Reaper Chapter 3
I watched as she pulled out of the parking lot of the medical office. She’d exited with her gun out. I hated to see that I scared her so damn much last night that she thought that was necessary. Her friend Alisse was with her again. I was happy to see that the flowers were with them and her friend put them in Cheyenne’s car.
I waited until they pulled out then counted to fifteen before I left my parking spot across the street. I’d been parked in my truck since right before five, waiting for her to leave. I wasn’t going to make the mistake of cornering her in the parking lot again. She’d probably shoot me this time. But I did want to make sure she was alright. Her being careful made me smile, but it also bothered me. She’d been really scared last night. And although I knew a lot of women who carried, namely my sister and all the old ladies of the Warriors, why did she feel the need? Had something happened to her? Had someone done something to her?
I couldn’t get the idea out of my head that some man had hurt her. Hurt her enough she didn’t trust men and especially bikers. I thought me being a biker was as big if not a bigger issue than being a man. Her friend had said twice she wouldn’t give me the time of day because I was one. The idea she wouldn’t give me a chance to know her was eating at me.
I hadn’t been able to think of much other than her since Friday. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her and my heart would speed up, and other parts of my anatomy got hard. I wanted to know everything there was to know about her. What she liked, what she hated, her favorite food? Did she like showers or baths? Did she prefer to sleep naked? Was she a morning person or a night person? The list went on and on.
I hadn’t been this fixated on a female since I was a teen boy, hell, not even then. I’d lain in my bed for the last few nights and dreamed of her and all the naughty, dirty things I wanted to do with her. I think I had taken her in every position and way possible in my dreams. I’d jerked off several times to images of her in my head. Even thoughts of her fully clothed made me hard. As if her hair and face wasn’t beautiful enough, her body was my dream woman.
She was curvy as hell. Even though she had more than what looked like handfuls on top, it was her wider hips and lush-as-hell ass that made me even hotter. I loved a woman with meat and curves for days. Ones I could hold on to as I buried myself into her over and over, going hard and deep until we both exploded.
I hadn’t felt her skin, tasted her lips, or seen her without clothes, but I knew she’d be my perfect woman. She’d be smart and a little snarky. She wouldn’t let me make all the decisions, but she’d let me lead when it made sense. In the bedroom, she’d mainly follow my lead, though I wasn’t opposed to role reversal at times. Having her pull that gun last night had surprised me and made me worried. It didn’t turn me off though; it made me even hotter for her. She’d be a mama bear who’d protect those she loved and cared about, like she’d done with her friend. That was an ideal woman for a man like me. An alpha male who wanted to be sure his family was always safe.
She turned off into a quieter neighborhood where there were small houses and a couple of apartment complexes. We weren’t a big town, so the options were limited. I was glad to see she was closer to the end of town where we were. Our compound was about five miles outside the city limits. I liked the idea that if she needed me, I could get here fast.
I stopped out on the street and just down from the parking lot of the complex she pulled into. I saw her park her car in a space and then get out. She had the flowers, but she was paying attention to everything around her. She hurried toward Building A. As I watched, she went into an apartment on the ground floor. The lights came on. Now I knew where she lived. Not that I was planning to stalk her, but it was good to know. I watched for a couple of minutes before I headed home. I needed to think about what I needed to do to get her to talk to me. Because come hell or high water, she was going to talk to me at least once without fear. And if I had my way, we’d be doing a lot more.
Once I got home, I decided I’d hang out at the clubhouse for a little while. I’d stayed away most of the weekend, which I knew would make the guys wonder what was up. They hadn’t had a chance to question me about her yet. Besides, I needed to check and make sure everything was alright.
Inside, they were all gathered around, laughing and socializing. We worked hard and then made sure we played hard as well. I went straight to the bar and had one of our prospects, Carter, hand me my favorite beer. He had joined us last year along with his best friend, Braxton. They were our only prospects at the moment. Before them, the last one that stuck it out and made the cut was three years ago—Spawn, our IT guru. We were hard on prospects and they either dropped out or didn’t make our cut. I was feeling good about these two making it, which would mean we’d need to start looking soon for a couple more prospects.
As I took my first swallow of iced cold beer, Dora slid in beside me. She was one of the three bunnies we kept around. They didn’t live on the compound, but they were here more than anywhere else. During the week, they all had jobs around town. When evening and the weekend came, they could be found here. They fucked whichever brother wanted them. Sometimes it was more than one a night or at the same time.
