Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: Aces High MC (Aces High MC - Dakotas Book 2)

by Christine Michelle

  “That’s a decision for you to make, brother. I’m just letting you know, the choice is there if you need it.” I nodded my head at him then.

  “I appreciate that.”

  “All right, I do believe you left your woman waiting and wanting. Better go remedy that before she gets pissed and comes hunting you down.”

  “She’d never do that,” I told him.

  “I know it. That’s why I’m bending over backwards to make sure we have our ducks in a row for that one. She’s been through enough at the hands of a piece of shit MC. The least we can do is make sure she sees the other side of our world for what it is too.”

  When I got back to the room Liza was out cold lying across the bed. I covered her, and then just sat and watched the woman I was falling for as she slept. She seemed at peace, unlike when she first got here and was always so on edge it took a miracle, and supreme exhaustion to get her to pass out at night. I’d like to think the change meant that she had grown to trust me, and was comfortable enough here that she new she was safe. I didn’t dare ask though, as if just putting the words out there would break the spell she was under and send her back to that restless space she’d once occupied.

  Chapter 13

  Liza

  Sitting at the bar watching Charlie work her magic with the big, bad biker boys of the Aces High MC was something special to witness. She had them eating out of her hand and laughing as she poured more beer and whiskey than anyone should ever consume. She was entertaining me, because when I woke this morning Tango was nowhere to be found. I wasn’t sure where he’d gone, or when, since I didn’t even register him coming back into the room last night. Once he left me all turned on to go see what Iceman wanted, I helped myself out and then fell off to sleep. It took me a couple hours to even come out of the room to look for anyone, because I was still leery about wandering around the compound – or whatever they called this massive place – on my own. The need for food was what finally broke my resolve and drove me down to the bar where I met Charlie.

  When the door opened and Charlie stilled while all the men around us jumped up, I knew something strange was going on. “What’s happening? I asked as Charlie turned and shrugged before the man who I’d come to realize was like a surrogate father to her got up an went to greet the newcomers.

  “Well, well, well, looks like the south is invading us, boys,” Shameless called out good-naturedly as he moved in to hug the first man in the lineup. The man in question had to be equal in height to Tango, at about six feet four inches, but that was where the similarities ended. This new man had silver hair and his well trimmed beard matched though it was interspersed with darker hairs too. His blue eyes were large, yet watchful. He was probably mid-to-late forties, but still fit as any of the younger men there.

  “We had to come show you how it’s done, Shameless!” The man drawled in what I was certain was an exaggerated southern accent.

  “Who did you bring along?” Before anyone could answer Shameless let out a surprised hoot of excitement. “Shit! This your boy? Damn, man, it has been a minute since I last saw you. Toby’s all grown up now.” The silver-haired man grinned with pride over at the younger version of himself as he slid to the side a bit, inadvertently giving me a better view.

  “All grown up, and no need to be jealous, either. I’m sure there’s plenty of pussy to go around for you old dudes,” Toby stated before eyeing his dad. “You’re not included in that.”

  The man scowled at his son. “Of course I’m not. Not a bitch alive on this planet that compare to your momma.” The son nodded at his father, obviously liking that statement. My attention was pulled elsewhere though as a sturdy mountain of a man came ambling over to me at the bar.

  “Hey there, honey. You don’t look like the normal club fair they serve up around here.” His statement gave me pause, and the leering look he sent my way did as well. I cringed and slipped backwards, almost falling off the stool I’d been perched on. As I caught myself I managed to knock over the stool beside me thanks to my shaking hands. “Whoa, there little mouse,” he called out, gentling his tone a bit as he threw his hands up in the air to show he meant no harm.

  Warmth at my back and the familiar smell of Tango’s intoxicating leather and spice combination worked to put me a little more at ease and calm my nerves. “Shit, she the house mouse your boys picked up?” The man asked.

  Tango growled low in his throat causing the vibrations to rumble through his chest and into my back. “She’s no mouse, and she sure as fuck ain’t a BRAT either. Hands off, Val.”

