by Sam Crescent
“Am I hurting you?” she asked. Her ear was to his chest, and she listened to the rapid beating of his heart start to slow down.
“No, you’re perfect, Eva.” He kissed the top of her hand.
Tiny stroked her back, and she closed her eyes basking in their closeness. She couldn’t allow herself to give in to what he wanted. His relationship with his first wife hadn’t been all it was made out to be. Patricia had been his rock, but there had been problems. From what she’d been told from the first moment Tiny saw Patricia he’d been in love with her. At first, their marriage had been perfect, and it was only over time, after Tate was born, that things started to get difficult. In the beginning Tiny had been intent on making Fort Wills into the town it was today. He’d been protecting Patricia from his past. Something had happened to Tiny in Fort Wills before he met his first wife. Alex told her all about it one night. The other man didn’t blame Tiny for what happened. Nothing could stop cancer, and she knew Tiny had loved his wife.
In his own way, Tiny had saved the town and Patricia.
She tucked some hair behind her ear as reality started to set in. Not only was reality starting to set in but also the sounds of everyone moving around in the other room. Her father was coming at the end of the week to pick her up.
Sitting up she felt Tiny tighten his hold around her. “We don’t have to leave. The baby shower is not for a couple of days. No one needs us.”
“I’ve got to help organize everything,” she said, sitting up. His cock twitched and started to harden once again. “Are you never satisfied?”
“Around you, no.”
She smiled and looked down at the names within his tattoo. The names showed his true nature, the caring man he tried to keep hidden from everyone.
He caught her hand as she made to touch the names. “Don’t,” he said.
“Why do you keep yourself away from everyone?” she asked, struck by how isolated he made himself.
“People die, and people get killed. I’m not going to risk getting close to people who died.” His hands touched her shoulder where the scar from the bullet she’d taken still lay. “You could have been killed because of me. I can’t let that happen.”
“So you screw women you don’t care about to throw off the scent of you actually being a decent human being.”
He grabbed both of her arms tight, sitting up. “Never make the mistake of thinking I’m a decent human being, Eva. I’m not. I’ve done shit that will make you sick to your stomach.”
“Everyone has a past, Tiny. You’re just too afraid to share yours.” She pushed him away and climbed off his lap. Their moment together had been short and sweet, but she wasn’t about to play twenty questions and try to get him to open up.
Tiny was a complicated man, but she knew far more than he realized.
“Fuck, Eva, stop. This is not what I had planned.”
She found her dress and started to work it back on. Her panties were ruined. Eva didn’t even bother to search for her bra. “No, you wanted to wipe the memory of Vegas, fine. It’s done. You’re a fuck machine and great at it.” She quickly got dressed putting her heels on. “I can take a lot of crap, Tiny. Keeping me off limits to your life while fucking me is not one of them. If you wanted me then I’d be by your side, and everyone would know it. Yes, you’ve got a past, but so have fucking I. I’m not some sweet little girl, Tiny. I was never one of them. That woman you knew wasn’t the true me. I’ve never been sweet.”
“Eva, wait,” he said.
Turning on her heel she made her way for the door. She didn’t care what people thought of her. Hearing him fumble around she didn’t give him chance to stop her. Unlocking the door she left the room. Several of the men saw her leave. They didn’t say anything to her, but she knew what they were thinking. The interest in their eyes was hard to ignore. Walking out of the door, she heard Tiny call her name. She didn’t stop and kept walking. Alex was stood by his car smoking a cigarette.
“Will you take me home?” she asked.
“Alex, don’t you fucking dare.” The tarmac surface must be stopping Tiny. When she looked back she saw him getting closer.
“Sure,” Alex said, climbing into the car. In the wing mirror she watched Tiny try to stop her. Nothing more was to be done. At the end of the week she’d be out of his life and wouldn’t look back.
