“Damn, I’ve forgotten the way this shit works. I haven’t been around club business in years. The closest I get to a club is when I drop my boykie off with Dagger.”
Again Wrench laughed. “Come on, Boss. Let’s find DC so you can relax and start to enjoy yourself. I’m on duty so I’ll keep your ride under my eyes until you’re ready to leave. And if you want to have a few drinks I’ll drive you home, so no worries. Okay?”
He was such a sweet boy. I allowed Wrench to lead me around the side of the large clubhouse building towards the back from where the sounds of music and laughter could be heard. As we rounded the corner I almost turned around and ran. There were men in kuttes everywhere along with women who were obviously old ladies or girlfriends and a few scantily clad club girls. They were sort of hard to miss. Weird that they invited their club sluts to a family event, but this wasn’t the Sons, this was a different club with different rules. According to their kuttes most of the men were Iron Dogz but I noticed there were Road Warriors out there as well.
Along the entire back length of the clubhouse was a large paved area with several picnic tables and benches set out and still more tables were scattered on the lawn surrounding the paved area. Big trees were dotted around the lawn with blankets spread out on the grass beneath them where people were lazing around talking and drinking. The outside bar was in a big thatched lapa, open on three sides and was manned by two women in low cut club support t-shirts. On the far right was an enormous braai area with fires already going and attended by two prospects.
Before I could comment on anything Wrench waved at DC where she was sitting at one of the picnic tables with some other women. Their eyes, along with those of several others, were on me as we approached. DC grinned wide, stood and came striding towards us.
“I’m so glad you’ve decided to come. Now I’ll have someone to talk to around here. These bitches talk about shit I know nothing about. It’s all about freaking fashion and shoes and shit. With you I can at least talk about bikes and cars and stuff. I hope you’re not into fashion and shit.”
I waved a hand down my body indicating the way I was dressed. Minimal make-up, a spritz of my favourite perfume, faded jeans, biker boots, a white t-shirt with one of Sparrow’s old flannel shirts over the top. The long sleeves were rolled twice and covered the memorial tattoo on my right forearm and if it didn’t get too hot my arms would stay covered. My hair hung loose down my back, nothing special about it. I had let it air dry after washing it in the shower this morning. At least it was clean and shiny.
I burst out laughing when I realised she was dressed almost exactly the same and she laughed with me. Wrench just shook his head at us as he started to back away.
“You need anything, Boss, you come look for me, okay?”
“Okay, Wrench, no problems.”
As he disappeared back to the front of the clubhouse DC looked at me with a frown. “Since when did he get a club name? Everyone here calls him Kev, not Wrench.”
“We’ve got another Kev working for us and it became too confusing.” I said with a grin. “So I started calling him Wrench and now everyone at work does.”
“I have to tell Hawk, it suits him and because of his job it’s a great road name for him.”
I felt his energy approaching before I saw him. The president of the Iron Dogz was as intimidating as everyone said he was. He was big, not only tall but wide and the width had nothing to do with fat, it was all muscle. The man was intimidating but undeniably hot, a kind of mix between Thor and Ragnar. I fought hard not to fan myself because of the sex heat he threw off. DC was one very, very lucky bitch.
“What is a great road name for who?”
DC grinned up at the big man as he slung his heavy arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side.
“Hawk, meet River Anderson, she’s the genius who fixed my lady after I had to lay her down.”
He held out a hand and I cautiously put my hand in his. His clasp was firm as he shook once and let go. The care he took not to crush my hand was hot as hell.
Jesus. I had to stop this shit.
“Welcome, River. I’ve heard about your skills and saw the results. We need to sit down and talk sometime. I have some old bikes in storage I want to restore when I have more time.”
“I’ll be happy to help. Set it up with Wrench when you’re ready and we’ll see what we can do to help.”
Hawk frowned and DC grinned. “She means Kev. They call him Wrench because they have another Kev working with them and it was confusing. Hence, Kev’s new name.”
