We held each other for a few moments, calming our pounding hearts. Ethan was a sexual beast. I felt his dominating essence whenever I was near him. He said he wanted to take care of me. No man had ever told me that before. They just wanted to take from me or hurt me or keep me enclosed in darkness that could swallow me whole. And Ethan saw darkness too. But if he kept me in the light and allowed me to see him, I would do whatever he wanted to help soothe his broken mind.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do now,” I mumbled.
He leaned back, cupping my face with his warm hands. His eyes were half-closed with a relaxed glossiness to them. “We’ll think of something, darlin’.” I leaned down and kissed him.
I left the VIP with Ethan to pack my things in the dressing room and to let Tony know I wouldn’t be coming back tomorrow night. I hugged Destiny before we started to pack our things. We were both in tears. Mine were for all the anxiety I felt, not knowing how I was going to pay my bills.
Destiny’s tears came, but she was full of anger. “Just when things are good, a bunch of no good, mobbed-up assholes has to come in here and fuck everything up!’
“Destiny! Don’t say those things,” I whispered. “They’re sitting out there now! Ethan knows about them. They are very dangerous men. Stay away from them!”
“I don’t give a fuck! Those kind of men keep people like us down—stepping on us, crushing us, fucking us. All they do is lust over power and greed, and all we’re trying to do is make a living!” Her eyes suddenly shifted to something behind me.
“What a dirty mouth on such a pretty girl,” the deep, accented male voice said from behind me. I turned to see a huge man, as big as Hank, smiling back at both Destiny and me. He was dressed in a charcoal gray, expensive-looking suit, with a cigar clasped between his fingers in his hand. A haze of cigar smoke surrounded him as he winked at us. “Your mouth should be put to better use, little lamb.”
He frightened us both. Destiny turned back and knelt to gather her bag, acting as if she ignored him. She pulled me in for another tight hug. “Stay close to that biker man of yours, Fiona. I’ll catch up with you later.” She walked past me toward the Russian man. He stood still, blocking her path toward the door. He chuckled then, shoving the cigar in his mouth and stepped aside. She hurried past him quickly. He winked at me, then turned to follow her.
I rushed toward the door and slammed right into a hard chest. “Whoa, darlin’!” Ethan. Thank goodness. I dropped my bag and clung to him, sobbing.
He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. “Shhh. I’m here. Let’s go.”
Apprehension and unease had a grip on my insides as I drove home. Like I was hanging off a cliff, not knowing what was below, only seeing darkness. Walls were closing in around me, and I couldn’t see what was in front or around me. Ethan followed me in his truck and carried my duffle bag into the house. Trooper greeted us both, Ethan kneeling to scratch his jowls as was now the ritual when they greeted each other.
“Will you stay for a while?” I mumbled. He looked up into my eyes from where he knelt. Standing up, he cupped my cheek. “Of course, Fiona.” I closed my eyes and nuzzled into his warm hand.
Ethan cradled me in his lap for a nice long while and just held me as I cried. He helped calm my fears just as I eased the throbbing pain in his head. He whispered sweet things to me, planting kisses to my ear while stroking my hair. My eyes grew heavy, and then I felt weightless. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he carried me down the hallway into my bedroom. But when he lowered me onto the bed, my eyes flew open. I grabbed onto his forearms. “Don’t go away!”
“I’m not going anywhere, darlin’. But you need some sleep. I’ll come by tomorrow. I’ll leave my number, so you can add it to your phone later. Now get some rest and call me later when you wake up.” He pulled the blankets up over me and kissed my forehead. Trooper was on the bed, curled up down by my feet.
I smashed up my ignition switch in the BMW using a brick. And as always, I thought up a good story that I told that boring wife of mine, about how the car was stolen in a bad area outside the neighborhood and suburbs where we lived. She wasn’t going to know about that fucking dog that I wasted a few goddamn thousand bucks on. But I could see the hint of suspicion in Maggie’s eyes, for a brief moment, before it was gone. She knew not to question me. Ever.
I sat in my office, making sure the door is shut while I get Marco on the phone, filling him in on what happened to the fucking dog he sold me.
