Chapter Twenty-Eight
To be honest, it was something of a relief when the single guys all fucked off downstairs. If I had to take one more snarky comment about being a regular here, I was likely to hit someone.
First Stag had hit me with, “So do you like, wear black lipstick when you party here?”
And then Grease shot me that telltale smirk, and I knew it was his turn.
“I knew you had a dirty secret, brother. You’re a closet goth, eh?”
It wasn’t that I minded the banter, it was just that I really wanted them to like this place, to love it really, like I do, and those kinds of comments suggested all they saw was the people who dressed up for the theme of the club.
“I like the bouncers here. They just headed some fucker off when he tried getting up close to our ladies. Saved me the trouble of ending the prick.”
Harley was on watcher duty, fixated on his woman, and her comfort in this place. He looked stunned that she hadn’t come running back up here the second she experienced the atmosphere again.
“Is Caroline okay?” I asked him, and he glanced over his shoulder at me briefly.
“Seems to be. Your old lady’s taken her under her wing, I think. She actually held her hand.”
Gasps from the other guys reminded me of how unusual that was, but my main feeling was relief that Glory was bonding with them, and having fun.
“There’s a fucking vampire wandering around down there,” he suddenly said, his face against the glass. I hid my grin, and watched as the others hopped up from their seats to look.
“It’s a club specialising in rock, metal, and goth music, what did you expect?” I asked idly, grinning at them as they watched for a few more moments.
Their heads suddenly all darted to the left and that was my first sign that something was wrong.
“The ladies okay?” I asked as I stood up to join them, but surely if they hadn’t been, they wouldn’t still be standing here watching.
“No, the vampire just ran that way really fast.”
“Like vampire fast?” I asked, laughing at their description of him. The door slamming open a moment later revealed the club’s owner, and my friend, Grimm, glaring at us as he marched in and pushed it closed.
“Whoever’s responsible for that fucker down there, get him out of my club before I break him into pieces.
” His words were snarled around the fangs he wore, his skin painted pale, and the glowing red contacts adding to the costume I was perfectly used to.
Long black hair, and a long black cloak finished it off, but beneath that, he was dressed just like us, minus a cut.
“G, my man, what fucker?” I asked, approaching him while the others just stared.
“The one who just got smacked down by the bar. He talks to women like that, he’s not welcome here. He’s wearing a Phoenix cut.”
A few groans sounded behind us, as Micro muttered Stag’s name. It wasn’t that he was intentionally unpleasant to women, or at least that was my hope, but he was always the one causing offense. The guy needed fucking charm school or something.
Harley nodded at Micro, and headed past us, knowing Grease and Rocket were still watching our women, while I did my best to placate my buddy. The guy I wanted the club to meet.
“Micro, this is Grimm, the club’s owner. G, this is my future President, Phoenix MC.”
“The vampire guy, huh?” Micro stepped forward to shake Grimm’s hand, and the others stepped over one at a time, so they wouldn’t leave our women unwatched. I appreciated that single minded focus while I had to do introductions.
“The chicks like it,” Grimm said with a fangy grin, “your old ladies seem to be having a great time too.”
I know Micro didn’t miss the reference there, but I waited for him to make that move. In the meantime, I carried on our conversation. Tonight wasn’t just about bringing the club to a new hangout, but about making some vital connections too.
“Really appreciate you hooking us up tonight, man. The guys from the club needed some downtime.”
Grimm rubbed his clean-shaven jaw. “Yeah, the rebuild sounds like a lot of work. I could offer a few extra bodies if needed, namely me, Damon and Josh.”
I darted a quick look at Micro who was eyeing Grimm shrewdly.
“You ride?”
Grimm flashed those fangs again, something I knew had the girls all melting around him, hence why he did it so often.
“Fuck yeah. We all do. You probably saw our rides outside.”
There it is. The introduction that hopefully pays off for both sides of the conversation, hell, and maybe me too.
Micro glanced back at Grease, who nodded once.
“Obviously we’d need to look into you guys, make sure you’re uh… human and whatever.”
Grimm laughed, reaching up to unsnap one of the fangs.
“Made by a denture maker for me. I mean, I can eat with them, but yeah, I promise I’m human.”
Rocket leaned close, and smirked.
“You can eat anyone with them?”
Grimm smirked at him. “The ladies love it. Ever since Twilight, they can’t get enough so why not lean into it?”
“Do you sparkle?”
Grease started laughing at Rocket. “I’m gonna pretend you don’t know that, brother.”
Rocket quirked a brow at him. “Ditto.”
I’d never seen Grease silenced so fast, although apparently there had been some incident with a strap-on that shut him up about that fast too. I’m sorry I missed that.
“Your club’s welcome here anytime, Micro. Give me a heads up and I’ll reserve this room for you anytime. Now…” he glanced behind him at the door, “your boy ‘Stag’… he’s gonna have to earn that right, you feel me?”
Glory
We’d moved from our corner, gravitating towards a display against the back wall, that women kept going over to and having their photos taken by. It turned out to be a beautiful black and red motorcycle, which was surrounded by those rope things, and clearly off limits.
The black velvet backdrop complimented the shiny beast, and I found myself leaning close to eye the beautiful intricate designs painted across it. Art was still a love of mine, even if I didn’t actually create it anymore.
Another bouncer guy caught my eye and wagged his finger, moving closer to me when I frowned.
“I wouldn’t. The first woman who even touches that gets owned by Grimm.”
