by Cat Porter
“All set,” Jump said. “Let’s go.” Jump whistled hard at Lock and gestured that he was taking me with him inside. Lock jerked his chin at us.
Jump and I entered the clubhouse, passed the large kitchen, then rounded the corner for the stairs heading down to the cellar. My mouth went dry.
Dig had overseen the renovation on the cellar after we had first gotten married. It was taboo territory for the women, unless you deserved to be there, of course. I had never seen it and frankly had prayed I never would. So much for that.
Dawes stood outside a reinforced steel door. His tense eyes shot up at me then at Jump. His knuckles wrapped on the door. “Open up man, it’s Jump.”
The door scraped open. Boner stood in the center of the dimly lit room along with Bear and Kicker, blood splattered on the front of their shirts and on their arms. Boner’s flinty green eyes cut to me. Jump gripped my upper arm and ushered me further inside the square cement block room. A heaving bleeding figure was crumpled on the floor, his hands fastened behind his back with plastic cuffs. Boner hovered over him; his eyes gleamed like a predatory wolf’s. He dug his hand in the man’s matted black hair and jerked his head back. Globs of blood dripped from his face onto the cement floor.
My stomach churned, and I pushed down the sour bile that rose up my throat.
“This Crank?” asked Jump.
“Yeah, that’s him.”
Crank’s bloody, swollen eyes strained up at me. “Fucking cunt!”
Kicker let out a sharp hiss and jabbed Crank’s side with his pointy cowboy boots. “Manners, motherfucker.” Crank grunted and collapsed on the floor.
“Did you get anything more out of him?” Jump asked.
“Eh, a few crumbs,” Boner said. “Got plenty of time ahead of us.”
“It’s on, brother,” Jump said.
A smile flickered across Boner’s lips. His hand reached out to his side and wrapped around a short knife that had been impaled in a small table.
“Have fun, boys,” Jump said and led me out of the suffocating room. Dawes secured the door behind us.
I took a deep breath once we landed on the top of the stairs. “Alicia coming tonight?” I asked.
“Yeah of course. All the Old Ladies. Why?”
“I want girly backup at the titty bar.”
“You got it, baby.” Jump grinned and slung his arm around my shoulder. “Aw, we used to have good times at the Tingle back in the day, huh?”
I had driven Alicia to the Tingle plenty of times in the middle of the night and held my breath as she would charge through the club like an unholy avenging angel until she found Jump. She would usually find him either getting a lap dance or getting blown and then she would explode into one angry fire breathing demon. I didn’t blame her.
Tonight, Dig shook his head at me in disapproval.
“What do you want from me?” I asked. “She’s been spewing threats for hours and drinking non-stop. Should I have let her drive here on her own? I not only had to take her keys away from her, but the keys to all the trucks, even our car. Then she punched me in the stomach. The shit I go through for Jump’s dick!”
Dig let out a laugh, hooked his arm around my neck and pulled me into his body. He kissed me hard and my arms wrapped around his middle. I inhaled his spicy cologne and smiled against the skin of his neck.
“What is it?” I looked up at him from under my eyelashes. “Did you miss me?” My eyes darted over his shoulder to the two nude women dancing up on the bar who wore nothing but bright red lipstick, high heels and thin long chains slung low on their hips. “Or maybe these lovely ladies got you horny?
Dig’s hands fisted in my hair, and he tilted my head back. “No one’s getting this dick but you, baby. Isn’t that what this band of gold means?”
I grinned up at him and squeezed his hard ass with my one hand.
His lips brushed my mouth. “You and me, circle of life and whatever the…”
I laughed. “It’s circle of infinity, Dig. Circle of life is from The Lion King!”
“Whatever. It’s your circle around my dick, right?”
“Just your dick?”
He clasped my hand that lay over his chest. “And this little muscle right in here, wiseass.” He leaned his forehead against mine. “It’s got your name burned on it, and you know it.” My breath hitched at the deep tone of his voice.
“Good thing I like that dick then, huh?”