“That sucks, but I can’t help you out, man. Deal’s a deal. You’re a dumb shit for leaving the damn dog in your car—”
I clicked the disconnect button on the cell and threw it, smashing it against the wall. I clenched my hands into fists. Rage and adrenaline rushed through me. Even though I paid way too much for the damn thing, it was going to make some money for me in the dogfighting business. That way I’d be able to pay off my gambling debts to a few sleazy businessmen I owed money to. The day job just wasn’t paying what I deserved. And Maggie was worthless when it came to being the wife I expected her to be—no kills, no intelligence and no sexual appeal at all.
Fiona. I could see her when I squeezed my eyes shut. That whore knew how she affected me. She tempted me time and time again. I was the one who took her in when she needed help and a place to stay. She came on to me. She used her sultry voice and batted her crystal blue eyes, tempting me every time she had the opportunity. My stupid wife was totally oblivious. I offered her so many things to keep her happy, to keep her with me. I would’ve even fucked her real good—the way a woman like her needed.
But then she rejected me and spread her legs for every man that she rubbed up against while she danced at that strip club. Now she was fucking some greasy redneck biker! She was just as depraved and sinister as those bikers were. She bewitched him too, just as she did me. I bet seeing him pull a gun on me aroused her.
I planned on getting the dog back, with Marco’s help. And I knew how to convince Fiona that she belonged to me.
Fiona called me a few hours later, her velvety soft voice coming through the phone. She talked to her landlord and got her rent paid up for the next few months until she could find another job. I reassured her that she wouldn’t have to worry about anything, that I’d help her out if money got tight. I didn’t tell her, but she knew that I wanted to take care of everything for her.
Ratchet sat at the clubhouse bar with me while Sam, Tanya, and Skully played a round of cutthroat at the pool table. “So how was your date?”
“It was perfect. Took her for a ride on the Road King. The temps were a bit low. More reason for her to snuggle up against me.” I smiled, remembering the feeling of her warm and soft body against my back. “It was her first time on a bike, but she was a natural.”
He chuckled, and I didn’t expect his hard, left jab into my shoulder. “That’s good, brother. You broke her in. Once you get a chick on a Harley, it’s smooth sailing from there.”
I stared at my beer bottle, peeling the label with my thumb. “Don’t know about the smooth sailing. She hasn’t told me much about her past, but from what I do know, she had it rough with her father growing up.”
“I know the feeling.” Ratchet tilted his bottle and guzzled the contents. I knew about his past with his dear ole dad and the loss of his mother to suicide.
“How did you do it with Sam? She had a really fucked up life with the Hounds. I mean, how did you help get her out of her shell?” I looked over at Sam shaking her hips and cheering as the shot she took at one of Skully’s balls dropped into the corner pocket.
The corners of Ratchet’s eyes crinkled, and he smirked at her. She winked back at him. “Yeah. Well. She escaped her hell. I was just there to catch her and lift her back up.” He turned back to his beer. “But I don’t think it’s your girl who needs help out of her shell.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Don’t get all defensive. It’s supposed to mean you, Gunner.”
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I turned back and continued to peel the label because I didn’t want to agree with him. “I’m doing what the doc ordered. I’m taking the meds. And Fiona helps me with the headaches.”
“Fiona, huh? Nice name. You’re lucky, brother.”
“Lucky?”
“Yeah. Lucky. You’ve got a good set of parents. Your father didn’t bash your face in like mine did every other fuckin’ day. And your mother seems like a good woman—like mine. When was the last time you saw them? Talked to them? What about your little sister? Gabby, right?”
Ratchet was right. Again. It had been a while since I talked to my parents and Gabby, let alone see, them. I skipped out on last year’s visit to them during the holidays too. I felt some guilt over it.
“They are proud of you. Chaos is proud of you. I’m fucking proud of you. You were a badass gunner on that Abrams tank in Iraq. You’re an American hero, like all your brothers and sisters you fought along with over there.”
“But I’m not the same person I used to be. Flashbacks fuck my head all up. And the headaches too. Sometimes I feel the rage burning me up from the inside, right in the pit of my stomach. I know I came back breathing, and some of my brothers and sisters didn’t. There’s some guilt over that too. And it keeps eatin’ at me.”
