Chapter Three
Silly
“Jock, are you still planning on taking me to the airport?” Silly looked around the bathroom again, making sure she’d packed everything needed for a five-day business trip.
There was something about being around like-minded people that cranked her imagination up to fifteen.
The tattoo convention was one she’d attended since its inception, and every year she’d been excited for the event, for the kind of energy she got from being immersed in the world of body art.
Except this year.
She stuck her head around the doorjamb and looked into the living room. With a grin, she pulled back out of sight as she stifled a laugh.
“Jock, airport?”
“What?” He sounded as distracted as he’d looked, rearranging the toys in the new dog bed. “You think putting him next to Tank from the outset will be intimidating?”
“Jock, airport? Are you taking me, or did you change your mind?” She carried the small bag out of the bathroom and tossed it into the open suitcase.
A final scan of the bedroom confirmed she’d packed everything.
She snorted. It was everything from the house, anyway.
She had packed up her equipment yesterday and got it on an overnight freight truck.
Three large crates wouldn’t quite fit in carry-on. “Jock.”
His arms came around her waist and pulled her back against his body. His firm body. Rigid, one might call it.
“We do not have time to mess around. I told you that last night. Our little suckle fest was the—”
He whirled her and slammed his mouth against hers, something she didn’t fight. The desperate way he clutched at her was welcome because it mirrored the way she felt about him.
Silly lifted a leg and hooked it around his thigh.
“Pick me up, big guy.”
The words were scarcely out of her mouth before he’d recaptured her lips while grabbing her ass and lifting, settling her core against his belly.
The kiss settled into a less frantic pace, waning and renewing until they were both left breathless and gasping. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she threw her head back on a howl. “But I don’t wanna go.” His palm met her ass with a thwack, and she giggled. “I gotta go, baby.”
Jock sighed, letting her body slip down his front. “I know. And yeah, I’m taking you to the airport. Paying parking doesn’t make sense when I’m right here. But we gotta get a move on it if I’m going to be back in time to pick up Maynard this afternoon.”
“In that case, we need to leave.” She leaned over to pick up her suitcase, only to find it plucked away from her hands. “Jock.”
“I can do it, Jock,” he mocked her lightly, and they both grinned. “I know you can, baby. But take advantage of having me around right now. Once you get to the show, you’ll have to haul your equipment around by yourself.”
“Done it before. Likely do it again.” She grabbed her keys off the table and put them in the slim cross-body purse before she slung it on.
“Tankie, come and get some love.” The sound of heavy footsteps preceded Tank’s arrival into the room.
He trotted over and leaned against her legs, nearly knocking her over.
Silly bent at the waist and folded her arms around his head, giving him a loud kiss on the nose.
“You gotta take care of Daddy while I’m gone. Help him take care of Maynard too.”
“Case is in the truck. Let’s get a move on, baby. I know you don’t want to be fighting crowds to get to your gate.”
They talked over logistical things on the way to the airport.
About halfway through, Silly unbuckled and slid over to the middle of the seat, then buckled her seatbelt there.
Jock’s hand quickly settled on her thigh, thumb stroking up and down.
She relaxed into him, letting her head land on his shoulder.
“Gonna miss you, Jake.”
“Backatcha, baby. A month ago, five days didn’t seem that long. Today it’s like I’m looking into a train tunnel, stretching out and out.”
“You’re going to be okay. And if you aren’t, you’re going to call someone. I won’t be able to answer or talk all the time, but we’ll find windows of time to connect. I’ll be home before you know it, Jake. Not an instant longer than I have to be away.”
“Yeah, I’ve already let Wildman and Ace know I might need a midnight call or two to keep me from spiraling. I’ll have Tank, plus Maynard. My garage work is ahead for a change, so I can spend time with the new guy, getting him settled. I’m going to be okay, Silly. Promise.”
She leaned harder against him as he swung into the exit for her terminal. “Almost there.”
“I’ll get the bag, and we can do curbside check-in. That way you just have security to navigate.”
Pressing a kiss against his shoulder, she said, “Sounds good, big guy.”
“Are you going to be okay? It’s gonna be hard for you to be away from the awesomeness of my presence, you know.”
As he’d intended, she laughed and lifted a hand to his cheek. “No, baby, I won’t be okay until I’m home.”
“Backatcha.”
