by Ryder Dane
He looked around the place before he left. The logs were hand hewn and he’d built the entire place almost exclusively by himself. When he needed help, he’d called in a favor from Tank, Baron, Lonnie, and Gunner. They were the only people who knew about this place. He didn’t spend much time here, most of the time he lived in the bungalow down the block from the garage.
He mounted up and started hunting. It was six thirty and full dark, but the darkness didn’t bother him, he embraced the feeling of wind on his face and it pissed him off that he had to wear the brain bucket required by the law in this state. He was flying his colors and drove down to the state line hang out where bikers from both sides of the state lines bent elbows. There were fights almost nightly, but there were times a man had to feel alive, and at times like that, this was the best kind of place to go for the fight he was looking for.
Tonight he wasn’t looking for a fight, he was looking for one asshole, and he would find him, no matter how many fuckers went down between now and then.
As he’d expected, the parking lot was crowded. The place was a dive, but it was clean, and the beer was cold. The bouncers at the door looked close when he walked up and nodded. They nodded back at him, and he entered the darkened room. There was a band tonight situated behind chain-link fencing, and the sight triggered a memory about a band singing behind a fence, with a rowdy crowd throwing everything from vegetables to beer bottles at the fencing.
At first glance, he didn’t spy any Swamp Kings and was disappointed. Those fuckers were putting him to more trouble than he wanted to deal with, but once he found them, life was gonna be fucked up for those he picked for fun and games.
He made his way to the bar and signaled the skimpily clad bitch who was flirting with a beefy motherfucker wearing a Burning Bastards cut.
She turned to look at him and he saw she’d been scrapping with someone. The black eye and scratches on her cheek were hard to miss. She came over to him and gave him an admiring look. She got the look that some women get when they were attracted to him. He had to admit she was good at that look, probably got her a lot of tip money to pay for the arnica oil based cream to heal her bruises and wounds.
“Well hello there, big man, what can I getcha?”
Damn, her voice was so high pitched that it almost hurt his ears, the bitch sounded like a cartoon mouse with a lisp. He ordered a Miller Lite and waited for her to give up on enticing him into buying her a drink. She had nice tits, and the butt cheek shorts she wore showed her body enough to entice any man. Fuck, too bad Stevie was stuck in his brain, ‘cause this one was right up his alley.
He slapped a five on the bar and turned to survey the room again. This place was worse than he remembered, but it was the kind of place the dregs of society, even the biker community’s dregs, came. So far it appeared to be a dead end for tonight. He finished the beer and set the empty down. He waved the squeaky voiced woman away, and made his way to the door.
His next stop was Drain’s Watering Hole, and he found pay dirt. Three Rats were stumbling toward their putts, and he rode right up, parking his scoot behind two of the mud crusted bikes. He shut her down and took his time removing his helmet, placing it precisely in the middle of the handlebars over the gages. He swung out of the saddle and stood, stretching his arms out, cracked the kink out of his tensely held neck to loosen it. He turned to face the three fuckers that would be the first to feel his rage. One of the dumbfucks stepped up like a Billy bad ass.
“You need to move the scoot, or we’ll have to move it for you, and seeing as how you are the only one of your kind here, you need to do it fast.” The dumbass turned to his companions and began to talk shit about the Breed. “This pansy ass motherfucker thinks he can come onto our turf and play, we should show him the error of his ways.”
John tuned out what the fool was saying, he was watching their body language to tell him when they made their first move. He saw the one on his left center himself, and knew that he would be the first to come at him. It was just like a typical bar fight, the smallest man in the room always had to try to prove himself. He never got to touch John. The flat part of John’s palm connected with the little guy’s nose, and blood spouted everywhere. He went backwards and his buddies rushed forward to get their licks in.
John was disappointed at how easy the ol’ boys went down. The mouthy fucker got a decent punch in before John broke his arm, but the quiet one actually tried to make it interesting. Unfortunately for him, his Rat brother decided to pull a knife and attempt to rejoin the fight. He came up on John’s side, and John barely had enough time to pull his opponent by his cut around to block the blade.
One thing he could say about those boys, they liked to keep their blade sharp. The blade slid home just under the leather cut, and into the man in his grasp’s side. It was a fucked up scene to watch, and John shoved the man back into his assailant. The mouth picked up a rock to throw at John, and got a kick to the head for his stupidity.
John was disgusted, not much of a fight, and the three of them should have been able to at least make him work for the pleasure of beating their asses’. Well they were going to be the first examples and he pulled the man that was closest to him to his feet and bashed his rotten front teeth into his mouth, “You boys just keep running your mouths, I’ll be happy to show you the wisdom of shutting the fuck up when a man is trying to deliver a message.
“Now that I have your attention, the message is for you to give to the coward piece of shit that hurt my woman. You tell him there is no rock, swamp, or cesspool he can hide in, I will find him.” He kicked the bleeding man in the thigh. “Do you hear me, boy?” There was no acknowledgement to his words, so his booted foot met the belly of the knife wielding bastard. “I asked a simple enough question, do you understand me?” Heads bobbed. He loosed the shirt of the man that was still only upright by the strength of the man that kept him there, and didn’t bother watching him crumple top the ground.