Some might find that horrible, but no one was forced to do it. They came to us, not the other way around. Any of them could leave anytime they wanted. There’d been others come and go over the years. Dora had been here the longest, at five years. Paula had been here I think three and JoJo for a year. While a guy might have a favorite, none of them could refuse one of the members. Not unless someone had claimed them as his girlfriend or old lady.
Even though some of the bunnies might want it to happen, I didn’t ever foresee a brother claiming one for either position. Call it crass, but there were women you only fucked, and they were those. We’d look elsewhere if we wanted a girlfriend or an old lady. Cheyenne popped into my head. She was the girlfriend, old lady type. Dora smiled at me as she rubbed her hand up and down my arm.
“Hey, Reaper, I missed you this weekend. Why didn’t you come to the clubhouse?”
“I wasn’t feeling like it, Dora. I’m sure you had plenty of company.”
“Well, yeah, but none are like you, Reaper. But you’re here now. Why don’t you let me help you relax after a long day at work?”
She gave me a naughty smile as she reached down and tugged at my zipper. I laid my hand on hers to stop her. She looked at me with a frown.
“Not now, Dora. I’m not in the mood,”
I told her. While I was horny and wanted to blow off steam, I didn’t want it to be with her, or the other two, who were in the room. I was a little surprised to realize I only wanted it to be Cheyenne—a woman I couldn’t get to talk to me and I hadn’t ever touched, let alone fucked. Images of her had me growing hard. Dora smirked as she saw me grow hard in my jeans.
“It sure looks like you’re in the mood to me.”
“Well, I might be, but not with you. How’s that? Now, stop touching me,”
I snapped. She pissed me off by rubbing her hand across my erection. The shock showed on her face. I rarely snapped at the women or made them feel bad. I didn’t want to treat them like shit, but I’d said no. A couple of my brothers sitting close by heard me and looked up, frowning. Dora quickly fled to the other side of the room. I sighed. Shit.
Crusher and Lash came to sit down beside me. “You okay there, Pres?”
Lash asked as he nodded his head toward Dora. She was over in the corner looking upset.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“What did Dora do that pissed you off?”
Crusher added.
“I told her I wasn’t interested and then she touched my damn cock anyway. She thought because I was hard, she’d ignore what I said.”
“Well, I mean, I hate to say it, but if you’re hard, you must be horny. Why not?”
Lash asked with a puzzled look on his face. I was about to tell him it was none of his business when Ratchet piped up. He’d joined us.
“Because he has his sights set on someone who’s more beautiful and looks like a princess.”
He snickered. I gave him my death stare.
“Who? What do you mean by a princess?”
came out of those other two. I wanted to groan. They’d never let it rest now. Here it comes, the inquisition.
“He doesn’t know what in the hell he’s talking about. How many of those have you had, Ratchet?”
I asked, pointing to his beer. I tried to throw them off their line of thinking.
“This is my first one. Oh, I don’t know what I’m talking about, huh? Well, then I think tomorrow I need to get checked again at the doctor’s office. I don’t feel like this medicine is working,”
he said with a smirk twisting his lips. He pretended to cough. An image of him and Cheyenne together had me standing up and pushing my stool back, my fists balled at my sides.
My other brothers had come over to see what was going on. I had to either walk off or call him on his remark. “Ratchet, you do that, and we’re gonna have a problem, brother,”
I hissed at him quietly. The others looked at each other with concern and puzzlement on their faces. Fuck. I could leave it at that, or I could warn them off.
Not a single one of us had ever fought over a woman. There was plenty to go around. Women liked to come from town and party, plus we had the bunnies. There had been women we’d all slept with, who weren’t our bunnies as well. If a brother saw a woman and called dibs, the rest would let him play out his move, and if we wanted her too, we’d try our moves next. None of that shit was going to happen in this case. Cheyenne was off-limits, period.
“What the hell is going on, Reaper?”
Maniac, my VP, asked. He edged to stand closest to me.
“I’m calling dibs on a woman. Except this time, there are no second dibs,”
I said as I glared at Ratchet. He might be closer to her age, but I didn’t give a fuck. There was something about her that was pulling at me. I wasn’t sure what yet, but I wasn’t willing to walk away or let someone else pursue her. Hell, for all I knew, she had a man. That idea didn’t sit well either.
“No second dibs, what do you mean? We’ve never had anyone call that. Who is she?”
Spawn asked with curiosity written all over his handsome face. I looked around at my brothers. Every single one of them were handsome men by most women’s standards. They flocked to them. Some might for the prestige of being with a biker, or the bragging rights, but they all had more than enough to attract women.
“Her name is Cheyenne. She works at Dr. Simpson’s office in town. Ratchet and I met her last week when I took him to see the doc.”