  Val’s eyes went wide at that. “Well, hell, didn’t realize you’d gotten yourself an old lady.” I started to protest, but Tango’s words cut me off.

  “Not yet, but she’s mine just the same.” As Tango spoke, I reached out to grab my sweatshirt off the bar where I’d placed it when I came down. I didn’t like wearing it down here, because they usually kept it pretty warm in the place. Unfortunately, I also didn’t like showing off my scars so I was often in a conundrum as to what to do. Either way meant I was uncomfortable. When I went to grab my sweatshirt Val’s eyes tracked the movement and he reached out faster than a serpent striking prey to grab my hand.

  “Son of a…” he hissed through his teeth as he took a better look at my forearm, marked as it was. “Someone is going to pay for this!” He demanded, and I didn’t understand the venom behind his words until Tango gentled my hand away from the man.

  “Random will pay for that, and the other one,” Tango told him causing the man to glance down at my other arm that I quickly hid behind my back.

  “You have nothing to worry about from me, girl.” Val turned and walked away. I wasn’t sure if I’d offended him, but honestly I didn’t care. Strange men, especially those wearing kuttes, still put me on edge. It was a response I couldn’t help.

  “It’s okay, none of these guys would ever hurt you, Liza.”

  “I know that you know all of them, and you think that, but I can’t help…” He pulled me close to him, and turned me so that my head was resting on his chest while his arms locked around me protectively.

  “I know. I understand, and so do they. You’re fine. We’re here for you, and before long you’ll understand that this world is different from the one you were trapped in all those years ago. It’s not the same. The people aren’t the same. I promise, no harm will come to you here or at any of our chapters.”

  I nodded against his chest. I knew that the men I had met here were nothing like the King’s Demons. There was no denying that. Still, I worked to even out my breathing and calm my racing heart. Another man walked up then who had a President patch on the front of his kutte above his name, Crusher.

  “You must be Liza?”

  Again, I nodded my head, but I also scooted out of Tango’s embrace while keeping him securely at my back, because I couldn’t do without the safety his presence provided me. “I am.”

  “Good to meet you, I’m the President of the Tallahassee Chapter, and that idiot who just made you uncomfortable is my VP, Val. I promise, he meant no harm.” The man glanced over at Val who was having a somewhat heated discussion with Shameless. “I can assure you he feels angered with himself that he approached you that way. Val has a soft spot for women who have been taken against their will. One of his friends was also held captive for a while. She’s doing better now, but I would lay down odds that Val’s giving Shameless a heap of shit right now for not pointing you out immediately.”

  I offered a weak smile then. “I hope not. Shameless has been wonderful to me.”

  Crusher glanced over at Charlie behind the bar and then to Shameless. “I bet he has. He seems to be collecting surrogate daughters lately.”

  I turned to see Charlie blushing just a bit and smiling over at the man in question. “I better go talk Val down from berating himself too badly.”

  “Please, tell him it’s nothing personal, I just…” I started to explain myself, but Crusher cut me off.

>   “No need to tell us. We know. Val just forgot himself, and who might be here, that’s all. He’ll get over it.” With that the man walked off to go assuage his friend’s ego.

  “I told you they’re all good guys, even the ones who seem a little more rough around the edges.”

  “I know,” I answered quietly, and left it at that.

  “Come on, I’ll introduce you to the guys from Charleston and Sierra High too.”

  “Sierra High?” I had never heard of that place before, so it had me curious.

  “Small little town in the Georgia Mountains. It’s just a tiny little lake town, peaceful for the most part, if you discount the fact that they have two MCs in residence there.”

  “Two for a small town is strange, isn’t it?”

  “Well, we moved in on someone else’s territory, but lucky for Aces High, the President of Sierra High Evermore MC happens to be the daughter of the National President of the Aces High MC.”

  “Wait, did you say his daughter’s MC?”

