STONE KINGS MOTORCYCLE CLUB: The Complete Collection

by Daphne Loveling

  It went on like that for five years. Every six months or so, Anthony would have a little too much to drink, and he would come into my room, threatening me with vague but terrifying punishment if I told anyone. Sometimes, I was able to run out of the room and avoid him until he passed out from the alcohol. Sometimes, I wasn’t. Eventually, when I was sixteen years old, I screwed up my courage one night at dinner and asked for a lock on my bedroom door. My mother asked why I would need such a thing, and I could feel my stepfather’s eyes burning into me. I turned and locked eyes with him as I said I wanted privacy. I dared him silently to say no.

  I got the lock. But Anthony kept a key.

  So the next day, I drove my new car, a sixteenth birthday present, to the hardware store. I bought tools. And installed a chain on the inside of my door. That night, I sat on my bed, half-frozen in fear, as he turned the key in the lock. The door pushed open, then caught as the chain grew taut. I was half-afraid he would smash the door open, causing the door to splinter as the screws pulled out of the wood, but that would have made too much noise in the still, quiet house. After a moment, the door closed again.

  That was the last time Anthony tried to get into my room.

  Two years later, the day after my eighteenth birthday, I packed up without telling anyone where I was going and left my house in the mountains outside of Denver. I drove to Lupine, where my mother’s only sister lived. My aunt Lori had always hated my stepfather, so much so that she and my mother had been estranged since before their marriage. I knew Aunt Lori wouldn’t tell my mother where I was. And once I’d confessed, in terms that revealed as little as possible, why I had left, she agreed to let me stay with her and finish out high school in Lupine.

  I’d been here ever since.

  I wondered sometimes if my mother had ever tried to find me. I knew from the pictures of her and my half-sister on Facebook that she had to still be with Anthony. There was no way they could afford their lifestyle otherwise. As I looked at their smiling faces on my laptop screen now, I felt lonelier than I could remember feeling since I was a little girl. Like I’d been forgotten.

  But I hadn’t been forgotten by Anthony. I was almost sure of it.

  He used to tell me that I was his little girl, and that no one else would ever love me like he did. “I will always know where you are, do you hear me?” he used to murmur, as he fingered my long blond hair. “You’ll always be mine. I will always know where you are.”

  It was why I’d waited until I was eighteen to leave. Until I was old enough that he couldn’t make me come back. I was too afraid of what he might do to me if he could force me to return.

  As soon as I was free, I cut my hair short. It’s been short ever since.

  After six years in Lupine, I had finally started to think that maybe Anthony Conley had forgotten about me after all.

  Now, I knew I was wrong.

  I couldn’t think of who else would have broken into my apartment, for the express purpose of leaving evidence to show me I was being watched. Probably, it wasn’t Anthony himself, but one of his men. Either way, I couldn’t imagine he would be satisfied with just scaring me. Something was coming.

  And I had to be prepared for it.

  7

  Cal

  CAL

  I showed up to the Andi’s apartment the next day with a drill, some other tools, and a bunch of shit I’d picked up at the hardware store.

  The building she lived in required a key to get in through the front entry, which was good. I called Andi on the number she’d given me so she could come down and let me in. She came to the door wearing a pair of black yoga pants and a dark blue tank top, her short platinum hair messily covering one eye. I resisted the urge to reach out and push it back away from her face. As I tried not to stare at her, I realized it was the first time I’d ever seen her without makeup.

  God damn, she was fucking gorgeous. Her skin was pale and flawless, her lips a light, pouty pink that I wanted to taste Without mascara, her eyes were startlingly blue like bright desert flowers. It was actually kind of distracting to look at them, they were almost hypnotizing. Andi was one of those women who was even more beautiful and sexy without makeup, and I knew it was gonna be tough to keep my mind on the job at hand instead of trying to think of ways to get under her clothes.

  But today especially, Andi was off limits. Today, I told myself, I wanted her to think of me as someone who’d helped her, with no expectations of payback. Just someone she could count on.

