by Mackenzy Fox
“She’ll be fine; I just don’t even want to think about what could have happened,” Helen sniffs. “I’ll be here tonight anyway on shift, so don’t worry yourself.” She looks up at Steel. “Jayson, make sure she gets home safe now, won’t you?”
Jayson?
Steel’s jaw tightens at the mention of his name and he gives her a very obvious eye roll.
Maybe if I stay here a bit longer, I’ll find out some more details about her larger than life son who can’t fit through a doorframe without ducking. I wonder if his mom is in the club too, is she an old lady? She also doesn’t seem concerned about his bloodied knuckles, she barely glanced at them.
“Pigs want us to go make a statement,” he grunts.
“Which you’ll be sure to do,” she tells him in no uncertain terms. It’s odd seeing his mom boss him around in front of me. It’s very normal and un-biker-like, I think I like her.
He pulls out a cigarette and puts it behind his ear, then pulls his phone out and dials.
“Patch? Yeah, I’m at the hospital. No, she’s fine. I got there in time and so did the cops, yeah, I know, let Hutch know and I’ll be back soon. Get pencil dick or whoever is sober enough to drop my sled off at the pig shop, gotta make a statement… yeah, no a half-hour or so. Thanks, brother.”
He ends the call and nods up at me.
What the hell is a sled?
“We have to go,” he says to his mom. “Text me when she’s awake.”
His mom still has her arm around me. “Don’t be a stranger now, little miss,” she tells me with a kind smile. “And don’t you worry, Lily is in safe hands now.” She kisses me on the head and I almost lose it.
“It was nice meeting you,” I reply, my voice unsteady.
“Likewise.”
“Later, mom.”
She nods. “I’ll talk to you soon, son.”
I get following Steel’s hasty retreat, he grabs my hand as we leave and links his fingers with mine, I have to walk super-fast to keep up with him.
He looks down at me as we walk. “You wear steel caps, princess?”
I realize he’s referring to my knee-high boots.
“No, just the regular kind.”
He snorts and I realize he’s making a joke.
We step outside and I breathe in the late-night air with a rush of relief. The last time I visited a hospital, I was getting fixed up myself, I don’t like to think of that time, it’s just too hard.
As soon as we’re outside, he releases my hand and proceeds to light up the cigarette, cupping his hand around the flame as he takes a long drag.
We keep walking and I see the police station lights up ahead.
“Are you really alright?” he asks, not looking at me, he blows a cloud of smoke out in front of him. He’s asked me this about five hundred times already. “Shock does things to people.”
“I’m not in shock,” I reply. “I feel fine.”
“How do you know you’re not in shock? And anyway, it was a really dangerous move going out there alone in the alleyway, Sienna, what were you thinking?”
I look up at him with wide eyes… wait, is he mad at me?
“What the hell?” I reply.
“Well, it was a dangerous situation,” he gruffs, the cigarette dangles from his lips as he speaks. “One that could have ended a lot differently if I didn’t get there in time.”
“Well, I subdued him, you showed up and she’s fine, so that’s all that matters. I didn’t know he’d drugged her at the time, I just went to give her the phone back.”
He gives me an uncertain side glance but it softens when he sees my face. He stubs his cigarette out with his boot as we approach the station doors.
“What will the guy get for doing that?”
“I don’t know,” he says with a sigh, “but Hutch is not gonna be happy the pigs got to him before we did.”
I don’t have time to think about that too closely as he opens the door and lets me under his arm. Giving my statement doesn’t take that long, and Steel lets the Jenkins officer know they can come by and get the security footage from the bar tomorrow. It may help when convicting him. Steel seems very agitated through the whole exchange, like he can’t wait to be gone.
“I’ll take you home,” he says finally.
“Thank you, that would be great.” I smile gratefully.
We walk toward the curb and it’s then I realize we’re moving towards a motorbike that has mysteriously turned up right outside.
