Kase: M.C. Biker Romance (Great Wolves Motorcycle Club Book 19)

by Jayne Blue

  I coiled my fist and hit Gooch on the jaw, in the same place he’d hit Emlyn. But it wasn’t so soft.

  Gooch staggered back, putting his hand up to his jaw.

  “Like that? That where you hit her?” I said and then moved in and hit him again, this time square on the nose. Gooch fell to the grimy ground.

  “Oh, you here for revenge. What a fucking joke.”

  I kicked him in the ribs like he’d done to Em.

  He staggered up and he charged at me. He swung, I dodged, and then I heard a shot.

  “You were right, Gooch, he’s a fucking liar. Kase, you dick.” It was Danny Doyle. He liked to call himself GarDoyle and I owed him too. He’d hurt Frankie a while back. The two of them were going to team up against me. Fine, fuck them both.

  I was doing okay, and I got in a few good shots, which was something, considering it was two against one. Gooch’s eye was a mess and Danny’s nose was even uglier than before, thanks to my fist.

  But Danny got the drop on me and had my hands pinned behind my back. Gooch hauled off and hit me hard. This one did make a dent, and I saw a few stars for a moment. I blinked the blood out of my eyes. And suddenly, the arms released me.

  “Who the fuck?” Gooch said as he stared past my head, to Titus.

  I didn’t wait for Gooch to figure shit out. I pummeled him and Titus did the same to Danny.

  The fight, with both of us doing damage, was fucking over, fast. We did a fuck ton of damage to both of them. And Gooch? Well, I beat him until Titus pulled me off.

  “You want to finish both of them?”

  I caught my breath. I thought for a second. What would be better, them dead or Crank knowing we’d kicked their fucking asses?

  “No, let’s make sure they send a message.”

  “With the beat down?”

  “Yeah, and one more thing.”

  I had one more phone call to make as Gooch and Danny lay in two pulpy heaps at our feet.

  The call picked up after one ring. Good, I was still in his contacts.

  “Kase. So, you and Gooch make a good deal? Good to have you back.”

  “Fuck you, Crank. Gooch and Danny are still breathing, but barely. You touch Emlyn again, or one of your fucking goons does, and I’ll kill you and throw them in as a bonus. If you want them to survive, I’d say you better come get them. They’re at SMH.”

  I ended the call.

  Crank and the members of Bane were going to find two bloody mother fuckers when they showed up here. They would get the message loud and clear.

  And there was nothing legit about it.

  Fourteen

  Emlyn

  I walked across the street, BP, on my heels.

  “So how long does the probationary period in the Great Wolves last? Is it like an associate degree? A full four-year thing? What’s the track?”

  BP was tall but about as skinny as can be. If I didn’t know, Frankie fed him a ton of food I’d worry.

  “I never really asked. I don’t think they issue formal diplomas.” BP acted like he never even asked that question, when would the probie period end. Ugh.

  “Well, what next you’re a probie and then what?”

  “Actually, I’m going to go into a trade. You know, Kase does auto repair and A.C. has the HVAC stuff. Ridge says I can do anything, really. He’s going to pay.”

  I’d been kidding about the degree stuff, and yet, here was BP telling me that the M.C. actually did want him to finish school. My cynicism about being a probie with the Great Wolves wasn’t fair.

  While I was getting help from Brogan, Brogan’s club was doing the same thing for BP. The club wanted to help the neighborhood, just like I did. We were just going about it in a different way. And, admittedly, my way was going to take a lot longer, since I was starting with three-olds.

  “That’s amazing.”

  “Yeah, Kase is opening a garage, and I’m gonna try it a little. But maybe electrical.”

  I felt a pang of guilt. In all our sneaking around, and with my talking on and on about my plans and dreams, I’d never asked Kase about his. BP knew more than I did, so I pumped him for intel.

  “You can do whatever you want! I love it.”

  “I had a rough start, juvie and all, but Brogan, Kase, a lot of the guys helped me through.” The M.C. was investing in the neighborhood just the way I was.

