Hunter (The Devil's Dragons Motorcycle Club)

by Nikki Wild

  I struggled with the very thought.

  “You want that man at our wedding?”

  Sarah nodded softly.

  I turned away, trying to process this.

  “Hunter, you two are the most important men in my life…” She softly palmed my cheek, pulling my face back towards her. “On the most important day of my life, I need you there – both of you. Do you understand now?”

  My thoughts were a total fucking mess. Part of me couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but the rest knew this had been inevitable all along. I tried to make sense of the storm in my head.

  But that was my problem.

  This one was hers…

  I struggled to make peace among the clashing thoughts in my skull. If this was that important to her… if it meant that much to her…

  I grunted. “It’s not going to be easy.”

  She smiled cautiously, studying my gaze. “Hunter… since when have we ever been easy?”

  Huh. She had me there…

  “This is difficult for you. I know that it is. I’m not asking you to bend the world for me, Hunter. What he did to us drove us apart, and I thought I’d never see you again…

  “I’m just asking you to try.”

  I gazed into her eyes for the longest time.

  Sarah Buchanan was the shining light of my goddamn life, and she always had been. For ten long, painful years the only thing that had kept me pushing forward was my distant memory of her, and of our time together. For all the shitty hands I had been dealt in this miserable desert, one day I pulled a blackjack and our lives collided once again…

  “Conquer this with me,” she pressed her lips to mine. “Let us face this last thing together…”

  I nodded gravely.

  “Okay, Sarah… I’ll try.”

  Her eyes took me in. “You mean it?”

  “Yes,” I felt myself give in. “I’ll do it for you.”

  Six

  Hunter

  With the divide healed between us, we spent the rest of the night together. The Dragons seemed a lot more relaxed as they saw us comfortable with one another again, and after a while it was as if nothing had never happened.

  Grizz and Kate were doing their own thing in their room, and I wasn’t about to disturb them. My intention had been to quietly pull him aside first thing the following morning and explain what was about to happen.

  So, I spent the night making up for lost time with Sarah in the sheets, eager to finally give us the release we’d been missing out on.

  The makeup sex was spectacular.

  Unfortunately, none of the scattered Devil’s Dragons seemed to know where Grizz was, when I finally ventured out of that room the following morning. The best I could get out of anyone was that one of them thought he had gone to see a doctor or something, but nobody knew for sure.

  Even Kate was gone, curiously.

  While Sarah slept in, I wandered up to one of my more diligent Dragons. Clearly happy to be in the shade, he was out back in the adjoined storage shed with a pad and paper.

  “Ricochet,” I acknowledged.

  The Dragon glanced up from his work. “What can I do for you, Boss?”

  I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorway, gazing past my faithful subordinate and into the stale, dusty anarchy of the wooden shed. It had probably looked better than this half an hour ago, but I’d interrupted him in the middle of his task.

  Good, I thought to myself.

  Let them sizzle under my gaze sometimes.

  “Operations update,” I commanded.

  Ricochet flipped a few pages. “Taking stock of our bulletproof vests, extra leathers, holsters, munitions supplies, backup oil…”

  I waved a hand to silence him.

  “I know what’s in this shed,” I reminded him. “Tell me what we’re looking at here. What needs cleaning? What needs replacing?”

  He sucked in a breath and looked around.

  “Well Boss, damn near everything needs some cleaning. As for replacing, well…”

  I tightened my crossed arms.

  Ricochet got the hint. “Grizz tells us that we’ve got supplies waiting for us down there. That means we can skip figuring out how to haul all this ammo across state borders. But if we try to up and sell it, well, that’ll tip folks off early to us skipping town.”

  “Sounds like a problem,” I noted.

  “Well, yes and no. If we’re trying to make money off of everything not nailed down, then yeah. But we could just bury it. Leave a cache in case we need to come roaring back this way.”

  My eyes narrowed. “Who’s idea was that?”

  “Mine, Boss.”

  I clasped him warmly on the back. “That’s the kind of defensive thinking that’s kept us all alive this long… I like it. Who have you told about this cache idea of yours?”

  He looked relieved. “Nobody yet. When Grizz swings back, I figured I’d run it past him.”

  I ignored how annoyed I was that I still had no idea where Grizz had wandered off. “Good. Tell him I’ve heard about it, and that I approve. Unless he’s got some damned good reason why leaving a buried stash of hidden bullets and weaponry out here isn’t a good idea…”

  Ricochet continued to give me an overview of the protection stock. When I was satisfied, I left him to his work and sent two other Dragons to give him a hand cleaning up.

  The last thing I needed was to micromanage my club, so I begrudgingly wandered back inside.

  When I saw that Sarah was still asleep, I made my way towards the kitchen. Once I’d cleaned off a griddle, a skillet, and a few pans, I began whipping her up some breakfast.

  Cooking had always been a hobby of mine, although I rarely indulged in it in front of the rest of the boys. But Sarah’s presence had brought it out in me again, especially with the kicking, feisty baby in her womb.

  I smiled as I cracked a pair of eggs into a bowl, whipping air into the frothy yellow broth.

  The ultrasounds had confirmed a boy.