  Andi greeted me a little sheepishly and let me in. Her usual brassy flirtatiousness was nowhere to be seen. “Thanks for doing this, Cal. It’s… well, it’s really nice of you to take time out of your day to help me.”

  “No worries,” I murmured. “Like I said, I’m happy to help.”

  I followed her down a long hallway, taking advantage of the situation to stare at her perfect ass and throw out a silent thank you to the universe for yoga pants. She stopped at a door toward the end of the hall and motioned for me to go through.

  Inside, I found a minuscule studio apartment, tidy and organized almost to a fault. There were hardly any of the normal knicknacks and shit women seem to love to put all over their places. The few pictures on the wall were arty black and white photos in clean lines and simple frames. The place was cozy, though, and felt comfortable even though it was small. Most of the furniture and stuff fit the space perfectly, and everything was all done up in warm colors, deep reds and dark oranges. She had obviously taken great care to make it feel comfortable and warm. An acoustic guitar sat on a stand in one corner, I noticed, and a second stand with an electric bass stood next to it.

  “Nice place,” I remarked.

  She shrugged. “It’s not much, but it’s mine.”

  I set down the large duffel bag I was carrying. “Can I take a quick look around?”

  “Quick is the only way to look at a place this size,” she smirked. “Can I get you anything to drink?” She motioned toward a small kitchenette off to one side.

  “Nah, I’m good.”

  Andi seemed nervous about having me in her personal space. Her eyes were darting around to everything except me. I needed to figure out how to put her at ease. “Actually,” I began, “How about we look around together? I can check stuff out and then tell you what I see.”

  We started at the door, and I looked at the job she’d done replacing the lock. It seemed pretty solid, though she could use some longer screws to make it harder to bust open. There was no deadbolt, which I’d have to remedy. She did have a peephole on the door already, which was good. I talked to her as I checked things out, a sort of running monologue so she could feel in the loop but wouldn’t have to talk unless she wanted to.

  Next, I checked out the windows, which I was happy to see were the kind that could easily be fitted with some vinyl locks and window alarms. We were on the second floor, which made it slightly harder to break in from the outside, so I figured the alarms and extra locks should be enough to secure those possible points of entry. All in all, it looked like I had bought everything I needed from the hardware store and then some. I’d be able to return the shit I didn’t use when I was done installing everything.

  My running monologue seemed be loosening Andi up a little bit. She started asking for details on a few of the things I’d mentioned, so I went back to the duffel bag in the center of the room and knelt down to zip it open.

  “See?” I said, showing her the installations I’d been talking about. “I’ve got everything I need right here. Even the spade bit for drilling into the door for the deadbolt.”

  Her eyes widened. “Oh, wow. How much do I owe you for all this?”

  “Don’t worry about it. Most of the stuff in here I found at the clubhouse,” I lied. “The rest of it didn’t cost hardly anything.”

  I had Andi help me out with taking the door off its hinges, then set to work drilling the hole for the deadbolt.

  “Is your landlord gonna make any noise about
me modifying your door?” I asked her as I worked.

  She laughed. “I doubt it. He’s not the most observant guy in the world. I’d be surprised if he even noticed.”

  Once the hole was drilled through, I grabbed the other tools and began working on installing the deadbolt. Eventually Andi sat down a few feet away from me and started chatting about this and that. She seemed like she was finally starting to get comfortable with having me there, so I was careful to avoid asking her anything about why I was securing her apartment. We talked about her band, their upcoming gigs in Denver, Seton’s pregnancy, and what being in an MC was like.

  “So, why did you decide to join the MC in the first place?” she asked me.

  “Connection, mostly,” I murmured as I worked. I almost stopped there, but something told me that maybe if I told her more about myself, she’d open up a little. “Being patched into the MC was a chance to be part of something bigger than me, you know? To belong. I didn’t have a dad growing up… well, you know that.” I grabbed the deadbolt and fit it inside the hole. “I guess most of my life, I just felt like I was drifting. Like I had no anchor. The MC gave me a purpose, I guess.”

  “Huh,” she said in a teasing voice. “I just thought it was for the nonstop parade of women who’d do anything to spend a night with a bad boy biker.”

