Bishop: A Dark MC Romance (The Devil's Riders Book 3)

Chapter 12

Evie

“You can leave, Brother,” Maze said, his bearded face breaking out in a smile. “But me and my boys want to get to know the two women you got with you. They stay.”

A chill went down my spine at his words. Boots looked ready to commit murder, which was equally as frightening.

“I’m not your “Brother”, and that shit ain’t going to happen. These girls belong to the Devil’s Riders MC,” Boots heatedly returned. “You mess with them, you mess with all of us!”

“Once they spend a few nights with the Watchmen, I’m sure they’ll change their minds,” Maze quipped, and the men behind him rumbled with laughter.

Maze, like the men he was surrounded by, was a large man. But unlike Matty, I instinctively knew he wouldn’t be gentle or kind if I was in his care. Looking at him, his ruddy face, his cold blue eyes, and thin mouth, I couldn’t imagine a worse fate than his hands on me. I moved closer to Amelia’s side trying to hide that I was visibly shaking.

“You don’t want the Devils as your enemy, Maze,” Boots warned. “Step the fuck away from that door and let us pass!”

Maze shrugged. “I’m willing to risk it.” He looked at the bikers standing around him. “How about you boys? You willing to risk a fight for some grade-A pussy?”

The men cheered and he tossed his empty beer bottle onto the floor. “What about you, Prospect? You willing to risk getting your head beat in over pussy that ain’t even yours and that you”ll never even get a chance to taste?”

I could see the glint of something metal slide smoothly onto Boots’s fingers as he prepared himself for the inevitable fight. “Damn straight. Fair fight or not, I’m going to knock as many of you cocksuckers out before you take me down!”

“Have it your way.” Maze gave the signal for the men to surge forward.

Amelia grabbed my hand. Pulling me away from the fight, we booked it toward the exit sign posted at the back door. We didn’t get far. Maze and two of his goons were easily able to run us down within a few feet of our goal.

Like the hellcat she was, Amelia fought with all of her might. Kicking, biting, and scratching, she did a good job of it. Me, I was terrified. I couldn’t do much more than thrash and cry out when I felt strong hands bite down on my shoulders.

Behind us, I could hear Boots screaming, “Get your filthy fucking hands off of them or I’ll kill you all!”

The Watchman holding me tugged me by the hair and wheeled me in the direction of his President. “What do you think, Maze? You want the blonde or brunette?”

Maze gave the question some consideration. First looking at Amelia, who was still shouting and carrying on like a warrior, then at me, who had gone very still and quiet.

“Who says I have to pick just one?” he quipped.

The bikers whooped and hollered at his lewd suggestion as their leader considered his options. “I like a wild cat in my bed as much as the next guy,” the man stated pragmatically, “but I’ve already promised my boy, Ace, the blonde. Our Brother has a score to settle with the bitch, and I owe him a favor.”

Amelia went pale and her head whipped up. A tall, blond man stepped forward. As he neared, I noticed he was good-looking, though he was sporting some pretty severe scars across his handsome face.

“You still want her, Brother?” Maze called over his shoulder.

Ace’s face split into a wild grin and I noticed he had some blinged-out veneers in place of what must have been missing teeth. “Yeah. I want her.”

Walking up to Amelia, he jammed his fingers in her long hair and dragged her close. “Your brother and his friends aren’t here to save you this time, bitch! You’re coming home with me and I’m going to show you what a real man is like.”

Amelia spit in his face which only made Ace’s smile widen. “You like to spit, baby girl?” he posed. “Good, I’ll give you something to spit on. My cock before I stick it in every tight little hole in your body.”

The Watchmen shouted out their encouragement, giving him their ideas about what he could do with my horrified friend. To my embarrassment, I whimpered out loud, catching Maze’s attention.

“You scared, Babe?” he said to me, gathering me into his arms. “I like that. Scared will make you nice and obedient. And the only thing I like more than a wild cat in bed is an obedient bitch. You gonna be good to daddy?”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!” I piped up, my will to fight kicking in a little belatedly.

Maze yanked back my head and licked the column of my throat like an apex predator before he moved in for the kill. “That’s cute that you think you have a choice.”

A free hand reached over and squeezed my breast hard and I cried out in pain.

“Big, natural tits, too!” he admired. “Can’t wait to fuck these later on.” He stopped for a second and looked at Ace. “Who does this bitch belong to again? I’ve never seen her before and I’d have remembered these tits.” The rough pads of his thumbs scraped across my nipples and I whimpered from the pain of it.

Ace had Amelia in a death grip when he answered. “I hear she”s Bishop’s new fuck toy. This one’s brother,” he said, punctuating the statement by shaking my friend hard. “The asshole who gave me these scars.”

Maze chuckled. “Two for the price of one. How poetic.”

“Sure is,” Ace agreed.

“So Bishop has himself a steady girl,” Maze spoke with chagrin. “You must have a magic pussy or something, bitch, to keep that boy coming back for more. From what I hear, Bishop lays more pipe annually than a plumber!”

The burly man picked me up and set me atop the pool table. Wrenching my knees apart, he stepped in between them and rubbed his thickening penis against the juncture of my thighs.

“I can”t wait to feel it wrapped around my cock,” Maze spoke, holding me in place as he continued to rub against my center. “What’s your name, Babe?”

I didn’t want to give him anything, but I couldn’t think of any reason to deny him that. At least when he was talking, he wasn’t stripping me naked and raping me.

“Evie,” I answered, trying to sound as brave as possible. The voice crack at the end of my response didn’t aid in my cause any.

“Little Evie,” he purred, taking my hand and dragging it down to his crotch. “You look like a nice girl, Evie. Not the kind to hang around with a filthy MC. You like getting dicked down by dirty bikers, Babe?”

I swallowed hard and tried to turn my face away. When he forced it back in place, I snarked, “Only one!”

Maze threw his head back and laughed at my boldness. “So the kitten has claws. I like that, Babe. I like that a lot. And I’m about to prove to you that you’ll like Watchmen cock so much more than Rider dick. In fact, by the time I’m done with you, you’ll be begging for it.”

Maze began to unbuckle his pants and my face drained of all color. “Ace,” he called over his shoulder. “What do you say we get this party started right here and now? You can consider it your initiation for joining the Watchmen.”

Ace effortlessly dragged Amelia over to the pool table by her hair and bent her double over it despite her exuberant protestations. “It would be my pleasure, Prez,” he said, placing one large hand on her back to immobilize her.

“I got a big dick, Babe,” Maze cautioned me, fisting himself hard through his boxers. “And you look like you got a tight pussy. This is going to hurt,” he said with a sneer, wrapping his hand around my throat, “but I’ll teach you to like that, too.”

I could barely breathe and feared I’d pass out from the enormous biker cutting off my airway. Just as the sides of my vision grew fuzzy, I heard shouting at the front door. Rolling my petrified eyes in that direction, I saw a group of familiar men storming into the bar.

My eyes immediately fell on Matty. Normally, when he was looking at me, his expression was soft and fun-loving. Right now, it was rage-filled, brutal, and murderous.

Maze swung around and immediately did up his pants. Before he could cinch his belt, Matty was on him. The President of the Watchmen might have outweighed his Devilish opponent, but he certainly wasn’t taller or more muscular.

Matty, to my shock, fought like some people dance. His movements were completely instinctual. His first blow was quick and brutal. It landed Maze square in the face, shattering his nose. Blood spattered in all directions, and I scooted backward out of its reach.

Matty aimed for the man’s middle next. Working it like those guys do to the heavy, dangling bags I’d seen in the movies. To his credit, Maze took the beating like a rhino. He even swung and connected with Matty’s cheek once. Matty didn’t even flinch. In fact, it only seemed to add to his determination to obliterate his opponent.

Hands reached out for me then, and I realized it was Amelia pulling me in for a hug. “Are you okay?” she whispered, her voice choked with tears.

Dazed, I managed a nod. “Yeah. You?”

“I’m okay,” she reassured, looking at Matty, then her fiancé, who I was pretty sure was beating the blond man named Ace to death a dozen or so feet away from us.

Gazing around the room, I saw Boots headbutt a guy, German throat punch someone else, Reaper knock a man out cold, and Ox, the Club Enforcer, fighting two bikers at once. Holy fuck! I’d never seen anything like this before. It was an all-out brawl and it was absolute insanity.

“Cops are coming!” someone in the crowd shouted, but neither MC seemed to care. “The scanner says they’re down the street.”

Amelia ran over to her fiancé’s side. “Hawk, stop! The cops are coming. He isn’t worth going to jail over!”

I could tell Ace wasn’t doing so good. He might not be unconscious yet, but I bet he wished he was. It also looked like he was going to need to add to his collection of prosthetic teeth after Hawk was done stomping his face in. Several of them were lying around his prone form on the ground.

When Amelia wrapped her arms around Hawk’s middle, the man suddenly stopped fighting. He spit onto Ace’s very still body. “I owed you that beating from our last Halloween party, asshole! When I see you next, I’ll be digging your grave. Payback for what you did here, tonight!”

One of the Watchmen came over and hauled Ace’s body away when someone updated us that the cops were now driving fast down the street. My attention swung back to Matty. Unable to fight him man to man, Maze pulled a knife from his belt to even the playing field.

“No!” I screamed when the underhanded Watchmen lunged at Matty’s chest.

Thankfully, Matty was as agile as he was deadly with his fists. He easily sidestepped his attacker and managed to deliver another crushing blow to the man’s jaw.

“Prez, come on, let’s go!” one of his minions urged, ushering his leader toward the back exit.

Reluctantly, Maze turned and headed for the back door. Matty, with revenge in his eyes, went to follow him and finish what they’d started.

German stopped him, slinging an arm around his waist. “Let him go, Brother. We’ll track them down later and finish what we started here on our own terms.”

Still filled with bloodlust, Matty dragged German a few feet and Ox had to get involved. “Settle down, Bishop. You just got out of jail. You can’t be that eager to go back.”

I shakily came to his side. “Matty,” I spoke quietly, “please stop. It’s okay. I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me.” Not physically, at least.

That did it. Matty stopped fighting and turned back to me. Wordlessly, his arms encompassed my whole body and squeezed so tight I thought I might burst.

“Get out of here,” German advised. “You don’t want to be around when the cops question us. They’ll be on your ass like flies on shit after just setting you free from your six-month state-sponsored vacation.”

Silently grabbing my hand, Matty hauled me toward the door. I didn’t fight him. I didn’t even have the strength to. His bike, a shiny metal beast that looked every inch as lethal as he did at this moment, awaited us.

Reaching into his saddle bags, he pulled out a spare helmet and fit it onto my head. Next, he shrugged off his leather coat and forced my arms expertly inside. Bad timing or not, I couldn’t ignore how adroit he was at dressing a woman. Tamping down my jealousy, I thanked him and zipped up the coat.

Shoving on his own helmet, Matty surged onto his bike and yelled, “Climb on behind me and hold on tight!”

Doing exactly as he’d advised, I threw my leg over the motorcycle and he kickstarted the deafening engine into life. Behind us, I could hear the wailing of sirens. The cops had just pulled into Magpies as we were speeding down the opposite road. We’d missed them by mere seconds.