  There would be an heir to the Devil’s Dragons, and the two of us (well, I let Sarah have her way) had even settled on a name together… Connor.

  Connor Hargreaves.

  Yeah.

  I liked the sound of that.

  I slathered a few slices of sizzling bacon onto the hot griddle. As I thought back to our painful conversation the night before, I swiftly finished whipping the foamy eggs into a bubbly lather and poured them into a steaming saucepan.

  It was true that Jack was my oldest and most hated nemesis, but if it meant so much to Sarah for her dad to walk her down the aisle, well…

  I muttered a sigh.

  Maybe bygones could be bygones.

  At least for her sake…

  And who knows? I thought to myself, a little more optimistically than usual. Maybe the old fucker has softened up…

  I laughed bitterly to myself as I flipped the omelet and sprinkled Sarah’s favorite blend of shredded cheese into the dish.

  Jack?

  Softened up?

  Never.

  But that was a bridge I’d have to cross sooner or later. Personally, I was a fan of later. But all of a sudden, I found myself grateful that Grizz had gone missing this morning, after all…

  Once I was done in the kitchen, I slipped Sarah’s breakfast onto a tray and poured her a fresh glass of orange juice.

  Well, about as fresh as carton gets.

  Sarah was already stirring as I let myself into our room. With a big yawn and her arms stretched wide, she glanced over at the tray in my hands with ravenous need.

  “You cooked?” She gasped.

  I smiled warmly. “Your favorites.”

  We did this all the time. I knew that Sarah loved to be woken up to breakfast in bed, so I did my best to make it for her as often as possible. To make it fun, she always reacted as if it were the first time, every time.

  With a grin on my face, I crunched on a piece of bacon as I watched her devour her omelet.
/>   It was important to me that she ate first.

  Once I was convinced she was stuffed, I’d give her some privacy as I made myself something to eat as well.

  “You never cook for the two of us,” she noted between bites of sausage. “You should fix that.”

  “Think so?” I tilted my head.

  “Yeah. Let’s start eating together.”

  Before I could respond, there was a tapping at the door. Sarah nodded at me, and I stood up from my chair and greeted our guest.

  “Grizz is back,” Torque grunted as he looked between the two of us. He was as loyal as any of them, but never much talkative. “You said to let you know when he came in. Should I go get him?”

  “No, let him–”

  I quickly reconsidered.

  “Actually, yes. It’s important.”

  “Sure thing, Boss.”

  After a brief nod to Sarah, Torque strolled back out of view and towards the bar area. I used my fingernails to dig out a bit of dirt from under one of the others as I heard approaching boots against the creaking floorboards.

  “Hunter?” The boots paused by the doorway.

  “Come in, Grizz,” Sarah called to him.

  My vice president politely entered the room and gave me a brief, questioning look. At my nod, he closed the door behind him.

  “You asked to see me,” he noted calmly. “But before you get into that, I’d just like to say that I’m pleasantly surprised to see you both…” he glanced between us, smiling, “…getting along again.”

  “Yeah, about that…” I watched his face fall as he read my expression. “You’re going to have to be in charge for a little while, Grizz.”

  The burly biker hid his displeasure. He never liked the leadership mantle, no matter how well he handled things whenever I was away.

  Hell, one time I’d even tried to talk him into taking over the Devil’s Dragons, when I thought myself unfit to continue leading. It had taken Sarah convincing me otherwise for me to pull back the request, at his obvious relief.

  Grizz shifted his weight in step.

  “What’s the occasion?”

  My lover and I shared a look before I spoke.

  “Sarah and I have to make a trip to Phoenix. I don’t know how long it’s going to take, so I expect you’ll keep the club on task to leave in time.”

  “Of course,” he agreed reluctantly. “We’re already making good progress. The way I see it, we should be good to hit the highway in five to six weeks. A lot of that has to do with factors outside the club, but we’ll be ready.”

  “Excellent. That’s what I want to hear.”

  “Good. When should I take charge?”

  I smiled wickedly. “Now.”

  Grizz sighed, but he didn’t contest my word. “Might I ask what is taking the two of you away on such short notice?”

  I nodded. “That’s a fair question. Sarah?”

  Sarah almost choked on her orange juice. “Who, me? Wouldn’t you be better at explaining that to him?”

  “It was your idea,” I reminded her teasingly.

  The way I looked at it, if I was about to go through this hell, I might as well have all the goddamn fun with it that I could.

  Grizz quietly cleared his throat.

  Helpless, Sarah sighed. “We’re going to go visit my father for a little bit.”

  That’s when the strangest thing happened.

  It was a small squeak.

  Then it was a… laugh?

  We both turned to Grizz, who quickly burst into the deepest, heartiest laughter I had ever seen out of the stoic, all-too-serious bastard. Sarah looked amused, but I was utterly stunned.

  “That’s a good one!” The heavy-set biker wiped his eye, his lungs still bouncing with a last few chuckles. “Oh, I think I needed that laugh…”

  When his smile slowly fell and he looked back between the two of us, the mirth evaporated from his face. Grizz came into the picture after the raid, but he’d heard all the stories… and he knew how badly I hated the man. Hell, he knew how badly all the others hated the man.