  That reminded me of my current mission: get Robbie to give me that loan.

  “Okay, wait here, I’ll be out in a second.”

  I left BP to chill out in front of the bank. At last, I was free to walk around without a biker at my side, even a mini biker. Truth be told, I really liked BP. He was a good kid. He reminded me a little of Brogan, except Brogan was way darker, more menacing, even as a teenager.

  I walked into the bank and peeked into Robbie’s office. He was on the phone but smiled when he saw me and indicated that I sit down.

  I tried not to act like I was listening to the end of his conversation but couldn’t really help it.

  “It’s really not like that. I understand. Sure. I know, but I—okay. Yeah. I’m going to tell them face to face.”

  Robbie hung up the phone and looked about ten years older than the last time I saw him.

  “You’re looking sort of run down.”

  “No, it’s just—hey, what happened to you? I may be run down, but who did this?”

  I had sort of forgotten that I looked like Rocky Balboa.

  “Oh, no, uh, it’s okay. I was mugged.” I didn’t want to talk about my face. I wanted to talk about my loan, my business idea.

  “Can I get you anything? Are you in pain?”

  “A little sore, but seriously, it’s not a big deal. I’m fine. But you can get me a loan for $200,000.”

  “Oh, yes, ah, that. I’ve done a lot of calling and work, and well...it’s not good.”

  My heart, the only thing on me not bruised today, deflated. I was really hoping, dreaming, and pinning my plans on a loan.

  “Is there anything I can do to convince you?”

  “It’s not me you need to convince, really. I would do anything I could for you.” He was sincere, and I felt a little uncomfortable at the emotion behind the sentence. On the one hand, this was a business meeting with an old friend; on the other, it felt like he was dropping a not so subtle hint that he liked me. Not friend like, but—uh, I brushed off the vibe and pushed ahead.

  “I know that I don’t have a lot to back up my request, but I mean, do I need a co-signer or a better handle on collateral, or well, you tell me. What can I work on to make this happen? I can push Wanda again, make it more her than me?” I didn’t think that was going to happen, but I wasn’t ready to give up. My mind raced thought possibilities, options, and arguments to turn this no into a yes.

  “So, there was a murder in the alley between Jefferson’s and the barbershop. You obviously know about that; I mean, it was a friend of your brother’s.”

  “Yes, it was awful.”

  “And then I just got word from a colleague that two more victims, gang bangers, this time—uh Bane I think, I can’t keep up—were beaten up pretty bad at the old hospital. Cops don’t have suspects. They’re not even interested in investigating, because this neighborhood is a lost cause to them.”

  “It’s Chicago, stuff happens.”

  “Emlyn, we’re closing the branch.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, the idea was that the neighborhood was coming back, property values going up, that kind of thing, but the corporate guys have decided to go another way. They’re pulling out of Stickney Forest.”

  “Go another way? I mean, people are moving in here, not out.”

  “Yeah, but the childcare closing, the violence, even that fire a while back at Frankie’s...they have a formula about what they think is going to happen, based on what has happened. Crime rates are figured in, schools, and well, the property values are going to tank, here again, they say, even more, so the bank is closing the
branch.”

  I tried to process all the stuff he was saying about Stickney Forest. And my disappointment gave way to anger.

  “The formula, or whatever, is wrong. There’s a lot of good here. And if we expand the daycare and preschool, and they’re opening a new car repair place and—” I thought about all the things the Great Wolves were doing.

  “It’s out of my hands.”

  I knew I shouldn’t take my disappointment out on him, but it was so frustrating. I saw a way forward, I swear, and he didn’t. Or his bank formula didn’t.

  I tried another tack.

  “Do you have any advice, another place that does business loans?”

  “Honestly, my advice is to move out of here. Sell that house you have before the market crashes again because the old Stickney Forest reputation is rearing its ugly head.”

  “Who’s going to take care of the kids?”

