by Land, E. C.
The moment I walk into the main room of the clubhouse, catcalls ring throughout the room. I grin as I make my way over to the bar and grab the beer Badger places on the bar for me.
“Brothers, we need to get back into church. We have shit to discuss. Badger, you need to come in there as well,” I say heading for the room where only brothers are allowed. That was another thing we voted on earlier. Badger has been around long enough, and he’s proven himself in more ways than one. He would die before letting one of the ol’ ladies be hurt.
I take my seat and watch as my brothers move around the table to theirs, leaving Badger to stand by the door looking worried as no one in the room shows any signs of this being good for him.
Grabbing my gavel, I bang it on the table before looking at Badger. “Do you know why we called you in here?”
“No, sir,” Badger says looking confused as shit.
“Badger, you’ve been with us for well over a year, you even volunteered to move down here when we started this charter. Take off your cut, you're no longer a prospect,” I growl out not wanting him to realize what’s about to happen. I watch as Thorn gets up and takes the cut off of Badger, leaving him standing there looking torn. “Badger, every brother in the room has voted that you have proved yourself to be loyal to the club, we are proud to call you our brother. Step forward and grab your cut, congrats, brother,” I say holding his new cut out to him. The room fills with all the guys congratulating Badger on getting his cut.
“Fuck, Prez, thanks. I thought, fuck, I don’t know what was going through my head. This means a lot to me and I won’t let you or my brothers down,” Badger says slipping on his new cut.
“Alright fuckers, we’ll party tomorrow night to celebrate our new brother but right now, we have some serious shit to discuss so sit your asses back down.”
“Gadget, have you found any more information on the fuckers who run that site?” I ask soon as everyone has settled down. The air in the room instantly fills with tension.
“Prez, I’m being blocked from every angle that I’ve tried so far. Their firewalls are built higher than I expected, I might be a genius, but I need to get Nerd in on this one. He’s better when it comes to fuckwad’s like this,” Gadget says as he pulls the website up. Looking at the screen that pops up, I can barely contain the rage that wants to take over. These fuckers have added a countdown to the time of the auction.
“Hate to say this, Prez, but I think it's time to tell Izzy about this and see if she might know anything. Maybe someone was messing with her before you moved her out of her house,” Horse says from next to me.
“You’re right, she does need to know for her own safety. I don’t need her deciding to go off doing shit without someone at her back. I want her at the clubhouse at all times unless one of us is with her. We don’t need what happened to Kenny, Lynsdey, and Cleo to happen to Izzy. Gadget, get ahold of Nerd, see if he can come down. One last thing, did you find anything out about this fucker Terrance we’re meeting in the morning?” I growl out that last question. I’m still pissed the fucker wants to have lunch with Izzy. Like fuck that will happen.
“Yeah, I found out that he has a brother and guess who that brother is?”
“Who?”
“Izzy’s old boss.”
“Fuckin’ hell, what else did you find?”
“He’s a big wig with the real estate, owns most of the Holland. Other than that, there’s nothing, not even a traffic ticket,” Gadget finishes. You can see the frustration in his face that he’s as annoyed with all this as the rest of us.
I sit back in my seat, contemplating what the next step we take should is. With the brothers from South Carolina coming in tomorrow night, we need a plan in place. Our charter is still new compared to the others and we have to prove to the other charters that we are able to handle our own shit.
“I want us on a semi-lockdown. Horse and Thorn, you two need to pack up your families and bring them here until we know what's going on with the rest. Gadget, keep trying to find who runs that fuckin’ site. Burner, you, Izzy, and I are going to see that building tomorrow and I want two others to come with us. Other than the fact this douche is related to Izzy’s old boss, we don’t know a fuckin’ thing about him. We need to keep an extra set of eyes on her until we know who is after her. According to Izzy, this building is perfect for the tattoo shop. Once that’s done, I don’t want her leaving for nothing, not even her runs. I’ll see to that personally after I have a talk with her, she will understand why. I don’t want shit repeating itself again,” I say before banging the gavel on the table ending church. Fuck, I need a beer and to check on Izzy. With any luck, she will still be asleep.
My dick grows hard at the thought of her still naked in bed. Shaking my head, I get up and follow the brothers out of the room, going to the bar first. I need something to claim my nerves before having this talk with my woman. I know it's not gonna go over well with her.
“You okay, Prez?” Hades asks sitting down next to me as I take the first sip of my beer.
“Fuck if I know. I want to know who the fuck is running this motherfuckin’ auction and why the fuck Izzy is being targeted. She hasn’t done a damn thing to have this bullshit happening to her,” I growl out slamming my beer down on the bar watching as foam pours from the top of it.
“Fuck. Prospect, grab me a towel and clean this shit up.” I don’t have time for this shit. Not when everything feels like its spiraling out of my control.
“Prez, piece of advice. Keep her close no matter what, don’t let her out of this clubhouse until we get this taken care of. We can deal with her temper tantrums if it comes down to it but keep her close. My gut tells me that something fucked up is about to happen and it’s not gonna be good,” Hades murmurs loud enough for only me to hear.
