Ink's Devil: Satan's Devils MC Colorado Chapter #5

by Manda Mellett

  Who the fuck knows? Not me, that’s for sure. “Mornin’, babe.” Well, it seems a good start when at last she opens her eyes.

  She stretches, much like a cat, even arching her back. I swear, she purrs. “What’s the time?”

  “Nine-ish.”

  “In the morning?” Her eyes widen.

  “Yeah. How about that?”

  “I thought you didn’t sleep with bitches.” She grins widely.

  “I don’t,” I reply, placing my lips against her forehead, unable to resist saying with a chuckle. “Think you must have worn me out, babe. Didn’t have the energy to kick you out of bed.”

  She pokes her finger into a gap between my ribs, making me oomph. “You didn’t, huh?”

  I brush a lock of blue hair out of her face. For a second, I stare intensely into her eyes. “Or, maybe, I just like you right where you are.”

  She snuggles against me. “I like being where I am too, Ink.” Nuzzling against my skin, she breathes in deeply. “Mmm, you smell nice.”

  Nice? I smell of sex and sweat, hers and mine both. Perhaps she’s right. I’m not objecting to her odour either. Crazy.

  “How many did we use this time?”

  I laugh and leaning over check the wrappers on the floor. “Didn’t beat our record. Only five.”

  She rolls over on her back, opening her legs in invitation. “Think we ought to rectify that?”

  She doesn’t need to ask me twice.

  “What have you got on today?” I ask her after we’ve dirtied the last condom and cleaned ourselves up in the shower.

  “First, I’ll get a run in if it’s not too icy out there. Then just chores. Sundays I usually help mom around the house, do laundry, stuff like that. What about you?”

  I grin. “Well I suppose I’ll need to put clean sheets on the bed.” She blushes delightfully. I grow serious looking at what kind of day I might have ahead, thinking of the implications of what happened last night, not with her, but our wasted trip out. Cad will have gone back over the footage, and will have analysed it all by now. If he’s found anything, the bets are we’ll be checking it out. But I can’t tell her that as it’s club business. “I reckon Demon will need to talk through some shit. Wouldn’t be surprised if he calls a meeting later. Hey, what’s that look for?” She’s biting her lip. “Come on, babe. Spit it out.”

  “I, er, no. It sounds bad.”

  “What?” I prompt, starting to worry now, rapidly running back over the conversation to see if there was something wrong with what I’d said.

  Now her lips press together, and she looks away. Placing my hand under her chin, I turn her face back. “Tell me, babe.”

  “I just wondered, I was…” Then it comes out in a rush. “I was wondering if you’d like to come around to mine, later. Mom does a great roast on the weekend, and she always cooks too much.” Her face goes red.

  Meet her mom? “I’m not boyfriend material,” I tell her, wondering why the expected horror at the suggestion doesn’t materialise.

  Her face falls. “I know. I’m sorry…”

  “Look, Beth, I don’t know where this is going to go. Done a few things already with you that I haven’t done before.” I lean in and whisper the next right into her ear, “Used six condoms at a time for a start.” I pull back. “You’re the first civilian I’ve gone back to for seconds, let alone let spend the night. As long as you’re okay with just seeing where this goes, and not pushing for a commitment I don’t feel ready to make, if I’m free, I’ll come meet your mom and get fed.”

  “I don’t know where this is going, either. And I promise, Mom won’t be planning a wedding, not yet.”

  I shake my head but laugh. Her mom won’t be planning a wedding at all. Closest I’ll ever get is claiming a woman, that’s all I’d need to do, and Beth and I are nowhere near the place where I’d start thinking about that.

  Claim Beth? It’s the nearest I’ve come to even thinking about making a woman mine. But that’s only one step removed from when hell freezes over to maybe when I consider getting a foreign-built bike.

  I see her out to her car with a promise to call as soon as I know whether I’ll be able to make it later, then thoughtfully watch her drive off, wondering what the fuck I’m getting into. What is it about her that’s making me act out of character? I let her stay the night.

  I even liked waking with her in my arms.

