by L. Grubb
“Prez wants us in his office, like yesterday.” Instead of waiting on me to reply, he briskly walks back through the glass doors, through the crowd and down the hallway toward the Prez’s office.
Following quickly, I reach the office and find Cobra already seated in one of the outdated chairs in front of the large desk, his heel propped up on his knee.
“Hurry up, Champ, I don’t have all day,” Prez’s harsh tone sounds out.
I close the door and turn around, leaning against it. “What’s this about, old man?”
“Sit down, you’re making the room look a mess.” He waves his hands in front of him indicating for me to sit in the empty chair besides Cobra.
Huffing, I move away from my post by the door and slouch into the uncomfortable chair. “Prez, you need knew furniture. This chair feels like it’s going to collapse.”
“That’s because of your weight not because it’s old.” His jokes are far from funny, and he knows it, yet he amuses himself by sharing them anyway.
“What’s this about?” I ask again, hoping this time he will actually tell us something.
“The trip to London I told y’all about?” he says, his Texan twang coming through his words.
“Yeah...” me and Cobra reply in unison.
“It’s been brought forward. We leave in three days,” he tells us nonchalantly.
“You’ve got to be shitting me?” I yell, my voice echoing around the room. “I’ve only just got Lauren back! You said three fucking weeks!”
“I know, but it seems shit over there is hitting the fan quicker than we expected. We have no choice. Hell, bring the damn girls with you if you have to. They can go shopping or whatever shit woman do these days.”
“We don’t have a choice anyway, do we? Scrap that, don’t bother answering,” Cobra says, sighing. “Alexis has said before that she would love to go to London...”
“Then it’s settled. You can go back to the fun and games of the party.”
We rise from our chairs, sharing a knowing look before leaving the room.
I’m hoping Lauren agrees to coming, I don’t want to leave her behind. She’s only just agreed to be my Old Lady, and I thought I would’ve had more time to get her to come with me. I’m hoping this shit doesn’t turn into an argument, that’s the last thing I need. I know she has commitments, work being the main issue, but everyone is entitled to vacation time, and knowing she is a work-a-holic, I know she still has them left to take. Only time will tell if she will up and leave with me for at least a few weeks.
“Lauren!” I shout across the main room to her. The music has yet to be cranked up so I know she can hear me.
Her head shifts to the side as she looks toward me over her slender shoulder. Her face lights up with an enigmatic smile, and I can’t help returning it, even with an inner turmoil swirling in my gut.
Turning back to say something to Alexis and Kristine, she starts making her way towards me, hips swaying from side to side. Shit, she knows what that does to me and judging by the slight smirk on her face, she’s doing it on purpose.
I discreetly rearrange myself, a sense of blue balls taking over and I groan inwardly.
“What’s up, Champ?” She flashes me a seductive smile once she’s standing in front of me, toe to toe.
“I need to speak to you about something. Do you want to take a walk outside? Or head to our room?” I ask her, praying silently for her to choose the outside option. I know what will happen if we’re in our room on our own. I will never be able to keep my hands to myself while trying to have a serious conversation with her.
“The room. It will be more…private,” she says, eyeing me up and down, eyes darkening with desire as she bites her bottom lip.
I groan and take her hand, leading her down the hallway for the bedrooms.
Reaching the room we share, we enter and I shut the door, turning the lock. I look over to Lauren, and she’s flexing her hand with a slight V shaping her brows.
“Did I have hold of your hand too hard?” I ask. I didn’t mean to if I did.
“No,” she answers quickly, looking off to the side of her.
“Don’t lie to me, Lauren. I hate liars,” my tone low and stern. One thing I hate more than paedophiles is a liar. They piss me off and we deal with them day in and day out. They cause betrayal and heartache to others when it’s not necessary.
“I…I…” Lauren stammers, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, a pink tint coloring her pale cheeks.
