Duke

by Candace Blevins

  Gen followed the group to the bar, got a drink, and the girls hit the dance floor.

  Chapter Eight

  Duke pulled his cellphone from his pocket with a silent groan. The guys wouldn’t be bothering him during the party unless there was another problem, and they’d had thirteen days without trouble. He was waiting until they made it fourteen days before he made his play for Gen.

  Your little spitfire just got out of a limo with a bunch of other women. This isn’t their first stop. They’re wobbling and way too happy.

  He read the text and his lips curled into a grin. She’d come to him.

  He opened the picture, saw Gen with a bunch of women he didn’t recognize, and a few he did. He’d done his research on Tyler Hastings, so he recognized Hastings’ wife. He also recognized Sam Levi. Duke couldn’t be sure from the picture, but the limo driver looked like one of Aaron’s men, which made sense. A man like Tyler Hastings wouldn’t let his wife go out without someone to watch her back when she drank.

  Two more pictures came through, showing the back and front of Gen’s very clingy dress. The damned thing went nearly to her knees. It had a high neck so there was no cleavage showing, but a circle of caramel flesh showed in the center of her back. The only skin he could see was from the knees down, plus her arms, face, and the spot on her back, and yet somehow, in her attempts at trying not to look sexy, she’d managed to look more interesting than her friends in skimpy outfits.

  The slinky dress clung in all the right places, and he wanted to peel it off her. His wolf agreed. In fact, when she’d first called him Keith on this very lot, before they bought it, his wolf had already recognized her, it just took the man a few seconds longer to see the beautiful woman in front of him was the same girl he’d watched from a distance as a teen.

  Duke told a few people he was going to head across the street for a walkthrough, thanked some he knew wouldn’t stay much longer for coming, and made his way towards the beautiful Genesis.

  He considered his options on the way, and decided to sit back and watch her a while before making his move. With this in mind, he went in the back, up the catwalk, and sat on one of the lighting platforms near the ceiling.

  He zeroed in on her right away, and a man had his arms around her, but Duke had spent some time on Frisco’s Facebook page, which led him to Cameron’s Facebook page and several thousand pictures. Gen was hanging out with her brother’s boyfriend, which was okay. He hoped.

  The music changed, and Gen grabbed a very attractive redhead, and the two women danced provocatively with Cam. Duke’s cock grew hard watching his girl dance, but his temper was in danger of flaring and his wolf wanted to charge in and claim her right this second. Sure, she was drunk, but people were watching her. They didn’t know she was dancing with her brother’s gay boyfriend, they thought she was broadcasting how she’d be in bed.

  Duke was standing up to go down and snatch her off the dance floor when a large man came from behind her and yanked her away from Cam and into his arms. She fought a few seconds, relaxed, waited for him to relax, and then took a step back. When the asshole tried to pull her back she leaned and twisted, and took him to the ground.

  This happened in a matter of seconds, and Duke scanned the area, saw a prospect capable of handling the situation headed their way, so Duke stayed put so he wouldn’t miss anything. Sam Levi and Viv Hastings made it to Gen before the prospect. Viv put her foot on the guy’s balls, and Sam leaned down and wrapped her hand around his neck, saying something the asshole clearly didn’t appreciate.

  Duke decided he needed to be down there, now, so he pushed through the air, grabbed one of the support beams, and slid down like a fireman, surprising some patrons when he seemed to come from nowhere. Ten steps and he was to them, and he lifted the man out of Sam Levi’s hands, used his other hand to grab Gen around the arm, and began pushing through the crowd.

  Sam Levi decided to come to her friend’s rescue and stepped in front of him, saying, “He felt her up, she had every right to take him down. You can’t throw her out for that!”

  “She did,” Duke agreed, “but I didn’t appreciate the way she was dancing, and she and I are going to have a discussion about it.”

  Sam looked flustered, shocked, and then pissed. “You can’t tell her how to dance in your club! Others were dancing worse! She was just having fun!”

  “She’s mine. She only dances that way for me.”