  As I’m belatedly considering whether I should have made her a coffee or got her something to eat, and thinking I’m only one step above a Neanderthal, a voice brings me out of my thoughts.

  “Did I just see that?” Lizard asks, putting his hands over his eyes, and then removing them. “I think I might be having fuckin’ hallucinations. I may have laid one on last night, but I didn’t think it was as much as that.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” I round on him.

  He shakes his head as if to clear it. “Yeah, I must be fuckin’ seeing things. You waving a bitch off in the morning? She was with you all night? Nah, my imagination must be playing up.”

  I punch him in the stomach hard as I walk past him.

  He’s not the only one. Christ. Were they all watching out the window? Haven’t they got better things to do on a Sunday morning?

  I threaten Mace with loss of a body part if he doesn’t shut his mouth. Pal gets promised a painful death.

  “What the fuck business is it of yours?” I yell at Pyro waspishly when he joins in.

  Mel’s man shrugs. “Only give back to you what you like to dish out.”

  I suppose he’s right. If it was any of my brothers, I’d be the one making jokes at their expense. But hey, I don’t like the tables being turned. I throw up my hands and walk off into the kitchen to get something to eat. Of course, I bump into Jayden who gives me a frosty look.

  “What? No apology?” I challenge her.

  “I think you should say sorry to me,” she huffs.

  Pal’s come in behind me. He taps me on the shoulder and when I turn around, he leans in. “Her ass is a little sore this morning,” he explains.

  I raise my fist, he bumps his against it.

  His woman snorts, but when I turn back to her, she hasn’t been quick enough to hide her grin.

  “Demon wants us!” comes a shout from the clubroom.

  As I predicted, an emergency church is called.

  His birthday passed and over, Demon’s all seriousness now and wastes no time getting down to business. “Cad, you’ve gone back over the footage from yesterday?”

  “I have. There was only what I saw at the time. A couple of men talking, cash changing hands, behind Tits Up, where we installed those cameras. You know, the ones we’ve disguised.”

  “That all?” Lizard asks.

  Cad shoots him a look. “It’s enough, isn’t it? We’re looking for people dealing, that could have been what this was.”

  “But by the time we arrived, they’d disappeared,” I observe.

  “Left evidence,” says Mace, grimly. “While you were getting your dicks wet this morning, I went back and checked in daylight.”

  Shit and fucks are exclaimed as Mace throws some baggies down on the table.

  “They were shooting up around there?”

  “There, or close by,” the enforcer confirms.

  Last thing we want is people leaving used needles around our premises. We don’t deal in drugs and don’t want that reputation.

  “Worse than that,” Mace nods at the bags on the table, “one of those came from Devils’ Pins which I thought I should also check out.”

  Rusty draws in air through his teeth as our bowling alley is mentioned at the same time as Demon’s hand slams down on the table. “Thought we’d seen the last of this type of shit when Taser set the club up. Tits Up is one thing and we can keep an eye on it, but discarded needles where kids play? That’s just fucked up.”

  “You think we’re being targeted again?” the VP asks. Beef might not have been around at
the time, but it didn’t take long for him to bring himself up to speed with all matters affecting the club. The reference to Taser does indeed show where the prez’s head might be at.

  “Could be,” says Thunder, “or it could just be we’ve got good locations which other people don’t use. The Wretched Soulz and Mafia are active in their own areas and know to stay out of ours.”

  He’s right. Someone new dealing would easily stick out where the dealers are well known, so they’d avoid taken territory.

  “We need to make sure we have a visible presence around our premises to chase anyone off and let them know their trade isn’t welcome.”

  “That was my thought, Mace. Hate to put more on us but can’t see anything else for it. We keep drugs out of these areas, it makes less work for the law.”

  Beef nods. One of the first things he did when he was voted in was to start a dialogue with the cops. A new police chief had arrived in Pueblo just before Beef. After checking his reputation out, Beef had gotten a meeting with him and had come to an understanding where our decisive position on drugs was made known. Might be an easy way of earning money, but there’s too much chance of a brother getting addicted or going inside. Devils have been clear of that shit for years now. Not only don’t we touch it, we don’t tolerate it in the part of town we control. Got some respect for that, can’t afford to lose that respect now.