I turn to him.
“You aren’t expecting me to get on that thing, are you?” I frown.
He rolls his eyes to the heavens and huffs a long outward breath.
“Can you be compliant for just one evening?”
He doesn’t wait for an answer as he swings one leg over the bike and kicks the stand up, starts the beast, roars it with one hand on the throttle, and then turns to me and hands me a helmet. “Put this on, princess, you’re gonna need it.”
8
Steel
A million things run through my head as I watch Sienna stare at me as I hold the brain bucket out to her. What I’m gonna do to this guy when he gets free is at the top of that list.
“You cold?” I ask her.
She is, I can see her shaking.
I don’t wait for an answer, I shrug my cut off and, fuck me if I don’t also lean forward and wrap it around her shoulders. She looks good in it, damn fine, a little too clean-cut, but damn sexy.
Chicks always dig the leather but I’m the one in awe.
“I’ve never been on a motorbike,” she admits as she shrugs her arms into my jacket, it’s huge on her. Resigned to the fact that she’s got no choice, she pulls the grey helmet down and I help her fasten the buckle.
“All you gotta do is hop on, hold on tight, and scream if you want to.” I shrug like it’s easy.
My hard-on kicks in my jeans at her standing there in my colors, I just wish she’d be more compliant and do as I say; I’m trying to get her home safe for Christ’s sake. Hopefully, with her virtue intact, but then again, maybe not. I know for a fact I’ve never thought about a woman wearing my cut. Ever.
As she climbs aboard, I quickly adjust myself so I’m more comfortable, and once her thighs are wedged behind mine, I turn and call over my shoulder.
“You gonna hang onto me, princess, or you wanna fall off?”
I light another cigarette as she wraps her arms around my waist, her forearms rest at my belt buckle—a little too close to home but I won’t complain, it just makes it all the more exhilarating.
My sled rumbles beneath me like the badass she is, it could wake the dead. I feel powerful when I’m straddling her, when I’m on the open road and the end is nowhere in sight.
I know it’s morbid, but I thank Max for kicking the bucket. If not for him, she wouldn’t be here right now. She’s a fucking angel, and she just saved my sister from being raped and probably herself too if that guy’s track record was anything to go by. Jenkins told me he was wanted in a couple of other states and they think he has links to human trafficking. My blood is literally still running cold at that information. I’ve got some shit to report back to Hutch.
One thing’s for sure, there’s gonna be no more beef with the club going forward. Sienna will get whatever she wants, and the club will be in her debt because of this. She’s gonna learn how loyalty really works and she’ll see we’re not all big, dirty-assed bikers.
I feel very protective over her, it overwhelms me because sickos like this guy can just prey on innocent people and there ain’t nothing you can do about it, especially when you’ve been drugged. Poor Lily, she’s going to be really suffering tomorrow. Then she has my wrath to deal with.
I take off from the curb and my tires squeal from the sheer power of the throttle. I hear Sienna scream behind me and I laugh, it only makes me go faster.
Her hands grip me tighter around the waist and I have to physically restrain myself from moving at least one
of her hands south of the border so she can see what she’s done to me. My hard-on is ridiculous now, hardly containable. I imagine her hand working me; I’d love to watch her jacking me off. I let out a low grumble in my throat at the thought, she can’t hear me, my sled’s too loud.
Having her legs and arms wrapped around me makes me want her so bad, I want to take her home to my bed, worship her, and kiss every fucking inch of her. I wonder if she likes it gentle or rough or a little bit of both, I really hope I get to find out soon.
She also has no idea I’m taking the scenic route back to downtown, just so I get a few more minutes of her body pressed against mine. I’m gonna keep her safe, she just doesn’t know it yet.
When we reach the back of the Crow, I park next to her dark blue Datsun, I know it’s her car because I’ve seen her driving it around all week. As I park up, I will myself to not switch the engine off… I’m not staying. I kick the stand down and tell her to climb off.
