by Jayne Blue
I considered calling my Uncle. I thought this would be just the kind of thing he’d want to know. Someone named Jenny was in a position to tip off the club to an ATF raid. That probably meant she was a cop. Hell, the fact that they were being raided was probably information he wanted. I didn’t know what he’d do with that but, no question, The Dark Saints would be occupied over the next few hours and The Hawks could take advantage if they knew.
But I didn’t call.
I’d watch more. I’d get more information. I reasoned with myself that the more I knew, the happier Uncle A.J. would be when I checked in.
Besides, the club put me to work next.
“Honey, how many empty shelves you got over there?”
Shep pointed to a spot at the end of the long bar.
“Two.”
Shep had a stack of boxes. He grabbed one and brought it around.
“You want these there? Let me. You go do something more important. I got this.”
Shep reached out and squeezed my hand. I squeezed back. Somehow it felt like we were in something, together.
I looked inside one of the boxes. It was bootleg liquor. I wondered why they’d get that out and put it almost on display. But I did have a few ideas about what they were doing to prep for a raid.
There was no time to ask any of the MC members what was up or eek out information from them. They were scary focused on their jobs. Probies, however, were much easier to pump for information.
“Hey, Machop? You’re Machop, right?”
“Yep.”
“Can you lift this one?”
And the big lunk of a kid came around the bar to lift the loaded down box over.
“No problem.”
“A lot of work to put the illegal hooch on display.”
“Yeah, it’s a lot easier to be fined by the AFT for moonshine than it is to do hard time for gun running. It’ll give the feds something to chew on. Plus, we got a judge that looks the other way for hooch. Not so much for guns.”
Bingo. The Probie wanted to look cool in front of me and so spilled what he knew. I had suspected as much. God love Machop.
The night wore on and no one was drinking or whooping it up in this bar. They were all business. And they never stopped.
I had several opportunities. I could have called A.J. I knew now exactly what was happening.
But I couldn’t do it. What did it really matter, anyway? This had nothing to do with The Hawks. This was between The Saints and law enforcement. I used dozens of justifications for not calling my Uncle.
And I also kept finding something to distract me. Some reason that I couldn’t get away and call. If this raid was going down, he wasn’t going to know about it ahead of time because of me. Besides, he wouldn’t have any idea I’d got advanced knowledge, how could he know? I could claim ignorance.
Finally, Shep came back to me.
“You should get out of here, some stuff’s about to go down.”
“Are you sending anyone else home?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll be here, behind the bar.”
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, a dark-haired biker came in.
“Just heard from Zig at the checkpoint, the ATF is almost here, we’ve got less than five.”
Shep looked at me and I nodded that I was okay. My heart was racing but I did my best not to show it.
It had to be just before dawn. The club members all found a spot and pretended to be just hanging out.
When the ATF showed up, they showed up in a swarm. They burst into the bar.
“NOBODY MOVE!”
Club members put up their hands. I did the same.
There were cops everywhere. One was behind the bar with me and yelling in my face.
“ON THE FLOOR! FACE DOWN!”
I did exactly what he told me to do. I felt a boot in my back. And then a set of hands up and down my sides. Then a pat down of my legs.
“Clean!” He yelled to one of the other ATF agents.
“Get up.”
I complied with each instruction.
“Open those boxes.”
I did that as well and the moonshine was on full display.
“Over here! We’ve got illegal gin, for sure, over here.”
They took pictures and the boxes I’d carefully loaded were hauled away.
MC members were being pushed outside, one at a time. I knew they were all getting frisked too.
It lasted over an hour. The ATF kept us outside. And they kept their guns trained on us.
After turning the club inside out, the commanding officer walked up to Shep. The name on his flak jacket was Wright.
“Listen, Bullock, where the fuck are you hiding the guns?”
“What guns are you talking about, Wright?”
“We got a tip that you had a big shipment, all ready to go out to The Cartel.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Nothing’s happening here but rest and relaxation.”
“Your Dad gets shot last night, your VP is on the run? Sounds to me like a lot of shit is popping here at The Dark Saints MC. Not one person saw E.Z. shoot your Dad, so unfortunate.” Wright was in Shep’s face but Shep didn’t blink.
It appeared the club wasn’t turning their former Prez over to the cops either. They were protecting him, and I had a pretty good idea why.
They’d deliver their own verdict on their former VP.
“None of us have outstanding warrants. And, as you can see, this is a private club.”
“So the moonshine? You’re not distilling it, cause if you are...”
“We just keep it here, as housewarming gifts for our visitors. Gifts to friends. We’re thoughtful like that.”
I listened and learned. Shep wasn’t saying a thing really. I’d take my lead from him.
It was clear the ATF agents were turning up nothing. But an irritated officer was a dangerous one. None of the members had so much as a pocketknife on them during the raid. And as the Probie Machop said, the only contraband evident in the search was a box of illegal liquor.
Shep stood tall under the questioning, and Officer Wright, at least six foot himself, had to look up at the biker. It was clear he wanted to arrest Shep, but if he’d had a shred of cause, he’d have done it already.
