* * *
My stomach twisted with apprehension on the whole drive home. I braked and turned without really noticing my surroundings, my mind filled with the sound of Josh’s voice.
You’ve only heard good things about the Skull Kings, but how many other friends do you have in this town?
I gripped my steering wheel. There were the other old ladies, the “Skull Princesses.” They counted, right? Probably not. I bit my cheek. There was Carmen, but we’d fallen out of touch ever since I quit working at Buddy’s.
Damn, I thought. But Josh was wrong. He didn’t know the Skull Kings like I did, and he certainly didn’t know Liam. At the same time, he was only trying to help, wasn’t he? I recalled him sitting across from me in his uniform, his smile confident but kind, his gentle way of nudging me toward his opinion. He thought that there was more to the Skull Kings than I knew, and I was convinced that Logan and the Scorpions were in cahoots. One of us was bound to be right.
I did trust his opinion for now, and the last thing he’d said to me was to tell Liam everything I’d seen. My conviction rolled over and over as I closed the distance between my car and my apartment. A vignette unfolded in my imagination of me calling Liam to come over, sitting us down on the couch, taking his hand, and showing him my evidence. I could just see it now, Liam’s conflicted expression, hurt and angry. I dreaded and anticipated it at the same time, the I told you so already crouched in the back of my mouth.
But all my bravado dissolved when I pulled into my apartment parking space, only to find Liam’s Harley parked on the sidewalk right in front of it. He was standing near my front door, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. He perked up when he saw me, and the corner of his mouth rose into a half-smile.
I carefully arranged my face into something passably happy, as if Liam could tell, just by looking at me, that I’d been thinking about Josh. “Hey,” I said softly as I approached.
“Hey,” Liam echoed. He scratched the back of his head. “I’m sorry about earlier.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“We were having a thing before you got there,” he said, talking about his Skull King brothers. “Nobody was taking my side when you showed up. I was just in a shitty mood all around.”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “Come on. Let’s talk inside.”
My feet carried me to the kitchen as Liam collapsed onto the couch.
“I’m just so fed up, you know?” he began immediately. “Sure, I feel bad that the stripper died, but we didn’t put that needle in her arm. I’m so tired of the sheriff’s department treating us like a bunch of criminals.”
My interest piqued. “It’s happened before?”
Liam’s arm rose over the back of the couch, dismissing my question with a wave. “Yeah, once or twice. Some noise complaints, disturbing the peace, things like that. Most of our troubles happened when the Scorpions tried dealing in Canyon City. The deputies thought it was us.”
“That’s not what—” I swallowed my words. I’d almost said, That’s not what Josh said.
“Whatever, though,” Liam continued. “Fuck them. Fuck Hamilton.”
I put a kettle on the stove, boiling water for tea. “What’s your issue with Officer Hamilton? It seems like you guys have some history,” I said in a carefully measured tone.
Liam scoffed. “We were in the same grade and rolled with different crews. That’s all.”
“I see.” It seemed like there was a lot more to that story, but for now I had to figure out how to break the news about Logan. “Well, I’m glad you came over,” I began, “because—”
Liam suddenly jumped up. “Let’s go for a ride,” he said, crossing my apartment in three strides. He looped an arm around my waist and tugged me close. I felt his voice rumbling in the middle of my chest. “You and me.”
“Wait—” I said, but it was already beginning. At the mere mention of riding, Liam was getting hard, his growing erection pressing through his jeans and into my fleshy thighs. I looked up into his eyes, surprised.
“How about it?” he said, his voice dropping into a growl. “We’ll take the interstate out into the canyons. Let the seat rumble against your pussy the whole way. Get you nice and wet.”
My lower lip trembled as my breaths grew ragged and short. Liam grabbed my chin and tilted my mouth up to meet his. His kiss was rough, and I felt every ounce of frustration in the pressure he forced behind it.