  At this, Gen pulled her arm, realized he wasn’t going to let go, and stepped closer to yell, “Keith. I do not belong to you!”

  Sam’s gaze went to Gen, then to Duke as she took in the patches on his vest, and back to Gen. “You know him?”

  Gen nodded and Sam looked back to Duke. “I’m coming, too.”

  While he’d been talking to Sam, the prospect had taken control of the man who’d mauled Gen, and Duke nodded his head towards the office.

  When they entered, the limo driver came as well, and Duke growled, “You didn’t get an invite.”

  “Yeah, I just tagged Drake. He says for me to stick with Gen, and if you give me lip to tell you it’s me or him, and he won’t be pleased if you fuck up his Friday night.”

  Duke looked at him a few minutes, debating. “How long you been with Drake?”

  “Long enough.” He nodded to the jerk, who by now had stopped trying to fight the prospect. “Do what you gotta do.”

  Duke nodded once and turned to the asshole. “I was on the catwalk watching my woman dance. I saw you rip her out of her brother’s boyfriend’s arms and pull her into yours. I know she didn’t give consent, and her friend just informed me you felt her up. Tell me, where on my woman’s body did you put your hands?”

  “Ummm, Keith?” Gen said. “Everything’s okay now. I took care of him, and Viv and Sam backed me up. I’m sure he won’t bother me again.”

  Duke didn’t look at her as he talked to her, but kept an angry glare focused on the tall, heavily muscled man who looked like he was scared shitless as Duke told Gen, “I know he won’t bother you again, because he’s gonna have a broken hand before he leaves Thunder property. First, I need him to tell me where the fuck he put his hands on you.”

  “And I need to know where the eff you got the idea I belong to you! We haven’t even spoken in months!”

  “Told you why I was backing off, and I’d come for you when it was safe. Tomorrow was the day. You came to me, though. Made it easy.” He hoped he was managing to speak gently while glaring at the asshole.

  “I didn’t come to you!”

  “You’re here, aren’t you?” He finally turned to look at her, and noted in the light just how glazed over her eyes were, saw her hand on the edge of the desk for balance. Yeah, they’d been drinking and dancing a while.

  “Bethany planned where to go! I had no idea your place was on the list!”

  Hmmm. Maybe he wasn’t getting into her sweet pussy tonight. Not as drunk as she was. He wanted her sober the first time. Or maybe just a little buzzed. Not drunk, though. Not for their first time.

  He looked back to the asshole. “Right now it’ll be one broken hand. Tell me where you touched my woman and don’t make me work for it, or it’ll be much, much worse.”

  “Her tit, man. And I may have brushed against her ass. I’m sorry. Didn’t know she was yours. Won’t happen again, honest to God.”

  “Her bein’ mine has put you in a world of hurt, but shouldn’t matter who a woman belongs to. You don’t touch them, anywhere, without them wantin’ you to.”

  Duke looked back to Gen, saw the fear in her face and decided he didn’t want her to see him break anyone’s hand. “Okay, Beautiful. Your driver and the prospect will stay here and keep you safe. I just claimed you to the entire bar, and that means you don’t walk out the door without me protecting you. I’d rather your friend waited, too, but that’s up to her. You stay here, let me walk this asshole out to his truck and watch him drive away, and I’ll be right back.”

  Duke took
mercy on the man and broke his left hand instead of his right. He had the man show him his truck, and Duke started it up for him and told him to drive away. “Hospital’s just a few blocks over. Don’t care what you tell them, but if my name or Rolling Thunder is anywhere in the explanation you’ll be hurtin’ a whole lot worse than you are now.”

  He turned to see four of his men standing behind him, backing him up if he needed it, which he hadn’t. “Can one of you tell Brain to save an encrypted copy for my use, but scrub the rest, just in case he goes to the cops?”

  “He ain’t goin’ to the cops,” Gonzo said. “Taken to the ground by a tiny woman in heels, held there by two more women, walked through the bar by a prospect, walked out of the bar by you? He’s gonna go to the emergency room and tell them he hit himself with a hammer or some shit.”

