by C. M. Allen
Feeling his arms around me, wordlessly, he lifted me up and set me on the couch before reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone. “Roman are you with Ava right now?” I heard him ask, drawing my attention to him, hoping that she was safe. “Shit! I need you to get your ass over there right now and bring her back to the clubhouse. I’ll explain everythin՛ when you get back, but you need to get to her right now, man.” Disconnecting the call, he turned to look at me. “Did you lie to me about what happened to you, Harper?” Not able to get the words out quick enough, he shouted. “Did you?!”
“Yes!” Was the only word that he accepted from me before he stood up and headed in the direction of my bedroom. Hearing things being tossed around in there, I got up off of the couch and slowly walked towards him, unsure how to navigate my way with this version of Maverick I had never encountered before. Cold, demanding, and very angry. I knew a lot of that anger was directed at me for what my lie made him do to Worm. Standing in the doorway, I watched him loading clothes into one of the duffle bags I kept in my closet. “W... what are you doing?” My voice shook as I said the words.
“Get the shit you’ll need from your bathroom.” Were his only words as he threw a smaller bag at my feet.
Leaning down, I picked it up, just standing there shocked at how cold he was being towards me right now. “I need you to know why I did what I did, Maverick.”
Throwing the duffle bag he had in his hands down onto the bed, he ate up any space that separated us. “Oh! Now you want to fuckin՛ talk, Harper? Where was this shit when you needed to tell me what the fuck was goin՛ on two weeks ago?!” Running a hand over his face, he turned to grab the bag back off the bed. “Just get what you need out of the bathroom. We leave in 2 minutes.” Then he was gone, leaving me to grapple with the guilt I felt and the tears that were now falling from my eyes.
Wiping them away, I quickly gathered my stuff and put some running shoes on before silently joining him in the living room.
He didn’t utter a word to me as he opened the door, looking around before placing a hand on my lower back to usher me out and lock it behind us. As we made our way down the stairs, I stopped and turned to face him. “I’m sorry, Maverick.”
“So am I.” Was all he said before we continued down the stairs and mounted his bike in silence then took off.
When we pulled up to the clubhouse, one of the prospects was already waiting outside to take our bags that Maverick tied to the back of the motorcycle. “Where do you want this stuff, Prez?”
“Take it to my room, Cueball.” Were his only words as he dismounted his bike after I did and walked away from me. When he made it to the front door, I saw Butch waiting for him with a sympathetic look on his face for us both.
I watched as they disappeared inside and then began to worry about Ava and whether Roman had been able to get to her before Dekes’ sidekick, Devin, did. But just at that moment I heard the rumble of a motorcycle approaching. The sound of pipes had never sounded so good as when I saw Roman ridding up with Ava safely on the back of his bike. Running over to them the second they parked, I threw my arms around Ava’s neck and hugged her tight. “Thank God Roman got to you and you’re ok!”
“I’m fine Harper, but you and I are going to have a serious talk.”
Knowing my best friend was so mad at me saddened me, but I knew she had good reason to be.
CHAPTER
8
Skull
Sitting in my office, I went over all the information that I was able to dig up on this Dekes fucker. Without Worm around I had to contact one of my guys outside the club that I’d used before. No one seemed to know what the hell was going on with that little shit, Worm, other than his text to me that his sister needed him, and he had to leave right away, not even clearing it through me before he did. Something he and I were going to have a serious fucking chat about when he got his ass back here. And since no one had heard from the guy I didn’t know when that would be. Even my texts and voicemails had gone ignored by him. I had a nagging feeling that something wasn’t quite right with this whole excuse about his sister.
Hearing a knock on my door, I shouted out. “Come in!”
Hatchet walked in with a manila envelope in his hand. “The chicken shit mailman dropped this off.”
Taking it from him, I tore it at the end. “That fuckin՛ guy always shits his pants when he has to come up here to deliver somethin՛,” I chuckled.
