Vixen
V ixen had spent the better part of the day trying to figure out if she should even bother going into Savage Hell. There was a big party for one of the Royal Harlots that was getting married and moving away. She hated having to miss Harley’s going away party, but there was no way that she wanted to run into Wyatt. She had spent one damn night with the guy and now, he thought that they were going to be married, but that ship sailed when she found out that he was running drugs. She wasn’t sure who he was working for, but she knew that she’d never date a drug dealer. The problem was, the more she tried to push him away, the more he stuck to her like glue. She couldn’t shake the guy, and staying at home was the easy way out of having to see him. At least being locked away in her tiny apartment, Wyatt couldn’t get to her.
Her cell phone rang, and she pulled it out of her pocket. “Hey Phoenix,” she said. Her friend had just gotten back from her honeymoon, and while every part of was jealous, she was still happy for her Phoenix.
“Hey, . I was just checking in to see if you need a ride to Savage Hell tonight?” she asked. She hated telling her friend that she was going to miss yet another event, but she knew that it was for the best. The last thing she wanted to do was tell any of her girlfriends that she was basically being stalked by the creep who took her home the night of Phoenix’s birthday. That was months ago, and she was sure that Juno, Rebel, and Phoenix were getting sick of her bowing out of everything at the last minute.
“I’m not really feeling well,” she lied. “I think that I’ll stay home tonight. I wouldn’t want to get anyone else sick.”
“Mkay,” Phoenix drawled, “what the hell is going on with you?” she asked. “You have been acting off since my birthday. Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” lied again, “I’m fine. I’ve just been feeling a bit off lately, and I need some downtime.”
“Are you sure that’s all this is?” Phoenix asked.
“Yes, I need to crawl into bed, pull the covers up to my chin, and watch an old movie,” said. “I’ll give you a call tomorrow,” she said trying to end the call with her friend.
“No, I’m calling a time-out,” Phoenix said. They used to do that when they were just kids. They had been friends forever and the four of them were more like sisters than friends. If one of them called a time-out, it meant that they didn’t believe that the other one was telling the truth. knew that if she didn’t give in and go to Savage Hell, Phoenix would end up getting the truth about Wyatt out of her, and she really didn’t want to go into it all tonight.
“Fine,” breathed, “you don’t have to challenge me for the truth. I’ll come into the clubhouse for one drink, and then, I’m heading back home. I’m exhausted and I—”
“Don’t feel good,” Phoenix finished for her. “Don’t make me come over to your apartment and drag you out of there,” she warned. knew that Phoenix wasn’t making idle threats. She’d drop everything and find her—then there would be hell to pay. Phoenix was the fiercest out of the group and if she knew about Wyatt stalking her, she wouldn’t stop until Wyatt got what he had coming.
“You won’t have to come drag me out of my house and into the club. I’ll see you there in about an hour,” promised.
“Don’t make me wait,” Phoenix said. could almost see Phoenix’s bony little finger pointing at her, and couldn’t help her smile.
“Yes, ma’am,” said, giving her friend a mock salute that she knew Phoenix wouldn’t be able to see. She ended the call before she could change her mind and tossed her phone onto the bed. Now, she was going to have to pick out an outfit, put on make-up, and do something with her hair, because, like it or not, she was going into the club to see the rest of the Royal Harlots.
She got to the bar about thirty minutes late and Juno texted her that she and the other girls went in to drink without her. She also said that if didn’t keep her promise and show up, Phoenix said that she would kick her ass. That part made her laugh, even though she knew her friend would do it.
was almost at the door when she heard someone call her name. She knew the voice—it was Wyatt’s, but she still foolishly turned around. “I just want to talk to you,” he shouted. He was far enough away that if she hurried, she could get into Savage Hell before he’d be able to catch her. But then what? Would anyone help her? Wyatt was a Royal Bastard, and they protected their own. She questioned if anyone would even believe her when she told them that Wyatt was stalking her. She had to try because that might be her only chance of getting away from him tonight. thought that he was harmless, but what if she was wrong? She didn’t want to risk it.
ran into the bar and quickly looked around for her friends, but didn’t see them. Instead, she found Dare—the biker she had a huge crush on, but he didn’t seem to ever notice her.
