by April Lust
She was the perfect submissive. She knew her role and had no trouble giving in. She also made sure all of my needs were met, from sex to everything else. I didn’t make her cook the way Ryan had. I didn’t make her handle all of the domestic duties. She wasn’t a housewife, and we weren’t playing house.
“I left the money on your nightstand,” I said, standing with her in her doorway. I knew she knew where it was, but I felt the need to fill the space with words. One of us needed to talk since it felt like both of us were holding back.
“Thank you,” she said, looking at me with something strange in her eyes.
Were we starting to connect on a different level despite our efforts to keep things professional and not personal? Could she see straight through my façade and know that I was feeling a little strange about having Ryan back in town? I did feel like my territory was being threatened. She was my territory.
She reached up and placed a hand on the side of my face. “See you soon?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” I told her, taking her hand in mine. I kissed her fingers and gave her hand a gentle squeeze before smiling at her and heading downstairs to my bike.
As I drove back to the clubhouse, I couldn’t help thinking about Ryan. I felt certain that he was going to try to make a move while he was in town. He had avoided the topic of Nora when he’d been in the office. He’d barely even made eye contact with me. Business was still good, for the time being, but I had felt a tension between us that was personal, not professional.
When I got back, Ozzy was still hanging out talking to Ed at the bar. I tilted my head toward the office when I walked in, telling him to follow me in.
The president’s office still technically belonged to Alan, so it was still decorated for him. He had pictures of himself and all the other old-timers on the walls, and a few photos from the previous president and his men. Everything on the desk was his. I knew that just as Alan had done, I was going to have to replace everything when I moved in permanently. My office was going to have to represent the MC under my leadership.
“What’s up?” Ozzy asked as we walked in and I closed the door behind him.
“I want to keep eyes on Nora’s apartment,” I told him, keeping my voice down.
“Why? What’s going on?” he asked, taking a seat in the armchair in front of the desk.
I walked around and sat in the desk chair. “Is Ryan gone?”
“Yeah, he’s been gone. He left before you did. You know that,” Ozzy said.
“I wanted to make sure he didn’t come back for anything. Look, I don’t trust him not to try to pull something. He’s been acting shady, and I expected it to get better after giving him money to pay off his debts, but that didn’t seem to help. You saw him earlier,” I remarked to him.
“Do you think he’s going to try something?” Ozzy asked.
“I don’t know,” I told him. “I don’t want to risk it though. I want eyes on the apartment in case he does.”
“Okay, I’ll get someone over there,” he told me. “Do you want me to get someone on Ryan?”
“It’s not a bad idea. Nothing too invasive. I just want to know when he leaves town so we can stop monitoring them,” I explained.
“Okay, I’m on it.” Ozzy got up and walked out of the office, leaving the door open.
It was a shame, I thought, that I felt like I couldn’t trust Ryan or Nora. Nora’s nonchalant response could have been because of a genuine lack of interest, but it also could have been because she was hiding something from me. I hated having to be the president who kept tabs on everybody, but I needed to show the MC and everyone else that I was not afraid to protect what was mine.
In the meantime, things were getting worse in New Hampshire and Vermont. Despite the presence of my guys in those markets, the supply chains were still being threatened. I couldn’t shake the feeling that Ryan might have had something to do with it. My troubles had actually increased around the same time I had given Ryan the ten grand for Nora. I hoped, for his sake, that it all turned out to be one unfortunate coincidence.
He’d been acting funny ever since the trouble started. And asking me for extra money? It was entirely possible that he wasn’t even in debt. It seemed possible to me that he was getting ready to make a move, and that was why he needed the cash.
I didn’t stop back by to see Nora while Ryan was still in town. I needed to stay vigilant in case he did make a move locally, or in case someone caught him working with the guys who were disrupting my supplies out of state.
Once he was gone, I resumed my normal routine, until he showed back up a few weeks later. I had Ozzy greet him at the door to the clubhouse and escort him to the office.
“Hey, what’s with the security?” Ryan asked as he entered the room. He checked over his shoulder as Ozzy walked in behind him. We normally met in private.
“Can’t be too careful these days,” I told him.
“I see that.” He sat down across from me and put his package on the desk.
“Yeah, it seems I’ve had a lot of trouble the last couple of months.”
“I’ve heard,” he said.
“Oh, you have?” I asked, eyeing Ozzy. He flexed his hands together and stepped up behind Ryan’s chair. “What have you heard, exactly?”
He looked over his shoulder and then back at me. “I mean, I’ve heard that there’s been trouble. I don’t actually know anything.”
