Shadow's Surrender: Insurgents Motorcycle Club (Insurgents MC Romance Book 14)

by Chiah Wilder

  “Chill, okay?” Scarlett said as she tugged Daisy away.

  The man turned around and she noticed the back of his vest read Prospect on the bottom. “What does that mean?” she asked Daisy, pointing at the guy’s back.

  Daisy shrugged. “Who knows? These men who ride motorcycles think they’re so bad,” she whispered. She looped her arm through Scarlett’s and walked away.

  When they entered the restaurant, the aroma of tangy hickory swirled around them, and Daisy strode up to the hostess desk and gave her name. Within minutes, the two women were following the slim brunette to a table by a window.

  “This is so beautiful,” Scarlett said, looking out the window.

  The restaurant was nestled among the evergreens on Aspen Lake, and rays of sunlight shimmered and danced across the blue water.

  “Looking at the lake reminds me that we have to plan our pool party,” Daisy said.

  “Wait until the gala is over—I’m too swamped right now with that,” Scarlett replied.

  “I forgot about that, but I do have it marked on my calendar. I asked Connor to go with me.” Daisy smiled. “He’s real cute, don’t you think?”

  Scarlett nodded. “He is, and he seems like a nice guy. Are things moving from the friends stage?”

  Daisy rolled her eyes and picked up a biscuit and broke it in half. “Who knows? Dating is so much more complicated now than it used to be in our parents’ day.”

  “Isn’t that the truth.” Scarlett gazed out at the water again.

  “Hi, beautiful,” Warren said.

  She snapped her eyes to him just as he pulled out a chair and sank down next to her. What the hell is he doing here? Her gaze cut over to Ashley, Shelby, and Kiara, who wore guilty expressions on their faces as they approached the table.

  “I didn’t know you were joining us,” Scarlett said, scooting her chair closer to the wall.

  “The girls called me and I thought, why not? I haven’t seen my girl in a while. I’m glad to be here.” He clutched her hand and squeezed it before leaning in for a kiss.

  She turned away so that his lips landed on her cheek, then she glared at Kiara as she slipped into one of the chairs.

  “Brent and Jeremy are coming too, right, Warren?” Kiara said, as if that would appease Scarlett.

  “Yeah, they should be here any minute,” Warren replied as he craned his neck and looked at the front of the restaurant.

  Ashley and Shelby sat down, leaving an empty seat between them. Licks of anger burned inside Scarlett as she fumed from the deceit of her friends.

  “Did you know about this?” Scarlett mouthed to Daisy, who shook her head no, then crossed her heart with her index finger.

  Scarlett huffed and leaned back against the chair, deciding that she’d hurry through dinner then cut out of there fast. She was more than pissed at her meddling friends, who seemed hellbent to keep Warren in her life. Why can’t they just butt the fuck out? After a long week of committee meetings, listening to her parents lecture her on what she should do, and Shadow’s rejection of her—which was, hands down, the worst part of the week—she yearned for a girls’ night out, and here was Warren sitting beside her. Yeah … feeling betrayed at that moment by her friends didn’t even describe it.

  Soon the whole gang was there, and as Warren and his buddies talked about business and sports, and her friends planned the next pool party, Scarlett sipped martini after martini. She had to give credit to Warren for catching on that she wasn’t exactly thrilled to see him, so he’d backed off with the touchy-feely crap and pretty much ignored her once Brent and Jeremy arrived.

  The waiter put down four platters of ribs on the table along with mounds of mashed potatoes, corn, and coleslaw.

  “Buffalo steak medium-rare?” the server asked, glancing around the table. Jeremy waved his hand and the waiter placed the steaming dish in front of him. Warren and Brent had ordered New York strips, and after setting everything down, the server hurried away.

  The conversation flowed well while they ate, and as Scarlett began to relax and enjoy herself, the anger she’d felt at her friends earlier in the evening slowly vanished.

  “How do you like the food?” Warren asked before he popped a morsel of steak into his mouth.

  “It’s so good. I can’t believe I’ve never been here,” Scarlett replied.

