Lazarus (The Henchmen MC Book 7)

by Jessica Gadziala

  "I told you to knock!" another voice hissed.

  Lazarus had pushed up, his hand settling back at my hip. His eyelids were heavy, full of longing, but a small smile was playing at his lips.

  "Maze, Penny," Laz said, giving me a look that said- this isn't over, as he rolled up to look toward the door.

  I quickly pushed up to sit against the headboard, desire shooting through my system and making my brain feel fuzzy as my heartbeat pounded.

  "Lo too. It's a party," he added as he looked at the group of women standing half in the room and half in the hallway.

  I wasn't sure who was Maze and Penny and Lo- but all three woman were their own kind of pretty. Two were tall and leggy- one with a great rack, blonde hair, and brown eyes, the other with a great ass, purple hair, and hazel eyes. The final one was shorter and more delicate-looking with her long blonde hair in a thick braid down one shoulder and large light blue eyes.

  "I told them to knock!" the shorter of the three insisted again, looking completely apologetic for her cohorts.

  "We would have heard them if they were banging," the purple-haired one insisted, rolling her eyes. "The walls are then. Hey, I'm Maze," she declared, giving me a warm smile. "This is Penny," she said to the shorter blonde. "And Lo," she added, pointing to the taller blonde. "We just wanted to come meet you before you left. We aren't going to the fight," she explained. "So we are going to have a big sleepover with all the kids at Hailstorm."

  "Were they screwing?" a fourth female voice asked as she stepped into view- a tiny slip of a woman with pale skin, long black hair, big blue eyes, and an assortment of colorful tattoos. "Damn," she said when she got a look at us with the chaste distance between us.

  "This is Janie," Maze added, waving to the new woman.

  "Christ," Lazarus said, shaking his head, but looking amused. "Are you all here?"

  "Yeah, ah Summer is coming I think," Penny said, looking off into the hall.

  "And from the sound of things, Renny and Mina are fitting a quickie in down in the laundry room before we all head out," Janie added. Then she looked right at me. "So you're Bethany."

  "I'm Bethany," I agreed, giving them what felt like a wobbly smile, feeling completely out of my depths.

  I'd had girlfriends, sure, but like one or two here or there during different times of my life. I had never been the type to have a huge girl squad around her and faced with one, I found it somewhat intimidating.

  "Edison likes you," Janie said, the words heavy like they should mean something to me, but since I had barely just met him, I didn't understand.

  "No way!"Penny said, eyes huge, looking almost offended. "I've known him for months and he will barely talk to me."

  "So, Laz," Janie said, waving a hand out, "what are you still doing here? We clearly want some time alone to grill your new girl," she said, big-eying him like that was the most obvious thing in the world.

  I hadn't realized I was going to do it until I felt my hand slap down on his, squeezing hard, a silent plea to not be left alone. His hand squeezed me back as he leaned over toward me, pressing a kiss to my temple in a sweet move that made my belly do a delicious little flip-flop. "Sorry, sweetheart," he told me quietly. "But I am outnumbered here. And I know you don't know them, but they could all probably whoop my ass. So, yeah, you're on your own," he added with a warm smile as he pulled away. "Ladies, be nice," he said, tone mock-firm.

  "They're so dramatic," Maze declared as she moved in. "I'm jealous of you getting to go to the fight, by the way."

  "We all are," Janie added.

  "We all have some training," Lo explained as the whole lot of them started to crowd in- Maze, Lo, and Janie making themselves at home at the foot of the bed as Penny, obviously the slightly more standoffish of the group, stood beside her friends.

  "Training?" I repeated, brows drawing together, trying to make that information make sense.

  "Martial arts," Lo explained.

  Hence the comment about them whipping Lazarus' butt.

  "The next fight, we're so making the men stay with the kids and we are making a girls night of it," Maze declared. "I mean, I'm currently the milk monster so it makes sense this time. But as soon as this kid is weaned, I am at Hex and critiquing the fighters' moves."

  "None of you have ever been?" I asked, surprised.

  "I was there a couple times when they first opened," Lo explained. "Making connections. But not in a long time."

