1. Dax
DAX
The feeling of being watched is what woke me.
Slowly as I could, I stretched out, reaching for the gun I kept in a holster in my headboard, but it wasn’t there.
Taking a breath, I stilled, listening to what was around me to see if that would give me a clue as to where I was.
A strong set of arms wrapped around my middle, pulling me back against their chest. The rasp of beard nuzzled into my neck followed by a kiss that had me truly relaxing, remembering where I was.
“Sprocket, you’re lucky I didn’t have a gun near me, or I would have shot you,” I muttered, cracking an eye open. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to stare?”
There he was, sitting in the lone armchair in Eagle’s room, wearing only a pair of pajama pants.
His golden blond hair was loose and fell around his shoulders, setting off his green eyes, which were trained on me.
Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees as he smiled.
“Well, little rebel, they might have if I’d ever had a mom around to teach me shit like that. ”
“Would someone like to explain to me why you’re in my room, Sprocket?” Eagle grumbled as he shifted me closer, wrapping himself around me like an anaconda. “Did the rule of no one coming in here suddenly disappear?”
Sprocket just grinned as he gave me a wink. “No, but I thought it might be a good idea to check on her leg. Bullet wounds can easily get infected.”
“Bullshit. I’ve been shot a few times and never had you checking on me to make sure I’m alright,” Eagle said, lifting himself up on one elbow to peer over me at Sprocket.
Sprocket shrugged. “You’re not as hot as she is in just underwear and a tank top.”
“God, don’t tell me Cognac is rubbing off on you, because that shit reasoning was just awful,” I groaned, pretending to gag as I sat up.
Clearly, Sprocket decided we’d had enough sleep, even though we went to bed at four in the morning.
That was normal for me, but these babies were all going to be dragging ass if they stayed up any later.
So I sent them to bed. Eagle had his own plans, tossing me over his shoulder and plopping me in bed here with him.
“Dare I even ask what time it is?” I muttered, walking into the bathroom.
“Depends, do you have a gun or any sharp object handy? Actually, I take that back. I’ve seen what you can do with a butter knife, so I’m going to wait until I can see your hands before I give you that answer,” Sprocket stated, making me shake my head.
“That tells me it’s way too fucking early to be awake,” I muttered, looking at myself in the mirror.
My short pastel pink hair looked like I stuck my finger in a light socket and there were bags under my eyes, setting off their silver-blue coloring.
Thankfully, I hadn’t had on any makeup last night or I would have been even scarier.
The shittiest part of getting shot and needing stitches was having to figure out how to shower without getting them wet the first few days.
So this morning I settled for washing my face and pits in the sink, then borrowing Eagle’s toothbrush, knowing it would probably piss him off.
Speaking of the devil, Eagle joined me and headed over to the toilet to take care of business without a care in the world that I was still in here.
Leaning against the counter, I crossed my arms and enjoyed the view of him in all his buck-naked glory.
Glancing in the mirror, I can see tattooed across his whole muscular chest the Phantom Saints MC logo, a skull shrouded in torn fabric with a cross behind it.
His skin had a rich olive tone that made him even more attractive to study.
His dark brown hair was cut close on the sides but long on the top, and right now it was all disheveled and part of it hung in his face.
Eagle met and held my gaze as I appreciated his “I woke up like this” look and I couldn’t miss the heat that churned in his chocolate-colored eyes.
That is until he saw what was in my hand.
“For fuck’s sake, Dax. Why the hell would you use my toothbrush?”
Smirking at him, I gave the whole thing one good lick before I deep throated it, then placed it back in its spot. “Just checking to see where our boundaries were, since you feel so comfortable pissing in front of me.”
Eagle frowned and stalked over to me and gripped my neck, holding me firmly against the wall. “You damn well know you used that before I even came in here, little hellcat. You might be the infamous Two Tricks, but here, in this house, I’m the president.”
“Bad move, Pres,” Sprocket called from the bedroom.
Completely agreeing with the road captain, I gripped Eagle’s wrist, softly stroking down his hand and arm until I felt him relax ever so slightly. Then, I swiftly gripped his thumb and pulled it back, twisting his wrist the wrong way and slamming him into the counter.
“It seems that this is going to be an area where we disagree because you’re still not my president.
I believe we agreed to be in a partnership, and correct me if I’m wrong, but to me, that means we are equal.
” I let him go and placed a kiss on his cheek.
“Think about it and let me know, okay? I can always back out of the deal since we haven’t made any solid arrangements. ”
Back in the bedroom, Sprocket was still in the armchair, and I could see the humor dancing in his eyes as I grabbed the bag of clothes that Tilly had gotten for me.
Setting it on the bed, I pulled out what I wanted to wear, removed the tags, scattering them on the still unmade bed, and headed out to find coffee.
I might be growing attached to these men more than I would like to admit but I was never going to be someone they could push around.
I’d made my mark in this world through my own blood, sweat, and tears for the sole purpose of being free to live my life my way.
Sprocket followed me out of the room and into the kitchen, where I found Wes pouring himself a cup of coffee.
Spotting me right away and guessing where I was headed, he held out the mug to me, which I accepted greedily.
I hopped up onto the counter next to the coffee maker, knowing I was going to need another cup and was going to fight off anyone who thought they could take the last bit.
“I warned him not to wake you up, but it seems I didn’t need to worry since he’s still alive,” Wes commented, as he leaned on the counter next to me, his hip touching my thigh.
