THE DEVIL’S BRIDE

by April Lust

  “Yeah, brother, I got it. I read you loud and clear,” he said. “You’re a punk,” he added, laughing and walking around me.

  I laughed, too. I couldn’t fight with him anymore. I had to laugh it off or else I’d knock his block off.

  I stopped at the door and looked back in while the guys walked down the stairs outside. “Hey, is it possible we’re missing something?” I called out to them.

  “Like what?” Mick asked, stopping on the stairs.

  “I don’t know. I feel like there’s another room or something here,” I added. My eyes probed the back wall, looking for a door or panel in the wall that wasn’t quite in place. I didn’t see anything, but I couldn’t shake the feeling we’d missed something.

  “That’s just disappointment you’re feeling,” Liam called up to me from the pavement. He looked up and shielded his eyes against the sun.

  “I guess so,” I said with a sigh. I left the light on as I closed the door, not really admitting defeat, but coping with a setback.

  “Come on, let’s go so you can get Clara and bring her back to HQ before she runs,” Mick said as I started down the stairs.

  “Oh shit.” I stopped and looked at him, realizing why we’d been had.

  “What is it?” Mick asked me.

  “Remember what happened when we left her alone at HQ with Alec?”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Mick said as the realization dawned on him, as well.

  “What happened?” Liam asked. “I missed it.”

  “Yeah. Look, she tried to escape, but someone besides Skull tried to pick her up. It wasn’t pretty, and I bet that’s what’s happening right now,” I said as I ran down the stairs.

  “You really think her boss has it out for her?” Liam asked, running over to his bike.

  “Yeah, I think so. She was caught, brother. She walked right into a trap when she came to HQ the first time. Bosses like Skull don’t take too kindly to stuff like that, so when she finally got in touch with him, he sent a few of his goons to get her. They didn’t look like they were a welcoming committee either,” I explained.

  “Yeah, but we showed up just in time and killed two of them. We wounded the third, and no one really got a look at the driver,” Mick added.

  “How much do you want to bet when she called Skull to let him know we were on the way, he sent some more goons to pick her up at the apartment?” I asked.

  “You want us to follow?” Liam asked.

  “Not yet,” I said. “Get everyone back to HQ. You two get the basement ready for her. I’ll call you if anything’s wrong.”

  “All right, go,” Liam said. “You need to get there while there’s still a girl to pick up.”

  The three of us gunned our engines at the same time and started pulling away from the building. Mick and Liam rode off in one direction, waving their arms to collect the guys who’d parked in neighboring properties to keep their eyes on the hideout.

  I sat and listened to all the engines roaring, breathing life back into this dead portion of the city. It was a beautiful sound. I revved my engine and watched as motorcycles started pouring out onto the streets.

  Then, I spotted someone who wasn’t with us on top of one of the other buildings.

  Chapter 17

  I didn’t have time to signal anyone, and no one else saw him. He had a gun, and I watched in shock and horror as he knelt down behind it to take aim at one of my guys. A shot rang out, and I saw one of our newest members take a nasty fall. A couple of guys riding near him were obviously shaken by the incident, as they lost control of their bikes, as well.

  Then, shots rang out from another direction, from the parking garage some of our members had just pulled out of. I saw a couple more bikes go down as we were ambushed. The guys had no chance to get out of the way. We were just getting picked off left and right.

  Then, shots rang out behind me, and I pulled the bike back underneath the awning, knowing anything they were shooting could have easily pierced the thin sheet metal over me. I pulled a bandana out of my back pocket and tied it around my mouth and nose. I ditched the bike and ran inside the building, listening to the hail of bullets raining down mercilessly outside.

  I pulled out my phone and texted Alec back at HQ.

  Ambushed! Under fire right now.

  Send backup? he texted back.

  No. Hunker down, I told him. I’ll text you when we’re safe.

  A moment later, Mick rode up to the building and ducked inside with me. The air wasn’t as heavy and rank as it had been earlier when we first arrived.

  “How many down?” I asked him.

  “I don’t know. I saw five, maybe six go down before I circled around to come back for you,” he said.

  “That was dumb. You should have gone back to HQ and waited for me. Alec knows I’m here.” I held up my phone.

  “Liam was right behind me, but I think he went the other way around. We were trying to scope out how many shooters there were,” Mick continued.

  Just then, Liam pulled up and coasted into the parking lot in front of the building. Just before he reached the awning, though, he sprang back from his bike and flipped over behind it, sending it crashing into our bikes while he lay limp and lifeless on the ground right in front of us.

  “Oh fuck this,” Mick growled, bringing his rifle around. “There are two to the left, one on top of the building next door, and the other across the street from him. There are at least three to the right, two in the parking deck and one on top of the building across from it,” he added as he stepped outside.

