by Jessie Cooke
“Where’d you get that phone, Larry?” Dax was staring at the iPhone in Larry’s hand. It was a seven-hundred-dollar phone.
Larry looked down at it. His hands were shaking so hard that he looked like he was having a seizure. Dax almost felt sorry for him. He was just so stupid. “Georgie gave it to me, that night that I drove the car into town. He said he took it off one of his clients that owed him some money…”
Cody pushed his chair back and got to his feet. He held out his big hand and barked, “Let me see it.” Larry looked at Dax, deferred to him, really. Dax gave a slight nod of his head and Larry handed it over. Cody took a knife out of his pocket and popped off the back where the battery goes and then used the knife to pry something else loose. He held up a tiny metal disk that looked to have adhesive on the back of it. “It’s a fucking tracking device. Jesus, you stupid fucker…!” Cody was in Larry’s face and Larry looked like he was about to shit his pants, or have a full-blown heart attack.
“Cody.” Dax loved Cody like a son, although he wasn’t old enough to be the younger man’s father. Sometimes the only thing standing between Cody and death or another ten years in prison was that love. The boy came by his temper honestly. His father was a raging maniac. Thankfully, over the past couple of years, Cody had learned to rein it in. But there were times when Dax could see it still simmering just underneath the surface, and this was one of them. The younger man did not tolerate stupidity well. “Have a seat. Let’s hear what Larry has to say.” Cody stepped back and took his seat, but his posture was still rigid.
“I don’t have anything to say,” Larry blurted out in a strangled, shaky voice. “I’ve told you everything. I don’t know how that got in there. I swear! I don’t know.”
Dax sighed. He believed the old fool. Larry wasn’t sophisticated enough to be an actual part of an elaborate plan. He was being used, and it was because he was an old fool that they picked him. As soon as he showed up at the Bent Wrench, he’d probably be dead, and anyone that rode along with him as well. “Larry, where do you usually meet Georgie?”
“At a bar in Boston…Southie…we’ve met a lot at that bar where I met Chuck that night. Sometimes on the north side of Dorchester at another bar…the one where they have the hookers in back. Georgie won’t deal in your…” Larry stopped. It just dawned on him what he was about to say. Georgie didn’t deal in Skulls territory, yet he’d told Larry to meet him at the Wrench. What blood was left in Larry’s face drained away. “He’s setting me up.”
“Ya think?” Cody said, sarcastically. Dax gave Cody a look that silenced him once again and then he nodded.
“Yeah, Larry, that’s exactly what he’s doing.”
Larry looked at Dax and for a second Dax swore he could see the child that the man used to be, looking out at him from inside a torn-up old man’s body. “Are you going to let him?”
Dax shook his head. “No, Larry. We’re not going to let him.”
“I guess we better get back down there.” Claire sat up suddenly, like a shot, and started digging around on the floor for her clothes. Hunter lay back on the bed and watched her. He could tell that she was already having regrets. He didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t sure anything he could say at that moment would help, so he kept quiet and watched her get dressed. Even putting her clothes back on, she was beautiful. She had her underwear and shirt on and she was pulling on her pants when she finally made eye contact with him. “Are you going to get dressed?”
“In a minute.”
“Please don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
She furrowed her brow and said, “Like you know what I look like naked.” Hunter laughed, heartily. “Stop that.”
“Was I doing it again?” he asked, still laughing.
“It’s not funny.”
“Yeah, babe,” he said, sitting up. “It kind of is. Because, see…I do know what you look like naked, and nothing short of amnesia or dementia is ever going to wipe that gorgeous vision out of my head.” Claire’s face turned bright red but she was fighting a smile. “And you know what I look like naked now too.” Her pretty eyes flitted over his body, resting for a few seconds on his cock, which was already getting hard again thanks to the conversation they were having. She cleared her throat and rested her eyes back on his face.
“Yes…please get dressed. I want to check on my dad.”
Hunter reached out and grabbed her hands. She didn’t pull away, even as he intertwined their fingers. “Dax is not a bad guy, I promise you.”
“Maybe, but he doesn’t have my father’s best interests at heart here either.”