“Shit, I didn’t mean I hated you. I don’t like liars. Problems are created through lying. You have no reason to lie to me, sweetheart. I would never hurt you intentionally. You should now me better.” I shake my head at her. How can she think so lowly of me? It’s written across her face that my tone scared her, and I never want her to be scared of me.
“I’m sorry. Yeah, you squeezed my hand a little too tightly,” she mumbles, her shoulders sagging. She moves to sit on the bed, her body sinking into herself. “You don’t scare me. I just didn’t think I was that obvious at lying.”
“You can’t lie for shit, babe. You always look over to the side. I don’t want you to feel like you have to lie to me. Honesty. That’s all I ask for.” I crouch in front of her and tilt her chin up so her eyes meet mine. A fierce blue ocean pools within hers, sorrow etched with a slight fear that shouldn’t be there.
“What did you want to talk to me about anyway?” she asks, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear.
“We have to go to London to visit our main Chapter over there.” I take a deep breath and hold it, waiting for her reaction.
“When do you go? How long will you be gone for?” Her eyes widen, and the fear I see in them has dissipated, replaced by worry.
“Three days. And not sure how long we’ll be over there, which is why I want you to come with me.” I wait for the volcanic eruption as I see the fire simmer in her eyes.
“What? I can’t just up and leave on vacation in such short notice. I’d need to speak to work, see if I can get the time off. I’d need to pack, shop. Why the hell would I go to London anyway?” Instead of an eruption, I got blind panic thrown at me.
“I know you have vacation days to take, you never take time off work, even when you were healing from everything that happened, you still went into work. I’ll come help you pack now if you like. I’m sure Alexis will be going shopping, you know she’ll be going because Cobra is.” I’m only a step away from begging right now. I don’t want to go without her, I’d miss her like mad and won’t be able to concentrate on whatever shit we have to deal with out there.
“Alexis is going?” she asks.
“Of course she is.” I place my hands on her knees, rubbing slow rhythmic circles around her kneecaps.
“Okay. But you’re willing to leave this party to come help me pack?” She looks at me with her head cocked to the side.
“Yeah. We’re always throwing parties, so it’s not like I’ll be missing anything exciting.” I smile up at her, love shining in my eyes. The slow smile that flits across her face has my dick hard. Again. She’s perfect, the epitome of beautiful.
“Okay, let’s go,” she says, standing abruptly and knocking me on my ass. She covers her mouth with both hands, snickering loudly behind them.
“Yeah, laugh it up, sweetheart.” I shake my head at her and stand.
Stalking toward her with a dangerous grin on my face, my blood heats, and adrenaline courses through my veins at the idea of having her beneath me. Hell, I’d have her above me, bent over, against any fucking surface, as long as my dick was in her slick heat, I’d be a happy man.
“Champ? What are you doing?” Lauren asks, a nervous expression crossing her face as she takes a step back.
“I want what belongs to me,” I say, eyeing her up and down and running my tongue along my bottom lip.
“I’m not a possession,” she expresses, keeping her eyes on my face.
“You are. You’re
fucking mine,” I growl. “You’re wearing my cut, which makes you my possession.”
Finally, standing in front of her, cornering her in the room, I reach out my hands and grab a hold of her hips. Pulling her flush against my toned body, I look into her eyes. “Don’t ever run from me, sweetheart. Never shy away from what we have together.”
“I wasn’t running. The room is kind of small to run, don’t you think?” The corners of her mouth lift in amusement, and the look has the tip of my dick leaking.
My left hand leaves her hip, and trails up the side of her body. Reaching her face, I palm her cheek and she leans in closer, eyes fluttering closed at the contact. The electricity is still strong, just as much at the beginning of our relationship. The woman has me by the balls, and she doesn’t even know it.
I lean in and smash my lips to hers in an earth shattering kiss, our tongues dancing together as she moans lightly into my mouth. Fuck. I want her. Screw that, I fucking need her.
Winding one of my hands in her hair, I grip tight and pull to get the angle just right for me to feast on her neck. My mouth leaves hers and glides across her jaw, down her neck where I bite lightly before licking away the sting.
