We get to the farm and the prospects hang back as Sarge and I ride down the long dirt driveway. It’s a good mile in from the main road, and the house is set far back across open, flat fields.
The house itself is white and looks small from the outside. As we get closer, I see the old yellow pick-up sitting in the driveway along the side of the house.
No fucking way.
Old man Ward lives here. Officer Arrogant Ass is his son Dillon?
What the fuck?
We stop next to the pickup and peg our bikes.
“You stay here,” I tell Sarge. He nods and leans back on his bike.
I go to the front of the house and take the four creaky steps leading to the front door.
I knock twice and step to the side of the heavy wooden door, covered by a flimsy screen door.
The big, solid wood door creaks open, and the first thing I see is a double-barreled shotgun pointed at my face.
My heart instantly reacts, and is beating faster and faster, until it’s thumping so hard I can hear it in my ears.
The hair on the back of my neck stands at attention with a shock of excited anticipation.
My blood begins to boil, pumping hard. Electricity touching every nerve ending in my body.
My mouth dries out completely and it’s difficult to swallow around the huge lump sitting at the base of my throat.
Not because I’m staring down a double-barrel.
Not from sheer terror of my possible death.
Not for any logical reason.
My body is reacting because I’m fucking turned on.
It’s her.
Red.
Grit: Chapter 4
“If you value that pretty-boy face of yours, I suggest you take your little pack of animals and leave,” Red says.
Well, fuck me.
Looks like she’s not as shy and retiring as I originally thought. And that’s even more of a damned turn-on. God, I hope her pussy is delicious, ‘cause I can’t wait to taste her.
I slowly lift one foot and take a small step toward her.
“Today a good day for you to die?” She releases the safety on the shot gun. I retract my step and put my hands up, showing her I’m not here to hurt her.
“Come on, Red. I don’t think you got the guts to kill an unarmed man.”
“Self-defense. I can get away with that. Now take your trained monkeys and get off my farm.”
Her farm?
Who the fuck is she?
I own this farm.
“Look, I’m just here to talk to Chris. He’s got business with me we need to sort out.”
“What business have you got with my father?” She pushes the old screen door open with the shotgun and takes a few steps forward until she’s standing outside.
I can’t help raking my gaze down her enticing body. Damn. My cock springs to life, but this is definitely the wrong time for that, seeing as she has a shotgun pointed at my head.
Her wild red hair is exactly as fierce as I remember it being that first night I saw her. Her intense, clear blue eyes scream how she’s most certainly capable of pulling the trigger her finger is hovering over. Her tits are just visible through the white t-shirt she’s wearing and her legs... Man, those long fucking legs. She’s wearing jeans which hug her luscious body and leave nothing to my deviant imagination.
God, I can’t wait ‘til those legs are wrapped around me as I fuck her like she’s never been fucked before.
“Do you wax?” I ask her.
“What!?” She looks bewildered and fucking angry. Sexy.
“Do you wax? It’s an easy question to answer, either yes or no. I’m hoping it’s a yes ‘cause I love a smooth pussy. But don’t get me wrong, I’ll fuck a hairy one too. I just won’t eat it.” I take a step closer to her. I’ll get her to shave if it’s covered in hair.
Red keeps her eyes on me with a look I can only describe as seething. Her eyes dilate and her jaw tightens as she takes a step closer to me. She swings the shot gun to the side and lets a round off.
“Fuck, you could’ve hit me!” I yell at her, but don’t move.
“The next one will. Now take your pack and leave.” Her tone’s turned icy and I know now she means every word she’s saying.
I hear Sarge’s footsteps come running up behind me and without even turning around I raise a hand to stop him before he kills Red.
She points the gun at me and the moment her eyes make contact with Sarge, she swings the gun to him then back at me. Her shoulders are tense and her back has straightened, but her hands are the most steady I’ve ever seen on chick holding a gun.
“He won’t hurt you, and neither will I,” I say as my hands go up in surrender again. I retreat a step, only because I’ve seen that look in a person’s eye before. She’s confident she’ll be able to let that round off and kill one of us before the other can take her down.
“You have no business here. Now leave.”
I go to take another step back, but I hear motorcycles roaring down the dirt road toward us. I turn to see Lion and Jason roaring at us. I look to Sarge who understands what I’m asking him without saying a word. Sarge meets the prospects and I deal with Miss Temper.
“Look, I just wanna talk to Chris,” I say again. “This has got nothing to do with you or your brother.”
“My brother? I don’t have a brother.”
“Then who’s Dillon?”
“That would be me, and unless you wanna tell me what this business is you claim to have with my father, get off my land!” she shouts the last part. Like that’ll scare me.
“J,” Sarge calls from over the railing.
I turn my back on Red and walk away from her. If she really wanted to kill me she would’ve done it by now. I know she can do it, but I also know she won’t pull that trigger.
“What’s happening?”
“Crowes,” Sarge says.
Fuck.
“They’re here too?”
“Hmmm.”
What the hell are the Crowes doing here?
I turn back to Red and walk over toward her.
“Get inside and lock the door. Don’t come out, regardless of what you hear until I come looking for you.”
