The Beginning—A Duet: Ryder & Two Worlds Colliding

by Jani Kay

  “Go to sleep. I’m here now.” His voice was like velvet, soft and soothing. Hypnotic. I drifted off into a peaceful sleep with Ryder holding me, feeling safe and secure.

  Pure bliss.

  Chapter 11 ~ Ryder

  “Are you sure you’re up to this, brother?” I quirked an eyebrow at Cobra who was all dressed except for his cut, ready to go back to the compound for the first time since the shootout.

  “Yeah. It’s time to sort out club business. Take my place at the gavel. Work out what we’re going to do.”

  Cobra was stubborn. It made him the badass man he was. He never gave up, and he never gave in. OK, except to Mia. And his babies. But never to another man. Tough as fucking nails, he went head-to-head with his enemies.

  We made small talk for most of the journey, both of us with our minds wandering elsewhere. So when we fell into a comfortable silence we just let it be, allowing ourselves the small pleasure of being lost in our own thoughts, without interruption.

  I was between a rock and a hard place. I was falling for Jade, yet I knew her brother would string me up the first chance he got. Now that I’d finally gotten the story out of her, I wasn’t bitter or vengeful about his motives. Fuck, if that’d happened to me, I would’ve hunted the motherfuckers down and killed them with my bare fucking hands.

  A part of me even respected the guy for wanting to protect his little sister. Remembering back to what I was willing to sacrifice to save Max’s life, I understood how Harrison Summers felt about Jade. Fuck, if it weren’t for our pasts, we could probably even have been friends.

  But that wouldn’t stop me from putting a bullet in his skull if he threatened my family. Fuck, if he hurt any one of my brothers at the Scorpio Stinger MC I'd have to take him down. It was the code of our brotherhood. It was simply the way it worked, regardless of who the fucker was who tried to take a brother down.

  Sighing heavily, I pulled up at the compound, in front of the heavy gates and pressed the button to let us in. While we waited, I couldn’t help noticing how derelict the warehouse was. Our headquarters appeared deserted. Usually there were bikes and people everywhere, but since the shootout, everyone kept cover as much as they could. We’d even built a fucking shed for the bikes so they could be locked up at night, ensuring nobody tampered with them. Yeah, we had to cover all our bases.

  The gloomy clubhouse was in desperate need of restoration. Peeling paint and bullet holes in the walls had never bothered me before. I guess I’d been so used to its appearance that it’d seemed normal. Now it was depressing. Maybe it was because I'd been living in the fancy part of town for a while that I’d become aware of the stark contrast. Funny the things we get accustomed to.

  This was not the day to help Cobra out of the SUV. Even though he struggled, sweat trickling down his forehead as he contorted his face in agony, I watched him get down the step by himself. Cobra was the pres of Scorpio Stinger MC, for fuck’s sake. He needed to maintain the respect of all the brothers. Show that a few bullets wouldn't stop him.

  Suppressing the urge to put my arm around Cobra to support him, I walked to the door to hold it open. But before I could even reach the door, brothers came pouring out into the square to welcome their pres. The place that appeared so desolate moments before was transformed by all the familiar faces. The shouting and whistling startled me; I'd forgotten what a rowdy bunch these guys were.

  Backslapping and brother-hugging with roars of laughter was a sure sign that everyone was relieved to have Cobra back at the helm. Yeah, it felt good to be home. I’d missed this place and these faces more than I cared to admit. Here, within these walls, I was just Ryder, a brother, like everyone else. It felt good to belong.

  Ox lifted Cobra into his bulging arms, carrying him like a baby.

  “Fuck, Pres, what have those people outside been feeding you? Rabbit food? Lettuce leaves ain't for biker boys. We gonna get a steak into you and feed you up.”

  If I didn't know better I’d think that Ox fucking teared up, because he nearly choked on his last words.

  “Yeah. And beer. Get Pres a fucking beer,” Ratbag piped up.

  It was nine am, but that had never stopped the boys before, and today they had reason for celebration. Cobra let it go. He reveled in the attention, and knew his boys needed something to take their minds off the last few months. In time we’d get to the serious stuff, the business end of club matters. But for now, it was beer all ‘round.