  I looked over at her and grinned. “Any reports of the number of my female conquests have been greatly exaggerated.”

  That wasn’t strictly true, but I had a reputation to live down with Andi. I knew she thought of me as a player, as trouble. Like someone who only looked to women for one thing. And she wasn’t wrong.

  But Andi was different from the others. She didn’t fear me like a lot of women did. She was feisty, not afraid to go toe to toe with me verbally. And as much as she liked to joke with me and call me Romeo, I could tell there was something between us. A spark, of something deeply primal. A spark that could quickly erupt into a flame if we let it.

  I shouldn’t have wanted that. The world was full of women who wouldn’t hesitate to hop in the sack with me. I should have been able to resist this one. But damned if right now I didn’t want to peel off that tank top, strip off those yoga pants, and bury my face between her thighs. I wanted to make Andi come. I wanted to make her ride my tongue until she was screaming my name.

  “Can I ask you a question?” she said suddenly, pulling me from my thoughts.

  “Uh, sure, shoot.” Fuck. Get a grip on yourself, Greenlee.

  “Does it ever get, you know… boring?”

  I frowned. “Does what ever get boring?”

  “Just… the non-stop partying and women.” She shrugged. There was a look on her face I couldn’t quite read.

  “It’s not non-stop partying and women,” I retorted. Well, actually, it kind of was. And strangely, Andi had kind of hit a nerve there. It wasn’t that the MC life was ever boring. Hell, there was a shitload more excitement to daily life in an outlaw motorcycle club than most people would be able to tolerate. But as much as I hated to admit it, the women did all kind of run together after a while. Maybe it was being here with Andi now, but when I thought back to the last couple dozen of them, I could barely remember a single one of their names or faces. Normally, that wouldn’t bother me at all.

  But as Andi looked at me, her brow cocked at me skeptically, I realized she probably thought of me as pretty goddamn shallow.

  And that wasn’t a feeling I liked very much.

  I thought about the restless moods I’d been having at odd moments for the past few months. And how Andi, who hardly knew me at all, had just hit on something that had been bothering me for a while now. Something I hadn’t told anyone. Hell, she probably had no idea she’d hit a nerve at all.

  “Okay,” she shrugged. “It’s not non-stop partying and women.” Her slightly mocking tone told me she didn’t believe me.

  Suddenly, I’d had enough of having her think I was just some stupid player. “Yeah, okay? Sometimes it gets boring. The ‘non-stop parade of women’.” I sighed in irritation. “Mindless fucking’s great and all, but there’s not always that much to differentiate them.” I looked over at her with an angry frown. “You happy now?” Goddamn it, Greenlee. Way to overshare.

  Andi was quiet for a moment. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I didn’t mean to… I dunno. I mean… I’m sorry. I’m being kind of a jerk. Especially because you’re being nice enough to help me with all this.” She spread her hands wide to take in the room. “I guess I didn’t think saying that would really offend you.”

  “It’s no big deal,” I retorted, my voice flat. Jesus, why was I acting like such a sensitive fucking flower? Andi and I sparred back and forth. It was how we interacted, and always had been. She was just doing what we always did. I just… didn’t want her to think of me as some asshole.

  Frustrated, I shook my head as if to clear it. I didn’t want to be having this conversation anymore. “So, time for me to ask you a question,” I challenged. I stood up with the door and motioned to her to help me maneuver it back on its hinges. “Why, specifically, am I here securing your doors and windows for you?” I looked at her closely. “What exactly are you worried about? And don’t say nothing. I’m not buying it.”

  Andi wouldn’t meet my eyes. She bit her lower lip in confusion, drawing my eyes to the full pouty plumpness of it. “Like I said,” she began airily, “You can never be too careful.”

  I waited for her to continue, my eyes boring into hers now. And after a moment, she flicked her eyes to me, then looked down and away, her face flushing. “It’s just… I heard about someone else in the building who got broken into recently,” she said. “I guess the previous tenant never turned in all their keys. So you know, I thought I should change my locks, just in case.”

