With a wide grin plastered to my face I turned to ask the man who sat at the bar in front of me what he wanted. Unfortunately, it was Rage who was seated there. The smile fell from my lips, and I just quirked up an eyebrow in question.
“Can I get a draft, darlin’?” He asked so quietly I almost didn’t hear him. I snagged a glass, pulled the draft, and set it down in front of him all without saying a word. Then I moved on quickly to top off some of the other brothers’ drinks, and fill a couple shot orders. Rabbit had sent the prospects, who were supposed to be relieved of duty for the night when we got there, to clean the bathroom stalls in the large public bathrooms off to one side of the commons. I hadn’t been in them and from what I was told I was missing absolutely nothing. I kind of felt bad for the guys, but then again, they signed on for the abuse to be a part of this special place on a regular basis. The more time I spent here, the more I saw the appeal too.
Over the course of the next hour Rage had me refill his draft three times. Not once did I speak to him. Not once did I smile for him. Not once did I acknowledge him longer than it took to pass him his drink. Not once did he get frustrated and leave his perch in front of where I was working. I saw him watching me out of my peripheral as I tended to the many men and some of the women who came up for drinks. As I was passing by his spot again he reached out and gently tapped my hand.
“Charlie,” he spoke softly. I turned to him and went to reach for his empty mug only to see it wasn’t exactly empty. “It’s about time for your break, right?”
I just stared at him, saying nothing. It was time for my break; I had just finished topping everyone on my side of the bar off to help out Rabbit while I was gone to grab some food in the kitchen real quick. When it became evident that I wasn’t going to respond to him, Rage let out a defeated sigh and then moved his hand away from me. I turned on my heel, and called out over my shoulder to Rabbit that I was going on my break.
Rabbit shook his head as I walked away, and I heard him taunting Rage. “Oh yeah, you fucked up bad, dude!” That was the last thing I heard before the door slammed shut behind me.
It took me a minute to gather myself before I moved beyond the stock area heading back toward the little kitchen the bar area used as a break room. Heavy breathing met me the closer I got, and as I moved into the kitchen space I saw the nasty older biker, Beaver, with one of the club sluts up on the counter going to town on her. She didn’t look entirely into the situation, but she wasn’t exactly pushing him away either. I think she thought she was paying her dues in order to get picked up for a coveted BRAT position which just made me cringe.
“We prep food here,” I stated as I pulled out my phone and started texting Shameless and Rabbit at once.
ME: Beaver’s fucking some chick on the kitchen counter in break room behind bar. Please, tell me this isn’t the norm or I’m never eating here again.
“Unless you’re offering to join in, I suggest you mind your business and get the fuck out of here,” the man snarled at me.
“This is my designated break area, and I’m on my break,” I stated simply. The man roared, pulled out of the girl, turned to face me with his rather unimpressive cock still hard and now pointing in my direction as he moved quicker than I would have anticipated toward me. His hand was around my throat and jacking me into the wall before I had a minute to respond. The girl that he’d just been doing on the counter behind us was screaming now as I struggled for breath all the while trying in vein to get my feet to touch the floor again and relieve the pressure on my neck. I just knew my throat would never be the same as the pain gripped me when I was just on the border of blacking out from lack of oxygen as my head was slammed, once more into the wall behind me while his surprisingly strong hand kept up the punishing grip on my throat.
The door crashing open registered distantly before the man in front of me was tackled to the floor causing me to fall as well. A flurry of fists set to work on my attacker as someone else grabbed a hold of me, pulling me up from where I had sprawled out trying desperately to get air back into my lungs. I think whoever it was had been talking to me, but all I could hear was static in my ears as my blood flow slowly resumed in places it never should have stopped. I choked a harsh breath, sending fire shooting through my throat as I did so. The moment things started coming back into focus I noticed all the bodies spilling in through the doorway of the kitchen. A few headed toward the commotion off to the side where someone had tackled the asshole. Others in the group of men came directly over to me. Shameless was one of them. He pulled me close to him, and inspected my throat.
