by Ali Parker
"We met at the lodge." I offered him a smile.
"I know. I wasn't sure you remembered."
"How do you know it was Jason?" Johnny took the conversation back.
"He left a note man. It was his good deed to show his pledge to the Black Hearts. He got initiated and received his first patch from those bastards for doing this."
"He's no longer family." Johnny let out a painful sounding sigh. "He's an enemy."
"Yeah, and one with a reason for vengeance." Axel handed Johnny the note. "He thinks you killed his dad, man. Tanner must have convinced him of that shit before he died."
"Tanner killed my brother." Johnny's arm tightened around me.
"Oh, I don't doubt that shit at all, but vengeance over a lost loved one is the strongest type there is. Just like Tanner wanted to watch you suffer for his dad's suicide, now Jason's taken his place."
Johnny released me and glanced around. "His vengeance is built on lies, but if the Black Hearts want a war... then they'll fucking get one. Who's in?"
Axel nodded. "We ride for the lost."
"The left behind." A dark-haired guy lifted his fist in the air.
"The abused." A handsome guy with a suit lifted his fist.
"The abandoned." A young guy with a great smile and big muscles lifted his fist.
"The forgotten." Hyde lifted his as well and glanced over at me and Johnny.
"We ride for each other." Ryder lifted his hand in the air and made a loud noise that everyone echoed. "No mercy tonight for Jason, and no mercy for his MC."
Author Note: Thanks so much for picking up a copy of my first MC book. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! I made mention of Jenna and Nate in the book, which I’m sure you caught. If you’d like to read their story (Toxic written by my brother, Weston and I), feel free. It’s included for your reading enjoyment.
Toxic
Till Death Do Us Part
Nathaniel Hayes is the type of man who takes what he wants without asking. Life hasn’t ever been a willing servant to his desires, but that’s soon to shift. When his latest scheme turns deadly, he is more than willing to push to the edge of his limits for wealth. Finally, the two things he has always wanted are within his grasp, but which will he choose? Love or Loyalty?
Jenna Webb is wedged into a life of pretentious f*cks, who are more concerned with the appearance of being somebody rather than doing it… She’s exhausted from over-the-top dinner parties, materialistic suitors and hypocrisy at its finest. The last thing she wants in her life is another pompous alpha male pretending to be someone he isn’t. When offered a chance to live fully alive, will she take it? Will it be worth the cost?
True freedom isn’t always what it’s chalked up to be. Especially not when vows are involved…
Chapter 1
Nate
"All I'm saying is that this is getting old." Ashley dropped down on the couch adjacent to the one I was lounging on. "Don't tell me you don't understand. It's always me going out on a limb."
I lifted my eyebrow and tried to hold back the tongue lashing the wayward bitch deserved. "It's always you because that is the way we planned this shit from the beginning. I should have recorded our original conversation. You didn't want me marrying some random rich bitch and leaving you here to sleep alone at night."
Mikey poked his head into the living room from the kitchen. "Are you guys seriously fighting over who's doing what again?"
"Always." I got up and walked toward the scent of red meat frying. "You almost done with lunch? I'm fucking starving."
"Nate. We're not done." Ash got up and followed me into the tiny kitchen. The apartment was nothing to write home about, but it was part of the cover. We didn't need anything fancy. We were hood-rats from the poor side of New York. We hadn't done anything to legally earn the money we had tucked away between the old mattresses in the bedroom. We had to be careful.
I jerked around and gripped her arm, tugging her against me and narrowing my eyes. "Yes, the fuck we are. You wanted to be the bait, so shut the fuck up with this noise. Understood?"
Her blue eyes widened a little, but that was the extent of her reaction. She was too tough to cry. She'd been through too much already. Crying was a weakness neither of us could afford, nor one I would put up with.
"I don't get it," Mikey started as he glanced over from the stove, his big belly almost touching the dials. Sorry bastard was going to die of a heart attack just like his daddy did a few years back.