I tried to pull away. Liam yanked me back, pushing his mouth more forcefully against mine. His tongue jammed itself between my teeth, choking me. I fought to keep the issue of Logan and the Scorpions in the front of my mind, but it was getting progressively harder, especially with Liam grinding himself against me. I didn’t even need the vibrating seat of his Harley to get me wet.
It can wait, I finally told myself.
I pulled off my top. Liam’s hands immediately snaked around my back to unhook my bra. His chest heaved as I slipped my hands into his shirt, feeling along the ridges of his muscles. My fingertips brushed down his abs and hooked into the waistband of his jeans. In a few swift movements, I had him unbuttoned and unzipped, and we pushed our pants down to our ankles at the same time.
“Come here, baby,” Liam whispered.
Our bodies fell together, comfortingly familiar. He put me on my back on the linoleum floor. His weight crushed my breasts as he came down on top of me.
“Liam!” I gasped as his teeth sank into my shoulder.
He jerked his hips, groping toward my pussy. His breaths were short and frantic, and I got the sense that all rational thought was gone, leaving the mind of an animal in Liam’s body, driven only by the instinct to fuck. His face was slack, lost in pleasure. When he plunged his cock into my body, there was more pain there than I could handle.
My spine curved up at the bruising force. Liam lowered his head to my chest and bit my nipple, making me hiss in pain. He began thrusting, pounding, hammering away at me. It seemed like he was taking all of his frustrations out on me, and he probably was. I tried to relax, but my muscles kept clenching against him, making me into a tight hole to penetrate over and over again. I gritted my teeth, biting back my yelps of pain.
Just get through this and tell him, I told myself.
Red spots burned in the insides of my eyelids with each stroke of Liam’s cock. Then, my mind conjured an image of Josh in his uniform, fingers moving slowly over the brass buttons. My lips parted.
“Oh,” I moaned.
Finally, Liam jerked himself out of me. He kissed me hard, crushing my lips against my teeth, as he came. I felt it spraying across my stomach, sticky and hot. A thin sheen of sweat glistened on his back and shoulders.
We got dressed silently. I kept eyeing the floor somewhat guiltily. Thinking about Josh when Liam fucked me made me feel dirty, but it left my skin tingling all over. I was afraid of how good it made me feel.
Liam’s cheeks were flushed red. There was color in his eyes again. He seemed back to normal. “So, how about that ride?” he asked with a shy smile.
I put a hand on his arm. My gaze flickered to the kitchen table where I’d dropped my purse. My cell phone with the incriminating picture was tucked inside.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you…”
Chapter 13
The clock ticked languidly, fluidly, each second passing as if it were fighting through a sea of molasses. I counted each one in my head. One. Two. Three. All the way to sixty. It had been eighteen minutes since Liam had left for the clubhouse. He’d called another impromptu church today, and every member knew what the meeting was for except for Logan.
My heart pinged in my chest, and my stomach gurgled with sick fear. It had been like that since yesterday, when I finally showed Liam the picture of Logan sitting down with Ryan.
“He’ll have to answer to his brothers,” he’d said, a muscle working in his jaw. “But most likely, we’ll have to do an Alex on him.”
It was twenty minutes past, n
ow. Surely, Liam was at the clubhouse with the other brothers, waiting for Logan to arrive. Or perhaps Logan was already there. It would be over for him in just a few moments. He’d have the Skull Kings tattoo burned off of his back and banished from Canyon City, his penance for betraying the MC. It was just the way things worked. The rules were complicated and strange, but universally understood by all prospects when they first joined the club, including Logan.
So why did I feel so sick? The gurgling in my stomach persisted. Something just wasn’t settling right, and a few more seconds ticked by before I figured out what it was.
My latest conversation with Josh Hamilton filtered thinly through my mind.
“What if they try to exact some sort of biker justice?”
Josh drew his mug to his lips. His blue eyes glinted mischievously. “That’s exactly what I’m counting on.
