by L. Ann Marie
“They don’t need me to say yes first?”
“Do you want to go home?”
“No.” Fuck she looks like she’s going to cry.
I stand her in front of me and take a breath. “Precious Beth. Prospects are part of my life like the Brothers. From when I can remember they’ve moved everyone. You don’t have to be there. They’ll take care with your things like they’re gold. They don’t talk about what you have and I’ve never heard about anything stolen, ever. They will move your things in here putting your coffee cups and plates with mine. Your clothes will be in the drawers and razor will be on the side of mine. For me, it’s what they do. I can see that would be odd to you, but it’s just part of our life. On the Compound, they shop, deliver or help when needed.”
“I don’t shop?”
“The old ladies shop at Nancy’s, that’s Tiny’s wife—she does clothes. Dry goods are delivered and the Prospect delivering puts them away. We shop for food ourselves unless the Compound is locked down. Then the Prospects do. You can go to the mall whenever you want, but most of the old ladies don’t like shopping.”
She smiles. “How weird is that?” I shrug not knowing what part is weird. “I only like shopping for Christmas. I order almost everything.”
I laugh. “So tomorrow is good?” She nods and I kiss her. “Thank fuck. Tomorrow I’ll tell you old lady rules.”
“There’s rules? Maybe I need to know them first.” Fuck. My dick isn’t liking the conversation tonight.
I sit her on my lap. “Never are you alone with a Brother. Never is a Brother touching you. You don’t go anywhere alone at the Club. Either I’m with you or my family is, or you’re with the old ladies. Last, but most important, is you’re never on anyone’s bike but mine. You are mine.”
“I like I’m yours, but never going on someone’s bike is more important than someone touching me?”
“When I told the Brother from the wedding to stop what did he do?”
She scrunches her eyes making me bite my cheeks. “He put his hands up. You told him you wouldn’t shoot him.” Her eyes get big. “He really thought you’d shoot him? I just squeezed his hand for support.”
“If I only saw your hand on his I would have shot him. I was planning his murder at the bar.”
“Shit that’s scary.” Her head goes to my chest.
I kiss her head. “We’ve been brought up a certain way. We take care of our women and kids and don’t fuck around when it comes to people fuckin’ with that. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Brother. The women are no different. Every one of them carries and they take offense to someone touching their men or messing with the old ladies and kids. Sheila and Eliza are deadly, but mess with the old ladies or kids and they’re mama bear protecting her cubs deadly.”
“That’s kind of sweet.”
I laugh. “Don’t ever call Sheila sweet. Only Jax gets to do that.”
“Jeesh her too? I thought it was only the Brothers that you can’t say sweet to.”
My jaw clenches. “What Brother were you calling sweet?”
She sits up and looks at me. “Put your dick away. I thought as a group they were sweet. Lily said that word is never used. I’ll just find another word. I’m not sure I can make it as good as nurses but I’ll try.”
Fuckin’ Beth. I laugh. “Tomorrow is still good?”
“No major shopping, cleaning service and you’re buying my next knockoff? Yeah. My furniture can go to the shelter, but I have some things from my grandmother that are important to me.”
“Anything you want Precious and you don’t need a knock off.” She’s moving in and it only took thirty minutes.
She laughs. “As if a purse is ever worth twelve hundred. I like the deals.”
I shake my head. She’s a little crazy, moving in after a week with my head fucked up, the crazy Brothers, living on a Compound, just learning the old lady rules and she’s thinking about good deals. Since I’m not letting her go, I’m okay with her kind of crazy. “Since my dick is out, can I get to knocking the socks off you now?”
“What about my rules?”
I’m biting my cheeks again. All I can do is nod. “You can’t leave the seat up. No woman gets to touch you. You are mine.” She smiles poking my chest. “I’m not a kept woman, I pay my way just like you do. And we never go to bed mad at each other, we talk it out and deal.”
“Yes ma’am. Anything else?”
“Nah, I was winging it.” She smiles.