"Surprise, surprise." Ash jerked from my grasp and walked to the fridge, her long blond hair dancing behind her.
My eyes moved over the curve of her ass, and I couldn't remember the last time I had her on her knees, but something told me if she kept up with her bitching, it wouldn't be long. Someone needed to shut her up, and I had the proper tools for making it happen.
"Fuck you, Barbie." Mikey shook his head and turned to face me. "I don't get why you guys keep having this fight, man."
"Because Ash is a girl, buddy." I patted his chest and moved around him to grab a beer before Ash could close the fridge. "She's got estrogen and shit."
"Fuck you both." She walked out of the kitchen after giving us both a 'go-to-hell' look.
"You couldn't handle us both." Mikey snorted and I rolled my eyes. The girl could handle both of us and a couple more thick dicks. She was a whore on her best day.
"What are you confused about?" I popped the top on the beer and leaned against the counter. "I mean, right now... in this moment? What's fucking with that empty skull of yours?"
"There are two jobs in yours and Ashley's scheme. One of you had to find a rich fucker and marry them, and the other one kills the spouse off when it's time."
"I already know this." I tilted my head to the side again as he wiped his hands on his t-shirt.
"I know, but Ashley isn't a killer. She's being stupid wanting to trade spots with you, or is she wanting you to do both, because that's-"
"I'm right fucking here." Ash appeared back in the opening of the kitchen, her hands on her hips, her eyes filled with the same torrent of emotions I'd seen far too often on her pretty face - anger, disappointment, disgust.
"And he's right," I barked. "You make no goddamn sense right now. Is your current cock not keeping up? You've been a little too bitchy lately. Wanna share the reason?"
"Yes. I. Do." She walked across the kitchen and slapped me before I realized what she was up to. Never in the twenty-something years of knowing her had she ever hit me.
I reached up and gripped the base of her throat as I walked toward her, moving her out of the kitchen.
"Don't ever hit me again." I pressed her against the wall as her eyes fluttered closed. Bingo. She wasn't getting fucked the way a slut like Ashley liked to be fucked. That's what all the fuss was about. Funny enough, I couldn't just leave it at that. Her thinking she had the right to hit me needed to be nipped in the bud.
"I'm angry," she whispered and slid her hands over my hips. "And I miss you. Stop pushing me away. I know something is up with you."
"Nothing is up." I ground against her as my cock grew thick and hard in my jeans. I hadn't felt the warm wetness of a woman's lips in a few weeks thanks to Ashley's newest hubs wanting to wine and dine her day and night.
"You're lying." She glanced up at me, and a million memories moved behind my eyes. She was my childhood, my first lover, my best friend.
"Hey, if you guys are gonna start fucking, please, for the love of all things holy, just do it in-"
"Shut it, Mikey." I glanced over at him, my fingers still wrapped around Ashley's neck. I turned back to her. "You wanna play wife to these rich guys, or you wanna pick up a gun and snuff out some innocent young girl who reminds you of your sister, Ash? Which is it?"
The light in her eyes died a little, and I wanted to hate myself for hurting her, but I couldn't. She needed to remember that we were just friends, fuck-buddies, business partners. There was no white-picket fence a
t the end of our crime spree where she and I would exchange rings and end up growing old together. No future I could see had that ending in it.
I didn't love her like that.
"I don't know. I hate living over there with him, Nate. It's not my place, you know?" She gripped my ass, massaging hard like I liked it.
Electricity shot across my lower stomach and I stifled a groan. It had been too long.
"I'm gonna let you go, but only so you can sink to your knees." I leaned in and brushed my nose against hers, playing the bastard I was. "Be a good girl and drink deeply, yeah?"
"Asshole," she whispered and lifted up, pressing her soft lips to mine. "I hate you sometimes."
"I know you do. Knees." I spun us before releasing her and pressing my back to the wall.