Hawk grinned and waved at someone behind me. “Hey brother, come over here and listen to this.”
I didn’t turn around but I should have so I could have run far, far away before he entered my life and totally turned it upside down. But I didn’t know it then, so I stayed.
The man who walked up and joined us was as big as Hawk and going by their similar builds and features it was obvious they were family. Where Hawk was a blonde with yellow eyes this guy had dark hair with his own version of those yellow eyes. He had more green in his eyes where Hawk’s had more of an amber-brown cast to it. Unlike Hawk his hair wasn’t shaved at the sides but fell over his ears and neck. The top was longer and he wore it brushed back but it kept falling over his face in long strands that he shoved back with an impatient hand. His beard was dark and trimmed to follow the contours of his face. His black t-shirt strained over broad shoulders and a big chest, the sleeves tight around his biceps. His kutte told me that he was the club’s vice president. Tattoos covered both arms and the back of one hand and I could see the edge of another at the neck of his tee. It looked like they were mostly club tattoos, the same as Hawk’s.
Holy hotness batman.
“River, meet Ice, my VP. Ice this is River, Kev’s boss. Guess what she has been calling our prospect?”
The big ice man shrugged as if he couldn’t care less, his eyes totally disinterested. “No idea man.”
“Wrench, she calls the little fucker, Wrench.”
A roar of laughter erupted from both men and DC and I stared at them in confusion. We looked at each other then back at them.
Ice was the one who answered our unspoken question.
“We were thinking of naming him Rip but Wrench is so much better. Way better.”
He turned those yellow-green eyes on me and I almost melted. They were filled with laughter and warmth, so much warmth. Shit, I had to be really careful around this man.
“So, is River your real name or a nick name?”
“My real name. My folks did the deed on a river bank and I’m the result, so they named me River. Thank goodness they didn’t decide to name me after the river because that would have been a disaster. And they must really like the outdoors thing because my brothers’ name is Lake.”
We were laughing when some of the other men came walking up. All of them looking at me with hard faces and questions in their eyes. And when there were no comments about Lake I knew they didn’t know who my brother was. Phew.
“Brothers, let me introduce you to River. She’s the one who did the repairs to my old lady’s bike.”
“And her work is freaking amazing.” DC threw in with a grin.
Hawk grinned down at her then turned back to me. “River, the big guy over here is Beast and next to him is Sin, Jagger and Kid.”
Holy shit! Beast was tall and wide and huge and totally intimidating with his cold frowny face. The others were big but no one was as big as this guy.
I smiled and nodded but didn’t say a word as they checked me over. In their eyes I could see they were weighing up what they knew about me against the reality of me. They gave me chin lifts as their eyes ran over me without saying a word. There was interest in some of those eyes but I didn’t want that. Interest wasn’t good, not at all.
“Let’s leave this lot and their grumpy asses and I’ll introduce you to some of the women, and as I said, be prepared for some girly talk.” DC cut through the silence t
hat had fallen around us.
I was only too glad to get away from the men because their intent stares really started to freak me out.
As we walked over to the table where several women were sitting DC spoke softly. “Ignore their stupid suspicious asses. We have some shit happening around here and right now they aren’t the warmest of puppies.”
I grinned. “I already came to the same conclusion. I’m no threat to your club and I’m not interested in hooking up with any of the brothers so there’s nothing to worry about.”
DC stopped dead and swung around and looked at me with wide eyes. “Really? Not even one of them gave you a tiny little tingle? A little smidge of attraction?”
I forced myself not to glance back at the ice man as I shook my head. “Nope.” I lied. “I’m not looking for a man, DC. I had the best and I’m not ready to replace him.”
A strange look flitted over her face. There and gone in an instant. “You had a man? What happened if you don’t mind me asking?”
I looked at the trees with leaves that were starting to turn yellow and rustled in the light breeze. Autumn was slowly creeping in. Drawing in a deep breath I looked back at her. “My old man was gunned down in an ambush. He died on the scene. I was eight and a half months pregnant and the shock sent me into labour, our son was born the next day.”