  “This is the best barbecue I’ve had.” Shelby licked her fingers. “Am I right?”

  The group spent the next few minutes talking about the food, then changed the subject to best nightclubs in Pinewood Springs.

  Warren leaned against Scarlett, his shoulder brushing against hers. “Do you want a bite?” He speared a morsel of steak and held it inches from her mouth. “It’s real good and juicy,” he said in a low voice.

  “Thanks, but I’m pretty full,” she replied.

  “Just one little bite, beautiful.”

  Warren caught her eye, and she quickly looked down at her plate. She moved her fork around, pretending to be engrossed in her meal.

  “Hey, there,” a deep voice boomed.

  She looked up, and for a second it didn’t register that the muscular man standing by the table was the contractor working on the tennis house.

  “Smokey—the dude working his ass off at your house.” He leaned back on his heels.

  “Right! Sorry, I …” She waved her hand in the air toward him. “You just look different.” Her gaze skimmed his leather vest. “Hi, how are you?”

  He chuckled. “Better than you, lady.”

  “He thinks you’re drunk,” Warren whispered under his breath. “What a rude asshole.”

  Scarlett ignored the looks her friends were giving her as she engaged in small talk with Smokey.

  “How do you like the food?” His eyes swept around the table as her friends mumbled praises of their meals.

  “It’s really good. I’ll have to tell my parents about it,” Scarlett said.

  “Your dad comes here a lot,” Smokey said, then pursed his lips together.

  She widened her eyes. “I didn’t know that. I wonder why he never suggested it to us.”

  He shrugged then looked toward the back of the room. “I gotta join my brothers.”

  She craned her neck and saw a table of about twenty men all wearing leather vests. “You have a big family.”

  Smokey burst out laughing and slapped his thigh a few times. “Fuckin’ classic.” He lifted his chin to her and sauntered away.

  The back of his vest read Insurgents on the top and Colorado on the bottom; a skull that had blood dripping from it was in the middle with a pistol on each side.

  “What a fucking lowlife,” Warren said. Brent and Jeremy laughed as they glanced furtively at the retreating biker.

  “Is that who’s working at your house?” Kiara said.

  “He’s the contractor, and he’s a nice guy.” A spiral of tingling sensation rose from the pit of her stomach as she wondered if Shadow was one of the men at the table.

  “What the fuck?” Warren swivel in his chair to face her. “Your dad hired a douche from an outlaw motorcycle club to work at your house?”

  “He’s in an outlaw club like the Hells Angels?” Daisy gasped, looking over her shoulder at him.

  “The Insurgents. Didn’t you see the patch on the back of his vest?” Brent asked.

  Daisy looked at Scarlett. “I bet that dude who got in our face about the motorcycles is in the club. He was scary.”

  Shadow’s a biker in an outlaw club? This is like a movie. I don’t even know what an outlaw club is all about.

  “I bet all the workers at your house are part of his damn club.” Warren leaned in close to her. “I hope you’re staying away from those criminals while they’re on your property.”

  Um … no. Snippets of her time together with Shadow streaked through her mind.

  “You are, right?” Warren nudged her with his elbow.

  “They work all day,” she replied. “Can you please pass the corn, As
hley?”

  The conversation veered away from bikers and outlaws, and Scarlett was grateful for that. She had to have some time to digest what she’d just learned. Racking her brain, she remembered a couple of times when she saw Shadow wearing a leather vest. Scarlett had thought it was odd to wear it in the hot sun, but she hadn’t paid much attention to it. The fact that he might be in that outlaw club frightened and excited her at the same time, and she didn’t have a clue as to why she was feeling that way.

  The room felt stuffy all of a sudden. Scarlett wiped her mouth, then folded the napkin and put it next to her plate. She pushed the chair back and rose to her feet.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said.

  “Are you going to the restroom? I’ll go with you,” Kiara said.

  “Me too,” Shelby added.

  “I’m actually going outside to make a phone call—it’s about the fundraiser.” She fibbed. Without waiting for her friends’ retorts, Scarlett scurried away from the table and crossed over to the lobby.

