by Jordan Marie
“I’m going to smack that ass when we’re alone.”
“Always with the promises,” she sighs, snuggling back down in his lap.
Dragon kisses the top of her head.
“This crew is crazier than heck fire, little Jazz,” I coo at the baby.
“Heck fire?” Gunner speaks up, still holding Dom. “I swear my balls are going to shrivel up if I hang around here much more.”
I laugh. “One of Skye’s words. It must be a mom thing, she doesn’t like to use bad words around Matthew either.”
“Oh, how is the, pretty Doctor?” Gunner says.
“Fuck you. You best stay away from Skye!” I growl.
“Bull!” Carrie and Nicole say at the same time.
Dancer and Dragon laugh, and finally I join in, after I shoot Gunner a look that I hope does make his balls shrivel up.
“Any more threats against your woman?” Drag asks, once it dies down.
“Nah man, it’s been quiet. Skye has been a little more cautious since the thing with her brakes, but nothing else has really happened. She wants to believe it’s over now.”
“But you don’t think so?” Dancer asks, pulling Carrie into him and looping his hands around her waist.
“My gut tells me it’s more.”
“Is there anything in her life that could come back to bite us all in the ass?” Dragon asks, and I know he’s thinking about Dani, and all of the hell we went through. Nicole must know the same because she kisses him on his neck, hugging him tighter.
“Nah, Skye doesn’t have contact with her family anymore. They cut her off when she got pregnant with Matthew.”
“What fuckwads,” Nicole says, and everyone turns to look at her. “What? Some people require cursing,” she huffs.
She’s not wrong.
“What about the kid’s dad?” Dragon continues.
“He’s never been in the picture. Never wanted anything to do with Matthew, even signed over all rights to him.”
“Damn,” Nicole murmurs. I agree, but I’m glad it turned out this way, because I’m more than happy to be the man, his ass wouldn’t be.
“She’s been having trouble at work,” I tell them. “I handled one asshole, but she’s got a meeting today about some shit with another doctor.”
“What about that nurse?” Carrie pipes up.
“She’s still MIA. No one has seen her since I kicked her out of the club the other night.”
“That doesn’t seem like the Melissa I know,” Dragon says.
“Just how well do you know her?” Nicole huffs.
“Calm your ass woman. I’m innocent here. Bull’s the one who spent time sticking it to her.”
“Don’t remind me,” Skye says, coming towards me.
I didn’t see her come in. I am fucking glad to see her, but I kind of wish she had picked a different moment to walk in. I’d rather she had missed this portion of the conversation. I don’t want to remind her of what an idiot I was. I decide it’s okay, because she walks straight to me. I open my arms, and she steps into them, wrapping her arms around me, and holding me close. I return the favor, breathing in her sweet scent. A man could get used to this. I kicked one addiction, but I can admit that I am addicted to this woman. I’m pretty sure, she’s an addiction I’ll never be able to quit.
“Hey, Doc,” I tell her, and her lips softly. Not the kiss I want to give her, but I can’t resist a small taste.
“Mmmm…” she says, as our lips break apart. Then, she buries her head into my chest.
“That bad, baby?” I ask, worried about her, because I can feel the stress rolling off of her.
She lets out a large, frustrated growl.
“Walter put me on administrative leave, pending an internal investigation.”
“That fu……..”
Skye’s hand clamps over my mouth. “Bull! There are babies in here!”
“Jesus Christ!” I’m going to go out and shoot shit or something. Hell, anything! It’s too fucking girly in here. I need something to make hair grow on my balls,” Gunner grumbles, handing baby Dom over to Dancer.
Skye pulls away to look at Gunner while everyone starts laughing. She’s been to the club a few times now, and she likes to give Gunner a hard time.
“Women don’t like hairy balls,” she informs him.
“They’ll like them, and they will suck them when they get a look at what comes with them.” Gunner winks, before he leaves the room.
“Goddamn it! Stop talking about sucking balls around Jazz,” Dancer yells.
