“Yeah,” I set my gaze on her. “And when’s the last time I stuck my dick in you?” I waited for her reaction. I hadn’t fucked her in over a week, not since Rachel came into the picture, although I’d led Rachel to believe that I had. After a year of sharing my bed almost every night, one week probably felt like a lifetime from Rita’s perspective.
Rachel and I shared a brief look, and then she was pushing out of my arms. I could tell that she didn’t like Rita’s comment. I opened my mouth, and then closed it again, not about to make a pussy out of myself by explaining shit in front of a club sweetbutt.
“Oh, so sorry for ruining the moment,” Rita sneered, laughing.
We both ignored her, and I was fucking glad to see some of the crew walk through the door. Time for church. “I’ll look for you when we’re done, babe.” We had shit to sort out, and I wanted to get to it.
****
RACHEL
I watched as Reggie, Max, Bulldog, Pit Bull, Animal, Ripper, Shooter, and BJ all fell in behind Stone as he headed to his office. As long as I knew that Wildman had Maddie I would worry every second. Maybe he’d mellowed over the years. No, I didn’t believe that. I thought back to the day that he’d taken the whip to me. Even though I’d only been thirteen I could tell that he’d enjoyed inflicting pain, that it excited him to hear me crying and begging him to stop. When the blood had started to soak through my blouse he’d taken a knife and cut it open down the back, and then had proceeded to burn me with his cigarette.
I shuddered at the memory and tried to chase it from my head. As more years had passed and he hadn’t found us I’d begun to feel safe, convincing myself that I’d never have to deal with him again.
“Here, honey.”
I jumped and swung around to face the bar. Ty had placed a drink in front of me. “How did you sneak past me?”
“Came in through the back kitchen door,” he grinned. “Drink up.”
“The cure-all to everything,” I smiled, picking up the glass.
Ty shrugged. “It’ll make you feel better.”
“I won’t feel better until my sister is safe.”
He nodded. “We’ll get her the fuck back.”
I wished that I felt as confident as he sounded. I wasn’t sure what was in the glass, but it burned going down and took my breath away. Ty chuckled at the coughing fit that followed. “You don’t handle whiskey very well.”
“You don’t have him, you know.” A voice from the side of the room cut into my conversation with Ty, and I reluctantly acknowledged Rita with a glance. “I’ve seen Stone do this shit before. But take my word for it—once he’s used you up he’ll kick you to the curb and come back to me.”
“Shut it, Rita,” Ty snapped.
“Why the fuck should I?” she snapped right back, her heavily made-up face twisting so grotesquely that her make-up actually cracked in some places.
“Because you’re trying to start trouble.”
She snorted and slipped off her stool. “I’m just stating the truth. I’ve been Stone’s steady girl for a year now.” Her gaze made a sweep of me as if I were something she’d squashed beneath her shoe. “He always comes back to me.”
“I’d like another shot,” I said, pushing my empty glass toward Ty.
He picked it up and turned away. “Don’t let what Rita says bother you. She’s territorial and thinks she means more to Stone than she does.” He poured another drink and turned back to me. “The only perks she gets from being his ‘steady girl’ is that she doesn’t have to fuck any of the other brothers.” I raised my brows with surprise, encouraging Ty to continue. “Prez doesn’t like sloppy seconds.”
“Gross,” I said, taking a sip of my whiskey. Ty had told me not to let Rita’s comments bother me, but they did. They did because I was letting my emotions get mixed up with my physical desires. How could I not? Stone had a lot going for him in the sexy alpha department. Even his raw, unfiltered language made me hot.
“Look, it’s nothing personal. The sweetbutts here are strictly for taking care of the brothers and relieving them after a hard ride or a fight. They know all we want them for is pussy. Hell, most of the time all a brother wants is to get off with a blowjob.”
“Thanks for clarifying,” I grumbled sarcastically. “That makes me feel a whole lot better.” He shrugged. “What about the brothers who have wives and girlfriends?”