  "I apparently need to wear a dress," I said, shrugging.

  "Well then," Janie said, rolling her eyes, "that's enough reason for me to not want to go. Gotta love it. Our men are all out there in jeans and their cuts and we would need to get dolled up?"

  "Oh, are you guys with Edison and Cyrus and... what?" I asked when they all shared a look.

  "No, honey," Lo said, shaking her head. "No, we all 'belong' for lack of a better word, to the already patched members of the MC. Summer who will be here any second is Reign, the president's woman. I am Cash's, the vice president and also Reign's younger brother, woman. Janie is the road captain, Wolf's. Maze is with Repo. Penny is with Duke. And the Mina you heard about before is with Renny. Laz, Edison, Cyrus, and Reeve are all like... Henchmen 2.0. They're all still single."

  "The little puppies," Maze said affectionately, putting a hand to her heart.

  "It's a lot," Penny said, moving a little closer to me. "This whole thing with the guys, it's a lot. Lo, Janie, Maze, and Mina all kind of knew what they were getting into here. They're all kinda... I don't know... badasses in their own way. But for people like me and Summer and, I think, you... this is a lot to take in at once."

  Thankful for someone relatable, I looked at her with big eyes and demanded, "What the hell is a road captain?"

  To that, there was a laugh.

  After that, there was a biker history lesson.

  There was also a Hailstorm lesson.

  By the time I was ushered into the bathroom with my clothes and makeup so they could approve my outfit, my head was somewhat spinning and I was doing my damnedest to try to keep everything straight. It was all crazy, all the stuff that I had seen in what I thought were over the top TV shows and movies, but it was real. It was Lazarus' life.

  At his name flashing across my mind after hours of being jammed full of other information that had effectively blocked him from my thoughts for a while, the realization finally settled down on me.

  Lazarus had kissed me.

  And he had insinuated he wanted more than friendship with me.

  That was, well, that was terrifying. And exciting. And completely insane. And completely and utterly... delicious.

  That was the only right word- delicious.

  Lazarus was just delicious all the way around. From his sternness and firmness about me detoxing to his sweetness and selflessness in helping me through it. To remembering what foods I said I liked and bringing me out on the town. And then, of course, kissing me until I felt it in my freaking spine.

  I didn't even know that was possible before.

  But it was.

  And it was (again, for the cheap seats) delicious.

  I stripped out of my clothes, including my bra because the dress had an open back almost to my waist and it wouldn't allow for such a thing.

  I applied some careful mascara and eyeliner and then did a heavy red lip because it was dreamy and romantic and I was feeling both those things suddenly. Then I slipped into the dress and had just slipped my arms in when there was a banging on the door followed by Janie's voice. Janie who, for reasons that had to do with her work at Hailstorm, was often referred to as Jstorm apparently. "Come on, you're pretty enough. The men are starting to grunt and growl out there. Literally," she added and I felt myself laugh.

  I slipped into my shoes, feeling my ankles immediately object. It had been a while since I had heels on.

  "Alright," I said, pulling the door open and moving into the doorway. "What do you think?" I asked, doing a spin.

 
"Gorgeous," Summer, the redhead who 'belonged' to the 'big guy' Reign said, giving me a big smile.

  "Give you a big sign with a number and you could be the ring girl," Lo said, nodding.

  Whatever Janie was about to say was cut off by a pounding on the door and a rumbled growl of, "Women!" through it.

  Everyone shared a look and a chuckle as Janie stood. "That'd be my man. I told you they were growling. Come on, let's head out," she said as all the women moved to stand and walk toward the door, leaving me to do the same. I felt almost sad to have the experience over. They were new to me, but there was something about their easy familiarity, about their openness, and about their willingness to just drag me into the fold that had me wishing I had much more time with them.

