CODY: Southside Skulls Motorcycle Club (Southside Skulls MC Romance Book 2)

by Jessie Cooke

  “I’m sorry,” she said with her pretty eyes filling with tears. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve been an emotional wreck this past week.”

  “A lot of changes,” he said. “Don’t be hard on yourself. I’m sorry I added to your worries. I just thought you’d be as excited as I was…”

  “I am excited for you. I know how much you loved your brother, and my heart broke when I heard about what happened to him. Just be safe, okay?”

  “I will. We’re not going for ten days, so you don’t have to worry yet.”

  She smiled and put her hand back on his leg. “Okay then, back to the hornies.”

  Cody smiled and let his eyes run across her sexy body. She was wearing a white blouse with long sleeves and it was tucked into a short, black, pleated skirt. Her legs were perfect, by Cody’s standards, the sexiest pair he’d ever seen. “You should get a tattoo on your calf.”

  “You think so?” she said and laughed.

  “I’m just surprised that you don’t have any.”

  “I’ve thought about it, but I’m not sure it’s appropriate for an attorney, you know? I want to be taken seriously when I go into court.”

  “Hmm, I guess.”

  “I love your tattoos,” she said, “Have I ever told you that?”

  “No, I don’t think you have.” He reached over and put his hand on her thigh. “Tell me more.”

  “When you don’t have a shirt on sometimes I just want to spend hours tracing those sexy colored lines with my fingers. I love the way the ink hugs your muscles.” She shivered. “So sexy.”

  Cody grinned and let his fingers brush softly up and down her bare thigh, just underneath the hem of her skirt. He could feel goosebumps beginning to rise. He loved that. “More,” he said. “What else do you like?”

  “Your eyes,” she said. “Even when we were kids I was fascinated with the way your eyes were brown sometimes and green sometimes. You know they get really green when you’re turned on.”

  “They do?”

  “Mm-hmm. They’re green right now.” He let his fingers go up higher, pushing the skirt up with them. Harley sat still right where she was and didn’t try to stop him or push the skirt down.

  “Are they?” he said in a low, sexy voice. “Maybe it’s because I’m sitting at an upscale bar, almost touching the crotch of your panties.”

  “That’s not possible,” she said with a grin of her own.

  “Oh, I think I can manage…” His fingers froze and his voice stuck somewhere in his throat. He’d worked his hand all the way up and he wasn’t touching panties, he was touching bare pussy.

  “What’s wrong prospect, pussy got your tongue?”

  Cody laughed hard then. “Damn if I don’t wish she did.”

  Harley swiveled the stool she was sitting on toward him and he swiveled his toward her. The bar was filling up, but Cody didn’t notice any of the rest of them as Harley leaned in and kissed him and ran her hand quickly but assuredly across the bulge in his jeans. She pulled out of the kiss and picked up her glass. Taking the toothpick with the olive on it out of the glass, she sucked the olive into her mouth and then chewed it slowly, licking her lips every so often as she did. Cody’s cock was hard as a rock now. She was killing him.

  “Miss Yates?” The sound of the waitresses’ voice reminded Cody where they were. “Your table is ready.”

  “Thank you,” Harley slid off the stool, not flipping her skirt all the way down until she was on her feet. Cody was sure she did that on purpose, since he got a beautiful shot of the lower part of her smooth ass. He wanted to grab it and almost did before he realized the bartender was looking too. Cody shot him a glare and put his hand on the small of Harley’s back as the waitress led them to their table.

  The hostess left them at a table near the back with menus and their drinks and said the waiter would be right with them. The only people near them were an older couple that looked almost frightened as Cody walked by. He wanted to flip them off too, but thought better of it. As soon as the hostess was gone, Harley took hold of Cody’s hand and whispered, “My pussy has been wet all day, thinking about you. I need you to touch me, now.”

