Damaged and the Outlaw

by Bijou Hunter

  Damaged and the Outlaw

  Bijou Hunter

  Copyright © 2013 Bijou Hunter

  Kindle Edition

  Dedication

  Freckles, Tigger, Pooh, and Roo who own my heart

  Marvelous Miranda and Mustang Sally for having my back

  Saucy Sarah and Hardcore Patty for knowing the genre

  Eusebia, Jennifer, Katelyn, Arnie, Gail, and the rest of the awesome Denny’s crew

  Bijou Hunter Books

  Damaged and the Beast (April 2013)

  Damaged and the Knight (July 2013)

  Damaged and the Cobra (October 2013)

  Damaged and the Dragon (2014)

  Damaged and the Saint (2014)

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One - Raven

  Chapter Two - Vaughn

  Chapter Three - Raven

  Chapter Four - Vaughn

  Chapter Five - Raven

  Chapter Six - Vaughn

  Chapter Seven – Raven

  Chapter Eight - Vaughn

  Chapter Nine - Raven

  Chapter Ten - Vaughn

  Chapter Eleven – Raven

  Chapter Twelve – Vaughn

  Chapter Thirteen – Raven

  Chapter Fourteen – Vaughn

  Chapter Fifteen - Raven

  Chapter Sixteen - Vaughn

  Chapter Seventeen – Raven

  Chapter Eighteen – Vaughn

  Chapter Nineteen – Raven

  Chapter Twenty - Vaughn

  Chapter Twenty One – Raven

  Chapter Twenty Two – Vaughn

  Chapter Twenty Three – Raven

  Chapter Twenty Four – Vaughn

  Chapter Twenty Five – Raven

  Chapter Twenty Six – Vaughn

  Chapter Twenty Seven – Raven

  Chapter Twenty Eight – Vaughn

  Chapter Twenty Nine – Raven

  Epilogue – Vaughn

  Epilogue – Raven

  About Bijou

  Chapter One - Raven

  Since I was old enough to notice boys, I’d suffered from a sickness when it came to men.

  If a hundred guys were in a room and only one of them was a two-timing, money-stealing, back-handing piece of shit, I’d find him in the crowd. Not only find him, but promptly fall head over heels in lust.

  I wasn’t purposely stupid. Never would I admit my men were losers. They were just misunderstood or rough around the edges. If their fuckups were too obvious for me to ignore, I embraced the time-tested lie women like me cherished.

  I’d change him.

  People called me a bitch. Hell on wheels. Scary even. If anyone could whip a man into shape, it should have been me. In the end, nobody really changes. They might train themselves to pretend, but inside their flaws remained.

  My mom had gone through every kind of bad man. For her, Larry was the best she could manage. He didn’t drink, do drugs, or live in a trailer. He was a great man in her mind and no amount of punishments for her mistakes would change her view of him.

  One day, I might become desperate enough to settle for a guy like Larry. Probably not. While I wanted kids, sperm was free at any bar in any town. I didn’t need a man to survive. With my sickness, I shouldn’t have one. So I returned to Ellsberg with the plan to swear off men from my life, my heart, and even my bed.

  In Ellsberg lived the only person who really mattered to me. My mom was shit in my eyes. My dad was a fucking loser too. My little brother Phoenix drowned when he was three. All I had left was Lark. Fortunately, she was the best person I’d ever met.

  Somehow, despite the Hancock women curse, Lark found a good man who adored her. She met Aaron, fell in love, got knocked up, and was married within months. This usual recipe for disaster turned out to be the most beautiful relationship I’d ever witnessed.

  Everywhere I turned, people were in love. Cooper Johansson who was a poonhound in high school had married Farah. His enforcer married her sister. All these happy couples were constantly sucking face, so I avoided spending too much time with the group. Girl time was more my thing especially with my abstinence plan.

  Fortunately, I found a new sidekick once Lark was married with babies onboard.

  In high school, Bailey Johansson annoyed me, so I avoided her as if she was a cootie machine. Now, the fellow blonde chick was my copilot.