I nodded to Ozzy, who grabbed him by his neck and slammed his face into the desk. Ryan’s wasn’t the first face to meet Alan’s desk. He pulled him back up so that he looked at me with dazed eyes.
“Mark, I swear, man, I don’t know anything about it.” He held his hands up and looked back and forth between us, pleading with us through his expression.
“Ozzy, is it just me or is this story hard to believe from him?”
“Come on, guys, you know me,” Ryan pleaded.
“I’m not inclined to believe him at all,” Ozzy agreed before slamming him back into the desk.
“That looks painful, kid. You might want to come clean with what you do know. Let us decide if we feel like you know more,” I told him.
“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you.” He shrugged his shoulders to get Ozzy to let go of him.
I nodded, letting him step back from Ryan. “Speak.”
“I don’t know for sure because I don’t have the kind of manpower needed to verify stuff like this, but I heard that it’s the same guys who stuck Alan behind bars.”
“The Asphalt Demons? You heard? Where did you hear this?” I asked.
“You know, man, there’s talk on the street. I hear things from time to time.”
“Of course, if you’re working with those guys, they could have told you to tell us that,” Ozzy accused him.
“What the fuck? I don’t supply those guys. They have their own operation,” he said. “Even if that didn’t, I wouldn’t have shit to do with them. I work with Shadow Reapers. Talk about a conflict of interest,” he laughed nervously.
Ozzy went to reach for him again, but I held my hand up to stop him. “I believe him,” I said. “You have your problems, Ryan, but I do believe you.”
“Does that mean you’ll pull the security detail off of me?” he asked.
I grinned. He was smart and observant when he wanted to be. I was amused that he’d seen his security detail and that he knew it was us. The guy watching him was driving a car, not his bike.
“Not a chance,” I told him. “I trust you’ll understand why I can’t pull the security detail from you.” Luckily he knew better than to argue with me.
He simply accepted what I’d said and moved on to do business. We made our exchange – drugs for money – and he got up to leave. There wasn’t much need for talk after the deal, especially in his position.
“Hey, Ryan,” I said, stopping him at the door.
“Yeah?” he asked slowly, turning around to look at me.
“You need to make sure you don’t get
involved in this,” I told him.
“I don’t plan on it.”
“Good, because if you do get involved, I’m going to have your head,” I told him.
He nodded. “Got it,” he said, before turning and walking out. Ozzy followed him.
I slumped back in my desk chair. The guys who were trying to sabotage our supplies in Vermont and New Hampshire were supposedly tied to the guys who had placed Alan behind bars. I couldn’t believe they were back, especially after what Alan had done to them the last time.
I locked up Ryan’s package and locked up my office. I needed to see Nora. It was time for things to start moving forward.
Chapter Fifteen
Nora
“We need to talk,” Mark said at the door before he even walked into the apartment.
At first, I expected him to grab me and force me to talk to him, as part of some roleplay where I was being punished again. That wasn’t what happened. He walked in past me and headed straight for the couch.
“You got any beer?” he asked.
“Yes, sir,” I answered him obediently.
“We can drop that for right now,” he called from the couch, his voice exasperated. “We’re not having sex at the moment, so it’s not necessary.”
“Who are you and what did you do with Mark?” I asked, laughing as I took a beer into the living room for him.
“Have a seat,” he said, patting on the cushions next to him on my couch. It was strange not to have to be submissive to him. I had spent most of the last three months in a position of submission.
My knee-jerk reaction was to thank him for allowing me to sit on my couch, but I didn’t want to ruin the moment. I bit my tongue.
He sat forward and rested his elbows on his knees. I could see by his face that something was really troubling him. He stared at his beer as if contemplating it, but I knew there was something else on his mind. He wasn’t thinking about the quality of the hops or the richness of the flavor.
“Okay, spill the beans,” I said. “I’ve never seen you like this. What’s up?”
He sighed and shook his head. “It’s work, the MC,” he said. “I really shouldn’t bother you about it.”
“Well, you have, so it’s too late to stop now. Tell me what’s going on before I have to find out from someone else.” As good as it felt to let myself go with him in bed, it felt damn good to regain myself with him in normal conversation.
He looked at me narrowed his eyes.
“You said to drop the submissive stuff.” I shrugged and laughed, taking a sip of the water I already had sitting on the coffee table.
“So I did.” He looked back his beer and took a sip of it. “Okay, where do I start?”
“The beginning’s usually a good place.”
He snapped his face back toward me.