  Tango grinned at me. “You heard right. A few of the guys refer to them as the Bitch Brigade, but if you ask me they’re a badass MC all on their own. Those ladies managed to build something special there, from their security ventures to the clubs they run, they’re extremely successful. A couple of our financially struggling chapters have had a sit-down with Angel Girl about her business model. We’re hoping she can help get them on a fast-track to better avenues of income so they don’t have to keep relying on illegal ventures to supply income.”

  “Wow, I didn’t even realize there were female MCs. That is pretty damn cool.”

  “They are few and far between, and there’s more female or coed style riding clubs than actual MCs, but Jamie grew up in the club life so I guess she didn’t want to half-ass it.”

  “Jamie?”

  “Jamie Murdock, otherwise known as Angel Girl, the Sierra High Evermore Club President.”

  “Oh, okay. I wish she was here. I think it’d be cool to meet her.”

  “I’m sure you’ll meet her eventually. We all do a charity run together down in Cedar Falls, West Virginia once a year to raise money for several children’s charities. Some of the girls usually come up for it.” We stopped in front of four men, including the silver-haired man and his son Toby, whose kutte actually indicated that he was called T-Bone now. I had to work at not rolling my eyes about that one. I could only imagine how he’d earned it.

  “Guys, this is Liza,” Tango started the introductions. “Liza, this is Double-D, T-Bone, Grim, and Snake. Grim and Snake are from Sierra High while Double-D and T-Bone are from Charleston.”

  “Nice to meet you all,” I stated while glancing between the four men.

  Most of them bobbed their head in greeting, but Double-D spoke up. “You and your brother have any other family out there aside from one another?”

  I shook my head. “No, both of our parents are gone now. It’s just Frank, me, and then his fiancé and their baby that’s on the way.”

  “Ever been to the Georgia Mountains before?” The one named Snake asked.

  “No, the furthest east I’ve ever been before coming here was to Salt Lake City.”

  “Seriously?” A wide-eyed Snake asked me, his tone one of disbelief.

  “Yeah, I just never had the mind to travel. I had my business in Reno and didn’t really need to go much further for anything. My brother would never take me with him to conventions or expos too far from home. I think he was worried someone would snatch me up, and I wouldn’t come back to help out in his shop.”

  “You a tattoo artist too?” Grim asked.

  “No,” I stated a little too quickly. Grim was an intimidating figure standing at about six feet, five inches with black hair and nearly black eyes to match. His name fit him perfectly. All he was missing was a scythe to carry around, and people would mistake him for Death.

  “I’m an artist. I usually design ad campaigns and websites and things for people. I’ve recently dabbled in book cover design for a few authors I met online, and I’ll probably start doing a little more of that since I’m here and don’t know anyone local I can get set up with.”

  Snake smiled brightly at me then. “My friend Poppy does the same stuff. I don’t think she’s ever done books though.”

  “Oh, you should give her my number, maybe we could network together and throw each other work if one of us has too much,” I suggested.

  “I will do that.” He glanced over toward the bar, seeing that the BRATs were now out and about, and that was all she wrote. “I’ll get that information later, brother,” he told Tango and then he was off to the races so to speak.

  “Damn, didn’t take him long.”

  “Probably the mention of Poppy. I think he needs to wash her out of his system.” The distaste in Grim’s words was evident.

  “You don’t like her?”

  “I like her just fine, but she was married to another brother of ours. He was Snake’s best friend. That dumbass did the woman wrong, no doubt, and I think if it hadn’t been for loyalty to his buddy, Snake would have stepped in and snatched her up from Walker himself.”

  “Why didn’t he, if this Walker guy wasn’t being good to her?”

  Grim huffed out a humorless laugh. “Fool waited too long, just like Walker. She ended up moving to Cedar Falls, and fell for another brother there. They’re about to have a kid of their own now.” He tipped his head toward Snake. “Looks like he found someone to drown his sorrows in though.”

  A quick glance was all it took to tell me I didn’t want to turn fully in his direction. He was already making out with one of the BRATs. I’d forgotten her name, but I didn’t think I’d forget the fact that both of her breasts were completely tattooed aside from her areola and nipples. It was almost like the tattoo formed a tube top on her since it wrapped all the way around, and the girl didn’t see the point in wearing a shirt because of it.

