She clamped her legs together and jumped off the hood, her soaked panties rubbing against her sensitive clit.
“Kendall, I’m going to bring you back to my house. Get your things together. When I return, everything should be clear, so you’ll be able to leave.”
“But—”
“We have a lot to discuss. I…once I get Logan on the plane, we have a lot to work out. The baby. Your sister. Us.”
She hugged her arms around her waist. “You sound like you regret what just happened.”
“We need…this can’t happen between us until we settle everything.”
“You really don’t want me anymore?” she asked in a small voice, truly hurt.
“I want you,” he said quietly. “But I’m not going to touch you. Not now.”
Bile rose to her throat and she backed away, scampering a few feet just in time to heave out the contents of her stomach. After a few moments, it stopped and she wiped her mouth, only then realizing Johnnie was there, holding her hair out of the way and rubbing her back. He waited until she was ready to straighten, then held onto her arm to steady her. He held out his handkerchief.
Then, he shocked her and pulled her into his arms, holding her close against his body and threading his fingers through her hair. He kissed her forehead.
She buried her nose against his neck, not allowing herself to break down. She knew once she started, she’d never want to stop.
He tipped her chin up. “If we can’t be anything else, maybe, we can be friends.” He shrugged. “Somewhere I read that you’re only destined a certain number of words for certain people who come into your life. Maybe ten to someone you just run across and will never see again. Ten thousand here. One thousand there. Words, Kendall, mean a lot. They can hurt like the sharp edge of a knife. They can make you cry or laugh. They can also empower you. But, maybe, we’re out of words. You have the power to trust me with the words I need to hear. All you need to do is put them here.” He opened his hand and touched his fingers to it. “That’s it. You do that for me—you trust me enough to give me the words to figure all this out—and I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe.” He backed away from her, his eyes fierce. “Give my last breath to do it.”
Chapter 18
Blood soaked the walls and floor of the kitchen at the house where Logan had been residing. Johnnie glanced around, an eerie calmness settling over him. After leaving the funeral home to view Caroline’s body, he’d gone to get his grandfather, finding the door gaping open. With not one sound from inside. Not a sign of life. Nothing. So he’d pulled his .38 and checked the entire house. He’d seen the kitchen moments after he’d arrived but he hadn’t been able to focus on the sight of the gore and the scent of death until after he knew everything was clear.
His heart hammered against his chest, knowing the lack of his grandfather and the presence of this could only mean one thing. Someone had gotten to Logan and taken him out. But who? And why wasn’t he feeling anything? Was it because he’d built Logan up on such a pedestal that the thought of a violent death befalling him seemed impossible? No doubt, his grandfather was a fucking monster. No, had been a fucking monster.
But weren’t they all? Did the fact that he’d die first before he sacrificed any member of his family—but the women especially—to pay off any kind of debt redeem him and make him better than Logan? Johnnie didn’t see it that way, therefore he didn’t believe so.
Now, he had to find his grandfather, dead or alive. He had to get to the bottom of everything, sooner rather than later.
He scrubbed a hand over his face, just as his cell phone dinged with a text message alert from Digger.
Val’s hurt. Torpedoes got 2 him.
Val? Shit. The man had barely recovered from the gunshot. Then, again, that’s why they’d gone after him. He was still not back to his full strength.
John Boy?
Snapping out of his thoughts and clenching his jaw, Johnnie turned away from the bloody kitchen and responded. How bad?
Face bruised. Went 4 the most recent gunshot spot & his ribs. Don’t see why they didn’t kill him.
WHAT? He frowned at the screen to make sure he’d read the words right. He had. What the fuck, asshole?
Get your head out your dickhole, assfuck. You know I don’t mean it like that. I mean he able to walk and he able to talk. They fuckin’ told him it was in retaliation for the motherfucker you popped at Logan’s crib. That motherfucker dead, right? What kind of fucking game is this and why the fuck Val…still here?
Fuck. Digger was right. I’m on my way. They needed to find Logan’s body. Didn’t they? Or, at the very least, discuss this new development.
No need to come, Digger texted. K-P & Dinah looking after him & Mort gave him one of his fizzy specials.
