Ox (The Devil’s Riders #5)

Chapter 4

FOUR

Kayla

I was sick to my stomach all night long. Even after getting home, locking the doors, and climbing into bed, I couldn’t shake the fear that Ghost was coming for me.

It wasn’t until nearly five in the morning that I managed to fall back asleep, waking up only a few hours later to my phone ringing.

I answered it before I even thought to check who was calling. “Hello,” I said, my voice still groggy and sleep-clogged.

“Hey, Babe,” a deep, gravelly voice returned, causing me to sit up straight in my bed. “Did you sleep well last night?”

It was Ghost. How had he managed to get my number? “No, I didn’t actually,” I forced out, trying to get my trembling voice under control.

“That’s because I wasn’t there beside you. I’ll be there tonight though. Don’t worry. After I’m done with you, you’ll sleep like a goddamned baby.” His following chuckle was a threat even darker than his words.

“Why are you doing this?” I demanded, hating the power he so easily wielded over me.

“Because you’re mine, Babe. I knew it the moment I saw you in that lifeguard tower. Wearing red, like a beautiful flame in the sky,” he stated bizarrely.

“I’m not yours!” I hissed, knowing I shouldn’t fight with his delusional ass, but needing to let him know I would never be ‘his’ no matter how many times he declared it.

“Not yet,” he returned, undeterred by my vehemence. “But soon.”

“Not ever!” I shot back, my gorge rising in the back of my throat. “I don’t want anything to do with you, Ghost! Do you get that!”

“I’m coming by tonight after I take care of a few things for my Club,” he continued, like I hadn’t just said what I’d said. “Be ready for me. And, Babe,” he paused, making sure I was listening to his following instruction, “wear red.”

Before I could say anything, he hung up. My heart beat in my chest so fiercely, I felt like it just might give out.

Jumping out of bed, I ran to the bathroom and hovered over the toilet. I stayed there for several minutes until I was sure nothing was coming up. Deciding I needed to shower, as I still smelled like the diner food from last night and it wasn’t helping my sour stomach, I climbed into it and hurriedly washed myself. The whole time I was in there, I kept peeking out the curtain, terrified that when I did, I’d suddenly see Ghost standing there. Waiting for me. Smiling like his ghoulish namesake.

I couldn’t stay in this apartment. But I couldn’t leave, either. What if his call had been a trick and he was luring me out of the house? I was so confused, I did the only thing I could think of doing. I called Maddy.

“Hello,” Maddy said, her happy voice coming over the line loud and clear.

I didn’t even bother with a greeting. “He called me this morning,” I spewed out, choking up on the last few words.

“Who? Ghost?” she said, her voice going from happy to worried in an instant.

“Yeah.” I began pacing then. “He says he’s coming for me tonight. To my apartment, Maddy! I’m so scared.”

“Hold on, Kayla. I want you to speak to German. He’s sitting right next to me.” Maddy put her phone on speaker then.

“That bastard called you this morning?” German spoke, sounding pissed. “What the hell did he say?”

I began to shake. “He said he’s coming for me. That I don’t have a choice in what he’s doing. He even had the nerve to tell me what to wear, the sick bastard!”

I scoured my closet for some clothes. I avoided anything red like the plague. Settling on a pair of jeans and a blue tank top, I quickly got dressed.

“Listen, Kayla. My Brother Ox is going to be there in just a few hours. But, if you see Ghost lurking around your apartment before then, I want you to call the police. As much as I hate to involve them, there’s nothing we can do until Ox gets into town. You might not be able to wait on him if things escalate faster than expected.”

“Okay,” I whispered, fisting my hands together to still their jittering. “I’ll do that.”

“My phone is going to be on me all day. Call me if you need anything,” Maddy said, comforting me all the way from Nevada.

“Thank you,” I told them, so grateful that I had someone like Maddy in my life. “I don’t know what I’d do without your help.”

“Hang in there,” Maddy told me. “Help is on the way.”

