by Nina Levine
As I took a step towards the door to leave, he said, “I’m a patient man, Rhys, but even I have my limits. If you don’t come around soon, I will find a way to change your mind.”
With one last glance at him, I exited the room. Stalking down the corridor to the lift, I focused on getting my breathing under control and my thoughts back on track. Joseph had messed with them to the point they weren’t straight. Memories from the past flashed in and out, bringing up images of my training that made me want to vomit. By the time I hit the elevator, sweat had beaded on my forehead, and my breathing was as far from being under control as it fucking could be.
I stepped into the elevator. Dizziness took over as the tiny space closed in on me, and I thought for sure I would pass out. My phone rang, but it sounded far away. Fumbling, I pulled it out of my pocket. “Yeah?”
Tatum’s voice came through the line. “Nitro, are you okay? You sound off.”
“Keep talking.” I needed something to take my mind off what was happening.
“Huh?”
“Tell me anything, Vegas. I need the distraction.” I focused my gaze on the numbers counting down the floors.
She paused for only a moment more. And then—“Something I detest doing more than almost anything else is grocery shopping. It’s boring as fuck and a waste of time. Online shopping is where it’s at these days. But, when you run out of things in the pantry that you love, when you thought you had a good supply… I detest that, too—”
The elevator reached the ground floor and I stepped out of it. Tatum’s voice filtered in and out of my mind as I walked the distance to the hotel exit.
“—Milo. That is the absolute worst. I really don’t wanna go shopping on my way home from work. I don’t suppose you have any in your pantry?”
I walked through the exit and breathed in the fresh air. My lungs expanded, taking much-needed oxygen in. The feeling that I was going to faint passed and I relaxed a little.
“Nitro? Are you still there?”
I gripped the phone harder as I made my way to my bike. “Yeah. Sorry about that. What were you saying about me having some shit in my pantry?”
“Milo. Do you have any?”
“How the hell did you get onto the topic of Milo?”
“Well, you did tell me to talk about anything, and that was the thing I was thinking about at that moment,” she grumbled. And then softly, “Are you okay now?”
“Yeah,” I said gruffly. I hadn’t been prepared for that reaction at all. I needed to be better prepared mentally the next time I saw Joseph.
“Good,” she said, and I waited for her to ask me what happened, but she didn’t. Tatum knew how to push my buttons, but she also knew when to let shit be. And that was something I really fucking liked about her.
* * *
“Where are we at with the guns?” I asked King late that afternoon while we sat drinking together in the clubhouse bar.
He eyed me over his beer. “I want a decision by the end of this week. We’ll take a vote at Church.”
“Which way are you leaning?”
“With Joseph.”
Not the answer I wanted to hear, but the one I figured I’d get. “I saw him this morning. He’s a fucking psychopath, King. You don’t want anything to do with him.”
“What did he do to you to make you hate him so much?”
Showing weakness was something Joseph had taught me never to do. Sharing what he’d done to me with Tatum had been one thing, but blurting that shit out to my club president was a whole other matter. “He fucked my family up, King. In every way you can imagine. I’m loyal to this club, and have been for fifteen years, but that will be tested if we get into bed with Joseph.”
His jaw clenched. “What are you telling me, Nitro? That you’d want out of the club?”
“I don’t know. Storm is in my blood. It’s my family now, and I would do anything to protect my family. The thing is, though, that when you invite outsiders into your home, you have to have a level of trust there that they won’t fuck you over. Otherwise you’ve got nothing. I’m telling you that I will never trust Joseph, so if he’s invited to work with our family, shit’s gonna get fucked up for me.”
King listened and then nodded. “I hear you, brother, and I will take that into consideration. But you’ve gotta understand that our family has been threatened, and I will do anything I need to do to make sure we don’t go down. If it turns out that Joseph is the best decision for us, I won’t hesitate to make it.”
A commotion in the hallway drew our attention, and I turned to find Devil and Hyde entering the bar with the Silver Hell president in front of them. Dragon’s gaze met King’s and he made his way over to where we sat.
King shoved his chair back, furious. “What the fuck?” he demanded.
Dragon raised his hands at the same time that Hyde said, “He wants to talk to you about the shit that’s been going down.”
King’s cold eyes met Dragon’s. “Haven’t we done all the talking we need to?”
“I’ve got new information that you’re going to want to know,” Dragon said, his body as tense as King’s.
“You came alone?” King asked.
Dragon nodded and Hyde confirmed it for King.
Dragon had some fucking balls to come on his own. It made me wonder what the hell he was about to tell King. I figured it had to be something that guaranteed his safety.
King nodded at the table. “All right then, let’s hear it.”
Dragon pulled up a seat and started talking. “I recently learnt that we have a common enemy. Angelo Gambarro.” He paused, waiting for King’s reaction. King scowled and nodded for him to continue. “He’s been out for your blood since you killed his uncle. As for us, he wants in on our territory. When he discovered that our clubs had issues, he started playing us against each other.”
“As in he’s responsible for some of the shit that’s been happening?”
Dragon nodded. “Yeah. As in, he’s responsible for that car bomb as well as some other stuff you think we did.”
