all.

  “Is that what you think? That I want Orion so badly I let you fuck me to keep the peace? What the fuck, Halo? Are you serious?” He sighs and leans back, taking his weight on his elbows as he gazes up at the darkening sky.

  “Yes, no, maybe. I don’t know. What do you want me to say, Luna? I get this is a fucking weird situation for all of us and part of me can’t help but wonder if Gage and I are second best.”

  I lean over and punch him in the arm before standing up and kicking him in the leg, which in these shoes means I hurt myself more than him. I’m blaming him for that too.

  “You are such a douche,” I yell at him.

  “Tsk. Always so violent, Luna.”

  “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t rip off your cock and smack you repeatedly over the head with it.”

  “Erm… maybe because you like bouncing up and down on it so much.” He grabs my knee and pulls hard until I topple over and end up straddling his lap.

  I look down at his chest, pissed off, and if I’m honest with myself, hurt too.

  I don’t want to look at him but he can’t even give me that. He slides his fingers under my chin and tilts my head up until my eyes meet his.

  “I didn’t mean to upset you, sweetheart. I just…” He sighs before carrying on.

  “I don’t want to be someone’s second choice, Luna, their consolation prize. I don’t mind sharing you with my best friends but I want it to be an equal thing. I don’t want the girl I’m crazy about wishing she were with one of the others when she’s with me.”

  “Have I treated you that way? Have I made you feel like you don’t matter as much?” I swallow hard, feeling tears well up with the thought I might have unintentionally hurt him.

  “No, Luna, not even once. It’s just that… we should have been straight with you in the beginning instead of letting Orion lock you in first. It was a dick thing to do but we didn’t know how else to go about it. We never really thought it through. Now I just can’t help but feel like you stayed for Orion and I’m always going to be playing catch up to my best friend.”

  I look at him, really look at him, and decide to just tell him the truth. What’s left to lose?

  “Halo, I’m in love with you. You stupid pig-headed pain in my goddamn—” His lips are on mine, rough and unyielding, swallowing the rest of my words as his hands yank my jacket down my arms. I sigh in sweet agony when he pulls away but it's only long enough to rip my T-shirt over my head. Then his lips are back on mine as his hands deftly unclip my bra one-handed. My breasts bounce as he pulls my arms free and tosses the bra aside. The cool air makes my nipples pucker, acting like a target he can’t resist.

  He dips his head and sucks one nipple into his mouth while palming the other, dragging his rough, scarred hands over my sensitive skin. Each coarse callus has me whimpering with barely contained need, proving these hands that bring pain can also bring mind-numbing pleasure.

  “Halo,” I moan as my head falls back.

  “You love me? You’re sure?”

  I lift my head and glare down at him. “No, actually, I take it back. Oopsie.” He bites down on my nipple in response, making me cuss him out.

  “You love me?” He lifts his head to meet my eyes and whatever smartass remark I was going to say dies on my lips.

  “It was you who stood between Weasel and me, you who fucked him up for hurting me. You were the one who defended me against Slick in the kitchen, knowing I wouldn’t have started something without provocation and it was you, Pretty Boy, who washed blood from my hair when I couldn’t lift my arms to do it myself. Those moments are just the first three things that pop into my head and not one of them had anything to do with Orion. If he left me, I would be devastated but, Halo, I wouldn’t walk away from you and Gage because of it. I don’t love you because of Orion, I love you, Pretty Boy, because you are Halo.”

  His lips take mine again, ravaging me with an almost desperate need. Standing up with me still in his arms, he walks us the few steps to his bike before setting me on my feet and bending me over the seat. He reaches around me and pops the button on my jeans, yanking them down with my underwear to my ankles before slipping my feet through the legs, my shoes sliding off with them.

  I hear the clinking of his belt and the rip of a foil packet as he drops his jeans and presses against my back.

  “I can’t do slow and soft right now, Luna, let me know if it’s too much. Hold on tight.”

  I don’t answer, I just tip my hips up, ready for him. He slides a finger in first, grunting when he feels how slick I already am.

