He collapsed on top of me, his body covering mine, his cock still inside me. Both our breathing was ragged and harsh, and then I felt him gently push aside a portion of my hair. His lips grazed my burning ears and he nipped my earlobe playfully.
“Good morning,” he said and I smiled, buried under him on his bed. I couldn’t believe how happy and satisfied I was feeling, how everything just felt right. I didn’t care how little I knew about this man, all I cared about was what he was capable of making me feel. And he was capable of making me feel good…and safe.
“I wish I could stay, but you should,” I heard him say and I felt my heart sinking. “Tell your friend where you are so she doesn’t worry.”
“Already taken care of,” I countered trying to hide the disappointment in my voice. He was going to leave. He moved from over me and then slid off the bed. I turned and moved up against the headboard, watching him as he began to dress himself. There was nothing more delicious than that chiseled body of his.
“Spend the day here and go straight to the bar when it’s your shift,” he said and I bit down on my lip, stifling a smile.
This felt normal for some reason.
Chapter 16
Commando
King, Slade and I stood outside the abandoned warehouse.
“This place looks like shit,” Slade said.
King was standing next to me, clutching the cross around his neck and I could sense that he was reciting a silent prayer in his head. It had become a habit of his, and I said nothing. None of us, except Slade said anything. He had his religion, just like we all had our weaknesses. Was Ava becoming one of mine?
“This is a recon mission, remember that,” I said to the others as we prepared ourselves to go in. The first order of business was to figure out what the Hell kind of operation they were running. Waging a war against the Black Skulls would come next.
I checked the gun that was tucked into my belt, and then we entered the place.
It was smoky, a lot like The Pussycats, and this was because of how much tobacco and weed these guys were smoking. Unlike the strip club though, there was no music here, just a loud chatter of voices and cheers around us.
Most of the guys belonged to the Black Skulls, while there were some from other MCs and the rest of the guys were just regular patrons; those addicted to placing bets on a good fight.
The warehouse was just that, an abandoned warehouse, with electrical wiring exposed and dim bulbs hanging low from the high ceiling. King, Slade and I weaved through the crowd of men drinking and casually throwing punches at each other. We were headed towards the center of the place, where a giant cage had been set up.
We heard the ding of a bell, a fight was just starting. We could see two young boys, stripped down to their boxer shorts, with no gloves on and no mouth guards, their foreheads already streaming with blood. They were poised to start a fight. One of them wouldn’t stand a chance, and it was clearly going to be the skinny pale one, who was at least a foot shorter than the bronze skinned muscular one.
“Gonna go find the bookie,” Slade said beside us, and I was about to stop him when three skinheads, with tattoos creeping around their necks approached us. I recognized them as Black Skulls immediately, and we stopped in our tracks.
“The fuck are you fuckers doing here?” one of them said, a burnt down joint dangling from the side of his mouth.
“Just here to get a slice of the cake, man,” Slade said, in his usual cheery voice.
“Got the message?” I asked, when they came to a stop in front of us.
“What message?” one of them said, the one with a slick trimmed mustache and a shiny head.
They knew exactly what we were talking about. When we remained silent, Slade still grinning at them, another one stepped towards King.
“You’re telling us that you came all this fucking way to make sure we got your love letter?” he said, glaring into King’s eyes who was glaring back, without a flinch.
“Is it Valentine’s day?” another one quipped and the three of them laughed.
“Stay the fuck off our territory,” I interrupted their laughter, and they stalked towards me now.
“What did you say? Motherfucker!” one of them barked and Slade stepped in between us. Who asked him to? If there were going to be punches thrown, I was in. I’d tasted blood the previous night and I hadn’t had my fill.
“Hey hey hey! Can’t we all just talk this out?” Slade said and King and I closed in on the guys, just like they were trying to do to us. The six of us were gathered together in a huddle.
“Talk about what? Did you bring us chocolates and perfume too?” the joker of their gang said and they laughed again. King and I exchanged looks. I could see it in his eyes. He’d had enough. He was pumped for a fight as well.
“Stay off our territory or there is going to be war,” I repeated myself and their laughter stopped.
“You come into our casa and threaten us?” the mustache guy said, narrowing his eyes at me and I clenched my jaw. As much as I would have liked to sock the guy in the face, it was still just the three of us against a warehouse full of Black Skulls members.
Another ding sounded behind us. The fight was about to start.
“You’re running guns on our territory,” King said.
“You beat up one of our guys”
“Because you’re running guns on our territory. You’re shaking down our businesses. Stay off motherfucker!” I was losing my patience and I charged threateningly towards the mustache guy who charged towards me as well.
“Hey hey hey! We’re just talking remember?” Slade cut in again. I held back. Slade was right. One of us or all of us was going to get killed if we picked a fight with these guys here.
“We don’t give a rat’s ass what you do on your territory,” I said. “Just don’t do it on ours,” and added.
The guys looked at each other and then one of them nodded.
“Message received and it will be conveyed,” he said, referring to the president of their club and I stepped back.
