Chapter 18
Clyde
It’s past midnight when I come back home, but at least the deal’s done. I should feel better about it, since it’s what we strived for, for a long time. To snatch the Vultures’ supplier in Redmond from under them. We can afford to outbid them, and in the long run, it’s a good deal for us.
The only reason I voted against it is petty.
I want more time with Road, and this action, while not an act of war, will antagonize the Vultures once they find out.
But I was outvoted, so off we went, to seal the deal in Redmond.
My house is large and secluded. Our whole family used to live here when I was a kid, but now it’s just me. It feels a bit too big for one person, but sometimes I need to host guys from other chapters, so it’s convenient. Miles from even the outskirts of town, it’s a place of peace where I don’t have to deal with other people’s bullshit.
Sure, I like to play pool with the other patches, grab a few beers at our bar, or work on my motorcycle at the garage, but I have to keep my walls up there.
I enter the hallway, lock the door behind me, and hang my jacket on the coat rack—or at least I attempt to, until I remember that it fell off the wall last week.
I stall, staring at it in confusion, because I’m sure I didn’t fix it myself, yet there it is. Back on the wall. My instinct warns me about the possibility of an intruder, but no burglar comes to a house in the sticks to hang a broken coat rack .
No one else has the keys, and the whole club was out with us. Who could have possibly…?
I try to pull on the wooden hanger, but it sits on the wall so solidly I could probably lean my whole weight on it with no trouble. A viper coils in my gut, preparing me for the worst as I listen, hearing no sounds beyond the steady tick of my grandfather’s clock which… stopped working about a month ago. I kept wanting to wind it up but it was never a priority. Yet now, its familiar tap is sending shivers down my spine.
There are no unusual smells either, and while at first glance, the house appears normal, knowing that someone stepped inside without my permission makes me feel violated.
As I pass family and club photos framed on the wall, I get goosebumps, because it feels like Roy’s eyes are following me. I don’t believe in ghosts, so I pull out my gun just in case, because this is fucking freaky.
As if this day wasn’t frustrating enough. I’m now glad I hid my extra phone in a pot at the back of the kitchen cupboard, because if whoever’s been here finds it, I’ll be in deep shit. It also meant I couldn’t check in with Road, which made a day that felt like a failure even worse.
I take off the safety and step forward. The intruder who decided to help me with housekeeping might still linger, and if that’s the case, he can be anywhere. The floor creaks under my weight as I peek up the stairs, but when I find only darkness, my feet lead me farther into the first floor. The wall separating me from the living room ends two paces ahead, and I lean my back against it, my heart in my throat as I’m about to peek behind it. My ears still pick up no unusual sounds, but the proof of intrusion is there, and I can’t let my guard down. I’m a member of the Hell’s Butchers MC, and there are more than enough people who want me dead.
I turn the corner, assessing the dark living room. My eyes widen and I take a step back when I spot a shadowy figure in my damn armchair.
When the man gets up with his palms up, I recognize the shape of that damn head. I can’t see the face, since the bright light of the moon shines through the window behind him, but it’s Road. I can even spot where he’s missing half an ear.
A part of me wants to sigh in relief, but there’s another side to this coin.
I have no idea what he’s here to do. Our… arrangement might not be enough to save me if the Vultures have already found out that we sabotaged their supply chain .
“The fuck are you doing here?” It comes out harsher than intended, but it’s been a long day. My fingers tighten around the gun pointed straight at Road’s chest, and I lick sweat from above my lip when my index finger stiffens on the trigger, as if I have early-onset arthritis.
He cocks his head. “Are you… it’s me. What do you think I’m gonna do?” he asks but keeps his hands where I can see them.
I don’t know, Road? Execute me for working against the Vultures? We’re both loyal to our respective clubs and he’s their fucking enforcer. Still, he might not yet know how I spent the day.
It could be a trick, but… I don’t know. His voice seems sincere and I know it intimately after the month we’ve had. I holster my gun, but the stress of discovering someone in the one place I’m at peace doesn’t just disperse because murder’s no longer on the table.
“What are you doing in my house? You can’t be here! I could have come with my uncle, or anyone else, really!” I spread my arms, still disbelieving his audacity. He must have been the one to fix my shit too, which is both sweet and infuriating, because no one asked him to.
He spreads his arms, as if he needs to show me that he is still taller and broader than me, and takes two steps closer around the coffee table. “You ignored me all day, and then I heard you’ve got a black eye. Switch on the damn light!”
I’ve got no idea where he would have heard that, but it appears it’s not just the Butchers that make it their business to have spies. I clap twice, because yes, I’ve got that kind of lamp.