“What? What the hell’s going on?”
“Just listen to me. Get inside and lock the fucking doors. I’m sorry, Red, but I’m gonna be kicking this one in.”
“Then why am I locking it?”
“To make it look like there’s no one here. Now get inside.”
The gun is still pointed at me, but I can see her resolve is starting to waver and the angle of the gun is lowering. I step into her and push the gun to the side.
“Dillon, we aren’t gonna hurt you, but the guys who are coming, they will. I need you to go inside and stay away from the windows.”
“I can protect myself,” she says as she raises the gun to show me.
“No doubt. But if they get to you they’ll torture you before they rape you, and then if you’re not dead, they’ll sell you to the highest bidder. If you think you wanna take a risk with that, then by all means, we’ll leave you to fight it out.”
Her blue eyes soften and her mouth pops open as she starts to struggle for breath. “Torture?” she says through a gasp of breath. “Rape?” And her stunning eyes fill with tears. “What’s he done?” she says in an almost whisper.
“Just get inside.” I take the gun out of her hands and open the weak screen door and push her through. “Dillon.” I try and get her attention, because her expression has glassed over completely and she looks like she’s about to panic. “Dillon!” I say louder. She looks up at me and stares intensely into my eyes. “Lock all the fuckin’ doors and hide.” She simply nods and closes the door. I hear the click and know she’s locked it.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I lay a swift boot into the wood as it swings open easily and freely. I can’t see Red, which means she must be hiding somewhere.
The sound of the Crowes’
bikes coming down the long driveway tells me they outnumber us and probably outgun us. Our arsenal consists of one shotgun and the one round left in it. I cradle the shotgun in my arms and stand next to Sarge, who’s already taken off his cut and is ready to fight to the end.
“Let’s not give them a reason to kill us,” I say to him quietly.
Sarge looks at me and nods. But the killer glint in his eye tells me he’s ready for anything the Crowes want to throw at us.
The five bikes all roll in together, two in front and three behind. They come to a stop and peg them up. Black gets off his bike first and Spit follows closely.
I nod at them and step forward to shake the hands of Black, the Crowes’ VP and Spit, their Sergeant-At-Arms.
“Jaeger. What brings you out to Freedom Run?”
“Here to see the old man. He owes me a debt.”
“You too, huh?”
Fuck. The old man isn’t in hock to just me, which now complicates matters even further.
“What’s he into you for?” I ask, knowing I’m not going to get an answer.
“That’s club business, Jaeger. I’m sure you won’t tell me what he owes you either. Look, he’s got a sweet little piece of pussy I can take for what he owes us if he doesn’t have the cash. The boys and I need a fresh cunt around the clubhouse and she looks like she can take a few of us at once.”
“Yeah, I hear ya, but I’ve been knocking and no one’s home. So I smashed through the front door,” I turn to show him the wide open door, “and checked the place out. There’s no one in there. The boys have been through it too. No one home.”
“Fuck, where the hell is he?” Black asks, looking around as he runs a hand through his hair.
“Look, if he owes both us and you, then I assume he owes others too.”
Black nods his head and turns to look at Spit, who’s chewing gum and looking like he doesn’t give a shit. But I’ve seen Spit work before. That guy could almost rival Sarge. Almost.
“You’ve been through it? Spit, wanna walk through and see what’s there?”
Fuck, if they find Red, we’ll have to take them on unarmed. I hope she’s fucking hidden well.
Spit walks up the few creaky steps and swings the weak outside door open as he looks at the wood I’ve just kicked in. He examines it and then looks over to Black and gives him a small nod.
“Truck’s here.” Black points to the old faded pickup sitting around the side.
“Yeah, I saw that too.”
“What are you gonna do, Jaeger? Bastard’s fucking ghosted, and looks like he took that tasty pussy with him.”
“I’ll take it back to the table, same as you.”
“Don’t try and fuck me over,” Black says as his body language changes. He straightens his back and a snarl crosses his mouth.
“You telling me Skinny’s okay with you screwing this up?” I gotta try and get the Crowes out of here so I can find out what the hell is going on.
“Prez will wanna run it past the club.”
I shrug and take a step back. “We all want what’s owed to us. Fuck knows who else is coming.”
Spit comes through the front and just shakes his head once, indicating no one’s inside.
“Later, man,” Black says as he and Spit and their boys get back on their bikes and take off up the dirt driveway.
“What the fuck you protecting the bitch for?” Sarge asks. “You should’ve let ‘em have her and we could’ve had the fucking farm.”
“No way is that shit happening. We’re taking the farm, and I’m taking the girl.” I look over to Sarge and he shakes his head.
“Hmmm,” he mumbles.
I walk up the creaky stairs and go inside the house.
It’s small, and fucking old, with that timber paneling shit on the walls. The sofa looks ratty and well-used. The kitchen is just to the side, really small and old-fashioned. But it’s clean. Fuck living here though.
“Red,” I call for her. I get no response, as I keep walking through the tiny house. “Red,” I call again.
She comes at me with fists up high and takes a swing, hitting me square on the chin. Lil’ thing can pack a punch, that’s for sure. But her second swing isn’t set up right and I step out of the way and grab hold of her wrists.