So Wright turned his crazy eye on me.
“Joan Jett Hollins.”
I winced. They’d run my name through already.
“Yes.”
“Just out of the state pen. How charming. And here you are, working at a biker bar. Not exactly the smartest career move for an ex-con is it?”
I couldn’t see Shep’s reaction to the news of my recent living situation. I was embarrassed. Humiliated. I didn’t want any of my private shit out in the world, much less announced loudly to everyone by this ATF agent.
I was aware that I could easily go wrong in a million different ways right now.
“The bank wasn’t hiring.”
“Oh, smart mouth, too. Thing is, you just got out, and if you lie to me, that’s a crime. We’d be able to put you right back in. So, I’m going to ask you. Did you see anything out of the ordinary here at the MC?”
“I started here yesterday. I don’t even know anyone’s name.”
“A man is in the hospital, with a gunshot wound. You saw nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary?”
“This entire place is out of the ordinary. It’s an MC filled with fucking Viking sized bikers. But I didn’t see them break into song and dance or enjoy a rom-com flick together. What I saw is that they drink beer and talk about pussy. So, probably exactly what you do in your basement.”
The ATF agent took a step forward and leaned down. He grabbed my face in his hands, hard. Shit. I was going to get myself arrested for being a smart ass. Was that a crime? Maybe.
“You’re on thin ice. One mistake and I’ll put your right back in Mountain View. Your girlfriends will be so happy to see you.”
My eyes stung f
rom the grip he had. He waited and made a show of taking a deep breath through his nose. Like he was smelling me. It was disgusting and it made my skin crawl, but I knew how to put up a wall. I knew how to not react. If I reacted, he’d win.
“Let’s go!”
He pushed my face away. I stayed where I was.
The ATF agents loaded their vehicles and drove off almost as quickly as they’d appeared. MC members filed back into the club. I stood for a moment, wondering what was next.
Shep came to me before he talked to the other club members. We stood there outside the MC.
“Are you okay?”
“What? That? It was nothing.”
“You’re the toughest chick I’ve ever met.”
“Yep, I probably fucking am.”
I didn’t know what to say. Shep pulled me in and kissed me. It was soft. His arms were around me. I didn’t often feel safe, maybe I never did, but Shep made me feel like that. I’d gotten used to an off-center feeling. With Shep’s arms around me and his lips on mine, my universe tilted and I swear he was in the center of it.
“Don’t go.”
Shep liked to give orders.
“I’m tired. I really need to get home.”
“I’m following you then, but I have to get with my brothers for a minute.”
He kissed me again and released me from his strong arms.
Shep directed his guys; they strategized.
In the moments I had to myself I looked at my phone. I should have told my Uncle. This was exactly the kind of thing he would want to know about. That there was an ATF raid and they got nothing. But still, I didn’t call.
I listened to Shep talk to his brothers in the MC.
“Just lock it down tonight. Go home to your old ladies,” he said and all of them appeared to agree.
“This was just the beginning,” Axle said.
“Yep, that’s why we should be on lockdown with our families. Safe houses and shit, all of it. Everyone else, bring in here or to Maddox’s place,” Shep said.
I busied myself cleaning up at the bar.
The sun was rising now. All of this had happened in one pre-dawn strike.
Deacon, the biker who, next to Shep and Axle, seemed to oversee things without their Prez around, walked over to me.
“You’ve been through a couple of rough nights here. You okay?”
“I’m fresh out of prison, didn’t you hear? This is like a day at Disneyland.”
“No one here cares that you have a record. Also, we all saw. You didn’t say a word to the ATF. You’ve become a part of our MC faster than most of the Probies.”
Deacon was kind. That was clear, and I felt like shit recognizing it. He thought I was trustworthy and I was a lying piece of shit.
“I thought you were all these scary bikers, and you are, but everyone here’s been solid with me. No reason to give a single crumb to the ATF. Especially that guy, Wright. What a psycho.”
“Yeah? Well, our former VP, he wasn’t so nice to you,” Deacon said.
“Every family has a bad apple.”
Deacon smiled at me. And Shep walked over and put a hand on Deacon’s shoulder.
“Deacon, Chase’s girl Ariel is already at the cabin at Lake Corpus Christi. It’s big enough to take a lot more thanks to the reno.”
“Yep, I’m going to gather up the flock, brother and get as many as we can up there who don’t have a place to bug out.”
“Kade needs to pull together an escort, maybe three or four guys. Two stay up there. We’ll meet here tomorrow. We all need some shut-eye.”
“Yep, I’ll make it happen. And brother, you need to give this little lady a raise,” Deacon added, looking at me.
“Yeah?” Shep said and I felt his eyes on me too. I swear to Christ I blushed.
“She’s a keeper, one hundred percent.”
Deacon turned and got to work.
“I’m getting you home,” Shep said. “You’re driving your car and I’m following. Let’s go.”
He put a hand on my lower back and guided me out of the club.
“It’s not my car.”
“If you get to a yellow light, don’t blow through it,” Shep said.
