by Romi Hart
“Yeah,” he mumbled, pulling her closer, her head cradled under his chin. She was heavy heavy from exhaustion, and the relaxing sensation of his chest moving up and down as his breathing slowed to a sleep rhythm drew her deeper into the darkness. Knowing this sort of peace was rare and short lived in Eli’s world, Rory dove in head first and reveled in it while it lasted.
* * *
A buzzing sound woke Rory, and she blinked awake, finding Eli still sound asleep beside her. She glanced down at a flickering bluish light on the ground by Eli’s pants. His phone.
Nudging him gently awake, Rory sighed at the early interruption. “Your phone is ringing, Eli,” she said gently, her mouth to his ear. She didn’t want to jar him.
Eli lifted his head from the pillow and slid his arm out from beneath her, reaching blindly and feeling around until his hand closed on the device. He cracked one eye open to read the display, pressed the talk button, and answered in a voice that sounded like his mouth and throat were full of rocks. “What’s going on?”
Rory tried to listen in, hearing the voice on the other end, but she couldn’t interpret the words, too muffled against Eli’s ear.
“Yeah? Fine, I’ll be there shortly,” Eli said, cutting off the call and rising from the mattress, rubbing his eyes.
Unnerved, Rory sat up. “Is everything alright?”
Eli reached out and pulled his pants on. “Nothing to worry about. I just need to get going.” His words were clipped, his voice tight.
Aurora tilted her head and frowned. “Where are you going?”
Eli paused and glanced at her, shaking his head. “It’s club business. Don’t worry about it. Nothing to get your panties in a bunch over.”
“Okay,” she said, resigned, as Eli moved toward the door. She didn’t like being in the dark, didn’t appreciate his vague responses. She felt like he was purposely putting her off or making excuses, “I guess I’ll see you later.”
But Eli already down the hall, and the only response was the slamming of her front door, followed by the rev of his bike downstairs. As the roar of the motor faded into the distance, her heart sank, and she didn’t know what to do. She recognized the danger in her despair, though, and knew she needed a friend. She picked up her phone and dialed her reinforcement.
“Hey, Rory,” Leigh’s voice came through the receiver with a yawn. “It’s awfully early. Is everything okay?”
“Yes. No. Eli rushed out of here after taking a really short call, and I’m panicking here. He just left and didn’t say anything and didn’t tell me what was going on, and he was in such a rush. How the hell do you deal with this?”
“Wait, Eli spent the night?” Leigh asked, apparently distracted by this information and honing in on it rather than addressing Rory’s concern.
“Would you keep up already? We can talk about that later. I’m genuinely freaking out. What am I supposed to do?”
“Nothing. You stay calm and wait it out. This is what it means to be involved with a biker, Rory. I can’t believe I’m over here, trying to console you, of all people,” she said, amusement in her voice that genuinely irritated Rory at this moment.
“Calm? How do you stay calm, not knowing where Zeke is when he flies off in a hurry or is out at all hours of the day and night, possibly in danger?”
“You’re not the first girl nor will you be the last that has worried about a biker. But I’m going to give you a little advice. You need to keep it tamed. Eli isn’t going to go down easy. I promise you whatever he’s gone off to do, he’s going to come back in one piece, and when he does, my gut tells me he’s going to come looking for you. Don’t gloat over it. Don’t have expectations. You’ll just scare him away. He’s got history and baggage, like most of his brothers. And while you’re waiting it out, you need to ask yourself if this is really what you want to deal with every day because you might end up needing a lot more than just your yoga classes if you’re already this riled up after he spent one night in your bed,” Leigh warned.
“I’m not looking to sign up for therapy,” Rory muttered. “If you can handle it, I can.”
Leigh chuckled. “It’s not always this bad. You get used to it. I think of it as being like soldiers’ wives have. And that’s really what it is. Eli’s a street soldier, with the rest of the Devil’s Flames. They get deployed from time to time but they always come home to the ones they love. The Flames are big on loyalty and family. The closer you get to them, the more you’ll realize that.” Leigh told her. “And you’ll have to learn to handle your emotions and not wear them on your sleeve. It’s really about keeping yourself in check.”
“You sound like an old lady. When did you learn to be the guiding light?" Rory asked.
“What choice did I have, if I wanted to be with Zeke? I had to learn to shine,” Leigh joked. “There are plenty of people you can lean on for support, people you can trust, within the fold here. That’s how I’ve coped. We’re a family, Rory.”
“I can’t imagine how you’ve felt because I’m over here, not even attached to the guy, and I’m terrified something’s going to happen. But you’re right. I guess that’s what it really means to be a ride or die,” she decided, the heaviness of Eli’s lifestyle settling over her like a dense cloud.
“It’s not for everyone, but if you find a biker who loves you as much as he does the life, you’ll have more passion and depth in your relationship than any other woman in the world. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever had, and you know that. You were there. It’s no picnic getting there, but you’ll reap the reward. The shit you’re going through now won’t seem like such a sacrifice for the love of your life.”
