“Diesel, you good, brother?”
Diesel looked over at Brick. “Yeah. I just got a lot on my mind.”
Brick grunted.
“That brings the next issue to order.” Diesel looked over at Jagger, who was staring at him, but then looked over at Dallas, too. “You boys want to tell me what the fuck was going on at the bar last night? Why you feel the need to fight each other?” There was a heavy silence across the table. “We have enough people trying to bring us down. We don’t need to be trying to do that with each other.”
“It is what it is, Jagger.” Diesel leaned back in his seat. He might have put the shit that happened with Dallas behind him, but he hadn’t forgotten it. He glanced at the other male, and grew pissed when he noticed Dallas watching him.
“And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Diesel looked over at Jagger again. Diesel wasn’t about to mince his words, because this shit needed brought to the table regardless. He had planned on taking to Jagger about it privately and seeing what his President said, but since it was brought to the table everyone was going to hear him. “It means Dallas running his mouth when he’s piss drunk seems to happen more frequently.” The once Nomad had joined their crew a short time ago. Diesel had known the male for years before he got patched in with the Grizzly MC, but all he had ever really heard on his Nomad status was he didn’t want to be tied down to any one charter. He didn’t drink all the time, but when he did he always managed to get drunk enough to start running his mouth. Well, last night when he started talking about fucking Maggie had been a step over Diesel’s line.
“Dude, you flipped the fuck out when I started saying shit about some piece of ass dancing on the floor.” Dallas kept his voice even, but his words had Diesel’s rage rising swiftly.
“Man, you aren’t even drunk and saying shit that you shouldn’t.”
Stinger shook his head and chuckled. “There is going to be another brawl started, and I’m not going to stop it this time.” Court had been there last night, too, but he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.
“D, this was about some tail last night? What, you wanted a go at her and Dallas was trying to hit her up, too?”
Diesel gritted his teeth and snapped his head toward Jagger. He had known the other male for a long ass time, but he was stick of people talking about Maggie that way.
“She isn’t a piece of tail, or a piece of pussy. She is Brian’s daughter, Maggie, and when that motherfucker,” he pointed at Dallas, “started running his mouth about Maggie, saying the shit he was going to do to her, I thought he needed his ass knocked out because of it.” Diesel wasn’t about to bust out that he had been thinking the same stuff regarding Maggie, but when he had heard the lust in Dallas’s voice, and smelled the need to only fuck her like she was nothing more than a club whore, Diesel had felt protective, possessive, and territorial of her. Thinking that being with her sexually would get rid of this hardcore desire to be with her had been a dumb fucking idea, and it clearly wasn’t working since he still had her on his mind. That never happened to Diesel. When he fucked a female he wanted that was the end of it. He didn’t think about them, wonder what they were doing, or want to be with them again. But as much as he liked his sex rough, and although he hadn’t nearly done all the things he wanted to do to Maggie, he also wanted to go slow with her. He wanted to lick every inch of her body, memorize the curves and dips of her body, and mark her with his canines and his cum.
“Shit, D, what in the hell are you thinking about?” He snapped his eyes at Court and glowered. “You’re fucking stinking up the entire room with your arousal, and frankly it ain’t doing anything but making all of us miserable.”
Diesel looked at all the guys. They all held the same expression: one of annoyance and amusement.
“Fuck you all.” They all started laughing, and Diesel shifted in his chair again. “I’m going to make myself perfectly clear.” The room grew silent, and all focus was on Diesel. “I don’t want anyone saying shit about Maggie. She isn’t up for discussion, and if I hear anyone talking about how they want to fuck her or do anything else with her I’ll personally take you out back and beat your ass.”
No one said anything, but there was clearly a feeling of weirdness that came from each male.
“Everyone is cool with that, D—”
“You placing a claim on her, Diesel?” Jagger’s words were cut off when Dallas decided to open his mouth.
Diesel curled his hands into tight fists, but kept them on his thighs.