I can’t fucking help myself as I run my thumbs over the soft skin on the inside of her wrists.
“I’m not gonna let go ‘til you stop fighting me.” She tries to struggle, but gives up when she realizes she ain’t gonna win this round.
Her shoulders slump in defeat and her eyes lower to the floor as big, fat tears roll down her pink cheeks and slip off her pretty face.
“What does he owe you?” she asks in a tiny, crushed voice. She moves her hands from within my grip and sits on the worn sofa.
“He defaulted, so he owes me his farm.”
“What!?” she shouts. “He signed the farm over to you?” She brings her hands up and buries her face into them and cries. I hate crying. It’s just not necessary. Just get over that shit already. But I cut her a bit of slack seeing I just gave her an eviction notice. I know how that feels.
“Yeah, something like that.”
“What does that mean?”
“Red, this isn’t really something that concerns you. I just need to speak to your dad.”
“You can’t,” she sobs.
“Why the fuck not?” I ask as I come to stand in front of her.
“’Cause he’s dead.”
What the fuck?
Grit: Chapter 5
“What do you mean he’s dead?” I ask Red as I loom over her slumped, crying form.
“Are you slow? How else can somebody take that? Dead, as in I buried him two weeks ago,” she says as she looks up at me with puffy, tear-filled eyes.
Shit, so that’s why he missed his payment to me.
“How did he die?” I ask, clearly pissed off.
“Ran off the road and he hit a tree. His car exploded on impact and he died instantly.” Red wipes the fat tears off her cheek and focuses on something on the wall. Her eyebrows knit together and her shoulders slump as she continues crying.
Man, why do chicks do that? Are tears cathartic for them or something? Fuck, that shit annoys the hell out of me. They start sobbing and getting all emotional and shit, and it sends me fucking insane.
Why can’t they just punch someone’s face in, and be done with it? When they cry they’re just so…clingy.
“Look, it’s fucked up that your old man died. Well, fucked up for you. I don’t really give a shit. But now he owes me money, and those guys who were here before? He owes them money too. And if they don’t get their cash, guess what they’re gonna take?”
Her blue orbs find mine as she lifts her head to look at me. “My farm,” she says as she regains her composure.
“Not exactly, Red.” I grit my jaw together and shake my head to her.
“Dad didn’t have anything else of value. Just the farm,” she says as she stands and begins to pace her tiny little family room. “He already sold the cattle.”
“I’d think closely about that. I’m sure you’re old man had one thing he’d die for.”
“There’s nothing else…” She pauses, becoming silent and still. Dillon turns to face me, her face drained of all color, her mouth open to reveal a perfect O. “Me? They’re going to take me when they find out there’s nothing left here?” She collapses to the floor in a small heap and brings her knees up into her chest and wraps her arms around them.
“Red, they aren’t gonna take you, ‘cause I’m not gonna let them.” I stand with my feet hip-width apart and cross my arms in front of my chest.
“Why do you want to help me?” she asks cautiously.
“Oh no, Red. I’m not gonna help you. I’m gonna bring you back to my clubhouse.”
“The hell you are!” she screams at me as she rapidly gets to her feet.
“I’m giving you your eviction notice and taking your farm. You’re
coming back with me,” I tell her in my ‘don’t fuck with me’ tone.
“Ha! Well, you really are slow then, aren’t you?” She shakes her head at me and walks toward the small hallway.
“Come back here, I’m not finished talking about this,” I yell after her.
“Seeing as you like the sound of your own voice, you keep talking. I’m going into town.”
“The hell you are. If the fucking Crowes see you, they’ll grab you. And I’m telling you right now, you don’t belong to them. You fucking belong to me.”
I’m met with silence.
I hear nothing.
No scuffing of shoes against the creaky floorboards, no sassy replies from her smart ass mouth, nothing. Not a single damned word.
“Red,” I yell but get nothing. “Red,” I yell a little louder.
Nothing. Again.
“Red!” I shout.
I hear her padding back down the hall toward where I’m standing, and I’m met with another fucking gun in my face.
How many guns does this girl have? She’s seriously beginning to piss me off.
“Look Red, this whole pointing guns at me thing, it’s wearing thin,” I say as I take a step closer to her and reach for the pistol that’s pointed at me.
“Maybe you’ll take the hint and leave before I put a hole in some part of you,” she smirks from behind the dark metal.
“I’m not going anywhere. Now make me a coffee so I can think.” I go and sit on the sofa as she lowers the gun and shuffles her feet to stand beside me.
“I’m sorry…”
“You don’t have to be,” I say pleasantly, cutting off whatever she was about to say.
“Oh I’m not. I was just going to say how this is not your pathetic little clubhouse. I’m not one of the pathetic little club whores you can order around. And you are an asshole. So, please leave, before I shoot you,” she says with an ‘eat my shit’ grin.
Man, she’s really pissing me off. Does she not understand that I’m not going anywhere and I’m trying to help her?
“Red…”
“Stop calling me that. It’s not my name. And seeing as you’re an asshole, you’ll be lucky if I let you call me Ma’am.”
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