CAOS MC: The Series

by KB Winters

  “Keep telling yourself that.” He leaned in close, and I swore he sniffed my hair, but I was too busy inhaling his scent to notice. Finally, he rolled away, and I felt a wave of disappointment. “Why else did you come, then?”

  I blew out a breath that might have been annoyance, but probably more toward sexual frustration. “Bullet hole in your body ringing any bells?”

  “Now that you mention it.” He rolled onto his back with a groan, stretching out and giving me the most delicious view of his body. The little devil on my shoulder told me to drag my tongue across every inch of his skin and to linger on the tattoos that had enchanted me for years, before stripping naked and begging him to take me. But the angel reminded me that I couldn’t handle a man like Roddick. If he wanted me for real. Despite his constant flirting, I knew he didn’t. “See something you like?” he teased.

  I nodded, a teasing smile curving my lips. “Yeah, I’ve always wanted a six-pack,” I told him and smacked my own midsection which wasn’t flat at all but rather slightly rounded.

  The terrible tease patted his hard flat stomach and said, “Here’s one. You want it, you got it.”

  I shook my head and laughed. “One day I’m going to take you up on that offer and watch how quickly you run in the opposite direction.” I slid off the bed and stood over him, touching the wound for any signs of tension or swelling. Touching him like this was torture because I knew it was as close as I’d ever come to touching him the way I wanted to.

  “You might be surprised at my reaction, Cherie. Why don’t you try it one day and find out?”

  I froze for just a fraction of a second, but it was too long. I heard his chuckle, and the damn man knew he’d gotten to me. I continued checking his wound and maybe I took an extra second to enjoy the feel of his hot, hard body beneath my fingers. “You need to finish those antibiotics. Have you been taking them regularly?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you should be just about out. Take one a day until they’re all gone, and you should be fine. Call me if you feel pain or swelling at the wound site.” He let me rinse the wound with saline and pat it dry without so much as a groan. “It looks good, but we still need to keep an eye on it.”

  With a sleepy smile, he grabbed my wrist. “Thank you, Cherie.”

  “My pleasure. Can’t have my hero getting an infection, can I?” For as long as I can remember he’d been my hero, and it didn’t look like it would change anytime soon.

  “Has anyone been bothering you?”

  “No,” I told him with an indulgent smile. “I made some food and left it in the oven, make sure you eat before taking those pain pills.”

  “Want to join me?”

  “I’d love to, but I’ve been awake since yesterday morning, and I need my sleep.” Which was exactly what I did when I got home.

  And I absolutely did not dream about a certain blue-eyed, tattooed devil with a hero complex.

  ***

  Roddick

  Pulling up to the nondescript task force building, I hopped off my bike and started for the door. Mick and I made the first purchase, two bricks of heroin, from Lazarus less than an hour ago, and I was here to keep up my end of the bargain. “Agent Brockton,” I told the middle aged woman in bright red lipstick who sat behind the desk in the lobby.

  He came down a few minutes later flashing his superhero fucking smile that made me itch to punch him. He was a nice guy even if he was a pretty boy. “Come on back. How’d it go?”

  “The deal was done and there was no guy in a fancy suit introducing himself as Lazarus’ boss, if that’s what you want to know.”

  Brockton laughed and led me into a room where Agent Pollyanna waited. “Good. You have the goods?”

  I slid the drugs across the table and grabbed a chair, ripping the wire off and dropping it on the table. “Everything you need is all there.”

  “Not quite. We need you to see if you can get us ears or eyes inside one of his stash houses.” Johnson wore a shit-eating grin I’d happily smack off her if I was in the habit of putting my hands on women.

  “No fucking way! That little dude is completely fucked in the head, and I ain’t letting him kill or fuck me so you can make your case.”

  “But he’s so sweet on you,” she joked.

  I ignored her teasing. “Well, it ain’t fucking happening, so find another way.” Everyone knew Lazarus was a paranoid motherfucker, moving safe houses in the middle of the night, booby-trapping them and sometimes he flat out burned it to the ground before letting someone get close enough to ID it.