“Don’t worry, I don’t intend to let her anywhere that I’m not,” I say placing my hand on his shoulder before leaving him there to go find my woman.
When I walk into our room, she’s not in the bed like I hoped. If not for the sound of the shower, I would be flipping right now. I strip out of my clothes and head into the bathroom pausing at the vision in front of me. My dick jumps at the sight of her washing her body, lathering soap along her smooth skin. If I learned one thing about my woman is, she loves showers and being clean. After our runs, she always showers then again before bed, she takes another one.
“Are you going to just stand there and watch me or are you going to join me?” Her voice penetrates through the fog.
“Oh, I intend to do more than join you, baby. I want that pussy again and I want it now,” I say stalking towards the shower. Opening the door, I climb in behind her, pulling her back flush against my front. “Fuck, babe, do you know what you do to me?”
“The same as you do to me, you drive me crazy. Fuck me, Jerod. I need you inside me,” Izzy says as she turns to wrap her arms around my neck.
“I need you just as much as you need me, sweetheart. Get ready, I’m about to pound that pussy so damn hard you won’t be able to sit without feeling me,” I tell her as I lift her, letting her wrap her legs around my waist as I slam her down on my dick. I thrust into her with hard, fast strokes that has her coming within minutes and me following close behind as she clenches around me.
“That was amazing.”
“Yeah, babe, it was.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Let’s finish our shower, we need to talk,” I tell her placing her back on her feet. The smile leaves her face instantly. Fuckin’ hell, she’s not going to like what I have to tell her.
* * *
“Okay, so what is it we need to talk about?” Izzy asks soon as she’s dressed in a pair of black leggings and one of my hoodies. I smile inwardly at the sight of her in my hoodie, she loves wearing them whenever she’s laying around. The thing swallows her whole.
Sighing, I sit on the bed with my back against the head broad. “Baby, come here and sit. I’ve got some shit to tell you an
d I need to feel you close to me as I do.”
“Jerod, you're kinda freaking me the hell out right now, what is it?”
“What I have to tell you is going to probably piss you off, but you need to listen to everything I’ve got to say,” I tell Izzy looking into her eyes, at her nod I begin. “Before all the shit that’s happened lately, we found some info that someone wanted you. Gadget has been keeping an eye on it, trying to track the fucker down who wanted you, however, they’re still unknown to us. Earlier this week, Gadget located a site that your picture is on and that an auction starts soon. You’re supposed to go to the highest bidder. With that said, I’m not about to let shit happen to you.” I finish leaving out the other shit we’re dealing with. That’s club business and the less she knows about the Dragons Fire MC the better.
“So, let me get this straight, there’s some twisted fuck out there with pictures of me on some website getting ready to start an auction to sell me.” Izzy’s voice is way too calm. Her eyes are bleak as I wait for the storm to hit. There’s no way this shit isn’t fucking with her head.
“Baby, I’m not gonna let a fuckin’ thing happen to you. You got me?” I say as I cup the sides of her face.
“Jerod, I’m not worried about that. I no doubt you’ll take care of everything, but you should have told me, asshole. This is about me not you, and I deserve to fuckin’ know some jerkface twat is doing this type of shit to me. I know I’ve been a complete mess but I’m honestly really learning to cope better with my grief, it helps to have you around me,” Izzy says before snuggling into my arms. Well, she took that better than I thought. I figured she would have been all over the place emotionally about this.
“Babe, I gotta ask why you're not freaking out, I figured you would be considering everything.”
“Oh, I’m freaking out on the inside but I’m not going to let this affect my life. You guys will find him. I trust you.”
“You do realize we’re going on a semi-lockdown, meaning you can’t leave the clubhouse. And if you do, you’re to be escorted.” That gets her attention.
“What the hell?” she yells out moving away from me.
Fuck. Maybe I should have started with that and then moved on to the rest of it. Least then she would understand it better.
21
Izzy
I’ll be damned if I will be kept on lockdown. Not now when I’m starting to actually feel like my normal self again. It’s taken me way too damn long to start the healing process and I won’t be stopped. And that includes being locked away from the world because some ass face wants to go and ruin my life.
What the hell have I done to deserve this shit? I mean, did the universe just decide to take a dump on me for some unknown reason other than being born to the worst parents in the world and letting my brother die because I asked him to come pick me up?
I can finally admit to myself that Chase’s accident wasn’t my fault, the blame for the accident falls at the feet of the other driver. Does that mean I don’t still hurt and feel the pain of his death? Nope, it doesn’t because I still do. I miss my big brother more than anything, and I don’t think that pain will ever go away.
Shaking my head, I try to clear it of all the negative thoughts that I’ve let consume me for so many years. I won’t let anything set me back. I’m on a mission to find my absolution and I know without a doubt that it’s with Jerod. He gives me a reason to want to live, and I want to show him that I can survive anything that’s thrown my way. I want to be the woman he deserves.