She tried to pull loose then and Hunter released his grip but said, “Sit down for a minute and talk to me.”
Claire ran her eyes over his body again and another surge of blood rushed to lengthen his erection. “I can’t talk to you when you’re…”
He grinned. “Gloriously naked.”
Her lips twitched again. “Yeah, naked. Put your clothes on and we’ll talk.”
“Or…”
“Or I’ll go downstairs without you.”
He rolled his eyes. “Fine. Hand me my pants.” Claire leaned down and picked his jeans up off the floor. She held them in her hands and looked at him again. He could see the lust in her eyes even though she was fighting it, and that was only making him harder. He smiled at her again and said, “You’re debating whether or not you want to touch me again.”
“Oh, you think so, do you? You’re pretty sure of yourself.”
“I am, but you’re also pretty easy to read.”
“You think so?”
“I do.”
It was obvious that she was trying hard not to smile. “Really? What am I thinking right now?”
He grinned. “That you’d love for me to bend you over this bed and do you again right quick before we go downstairs.”
Her face broke and the smile won out. With a deep blush she said, “You’re kind of good at that.” Hunter wasn’t going to give her time to change her mind. He was fully hard again and he had no desire to hobble downstairs on his third leg. He pulled her down into a kiss and started undressing her again. She helped him and in seconds they had her as naked as he was. He stood up and turned her around to face the bed. Instead of bending her over right away, he put his lips on her neck and kissed and sucked on it while letting his hands explore her soft, gorgeous skin. He had his hands on her abdomen and he let them slide up until they were each cupping a breast. She gasped when his thumbs began to play across her nipples, and he felt her lean back into him and shudder. He wanted more of that, so he let go of one breast and slid that hand down until it reached the moisture between her legs. He dipped his fingers in it and drew circles on the sensitive skin of her upper thighs. She breathed out his name in a whisper, exciting him more. He played along the outer part of her lips and when he finally touched her clit, her body convulsed and he had to let go of her breast and hold her around the waist to keep her knees from buckling and taking her to the floor. He held onto her tightly, and didn’t relent, continuing to press, pinch, and tease her rock-hard clit. He could feel the beads of sweat as they began to form and then run down and cover her body with a fine, slick sheen that caused her to slip and slide against him. His cock ached to be inside of her…but the rest of his body ached for more.
Hunter finally pushed her forward, down on the bed. But instead of putting on a new condom and entering her, he flipped her over onto her back, with her ass hanging off the edge of the bed. Hunter knelt down in front of her and without any further preamble, he put his face where his fingers had been. Claire whimpered and pulled her legs open wider. Hunter licked and probed the outside of her pussy before using his fingers to open her up and letting his tongue delve inside, deep into her velvety tunnel. He moved his tongue around, pushing it in and pulling it back out. Claire’s back was arched up off the bed. Her eyes were closed and she was moaning and writhing. Hunter was enjoying it just as much.
He loved the taste of sweet pussy, and Claire’s was the sweetest he’d ever had. He also got off on knowing how turned on she was, how much she wanted it.
Hunter pulled his tongue out of her and sought out her swollen clit. Claire cried out as he bit down on it gently before sucking it into his mouth and letting his tongue attack it. She had her hands in his hair now and she was pulling hard, using her hold to guide his face, and his tongue, where she wanted it.
With his lips, teeth, and tongue still concentrating on that engorged clit, Hunter pushed a finger into her pussy. She started to cry out and then caught herself and bit down on her bottom lip. Hunter couldn’t wait to take her in a place where she could scream so loud that she raised the roof. It was going to be his goal to find a place where she’d be comfortable enough to do that. It made him even harder just imagining it. He curled the finger that was inside of her while his tongue pressed hard on her clit…he found her G-spot and he smiled into her sensitive flesh when he heard her breathing become even more ragged. She was gasping as he rocked his finger into that spot and her body was going rigid. Everything about her told him she was ready to come…and he didn’t stop until he felt the rush of her warm juices as they coated his tongue and the back of his throat. She was biting her lip so hard that it was a wonder she hadn’t drawn blood. She used the grip she still had on his hair to pull him up, and she sat up to meet him. While they kissed, she continued to moan and whimper…still trying to bring herself down from the high of the orgasm.