  “You can’t be responsible for the entire neighborhood’s children. You’re putting too much on yourself.”

  He didn’t understand; he didn’t have the vision that I had for this place. He’d left, come back, but only because the bank sent him here to close it. I saw that now. He wasn’t here to fight for this place. I realized I was. So was Brogan. And none of this was Robbie’s fault. He was just the messenger of the crappy news.

  Who was I to think that I could expand Wanda’s place? It was going to die, and she was going to move to Florida, and the kids of the neighborhood, well, I didn’t want to think about what would happen for them.

  “Thanks Robbie.”

  “Let me walk you out.”

  “No. Really, it’s all good. You’re busy.” I put my hands up like he was asking me to dance or something. I needed out of there and I needed to process this roadblock. I mean, was it a roadblock I could navigate around or was it dead-end into a brick wall?

  I turned on my heel and practically ran out of the bank. I needed some fresh air. I was walking fast and forgot I had BP by my side.

  “Wow, for a short person, you’re a fast walker,” BP said as he picked up his pace to keep up with me.

  “I’m just—sorry, I’m mad.”

  “Yeah, it’s the bank. I notice that a lot of people get mad leaving there.”

  “What?”

  “No money, you know?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  We headed back to the M.C. and suddenly, I felt tired: incredibly, head to toe, tired.

  I walked up to the room they’d given me and plopped down on the bed.

  I fell asleep for a while, I guess. I actually don’t know for how long, before a light touch grazed my cheek.

  It was Kase.

  He folded me in his arms. Day had turned to dusk, and the room was dim. It was good. I needed that. I needed soft light and a dulled reality.

  I let him hold me. I sank into it, actually. He felt so good, so strong, and I started to cry. It wasn’t a cute, pretty cry, it was a sob.

  “I got you, baby, I got you,” he cooed and stroked my hair. The fear of the attack, the disappointment of the trip to the bank, the uncertainty of the pre-school, all of it mixed around in my head, in my chest, in my throat, and it all came out, in heaving sobs.

  As the emotion ebbed out, Kase caught it and helped me get rid of it. I pulled myself up to his sandy beard and kissed him.

  He kissed me back softly, even while his body was hard and solid. The last few hours had been crazy, and maybe whatever we had, this secret affair, was the craziest, but it felt the most right. It felt like the only place I could really be me right now.

  I kissed him again, harder, hotter, and with a hunger that surprised me.

  “That drives me fucking wild,” he said, and I felt his fingers inch up at the edge of my shirt.

  I forgot about where we were, what day it was, what had happened, and I rubbed my body up and down his. I stoked the fire that I’d started with this kiss. I wanted him to lose control with me, I wanted to drive him wild.

  “I need you,” I said to him and it was like I’d added some gasoline to the flame building between us. Kase clawed at the clothes I wore. They disappeared like tissue paper. I wrapped my legs around his.

  He angled me and was over the top of me. I took in the straight-up gorgeousness of his chest. I ran my hand over his skin. It was hot. I leaned up and ran my lips and tongue over his nipples; he was salty. He was delicious.

  Kase put his hands on my hips and pulled me forward. I was so on fire for him. He was firm but gentle. My ribs, which had been sore, didn’t bother me in this moment. The need for his hands was greater than any small ache or pain.

  And then my phone buzzed. Shoot, not now!

  I tried to ignore it, but it wasn’t stopping.

  “Let me look, okay?”

  “Grrr,” Kase growled in my ear and we both sat up. I opened the call.

  “Brogan!” I said and Kase looked at me like we’d been caught in the act. We both stiffened, and Kase shook his head like he was trying to shake out the last few seconds of almost animal need we felt.

  “How are you?” Brogan asked.

  “Oh, okay, much better, fine,” I said, and I felt Kase’s fingers pull aside my panties. My eyes opened wide.

  “I just wanted to check-in. I asked Kase to watch over you while I’m gone.” Kase’s fingers stroked me, teased me, and I found my body moving to his rhythm. I tried to keep my breathing normal, and to make sure my voice didn’t betray what I was actually doing.