****
Killer stood outside of Kelsey’s apartment building hoping to catch her on her way home. He would have waited outside of work, but the women were not particularly nice to her, and when he’d threatened to hurt them, Kelsey hadn’t been happy with it. She wanted nothing to do with him or The Skulls, which he understood. But he knew he could make her happy no matter what she said.
The attacks on the women had finally turned Kelsey away from him. Their relationship hadn’t been the best considering they’d first met when they were being attacked by a fucking drug gang.
Some of the Fort Wills women passed him giggling. They were blonde and slender, pushing their breasts out to try to catch his attention. He wasn’t interested in any woman other than Kelsey. From the first moment he saw her, he’d been struck dumb. She was everything he’d ever wanted in a woman. Kelsey was sweet, intelligent, and she was a fucking dental nurse as well. He loved to spend his time watching her. Nothing else had to happen. He’d gladly watch her. When he spotted her coming around the corner he tensed. Her cherry blonde hair fell around her shoulders in waves as her head was bowed while she watched the floor in front of her.
He found it adorable how she never looked up to see who was watching her. She didn’t have any clue how beautiful she was.
“Kelsey,” he said, calling her name.
She jerked and looked in his direction. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of blue. He felt his cock harden at the sight of her alone. Even surrounded in a coat he knew she had a sexy body to go with her face. He’d not seen her completely naked, but he’d seen enough to know what he liked.
“Theo, what are you doing here?” she asked.
Wincing at the name, Killer left his bike. His real name was Theodore Smith. No one was afraid by a man with such a name, and The Lions had renamed him Killer.
“I wanted to come and see you to make sure you were all right.” He hadn’t come to see if she was all right.
She may think they were over, but it was far from over for him. He wanted her too damn much to let it be over.
“I’m fine. Everything is fine. Work is the same.” She stood with her arms folded. Her bag was over her shoulder, and he remembered her buying it in town. Why was he thinking about her fucking bag? There was so much he wanted to say.
“Tate misses you. She doesn’t invite you back to the club because she knows you’ll refuse,” he said. Bringing Tate into the conversation was a low blow, but he had to play it as otherwise Kelsey was gone.
“I miss her, too.” She dropped her hands and stared at him. “What is this about?”
He closed the distance between them. Wrapping his fingers around the back of her neck, he forced her to look at him. “This is not over.”
“Theo—”
“No, my name is Killer. Use it.”
“This is not how this works. We’re not the same.” Her palm was pressed to his shirt front.
“Is this about your education and the fact I’ve got none?”
“What? No. How could you even think that?” she asked. Tears filled her eyes as she looked at him.
“I’ve not taken another woman since I met you, Kels. This is not over.” He couldn’t hold back any longer and slammed his lips down on hers.
Love, lust, pure craving filled him at the feel of her lips underneath his. With one hand wrapped around the back of her neck, he used the other to cup her ass. He wasn’t letting her go.
She gasped, opening her lips. He took full advantage, plundering his tongue inside. Her gasp turned to a moan. Killer felt her melt against him like she had so many times before. He imagined her pussy mus
t be flowing with arousal. They’d never gotten that close to each other.
Kelsey was the first woman he’d ever known to keep her clothes on at all times. She wouldn’t let him take her to bed. Everything was not about sex and fucking. She was the first woman to ever ask him how he was. Didn’t she realize how fucking important she was to him?
“No,” she said, pushing away. “I can’t do this.”
He refused to let her go.
“Why?” he asked, feeling anger once again at being pushed aside. “Tell me why?”
The tears that had filled her eyes finally fell onto her cheeks. “I’m not strong enough for this. Tate, Angel, they’re strong for you being who you are. They stand by their men. I can’t do this. I can’t be with you or give myself to you. It’s too much, and I’m not who you think I am. I’m not strong.”
With her words hanging in the air, she turned on her heel and ran.
Killer watched her go feeling his whole world leave him. Kelsey was also the first woman he’d ever loved.