“And if you don’t get the message…” I heard King say and then we all saw him reach for his gun. The three of them reached for theirs and I pushed myself into King.
“Back off brother. We’re outnumbered,” I hissed at him through gritted teeth. He was still eyeballing the three of them behind me. “King. That’s an order. Back down,” I growled and he finally took his hand off his gun.
I turned to the three weasels.
“Enjoy the fight, gentlemen,” I said, sarcastically, but they didn’t seem to catch on.
“Top o’ the morning to you!” Slade said cheerily, in a mock-Irish accent and I gripped King’s arm and started dragging him outside. Slade was following us, looking around eagerly. If given the chance, he would have taken the first opportunity to place bets.
Outside, I released King, who jerked his arm away from me and I could see he was breathing hard.
“Walk it off, brother,” I said, checking my gun again. King gritted his teeth and glared at the warehouse.
“They’re pitting that puny kid against a fucking beast. He’s going to get killed up there!” he growled, running his hand through his hair in frustration. I could see his point, it had made my blood boil as well. What was the point of this fight? Did they just want to stand around and watch a kid getting beaten bloody or killed?
“We were outnumbered. There was no way we were going to get outta there alive if you pulled on them!” I barked back at him, while he paced around in circles, his gun dangling from his hand.
“Jesus man, you almost got us killed!” Slade spat at him, eyeing the warehouse like he was still expecting some of them to come charging out.
“Fuck off you pussy bastard!” King thundered at Slade, taking us both by surprise, because King was usually the calm one.
“One of them. Some of them. All of them need to be shot!” King growled and I realized what was going on. Seeing those street kids being pitted
against each other inside the cage had triggered memories. He was one of those kids not long ago, before Dad brought him into the MC.
“Not right now. Not when it’s just the three of us. This was a recon mission, brother,” I said to King, holding his gaze strongly till he gave up and looked away, running a hand through his hair.
“You need a good fuck. That’s what you need,” I said, leading the way towards our bikes again. King was following reluctantly but I knew that we needed to get out of this place quickly before he did something foolish.
“Is that your answer to every fucking question, Commando?” he said with a frustrated laugh. I revved up the engine, while Slade and he jumped on their bikes.
“Fuck a tight pussy from behind and all is right with the world,” I said, my mind immediately filling with thoughts of Ava again. It felt strange even saying those words, because I could only think of her. Only imagine her. These were just empty words coming out of my mouth without any actual meaning.
“Yeah, you’re right. I need to get it out,” King said and we rode our bikes, back to the bar.
I wasn’t sure anymore, how this night might have turned out if I hadn’t met Ava. I might have reached for my gun the same way King had. One of us would have gotten killed and the other two would have returned to The Lucky Lady to fuck a bitch and raise a toast to our fallen brother. But not tonight. Tonight, I wanted to see Ava again.
Chapter 17
Ava
Charity had stopped by the bar earlier to drop off my books, so now that the place was quiet, I had a chance to catch up on studying. Big D was behind the counter, and after I was done cleaning the glasses and wiping down the tables, I sat down on a bar stool with my books.
The place was practically empty and I had nothing else to do, but I could hardly concentrate, my mind kept drifting to Commando. I couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing and where he was. I flipped through the pages, trying to absorb the words and I was hoping that most of the information would stick.
The doors of the bar banged open, and when I turned; I saw Commando walk in, followed by the two guys he usually hung around with. They were referred to as Slade and King, but I had no idea what their real names were. Just like I still hadn’t gotten used to thinking of Commando as Kelley.
Our eyes met across the bar, as the three of them walked towards the counter. It was an unspoken pact between us, we were going to act like we didn’t know each other outside of this place.
“What’s all this?” Slade had walked over to me, and was peering into the pages of my books. Big D had already started pouring them their usual drinks as they took up their chairs near me. Commando was avoiding my eyes now, even though I wanted nothing more than for him to look at me.
“Looks like a load of gibberish to me,” Slade pulled one of the books to himself and started flipping through the pages. I smiled at him and tried to get the book back from him, but he kept tilting it out of my reach and laughing.
“Knock it off Slade!” Commando growled from his corner of the counter, while Big D placed a glass of beer in front of him. King was smiling indulgently as well.
“You’ll have to take it from me if you want it back,” Slade laughed, dangling the book in front of me. I made another dive for it and missed, stumbling off the stool now and he reached for my waist, pushing me up roughly against his chest.
I wasn’t sure anymore, if this was just some casual flirting…if this was how these men casually flirted; or there was more to it. If Slade was making a move on me, in front of Commando…I had a feeling that things were not going to go down lightly. I struggled against him, keeping a weak smile on my face while he held on to me tightly. I didn’t want to make a scene or urge Commando on.
“That’s more like it. How badly do you want your book back?” he said, biting down on his lip as he looked me over. I tried to wriggle out of his arms, but he didn’t let me go, enjoying my struggle.