“You better. It’s the only one you’re getting.” He eyed me. “What’s not to like anyway? You got complaints?”
I laughed and buried my face in his chest.
“Fucking Wildflower,” he growled. Dig’s thumb stroked my lips. He took my hand in his and yanked me towards the back of the club and up the stairs.
“Baby?” I shouted over the blaring strains of Foreigner’s “Urgent.”
I knew where we were headed. The VIP rooms. My pulse raced. Luckily I was wearing a short skirt and… oh man… my husband was in for a surprise tonight. His fingers tightened over mine as he pushed open door number two.
“Hey!” shouted a female. I turned and there was Shannon, a brunette with serious fake lashes and dark eye makeup. She wore a mini red halter dress that sported a rhinestone buckle just underneath her breasts. She led a middle-aged man to the same doorway.
“Wait your turn, Shannon,” said Dig.
She rolled her eyes at us. “You two take the cake!”
“Sorry, Shan,” I said.
Dig yanked me into the room and slammed the door behind us.
“You were a bad girl, Mrs. Quillen,” he whispered.
“Huh?” I raised my eyebrows.
“Tonight was supposed to be boys’ night out.” Dig eased back on the small circular red vinyl sofa in the small dimly lit room. I stood in front of him. He stretched out his arms on the top of the sofa. “You weren’t supposed to be here.”
“My mistake, Mr. Quillen,” I said. “Please, don’t punish me. I was just looking out for a sister.”
I pulled my blouse off my shoulders and threw it at him. Dig caught it, crumpled it to his face, inhaled and dropped it to the floor. His eyes widened. He leaned forward, one arm planted on his thigh, his mouth hung open.
“What the hell are you wearing, baby?”
My eyes darted down my body clad in my new, very expensive, black lace bustier. I enjoyed splurging on occasion using my own money now that I had a full-time job. Today was that kind of special occasion.
Dig had proudly paid my tuition and rented us an apartment in Rapid City until I finished at Western Dakota Tech. He and Boner, Wreck, Willy, Jump, and Alicia had all cheered loudly at my graduation. Unfortunately, Ruby was still away at rehab. I had put my business degree to good use managing Pete’s Bar full-time as Pete began his slide into retirement. I also took care of Wreck’s accounting at the club’s repair shop.
“Today was my day off from work, and me and the girls went out and did a little shopping at the new mall this afternoon, remember? I bought this.” My face heated. “We got back to the club after going out for dinner, and I was trying it on again when Alicia got on her tear about Jump being here. I had to drop everything and deal with the situation, and I didn’t get a chance to take if off.”
Dig only stared at me.
“Do you like it?”
He let out a laugh and shook his head. I put my hands on my hips and sauntered over to him on my high-heeled boots. I leaned over him, my hands resting on his thighs.
“It was supposed to be a surprise for you, to celebrate,” I whispered.
“Celebrate?” His eyes were glued to my breasts which spilled out of the tight corset.
“I threw away the birth control pills this morning, like we talked about. We’re starting this for real.”
Dig’s eyes shot to mine. A grin split his handsome face. He leaned forward to kiss me, but I pushed off his legs and stepped back two paces. He tilted his head at me, a hint of amusement in his eyes. He licked
his bottom lip.
“Can I be of any service to you, Mr. Quillen, or are you otherwise engaged?” I shimmied out of my skirt and let it fall to the floor revealing the matching thong.
Dig’s eyes darkened and hunger swept across his features. “Otherwise—what?”
“You know, busy?” I asked suddenly short of breath.
He crooked a finger at me, and I sashayed back over to him. He took my hand and kissed it, then pulled me in swiftly until I straddled him. Both his hands ran up and down the taut lace and tugged on the hanging garter belts. Dig nuzzled my exposed breasts. I arched my body up into his, my fingers tangled in his silky hair. Even after several years together, the electrifying thrill of being with him had not dulled or diminished. I loved that about us. I felt alive.
His thumb nudged past the delicate fabric of the tiny thong between my legs, and I gasped.