The moan that leaves her mouth has me almost coming in my pants like a teenage boy, but I pull back, placing light kisses on her swollen lips.
“We should go pack,” she says nonchalantly, like I haven’t just kissed the shit out of her.
“Yeah,” is all I say in return.
London? I’m going to London? Inside I’m screaming with excitement. Alexis and I always talked about going to London when we were younger, but have yet to go.
Deep down, I’m shitting myself. What the hell could be happening for them to be called over to the other side of the ocean in the first place? If it’s a repeat of the Hell Riders, I don’t want to go, but saying that, I would miss Champ way too much.
Fuck it, you only live once. Shit happens, and you get back up and carry on as if it never happened, I should know right?
Placing some of my clothes into my suitcase makes it all real. At first, I seriously thought Champ was joking about me going to London with the Crusaders MC. I mean, why would he want to put me in danger after everything I went through?
I know him and Cobra will keep Alexis and I safe. I trust him implicitly. Plus, it can’t be too dangerous if they’re bringing us along.
Shaking my head of the thoughts, I put the last of my stuff in my suitcase and zip it shut and lift the heavy case off my bed. Done.
“What time’s our flight again?” I call out to Champ who’s in the kitchen making coffee.
“Six in the morning, and it’s an eight hour flight,” I hear him shout out.
I’m not a morning person, so I hope he doesn’t expect me to be in the best of moods.
I walk out of my bedroom with my suitcase in tow, and over to the front door to leave it there, ready for when we leave.
“Hey, sweetheart, you okay?” Champ asks me, walking up to me with two steaming mugs.
“Yeah, nervous. I haven’t been on a plane in years, me and Alexis usually do cruises every year around the Caribbean.”
He hands me a cup and takes a sip of his own. “Don’t worry, I’ll be there to hold your hand.”
Does he think he’s funny right now? I love him, but my God does the guy irritate the shit out of me sometimes. I just stare at him.
He walks back toward the kitchen, laughing loudly.
I stride to the front room window, glancing out onto the street below. What I love about this street is that very few cars pass down here, mainly because it’s a dead end. It’s peaceful. The neighbors keep to themselves. We have one nosey woman, just like every other street. She spends her days curtain twitching, making sure not to miss a thing. I take a look at her house, which happens to be straight across from me and notice she’s stood there, staring straight at me with a frown on her face.
“What you doing?” I hear Champ call from behind me.
“Nothing.” I turn to face him, a smile forming on my lips. I love this man. His ruggedly handsome looks floor me every time. His striking blue eyes stare back at me, love shining deep within. His stubble trimmed to perfection, outlining his chiselled jaw and high cheekbones. What this man lacks in grace, he makes up for in looks.
“Take a picture, sweetheart, it lasts longer,” he says, chuckling while shaking his head from side to side.
“Actually, it doesn’t. Pictures can be deleted. But I have you with me all the time, mainly, and so I don’t need one.” I purse my lips to stop my laugh from escaping.
“You’re so fucking funny.”
He wraps his arms around me, embracing me tightly. His heartbeat thumping against my ear has me relaxing into his hold, and I wrap my arms around his waist.
“I love you, Lauren,” I hear him say into my hair. A smile crosses my face as my heart skips a beat, and butterflies take flight in my tummy.
“I love you, too,” I whisper.
“We need to be heading back to the clubhouse, someone is probably wondering about where we’ve disappeared to. Do you have everything you need?” he asks, pulling away from me.
“Yep, I hope so. If not, I’ll just buy the stuff I’m missing when we get over there,” I reply, chewing my bottom lip thoughtfully as I try and think of anything I’ve missed.
Grabbing my keys from the hook by the front door, I follow Champ out the front door, making sure to lock up behind me.
Back at the clubhouse, the party is in full swing. Club whores are wondering around with hardly any clothes on, trying to hook their claws into any Crusader MC Brother they can. Makes me cringe how desperate these pathetic girls are.
