Amateur night was by invitation only for the first run of all the fresh talent. They used it as a way to check out potential new hires. At eleven, Granite went back to being Prez, and the doors opened to the public. They stayed and partied, but they reverted to customs.
The Phantoms filed in the door, making a bee-line for their seats. The waitress had their beers and whiskey waiting. She lingered for a few minutes for any special requests; then moved on when Buzz joined them.
“How’s the fresh flesh looking tonight, Buzz?”
“Premium. I think you’ll see a couple new hires tonight for sure.” He whistled low, asked if they were good, and then scurried back to his office.
Thunder’s eyes rolled back in his head with a groan when he noticed Lexi sauntering their way. He nudged Trip with the back of his hand and pointed. Both of them had their asses chewed down to the bone. He felt bad for Trip, because he hadn’t done anything other than be with him when Lexi lost her shit.
Thunder really should apologize to her and make shit right, but Granite ordered him not to. His exact words were more like, “Keep your dick in your pants and your mouth shut while I clean up your mess.”
It was more than just pussy trouble or personal shit bleeding into the club. They stood to lose their liquor license. Tits were nice, but tits without beer didn’t make bank. Not to mention they were trying to launch an escort service and, Lexi convinced them a male club too. She made a hell of an argument. But that wasn’t the worst part of it. It was going into Lexi’s name, so the club was disconnected from male strippers. Granite was progressive, but an MC running a male club sent a message they had no desire to send.
As much as Thunder wanted to do the right thing, his hands were tied.
“Lexi, you’re looking stunning as always.” Granite winked at her, fucking winked.
Thunder almost choked on his beer. The man was pouring on the charm.
“Sit.” He patted the space next to him instead of his lap. Slick.
Lexi’s response was saccharine sweet, but she did actually blush. “Thank you, Granite. How have you been?”
Like she hadn’t been at the club just a few weeks ago.
“I’m good, would be better if I wasn’t losing such valuable p… such a valuable person in our lives. What can I do to convince you to not hold the action of two stupid fuckers against us all? How about a piece of Tails? You deserve it. You almost single-handedly made this place what it is. Not to mention your new ideas.”
Thunder did choke on his beer then. Not only did Granite almost call her valuable pussy, he offered up a share of their most profitable business. Not that he was out of line offering it or anything. They’d voted on him doing what he felt necessary to keep Lexi. But damn, Thunder thought, he’d try to save as much as possible. Start low.
Then Thunder looked into Lexi’s green eyes. She was shrewd and knew her worth to them. Granite maybe should’ve started higher. She answered Granite but never broke eye contact with Thunder.
“That’s very generous, but I couldn’t possibly answer tonight. I’ll need a day or two to decide if I want to be associated with all the Phantoms.” She stood, still looking at Thunder. “It may take me a day or two for a yes, but I might have a no for you in the morning.”
Her half-sneer, half-grin as she strode off scared the hell out of him. Lexi was definitely psycho pussy. Not the regular, run for the fucking hills kind that you go into WITSEC to avoid her after you fuck her. Nope, she was the kind that the crazy was worth the ride for the right man.
“I say this with love, brother, but you need to stop chasing that tail. It’s not for you. She would shred you to bits and laugh while tossing them in the air.”
Before Trip had a chance to respond, the lights went down, the music went up… and his heart stalled right there in his chest.
Out of respect, all his brother’s gazes were solidly on him instead of the stunning woman on stage. That didn’t apply to the invited guests. Those fuckers’ eyes were popping out of their goddamned head.
She reached behind her neck, untied her top, and tossed it off stage.
“What in the actual fuck?” Taps breathed. “She didn’t have nipple rings the other day.”
Thunder turned his attention toward his soon-to-be fucking dead brother in time to see Granite smack him in the back of the head.
Thunder would have a talk with his brother about boundaries later. The fact that Taps knew what her tits looked like chapped his ass, but he was to blame for that. He wasn’t to blame, however, for the fact that fucker had stared long enough, then and now, to notice.