Had Josh expected this? Had he been “counting” on this? For the past few days, I’d kept revisiting the moment I saw Logan clasping hands with Ryan, the man who tried to abduct me from the parking lot of my old work, who invited my abusive ex-boyfriend to town, who was all around bad news. But at this very moment, all I could see was the young, awkward, and lanky bouncer of Amazon Gentleman’s Club, flirting with everybody, his face never without a crooked, good-natured smile.
No, it just didn’t sit right with me at all. I wished I’d spoken to Noah and Liam about this, but with Noah still out of town…
I still had the next best thing. I had Shayna, on speed dial now. It took all of three seconds to call her.
“Hey, sweetie,” she answered on the second ring. “What’s up?” There was a lot of busy noise coming from her end.
“Something’s happened,” I said gravely.
“What is it? Did something happen with the club?”
I wasn’t sure if she meant Amazon or the MC itself, but I said, “Yes,” anyway. I explained everything that had happened, beginning with Logan’s meeting with Ryan and ending with Liam leaving for the clubhouse just twenty minutes before the call. I even included everything Josh had told me. I listened for Shayna’s next words after I finally finished, but they never came. The sudden silence was alarming, and when she finally spoke, I knew exactly why.
After talking briefly with Noah, I hung up and dialed the next best person I knew: Josh. I told him there was no time to explain. “How soon can you pick me up?”
“Ten minutes.”
I waited for him outside, tapping my foot. Unbound energy surged inside of me, half from nerves over what the Skull Kings were up to at the clubhouse, and half from the anxiety I felt over getting a ride from Josh.
It’s just a ride, I told myself. I’d sit in the back if I had to. The prospect of being within touching distance of him made my face flood with heat.
Finally, a CCSO cruiser turned the corner and slid to a smooth stop right in front of me. Josh got out and opened the passenger side door.
“So what exactly is going on?” he asked as I buckled myself into the seat.
I exhaled loudly. “Noah’s known all along about Logan meeting with Ryan.”
“He’s the president, right?”
“Yeah, and he asked Logan to do it. I have no clue why, or why the rest of the MC didn’t know, but basically they’re about to…” I gulped. “They’re about to kick him out of the club.”
Josh frowned. “Why do you sound so grave?”
“Each member has Skull Kings ink. It’s part of getting inducted. Well, if you’re no longer a member, you have no right to wear the ink. So they forcefully remove it for you.”
Josh’s hands jerked the wheel. “Jesus Christ.”
He didn’t even know the half of it. I’d actually seen the removal method. Back then, I’d had no choice; it was the only way to scare Alex out of town. When Liam, Shayna, and the other old ladies presented me with the caustic powder, I hadn’t even questioned it. Simple chemistry, they’d said.
I suppressed a shudder. For Alex, it had been a few inches on his forearm. For Logan, it was a huge back piece. I tried calling Liam for the tenth time, and it kicked me straight to voice mail.
“We should probably step on it,” I said, trying to keep the shrill panic out of my voice.
Josh nodded wordlessly. The engine punched the air with its growl as we accelerated down the street. His hand hovered near the passenger side armrest, then closed over my cold, shaking fingers.
* * *
Josh parked diagonally across two parking spots, and I bolted out of the passenger seat before he could cut the engine. A cool breeze rustled my hair as I stared at the edifice of the clubhouse. Bikes crowded before it, parked in chillingly neat, parallel lines. I crunched through the gravel, my heart beating in my throat.
Don’t let it be too late.
The air was unnaturally silent as I approached the door. There was no screaming. I hoped it was a good sign. I wrenched the door open.
The first thing I noticed was all the space. Every scrap of furniture had been pushed against the walls, leaving a wide open area in the middle of the room. Skull Kings were arranged in a crooked circle. A lumpy mass was at the center of it.
My legs twitched into action. Logan.
He was crumpled on the floor, red welts all over his body. They would be bruises by tomorrow.
Liam broke through the circle. “What are you doing here?” It was a tone I’d never heard before.
I froze in place.