“You boys might want to make yourselves scarce, any of you standing between me and that candy assed fucker will get something they don’t want to fuck with. I don’t give a shit who I have to go through to get him. You’ve been warned, I see you again, no mercy.”
He walked away from the three Rats, mounted up, taking his time to secure the helmet on his head before leaving the lot. There hadn’t been enough satisfaction in that little scuffle to appease his case of mad.
Stopping at a gas-n-go to fill the tank and take a piss took a few minutes, but he still had a half an hour before Stevie’s place closed for the night. He wanted to be close to see who, if anyone, was watching the evening’s routine. There was no one in the parking lot at eleven forty-five. That wasn’t a big deal. It was a Tuesday night and most people had to work the next morning, or had workweek responsibilities.
He parked his sled behind the building and was happy that she had lights glowing for security. Her Jeep was parked closest to the door, and he was impressed with the small camera he spied under the eave. She wasn’t naïve or the type to stand around wringing her hands while a man took care of her problems. He admired that. He recognized she might never need him for any specific purpose again, but if there was a chance he could find a permanent spot in her life, they might make it work out. All he had to do was convince her.
One thing was for sure, he’d been attracted to her for years now, and had done nothing to let her know. He wanted to beat his own ass for being such a chicken shit. If he’d claimed her before now, no one would have gotten the idea they could fuck with her. Even the brain dead Rat fucks.
She knew now, and it seemed she wasn’t against the idea. He didn’t dare think life-long here, but for now, well, they would have to let time decide.
After a quick hike around the vicinity, he found no one bothering to watch her place but the momma cat that had a litter of kittens in an old plastic bin in the edge of the trees. The pie tin filled with crunchy cat food sitting on top of the dumpster told him that someone
knew the furry family was there and was softhearted enough to care for them.
He stepped up to the backdoor and beat his fist on the metal to get someone’s attention. The bartender was leaving about the same time, or so he said, and went out to his ratty old truck while John went inside, making sure the door closed securely behind him.
Chapter Three
Stevie was in her office with the door open, waiting for him. She’d seen him on the camera the minute he pulled his bike around her Jeep and parked next to it. She looked up at his big frame coming into her room and felt a flutter in her chest. He always had this effect on her. He was probably six foot four inches tall and built like a centerfold in a Playgirl magazine. She loved the way he moved, the way his eyes narrowed when he was amused. When she first noticed him his head had been completely bald. Since then he’d begun growing the thick dark hair, but kept it almost military short, and it looked sexy on him. The thin line of dark whiskers running along his jawline and moustache over his full top lip intrigued her. Those mossy green eyes looking at her narrowed in amusement, and she felt the blush creeping up her cheeks for being caught studying him. She looked down at the stack of money she’d just counted but couldn‘t remember what the total was. Thankfully, she’d written it on the deposit slip, or she would have had to take the time to fumble her way through counting the bills over again in front of him.
“I was just about ready to put this in the safe and hit the shower and turn in. As you can see I’m fine here, and as safe as I’d be anywhere else. You’ve been very supportive, and I owe you an apology for almost falling apart earlier. My brother used to say I needed to toughen up and not be such a crybaby. Shit happens, right?”
She got up and went to the small panel with the safe behind it, clicked the small unseen tab on the bottom of the frame to lift the false dial. She opened the safe and placed the bundle of cash inside, closing it and taking her time to turn to look at him with confidence in her body language. “You can rest easy knowing I’m safe right here in Harry’s old room. He didn’t have time to get the business up and running and afford an apartment. He put all of his money into the business. You have to go through the supply closet that leads to the room. No one knows about it being there but me, and now you too.”
She smiled to let him think she had it under control. She was tough. She was alone, had been violated, threatened, and was scared to death. She was also way too attracted to a man that only showed a token interest in her once he thought she needed him to help. Fuck that, if she wasn’t worth spending time with before the attack, she wasn’t going to take solace in his arms out of his pity for her now. She’d thought of little else but the kiss earlier today. How could she even think about having sex with any man so soon after the attack? Especially a man who she fantasized several times a week about.
John followed her out of the office watching her check on various things that needed to be checked before she could turn out the lights and leave. He didn’t see any reason for her to double check the fuckin’ salt shakers.
“You can take all the time in the world you want, but you are coming with me to a place I know is safe. Now, or an hour from now, makes no difference to me. I’ll wait.”
She shook her head. “John, I am a grown woman, I can keep off the radar for a while until it’s safe for me to resume my life. I shouldn’t need to hide out like a frightened five-year-old. Deputy Wilson stopped by an hour ago and said he would be patrolling the area more than usual. I’ll be fine and if Baron could maybe make a call to the Swamp Kings, he can probably clear up any misunderstanding.” She smiled and spread her hands out to her sides, “They would have to be completely delusional to ignore a request from that man.”
