Chapter 18
Bear
A man’s gotta do honest work once in a while. And Mondays meant a full day at the tattoo parlor. Inking others, not getting inked, although I had an idea to add something to my left calf. Maybe a little witch or thorns or something?
Rose was my fantasy formed as flesh. Not only was her body banging, but the things she did with her hips when she rode my dick were mind-blowing. And stamina? Damn . I didn’t have the energy to jog this morning she rode me for so long.
But the best part was the look of wonder on her face when she finally let go.
At first, I thought I’d done something wrong.
The change from vixen to joy was so complete.
But her soft smile, the warmth in her eyes, and the languid way she collapsed on my chest, they all made me feel like I was the only man who’d ever made her feel that way.
And that was just the first time. A man could lose his mind fucking her as much as I did in the last thirty-some hours.
I didn’t dare think too long about that, knowing she’d been Carl’s up until a few days ago. I doubted Carl ever coaxed those reactions from her.
I pulled the sterilized packs from the autoclave and sorted the bags into their respective bins. Doubt ? No . Probability , and the amount of info I had on Carl made doubt seem generous. That man didn’t know how to make a woman come. Not like I had.
So , I doubled down on what worked. I kept her within arm’s reach yesterday, and kissed her fiercely this morning before I rode off.
But thinking about her wasn’t getting shit done.
I had books to manage, chair fees to total, and a couple of regulars on my schedule.
That didn’t stop me from adjusting the tiny hair ring she made for me.
It was so delicate and fragile. One good tug would ruin it.
Just like whatever Rose and I were doing with each other.
The bell above the front door jingled as my first client arrived.
And with him, fantasizing about Rose got sidelined until I tugged off my gloves and immediately panicked.
The ring had come off with it. Carefully , I pulled the glove from the trash and folded it between a bunch of paper towels.
I needed to do a better job of protecting her, every piece of her.
Another customer came in, and I forgot about all of that until KC strolled in with Fish .
“ Yo , Bear .” KC flipped a finger salute in my direction.
“ Hey Bro . How’s it feel to be free?” I smiled because that first few days of being a patched Destroyer was a heady time.
Pussy , booze, and the massive relief of not being anyone’s bitch made for a wild ride.
And several hangovers. KC had at least a three-day bender going by the glassiness of his eyes.
I checked his buddy for wear and tear. Surprisingly , Fish looked sharp.
So , I asked him, “ Are you chauffeuring him around?”
Fish smiled quickly, but it fell with a wariness I didn’t like at all. “ Yeah .”
“ You got a minute?” KC glanced around at the nearly empty shop.
I motioned to the other artist to take an early lunch and as soon as they exited, I flipped the sign to indicate someone would be back in a half hour.
Then led them to the bullpen in the back.
Out of habit, I flipped on the stereo and a jammer Skinner set up.
“ What’s up?” I asked as I settled onto a stool.
KC nudged Fish . “ Go for it. Tell him what you told me.”
Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. His skin turned a little white. “ Uh … Are you fucking that broad?”
I shot a look at KC , warning him that this was wasting my time.
“ I — I mean, she was Carl’s .” Fish didn’t know he was swimming in deep waters. But like any good predator, I let him get a little too comfortable, just to make the meat more tender.
“ KC ? Did you plan to waste my time?”
“ Fish , spit it out.”
His buddy must have picked up on the warning signs. “ That bitch of his stole money from him.”
“ How much?”
Fish squirmed uncomfortably, then blurted out, “ Twenty grand.”
I barely let a beat go by before asking, “ When ?”
“ When she lit out of there.”
With me. I’d barely given her a minute and she’d executed a major heist in that time. If I wasn’t pissed off, I might marvel at the impressiveness of it. “ So ?” I layered a bunch of sarcasm over the angry growl.
“ Well , h-he thought you should know.”
Ah . Fish was the messenger boy. Carrier pigeon. Stoolie ? How much of this would go right back to Carl to give him ammunition against us?
Funny how my mind went there, rather than getting angry with Rose first. Maybe Jackson was wrong about me. Maybe I couldn’t remain objective after getting my dick good and soaked.
“ Does he think he’s getting a discount for this?” I stood up and the stool knocked into a cabinet as it rolled away.
KC’s eyes went a little wide.
Right . He didn’t know the deal. Only the brothers who needed to know got that info.
Surprisingly , Fish wasn’t alarmed. He was close enough to Carl to courier money and secrets. That meant I truly couldn’t trust him. And KC shouldn’t either. But that would have to wait.
I faked a smile and held out a hand to slap Fish’s before gripping it and tugging him close.
Once I had him trapped, with his gun hand gripped and the other pinned against his body, I whispered in his ear.
“ Carl’s a nosy fuck who can’t mind his own shit.
So , word of advice, reconsider your loyalties. ” I let him go with a shove.
KC caught him, but his eyes were on me. I know I spoke quietly enough that he probably didn’t hear me. “ Go to the club. Send him home. Then call me.”
There were reasons we made prospects wait as long as we did.
Foremost was trust. We had to know whether or not they were all in or not.
But another reason was conditioning. When orders were given, they had to be obeyed without question.
Even with as long as I’d been in the club, I still did what I was told without bitching about it.
There was always a good reason if a brother gave a direct order.
