Six
I was rethinking Lowell’s plan, as we drove the next delivery to the Rogues’ offsite storage facility. We weren’t allowed to the clubhouse for deliveries, which I guess made sense, but Lowell had some crazy ideas about getting intel on the club, and using it as leverage to get out. I just hoped he wouldn’t risk his own safety in the process.
He’d turned out to have some pretty impressive technical skills, and as well as creating a new identity for himself, which would certainly hold up for the purposes of our meeting with the club, he’d planned some sneaky moves to obtain info along the way. Dressed as a biker, he looked ten times hotter than he already did, and having dyed his hair black, and with the tattoo he’d stencilled onto his left cheek, he looked different enough that I wouldn’t have recognised him, so nobody else should either.
We pulled up to the checkpoint, and two bikers stepped out of the shadows just like they always did, casting their eyes over my white van, and coming up to my window.
“Afternoon, Doc, gonna need you both out of the van.” I knew the drill, so I hopped out and Lowell did the same on his side, and I handed the keys to the prospect to allow him to check the back of the van.
“Weren’t expecting a passenger, Doc, what’s going on?”
“I sent a text to Reaper, saying my boyfriend would be coming with me.”
The biker, Loner, looked Lowell up and down, glancing to the side as the prospect slammed the van doors, and gave him a thumbs up.
“Outrider, huh? Psycho? Nice name. What are ya doing around this neck of the woods?” Loner posed the question to Lowell, but he kept his eyes on me, making me feel even more nervous. Was he testing me to see if I was lying?
“Yeah, looking for a club not full of pussies, ya know,” Lowell said, turning to wink at me. He was completely relaxed, lifted his arms to get patted down at the appropriate moment, and then dragged me against his side once they were done. Tucked under his arm, I felt safer than I had in, well, forever. We hadn’t had a chance to practice that, but his touch felt natural to me, so it was easy to act like it was the norm.
“That doesn’t explain your presence here, ‘Psycho’. How’d you get a name like that, anyway?”
Lowell snorted, jerking a thumb at Loner as he looked at me.
“This guy, right? Thinks I’m gonna give up all my secrets on the first date. I ain’t that easy, man. I’m just keeping my lady safe, and that’s all you need to know.”
Loner glanced at the prospect, who nodded and disappeared back behind the black van they had off the side of the road.
“You’ll wait here while we run this by the Pres, you understand.”
Lowell grinned, and moved us back, so we were leaning against the front of the van.
“Ain’t in a rush, especially with this fine lady pressed up against me.”
Loner looked me up and down again, leaving me feeling a little crawly, and I know Lowell felt my discomfort, because his arm tightened around me.
“Wanna keep your eyes off her, man? I’d hate to have to carve them out for ya.”
Loner grinned then. “Why’s she not your old lady, man? You just gonna bang her for a while, and move on to the next? Maybe you like them young, so you fuck them ‘til they age out of your preference, and start again with a new model?”
Lowell practically growled under his breath at that.
“Not really into kids, so if that’s your thing, I don’t wanna know. She’s mine, and I’ll fuck up anyone who suggests otherwise.”
Wow, I knew it was all for show, but that really made parts of me tingle, hearing him claiming ownership of me that way. I was really starting to wish that he meant the words, because I was becoming more and more sure that I’d willingly be his, if he wanted me .
The prospect reappeared, nodded at Loner again, and he pointed at the van.
“Get the delivery made, and don’t loiter. He causes any trouble, and you know what’ll happen.”
Lowell growled again, but I just agreed, grabbed his hand, and squeezed it.
“Let’s go, baby, then we can get home and do more pleasurable things.”
What?! Did I really just say that to him?
Micro
N ot gonna lie and say that didn’t give me a semi there, because it fucking did. She called me baby, and putting on a show or not, I liked it. I wanted to see her lips when she said it, but now wasn’t the time. And those pleasurable things? Fuck, I’d missed doing those, and the idea of doing them with her was kinda distracting right now, but I had to stay on my game, and be ready for these fuckers. There are rules to how shit runs with an MC, and you gotta always keep your eye on everyone, make sure you don’t take any shit, and never show fear. The trouble with that was, I’d never had a woman to worry about before, had I? And she might not genuinely be mine, but I was here to protect her, and I wouldn’t fucking fail her.
“You called me baby,” I said quietly, as we got in the van, and Sophie gasped, lifting a hand to her mouth.
“Was it a problem?”
I grinned at her. “No, it was just a surprise, that’s all.”
She started the van, and giggled to herself. “Good surprise?” I knew she was remembering my accidental ‘babe’ moment last night, and honestly I was enjoying the little déjà vu moment we were having.