“She fucking looks like a damn Disney princess. You know the one, Snow White, with the pure white skin, black hair, blue eyes, and red lips. Honest to God, she does. Reaper seems to be taken with her. I have to admit, she’s gorgeous,”
Ratchet told them. I was stunned that he’d thought the same thing about her when he saw her. I hadn’t told him she reminded me of Snow White.
“Damn, and you’re saying that none of us get a chance after you’re done?”
Mayhem asked incredulously.
“That’s what the fuck I’m saying. She’s off-limits. Hell, I’ll be lucky if I get a chance with her.”
“Come on, she hasn’t fallen for your charm yet? You’re losing your touch. Usually, you have them eagerly waiting in your bed the first night,”
Lash added.
“I don’t want to hear any talk like that about her. She’s different, okay? She’s not just some piece of ass you fuck then walk away. But she’s scared.”
“What the hell do you mean she’s scared? Of you? You’d never hurt a woman,”
Ink said with an upset tone in his voice.
I sighed and sat back down. Might as well tell them everything. I took a swig of my beer. “She wouldn’t look us in the eye. And then after she put us in a room, she disappeared and another lady took over. She said Cheyenne was on break, but I could tell she was lying. I gave her friend my number to give to her. I told her to call. She didn’t. So, I went back yesterday after work.”
God, that made me sound like a stalker. Well, I guess in a way I was. “She and the friend were the last to leave. When she caught sight of me, she pulled out a gun.”
I heard a hiss of disbelief. “She hustled her friend into her car and they took off. I didn’t mean to scare her. I just wanted to talk. Her friend, Alisse, had said the first time Cheyenne wouldn’t give a biker the time of day. Fuck, I could tell she’s scared of not only the fact I’m a man, but more because I’m a biker.”
“Jesus, why the hell do some people do that? I know bikers have a bad rap, well, at least some of us do, but the rest would never do anything to hurt an innocent person,”
Tinker protested.
“My gut tells me she hasn’t had a good experience with men in general. Anyway, I sent her flowers today to apologize. She took them home at least.”
“How do you know she did?”
Maniac asked.
This was the bigger stalker part I didn’t want to confess. “I waited for her outside of her work and followed her home.”
“What?”
more than one half-shouted.
“You heard me. I followed her home. Fuck, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I can’t seem to get her out of my head. But I’m warning you right now, no one had better mess with her.”
“Hell, we know not to piss you off, Pres. But what if she already has a man? Did you think of that?”
Ratchet asked with a hint of worry in his voice and on his face.
“Yeah, and I’m not sure what I’ll do if she does. Shit, give me another drink,”
I told Carter. The guys let the topic drop, but I knew they wouldn’t forget. God, I’d sounded like a pathetic loser chasing after a woman. I didn’t stay long before I called it a night and went to my house. They tried to get me to stay longer, but I had to work in the morning. Besides, I wanted to be alone with my thoughts of Cheyenne. What was my next move going to be?
***
Morning didn’t bring me any closer to having answers. I got up and got ready for work. As president, I could have sat back and handed out assignments and let the others run the businesses. I did hand out assignments when needed, but I also worked. I oversaw our microbrewery. It sat not far from the compound, in a warehouse, on the edge of town. We started it five years ago. It was becoming more popular, and the demand was growing. We were considering taking on a couple new employees soon.
The place was in full swing when I walked in at eight thirty. I checked with the brewery’s floor supervisor, Art, then I got to work in my office. As the morning passed, I kept thinking of Cheyenne. I was racking my brain to figure out how to get her to at least talk to me. Around noon, I decided to call it, and go to lunch.
I headed into town to the local deli, Stacked. They made the best damn subs and sandwiches I’d ever tasted. I was waiting in line to place my order when the door opened and Cheyenne walked through the door. She was looking at her phone and didn’t see me. I hungrily looked her over from head to toe. She was dressed in scrubs. Her hair was pulled back and on top of her head in a bun. All it did was show off her long, slender neck. One that I had the urge to kiss and leave my mark on.
I kept watching her as I waited my turn. She looked up and frowned. I saw she was checking out her surroundings. The instant she saw me, I saw her stiffen. She looked away and then hurried back out the door. I forgot my lunch and went after her.
By the time I hit the parking lot, she was halfway to her car. I raced after her. As I got closer, she whipped around. I saw she had her hand in her purse. There were people all over the place. All she had to do was yell, and someone would probably come to her rescue. Not that she needed to be rescued from me. I stopped and held my hands up and out.
“Please, Cheyenne, I don’t mean you any trouble. I swear, I just want to talk to you. What’s the harm in that? Why don’t you come back inside and we’ll get lunch and talk?”