“Today was no different. When he was handin՛ me the envelope, I had a hard time gettin՛ my damn hands on the thing his hand was shakin՛ so bad. I couldn’t help myself, so I yelled BOO! And watched him run away like a screamin՛ little bitch. Highlight of my day I tell ya.”
We both laughed at his antics. That was until I pulled the pictures of a mans mangled body out of the manila envelope he’d just handed me. “What the fuck?’ I said, looking through the five photos until I landed on the last one, that had a clear shot of Worm’s face. “I fuckin՛ knew somethin՛ wasn’t right!” I shouted, throwing down the photos on my desk.
Picking them up, Hatchet began to look through them with a raised brow. “Fuck! Is there a note with these or somethin՛?”
Looking in the envelope again, I didn’t spot one but there was writing inside on the actual manila envelope itself. Ripping it open, we got a look at the words that had been written inside.
Fuck with mine and I’ll fuck with yours!
“Devils Deviants?” Hatchet asked, rather than accused, knowing that they were not our only enemy these days.
Sitting back in my chair, I thought about which enemy was the most likely to have done this. “It would be my first guess, yes. But we haven’t done shit to those motherfuckers since shootin՛ up that bitch's house a few weeks back. If Maverick was goin՛ to come after us for that shit he wouldn’t have waited this long.” Saying the words out loud had me thinking. “In fact, why didn’t he ever retaliate after that?”
“I’ve heard that he and a few of his guys had been out of town for a while, but I never really looked into why. There was no reason to. My guess though, was it had somethin՛ to do with his bitch.”
“Well, I’d say that we have a reason to find out now,” I held up one of the pictures of Worm to make my point. “This could be that piece of shit Dekes too. We’ve had two loads make it to us without incident, maybe he thinks we somehow fucked him over. Either way, start snoopin՛ around and find out just what the hell is goin՛ on over there with those assholes.”
“On it,” Hatchet announced before leaving my office.
Staring down at the pictures of Worm, my anger began to boil over again and I picked up the glass on my desk, launching it through the air and shattering it when it crashed against the wall.
“Fuck!”
CHAPTER
9
Maverick
When I saw how Harper tried to hide it when Dekes’ name came up on her phone, I’m ashamed to say that the first thought that went through my mind was that she was somehow working undercover for him, and against us. But then I saw the fear in her eyes and knew something more was going on here. After she shouted Ava could be killed if I answered the phone, it was like everything just suddenly clicked into place: The way Harper had acted in the hospital when Dekes arrived. The way she had been so irritable and difficult the week after she was released from the hospital. The wounds on Worm’s body that I saw, and Butch told me about. The shit Worm had said about Dekes being the one who took Harper. The way Harper never wanted to talk about what happened with Worm. The guilt she held in her eyes when she knew that he had died. And most importantly, the way she acted so cold when she left me. As all these thoughts ran through my head, the only thing that stood out at the realization of all of this was the one constant fact: Harper hadn’t trusted in me enough to tell me what was really going on and that I would keep her safe. Then another thought hit me. I had already failed to keep her safe once, so why would she trust me enough to tell me the truth? That th
ought pissed me right the fuck off. At myself and at her, and it all came crashing together in my head as I packed up her clothes to take with us to the clubhouse.
She was going, whether she wanted to or not.
IT HAD BEEN A LITTLE over an hour since Harper and I had arrived back at the clubhouse and as much as I wanted to be with her to comfort her, I was too angry to be near her right now. Instead, I sat with my five closest confidants, trying to calm the fuck down so I could talk to her and find out just what the hell was going on. “Did Ava know anythin՛ about this shit when you went to get her?” I asked Roman.
“No. She was just as upset and lost about what was goin՛ on as you were. Said Harper wouldn’t tell her shit about what was really goin՛ on.”
“So Worm was tellin՛ the truth then? This was all planned out by Dekes?” Butch asked.