Thunder had noticed the piercings and meant to ask her where the jewelry was, but shit happened. He turned back to the stage. Mesmerized by the beaded half-moons hanging from the sweetest nipples he’d ever tasted.
That’s when he noticed one of the civilians walk up to the stage with five one-hundred-dollar bills folded in his hand. He was licking his lips and staring right at her rack.
It was one thing that Taps and Blast knew what her rack looked like, it was another that now all his other brothers did too. But a fucking civi? Fucker probably drove a Volvo, had a wife, and a nine-to-five.
If that waste of a load thought he was going to touch her, he was dead fucking wrong. Thunder stood, ready to punch that dipshit in the face and yank Andrea off that stage, but Granite’s voice stopped him.
“If you do this, you better be damn sure about it. You fuck it up, then you fuck the club. So, take a deep breath and decide. You can sit right back down and finish your drink with no negative consequences whatsoever.”
Thunder didn’t need to think. “Yeah, there will be. I’m sorry, Prez,” he answered in kind because Granite had asked as president. “I can’t sit here with her up there, it’ll gut me.” Once he’d said it, he realized it was true. She wasn’t just some conquest, she actually meant something. Was he ready to settle down? Maybe not, but he damn sure wanted the opportunity to explore the possibility. At this point, there was only one way Granite would allow him to pull her off that stage and not risk the club.
“Fuck!” he swore and dragged his hands down his face. Missing his beard even more. The fucking civilian reached out for her to come closer.
“So, are you sitting or fighting?”
“Goddamn it,” he gritted out as he took the first steps toward the stage. “I’m fucking fighting. Fuck.”
He strode away to the cheers of his brothers fading as his rage took over. Without slowing a step, he threw one punch in the face of the money wielding asshole. Stepped up on stage, tossed a topless Andrea over his shoulder, and hopped down. As he passed his brothers heading for the door, Pound shouted, “Got an extra helmet on my sissy bar, take it.”
“Thanks, brother.” As he opened the door, he heard Granite call to Buzz, “Clean this trash up and bring on the next girl.”
Andrea was squirming and berating him all the way to his bike. He popped her luscious ass with an open palm and squeezed. “You need to shut up, brat, and only speak when I give you permission.” He snagged the helmet Pound had, then plopped her ass on his bike. She opened her mouth to protest, so he kissed her silent. “Not a word. Not right now. I am too furious to be nice, so. . .” He handed her the helmet to hold, followed by his cut. She held both in silence, thank fuck.
Once he pulled his black tee over his head, he dropped it over hers. He took the cut first and put it back on, then took the helmet. As she was lifting her arms to feed them through the sleeves, he dropped his head and sucked one of those silver half-moons deep into his mouth and groaned.
He stood straight and grunted. Andrea pushed her arms through, and he placed the helmet on her. If the look in her eyes were any indication, he was fucked because she was taking orders like a good girl and thoroughly relishing it.
Thunder put his own helmet on and fired up his sled. “Put your legs around me to keep ‘em clear of the pipes since I don’t have any protection for ‘em.” When she comp
lied, he pulled out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.
He wanted to be inside her so badly, he couldn’t wait to get back to the clubhouse. Thunder turned off at the club garage. It was still another ten minutes to the clubhouse and that was about eleven too fucking long. Besides, once they got back to the clubhouse they would have to talk. But there would be no talking required for a pit stop. How was he going to tell her she’d been claimed?
Parking between the wall and the bay, no one could see them unless they came down the alley, and no one had any business there. After powering down, he reached for his helmet and hung it from the handlebar. Grabbing one thigh, he tried to slide her around his body without endangering her legs, but she didn’t get the signal. He tapped her helmet. When she took it off, he ripped it from her hands and hung it from the other side of the handlebars.
“Swing around here but mind the pipes.” Andrea didn’t speak but did as he asked. Thunder prayed it was because she was still under orders not to talk, but it was probably shock. “Grab my wallet,” he ordered as he unbuckled his belt. It was awkward, but he didn’t give a shit.