“Motherfucker,” King swore.
“I don’t know about you, but I fucking want him dead. And I think we have a better chance of bringing him down if we do it together.”
King stared at Dragon as if that was the last thing he expected to come out of his mouth. “After everything we’ve been through, you really think that’s a fucking possibility?”
“If there’s one thing I hate the most, it’s being played, King. You and me, our clubs, we’re upfront about the shit that goes down between us, but this cunt fucking cheated his way to get what he wants. I’ll be fucking damned if I let him achieve his goal.”
Honour among thieves.
Before King could respond, Hyde threw out, “Fuck it, King, he’s right.”
“I agree,” Devil said.
King turned to the room. “Anyone against this idea?”
Mass agreement filled the room. King eyed me. “Nitro?”
I nodded. “I’m with Dragon. I say bury him.”
The shifting loyalties of the underbelly was well known. How long we’d align ourselves with Silver Hell was to be seen, but for now I’d happily pursue our common goal of seeing Gambarro go down.
King walked Dragon out and spent about ten minutes talking with him. When he returned, he shared some of the shit they’d discussed. He looked at me as he said, “Dragon’s going to talk with Sutherland to organise for him to supply us with guns again.”
I exhaled a long breath.
Thank fuck.
34
Tatum
“Breathe” by Faith Hill
I smiled at Monroe as I fumbled in my bag for my phone. “Fuck, where is it?” I muttered. I could hardly feel my fingers, which made it really fucking hard to find the phone.
“Hurry up, girl. I’ve got cock waiting for me.”
Our eyes met and we laughed in unison, both drunk from way too much alcohol. Our girls’ night out had started
at my place and quickly moved to this club where we’d spent the night drinking and searching for a man for Monroe.
“Got it!” I yelled loudly when I located the phone.
Monroe motioned with her hands for me to hurry up. That was a struggle because my brain was so fuzzy I couldn’t remember the damn pattern lock on my phone.
“Ugh,” Monroe grumbled. “This is why you should get a bloody iPhone, babe.”
I playfully smacked her. It was an old argument of ours. I preferred Samsung, and she harassed me to swap across. “Shut up,” I muttered, continuing to swipe all over the place.
“Fuck, how many attempts do you get before it locks you out? I cannot miss out on this dick!”
“I know! You’ll never let me forget it if you do.”
She placed her hand over mine and stopped me from swiping. “Wait! Give me his number and we can call it from my phone.”
I grimaced. “I don’t know his number.”
I traced patterns again and almost screamed my relief when I finally unlocked the phone.
Her eyes lit up. “You got it?”
“Yes, now let me just find his number,” I said, scrolling for Nitro’s number.
A few moments later, he answered, concern in his voice. “Vegas. You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“You still out with Monroe?”
I laughed as she started flapping her hands at me to speed shit along. Fuck, we were wasted. I could hardly hold myself up let alone get my brain to work faster.
“Tatum?” Nitro’s voice sounded in my ear again, dragging my attention from Monroe.
“Shit, sorry.” I couldn’t stop laughing because Monroe was hilarious in her agony over missing out on cock. “What are you doing right now?”
“Watching TV. Why?”
“Well, Monroe’s finally found herself a pierced dick and so she’s going home with him. They’re not going my way, so I have to either catch a cab or… I thought you could come pick me up. I could then show you my appreciation in ways you’d like.”
“Really? What ways exactly are we talking here?”
I smiled, loving his playful tone. “Don’t go getting too excited there, dude. I’m not talking knives here.” That idea still freaked me out. Thankfully he hadn’t brought it up again.
He chuckled. “You kill me, Vegas. I’ve got my hand on my dick and you turn it soft in one sentence.”
“Do you not think I can get you hard again? Have I failed you yet?”
“There’s a first time for everything. What you got for me if it’s not knives?”
Monroe widened her eyes and mouthed something about hurrying the hell up. I nodded and said to Nitro, “Okay, dude, we need to hurry this along. Monroe’s getting the shits with me. How about I blow you first and then I sit on your face and come all over it? After that, it’s your choice. I’ll do anything you want.”
“Fuck, I think I might have to wash that filthy mouth of yours out.”
“That’d be no fun. You’d hate it if I didn’t talk dirty to you.”
“True. Okay, I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes. Make Monroe wait with you until I get there. I don’t want you outside by yourself.”
I hung up and Monroe narrowed her eyes at me. Waving her hand at my face, she said, “What’s that look?”
“What look?”
She pointed at my face. “The dreamy look.”
I shoved my phone back in my bag and hit her with a smile. “He likes me.”
She stared at me in surprise before bursting into laughter. “Of course he fucking likes you, Tatum! I mean, he only saved your life twice and spends every spare minute he has with you.”
I thought about that. She was right. He did. “Damn.”
She shook her head as if she was frustrated with me. “I swear, you’re hard work sometimes. I know Randall screwed up your self-esteem, but have you taken a look in the mirror lately? You’re fucking hot. And that heart of yours? It’s so giving and caring, any guy would be dumb not to want it.”
“He told me to make you wait with me because he didn’t want me waiting on my own.” My heart felt like it might burst at the knowledge he worried over me.
