15. Nikolai
Chapter 15
Nikolai
“I need to head out to give Storm some exercise, but I can go with y’all afterwards if you’re willing to wait.” The rest of the group nodded in agreement with Deacon’s words.
We were all going stir-crazy sitting around this place, even with the work that needed to be done. The vintage car in the large garage was almost finished, sitting there waiting on a part that was fucking back-ordered, so we were lying in wait — and growing increasingly antsy with tedious energy.
“How long will you need, Deacon?” Jax asked, not lifting his eyes from the laptop he had set up at the table. Why he needed his laptop here when his office was just down the hall, I’d never understand.
“Maybe two hours? Tops,” he shrugged off, finishing his coffee and placing the dirty mug in the dishwasher. Deacon was the easiest of us all to live with. Quiet and solitary, he kept to himself most of the time.
“Sounds good. Need someone to go riding with you?” Sully asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
“No way. Not on your life, Sully. The last time you came with me, we didn’t even get to ride, because you wouldn’t stop feeding Honey carrots. She was so stuffed with them that she was useless the rest of the day. Not happening.” Sully pouted, quite convincingly. The brute of a man enjoyed riding, just as the rest of us did, but Deacon was persnickety about his horses.
“Who is Honey, and why are you guys riding her?” Maddy asked, sashaying her way into the kitchen where the rest of us were gathered.
“Mornin’, Maddy! Want some breakfast?” Sully asked with delight.
“Sully, I was down here an hour ago eating breakfast with all of you. Why would you ask that?” she scoffed, rolling her eyes with a smile.
“Well, there’s always second breakfast, obviously!” Sully gibed, giving her grief. “Plus, you could use some meat on your bones. You’re so teensy, girl! Let me make you a snack.”
Before Sully could weasel his way back to his beloved oven, Maddy stopped him with a hand to his chest.
“First of all, I ate plenty. You are feeding me well, big guy. And second, my bones look just fine without more meat on them.”
“I disagree.”
“Well, Niko doesn’t, and he’s the one who matters here, isn’t he?” She leveled him with a narrowed look that had my heart pounding with pride and my cock swelling with arousal. Her laying claim on me in such a way, in front of my brothers, had quite an effect on me. Quite an effect indeed.
“From what we’ve heard over the last week and a half, I’d say so,” Jax snickered to himself. I reached over, whacking him over the back of the head and pinning him with a look. “Hey, buddy. I’m not your submissive. You don’t get to look at me that way.”
Maddy, who had now sat down next to Jax to relax while we all talked, snapped her fingers in his face. “Hey, dude. I get to call him buddy. Not you.” She pinned him with a stare that mirrored my own. I swear to any god that’s ever been created, my heart grew two sizes.
“Message received,” Jax muttered, whistling low and holding his hands up in defeat.
I looked over at the woman I called my submissive, my eyes drifting down from the smirk on her face to the shape of her body in her clothes. She wore athletic clothing; leggings, and an oversized razor-back tank with a sports bra beneath. And, fuck me, did I want to rip it off her body, right then and there, in front of everyone.
She was calling to my more possessive side, something that had not happened with a submissive in far too long a time.
“Want to go for a ride, Maddy? I’d be happy to let you ride Honey while I take Storm out on the trail,” Deacon offered, but immediately, Maddy scrunched her face in distaste.
“Not for me. Me and horses don’t mix well.” She shrugged him off kindly, but Deacon wasn’t about to let that slide.
“Maybe that’s because you don’t know how to ride well,” he teased with a smirk.
“Oh, trust me, sugar. I can ride quite well,” she shot back with a wink as she took a sip from her water bottle.
“Damn, the cat’s got claws, doesn’t she, Niko?” Sully guffawed, the sound ringing through the room.
“I do, and don’t you forget it, big guy,” she snarked back, narrowing her heated glare at him. Immediately, his hands went up in defense.
“Hey, I’m not looking for a fight. I’m happy to keep y’all fed and healthy.” Sully took his seat at the table, one chair over from where Maddy sat and across the table from me.
“And that’s why you’re the best, Sully,” she added, finally trading in her glare for a smile as she stood from her seat, ruffling the bit of hair on the top of Sully’s head.
“I’ll be back in an hour-ish. Two, tops.” Deacon rushed out the back door, waving as he went.