Ty stared at me for a long time before saying, “That’s what I mean by it not being personal. When a man wants to get off he grabs the first sweetbutt in sight and she gets down on her knees. No fucking kissing or cuddling shit. Doesn’t matter if the sweetbutt gets off or not. Bam, it’s over. But if a brother doesn’t have a steady woman, he’ll usually take a sweetbutt to his room and they’ll spend time together.”
Like Stone and Rita obviously had.
“I don’t think I could accept that. If I cared for someone and they cared for me, I would expect fidelity. He should be able to hold off getting off until we’re together.”
He laughed. “A statement from the heart, but that’s club life, honey, you either accept it or you don’t.”
“Is that philosophy what gets you through knowing what Trudy is doing with other men?” The truth was in Ty’s eyes, and I wondered if he’d say yes to back up the club, or if he’d be honest and admit that it was killing him inside. I know it would have killed me. When it became clear that he wasn’t going to answer me I gave him a knowing smile. “I guess I’d better go get ready for tonight.”
“No, not tonight, honey. Take a breather. We won’t be that busy.”
“But—”
“Boss’s orders.”
No sooner said when my cell began to vibrate in my back pocket. I reached for it, glancing down to see Maddie’s number flashing. I stared at it for a second, barely able to breathe. Knowing her circumstances, several fears flashed through my mind. Either she was being held somewhere where she was able to sneak a call, or I would hear Wildman’s voice at the other end.
“Trouble?”
My gaze returned to Ty. I forced a small smile, deciding to answer the call before the person on the other end hung up. “Maddie?” I whispered hesitantly, praying that it would be her. My heart fell and I closed my eyes when the sound of a demonic laugh assaulted my ear.
“It’s your step-daddy, little girl.”
“You were never that,” I responded, hating the trembling in my voice. I met Ty’s gaze and saw that his brows were drawn together in a fierce frown.
Wildman’s laugh sent a chill down my spine. “What about all those fuckin’ nights I tucked you into bed?”
I shuddered, thanking God that my mother had always made sure she was present, and that I’d only been forced to tolerate a brush of his hand, a kiss on the check too close to my lips. In the beginning I’d thought it was affection, too young to know any better. As I’d grown older and my body had begun to change, I’d realized that those moments had meant more to him. I could still recall the stink of alcohol and cigarettes on his breath the first time that he’d forced a kiss on my mouth.
I shuddered at the memory. Ty reached out, indicating that I turn the phone over to him, but I shook my head and stepped further out of his reach.
“Got your little sister here,” Wildman went on. “She likes me tucking her into bed.”
“Rachel!” I heard Maddie’s scream in the background. “Help—”
“Shut the fuck up, bitch!” Wildman screamed back at her.
“Don’t hurt her, Wildman, please,” I begged him.
“The only thing I fuckin’ promise not to do is kill her,” he said in a voice that was gravelly with too many years of chain smoking and drinking the hard stuff. “As long as you get your ass back to me. You willing to do that?”
No! Only I knew that I was going to say yes. I opened my mouth, but before I could answer him Stone entered the room, and by the look on his face he wasn’t happy. I swung my gaze back to Ty, realizing that he must have ca
lled him. He met my eyes straight on, not an ounce of regret in them. I couldn’t be mad at him because, after all, he owed his loyalty to Stone. I held my hand up as Stone drew closer, but he completely ignored it.
He didn’t say a word. He didn’t need to. He held his hand out and I dropped my phone into his palm. Then he surprised me by wrapping his hand around my neck and pulling me to him tightly. If I hadn’t known better I’d have sworn the man was comforting me, and I sucked it in, needing it so much. I felt so helpless and scared for Maddie. The tautness in Stone’s body told me what he was feeling, yet the hand holding me against him was gentle.
“You fuckin’ want to talk, you talk to me,” he snarled into the phone. “Leave my woman out of it.”
I’d heard Stone call me that before, but this was the first time that it had made me feel warm inside. I knew that it was just a formality while I was there, but at that moment I felt protected by him, and when he fucked me I felt like I belonged to him. I had to get that shit out of my head.
“You got my number.” He disconnected and pocketed my phone.