“Music to my ears,” Dig murmured, an eyebrow raised. I giggled.
His thumb continued teasing me as he slid two of his fingers of his other hand into my mouth. His breathing grew heavier as he watched me suck on them. “Yeah, that’s it, baby.” I released them, and he quickly slid them inside my wet center. I let out a soft cry.
“Look at me, Sister. Eyes on me.”
My eyes fluttered opened, and I held his heavy gaze.
“Is that my pussy?” he breathed.
“Uh-huh.” That twist of pleasure unraveled inside me. I squirmed in his arms and circled my hips.
His other hand left me and stroked the soft leather of my tall black boots at his side. “Shit, I don’t have time to do everything I want to do to you right now.”
“And what do you want to do to me?” I asked breathlessly.
His one eyebrow quirked up. “You want me to tell you?”
“Hell yes, tell me!”
He chuckled and licked my throat. His fingers inside me and his thumb over me moved in more determined strokes. His other hand slid into my ass.
“You still sore?”
“No.” I arched my back. “Dig… tell me.”
“What would I do to my Wildflower…” Dig went down his wish list in remarkably filthy detail. His teeth nibbled on my breasts. My entire body shuddered and groaned.
“I need you.”
“I’m not fucking you here.”
“What?” My fingers dug into his shoulders. “Why not?”
“I don’t want our kid conceived at the fucking Tingle!”
I laughed and my one hand raked through his hair. “Baby, it’s going to take the pills at least a couple of weeks to wear off!” I reached for his belt buckle.
“Shit, really?”
I unbuckled the clasp. “Yes, come on…”
Explosions and screams detonated below us in the club. Dig and I froze. Were they gunshots? More screams rolled through the building. The music screeched to a halt.
“What the fuck?” Dig lifted me off his lap. “Get dressed.” He adjusted his jeans, buckled his belt, and took out his gun.
I grabbed my top and skirt and jammed them over my body. I nabbed my purse and curled my fingers in the back of Dig’s shirt as he unlocked the door. We crouched down, he slowly opened the door.
“Get off me, man!” A voice boomed from downstairs.
A Demon Seed stood in the middle of the club with his gun held over his head.
“Stay down, baby. Don’t move,” Dig whispered and squeezed my leg.
“Dig.”
He glanced at me.
“Love you,” I whispered.
He wrapped his hand around my neck, and his eyes softened over me for a split second. “Love you, too.” His lips brushed mine. “You keep that thing on for when I get home later, yeah?” He rose to his feet, and I held my breath as he strode to the top of the staircase.
“What’s the problem, man?” Dig asked. He strode down the stairs to face the Demon Seed I had never seen before. Boner and Jump held him in an arm lock. The guy squirmed. A hush came over the room.
“Why are you shitting in my club?” Dig leaned into the guy, nostrils flaring. The guy mumbled something in his ear. Dig’s shoulders stiffened.
“Clean this mess up,” he said. The girls hustled to right chairs, the bouncers set up an overturned table. Broken glass was swept away by the two bus boys.
“Office, now,” Dig said. Boner and Jump led the Demon Seed to the back of the club. Then he turned back to the crowd. “Round of drinks for everyone!” A few cheers went up, and the music blared again. Dig and the men were gone. A shadow fell over me. I blinked up. It was Shannon again.
I stood and pushed the door open for her. “Take the room, sweetie. Sorry about before.”
“If you got it going on, hon, you got it going on. Good for you,” she said. “But some of us got to make a living here, you know?”
“I know, believe me.” I moved out of the doorway.
Shannon leaned into me, her hand touched my arm. “Sister, don’t be sorry. You two are great together. It’s good to see.”
I smiled at her. She turned to her new customer, her hands on her hips. “Come on in, honey.” Her voice was sultry and welcoming. A young, short guy wearing a fancy western shirt, his fists stuffed in the pockets of his jeans, shifted his eyes down the hallway then darted into the room. She winked at me and closed the door behind them.
The wild hum of the crowd battled with the music once again. Three nearly naked statuesque women danced onstage. The club had returned to normal. I sprinted down the stairs and found Alicia sitting at the bar.