She releases her hands from me and uses my shoulders to help herself climb down, immediately, she yanks the helmet from her head and shakes her long, honey-colored hair out and I swear I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my life. It’s a wonder she doesn’t grow wings and fly.
“How was it?” I ask, raising a brow.
“Amazing.” Her cheeks are flushed and my lips twitch. It’s a delicious sight.
I shut my mouth, climb off, and for once, I purposely don’t reach for her, it’s dangerous if I do, I take the helmet back from her hands and put it under the seat.
“You have your key for the back door?”
She pats her jeans pocket and nods. “Yes.”
She shrugs my cut off and hands it back to me. Our fingers touch as I take it and throw it back on; I don’t think it’s just my imagination that I can smell her vanilla-scented perfume on her neckline.
I swing my leg back over and mount my bike with total ease. The bar’s quiet but I still don’t like the thought of her going in there alone.
“Go get inside, it’s late,” I tell her. “You gonna be okay?”
She’s still looking at me.
Fuck. This. Is. Not. Good.
I turn away because, if I don’t, she’s gonna feel the wrath of my kiss and a whole lot more. She looks at me like she wants more, like she’s disappointed that I’m dumping her off, but she has to know it’s for the best. I can’t get involved with her.
“Answer me,” I bark.
She nods again; she probably thinks I’m a fucking prick. Me pummeling that guy was probably pretty scary for her, whether he deserved it or not, maybe she thinks I’m a thug.
Then I have an idea… I dig out my phone from inside my jacket pocket.
“Give me your number,” I demand.
She hesitates for a fraction of a second then calls it out to me. I type it into my phone and call her, then I hang up.
“Now you have my number too, call me if you have any… security concerns, I’ll be up for a while.”
I can’t believe I actually just said that. But yeah, I’ll be up all night now and it’s all her fault. I do not add that I can do booty calls as well at a moment’s notice, right now I have to get to Church as the guys are waiting for a debrief.
“Okay.” Her voice is quiet. “Thanks again for coming to the rescue.”
I swallow hard, “Get gone inside,” I tell her again. “Make sure the door locks properly behind you, I’ll wait until you get in.”
“Steel…” she tries but I ignore her.
Christ, my name sounds good on her lips.
“Later, babe,” I say, not wanting her to finish because we won’t make it to the backdoor if she keeps looking at me like that.
She bites her lip then nods and I watch as she walks to the backdoor and unlocks it, disappearing inside without a backward glance.
I sit there for a few moments until I see the upstairs light go on at her window. I don’t like her being here alone, it doesn’t feel right. I need to talk to Stef about upping the security after what happened tonight, this won’t do. I know a guy from the New Orleans chapter who owes me a favor.
I run a hand down my face, and with a resigned sigh, I rev the engine louder than necessary and take off back to Church. I’ve got shit to do, and that’s all that stops me from turning the bike around and banging on the back door for Sienna to let me in.
*
A few things happen on Sunday that changes the course of the Bracken Ridge Rebels M.C. that nobody could see coming. As expected, Hutch is not happy that the pigs were called and got to the scene before we had the chance to string up that coward and bleed him out. His fate at the moment lies with the county, but if he gets off, he’s a dead man. After what Jenkins revealed, mainly to shut me up, it doesn’t sound like he’s getting out anytime soon.
Secondly, Hutch called a meeting with Sienna tomorrow, not with the whole club this time, just with him. There are things to be said and contracts to be ironed out. She won’t say no to the offer this time and she won’t be throwing anything in my face.
Thirdly, Linc, my right-hand man in the ‘hacking information land’, got back to me last night after I’d asked him days ago to get more information on Sienna, not that she has any kind of criminal record, the girl probably doesn’t even have a parking ticket. What she does have is a restraining order on someone called Ewan Reynolds; subsequently, he’d been done for battery and assault and did time, only six lousy months. It explains a lot but I’d never pick her for a battered girlfriend. Linc said she’s been assaulted by this guy, her ex-boyfriend no less.