He pulled the truck to a stop just past the curbside kiosk, turned to look at her, and dipped down to capture her lips in a quick, hard kiss. Which was exactly what she needed to be able to walk into that terminal, knowing the plane at the end of the path would be taking her hundreds of miles away.
“Love you.”
His arm encircled her shoulders, and he pulled her against him. The “Love you too” was half rumble from his chest, half whisper from his lips.
“Okay, I’m ready.”
Jock gave her a squeeze, then stepped from the truck and turned back to catch her waist as she was about to slide to the ground.
He set her down light as a feather before turning to handle the suitcase.
She had to show the boarding pass on her phone, and a tag was printed and slapped on her luggage before she could blink.
“I gotta get off the curb, baby.”
Silly turned and leapt at him, trusting that he’d catch her. As he always did. Legs around his waist, she clung to him and buried her face against his neck. Eyes burning, she told him, “You gotta go.”
“I do. So do you. Security awaits.” His arms didn’t loosen, and neither did hers.
“Jock, I gotta go.” She hated the way her voice broke and betrayed her.
“Baby.” Jock let her go at her own pace, slipping down his body in a sinuous line.
“I’ll be back in five days. You better pick me up.”
“I’ll be here.”
She pulled away and turned, swaying her ass from side to side as she walked up the steps leading to the security concourse.
At the top she turned to look, and as expected, he stood at the bottom with his hand over his heart.
They waved at each other, and she turned to get into line to be questioned and X-rayed.
Early, as she liked, because the metal in nearly every extremity seemed to set off all the alarms on their machines.
***
Jock
He pulled the truck up in front of the clubhouse. Looking around, he recognized most of the motorcycles on the parking lot, which meant a lot of the officers of the chapter were in residence. That boded well for the meeting he’d asked Wildman to call. Hopefully they’d end the meeting with a plan.
“If not, then I’ll just have to go solo.” He opened the door and climbed out.
“Hope you aren’t trying to say you’re gonna be going rogue, are ya?”
Jock turned to find Twisted standing next to his truck. “Nope, not planning on it.”
“Oh, good. Let’s get inside before Wildman gets a bee up his pants. Him and Pony have some ideas, but I told them to can it until you got here.”
“Thanks for that.”
“Heard you were like a poppa bear guarding that dog. I get it. I cannot abide someone who hurts animals on purpose.”
“Same, Prez. Hard same.”
They walked through the front door, Jock trailing Twisted into the main room. The officers had laid claim to a seating area near the back, and they made their way over.
“Pull up a chair and cop a squat,” Pony said, kicking a nearby chair with one bootheel. “Wanna hear about this dogfighting ring.”
“Don’t know it’s a ring yet, but we need to dig and see how many other than Maynard have been found with chemical burns.”
“You named him already?” That was Cherry, in from Baton Rouge for the day. He was the enforcer for that chapter and was a brother that many of them had called on for support.
“Before they even got him out of the alley.” Pony was laughing. “Hell of a name too. Can’t really shorten it to anything.”
“You’re out of the will, Pony.”
“Nards. He could call the dog Nards.” Wildman was laughing so hard, he nearly couldn’t get the words out.
“He’s not going to call the dog Nards.” Jock glared at Wildman. “He, and everyone who values their brotherhood, are going to call the dog Maynard. Like a whole-ass name. Maynard. Also—” He gestured to everyone seated around him. “—y’all are all assholes.”
“But we’re your assholes, brother. Gotta love us.” Twisted nodded. “Now, read us in on all the details. What you know, what you think, what you anticipate.”
“Okay, well, from the vet, Kent, we believe there are at least two more dogs that have been found dead with chemical burns.”
“I’ve got an in with the sheriff’s department. I can see if they know anything.” Pony picked up his phone and tapped out a note.
“That’d be good. If this is a repeating event, maybe we can get ahead of the next one.”
“You said your dog didn’t have any bite injuries?” Wildman leaned forwards, elbows to knees. “That might mean they didn’t get what they wanted out of him. Might accelerate the process for them to get the next dog.”
“I wonder if they’re releasing failed bait dogs too. There are way too many skinny pit bulls down by the warehouses.” He looked around the group. “Ace and I want to take a little ride down that way. It doesn’t have to be club.”
Twisted scoffed. “As if. I’ve already heard from Wrench and Po’Boy because it’s going to be a dual-club thing.”