Thank fuck she was smart and had the condom out and open. She rolled it on him then he levered her up. Thunder held her hovering there for a second while staring into her eyes. Andrea slid her underwear to the side. Slowly, he lowered her down onto his aching cock. He groaned, but she remained silent. “You can talk while I’m inside you.”
With his permission, she moaned a sigh of relief and pleasure. His wallet swayed on the chain from his belt loop and provided a strange soundtrack. Until Andrea moaned out his road name. It was the first time she’d called him that, and he didn’t hate it when he was fucking her like this. Raw and primal.
“Fuck, Andrea. You feel so fucking good.”
Close, so fucking close. Thunder was about to shoot his load, so he started rubbing her clit like a madman, when a shadow caught his attention. “What the fuck?”
16
Andrea
One second, she had been on the verge of coming, the next, she was standing on shaky legs between Thunder’s bike and the wall with her underwear askew.
“Stay here and stay down,” Thunder ordered, and not in the sexy way.
Andy was clueless about what the hell was going on, but she nodded. Thunder reached into the saddlebag and grabbed what looked like a long-ass handgun and was stalking along the side of the building before she even blinked. She squatted down because that was all she could think to do.
That’s when she saw it, a silhouette sneaking down the alley. Thunder was keeping to the shadows of the building and gaining on the unknown figure.
A movement inside one of the garage bays caught her attention. It was moving toward the inside of the wall about where Thunder crept on the outside.
The door by Thunder burst open, knocking him to the ground. She heard two pops followed by a female moan and a male grunt. Andrea watched as the other shadow, the person who had been inside the garage, limped off down the alley.
Andy was frozen in place. The intruders were gone, but she still didn’t move. Thunder was lying in the same place moaning and cursing but not getting up. She was processing what happened when another sound from Thunder spurred her into gear.
Andy kicked off her heels and sprinted down the alleyway to where Thunder lay. The gravel digging into her feet didn’t slow her down. Something told her to keep moving. When she got to his side, she dropped to her knees. The gravel bit into the tender flesh. It wasn’t the sharp edges that she noted, no; it was that the gravel was warm and sticky. . .wet.
“Thunder, what’s wrong? What happened?” She touched his arms and chest. Searching. His torso was bare except his cut. Her hands came back warm and sticky, and wet like the gravel. “Oh my God, you’re bleeding. Where are you bleeding from? How? Why? Who were those people? Thunder—”
“Babe?” His voice was weak and laced with pain. His fingers brushed her cheek. “Breathe. Calm down. It’s going to be fine. Focus.”
Thunder was hurt, but he was the one soothing her because she was freaking the fuck out. One shitty night aside, this was a good man lying on the ground bleeding. Andy reached deep to the place she used to suppress shit. Found that wall and locked it down.
A few deep breaths later, she was calm and could think clearly. It was the place she used when getting into the headspace to fight. Even for training, everything goes and only focus stays. “Okay, Thunder, what do you need me to do?”
“Damn, that’s sexy,” he growled. “The way you can do that. If I didn’t have a fucking hole in me—”
“Now it’s you who needs to focus.”
A pain-filled groan followed his chuckle. “Touche.”
She gripped one of his hands in both of hers and dropped a kiss on his forehead. “Now that we’re both focused, what do I need to do? Should I call an ambulance?” Her rapidly fired questions had ceased and now she was calm and methodical. Andy felt she’d entered the correct headspace to deal with whatever was going on. Oh, she would break down and lose her shit at lightning speed later. But for now, she was in total control.
“First, I need you to ditch the condom and zip me up. I do not want my brothers showing up to that.” Without laughing, even though Thunder was half-joking, Andy did what needed done.
“Now, grab my phone from my inside pocket.” He nodded toward his denim vest. “Call—” His words were cut off by his phone ringing as she reached for it. A quick slide and it was on speaker.
“Speak of the devil. I was just about to call you. Break-in at the garage. Two fuckers with guns. I—”
“Yeah, I know, brother. Watched it go down on Whiskey’s security app. How bad are you?”
