by London Casey
“Shut up,” Erik said.
Blaine grabbed Erik’s shoulder. Erik spun and stood, the gun jammed into the gut of Blaine.
“What are you thinking right now, bro?” Blaine asked. His eyes were wide and intense, almost as intense at Erik’s.
“I want to keep killing,” Erik said.
“I know, man. I know.”
“Let me then.”
“I can’t,” Blaine said. He put his hand to the gun and pushed it down. “You need to take a breath, brother. Something is going to go wrong and it won’t be good. I don’t want you hurt again, bro. I don’t want you in trouble. Plus, if this guy goes crawling back to his crew, what’s going to happen to him?”
“Good point,” Erik said.
Blaine put a hand to Erik’s face. “You’ve got to work on the pain and hate. I’d start by working on that woman staring you down. She hasn’t been able to keep her eyes off you since we saw her.”
“She’s looking at my fucking face,” Erik said. “Like the rest of the world.”
“No, man, no. Not like that. She’s soaking wet. I can smell her from here.” Blaine flicked his tongue. “I can even taste her. It’s fucking brilliant. Goddamn.”
“You’re a sick fuck,” Erik said.
He pushed Blaine and turned, looking down at the man. His hands were up, shaking, scared into defeat.
“Tell the rest of your friends that if they fuck with me… fuck with Blaine… fuck with Back Down Devil MC… we’ve got plenty of bullets and plenty of balls.”
“Okay, okay.”
Erik lifted his boot and placed it on the man’s throat. “Hear me?”
“I swear…”
Erik applied pressure and the man started to thrash and try to scream. He grabbed at Erik’s boot and pants.
“Erik,” Blaine said.
Erik ignored Blaine. He added more pressure and watched the man’s face turning a deep shade of red. He coughed and gagged, blood dripping down his face.
At the last second, Erik took his foot off the man’s throat and was done with it.
“We’ll have to call it in,” Erik said. “Let Miller and Chief Jerry know.”
“I’m on it, man,” Blaine said. Then he nodded to Kaity. “Figure out what you’re doing with her.”
Erik walked back to Kaity as she touched her left leg. There didn’t appear to be too much blood on her leg. He slowly fell to one knee again in front of her. She instantly stiffened.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to touch your leg. Don’t get pissed.”
“Why would I…”
Erik grabbed Kaity’s leg and dug his thumb into the hole in her jeans. She let out a scream and slapped him in the head and face. Erik took his hands away and stood up.
“Fuck, I’m sorry,” Kaity said.
Erik licked his lips and tasted a little blood. “I assume that hurt?”
“Yes.”
“You might have a bullet in your leg.”
“That sucks.”
Erik laughed. “That sucks?”
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to say.”
Erik found himself trying to press his body to Kaity’s.
Fuck.
He forced himself to take a step back. “Listen to me carefully. I don’t do this kind of shit, okay? You took a bullet for me, which means you took a bullet for the MC. It might not mean shit to you, babe, but it means something to us. You’re coming with me back to the clubhouse to get checked out. You can crash there instead of some motel in town, okay?”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Yeah? I don’t?” Erik backed up three steps and nodded. “Come on, babe, walk to me.”
Kaity frowned and took a step forward. When it came time to use her left leg, she winced. He balance was wobbly and Erik folded his arms. Kaity took another step and then fell to the ground in pain. She was at his feet and when she looked up, there were tears in her eyes.
“The leg?” Erik asked as he stared down.
Don’t care about her, man. Don’t fucking care…
“My life,” Kaity whispered.
Erik bent his knees and scooped Kaity up. He stood, holding her. She looked shocked as Erik walked to his motorcycle. Blaine was on a cell phone. He snapped it shut and gave a thumbs up.
“We’re in the clear on this,” Blaine said. “Let’s get out of here.”
Erik helped Kaity to the motorcycle and then ran to get her the helmet. He put it on her head, snapped it shut, and moved hair out of her face, again.