The room is flooded with the soft glow from above and I stare him down. Though it’s hard to keep my glare level when he looks so good in a white tank top and jeans that hang from his hips just right.
“I didn’t ignore you! I told you I have shit to do. I wouldn’t bail if it wasn’t important. I can’t be on my phone all day like some dick-thirsty schoolgirl. The bruise is nothing.” I shrug. “I got into a—” a fight with the bodyguard of the man who you can’t know anything about. “I can’t tell you. That was always the deal.”
“So you got it dealing with club business?” Road asks in a tense voice, but when I nod, his shoulders relax, and he rubs the ultra-short hair on his head. I love stroking it so much. “Fine. I thought maybe something happened. ”
I frown. “And what would you do then? Come save me? Like I’m some damsel in distress? Do you not remember who I am?”
“What, you would rather I pissed on your grave?” Road throws back, taking another few steps. He’s still keeping his distance, but at least now there’s nothing separating us. And, of course he’s staring at the bruise, as if I were a child in need of coddling.
“I don’t care what you do when I’m dead anyway,” I say even though he’s starting to pull on my heart strings simply by his proximity. “Did you come here because you felt owed a day?” Okay. Harsh. But him being in my space is unnerving me and I don’t even know why it’s affecting me so much. Like the Road I met by the lake was some sexy, harmless version of him, and now the real thing is stepping into my life.
And then he’s next to me, shoving at my chest. “What is that supposed to mean?”
I push back. This I know. This I understand. “I said what I said! You’re not allowed to be here! How long have you even been in my house? We arrange meetings! So it’s safe. And separate. That’s the only way it works.”
“Then you should have told me not to worry,” Road barks in my face, his twisted features inches from mine.
Is he baiting me into a kiss, or is that my own greedy brain suggesting it?
I bump my forehead into his, unwilling to back down. “Why would you worry?”
His mouth opens, eyes widen as he spaces out, staring through me rather than at me. His scent is even more intense than usual, musky, spicy, dangerous, but the tingling in my toes has nothing to do with fear.
“I… don’t… I just don’t like being out of the loop,” he mutters in a softer voice, but when his gaze meets mine, I drown, and he leaps in after me.
My back clashes with the wall as our teeth collide, but his hands keep me afloat, digging into the flesh of my thighs.
Fuck.
I need to kick him out. I really do. We can’t be doing this here. It’s the exact slippery slope we were supposed to avoid. Meets at the lake were supposed to create a bubble for us. A different world in which who we are doesn’t matter.
I should push him away, but I only open my mouth wider for his tongue. He’s such a good kisser. It’s like he fucks me with his tongue. That’s all I want after the day I’ve had.
When he lifts my legs, I gasp in surprise, but instinctively wrap my arms around his neck. It’s madness. I’m still wearing my damn patches. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong .
But the way he smells? So right. My heart beats faster at this show of strength too. I’m no featherweight, and no one’s lifted me since… maybe my birthday a few years back. But I can hardly compare my brothers throwing me in the air a few times to the way Road holds me.
He’s intense, and hungry, and when his mouth descends my neck, leaving wet, lusty kisses, I find myself shuddering, because it’s that good. I’m not kicking him out and he knows it, the smug bastard.
“Fuck, I missed this,” he whispers, stepping away from the wall. My eyes shoot open as panic coils in my stomach, but while it’s evidently more difficult for him to keep me up without support, he’s still able to hold my weight.
I hug his head, rubbing my cheek against the soft fuzz on it. “Show off.” I secretly love it though. Him carrying me gives me a feeling of not having to be in charge for once, and after today, it’s like a weight lifted off my shoulders.
He chuckles. “What if I am, Blue Eyes?”
The stupid nickname makes me feel seen in ways he can’t imagine. It’s not my family name, not Butcher, and not something based on my skill. Simply a pretty part of me he’s noticed and wants to make sure I know.
“You can stay. Since you’re already here. But only this one time. I’ve had a shit day,” I confess, fighting the urge to tell him all about it when I need to keep my mouth shut.
A shadow passes over his features, and he puts me down, only to slide his arms around me. Just like that, in the middle of my living room, as if that kind of thing was normal. “Sounds like a pain. Wanna feel better?” With a soft smirk, he nips my nose with his teeth.
A wave of tenderness hits me so hard I find it hard to speak and nod noncommittally. It’s been a long time since someone cared how I feel and I don’t know what to do with that, so I hook two fingers against his.
Road looks back at me, rubbing my palm with his thumb, but when neither of us says a thing for a few seconds, he clears his throat and nods toward my bookshelf. “So… you like… chickens?”