Dinah? As in whiny Dinah? K-P & who?
Yeah, man, I’m kinda impressed. Bitch kno how 2 deal with wounds & shit. I told her she musta learn cause her man was such a lowdown fuck. Kept her all bruised. You kno what the fuck she said?
No, but he bet it had to do with Megs. What?
She say Meggie taught her in case the girl wasn’t there when Thomas hurt that stupid bitch. Meggie told her she needed 2 kno how 2 dress her cuts & stuff til Meggie could get 2 her. Ain’t that some fucking shit? I can’t believe that bitch somebody mama. Especially Meggie’s.
Neither could Johnnie. I’m glad she’s useful 4 a change.
Not really & me & K-P almost got in2 it.
The man was very protective of her. Over what you said?
Nah, not over that. If brother wanted 2 b honest, he’d admit he feel the same fucking way. He just want her pussy 2 bad. Let him keep that shit up & b4 u know it, he gonna let his guard down & 2 things no 3 things gonna happen.
They r?
He gonna end up stuck with that bitch for the rest of his life. He try to break away & she gonna be sending him boiled Bugs Bunnies 2 let him kno she won’t b ignored.
Johnnie chuckled. The next?
He gonna let up on his watch of Bailey’s pussy & Mortician gonna slip under K-P Daddy radar & fuck that bitch senseless. Fuck, I wish he’d do it even if K-P beat his ass after. He been a mindfucky, moody motherfucker since he met her.
And quite insightful, judging by their earlier conversation. What’s the third thing?
What the fuck u think? We all get 5 fucking Gs from Mort dumb ass.
Maybe, we should ease up on him, let him off the hook. 1 less thing 4 him 2 worry over. He might hook up with her.
I don’t fucking kno, John Boy. I’m not saying shit about bitches ever. I’ll go & fuck myself & end up like u fucks.
Not me. U must mean Christopher and Mortician.
No I meant just what the fuck I said. I mean u, Val, Prez, Mort, & K-P.
Look, I don’t have time 4 this. Tell me why the fuck u & K-P almost came to blows?
Cause I asked that fucking bitch was she out her fucking mind when she said she was gonna tell Outlaw bout Val when Outlaw & Meggie call 2 check L.M.
Johnnie snorted. Christopher’s son had gone from Little Man to LM? He wouldn’t comment. Right now, he had bigger concerns. Mainly, Dinah’s big mouth. I hope to fuck u made her understand Christopher can’t kno about any of this bullshit? Especially while he’s still on his honeymoon with Megs.
Dinah a slick bitch, John Boy. She know what the fuck gonna happen if she open her mouth. Outlaw gonna bring his ass home. That’s what that bitch want. Whining cuz Meggie capisulated 2 going on honeymoon with Outlaw. The bitch 2 stupid 2 realize Meggie fucking wanted this, not Prez.
Capitulated.
Huh?
Capitulated not capisulated.
Oh. Uh, anyway, u get the idea, bro.
Johnnie winced, knowing they all hated whenever he corrected them. For the most part, he ignored it. Every now and then, though…Then, brothers would get defensive and close up. Shit. I’m sure she thought Megs wouldn’t need a honeymoon since they were already married.
Yeah.
Well, this conversation was fucked. I’m on my way there.
I already told u not necessary.
It is. Logan’s missing. Dead, I think. Blood’s fucking everywhere.
FUCK.
I know.
Just when Outlaw coming back, too. I don’t like this shit, John Boy. Too fucking strange.
It is. Just what I was thinking until you told me about Val.
Listen up. Logan drop the fuck in because he getting letter from a motherfucker whose ghost couldn’t have used super glue to piece himself back together. Then, he fucking gone. I wouldn’t put it past him to start sending fucking body parts the moment Prez walk through the door. And how that bullshit gonna go down? Bad like a motherfucker.
No fucking shit. If the copious amounts of blood in the house wasn’t his grandfather’s, it was someone’s. However…The only way Logan can send body parts is if he’s still alive.
Digger responded immediately. I’m betting a month worth of pussy he still is.