  “My daughter is a tattoo artist,” Double-D told me, pulling my attention back to the men who were still grouped around us.

  “Wow, really?”

  The old man beamed up at me, and then took his shirt off real quick to show me something. “She did this,” he stated, and while I could hear the pride in his voice I felt sadness underlying that pride somehow.

  I reached up and traced my fingers over the little lion cub that looked to be left behind by its family. “This is exquisite, but my heart hurts looking at it.”

  The man snuffled back an odd cough, almost like he was clearing his throat of emotion. “That’s exactly how it’s supposed to make you fell, darlin’.”

  I didn’t ask any further questions, because he didn’t seem to want to offer any more information up about the piece. “She’s obviously very talented.”

  “That she is,” Double-D stated then turned to Tango. “You should get her up here to help out during Sturgis.”

  “If she’ll come up, I’d be glad to have her.”

  “She’ll be up. Her man is in the club too.” I saw Tango raise a brow at that, and Double-D chuckled. “I approved. Not that either of them would have listened if I hadn’t, but still, couldn’t have a better man for my girl.”

  My stomach clenched a little knowing that I would never get my father’s approval for Tango. If my dad were still around, I’m not sure he’d give it anyway. He had been a simple blue-collar working, grinding out each day on construction sites wherever he could get money. Even still, I’m not sure what he would think of the biker I found myself living in now, especially after what happened to me when I was younger. He would, no doubt, think I was nuts.

  “You okay?” Tango whispered in my ear bringing me back to the conversation that was going on around me. A couple of the men were watching me wearily.

  “Yeah, sorry, just lost in thought for a moment.” I turned a smile on for the guys to reassure them that I was indeed fine. “I’m actually a bit tired. It’s been a long day already. I think I’m going to go take a nap.”
r />   “Come on, I’ll take you up there.”

  “If you’re smart you won’t be coming back any time soon, T,” T-Bone called out.

  Tango flipped him off with the hand he had tucked around my shoulder and then he walked me upstairs to our room – his room – where he shut us both in.

  “You don’t have to stay with me. All of your brothers just got to town. I’m sure you want to go catch up.”

  “I’ve been catching up with them all morning. That’s where I went to go with Iceman and Rabbit to give them all a tour of my shop and then to Renegade Ruby’s to show Crusher and Val how we run shit there.”

  “Oh, that’s cool,” I told him. “I wondered where you’d gone this morning, but honestly, I passed out so hard last night I didn’t even know if you’d made it back there at all.”

  “I was here with you all night. By the way, you drool a little bit in your sleep. The pillow had a puddle mark and everything.” My cheeks flamed with heat as I just stared at him wondering what kind of ass I’d made of myself in my sleep. It would be just my luck that he’d catch me drooling and probably sleep farting too. I shivered off that thought while Tango laughed. “Don’t worry, I promise it was all very adorable. Sexy even, when you rolled over smacking your lips and spreading the trail of drool with you as you went.”

  I groaned and tossed my weary body back on the bed before giving the pillow a dubious look and moving away. That made Tango laugh even harder as he joined me on the bed and pulled me into his body. “I may only be teasing.” His words were whispered into my ear right before he nipped at my earlobe and then started tickling me in that sweet spot just under my ribs where everything seemed to be a thousand times more sensitive.

  “Noooo!” I cried out as his fingers dug in and found their mark causing me to squirm around and bump into various places of his body with different parts of mine. My pleas did not stop him though, he continued on until I thought I might piss my pants from laughing. “Must. Stop.” The words were panted out between laughter and finally he did stop with his body on top of mine, holding most of his wait up with his arms and legs as he moved over me and stared down into my eyes before leaning in and planting his lips on my own. At first the kiss just simmered there as our lips fused together, become one until my lips parted slightly and Tango wasted no time taking it for the invite it was. His tongue slipped into my mouth and he groaned at the first taste of me, just as I returned the favor when he pulled away enough to suck my already plump bottom lip in between his own.