  Before Bailey joined my abstinence plan, we tried hunting men for her. Her attempts at romance were more pathetic than mine. The poor shit couldn’t get a nice guy to give her the time of day. Meanwhile, assholes were lining up around the block to get a chance to hang and bang her.

  As a result of her empowered decision to copy me, Bailey was in a constant state of horniness. This led to her being in a constant state of crankiness. I knew how she felt.

  More than missing sex, I missed having a man. The way the stubble felt on my skin, the heat of their breath on my neck, the way their hair stuck up in the morning after a good night of fucking. Unfortunately, those fun parts came with cheating, beating, and leaving. Men always treated me like shit and I really didn’t miss that part.

  Preparing for my fight in the Thunderdome, I wanted a cigarette. Ever since I was seventeen and my then stepdad told me smoking was for losers, I had been a smoker. He might as well have shoved a cigarette in my mouth and said inhale. Giving up sex was harder than giving up the company of a man, but they were both easier to ditch than my smokes.

  Sitting in the locker room, I hoped the fight was really violent. A good wild battle would distract from smoking and fucking. I’d be tired and sore and nothing else would matter.

  My first fight in the Thunderdome was against a black chick on a winning streak that I ended for her. As we applied ice to our swelling noses, Cecee thanked me. She said the pressure to keep winning was too much, yet people were sick of her beating everyone. She was stuck in a cycle of stress and I’d freed her.

  The next time we fought, Cecee kicked my ass.

  Bloodied and grateful for all of my teeth, I had wondered if the money was worth taking a beating every few nights at the Thunderdome. Once the cash was in hand and I considered my other employment options, fighting seemed like an easy paycheck.

  In theory, the girl fights were more for show. We weren’t expected to hurt each other. Just make it look good, Axel said the first night. The girls only needed to look hot and give off a lesbian vibe. No one expected them to really fight. If Axel wasn’t my boss, I’d have punched him in the face for saying that to me. More than hot, I was tough as nails and stubborn like a mule.

  While Cecee and I were real fighters, most girls did what Axel suggested. They yanked hair and gave nip slips, so the crowd got a show. When I fought those girls, I played along. No way would I bash in the face of a girl who wouldn’t fight back.

  I invited Lark to watch me fight on a night I knew would be lame. She hated me fighting. The bruises freaked her out and she cried when I came home with a black eye. Of course, she had all those hormones filling her tiny body as she fostered not one life, but two.

  Twins!

  Feeling dizzy to the point of becoming bedridden, Lark and Aaron had visited the doctor early. I tagged along, already accustomed to being the third wheel. An ultrasound up Lark’s hoohaw later, I learned I would be an aunt twice over. I decided right then to move out of their small Craftsman house.

  Taking up the offer to stay at Cooper’s old apartment at the Johansson place, I left a crying Lark behind. She cried less upon realizing I would still be at her house every day. I think this fact made Aaron cry though.

  Lark avoided my fight nights now. She just didn’t have the energy to deal with the crowds and seeing her big sister get bloodied. Tonight, I looked forwa
rd to bloodying someone else.

  “Excuse me?” a quiet voice asked behind.

  Spinning around, I came face-to-face with my opponent. Tiny like Lark, but curvier, she was decked out with teased hair and too much makeup. Looking like a hooker, she appeared around thirty, but was likely in her late teens.

  “What?”

  “I’m Lise and I’m fighting you tonight.”

  “Come to beg me not to make you bleed?” I growled, feeling grumpy in a way only a smoke would satisfy.

  “Yes, please,” Lise squeaked. “See, I have pictures scheduled tomorrow with my family and I really don’t want to look all messed up.”

  “How is that my problem?”

  I was very proud of my bitchiness. In fact, Bailey and I had bitch contests and she was the only chick who ever came close to defeating me. I adored my cranky attitude. Even more than my C-cup boobs, great hair, and ability to eat an hour after barfing, my bad attitude was my favorite quality. “No mercy” was printed on more than one of my shirts. I hated pity and would crush anyone except Lark. My only weakness?

  Crying.

