Wanted: An Outlaw Anthology

by Lane Hart

  “I’m sorry,” she whispers softly. She’s sorry? Fuck her! Fuck all of this!

  “Fuck you!” I hiss at her. Charlie takes a step back but I don’t want to let her. All I want to do is hurt something, hurt her. I want her to feel the fucking pain that I do in my chest. The pain of betrayal and brotherhood lost.

  “He was my best fuckin’ friend!” Charlie jolts but she doesn’t move. “He was by my fuckin’ side and all of it was a goddamn lie.” Charlie moves toward me slowly and cautiously. When she stands right in front of me, peering up at me with those magical eyes of hers, I lose it. Grabbing her roughly, I kiss her like my fucked-up life might depend on the air that she breathes. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I lift her and crush her body to mine. My mouth moves from her lips down her jaw until I reach her throat, licking and sucking. I feel a blend of lust and hate, each punishing my soul and being translated on to her skin.

  “Savage,” she breathlessly says my name and I can’t handle it. I can’t handle her dirty fucking mouth saying my name. I run my hand up her side and wrap it around her throat, making her eyes widen.

  “You brought this to me. Why did you have to be the one to show me, to tell me who the fuckin’ rat was?” I question her like it would make a difference. “All I want to do is fuck you until you bleed. I want to hurt you, but those bastards already did that. Goddamn it, Charlie!” Her hand comes to rest on my cheek. Her thumb stroking the stubble on my jaw.

  “You don’t hurt me, Savage. You never have. Please,” she begs. Grinding herself against me like she needs this as much as I do and maybe she does.

  Pulling her off me, I toss her onto the bed and begin to pull my clothes off. My cock is hard and needy, but when I see Charlie taking her clothes off, I nearly come on the spot. I move quickly, spreading her thighs and climbing on the bed in between them. I reach up and grab her shirt, ripping it in half before I lean down and bite her nipple through her thin bra Charlie screams in what I can only imagine is pleasure and pain morphing together as one.

  “He was my best friend,” I growl before grabbing my cock and shoving into her. Charlie moans but soon begins to scream as I take out my frustrations on her body. It’s wrong - I know it is, but I can’t help myself, not with her anyway.

  “My fuckin’ right hand!” Another growl and I slam into her, the sound of our skin slapping against each other pushing me forward. Charlie wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me down to her mouth. She kisses me, biting my lips until I taste blood as I thrust into her without any regret of the pain I may be causing her. I don’t give a shit right now. The deeper I get inside of her, the harder I become. One of my hands wraps around her thigh, bruising her skin with my fingers as the other wraps around her throat. Each thrust of my hips brings me closer to the pleasure I know I’ll feel when I come inside of her. My hand on her throat tightens and soon Charlie’s hands come up to claw at mine. I’m lost inside myself, the darkness, the betrayal - all of it. I can’t handle this shit.

  “Savage!” She struggles for air, her nails digging into my flesh, blood spilling to the surface. I release her neck and drop my hand between us and press on her clit. Charlie moans and raises her hips to meet my thrusts, calling out my name.

  “I fuckin’ need you, Charlie,” I admit to her, sending her over the edge. Clenching around me, I lose myself in the orgasm that races through my body. I jerk and twitch inside of her filling her with everything I can. My admission isn’t far from my mind as I pull out of her and fall to the bed next to her. Charlie shifts and rolls onto her side, laying her head on my chest, her fingers roaming over my abs.

  “I’m sorry it was someone you cared about,” she whispers after a few minutes into the quiet after our storm.

  “It’s a fuckin’ blow I didn’t expect. Shit’s gonna get bad before it gets better, Charlie.”

  “I know.”

  “I don’t think you do, but if you’re stickin’ around me, you’re about to find out.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  You would think that the knowledge of him being a goddamn rat would calm some of the nerves inside of me but it’s the opposite. It makes me wonder, and when I wonder, I get restless. Thorn was a friend and a brother for a long time. He was always there when I needed him. Hell, I’ve watched him kill for this club. There was never an ounce of doubt when it came to Thorn.