Hunter let her lick all her juices off his tongue and lips and then he pulled back enough to say, “Now lie back down and turn over.” Claire did as he asked and he took a few seconds to run his hands over the curve of her hips and across her round, sexy ass. Then, unable to stand it a second longer, he reached for a new condom, covered his painful cock, and fucked her pussy from behind. He fucked her hard and she gripped onto the comforter of the bed tightly, white-knuckling it until he came. He wasn’t sure, but he thought she might have come again as well. He collapsed down almost on top of her when he finished and found himself wishing that they weren’t at the clubhouse and he wasn’t involved in anything that had to do with her father. For a long time, Hunter had known that he was tired of fucking around and he was ready to have a real relationship. But until that very second, he hadn’t met a woman he was ready to consider it with. He wanted to have a relationship with the woman whose father he was about to put in jail, possibly to serve out some serious time. He wasn’t sure that she’d be able to get past that. He had no idea why she was so attached to the old junkie…but it was obvious that she was. Why the fuck does it all have to be so complicated?
15
Sambo was still driving, almost to the cabin they kept in the hills, when his phone rang. He pulled it out and looked at it and then he glanced sideways at Josiah. “Larry said no to the Bent Wrench.”
“Surprise,” Josiah said, sarcastically.
Sambo sighed. “He told Georgie he was close to Brownie’s and he’d meet him there.”
“Brownie’s?” Sambo seemed to have forgotten how long Josiah had been away.
“It’s a dive bar, close to the Southside. An old washed-up, wannabe football player and his whore of a daughter run it. She hangs out with the Skulls.”
“So, they’re changing the location of the set-up? Taking control.”
“They might think that, but Georgie’s got an inside line to Street Chaos. He’s going to let them know that Dax and most of his executive board will be there.”
“I thought you just said Dax Marshall wasn’t stupid enough to ride into a set-up.”
“He’s not, but Chaos doesn’t know that Dax knows it’s a set-up. They’ll hit whoever is there, in and out, quick…and take Larry down in the process.”
Josiah sighed. When he was inside, Sambo had made it sound like things were running so smoothly. Now, it just seemed like they were playing a guessing game and depending on a bunch of street thugs to do it. He didn’t like it. “Okay, but make sure if Dax Marshall does show up, nobody takes him out. I want him around long enough to suffer his losses.”
“You got it, son.” Sambo texted Georgie back. Josiah looked out the window again and began to formulate a new plan in his head. He realized after an hour in the car with Sambo that this wasn’t going to get done his way, unless he did it himself.
“Okay,” Larry said, looking at the phone. “He said yes to Brownie’s at eight tonight.”
Dax picked up his phone just as Hunter and Claire came back in on the tail end of what Larry said. Claire started to say something but Hunter put his hand on her shoulder. He felt her sigh, but she kept silent. They all sat quietly as Dax said, “Hey, Kat, how’s the ankle?” He listened with a small smile on his face and after several long seconds he looked at Hunter and said, “I’m sure he feels terrible. Hey, I have a favor to ask.” He listened and whatever she said made him laugh. Hunter could only imagine. Hurricane Katrina was a piece of work, but as long as he’d known her, he’d never heard her say no to Dax. “We need the bar tonight at eight.” Another pause and then, “No, I mean cleaned out, only us. I’ll send a few guys in their regular clothes, no kuttes, a little earlier. Chaos will likely be coming by….” He laughed again. “You kind of ended up with a sweet deal the last time they shot the place up.” He held the phone back from his ear and the whole room could hear the sound of her voice. Hunter didn’t know exactly what she was saying, but he was sure it was peppered with a lot of four-letter words. When she finally took a breath, Dax simply said, “Thanks, Kat. See you in a few hours.” He ended the call and started giving orders to his guys, who left as soon as they got them. Claire waited, but Hunter could almost feel how much energy that was taking her. Once everyone but them and Larry and Dax were gone she said:
“Are you okay, Dad?”