And in the hierarchy of it all, KC had to answer to me whether I had an officer’s patch or not.
KC let Fish lead. Right before KC dipped out, he said two words to me that made my blood run cold. “ Sketch … Izzy ?”
“ You forgot to tack yourself onto that,” I grumbled.
He tipped his head. “ Well . At least you understand what’s at stake here.”
I lowered my voice. “ Which is why he needs to keep a close eye on Carl , but not crawl into bed with him.”
“ It ain’t like that.” KC scowled at my accusation.
“ For everyone’s sake, I hope not.”
“ And what about you with Rose ?” He insinuated the obvious hypocrisy.
Maybe not laying his ass out during his initiation was a mistake? “ I got it under control.”
“ Yeah … right.” His eyes dipped to the side, almost begging me to out myself by looking back to my chair where I’d wrapped that damn glove up.
In the wake of their departure, I relocked the door and sat in silence to sort my thoughts. Wolf and Jackson were right. Carl was playing us. Me .
But what was his game?
That was the biggest question. Were we the targets or someone else? Was Carl doing this to get revenge over something? Was he working for someone else?
There were no immediate answers.
Except one. Get my head back into the game and stop thinking with my dick. I swept up the bundle of waste and tossed it into the trash, ring and all.
Guilt or something like that itched under my skin. Like a fucking hair shirt.
It pestered me as I buried my nose in business.
By the time I finished the last session, I was ready to slice throats. I straddled my bike, weighing my choices. One was clear. Ride .
Ride until my head was straight. Ride until the road and wheels carried me somewhere I could find answers. Maybe even keep riding until all the choices were snatched away.
Of course, I ended up at the club, not my house. My ass hit the barstool and my bottle came off the shelf barely helped along by the pretty little hooker manning the boards that evening.
If she was there, and not on her back upstairs, nothing was happening.
Even the jukebox was dark. Instead , someone had the stereo system behind the bar cranked into the speakers.
And since there were no prospects in sight, the music was a far cry from usual.
“ Is this the same fucking club?” I mused aloud.
“ It’s a Monday . Everyone’s sleeping it off, or at home recovering from the shock from the start of the work week.” Shauna said as she poured me a glass.
I held my hand up to stop her from filling it to the top. She was right. I should be home. I wasn’t a coward, was I ? The old me would have stomped in that door and laid down the law. Feelings be damned.
“ You lonely?” She played with the rim of her glass.
I hadn’t noticed her slip a dram of my private stock into the tumbler.
Shauna’s tone was flirty, but practiced.
I’d have fallen for it a month ago. Willingly .
But now? The combo pissed me off. Like she just assumed I’d bite, and worse? Share my shit with her.
No wonder I scraped clingers off within a couple of weeks.
“ I ain’t lonely.”
Her finger circled the rim like it was her clit or something. She noticed my eyes tracking the motion. “ You sure about that?” She paused to dip a finger into the liquid and bring the moistened tip to her mouth.
Her tongue swirled around it before she popped it in to suck the liquor off. That definitely would have broken my resolve.
Funny how my dick could get hard and I could still be angry. For a moment, I imagined Rose doing that. I’d pick her up, plaster her against the wall, raise the fabric of the loose, long dresses she preferred and?—
Measuredly , I spoke two words, “ I’m sure.”
Shauna sighed. “ I heard you’re shacking up with some chick.”
“ That’s right.” I kept my answer short so she could hang herself on the conversation. It was always insightful to let people ramble their thoughts.
She shook her head. “ How long did the last one hang around? Two weeks?”
This bitch could go fuck herself with that thinking.
The trouble was, she was right. The longest relationship I had was with this club.
It came before everything else. That’s the way it was supposed to be.
And it was the reason I came here to sort my head out.
Rose had gotten under my skin. By doing that, she’d knocked me off balance and exposed a weakness I didn’t know I had.
I was immune to pretty. Case in point, Shauna here.
She was a beauty. Soft auburn-brown hair, big doe-like eyes, a pouty mouth.
Tits for days, and an ass that was perfect size and shape for any marathon banging you cared to sample.
And she was professional enough to skirt that fine line of attachment but available.
If I wanted to, I could step up, seize the VP slot, give her a nod, let her jump on the back of my bike, have my position, a steady lay, and never have to worry about catty bitches sinking their hooks in, because Shauna was evil enough to claw their eyes out.
And when I got tired of her, I could toss her back into the pool and she wouldn’t get angry about it.
It was a shitty way to treat women. But useful.
And that aimed a realization that struck true, sunk deep into my chest, and skewered me with the sharp barbs of truth. I treated women like shit. I’d planned to treat Rose like shit for stealing from Carl . That’s why I landed here.
Because I didn’t want to treat her like that. I wanted someone in my bed who had my back. Someone would care enough to stay up all night fighting off my brothers and anyone else stupid enough to fuck with me. Someone who didn’t raise an eyebrow when I stood in the rain sharing an ale with my Gods .
Most pointedly, a woman who could distract me from crafty hookers who knew all my weaknesses.
I poured the rest of my drink into Shauna’s glass. “ Here . I’m headed home.”
“ Good luck with that.”
Whether she meant it or not, I’d need luck.
If only to control my temper… and maybe my stupid dick. It was going to fuck things up. I just knew it.