Leigh was bearing her own heart and soul as she made the statement, and it hit home. Rory knew that every word she had spoken was true. The problem rested on whether Eli would be willing to give Rory the same chance Zeke had given Leigh. And with the way she was starting to feel about Eli, she was more than skeptical. Getting through to him, getting him to open his eyes and his mind, would be insanely intimidating.
“I’m not so sure that Eli is looking for what you have with Zeke. I don’t know if fighting for that control is worth the trouble in the end.”
“You’re starting to catch feelings, aren’t you?” Leigh asked.
“That wasn’t my intention. I really wanted to hold back and give him what he asked for. I promised there would be no strings attached, so how am I supposed to reel him in?
“They always say no strings attached because they’re afraid we’re too delicate to handle the life, or that they’ll fall off the deep end for us and give away their freedom. The fact of the matter is, if Eli didn’t already care, he wouldn’t have stayed the night. He’s very private, and he hasn’t even glanced at a woman since I’ve known him. If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have bothered to chase you down last night. Men are dumb. They make the dumbest choices and the dumbest mistakes and then have to scramble to make things right. They say one thing and usually do the complete opposite. So trust me when I say, if you’re just patient and understanding, and you use that inner strength of yours, it’ll all work out in the end.”
“I hope so,” Rory said, not entirely convinced.
“Try not to worry so much,” Leigh laughed, clicking off the call and leaving Rory to the quiet solitude of her own thoughts.
10
Eli cursed himself as he rounded the corner with one last glance back at Rory’s place. He knew it was rude to leave her like that in such a hurry, so early in the morning. It was barely dawn. He had planned on having breakfast with her, maybe even scrambling some eggs. He wasn’t much of a cook, but he could manage.
But club business came before pleasure, and there was an issue with the strip club.
On one hand, he was trying to be respectful. He had screwed up royally by not explaining himself last night and letting Rory think the worst of him, but with her jealousy raging out of control, and then how she’d started to freak out on him, digging with questio
ns and looking so vulnerable when he had to cut and run, he got the impression he’d taken things too far already. Much further than he had planned.
Rory had managed to convince him to take a chance on a woman for the first time in a long time when he had sworn never to fall for anyone again. And even if he liked her, knew without a doubt he wasn’t prepared to even have an arrangement with someone who wanted to be a ride or die. Memories of what happened last time he’d fallen that hard stung, pierced through his heart, and he pushed his bike faster so the wind in his face would blow away the pain.
No, this was not right. It was best he got called away. It showed her some of the ugly side of his life, and it pulled him away from the cocoon he’d almost wrapped around himself in the safety and warmth of another body in the bed. However, he was not pleased about the reason for the call.
It was a legit business, which was great for the Devil’s Flames, and he respected and cared about those women. They were trying to make ends meet and doing real work as far as he was concerned, but they were always treated like shit. And at the moment, there was only so much he and the brothers could do to protect them.
That much was obvious as he pulled into the parking lot of the joint with the sun rising to blind him.
At the moment, he and his crew were glorified bouncers, who were able to get a little rougher than the average bodyguards. Eli had been working angles, with the approval of the MC, to purchase the strip club. It would be excellent income for them, and they could really take control of the security there and clear out the riffraff. But with the Ravens causing problems and the owner turning into an asshat through the original negotiations, nothing had been arranged yet. So, Eli’s hands were still tied in many ways. And that’s why he’d gotten a call. Things had spiraled out of control in the wee hours of the morning, and it was time to come in as a cleanup crew.
He tried to leave his thoughts of Rory and that sexy body of hers back at her place as he let the air surround him. But he’d failed miserably, merely pushing his speed to the point that even he wouldn’t have been immune to a police pursuit. Some old geezer with nothing to do at the ass crack of dawn wouldn’t have hesitated to stop a lone wolf on two wheels at fuck o’clock, regardless of the insignia on his cut.
He practically jumped off the bike, hurrying inside. He needed the distraction of work and problem solving, or possibly knocking heads, so that his little head would stop stressing and begging for another shot at a warm, wet pussy like Rory’s.
He needed to write her off as a nice way to get his rocks off for now. He had missed the touch of a woman. Anyone going without for so long would. And he couldn’t blame Zeke for flipping him shit, but he needed to watch what he was doing here unless he wanted to land himself strapped down and whipped again with someone to lose, someone that made him vulnerable. It had come back to bite both Rafe and Zeke in the ass. He didn’t want to stand in line and willingly wait his turn.
He had no beef with Zeke and Leigh, or with Rafe and Kira. But it clearly wasn’t the life for him.
Walking in, he whistled under his breath as he looked around. This kind of damage called for documentation. This was the sort of wreckage the owner couldn’t handle, and this was what was going to make him sell. The joint couldn’t survive this kind of issue over and over, and this certainly wasn’t the first time his crew had to take care of clean up and recovery when the men got rowdy. But this…it was the worst he had seen yet.
Jesse, one of the club brothers who had been assigned security detail overnight, was in the back corner of the main floor, and Eli strode over, wanting a full rundown of the events that led to this disaster.