  “I want to know who’s fuckin’ with us,” Demon says, meeting Hellfire’s eyes across the length of the table. “We find someone, we fuckin’ bring them back and question them.”

  “From what you said it’s not someone local,” Thunder observes.

  “The Soulz suspect it’s someone from out of town. Some small-time op seizing a chance right here in Pueblo,” Prez confirms.

  “You need bodies to stake out Devils’ Pins and Tits Up tonight?” I ask, hoping I can still make dinner with Beth. I’ve actually been looking forward to that, and bringing her back here afterwards, of course.

  “I’m in,” says Judge.

  “Me too,” Wills offers.

  “I want to see what’s going on under our noses,” mutters Rusty. “I’m up for it.”

  “Right, Judge, Wills and Rusty are on the bowling alley,” Demon decides. “Now who’s for Tits Up?”

  “I’ll go,” offers the sergeant-at-arms.

  Pyro waves his hand.

  “I want to check the position of the cameras, so I’ll go myself,” says Cad.

  I start lifting my arm, but Demon shakes his head. “Three at each location is plenty for now. And this probably isn’t a one-night thing. If there’s any action tonight, we’ll have to think about assigning regular teams to take on the patrols.”

  “With luck we’ll run them off tonight,” Ro states, his face set as if he’s already sensing blood. “They could move on and find somewhere less obvious and no Devils around.”

  Growls, stomps and fist bumps on the table show our agreement with his words.

  “Isn’t that still a worry, Prez? Even if they’re not at our premises?”

  Demon sighs loudly. “Yeah, Liz, you’re right. But don’t forget, the Wretched Soulz and Mafia are also looking out. While I’d like to string up the fuckers myself, I don’t mind who catches them just as long as the result is we end their fuckin’ trade. We’ll concentrate on our territory; RIP and the Mafia can watch theirs. With luck, we’ll run them back to the hole they crawled out of.”

  Relieved I’m free this evening, when church lets out I make sure to have a word with Beef about making sure my name’s added to the rotation if Pyro and the others aren’t successful tonight. I check the time, then text Beth to let her know if the invitation is still open, I’m on my way.

  Her reply comes fast.

  Beth: See you soon

  I grin, then have a moment wondering what the fuck I’m doing. Have I met anyone’s parents or parent before, or at least since I picked up my prom date? Not that I can remember.

  The weather’s kind for riding, so I take my bike, still uncertain why I’m acting so out of character. My Sunday would normally end with maybe a card game or a turn at pool before taking a whore to my room, or letting her suck me off in the clubroom. Until last weekend, I thought I had everything worth having in life.

  Beth unsettles me, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. Why should I give up all the good things to go for a polite dinner with a woman in her fucking mother’s house?

  I can’t explain why I’m eagerly anticipating doing normal boring citizen stuff. Must only be the thought that if I want to get into her cunt later, I’ll have to play it her way first. Yeah, that’s all it can be.

  I pull up on her road and taking out my phone, check the address to make sure I’m heading to the right house, then ride up and park on the driveway behind Beth’s car. There’s another beside it, which is why I’ve chosen to block in hers. She won’t be leaving before I do.

  When the thunderous sound of my engine dies, I’m not greeted by the expected silence. No, instead I hear the sound of shouting from inside. Very angry shouting.

  Chapter Ten

  Beth

  “You are not dragging me and Beth into whatever you’re up to.”

  The argument has been going on for some time. I step in between my mom and her wayward son, my brother. “Connor…” I growl in warning.

  Angrily he pushes me to one side. “Mom, see sense. I’m not dragging you into anything. You’re my fuckin’ mother. All I’m asking is if I can use my old room when I’m working in Pueblo.”

  “Working? Is that what you call it?”

  “Yeah, I work.”