The cutoff tank that Wes was wearing showed off his muscular tattooed arms and upper body in the most delicious way, not to mention the gray sweatpants.
As always, his short hair was styled and slicked back from his face, showing off his angular jaw and rich brown eyes.
I was still wrapping my head around the fact that I was now able to show him just how much I appreciated his manliness.
Sure, we’d finally fucked but that didn’t mean I knew where things were going from there.
I hadn’t ever thought it was a possibility, and now that it was, I didn’t know how to move forward.
Taking a sip, I glared at Sprocket over the rim of my mug. “He didn’t wake me up per se. He just creepily stared at me until my spidey senses warned me someone was in the room. I’d say he’s incredibly lucky to be alive.”
“How long did it take her to notice?” Wes asked.
“From a dead sleep to looking for a weapon, three minutes,” Sprocket answered. “Pretty impressive after only getting three and a half hours of sleep.”
Hearing this, I did some quick math in my head to figure out what time it was currently and growled as I slammed my coffee cup down on the counter. “Why the fuck would you wake us after only three hours of sleep? It’s seven a.m.? Are you trying to make me kill you?”
“Far from it. We have a lot to do, dealing with the Mad Dogs and the De León Cartel, on top of running the day-to-day of the Phantom Saints and the Hidden Empire. You might have built your empire to run without you needing to be quite so hands-on, but with Wes here, too, I’m thinking that changes a few things,” Sprocket reasoned.
“Don’t you try to use logic. I’m far too stabby for that first thing in the morning,” I snapped, grabbing my coffee cup and gulping more of the scalding liquid down.
“Little demon, you are stabby all the time. I don’t think the early hour has anything to do with it,” Void drawled as he entered the kitchen, wearing only a pair of jeans that hung low on his hips.
God, these men were trying to kill me with all this naked skin going around.
Void was what I picture a modern Viking would look like, with a subtle British accent.
He was massive not only in height but in bulk, which was fitting for the enforcer of their crew.
His vibe was sexy intimidation and I fucking loved it, with half his head shaved, and the other, loose curly blond hair that brushed his shoulder.
Not to mention, the word oblivion tattooed above one of his icy-blue eyes, finishing off the picture.
The best part was that I had him wrapped around my finger like a big ol’ teddy bear.
“Just the way you like me, right, Voidykins?” I grinned, pleased that he understood me so well.
Void walked over and wedged himself in between my legs. “Yes, little demon, the stabbier the better in my eyes, as long as we can play together. I feel like that would be a good time.”
“I agree, that does sound like lots of fun. Something tells me that will probably happen sooner than later with a war on our hands,” I mused, letting my hand trail down his muscular chest.
Weston shifted next to me to put his hand around my hips, holding me to his side.
Wes wasn’t insecure about a lot of things, but this I understood.
He told me he loved me, and I freaked out on him, yet still fucked his brains out.
Then, one thing led to another, and we haven’t had a chance to talk since—not to mention adding Harper into the mix.
Dropping my hand, I looked up at Wes. “You seen Harper yet?”
“No, she locked herself in the room last night and refused to talk to me, so I thought it was best to let her be. You need to be the one to explain things. You dropped a huge bomb on her. Finding out that your best friend isn’t who she thought she was, is not something you can just brush past, you know.
This is going to take some time, and it might be better to find her somewhere else that’s safe to stay.
Being around all this might be too much, too fast,” Wes reasoned.
He was always better at the people shit than I was, and when it came to Harper, I couldn’t lose her.
She is the only other person who still knew the real Dax before all this “Two Tricks” shit started.
Harper became best friends with the Dax that I’d hidden away a long time ago, and I’d always tried to protect her from this part of my life.
That is, until she got held hostage in her own home at gunpoint by a rival MC gang, the Mad Dogs.
Sure, I’d managed to save her life and get her out of there in one piece, but she’s been living behind rose-colored glasses for too long.
Last night, I’d ripped them off and stomped them under my heel.
I let out a heavy sigh and rested my head on Void’s chest, wanting to avoid this whole thing.
Give me a man to torture or someone to hunt down and kill, that would be far simpler than dealing with this emotional fallout.
“Why don’t I make breakfast? How do pancakes sound?” Wes offered, running his hand up my back. “I’ll even see if I can find some chocolate chips. You both love that shit.”
I peeked over at him and nodded my head in agreement.
“Slow your roll there, Westly, this is Eagle’s kitchen, and he hasn’t given you permission to use it yet,” Picasso said as he joined us. “If you want to risk it, by all means help yourself, but I can’t be sure what might happen.”
This caused me to snap straight up and growl at Picasso. “Anyone fucking touches him, I’ll kill you. With a butter knife, so it’s nice and slow.”
“Easy, rebel, no one is going to mess with Wes. We already figured things out while you and Picasso were out. We just haven’t had a chance to fill him in yet,” Sprocket interjected, defusing the situation. “Besides, Picasso’s just being a prick. Nothing new there.”
I narrowed my eyes at the vice president of the Phantom Saints, holding his deep brown eyes so much like his brothers. “Don’t fuck this up when we’ve finally started to like each other, Picasso.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, spitfire. You saved my life. It belongs to you now,” he reasoned, as he sat down at the counter with a smirk on his face. “Guess that makes me your personal prick now.”
Groaning, I rolled my eyes. All of them needed to stop taking lessons from Cognac. Their pickup lines were getting awful.