Marked Skulls MC Series: Books 1-5

by Rylan, Savannah

  I gulped, feeling hot tears pricking the backs of my eyelids. I should have moved us out of this neighborhood right after mom died. I shouldn’t have allowed Oz to spend one extra day in this neighborhood, or given him the opportunity to get involved with the Romanos or any of the others. It was all my fault!

  Now that he had a powerful MC member like Abe on his side, I wasn’t going to be able to stop Oz from getting involved in the same violent life that my dad had gotten into. He’d died in a shootout when I was seventeen, but Oz was too young, only ten, and he didn’t remember the death. He didn’t know how much our dad had put at stake just so he could live that life. Our dad had driven mom to alcoholism, he had killed her and ruined our lives. And now his son wanted to live that life too and there was nothing I could do to stop him.

  I dragged myself off the couch and went to my bedroom. I needed to take a shower, I needed to get that strong masculine scent of Abe off my body.

  I stood for ages under the warm spray of the shower, keeping my hands on the wall for support…wishing our lives could be different.

  For starters, I wished I wasn’t so attracted to him…that I wasn’t attracted to the very kind of men who I despised, who I was trying to keep my brother away from.

  I could feel his hands on me, his tongue down my throat, the way he held me close to himself. Abe was strong, muscular and rough and in his arms, I had felt safe…even though I knew that he led a dangerous life.

  The more I thought about him, the more I was turning myself on. With the water coursing down my body, my hands drifted to the spot between my legs where his fingers were. I rubbed my clit, feeling it beginning to swell with desire again.

  I pictured his wide shoulders, his deep blue eyes staring into my face, his lips that were surprisingly soft, so delicious to kiss.

  With a jerk, I moved my hand away from myself, my eyes flew open. What was I doing? I was fantasizing about the man I wanted to hate!

  I stepped out of the shower quickly and dried myself. I felt like I was going insane. I changed into my pajamas and slid into the cold bed, my childhood bed, and tried to get to sleep.

  I wasn’t going to be able to keep Abe away from Oz, I was powerless against him. But, I was still his sister and I knew that Oz loved me, so my only option now was to keep working on him. Hopefully, I would be able to change his mind before it was too late.

  9

  Abe

  A week later, Lila and I were spending the day at the garage; working on the cars that needed to be fixed. Lila had worked at the garage ever since she was a kid, Fred and Lewis had shown her the ropes but they weren’t expert mechanics. It was only after I had joined the MC and taught her everything I knew, that she turned into a real gear-head, just like me.

  Now the garage was a side business, not the real money maker but for Lila and myself, it was more of a hobby. It was where we spent the day when we wanted to relax.

  We were taking a break, lounging on broken patio chairs that were leaning against the rusty shutters of the shop. Lila had a bottle of lemonade in her hand and I had a can of beer and a cigarette between my fingers. The radio was blasting some stupid pop song beside us, and Lila was subconsciously humming along with it.

  My mind was drifting in and out of thoughts about Alexis. Her bright red hair, her pale smooth skin, how soft the insides of her thighs were, how tight and small her pussy had felt. I had been minutes away from having my cock inside her and she had snatched that opportunity away from me and now I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I couldn’t stop imagining her face over and over in my head, when she had been close to tears, when she’d begged me stay away from her brother. If I listened to her, if I didn’t go after Oz; it would be a sign of weakness. Since when had I started letting a woman dictate my life?

  Lila looked over at me abruptly, interrupting my thoughts.

  “Abe, who was that girl who turned up at T-Bone that night?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at me. Lila was like a sister to Rodeo and me, she was one of the boys, our best friend…but there was no way I was spilling my real thoughts on Alexis to her. She was all messed up in my head and I’d spent the whole of the week trying to get her out of there.

  “Nobody, just some girl I know,” I said and took a drag of my cigarette. Lila squinted her eyes at me, like she didn’t believe a word of what I was saying.

  “She said something about her brother and then you picked her up and took her to the storeroom. Didn’t seem like a nobody-relationship to me,” Lila said and took a sip of her lemonade. I shrugged my shoulders and flicked some cigarette ash off my knee.

  “Yeah, I know her brother, she was mad at him for something. She just needed someone to knock some sense into her,” I said, keeping my face averted from Lila.

  She turned in her chair to look at me squarely and I looked back at her, challenging her to say something…to ask the real question here. Was there something going on between us? But she didn’t, she changed her mind about it. Instead, she hopped on to another topic I wanted to avoid.

  “What’s up with Vanity? She seems to be spending a lot of time with us at the bar,” she said, still eyeing me curiously.

  “I’ve been fucking her for a few months, that’s all,” I replied and took another drag, blowing smoke out in a cloud in front of my face.

  “So, is she your girl now?” Lila asked and I whipped my head around to glare at her.

  “You suddenly gone nuts? No, Lila, she’s just a girl I’m fucking,” I barked and emptied the remaining beer down my throat and crushed the can in my hand.

  “She seems to have other ideas. The other night, she was telling Jordan and myself how you kicked one of her customers out of her apartment. She’s sure you have feelings for her,” Lila said and I breathed in and shook my head.