“Jesus.” DC said softly. “Did they find the bastards who did it?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t in a good place for a long time and by the time I asked I was told it was club business and to let it go.”
We were both silent for several minutes as we stood there looking into each other’s eyes. Then DC nodded as if she had made a decision.
“I’m not asking about your club affiliation because I know if they were our enemies Hawk would never have let you come. But if you ever need any information about what happened to your old man don’t hesitate to call me. I’ll get it for you, no questions asked. Okay?”
Her eyes were dark and hard before they flipped back to warm and concerned. So weird.
I smiled, took her hand and squeezed. “Thanks, DC. And just so you know, my old man rode with the Sinner’s Sons MC.”
Again that strange look slipped into her eyes and it felt as if a colder version of her were looking at me out of her dark eyes before it disappeared and the warmth was back. Weird, very weird.
“Cool, now let’s move on because those bastards back there are getting too interested in what we’re talking about. We old ladies need to stick together.”
With that we continued on towards the picnic table where I was introduced to the women DC considered her friends and family. All of whom were staring at me, their eyes filled with curiosity.
“I’ll start at this end of the table and go round so you can put faces to names. This is Aunt Suzy, she’s Bulldog’s old lady and Ice, Spider, Gail and Genna are her kids. Gail isn’t here today because she’s about to pop out twins and is resting. Then we have Aunt Beryl, she’s Hawk’s aunt and the single reason we’re not dying of starvation around here.”
Aunt Beryl shook a finger at her but was grinning at the same time, as giggles came from around the table.
“Moving on swiftly, next we have Nadja, who works with me at Mainline Ink and will pierce anything you can think of, she’s Shaka’s old lady and he’s a Road Warrior, then we have Linda, my bestie, she’s Rover’s old lady and he’s a Road Warrior as well. And this lady over here is my surrogate mum, Aunt Liddy. She’s Tiny’s old lady, the Road Warriors’ VP. The angry looking one over here is Aunt Zelda, my other surrogate mum and don’t worry about the face, she likes giving me shit whenever she can.” Laughter around the table, including from Aunt Zelda. “This one here is my baby sister, Deena and she’s still at school, so no alcohol or hot bikers for her. And next to her we have Grace who also works at Mainline Ink with me, she’s Tiny and Aunt Liddy’s daughter and my other baby sister. And the beauty next to her is Genna, Bulldog and Suzy’s daughter and Ice’s baby sister.”
Waving over the table DC grinned. “These are the only women here that I can safely introduce you to because they are the only ones I actually know. The rest of them I’ve seen around but I haven’t made an effort to get to know them. Most of them are nasty bitches.”
“Don’t listen to her, River. Come sit down over here and tell us all about yourself.” Aunt Liddy ordered, and I knew it was an order by the way she pointed to a seat at the end of the table.
“Aunt Liddy, give the girl a chance to at least get a drink before you start interrogating her.” DC laughed as she quickly led me over to the bar.
As soon as we each a drink, a beer for DC and a cider for me we went back to the table filled with nosy interrogators.
“Right, you have your drink, now tell us all about yourself.”
I shrugged. “There’s not much to tell. I’m a mechanic and work with my dad. I repair and rebuild bikes, classic cars and muscle cars. I live in a cottage on my parents’ property. And I have a four almost five year old son.”
“Did you bring him along today?” One of the women asked. I think it was Linda.
“No, he isn’t here today.”
I kept my answer short, but it didn’t deter the inquisitive and nosy women.
“Where’s his daddy? Is he still in the picture?” Aunt Beryl asked ignoring DC frowning angrily at her.
“He, uhm, he died before our son was born.”
Aunt Beryl reached across the table and clasped a hand over my clenched fist.
“I’m so sorry. Forgive me for being such a nosy old bat.”
I shrugged and smiled. “It’s okay.”