Ox

At the rest stop, I checked my phone and saw German had texted me while I’d been riding. The message read: Ghost is escalating. Called Kayla this morning. Said he was going to show up at her place tonight. The sick fuck even told her what to wear. Get there as quickly as you can. The girl’s a fucking a mess, and so is mine because of it.

“I’m an hour out,” I texted back, though it was more like two. However, the way I drove, it was doable. “Tell her I’ll be there soon.”

I made it in forty-five minutes. Stepping off my bike, I glanced around the run-down apartment complex. I doubted if anyone would notice someone like Ghost slinking around this place. There wasn’t a single security camera in sight in this part of town. I’m sure the locks on Kayla’s door would be of the bargain basement variety as well. The kind that would take five seconds to kick in if someone were so inclined. And Ghost had proven he was more than inclined. He was a man possessed.

Finding her apartment number, I walked over to the door and knocked. I heard the soft patter of feet, then the raspy sound of a chain sliding off a track.

Stepping back from the door a few feet, so as not to startle the girl with my hulking size, I noticed her door didn’t have a spyglass on it. Which meant she was opening it without knowing who was standing on the opposite side. I was definitely going to have a talk with her about that bit of foolishness as soon as I scouted her apartment for other potentially dangerous issues.

Kayla stepped outside then and I had to remind myself not to react. I’d never gotten a picture of the woman, just been told that she was a short blonde in her early twenties. But now, seeing her up close and personal, I totally got why she’d caught Ghost’s eye. She was fucking stunning! And the kind of curvy that made my dick stand up and salute the female form.

“Hey,” I said, after catching myself staring a little too hard at the petite blonde. “I’m Ox. You must be Kayla.”

The girl’s beautiful brown eyes rounded with surprise as they moved up, and up some more, after that. I guess nobody had thought to fill her in about what I looked like either. I get it. I’m six-six and solid muscle. It takes some people a minute to get used to me. And this girl was tiny, though filled out in all my favorite places.

“Ox?” she repeated, her voice soft and melodic.

I smiled, realizing how strange my road name must sound to someone outside of the Club. “My parents named me Greg, but my Brothers named me Ox. It’s what I prefer.”

Her eyes scanned me up and down and she smiled. “I can see why. The name suits you well.”

Damn, I wish German had told me how good looking she was! Then I might have been prepared for our meeting without looking like some loser pervert recently released from prison. I bet the asshole had done it on purpose, too, thinking my reaction would be hilarious. I’d be having words with my Brother later. And by words, I meant his face would be meeting my fist more than once.

“Maddy called ahead and said you’d be arriving in a few hours. Thanks for getting here so fast.” Widening the door, she stepped to the side and said, “Do you want to come in?”

I’d like to come inside in more ways than one. Jesus, what was wrong with me? This girl was going through hell and all I could do was think about getting my dick wet!

Following behind her, my eyes dropped to her round, juicy ass and I nearly groaned. Fuck me! She looked just as good from behind as she did from the front. This girl, though probably only five-two, had curves for days. And I couldn’t help but think what I’d like to do if I was lucky enough to get my hands on them.

“Are you thirsty?” Kayla asked then.

My eyes snapped back up to her face as she glanced over her shoulder. It took me a second to process what she’d said. When she did, I realized how lecherous I must look, drooling over her hot body. I bet I did look thirsty. But not in the way she’d meant.

“You got a bottle of water, Babe?” I asked, my throat suddenly parched. I could blame it on the long drive. Or, maybe, it was something else causing my discomfort.

“You’ve had a long trip,” she noted, going to her fridge to pull out a bottle of water. “Are you hungry? Can I fix you something to eat?”

Shit! She could cook, too? If I didn’t have a boner for her before, I certainly did now. I tried to keep my eyes from straying to her amazing rack when I said, “I could eat.”

“What are you in the mood for?” she asked, handing me a plastic water bottle.

Jesus! It wasn’t a dirty question, but my dick was intent on turning it into one. In fact, he had a whole fantasy going on here where Kayla told me how hungry she was for something not in her fridge, but in my pants. Which, I realize, only happened in pornos. Still, the big guy straining against my jeans could dream. Right?