  Molly stood, gassing herself up to argue with me, I was sure. She’d learn real soon that I couldn’t be bullied. “You’re not running things here, biker boy.”

  “And neither are you, Pollyanna.”

  Brockton stepped in to break us up. “We’ll put trackers in the cash and hope it will lead us to at least a few different locations. Maybe someone else in the organization.”

  “The money guy?” Brockton nodded. “Fine. I’ll talk to Lazarus and set something up, but I need a week or he’ll get suspicious.” The club couldn’t go from buying no drugs to selling off kilos in just a few days.

  “Fine. We’ll touch base in eight days.”

  I nodded and made my way out of the building. My phone rang, and I smiled. “Baz man, where the fuck are you?”

  He laughed that psychotic laugh of his. “Missed me?”

  “Like I missed a bullet in my side, brother.”

  He sobered. “This crew has some custom work they want to have done, and they’re willing to pay, Rod. A lot.”

  I knew what he was asking and because the man could fix, upgrade, hack and manipulate any piece of hardware or software on the planet, I agreed. “Fine. Stay and finish it up.”

  “How’s Cherie? She said you helped her with some asshole at work?”

  “She’s fine. Working too damn much, but I saw her two days ago when she cleaned my wound and changed my bandage.” Neither of us said a thing for a long moment. “I’ll look after her.”

  “I have no doubt or I wouldn’t have asked. I gotta go, I just wanted to check in and make sure everything is cool?”

  “Yep. Cherie’s in good hands.”

  “I’m sure she is,” he snickered and ended the call.

  I jumped on my bike and headed for the clubhouse. I’d barely killed the engine when Torch came up to me wearing a scowl with several frowning prospects behind him. “What now?”

  “Some fucked up shit is happening at the ER. I don’t know what, but Minx called from another floor and said the ER is on lockdown. She saw Cherie there earlier.”

  Shit. Fuck. “Torch, let’s go, you follow me. Prospects, watch the rear exits and don’t let anyone leave. Keep an eye out for Cherie.” We all got back on our bikes and burned rubber to get there. I left my bike right in front of the ER, plowing through the automatic glass doors to find most of the staff gathered around the main desk. “What’s going on?”

  A redhead I recognized came forward nervously. “Two Hispanic guys stormed into the ER with guns and locked themselves in one of the patient rooms with Cherie inside.”

  “A female patient?” She nodded and took a step back. “Thanks. Torch, let’s go.” I signaled to the prospects to stay alert and watch our sixes.

  “Excuse me, but you can’t...” A dark haired doctor stepped forward but went silent at the deadly look I sent his way. “The door is locked from the inside, but these keys will unlock it automatically.” He handed me a white card and stepped back.

  “Thank you. I promise not to make a mess of your hospital. Call Sheriff Darlington.” Torch and I made our way to the locked door, pressing our ears to the door to see if we could get an idea what the fuck was going on in there. “You hear anything?” I whispered.

  Torch put a finger to his lips and pointed back toward the door. Round blue eyes looked through me as he listened intently, his focus deadly. Then Cherie spoke.

  “She has a bad infe
ction and can’t be moved. She was unconscious when she came in from the shock of her injuries.” Her smooth whiskey voice was calm and slow, but I heard the underlying annoyance she did nothing to hide as she lied to them.

  “Puta!” A heavily accented voice yelled, deeper than the guy who came after her in the parking lot. “Just tell us what she said, and you can go. One of your friends already told us she was talking when she came in.”

  I held my breath waiting for her to respond. “That’s true, but she was screaming in pain but I don’t speak Spanish.”

  “Lying bitch!” I heard the smack and Cherie’s loud cry before I heard a male voice roar in pain. “I’m gonna kill you, bitch!”

  That was all I needed to hear. Torch slid the white card against the reader on the wall, and we both hoped like hell the commotion hid the sound of the automatic lock. We rushed in with guns drawn on both men, each of us going for one of the bastards holding Cherie. One of them was splayed on the floor holding his neck where a syringe stuck out. He squirmed around trying to get to his feet, but Torch kicked him in the side the pressed his boot down on his neck and pinned him in place. “Stay down, motherfucker. You fucked with the wrong nurse. You okay, sweetheart?”