I’d never ridden a motorcycle before and it was equal parts terrifying and exhilarating. Grateful I’d chosen pants tonight and not a dress, I held on to Matty’s waist for dear life.

After driving for what seemed like an hour but was probably only twenty minutes, Matty pulled off onto a dirt road. Well, road was probably not the right word for it. It was more like a well-trodden path.

When we were surrounded fully by trees, he put on the brakes and cut the engine. Lowering the kickstand, he slung his long leg off the bike. Dragging off his helmet, he gently lifted off mine.

Using the moon’s light to inspect my face, Matty looked over every inch of me with surgical precision. When he was satisfied that I wasn’t bleeding or bruised, he said, “Tell me everything that happened from start to finish.”

“I don’t know what happened,” I said, my shaking beginning anew with the memories of what I’d just so nearly escaped. “One minute Amelia and I were dancing, the next these scary men were telling us we couldn’t leave the bar. They told Boots that he could go, but we weren’t allowed to. When Boots told them that wasn’t going to happen, they dragged him outside the bar, and Maze and Ace, they…,” my voice faltered and it took a moment for it to stabilize again. “They said they were going to do terrible things to us,” I said, sanitizing their comments without sugarcoating their intentions.

Matty was shaking now too. But his trembling wasn’t from fear. It was from rage. Threading his fingers through my wind-tousled hair, he braced his forehead against mine. “I want you to know the Watchmen are never going to touch you again, Evie. I swear it! I’m going to kill every last one to make sure of it.”

A few tears escaped my eyes despite my trying to hold them back. “Please, Matty, don’t say that.” As fond of the idea as I was of Maze and Ace meeting a painful end, I didn’t want their blood on Matty’s hands. I simply wanted this all to be over. For me and Amelia to be safe from future abuse.

Matty’s full lips thinned. “It’s a done deal, Babe. The second those Watchmen scum put their hands on you and Amelia, they sealed their own fate.”

“I don’t want you to go back to prison,” I blurted, realizing how terrified of that outcome I was.

The beautiful biker smiled darkly. “You don’t have to worry about that, Babe. I don’t plan on getting caught.”

My hands shot up to his thickly muscled shoulders and my fingers bit into his skin to let him know I was serious about my next words. “Promise me you won’t do that!”

Matty rubbed his nose against mine in a gesture my mother used to call “Eskimo kisses” when I was young. “I promise not to get caught,” he returned, clearly skirting around what I’d just said. “But after what they did tonight, Babe, the Watchmen have it coming. And not just from me. From my whole damn Club. Fucking with Devil women is an act of war, Evie. Hell’s about to rain down on those bastards, and I’m going to be the first demon through that door to teach them a lesson about what happens when you make the mistake of bringing a man’s fight to a woman’s doorstep. Those cocksuckers have no one to blame but themselves. They might have survived tonight. But, as far as I’m concerned, they’re all just dead men walking until we settle this score.”

My brain was whirring around in circles. My heart was racing. My skin was on fire. My nerves were tingling. And, Lord help me, I’d never been more turned on in my entire life. I don’t know if it was the adrenaline of the fight or my unnatural attraction to this man before me, but my libido was lit up brighter than a decked-out tree on Christmas Eve.

The look in Matty’s amazing aqua eyes told me he meant every word of his honorable speech. I could also see that, like me, he was fighting the adrenaline surge. I felt it humming through his whole body like I’d felt the engine of his bike between my legs earlier. When he began to curse out the Watchmen some more, I knew there was only one way I could bring us both down off this high that was spiraling us out of control.

Roughly tangling my fingers in his hair, I dragged Matty’s lips down to mine. Our mouths collided with a brutal force. Our tongues fought like they were locked in mortal combat. My hands hungrily reached for the hem of his shirt, demanding its offensive presence to disappear.

Like he, and it, were on fire, Matty ripped the white thermal up and over his head. As though I’d given him the permission he’d so desperately craved, he reached for mine.

All too willing to bare myself to his touch, I let his coat slide to the ground and tugged off my scrap of a top. With shaky fingers, I unclasped my bra and my nipples immediately hardened to sharp points.

Matty’s head dipped down to my breasts as he focused his full attention on those sensitive peaks. “You’re so perfect, Evie,” he groaned, in between licks and love nips. “I don’t deserve you, but I’m fucking grateful as hell that you’re mine!”

His words touched me deep inside, causing the flesh between my legs to pulse and constrict almost painfully with need. When my hand slipped between our two bodies, I found the bulge in his jeans and began to rub and knead it aggressively. When I whimpered with that need and tried to free it, Matty chuckled thickly.

“You want something, Babe?” he teased, thrusting his hips into my greedy hand.

I looked at him with more confidence than I’d ever had in my whole life and said, “I want everything you have to give me and more!”

I’m not sure who this woman was that had just surfaced, but I liked her. And so did Matty.

His eyes flamed over with lust and his cock jumped excitedly at my words. “As much as I love these pants on you, babe, they need to come off right now.”

Miracle of miracles, the material slid off faster than they went up. Matty forced me backward against his bike and then sank to his knees. Teasing my knees apart, he rubbed his nose along the thin layer of material between him and my sex.

Inhaling deeply, his lusty eyes trailed back to mine. “I can’t get enough of the smell and feel of your pussy, Evie. I’ve been thinking about it every moment since I last tasted you.”

Normally, I would have been mortified if a man had smelled me like that. But right now, I was so hot, I could have spontaneously combusted. When his tongue flicked out and licked my clit through the lace of my panties, I think I did.

Moaning, I set my legs wider to give him total access and tossed my head back. Bracing my hands on the leather seat of his motorcycle, I let his skillful tongue take me for the most exhilarating ride of my life.

His touch was gentle at first. His lapping and sucking light and playful. But as I grew more wanton, more demanding, so did his strokes.

“You want to come, Evie?” he baited, as I desperately tried to reach the promised land of bliss he had me teetering on the edge of.

“Yes,” I ground out, actual anger and frustration rising to the surface as he masterfully kept heaven a hair’s width out of reach.

“Beg me for it then,” he ordered, slipping my panties to the side as he worked his strong tongue against my bare flesh.

My muscles seized and my hips gave an involuntary kick at the euphoric contact. I just needed a few more swipes to push me over the edge. To make me come harder than I’d ever come before.

At this moment, I had no dignity or shame. I had only one desire. To unravel at the speed of light into the most glorious orgasm of my life.

“Please, Matty!” I shamelessly begged. “Make me come. I need it so bad!”

I could feel his mouth curving into a smile against the hypersensitive skin of my thigh. “Tell me how much you need it, Babe. How much you missed my cock inside of you.”

He gave me another two quick swipes of his tongue, and my juices began to flow down my thigh like a dam suddenly let loose.

I didn’t have to lie. It was the truth. I’d thought about his big dick stroking inside of me nearly every minute of the day since the first time he’d slipped inside of me.

Shivering with physical desire, I gasped out like the ultimate addict. “I need it! I need it so bad, Matty!”

Hooking his arms around the thickest part of my thighs, Matty angled my pussy upward and gave me exactly what I needed. His tongue began to move like a machine. It stroked at exactly the right pace and pressure. My body became racked with unspent energy as I crested toward the mountain top. I was at the precipice for only a moment before I exploded into the stars above.

Screaming, I shattered apart like brittle glass on a winter’s day. I’m not sure how long it took for my brain to reconnect with my body, but when it did, I felt shaky and out of sorts.

“You come so beautifully,” Bishop complimented.

Standing to his full height, he gave his enormous cock a rough tug as he watched me sail back down to earth. “Turn around, put your hands on my bike and your ass in the air,” he ordered, his face hard and demanding.

With the last bit of strength I possessed, I flipped around. As soon as I was in place, Matty fisted my panties and ripped them clear off my body. Grasping my hip with one hand, he used his other to rub the tip of his cock against my still pulsing, soaked slit.

Lubing himself with my juices, he lined himself along my center and shoved in so deep I could practically feel him all the way up my spine.

Grunting like a wild animal, he seated himself to the hilt. With hands wrapped around my waist, he began to absolutely pummel my pussy with that enormous dick of his. Hanging onto the seat of his bike for dear life, Matty battered my core with the enthusiasm of a Viking warrior trying to get inside a well-guarded Abby.

“Fuck, Evie,” he rasped, his motions picking up even more momentum with each stroke. “You’ve got the tightest pussy I’ve ever known. I swear to God, Babe, it feels like you were fucking made for me.”

Though I had nothing to compare it to, I agreed. Whenever we joined our bodies, I felt like we’d been fashioned precisely for one another. There was no denying it. I was his and he was mine.

Standing on my tiptoes, I took the punishing force of his cock with gusto. Climbing toward a second orgasm, I reached between my legs and rubbed my clit.

“Fuck that’s hot,” Matty growled behind me, his fingers biting so hard into my hips I knew there’d be marks by the time we were done.

That statement was all it took. Between his praise and his dick rubbing against my slick walls at just the right angle, I went off like a firecracker. A strangled sound escaped my lips as literal flashes of color popped behind my closed eyelids.

“That’s it, Babe. Come for me. Come all over my dick,” he ground out, his hammering never letting up.

When my walls clenched so hard against his shaft that I thought it must have hurt, Matty shouted, “Fuck!” before he spewed thick ropes of his hot seed inside of me.

After the shock of my second orgasm wore off, and his body had ceased abutting mine, Matty reluctantly pulled free of me. Standing erect, I looked down and realized I was missing one shoe. At some point in our animalistic tryst, it must have come off.

Matty laughed. “Is this what you’re looking for?”

He held up my black ballet flat. I giggled, feeling so light and airy after my two world-altering orgasms. “Um, yeah. I’m going to need that before we get back on your bike.”

Matty hauled me in for a slow, sensual kiss that kickstarted my libido all over again before he handed it over. “Here. You’re also going to need to put these back on, I’m afraid.”

I groaned when I saw the pants I’d been wearing. They had bits of debris and dirt all over them. Shaking them free of the bulk of it, I reluctantly shimmied them up my legs. I didn’t even bother to look for my panties. Those were obviously a lost cause after Matty had ripped them off and tossed them somewhere into the dark.

When I was dressed, Matty shook his head and grinned. “You look so fucking good right now, I’m tempted to rip off all of your clothes and bend you back over my bike again.”

I blushed, not entirely opposed to the suggestion.

Matty checked his phone and sighed. “Unfortunately, we need to head back to the Club. I have an emergency meeting. Come on,” he said. “You’re coming with me.”

* * *

Buse, Nevada

Bishop

We pulled into the Clubhouse at around midnight. Dismounting, I helped Evie off my bike and we went inside.

“I’ll take you up to my room, Babe. I’ll get you settled before my meeting,” I explained, as we entered through the front door.

“Bishop!” Ox shouted from the rec room. “We were waiting on you, Brother.” He took one good look at my girl’s rumpled, debris-laden outfit and laughed. “Guess you took the scenic route back to the Clubhouse.”

“Something like that,” I returned, ushering Evie toward the stairs before anyone could further embarrass her. “I’ll be right back.”