  “Want to talk about it?” Charlie asks as I smoke my joint and look around the nearly silent main room of the clubhouse.

  “Nothin’ else to talk about.” Blowing the smoke from my mouth, I look over at Q. When his eyes meet mine, I give him a nod letting him know that I have something I want to talk to him about. I’ve thought about going to Bryon with this shit but there are more pressing matters. Besides, they will learn quickly enough that their little rat isn’t calling in any information any time soon.

  “I’m worried about all of this,” Charlie sighs next to me.

  I bring the joint to my lips once more before I glance over at her. “You don’t need to be, Charlie. I got shit handled,” I snap at her without meaning to. She watches me, those seas of blue dancing in front of me, but when Q and Roman walk over, she rolls her eyes and walks away. I watch her go when they sit down, a bottle of whiskey in each hand.

  “What’s goin’ on, Savage? We gonna run with that idea you had?” Q asks. I nod my head and lean back in my chair.

  “She’s mine. Doesn’t matter about the logistics of shit. They fucked with somethin’ that belongs to me and now they gotta pay for it.” Q grins as Roman howls. This right here is my family. My fucking boys.

  “What are you thinkin’?” Roman asks, leaning his elbows on the table.

  “We need to hit when Stone Cold is there. I want that motherfucker gone and done with. We need him out in order to keep movin’ forward anyway. He’s a fuckin’ blip on our goddamn radar and I don’t need to tell you both how much attention he pulls not just to BS but to all of us.” They both nod, knowing exactly what I’m talking about. It isn’t much different than what Bryon told me. Stone Cold is in with a lot of different mafia sectors that do nothing more than draw attention to us MCs. We don’t need the extra heat or the interference when it comes down to this shit.

  “I’ll hit Riley up. He had an in with Stone Cold a while back. I’m sure he can call in a favor,” Q reminds me. Riley is one Q’s older friends. I think the guy used to be a Nomad or some shit. I knew about that deal of trading drugs and guns a long time ago, but Q has his own shit going on.

  “Yeah, do that and let me know. The sooner we can move on them, the better. I don’t want those motherfuckers thinkin’ that I just forgot about what they did to Charlie.”

  “About that. What actually did happen?”

  I knew this was going to come up at some point and there is still no way in fuck that I can tell them everything. If I do I’m asking for my death to come before it’s time.

  “Shit got out of hand one night out by the bar. They raped her, brother. She didn’t know what to do so she called me. I went out there, fought one, but he took off.” Lies. All fucking lies. I can’t believe how easy it’s become to make shit up and spew it from my mouth to the people who mean the most to me.

  “You fuckin’ with me?” Q roars, shoving out of his seat. I nod my head once and motion for him to sit back in his chair.

  “She didn’t want anyone knowin’, brother. It fucked with her head and she’s still tryin’ to deal with it all.” Q nods and grabs the bottle, bringing it to his lips before taking a long pull. I watch him and I know that he is better than I ever was. He’s strong and levelheaded and I have zero doubts that putting him in charge around here is what’s best for this club.

  “Heard that. I just wish we knew sooner. Either way we got this, Savage,” he says with a nod of his head.

  “I need this soon. That shit with Thorn has me in knots, brother. I mean fuck! He was our VP for years, yeah? Never once did I look at him as anything more than my brother, my right h
and. We killed together and now this shit? What the fuck do the Feds know about us? How long before they blow in here and fuck us all over?” Roman hisses between his teeth before his pissed off glare shoots to mine.

  “You’re right, brother, but what the fuck do we do? David got any pull we can use?”

  “I’m gonna ask him to see what he can get us. We don’t need any goddamn surprises around here. Findin’ out Thorn was the fuckin’ rat just about killed me,” I admit that freely because it’s the truth. Thorn was family and it’s hitting all of us in different ways.

  “Fuck him! Fuck what he did and who the fuck he was. We kill rats!” Q growls before grabbing the bottle from Roman and taking a long pull.