“I don’t know why you are so persistent. Alisse told you, I’m not interested. Thank you for the flowers, but they weren’t necessary. I want you to stop showing up everywhere I go, or I’ll call the cops,”
she threatened. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d had the law come looking for me. Luckily, so far, they had never found anything they could charge me with and make it stick. My prior military record worked in my favor.
“I didn’t follow you here. I was here first. You ran when you saw me. I want to know why? What in the world will the cops be able to do about that?”
She looked a little lost and I could see the conflict on her face. I thought she was about to give in, then she stiffened right in front of me.
“Maybe they can’t, but I can. I don’t want to hurt you. Just please, leave me alone. Come on, you don’t need to bother with a woman like me. You have plenty to choose from.”
“How do you know I have women to choose from?”
“Because you’re a biker. Bikers always have women begging to sleep with them and do whatever they want. I’m not interested.”
She was slowly backing away from me and into the parking lot. I had a moment or two to convince her to stay and talk before she’d be gone. I took a step toward her.
“Sweetness, please, we can sit where everyone can see us. I just want you to talk to me. I’d like to get to know you.”
I pleaded like a fucking desperate man. This wasn’t me! She was still shaking her head no. Screw this. She didn’t want to talk to me, then the hell with her. She was right, I had women I didn’t need to fucking chase to get them to talk to me. Anger started to rise.
“Fine, I’m done. I won’t bother you again. Have a nice damn day,”
I told her coldly. I swung around to go back into the deli. I heard her swift intake of breath and then the sound of an engine getting closer registered. I spun back around, just in time to see a Charger come around the corner. Whoever was driving it was going too fast for a busy parking lot. I took off running toward Cheyenne. She was right in its path.
She turned her head to the left, and I saw the fear on her face. The car hit her, throwing her to the ground. I heard people screaming. I dove in front of the car. The driver slammed on the brakes. I was about to go to Cheyenne and the hell with the driver, when Maniac came running across the parking lot. I had no idea where he came from.
“Check on your lady. I’ve got this asshole,”
he snarled as he ripped the door open and dragged a guy out. I raced over to Cheyenne. She was lying on the ground on her side, not moving. My heart fell. I dropped down and laid my hand on her shoulder. A faint groan had me closing my eyes to hold back the tears of relief. For a second, I thought she was dead. She shifted and cried out in pain. I gently pressed down on her.
“Don’t move. Help is one the way.”
I heard someone on their phone calling 911. “Talk to me. What’s your name?”
I was rambling. All I wanted was to keep her talking until the ambulance got here.
She hissed in pain and she was panting. I situated myself so I could see her face. Her eyes fluttered open. They were filled with pain. “I-It’s Cheyenne, Cheyenne Collins. Why’re you asking me that?”
“I want to keep you conscious. Where are you?”
As I talked, I tried to check her out for obvious injuries. If it was internal, I was useless. I had medical training from being a Navy SEAL. All of us got a certain amount. I was trying to recall all of it to check how badly she was hurt. She’d flown through the air like a rag doll. As I pressed and prodded, she moaned. Then she suddenly slapped my hands.
“Stop that. You’re making it hurt worse.”
“I’m trying to assess how badly hurt you are. Tell me where you have pain.”
“Try my whole damn body, asshole. Are you a doctor?”
“No, but I have training. I was a SEAL. I hear sirens. I think it’s the emergency squad. Is there anyone I can call?”
I wanted to know for two reasons, One, so she didn’t have anyone worrying, and two, to see if she had a man. Kind of shitty of me, but it might be my only chance to find out.
“Call my work. Tell them I won’t be back today and why. Ask them to have Alisse come to the hospital after she gets off work,”
she said softly. Her eyelids were lowering. I ran my thumb down her cheek and across her lips.
“Stay with me, Cheyenne. Did you like the flowers?”
Her eyes opened along with her mouth. “I’m lying on the ground after a car hit me and you want to know if I liked your flowers?”
“Yep, this may be the only way I can keep you in one place to ask?”
I teased, trying to get her mind off her pain. She chuckled then moaned.
“Don’t make me laugh. Alright, yeah, I liked them. They were gorgeous. I love lilies. I don’t know why you sent them.”
I was about to tell her, when two paramedics pushed through people to get to us. A crowd had formed around us.
“Sir, we need you to step back, so we can help the woman,”
one of them said. I reluctantly did. As I watched them do their assessment and get her ready to transport, a hand landed on my shoulder. I looked around to see Maniac standing there.
“Where’s the fucker who hit her?”