She dropped to her knees, her tight miniskirt riding up her thighs as she frantically tore at the button on the front of my jeans. I swatted her hands away and worked my jeans over my hips. A groan left me as she moved up and ran her cheek by my length.
"Awww... really? Shit," Mikey groaned and turned his back to us, walking back into the kitchen.
"Not now, man." I slid my hand into Ashley's thick blond hair and used my grasp to bring her in closer as she gripped my cock and leaned in to suck it deep into her mouth. Pleasure danced across my exposed skin and left my knees weak. I needed to find a few bitches to spend my nights with until our latest scheme was over and my whore was back where she belonged - in my bed.
Her fingers dragged down the top of my thighs lovingly as her face contorted and she gagged.
"Such a big dick, Ash. You're such a good little slut." I pulled her closer and deep-throated her as she moaned low and guttural.
I rolled my hips, massaging her throat in short, hard thrusts. She took it like a champ, but she always did.
"I hate you guys," Mikey mumbled from the kitchen.
I glanced over to find him leaning against the door frame, a thick hamburger in one hand and a tent in his pants. He took a deep bite of the burger as I turned my attention back to Ash. Mikey had seen more than his share of my intimate moments thanks to being my best friend. He was good with them unless they were with Ashley. He couldn’t stand her.
She moved back and reached up to stroke my sloppy wet cock. "Stop driving so hard into me. It's been awhile. I'm not used to-"
"Talking too much." I pulled her back toward me and worked my dick in and out of the tight O she provided for me. The sting of her nails against my skin felt good - too fucking good. I wasn't going to make it much longer, but I didn't really need to. I wasn't trying to impress anyone.
I jerked her back as my balls tightened. "Open wide."
She nodded and tilted her head back as I moved up closer and pumped the swollen flesh of my cock. The orgasm slammed into me full force, and I gave myself over to it as a string of grunts announced the arrival of a much-needed release.
"Fuck me." Mikey turned and walked back into the kitchen as I pumped all the come I had into the pretty girl's mouth.
She moved back to rest on her knees, glossy-eyed and mouth swollen and pink around the edges. "You know I love you."
"Yeah, I do." I tucked my dick back in my pants. "Get up and let's eat."
I walked to the kitchen, not offering her a hand. She was a viper, and me being anything but stiff and unyielding around her was long over. She was the devil I knew, and love didn't mean shit to her. It was a word she casually threw around, as did everyone else I knew. Love was for pussies and romance novels.
"Move," I grumbled to Mikey as he stood in the doorway, his burger dripping ketchup on the plate below as he held it suspended with his thick fingers.
"You're a dickhead. You didn't even help her up."
"She can get up on her own. She's gotten quite used to that position, haven’t you, Ash?" I picked up my beer from the counter where I set it down and drank deeply from it. I turned to find her gone.
"Don't get me wrong," he snorted, "I hate that cunt, but why are you so rough on her?"
"And I hate the word cunt. Stop being one and find another word." I finished the beer and tossed the bottle into the trashcan.
"Whatever. Answer my damn question."
"Why do you care if I'm hard on Ash? You don't like her on a good day."
"True, but it just seems disgusting. I don't know." He shrugged and took another bite of his burger as I made mine.
"She's in love with me, whatever the fuck that means. She needs to get over it."
"Because you're not in love with her?"
"No. I'm not. Nor will I ever be." I turned my face to the right to see her standing there, the expression on her face one that I'd not soon forget.
Devastation.
"Fuck you too, Nate. I'm done with this shit. You can go sleep with some random shrimp dick and have him show you all over town as his new toy. I hate you." She turned and stormed back toward the bedroom.
"No, you don't, and I don't like seafood, remember?" I took a big bite of my burger and leaned against the counter.
"You need to fix that. This latest guy has more money than God, and it's all hers if you can pull this shit off." Mikey moved up to stand in front of me.
"Stop acting like you know something. You don't." I popped him in the chest. "I'll make it up to her when I finish my lunch. Fuck off."