  “Who gives a shit what Vanity thinks?” I growled and Lila nodded her head gently.

  “Yeah, because you know better than to fall for a girl like her. She’s trashy and a cheat, Abe, you know that right?” Lila continued and I clenched my jaws. The last thing I needed was to be discussing Vanity, when my head was still filled with thoughts of Alexis.

  “I keep her around because it works for me. No strings attached, and she’s fucking crazy in bed,” I said, forcing a smile on my face for Lila’s sake. It was true, my relationship with Vanity worked because she didn’t have any expectations from me, or at least pretended like she didn’t…as for how good she was in bed, had changed recently. No woman’s body had felt as electric as Alexis’ did.

  Lila grinned and nodded her head.

  “I will never understand men and their cocks,” Lila shook her head and sighed and I chuckled.

  “It’s quite simple, Lila, let me explain it to you…” I said, laughing and she slapped me hard on my arm.

  “Shut up!” she squealed, and we were laughing when Rodeo rode in on his bike, parking it in front of us.

  “Why aren’t you two lazy fucks working?” he asked, getting off his bike and walking to us.

  “I single handedly get more done around here than the whole MC combined,” Lila said, rolling her eyes and Rodeo stopped in front of us, pulling out a packet of his own cigarettes.

  “It’s what we let you think, because you’re daddy’s pampered princess,” Rodeo said, as he lit his cigarette and Lila kicked at him with her feet.

  “Okay, princess, now scram. I need to talk to Abe and I need that chair,” Rodeo said and Lila pouted her mouth at him.

  “You can say it to him in front of me!” she argued and Rodeo shook his head.

  “Lewis’ express orders, none of the women should be involved in business. So, go, now!” Rodeo raised his voice in mock-anger and Lila rolled her eyes before she got up and walked away.

  “And I better not find you listening, or I’m going to have to tell Girth to keep you locked up in that house of yours,” Rodeo called after her and we could hear her mumbling as she walked away.

  We shook our heads at each other, and
Rodeo sat down on the chair, picking up Lila’s discarded bottle of lemonade from the floor.

  We both sat there smoking our cigarettes for a few moments, we hadn’t really spoken just the two of us since that day of Church when he’d fought openly against my idea.

  “Look, brother, I was just trying to watch out for us,” he broke the silence and I nodded my head.

  “Yeah, I get it but I really think we need to step up. We’re fucking stagnating here, being too pussy to lift some heavy weights,” I said and Rodeo sat back in the chair and sighed.

  “You know the Garcia brothers?” he asked and I looked at him with confusion. They were contacts we had in Cuba, and we hadn’t heard from them in years.

  “Yeah, what about them?” I asked and Rodeo smoked some more.

  “I just got a call from one of their associates, saying that they need some men here who they can trust,” he continued.

  “What for?”

  “For a shipment of weapons, and I’m talking…a big shipment,” he stated and we stared at each other in silence.

  I clapped my hands together, standing up from the chair.

  “This is what I’m talking about. We need to be those men the Garcias can trust!” I shouted and Rodeo was thinking.

  “We don’t have the means yet, man. If we start working with the Garcias right now, The Dark Legion and The Hell’s Drifters are going to rain hellfire on us,” Rodeo said and I grabbed his arms and shook him.

  “Listen to yourself, brother! This is our opportunity to enter the big league. This has fallen on our laps and we need to fucking go for it, man!” I said with a laugh and Rodeo ran a hand through his hair.

  “How are we going to handle the other MCs? They’re not going to be pleased if we start encroaching in their territory”

  “We’ll handle it. We’ll recruit. I already have a kid in mind to join the team,” I replied and Rodeo shook his head.

  “I don’t know man, this is all happening too fast,” he said and I glared at him.

  “Exactly! This is exactly what we need to grow fast. Call Church, tell Lewis and the others. We need to get this ball rolling. I’ll handle the kid,” I said and throwing my cigarette on the ground, I rushed to get on the bike.

  Finally, things were beginning to fall into place around here and I was going to make sure that it went smoothly. I wasn’t going to miss this shot.

  10

  Alexis

  I wasn’t working today and I was sitting at the small kitchen table, browsing uselessly on the laptop. It was already past ten and Oz was still sleeping in his room. He’d returned sometime early in the morning while I was asleep and now he was going to be in bed all day. It made me mad to think that he had developed such bad habits.

  Slamming my laptop shut, I got up and went to his room. I knocked on the door twice to try and wake him up and there was no movement from inside.

  “Oz! Wake up!” I barked, opening the door and walking straight in. He was still fast asleep on his single bed, snoring.

  “Oz! For fuck’s sake. Will you wake up and get on with the day!” I barked, shaking him by the shoulders.

  “Jesus, sis! Why won’t you just let me be?” he groaned, turning to blink his eyes open. I stood over him with my hands on my hips.

  “Get up. Get changed and go get us some eggs so I can make us a proper breakfast,” I scolded him and Oz was trying to turn back into bed but I started pulling him out.