“What’s wrong, Daddy? Worried some fucker is going to get in her pants, like you did her mama’s?” Dragon jokes.
“Fuck you,” Dancer growls, in spite of Carrie giving him the stink-eye.
“You should have had a boy like me,” Dragon says.
“Funny, I don’t remember you going through labor,” Nicole says quietly.
Dragon must decide to ignore her. “With Dom, all I have to do is sit back, throw condoms at him, and pat him on the back.”
“The hell you do! No son of mine is going to be the horn dog that you were, Dragon,” Nicole argues.
“I didn’t hear you complaining, Mama.”
“Then you didn’t see me punching one of your freaking Twinkies. Our son will save himself for someone special.”
“Fuck, you’re trying to turn him into a pussy,” Dragon says, and he sounds sick already.
“Whatever. You two just make sure you keep your boy away from Jazz,” Dancer says.
“Oh! Carrie! Can you imagine if Dom and Jazz fell in love?” Nicole asks, sounding way too excited.
“Oh, wow!” Carrie cries.
“That’d be amazing!” the girls say together.
“That’d be a fucking disaster!” the men say at the same time.
“Fuckin’ A, now I need a drink,” Dragon grumbles, standing up and letting Nicole slide to her feet. He kisses her gently, letting his thumb brush against the side of her face. She smiles at him, and just like always, it seems as if the world fades away for those two.
“C’mon boys, let’s have church,” Dragon orders, heading off to his office. Dancer hands little Dom to Nicole to follow after Dragon.
“Carrie?” Skye whispers. She has a strange look on her face, and I got a feeling this is not going to be a good conversation.
“We’ll talk later, Doc. You get to know Nic and Carrie, and I’ll be back.”
I see how she wants to argue, but she doesn’t. I promise myself that I’ll make it up to her later.
37
Bull
“So? The doctor?” Dragon says, once we get settled, and he has one of the Twinkies bring us some drinks.
It’s just the three of us. Freak, Hawk, and Gunner are all missing. Six and Nailer just come in during special meetings. Dragon’s been extra cautious after all of the shit over the last couple of years. I guess this is to be an informal meeting. It doesn’t matter, I’d lay claim Skye in front of all of them.
“She’s mine.”
“Another one bites the dust,” Dancer says motioning his beer to me.
“Damn straight,” I agree, because I’ve never been happier in my fucking life.
“Jesus, we got old and boring.”
“Shut your mouth. There’s not a fucking thing boring about me,” Dragon says, shooting Dancer the finger. “Now let’s get serious. I didn’t want to talk about this in front of the girls, but be honest, how worried should we be about the threat on Skye?”
“My fucking skin is crawling. It’s been quiet since her accident, but something is coming, and it’s killing me that I can’t stop it.”
“Did Freak find anything from the flower order?”
“Fucker called the order in from a burner cell. He used a prepaid Visa card for the payment.”
“Let me guess, there’s no way to trace the fucking burner,” Dance says.
“Nothing so far. Freak traced the prepaid card purchase to a dollar store outside
of London.”
“Security cameras?” Dragon asks.
“Freak’s pouring through them, but we don’t know who we’re looking for, so it’s like a fucking needle in a haystack,” I tell him, disgusted. I hate not being able to get ahead of this motherfucker.
“The police?”
“Treating it like a fucking joke, man. Probably because she’s mine.”
“That sounds about right,” Dragon says, tiredly. “Do you think the threat has to do with the club, or her in general? Maybe her work?”
“I want to say work, I don’t see what else it could be. Skye goes out of her way to help others, Drag. Shit, there’s folks knocking down her door just to help her. She’s good people.”
“I can tell that by the way she’s brought you back,” Dragon says, watching me closely.
“I lost my way. I’m finding it again.”
“You need to see the shrink that Nicole and Carrie set me up with. She’s cool as hell. It might sound hokey, but it helps brother,” Dancer says.