  Cherie gave a small smile to Torch who happily treated her like she was also his kid sister. They made an odd pair, Torch with his bald head and big blue eyes, tattoos everywhere and six feet six frame, and Cherie so tiny and blonde. “I’m good. Thanks, guys.” She flashed me a quick smile before turning back to the woman in the bed, but not before I saw the blush staining her cheeks. “I used my sedative on that asshole, and she needs it.”

  Torch and the prospects took the men before the police arrived, and I stayed behind with Cherie. “What do you need?”

  She turned to me, taking several deep breaths that drew my attention to the swell of her tits under those boxy scrubs. “Sedatives. I need sedatives.” She tried to step around me but, bastard that I was, I pushed forward slightly so she had no choice but to brush up against me as she shouted a few medical terms out the door. “Thanks for your help, Rod, but you can’t be back here.”

  I was momentarily struck mute by the husky sound of my shortened name on her lips, and I imagined that’s how she’d sound as I slid my hard dick inside her wet pussy.

  “Roddick.”

  I blinked a few times. “Right. I’ll be waiting for you in the lobby. Don’t leave without me.”

  Several emotions flashed in her eyes; chief among them annoyance but also gratitude, affection and maybe even lust. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking. Instead of arguing, she smiled and gave a crisp nod. “Okay. And seriously Rod, thank you.”

  “Anytime, Cherie.” She threw me a look I couldn’t decipher before turning back to the patient as another nurse rushed in carrying a shiny silver tray. I made my way to the ER waiting room and took a seat facing the door, watching for anything that didn’t sit right with me.

  Right now, it felt like that was every goddamn thing.

  Chapter Three

  Cherie

  It might sound old-fashioned to some people, but being in the kitchen relaxed me. Soothed me. And I needed it after everything that had happened at the hospital a few days ago. I was able to get Monica settled and checked in on a few other patients before leaving. The nursing administrator, Darla, insisted I take a few days off and I happily obliged, cleaning and tinkering around the house. Looking for jobs. In fact, I kept to myself. Mostly. I would’ve done a damn good job at it except Roddick stopped by every day with some excuse or another.

  Whether I wanted him to or not.

  Today I just wouldn’t open the door for him. I’d ignore the ringing bell, the sound of the knocker. The man disrupted my ability to think or be smart. Act smart. Which was why I found myself in the kitchen whipping up my famous spicy fajitas with the habanero salsa Torch had taught me to make when I was far too little to enjoy the heat. He’d taught me a lot including how to cook, how to shoot a gun, and how to curse like a sailor. Which had been a million years ago before he’d taken a twelve-year-old me bra shopping. I’d just added some mint to the salsa when the doorbell rang, and I groaned.

  Wiping my hands on a towel, I pushed through the kitchen door into the living room and to the front door. I knew who it would be, but I still peeked between the curtains before reluctantly opening the door. “Roddick, what a surprise,” I told him, not sounding at all surprised.

  “Really...” He smiled as he pushed past me to get inside. “I’ve been checking on you every day.”

  “I’m aware, but you do realize that I am a grown woman, perfectly capable of looking after myself, right? Tell Baz you have better things to do.” His gaze raked over me so thoroughly I was sure he’d grown another hand that caressed me.

  One side of his mouth kicked up in that lazy grin, drawing attention to the days of stubble he hadn’t bothered with. “Oh, I’m aware that you’re all woman, Cherie. Well aware. And Baz didn’t send me.”

  “So, why the hell are ya here?”

  “What smells so good?”

  I rolled my eyes at his change of topic. “That would be the meal you interrupted.” He just stood there smiling at me, casting his bright light like always. “I suppose you’re angling for an invitation?”

  With a deep, rumbling laugh, he pulled me into his chest and dropped a kiss on top of my head, pulling me through the living room and into the kitchen. “So kind of you to offer, Cherie, I would love to stay for dinner.”