  It was pure bullshit. I could hear it in her tone. But I didn’t press it. Standing so close to her, I could hear her breathing speed up slightly. Her actions had become jerky again, nervous. I knew damn well something had happened to make her feel unsafe in her own place. But whatever was, she didn’t want me to know, and I wasn’t going to get it out of her today. If I tried to press it now, she’d just retreat further back into her shell.

  I got the door back on the hinges, tested the deadbolt, and drilled some deeper screws for the lock she’d installed. I took out the wireless door alarm I’d picked up, and asked Andi to program in a four-digit code that she would use to disarm it. Within a few minutes, I had it set up and tested. Then I unwrapped the window alarms and locks and installed them, showing her how to arm and disarm everything. She listened attentively but didn’t say much, and I could tell she was hoping I wouldn’t ask her anything more about why she felt unsafe here.

  I was standing close to her as I explained how everything worked, my bicep just inches from her full breasts. The scent of her hair, something like jasmine, floated toward me as I bent toward her and demonstrated how to open and close the vinyl window lock. Without thinking, I grabbed her hand, closing it inside mine as I moved it toward the lock and showed her how to undo it. The sudden contact of my skin against hers made her draw in a sharp breath, and she froze instantly.

  Her hand was small and soft in my larger one. I stared down at them half-mesmerized by the sight. Barely knowing what I was doing, I slid my thumb softly over her knuckles, not wanting to let go. I straightened, her hand still enveloped in mine. My cock hardened and thickened in my jeans as I thought about how easy it would be to bring my mouth down on hers.

  “That’s pretty much it,” I said, my voice husky with barely-concealed lust. “Everything else is pretty self-explanatory. But if you have any other questions, or if you want me to come back and show you anything again, let me know.”

  Andi’s eyes were huge and dark as she looked up at me. “Okay,” she said unsteadily. Her hand detached from mine, and she reached up, trembling slightly, to push her bangs away from her face. “Thank you for helping me.”

  The movement of her arm had made
the fabric of her tank top brush lightly against her nipple, and I realized as I saw it grow taut from the friction that she wasn’t wearing a bra. Holy hell. I was instantly hard as a rock.

  “You sure you don’t need anything else?” I said thickly.

  Andi looked up at me then, her lower lip going between her teeth again. “I’m sure,” she said slowly, her voice nearly a whisper. “I think.”

  Suddenly, the words that were coming out of our mouths had nothing to do with what we were saying to each other.

  Our mouths were only inches away now. So close, that it barely took any movement at all for me to lower mine onto hers, hard enough to back her against the wall next to the window. Before I knew what I was doing, my hand slid around the back of her neck, tipping her head up so that her lips opened to my probing tongue.

  With a small sound in her throat — so small I almost didn’t hear it — her lips moved against mine. Then she was kissing me so desperately, so hungrily that it felt like I was drinking liquid fire.

  I lowered one hand to her waist, pulling her closer to my aching shaft, and was rewarded with a low whimper as Andi pressed against me. My other hand left her neck and cupped her breast, my thumb going automatically to the hardened nipple I had glimpsed through her shirt. Andi gasped at the contact, her tongue winding around mine even more needily as I began to tease and pinch the hard nub. She moaned into my mouth and the sound went straight to my throbbing cock.

  “Jesus, Andi,” I groaned, my lips leaving hers to find the sensitive skin on her neck. She shuddered as my lips closed around her earlobe and began to suckle. “You have no idea what you do to me.”

  “Oh, God…” she moaned. Her hips thrust desperately against my shaft. “Oh, Cal, holy shit, that feels so good…”

  My hand left her breast and moved downward, pushing inside the waistband of her yoga pants. She wasn’t wearing underwear, and my fingers slid down easily until I found her soaking wet pussy. A growl of satisfaction rumbled from my throat as I inserted one finger, then two inside her, then grazed my thumb softly over her clit. She gasped again and moaned, bucking against my hand. She was wet as hell, and getting wetter with every stroke. “Cal,” she panted, Oh my God…”