“Dallas,” Jagger growled out. The tension in the room was growing to a volcanic level.
“No, Jagger, I want to know. This conversation started when D decided to tell us all she was off limits, but he can’t really make that kind of demand unless he is related to her, has some kind of history with her that doesn’t have anything to do with her dad selling bike parts, or if he claimed her as his own.” Dallas was either drunk, high, or both to be starting this shit now.
Court and Stinger all shifted in their seats, Brick stared at Dallas with an inscrutable expression on his face, and Jagger wore a scowl.
“Dallas, this is not up for debate.” Jagger spoke before Diesel could tell Dallas off.
“I’m not trying to start shit.”
Diesel grunted, because that seemed like an outright lie. “What in the fuck is your problem, man?” Diesel didn’t hide the growl in his voice. “Since you got patched in you can’t seem to stop running your mouth.”
Dallas slowly leaned back in his chair. “There isn’t a problem. I am simply stating that if I wanted to go after Maggie it shouldn’t be a problem since you have not staked your claim.”
“The only thing you’re interested in is getting between her thighs.” Diesel didn’t realize he had been about to stand until Jagger put his hand on his forearm.
“Easy, brother.” Jagger kept his voice low.
Diesel sat back in his seat and kept his focus on Dallas. There was a moment of silence where no one did anything but look between Diesel and Dallas.
“I mean it. Stay away from her, Dallas. She isn’t up for grabs whether I have claimed her or not.” Diesel gritted his teeth and forced his bear not to come out, scale this table, and kick Dallas’s ass.
“Dallas, I think the smart thing is to just back the fuck off on Maggie. This is a brotherhood, and respecting each other is our code. I don’t know what shit you’re going through that is making you act like this, but back the fuck off.” Court was the one to speak. “If D doesn’t want you near her, then that is the end of it.”
Dallas didn’t respond right away.
“We don’t screw with brothers, no matter what shit we are going through,” Jagger said, and although he didn’t say that they had all noticed a change in Dallas, it was clear from Jagger’s voice that they had. “Especially when it concerns a female they are protective of. D might not be sleeping with her, but he has said what he needed to say. This goes for any of the members in this club.” Jagger looked at each Grizzly that sat around the table. “And I think it is safe to say Diesel, as well as all of us, don’t want to see Maggie hurt. She isn’t just a female, but Brian’s daughter, and we respect the hell out of him.”
Diesel would have been happy if no one had gotten involved in this. He wanted to make it clear to Dallas that Maggie was not up for discussion, but Jagger was the President, this shit had been brought up at the table, and it was clear this was how it was going to happen.
“There are plenty of chicks for you to fuck, Dallas.” Brick chimed in, which surprised the hell out of Diesel. “In fact, go fuck a few of the club whores. They would be more than happy to fuck you until you are comatose.”
Dallas still didn’t say anything, and the rage inside of Diesel increased.
“Understand?” Diesel made that one word come out on a harsh growl. His bear was right there, just about to come out and do some real fucking damage. “I don’t care if she is mine or not. Just bac
k off, man.”
Dallas looked down at the table, and there was a lot of emotion passing across the male’s face. Diesel didn’t know what was going on with Dallas, felt sorry for him since it was clearly eating away at his soul, but he still wouldn’t ease up on having him back away from Maggie.
“Yeah.” Dallas scrubbed a hand over his face and then finally lifted his head and looked at Diesel.
“If you want to talk, you know we are all here for you,” Jagger said to Dallas. “You’re one of us, a brother, and you don’t need to keep your problems buried inside of you.”
Dallas’s expression turned dark, and the sound of him grinding his teeth came through like a whip cracking. “I don’t need to talk about anything. That is the end of it.” He stood with enough force that his chair skidded backward and slammed into the wall. He looked right at Diesel. “Maggie is off-limits. I got it, but if you don’t want anyone going after that female, then maybe you should lay your mark on her. As it is I—as well as I know everyone else at this table—can smell the fucking sex on you,” Dallas said with a growl. He looked at Jagger. “We done here?”