  “What do we know?”

  “BSMC has some boats down at the dock. We could light that shit up like a warnin’ of what’s to come.” Q’s suggestion pulls a grin across my face before I light up another joint.

  “You know what? Let’s do that. We already know that they don’t go down there on Fridays. We hit that shit and head back home, yeah?” Looking to the guys. they both smirk and agree. “Tell the guys and let’s do this shit.” Shoving out of the chair, I head through the room and down the hall until I come to my door. I stop and rest my hand on the handle debating on what to tell Charlie about tonight. I don’t want her getting in the middle of this anymore than she already is. I turn the handle and step inside to find her sitting in the middle of the bed with tears in her eyes. She quickly wipes them away, plastering a smile on her face.

  “What the fuck is with the tears?” I ask heading toward the closet. Pulling out my black hoodie, I turn and face her once more. Charlie sits there staring at me but refuses to say a word. Shrugging out of my cut, I slip the hoodie on before sliding my cut back over it. Hide? Fuck that, I’ll never hide from what and who I am.

  “Where are you going?” she asks when I grab my other gun from the dresser and stuff it in the back of my jeans with the first one. Moving to the nightstand, I pull the drawer open and grab my knife, stuffing it in my hoodie pocket. “Don’t ignore me, Savage.” I walk over to the bed and sit on the edge, running my hand through my hair.

  “I have shit to handle that isn’t your concern. You wanna play games and not speak, that’s on you.” I don’t want to be an asshole, but this woman pushes me to limits I never knew I had. She wants to keep her secrets, but at the same time, she wants to give in to me. She’s torn, much the way I am.

  “I just hate what they made me feel.”

  Turning my head to look at her, I ask, “What do you feel?” Charlie’s blue eyes glisten but I can see the pain in them and I fucking hate it.

  “I feel disgusting, used. How was I not stronger than that? How did I let that happen?”

  “You are stronger than that. You’re still here and fightin’ another day. You didn’t let them break you, you became stronger, Charlie. Don’t doubt yourself or what you’re doin’ here. You did what you had to do to survive.” The small smile that flashes across her face melts my heart. I know she’s still hurting and there is nothing I can do to take that pain away no matter how badly I want to.

  “Thanks, Savage.”

  “Don’t thank me, darlin’. You did that all on your own,” I tell her. Charlie climbs onto her knees and crawls over to me, resting her hands on my shoulders.

  “I wasn’t alone there. You did take care of me and you still are.”

  “And I plan on doin’ it until I take my last breath. You mean somethin’ to me, Charlie.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  The ride to the docks was calming in a way. I know what we’re about to do but they don’t. This is like taking a piece of Charlie’s life back for her. Taking away the one place that hurt her, where they hurt her. Eventually I will take away every last person but for now I think this is a good start. We park the bikes far enough away that the explosions won’t come near them but close enough to make our getaway when needed.

  “You got the gas?” I ask Roman as we walk toward the warehouse that houses some of the boats. He lifts the can in his hand and shakes it for me to see. Nodding my head, I grin as I feel that darkness, that demon sweeping around inside of me, ready to exact revenge in every form possible. “Make sure you get that fuckin’ warehouse good.”

  Roman moves one way as the other guy’s head toward the boats at the docks. Q slaps a hand on my shoulder and passes me a cigarette and lighter. “I’m sure you want to do the honors,” he teases, getting me to chuckle.

  I stick the unlit cigarette between my lips before grabbing a can of gas from one of the guys walking by and turn toward the warehouse. Pouring gas along the edge, I walk backwards, making a line that I will set on fire from a little ways back. Don’t want any of the guys too close for this shit.