“I’ll think about it. But I’ve been sober for a while now, and to be honest, I don’t really have an urge to go back where I was. If I could get rid of these fucking headaches and tremors…” I growl.
“They haven’t got any better?” Dragon asks, concerned. He should be, as the club enforcer I have a lot of the club’s business on my shoulders. Right now, I’m not sure I could do the job. Luckily, the club seems to have evened out after the mess with Dani and her ex.
“Nah, man. Not really. Skye’s been using pressure points to dull my headaches and that’s helped. Damn quacks at the hospital want to say it’s a triggered response—psychosomatic bullshit, or something like that. There’s no way this fucking shit is in my head. It feels like knives stabbing my eyes out sometimes, and you’ve seen the tremors.”
“I know you don’t want to hear it man, but I’m telling you I think Trisha could help with that,” Dancer says.
“Trisha?”
“The shrink. She’s good. At least I think so. She and Gunner seem to bump heads. He came with me to pick up some papers, and they were like oil and water. They know each other. Gunner and her brother are tight or something.”
I hold my head down. I really don’t want to agree to see a shrink. Skye has been on me about it though. Hell, I don’t know, maybe it would help.
“I’ll think about it,” I finally agree. I don’t think it will help, but I’m willing to try about anything to be normal again. My biggest worry is that something will happen, and I won’t be able to protect Skye.
“Okay, back to the problem at hand. I’ll have Freak look into the doctors giving Skye flack. I’ll get him to check into that damned nurse too. Something about her just disappearing doesn’t sit right with me. But, she could have struck out at Skye before disappearing. If she attacked one of her own? Well, she’s been a hanger on long enough to know how dangerous that is. It’d make sense she ran,” Dragon tells us.
“You know what happens when a woman is scorned,” Nicole pipes up.
“Woman what have I told you about coming in here?” Dragon asks her, but he doesn’t look upset. Then again, he didn’t close the door either, so I doubt he cares.
“To bend over the table?” she answers.
Dragon shakes his head, but he smiles. Hell, he always smiles these days.
“I need the keys to the Suburban, we left Dom’s diaper bag in it,” she tells him.
He reaches down into his pocket and pulls them out. She reaches for them, but he pulls them back.
“Where’s my kiss woman?
“Always on my ass,” she mumbles.
“Just wait till later,” Dragon tells her, and damn if she doesn’t blush.
“Sounds like Nicole thinks it might be Melissa,” Dancer says, once she leaves.
“She’s a smart woman,” Dragon says, staring off into space, and you can tell he’s thinking everything over. He puts his beer back down and stares at it. “My woman is smart as they come. I got a look at what happens if a woman feels like she’s been wronged, it can get ugly. And when the woman is as fucked up as that bitch, Melissa? I’d say it’d pay to keep an eye on her.”
“If we can find her,” Dance adds.
“Fucking hell, women complicate everything,” Dragon mumbles.
“Maybe Nicole was right about waiting for one woman to fuck,” Dancer says.
It doesn’t escape my notice that not a damned one of us argues. Instead we all remain quiet and drink our beer.
38
Bull
I rake my hand over my head. I just got Matthew down for the night, and Skye is passed out on the couch asleep. She’s had a rough day, she’s back at work, but she’s miserable, and she’s talking about switching hospitals. The nearest one would add an hour driving time to her day. That doesn’t thrill me. I’ve been toying with the idea of using my connections to have her problems dealt with. It wouldn’t make Skye happy, but it sure would me.
I decide to keep busy while my family is resting. Despite the stress of the day, I love that I have a family now. I will move heaven and earth to keep them safe. I pull Skye’s ugly old afghan over her, and then go into the bathroom. I’m way too keyed up to rest. I keep my head bare, but I’ve let it slide the last few days. I can feel the stubble and hate it.
I hunt up the things I’ll need and line them up on the bathroom sink. I heat a wash towel with hot water, and place it over my head. Once that’s done, and I’ve let it rest long enough, I get out my razor and shaving cream.