“That moment when you signed up with the Army, you were willing to die too, damn it. You completed your mission and your duty. So, you need to lift that weight of guilt off your shoulders. What is it that you told me?”
“What’s that?”
“You were by my side when I tried to get Sam back. You would’ve put a bullet in the back of that sleazy fuck’s head at the Steel Cage if he put one in mine. Remember that? And you helped me get my little rabbit back and talked me out of going batshit stupid and killing Sid and all his dirty dogs. You told me I did the best I could for my mother. That I was the best thing that ever happened to Sam. Well, you’re the best thing for us too—all of us. Your brothers and sisters in arms and here at Chaos; your mom and dad and your sister. Your family.”
I swallowed down the last of my beer and tossed the bottle over the bar into the trash dumpster “Well. Baby steps, brother. Fiona’s on her way here now, actually.”
Ratchet’s eyebrows lifted, “Oh, is she, now?”
I leaned away from him. “No more shoulder jabs, man. Yeah, I want her to come to meet Chaos. But this time with her clothes on instead of just a G-string. And you’ll get to meet Trooper too. He’s coming along with her.”
“Who’s Trooper?”
I chuckled as Ratchet’s brows bunched up, looking all “protective caveman” like he did when it came to Sam. “You’ll see. He watches over Fiona. You’ll like him.”
Skully missed his shot at the pool table, the cue ball rolling in between the two he aimed for as Fiona came walking in, her thick, long red locks bouncing on her shoulders. Trooper trotted along beside her. She had that effect on any male within her vicinity. She sauntered over to me, wearing a studded black leather jacket. Her tight, low-cut black tank top directed my eyes to that tantalizing cleavage. Her jeans were tight as fuck, outlining her shapely hips and ass. Her black stiletto boots covered her toned calves up to mid-thigh.
I was tongue-tied, so all I could mumble was, “Whoa,” as she wrapped her arms around my neck. I got a whiff of the leather jacket mingled with her own scent. Honeysuckles. I couldn’t help myself and seized her curvy hips with my hands. I leaned back to let my eyes have their way with her body, biting down on my lower lip.
Ratchet cleared his throat, interrupting my trance. I looked over at him and smirked. “You remember Fiona?” He nodded his head and tipped his beer bottle to her. “Hey, Fiona. Ratchet.”
Fiona stayed in my arms and tilted her head, beaming a smile at him. “Hi, Ratchet. I remember you from the party you had a few months ago at the Cheetah.”
Trooper hiked his paws up onto Ratchet’s lap, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. It made him look like he was grinning. “This must be Trooper.” Ratchet reached out his hand to introduce himself by scent. Trooper licked it and wagged his tail. “He probably smells Gypsy all over me.”
With the fall came an early sunset, the temps dropping along with it. So started the night at the clubhouse. Tanya and Sam warmed up to Fiona immediately, fluttering with her around the clubhouse like little butterflies, introducing her to the other women. The three of them chirped together like little birds, and I was pleased to see everyone giving Fiona a friendly vibe as she met them. I shared another shot with Ratchet as Trooper sat right at my feet beside my barstool.
The warm effects of the whiskey kicked in as I watched Fiona every moment she wasn’t within reach. She’d often look over at me and smile, batting her sexy pale blue eyes at me. Magnet showed up with his two women, Brandy and Becky, attached to each side of him, his arms draped over both of them. I needed to be next to Fiona. Trooper followed right beside me as I ambled up behind her as she talked to the B girls. I caught her honeysuckle scent again and wrapped my arms around her middle, pulling her up against my chest. Magnet sported a crooked grin as I nodded my head to him. I didn’t feel the same friendly vibe his girls gave off like the others. They both liked to be the center of Magnet’s attention, along with all the other club members. And maybe they felt a bit more competitive around my sexy red-haired witch.
I was so thrilled but anxious when Ethan invited me to the Chaos Kings clubhouse. I couldn’t wait to see him again. But as I walked in with Trooper by my side, my knees went weak at the sight of him. He was sitting at the bar with a man as handsome as he was, but with a bit more brooding expression. I realized then that Ethan’s beard had grown a bit longer. He wore his leather vest over a black and gray plaid flannel shirt, and it was unbuttoned slightly to reveal a hint of his tattooed chest. His eyes were focused on my walk, his jaw hung open, which gave me a happy confirmation that what I wore had the desired effect. His eyes had the same power over me, making my heart pound hard in my chest, joining the flutters in my stomach.