  “Goddamn it, baby, always so wet and ready for me.”

  He doesn’t waste any more time, swapping his finger for his cock. He nudges the head against me, coating himself with my wetness before gliding all the way home. We both groan this time as he bottoms out inside me. He drags his cock back out as my walls squeeze him tight, desperately trying to keep him inside.

  “Fuck, Luna, if you keep doing that, I’m going to come in two seconds,” he grits out before slamming back inside me.

  The bike wobbles a little but it doesn’t topple over, which is just as well because Halo doesn’t let up after that, hammering into me, each push and pull harder and faster than the one before. I can feel the heat building, a swirling mass of want and need desperately trying to claw its way out before I explode around him with a scream that rips from my throat.

  I feel Halo pulse as he bites down on my shoulder, masking his groan as he rides out his own orgasm. His movements slow, his energy spent, he presses a kiss between my shoulder blades and gently pulls out.

  “How does it keep getting better and better with you?” he grunts. I don’t answer him. I couldn’t even if I wanted to.

  I hear him fumbling around but I don’t move or even open my eyes as I try to catch my breath. I flinch when I feel something cold against my folds but Halo holds me in place. It takes my brain a second to realize he’s cleaning me up. No, it's more than that, he’s cleaning me up with baby wipes.

  The giggle of laughter that erupts from me startles us both. He spins me around when he’s finished, looking at me with a mix of amusement and bewilderment.

  “What?” he asks but I just keep laughing. Every time I try to speak, another bout of laughter escapes me.

  “Just what every guy wants to hear after he fucks his woman,” he says droll
y as I finally manage to calm down.

  “Oh, behave. You know your dick makes me do-lally. I just wasn’t expecting my fearsome biker to whip out a pack of baby wipes from the saddlebag of his Harley.” That sets me off again.

  “Laugh it up, Luna.” He picks me up and sits me in his lap, chuckling along with me.

  “Look, bikes are messy. I’m on the road a fair bit, which means eating on the go. Some of the places I stop should be fucking quarantined. I think I’ll stick with carrying the wipes and risk having my man card revoked than risk catching—who the fuck knows what—out there.”

  “Eww, good point. Hey, you can use me as an excuse now. If anyone asks, you can just say they’re pussy wipes for when you make your old lady come so hard, she sees stars.”

  “Stars huh?” he asks, amused.

  “A whole galaxy worth.” I nod.

  “Sweet after sex. I remember now.” I elbow him as the cold finally makes itself known now that I’m not running on lust.

  “Come on, let’s get you dressed before you get sick.” He helps me up and then, I kid you not, he helps me get dressed. There’s something sweet and endearing about it and if I didn’t already love this man, I think this moment would have done it.

  “I love you,” I murmur as he holds my jacket out for me to slide my arms into.

  He turns me in his arms and pulls my hair free from my collar. Looking into my eyes, he swallows hard. “I’ve never told anyone I’ve loved them before. I’m not sure…”

  I reach up and squeeze his arm with my hand. “Hey, you don’t have to say it back. It’s soon, I know it is. I’m not saying it so you’ll say it back. There’s zero pressure, I swear.” I try to reassure him, not liking the lost look on his face one little bit.

  “It’s not that… it’s, fuck!” He runs a hand through his hair before pulling me even closer. It isn’t until he starts speaking that I realize he’s trying to draw comfort from me.

  “I was found by a dumpster when I was a couple of days old, detoxing from god knows what. I had no name, parents, or birth certificate. I was just nothing. The papers dubbed me ‘Angel’ on account that it was a miracle I was even alive, and it kind of stuck. Anyway, long story short, nobody wanted a baby that had a whole heap of medical problems. I spent a lot of time in and out of the hospital as a kid and the rest of it bouncing around the foster system. Nothing shady happened to me, there was no abuse of any kind, but there wasn’t any connection to those people either. I was just a way for them to make cash. I’ve never had someone tell me they love me before and… I just don’t want to fuck it up and have you take it back.”