  Inside the clubhouse, Lexi was sliding one frothy glass after another across the counter like a pro. I had to admit I was impressed.

  “Never seen a Sheila pull a beer so fast—she’s a fucking natural.” Ratbag laughed when he saw the puzzled look on my face. Wasn’t her name Lexi? “Yeah, Sheila is what we call bitches back in Australia.”

  Ratbag never failed to amuse me with his strange way of talking and turns of phrases.

  “Oi, Sheila, get our VP a beer, sweetheart,” he shouted at her.

  Lexi didn't slide the beer across the counter to me like she did for the other guys. “You still owe me a visit from last time.” She winked as she handed me a beer, leaning over so I could see down her top and making damn sure her hand touched mine. She pouted her full lips and I had that feeling of déjà vu. I could swear I’d seen her somewhere, before she worked at the club as the barmaid.

  Perplexed, I turned away and made a toast to Cobra, welcoming him back and wishing him a speedy recovery so that he’d be one hundred percent fit again.

  Downing my beer, I was eager to escape to my room down the hallway. I hadn’t slept at the club in months, and I was feeling kinda homesick. I unlocked the door and grinned: everything was exactly as I’d left it. Even my old guitar. Yeah. I hadn’t played in forever. As I ran a finger over the strings, I heard the door close behind me.

  Whirling around, my hand went for my gun.

  “Hey, slow down cowboy, it’s only me.” Lexi leaned against the door, giving me her best come-fuck-me look.

  “Sheila, shouldn’t you be working the bar?” I growled. I knew exactly why she was here.

  “You can call me anything you want to, Ryder. But my name is Lexi. That’s the name to call out when I suck your cock and you come in my mouth.”

  She pushed away from the door and knelt down in front of me. She ran her fingers over the guitar, slowly, suggestively, never taking her eyes off mine. I hadn’t had a bitch that was so overt in her intentions in a while.

  I stared down at her, feeling my cock stir. Christ, I was only a man.

  Lexi took hold of the ends of her skimpy top and pulled it over her head. Her tits were spectacular. Big brown nipples stood hard, already aroused. I watched as she licked her fingertips and started rolling her nipples between her fingers, moaning softly as she bit her bottom lip. She sat back on her knees and ran one hand down her ribs and over her thigh. She pushed up her skirt to her hips and exposed a glistening pussy with the smallest of landing strips covering her mound. Two fingers dipped into her cunt, pushing in deep as she groaned and then removed her fingers.

  “Sweet, Ryder. Fucking sweet. Want to taste, baby?” She held her fingers up to my face.

  Fuck. My cock went hard. I could smell the bitch from here. She was dripping sex.

  When I didn't react, she sucked her fingers into her mouth, tasting herself.

  Fuck. That’s hot.

  Groaning, I placed my hand on her head as she unbuckled my belt and pulled the zipper down. She reached in and set my erection free, her hand on my shaft.

  “Hello, Mister.” She chuckled, pleased with my reaction to her.

  Her tongue snaked out to lick my cock. Just as she was about to make contact, I pushed her backward so that she fell flat on her naked ass.

  “Sheila. A few ground rules. One. You only touch my cock when invited to. Two. If I want to fuck you, I will let you know. Till then, you wait.”

  “Jesus. What’s wrong with you? I’ve been saving myself for you. Half the club’s guys are eage
r to sink their dicks into me. But I don’t want them—I want you. Your cock likes me, baby. Don’t be a hard-ass.”

  “Don’t call me ‘baby,’” I snapped, shoving my semi-hard dick back into my jeans. I ran a hand through my hair. She was right. What the fuck was wrong with me? What man in his right mind would deny himself a pussy like this one? Sheila had one fine pussy. Her body was tight, her tits were to die for, and her eagerness to please was every man’s dream.

  Ahhh. There lay the problem. Because the face in my dreams was a different face. Similar features, same hot, tight body, but the blue eyes of an angel that tormented my cock with just her smile. Jade. Fucking Princess had invaded my mind. She owned my fucking cock, and she didn't even know it. Neither had I, until this very fucking moment. If anyone was going to suck my cock, the mouth had to belong to my Princess.

  Lexi gasped. “You’ve fallen for somebody, haven’t you?”