I don’t even know the guy and I want to kill him. I’d get pleasure in it.
I called Sienna earlier and told her to meet me at Church on Monday night, something I’m not sure she’d do after the last time she came here, but things are different now.
She’s apprehensive, of course, but nothing bad is going to happen to her, not while I’m around.
At eight sharp, I lounge against my sled as she rolls her beat-up car into the lot, I watch as she kills the engine and reapplies lip gloss in the rearview mirror. She doesn’t know I’m here. Car parks are bad places for girls to be at night-time, she should know that after the other night.
“You own a pepper spray?” I ask when she gets out. She squeals and jumps back, pressing one palm to her heart, startled. She had no idea I was even there, not good.
“Jesus, Steel, you almost gave me a heart attack.”
“That’s a no then?”
Just as I thought.
I uncross my feet at the ankle and stand slowly. She’s so small compared to me, another thing I like about her.
She breathes in a couple more times as if to steady herself, then shakes her head.
“You should always have a pepper spray, after the other night’s incident, it should be a lesson to take more care,” I scold.
“Thanks for the pep talk, dad.”
I give her a pointed look which she ignores with a scowl. “Not funny.”
“How’s Lily?” She’s also good at changin’ the subject.
“She’ll be fine,” I grunt. “She’s asking for you, wants to have lunch or some shit, she’s taking it pretty hard.”
She bites her lip. “I’m sure she is, it’s pretty frightening what went down, I can’t stop thinking about it.”
I kick the gravel with my boot.
“How’ve you been?”
She looks up a little surprised… what? I can’t make small talk and ask how a woman is? She’s been on my mind for two whole freaking days; I can’t seem to get her off it.
“I’ve been okay.” She shrugs, her voice is small, I don’t think she’s okay.
“You wanna talk about it?”
Please say no.
She shakes her head. “Is the guy still locked up?”
I nod. “Yeah, he’ll be there for a long time, he’s wanted for other really bad shit, trust me when I say you don’t wanna know.”
She gulps and my m
ind runs to that restraining order and the battery and assault charges, my blood boils at the thought of anyone hurting her. I’d kill them.
“Best not keep Prez waiting,” she says with a small smile. “He isn’t going to chew my head off again, is he?”
I shake my head, resisting the urge to touch the small of her back, I like touching her.
“No, sweetheart, he isn’t.”
I lead the way through the front doors. Summer is tidying up the bar and mopping the floors. Gunner’s also there, playing pool with Patch and Colt.
“Well, well, well,” Gunner whistles low, leaning against his cue, giving Sienna the once over. “What do we have here?”
“Hi, Gunner,” she says and gives him a small wave.
I turn and look at her, shocked. She remembers his name alright, of course she does. He grins at my annoyance.
“Hey yourself, sweetheart, this is Patch, Colt, and that little ray of sunshine over there’s my little sister, Summer.”
Why would she care?
She gives them a small wave too. Summer approaches, still holding the mop. She’s just like Gunner in looks; blonde, pretty, turns every head in the room, but that’s where the similarity ends. Unlike him, she keeps to herself and doesn’t have a whole lot to say to anyone. I think the damage of her childhood took a hold; they had a rough and violent upbringing. She never dates, I’ve never even seen her with a guy, she’s damaged goods. Every time I see her, I feel pity, she could have any guy she wants just on looks alone, a lot like her brother, but she doesn’t go there, not ever.
I clear my throat.
She hugs Sienna with one arm. “We all appreciate what you did for Lily,” she says softly. “Like really, that was amazing.”
Sienna looks taken aback but holds her own. “It was nothing; I did what anyone would do.”
“Nothing?” Gunner laughs .“You kicked the dude in the nuts twice and disabled him before the cavalry arrived, pretty fuckin’ great if you ask me.”