  Sunlight spilled in, the minute she opened the ornately carved wooden door. Outside, she gulped in air like a drowning person who’d been washed ashore, then walked to the back of the restaurant. She gazed at the small ripples in the water being driven across the lake by a light breeze that carried the scent of sweet pine. Behind her she heard the crunch of footsteps, and she silently cursed Warren under her breath. He just doesn’t catch on!

  “It’s a kickass view.”

  Scarlett whirled around and saw Shadow with a joint dangling from his lips, smoke curling up and biting his nostrils. He winked at her, drew in a deep breath, and walked toward her as he exhaled.

  “I only came out for a smoke and look who I found.” His gaze slowly skimmed over her.

  Suddenly self-conscious, she folded her arms across her chest. “Did Smokey tell you I was out here?” she asked.

  He shook his head no before exhaling. Spirals of smoke wisped upward, and she heard him mutter “Fuckin’ bastard” as he ground the spent joint into the ground.

  “The food is good here,” she said, hoping to switch his focus off his friend.

  “Yeah.” He looked over her shoulder at the lake in the distance. “Have you ever been to Hanging Lake?”

  “Yes, but”—she pointed to the crystalline water—“that’s not Hanging Lake.”

  His gaze cut to hers. “I know. Have you ever gone swimming in it, under the waterfall?”

  “Are we talking about Hanging Lake?” He nodded. “I used to go there with my parents when I was a kid, but I never went under the waterfall. My parents thought it was too dangerous.” She dropped her arms to her sides. “It’s been years since I’ve been there. It sounds like you like the place.”

  “I do. It’s always been my go-to place when shit gets too crowded in my head.” He crouched down and pulled on a blade of grass and put it between his teeth. “I like the outdoors.”

  “What kind of stuff do you have going on inside you?” she whispered.

  “Memories and a whole lot of demons, baby.” He grinned.

  “I think we all have memories that aren’t so wonderful, and there’s a demon or two lurking inside me. No one’s immune to them.” She smiled.

  “What’re yours? Not wearing the right color nail polish with your outfit?”

  She jerked back at his words as if he’d slapped her. “Do you think I’m that petty and shallow?”

  Shadow straightened up and rubbed his hand over his face. “I don’t know much about you except that you give great head, feel good and tight around my cock, and have an exceptional pair of tits.”

  A brief flash of anger rankled over her skin, like goosebumps raised by frosty air. “Thanks for the sexual review.” Bitterness punctuated her words.

  He held up his hands. “Just telling it like it is.”

  She rolled her eyes and stepped back. Shaking her head, Scarlett held his gaze. “Everything you are is between your legs.”

  Taking a few steps toward her, he laughed, but she noticed the vein in his left temple twitching. Shadow stopped in front of her, and she turned away. He grabbed her face between his hands and tilted her face up toward him.

  “I should just take off,” she said.

  “But you won’t.”

  “I don’t know why I let you talk to me like this.”

  He quirked his lips. “Don’t you? It’s called, lust, baby.”

  A heated flush crept up her neck and spread across her cheeks. She tried to pull away, but he pressed his thumbs against her cheeks, and she’d be damned if she told him it hurt.

  “You’re just—”

  He let go of her face and pushed her against the wall of the restaurant with the length of his body. “Say it, baby.” Grabbing her by the hips, he yanked her flush against him. “I’m common as fuckin’ dirt, and you love it.” He crushed his mouth on hers.

  Her lips parted, letting him in, tasting the smokiness of whiskey on his tongue. She moaned and ran her hands down his back as his made their way under her skirt. It had been too long since they’d kissed, and she loved the wet tangle of tongues and the hard edge of his teeth on her lower lip.

  He pulled away a bit and muttered “Fuck, babe” before he pressed his mouth back on hers. Heat flared at every pulse point and burned like a wildfire when he ground against her, making his dick rock hard through his jeans.

  “Let’s go somewhere,” he whispered as he trailed light kisses along her jawline and down her neck. “Fuck, baby … you make me so damn hard.” Shadow’s warm fingers slid to the lace edge of her panties.

  At that moment, Scarlett pushed him and scrambled away from his reach. Bewilderment skated across his face as he watched her walk away.