She grinned. “The biker came good.” Monroe was still hesitant about me seeing Nitro, but I could see her softening towards him.
“Yeah,” I murmured, my mind already thinking ahead to seeing him. Although he’d slept over my place the night before and I’d woken up with him that morning, it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t get enough of the man.
* * *
“Oh God…. Fuck!” I yelled as I came, throwing my head back.
Nitro held my ass while I rode his face. He gripped me harder when I screamed out, his tongue still working its magic on my pussy. When I tried to move off him, he didn’t let me go. A growl came from him and I shuddered as another ripple of pleasure worked its way through me.
Placing my hand on his head, I said, “I can’t take much more, Nitro. Your tongue is going to make my pussy explode from too much of a good thing.”
His hold on me loosened and he finally allowed me to move. Settling myself on the bed next to him, I lay flat on my back and flung my arms out. The alcohol and the orgasm were working together to make me sleepy and I closed my eyes.
He rolled onto his side and cupped my breast. “I’m sure there was talk of sex after you sucked me off and sat on my face.”
I cracked an eye open and looked at him. “Yeah, well you’re just too good at what you do and now I’m exhausted.”
He dropped a kiss on my breast before leaving the bed. I didn’t have the energy to see what he was doing, but I figured he’d headed into the bathroom. When he returned five or so minutes later, I was almost asleep.
The bed dipped and he spooned me. It woke me up a little and I decided to use the bathroom before I passed out. Stumbling, I made my way there and did what I had to before walking back to the bedroom. On the way, my dress caught my eye. It was on the floor and I bent to pick it up, almost falling headfirst.
“Shit,” I said, reaching out for the bed to stop my fall.
Nitro moved off the bed to help me. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I just wanted to pick up my dress so it doesn’t get wrinkled,” I said, draping the dress over the chair in his room. “Seems as though I have to wear it home tomorrow. You know, it’d be good if you had space for me to leave some clothes here for times like this. I’m going to have to go home in the morning and get ready for brunch with the girls. If I had shit here, I could have just gotten ready here.” God, I was rambling in my drunken state. I stopped when I noticed Nitro staring at me, frozen to the spot. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
He didn’t reply at first, but then he said, “Nothing. Get your ass back in bed so I can fuck you again.”
I stared at him, confused as hell, but that could have been the alcohol. He’d gone from concerned to bossy and demanding in under a minute, though, so I couldn’t be sure it was just the alcohol. “Did I say something wrong?”
His arms scooped me up and he dumped me on the bed. “We’re done with talking.” He positioned himself over me, his mouth on mine in a kiss that swept all thoughts from my mind. “And you’re done with even contemplating sleep.”
I might have been ready for sleep before, but Nitro soon had me panting for his cock. Who was I kidding? He always did.
* * *
“Call me when you’re ready. I’ll swing back and pick you up,” Nitro said as he pulled up to the kerb.
I undid my seatbelt and turned to face him, ignoring the headache I had. I’d been expecting the mother of all hangovers, but the universe was looking after me today and all I had was a sore head. My God, the man was gorgeous. He sat watching me with his hand resting on the steering wheel, his heavily tatted arm muscles on full display in a fitted black tee. His brown eyes watched me with heat, as if the last thing he wanted to do was let me leave the ute. As if all he wanted to do was throw me down onto the back seat a
nd sink himself deep inside me.
“Thanks for driving me today,” I said, right before I captured his lips in a long kiss. One that told him I wanted him to throw me onto that back seat too.
“Fuck, Tatum,” he muttered when I let his mouth go. “You wanna kiss me like that, you just might not make it to brunch.”
My heart beat rapidly as I let his desire soak in. It had been a long time since a man had wanted me as much as Nitro did. It felt so damn good. Reaching for the door handle, I said, “I’ll cook you dinner tonight.” A Saturday night in with Nitro was exactly what I needed.
I swung my legs out of his ute and as I closed the door behind me, the sound of his door closing caught my attention. Glancing up, I watched as he made his way around to my side of the car. His stride was determined, and butterflies whooshed in my stomach as our eyes met.
His hand went straight to my waist when he reached me, and he backed me up against the car. His grip was firm, his touch electric. Bending his face to mine, he bruised my lips with a kiss. A kiss that went on and on. By the time he let me go, I was breathless. Dazed.
“I can’t wait until tonight,” he rasped. “As soon as you’re done here, you’re mine.”
With that, he left me to walk back around to the driver side, leaving me standing there in such a turned-on state I wasn’t sure I would make it through brunch.
By the time I sat down across from Monroe and Posey, I had recovered enough to string a sentence together. Staring at both of them, I said, “Have you ever been so into a guy that you can’t even think about anything except getting back to him?”
Monroe’s lips curled up into a smile. “You’ve got it bad for Nitro, haven’t you?”
I took a deep breath and then exhaled hard. “Yeah. I’m finding it hard to concentrate on work. My house is a mess because when I’m home, I’m either in bed with him or wasting time thinking about him…. God, I’ve even let my exercise go. This feels so overwhelming some days, like it’s completely out of control. Tell me you’ve experienced this.”