Suddenly, I felt like we needed to get out of this apartment. This close, all I could think about was bending this girl over and stuffing myself so deep inside her pussy she’d feel me in her fucking throat! I bet it would feel so good, I’d decide it was my new address and permanently take up residence there. Plus, she smelled like oranges, combined with a hint of vanilla, and the scent was driving me wild. The light fragrance was so feminine, it made my balls clench with a primitive need to bury my nose in her hair, neck, and between her legs like a fucking ravenous beast.

Seeing as though she’d been alone, worrying herself into a panic since last night, I decided I’d take her out for some food. That way my cock would settle down, she could tell me her story in peace, and I could fill my empty belly with some much needed grub.

“That’s a sweet offer, Babe. But I bet you’ve been cooped up all day in this place and are dying to get out. Why don’t I take you to a restaurant? You can tell me all about Ghost while we eat.”

The mere mention of the man’s name caused the girl to look panic stricken. “What if he comes by and I’m not here? He’ll be so angry.”

In that moment, I could have beaten the man to death with my bare hands for putting this beautiful woman through that kind of fear. No man should ever inspire a terrified expression on a woman’s face. If they did, they deserved a thrashing so severe, they’d never have the chance to make the mistake again.

“You don’t have to worry about Ghost anymore, Kayla,” I told her. “I’m here now. He’s my concern. Leave that loser to me.”

Kayla

I kept playing and replaying Ox’s words in my head as we walked outside to his motorcycle. It might be downright archaic of me, but I loved how safe they made me feel.

“You don’t have to worry about Ghost anymore, Kayla. I’m here now. He’s my concern. Leave that loser to me.”

Damn! If his size, good looks, and killer smile weren’t enough already, his words had been the ultimate cherry on top. All I wanted to do was feel safe. And Ox certainly made me feel that way. Along with other feelings I should be ashamed of myself for. Namely, lust. Yeah, lust was definitely at the top of that very long list.

Good God the man was hot! Bulging biceps. Edgy tattoos. And his height! Easily standing six and half feet tall, he towered over me, making me feel so small. So fragile. So easily dominated. I shivered as I walked behind him thinking what it would be like to be held, and loved , by a beast of a man like that! I began to sweat just thinking about it.

Goosebumps bloomed across my skin and my thighs pressed together in a sultry, instinctive way. I could feel that I was getting wet, just thinking about riding behind him on his bike. Spreading my thighs, mounting his motorcycle, then wrapping my legs around his middle as we drove into the night. I couldn’t help but see the sexual parallel there as Ox handed me a smaller helmet he’d stored in his saddle bags.

He smiled warmly as he handed me the sleek, black protective gear. “I brought an extra just in case you didn’t have one.”

And he was thoughtful, too! The man was a f’ing unicorn! “Thanks,” I said, letting him fit it on my head and carefully adjust the chin strap into place.

Each time his fingers grazed my face, it felt like sparks of heat were kissing my skin in the most delicious fashion. What would it feel like if he were touching me more intimately? I shivered at the thought.

“You cold, Babe?” Ox asked, a frown crossing his handsome features. “It wasn’t too bad on the drive over, but I understand if you want to take your car instead.”

Biting my lower lip, I shook my head. I wanted on the back of his bike in the worst way. Cold or not, I’d suck it up just for the excuse to wrap my arms around him. Besides, today was far warmer than yesterday. It was still around sixty degrees out, unlike last night when it had plummeted into the forties.

“A tough chick,” Ox said with a devilish grin. “I like it.”

His praise made me feel warm and tingly all the way down to my toes. “Most days, I am. But this Ghost thing has got me thinking I’m not as tough as I thought I was.”

Ox shook his head at that. “Kayla, this situation isn’t your fault. I hope you believe me when I tell you that.”

I really needed to hear those words. I’d been playing, and replaying, our meeting in my head since this summer. Had I led Ghost on? Given him the impression I was interested in something that I wasn’t? That wasn’t like me, to blame myself. Still, I couldn’t understand why the biker believed we had such a connection when I felt nothing for him but fear and disgust.