When Erik started the motorcycle, he waited for Kaity’s hands to reach around his body. All he wanted to do was rough up Jack and Willy at the auto garage. But if there was anyone who knew how fucked up life could get and how fast it could change, it was Erik.
seven.
At the clubhouse, Gaige, Nate, Shay, and Jace were standing outside, laughing, smoking cigarettes, and when they saw Blaine and Erik, they all broke out in applause.
“They’re back!” Shay cried out.
Erik kicked the kickstand and got off his motorcycle. He looked at Kaity. “Stay put for a second.”
Blaine took off his helmet and opened his arms. He spun around once and walked to the group.
“Well, that was intense,” Blaine said.
Shay grabbed Blaine and hugged him. “Fuck, brother. You can’t go out there and get killed on us.”
Erik approached the group then with caution. “It's not all what it seems.”
“What happened?” Gaige asked.
“They came out of nowhere and started shooting at us. Could have killed us, but they wanted us to surrender. They wanted us on our knees, blindfolded, and I’m pretty sure they were going to take pictures to show Eight Under that they were worthy.”
“Fucking assholes,” Gaige said. “Well, I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Who’s that?” Nate asked.
“Who?” Gaige asked.
“There’s a woman on the back of Erik’s ride.”
Gaige looked and raised an eyebrow. Erik put a finger to Gaige's chest and shook his head.
“Don’t,” Erik said. “Don’t say a fucking word.”
“I’m going to,” Gaige said.
“He picked her up like it was nothing,” Blaine said. “I offered to show her a good time and she didn’t want it.”
“That’s a surprise,” Jace said and the small group laughed.
Well, everyone but Erik.
Erik didn’t want to fucking laugh. Being back at the clubhouse suddenly made him regret helping Kaity. Being back at the clubhouse made him want to run back upstairs, get his gun, and finish what he started a while ago.
Just one fucking bullet… and it’s all gone.
“She took a bullet for me,” Erik said. “For us.”
Everyone shut up instantly. Shay slipped his hands into his pockets and looked at Kaity.
“She’s hurt?” Jace asked.
“Yeah,” Erik said. “Took one to the leg.”
“Damn,” Gaige said. “We need to get her upstairs. Fast.”
“Where’s Miller?” Erik asked.
“Upstairs,” Nate said. “We’re meeting soon.”
“Nate,” Gaige said. “Run up and tell Miller what’s going on and that we’ll meet soon. Jace and Shay, get the door open.”
“I’ll carry her,” Blaine said. He cupped his hands like he was holding a set of breasts.
“Fuck off,” Erik said.
“He’s grumpy,” Blaine mumbled as Erik walked back to Kaity.
He offered his hand to Kaity and nodded. “Hurry up. Don’t make me regret this.”
“Sorry I can’t move fast. I’ve been shot.”
“Just come on,” Erik said.
Kaity moved from the motorcycle. Erik watched her apply pressure to her left leg. She didn’t really wince yet Erik felt compelled to carry her. He grabbed Kaity by the arm, pulled her close, and then lifted her. She let out a whimper and
her arms were then tight around his neck.
“I don’t have time to waste,” Erik said. “You saw what happened back there. I have to get moving.”
As he carried her, Erik felt Kaity looking at him. He knew if he looked at her something bad was going to happen. And bad meant good… and good meant kissing her. He had no idea what came over him to think that, but it was true. And if he started kissing Kaity…
“Welcome to the clubhouse, sweetheart,” Shay said with a laugh as Erik carried Kaity across the threshold.
Once in the clubhouse, everyone began to cheer. Landon, Miller, Griffin, Case, Jude, and Aiden applauded as though Erik had just come back from getting married. One of the guys behind the bar even took a handful of beer bottle caps and threw them up as though it was rice.
They scattered everywhere and Erik stopped walking. He put Kaity down on the arm of the couch and walked to the bar. He put a fist down and gritted his teeth.
“Give me two,” Erik said.
The guy who had thrown the caps twisted two new caps off and handed the bottles to Erik.
“There you go,” he said.