  “I’m good. Thanks, uh, where are you?”

  “Can’t tell ya, club stuff. But I’ll see you in the morning. You can trust Kase. And tell him thanks. I gotta go. Do what he says,” Brogan said, and he ended the call.

  “What?” Kase said as he penetrated deeper, and I felt a warm tension building. I felt myself needing more, wanting his touch everywhere.

  “Brogan says to do what you tell me,” I said and there was a smile on the corner of Kase’s lips.

  “Good advice.”

  Kase and I fell back down on the bed. I opened my thighs up to him and he was naked against me now. Hard as steel, but hot, and demanding. He held my hips with both his hands and guided me as we moved together.

  I was too loud, for a beat, I realized it too late, and a moan escaped my lips that I hadn’t intended.

  “Shh. You’ll wake the whole club.” And I bit my lip, trying not to have the same thing happen again. Kase slid his lips to my neck and then down to my breasts. He captured one nipple and then the other. It felt like he was a part of every inch of my body as his thrusts went deeper, and the pace turned from sensual to almost desperate.

  A line in Kase had been crossed: he wasn’t teasing me or playing with me, he needed me. He needed this release just as much as I did. He arched up and, at the same time, pulled my hips to his, over and over.

  There was a growling noise, and this time it wasn’t from me. It was from the wolf he was, from the part of him that connected with me on a level that didn’t have a name or a logic. The force of his body nearly lifted me off the bed. It was more than a wave of pleasure. Everything was focused on where his body opened mine and joined with mine. He used his big hands to shield my ribs to make sure only my hips rocked with his.

  “God,” said Kase. As he climaxed, his power, his tenderness, all of it, was poured into my body. And I felt the same release, the same raw connection.

  Kase collapsed next to me and I pulled him into an embrace. I held tight as we both tried to catch our breath.

  I inhaled his masculine scent. I ran my hands over the sheen of his broad back. And I slowly released all the tension in my body. I sank into the sheets; I was buried in us.

  Kase tucked me closer under his arm.

  “That was, uh, I fucking can’t describe it.”

  “Sorry about my noises. Maybe knowing my brother wasn’t here, let me lose it?”

  “Shit man, he’d kill us.”

  I thought about that. And I knew he was right. Brogan, had he kno
wn what was happening when he called? Yeah, I didn’t want to think about it.

  “He’s put me in your job description.”

  “Yeah, watching over you, my duty to the club. I’m on it. And I can guarantee Gooch won’t be touching you again.”

  I sat up, something about what he said had me scared, raised a flag.

  “Wait, what do you mean?”

  I looked closely at Kase. There were scrapes on his knuckles. There was a scratch on his face. He’d woken me up from a deep sleep, in the dark, and I hadn’t noticed before.

  “What have you done? What happened?”

  “I let Gooch know what the price of messing with you is.”

  “You didn’t—” I didn’t want to finish the thought or the sentence.

  “It’s over, and it’s not something you need to think about. Just do like Brogan said, let me protect you.”

  I thought back to my conversation with Robbie. Two more gang conflicts. Was Kase the source of this latest conflict? Had he retaliated against the man who’d beat me up?

  “I specifically didn’t tell Brogan about who did it, and you go out and cause shit?” I was mad. I felt like my world was more violent and precarious than I’d realized.

  “No one is going to do that to you. You understand me?” The light and fun Kase, the tender Kase, the one who’d let me cry it out, was gone. He was intense, intractable in this moment.

  “Does Brogan know?”

  “No one does, but they will.”

  “He’s going to find out that we mean more to each other than you just doing your job. I think you just gave us away.”

  He listened to that at least. Neither one of us wanted to hurt Brogan.

  “I didn’t really think about it that way. I just didn’t see straight after I saw what he did to you.”

  “Kase, we need to be careful. This was...we need to pull it back a bit, maybe?”

  “I don’t know if I can. Is that what you want? Us to stop this?”