  “Yeah, we need to scrub it anyway. I’m gonna go get Gen now, maybe take her across the street. Have to see how her mood is.”

  Chapter Nine

  The office was full of women when he returned. Not what he’d intended, but as he cracked the door he heard the tail end of a conversation where it sounded like Gen was explaining the situation to her posse, so he stood and listened.

  “Did you tell him not to bother coming for you once things were safe?” He had no idea who asked it, but it was a soft, female voice.

  “No! He didn’t give me a chance! He doesn’t let me talk! You heard how bossy he is!”

  Duke pushed in and the room looked at him. Gen stood and said, “I’m going home, now. Thanks for coming to my rescue. Maybe we can talk tomorrow, once I’m sober.”

  “How about another plan?” he asked, his voice gentle. “We’re having a get-together across the street. Family friendly — lots of kids, wives, and girlfriends. No drugs, no rough stuff. It’s my family, and I’d like you to meet some of them.”

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea tonight. I’ve had a lot to drink.”

  Duke suddenly realized what she was worried about, and his mouth went into a smile he couldn’t hold back. “I’m certain that little cunt of yours is as beautiful as the rest of you, but I promise you, I’m not going to sink my cock into it for the first time when you’re drunk. You’re gonna be stone cold sober for our first time, my beautiful Gen. I just want to spend time with you, tonight.”

  Her face flamed red, she sat down, leaned over, and covered her face with her hands.

  “Umm, Mr. Duke? Sir?”

  He turned towards the voice and took in Frisco and Isaac’s girlfriend in real life for the first time. So sweet, so shy. He smiled, trying hard not to scare her, too, and said, “Yes, Darlin’?”

  “She isn’t used to being talked to like that. You might want to tone it down a little.”

  He smiled, looked back to his Gen. “She’s a strong one. She’ll get used to it. She’ll get used to me.”

  At this, Samantha Levi stood and said, “I don’t want to know what happened to the gentleman you walked out, but I will thank you for not doing it in front of her. However, she doesn’t want to be here right now and if you keep insisting she stay, you aren’t much better than him.”

  Different worlds. Duke had known they’d come from different worlds, but hadn’t understood exactly what it would mean. Gen’s face was still buried in her hands — what he’d thought was kid gloves was still too much for his little innocent, apparently. He squatted in front of her and said, “Beautiful, can you look at me a second, please?”

  She dropped her hands and looked at him, and he said, “Thank you. Let’s go over a few definitions, okay?” She nodded and he said, “Okay, in biker world, saying you’re mine can mean a lot of things. Mostly, it means if anyone hurts you, I hurt them. If anyone touches you in a way you or I don’t want them to, I hurt them. Every man in Rolling Thunder is mine. Their wives, most of their girlfriends, all of their kids, most of their girlfriends’ kids. We employ a few people not in the club, and they are mine. I’ve claimed you publicly. Six months ago it may have made you a target. Today? It keeps you safe.”

  Gen took a few minutes to digest his words and said, “I don’t like the ‘C’ word. It’s worse than… it’s worse than the rest. All of them. Even GD, which I thought was the worst until I heard you—”

  “Okay, Beautiful. I’m sorry. We’re going to have to find a common vocabulary. You’re smart, I’m smart. We can do this.”

  Some movement caught his eye and he looked up to see another female glaring at him, the redhead Gen had been dancing with. When their eyes met, she took the opportunity to point her finger and say, “Her last three boyfriends jacked her over. She has maybe, maybe, one time left to give someone her heart before she locks herself away for good. She hasn’t been out on the first damned date since the last asshole, and if you give her all this talk about her being yours and then you let her walk in on you doing someone doggie style up the ass? I’ll hurt you.”

  She paused for a few seconds, dropped her hand and said, “But you know what? You aren’t like anyone else she’s ever dated, so maybe you won’t turn out to be just another fucking asshole. Same goes, though. You hurt her and I hurt you.”

  Gen’s face was back in her hands, so he stood, pulled her up to him, wrapped his arms around her, and cradled her face to his chest.