Erik spotted one of the bottle caps and grabbed it. He put it between his thumb and pointer finger. Then he aimed and flicked his finger, sending the bottle cap perfectly into the man’s eye behind the bar. The man grabbed his face and screamed. It pissed Erik off to see these weak guys that wanted to be part of the MC. Like they thought it was a joke or something cool. This wasn’t cool. This was real. Hearing the guy scream wasn’t good enough for Erik. He reached across the bar and grabbed the wannabe Back Down Devil member by his shirt. He pulled him forward and then took a handful of his hair. The bar erupted in yells, trying to call Erik off, but he didn’t give a fuck. He slammed the guy’s face into the bar. Erik let go and the guy flew back into a shelf of booze, and then fell to the ground.
“Anyone else want to throw shit at me?” Erik yelled.
Everyone quieted down. As Erik walked back to Kaity, it was so quiet that the sound of his boots hitting the beer bottle caps and scratching the floor echoed all around.
Erik handed Kaity the open beer bottles and then he scooped her up again. She cried out and some beer spilled on her. Erik didn’t care. He set his sights forward and walked her down the hall to the bedrooms.
At his door, he put her back down.
“This is my room,” Erik said.
He opened the door and surveyed the room for a second. It was a mess of clothes and other shit. The bed was a mess and the smell of booze, cheap perfume, and sex lingered in the air. Erik half expected to see the relievers from this morning still in the bed.
But they were gone.
He took the beer bottles from Kaity’s hand and put them on the nightstand. She managed to hobble her way to the bed and sat down. Erik stood and handed her a beer.
“Have a drink,” he said. “Before we talk.”
“Talk about what?”
“Look, this isn’t a fucking vacation. This isn’t cool and exciting. This is real life.”
Kaity pointed to her leg. “You think I don’t know that?”
The way her lip curled made her look badass and beautiful. Erik turned away and caught his reflection in the mirror. Before he knew what he was doing, he threw the beer bottle across the room at the mirror. He missed the mirror by an inch, but the beer bottle exploded when it hit the wall.
He was breathing heavily. The urge was still there. It was getting stronger. He wanted to put an end to all the bullshit. The urge was real. His right hand opened and he slowly started to reach down. He was going to do this. He didn't care if he did it in front of Kaity. Her nonchalant demeanor in the midst of all the excitement proved that she was hiding her own demons.
Erik felt Kaity touch his hand. She squeezed once and then let go.
“It’s okay,” she whispered.
“It’s not.”
Kaity lifted the beer bottle to her lips, took a drink, and then placed the bottle in Erik’s hand. He closed his fingers around the bottle.
“Don’t throw this one please,” Kaity said.
She offered a quick smile and then swallowed hard.
Erik lifted the bottle to his lips and pounded the entire bottle of beer at once. Then he aimed and threw it into the trashcan. He set his sights to the nightstand and opened the top drawer. It was full of bullets and condoms, but there were also a couple spare bottles of whiskey. When he glanced at Kaity her eyes were wide at the sight of the condoms.
Erik grabbed a bottle of whiskey and took two huge gulps. It burned going down, but it started to settle the urge inside him.
“Erik…”
“I have to look at your leg,” Erik said.
He crouched down and put his hands to Kaity’s waist. She jumped and gasped.
“Calm down,” Erik said. “If I was fucking making a move at you, you’d know it. Slide the fuck back.”
Kaity slid back a few inches. Erik straightened her leg and touched it. It was impossible to not think sexual thoughts when he was pissed off. He had already punched someone today and shot someone. Now all he needed was a good fuck to satisfy him.
“How bad does it hurt?” he asked.
“It just stings.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you need take your pants off. I need to see your leg and get the bullet out if there’s one in there.”
“Okay.”
Kaity started to slide forward but stopped. Her left hand had slipped under the sheet. When she pulled her hand out, a neon green bra was hooked over her pointer finger.
“Yours?” she asked.
“Fucking funny,” Erik said.