“Happy trails,” Jax called after him, still not letting his eyes drift from his laptop screen. “But be back by then! I’m going crazy being cooped up in here!” He shouted, a full five seconds after the back door had slammed shut.
“So, what’s happening when Deacon gets back?” Maddy asked, reaching for an apple that sat in a fruit bowl in the center of the table. Sully opened his mouth to complain, but immediately closed it when I shot him a look.
“The guys and I are going out for a bit. Jax will stay behind with you while we’re gone,” I answered firmly, praying to Jesus that she would listen and not fight me on this.
“Hey! You never mentioned babysitting duties,” Jax griped petulantly.
“Babysit? Babysit!? I do NOT need babysitting.” Maddy, in all her brat-filled glory, stood from the table, palms flat on the table as she stamped her foot in utter outrage.
“Maddy, calm down.” I used my most gentle, yet dominant tone, but based on the way her eyes narrowed, that wasn’t going to get me anywhere.
“Calm down? Fuck you, telling me to calm down. I’ve been stuck in here as long as you guys. Longer, if you count all the little side adventures you all get to take into town or out on the property. Hell, Niko! You wouldn’t even let me lay out by the garage and sunbathe! You’re so fucking rigid and uptight and controlling—”
“She sure has you pegged,” Jax snickered. Maddy’s glare turned on him, her hand shooting out to smack him across the back of his head, much as I had only minutes ago.
“Does this look like a conversation involving you?” she chided him, giving him one hell of a talking down to in one simple sentence.
“Maddy…” I said, low and in warning. She was playing with fire, and princess was about to get burned if she wasn’t careful.
“Don’t you Maddy me. I’m going nuts in here, Niko. Where are you all going that I can’t go, too?”
“To the shooting range for some target practice,” Jax answered for me. I growled low in warning towards him this time. “Er… I’ll see my way out of this conversation right about now.”
He stood, but Maddy pushed on his shoulder hard until he sat back down.
“No, you don’t. You might be the only way I get a real answer. Lord knows the fucking Russian over here is pretty tight-lipped when it comes to leaving this property.” She raised one eyebrow high, goading me. Fuck, it took all I had not to rise to her challenge and dominate the situation.
But I had to slow down, to remind myself that this was not a full-time dynamic, and I had no control over her here. Not in any real way. We hadn’t agreed to that.
“Now, explain to me why I can’t go with you,” she all but demanded, her nails clicking on the table as she drummed her fingers impatiently.
“We’re headed to the shooting range, about thirty minutes from here,” I answered, somewhat begrudgingly.
“And why can’t I go with?” she reiterated, obviously irritated.
“Because we are supposed to keep you safe here , at the safe house,” I scoffed. The answer was fucking obvious. I had no idea why she was fighting me like this.
“Is it a public shooting range, or private?”
Her answer surprised me, but I answered anyway. Lead with honesty. It was a core tenant of mine, one I tended to forget when pledged to a duty such as this. But with what Maddy and I had shared already, I knew I needed to do some personal work in that department.
“Private.”
“So why can’t I go?”
“Because you could be seen, and therefore, it could put you and the rest of us in danger.”
“Well, if going out puts us in danger, maybe all of you should stay home, too.”
“I mean, she has a point, Niko,” Jax chuckled.
“Nobody asked you!” Both Maddy and I shouted at the exact same time.
“Touchy, touchy.” Jax sat back in his chair, lowering his eyes back to his laptop screen and making himself as invisible as he could, the sound of his fingers clacking on the keyboard the only sound in the room for a solid minute.
“I’m not going to put you in danger, Maddy.”
“Then be smart about it. I can dress differently, wear my hair up, and under a ball cap. You know, like in the movies.”
“This isn’t the movies.”
“Oh, don’t I know it? If it were the movies, I’d be having more fun.”
“You’re impossible.”
“And you’re incorrigible.”
“You are far too demanding for someone in your position.”
“Oh, you’re one to talk, Mr. Dommy-dom man.”
“I have half a mind to drag you back downstairs for your lip, princess.”
“Oh, this is not princess time. This is Maddy time. Get it straight.”
Both of us leaned over the table, palms pressing into the wood as we stared each other down. Breath panting, and eyes glaring, neither of us was about to back down from the fight.