  “You broke her but I’m gonna fix her,” I mumble as if the son of a bitches can hear me. I’ll ruin them all much like they did her. Tossing the can toward the building I step back and watch as the guys move around doing what we do. Thoughts of Charlie flash behind my eyes. Visions of her curled into herself when I woke up in this piece of shit. The fear, the hurt in her eyes is something I’ll never forget. It ripped me apart in ways that can never be repaired. The only vow I can make to her is one that I won’t be able to fulfill much longer. I promised her I would care about her until my last breath, but we all know that is closer than we think. The thought alone settles something inside of me. Death can come in many forms but mine will be the ultimate death. It will be a death by the hands of my brothers, men who I love and would do anything for. The irony that one of them will be the one to pull the trigger sending me to my ultimate demise isn’t lost on me, but I hold those around me in higher regard and I know that once the truth comes out, they will understand and accept the fate that I’m being handed.

  “It’s all set, Prez,” Roman says as the men all come to stand around me. Q holds a lighter in his hand, passing it to me. I hold the lighter in my hand before I turn to look at my brothers.

  “We stand up for what we believe in. We live our way. Someone fucks with what’s ours; we fuck back only we fuck harder! These motherfuckers fucked with Dark Savage property and now the payback begins!” My words thunder through the silent night igniting the guys’ spirits. They roar and scream as I flick the lighter to life, lighting my cigarette. I turn back toward the building and smirk. This is only the beginning motherfuckers. Dropping the lighter, I watch the gasoline ignite and race across the ground until it hits the warehouse. Slowly, those menacing flames lick their way up the sides and continue until the whole thing is engulfed is a sea of red and orange. I smirk knowing that a piece of Charlie’s memories are going up in flames before my eyes, wiping at least a fraction of the pain away from her heart as it goes. Booms sound from inside the warehouse until the line of fire races toward the docks. We all move back but stand and admire our handy work. A few of the guys howl and scream, but me? I watch it in a beautiful silence. The smoke drifts through the sky but the flames climb higher and higher. Each one representing a time that can no longer fuck with my head. A time that I felt helpless and useless to Charlie. Never again will I feel that.

  “You happy?” Q asks pulling my attention to his. Smoke billows from my lips as I smirk at me.

  “For now. Once I have their blood on my hands, I’ll be happy.”

  “We need to move! Once those motors blow, it will draw attention,” Roman yells, getting all the guys moving in the other direction, but I stay planted in place watching the past burn to ash just the way it needs to be. Turning on my heel, I walk back to the bikes and meet up with the guys. In the distance I can hear the sirens heading this way and I know it’s time to ride.

  “Let’s ride! Head back home. We don’t need any unnecessary bullshit with the cops today.” The guys all chuckle before climbing on their bikes and revving the engines. I do the same and lead them out onto the road. I make sure to go the opposite direction of the sirens just to be safe.

  As we ride, a
few things occur to me. One, this may be one of the last times that I ride with my club behind me. Two, this is what I’ve lived for my whole life and in the blink of an eye it was taken away from me. One fucking moment in David’s office changed the course of my life forever. My past collided with my future and tore it to hell. The irony of all of this is my life started out as nothing and when it ends, it will be for nothing. I’ve debated what I’m doing with myself since the day I agreed to give up information to keep my club safe but at what cost? I tell myself it’s the right thing to do because letting my brothers go to prison over some kind of bullshit wasn’t an option, but at the end of the day, were my brothers worth my life? I’ve lived for thirty-five years, and each one of those years held something different for me. When I found this club, I was a nobody and nothing. I had six fucking dollars in my pocket when I prospected for this club. When I worked my way up the ranks and was voted in as president, I was on the high of my life. I knew I could be a strong leader; I’d always possessed that quality, but as the days slowly count down for me, I find myself questioning that. Was I good leader? Would a good leader have protected his club by turning into the one thing that we hate? A few times I’ve debated this within myself, telling myself that I fucked up. I turned on my club and I was the reason for all of this, but then at other times, I see the other side. I know that keeping them off the Fed’s radar was what I needed to do to protect them and as president wasn’t that my fucking job?

  I shake away all the thoughts as we pull into the clubhouse parking lot and kill the engines. When I climb off I see Charlie standing off to the side, her arms wrapped around her stomach. My heart beats a little louder, a little faster when I look at her.