“What normally happens when you get there?”
Her face was suddenly wiped of any humour, and I almost grabbed her hand to offer her comfort, but this was a pretence, and she wasn’t mine to touch, not really.
“Uh, Reaper meets us, and he’ll check us and the van over again, before they risk unloading anything. There’s also a signal jammer there, so nobody can make any calls or anything.” Well, fuck. Of course, I’d expected that, so I had some tricks of my own I could rely on in this situation.
“Just breathe, babe, this’ll all be fine, okay? Any idea where he keeps the jammer?”
Soph gasped and turned to look at me in horror.
“God no, I just know they told me they have one in place, but I don’t even know what it might look like.”
“It’s okay, I have various ideas for how we’ll do this, and this isn’t gonna fuck this up, okay? You just do what you normally do, and don’t freak out if I touch you and stuff.”
“Stuff?” The sweet thing looked nervous as she kept her eyes on the road, and steered down a narrow lane. Where the fuck were we going? It looked like a fucking ditch.
“Yeah, over the shirt stuff, obviously, I’m not a barbarian.”
That gasp? Yeah, that’s what I’d been going for.
“Kidding, I’m definitely a barbarian.” And there were the giggles. Perfect .
“See, we’re fine. Is that it up ahead?” She nodded, and slowed on her approach to a building about as large as her drug lab, but far less high tech looking. A guy I assumed to be Reaper strolled out of the building, and held up a palm for her to stop, I mean, like what would she have done otherwise, kept driving? Asshat.
I slid out of the van immediately, because I could already assume his play would be to keep me inside it, but I couldn’t protect her like that, could I?
“You, back in the van.”
I smirked, and stepped up in front of ‘my’ lady.
“Yeah, don’t really take orders from you, do I? She’s got the merch, so let’s do this.”
“You got a bodyguard now, Soph?” I didn’t like him calling her that. That was my name for her, and okay, it wasn’t original or anything, but it felt like he was stepping all over me. I clenched my fists, as he tried circling around me to get to her, moving with him to keep myself between them.
“That’s exactly what I am, fuckhead. I’m her man, and I’m saying you stay well back.”
“This how you wanna play it? Getting in my face the second we meet, ‘Psycho’?”
“Why does everyone fucking do that quote marks thing, like my name isn’t legit? You want me to prove it to you?”
A warm hand on my shoulder had a surprising calming effect, and I took a deep breath, falling quiet as Soph stepped up beside me.
“He just has a bit of a temper, Reaper, that’s all. I’ve got the shipment, so can we get on with this?”
Reaper shrugged, backing away from both of us, and heading for the van, but the second we started moving, he stopped.
“Nope, that’s not how this works. Jackets open, and your cut, man, I gotta check you for weapons and shit.”
He didn’t mean him personally, of course, because another prospect came over to risk his ass touching us up, and I swear I gave him the deadliest look I could when he approached Sophie. If I had the opportunity, I think I’d remove his hands for touching her.
“Okay, let’s get this done. We’ve got places to be,” Reaper said briskly, directing that prospect and another toward the back of the van.
“You’re the prick who slowed us down,” I muttered, as I followed them.
“Whoa, you stay back there, nutjob. We’ve got this.”
“Soph, get here and keep me busy ‘til they’re done,” I turned and barked at her, and, with a squeak, she hurried to my side. I pushed her against the side of the van, and lowered my head to her neck.
“Just go with it. I won’t hurt you,” I whispered, as I trailed my lips up her neck, and she shivered in my grasp.
“Oh god,” she murmured, and I grinned, sliding my tongue up her throat before I rested my forehead against hers.
“Gonna kiss you now, so don’t knee me in the balls or anything.” They couldn’t hear us, since they were slamming shit around at the back of the van, but I watched her eyes to make sure she was on board, and then I finally pressed my lips to hers. She uttered a soft whimper, and moved with me, as I gave her several closed mouth kisses over her lips, teasing her, and hopefully making her want more. I moved tighter against her, until my hips were against hers.
“Keep your eyes open, and watch for any attacks,” I whispered against her lips, before I teased them with my tongue.
“All done, so you wanna get the hell out of here? Ordinarily I’d wanna watch, but this isn’t the place.”
I turned to wink at Reaper, and his lips quirked briefly.
“I can fuck her in the van now it’s empty.”
“Not here, you won’t. Same time next week, Soph.” It wasn’t a question, and we made a quick escape from there, but I now knew a little more about those fuckers, and how careful they were. Getting intel was going to be fucking difficult, but I wasn’t one to shy away from a challenge.