  I wasn't exaggerating when I said every set of eyes were on us as we walked out. The men looked over their women for a second as they moved to join them at their sides. Janie went to a huge lumberjack biker with a dark beard and honey eyes; Lo went to a lithe blond biker who had one side of his hair long and the other side shaved to peach fuzz; Summer went to a man who was tall, dark, and deadly; Maze moved over beside a guy with dark hair, blue eyes, and a scar down one side of his face; Penny moved next to a tall, solid biker with long blond hair. There was another couple there too- a redheaded male biker with startling blue eyes and a dark-haired, green-eyed woman who had an exotic look I couldn't place. The weirdest thing about them seemed to be the fact that the second their eyes landed on me, I felt like they knew all of my dark, dirty little secrets.

  "Well, since no one else is going to say it," Cyrus said, breaking the silence, all charm as per usual. "Angel, you are a fucking vision," he declared, moving toward me, extending his hand. And, not knowing what else to do, I placed mine there. "Come on, do a spin."

  I felt my cheeks heat slightly as I immediately tried to tell him no, but it was useless because when I didn't move to do so myself, he spun me instead.

  "I think I saw a naughty little tattoo," Cyrus said, close to my ear. He wasn't wrong. I had exactly one because I found when I got on the table that I had absolutely no tolerance for being stabbed repeatedly with needles. But I had gotten the one finished and it was on my side near my breast in a spot that the band of my bra generally covered. "Don't worry, it's our little secret. Well, ours and Laz's," he said, giving me a conspiratorial wink.

  "Laz's what?" Laz asked, coming up beside me, moving in toward my side but slightly in front of me in a way that was unmistakably predatory, something I was sure was meant to send a message to Cyrus.

  But either Cyrus didn't speak the man-animal language or he was just ignoring it. My money was on the latter. He came across as a complete and utter shameless flirt. And because he was harmless, it was charming instead of annoying or threatening.

  "We were having a talk about her secret tattoo," Cyrus supplied and I could feel Lazarus' eyes landing on me, probing, wondering, maybe thinking of getting a look at it at a later date, an idea that made my sex do a strange pre-orgasm tightening thing.

  "Cy," another voice called as he shook his head. It was the one who looked like Cyrus, was obviously his brother. "Plenty of women to hit on at Hex, give the woman her fucking hand back."

  Cyrus made a show of rolling his eyes at me, like he was the long-suffering younger brother to a pain in the ass, holier than thou older brother. "Fine, but I don't like it," he said, giving me a wicked little smile as he released me and moved away.

  "Alright, let's roll," Reign, Summer's man, said, waving toward the door where everyone started to file out. As he passed us by, he gave Lazarus a nod. "I guess I can understand missing church. Hey babe," he added, but moved on before I could respond.

  I looked up at Lazarus, brows drawn low. "You guys go to church together?"

  That, apparently, was the funniest thing any of the people within earshot had heard all year, Lazarus included.

  "Honey," Cash said, smile huge, "I'm pretty fucking sure any church we walked into would catch right the fuck on fire," he said as he followed Lo toward an SUV as a hoard of kids came out of nowhere to shuffle into their cars.

  It was so unexpected for me to see kids at an outlaw biker compound that I had immediately stopped walking and looked around. Lazarus circled back, taking my hand. "Church is what we call a club meeting," he explained as he led me toward the car we had come to the compound in. "What?" he asked when he noticed me looking around as the men who had already kissed their women and kids goodbye climbed on bikes.

  "I, ah, um... do you have a bike here?" I asked, my tone maybe a little more hopeful than I should have let it be.

  But his smile went pleased as he changed directions and moved toward the bikes instead. "Ever ridden on one before?" he asked as he grabbed a helmet and slammed it down on my head. At my head shake, he clipped me and climbed on. "Alright, you get on behind me and hold on tight," he told me.

  Hold on tight to Lazarus?

  That was totally worth any helmet head I was getting right then.

  I noticed too that Lazarus wasn't the only one not wearing a helmet. None of the men did. I generally liked my brains inside my head so I was okay with being the odd man out as I carefully tried to move to straddle the bike without flashing anyone, something not easily done.

  My inner thighs pressed into his outer and my arms went around his stomach, holding on tight as he pulled off. He didn't ease me into it. He just tore off and followed his brothers as I let out a very indelicate squeal and buried my face into his back, fingers digging hard enough into his stomach that I may have actually bruised or scratched the flesh.