Jagger normally wasn’t one to let anyone talk to him the way Dallas just had, but there was no mistaking that there was pain coming from the other member, pain that he was trying really fucking hard to mask. Because of that, and whatever shit Dallas was going through, Jagger didn’t rip him a new asshole.
“Yeah,” their President said with a sharpness to his voice. That was all it took for Dallas to get the fuck out of the room.
No one said anything for a while, but there was confusion in the air. The other members were lucky they didn’t bring up the fact Dallas had called Diesel out on fucking Maggie, because even if he had showered that morning, there was no getting rid of the scent of her that seemed to cover his skin, the fact he was constantly thinking about her, or that he was so fucking hard from said thoughts that he couldn’t sit comfortably.
“Brick, I want you and Diesel to head over to River Run and get any information you can from McNamara on that new MC. He was stingy with the details, but he also isn’t all about talking on the phone.”
No one gave out a lot of information on the phone. Even if they were on disposable phones it was too risky to talk anything “business” related, seeing as it was usually illegal.
“When you want us to head out?” Brick asked.
“This afternoon. McNamara is expecting you.”
Diesel and Brick stood, but before he could leave Jagger spoke again.
“Sit down a minute.”
He did, and waited until Brick shut the meeting room door behind him before he started talking again. “What’s up?”
Jagger leaned back in his seat. “Want to tell me what’s going on with you and Brian’s kid?”
“She isn’t a kid. She’s twenty-three.” Everyone in the club knew about her because of their affiliation with Brian, and Diesel knew that was what this was all about. “Besides, nothing is going on.”
Jagger cocked a brow. “No?”
Diesel shook his head.
“Then why can I smell the fact you had sex with her?”
Diesel didn’t know how to reply.
At Diesel’s silence Jagger signed and rubbed his eyes. “D, man, she is Brian’s daughter. What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that I wanted her pretty damn badly.” His annoyance grew over the fact first Dallas and now Jagger was giving him shit about it. “If she wasn’t Brian’s daughter we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. She is an adult, and was consenting. Why the fuck does anyone care who I screw?” But it hadn’t been just fucking Maggie. It had meant more, and that scared the shit out of him. He rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “Jagger, I don’t know what is happening to me, but when I was with her my bear took control. I couldn’t think rationally, and honestly didn’t want to. I just wanted her, in every fucking way imaginable. I was so damn possessive of her, too.” He never talked about this kind of stuff. Maggie was a clear weakness for him.
“Fuck, dude.” Yeah, that about summed it up. “You going to take her as an old lady?”
He was already shaking his head before Jagger even finished. There was a frown between Jagger’s eyes.
“No? Why not if you clearly want her this badly?”
Diesel thought about what he said but didn’t have an answer. “I don’t know, Jagger. I really fucking don’t know. What I do know is I don’t want an old lady right now.”
“Why?”
Damn him for his quick response.
“Because I don’t think bringing in a female into the fucked up life I lead is smart. She’s a good girl, and if anything happened to her under my protection…” He clenched his jaw. “I would go off the deep end for sure.”
“I would rather be there for my woman than try to fight how I feel and end up missing out on a really fucking special thing. You get my drift?” Jagger didn’t wait for Diesel to respond. “Diesel, you make it sound like it is the end of the damn world having an old lady, when it is actually the opposite. Since being with Sonya I feel different. Yeah, I still have all that anger and violence inside of me, but she soothes it with just a touch or the sound of her voice. I won’t lie and say that when all that shit went down with Trick I wasn’t a fucking mess with worry over her. It’s a part of life, and can’t be avoided.”
Diesel glanced out the window and saw Brick making his way over to Darra. The Sergeant at Arms embraced her, and whatever he said in her ear had her throwing her head back and laughing.