I choke out a laugh because that’s so stupid, but it cheers me up. I don’t even have the energy to scold him for rummaging through my bookshelf. “They were my mother’s, the books about chickens. I don’t have the heart to throw them away.”
“The plates and salt and pepper shakers too?” he asks, nodding toward my kitchen. Clearly, he’s been everywhere. I don’t even care to ask how he got in .
I shake my head. “She loved those damn chickens. She even…” I worry Road will laugh at me, but he’s listening. “She got me a chicken for my tenth birthday. We had the coop out there.” I point at the back of the yard through the window. There’s no trace of it left now, but I remember how it looked as if that image was etched on the backs of my eyelids.
Road chuckles. “Wow, so you had like… a real family, huh?”
I squeeze his hand. “Yeah, Dad would host parties for the whole club and their families in the summer. More meat on the grill than even thirty bikers can eat.” I know it’s the past, it’s not club secrets, yet it still feels kinda illicit to tell him about my family. “You… didn’t?” I glance into his eyes, hit by just how much I want to know him beyond what movies he likes, or that he hates spinach and tea.
Road shrugs and rests his chin on my shoulder. “I wish. Nah, pretty sure my parents only remembered my name because I was the second oldest.”
My mouth dries, and it hits me that Roadkill can’t be his real name. I know so many people primarily by their nicknames that it didn’t even occur to me I don’t know what else Road answers to. “So… what’s your real name?”
Road leans back, as if I’ve struck him, and his face pinches. He’s considering it as if I asked him for nuclear codes. “Fine. But swear you won’t call me that, or tell anyone.”
I smirk. “Oh… Okay. Is it Ebenezer? Morton? Balthasar?”
Road shakes his head. “Nothing as fancy as that. I’m Two. Nice to meet you,” he says and offers me his hand.
“ Two ? What kind of name is that?”
“A funny one,” Road tells me with the most somber expression I’ve seen on him. “Guess who was called Number Two at school.”
My smile turns into a scowl and I hate his parents even more than I did before. “That’s fucked up. Guess your second birthday party must have been weird,” I say, trying to lighten the mood, but it backfires immediately.
“Didn’t know something like a birthday existed until I saw it in a movie.”
“What? When’s your birthday then?” Because he deserves a little celebration, even if it’s just a very sloppy blowjob.
“Don’t remember half the time, honestly,” he says, but I’m already planning to get my hands on his ID and check the date.
“Tell you what though, I had a lot of time on my hands, so I ended up doing a few repairs.” He points to the hallway with the remounted coat hanger .
“I’ve noticed,” I say and stroke the back of his arm. “It was equally nice and disturbing. Why would you do that?”
“It was broken. Figured you’d be happy to have it fixed. I also did a few minor things. Cleaned the U-bends in all the sinks and fixed the shower,” he says, pulling me upstairs, because of course he wants to show me the stick he fetched for me. “But I was also thinking, you must lose a lot of heat in winter. You know, I know how to install under-roof insulation. Wouldn’t take me much time either, if you paid for the supplies.”
I turn the light on to have a better view of the muscles in his back as I follow him up the stairs. My brain is getting a bit fuzzy over all this. I’ve lived here alone since my brother’s death, and the months of recovery after the explosion were awful. The only thing good about being here on my own most of that time was no one seeing me climb the stairs at grandpa pace.
Yet it’s nice that he’s here. That he’s fixed some of the shit I couldn’t make myself deal with. Just tonight, I’ll entertain the fantasy of him visiting me here more often, so we can watch movies on my massive flat-screen TV instead of the shitty laptop at the cabin. We have to use it at half brightness to make the battery last.
“Thanks. I was gonna get around to it.” I lie, because I’m embarrassed that I didn’t have plans to fix anything. For a year now, I’ve been forced to bathe in my tub, or use the rain shower. It wouldn’t be a problem if my hair wasn’t ass-long and I don’t always wanna get it wet.
The bathroom has been renovated after Dad’s passing, but while it’s all done up in Roy’s taste, with black tiles, and a massive sink on one side, I rather like its size and functionality. When Road pulls me in and points to the oversized stall, I imagine us inside, standing in the falling drops. Naked.
Maybe that’s what I need after today. He’s already here. I decided I’m not kicking him out. I have no neighbors for miles, so it’s not like anyone’s gonna hear us.
I let go of his hand and pull my T-shirt off. “Come on. Let’s check out if it’s fixed.”
The look on his face tells me that this horn dog did not see this coming, but when he grins and peels off his own top, I know I’m going to get what I want regardless.
After all, I don’t know if he’ll want to see me again once his club finds out what we’ve done.