  Cody looked over at the other table. They were having a conversation and pretending not to be keeping an eye on the scary biker as they did. He decided that he wanted to touch Harley worse than he gave a shit what anyone thought. He put his hand under the table and flipped her skirt back up. He was using his left hand so it didn’t look so obvious, and it was awkward…but she was right, her pussy was drenched, and he lost himself in it for a few seconds. As his fingers probed between her lips, she wiggled around on the seat and bit down on her bottom lip to keep from making any noise. He kept up his ministrations until he saw the waiter approaching from the corner of his eye. He pulled his hand out and picked up his napkin. He could see Harley grinning out of the corner of her eye.

  “Hello, I’m Richard. I’ll be your server tonight. Are you two ready to order?”

  They hadn’t even glanced at the menu, but Harley apparently knew it well enough to say, “We’d like the mozzarella sticks as an appetizer and I’ll take the chicken fettuccini with garlic bread and a side salad. Cody, would you like the porterhouse steak?”

  “Sure.”

  “Give him the ten-ounce porterhouse with mushroom gravy on the side, mashed potatoes, and cole slaw. How do you want it cooked?”

  “Medium,” he said, impressed with the way she could go from a seductive vixen to all business in the blink of an eye. She picked up the menus and handed them to the waiter with a smile. “Thank you,” she said. She held his eye contact until he left the table, smiled at the old couple, who were looking at them again, and said:

  “If you ever wipe my juices off your fingers again, I’ll cut them off.”

  Cody busted up laughing, which drew him another ugly look from the miserable old couple. He didn’t wait for Harley to tell him this time, he reached down with his right hand and while he fingered her, he gave her an inappropriate kiss for public viewing. When they broke the kiss, her eyes were still half closed and he could tell she was ready to come. He looked over his shoulder at the nosy couple, only to realize they were gone. For a few minutes, or seconds at least, they were alone and Cody meant to take advantage of it. “Spread those thighs,” he told her. She didn’t hesitate, pulling them open as wide as she had room to. Cody slid his thick finger up inside of her and right there at the table in that fancy restaurant that no one but Harley believed he belonged in, he got her off. It was hotter than hell, and when he finished, he licked his fingers clean while she watched and licked her lips. As the waiter set the appetizers down in front of them she leaned in and whispered:

  “You’re getting a mind-blowing blow job in the car when we’re finished here.” Cody barely tasted his steak. That night as he drove home on the bike he couldn’t stop thinking about watching her in the moonlight as her head bobbed up and down on his cock. She sucked him until he came and she even cleaned up her mess. He couldn’t believe that he’d gotten so lucky, and he decided that after this whole thing with Johnny O’Toole was over, he was going to put more effort into having a relationship with her. Now that she wasn’t with Kyle any longer there was no reason not to. Cody had come to the realization that if he had to, he’d take another bullet for her, and she was right, that meant a hell of a lot.

  40

  The week before the ride to Jersey, Cody was so spun he wasn’t sure he could make one more day. All week his emotions had run from one end of the spectrum to the other. One day he’d wake up happy as hell, usually on the days after he got to see Harley. Then the next day he’d wake up sad, or angry. It would take him until after breakfast sometimes to remember that he’d spent the night dreaming about Keller. In the dreams, he was usually there, watching as those animals beat his brother to death. He’d wake up not only sad and angry but filled with guilt. He would have a few bad days after that where he felt like he wanted to hit someth
ing, and almost everything offended him in some way. He was learning, though. He was learning to keep to himself when he felt like that and stay out of any situation that might end up with him losing his temper and doing something stupid. He was also learning that when things got really bad, all he had to do was reach out to Harley. Just talking to her calmed him down. He’d rather be fucking her every day, but she was in an accelerated program for the summer that she had to pass so she could graduate law school a semester early. She already had an offer to intern for an attorney in Boston, but only if she passed her law boards in the fall. It was something she really wanted, and Cody knew she’d worked hard for, so he tried not to bug her too much. Sometimes he wondered why such a brilliant, gorgeous woman would want him, but then she’d tell him things like she wanted to fuck him on the A-train and he’d remember that they were the same…at least at heart.