“Get Doc in here, now!” He shouted. I tried to tell him I was fine, but I couldn’t make the sound come out. It was then that I really started to panic. My eyes bulged wide, my breathing picked up, and I couldn’t actually catch my breath after a moment. I couldn’t talk. Oh god. What if he’d damaged something permanently? Jesus. Was I really ever safe here? I swear, every time I had a feeling of comfort something or someone was there to snatch it right back out from underneath me.
“It’s okay. Calm down, sweet girl. It’ll take a minute to get everything back in working order. Don’t panic. Breathe. That’s it. In real deep…” I coughed violently when I attempted the deep breathing. “Fucking mother fucker…” Shameless snarled out before he looked at someone standing behind me. “I hope you got a few in for me too,” he stated before turning his attention back to me. “Okay, let’s try shallower breaths, Charlie.”
I got myself back under control when Shameless pulled away a bit. “I need to know something. Just shake your head for NO and nod for YES, okay?” I nodded. “Did he touch you?” I nodded again, and then pointed to my throat as if to say, “obviously.” “I meant did he touch you inappropriately?” I gave him my best, what the fuck do you consider inappropriate look, and again pointed to my throat. “Sexually?” He finally hissed out. I shook my head, and he seemed to breathe easier then.
“I got your text and came to make sure everything was okay in here. What the hell happened in the few damn minutes from when you left the bar to when we found you?” Rabbit asked.
I gave him a desperate look, tried to speak again, and not a damn thing but pain and torture happened in my throat. Motherfucker! If I didn’t get my voice back I’d kill that bastard myself. Another man came running in the room then, and immediately went to Beaver, who was lying on the floor, out cold, and covered in blood. And gross, his cock was still hanging out of his pants though it was limp, smaller if that was possible, and useless now.
“You will not touch that fucker until you see to her first,” I glanced up to see Rage pointing at me. His knuckles were torn and bloody, chest heaving, and the look on his face promised death to anyone who disobeyed him in that moment.
“Okay,” the new guy said as he backtracked to me across the small space. “Well, I guess I don’t have to ask what happened here.” He reached out to touch my neck, and pulled back, looking me in the eye. “I’m Doc. I’m medically trained. Is it okay to touch you in order to assess the extent of the damage?” As the words his left his mouth something smashed into a far wall as an anger fueled roar filled up the room.
“Everybody not directly involved needs to get the fuck out of here and make room, right fucking now.” The girl who had been in the room when I first entered tried to leave, but Shameless pulled her back. “Nice try sweetheart, but you’re going to tell us what we need to know since she can’t talk right now. And when you’re recounting what happened, remember she might not be able to speak right now, but her hands ain’t broken, and she sure as fuck can write it out for us.”
Doc moved in as Shameless asked her questions. Surprisingly, she answered honestly, and every once in a while Shame would glance in my direction to see if I agreed with what she was saying. I simply nodded when needed as Doc continued to look in my mouth, gently examine my neck, and ask random questions about my breathing. Luckily I was breathing okay even though it also caused me some pain t
o do so.
Finally, they let the girl leave the room, but not before getting her information and promising to check in on her too. She seemed happy with that, and I was going to put in a good word for her becoming a BRAT if she passed their background check, because she was honest with them to a fault. And that was something they valued here.
“What’s the verdict, Doc?” Iceman finally asked as Doc dug through one of his bags. I hadn’t even noticed Iceman was in the room until then. Doc looked up and glanced between Iceman and myself a few times.
“Honestly? Her inability to speak and pain level concerns me. She’s breathing fine, so no worries about the trachea. If there were any fine cracks near the larynx damage to her voice could be lasting, so I’d rather get her checked out in a hospital where I can see for sure. There are things we can do to fix or prevent damage, but when left too long, it could become permanent.”