Chapter Three
Tiny was livid. The pale cream and pink did nothing to relieve his anger as he stared around the compound. He wore no shirt, and he’d just watched Alex take his woman away in a car. He knew where they were going, yet his anger refused to cease. His men were laughing and drinking beer as the women fussed around the room. The sight of pink made him feel sick.
Tate walked up to him, smiling. Her smiling face was the only thing that could defuse him.
“Daddy, I love you, but you need to do up your pants.”
He’d been in a rush to get to Eva when he saw her leaving, and he’d not given any thought to his state of undress. His shoes and the rest of his clothes were still in his office. The scent of Eva’s release surrounded him.
Quickly zipping up his pants, Tiny cursed. “When your Uncle gets back, he’s a dead man.”
“No, he’s not. You love Uncle Alex like a brother. Besides, him taking Eva away is probably the best.” Tate was flicking through a catalogue with babies on the cover.
“And why is that?” he asked, getting annoyed again.
“You’ve said something to make her run from you. When it comes to Eva you’re always saying or doing something to piss her off. I’m surprised she has stayed so long.” She looked up from out of the catalogue. “You don’t think she’s going to be waiting around forever, do you?”
“Do you have a problem with her?”
“No. I love Eva. Always have and always will. My love of her is not going to stop her from leaving,” Tate said, folding her arms over her chest.
“She’s not leaving. Eva is staying in Fort Wills.”
Tate scoffed. “You’re like every other man. Murphy thought he could tame me, and yet he’s still trying.” She tapped Tiny on the shoulder. “Dream on, Dad.”
She walked away before he could refute her statement. Fucking women, even his daughter was plotting against him, but she got her attitude from him, which he couldn’t complain about. He watched her go to Angel and Sophia. All three women were pregnant with his men’s babies. The next generation meant a lot to him. Without the future of The Skulls there would be no one to keep Fort Wills safe. They all had a responsibility to the town to protect them all. He took his job very seriously as a protector.
“They all look happy, don’t they?” Zero asked, stepping up beside him.
“If you’re going to make some fucking snide comment about what went down in the office then we can take this outside.”
“I’ve got nothing to say about Eva or the noises she makes.”
Tiny tensed. He saw Zero wasn’t looking at him but at the women giggling. Nash moved behind Sophia to stroke her waist. The other Skull was the only guy in the room with a bottle of water in his hand. He was proud Nash was taking his addictions seriously. Sophia was good for the other man. She kept him grounded.
The way Eva grounds you.
Another one of his thoughts, he cut off quickly. He couldn’t be thinking about himself and Eva together or how she completed him and made him want to be a better man.
“You’re not poaching on another woman, are you?”
They all worked by knowing the women who were taken and the women who were fair game.
“No, I’m not taking Nash’s woman. Sophia’s … I don’t know. She’s different, yet she’s the same. It’s like a part of her refuses to see all the shit that goes on, and she’s been dealt shit and knows it exists. I respect her, okay. It’s not often you’ll hear me say that about a woman.”
“I take it you’ve been bitten by the woman bug?”
“No, I just know women are not always the best source of company,” Zero said.
“That’s wonderful to know, Zero,” Sandy said. Sandy was the resident doctor.
Tiny saw the anger in the woman’s eyes, and it was all directed at Zero.
In the last month Sandy had started hanging around the compound more often. From what he heard no man was getting between her thighs anymore. Tiny knew it had something to do with the stabbing over Nash. She’d been in a coma for a few days, and it had been touch and go over her life.
“You’re different, Sandy,” Zero said, trying to make up for his words.
“I sleep with men who don’t give a fuck about commitment, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be faithful to the right man.” She glared daggers at Zero before turning her gaze to him. “I need to talk with you.”
He motioned toward his office. There was no exotic sway to her hips as he followed behind her. Tiny stared at Sandy’s back and noticed she wore more clothes than he’d ever seen on her. She wore jeans and a long sweater. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. He saw she looked younger than her forty years. He’d fucked her once many months ago. Afterwards he’d not been able to go home to Eva for the shame that consumed him. They’d not even been dating, but he felt the betrayal.