Larry nodded, but he looked wiped-out. “Georgie was setting me up. He’s been tracking my phone. I guess I shoulda known he didn’t give me that phone out of the goodness of his black heart.”
Hunter looked at Dax and the other man nodded. “We’re going to have Larry meet him at Brownie’s. If he’s working with whoever wants to cause a war between us and Chaos, that’s who they’ll send. I’m not sure what they’ll tell them on that end…”
“Street Chaos thinks I set them up, the night they stole that car with the pictures in it. One of their guys, a good friend of Trayvon’s, was killed by the cops,” Larry said. “They want me. Georgie must be working with them…” Hunter couldn’t tell what Dax was thinking, but whoever wanted the Skulls and Street Chaos to go to war wasn’t working with either crew, that was apparent. Hunter was sure Dax was more than smart enough to know that as well.
“You’re going to let him walk into a set-up?” Claire said, her pretty blue-green eyes swimming with tears.
“No,” Dax said. “Hunter and I are going to talk to Trayvon before this goes down. I think he’ll be as interested to know that someone is looking to start a war between us as I was.”
“You sure Trayvon or one of his guys won’t just shoot you on sight?” Hunter asked.
Dax stood up and grinned. “Nope. You ready?”
Hunter chuckled. It was never a dull moment when Dax was around. “Yep.” He looked at Larry and said, “Can I trust that you’ll still be here when I get back?”
Larry looked down at his still-bound hands and said, “Where would I go?”
Hunter looked at Claire. “He’ll be here,” she said. Then almost as an afterthought she said, “Be safe.” Hunter wanted to touch her. He wanted to kiss her. But he was sure that she wasn’t at that point yet in their “relationship” where she’d be comfortable with PDAs. He just nodded and said:
“Always.”
As Hunter followed Dax along the winding highway, his thoughts wandered back to how he’d ended up here, practically a fixture within a motorcycle club. His mother had even been recently commenting on how he’d let himself go lately. His hair used to be kept short a
nd well-maintained, and now it touched his collar in back and rarely did a product other than shampoo touch it. He hated to shave, he always had. Now that he spent most of his time in a clubhouse full of guys that rarely picked up a razor, it was easier to walk around for a week before he picked one up himself. If not for the Sunday dinners at his mother’s or aunt’s houses, he probably wouldn’t even shave that often. He still had his own style, where clothes were concerned. He had a leather jacket he wore when he rode. It wasn’t black like the Skulls’ kutte, however. It was dark brown to match his leather cowboy boots, and he wore it religiously. His brother had bought it for him and it was one of the few things he had left of Brett. It weirdly made him feel like there was always a part of him with him.
Hunter’s tattoos weren’t in obvious places, either. He was thirty-one years old and his mother still didn’t know he had any…much less three. The longer he hung out with the bikers, the more tattoos he wanted, so that might change someday. He didn’t feel ashamed of his collusion with the club. He’d stumbled upon them in search of a guy that had skipped bail. He wasn’t one of Dax’s guys, a “hang-around” who hoped to be a prospect someday. Dax hadn’t allowed it, telling Hunter later that he had a bad feeling in his gut about the guy. That was the first time Hunter heard Dax say that, but not the last. He’d come to trust Dax’s impressions of people explicitly since. As far as he knew, Dax was never wrong.
Hunter was still heavily mourning the loss of his brother at the time he met Dax and the other Skulls. Surprisingly, Dax saw through his black moods and alcohol binges and hired him to chase down one of the “brothers” who had gone rogue and stolen a lot of money from the club. Hunter found him quickly and brought him back to the ranch to “stand trial” in church with Dax ultimately being the judge, jury, and executioner. Hunter had been surprised, since he’d had a love of the law since he was a kid…but he wasn’t even bothered by it. He had since come to realize that the reason he didn’t care was because he did trust Dax. He’d been working for and hanging out with the club for almost a year now and he had yet to see Dax treat a single person unfairly. When you threw in the fact that being on the ranch had afforded him the opportunity to fuck some of the hottest chicks he’d ever seen…well, that was like icing on the cake.