Erik wasn’t ashamed of what he did. He was a biker. He was part of a MC that lived and died by honor and bullets. In between living and dying, there was some time to enjoy booze, pussy, and fighting.
Kaity held the bra up and shook her head.
“Got something to say?” Erik asked.
“Small chest,” Kaity said. “Too bad for you.”
Erik backed up a few inches and made fists. Why did Kaity just say something so fucking flirty and sexy? She had a bullet hole in her leg, yet she was more focused on getting to him. What was she getting at here? What did she want?
“Do you want to keep this?” Kaity asked.
“You’re starting to piss me the fuck off,” Erik said. “Stand up and strip your pants off.”
Kaity stood and dropped the bra. Erik saw it on the floor and shook his head.
Stupid fucking relievers.
Erik was eye level with Kaity’s button on her jeans. He watched her open the button and unzip her pants. She stuck her hands to her waist and wiggled her hips as she pushed the jeans down. When Erik saw the dark red panties on her body, his cock thickened. He throbbed; the blood rushed everywhere. He groaned as Kaity started to take her jeans off.
“Can you help?” Kaity asked.
She put her hands to Erik’s shoulders, slightly bent. She looked down at Erik, her hair falling in front of her face. Nothing about this was meant to be sexual but the room was filled with the tension.
Erik clamped his hands to Kaity’s legs, just above her knees. Her left leg was still slightly bleeding but Erik couldn’t help himself. He was struggling to control the intense feelings running through his body and his mind, but he managed to help Kaity out of the rest of her jeans and then he gently pushed at her hips.
“Sit back down,” he said.
Kaity fell to the bed again.
Erik’s nose caught the scent of her hair and it made him ache. Staring at Kaity made him want to ravage her. Fuck her leg. Fuck the wound. Fuck if there was a bullet in her leg.
“Just tell me when it hurts,” Erik said.
He leaned forward.
“It hurts,” Kaity said.
“Fucking funny, again,” Erik said.
Erik put a hand above the wound, near the top of her leg. His pinky opened wide, touching the bottom of her panties. He put h
is other hand under the wound and with both hands he pressed. Kaity winced and took a shaky breath.
“Stay with me,” Erik said.
He applied more pressure. Blood dripped from her leg. Erik inched closer to the wound and when he touched it with his thumb, Kaity whimpered. Erik looked at her and her eyes were shut. A stray tear fell down her cheek.
This was one tough woman.
Erik looked closer to check out the wound. It was just bleeding. He grabbed the sheet on his bed and wiped her leg. A sense of relief came over him when he realized it was just a wound and that there was no bullet in her leg. Whether it grazed her or ricocheted off something, he wasn't sure. Either way, now she didn’t need to be held down and poked at to get a bullet out and hope there was no permanent damage to her leg, or an infection.
“Can I have that bottle?” Kaity asked.
“Sure, babe,” Erik said.
He grabbed the bottle and handed it to Kaity. She took the cap off and drank from it.
Erik released his hold on her leg and wiped his hands on the sheet. He stared at Kaity, watching her as she continued to drink. Sip after sip. Little gulp after little gulp.
“I take it you’re staying the night here?” Erik asked.
Kaity looked at him. “You said…”
“I said you can come here. Didn’t say a thing about… whatever…” Erik shook his head. He wasn’t in the mood for this bullshit. “Don’t fucking move.”
He stood and walked to the bathroom. He grabbed a towel and opened the bottom drawer under the sink. He found some gauze and tape, enough to patch up Kaity’s leg to keep it from bleeding throughout the night.
When he turned to walk back to her, he almost tripped over his own feet. Kaity was leaning back on her elbows with her head back, eyes shut. Her red panties clung between her legs. Her hair dangled down, reaching the bed. From the angle, it was almost as if Kaity was in great pleasure. As though someone was on their knees tasting her body.
Fuck.
Erik made fists and walked back to the bed.
“Let me patch that up,” he said. “I’ll check it tomorrow and make sure you’re fine. I’m assuming you don’t want to go to the hospital, right?”
“No way,” Kaity said.