“Then take her to the fucking hospital!” Rage roared from across the room.
“You know good and damn well it’s not that simple. She looks like a battery victim. Worse, she’s listed as a missing person in the databases. The minute she walks in there she runs the risk of law enforcement becoming involved, and then whatever you guys have planned to get her out from under a contracted hit is going to be for nothing.”
“FUCK!!!!” Rage shouted again.
“I can check to see if Sonya can get us the portable ultrasound tomorrow morning. That should be good enough to check the chords for damage that may be lasting. Until then I can get her a shot of something to help with any swelling and alleviate the pain she’s feeling. I’d also like to have someone on standby with her all night. She’s going to need to have that neck iced 15 minutes on, 15 off for an hour and then plenty of rest. The meds are going to knock her out anyway, but someone will need to monitor her breathing.”
Three people at once said they could do it. Shameless, Rabbit, and Rage all volunteered for the honor of babysitting duty. A tear slipped past my defenses, but it had nothing to do with the pain and more to do with the fact that I had three people volunteering to care for me. I wished I could express my gratitude for that.
“You okay with them taking shifts to watch over you, Charlie?” Iceman asked and I nodded, then winced, because I attempted to nod far too vigorously.
“Okay, I’m going to wait to give her the shots until she’s settled in her room, because she’s going to fade quickly once I do. Charlie, are you allergic to any meds?”
I shook my head, and mimed writing on something. Rabbit pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it to me with the texting app open. I typed out:
I’m not allergic, but I have a really low tolerance for medicine. As in I can be knocked out from taking over the counter allergy meds, painkillers, and stuff. So be careful with your dosages.
When I was done I held the phone out for Doc to read what I’d written. He smiled at me and chuckled a bit. “Okay, lightweight, I have you covered.” I attempted to scoff at him and winced because it hurt like a motherfucker. Doc turned to face everyone else in the room. “Who goes next? The dickwad on the floor or Rage?”
“Rage, obviously,” Iceman stated simply as he leaned over the dickwad on the floor. The man had come back around and was staring up at Iceman. “Remember last month when I put you on probation for touching the dancers we said were off limits to the club members? Then the shit you tried to stir up after we kicked Tallie out? Well, you just hit your third strike, Beaver. I’m sure you know what that means.” I couldn’t tell if the man looked shocked or not, because his face was far too swollen. “Before your ass is carted out of here tonight we’ll be stripping all club logo and paraphernalia from your person and your belongings. You are not to have or claim any further affiliation with our club. We’ll go over the rest when we handle that shit in a bit.”
“I’m just gonna pop a stitch or two in this one so it heals up okay. Oh, wait, is that…” Doc shined a light on one of Rage’s knuckles and chuckled. “Damn, dude, I do believe that is a piece of tooth.” He used something akin to tweezers to grip the tooth remnants and pull it out of Rage’s hand. Then I watched as he cleaned then literally sewed a hole in that hand closed without so much as using the slightest bit of pain meds or local anesthetic.
I looked down at the phone still in my hands and started typing again.
Sorry for all this trouble. I feel bad about taking my break now.
I turned the phone and showed it to Shameless and Rabbit. Rabbit just shook his head and gently patted my shoulder while Shameless tipped my chin up so I was looking at him. “Do not ever apologize for something that wasn’t your fault, sweet girl. If anyone should be sorry, it should be all of us for not getting rid of that piece of shit sooner. We knew he was a problem, and we took the long way around correcting that. You get no blame in this fiasco. You understand? Hell, you did a good damn thing sending that text to Rabbit and I letting us know he was back here before anything happened, because he wasn’t supposed to be back here to begin with. We’ll discuss that later too, so you know from now on who is allowed and where.”
I nodded my head quickly. “Okay, let’s get her off to bed so I can get her some pain relief guys,” Doc stated.