“Slade, leave her alone,” Commando said, but Slade wasn’t about to give in so easily. I reached for the book again as a last shot, and I had to lean towards him. He tipped the book out of reach and thrust his face forward. I avoided his lips just in time. Before I felt arms entwining around my waist. Commando was yanking me out of Slade’s grip. He plonked me on the floor roughly and squared his shoulders at Slade.
“I said knock it off!” he growled, in a deeper more threatening voice and I caught Slade looking a little confused.
“Just havin’ a bit of fun, brother. Calm the fuck down!” Slade barked at him, but Commando kept glaring at him.
“What’s gotten into the two of you tonight?” he said while I stood back and watched the two men face to face, glaring at each other.
“The rule is that you’re not supposed to touch the employees. So keep your hands in your pants,” Commando said, in a low deep voice and Slade clenched his jaw at him and then slid out of his reach.
Commando turned to me, and I saw the anger in his eyes. He held my gaze for a few moments, before he flipped around and walked around behind the counter and went into the back storage room.
I pulled the discarded book closer to me and sat back down on the stool. My cheeks, the back of my neck…were all burning up. I could still feel his steely grip on my waist when he had yanked me away from Slade.
I poured my head over the book, trying to avoid meeting anyone’s eyes as I sat there, trying to study again. Fuck studying. I wanted to see Commando again. I could sense that he was tensed and angry about something. I had never felt this special. This protected. Like he would have done anything to keep every man away from me.
While I tried to read, I could sense someone’s eyes on me. When I looked over, I saw King staring at me, a bottle of beer pressed to his lips. He was quietly studying me. I could see suspicion in his eyes…and also something else, a knowing look. I could see that he was going to figure out what was happening between Commando and me.
“Hi,” I said sweetly and tucked some strands of hair behind my ears. King said nothing, just kept sipping from his bottle of beer and looking at me.
I went back to reading my book and hoping that we weren’t exposed. I had no idea what would happen if Commando’s gang found out that we were sleeping together.
That I was living in his apartment.
Chapter 18
Ava
“Where are you going?” I heard his voice when I was leaving the bar that night. I flipped around to him and saw him standing with his hands thrust into the pockets of his leather jacket. His blue eyes were deep and glimmering in the dim streetlight.
“Back to my friend’s apartment,” I said, meeting his gaze.
“I’ll take you,” he said, bouncing his bike keys up in the air and then grabbing them in time before they fell to the ground. Without a word, I followed him to his Harley and he helped me up again. This time, I didn’t hesitate before I wound my arms around his waist and I held on tightly, breathing in his scent as he accelerated.
The wind lashed against my face, ruffling my hair as he rode. Half way through the ride, I realized that I hadn’t given him Charity’s address, so I had no idea where he was taking me. When he stopped, I realized that we were on a dark and deserted country road.
Commando got off the bike and then helped me down.
“Where are we?”
“Does it matter?”
We looked at each other silently for a few moments, before he stared up at the clear night sky. It was dotted with tiny shining stars. The air was clean, less polluted and clear out here and I leaned against the bike to stare up. When I looked back down, he was looking at me again.
“I didn’t mean to scare you earlier. Just needed to put Slade in place before things got out of hand,” he said, in a voice so soft that I didn’t even recognize him.
“No, thank you. I’m usually able to handle these situations…I was just dazed from studying,” I replied and I saw that he was watching me again. We had spoken so little before. Other t
han his name, I knew nothing else about him. That and that he had the bluest eyes I had ever seen…and those dimples!
“What are you studying?” he asked, pushing his hands into his jacket pockets again. We were standing close together, and it was so quiet around us that we could hear the crickets chirping in the grass. This was peaceful…and beautiful…and I had just never thought that a place like this would appeal to a man like him.
“I’m studying for an entrance exam into a Vet Tech course. I lost some good college years and I’m trying to make up for it,” I said, my eyes drooping with embarrassment.
“Vet Tech,” he said lazily, in a drowsy voice, and looked around him. “So you’re going to be working with animals?” he asked.
“If I get in, then yes…eventually. I would have liked to become a Vet, like actually study the science…but I don’t have the time or the skills. I just want to start doing the work I like, as quickly as possible,” I said and for the first time, it felt like someone was actually listening to me. Commando nodded his head quietly and his gaze dropped to my breasts, to my body.
“I think you’ll be good at it. You’ll be good at caring for animals, hell you can handle our zoo. Any Vet would be lucky to have you as their assistant,” he said and I felt a thrill run down my spine. He knew so little about me, but he had already formed his judgements and I couldn’t understand why he was seeing the best in me.
“Why did you lose out on your college years?” he asked next and I looked about me nervously. I didn’t want to bring the topic up, but I also wanted to be completely honest with him.
“I was too caught up in my previous relationship. I met him soon after high school and he was older than me, and didn’t want me to work. He wanted to be the one who brought home the bacon,” I said and Commando took a step in my direction. Immediately I thought this was the wrong decision. I shouldn’t have brought up Blaine at all, I should have made up some other excuse.
Say Yes, Senator: A Best Friend's Little Sister Political Romance Page 20