Chapter 19
Zoann Donovan ignored the stares of the bikers at the Dwellers’ compound, raising her chin and barreling toward the hallway and the private rooms reserved for members. Since she’d called to blast Val for giving her shit about seeing their son and then not showing up, she was expected.
“He not available to come to the phone. You wanna see him, bring your ass to the club.”
She wasn’t sure who she’d spoken to, but she believed it had been one of the other bikers she’d met during the last Christmas her mother was alive. Before Christopher had gotten Patricia killed. That’s what her brother was good for, though. Not being around in anyone’s time of need.
The biker hadn’t thought Zoann would set foot here to confront Val, but…she had. Zoann was just angry. Christopher had changed somewhat thanks to his wife, but he’d never allowed their mother any peace.
He’d done more for Megan than Val had ever considered doing for Zoann. The thought pierced her and she wished she’d brought Ryan. No. Never. It would be weeks before she allowed Val the opportunity to see their son again.
Just as she reached his door, a half-dressed girl stepped into the hallway, giggling and licking her lips. Val’s oh-so-masculine laughter floated to Zoann and resentment flared in her. She tossed her hair over her shoulder, glaring at the slut who widened her eyes when she saw Zoann. Without a word, she scampered down the hall.
Zoann pushed the door opened, surprised at how clean the room was. It was dark, though, with no window and no light except the dim hallway one.
“Coming back for more already, Bob Sue?”
The low rumble of his voice made Zoann’s belly tingle. She knew that tone. Knew he’d had an orgasm not long ago.
Furious tears rushed to her eyes and betrayal sliced through her. She slapped her palm on the wall, searching for a light switch.
“Babe?” he prompted just as Zoann flipped the switch and lit the room up.
“It’s Zoann, you bastard,” she snarled, the fight whooshing from her body when she saw the condition of Val. Blackened eyes. Swollen lips. Bandages wrapped around his ribs. More bandages covered the wound he’d gotten a few weeks ago from Christopher’s father.
Cock glistening with…with her…Bob Sue.
She tightened her lips. “What happened to you?”
His turquoise eyes widened in surprise then narrowed and he leaned back, wincing when he attempted to put his arms behind his head. Determined to stand her ground, Zoann refused to rush to his side to look after him. He’d been so grievously wounded two weeks ago. She’d left Christopher’s and Megan’s wedding to go on duty and discovered why Val had disappeared from the wedding ceremony. He’d been shot. None of them knew the tears she’d shed, the prayers she’d said.
The admission she still loved him.
Bikers were evil, vile creatures, and she understood why Granddaddy despised them. If he’d ever found out what that man did to her. She’d run, looking for Christopher and found Big Joe instead. He’d told her Christopher didn’t have time for her.
When she’d needed him most. It had been weeks before she saw him and she’d despised him. Her brother had always been so perceptive. She thought he would’ve known how brutally she’d been raped. Big Joe…what could she say about him?
Except he’d helped her to hate Christopher a little more. And she hated him more when their mother had died. Then Val had gotten shot and she’d gone into hysterics and had to be sedated. Because seeing Val, on that gurney hooked up to monitors and IVs, she’d seen them all. Her mother. Her grandfather. Her cousin. Val.
And her brother…her Christopher.
“Sorry couldn’t visit Ryan,” Matthew drawled, snapping her back to reality. He gestured to himself. “As you can see, I’m a little indisposed.”
After only three days out of the hospital, he was already back to being a biker. He couldn’t even pretend curiosity behind her visit. He just rumbled a blasé explanation and ignored Zoann’s question. Any idiot could see he’d been hurt, although not enough to keep from having his dick sucked.
Nausea twisted through her, the memories of her grandfather’s friend—a biker—catching her when she’d gone to cook dinner. No one else had been home. He’d forced all kinds of atrocities on her and she’d abhorred the thought of putting her mouth anywhere near a man’s penis.
She looked at her toes, then focused on the posters on his ugly brick walls. Posters of naked girls hung everywhere. “Cover yourself, Matthew,” she demanded.
“Nothing you haven’t seen before, Puff.”
He didn’t just call her Puff, did he? And, even worse, she wasn’t blushing…was she?