Liam took two steps toward me. A vein twitched in his forehead, which reddened quickly with suppressed rage. There was a plastic water bottle in his hand filled with the white powder I’d used on Alex. The cap was off.
I raised my hands. “Liam, if I ever busted in on a Skull Kings meeting like this, you’d know that it’s for a good reason.”
Liam glowered. “And what reason…” His words faltered, and his eyes flashed as they passed over my shoulder.
I turned around just in time to see Josh stomping loudly through the door. His eyebrows rose as he took in the sight of the room and its occupants. Several Skull Kings grunted in surprise. Liam just stood there, shaking.
“Liam, please. I tried calling you. Noah told me that he knows all about Logan meeting with the Scorpions. He said they planned it.”
It seemed to take several moments for his mind to process what I’d just said. His brow furrowed in confusion, but the twist of anger never left his lips. He shook his head and jerked his chin toward Josh, who’d joined me at my side.
“Well, what the fuck does he have anything to do with all of this?”
Josh stepped forward. “I was asked to help stop you guys.”
Liam scoffed, but his eyes never left mine. I detected so many layers inside them: betrayal, hurt, indignation. For a moment, I wondered if it would’ve been better to show up alone.
Logan stirred on the floor, moaning. He turned his face up to the ceiling, revealing a cracked lower lip. Seeing him like that woke me back up.
“Call Noah if you want,” I said, squaring my shoulders.
Liam’s mouth fell open and closed. He seemed to be at a loss.
“I told you we should’ve waited for Noah, man,” Eddie said softly.
Liam clenched his fists, and his forearms bulged. “We’ll call this off. Eddie, you can call Noah and see what’s going on.” He ran his fingers through his dark hair, casting his frown toward the floor. “You can leave.”
Josh hesitated on his way out the door.
“Both of you.”
Liam turned away without looking at me, and it was like taking a knife to the gut. I felt a strong urge to reach out for him, to hold him. You love me, I wanted to whisper. I tried to draw him back with my eyes, but he disappeared into a crowd of his Skull Kings brothers, as if I wasn’t even there at all.
I felt a firm hand close over my elbow. Josh leaned close, tugging gently at me. His eyes were pointed at the Skull Kings, but his mouth was perched near my ear. “Come on.”
My limbs felt dea
d as I climbed back into Josh’s cruiser. I wanted to jump back out and run into Liam’s arms. Instinct told me that of all the things, leaving with Josh was the worst thing I could do. But my mind kept spinning back to the look on Liam’s face when he saw Josh walk in beside me. It was a look I’d never seen before. Hatred.
After that, all I wanted to do was get far, far away.
“I’m sorry, Aspen. I’m sure he’ll calm down once he talks to Noah.”
I turned toward the window, hugging myself. “Just take me home.”
Josh was stony silent for a few seconds. Then, he turned the key in the ignition and drove us away from the clubhouse.
I was beginning to feel a little guilty. “Thanks,” I added to break the silence.
“You didn’t deserve that, you know.”
“Deserve what?”
“The way he treated you.”
I shrugged. “Maybe I did. Things work differently in the club. Different rules. I bet I broke about fifty of them walking into the clubhouse.”
“There’s no rules against seriously injuring a fellow member?”
I sighed. Of course there were. And there were rules for when seriously injuring a fellow member was allowed. The hardest part was that none of these rules were written. They just were, and unless you were a brother or an old lady, the code of behavior was hard to navigate.
“Look, I know you love Liam Olsen, but he’s part of something bigger than the two of you. You wanted to save a young man from a horrible fate, and he’s angry at you for it. Doesn’t that tell you that something might be a little fishy?”
“You don’t get it.”
“No, you don’t get it.”
For the first time, Josh sounded firm. I caught a glimpse of what he was like on duty, the real sheriff inside of him. He spoke with alarming authority, almost like Liam.
“Do you have a problem with my boyfriend?” I asked softly.
Josh’s brow softened. Of all the things I could’ve said, I seemed to have found the last thing he expected to hear. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, deep in thought.
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