“I hate to interrupt—” Jax began, and I growled. “But Maddy has a point. We could take her out, take the armored SUV so we can get her there in tinted windows. You know that Seth’s property is well-kept and safe. It wouldn’t be a huge deal. We could be in and out of there with no one the wiser. Hell, Seth is a buddy of Carrick’s. And while the man has his faults, Carrick knows how to choose a friend.”
Jax had a point, much as I was loath to admit it.
“Wait. You guys have an armored vehicle? Why the hell would you need something like that?” Maddy asked incredulously.
Jax chuckled. “Some habits die hard, Maddy. Niko always feels safer when he’s surrounded by a quarter inch of hardened steel and polycarbonate.”
“Not to mention several of us have done security work on and off since we moved here. You can never be too prepared,” I added with no small amount of annoyance. Her questions were beginning to irritate me.
I took a deep breath, taking a moment before meeting Maddy’s gaze once more. She was fierce, totally in her element in this. If I weren’t so frustrated with her, I’d be turned on as hell.
Oh, who the fuck was I kidding? I was turned on as hell.
“You will wear what I tell you, do what I tell you, and listen when I tell you. Do you understand me?” I finally agreed under much duress and with great effort.
“Oh, it’ll be fine, Niko, don’t you worry your precious little head about it.”
“Maddy, I’m not kidding around. This is serious!” I shouted, making both her and Jax jump. “This is your life at risk. I’m not a fan of this plan, but if we are going to do it, and that’s a big if, we are going to do it my way. And only my way. No backtalk. No negotiations. My way, or you stay here. Do you understand?” With my finger in her face, I stared her down, needing to know that she truly understood my words.
“I promise, Niko,” she said confidently and sincerely.
“I mean it, Maddy. No bratting. This is not the time. If you step one toe out of line, I will haul your ass back here and lock you down in that playroom until you truly learn how to listen.”
Any other submissive I had ever met would have lowered their eyes, becoming as submissive and as small as possible. But not Maddy. Not my girl.
Her eyes met mine with confidence, assuredness, and pure honesty.
“I promise, Sir. You have my word.”
And for once, I knew I truly did have her word.
“My bro-skis! What up?” Seth called out as we parked our two SUVs in his long driveway. It was a long trek from the main road to his home out in the boonies of southern Kansas City. He had a hidden gem of a property. Thirty acres, surrounded by nothing but woods, and a mile-long driveway to the main road. It was honestly one of the safer properties around here, and similar in some ways to our own.
The shorter man, in all his Irish glory, wore a green plaid kilt as he stood on his wrap-around porch, greeting us with open arms.
“Seth! Dude! Is your wife around?” Jax asked, bolting from the car and racing up the stairs towards him.
“Ang is inside,” he answered, holding his arms out for a hug from Jax, but Jax just ducked under his arm and raced inside to see Angela, Seth’s wife.
“Where is he off to so fast?” Maddy asked from her seat as I opened her door and helped her out.
“Jax and Angela, Seth’s wife, share a love for all things tech. Jax is going to spend the next thirty minutes nerding out with her about something or other, if I had to wager a guess.” I led Maddy up to the front of the house, my hand on the small of her back. It was a small gesture, but it beat the urge to hold her to me. This new feeling of protectiveness was one I had not wagered on.
“Who do we have here?” Seth asked, looking Maddy up and down, taking the measure of her in a totally non-creepy way.
“She’s a friend of ours,” I answered, hoping that would be enough, but knowing that it wouldn’t be.
“You can call me Paige,” Maddy answered, holding her hand out to greet Seth. I kept my face stoic, though my mind absorbed the shock, wondering how she came up with an alias so smoothly, without batting an eyelash.
“Good to meet you, Paige! These chuckle-fucks didn’t mention they’d be bringing a guest, but hey, the more the merrier! You want to hang out inside with the missus while us boys go play with guns?” Seth asked, genuinely offering Maddy a safe place to hang out.
Before I could open my mouth to protest — and I was about to — Maddy beat me to the punch.
“No way! I’m not missing out on all the fun.”
“Heck yeah! A girl after my own heart. Well then boys, let’s get a move on then! One of you go grab the Harbinger of Disruptive Reboots so we can get going.”
“He’s in there with your wife, Seth. You go grab him,” Sully guffawed loudly. I turned to see him bent over, petting a large white dog that looked almost more cow than canine. The mutt was huge! “Who’s a good puppy? Who’s a good little puppers? You are! Yes, you are!” he cooed in a baby voice.