“Seems so,” I looked up at Butch. “And I think it’s about time we hear from Harper what really went on after she was taken.”
“You good?” Butch checked, knowing just how pissed off I was about this whole mess when I got here. Hell, all you had to do was look around at all the shit in my office that was now shattered into pieces on the ground to know.
Though my destructive anger was clearly visible, my blood still boiled at his insinuation that I could ever harm Harper. I took a deep breath to keep myself calm so I didn’t round the desk and punch him in the throat for it. “I’m good. You know damn well that I would never lay a hand on her or any other female, and it’s fucked up that you would.”
“Wasn’t thinkin՛ that way, Mav. Was thinkin՛ more about your mouth. You have a tendency to do more damage with the shit you say than your fists sometimes,” he snapped out at me before walking out of the office, slamming the door shut behind him.
“Get it all out of your system now, man. You don’t want her comin՛ up here and feelin՛ like she’s bein՛ brought to her own execution, for lack of better words.” Gunner added.
“I know. I’m calmed down now.”
“Here, shoot this to take the edge off before she gets up here,” Axle said, handing me a shot of whiskey in the one and only glass that survived my wrath earlier.
A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door before it opened, revealing a very red eyed and upset Harper. My first instinct was to run to her, sweep her up in my arms and tell her that I loved her and that everything was going to be ok. But I couldn’t trust the angry beast that still paced relentlessly in its cage under the surface. It was just waiting for the moment my guard slipped, and it would be set free.
When she walked into the room, Axle got up out of his chair and offered it to her. I watched as her eyes did a sweep of the room and took in all the damaged items that still lie on the floor with a gasp. Motioning to the chair, I told her. “Sit. Please.” Taking a tentative step forward, she finally sat down and looked around at all of us.
Taking a deep breath, that I knew I was going to need to hear this whole story, I looked at her. “Ok, so start at the beginnin՛ and tell us exactly what happened when you were taken from the cabin.”
I think I can speak for the whole room when I say that we were all beyond the point of anger when she had finished telling us everything that had gone down. I always knew Nicole had a brother, but I never knew about her father killing himself in front of him and then her mother ending up in some psych ward. But then again, I was never accepted by her mother and father, so it never occurred to me to check up on how they were doing after Nicole had been murdered. I already knew that they had blamed me for what happened to her. Hell, I blamed myself. “Everyone out. I want to talk to Harper alone.”
Butch looked over at me before walking up and leaning down to my ear. “You sure you have that anger of yours reeled in?”
Glaring up at him, I only nodded once for my answer.
After everyone left, and the door was shut, I got up and rounded my desk to lock the door before I returned to my chair behind the desk. Harper just watched my every move in silence. Looking up at her, I could see the fear she had in her eyes right now, and I hated that I was the one causing it, so I softened my anger towards her. “Why didn’t you come to me?”
Looking down at her hands, that were picking at the bottom of her T-shirt, she moved her eyes up to meet mine, tears falling down her cheeks. “I was scared, Maverick. I was so scared that he would hurt Ava... and you. You have no idea how crazy Dekes really is,” she took a deep breath, while I waited, knowing there’s something more that she hadn’t said yet. “He killed my parents, Maverick.”
“Motherfucker!” I shouted, slamming my fist down onto my desk, startling her. “Are you fuckin՛ serious right now?!” twisting my neck side to side, I fought to reign in my control and spoke my next words to her in a calmer voice. “Why? Why did he kill them?”
Lowering her voice as if she was afraid that someone was listening to us, she leaned forward. “He said... he said that they saw him talking to one of his contacts that he had imbedded into your club to get information. That they went to the police, even after he tried to explain some made-up reason to them. He also told me that the Deputy they spoke to was also killed.”
“Fuck,” I ran my hands through my hair, gripping it at the realization that I was going to have to possibly kill one of my own. “Did he say who it was or how many he had imbedded in my club?”
“No. He never said a name or how many.” She began to sob again.