  His voice was flat.

  “You’re joking.”

  “Apparently not,” I turned to my lover, who was pretending to be fascinated with the rest of her meal. “As it just so happens, we have to go pay a visit to my old friend, the sheriff… and, I hate to do this, but I need you to soften the blow. Let the others know about this. I’m calling a club meeting tomorrow to smooth out any tensions…”

  I looked over at Sarah.

  “But yes… it seems, for better or worse, that it’s high time I try to finally broker the peace with our old pal, Jack Buchanan.”

  Grizz blinked a few times.

  “You people are goddamn ridiculous.”

  He walked off without another word. Sarah and I met each other’s amused glances, and then it was our turn to fall into hysterical laughter.

  It was good for us to laugh.

  Because the moment that we set forth on this adventure together, for a long time, it was the last time that we would…

  Over the next few days, everything would all come slowly crashing down around us.

  Seven

  Sarah

  While Hunter patiently held a club meeting to discuss things with them about our new mission, I decided to go ahead and make the phone call.

  Now that my fiancé was convinced, or, far more accurately, at least willing to give this desperate thing a solid try, I figured that it was time to sort out the game plan.

  After all, it was true that I had no idea when my father was even going to be available. The first step had been to get Hunter onboard, and now I just had to do the same with Dad, although there was no use in getting us blocked off at the start. As much as I hated to do it, deceiving him was the only way he’d let my man step foot on that yard. But I had no idea when to do it.

  There was a chance that I’d put Hunter and myself through all that grief for nearly nothing…

  Luckily, he picked up on the third ring.

  “Hi, Daddy!” I greeted him.

  My father replied in his typically guttural voice. After all those years working out in the desert, he always sounded like he kept a handful of gravel in his throat.

  “Sarah… sweetheart, how are you?”

  I paused, realizing I hadn’t rehearsed this.

  “…Sweetie?”

  “I’m good! Great, even!” I answered, a little too strongly. I needed to get a grip of myself…

  Why am I suddenly afraid of this phone call?

  “Listen, Dad, do you have a moment free?”

  “For you?” He chuckled. “Always.”

  I took a deep breath.

  Now or never…

  “Well… you see, I was kind of thinking about maybe coming back up to Phoenix for a few days. I’d like to come visit!”

  “Is that so…?”

  “Whenever’s best for you,” I hastily added. “It doesn’t have to be right now. We can wait a few weeks, if that works out better–”

  “Nonsense!” He cut me off. “I’m a retired man, remember? The timing’s good, I was going to call you in the next few days anyway…”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “That’s right,” he chuckled with that throaty voice of his. “If you’re free, come on up now. Ain’t no reason why you should wait, unless you’ve got something going on down there. A case, maybe…”

  I thought to myself for a moment.

  I could buy us some time…

  But something told me that we needed to nip this thing in the bud sooner as opposed to later. What was the point in delaying the inevitable? Either this was going to work, or not…

  “No, I’m between cases right now. We can go ahead and come up, find a motel room nearby–”

  “That won’t do. The spare room is still yours, whenever you need it, sweetheart…” He paused, and I felt a small change in the air.

  This was it…

  “You said ‘we’ a few tim
es there,” my father quietly observed. “Were you planning on bringing company up here, Sarah?”

  I swallowed my apprehension.

  “Well actually, yes,” I told him. “That’s a lot of why I wanted to come visit now. You see, Dad… I’ve met somebody, and I’d like you to meet him.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Yeah. Is that okay?”

  “Of course!” He laughed mirthfully. “Go on and bring your man up here. Let me get a good look at him.”

  I breathed a quick sigh of relief.

  However, I had to quickly remind myself that the hard part was still to come...

  “Be warned, though. You’re a grown woman, Sarah, but you’re still my daughter. I can’t help but still be a little protective. You’re all I’ve got left in this world, after all…”

  “Of course, Daddy.”

  I heard him smile into the phone.

  “When were you plannin’ on comin’ up?”

  My gaze turned. Hunter was standing nearby, hovering quietly. He had a stoic look on his face, but I knew that he was just as apprehensive about this as I was.

  “You doing anything tonight?”

  “Tonight?” Dad laughed down the line. “Not much, no. Where are you now?”

  “El Paso, on the edge of Texas. I figure that we can probably make it in six, maybe seven hours.”

  “Just in time for dinner, then.”

  I looked at my watch.

  Technically, he was right.

  I quickly held my hand over the receiver and looked over at Hunter, mouthing Dinner?

  He raised a cynical eyebrow.

  “Sure!” I answered. “Dinner sounds great.”

  Dad sounded pleased. “Well, in that case, I’ll throw a few more potatoes in the pot and make a small homecoming feast of it. I’ll even cook your favorite. How does that sound, sweetheart?”

  The longer this went on, the guiltier I felt.

  “It sounds wonderful!” I forced a smile.

  “Great. Let me know if you’re running late. You’ll have to let me meet the lucky man, and tell me all about your private eye career…”

  My heartstrings tugged. “Absolutely.”

  “In that case... I’ll see you tonight, sweetie. Drive safe. I love you.”