“Okay, I’ll relax, sorry.” I put a hand on his back and gently rubbed between his tense shoulders. “Hey, it’s obvious something’s really bothering you. You can tell me,” I said.
Sitting on the couch and talking was a break from our routine, but it also felt like I was being given the chance to improve my situation. By putting myself in a position where he felt like he could confide in me, I was making myself more valuable to him, making him more likely to keep me around after the original arrangement had been fulfilled.
And it was already on its way to completion.
I was pregnant, but I hadn’t told him yet. I had been afraid that it would change everything once he knew. The original agreement had been that all of this – the sex, the money, the honorary position in the MC – was gone once I provided him with an heir.
“Things are getting worse in New Hampshire and Vermont,” he told me.
“New Hampshire and Vermont?” I asked.
“Yeah, we’ve been having trouble in the markets we’re working there,” he explained. “I’ve been trying to get it under control, but someone is letting our rivals know what we’re doing. They’re staying a step ahead of us.” He took a good swig of his beer.
“Do you think it’s an inside job?” I asked, resuming my submissive tone. I may have reached confidant status with him, but I was still there to support him, not to overshadow him or bust his balls.
“Oh, it’s definitely an inside job, but I have no clue who it could be.” He let his voice trail off as he fidgeted with his bottle.
I scooted closer to him, pressing my body against him for comfort or encouragement, trying to get him to open up more. I wanted him to know I was there for more than just sex. He could use me for anything, to put it in terms he might have used.
“I’m losing my grip, Nora,” he said finally. I hadn’t expected to hear something like that from him. It was strange to hear his concern over losing control over the MC because he was always in control of everything. Always.
I wanted to say something sympathetic or encouraging, but I was at a loss. What was I supposed to tell a rough, dominant, tattooed biker who was worried about losing his position as the head of his MC? Did I tell him it was all in his head and to forget about it, that everything was going to be fine?
He turned to me. “It’s more important now than ever that we try to make this baby happen,” he said. “It’s the only way I’m going to be able to hold the Reapers together. If we can’t make it happen, I stand to lose everything, Nora.”
I tried to convince myself that it was the perfect time to tell him about the baby. I couldn’t break through my selfishness, though, to say anything. Alice’s warning about not knowing when or how the situation could go south still rang in my head. I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize my situation. His conviction that we needed to try harder was enough to change things up, and I didn’t know what that really meant for me anyway.
“We can always try harder,” I found myself saying. I ran a hand along his thigh as I spoke.
He chuckled and grabbed my hand. “Maybe we can get back to it later,” he said.
“You really must be stressed out over all of this,” I said, sitting back against the couch and reaching up to his shoulders. I pulled his vest to the side so I could feel the tense muscles under his shirt. I dug my fingers into his shoulders and started trying to rub the tension out. He was rock solid.
I felt bad for not telling him he didn’t have to worry so much about an heir, because I was already pregnant, and no matter how far along I was, it wasn’t going to be all that long before we could find out the sex of the baby, not in the grand scheme of things anyway. But I chalked it up to a kind of self-preservation. I was ensuring that I would still have a leg to stand on in our arrangement.
I also expected him to ask about it at some point, but he never brought it up, even when we were talking about it. I figured if it was the main point of what we were doing, whether or not it was working should have been on his mind.
He laughed quietly while I rubbed his shoulders.
“Is something wrong?” I asked, afraid he was laughing at the way I massaged him.
“No, it’s just I’m supposed to be the one in control, and I’m sitting here spilling my guts to you, giving you the power,” he mused.
“I don’t see it that way at all,” I told him, keeping my tone gentle and submissive. “I see it as one of my many jobs to listen to you when you have something on your mind. It’s not just my job to be submissive and pleasing in bed. I’m also here to help you relax or comfort you when you bring your burdens to me.”
I was sort of making it up as I went along. We hadn’t talked about my role outside of the bedroom before, but those were some of the roles I had taken from my time with Ryan, and I felt like they applied to Mark as well. The last thing I wanted him to think was that the power dynamics in our relationship were shifting.
I had come to depend on him financially. I even took comfort in his strange company. I had learned how to read his brand of tenderness, and I had grown accustomed to it as well. So as much as I wanted to pretend there was nothing between us, there was s
ome form of attachment growing. And it wasn’t going to be long before that attachment started to feel like something deeper and more meaningful.
He took another sip of his beer. “Thank you for listening,” he said. “I’ve got to get back to the clubhouse to work out a plan to stop these guys.” He drained his beer.
“I thought you said you didn’t know who was behind it,” I said.