  It took me a minute to realize what he was telling me. I was still staring down at Liam’s fallen body. I couldn’t believe how quickly it had happened. One second, he was on his way back in to see us, to join up with us and regroup before making a move to get us out of this mess. And in that same second, he was on his back, his body bent at an unnatural angle. The next moment, his bike was being carried by momentum alone into our bikes parked under the awning.

  Then, Mick was on his way outside to stand over him with his gun drawn, trying to take out the shooters, knowing damn well they would have taken him out just as easily as they had Liam. And I was just standing there, dumbfounded, staring at the body on the ground and the man standing over him playing hero. There was no telling how many other guys were down on the pavement outside.

  Mick started shooting. The rat-a-tat-tat-tat of his gun snapped me out of my trance and brought me back into the moment, forcing me to realize my right-hand man was standing his stupid ass out in the open firing back at these assholes who were trying to kill us. I couldn’t let him do that alone.

  I joined Mick outside, both of us standing over our fallen brother as if protecting him from further injury or insult. We stood back to back and fired on the men shooting back at us. I got the shooter on top of the building across from the parking deck and turned my gun on the two men shooting at us from the garage. I got one of them and the other ducked back into the darkness.

  Mick stopped shooting behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder to see him turning around.

  “Got both of them,” he said with a proud smile.

  “Yeah, I got two of them on the other side, but one of the guys in the parking garage looks like he left.”

  About that time, we heard the screech of car tires from the far side of the parking deck.

  “Well, at least he’ll be able to tell Skull what happened here,” I said.

  “Yeah, tell him that we took four of his men out, and that there are still at least two of us left,” Mick said.

  We walked around the side of the building and saw the street littered with bikes and bodies. We had come down here at least twenty deep, and it looked like almost all of our members were present and accounted for on the road.

  I turned and looked at our motorcycles, mangled underneath Liam’s bike. I shook my head and pushed my gun back over my shoulder.

  The gunfire had apparently alerted law enforcement.
We could hear distant sirens.

  Truck. Now, I texted Alec.

  Okay. Bobby and Hunter made it back, he replied.

  Don’t send them. Send someone else, I told him.

  It’s on the way.

  A few minutes later, a black F350 pulled up in front of the abandoned hideout. Our driver, Patrick, climbed out and opened the tailgate, pulling down two ramps he installed to roll motorcycles up into the bed of truck quickly and easily. Mick and I pushed our bikes up into the bed, leaving Liam’s motorcycle on the concrete near him.

  “All right, let’s hurry,” I told him as we closed up the back and climbed into the truck. From the sound of the sirens, we were going to be leaving right in time to miss the cops.

  “So what’s the plan?” Mick asked as we pulled away.

  “It’s still the same. When we get back to HQ, I’m grabbing my old standby, and I’m riding over to my apartment to get Clara,” I told him.

  “What then?”

  “I don’t know yet. I might just kill her right there,” I told him flatly. The thing that got me was I wasn’t really joking. I’d meant it as a joke, but it sounded right, given how I felt. She had effectively taken Liam from me twice with her little games. I didn’t know if I wanted to bring her in or just take her out.

  “Don’t we need her to find Skull?” he asked.

  “Hell no. She’s the one who alerted him anyway. I mean, there’s still the possibility that he’s already got her, you know? I don’t know what I’m going to do.” I shook my head and shut my mouth. I didn’t want Mick to know how emotionally invested I was in this girl.

  I looked out the passenger side window of the truck and watched all the dilapidated buildings of the old industrial side of town pass by as we headed to HQ. Patrick pulled into the bay, and Alec shut the door behind us.

  “Thanks, Patrick,” I said as we climbed out of the truck.

  “No problem, boss. Want me to have someone look at these bikes for you?” he asked.

  “Not yet. Let’s play it safe for a little while. The law’s going to come around to ask some questions about all of our dead members. We’re probably going to have to lay low for a few days until it all blows over,” I said.

  “Want me to talk to them when they come by?” Mick asked.

  “Wait, where are you going?” Alec asked me.

  “I’ve got to go get Clara. I want you and Mick to get the basement ready, but let’s keep this place locked down. Nobody in or out for at least the next twenty-four hours. Got it? That means everyone who’s here now stays,” I explained to them.

  “Yes, sir,” Alec said, saluting me.

  “This isn’t the military, kid.” Mick patted him on the back and started to walk off.

  “Hey, where’s Liam?” Alec asked.

  I looked down, unable to meet his eyes.

  “You’re kidding me.” I could hear the wind as it was knocked out of him. “But he’s been a member of Storm’s Angels longer than most of us have been alive, Mason. He has survived countless gunfights, war, everything.”

  “I know,” I interrupted him. “But none of us can survive women, Alec. Remember that,” I said before walking away to get my old ’79 Harley Roadster.

  I pulled my old bike away from the wall and walked it to the bay.