  “What the fuck are you? A witch? Get out of my room. Now.”

  Where the fuck had I seen this bitch before?

  I leaned against the wall as she grabbed her top. Tempting. Those tits were so fucking tempting. All I had to do was reach out and touch them. Suck those nipples into my mouth. Finger her juicy pussy. Let her suck my cock. Bend her over and fuck her hard.

  Why not?

  Jade would never know.

  But I would.

  Even though I was a man—one who loved fucking pussy—it hit me.

  I only wanted one pussy. Jade’s.

  Fuck.

  Chapter 12 ~ Ryder

  “You’re making a big mistake, Ryder. I can make you a very happy man.” She gestured toward her body with a sweep of her hand. “I will fuck you any way you want. You will love me calling you baby. My pussy is so ready for you Ryder, so wet, throbbing for your cock.”

  Taking a few steps toward me, she pushed her still naked tits against me. Her hard nipples pushed into my chest. She took hold of my hand and placed it on her sex, spreading her legs.

  “Look into my eyes and tell me you don’t want my wet cunt. Tell me you don’t want to eat me out and be inside me now, and I’ll walk away. But you can't, can you?”

  Lexi’s hand was on my dick, stroking my hardness through the denim. It responded by growing even more.

  “Jesus, Sheila. You’re one bad bitch. If it weren’t for Princess, I'd fuck you till you passed out. But my dick has an affinity for another pussy. Sorry darling,” I said as I pushed her onto the bed with a hard shove and walked from the room without looking back.

  Fuck, if I stayed another minute I'd be tappin’ that ass so hard. I barely could stop myself from taking what was on offer. Sheila would be an awesome fuck. If it weren’t for Jade . . .

  “Who the fuck is Princess? I’ll kill that bitch!” she called from my room.

  The roar of my laughter echoed off the hallway walls—Sheila sure was spunky. I shook my head. Now that’d be one showdown I didn't want to be part of. If Jade saw the half-naked dripping-with-sex slut in my room—if she’d seen her hand on my cock, her tits pushed against me, my hands on her pussy—I'd fear for Sheila’s life.

  And mine. Yeah.

  It wasn’t official with me and Jade. Not yet. But I knew as much as I'd rip any cockhead apart that tried to fuck Jade, she’d do the same for me. Jesus. Just the thought of another man touching my Princess, had steam coming from my ears.

  So no, I wasn’t tappin’ that ass, no matter how tempting, or how horny I felt. Because if I wanted the same behavior from Jade, I had to give her that, too. If there was one thing I never fucked with it was Karma. Because yeah, that bitch had a way of leveling things that us humans had no idea about.

  I needed a fucking beer. Pronto.

  “Where you been, brother?” Cobra asked as I got back to the clubroom.

  “Just to check my room was OK.” I pulled a beer and virtually gulped it down in one go.

  “Something happen there?” Cobra raised an eyebrow. Brother was sharp. He knew me so well that it was scary as fuck.

  “Nah. All good,” I said as I downed the last drop and went to get another for Cobra and myself.

  “Where the hell is the barmaid? Isn’t that her fucking job?” Cobra complained as he nodded toward the bar. He was grumpy as fuck. I knew he was in pain and had to get back to resting soon.

  “Yeah, where is she?” Razor asked as he looked around. The look on his face was thunderous. Jesus, if I’d fucked Sheila, I’d have my dick cut off by more than only Jade. Razor had it bad for the girl. And she said she’d been saving herself for me? This was some fucked-up shit. I smelled trouble brewing. If Razor hadn’t been able to get to that pussy, I was assuming neither had Ox or any of the other boys. And she was offering it to me on a platter? Since when did I get so fucking lucky? I smirked, and drank more beer.

  This morning on our way here, I’d contemplated moving back to the clubhouse. I was going to talk it over with Cobra on the way home. Now I wasn’t so sure it was a good idea.

  Resisting temptation seemed futile, ‘cause I knew the kind of woman Lexi was—she was going to try everything till she had my cock inside her pussy. She was the black-widow type of woman—she’d lure her prey, and then eat him afterwards. Usually that kind of game amused me. The sex was intense, borderline deadly.