I growled. I wanted to punch something. He’d do nicely.
Maniac curled his upper lip and tilted his head to the left. “The cops have him. He’s some punk-ass teenager out driving Daddy’s car. One too powerful for him. He’s over there shitting himself.”
“He’d better pray she’s alright. Find out who he is. When this is done, I’ll be having a chat with his dad and him. People need to teach their damn kids how to act and drive.”
“No problem, Pres. I got his name, address, and license plate number before the law got here,”
he reassured me. I stared at the guy. He looked like he could faint at any moment. His face was white and his eyes huge as he stared over at Cheyenne.
I heard him asking, “Is she okay?”
I wanted to shout, hell no, dumbass, you hit her with your fucking car! However, the roar of bikes coming into the parking lot had me changing gears and looking at Maniac.
He shrugged. “I texted the guys. They need to be here.”
I was saved from replying by Cheyenne calling out in pain as they rolled her over. I rushed over to them.
“Watch it. She’s in fucking pain. Don’t make her hurt more. Are you okay, Chey?”
Her teeth were clenched and her eyes were squeezed shut. She opened them and peered up at me.
“I’m okay. It just caught me by surprise, Reaper.”
Hearing her say my name made me smile inside. They slowly and carefully lifted her onto the gurney. I felt people come up behind me. I glanced back and there stood all my brothers. They were frowning as they watched her being loaded into the ambulance.
“Spawn, call Dr. Simpson’s office and tell them Cheyenne won’t be back to work, and that she wants Alisse to come to the hospital. I presume you’re taking her to Bristol General?”
I asked louder, so the paramedics could hear me. They nodded.
“I’ll get on it. Then we’ll follow you to the hospital,”
Spawn said. Hell, they knew I wouldn’t let her go alone. I gave him a chin lift. As the squad pulled away, I got on my bike and brought it to life. A cop came rushing over.
“I need to talk to you,”
he shouted over the roar of my engine.
“Then come to Bristol General,”
is all I said before I took off. I wasn’t going to stand there with him while she was alone. He could come and talk to me there. As I sped after the ambulance, the sound of my brothers’ bikes came up behind me. It was fucking great to have brothers at your back. I prayed the whole way there that she’d be okay. I’d found her and she couldn’t be taken from me like this. God, don’t do this to me. She’d actually talked to me, even if it was only because she couldn’t run. I wanted to talk even more.
It was a quick ten-minute drive to the hospital. I parked in the emergency room parking lot and ran into the ER. They were rolling her toward the back. I knew they wouldn’t let me go back there, so I went to the check-in window. The woman behind the desk gave me a surprised look.
“The woman they just brought in, her name is Cheyenne Collins. I need to be sure they know I’m here waiting for her.”
She started typing away. “And who are you, sir?”
I hesitated. What did I say? If I told them I was a stranger, they wouldn’t tell me anything. Before I could answer, Maniac stepped up beside me.
“He’s her boyfriend. Here, Reaper, I grabbed her purse. Her wallet is in there.”
I took it and rummaged through it. I took out her wallet and found her ID and an insurance card. I handed it to the woman.
“And your name?”
“It’s R-r... It’s Holden Grier. Please make sure to note I’m her responsible party,”
I told her. She nodded. I spent the next several minutes answering questions as best as I could while the woman registered her. When we were done, I slumped into a chair along the wall. I’d barely taken a breath before the cop from the scene came through the automatic door. Shit, now I had to deal with him. This day was getting better and better… not. All I cared about was that Cheyenne was alright.
I held on to my temper as the cop kept asking me the same questions over and over. It was like he thought I’d run her down! Finally, I’d had enough. “Listen, I told you what happened. I’m not doing it again. Why don’t you go talk to that punk who hit her with his daddy’s car? If you don’t mind, I’m waiting to hear how she is,”
I snapped. I gave him my best reaper look. He gulped and took a step back.
“O-okay, if I have more questions, where can I get a hold of you?”
I rattled off my phone number and then gave him my back. He took the hint. As he went to the check-in desk, I looked at my brothers. They were all gathered nearby.
“Hell, Reaper, Ratchet wasn’t kidding. She does look like Snow White. Damn, you have all the luck,”
Ink teased. I knew he was trying to get me to settle down, and I laughed.
“Yeah, and wouldn’t you know it, I’m the leader of eight dwarves. Must be fate.”
They chuckled then we sat down to wait. However long it took, I wasn’t leaving until I saw her again. Nothing or no one was going to make me go. It would be physically impossible for me to do so anyway. A force outside of myself was holding me here. Holding me to the woman who had ensnared me at first glance.