“I’ll live, but it’s bleeding like crazy, fast enough, I’m about to take a nap.”
“Have your old lady put pressure on it, we’re about five minutes out. Stay awake, that’s an order.”
Granite ended the call, and Andy placed the phone on the ground. Without even thinking, she ripped the tee-shirt over her head. She had it wadded up and pressed against his wound before he could protest.
“Damn it, that hurts. Fuck. Not as bad as you kneeling there naked knowing my brothers are on the way.”
Andy rolled her eyes so hard, she damn near saw her gray matter. “Get over it, you neanderthal. They’ve already seen me like this. . .twice. You’re bleeding to death trumps my tits being out.”
Thunder was slurring his words and sounding weaker. “Nothing trumps your tits, babe.” He reached for her, but before he could make contact, his arm fell back to his side.
“Thunder? Thunder? Wake up. You need to wake up. If I have to take pressure off this wound to smack you around, I will.” A strained laugh escaped her mouth. A moment of panic that’d crept back in, but she evicted it. “Thunder! I fucking mean it.” She allowed her anger to speak and his eyes fluttered back open.
“There’s something we need to talk about, Andy.” She could barely understand his words, but she heard him call her Andy for the first time. Not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
“Look, sir. You can let me be in charge without questioning your masculinity.” She was back to trying to lighten the mood because she was freaking out again. He was losing a lot of blood. Andy had no medical training, but she was fairly sure the wound itself wasn’t fatal, but bleeding could be.
“Not that, babe. That’s sexy as fuck. Remind me so we can explore that later, but I need to explain—”
Andy sent up a silent thank you as the ground shaking rumble announced the cavalry had arrived.
There was a flurry of activity when Granite and Whiskey took her place as Pound pulled her back. She saw Priest and Trip sprint down the alley the way the shadows had earlier. Priest was out of sight while Trip had a flashlight and bent twice to pick something up.
“Here, sweetheart,” Pound whispered as he pulled an oversized Harley hoodie over her head and spun her around to look at him. “You did
amazing, Andy. You listened, you stayed calm, and took care of Thunder. I can never thank you enough for that. The Phantoms are lucky to have you. Thunder was a smart man to claim you.”
Before she could ask what he meant, Lexi was there. “I thought we told you to stay put.”
“Yeah, and I thought you were smart enough to know my best friend takes precedence over what you want.” Lexi pulled her into her arms. “Come on, I have some leggings in the car you can wear.”
“But I don’t want to leave Thunder.” She turned to see them carry him into the garage and put him in an SUV.
“We’ll go straight to the clubhouse and you can see him there.”
Her attention stayed on the SUV. Lexi shook her, hard.
“Andy. Listen. The first thing old ladies need to know is when to listen and when to fight. This is the former. The guys need to get this mess cleaned up and get Thunder back to the clubhouse where Whiskey and Granite can do what needs to be done. They can’t do that if they’re worried about you.”
“She’s right, Andy. We’ll be there in no time. I won’t let anything happen to Thunder.”
Once in the car, she slipped the leggings on and stared straight ahead. Andy knew vaguely that Lexi had started the car and was chatting at her, but she remembered nothing from the drive.
Barely anything from the time they parked and Lexi leading her up to the bar to wait, registered in her brain.
She couldn’t keep her gaze off the door, watching. Hoping to catch a glimpse of Thunder. She wasn’t convinced that not calling 911 and bringing him here was the best idea. But she understood it, at least from their perspective. ERs weren’t a fighter’s friend, especially when taking hits and dishing out pain on an underground circuit that people bet on. Underground fighting was bad enough, but gambling… in Vegas. Well, the gaming industry frowned on that.
Unsure how much time had passed or how much alcohol she’d downed, Andy was going stir crazy. “Where the fuck are they? Thunder’s bleeding needs to be stopped, yet where the hell are they? Did they take him to the ER after all?” She headed to the door. “We should go.”
Thunder (Desert Phantoms MC Book 1) Page 11