  “That thing’s older than you are,” Patrick said as I walked it past him. “Still run?”

  “Purrs like a kitten, brother. Hell yeah, she still runs,” I told him.

  “Whose was it before you got it?” he asked. “Surely, that bike’s got a story. I don’t see anyone else with one that old.” He walked over to it and ran a hand along the curve of the body.

  Patrick had a long, golden brown lion’s mane and a thick beard to match. He wore glasses and could stand to lose a few pounds. He had thick, muscular arms, and the muscles in his chest were obvious, but, somehow, he managed to keep a beer gut. He was loyal, but he never seemed to be all that motivated.

  “I got it from an old member,” I told him. Truthfully, I got it from the guy who’d recruited me, but I didn’t want to get into that whole story with him. Time was still of the essence. I had to get back to the apartment to make sure Clara was okay and bring her in for questioning, beating, whatever I decided to do to her, but she was going to pay for the trouble she’d caused.

  “That’s a sweet ride, man,” he said. “I guess I’ll go see if Mick or Alec need me to do anything,” he said, walking off in the direction of the bar, where Mick was pouring shots for the other two guys who made it out of the ambush with us.

  “Hold on,” I called him back over. “I’m going to need someone to close this door behind me.”

  “Got it.” He ran over and lifted the bay door to let me out. Once I was outside, I heard it close behind me. Before firing up the Roadster, I listened for the lock, which he quickly slid into place on both sides.

  No one was going to be able to lift that door to get in. I just hoped the police stopped with HQ and didn’t decide to pay me a visit at home. And I hoped Clara wasn’t okay. I needed something to go wrong to convince me not to take all of my anger and frustration out on her when I got there.

  I gunned the engine and listened as the Roadster came to life underneath me. I didn’t drive her nearly enough. I pulled away from the clubhouse and started to head into the center of town, where the newer buildings reached up into the sky, where business and traffic still existed, and where the streets weren’t littered with the bodies of my fallen brothers and their mangled motorcycles.

  I was going to get Clara, and she was going to lead me to Skull. Skull was going to pay for what he’d done to us, and Clara wasn’t going to be able to talk me down. She also wasn’t going to get the opportunity to tip him off.

  Chapter 18

  Clara

  In the darkness, I could still hear muffled voices all around me. There was almost constant talking. There was some shouting, but there was also laughter. I forced my eyes open, or thought I did, and sat up.

  I was back in Mason’s bed, alone again. I ran my hand over his side of the bed, where he should have been lying with me, but he wasn’t there. I looked around the bedroom, but he wasn’t there.

  I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and looked into the living room, where I could hear the TV. I couldn’t tell if he had the news on or some TV show, but I didn’t see him on the couch either. The TV was just on. Was I alone again? Had he left me alone in the apartment and just let the TV on so I wouldn’t hear him leave?

  I pushed his soft, heavy covers back from my naked body and decided to get out of bed to see what was going on, when he appeared in the doorway with a couple of cups of coffee and a warm, loving smile on his face.

  This time, he wasn’t wearing anything else. He stood in the doorway with a cup of coffee in each hand. His hair was disheveled and hanging down in front of his face instead of being brushed back like it usually was. His green eyes looked at me with love and care in them. He was concerned about me for some reason, but I had no idea why he would have been. I was fine. I had just been asleep for a while.

  I slid over to the edge of the bed and spread my legs, patting the mattress between them to call him over. He approached me slowly, and I ran my hands along his perfect chest and stomach, following the contours of his muscles. I grabbed the coffee cups and set them down on the table beside the bed, freeing his hands so they could explore me as I did him.

  I returned my attention to him after setting the cups aside. I took his already hardening manhood in my hand and stroked it, coaxing it to get even harder for me. I wrapped my thin fingers around it and pulled it towards me, stroking him right over my tender breasts. I pulled him closer to that the tip of his head touched my skin.

  He watched me with his gentle green eyes while his erection grew in my hand. He put his strong hands on my shoulders and pushed me back as he climbed on top of me. I let go of his cock as I lay back on his soft, welcoming bed.

  He put my hands above my he
ad and held them there. My thin, slender fingers intertwined with the thick fingers on his strong, controlling hands. He squeezed my hands as he leaned in to kiss me.

  His lips met mine. The kiss was tender, passionate. Our mouths opened, and our tongues met, stroking each other between our mouths. He didn’t kiss me like he wanted to devour me. He kissed me like he wanted to become part of me.

  His body pressed against mine. I could feel his weight pushing me down into the bed as he lay on top of me. His firm muscles pressed against my soft curves. My nipples hardened from his touch.

  My body ached to feel him inside again. I felt my desire for him growing wetter by the moment. My muscles tightened as if begging for him to enter me. I rocked my hips toward him, pressing my wet sex against him.