“I appreciate that,” I said, taking a deep breath then letting it slip out. Ox just waited, watching me decompress without rushing me through the process. I really appreciated that about him, too.

When he saw that I’d calmed some, he said, “I know a place that serves juicy burgers and the most crispy fries you’ve ever eaten. You want to try it?”

How could I say no? I’d have gladly sat down and dined on sawdust and drunk battery fluid just to spend time with this teddy bear of a man. “It sounds wonderful.”

Stepping onto his bike, Ox looked over his shoulder and ordered, “Climb aboard.”

Straddling behind him, my thighs gripped the sides of his while he started the engine. The vibration skittered right to my naughty bits. My arms tightened around his waist, as the bike blasted forward. Thankful I’d worn my leather jacket, I leaned my cheek against Ox’s wide back. His massive frame shielded me from the chill of the wind as it whipped around us and I thoroughly enjoyed the thrill of the ride.

The restaurant was only about twenty minutes from my apartment and about five from the highway. As we parked at the little hole in the wall eatery, I asked, “Do you come to Cali often?”

Ox carefully unstrapped my helmet. “Whenever the need arises.” His gaze traveled down my body as he spoke, sending frizzures of pleasure to all four corners of it.

That hot stare warmed me all over despite my previous chill. “Is that for work?” I asked, barely able to keep eye contact with his unwavering gaze.

“Yeah, the Club keeps me pretty busy,” Ox answered, as we moved toward the entrance.

“Wait, you work for the Club?” Call me stupid, but I didn’t realize Ox worked for the Devil’s Riders on top of being a member. I guess that’s how he found time to drive down here to help me. I probably should have put two and two together before this. However, I’d been so torn up about Ghost nearly running me off the road at the time to really think it all the way through.

Ox held the door open for me and we both walked through. “Yeah, Babe. I’m the Club Enforcer.”

I paused and this time it was my turn to look at him from head to toe. “Makes sense. I certainly wouldn’t want to mess with you.”

Ox’s mouth turned up at the corners in a sexy grin. “For you, I’d be gentle.”

I laughed, and teased back, “I’m tough, remember? I can take it.” I’d meant it as a joke, but I was kind of breathless when I’d said it and it sounded more like a come-on than a recall to our earlier conversation.

Ox’s blue eyes smoldered at that. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he replied, his thumb grazing my bottom lip.

The waitress broke the tension when she asked us if we were ready to be seated. We followed her to the back of the restaurant, which kind of reminded me of the one I worked at. It boasted the same red booth seating, plain dark tables, worn menus, and looked as though it hadn’t been renovated since the owner bought it thirty years previously. The earmarks of every good restaurant. They weren’t hiding behind ambiance, just relying on the quality of their food to stay afloat.

“How’d you find this place?” I asked, never having been here myself, though I lived relatively close by.

Ox didn’t even review his menu. It was clear he already knew what was on it and what he wanted.

Adjusting his long legs so they fit somewhat under the table, he leaned back and placed his arms alongside the top of the seat. “It’s right off the highway and I’d stop in whenever the Club had business in the area. Like I said, they got the best burgers in town.”

That sounded great to me. I hadn’t had a burger in some time. My mom used to add a package of onion soup mix to the meat and it was amazing! I hadn’t been home in over a year to have one of her delicious burgers and I missed them, and my parents, terribly.

As if sensing what I was thinking, Ox asked, “You from around here?”

“No, Massachusetts actually. I came out here for school. My parents are still on the east coast,” I explained.

Leaning forward, as though he was actually interested in my answer, he asked, “You going back North when school is done?”

I shook my head. “This is my home now. I love the weather, my friends, and I have some potential leads on some well paying jobs once I graduate.”

Ox looked impressed. “You’re going to be a nurse, right?”

I nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah. I can’t wait until I’m done with college and I can actually earn a living. I swear, the cost of school is eating me alive! Plus the cost of living out here isn’t cheap either!”