“Grimm? Wait, owned?”
He laughed wickedly. “You probably saw him lurking around, surrounded by chicks?” Oh. The vampire guy?
“OWNED?”
He laughed again, lifting his hands. “As it’s written, so SHALL IT BE!” The guy wore eyeliner and black clothing, and was really playing into this whole thing, but I’d had enough of him, so I made my way back to the girls, and we headed back up to the VIP room for more drinks.
Oh god. “The vampire guy!” I hissed at them as we stepped inside and could suddenly hear ourselves thinking again without having to yell.
“Glory! Come over and meet Grimm.”
Grimm. AKA the guy who owns whoever touches or sits on that motorbike out there? I stepped up to Henley’s side, letting him take my hand.
“Grimm. You’ve heard me mention Glory before, I think?”
The vampire grinned, fangs shining as his eyes seemed to glow a vicious red.
“Yeah, once or a thousand times, mate.”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“You own whoever sits on your ‘ride’? That’s sexist!”
The guy roared with laughter, which Henley joined in with, because obviously he knew about it, but the others looked curious.
“Where’s your ride, man?” Rocket was peeking through the glass as he tried to find it in the darkness and flashing lights.
“It’s not sexist, love. It’s literally how it works. You climb on a guy’s ride, you’ve claimed him. The first woman who dares in here? She gets owned, and I think you know what I mean by that…” he winked at me like he had before, and Henley groaned, shoving his chest.
“Don’t do that shit with her, man, not her.”
Grimm lifted his hands and backed up a step.
“Just being friendly. I can respect a man’s ownership of his woman,” he said, shooting a snarky grin at me, because he knew he was baiting me.
“Jesus, this guy would definitely fit in with us,” Grease said, as Harley moved back into the room, when I hadn’t even realised he’d been missing in the first place.
“Sent him home. He’s got amends to make, but the woman seems fine.”
I looked from one man to the other. “Who? What happened?”
Henley shrugged. “Stag got himself slapped or punched or whatever. I’m sure he had it coming.”
Grimm nodded, a firm look on his face.
“And he doesn’t get back in here until I decide he’s worthy. Okay, I’d best go circulate downstairs again. The ladies will be missing me.” He grinned those creepy, but admittedly kinda sexy, fangs at us, and headed back out of the room.
“So he’s looking to prospect in?”
Henley hugged me against him as he answered his President.
“There’s at least three of them looking for a place to belong, Pres. They’d bring with them some nice perks, as you can see.”
I turned to watch Micro as he exchanged a glance with Harley, both of them clearly considering what that might mean for the club.
“We’ll talk it over once we have Grease’s background checks and take it from there. Soph, how are you doing?”
She sagged against him. “I’m spent. Since when can’t I dance all night?”
“Since you grew a whole baby, Soph. Why don’t we head back? You guys have fun, and Henley, come see me tomorrow, and we’ll see what tonight’s done for your prospecthood, yeah?”
He nodded, waving him off, and from there, other couples started heading out, until it was just us still snuggled into one of the velvet seats together.
“I love this place, even with all the silly vampire stuff.”
Henley chuckled, nuzzling my hair as he spoke, his breath teasing my skin.
“Yeah? You didn’t find the ‘vampire guy’ hot then?”
Well, damn. I wasn’t sure how to answer that one, so I paused for a moment and he groaned.
“Fuck. I knew I shouldn’t have brought you here. I don’t want you getting horny for him. I can’t compete with… with that.”
I slapped his arm, leaning my head back on his shoulder, so I could just about see him.
“Maybe it was a little hot with him swanning around like a shadow man, but that whole thing about claiming whoever sits on his motorbike is kinda creepy.”
Henley laughed again, kissing my temple.
“Sweetheart, that’s just standard with bikers. You get on our rides, you’re saying you want us. That’s-”
“But you took me on yours before I made any such decision!” I blurted, sitting up so I could turn and glare at him properly. His grin didn’t disappear though, the bastard.
“What can I say? You claimed me that first day, but I thought I’d be a gentleman.”
“Henley!”
He shrugged. “I wasn’t thinking you’d be wanting me, and you needed help. That’s the only time it’s not a claim, but it’s rare for that to happen. Glory, I’m just messing with you. All your choices are yours, I promise.”
I leaned back against him, giving in because I knew he was being honest. He’d never have forced some stupid arbitrary rule I hadn’t even known about, but now that I was absorbing what it meant, I was realising that I had claimed him in my own way.
“Who does the club ink? I like the tats the other ladies have.”
He nuzzled my hair again. “I was going to get Rocket to chat with you, actually. If you wanted to get back to that, I mean. He’s doing the club ink, but he also handles all the spray work on our rides.
He’d probably be open to talking about that stuff with you.
Might even have spare kit you could practice with. ”
I sighed, wishing it was that easy. I hadn’t touched any form of art since Sean told me that tattoos were for whores and thugs, and nobody cares about art, because they can just use digital programs to do their own. It made it sound pretty pointless to me, or at least the me he’d created.
“I haven’t done any of that stuff for so long. I couldn’t risk trying to tattoo someone.”
“Use me.”
I sat up again, frowning at him as I turned in his lap.
“I might mess it up. You’d be stuck with crap ink.”
He shook his head, booping my nose for reasons neither of us understood as he shook his head at himself and lowered his hand.
“I’d be the proud owner of Glory art, and I’d happily show it off.”