“Meeting starts in five,” Ox reminded me before we disappeared to the second floor.

I didn’t want to leave Evie’s side, but duty called and I wouldn’t be gone long. Besides, she looked exhausted and like she needed a good night’s rest. After what she’d been through tonight, I didn’t blame her.

Leading her to my room at the very end of the hallway, I keyed inside and flicked on the lights. “Come on in and make yourself comfortable,” I invited.

Evie cautiously crossed the threshold. Looking around, she quietly took in my living space. On the top of my comforter rested a bag I didn’t recognize, but she seemed to.

Walking over to it, she unzipped it and said, “Amelia must have dropped this off when she got to the Clubhouse. It was the overnight bag I had with me when we went out tonight.”

Not for the first time, I was grateful for my sister’s thoughtfulness. “I have to go to Church, Babe, but I won’t be gone long. Feel free to grab whatever you want from my stuff if you don’t have everything you need in your bag.”

“Church?” she asked, looking confused.

“Our name for a Club meeting,” I quickly explained, placing a rough kiss on her mouth. “Do you need anything before I go?”

When she shook her head, I gave her one last, slower, deeper kiss, before leaving.

I walked into the meeting hall at the same time as German. The man was doing up his fly, so I could only assume he’d been making the best of the last few minutes before Church began. I didn’t blame him. If I’d thought I could have managed it, I would have tossed Evie onto my bed, stripped her buck naked, and done the same.

Taking an open seat at the table near Hawk, I noticed that German split off and went around in the opposite direction to sit near my Club Brother, Bomb.

“Lock the doors, Ox,” Reaper said, his face an unreadable mask of stone. “We’re ready to get started with this meeting.”

All the men quieted down as Ox barred the doors. The tension in the room was palpable. Anger, fury, and a desire to fight, lingered in the air like an invisible guest at our table.

“For those of you who weren’t with us tonight,” Reaper began, dark bruises along his knuckles standing out as he splayed his long fingers atop our custom-made meeting table, “we had a run-in with the Watchmen. It seems those fuckers think they can put their filthy fucking hands on our women. Lucky for us, we showed up just in time to show them they were mistaken.”

Hawk’s face, like my own, clouded with rage at the memory of how we’d found Evie and Amelia at Magpies. The brutal image caused a surge of fire to course through my veins like red, hot lava.

“What the fuck happened?” Hammer demanded, not having been there for the fight, as he was working late at the Club-owned auto body shop.

“Those dead-men-walking thought they could try and rape Amelia and Evie tonight,” I spit out, the words tasting as bitter as poison in my mouth. “I would have killed that piece of shit maggot, Maze, but the police showed up before I could finish the job. I think Hawk might have succeeded with Ace, though. After our Brother was done with him, the cocksucker was missing even more teeth than when I’d stomped in his fucking skull at the last Halloween party.”

“So you’re saying the Watchmen were stupid enough to assault Amelia and the hot brunette who cooks for us?” Hammer clarified, looking utterly bewildered. “How the fuck did they even get their hands on Devil women in the first place? Weren’t they being watched by our guys?”

“Boots was with them,” Hawk said, blazing heat emanating from his steely gaze. “He took a hell of a beating, but he stood his ground. However, I can see now one prospect isn’t going to be enough when the women leave the compound. The Watchmen want to humiliate us and they’re using our women to do it. We’re going to need to rectify that immediately. The cops showing up only delayed the inevitable. We’re going to burn that startup Club down to fucking ash and bone the first chance we get.”

“What happened when the cops showed up?” Bomb asked then, clearly peeved he hadn’t been there for the fight. I think my Brother liked brawling more than anyone I knew, and that was saying something.

“Pussies that they are, The Watchmen turned tail and ran at the first sign of trouble. The people at the bar who weren’t with the Club had left as soon as they saw what was going down with our women. It was only Devils there when the pigs pulled into the bar. Bastards couldn’t do a fucking thing about it because we told them we were just there for a beer and some fun.”

“Bet that drove them fucking nuts,” Bomb said, grinning ear to ear.

“Sure did,” Reaper shot back, fingering the fresh cut along his cheekbone. “They tried tying us up with petty technicalities. But there wasn’t any proof of a brawl, despite a few bruises and some broken bottles, so they had to piss off with nothing but their sad little dicks in their hands.”

We all had a good laugh at that. “Whatever we do with the Watchmen, we have to be clever about it. The cops are going to be on our asses after what they witnessed at Magpies. The last thing we need is for another Brother to end up wrongly behind bars.”

Everyone nodded solemnly at that point. My fists clenched hard as I imagined how best to make those fuckers pay. They couldn’t just face any death. It had to fit their crime. It had to be bloody and painful.

Reaper’s face turned savage. “I’m going to call the Knights right after our meeting. Speak with Trainor about what happened tonight. If the Watchmen want enemies, they’ve certainly been going about it the right way. Now they’ll have two Clubs to defend against, not just one. Mark my words, they won’t last another month after this shit. The Watchmen just entered a double-fronted war they aren’t prepared to fight. And they ain’t going to win it.”

I knew he was right, but I still wasn’t satisfied. The animal in me wanted to head down to their Clubhouse tonight, bust in their front door, and slit all of their motherfucking throats. But I knew that wouldn’t do anything but satisfy my lust for revenge. Like Reaper said, we needed to be smart about this. And playing the long game was smart.

“The Watchmen recently opened a shop in Aimsville,” Hammer informed us. “If we want to hurt them, I say we target their money. I vote their new shop has a very unfortunate electrical fire that burns that bank-owned place down to the ground. And I know a guy who’s perfect for the job,” he gleefully added.

I smiled, appreciating my Brother’s ingenuity. Reaper must have felt the same way, because he grinned big and said, “If your guy can be trusted, make the call. Let me know what his price is and I’ll free up the funds. Just make sure nothing can be traced back to the Club.”

Hammer bobbed his head. “Won’t cost us a dime, Prez. He owes me several favors after all the work I’ve done on his 1940 Indian rebuild.”

“Even better,” Reaper said, leaning back in his chair and cracking his blackened knuckles.

“A little birdie tells me their Vice President has a nasty gambling habit,” German added then. “It would be a shame if the man made the wrong investment, got in deep, and got his head beat in as payment for his misstep.”

“A total shame,” Reaper agreed, liking the direction of this meeting more and more.

Hawk’s keen gaze sharpened then. “Since you have connections everywhere, German, find out why Ace is no longer with the Mavericks. That shit can’t be kosher. I’ve never even heard of them ousting one of their own, let alone someone leaving voluntarily. I want the details before I bury the man six feet under. My girl deserves that much.”

“I’m on it,” German agreed. “No one puts a finger on Devil women without paying for it.”

Hawk and he exchanged a moment of quiet understanding before one of the old timers, Grit, spoke up. “Blood pays in blood, gentleman. We’ve got their Club covered. We’ve got their money covered, but how are we going to make them well and truly bleed for what they did to Devil women?”

I looked Grit dead in the eye. “Leave that part to me and Hawk.” Lending my Brother a chin nod, I knew we were thinking the same thing. “We’ll bathe this town in Watchmen blood by the time we’re done, gentlemen. Don’t you worry.”

* * *

Evie

After changing into some clean clothes, I texted Amelia to see how she was doing. She told me she was fine but needed a glass of wine to calm her nerves. She’d asked me how I was feeling. I replied I was spooked, but okay now that I was at the Clubhouse with Matty.

Amelia sent a smiley face emoji in return. She was at the Clubhouse, too, and thought we should have a drink together to commiserate. Needing to make a quick phone call first, she told me she’d meet me in the rec room as soon as she was done so we could grab whatever booze we were in the mood for.

Suddenly chilled to the bone, I dug through Matty’s closet for a warm hoodie I could borrow. I found one with the Devil’s Riders logo on it and pulled it over my head. Looking in the mirror, I smiled when I saw how big it was on me. The material swallowed me whole and pooled at my knees. I loved it! On the back of the black sweatshirt material was the name ‘Bishop’ in capital letters.

I had a moment of hesitation when I reached for the door handle, but decided I was being foolish. He’d said I could borrow anything from him that I needed. If he didn’t want me to wear any of his clothes, he would have said as much.

Besides, it was just a dang sweater. It didn’t say anything about our relationship. I was reading too much into all of this. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ears, I exited Matty’s room and went downstairs to get that drink with Amelia.

Finding my way back to the rec room, I peeked my head inside. I knew I was in the right place when I saw a fully stocked bar just beyond the pool table.

I wasn’t sure if there was going to be any red wine in this place, but I was crossing my fingers. Call me uneducated, but I doubted bikers were guzzling chardonnay by the case full. However, it certainly looked like everything else under the sun was available as I scanned the rows and rows of rainbow-colored bottles.

Moving closer, I leaned against the aged wood and began reading all the fancy labels. I didn’t see any wine, so I lifted the heavy divider and went behind the bar to check underneath where I knew hidden shelves would house additional, less essential items.

I wasn’t normally this pushy in someone else’s home, but I thought I’d earned the right after the hell I’d survived tonight. And I had my heart set on a glass, or entire bottle, of Pinot Noir.

Checking underneath the bartop, I saw there was a wine rack. There were only a handful of choices, but I was ecstatic when I saw that there were some reds at the bottom. Though there wasn’t any Pinot, I was able to unearth a fairly cheap bottle of Merlot and set it aside for when Amelia joined me. I might have been ballsy enough to jump behind the bar, but I didn”t feel right about opening any of this stuff without her express permission.

When my phone pinged with a text, I set the bottle down and circled the bartop to take a seat, read my message, and wait for Amelia.

The message was from Bobby, who was just checking in on me. When I hadn’t called at our usual time, she’d gotten worried and reached out to me directly. Damn it! In the chaos of everything that had happened tonight, I hadn’t checked in on my friend. Furiously typing back to let her know I was fine, I didn’t notice when someone else entered the rec room.

My back was facing the door as I typed, trying to assuage my friend that all was well. There was no way in hell that I was telling her what happened. If I knew Bobby at all, she’d try to get involved in this mess to protect me, and that was the last thing I wanted. Just the thought of my dear friend getting mixed up in my problems turned my stomach.

“What the hell?” I heard a snide voice behind me screech, and I distractedly looked behind my shoulder to see what was wrong.

To my horror, it was the same girl I’d walked in on trying to give Matty a handjob near the dumpster. Now my stomach dropped for a whole different reason.

“What the fuck are you wearing?” the blonde shouted, and I had to quickly look down to remind myself.

“A sweatshirt and jeans,” I stammered, totally confused as to why she so vehemently objected.

I mean, not to be rude or anything, but I couldn’t tell what the heck she was wearing besides what looked like a toddler’s sundress. No joke. It was so short it made most miniskirts look demure in comparison. If she bent over at the waist even an inch, her entire backside would be exposed.

My answer only seemed to enrage the woman further. “Don’t play dumb!”

I wasn’t playing. I truly didn’t know what the hell she was going on about. I blinked, trying to come up with an adequate response. When I took too long, she answered for me.