  Being a prospect was helping him keep himself in check too. The guys kept him busy and it wasn’t all shit work, so that was good. He might even learn a trade if he paid enough attention. Tool was teaching him how to work on the bikes; Marty was involved in rebuilding Dax’s and Angel’s house and he was teaching Cody a lot about construction, so that was good. He was still getting reacquainted with Jimmy, and just a few days prior they’d gone out to the back forty and done some shooting practice together. It was a good day and it made Cody realize how much he’d missed having a good friend to talk to.

  But as the day of reckoning for Johnny grew closer, the anxiety built and the night before they were scheduled to take off Cody felt like he needed a Valium. He was pacing his room when his phone rang. He smiled when he saw it was Harley. She seemed to have a sixth sense and to know when he needed her. “Hey, beautiful.”

  “Did I wake you?”

  “No. I can’t sleep.”

  “I figured. You have to be alert tomorrow, Cody. You have to be safe. You promised me.”

  “I know. I’ll be safe. I’ll be cool-headed. I really will. It’s just the anticipation, you know? I’ve been thinking about this day for eight years and now that it’s almost here, it’s almost like it’s not real. Plus…”

  “What?”

  “Nah, never mind.”

  “What, Cody? Are you worried that once you get your revenge or whatever you’re calling it, that you won’t be satisfied?”

  “Damn, how do you do that? Sometimes I don’t even know what the fuck I’m trying to say and you do.”

  “I’m brilliant like that.”

  He smiled. “You’re kidding, but it’s true. Yeah, I guess that’s a big part of it. I’ve spent all these years thinking that this is what I wanted…needed to do. Now, I’m just a little bit afraid that tomorrow night I won’t feel any different than I do tonight. Is that stupid?”

  “Of course not. Any big change in your life is going to make you feel this way. Let me ask you this: the night before you got out of prison, were you worried that you’d get out and come home and things at home might be worse than they were there?”

  “Yeah, kind of. I mean, I wanted out of there so badly I would have been willing to dig my way out with a fucking spoon. But at the same time, I was scared of what being out here would be like.”

  “Remember this for me, Cody, okay? Whatever happens tomorrow will affect your life in one way or the other. But nothing you do will bring Keller back.”

  “I do know that, Harley. But this man is pure evil. He didn’t just have Keller killed. He’s had entire families killed. He’s taken mothers and fathers from their children and children from their mothers and fathers…the police won’t touch him. He reigns with terror over everyone that he comes into contact with.”

  “Okay, as long as you go into this knowing that you might be saving other people, but not necessarily yourself.”

  “I will.”

  “I love you, Cody Miller. Come back to me in one piece, okay? You’ve already got a big hole in the middle of the pretty lotus flower on your shoulder.”

  He chuckled. “That was kind of your fault.”

  “Just be safe. I mean it.”

  “I will. Hey, Harley?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I love you too.”

  She was silent for a long time. Cody began to wonder if he’d lost her. When she spoke, her voice was thick, like she was crying. “You say the sweetest things, prospect. Go to bed now, and sleep.” She ended the call before he could say anything else. He went to bed shaking his head. He’d never understand women. He thought she would be happy that he could finally say it. Instead, it had made her cry. He had no idea what the hell he was doing.

  Cody was already loading the van before any of the other guys were up and around the next morning. He’d slept for two or three hours and finally, at about three a.m., he knew he wasn’t going to be able to get any more sleep. He had the weapons compartment nearly loaded when Twister and Jimmy showed up.

  “Dude, it’s four-fifteen, have you been out here all night?”

  “No, just an hour or so, and don’t call me dude.” Twister laughed. He called everyone dude, except for the guys on the executive board. He told Cody that he’d grown up in a commune in Iowa, so the “dude” made even less sense to Cody.

  Cody felt Jimmy’s hand on his shoulder as he put the last of the guns in the compartment. “Are you okay?” If anyone knew how important this was to him, it was Jimmy. Jimmy was there when he was growing up and Keller had been his savior and his hero. He was still there when Cody found his brother’s battered body. He stood next to him at the funeral and he stood by when Cody scattered his brother’s ashes.