You’re not even dating now.
Closing the door he walked to his desk. The computer was fried and was no way to get repaired. He’d have to get a new one. “What can I do for you?” he asked.
She bent down to help pick up everything he and Eva had spilled to the floor.
“You don’t need to help with that,” he said, taking the paperwork off her hands.
Sandy took a seat, and he lowered himself down into his own. He couldn’t believe less than an hour ago he’d been fucking Eva in the very same chair. The room smelled like sex to him. It was a good smell, and he didn’t care if Sandy smelled it or not.
“I know I’m not one of your men or part of the club—”
“You’re part of the club, Sandy. What happened to you should never have happened. Don’t think that you’re not appreciated because you are. You mean a lot to me and the club.”
She looked down at her lap. He saw her hands were gripping her knees tightly.
“I, erm, I quit work at the hospital.”
He listened, shocked by the fact she quit work.
“I handed in my notice, and I’m finished with the place. I can’t go home. Being alone hurts, but I can’t be with any of the men either.” She looked up at him. He saw the tears spilling from her eyes. “I’ve never felt this way before. I’m alone. I’ve got no family. I was a doctor, and I loved the life within the club but … I can’t do it.”
She wiped at her eyes. “I thought about leaving, and I got in my car to leave. There’s nowhere for me to go. I can’t support myself.”
“Do you need money?” he asked.
“No, this is not about money. What I’m asking is can I stay here? I can pay rent or something. Can I stay here without being with one of the men? I don’t want to be an old lady or anyone’s woman. I just want to be left alone to deal.”
The desperation in her voice cut him deep. She’d been one of the only women who didn’t have a prospect on her, and she’d suffered because of it. No one would have hurt her if he’d thought ahead.
Getting up from his seat, he walked to
the door.
“Stink, come here.”
He waited by his door for the other brother to walk into the room. Stink didn’t have any sense of smell. The other man did all the shit jobs without a problem. He was sure it would only be a matter of time before the boys renamed him when they grew tired of calling him Stink.
“Yes, boss,” Stink said, entering the room.
Tiny told him everything with Sandy. He knew the other man wouldn’t even try it on with her and with the right order, would protect Sandy with his life. Stink once confided in him that he wasn’t interested in quick easy fucks with Sandy. Stink wanted forever and had the biggest crush on her. No one within the club knew it apart from him. Sandy and Stink would make a good team for now. Tiny knew that Stink wouldn’t do anything to hurt Sandy or put moves on her.
“Are you okay with this arrangement?” Tiny asked, looking at Sandy. The other woman stared at Stink.
“He knows I’m not interested in anything else?”
“Babe, I’m not going to touch you other than to be your bodyguard and safety net. I’ve no interest in bedding you.”
If Tiny didn’t know better he’d say Stink had his fingers crossed behind his back.
“Okay, then I’m good with this, Tiny.” Sandy got up from her seat. “Thank you for being so considerate.”
She placed a cool hand on his arm.
Closing the door Tiny remembered a long time ago when he’d turned and walked away from a woman to be hurt.
The memory swamped him, threatening to drag him down.
****
Tiny, before The Skulls began
Tiny stared around the grounds. Mikey stood smoking a cigarette. The look of disgust on the other man’s face scared him. Fort Wills was a fucking shit hole, and no one cared about what went on in the little town off the beaten track. No one visited unless they wanted to end up dead or as part of The Darkness. He heard Snitch laughing his head off in the distance followed by the sound of a feminine cry.
“He’s at it again,” Mikey said. Devil walked out of the forest carrying a bottle of vodka. They were the only two men Tiny really knew who hated what The Darkness did. The Darkness was a group of thugs who controlled the town. When they told the residents to jump, the town simply asked, how high?