She reminded herself she hated him and he hated her and they hated each other. So she shouldn’t blush and he shouldn’t have such a sexy tone with her and his cock shouldn’t be stiffening and—
“Pig,” she flared, charging forward, intending to slap him senseless but he grabbed her wrists, heat and power in his hands. “That girl…Bob Sue…or whatever her name is,” she added when he smirked at her and flashed his dimples. “Whoever…just sucked your dick and fucked you and you’re getting an erection for me?”
A thoughtful gleam entered his eyes and she braced herself for insults and mockery. It was her or him, so she stayed a foot ahead and kept a wall between herself and everyone else.
“I jerk off to memories of you,” he said with the unerring honesty she both detested and appreciated. He released his hold on her and she massaged her wrists. Not because he’d hurt her but because his touch branded her. “You not giving me pussy any more, Zoann. I gotta get it from somewhere.”
She glared at him and sniffed, not wanting to admit she was trying to detect the scent of sex. “Even when I was giving you pussy, it didn’t stop you from getting it from somewhere else.”
He scowled at her. “A man get tired of your judgmental bullshit. I told you I wasn’t leaving my club and you wouldn’t shut the fuck up. I just needed a girl to enjoy my company for a little while. Didn’t think you’d give a shit.” He drew in a breath and closed his eyes, his lashes sweeping low. “You hated sex, Zoann,” he whispered and pulled her into the crook of his arms, kissing the top of her head.
“I liked sex with you,” she said quietly.
Laughter rumbled from him and Zoann melted against him. “You threatened to cut my dick off if I ever asked you to suck it again.”
There was a reason for that, though. A reason no biker would ever understand. “To be fair, I don’t like your mouth on me, either.”
“That’s an even worse crime. The couple times you let me eat your pussy was heaven.”
She jumped out of his arms, scalded by his words. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t care. You’re a biker. My brother’s a biker. My cousin’s a biker. And you’re all amoral assholes. I got drunk and slept with you. That was the biggest mistake of my life. No, our affair was the biggest mistake of my life. Two months of hell,” she spat. Hell because
he was the first man she believed she could depend on since her grandfather’s death. But he hadn’t understood, always pushing to get inside of her, making her ashamed of how much she desired him. She’d have sex with him and throw up the moment he left, unable to stop her humiliating memories.
She’d thought about telling him, then realized she was out of her mind. Matthew would never understand. He was in the same league with Christopher, Johnnie and Big Joe.
He was staring at her, his eyes soft with understanding and Zoann swallowed, crawling off the bed and stepping back. Remembering that girl who’d been in his room and the reason why. Her relationship with Val had been doomed way before they’d ever crossed paths. “You’re nothing to me.”
The cold dislike she brought out in everyone dropped into Val’s features and she died a little inside.
“Get out,” he told her and she shivered at the lethal softness in his tone.
His face was so battered and bruised, she barely saw his teardrop tat beneath his left eye.
Instead of leaving, she reached out and touched his discolored, swollen cheek. “What happened to you?” she whispered, her body betraying her as usual where Val was concerned. She wanted him so badly. She hadn’t been with a man since the last time she and Val had made love…er, fucked. No, made love. That was the night he’d given her their son and she refused to debase his conception in such a way.
“Does it matter, Puff?” he asked.
The name brought all sorts of memories rushing back to her.
He tried to smile but grimaced instead. “You still have your powder puff, babe?” he asked, nodding toward her crotch.
The question soared her pulse and heated her blood. The tips of her nipples hardened and she groaned. He had the ability to make enough of the bad memories go away that she opened her legs to him. He caught her waist and scooted over, so he could pull her next to him.
“Well?” he pressed. “Do you? If you don’t fucking answer me, I’m gonna have to feel your pussy myself to see if it’s still covered with all that hair.”
“I told you I didn’t keep down there that way,” she complained, her mind churning with memories—both good and bad. “I’d just been really busy at the hospital so I hadn’t had a chance to get rid of all that hair.”
Death Dwellers Motorcycle Club:: Fifteen Bad Boy Biker Books Page 75