Sam and Tanya were very warm and friendly. Sam was a petite brunette, her pouty mouth giving her a look of innocence. But her captivating smile lit up her adorable face. Tanya was simply gorgeous, with sandy blonde hair and high cheekbones. She wore a tight neon pink tank top, which showed off her fiery amber-colored eyes. The President’s wife, Madge, was warm and welcoming as well. She had that matriarch vibe, with her jet black Bettie Page hairstyle and red lipstick, and her red painted fingernails. She had many tattoos, even on the tops of her hands, decorated with floral designs. The women made me feel more comfortable and helped settle my nervousness. This was my first time standing around a bunch of bearded bikers, who gave off that testosterone-infused presence that was totally primal. And all male. Most of them had so many tattoos, from shoulders to biceps, to forearms. Some even had detailed designs on their necks.
Clouds of cigarette smoke and the sweet scent of marijuana wafted throughout the clubhouse. Ethan guided me, placing his hand on the middle of my back. He leaned down close to my cheek and mumbled that it was time to introduce me to his brothers. I met the President, Rocky. He was similar in size to Ratchet—huge and bulky. He looked to be in his early forties, with a bald head, a goatee beard and covered in tattoos all over his shoulders and arms. He pulled me in and smacked a kiss on my cheek. Then I met Spider, the Vice President. He was quite tall, with dark hair in a braid that grew past his shoulders, and a nicely trimmed beard. He had a warm, handsome smile, shaking my hand and giving me a wink. I was introduced to all the other men and was pleasantly surprised to feel welcomed with their polite head nods and huge pawlike handshakes from some.
“What’s your favorite go-to drink, darlin’?” Ethan’s warm hand was still splayed on the middle of my back as we walked together back to the bar where Ratchet had just left. I climbed onto his stool as Ethan walked around to the other side of the bar.
“My devil juice is rum, but I’ll just have a beer tonight.” I wi
nked at him as he grabbed two bottles from a bar fridge, twisted the cap off and handed me one. We clinked them and took a drink of the nice cold beer.
He came back around to sit next to me. “I’m glad you came, Fiona. I wanted you to meet my Chaos brothers and some of the women. They call themselves the Chaos Coven. Remember, we’re not outlaw. We’re a close-knit family; it’s tribal. We take care of our own.” His deep voice was smooth, giving me a tingling up my arms and over my nipples. “And we don’t hurt women.” He looked away, lifted his bottle, and took another drink.
“I’m sorry for saying those things to you about your club. They’re your family. I see now how important they are to you, Ethan.”
“Nothing to apologize for. You’re important to me too. That’s why I wanted you here with me tonight. You can be yourself here. Be who you want to be. No one here will judge you.” I was transfixed by his sexy dark eyes as he leaned down and brushed his warm lips against mine. Then his mouth curved into a devastatingly handsome smile.
I couldn’t help but smile back at him. “Drinking, dancing, and fornication are sinful and wicked, according to my father.”
“Then let’s be sinful and wicked together. My beautiful vixen …” He leaned into me again, his mouth crashing against mine. Not so sweet and soft, but rough this time. It was barbaric, like he claimed me for himself. His skillful tongue plunged between my lips, lashing at mine.
Nice warm giddiness filled me up inside as I sat with Ethan at the clubhouse bar, talking and laughing. Trooper was such a devoted canine; he stayed alert but relaxed by our feet. Ethan reached down to ruffle Trooper’s ears. He looked up at him, wagging his tail, his long tongue hanging out the side of his jaw.
A man I recognized from the Cheetah hollered over to Ethan, “Hey, Gunner! I need some competition over here! I just ripped Skully a new asshole.” The man’s voice was deep, more like a growl, and he had a somewhat intimidating disposition. He was covered in tattoos with a peculiar haircut; it was shaped in a mohawk, but it’d started growing out, so it wasn’t as sharp.
BOX SET - CHAOS KINGS: Chaos Kings Motorcycle Club BOOKS 1-4 Page 28