“Babe, what’s going on in that head of yours?” Jerod finally speaks up after what feels like hours after he told me I wouldn’t be able to leave the clubhouse without one of the brothers with me.
Right now, I can’t find the words to voice that I need to be able to go out on my own. Or at least have the option to do so. I admit, I haven’t left the clubhouse beside the day that I decided to pick up running again. Jerod has gone with me every other time. But all the same, I thought I had the freedom to go and at the moment, I feel like that freedom is being locked away from me.
Taking a deep breath, I turn to face him. Looking into his face, I don’t see the man that others fear. I see a man that loves me as much as I love him. I could never be freighted of him as others are when he’s pissed. I can understand where he’s coming from.
“I don’t want to be on any form of lockdown. I don’t like the idea of me losing my choice in the matter when I’ve just started to feel like me again,” I finally whisper.
“I get it, baby, I do, but I won’t put your safety at risk,” Jerod says pulling me into him.
“As much as I’m glad you finally told me, I wish you hadn’t, that way I would have a reason to be pissed. But I understand. I won’t leave the club unless I absolutely need to. Or I’m with you,” I say.
“Thank you,” Jerod murmurs against my hair.
“You’re welcome. Now, feed me, I’m starving, and I feel like I can eat a whole damn cow,” I say gaining a chuckle out of Jerod.
* * *
The rest of the night went way too quickly. After dinner last night, Twister and I hung out with the rest of the club for a while before heading back to his room for our own private fun.
Now, I’m on the back of Jerod’s bike as he follows the directions I gave him to get to the building we’re supposed to meet Terrance at. I thought this building would be perfect for the tattoo shop Burner wants to open. Sitting behind Jerod, my arms wrapped around his waist as he speeds down the road.
As much as I love how fast he’s going, I wish he would slow down just a bit. Time is a precious thing we should never take for granted; I want to savor every minute that I can with him. I know he will do his best to keep anything from happening to me, but I won’t let anyone in the club be hurt because of me. Never again will I lose someone I love because they were looking out for me. If it comes down to the guys in the club losing their lives or me being sold, I will take the latter.
Within no time, we pull up in front of the building. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but it has so much potential to it. Bonus is the building being close to the clubhouse. I climb off the back of the bike just a silver BMW pulls up next to us. I feel Jerod tense behind me when I turn to see Terrance get out of the driver’s side.
“Izzy, you are a sight for sore eyes. I wish you still worked for my brother. I swear I don’t know how he manages to keep that place running without you there,” Terrance says as he makes his way toward us.
“Hey Terrance, I’m sorry to hear that but then again, I’m much happier not working for him,” I say reaching my hand out to shake his before making introductions. “Terrance, this here is Twister and Burner. They’re looking for a building to open a tattoo shop. I knew this one would be perfect for them soon as they told me what they wanted.” Keeping my eyes on Jerod, I watch as his face transforms, changing him from my ol’ man to Twister, the Prez of the DRMC. Watching him, I can’t help but grow wet at the sight of him. But I stay wet whenever he’s around me.
“Ah yes, you had mentioned they’re a part of a motorcycle gang.” Terrance sneers as he looks over to my man, watching as Jerod pulls me into him.
“Fucker, get it right. We’re a motorcycle club, not some dumb-witted gang,” Twister growls out. Oh boy, he’s pissed. He doesn’t allow anyone to disrespect him or the club.
“My apologies, shall we go in so you can see the building?” Terrance’s expression changes as he moves to the door, unlocking it.
Jerod puts me behind him keeping me protected between him and Burner. As we walk through the door, I can feel the stifling tension grow as we walk into the building. I place my hand on Jerod’s back hoping that feeling my touch will help ease him some, but it doesn’t.
Something about Terrance doesn’t sit well with Jerod and if I’m honest with myself, it has me on edge as well. Terrance has been nothing but friendly with me ever since I met him. I knew he was brothers with my old boss and that he
dealt in real estate, but I don’t know much else about him.
“Izzy, I will let you show them around while I wait out here. I have a few calls to make,” Terrance says as he pulls his phone out of his pocket.
“Thanks, Terrance, we won’t be long.”
“Take your time, let me know what you decide.”
“I don’t like that fucker, Prez. Something doesn’t sit right with me when it comes to him,” Burner says the moment the door closes.
“You’re right, brother. Let's hurry this shit up. I’ll be more comfortable when we get Izzy back to the clubhouse,” Jerod murmurs before looking at me and giving me a warily smile. “Alright baby, show us what you got.”
I can’t help but smile at him. When I sold the garage to them for another client, I didn’t have to go with them to look at it. I just gave them an address and they took it from there. This time, I get to show Jerod what I do best.
Turning on my heel, I start explaining the square footage to them. As I walk through the building, I also help them envision where they could put stations. There’s even a room off the main one that would be good for Burner to use as his office or even a private tattoo room for those that would need to be without clothes. When I use the example of women getting tattoos between their legs, both Jerod and Burner start grinning at me as they shake their heads.
“Well, what do you think?” I ask them when I finish giving them the tour of the building.