“That’s Bishop’s hoodie!” she accused, like I’d claimed it was mine somewhere in this surreal conversation.

“I know. It’s okay. He told me I could borrow it. I’m not stealing it,” I returned, hoping my response would pacify her some.

I must have failed because the woman’s pretty face turned mottled with rage. “Did he, now?” she returned, her anger just a few degrees shy of the boiling point.

“Yes, he did,” I spoke slowly, not sure if my words would further offend her or somehow calm her down. But, looking at her icy blue eyes burning holes into my very soul at this moment, I was guessing it was the former.

Maybe Matty had lied to me. By the way this woman was acting, it seemed like they’d been more to each other than just casual sex. I wanted to believe what he’d told me, but was I being too naive? Was there more to their relationship than just something physical? Were they still together even? My confidence plummeted and I began to nervously wring my hands.

The blonde moved across the room like a panther on a mission. The smile that formed along her shiny lips was anything but friendly. It was cold, calculating, and predatory.

“You’re the cookie girl from the party. Ava, right?” she returned, a malevolent glint in her eye that put me on alert.

“Evie,” I corrected. “And I own a catering company,” I explained, deciding I didn’t like the way she’d described me. Sure I made cookies. But the way she made it sound, I was some weirdo who walked around the Clubhouse doling them out from multiple pockets like a bird lady does seed at the park.

“Whatever,” she hissed, her sharp red nails balling into fists onto her hips. “You were the creepy bitch at the last Club party watching Bishop and I fuck!”

Even though I knew she was trying to shame me with her word choice, I couldn’t stop the rush of pain it caused when she’d said it.

Stealing my spine, I said, “I was throwing trash away. It’s not my fault you were hanging out by the dumpster.”

Okay, that statement hadn’t helped matters any. If Cici wasn’t burning with anger before, she definitely was now.

“Did you just call me trash?” she hissed, like a scalded feline ready to defend her territory at any cost.

“No,” I carefully stated. “That’s not what I said at all.” I’d merely implied it, I thought angrily.

Cici sidled up to my seat at the bar. She was so close, we were practically touching. “What the fuck does Bishop even see in you?” she asked nastily then. Her narrowed eyes scanned my face as she tried to piece the perplexing puzzle together. “You’re nothing special. You’re not even that pretty. He must just get off on your little girl-lost act. That must be it. The man never could ignore the damsel in distress type. No worries,” she said with a cold smile, “he always comes back to my pussy. He might like the idea of a virgin queen, but in the end, all men think with their dicks. And when he does, he’ll come running back for what only I can give him.”

Amelia walked in before I could respond. She took one look at this situation and accurately assessed it. “You okay, Evie?”

Cici turned on her heel and looked at my friend with disgust. “Why wouldn’t she be? Just because I’m not someone’s Old Lady, Amelia, doesn’t make me dangerous.”

Not one to back down from a fight, Amelia looked directly into the woman’s glacial eyes. “Probably because I know anyone who would fuck their own sister to get a man’s attention isn’t to be trusted.”

Cici’s fists clenched with anger, but she didn’t go on the attack. Honestly, it scared me more that she didn’t. Instead, she smiled with glee and retorted, “I didn’t hear your brother complaining about it when his cock was inside of me.”

Amelia snorted. “You think a man sticking his cock inside of you makes you special, Cici? If you believe that, you’re even dumber than you and your sister look.”

Cici took a menacing step toward Amelia. “You think you’re so fucking special, don’t you, bitch? Just because you’re an Old Lady doesn’t mean shit. Give me a little time alone with your man, and I’ll prove it to you.”

Okay. This conversation had run off the tracks. “Come on, Amelia,” I told my friend, who I could tell was seeing red right about now. “Let’s go drink this upstairs.”

Amelia didn’t budge. “You ever go near my man, bitch,” she returned, every word spoken clearly and distinctly, “I’ll make sure you regret it every day for the rest of your miserable life. Understood?”

Knowing she’d hit a nerve, Cici smiled. “I don’t want your man, Amelia. I want your brother. And it’s just a matter of time before he realizes we’re meant to be together.”

“Aren’t you riding German these days?” Amelia reminded her. “I guess anyone with a bike and a dick makes the cut as far as you’re concerned.”

“Jealousy doesn’t suit you, Amelia.” Cici said with a tsk.

Amelia crossed her arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just that the girls talk when the Brothers aren’t around. And they say you and German had a thing once upon a time,” she gleefully revealed. “Guess that “relationship” soured and you settled for someone else.”

“German and I were only ever friends,” Amelia corrected. “You see, some of us can be friends with a man and not blow them for attention. I get that the concept is foreign to someone like you, but it is possible.”

I walked over to Amelia and handed her the bottle of wine. “I’m ready to go upstairs now. I’ve had enough fighting for one night.”

Reluctantly, Amelia nodded. “Me too, let’s go watch some trash TV and order a pizza to go with this!”

“Better watch out, honey,” Cici said to me as we moved toward the door. “Everyone has their breaking point. And when it comes to men, I always know what it is.”

Amelia took me by the hand and pulled me toward the door. “Keep lying to yourself, skank!” she said, flipping Cici the bird over her shoulder as we exited the room.

* * *

Evie

After my run-in with Cici, I was more concerned than ever about my relationship with Matty. However, Amelia assured me, as we’d finished the bottle of Merlot together and eaten every slice of our pizza, that the Club girl was only jealous of what me and Matty had. That she wanted something from the handsome biker that she’d never get. A commitment. And it was eating her alive!

Amelia’s words did pacify me some, but not completely. The truth remained the same. Bishop was gorgeous. A bad boy. And someone who wasn’t interested in the conventional rules of dating and society. That being said, would he ever truly settle down? Or, as I feared, would I forever be looking over my shoulder for another Cici horning in on my territory trying to win over his affection?

There was a knock at my door as I was pulling out a hot tray of cookies from the oven. I was experimenting with a new peanut butter recipe and they smelled amazing! Setting the steaming tray down on a cooling rack, I skinned off my oven mitts and walked briskly toward the door.

Peering through the tiny peephole, I saw my brooding landlord standing on my front stoop. Glancing at my watch, I realized it was past ten. What in the world could have the man visiting me this late at night? Nothing good, I nervously realized.

Slowly unlatching the top lock, I slid open the deadbolt and then the door itself. “Is everything okay?” I asked, glancing down at my watch once more.

Charles’s mouth thinned with irritation. “I need to talk to you, Ms. Wild,” he spoke, pushing imperiously past me straight into my apartment.

As he passed by, I could smell the alcohol wafting off of him. That wasn’t a good sign. I’d learned in my short years that alcohol rarely improved a situation.

“What are you doing here, Charles?” I said, trying to use my most assertive voice.

My uninvited landlord walked into my kitchen and began to closely inspect it. It was clean, as I was a neat freak, but its age, mingled with the lack of general upkeep over the years, hadn’t been kind to the dilapidated space.

“I’ve noticed you’ve been having a lot of visitors by the apartment lately,” Charles haughtily announced.

I’d only had four visitors total since I’d moved into the apartment. Bobby, Angel, Amelia, and Matty, to be precise.

“Yes,” I slowly answered, trying to figure out what he was getting at. “Is that a problem?”

“When I allowed you to rent from me, Ms. Wild, it was with the understanding that you paid on time,” he gave me a stern look at that, “and that you would be a quiet tenant. So far, you’ve violated both of those agreements!”

My chest constricted at his unspoken threat. “Look, Charles, I’m sorry about the bounced check. But I made that right. And, as far as my visitors are concerned, I wasn’t aware I couldn’t have any, just that I had to keep the noise level down when they were here. Unless someone complained, I can’t understand why it’s a problem at all.”

Charles shook his head. “This is why I didn’t want a child as a tenant. They’re rude, inconsiderate, and untrustworthy.”

“I’m not a child,” I protested. “I’m a twenty-two-year-old woman who is an excellent tenant.”

Sighing, my landlord adopted a pinched expression. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to raise your rent to offset these many inconveniences.”

A cold wave of panic washed over me then. “You can’t do that! I can barely afford the rent as it is.”

Shrugging, Charles leaned against the counter like he owned the place. Which he kind of did. But he had no right to behave like this in the home I paid for and hadn’t invited him into.

“I guess you’re just going to have to get a real job. Not just make cookies for friends here and there for some extra pocket change,” he spoke condescendingly.

I gritted my teeth at his disrespectful words. “I have a real job. I own my own catering business.”

“A better-paying one then,” he amended cruelly.

“What is the rent going up to?” I inquired out of morbid curiosity.

“Rent will be raised an additional two hundred dollars per month,” Charles smugly informed me.

I nearly choked at his response. “Two hundred dollars! That’s insane. I can’t pay that!”

My landlord’s beady eyes zeroed in on my chest. Licking his lips lasciviously, he added, “I’d consider alternative forms of payment if you’re struggling to scrounge up the cash. I’m not heartless, Ms. Wild.”

My face flamed over in embarrassment and disgust. He couldn’t be saying what I thought he was saying. “What do you mean by ‘alternative forms of payment’.”

Charles grabbed a peanut butter cookie off of the cooling tray. “Perhaps, like your friends, I wouldn’t mind if you paid me in sweet treats.”

I almost dry heaved at his insinuation. “You want to be paid in cookies?”

His smile told me we weren’t talking about dessert anymore. “If that’s what you want to call it. Yes.”

I knew it! The man was an absolute toad! “Get out!” I shouted, not able to stand one more second of his sickening presence.

Charles’s face stormed over. “What did you say to me, young lady?”

“I asked you to leave! I didn’t invite you into my home. You walked in unannounced and uninvited. If you don’t get out right this second, I’m calling the cops.”

“That’s not a good choice, Ms. Wild,” Charles said, his eyes shrinking to hostile slits. “And I’d rethink that insolent tone of yours if you don’t want to find yourself homeless come the first of the month.”

I didn’t know much, but I knew that even renters had rights. “Evict me if you want. But, until then, I want you to stay away from me and my apartment.”

Charles walked toward the door and turned just before he left. “Fine. But you’d better find a new place to live if you can’t afford this one and you aren’t amenable to other forms of payment.”

Enraged now, I grabbed a cookie and chucked it at him as hard as I could. The sweet treat slammed into his shoulder with a satisfying thud. “I said. Get. Out!”

Spinning on his heel, Charles exited my door and I quickly locked it behind him. I didn’t even realize that humiliated tears were streaking down my cheeks until I felt the hot liquid drip onto my shaking hand.

My phone rang then, and I blindly answered it without checking who was calling. “Hello?”

“Evie, what’s wrong?” Matty asked me then, his tone one of deep concern.

“Nothing,” I dismissed, but my voice gave away my obvious distress.

“Evie,” Matty warned, not brooking anything less than the truth, “tell me why you’re upset?”

The hell with it! He’d find out anyway when the moving truck was parked outside my front door. Not seeing any reason to lie or protect Charles, I informed Matty about the conversation I’d just had with my lecherous landlord.

“Let me get this straight,” he said, his fury nearly palpable through the phone, “your asshole landlord stopped by your home at ten o’clock at night to tell you he was raising your rent by two hundred dollars. And when you told him you couldn’t pay that amount, he mentioned ‘alternative forms of payment’ in the form of dessert. Do I have that right?”