  “I will be,” Cody told him. “A little anxious, I guess.”

  “Hey, Twist, go outside and tell me when the other guys come out, okay?”

  “Why?”

  “Damn it, Twist, just go!”

  The kid looked disappointed, but he went to do what Jimmy told him to do. Jimmy pulled a joint out of his pocket and held it out to Cody, who said, “Dax said no alcohol and no fire before we go on this run.”

  “Dax hasn’t seen you this morning. You look like you’re about to short-circuit. Just a few drags. It’ll calm you down.”

  Cody took the joint and put it to his lips and then he took the lighter Jimmy held out. He lit the joint and took a long drag, closing his eyes and holding the smoke in his lungs. Jimmy was right, as usual, Cody needed something to take the edge off, and a little weed just might be what the doctor ordered. He held the joint out to Jimmy but his friend shook his head. “You need it. I’m good.” While Cody smoked, Jimmy finished closing and locking the van compartment and laying down the rug. He was closing up the back end when Twister stuck his head in the door and said:

  “Hey, dudes, they’re coming.”

  Jimmy smiled and Cody rolled his eyes as he stubbed out the joint. “Thanks,” he told Jimmy, “I think that helped, a little bit.”

  Seconds later Hawk, Dax, Handsome, Nolan, Pablo, Marty, and Beezy showed up. The volume in the shop went way up as they talked and checked their bikes and gear. They were all in their leathers and while they got their bikes ready, Cody put his on too. When he went over to get on his bike Dax said, “You ready for this, kid?”

  Cody straddled his bike and slipped on his skullcap. “I’m ready.”

  “Good. Remember what I say before every ride though, okay?”

  “Everyone comes home, no matter what. You don’t want to have to lug a dead body home on your hog…or something like that.”

  Dax laughed. “Good enough,” he said. “Stick to the plan and if anything changes, make sure you tell me or one of the other guys. Don’t do anything without checking with me first and remember that you’re part of a team here—no going solo.”

  Cody nodded. “I got it. I won’t screw this up, Dax.”

  “I know you won’t. Let’s ride!” He yelled the last and it was met with whoops and hollers from the guys. No matter how shitty the task they had to undertake, they always looked forward to the ride
.

  41

  The sun came up about an hour after they took off. Cody dropped Keller’s sunglasses down on his face and as he did, he got an image of his brother. It was the day Keller’d first brought home the beat-up old bike. He was smiling from ear to ear—like an idiot, Cody had told him that day. But the truth was that it had made his heart happy to see his brother so happy for a change. Their old man had made his life a living hell and it was only made worse by the fact that Keller tried so hard to make it better for Cody. That bike…Cody’s bike now…had been the one bright spot in his life. Cody had tried to steal the Ray-Bans he was wearing. He smiled now at the memory. He hadn’t thought about that in years. It was Keller’s birthday just a few days after he’d gotten his bike, and Cody wanted to do something for him that would make him at least one-tenth as happy as he was when he looked at that old bike. So he and Jimmy had gone into town on the weekend of the Farmer’s Market with a plan to steal the glasses. Jimmy was supposed to distract the old woman that ran the kiosk and Cody was going to grab the glasses. Apparently, the old lady had been stolen from before. When a thirteen-year-old Jimmy tried to flirt with the fifty-year-old woman, she started yelling at him and calling him a little thug and a thief. All the noise she was making drew attention and made Cody fumble the whole row of glasses. They all fell and hit the ground and as she cussed at them in a language neither of them understood, they ran.

  That evening Harley had come by the ranch and Jimmy told her the story of what happened. She laughed her ass off, and Cody was angry with Jimmy for telling her. He woke up the next morning even angrier. It was Keller’s birthday and he didn’t have anything for him. Cody sulked all the way out to the ranch with his dad that day, but when he got there, the first thing he saw was Harley’s frizzy red hair. She was standing on the side of the shop, wearing a pair of Ray-Bans.

  “Where did you get those?”

  “I stole them.”