Looking around the now crowded room for Alexis, my eyes land on the girl trying to drape her naked self around Champ. I see red, pure and utter rage boils my blood and rushes through my veins. No bitch is allowed to have her hands on my man.
Storming over to them in long strides, a murderous look taking over my face, I shout, “Get your fucking hands off my man, bitch, before you get a beat down!”
She glances over at me with a dirty smirk on her face before she moves a manicured hand and grabs a hold of Champ’s junk. Oh no she fucking didn’t!
I grab a fistful of her hair and pull back, effectively removing her nasty body away from Champ. “Never ever go near him again, if you do, you’ll be sorry.”
“He doesn’t belong to anyone. You may be wearing his cut, you may belong to him, but it doesn’t mean he belongs to you.”
Fuck this shit, I pull my fist back and slam it into her face. Blood gushes out from her nose as her hands come up to cup it.
“That is just a warning, bitch,” I say in her ear. “Next time it will be worse, you can count on that.”
I push her to the floor and step over her, looking at Champ’s face. A wide smile is spread on it, stretching from ear to ear, and his hands are tucked into his pockets.
“I never knew you were so feisty, sweetheart,” he says as I come to stand in front of him. “That was hot.”
“Glad you think so, maybe next time, you should just push her away and shit like that wouldn’t happen.” I scowl at him before turning on my heel. I spot Alexis across the room grinning at me.
Walking away from a stunned Champ, I approach Alexis who hands me a drink. I gulp it down in one, the vodka burning a fire trail down my throat and into my chest, pooling nicely in my stomach. My blood heats as the alcohol takes effect. I’m going to get fucked up tonight.
“Another?” Alexis asks, pulling me toward the bar. “Two shots of Jaeger, please!”
Within a minute, I have a shot of Jaeger in front of me, calling my name to drink it. I grab the shot glass, not waiting for Alexis, and throw back the shot, slamming the glass back on the bar in front of me. Fuck yeah, the burn is better than the vodka.
As my blood heats up with the effects of the shots, I order six more. Three each between me and Alexis.
“Three, t
wo, one…go!” I shout out over the music. We throw them back in quick succession, grimacing at the taste.
My hips start swaying from the rhythm of the music, and I drag Alexis toward the dancefloor with me.
Fuck. Lauren showing that whore who was the boss was hot as hell. Hot damn, I never knew she was that feisty. She just made my dick rock solid. I love how she took control, how she treated me like I was her fucking possession. Shit, just thinking about it makes me want to come in my pants. I bite the inside of my cheek to try and control myself as I watch her slinging back the shots with Alexis.
“Man, that was hot,” I hear Dope say from behind me. “You got your hands full with that one, brother.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. That girl makes me harder than a lamp post,” I reply, turning toward Dope with a goofy grin on my face.
“You’re going to have to keep her on a tight leash if she’s coming to London,” Dope says, shaking his head from side to side.
“And why’s that?” I scowl at him.
“Dude, she’s smokin’ hot! Those British guys are going to want her.” He laughs loudly while clapping a hand on my shoulder.
“Shut up. She’ll be wearing my cut, and no one will go near her. Plus, prospects will be following them wherever they go. We don’t know yet what shit our British chapter have gotten into.” Which is irritating the hell out of me, I think to myself.
“Cool, man. I didn’t mean anything by it. Turn that frown upside down, brother.” Dope laughs.
“Fuck off.” I walk away from him laughing like a hyena. The man can be so childish sometimes.
“Champ?”
I look around, searching for the person who called my name. My eyes land on the Prez a few feet away, and I walk toward him with long strides. By the look on his face, this can’t be good.
“Yeah, what’s up?” I say when I come to a halt in front of him.
“I know now the moajority of what’s happening over in England. I just had a manic call from one of the brother’s over there. Come to my office.” With that, he turns and walks down the hallway toward his office. I look over to Cobra who is just a few feet from me and a silent message is conveyed between us. We walk quickly to the Prez’s office, a few seconds later we’re knocking on the door and entering.