“No way. Y’all can fetch him. I know better than to try to break up the computer nerds.”
“Come off it, dude. You’re just afraid of your wife,” I teased him, rolling my eyes for good measure.
“Damn right, I am. I may be an ass, but I’m a smart ass. I know when to push my wife and when to steer clear,” Seth cackled, crossing his arms.
Sully shook his head and made his way inside the house to grab Jax. Deacon, ever the man of few words, had already made his way down to the garage.
As Jax finally came out of the house, a pout on his face, we made our way down to the garage as well.
“The shooting range is in a garage? That hardly seems safe,” Maddy sassed.
“Nope, but the garage is where the four-wheelers are. And that’s how we get to the shooting range, my dear,” Seth answered with his usual jovial sarcasm.
“I’m not your dear,” Maddy shot back without thinking.
“Aw, why not? I’m a fun fella.” Seth pouted, enjoying some harmless flirting, as was his nature. Just as in drinking, he was as Irish as they came.
“You may be a fun fella,” Maddy pandered, patting him on the cheek as though she’d known him for years. “Just not a handsome one.” She walked off towards Deacon, leaving Seth standing there, mouth agape.
“Oh. Oh, I like her,” Seth muttered to me with a grin, looking over to see Maddy looking over one of the four-wheelers curiously.
“Did I just hear you boys are heading out to the range,” a feminine voice called from inside the garage as I slipped into the driver’s seat of the four-wheeler Maddy had been examining, instructing her to climb up behind me and get situated.
“That must be Angela,” she whispered to me. I looked over to see Angela, the buxom, black-haired beauty, in all her strong-willed glory.
“The one and only.”
“My beautiful wife!” Seth called to her with open arms.
“Don’t even start with me, Seth Michael. You were absolutely about to go to the range without me. Don’t think you won’t be hearing about this later tonight,” she scolded the man, wagging her finger in his face with a stern look in her eye.
Seth had the decency to look sheepish as he made quick work of covering his ass — badly.
“I think I like her,” Maddy whispered with a grin.
“Me, too,” I admitted just as quietly.
“Alright boys, let’s head out!” Seth called, slipping into another one of the four-wheelers with his wife. Deacon, Sully, and Jax each had their own as well.
With that, we were off, racing across Seth’s large property until we arrived at a large building.
“This place is huge,” Maddy whispered in awe as she gripped my waist from behind.
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool,” I agreed wholeheartedly.
“Why do they have this place?” she asked.
“Seth and Angela are both veterans as well. After they got out of the service, they settled down here and built their dream home. And this is part of their dream.”
“That’s pretty fucking cool. Also, not unlike what you guys are doing back at your place. Why don’t you have a cool shooting range?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at me as I parked the four-wheeler and helped her climb off.
“Because I don’t want to deal with all the inspections and regulations involved. Seth, here, doesn’t mind the paperwork.”
“Something tells me Angela is the one who doesn’t mind the paperwork.” Maddy was a quick one. I’d give her that.
As we made our way into the large building, I kept a hand on Maddy at all times. The urge to protect her was fierce, far greater than I had anticipated.
We made our way down a long hall towards the armory.
“Jeez,” Maddy whispered, uttering a low whistle as she took in the truly prodigious arsenal that Seth and Angela had amassed over the years.
“Impressive, isn’t it?” Seth rocked back on his heels, arms crossed over his chest and that signature smirk carved into his face. Showoff.
“Quite,” Maddy added.
“Don’t mind Seth, here. He’s an overgrown man-child who likes his toys,” Angela scoffed as she wrapped her arm around Maddy’s shoulders. “Stick with me, hun. I’ll teach you how to handle these boys.”
“Yeah, I think I like you,” Maddy replied with a giggle. “Though I have a way of handling these boys myself.” She turned, pinning me with a look. That high-arched brow and smirk made my cock twitch. What was it about this woman and her sass that turned me into a horny bastard?
Seth handed out weapons to each of us along with a box of rounds each, and we made our way over to the shooting lanes.
“Alright, Maddy, watch and learn,” Jax announced, walking into the shooting station with a swagger he should not have had. I rolled my eyes at his impression of bravado, and our hosts mirrored my actions.