Fuckin’ Beth. I pull her shirt off her having enough with the rules and laughing. “I love seeing my map.” I run my fingers up her ink and take a nipple in my mouth while pulling her into me. When she moans, I move her off me and undress the rest of her. Now that her mind is where I want it, my dick is happy to knock her socks off.
When she’s undressed, I lift her and lay on the bed. Flipping her around I tell her, “Sit on your knees Precious.” When she does I move under her. “Perfect.” My tongue swipes through her folds finding home right away. She moans and drops to her hands on my stomach. She moves them to my dick and I love this position. When her mouth is on me I focus on getting her off before I am. Jesus! Her body freezes and she slides me out grabbing me hard. It’s all I can do to slide her down. She lets my dick go and I slide her on me sitting up. “Precious Beth you almost had me. Felt fuckin’ good.” Her fingers are in my thighs as I’m bouncing her on me. “Not enough baby.” I flip her again holding one knee high and bury myself in her. Leaning in I kiss her and she grabs my hair holding me in place. “Love it rough Precious.” With her nails in my back and my hair being pulled I slam into her until she yells my name. My head goes back as she pulls it tighter and I’m off. I hold deep until she lets my hair go. “Fuckin’ perfect.”
I let her knee drop and fall to the side pulling her to me while I kiss her face. “I love you Precious Beth.” She moans and I think of Patches’ list. I’m doing it right.
I get us clean and put shorts and a t-shirt on her in case I wake up tonight. She lets me brush her hair and I smile the whole time. When I’m done, she flops back on me making me laugh. She’s cute. “You showed me enough today. I need sleep now.”
Moving us around I get her on my arm just where I like her. When I shut the light the lowlights come on. Fuck. “It’s like Mucimi’s room.”
“I didn’t know it was a smell that triggered the PTSD. I was put in a dark room. When I woke up, it was pitch black. The memory always starts there. I thought the lights would help.” I was so wrong, but it was a shot worth taking.
“Since this room is new to me it will help. I can sleep in full sun, so the lights don’t bother me. If it helps, keep them, they’re kind of cool.”
“So fuckin’ easy. If you don’t care, they can’t hurt. Maybe with them I can get through it myself. At the very least Dakota, Jeremy and Prez won’t trip over the furniture.”
She laughs. I close my eyes seeing her smile. “Love you Precious.”
Chapter Eighteen
One week
Beth
I am so nervous and excited my brain isn’t focusing on the speech I have written. I send a text to Taylor, The damn tattooed biker won’t leave me alone. Since I’m home and all alone he’s giving me ideas on how to use that extra energy. Toys are involved. What should I tell him? He said it was an easy day, maybe he can get away.
I try for the speech again. My phone beeps and I laugh reading it. He’ll be here in thirty minutes. I get back into the speech, but when I get to Taylor going to therapy I start thinking about how proud I am of him. He went to one of the houses and told the men about how living with PTSD is not impossible. Lily said it was awesome. I hear someone pull up but it’s not a bike. I meet a Prospect at the door.
“Nancy sent some clothes for you. There’s a card.” He pushes a garment bag to me.
“Thank you.” I walk back to the bedroom and hang it on the bathroom door. I hear Taylor’s bike and start undressing. I can’t help smiling. I wonder w
hat he’s going to do this time. He brought me in the shower last time and used soap and his hand to literally bring me to my knees then dried me and left. It was crazy, but I was so turned on I couldn’t wait for him to get home.
“What the fuck?” Taylor yells and I turn and scream. The Prospect is standing there. He drops the bags he has and I slam the bathroom door but the hanger stops it from closing.
“Why is he in here!” I yell but Taylor’s yelling and then he stops. I’m trying to put my shirt on when the door moves. “Taylor?”
“Yeah.”
I move away so the door can open. “Why was he in the house? I took the bag.”
“Come here Precious.” I go to him and he holds me to his chest. “You’re shaking baby.”
“Did you see the man in the house?” I yell at him then start crying. “I don’t like people coming in. I know it’s how you do things, but I’ll put everything away and do everything we need if they can just stay out. I heard your bike. I was getting undressed for you and that man was right in our room.”