“Yeah,” my voice hitched. “He’s a disgusting pig and I’m sick of him stopping by unannounced and peeping through my windows. I should have left after the first month when I found him alone in my apartment “inspecting” a leaky faucet, but it’s nearly impossible to rent a place at my age that’s within my budget.”

Matty listened without interrupting. “I’m coming over, Babe,” he consoled. “I just have to finish up a job I’m working on, but it won’t take long. Lock the doors and call me if the fucker tries to return. I’ll be there within the hour.”

* * *

Buse, Nevada

Bishop

I hung up the phone and tried to cool my raging temper. It didn’t work. I was still far too fucking angry to do anything but hit something that could bleed.

German caught my gaze and said, “You good, Bishop?”

“I will be,” I told him, pocketing my cell. “You up for a ride to take care of some business tonight?”

“Always, Brother,” German answered, setting his pool stick down on the table.

I glanced over at Bomb who’d been playing against German and was following the conversation closely. “What about you, Bomb? You interested in taking a ride and fucking up a piece of shit landlord?”

Bomb grinned like it was his lucky night. “Hell yeah.”

“Let’s ride then,” I returned, my keys to my bike already in hand.

Pipe was coming down the stairs just as we were exiting the Clubhouse. Thinking we could use his expertise, I asked him to ride along as well.

We pulled up to my girl’s apartment complex riding four deep. Cutting the lights and our engines, we parked outside number 1A. Pipe had been able to find Charles Lind’s address online in under a minute. Another reason, other than his right hook, that I was grateful to have the brilliant man by my side.

Bomb stepped off his bike and whistled. “You let your girl stay in this shithole, Bishop?”

The question stung my pride. “Evie’s moving out by the end of the month,” I told him, tugging off my helmet. I wasn’t sure where yet, but I was certain she was going.

“Look at the bright side,” Pipe interjected, using some device that he was pointing up in the corners of each apartment doorway. “This place is such a dump, the landlord didn’t even bother to set up a single camera or security system to protect his tenants. I was all ready to block the signals, but there aren’t any to block.”

There was that. No one would see what we were about to do, which I appreciated. Now I could really enjoy myself. Fully lean into the man’s well-earned beating.

Me, Pipe, and Bomb stepped to the side of the door frame as German knocked hard on the hollow metal door. We didn’t want to tip off Lind about what was about to happen, so I couldn’t risk the asshole recognizing my face.

After another minute of silence, I decided I wasn’t going to wait for an answer at all. We knew the bastard was hiding inside and the flimsy barrier wouldn’t take much more than a swift kick of my boot to force it open. If the fuck face didn’t come to the door within the next ten seconds, that was exactly what I was prepared to do.

Charles cautiously approached the door when German refused to let up. When he peeked out his peephole, his pupil widened then swiftly disappeared altogether.

“Go away, I’m not donating to any charities at the moment,” he called through the door in a nasally, high-pitched voice.

Pretending not to hear him, German kept up the obnoxious knocking. After repeating himself two more times, Lind finally gave in and cautiously unlocked his door.

“I said I’m not—,” but he never got a chance to finish his statement.

Rushing the door, I planted my booted foot against the hollow metal and wedged it open further. Giving it a quick thrust, I felt the satisfying crunch as it smacked up against something fleshy. Standing too close, Charles got a mouthful of metal as it kicked back into his face. His nose erupted like a fountain and began to pump streams of red into his hands as he cupped the now crooked appendage.

“Knock, knock. Anyone home?” Bomb called as he strolled eagerly into the living room behind me. German followed next, then Pipe, who wordlessly closed and locked the door behind him.

Terrified by the four large bikers suddenly invading his personal space, Charles reeled backward and fell onto his couch. “Who are you? What’s going on?” he cried out, his voice muffled from his cupped hands pressed against his leaking nose.

My eyes trailed the gloppy drops dripping onto his white shirt and tan sofa. It was a start, but not half of what he deserved after trying to exploit Evie.

Recognition dawned on Charles’s face when he realized who I was. “I know you! You’re Ms. Wild’s no-good biker boyfriend!”

I let the man gibber in fear for a few seconds before I answered. “Yeah, that’s right. I’m Evie’s man. And I need a word with you, dick face.”

The paunchy loser struggled to comprehend what was going on around him as he grabbed a fistful of tissues from the end table.

Gingerly placing them against his nose, he whined, “What do you want from me? Are you robbing me?”

Picking up a picture of the man with, presumably, his mother, I studied it before responding. “I don’t want any of your useless shit, Lind. I’m here because you fucked-up tonight, and I’m going to make you pay for it.”

Lind began to physically shake. “She’s a liar! I never touched Evie.” He puffed out his chest. “She attacked me! She threw hot cookies at me when all I’d tried to do was talk to her about a tenant violation!”

German snorted. “You’re telling me you’re afraid of a sweetheart of a woman who’s barely five feet tall and makes cookies for a living? What kind of pussy are you, man?”

Lind’s face turned the color of freshly boiled beets. His gaze was distracted as he watched Bomb stroll restlessly around the room like a caged, zoo animal. Each time my Brother happened upon something made of glass, he’d pick it up, inspect it, then shatter it onto the cheap linoleum floor. With each new item, Lind grew more anxious and his face progressively more red.

“Miss Wild is much stronger than she looks,” Lind foolishly argued, cautiously lowering the bundle of tissues that were blotting up the remaining blood.

I crouched down to the offensive man’s level. “She is. That’s how a girl who lives from paycheck to paycheck was strong enough to refuse to spread her legs for you as payment for your shakedown of a rent hike.”

“I never said that!” Lind began to protest, but I slapped him so hard across the face that it shut him up and caused his nose to start streaming all over again.

“Shut the fuck up, cocksucker! I’m not interested in your lies. My girl’s word is all I need. And when she answers the phone at ten-thirty at night crying, it’s a problem. That’s why I’m here. When problems arise in Evie’s life, it’s my job to make them go away. And that’s what I plan to do. Make her problems, whatever they are, go away.”

That statement scared Lind so much, he straight up pissed himself. “Please don’t hurt me! I can’t defend myself against you.”

I punched the man hard in his broken nose and he crumpled in agony to his side. “How many women in your shithole apartments have said that same thing to you, Lind? And how many of them received any mercy?”

Grabbing him by the shirt collar, I tossed him onto the ground and kicked him in the ribs. German and Pipe watched us dispassionately. Bomb circled us like a wild dog looking for an opportunity, any opportunity, to get in on the impending fight. Well, ‘fight’ might be a bit of an overstatement. Mauling might better describe what was about to go down here.

“Please, don’t kill me!” Lind begged, his body vibrating with fear. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

“I’m not going to kill you, Charles,” I revealed, leaning down and drinking in his terror. “I’m going to teach you a lesson.” I smiled coldly. “Well, my boys here are going to teach you a lesson. I’m going to be with my girl, comforting her after what you did.”

“Wh… What?” he stammered, looking directly at Bomb whose face showed exactly how much he was looking forward to being alone with the pudgy, middle-aged man.

“Where’s your computer?” Pipe asked then, ready to do a deep dive on this piece of shit’s history and whatever the fuck he got up to when no one was looking.

Bomb grabbed the man by his few remaining hairs, yanking his head to meet his gaze. “My Brother asked you a question, cunt. Answer him!”

“In the bedroom,” Charles quickly replied. “It’s in the bedroom on my nightstand.”

Bomb snorted. “Course it is, you pervert. I bet it’s right next to a giant tub of lotion and a family-sized box of tissues. Can’t wait to hear what this fuck-face is looking at online. My money’s on animal porn.”

I don’t know about animals, but there’d better not be anything about Evie on there. If there was, I couldn’t promise the man wouldn’t end up on the back of a milk carton after tonight.

“Pipe, why don’t you burn a copy of all his finances, too,” I suggested. “Just in case this man ever steps out of line again, I want him to know we have everything available at our fingertips to ruin his ass.”

“On it,” Pipe told me, putting on a pair of leather gloves as he strolled into the bedroom.

I didn’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to touch another man’s computer without some form of protection either.

“Let me explain what’s going to go on from here,” I spoke matter-of-factly. “We’re going to find your every fault and weakness. And, if you don’t do exactly what I say, we’re going to detonate your life, Mr. Lind. Do you understand?”

Lind frantically bobbed his head up and down.

“First off, if anyone asks how you got hurt, you say it was in a car accident while taking an Uber, and not a word more,” I coached.

“Yes, yes,” Lind hastily agreed.

“Secondly,” I listed, “you’re going to add up all the money you took from Evie over the last year, double it, then send her an anonymous cash donation in the mail.”

Lind paled. “I can’t do that. I don’t have that kind of money!”

I shrugged. “I’m sure you can find some ‘alternative’ way to make the cash. You know, kind of like how you told Evie she could. Implying she should suck your tiny dick to make up the difference. Maybe you can start doing that. Hey, German,” I called over my shoulder, “how many dicks do you think this son-of-a-bitch needs to suck to pay back my girl her rent money?”

German paused to think it over. “Well, he doesn’t have your good looks, Brother, so I think it would take several years and a prison full of cocks to pay back his debt.”

“Better get sucking!” Bomb chortled as he grabbed his own for emphasis.

“I have some stocks I can sell off,” Lind eagerly provided. “I just need a week to unload them, but I should be able to get what I need.”

I patted his head like an obedient dog and got to my feet. “Good, because if you’re short even a penny, me and my Brothers are going to come back here and burn down each and every one of your apartments. And we’ll make sure that you’re locked inside yours when we light the first match. Capiche?”

Lind’s Adam’s apple bobbed nervously in his throat. “I understand.”

“And if you try to call the cops about our little discussion here today,” German tagged on, “we’ll send some friends over to your apartment in the middle of the night to run a train on your ass before they slit your throat and watch you bleed out. You know what a train is, Charles?”

“He definitely does,” Pipe yelled from inside the landlord’s bedroom. “This motherfucker has disgusting viewing habits for a man his age.”

“I won’t say anything. I swear,” Lind promised on the tail end of a sob.

“Excellent, I knew you’d be reasonable,” I returned, certain the man was so scared he’d take this conversation to the grave.

“Until then, we’re going to be such good friends, you and I,” Bomb was telling Charles as the man openly wept at the disturbing idea.

I walked over to where German stood and lowered my voice. “Can you keep an eye on Bomb? Make sure he doesn’t get too carried away with the landlord. I don’t care if the stupid fucker lives or dies, I just don’t want Evie to feel any responsibility for his untimely passing.”

German nodded. “I got it, Brother. Go see your girl. Let off some of that steam you didn’t unload on this piece of shit.”

I clapped the man on the back and stepped out of the front door. Walking around to where Evie’s apartment was, I knocked and she immediately answered. One look at her beautiful face told me everything I needed to know about how upset she was.

Stepping wordlessly over the threshold, I gathered her into my arms. “It’s okay, Babe. You don’t have to be afraid. I’m here now,” I soothed, toeing the door closed behind me and shutting out the chaotic world beyond these four walls.