Jax took his stance, aimed his weapon, and rapidly unloaded three shots into the paper. One in the head, two in the heart. For being one of the worst shots out of the lot of us, he still knew what the fuck he was doing.
“Seems easy enough.” Maddy shrugged, walking up to the space as Jax vacated it.
“Whoa, slow down, Maddy. Let us give you some weapon training first, yeah?” I quickly stepped in to take over.
“Hang on, now, Devil Dog. Are you assuming the girl has no weapons-handling experience, or did you ask first?” Angela asked.
“She doesn’t.” I stepped up behind Maddy, noting the way she smiled at Angela’s question and how she grew frustrated immediately as I took her through her paces, teaching her how to load and unload the weapon, how to aim it, and the basics of overall gun safety.
She yammered on, insisting that she understood, and her tone only grew more irritated and annoyed as I persisted in walking her through things.
“Okay, now raise the gun. Don’t forget to align your sights,” I encouraged, guiding her through the motions.
“You know what, Niko? How about you let me try it on my own before you start correcting behavior that has yet to happen? Yeah?” she snarked, laying the gun on the table safely and turning on her heel, hands on her hips, to glare at me.
“Ooo… spicy! I like this chick, Niko,” Angela cackled from behind us.
“You think you can handle it?” I questioned, feeling quite certain of myself. Maddy had no idea how difficult firing a weapon really was. I wasn’t worried about her being unsafe; she wasn’t a stupid girl. On the contrary; she was highly intelligent, just hard-headed most of the time. And if she needed to learn this question the hard way, who was I to dissuade her?
“I think you should let me try, that’s what I think,” she sassed.
I held both hands up in mock defeat, stepping back to rejoin the others. Even Deacon took a moment from his own shooting, a few stalls down to watch the show.
I watched as Maddy squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and picked up the pistol. She checked her weapon, fixed her stance without a thought from what I could tell, and then she aimed.
Three shots rang out, one after the other, in rapid succession.
She set the weapon down, removed the headphones from her ears, and stalked back towards me.
“Was that good enough for you… buddy? ” She all but spat, knowingly pushing my buttons. But I barely heard her. My eyes were laser-focused on her silhouette target down range.
Three holes through the paper. Two in the heart. One in the head. Perfectly. Without a single miss.
My mouth hung open in utter shock.
“Looks like you’ve got your hands full here, Niko. We’ll leave you two to it,” Angela teased, patting my back as she and Seth walked over to another stall to get in some practice of their own. As each of the other men found their own stalls, only Maddy and I remained.
She checked her nails, appearing completely unfazed as I stood there in utter shock and awe.
“You want a go, or do you need another example of how it’s done, buddy?” she asked, egging me on even further.
I grabbed her by the elbow, pulling her back into the stall so as not to be overheard. Not that I really had to worry about that. We all had headphones, and most of us were likely wearing them as we took our shots. Maddy and I both had ours hanging around our necks.
“What the hell was that?” I asked her in a hissed whisper.
“What was what?” She was feigning ignorance, and I was not here for it.
“Where the hell did you learn to shoot like that?” I asked her, confusion muddling my mind.
“What, like it’s hard?” Her brows furrowed in mock confusion. My grip tightened on her elbow.
“I’m not joking, here, Maddy,” I growled.
“Okay, fine. I dated a guy in high school who was in ROTC and went on to join the army. He took me shooting a few times,” she shrugged. “Oh, and my grandfather was in the Navy and taught me how to shoot when I was a kid. I guess it’s like riding a bike. Now, are you going to take your turn, or am I good to go again?”
“Have at it, princess,” I finally said after a moment, unable to keep the smile from my face. Maddy Ayers was an enigma if I had ever met one.
I watched her line up her sights once more, popping off shot after shot like an expert. She was fierce, calm, and totally fucking cool. And it was hot as fuck.
“Okay, your turn, Sir.” She laid her gun down, emptying the magazine first, causing the slide to lock back, then ejecting it, and setting it off to the side before she did so. I shook my head before taking my own stance to shoot. I lifted the gun, ready to take aim, when I felt her hand on the small of my back.
“Don’t forget to align your sights, Sir.”
I growled in warning. The woman’s bratting knew no bounds. And as much as it stoked the frustration and dominance inside of me, I was fucking here for it.
Now to get her home, so I could show her just how hot she was, firing a gun like that.