He lifts me up and holds me against his chest. “Shhh Precious. They won’t come in anymore. They’re supposed to stop in the kitchen. I’ll make sure they only come when I’m home. Okay?”
I take a breath and try to calm down. “He was watching me. Isn’t there a rule about old lady watching?”
“He won’t be back here.”
“Brother!” A voice from the front yells.
“More now?” My hands go in the air.
“It’s Jessie baby.” He turns his head and looks out the door. “In the room.” He sets me down. “I need to talk to Jessie to get the fuckin’ douche out of here. Do you want to come with me?”
I grab a towel off the rack and wipe my face. “Yes.”
Jessie and a man I met at the Club, Lee, come in the room. “What the fuck?” Jessie looks mad.
Taylor’s whole body is tense. “I walked in and he was watching her get undressed. I stopped that.” I look at the guy, but all I see is the back of his head.
Lee bends down. “Jesus. What the fuck was he doing back here with her in the house?”
I knew there must be a rule. Jessie looks at me and I hold Taylor’s hand tighter. He’s a little scary when he’s mad. “You okay?”
“He scared the shit out of me, but I’m fine. I was in the bathroom.”
“They don’t go past the kitchen unless Taylor is with you. If you’re alone they leave whatever they have and walk out the door. We’ve never had a problem before. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He looks at Taylor. “You good Brother?”
“No I’m not fuckin’ good. What would have happened if I was ten minutes later? She didn’t even know he was there. He stopped when I yelled.” I look at his face. He’s talking softer than his regular voice and it’s scary.
Jessie nods. “I’ll talk to Prez.”
Taylor looks at Lee. “Make sure the others see this fuckin’ prick. They go past the kitchen I’ll take them all out and we can start new.”
Lee’s hands go up. “Fuck Brother. I’ll make sure they know.” He drags the guy out.
“He was still walking when you came in?”
Taylor nods. “Yeah, slow so he wouldn’t make noise. I was behind him until I saw her undressing. I scared the shit out of him. When she turned and saw him, she freaked the fuck out. As soon as the door closed I took him down.”
“I’ll talk to Sheila and Eliza about training for her. This was too fuckin’ close.” He turns and I’m glad. I think I’d be afraid of Jessie if he was mad at me.
Taylor hugs me. “You okay Precious?”
“Yes. I’m fine now. I really was freaked out. I need to calm the hell down. Did I freak you out?”
He laughs. “No Precious. I was good. Pissed, but good. I’m telling the gate no more deliveries unless I’m in.”
“That works for me. I’ll try to be more Princess and not freak out.”
He smiles and kisses my head. “Where is all this from? There’s more in the kitchen.”
I shrug. “He gave me something from Nancy. He said it had a card, but I didn’t see one.” I point to the bag on the door.
He checks it then empties the two bags on the table. “These don’t even belong here.”
I go for the bags that were dropped and bring them to him. “This looks like a toy.” I hand the two bags pointing to the one with a train in it.
He’s on his phone talking to someone about the deliveries. I check the garment bag on the bathroom door. It’s a pretty blue dress that matches my helmet. I hope it was supposed to be for me. It’s the right size. There’s no card though. I go back to the kitchen to tell him about the dress but stop at the doorway.
“The only thing for here was the dress I got from Nancy. He called in saying the truck sounded funny and he was looking under the hood. Taking his fuckin’ eye wasn’t enough. He’s fuckin’ lucky.”
I back away. Holy shit. I sit on the bed thinking. He came in to hurt me? Thank God Taylor was here. He took his eye. That’s kind of scary.
Eliza comes into the room. “How you holding up Beth?”
“I was good, but just heard Taylor say he took the guy’s eye. That’s not a normal reaction, is it? That’s scary.”
She scoffs. “The pussy came in here, was where he shouldn’t be, chances are to rape you. He’s lucky he’s alive, but I can’t guarantee he’ll live long. We don’t play when it comes to sexual assault. If he walks from here he’ll just hurt someone else down the road. Suppose it’s one of our kids? We don’t allow that in the Club or community. Nothing good was coming from the pussy being back here. They all know better. Women and kids are worth a fuck of a lot more than a raping bastard.”