“You will never know the satisfaction you get knowing you have someone to protect, or the feeling of this possessiveness and territorial need to make it known she is yours. My animal revels in it, and I don’t fucking fight him.”
Diesel didn’t know what to say. He had never heard Jagger speak this “deeply” about anything aside from the MC before.
“I love that female, Diesel, and would take a bullet in my head for her. And if what I’m picking up from you is accurate, you might be feeling some pretty deep shit for Maggie as well. Did you ever think you’d see Brick or me settled down, and pining for women?”
No, he hadn’t, but then again he didn’t think he could have ever imagined any member of the club claiming a female. “This isn’t something I want to talk about, Prez.”
“No? Well, you may not want to talk about it, but you’re going to hear me out regardless. You want to screw chicks, I got no problem with that, but you make damn sure you don’t mess around with a female of the club’s associates unless you are willing to claim her as yours.” There was a threat in Jagger’s voice. “Brian’s been working with the Grizzlies for years. He’s a good man, and Maggie is a good girl. I don’t want to see her get hurt. If you want to not have a member go after her, then you need to be the one to treat her right. Understand?” There was this fatherly figure in Jagger, even if he was a mean motherfucker at times. He was protective of everyone and everything he considered family.
Diesel clenched his jaw. “I’m the last person that would ever hurt her, and if anyone tried to fucking touch her I’d kill them.”
This smug look crossed over Jagger’s face.
“That’s what I thought. Why don’t you think about that proprietary attitude that just came out of you, and the fact your bear was the one that growled out those words? You don’t want an old lady? Seems like you do, and her name is Maggie Drake.” Jagger held Diesel’s gaze with his own and then turned and left him alone.
“Shit.” He rubbed his hand over his face and breathed out. “You are so fucked, D.”
Chapter Eight
Maggie put the last box of air filters on the shelf in the back room. The sound of the bell above the front door of her father’s supply store dinged with a customer. She wiped her hands on the off white apron tied around her waist and headed back out front. At first she didn’t see anyone when she stepped into the main floor, but then Mora popped out from behind one of
the shelves with a huge grin on her face.
“Good God, Mora. How about not being creepy as hell this early in the morning?”
Mora stepped up to the front counter and leaned on it.
“This early?” She looked down at her cell in her hand. “Girl, it is noon, and lunchtime.” She smiled brightly and popped her gum.
“No, it’s early still, and sleep sounds a lot better than food right now.” Maggie leaned on the counter and rested her head in her hands. She closed her eyes for a second, and although she wouldn’t act like this if there were people in the store, Mora wasn’t a customer, and, well, she just didn’t care. That was how much she wanted to go back to bed right now.
“Why are you so tired?” Mora pulled at a strand of her hair that had come down from her bun.
Maggie looked up. For a second all she did was stare at her friend, but honestly she was trying to think of how to go about telling Mora exactly what had happened.
Mora’s eyes grew wide, and she took a step back. “Oh my God. You got laid.” Mora said the last word loudly, and Maggie shushed her even though at the moment no one but the two of them was in the store.
“Keep your voice down, Mora. Lord.” Maggie pushed herself up and crossed her arms.
“Well, then tell me, because I know I dropped you off at your dad’s house. Did you go out after that, or maybe have someone come in?” Mora wagged her eyebrows, and Maggie couldn’t help but laugh, but then she thought about exactly what had happened last night.
“Um, well, it is kind of complicated—”
“No, it’s not.” Mora was still grinning. “Just lay it out. I know you are kind of on the prude side compared to me.”
“Mora, everyone is on the prude side compared to you. Well, maybe not Diesel.” Maggie snapped her mouth closed when the latter came out. Oh shit, she had really just said that aloud?
It only took a second for Mora’s eyes to get as big as saucers, and then her mouth gaped open. “No. Shit. You slept with Diesel? Like the Grizzly MC Diesel?” The excitement coming from Mora was thick, but she also could tell there was a little uncertainty in there also.
One Night in the Outlaw's Bed Page 7