"Make it up how? You just crushed her dreams you cunt." He chuckled and I popped him again, this time in the nuts. He bent over, dropping his plate to the ground and groaned. "I'm going to get you back for that."
"No, you're not." I pushed at his forehead before walking out of the kitchen. "I'm going to do what she wants me to do, Mikey." I pulled my shirt over my head and dropped it in the hall somewhere.
"What's that? Die?" He snorted, his voice growing dim as I headed toward the sound of her throwing shit around my bedroom.
"No, fuck her like she likes to be fucked. Violently."
Chapter 2
Jenna
Boring. The theme for my life, summed up in one small word.
I reached for the door to the library and jerked back as someone flew toward me, almost knocking me over.
"Sorry!" A rail-thin girl with stringy blond hair and glasses lifted her head and waved as she jogged off.
"Right. Sure. No problem." I opened the door and breathed in deeply. The scent of old books left me feeling right at home. My father's study smelled the same, but there was a touch of a cigar in the mix as well.
"Hey. You all right? You look a little flustered." My childhood best friend, Grace Adams, walked across the large foyer at the NYC downtown library. Her dark hair was pulled back into a tight bun and her clothes looked like something my mother would wear to a legal hearing.
"And you look like my grandmother in that shirt." I snorted and followed behind her.
"You didn't answer my question." She glanced over her shoulder, her dark eyes narrowed.
"I'm fine. Someone almost plowed me over when I came in." I shrugged and stopped at the check-in counter as she walked around with a stack of books in her hands. "Why do you insist on wearing clothes from the 1930's? You're the hottest woman in this place."
"I'm the only woman in this place." She turned up her nose at me and set the books down.
She was one of the most beautiful women I'd seen walking around the streets of New York, and yet she was single. Alone. Lonely as hell. We both were.
"That's not true. Nelly is a woman." I glanced over my shoulder as the older woman walked across the foyer, her eyes narrowed on me.
"No one has verified that she's truly female."
"Yeah, well," I turned back to face my best friend, "don't expect anyone to. That's just nasty."
Grace shuddered. "Let's talk about something else."
"Like?" I leaned against the counter and jerked back as Nelly cleared her throat and stopped beside me. Her voice was tight as if anxiety was her go-to emotion at all times.
"You know we're not allowed to have visitors
on the clock." Nelly glanced over at me. "Morning, Miss Webb."
"Nelly." I nodded and stepped back from the counter. "I'll be in the porn section. Come find me when you get a chance."
Grace's laugh followed me as I walked toward the reference section. I sat down at one of the small tables and pulled out my phone, letting the silence become my serenity. Nothing was more peaceful than the heart of the library. It bled antiquity. I loved it.
***
"Hey, Thomas is having a get together at Kadia this weekend. I want to go, but you know I can't go without you."
I glanced over my shoulder to find Grace pretending as if she were looking for something in a book. Her whisper was a little too loud and gleaned some attention from the folks around us, but that was Grace. The opposite of her name altogether.
"I hate that place," I mumbled and flipped through the missed calls from my brother earlier that morning. He was the last person I wanted to talk to. I was hoping for a good day. That meant not having a conversation with my older, and intensely pompous brother, Darek. He was an asshole on a good day.
"No you don't." She moved closer and knelt beside me. "It's going to be fun. Come with me. We might actually find someone worth our time."
"In the middle of a club known for sex and drugs? What kind of guy are you looking for?" I lifted my eyebrow and glanced down at her.
The long black skirt she wore pooled around her. 1930's. All the way.
"A bad boy." She pursed her lips and gave me sad eyes. "Please? I really want to live a little before we're out of school."
"College is the end of living, hm?" I tucked my phone in my pocket as it buzzed. My brother again. No doubt.
"You know what I mean." She reached up and gripped my forearm softly. "Please? For me."
"For you, or for Thomas?" I cupped my hand on top of hers. She knew I wouldn't deny her anything ever.