“This sucks,” she said, her eyes dull. I wiped strands of blonde hair from her damp face and put my arm around her shoulders.
“Let’s go home,” I said.
“Yeah, this just… sucks.” Alicia slapped her hand down on the bar top.
“Sure does.” I fished my car keys out of my bag. Clip, one of the prospects, came up behind me and plucked the keys from my fingers.
“I’ll take you two home, okay?”
I sighed. “That would be great, Clip. Thank you.”
We each grabbed one of Alicia’s arms and got her out to the parking lot.
Yeah, good times.
“To Ruby!” Jump declared. “She was a good woman who sure as shit lived her life wild and free, and she did good things for this club. This one’s for her!”
He knocked back his tequila as did the rest of us at the table. Alicia’s lips twisted. She hated Jump reminiscing about his former flames, even if they were married to someone else… and dead.
The fiery shot slid down my throat.
Yes, my sister was one in a million. She paid big time for her missteps over and over again, but it didn’t seem to faze her. Her tough exterior never faltered. She didn’t deserve the damn cancer, though. Especially now, when everything was so right for her. It didn’t make any sense. I suppose you never know when your number’s up. Could be any minute, couldn’t it? I slammed my empty shot glass down in front of me. Lock’s eyes cut to mine from across the table.
There he is—just another biker brother in my club family.
He’s not just another anything.
I sank back in my chair, and Butler’s arm dropped around my shoulders and drew me close to his chest. My head rested back against him as I trained my gaze above me. There had certainly been major improvements at the Tingle since my day. Mirrors now lined the ceiling. The light fixtures hanging over us were sexy vintage style chandeliers dripping with crystals, not those eighties style bulbous lamp fixtures of old. My gaze followed the shiny chrome embellishments and light effects that decorated the black walls and dotted the staircase that led to the VIP rooms.
The center stage seemed bigger and sleeker. A ribbon of tiny lights bordered the edge of the stage along the bar. There were even two small mini-stages with their own stripper poles on either side for more dancers to do their thing. Maximum exposure equals maximum returns, right? Nice to see the club spent money on necessary upkeep when needed, not to mention an imp
roved ‘wow’ factor.
“Different huh?” Alicia leaned over Dawes who was on my left at our huge table. She let out a chuckle.
“It’s amazing,” I said. “It’s no sleazy, small town party barn anymore.”
Gone was the stifling smell of cheap sweet perfume, sweat, and carpet mildew from too many drink stains. In its place was a citrusy freshness churned in from commercial air deodorizers along the walls also boosted by good circulation from an improved central air system that hit me the moment we walked into the club.
“Things in our part of the world have heated up,” Alicia said. “Girls are leaving the East Coast and Mid-West to head out this way what with the mining and the oil boom further north. We’ve been riding the wave. Those men have nothing else to spend their money on, at least the ones who aren’t sending most of their pay home to their wives and kids. Some girls stay on, others keep moving, but they’re all real good. And things just keep getting busier with a better crowd, not just the tired faces.”
“Are those more private rooms over there?” I asked, pointing to two doors against the far wall.
“Yeah, they’re bigger than the VIP rooms upstairs. They’re for groups, like bachelor parties, who want their private show. That was my idea. I was the house mom about ten years ago, you know.” Alicia grinned at me.
“Really?”
“Someone had to keep these girls in line, look after them, keep them organized. What the hell do our men know about running a strip joint other than getting free pussy and booze?”
I let out a laugh. “You got a point there, Alicia.”
“It was good. I liked it,” she said. “Then I found a manager with a lot of experience at a club in Milwaukee, and I got her to come out here. Things really took off. It’s been awesome.”
“Good for you.”
Butler’s hand stroked my thigh. “You okay, babe?” he asked. His blue eyes searched mine. He really cared about me; that was the rub in all this. And I cared about him, too.
“I’m good.” I sat up and settled my hand over his. “Ruby would have a real laugh if she could see us all here like this.”