  “Grab the soda from the fridge, then.”

  “No beer?” He frowned as he asked the question and looked at me like I was an alien.

  “Haven’t been to the store.”

  “Why didn’t you call me? I would’ve gone for you.”

  “If it were that important, I would’ve gone myself.”

  He gave me an odd look and then a loud laugh erupted from him that included pounding his large fists on the table so hard the silverware shook. “I’m glad to see you’re still as fiery as ever. I was worried at first that this might have shaken you.”

  “It did, but no more than anything else in my life.” Torch was part of CAOS when he took over caring for me while Baz was away, and when Baz returned he joined CAOS too. I’ve been surrounded by the club most of my life, and adding the ER on top of that just meant nonstop crazy. “I just felt like being at home, Rod, nothing else.”

  “Okay, but if you’d called, we could be gettin’ drunk right now.”

  That did sound really good. “Aren’t you worried I might use your drunken state as an opportunity to take advantage of you?”

  “Hopeful,” he said, serious blue eyes looking at me like they wanted to undress me.

  “Be serious, Rod.” To stop my stupid heart from hoping, I took a big, unladylike bite of my fajita. He’d been flirting with me more and more lately, but ever since Baz had woken me up in the middle of the night with news that Roddick had been shot, he’d kicked it up a notch. Or maybe it was just that his wound meant we spent more time together. I’d love to believe he meant it, that he wanted me. But I knew better. So I chewed. And chewed again.

  Roddick finished off three fajitas before pushing his plate away and patting a midsection I now knew was rock hard. “That was delicious, Cherie. Thanks.”

  “No problem. I made it just for you.” I tried to stop from laughing, but the look on his face was priceless.

  “In that case, I really loved it, but fuck, that salsa is spicy!” He pulled another can of soda from the fridge and drank half of it in one gulp. His big body took up so much room in my tiny kitchen that I couldn’t pull my eyes from him, especially the way he leaned against the counter with his legs crossed at the ankle. “What’s this?”

  I froze at his words and the confusion in his tone because I knew exactly what he’d found. The classified ads I’d printed out so I could highlight the requirements. “Those are job ads.”

  He glared at me. “But none of them are even in California.”


  “Yes, that’s kind of the point. As soon as I fulfill my specialty hours at the hospital, I’m leaving Brently.” I knew instantly he didn’t like that idea, and I wanted to know why. But I was a chicken shit, so I didn’t ask.

  “Why?”

  There were plenty of reasons, but the main one was staring at me with confusion and hurt in his eyes. I could give him any of the other reasons I’d come up with to tell people when they found out, but I didn’t want to lie to Roddick. “Why not?”

  He crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at me like he was trying to figure me out, which was weird because there was no mystery to me. “Why don’t you like me, Cherie? Have I done something?”

  “What?” I couldn’t possibly have heard him right. “I like you just fine, Roddick. In fact, I’ve had a pretty big crush on you for most of my life.” I’d been a little obsessed from the moment I saw him, so big and tall and tough. “I’ve been taking care of you, making sure you don’t die, and endured all of your teasing flirtations, so what makes you think I don’t like you?”

  He shrugged and leaned on the table with flat palms so his face was so close I could see the flecks of gold and silver mixed into the blue of his eyes. “You always seem frustrated around me, and I want to know why.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh because it was more sexual frustration, but he didn’t need to know that. “You’re always teasing me.”

  “It’s called flirting.”

  Now I really wished I had a beer or two around. “No, it’s called flirting when you want something to come of it, otherwise, it’s just teasing.”

  “And you think I don’t?”

  I nodded. I couldn’t even open my mouth to admit that I knew he didn’t want me, that he just teased me like I was still that little girl with a crush. Which I guessed I was. “I know it, Rod.” Pushing my chair back with a little too much force, I stood and began to clean up.

  “You don’t know shit, girl.” Before I could tell him to watch how he talked to me, big hands grabbed me and spun me around, trapping me between his big, hard body and the sink.