As he passed by the tiny office they kept at the front, he could see three men who were obviously detained, probably until they sobered up enough to remember the not so gentle warning they’d get about never returning. They tried not to involve the police, if possible. It didn’t look good for the police to be sticking their noses in business, at the strip club or with the MC, making it look like there was something illegal to investigate. These men would be handled internally, fear for their favorite body parts and the wrath of one of the most notorious MCs in Texas surely keeping them out of this place for a very long time.
And if they tried to return, Eli make sure they could never step foot in here again, if it meant removing their feet.
“Jesus Christ, what happened, Jess?” he asked, approaching the man who might be the most clean cut of their entire crew and looked way too Wall Street to be involved with all of this shit. But Eli trusted his judgement in these matters and wouldn’t question his knowledge of security in most cases.
“It was a hot night here, three dollar wells and a special act from a visitor who happens to be a famous porn star. I should have known something would go down. This guy came in, and I recognized him as one of the regulars with a bad habit of getting a little handsy and popping his mouth off after a few drinks. I usually warn the bartender to pour light or water his shit down, but I was busy, and he had more than alcohol in his system. He started trouble as soon as he came in. But the girls need to make their buck, so I just kept watch the best I could. Didn’t want to make a scene.”
Eli nodded as he listened. It was the kind of judgment call he would expect. A handsy client wasn’t usually destructive, just annoying, and the average dancer could handle herself most of the time. He stayed quiet, waiting for Jesse to continue his story.
“The problem came when he egged on these two other men that had too much to drink. They were new. I didn’t recognize them at all. But the three of them started cat calling and then daring each other to go up and grope the girls. Unfortunately, Skye was on stage when they got the balls to follow through. And you know she’s had trouble before. She was dancing with one of the newbies, helping her collect more interest and more cash, and one of the guys smacked the younger girl’s ass. Trixie. Skye took it upon herself to give him the what for.”
Jesse wrinkled his nose in disgust. “The men didn’t take it well and started touching her. It just escalated too fast from there. The crowd got pissed that we stopped the show and that the women went to the back until things cooled down. These three started a riot, and then it was like a stampede. Most of the guys left when the fighting broke out, but some got the hype. And this regular was so high on whatever he had taken that he was running around and ripping shit apart like a rabid animal. His little groupies followed suit.”
Eli shook his head and sighed. None of these men had any sense of respect. These women put on a show for them, let men ogle their bodies, men that could never get a woman who looked this good, and yet, these guys weren’t satisfied with that privilege and always had to take it too far. Greed and lust. Had to look at them like objects rather than entertainers.
Eli despised men like that. He had never seen women that way. Be rough and tumble. Get into brawls. Talk shit to other men. But keep your paws and your nasty comments to yourself when it came to women. “How are the rest of the girls?” he asked, concerned for not only Skye and Trixie but the others as well. He didn’t need mass chaos and panic.
“I had one of the men take Trixie home. She was shaking like a leaf and needed to feel safe and maybe take a valium to relax. She’s in good hands, but I don’t know if she’ll be back. Skye’s in her dressing room, cleaning up and probably having tea to calm down. She was ready to beat the shit out of these guys. She’s a spitfire, that one.”
Eli had to agree. He’d known Skye for a long time now, and though she was a tiny platinum blonde thing with a tiny, birdlike frame that still held amazing curves, she could be a hellion if you crossed her. She held her own, and he had seen her punch a man or two out in her time. She wasn’t someone you wanted have put you on her shit list.
“Thanks, Jesse. I’m going to check on her before I deal with the perps. It’ll probably be a long day of surveying the damage for the insurance and trying to force this sale too. This sort of bill and possible publicity, should
we threaten to leak it, creates the perfect opportunity. It looks like shit.”
Jesse slapped Eli on the back and nodded. “Good luck. I’m with you there. This place could be so much better, and the women trust the MC. Especially Skye, and you know how they all respect her.”
Eli nodded. Skye wasn’t the oldest woman here, but she was the premier act, and she’d become the mama bear around here. Waving his thanks, he headed back behind the stage to the dressing rooms. There were only three, and Skye was the only one guaranteed her own private dressing room. It was hard earned, he was sure.
Eli knocked on her door, and she called out in response, her northern nasal accent. It still took getting used to. Most of the people he dealt with on a daily had at least a bit of a twang, but Skye was from Long Island, and she still had that New York girl in her tone. She had once waited outside the club, looking to snag some extra cash by catering to men who left, horny and in need, turning tricks. Eli had stopped her, told her she had the body to do something a little more respectable, and then chased away anyone harassing her, men who had turned down her proposition once but came back, hoping to take her up on the offer.
And later, he’d removed a man named Benny from the club, when he wouldn’t leave her alone. He was sure he was the trouble she had left behind in Long Island to make a new life for herself.
While her curves weren’t as defined as some of the other buxom women at the club, she had a classy look, even if her blonde hair and green eyes made her blend in with the other women in these establishments. Until you got to know her, at least.
“Are you coming in or not?” her voice rang out again, and Eli realized he’d been just standing there, thinking. “I’m as decent as I get!”
Eli opened the door to find the room smoky from the cigarette she was smashing into an ashtray in front of her on her vanity. “I thought you quit,” Eli said, his voice low. He didn’t want to startle or piss her off. She could be difficult when she was edgy “How are you holding up?”