From my position against his chest, I glanced up enough to see how clenched his jaw was, and the muscle that twitched there. Not thinking about what I was doing, I reached up to smooth the anger away, but halfway there found my wrist being grabbed. I caught my breath at how fast Stone moved, and pulled back slightly. His gaze dropped to mine.
“I want her back, Stone.”
“Workin’ on it, babe. Gotta get back to church.”
Damn, his brief, hard kiss had ignited a flash fire inside of me, making me want him instantly.
He pulled away with a growl. “Wait for me in our room. I want to fuck you again.”
With wide eyes and jaw hanging, I watched his tight backside disappear.
Chapter 15
STONE
Walking away from Rachel when all I wanted to do was take her back to my room and screw the hell out of her was fucking hard. I was fucking hard. I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out what made her so fucking special, or different. The only thing that I knew was that I needed to get her out of my system, and fucking her seemed like a good way to do it.
“Alright, let’s finish this shit up,” I said upon entering the office, heading back to my chair. Someone, probably Max, had refilled my glass, and I threw the contents back as soon as I reached it and sat down.
Fucking Wildman. Ending him was going to be cause for celebration. My thoughts were to bring Lynch and Hawk in on it, since he was a fucking thorn in their side, too. Until recently he’d been an issue more for Lynch and Wild Marauders than anyone else, but I knew that Hawk and the Phantom Riders now had their own gripe with Wildman.
I released a heavy breath. “How do you brothers feel about getting Wild Marauders and Phantom Riders in on this?”
“The more the fuckin’ merrier!” Bulldog barked. A few murmurs of agreement moved around the room.
“We’re only gonna get one shot,” Ripper said, drawing everyone’s attention. “First the girl, then we end the fucker and his cutthroats.”
“As long as we’re clear the girl is priority,” Max reminded them.
“I don’t see why, she’s no one to us.”
I glared at Pit Bull, but Shooter beat me to a response. “We don’t fuckin’ leave innocent women to the likes of Wildman,” he snarled.
“Yeah, come on, man,” Pit Bull’s twin said in a disgusted tone. “How would you feel if that was your old lady’s sister? Smartin’ the fuck up, bro.”
I should have corrected Pit Bull’s assumption that Rachel was my old lady. I’d claimed her for myself, but not as my old lady. I let his comment slide because it wasn’t that important.
“Let’s take a vote. A show of hands if you want the Marauders and Riders in on the take down.” All hands went up. “Good, I’ll call Lynch and Hawk after church and set it up.”
“We take down the Red Devils, what about the Predators?” Animal wanted to know.
“They’re all Red Devils now, brother.”
“Max is right, we all know that the Predators are weak pussies, but there might be a few with more backbone than the others. If they’re willing to prove themselves to us we can do a patch-over later.” I liked the idea of building up our numbers, as long as it was with good men.
“That is if anyone survives,” laughed Shooter.
I nodded, because what he said was true. “I want to get Rebel out of there, too. He’s seen and been part of a lot of fucked-up shit, bound to mess with a man’s head after a while. He needs a fuckin’ break.” Everyone agreed with that. Rebel had infiltrated the Red Devils four months before and some of the shit that he’d relayed back to us was bad enough to make any hard-core biker have nightmares.
“We have to move fast.” I glanced at Animal, and then Shooter. “We need to find out where Wildman is holding Maddie. They don’t use the bar outside the trailer park as a clubhouse anymore, so you two get on that. Get in touch with Rebel.”
Both nodded. “They still in Coös County?” Shooter asked.
“Since they still have the bar and trailer park, I’m guessing yes.” I glanced at Ripper. “Make sure the van is packing extra weapons and night-vision goggles.”
“We gonna be makin’ a big-ass pot of Mexican stew,” Boomer smiled, showing that he was missing some teeth.
“No, asshole,” Max snapped. “Pozolé works good if you have a couple of bodies to dispose of. The war we’re heading into is going to be a fuckin’ massacre, too many bodies and not enough time to dissolve them in any chemical concoction.”