Our drinks arrived then. The waitress handed both of us cokes and some straws. “I’m LuAnne and I’ll be your server tonight. You kids know what you’re getting today or do you need another minute to decide?”

I took my lead from my companion and ordered the classic burger with fries. However, I’d only ordered one while Ox ordered two. But I could understand why. The man was as big as his Club name implied and probably needed as many calories to sustain his immense strength. On top of his meal, he ordered an appetizer platter that had mozzarella sticks, jalapeno poppers, and potato skins.

Before the waitress had even finished taking my order, she saw that Ox had consumed nearly his entire soda. “I’ll bring you a few refills on that drink, too, sweetie,” she said with a wink. “I can tell you’re going to need it.”

I couldn’t help the smile that crept onto my lips. “You definitely charmed our waitress,” I said, once she was out of earshot.

“It wasn’t the waitress I was hoping to charm,” he returned, his blue eyes boring a hole into mine as he polished off the amber liquid inside his frosted glass.

My heart began to beat fast and my nipples hardened at his direct words. What was coming over me? I was acting like I’d never seen a man before and was going into some sort of heat!

Well, to be fair to my libido, I’d never known a man like Ox before. So handsome. So charming. So scorchingly hot! The biker had such a powerful air about him. Like he wasn’t afraid of anything or anyone in this world. It was so sexy and comforting at the same time, I didn’t know if I wanted to hug him or fuc–

“You smiling about something in particular, Babe?” Ox posed then.

I didn’t even realize I’d been smiling until he said that. I blushed out of embarrassment at my dirty thoughts. “No, I’m just enjoying myself. I don’t really go out that often. Between work and school, there isn’t much free time,” I rambled.

The waitress arrived with his cokes then and our appetizer. She brought us extra napkins, too. LuAnne definitely had a soft spot for the big biker, I could tell.

“Holler if you need anything else,” she told us, tossing Ox an adoring look before checking in with the booth behind us.

“Dig in,” Ox encouraged, handing me one of the two plates the waitress had given us.

I grabbed a mozzarella stick and a few jalapeno poppers. Nibbling, I asked, “So, what’s it like to be in an MC? Besides German, I’ve never known anyone in one before. And Ghost doesn’t count,” I added with a full body shiver. “I can’t say I know him well at all.”

Ox popped a mozzarella stick into his mouth and chewed. “What do you want to know about it?”

That was a loaded question. I’d read some romance novels and they had been pretty spicy in regards to what the men got up to in those Clubhouses of theirs. Not feeling like I could ask such intimate questions though, I left it open ended. “What does a Club Enforcer do on a daily basis?”

“Well, today, I woke up and drove down to California. I met up with a beautiful woman who needs my help with some biker thug who can’t take no for an answer. I took her out to dinner and now we’re enjoying some good food and even better conversation.”

My cheeks flamed at him calling me beautiful. “I mean on days when you’re not saving damsels in distress.”

Ox placed another mozzarella stick on my plate then and said, “You need to eat more than that. You’ll wither away on me if you don’t. I promised Maddy I’d keep you safe and in good health. If I break my word, she’ll have my hide! Redheads can have a temper if you piss them off. My Brother Hammer is a prime example. He’s all laughs until someone gets on his bad side. Then, his inner redhead kicks in and you better watch your back!”

I rolled my eyes at his overdramatic words. “I’m hardly in danger of withering any time soon.”

I was in good shape, I knew that much. I was a lifeguard, a busy waitress, worked out at the school gym when in session, and ran as often as my schedule allowed. But I was nowhere near “withering” territory. To put it bluntly, I had ample padding to keep me going through the winter months, extra mozzarella stick or not.

Our burgers arrived then and I realized Ox was dodging my question about his involvement with the Club. I wondered if that was because all of their business wasn’t on the up and up or if there was another reason entirely. That was definitely something to ponder.

Thinking about my friend Maddy and her super caring, loving boyfriend German then, I couldn’t help but wonder if it were possible to be so different and still make a relationship work. She’d been born into extreme wealth. I’m talking private schools, mansions, yachts, and fast sports cars, kind of money. And her boyfriend German was in an MC and led a far less sheltered kind of life. I’d have to talk to her about what it was like to date a biker when I had a minute alone with my busy friend. See what her take was on the issue.