“Thank you for coming,” she whispered into my chest. I could feel her burrowing against my cut. Taking in my familiar scent and the comfort that came with it.

Her leaning against me in a time of need stirred my cock to life. I knew she could feel it too, because I was holding her so tightly against me. I kept my hips still but gave up the fight when hers began shifting restlessly against mine.

Evie looked up at me with those big, green eyes of hers and I was lost. Our mouths met with the force of two magnets hurtling toward the other. The kiss was soft and exploring at first. But as soon as my tongue slipped between the seam of her lips, it grew heavy and intense. Hot and hungry.

My hands began to explore the plains and valleys of her lush body. Stealing under her robe, I palmed her round ass and squeezed her silky flesh hard.

When she moaned, my cock pulsed, and I growled with longing. One hand slipped into her hair, snagging those full-bodied curls, while the other kneaded her ass. My fingers strayed between her thighs to test if she was ready for me, and I smiled. Fuck yes, she was! She was wetter than a faucet and twice as hot.

Dipping the tips of my fingers into her moist heat, I smeared it over her clit and began churning in tight, little circles. Spreading her legs wide to allow me full access, Evie began to keen low in her throat. The sound damn near catapulted me to come in my pants like a fucking untried teenage boy on prom night.

Evie’s hands went for my belt buckle, working desperately to unfasten it. Frustrated by the awkward mechanics of it, she cried, “Please, Matty! I need you inside of me right now. I can’t wait!”

Scooping her into my arms, I walked toward the bedroom and gently set her down on the bed.

“Get naked,” I growled, as I quickly began to divest myself of my assorted layers.

I needed inside of her, too. Though I’d smacked her creepy landlord around some, I hadn’t buried a bullet in his prick skull like I’d have preferred. That unspent frustration was now channeling into my libido. If I couldn’t use my fists, I was going to bang it out with my cock.

God damn! It felt like my skin was on fire and the only thing that could soothe the burn lay between my beautiful girl’s legs.

Shrugging out of her robe, Evie revealed she was only wearing a thong underneath. Fuck me! I wanted to rip off that delicate scrap of blue lace, deeply breathe in the smell of her sweet-smelling pussy, and then blow my load all over them.

My nostrils flared like the wild animal I was fast unraveling into. Needing to touch her, I cupped her breasts and squeezed the solid mounds with bruising force.

“You have the most beautiful tits I’ve ever seen,” I said hoarsely, stroking them lovingly, before roughly pinching her nipples. “I’ve been fantasizing about fucking them since we met.”

My large hands reluctantly left her skin to strip my belt and jeans off and onto the floor. Standing in only my boxers, I watched Evie’s chest rise and fall like the most tempting prize I’d ever beheld. Giving my cock some rough handling through the cotton material, I motioned to pull them down, but Evie brushed my hands aside.

“Let me do that,” she posed, moistening her lips with her pretty pink tongue. I traced its movement like a hawk does his prey, imagining what it would be like to feel it glide up and down my stiff length.

Slowly, she dragged my boxers down past my hips until my heavy erection sprang eagerly free of its cloth prison. Gripping my fat shaft in both hands, she stacked one palm above the other and began to stroke.

A hiss of pleasure escaped my lips at her touch. My hips strained forward, and I braced my hand on the back of her head for better leverage. Each time she pumped, my hips pulsed forward, bringing my dick closer and closer to her face. And her perfect, wet mouth. But I didn’t want to force her. I wanted her to ask prettily for it. To beg to taste my cock.

Shyly, Evie glanced up and caught my gaze. “I want to make you feel as good as you make me feel, Matty. I want to make you come with my mouth.”

Growing brave, her small fingers stroked my throbbing dick against her cheek, letting her lips rasp suggestively along the smooth skin as she followed through with the sexy as fuck motion.

Winding my fingers in her curls, I gave them a firm tug so her eyes were raised to mine. “You like playing with my cock, Babe? You want to play with it inside your wet mouth and suck me off like a good little girl?”

She nodded, her lusty gaze never wavering from mine. “Yes, please,” she answered, licking her lips to ready them for my entry.

Fisting my erection in her direction, I rubbed my swollen cockhead against her shiny, wet lips. “I’d love to feel your mouth wrapped around my cock, Evie. If you’re a good girl, I’ll show you just how I like it sucked.”

“I’ve never done it before,” she confessed, feeling childish for being so inexperienced. “Can you teach me?”

A shudder rippled through me. Sweeter words I’d never heard. “I’ll teach you, Baby. Open wide.”

My muscles bunched in anticipation as my girl complied. Trustingly, she formed her lips into an “O” as she drew my shaft closer to her lips.

“Keep looking at me,” I coached, needing to see her beautiful green eyes as she began swallowing me down. “Fuck, Evie!” I groaned, wanting to thrust into her fucking throat hard and fast the moment I slipped between that glorious, slippery seam of hers. Employing every bit of self-restraint I could muster, I let her drive the tempo. “I love watching you on your knees giving me head, Babe. It’s so fucking hot.”

Evie smiled around my shaft and pushed me even deeper into the recesses of her warmth. When she’d stuffed about half of me inside, she gagged and quickly slid back out. Moisture pooled in the depths of her green gaze making them appear almost iridescent as they stared back up at me, fearful that she erred somehow.

“You look so beautiful, Evie,” I praised, building her flagging confidence. “And your lips feel like fucking heaven wrapped around my cock!”

I gave her a few moments to adjust to my girth and size before she rallied, pushed past her discomfort, and sucked me back inside. Her cheeks bellowed and hollowed as she slid her head backward and forward. Hot damn, I loved to see my girl working my cock! I loved it so much, if I didn’t get a hold of myself, I’d shoot my load straight down her throat and not in her tight pussy where it belonged.

Encouraging her to go a little faster, Evie started to get the hang of the motion with each successive stroke. “That’s right, Babe. Swallow it. You can handle my cock like the good girl you are.” When she choked again and blushed, I stroked her cheek. “I love to hear you gagging on my dick, Babe. Can you feel how much?”

She nodded and began adding pressure with her tiny fist. Her spit was dripping down my shaft now, coating my skin with the necessary lube to move even faster.

Impaling her all the way onto my shaft, I began fucking her mouth with my dick. Holy shit, it was amazing! The sound and feel of her working my length caused a full-body shiver to ricochet from my head down to my toes.

In an attempt to hang on, Evie braced her hands on my hips and took my punishing blows like a pro. Just shy of coming, I whipped out of her mouth and took a deep breath to cool down.

After getting myself under control, I ordered, “Spit on my cock,” and she obediently spit warm fluid onto the head before distributing it down the length of my shaft.

When my dick jumped with excitement, I could tell it provoked her to be more bold. She quickly caught a drip with her tongue, and spit it back onto my cockhead, using her cupped hand to tease the sensitive head with the slippery fluid.

“That’s it, Babe. You’re a fucking natural,” I praised, thrusting myself deeper down her throat when she sucked me back inside. “Give it a few hard strokes, then slap it against your tongue,” I commanded, wishing I could commemorate this moment on my phone and watch it whenever I was on a Club ride.

My balls tightened painfully, alerting me I was close to blowing my load again. I’d let her get in a few more strokes, but then I was cutting her off. I needed to get out my frustrations tonight, and pounding her pussy until it milked me dry of my come was the only solution to how tightly strung I was.

“Slow down, Babe,” I warned, needing to cool off again before I prematurely came and sprayed her tits instead of the walls of her cunt. “Spread your legs apart and play with your clit while I watch. I want to see you come while you’re deep-throating me.”

Still shy, but eager as ever to please, Evie lowered her hand to her pink folds and began strumming the swollen nub hidden inside.

“Spread the lips apart so I can see how wet you are for me,” I growled, my inner beast rising to the surface as she separated the folds and revealed her slick, pink center.

Why I thought this graphic picture would slow my orgasm down, I’d never know. My girl, on her knees, giving me world-class head and rubbing her clit while she did it, wasn’t exactly the bucket of cold water I was looking for. But I couldn’t stop watching. I was fucking mesmerized by the sight and wet, sloppy sounds as she rocked her hips in time with her hand.

I pumped a few more hard strokes with my own fist before feeding my cock back between her lips. “Push a finger inside that tight little pussy of yours. I want it nice and ready for when I shove my fat cock inside. I want you prepared because I’m not going to be gentle about it.”

Evie immediately complied and inserted a single slender finger into the tight ring of flesh between her shapely thighs. She moaned around my shaft and the vibration nearly unmanned me.

Sweat broke out onto my brow as I held back from letting myself tip over the edge. “Another one,” I demanded tightly, my muscles clenched brutally from straining so hard. “Loosen that tight little cunt up for me. Get it nice and sloppy wet for my thick cock.”

Evie mewed and moaned at my words. So my girl liked dirty talk? Well, so did I. I yanked her head backward and said, “Tell me what you want, Babe. I want to hear you say it.”

Her lips were shiny with her spit and my precum. “I want you to fuck my tits like you said you’ve been fantasizing about doing since we met.”

Jesus! This woman would end me. Her wanting me to live out my fantasy on her body was the sexiest thing I’d ever heard. “You want me to give you a pretty pearl necklace on these big tits of yours?” I repeated, palming one mound, and then the other for emphasis.

“More than anything,” Evie replied, arching backward so I had full access to her breasts.

God damn! It was like I was living out my prison fantasy right here in real life.

“Keep fingering yourself, Babe. That pussy of yours isn’t off the hook tonight.” Oh, I was going to fuck her cunt. It was just going to have to wait its turn while I attended to her breasts first, but it was happening.

Evie leaned forward and spit on the head of my cock just like I’d taught her. My nostrils flared and my skin pricked with lust. Guiding my well-lubed cock between her tits, I centered them between the twin globes, knit my fingers together to hold them in place, and began stroking.

All those times in Cantiville where I’d imagined doing this to my woman didn’t hold a candle to the true experience. It was ten times more satisfying than I’d ever dreamed possible. She’d coated my cock perfectly with her spit and it slid like butter through the valley of her soft flesh.

Evie’s eyes shuddered closed as her fingers danced faster and faster over her clit. She grunted and whimpered as she grew closer to her orgasm.

Sensing she was a hair’s breadth away, I said, “Look at me, Babe. I want to see those eyes when you come for, Daddy.”

That did it. Evie exploded and began bucking like a wild mare. Arching so far back that her head practically struck the mattress, she came apart with a euphoric shout.

“Fuck!” I shouted alongside her.

My balls tightened, my dick hardened to the consistency of steel, and every muscle in my body seized. My cock erupted with the force of a Glock, spraying her glorious tits with shots of my hot spunk.

Shuddering, I milked it hard of every single drop. But I wasn’t done with her yet. I knew I could still fuck because I was so amped up.

Using my t-shirt, I swiped her belly and chest clean of my come and said, “Lay back on the bed and spread your legs. I need inside your pussy right now.”

Evie crawled backward, parting her thighs for my entry. I didn’t prepare her or go slow. In one swift motion, I lined my swollen cockhead up with her slit and pushed my way into her body as far as I could go.