Letting out a heavy breath at this information, I knew that she needed me more than anything right now after what she’s just told me about her parents. We both need each other right now. I stood up and moved around to her side, scooping her up and setting her down onto my desk. Then I just held her as she cried tears of pain that I understood all too well. “He’s goin՛ to pay for what he’s done, Harper. That’s a promise. I will not fail you again.”
Pulling back, she cupped my face. “It wasn’t... it wasn’t your fault, Maverick. If you could have seen the amount of men he had with him that night up at the cabin, you would have known it was going to be impossible to stop him.”
“I would have died tryin՛ anyway had I been there. I made you a promise to protect you Harper and I failed. It’s as simple as that. It won’t happen again.”
“What about his contact in your club?”
Brushing her hair away from her face and kissing her forehead, I assured her. “That’s my worry, not yours. I have a way of findin՛ out who they are. But until I do, you are to only trust myself, or my top five, Butch, Roman, Repo, Gunner, or Axle, ok? I don’t want you alone with anyone else.”
“Ok. I’m so sorry for not telling you, Maverick. Can you forgive me?” she asked, running her soft hands down my face to my chest before wrapping me in a tight hug.
“Can I forgive you? I’m the only one who should be askin՛ for forgiveness around here right now, Sweetheart. I let my pride and my anger get the best of me. I fucked up.”
Pulling me down by my neck, she crashed her lips over mine before she pulled back again, “we both fucked up Maverick, but I love you and I want you to know that I do trust you with my life.”
“I can’t tell you what it means to me to hear you say those words again.”
Clearing the papers off my desk with a sweep of my hand, I laid her back onto it and leaned over her, wiping her remaining tears away with my thumbs. “You have become everythin՛ to me, and I can’t tell you how much that scares the ever lovin՛ shit out of me. When I lost you... I went out of my mind with anger, knowin՛ that I didn’t protect you. I couldn’t stop myself from thinkin՛ about what you were possibly goin՛ through because of me. Without you in my life Sweetheart... there is no future for me.”
Running her fingers over my lips, she lifted her head and kissed me. “I only want a future with you, Maverick.”
My mouth slammed over hers and I deepened the kiss, needing to be closer, to have more of her. “I need to be inside of you,” I breathed into her ear as I took her lobe between
my teeth, drawing a moan from her lips.
“I need you too. Make it all go away, if only for a little while.”
Within seconds, I had her clothes on the floor, and her body bared to me. “So fuckin՛ beautiful.” I murmured against her neck as I made my way down to her luscious tits that called out to me like a moth to a flame.
I pulled the first one into my mouth and heard her let out a moan, then moved to show the other one the same attention, loving the sounds of pleasure it elicited from her lips. “Please, Maverick.” She begged with a strangled voice.
Bringing my lips back to hers, I asked. “You need me to fuck you, Sweetheart?”
“Yes.”
“Then that’s just what I’m goin՛ to do,” I assured her just before I sheathed myself deep inside her warm, wet heat. My sudden movement caused her to let out a sharp intake of breath when I filled her to the hilt. Kissing her lips, I deepened it and began fucking her mouth with my tongue the same way my cock fucked her pussy, long, strong, hard strokes until her legs were shaking with her first orgasm.
“Maverick... I’m... shit!” Was all she was able to get out before her body shattered apart under my touch.
Quickening my pace, chasing my own release, I felt her walls clamp down around my cock when she came again, and it sent me hurdling over the edge with her. “God damn I love you,” I breathed out, trying to catch my own breath.
We both lay there still connected, enjoying the feel of one another again when a loud knock pounded on the door, causing Harper’s body to stiffen under me at the sound. “Fuck.” I growled; my face buried in her neck. “Just a minute!” I shouted out over my shoulder at whoever the asshole was interrupting us.
Harper jumped off the desk and quickly got dressed in a panic, but I reached out and pulled her firmly to my chest. “Hey.”