Wow. She’s kind of scary too. She makes sense though. Walking away he’d probably hurt someone else. That’s not something that goes away, it usually progresses. I nod. “Looking at it like that it makes sense and thank you. I’d rather not be the person that allows him to be free to hurt someone else. Do I make a report?”
She smiles. “I got it handled. I just came to make sure you were doing okay. You don’t need this shit today of all days. You good?”
I smile. “I am now. Thanks.”
“Lily is worried you’ll be too freaked to do your parts tonight. You still up for it?”
“Yes. I need to do my part so we get the money for Lily to do hers. I met the women at the support group. They need the men to hear and see there’s hope and help for them.”
She hugs me. “You’re going to make an awesome old lady. I’m glad you’re ours.”
I smile thinking I can’t wait to be an old lady. “You ready?”
She smiles nodding. “Sheila is still throwing a fit, but she’ll do it. Taylor is like her brother. They grew up together and she’d do anything for him.”
This is so good. “I’m wicked excited now. It’s going to be a great night.”
* * *
Taylor
“We’ll keep all deliveries to after five. It will be a fuckin’ pain in the ass, but it’s better than an old lady getting hurt.” Jessie hands him a towel. He washes the blood off his hand. “That was fuckin’ gory Brother.” He still hit him, even with his missing eye and blood every fuckin’ where. Prez is a little crazy that way.
I shake my head. “He won’t be looking anymore. If I knew he was planning it, he would have been dead in the room.”
Jessie nods. “Her cut is still on the seat. Make sure you get it before they take the truck.”
I smile. “I will. She’ll get it tonight so there’s no mistaking what she means to me.”
Prez hits my arm. “The benefit is tonight. Give it to her now.”
“She’s not used to this shit happening Prez. She didn’t grow up like us.”
“She’s fine. Nancy sent the perfect dress for the benefit. She’s excited,” Eliza says slapping my back.
I smile shaking my head. “Fuckin’ women. Thanks, Brother.”
“I didn’t do anything but ask her how she was. She’s an old lady. She’s fine. See you tonight.” She walks away.
Prez laughs. “Give her the cut. I’m out. I have to switch out the Prospects for Security before people show up tonight. Now I don’t like the Activity Center being used.”
Jessie slaps my back. “I’m glad you got here in time Brother. I’ll make sure the Prospects know their place and what’s at stake.”
I throw him chin walking to the truck to get the cut. “Thanks Jessie.”
Back in the house I look for my girl. She’s on the bed with her hands moving, but not saying a word. “Am I interrupting?”
She laughs. “Nope. Just going over tonight.”
I groan. “I can’t believe I let Lily rope me into this.”
“You’ll be great. Lily said you did good at the house.”
I don’t want to think about it. “I have something for you. Actually, two things—they go together.”
She’s already smiling. I kiss her. “I’m glad you’re fine after the Prospect.”
“You were here and he just scared me. I’m not still freaked, if that’s worrying you.”
I shake my head. Eliza was right. “In the Club there are old ladies that the Brothers take out of convenience or that they care about, but they’re not willing to marry. Then there’s the Brothers that find the one and go ‘all in’. You saw Prez with Lily. He’s ‘all in’. Brantley and Holly. If you look at our parents, they are too. Not one family from the Officers has ever had a divorce once they went ‘all in’. ‘All in’ means you don’t get that as a choice. The only option is working harder to make your life good for both you and your family. Every day I will work toward that, everything I do will be with thought and love for you. You are the beginning and end of my world. I would be honored if you would wear my cut letting everyone know what you mean to me.” I hold the cut up so she can see the back, but don’t know how she can with the tears running down her face.
She jumps on me knocking me back and I can’t do anything but laugh. Women are crazy. “Yes!” She turns and her knee is in between my legs. I’m not doing a fuckin’ thing to surprise or scare her right now.