  “Fuck! Okay! Let me go!” he groaned, sliding his legs off the bed finally. I did a quick once over, to make sure he didn’t have any new bruises on his body.

  “You’re losing your mind, Alexis!” he growled, as he put on his clothes from the previous day that were lying on the floor.

  “It is debatable who is losing their mind in this house,” I snapped, crossing my arms over my breasts.

  Oz stood up, running his hand through his bushy ginger hair before he walked to the door.

  “What do you need?” he asked, still in a groggy voice.

  “Just some milk and eggs and bread,” I said, stifling a smile. For all the tough-guy attitude he put on for everyone else, he was still my little brother who had no choice but to obey my commands. At least in our day-to-day lives, this aspect hadn’t changed yet.

  Oz shook his head frustratedly and I followed him to the front door. He was dragging his feet, looking exhausted and I hoped that he would be too tired today to stay out all night again.

  “And don’t get lost out there, just go to the shop and come back home straight away, will you?” I called after him, but he was gone before he could reply. I shut the door and went back to my laptop, watching the clock closely again.

  * * *

  Five minutes later, there was a knock on the door. I was happy thinking that Oz had returned directly, instead of getting distracted by some friend of his. But then, why would he knock instead of letting himself in?

  I went to the door and opened it, ready to ask Oz if he’d forgotten his keys but it wasn’t him, it was Abe on the other side. My heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach when I saw him in front of me.

  It had been a week since I visited his bar, since the incident in the storeroom and I’d hoped that I would never have to see him again. Those feelings of wanting him again, was like a shocking slap across my face.

  Abe was standing there, with his hands in his jacket pockets, looking at me sheepishly.

  “Oh, I didn’t expect to find you here. Someone told me you had a shift at the supermarket,” he said, and I looked into his dangerous blue eyes and felt myself sinking.

  “Clearly all your information isn’t trustworthy,” I replied and his gaze dropped to my breasts, and then the spot between my legs where he had touched me. I felt naked again, like he could see right through me. The knots in my belly tightened, making my pussy ache.

  “Can I come in?” he asked and I stood guard at the door.

  “What do you think?” I asked, hoping that my voice didn’t quiver. Abe clenched his jaws and took a step towards me.

  “I think you’re going to let me in because you have no other choice,” he said, in a deep calm voice. I was glaring at him, trying to fight the urge to let him into the apartment but in the end, my desire to be close to him won, I stepped aside.

  “He’s not here, and I don’t know when he’ll be back,” I said, as Abe walked into the apartment. He looked around, and I felt strange having him in my home, his tall muscular presence.

  I felt nervous around him, like I was ready to burst into flames right there. Abe breathed in and nodded.

  “It’s okay, I can wait here,” he said and walked into the living room without invitation. I followed him, cursing myself for letting him in.

  “I won’t allow that. I’m not going to let you wait here. If you want to find Oz, go do it yourself. I’m not going to make it easy for you,” I hissed and Abe turned to me. I had a flash of what his body might look like underneath those clothes, his rugged, muscular strong body. I could feel my mouth salivating just at the thought.

  “Why don’t we take the time now, for you to explain to me just what your problem is and why you want to make this whole thing so difficult for both of us,” he said calmly.

  I licked my lips. He demanded an explanation? As if anything I said to him was capable of changing his mind! I looked away from him nervously, feeling self-conscious under his steady gaze.

  “I want a different life for Oz, it’s as simple as that,” I said and Abe breathed in sharply.

  “Different life from this?” he asked, looking around the living room and I nodded.

  “Yes”

  “Well, that is exactly what I want for him too. If I take him under my wing, if he works with me; all this is going to change. Both of you are going to have a far better life,” Abe said, watching me as I shook my head.

  “Don’t think for one second that you can tempt me with your money. That is not what I’m talking about when I say change. I want his lif
e to be different from yours, from what our father had. I don’t care how much money he makes, as long as he is safe and leading a normal life!” I raged at him and he took a few quick long strides to make his way closer to me.

  I had my chin lifted up, facing him as confidently as I could manage. Abe clenched his jaws, squinting his blue eyes at me.

  “I don’t know what your father did to your family, but it’s not going to be the same with Oz,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “How do you know that?” I hissed and he brought his face closer to me, close enough so I could kiss him if I wanted to.

  “Because none of my brothers at the MC are alone. We all look out for each other, we are safer in our lives than you will ever be on the outside,” he said, in a deep guttural growl.

  I looked away from him, staring at the window in the room as I tried to gather myself. Having him standing so close to me, looking like that…it made me believe everything he was saying. I could feel myself weakening, crumbling under his gaze.

  “Alexis, look at me!” he said and I did as I was told, facing him again. Abe’s face was dark and pinched, I could see that he was angry too but this was my brother we were talking about. He wasn’t going to convince me with a few empty promises.

  “I am going to change Oz’ life, for the better,” he said and I shook my head.

  “No! No, you are not. You are going to ruin him, you are going to put his life in danger and then he’s going to get shot and I’m going to be all alone!” I cried. My eyes had watered and I realized I was screaming. As one teardrop rolled down my cheek, Abe grabbed me by my waist and pulled me to himself.