  A few months ago, I would’ve taken Lexi—I still thought the name Sheila suited her better—till I tired of her, and then passed her on to the brothers. I wouldn’t have cared less about anybody’s feeling as long as I was satisfied having that fine ass to myself. A few weeks or so, and I'd have had my fill of her. Because once I mastered her, got her tamed, the game ended. It always did.

  And that’s exactly why I was so surprised about this thing with Jade. Now I'd had her, I thought I'd have gotten her out of my system. Instead she was fucking with my head, even when she wasn’t around.

  I started feeling more sympathy for Cobra. I’d always teased him about his possessiveness with Mia: the way he wanted to own her, and went mental if another man just looked at her too long. And Mia was a beautiful woman, so it happened a lot. Especially when she had that glow about her when she was pregnant; then, men had found her irresistible. So much so that Cobra considered locking her up at home when he wasn’t around. Understanding was beginning to dawn on me about how a man could feel like that.

  It also said a lot about our brotherhood that he trusted me to live alone in a house with Mia and his two kids. Not that he really had a fucking choice with all those bullets lodged in his body.

  Cobra brought me out of my thoughts with a slap on the back. “Hey man, I’m talking to you.”

  “What?”

  “I said: I’ve organized for a barbeque next Sunday—here at the compound. Brothers need a morale booster. We need to get our fucking shit together. Show those motherfuckers we ain't scared or broken.”

  I sucked in a breath. Fuck. That would be dangerous. But Cobra was right—we were acting like scared pussies. It was time to get back in the saddle.

  “Are you up to it, brother?” I was concerned that Cobra was trying to do too much too soon.

  “Yeah. Fuck this shit. A man’s gotta do what he has to do. Besides, I already spoke to Mia about it. She agrees it will be good for building the club spirit back up. In typical woman fashion, she’s already planning the food.”

  Mia was levelheaded. I trusted her judgment. If she thought Cobra was up to it—and she should know—I’d go along with it.

  I nodded. I'd just put extra security on for the day. Be extra careful, ‘cause I had a tingling down my spine, and that didn't bode well.

  Lexi sauntered back behind the bar counter, not looking in my direction. She smiled sweetly at an agitated Razor, and flirted outrageously with the man. Razor’s frown melted and he seemed to lap up the attention. Was she trying to make me jealous? I chuckled to myself. Bitches. When would a man ever understand them? At least Razor was happy and was benefitting, so I just watched their interaction with amusement.


  It still niggled at my mind: I knew Lexi from somewhere. But where?

  “Ready to head back to LA?” I finished my beer and banged the glass down on the counter, suddenly eager to get back to the city.

  Chapter 13 ~ Jade

  I wasn’t sure exactly how to dress for the occasion. I'd never been to a barbeque at a MC compound. Why I'd even accepted Mia’s invitation was beyond me. Mia had told me Ryder was living between the house and the compound since Cobra had come out of hospital. I guessed it was because he wanted to give the family their own space, yet needed to check that they were safe. I also knew that Ryder would use any excuse to go for a ride on his beautiful Harley.

  But it was all a new experience for me. I was going into unknown and scary-as-hell territory. Especially after I’d had such tainted ideas of what bikers were all about for so long.

  In my gut, I knew the answer: I wanted to see Ryder in his natural habitat, so to speak. I’d only ever seen him in LA, far away from his normal environment. The fancy house in Beverly Hills was out of his comfort zone, and I’d picked that up from day one. So now I wanted to see the place where he was comfortable to just be himself.

  Besides, I was an adult now, I had to find out for myself what a group of bikers were all about and make up my own mind. That didn't mean I wasn’t still freaking out. Especially if Harrison found out about my plan. I shuddered just thinking about his reaction.

  It was hot. Summer was in full-swing, and California was humid and uncomfortable. I chose a pair of denim shorts that I hadn’t worn in years and a white tank top. Usually I was self conscious about showing off my bare legs, but I wanted to be comfortable and just a little bit sexy. At the last minute, I slipped a shirt on, and tied a knot at my belly.

  Both Mom and Daddy were on the patio, reading the Sunday paper over a cup of coffee. I poured some orange juice into a glass and made small-talk for a few minutes before announcing that I was off to a friend’s place for the day.