  Lise’s over made-up eyes moistened and I knew she would be bawling in less than a minute. Her sobs would be loud and gross and snot would get everywhere. So I showed mercy, mainly for my ears, by stopping her from crying.

  “We’ll just make a show of it,” I said and Lise hiccupped. “Little cat fight stuff. No bruises or anything to ruin your pictures, okay?”

  Lise nodded wildly. “Thank you so much. You’re amazing and I totally owe you.”

  “Whatever. I just don’t want to ruin your day with the family and all that,” I said, ducking her attempt at a hug. “It’ll be fine. You’ll see.”

  Lise looked up at me and smiled like I was amazing. I smiled back at her and realized the nice route had its benefits. I even felt a little surge of pride in showing kindness to someone. Look at me! Turning over a new leaf like Bailey. I might even let Lark and Tawny train me to be a good person. Why not?

  Twenty minutes in our fake fight, little Lise bit into my hand like a starving zombie. How the hell she went from playfully tugging my hair to eating me, I wasn’t sure. I know it ended when I punched her in the face. The crowd roared when Lise went sprawling. I looked up at them and frowned because my fucking hand hurt.

  Storming out of the cage, I doused the wound with peroxide, wrapped my hand, shoved a few pieces of Nicorette into my mouth, and decided I needed a stiff drink. Having given sugar, spice, and everything nice a try, I admitted I wasn’t a fan. Mercy was for suckers.

  Chapter Two - Vaughn

  Funny how life could change in a split second. One moment, I had a solid life with as close to a family as I’d ever managed. The next moment, a temper tantrum caused me to ruin the known and forced me to embrace an indifferent world.

  What I found in Ellsberg was better than indifference, but I wasn’t truly part of the Reapers Motorcycle Club. I was an outlaw they allowed in their territory. Of course, I’d made friends in this small town and I’d take a bullet for many of them.

  Despite a sense of friendship, a man with a bounty on his head couldn’t afford to trust anyone. One of those friendly fucks in my club might need extra cash for a house payment or a vacation to Dollywood with the kids. My life was shit when money could be made.

  Fear forced people to pretend I belonged. I was as good at scaring people as Judd. We were killers and a knock from us in the middle of the night usually meant someone wasn’t seeing their kids in the morning. That was my life now. It had been my life before I made the split-second decision to ruin everything I had in Tucson. Didn’t matter where I lived, my job was spilling blood.

  Killing was all I knew how to do. No sense in crying over my choices, even if they led to my empty life in a place full of possibilities.

  Even under threat, I had a decent life in Ellsberg. Shacked up in a good sized bachelor pad with a gym and pool, I also bought a patch of wooded land from Kirk where I built a cabin. The area was secluded and I’d often think about making my last stand against the Devils in my cabin. More likely, I’d get killed taking a leak at a bar.

  There were things a dead man walking shouldn’t have and that included a pet. I’d wanted a dog, but felt weird about what would happen to it once I was killed. Judd was too lazy for dogs. Cooper had so many that mine would get lost in the mess. I figured I shouldn’t get a pet anyway. Attachments made men soft. This fact was made obvious lately by my buddies.

  I blamed Tucker. A little over a year earlier, the idiot strolled over to a table filled with college girls. Each one shot him down until he was left with Maddy. For whatever reason, she thought he was funny. Or maybe just hot enough to overcome his lack of brain cells. They hooked up and he quickly handed his balls to her with a ribbon tied around them. He acted like he was still his own man, but the guy was whipped to the point of being fluffy.

  Once he lost his way, the others fell like dominoes. Cooper and Judd were family men now. While my fellow enforcer wasn’t ready for kids, our boss had a baby on the way.

  Cooper hadn’t announced this fact. No, apparently, it was a secret couples kept until some magical point in a pregnancy when it suddenly became everyone else’s problem. Even though Cooper and Farah didn’t tell anyone she was knocked up, it was pretty damn obvious.

  A three feet radius, maybe more, existed around Farah now. Cooper got psycho pissed if anyone entered the bubble around his woman. While he’d always been territorial, he was now like a junkyard dog protecting his bone.