  My stomach pitched and tightened and my heart flew into my throat. But none of it was in a bad way; it was exhilarating- like a ride at the fair, like the shocking enjoyment of a rollercoaster.

  Before my system could get used to the sensation, we were pulling up in a lot to what was a school, but had been abandoned back when I was in middle school.

  There was an underground fighting ring in an elementary school?

  I didn't have much time to marvel at that strange situation as Lazarus cut the engine and moved to stand, making me rush to do so first so I didn't flash him. He reached to unclasp my helmet and stashed it on his bike, giving me a lopsided smile as he reached up again to fluff and then settle my hair.

  "Is it okay?" I asked self-consciously.

  "'Okay' is not a word I would ever use to describe you, sweetheart," he said, making my belly flip-flop as his hand slid down my neck, shoulder, arm, until his hand took mine and pulled me along where the crowd of his brothers were waiting for us.

  We moved into, well, an old abandoned school with all the dust and leaves and general disrepair you would expect. But we went down several flights and even before the men standing at the doors in suits could open the doors to the basement for us, I could hear the commotion behind them- music and voices.

  "Laz," one of the men said, inclining his chin. "Have a good fight," he added. "Henchmen," he went on, looking a little confused, but letting us all in regardless.

  "Welcome to Hex," Lazarus said near my ear when I stopped a few feet in the door to take it all in. Everything had the decidedly upscale decor of an expensive club from the bar and tables and seating areas to the almost bluesy music on the speakers to the nicely dressed people scattered about. It was pretty packed and I wondered if that was the norm for a Monday night. Then there was, of course, the giant raised cage in the center of the room- a massive hexagon that I figured was where the whole place got its name from.

  Hex.

  "Well, if you'll excuse me," Cyrus said, pulling on the sides of his leather cut, "there seem to be at least a dozen ladies here who need some attention."

  With that, he was off.

  "I have bets to place," Renny declared, sizing up a couple of people in the room who, I assumed, were the fighters.

  "Bar," Wolf growled and Reign, Cash, Duke, Repo, Edison, and Reeve moved to follow.

  "Come on," Lazarus said, hand lea
ving mine and going to my lower back instead, the nonexistent back of my dress allowing his hand to press into my bare skin. It was unexpected and a tremble moved through my body at the contact, making Lazarus' eyes get a little heated. "Time for that later," he said quietly, promise in his voice. "And to find out all about this supposed tattoo of yours," he added, smile a little wicked and I felt my sex clench in anticipation. "But first, I need to check in with the boss."

  Now, of course, you generally didn't think the owner of an underground fighting ring was some skinny little milksop, but whatever I had been expecting as we moved into a room off the side of the bar, it hadn't been anywhere near the reality.

  "Laz fucking finally," a voice said, somewhat distractedly as he looked down at some pages in his hand.

  He was tall and solid with wide shoulders and a strong midsection underneath his exquisite charcoal gray suit and matching shirt. He forewent the tie, but was no less professional and disarming without it. He was all dark from his clothes to his eyes to his hair and the stubble on his face and, well, the energy he wore around himself- dark.

  "Ross, this is Bethany," he supplied, making the distracted Ross' head jerk up suddenly, brows drawn together like what Lazarus just said didn't make any sense. "Bethany, this is Ross Ward. He runs Hex."

  "I thought you were bringing your brothers," Ross said, avoiding greeting me but I got the impression he just wasn't the kind of man for social graces and wasn't overly offended by that.

  "I did. Cyrus is out there figuring out which girl he is bringing back to the clubhouse tonight. Renny is placing bets. The rest are at the bar."

  Ross nodded at that. "Alright, I have Grant with Brady. Pagan is with Slate. And then you with Igor to wrap things up."

  "Pagan with Slate?" Lazarus scoffed, looking both surprised and darkly amused. To that, the only hint of humor I had seen in the dark, intimidating Ross Ward played with his lips as they twitched. "Are you gonna fucking hose off the ring after so me and Igor aren't slipping the fuck all over the place?"

  Whatever Ross was about to say was cut off by the appearance of another suited man who I figured was some kind of guard and informed Ross that he had five minutes.