After a short embarrassed silence talk around the table returned to general subjects, and DC was right, it was mostly about girly stuff I knew nothing about. I couldn’t add anything to the conversation so I just listened and nodded as if I knew what the hell they were talking about.
I so didn’t.
I sat scratching at the label on the bottle when I felt eyes on me, looking up I saw him. Ice. He was leaning against a tree and staring right at me. Just staring. No smile. Blank faced and staring.
What the hell?
He made me feel damned uncomfortable and I avoided his eyes and looked back at the women around the table.
Thank goodness no one had noticed the stare down.
Or if they had no one commented on it.
Again, thank goodness.
CHAPTER FIVE
Ice
He couldn’t keep his eyes off the blonde who came walking around the side of the clubhouse with Kev. They were walking together like they knew each other very well. Kev was touching her arm as he pointed to DC and waved her over.
Who was this fucking gorgeous woman who talked to Kev and DC as if she knew them well? Especially Kev, the little shit.
She was dressed in faded jeans, a plain white v-neck tee with a man’s big red and black plaid flannel shirt over it. The shirt wasn’t new, and looked soft and worn in. Her biker boots were well worn and he could see scuff marks that let him know they weren’t for show. This woman rode a bike.
It was her hair that had first caught his eye and that of several of the brothers. It fell down her back to her ass in a straight light golden blonde mass. It shone and glittered in the sun like pale gold. The breeze tugged at a few strands and lifted it as she stood talking to Kev and DC.
And then she laughed. It rang out, smokey and deep and hit him right in the gut. He felt a stirring in his blood as he watched her.
Closing his eyes he forced himself to shut it down. He couldn’t let this happen until he cleared his head about Emmie or fucking Emma as she now liked to be called.
But he knew if it hadn’t been for all the shit looming on his horizon tonight he would have had her in his bed with those long muscled legs of hers around his back as he fucked her long and deep.
Hawk calling him over drew him out of the daydream of her on her back on his bed with her pale blonde hair glitterin
g against the dark sheets. He forced himself to cool it as he walked over.
And then his prez introduced them and it felt as if he had been hit by a two by four. He immediately knew who she was. River Anderson, old lady of Sparrow Martins, the SAA of the Sinner’s Sons MC who had been gunned down almost five years ago.
Jesus. She was an untouchable. Royal game. And she was Sinner’s Sons MC property.
He didn’t care. He wanted her, badly. Threads of her scent swirled around him as the breeze lifted her hair and his gut clenched. It was faint, barely there just enough that he wanted to stuff his face in her neck and breathe her in.
Close up she was beautiful without even trying. The only make-up she wore was the black shit to make her eyelashes darker and those dark lashes rimmed the most amazing blue eyes he had ever seen. They were a strange sparkling icy pale blue with a darker blue rim around the outer edge. She was tall, about five eight he guessed and her body was trim and toned. She wasn’t one of those bitches who walked around with a six pack because she worked out so much. No, she had the sweetest little tummy hidden behind her jeans. The kind of tummy that drove bitches wild when they couldn’t get rid of it. But he liked it. It was something he wanted to nuzzle and bite before he went down on her.
He was in a total haze as he talked to his prez and let his eyes draw in every detail about the woman across from him. Despite the warm day she hadn’t rolled up the sleeves of her shirt and he wondered why. What was she hiding behind those sleeves? He wanted to take it off her and explore.
He liked the sound of her voice. It was deep for a woman and had a rusty sort of purr to it.
And he wasn’t the only one who liked her voice and her laugh. He immediately saw the interest in Sin’s eyes as he walked over and was introduced. He gave the bastard one look but he just grinned and Ice knew the fucker was going to try and score this one.
It was not going to happen.
“So that’s River Anderson.” Beast growled as DC and River walked away. “I wondered what she would look like and I have to say it’s nothing like I imagined.”
Lost And Found In Blue (Iron Dogz MC Book 2) Page 4