But I was getting way ahead of myself. This man wasn’t asking for me to date him. He was here merely as a favor to a Club Brother who’d asked him to deal with a rival MC that had gotten out of hand. The fact that he’d called me beautiful didn’t mean anything. He was probably just being sweet, like he was with LuAnne whenever she stopped by to check in on us. I was reading way too much into this. I needed to take a breath and a step back before I embarrassed myself and added to my already long list of problems.

Ox created a little puddle of ketchup on his plate for his fries and handed me the bottle. “Tell me how it all began. Ghost’s obsession, I mean.”

Squeezing some ketchup onto my burger and a dollop on the side for my fries, I took a deep, bolstering breath. “During the summer, I lifeguard at an outdoor public pool and there’s a main road that runs past it. Ghost stopped by one day to buy a Pepsi from the vending machine near my lifeguard tower. For whatever reason, he started talking to me and asking me all about the area. I thought he was just killing time on his way to somewhere else, but then he asked me out.”

Ox wiped his mouth on a napkin. “I’m assuming you said no?”

“Yeah. Even the first time we met, I felt he was off. Like there was something just not right about the guy. I can’t explain it. It’s like, he’s predatory. He actually kind of frightened me.”

“You have good instincts,” Ox told me. “I’m not trying to scare you, Kayla, but Ghost isn’t the kind of man you ever want to get to know.”

Coming from a hardcore biker, that meant something. “Yeah. Like I said, he was off. And not just quirky, but strange. He was so intense and was constantly mining me for details about my personal life no matter how I tried to shrug him off.”

“You made a solid choice, avoiding his advances,” Ox commended. “It must have been hard to turn him down, as persistent as he was.”

“I guess,” I said, dredging my fry through the ketchup. “Besides, I don’t date often. I need that spark. You know what I mean? When you feel it down deep and nothing else seems to matter but that other person?”

Ox studied my face hard. “Yeah, I know.”

My cheeks grew pink as I realized how much I’d just overshared. “Well, Ghost just wouldn’t take no for an answer. He kept showing up at my job. Using the soda machine as an excuse to come by and stalk me. It creeped me out so much, I called the police station and they told me there was nothing I could do about it. The pool was public property. And, technically, he hadn’t made any threats, so he was within his rights to be there.”

Ox snorted. “The cops are useless in situations like these. They can’t do anything until some asshole beats up a woman or worse.”

So true. I’d thought those exact sentiments when I’d hung up the phone with them. I knew it wasn’t their fault. They were sympathetic to my plight, but the law was the law. And, until one was broken, their hands were tied.

“That’s when I told Maddy about my situation. When she and German came to campus and he was wearing a cut, I thought he might be from the same Club as Ghost. That’s how I learned about the Devil’s Riders and their dislike of the Watchmen,” I ended delicately.

“Yeah, our Clubs couldn’t be more different from one another than day is from night,” Ox said, taking a large bite of his burger.

I smiled. “Thank God for that.”

Ox smiled back. “Not God. Just my Prez Reaper. He’s a good man. He’d never allow the shit that goes down at the Watchmen Clubhouse to go down at ours.”

“Maddy said nearly the same thing. She knew your Club would help me, even when you weren’t obligated to. I’ll forever be in your debt for this,” I spoke earnestly.

Ox looked uncomfortable with my praise. “German told me Ghost tried to run you off the road as well?”

My heart sank as I told him all about the terrifying scene. “It was like he didn’t care if he lived or died. It was the craziest thing I’d ever seen. Like he was getting off on it or something.”

“Probably, Ghost is a total nutjob,” Ox agreed, taking a sip of his coke. “And it sounds like he won’t stop pursuing you until someone makes him.”

The little bell above the door jingled then and Ox looked up. His expression hardened to stone and I knew something was wrong immediately.

“Kayla, don’t say anything. Let me handle this,” he instructed, rising up out of the booth.