“I don’t think they can throw me back in the slammer for that.”
“They can throw you in for anything. But I don’t want you trying to lose me. I don’t want you out of my sight. Let’s go.”
6
Shep
* * *
It surprised me. I had no idea where JJ was living but there we were, in familiar territory above Lyric Wilde’s shop. Bo had hustled Lyric and their kids out to the country. I knew that. But I was somewhat worried. I didn’t like anyone I needed to protect to be this far away from the MC. I knew there was security here, thanks to Bo, but The Hawks knew who owned this place, so it could be a target.
I walked JJ up. There was so much I didn’t know about her, but it felt like I knew the important things. She was smart, beautiful, and tough. There was a fierceness in her that I wanted to touch.
She unlocked her door and I swear that was going to be it. I wanted her to be safe. I wanted her to rest.
“Shep, come in.”
She gently tugged my jacket and I stepped into her little apartment. She ditched her leather jacket and opened the fridge. She handed me a bottle of water.
“Always serving something up eh?”
I took a swig and handed it back to her. I watched her put her lips where mine had just been and it was sexy as hell. She was sexy as hell. But she’d been through way too much thanks to me and the club. I legitimately just wanted to be sure she was safe.
She stepped forward and got on her tiptoes.
“I can’t reach your mouth.”
It was so sweet and sexy. I leaned down and scooped her up. Her feet were off the floor.
“I like picking you up,” I said, and she kissed me.
For a second, I let her be soft with me. I held back and held her up. But it couldn’t last. I had to have more. I pulled her tight to me. I felt my control slipping. I wanted to touch every inch of her skin. I wanted to take her and make her mine. I wanted to own every part of her.
The intensity factor increased at light speed. We sank down to the floor and my hands found her breasts; her nipples were straining at her bra. I wanted it all out of my fucking way.
I ripped her shirt from her and she did the same to my leather. I had my hands on her hot skin and couldn’t get enough. I slid the jeans she wore off her hips. All that was left was a thong.
“Jesus.”
I wasn’t a praying man, but I was thanking God right then. I was ravenous for her. My lips moved from her luscious mouth to her neck and down. She had on one of those front closing half-cup bras. Her tits were surprisingly full and spilling out the tops of the little cups. I did the rest with my mouth and unhooked it.
I heard her purr when I put my lips on her pink nipples. Both were hard as pebbles. I pulled on one and then the other. I used my hand to yank her thong off. The string holding it together snapped. And she was naked under me. I wanted to look at her. I wanted to touch every inch of her skin.
But I couldn’t do that now. I couldn’t wait. I paused for a beat. And I put her face in my hands as her body writhed underneath me.
“I need to fuck you.”
This was not the romantic way to say anything. I understood that, but I was out of my mind with wanting her. I was a beast. I needed to be inside of her.
“Yes, please, hurry.”
She opened her thighs wider underneath me. She was so delicious, hot, and ready. I thrust inside of her. It was brutal. I knew it. It was hard.
“Shep, yes...”
I pounded into her. I felt her teeth bite my shoulder as she held on around my neck. I wanted to be slow, tender, to take care of her. But this wasn’t that. This was me marking her. I didn’t want anyone but me inside of her ever again. I wasn’t thinking. No, I was taking her, fast, on the wooden floor.
And she was screaming my name.
I buried my head in her neck and nothing mattered. I didn’t see or hear anything but how her body felt. Her heat rose to meet mine. I was rough, I knew it, too rough? If I was brutal, or too much of an animal, she didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she was matching me. She was taking me in and squeezing every fucking ounce of pleasure I could give and getting her own in the process.
“Yes, yes, more,” she said, and I knew we were both on the brink.
I put my hands on both her hips and steadied her, so she was exactly where I wanted. I pounded harder, faster, and deeper in the last few strokes. I exploded in a fucking fireworks level of climax.
She sprawled beneath me, her breasts bouncing in a way that drove me fucking mad.
I went over the edge, through to the sky, whatever the hell. It was the most intense thing I’d ever experienced with anyone. Ever. My heart raced.
I covered her body in mine. I held her close. We were both gasping for air.
And I knew, from that minute on, that she was mine. I was going to do everything I could think of to keep her, love her, fuck her, and protect her.
It wasn’t even a question. And it was that fucking fast.
I had no time for this. I had a club war – my Dad, my brothers – all of it right then swirling around my life. But all of that was second. What had this woman done to me?
JJ Hollins was first now. I squeezed my hot little bartender tighter. I moved inside her again, to keep feeling her, and to let her know I was there, and I was always going to be there.
She lay naked underneath me. And I wanted her again. And again.
Now.
I shifted my weight. I could easily crush her under my size. I pulled out and knew I was fucking addicted to her.
“JJ, I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
I’d held zero back. I was a big man and the idea that I might have gone too far was no small worry.
“Yes, you did hurt me, in a really good way,” she said and lifted her face to mine to kiss me.
“You’re okay with my rough side?” I asked her.
My hand roamed down and cupped her ass. It was like a perfect little apple and I squeezed. Probably too hard again.