She was so naïve, but he was tired and they had a ride to take. “Get your purse and keys or whatever you want to take with you, I’ll take you to your place tomorrow and you can get the rest of your stuff you might need while Baron’s warning sinks into those shine soaked heads. You’re the one who doesn’t understand and right now I don’t want to take the time explaining it tonight.”
He stood in front of her, and she clenched her jaws for a minute before shaking her head no.
“Stevie, don’t make the mistake of giving me a reason to spank your ass, you have no idea how close I am right now. You need to move your happy ass and stop giving me shit about it.”
He waited a heartbeat, then reached for her, but she back peddled quickly and headed for the office. He followed close in case she tried to hide out in the room with the locking door. Not that the lock would have stopped him, but the trouble would just fuel his pissy mood. When the door flew back behind her, he knew his estimate was right. Fuck.
He grabbed her by the waist and sat in the chair he’d occupied before. He had to wrestle with her a little and reached for her arm that was pinching his calf, but she moved at the last second and his hand encountered something even softer than her upper arm. The breast filled his hand and he got sidetracked feeling the hardening nipple in his palm. He rubbed the nubbin on the flat surface of his palm and grinned. His fiery little Stevie was not as opposed to the way he was handling her as she acted.
“There’s something about humans that always tell on them when it comes to the sexes. That ridge under your belly is nature’s way of telling you that I want to fuck you, and this sweet nipple in my palm wants my mouth to give her some love. We can either give into what nature is saying, or you can get your ass up and leave with me. Hey, that hurt.”
He didn’t get the chance to continue talking. The little witch had bitten his thigh. He let go of her breast and laid his palm down on her ass hard enough to gain her attention and her teeth let go of his denim-clad flesh. She screamed, and he gave her another whack, he added two more before he asked her, “Do you think you can act like an adult now? I’m not complaining, you have the perfect ass for spanking, nicely rounded with enough padding for my hand to bounce back a little each time I smack it.”
“Let me go you big asshole, I want you out of here and leave me alone. You come in here after the trouble and demand that I—” He smacked her again. “John, let me up. I don’t want to fight with you, we can compromise and I’ll show you that I have a safe place already.”
If he kept this up he would find out her panties were becoming soaked and any pretense on her part would be just words that he’d ignore. She tried to gather her thoughts and tamp down the excitement she was feeling.
Too late, damn, his fingers were trailing down the seam of her lightweight slacks. His fingers lingered at the spot that felt the wettest and she hung her head. “Let me up, I’ll go with you for tonight.” His fingers kept running up and down to her clit with a gentle pressure. “John, I… You have to stop that.”
“Stop? I don’t think so, not yet. You have no idea how many times I wished to have you wet like this. Most of the time my mind had you naked in my arms while I fingered your sweet pussy, but this is reality and I’ll let you up when you have an orgasm. Maybe two. I wish there was a bed close enough to lay you down and lick the honey out of your pussy. Thinking about the taste and texture of you is giving me more ideas.”
His fingers kept the pace and her pleasure steadily mounted until he kept one finger over her clit and pressed harder while encouraging her to give it up for him. “Come on, sweet thing, you can give it up, I’m here, I’ll catch you. Take what you want.” He must have felt the way her body tightened just before she fell over the cliff screaming her pleasure.
His fingers were still pressed into the seam of her pants, but she was too tired to do anything about it. She’d had orgasms before, but not like this. He was a Neanderthal, a bossy arrogant asshole, he’d also given her the best orgasm to date. When she got her breathing under control, she told him to let her up.
“Let me get my purse.” He helped her to her feet, and stood himself. She was too embarrassed to look at his face, but looking down was a mistake. The hard length displayed behind his jeans was obvious,
and her head shot up to look at his face. “I, uh. Do you, uh, want me to take care of that for you?” She didn’t know if the idea excited her because she knew she was the one that caused his hard-on, or because she wanted to taste him. Either were legitimate reasons.
He shook his head, “Not yet, maybe when we get to the place we’re going. I can deal for a few. Once my pants come off, we aren’t going anywhere until we’re both too tired to blink.”
Okay, that was pretty clear, he planned to get naked with her and, too tired to blink? That might be fun, but why was he suddenly interested? She planned to find out as soon as possible. She picked up her purse and moved toward the door where he stood. “I’ll follow you in my Jeep.”
They got outside and she headed for her vehicle, but he had her arm and shook his head. He watched her closely as she opened the door and started to hike her leg inside. “Do you really want to test me tonight?” She backed out of the doorway, and bent to put her key under the mat.
She straightened up and glared at him. “I don’t like you.” His shrug at her words, showing her that he wasn’t impressed. “I busted a nail taking the key from the ring, do you know how long it took me to grow these claws out?”
He knew damn well that she didn’t have the kind of claws she was bitching about, her nails were blunt cut, and playing the guitar kept them that way. She had small callouses on her fingertips from the strings, so he grinned. “Sorry about that, I’m a mean fucker.” He dropped the helmet over her head and secured it, before reaching into his saddlebag and pulling out a turtle shell helmet for himself. It wasn’t exactly legal, but the heat usually left him alone at night. They rarely tried to stop a bike after dark around here, period.