I glanced over and pointed at Beaver. Doc seemed to understand what I was asking. “His sorry ass can wait. I’m not treating a man who thinks its okay to rough up a woman for no good fucking reason. Hell, for pretty much any reason unless to save someone’s life.” Doc glanced between the men left in the room. “Who is doing the honors?”
“That would be me,” Rage stated simply as he closed in on us.
“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Rabbit asked without sounded like he was bothered by whatever was currently going down.
“Yeah, I do.” Rabbit tossed his hands in the air then, but I also saw the smile tipping the corners of his mouth up as he did so. Rage came to stand directly in front of me, then he bent a little and whispered, “I’m going to pick you up now, and carry you to your room. You have a problem with that?”
I shook my head slowly, and waited for whatever was going to happen next. I was swooped up in strong arms and cradled to the solid, muscular chest I’d been dreaming about for days now. And damn it, but the man smelled like absolute heaven. He embodied leather and a subtle woodsy outdoor scent that triggered a warm, safe feeling in me. I closed my eyes and leaned in enjoying the lift to my room.
Chapter 8
I was struggling. My throat ached, and I felt the pull of the medicine still trying to hold me under in a fuzzy haze, but voices in the room were calling my attention.
“Are you sure? You were injured too. You should probably take something, yourself, and get some rest man. Shameless and I can take turns looking after her, I promise.”
“I already told the both of you that I’m not fuckin’ leaving.” That was Rage’s voice, and while he was trying to keep it down, he was very adamant about what he was saying.
“Look, dude, I get it. You’re not going anywhere. Why don’t you just hop up there beside her and get a little shuteye. You’ll still be here, and one of us will be sitting up to make sure she doesn’t have any problems while you get some rest.”
“I’m not inviting myself into her bed while she’s unconscious. That’s all I need is to give her another reason to hate me.”
I managed to pull myself out of the hazy fog medicine always left me in long enough to pat the empty side of the bed in invitation. I could hear Rabbit chuckling. “I guess we woke her up, and that looked an awful lot like an invite to me,” he added.
“Go on, son.” I heard Shameless say. “Get some rest. One or the other of us will be here all night to check on the both of you.”
“You don’t worry about me. Just make sure she keeps breathing, and doesn’t need any more pain meds.”
“You know we will. We all care about her, even if it’s in different ways.”
Rage grunted, but I felt the bed depress beside me at t
he same time, and just the scent of him had me moving a little closer without even meaning to, and before I could register anything else I was out again like a light.”
~*~
Unsure of how long I was out cold this last time, I realized almost immediately that my face was pressed against a warm, hard wall of muscle that smelled insanely good to me. I did not want to move. Not even to examine why my arm was not only draped over the person’s waist, but that I was damn near clutching it in a possessive way. Though I was awake I continued to feign sleep, because there were far too many voices carrying on in my room, and I was slightly embarrassed that they were witnessing the position I now found myself in.
“Beaver is gone. We stripped him of everything, and gave him an escort out of town. We’ve got eyes on the girl. She doesn’t have the best home life, so if we need to step in, I imagine that one is going to want to make sure we do. The girl told on a brother in front of a room full of us to help Charlie out. That had to be intimidating as hell.” It sounded almost like Rabbit, but there was something off about the voice too. Maybe it was his brother, Spinner?
“Where are we with the husband situation?” Rage asked and as his voice rumbled through me. I must have inadvertently stiffened, because he began gently smoothing his hands through my hair as if to lull me back into a deeper sleep.
“I tried to reach out to Modern Saints Prez, Walker. They’re out there near Vegas,” that was definitely Iceman. “They informed me we’d be on our own for this one, because there were reasons why they couldn’t get involved.”
“What the fuck?” Shameless asked. Honestly, the same words ran through my head, but then I remembered seeing the Modern Saints stuff around the house once in a while. I also saw the bitch my husband was seeing wearing one of their shirts when I followed him once. I had to wake up and tell them all what I knew.
Dancing With Danger Page 9