“You use a disposable razor?” I look in the mirror, and Skye’s leaning against the doorway watching me. She’s wearing one of my thermal shirts, and nothing else. Her hair is mussed, she looks sleepy and tired. She’s never looked more beautiful to me.
“Electric ones leave razor burn.”
“Sit down and I’ll do it for you.”
“I don’t know that I’ve ever trusted a woman to shave my head.”
“Then I definitely want it, there should be one part of you I’ll be the first to get,” she says, already reaching for the razor.
“There is, Doc. My heart.”
Her eyes go soft. “Give me that razor. I don’t need to cry because my man is good with lines.”
I hand her the razor with a grin. “I’m not sure this is going to work. I’m a little tall for you.”
She closes the lid on the toilet and stands by it before bowing and laughing. “Your throne awaits, kind sir.”
“My throne? Am I king of the porcelain now?” I ask her, sitting down.
“King of my heart,” she says starting to shave me.
“Now who’s good with lines?” I ask her. She laughs, but doesn’t say anything else.
“What are you thinking, Doc?” I ask, when she finishes, rinsing out the razor, and cleaning up.
She stops and looks at me through the bathroom mirror with a sad smile. “I was thinking I’m very grateful for you, Bull.”
“It’s going to be okay, Doc.” I tell her, praying I’m right.
“I know,” she says, putting on the lotion I always use after shaving. “Do you know what I didn’t know?” she asks.
I enjoy the feel of her hands on me. This is what I want for the rest of my life. This is my future.
“What’s that?”
“That Carrie is alive. You said you lost her.”
Her words shock me. I hadn’t got a chance to talk with her about Carrie. I admit it was mostly because I didn’t want to. I knew I would eventually. What I wasn’t expecting was that she was upset, because she thought Carrie was dead.
“I meant I lost her to Dancer. Carrie’s been in love with him since she was a little girl.”
“Well, obviously…I know that now, Bull. How did you ever fall in love with a woman that your friend claimed?”
“They weren’t together. Hell, I wouldn’t do that, Skye. Dancer killed a man who attacked Carrie. He got sent up and the club took her in when someone threatened
her life. I cared about her. Hell, Skye’s she’s a sweet person.”
She sighs, and puts the lotion up, walks over to the sink, and puts away my things.
“Skye? Talk to me.”
“She is sweet.”
“Yeah,” I agree, wondering if I should.
“I can’t help but notice that she looks a lot like me,” she says, and there’s a hint of accusation in her voice. Her eyes level on me through the mirror of the medicine cabinet.
“She does not,” I deny, and I can feel anger building inside of me. I don’t know what I expected, but this wasn’t it.
Skye turns on me, and crosses her arms. “Come on, Bull. The hair? Hell, even our bodies are built similarly. If you wanted a substitute…”
“Don’t say it, Skye,” I caution her.
“What? That I’m just…”
“Doc, I’m warning you not to go there.”
“Why not? It’s like a giant elephant in the room!”
“Only in your own mind! Fucking hell woman, do you not see me? Is everything I’m doing just not getting through to you? I love you. I haven’t said that to another fucking woman.”
“Not even…”
“Only fucking you, Skye.”
“Oh. I thought…”
“I know what you thought.”
“Bull…”
“Is this what our lives are going to be like? You spend time making up reasons to push me away?”
“I am not.”
“Yes, you are. I’ve jumped through hoops for you, and yet every damn time I turn around you’re coming up with something else to throw in my face, or to not tell me how you feel.”
“Bull…”
“I’m a fucking grown ass man. A man who is the club enforcer for one of the baddest fucking clubs around, and yet you’ve got me wrapped around your finger like a damned…”
“I do not! And if you are so miserable…”
“I’m not miserable! I’m right where I want to be, but I’m tired of you doubting me! Treat me like a motherfucking man!”
“I know you’re a man!”
“No, you don’t. You think I’m a grown boy, who doesn’t know his own mind! You think I can’t wipe my own ass!”