  “What the fuck?”

  Pausing, she spun around slightly and her lips turned up as she locked her gaze on his.

  “Don’t ever take me for granted, baby.” Scarlett licked her lips, tossed her hair over her shoulder, and walked away as every part of her body pulsed with desire.

  How am I ever going to get him out of my system?

  She entered the restaurant and headed to her table.

  Chapter Ten

  Forty men filled the meeting room, some leaning against the concrete walls, some sitting on the floor with their knees bent in front of them, and others on metal chairs around the large mahogany table. Banger stood at the head while Hawk slouched down in his seat. A cacophony of cussing, fists pounding on the tables, and excited voices filled the room.

  “There’s no fuckin’ way we’re gonna let Skeet get away with this shit,” Throttle said as he tipped the back of his chair against the wall. He waved his hand around the room. “We shoulda put a bullet in his head instead of giving him a beatdown last year.”

  Banger hit the gavel on the wood block. “It’s what the club decided and what Metal wanted, so all this grumbling isn’t doing a damn thing to help. Skeet’s got shit for brains if he’s aiming to take us on.”

  The men yelled their agreement amid guffaws and clapping. Hawk pushed back in his chair and slowly rose to his feet.

  “Skeet’s the new president of the Rising Order. He got a few of his buddies to oust Sniper from that position. We made a fuckin’ mistake in not taking care of him after the situation with Tigger went down, but Skeet was a brother, and it’s never easy to think a member will betray the brotherhood.”

  “He betrayed Metal by fuckin’ his old lady.” Bear shook his head. “Metal was too easy on her.”

  Animal nodded. “Bones and I were ready to haul her ass back to the club when we ran into Skeet and the skank last year, but Metal didn’t want it. There’s no way I would’ve been that forgiving.”

  “And the way she kept trying to convince us not to teach Skeet a lesson for fuckin’ a brother’s old lady was so damn annoying.” Bones crossed his arms over his chest. “The only reason I didn’t shut her up for good was outta respect for Metal’s wishes. The brother’s a real stand-up guy.”

&nb
sp; Metal was an older Insurgent who’d gone inactive when a slew of health problems forced him to retire from the club. His second wife, Thea, hadn’t been too happy about being a caretaker at her young age. She was a little less than half of Metal’s fifty years, and the thrill of being his old lady began to dissipate. Skeet was twenty-eight, rugged, and exuded all kinds of alpha-male sexiness, and soon the two were carrying on a torrid affair behind Metal’s back.

  The Insurgents MC had a rule that if any brother fucks another brother’s old lady or girlfriend, that member would get a beatdown and be thrown out of the club. Of course there were exceptions, like in Wheelie and Sofia’s case, but for the most part, the rule was taken seriously.

  Skeet had left the club before Metal found out about the affair, and the ex-Insurgent weaseled himself into the Rising Order—a relatively new MC in Northern Colorado. Since Skeet had entered into that club, there had been rumblings over the MC grapevine that the Rising Order wanted to claim Colorado as their state—something the Insurgents would never allow. From their inception, Colorado had been Insurgents’ territory and they’d go to war to defend their claim.

  “I heard Twisted Kings wanna join forces with the Rising Assholes,” Animal said as he pulled out a joint from his shirt pocket.

  “They’re wannabe outlaws. They think their shit doesn’t stink because they got some affiliation with the Grim Henchmen in Oakland. What a bunch of weak-ass pussies,” Throttle said.

  “Panther told me even the Henchmen can’t stand those fuckers,” Jerry said. “Kylie and I went to San Diego for a vacation last week, and I met up with the brothers in the San Diego chapter. Scratch and Demon were fucking crazy at the club party.” He laughed then stopped short.

  Shadow glanced at Banger’s stony face and chuckled. He and the other brothers had been taking bets for the last few years on when Banger was going to finally chill about his daughter being Jerry’s old lady. Banger had calmed down a bit since the early years, but he still gave Jerry the evil eye whenever he talked about club parties or anything else the president didn’t think was appropriate when it came to Kylie.