  “Connor,” I tug at his arm, moving him away from Mom. “You could stay at a hotel…”

  “Why the fuckin’ hell should I?” He rounds on me now. “Mom’s got a perfectly good room sitting empty.” He brushes back some hair that’s flopped down over his face. “There’s even some of my old shit left in it. I’m asking for a night or so a week. I’ll even pay a bit of rent.”

  I look from one to the other. To be honest, I’m not certain why Mom’s so against Connor staying here. I thought she might be pleased to help out. When he first mentioned it, she did seem okay with the idea, it was only after our father’s name came up, she changed her mind.

  “I don’t trust your father,” she shouts at Connor. “And by association, I don’t trust you. I’m not giving you a key so you can come and go at all hours and bring God knows who into my home.”

  “I won’t bring anyone else here.” Connor tries once more, but he’s inherited my mom’s Irish temper, and there’s no stopping either of them now. “Jeez. Isn’t there a fucking way of making you see sense, woman?” Connor yells. “Beth’s okay with it.”

  “Beth doesn’t own the house,” I mumble.

  “Why’s this so important to you, Connor? What’s your dad got you doing now?”

  He throws up his hands. “Shouldn’t have mentioned his name. You always were irrational about him. He’s got nothing to do with this. Look, it’s just me. Your son. I need a place to stay. You good with that now?” For some reason, he’s starting to look desperate.

  When Mom turns her back, he reaches out his hand, roughly turning her around to face him. “Don’t you walk away from me, woman!”

  I hate confrontations—particularly between those I love. I don’t know what to do to stop them, and for the first time in my life, worry this is going to turn physical. Connor’s as tall as I am, but compared to us, my mom is tiny, albeit she’s the average woman’s size. I’ve never seen Connor so angry and can’t understand why. On her part, any mention of my father, and my mom sees red. I’m not sure either of them is capable of calming down and being reasonable at this point.

  Now Connor’s put his hands on my mom, I worry she’ll slap his face, and don’t quite trust him not to retaliate. The boy I grew up with wouldn’t have, but who knows what he’ll do now living as he does under the influence of my dad?

  As I’m trying
to summon up words to make peace between them, my brain registers a loud rumbling roar. Ink. Oh, not now. I don’t want him walking in on this. What a great introduction to my family that would make.

  I ease myself out of the room and walk swiftly to the door. I open it, then, when he walks up, step out. “Er…” I was going to make an excuse why he can’t come inside, but he physically moves me out of the way as, from behind me, I hear the loud slap that I feared.

  Then it’s Ink’s voice that reaches me, and I run quickly after him to see one of my brother’s arms twisted behind his back, and the other, still raised in the air, held in the other of Ink’s meaty paws.

  “I don’t give a fuck who you are, but you do not hit a defenceless woman.”

  “She hit me first,” my brother whines, trying ineffectually to free himself from Ink’s grasp. “And who the fuck do you think you are, coming into my house and attacking me?”

  “I’m not fuckin’ attackin’ you, asshole,” Ink observes. “You okay?” This thrown toward my mom.

  Mom’s eyes are wide open, flicking between her son and the man who’s got him restrained. “I’m fine. But this is my house, and my son’s not welcome here. I would appreciate you taking the trash to the door.”

  “Trash? Fucking trash now am I, Mother?”

  “You are in this mood.” Mom thinks for a moment, then offers, “You can stay, but you come in at a reasonable time. I am not giving you a key…”

  Connor growls and throws her olive branch back in her face. “I’m not a fuckin’ kid, Mother. I’m allowed to stay out late. This is past ridiculous, I give up.” He starts to walk out, then turns back. “There’s some shit I left upstairs I might as well now take. It’s clearly not my fucking room any longer.”

  Shit? Last time I looked there was a closet full of clothes more suited to a teenager, schoolbooks he’d have no use for, and old computer games.

  “Take what you want,” Mom says, tiredly.

  “You heard your mother. Get what you need and get out.” Ink lets Connor go, then stands with his arms folded across his chest.

  A strange look comes over Connor’s face. “I’ll just go get a box, I’ve got one in the car.”