  “Let me guess,” he said to the woman who’d just let him have it. “Her best bud?”

  She nodded but didn’t smile. “Bethany.”

  He let go of Gen with one hand and offered it to Bethany. “I’m Duke. Nice to meet you.”

  She shook his hand and asked, “Are all of us invited to this party, or just my girl?”

  Again, not what he’d intended, but he ordered, “Everyone coming to the party, get out your phone and put my number in.”

  He gave them his number and then looked to Tyler Hastings back in the corner. “Hastings, heard a lot about you, nice to finally meet you. You and your wife Viv are welcome.” He made his way around the room, addressed Cam and Cassie together, then Sam, Bethany, and the rest of the girls. When he didn’t know a name, he asked, and questioned how they were connected to Gen. He needed to make sure he knew everyone’s name before he carried them across the street.

  “Okay, for those of you who’re single, most of my men will fuck anything that moves, and ya’ll are all gonna get their attention. You’re interested? Have fun but don’t expect romance or dates afterward. Not interested? Tell them you walked in with me and you aren’t interested. They all have manners and none will push. Much.”

  When he was through, he bent his head to his lovely Gen. “Ready, Beautiful?”

  * * * *

  Duke introduced them to a small handful of people and then set Gen and her friends up at a concrete picnic table. He asked one of the guys to get them set up with rum and Coke, and within a few minutes they had an expensive bottle of rum, lots of cans of cold Coke, and a stack of clear plastic glasses the perfect size for mixed drinks. He poured her a drink and looked to her friends. “I can have someone keep the table stocked with pitchers of margaritas, there’s beer on tap at the bar, or if you want something else. Let me know. If we don’t have it here we can get it from across the street.”

  Sam spoke up. “Margarita’s sound nice, if you don’t mind. Also, it sounds like my husband has decided he needs to be by my side and he’s on the way. I hope it’s okay?”

  “Perfectly fine and perfectly understandable. What kind of car’s he driving?”

  Duke texted one of the guys watching the gate and looked up. “Anyone else have a spouse or boyfriend on the way?”

  Cassie’s hand went up and Duke stilled as he realized the ramifications. He’d known this moment was coming, but it couldn’t happen at a worse time. He was pretty sure Cassie had told them what’d happened, and he knew Frisco would be pissed. And if Frisco was pissed, Isaac would be, as well.

  Isaac was one of the few people on the planet Duke was afraid of.

  “Well, Cassie dear,” he told her. “This complic
ates things, doesn’t it? I’m glad for you, and for Gen, that you have people who love you enough to storm a motorcycle club with the intention of going after the club’s president, but I need to step away and make sure my men know the score. I’ll be right back.”

  * * * *

  When Duke came back, he sat across from Gen and made up silly drinking games. He played footsies with her, he made her laugh, and he made her friends laugh. Some of the guys came over to meet Duke’s “little spitfire,” and a few of their girlfriends high-fived her for taking down the guy in the bar. Several of the men were in awe over meeting Sam, and when Ethan arrived and sat with them, even more people came by to talk and chat.

  Gen was secretly glad Frisco lived so far away, as she’d enjoyed this time with Duke. About the time she thought this, she saw him look at his phone, his body tighten and then relax as he looked up and said, “Your brother and Isaac are here. Want to walk with me to them, see if we can contain the scene?”

  Gen nodded.

  Ethan and Sam stood to come with them, as did Cassie and Cam. Duke told them to hang back, but Gen said, “No, Ethan’s good at calming him. So’s Cam, and Cassie’s magic. Sam just threatens to pound his rear into the ground. Let them come.”

  Gen reached for Duke’s hand as they walked. He’d been so careful with her since he realized he’d scared her, and she felt like he needed her moral support. She didn’t know if this was going anywhere, but Bethany’s words came back to her. You aren’t like anyone else she’s ever dated, so maybe you won’t turn out to be just another fucking asshole.

  Bethany was right. Gen always picked the same basic kind of guy, and always got the same results. Would picking a different kind of guy give different results?