“The location of their clubhouse will determine how we dispose of the bodies,” I said in a serious tone. “And as soon as we locate that, we’re moving out. So let’s get to it. Some of you have shit to do.”
“You still want BJ and me at the Tittie Kittie tonight?” Reggie asked before I had the chance to call an end of the meeting.
Shit. I’d forgotten all about that. I nodded. “Yeah, they’re expecting our protection, and we keep our commitments.”
The Tittie Kittie was just one of the strip clubs owned by Covacks’ enterprises, whose CEO brought us in a ton of money, so we couldn’t afford to let our responsibilities slide. He had six clubs that we protected, not to mention the weekly runs we went on for the illegal shit he dealt in. He also owned the land and building where the fights took place in Last Hope. They were deadly and illegal as fuck, but brought in fast and easy money. No one knew much about Covacks, or why he’d changed the spelling of his Hungarian name, except that he was powerful and that whatever he touched turned to fucking gold.
“We’re on lockdown until further notice. Get your families here by dark tonight. Church is over except for Max and Reggie.” I wanted my VP and Sergeant at Arms to hang around for the call I was about to make. As the brothers got up to leave, I reached for the conference phone.
I was hitting the pre-programmed numbers for Lynch and Hawk when the last brother out of the room shut the door. “If Lynch and Hawk are in we need to work shit out. It will take both clubs some time to get here.”
Hawk picked up first. “Yeah?” For a non-smoker the man had a deep, mean-as-hell voice on him.
“Hold on a sec,” I said.
“What’s up?” Lynch barked into the phone. I could tell he was pissed off about something.
“Got you and Hawk on speaker phone so I don’t have to fuckin’ repeat myself. We’re planning a raid on Wildman at his new clubhouse in Coös County, got a couple of brothers looking into the location now. They have one of our women.” I saw the look Max gave me and shrugged my shoulders. No need to go into some long explanation as to the situation with Rachel and Maddie. “Plan to end the fucker and as many of his crew as we can. You two want in on it?”
“Do you need us?” Lynch questioned.
The Wild Marauders owed us, but I didn’t want to call in a favor when I didn’t need it. “Naw, just thought that since he’s been a pain in all our as
ses you might want to be there.”
“He still messing up your runs for Covacks?”
I’d expected return conversation from Lynch. Hawk, on the other hand, only spoke when he had something to say. He was a serious-as-fuck, moody bastard, but a good man to have in your corner when you were facing trouble. An ex-special ops, the man was a hulk, lethal without half-trying. He often fought in Last Hope, and I hadn’t seen him lose yet. His opponents usually left broken and unconscious.
“Think he’s been busy patching-over the Predators and setting up his new location. Hasn’t intercepted the last two runs.” Thank fuck.
“I’m in,” Hawk said abruptly.
I’d known that he would be, getting rid of Wildman and the Red Devils would benefit all of us.
Right behind him Lynch said, “Yeah, count me in, too. The fuckers caused me enough grief in the past, and now it looks like he plans on keeping some of his crew here to snoop around. He’s a sneaky bastard.”
I frowned. “Thought you destroyed his compound.”
Lynch laughed. “We did, but we’re talking about Wildman here. He’s not normal, man. Never does what you’d expect.”
“You still with us, Hawk?” The man was too fucking quiet.
“Yeah, when?”
“Soon as we find out where he’s keeping the woman. Not gonna give him enough time to prepare for shit. You brothers better make your plans and get here asap.” It would take them both four to five hours to make the trip. They both came from different counties in Maine. Shit, Lynch had broken the fuckin’ record and made the ride in three hours when he’d come here to rescue his old lady.
“Fuck. If we don’t take out Wildman with the man-power we got lined up, we’re a bunch of pussies,” Max joked once the three of us hung up.
I glared at him. “The reason Wildman’s been so fuckin’ lucky is he’ll do anything illegal for the right money. What the fuckers don’t realize until it’s too late is that he’ll use those jobs to blackmail them into doing his bidding. That’s why he has eyes everywhere. Not out of loyalty, but fear.”
Dark Menace MC: Stone Page 12