Sucking in a surprised gasp, Evie accepted the onslaught and wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. Withdrawing all but the tip of my dick, I speared into her tight ring of muscle and flesh once again, reveling in how tight and silky soft she was.

“Hold on tight,” I warned, before unleashing my inner demon.

Stroking so deep I was touching her goddamned cervix, I rode my girl’s pussy like Hell was on my ass and my only salvation was through her beautiful cunt.

Grunting with each stroke, I could feel Evie’s muscles spasm against my cock as she came a second time. “Oh God! Don’t stop!” she wailed, her nails raking across my back, no doubt leaving bloody tracks in their wake.

“Come for me, Evie,” I demanded. “Come all over my cock.”

Her cunt seized like a vice around my dick. I pushed harder, reaching deeper. Threading my arms under her legs, I hoisted her hips into the air and began pistoning through her orgasm. Her whimpers of pure bliss were enough to shatter me a second time tonight. I broke and emptied myself into her pulsing channel, the intensity of it surpassing that of even my first release.

Laying in a tangle of sweaty, glistening flesh, I kissed my girl’s forehead, more satiated than I’d ever been at any other time of my life. As far as methods to calm myself down went, fucking my girl’s pussy until I unloaded my burden had become my new favorite way to de-stress.

Evie kissed me back, pulling me into her body and breathing in my scent. We lay like that for a minute before her stomach growled.

Sitting up, I said, “Did you eat anything for dinner?”

She bit her lip and shook her head. “I was too busy to eat and then too upset after Charles came over.” Her face fell then. “Matty, what am I going to do about my apartment? I can’t afford this crazy price hike, and I’m barely making ends meet as it is.”

I pressed my forehead against hers and tried to suppress my knowing grin. “You don’t have to worry about that, Babe. I’ve got an idea about what you can do.” Getting out of bed, I pulled her to her feet and smacked her ass. “Come on. Let me make you something to eat and I’ll share with you what I was thinking.”

Evie smiled. “You’re going to cook for me?”

“Damn straight!” I spoke with pride. “I make a mean omelet. My mom worked a lot when I was a kid, so I know a thing or two in the kitchen.”

Standing on her tip-toes, Evie looped her arms around my neck and gave me the sweetest kiss on the lips. “I’d love that.”

And I loved this woman. As soon as I knew she could handle that information, I was going to say it out loud as well as tattoo it all over my body. Until then, the omelet was going to have to do.

* * *

Fairview, Nevada

Evie

Preparing for a kid’s birthday party I was catering for, I headed to the grocery store to pick up a few last-minute supplies. As I placed the necessary items into my cart, I thought about everything Matty and I had discussed last night and shivered at the memory of what we’d shared, both in bed and in the kitchen afterward.

As much as I hated to rely on other people, I was warming to the idea of trusting this man completely. Not just with my thoughts, but with my heart. If I were being honest with myself, I’d admit that I was falling in love with the handsome, charismatic biker. And that was a scarier truth than anything else I could think of.

To me, love meant pain. It meant trauma. It meant disappointment. I’d never experienced any other reality with this powerful emotion. In my life, all love traveled down a one-way road that led to a fiery car crash at the end. And, as much as I wanted this love to be different, I couldn’t wrap my head around any other outcome other than tragedy.

Placing a gallon of milk into my cart, I recalled Matty’s solution to my apartment problem last night. He’d said he had a friend who was going to be out of town for a few months and that he was looking to sublet his apartment to someone trustworthy. It wasn’t a permanent fix, but it might just be exactly what I needed until I could figure out an alternative.

When I’d asked Matty how much the place would cost, he’d said the guy was asking for roughly what I was paying now, minus a few bucks, and therefore it was within my budget. I didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I’d promised to think it over and that I’d have an answer for him within the next couple of days.

Matty hadn’t pushed. Instead, he’d cooked for me and regaled me with stories of his childhood. When I was quiet for too long, he encouraged me to open up about mine. I hadn’t said much, but I’d told him about my dad going in and out of prison, and how my mom eventually fell into the lifestyle herself. That, at the moment, I didn’t even know where she was or if she was even alive.

I’d also shared with him that I’d spent a year in foster care until I aged out of the system at eighteen. My mom had fully succumbed to her drug habit at that point, and she was going MIA for several months at a time. I was left on my own during those dark periods until a teacher at school reported the signs of neglect and a slew of government agencies with acronyms I couldn’t remember investigated and finally got involved.

For their part, my foster family, however temporary, were good to me and were good people. Their children were inclusive. The mother had helped me with my homework and the father didn’t do anything creepy. But it wasn’t the same as having a family of my own. The thing I’d never experienced and craved most in this world.

Hearing about Matty’s big family gave me a taste of that. It made me dream about how wonderful it must be to be loved so unconditionally. It made me hope, and dream, for something more for myself one day.

What I appreciated about Matty when I was telling him about my childhood was that he didn’t push for details. He listened to my story and didn’t pester, pry, or demand explanations. He simply nodded, ate his dinner, and followed along without judgment. I might not have said much, but it was more than I’d shared with anyone ever before. Another sign that I was falling head over heels in love with this enigmatic man.

As I paid for my groceries, I realized I had to head over to the bank and deposit the check my client had given me. I’d made the mistake once before of waiting until the last minute, and I wasn’t about to make it again with this one.

When I pulled up to the bank, all the parking spots were filled, so I decided to drive one street down to an empty lot where a new Walmart was being constructed and I knew there’d be plenty of free parking spots.

It wasn’t a far walk to the bank, and it was a beautiful day, so I popped on my sunglasses and decided to enjoy the sunshine on my face. I didn’t see them right away, but I heard them.

The engines were so loud I felt them vibrating throughout my whole body as they descended. A handful of bikes swarmed me, and my heart dropped into my stomach.

I tried to make it back to my car, but one of the bikes cut me off and a large man quickly dismounted. I knew who it was before the biker even removed his helmet.

Maze. The man who’d attacked me at Magpies, grinned big at me as he closed the space between us. “Look what we have here, boys. Little Evie. I’ve been looking for you, Babe. You’re a hard woman to find.”

I immediately berated myself for leaving the house without the escort Matty told me I needed. Because I was only going to the grocery store, I thought it would be silly to bother one of the prospects to drive me there. I regretted my decision immensely now.

Paralyzed over what to do next, my mind began to whir with potential solutions. “Leave me alone or I’ll scream!”

Maze and his boys chuckled at my pathetic warning. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, Babe. I like it when my women scream. I bet it makes those beautiful tits of yours bounce real nice, too.”

My face paled as he reached out and squeezed my breast hard. Gasping, I jumped back, but his other arm snaked out and latched onto my wrist before I could go far.

“Now where do you think you’re going, bitch? I haven’t dismissed you yet. We need to talk.” Dragging me close, the much larger biker said, “I want you to tell your faggot boyfriend something for me.”

“I’m not going to do anything for you,” I returned stubbornly, my eyes burning with anger and unshed tears.

I began to struggle but he circled his strong arms around my waist and held me close. “Struggle all you want, little Evie. I fucking love feeling those big tits of yours rubbing up against me.”

I immediately stilled, not wanting to give him the satisfaction.

Maze bumped his hips against mine and smiled coldly. “Like I was saying, you need to pass on a message to your faggot boyfriend. Tell him that his Club has some new competition up North. The Devil”s Riders aren’t holding the Watchmen back any longer. I’m the new President, and I come,” he rubbed his disgusting crotch against mine in a filthy innuendo, “to play hardball. And, just so they don’t make the mistake of thinking we’re on our own, we got some new friends on our team. They’re the right type of friends,” he emphasized. “You got me, Babe?”

I shook my head. “I’m not saying anything to the Riders. It’s none of my business what the Club does.”

The men laughed as Maze forced me backward until he had my ass pinned against the hood of my car. “I see Bishop has his woman trained up nicely.” His erection nudged between my legs and I nearly gagged at the unsolicited contact. “That’ll make my training of you even sweeter, little Evie.”

I began to struggle in earnest then and Maze easily pinned my arms to my side. The men behind him grew restless, even more excited by my struggles. Like wild animals sensing another from its pack leaning in for the kill, they got closer and their eyes more excited.

Dividing my legs, Maze stepped in between them and rubbed himself in slow circles against my apex. “Now, repeat the message back to me, Babe. Or I’m going to pull you into the back seat of your car, strip off your pants, and fuck you in the ass.”

“I vote we take her back to the Clubhouse and take turns with her, Prez,” a man with bad skin, thinning hair, and muddy brown eyes, crassly suggested.

“If she doesn’t repeat the message correctly, I’ll take that into consideration, Snake,” Maze flatly replied. “Do you like gang bangs, little Evie?” he posed darkly. “Because if you do, keep being stubborn. I’ll give you an endless supply of them in the basement of my Clubhouse.”

I’m ashamed to admit, I began to quiver at his graphic threat. “I’m going to tell—,” I almost said Matty, but switched to his Club name at the last second, “Bishop, that the Devil’s Riders have competition up North.”

“Good girl,” Maze praised, stroking the side of my face with his rough hands. “What else?”

“The Watchmen aren’t going to be held back by anyone,” I listed, my voice trembling as he rimmed the waistband of my yoga pants with his probing fingers. “And that you’ve made a lot of friends that are going to assist you,” I ended lamely, having already forgotten the last part of his statement.

“Correction,” Maze returned, whispering into my ear, “we’ve made the right type of friends. Bishop will know what that means. But, just in case he’s all looks and no brains, tell him we met these friends in Cantiville. And that they aren’t happy with him after what happened before he left.”

I swallowed hard. “Okay. I’ll tell him. I promise.” At that point, I would have promised him free cake and ice cream for life if he’d just let me go.

“Prez, there’s a cop circling this way,” Snake informed him, shifting nervously in place like he wanted to do something violent about that fact.

A rush of relief spread throughout my chest. I’d never been so happy to see a cop in my whole life. I was hoping his presence would be enough to make Maze think twice about carrying out his threat of hauling me into the back seat of my car.

“Fucking pigs, always interrupting us whenever we’re talking,” Maze cursed, his dark eyes searching mine. “Just remember what I told you,” he said, patting my cheek.

“I won’t forget,” I replied earnestly, feeling like the weight of the world was lifted off of me the second he removed his body from mine and I could stand up straight again.

Maze watched me for a second before adjusting his hard-on through his jeans. He stared at me the whole walk over to his bike. “Tell your man one last thing,” he tagged on, as the others revved their motors around us. “Tell that Devil scum that I’m not just coming for his Club. After I ruin him and his pussy-ass Brothers, I’m coming for his girl, too.”

The cop car was rolling faster towards us now, as Maze and his men rode off in the opposite direction. When the officer pulled up next to me, he rolled down his window and said, “You okay, miss?”

Despite being anything close to okay, I pasted a smile onto my face and nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just stopped to ask those guys for directions, is all.”

The cop, whose name tag read “Carmichael” gave me a shrewd stare. It was clear he didn’t believe my story, but there wasn’t anything he could do to force the truth out of me.

In an effort to keep things light and fluffy, I added, “Thanks for stopping though. I appreciate it, but I’m late for work and I have to get going.”