  Even as we bowled, Cooper glared at anyone stupid enough to wander near Farah. For her part, she looked about the same. Well, hot dogs now made her nauseous. Clearly, the hormones were already giving her bad taste.

  Bailey and I sat eating foot longs by ourselves. Nearby, Maddy and Tucker were busy announcing how they were free to party since Scarlet was with the Johanssons for the night. An hour later, they made this announcement drunk off their asses.

  I just kept eating my hot dogs and bowling by myself. Bailey sometimes rolled a ball into a gutter. When I had them put up the bumpers for her, she managed to roll the ball into another alley and land in that gutter. The girl had a talent.

  “I’m so bored,” she whined. “Why do you bowl? Are you lame?”

  “Probably. Why are you here anyway?”

  “Fuck you,” the redneck princess growled. “I’m part of the crew.”

  “Yeah, but why is the crew here? Cooper is hovering around his woman like she’s the Hope diamond.”

  “The what?”

  Rolling my eyes, I continued, “Judd and Tawny bailed to fuck somewhere. Maddy and Dipshit are drunk off their asses.”

  “So true.”

  “Lark and Aaron are at home so she can gestate her litter. I’m essentially alone.”

  “I’m here, dummy,” she growled again and this time the anger inspired a hot dog smelling burp. “Way not to appreciate me.”

  “You hate bowling.”

  “I know, but I’m here.”

  “True. Sometimes, I think I should just fuck you and make you my woman until I’m dead. I’m lazy enough for it to work.”

  “I don’t want to fuck you.”

  Giving her a wink, I rolled the ball. “Whatever you need to tell yourself, princess.”

  “I’m going the abstinence route. It’s my new thing.”

  “I thought studying was your new thing?”

  “That was when school was in. It’s summer break, idiot.”

  “Why abstinence? Do you think playing hard to get will make some guy chase you?”

  “No, Raven and I are giving up men. She’s doing it forever. I’m just doing it until I get bored.”

  “Lark’s sister. The blonde one with the nice tits.”

  “How would you like if people called you Judd’s friend? The blond one with small balls.”

  “I wouldn’t mind. I’m really easy-going that way.”

  Bailey grinned. “Do you th
ink I’m pretty?”

  “You’re fucking gorgeous. Just like the last time you asked.”

  “I’d fuck you if you had a better personality. Why must you suck?”

  “I wasn’t raised well,” I said, mussing her hair. “I’m finishing my game then ditching you with the drunks.”

  Glancing around, Bailey realized Cooper and Farah had left. “Bummer.”

  “Go hang out with Raven. You two can not have sex together.”

  The idea of the two blondes naked gave me a moment to daydream. Bailey woke me up by punching my arm.

  “I thought you were nice now?” I asked, admiring her right hook.

  “Oh, yeah, sorry. I’ll try to remember next time you piss me off.”

  “You don’t have to stay while I finish my game.”

  “Raven is working tonight. Lark is sick. Tawny’s busy getting fucked. I have so many friends, yet I’m alone. I blame you.”

  “Sounds about right.”

  “I guess I’ll go to the Thunderdome and watch Raven.”

  Having seen Raven a few times in passing, I knew she was hotter than hell. I also heard she was a ball-busting bitch. Those were two of my favorite qualities in a woman.

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “You’re not hooking up with her,” Bailey said, giving me her tough chick duckface expression. “She’s abstaining from fucking losers like you.”

  “I’m not looking to fuck her. I just want to watch her fight another girl. Let her get me riled up then I’ll find another chick to give me a happy ending.”

  “Won’t be me.”

  “You keep saying that,” I muttered, rolling my final strike. “I think maybe you’ve got fucking me on your mind.”

  “No way. I like someone else. He’s hotter than you and smells like bacon.”

  Grinning, I hugged Bailey to me. “Baby, aim higher than bacon stink.”

  “You’re not the boss of me.”

  Based on her grumpy tone, I realized Bailey would cockblock any chance I had with Raven. Even if I got my happy ending from another chick, I was looking to play a little with the icy blonde. Bailey though would ruin it with her hot bacon guy talk.