Carmichael gave me a slow nod before saying, “If you need to talk, you can stop by the seventh district any time. My name’s Officer Scott Carmichael. I work day shifts.”

His kindness touched me, but the last thing I wanted to do was involve anyone else in my mess. “Thanks, but I got my directions, so I’m all set.”

Waving goodbye, I got into my car and locked the doors. I drove in circles before finally pulling into a busy McDonald’s parking lot. Picking up my phone, I called Matty with shaky hands.

“Hey Babe,” he greeted, “What’s up?”

I broke down into a round of embarrassing sobs, hating myself for my weakness. Matty tried to calm me down enough to hear what I was saying, but it took a solid minute before I could collect myself enough to finish full sentences.

“Maze and a few of his friends found me in a parking lot today,” I began, still quivering from the adrenaline rush.

“Are you okay?” Matty asked calmly. Too calm, in my opinion.

“Yes, he didn’t hurt me, but he wanted me to relay a message to you,” I explained in a rush, wondering if I should censor any of the conversation or just give it to him straight.

“Where are you now? Are you at home?” he pressed, clearly trying to triage the situation as best as possible.

My fingers shook as I gripped my phone hard enough to make them appear colorless. “No. I’m at the McDonald’s right down the road from the highway.”

“Drive over to the Clubhouse, Evie. Don’t stop no matter what. Do you hear me, Babe?”

I nodded. Realizing that he couldn’t see me though, I followed up audibly, “I’m on my way now,” and put the car in drive.

As soon as I pulled up to the gates of the Devil’s Clubhouse, Matty was there waiting for me. He didn’t even let my car come to a complete stop. Instead, he motioned for me to unlock my doors, pulled mine open, and dragged me out into his arms.

Raining kisses down my face, head, and neck, he whispered how grateful he was that I was okay. When he’d soothed me enough to stop my shaking, he walked me over to the passenger side door, buckled me into my seat, and returned to drive my vehicle back to the Clubhouse garage.

After we’d parked, Matty looked at me and said, “I know you probably don’t want to talk about it, Babe, but I’m going to need you to tell my Club President about everything that happened today.”

“Okay,” I softly returned, wringing my hands together as I tried to calm my jumbled nerves about speaking with Reaper. It wasn’t the first time I’d talked with the man, but he was so intimidating I found it hard to open up around him, let alone discuss something so personal.

“Before we go inside,” Matty cautiously began, “I need to ask you something.” He let out a pent-up breath and pushed forward. “Did Maze or any of his guys do anything to you, Babe? You don’t have to be afraid. You can tell me anything.”

My eyes filled with a fresh set of tears at his gentle words. “He made threats, but nothing more,” I reluctantly revealed.

Matty’s hands clenched into fists which took several moments to unfurl. “I don’t want you to have to explain this story twice, so let’s go inside and you can tell both me and Reaper at the same time.”

Taking me by the hand, we walked into the Clubhouse. Reaper was waiting inside a large conference room with a wooden table when we got there. To my great relief, so was Angel.

“How are you?” she spoke gently into my ear, holding me close like a mother would a scared little child.

I nearly lost it again, but managed to hold back. “I’m okay. Just shook up.”

“Can you start at the beginning?” Reaper posed, barrel-sized arms stacked one over the other. “Don’t leave anything out. I need to know every fucking detail about what those degenerate bastards said.”

I told them about going to the grocery store and then needing to drop off a check at the bank. I could feel Matty’s eyes on me, but he didn’t censure me for the stupid mistake of going alone.

Reaper wasn’t so forgiving. “Why wasn’t a Prospect watching her?” he demanded, looking at Matty for answers. “I made it clear that no woman associated with this Club was to go anywhere without a Brother or Prospect for their safety.”

I answered so Matty didn’t have to. “Because I had a last-minute catering order and didn’t realize it would be so dangerous to drive to the store alone. It was my mistake, Reaper. Matty told me not to go anywhere without a prospect as my escort. I ignored him. Next time, I won’t be so foolish.”

Matty squeezed my hand reassuringly. “I’ll make sure of that.”

Reaper took in the intimate exchange between us with interest but didn’t comment directly on it. “You said that Maze wanted to give us a message. What was it?”

Taking a deep breath, I launched into my story. I told Reaper about his competition up North and then about Maze having friends that were the “right” sort.

“He said that you met them in prison,” I turned and told Matty, “and that you’d know who he was talking about.”

Matty’s beautiful aqua eyes chilled over as realization dawned. “Yeah, I know who that fucker was referring to,” he returned, giving Reaper a meaningful glance.

“Did he say anything else?” Reaper pressed, wanting every detail that he could unearth before deciding on what to do next with the Watchmen.

“He said that he planned on ruining your Club, and that he,” I paused, not wanting to stoke Matty’s temper any more than it already was, but unwilling to leave out details he needed to know, “he said that after he took your Club, he was going to take me.” I revealed with a full body shiver.

Like the hottest part of the flame, Matty’s eyes blazed blue fire. “That’s not going to fucking happen, Evie!” he growled, his voice so low and angry I barely recognized it. “Believe me when I say that man isn’t coming anywhere near you. I’ll kill him and every member of that piece of shit Club of his, first!”

Lowering my head, I tried not to let my fear show in my eyes. When I’d gotten ahold of myself, I stated the obvious. “You can’t watch me every second of the day, Matty. You’ve got a life. A Club to answer to. Responsibilities outside of me.”

“The fuck I can’t!” he exploded, his face transforming into a mask of utter rage.

“Matty, be reasonable,” I protested, knowing it would do little good, but needing to try anyway.

“You’ll stay at the Club then,” Matty proclaimed, the decision already made. “There’s precedent for it.”

“He’s right,” Angel spoke up then, surprising everyone at the table. “Reaper took me in when I had nowhere else to go, even when it jeopardized the Club to do it. What he did saved my life, and I’ll never forget it.”

Reaper looked at his wife so tenderly then, for a moment, I saw how she must view him. How she could be with a man who had such a rough exterior, but when with her, presented such a loving side. Someone who adored her with every ounce of his being. It was everything I wanted for myself, but more than I could ever realistically hope for.

“We did the same for Amelia a few months back when that cop and crazy bitch were both stalking her,” Matty added with equal conviction.

Wow! That was a lot of information I hadn’t expected levied on me all at once. As soon as this was all over, I was going to have to sit Angel and Amelia down to explain those stories in detail over some very stiff drinks.

“So it’s settled,” Reaper announced then. “Since the Devils created this problem for Evie, she stays at the Clubhouse until this business with the Watchmen is properly handled.”

Everyone looked content with this decision, but I had an uneasy feeling about it. However, because I didn’t have an alternative suggestion, I nodded and accepted the generous offer.

* * *

Buse, Nevada

Evie

“Why not?” Amelia pouted, as she stomped her foot in the cutest high-heeled sandals I’d never be able to pull off. “Angel’s agreed, and she’s nine weeks pregnant! You’d look amazing in this outfit! My brother won’t be able to take his eyes off of you.”

I gave the outfit she was holding up a questionable once over as I scratched behind Ryder’s ears. “That’s just it. I don’t want your brother to be distracted when he’s fighting. I don’t even like the idea of him fighting at all, let alone losing his concentration because of me.”

Amelia snorted. “Well, if you’re going to be with my brother, you’d better get over that now. Bishop likes to fight. Agree with it or not, it’s a big part of who he is. It’s partly why he joined this MC. Same as Hawk. Our men aren’t always easy to love, Evie, but they’re impossible not to fall in love with. You gotta take the man, flaws and all, if you want to be with a biker.”

Truer words had never been spoken. I rethought the costume she set down on the bed as Ryder demanded I keep scratching his chest. He really was the perfect dog. Sweet, friendly, and always willing to be loved on. When he leaned into my side and flopped down onto my lap for even more attention, I giggled and gave him exactly what he wanted—more belly rubs.

I sighed in defeat when I saw Amelia slipping on a pair of flesh-colored tights before pulling up her Lycra shorts. Of course, she looked amazing in this costume. She was all legs, tanned torso, and long blonde hair. Me, not so much.

“Why would we be wearing these outfits again?” I checked, wondering what I’d look like in the one she’d picked out for me.

“Because we want to support our men and their Club of course,” she answered while batting her false eyelashes prettily back at me.

Angel exited the bathroom then and said, “And because Amelia loves playing dress up for her man.”

Amelia pointed an accusatory finger in Angel’s direction. “Aren’t you the one who wore out your Halloween costume while modeling it for Reaper before you even had a chance to wear it in public, missy?”

Giggling, Angel sat down on the edge of the bed beside me and Ryder. Snuggling the beast that had become like communal Club property, she shrugged. “I’m going to plead the fifth on that unfounded accusation.”

“That’s what I thought,” Amelia returned spicily. “Now, back to the issue at hand. These adorable costumes I so lovingly selected for us.”

I frowned. “Do you think Bishop would even want me to wear this in public? I’d practically be naked.”

“How in the world can a man complain about his woman wearing this?” The blonde bombshell queried, flicking a brand-new pair of thongs in my general direction.

Like it was an exhibit at trial, Amelia held up a skin-tight Lycra top that had the words “Devil’s Riders” emblazoned across the chest. The two words were separated by a plunging neckline, and my ample cleavage, once donned. On the back of each uniform was the name of each of our respective men.

“Plus, they can be worn with heels,” she showed me what hers looked like with the candy apple red stilettos she’d be rocking, “or ballet flats, as I’m sure you and Angel would prefer.”

She had a point. I supposed they were versatile enough. I was slowly coming around to the idea as I saw what the finished product looked like on Amelia. However, everything looked amazing on Amelia. She was more like the Brazilian model who made the rest of us mere mortals look like street rats in comparison.

“When did you even get those made?” Angel asked out of curiosity. “You work like a hundred hours a week at your salon, and you barely have time to come to the Club, let alone design us all a wardrobe.”

“A new screen-printing shop opened up next door to the Baby Doll and they offered to create the Devil’s Riders logo for free if I advertised their work at my shop and the Club,” Amelia explained. “The ring girl costumes I bought off of Amazon on a whim after Hawk was away on a ride and I’d had one too many glasses of wine.”

Angel erupted into laughter. “Let me guess, this new shop owner is a man who wants pictures to hang on his wall to use as free advertisement for his business?”

Amelia lifted a delicate shoulder as she adjusted her crop top into place. “Maybe…”

Like Matty, Amelia turned heads wherever she went. Fingering the cloth on the bed, I considered if I would be bold enough to carry something like this off or if I’d just make a fool of myself. It wasn’t that I didn’t like my body. I just didn’t usually wear something so revealing and I was afraid my lack of confidence would project my insecurities, making me look like a ridiculous poser.

“Come on,” Amelia encouraged, tossing me a package of shiny flesh-colored tights I could wear underneath my Lycra shorts, “live a little. You know you want to.”

I did want to. I wanted to break out of my shell, dress up a little naughty, and support my man at his charity MMA match. Biting my lip, I kissed Ryder on his head for good luck before saying, “Fine. I’m in.”