“There you are, babe,” said. She could feel her hands shaking and she thought for sure that she was going to blow the whole thing. She pasted a smile on her face when Dare looked up at her as though she had lost her mind.
She leaned into whisper into Dare’s ear and damn he smelled good. She just hoped that he didn’t notice that she had sniffed him. “Please play along,” she begged.
Dare smiled up at her as she spied Wyatt standing by the front door watching her with Dare. He practically pulled her onto his lap, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her like she hadn’t been kissed in a damn long time.
“Hey,” Wyatt shouted. He had crossed the room and was standing directly behind them. “Get your hands off my woman.” He had garnered quite a bit of attention from everyone else in the bar and wanted to climb under the bar and hide from them all.
Savage walked down to where the three of them were having their little standoff. “Want to tell me why you’re causing a scene, Wyatt?” he growled. Everyone turned back to what they were doing before the commotion.
“Dare has his hands on my woman,” he said again with a little less heat.
Savage looked at and she shook her head, “I’m not his woman. We hooked up once and now, he’s been stalking me.”
“It’s not stalking if you’re in love with the person, ,” Wyatt spat.
“We had one night, Wyatt,” she repeated. “You can’t be in love with me after just one night.”
“So, what, you’re with him now?” Wyatt asked, nodding at Dare.
“Yeah, she is,” Dare lied. “So, you need to be on your way and leave my woman alone.” He sounded convincing enough that even she believed him. And when he squeezed her ass and kissed her in front of Savage and Wyatt, her girl parts believed him too.
“Well, there you have it, Wyatt,” Savage said. “She’s his now and you know what happens if you try to take another brother’s woman, right?” knew that there was a code of conduct amongst the Royal Bastards. Banshee, the Royal Harlot’s Prez was trying to do something similar with her club.
“Yeah, I know what happens,” Wyatt mumbled.
He turned to walk away, and Dare stopped him. “And don’t think about bothering her back at her place. She’ll be staying with me from now on,” he said. Her gasp was loud enough that she was sure that Dare heard her. He squeezed her ass again and shot her a look. “Right honey?” he asked. He seemed so serious that she wondered if he was playing a part still or if he really meant it.
“Got it,” Wyatt mumbled, when she didn’t answer Dare, but could see in his eyes that he didn’t believe a word Dare was saying. He walked away and she stood up from Dare’s lap.
“That’s going to be a problem,” Savage said.
“Wait, what’s going to be a problem?” asked.
“Well, I’m pretty sure that you and Dare were putting on a show for Wyatt because he’s been chasing you all over town. Now, he’s going to drive by your apartment, just to see if Dare was lying when he said you were staying with him.”
“Shit,” breathed.
“Um, that’s an easy fix,” Dare insisted.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“You’ll just have to stay with me at my place for a while,” he said. She wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad idea, but her traitorous body seemed to think that it was a fucking great idea. And right now, she wanted to go with her body and stay with Dare, but she knew better than to accept the kind of help that he was offering.
“No, I won’t be going back to your place with you,” she insisted. had always been told that she was stubborn, but she never met someone like Dare who tried to challenge her. She just wanted him to pretend to be her boyfriend, never imagining that he’d offer to keep her safe from Wyatt.
“I think that he’s selling drugs,” she almost whispered to the two of them. She wasn’t sure why she had just blurted that out, but now that it was out there, she actually felt better.
“Shit, that would mean that he’s working with the Ghosts,” Savage breathed. If he was running drugs this close to home, it was probably for the Ghosts, and that wouldn’t be good for any of them. She had heard that the Royal Bastards had taken the Ghosts down once, but they had lost some good men doing so. The last thing the Bastards needed was a rematch, and if that happened, it would be all her fault.
“We need to figure out what’s going on with Wyatt,” Savage insisted. “If he’s running drugs, it’s most likely for the Ghosts. They have somehow regrouped and are stronger than ever. We have to assume that Wyatt is dangerous, and if he sees Dare or you as a threat, he won’t hesitate to get them involved in his fight. And one thing I’ve learned about the Ghosts is that they love a good fight.”
“Right, and that’s why you need to come home with me, . Dare won’t take you turning him down well. You need a safe place to stay,” he insisted.
“He’s as mad at you as he is at me,” she reminded. “He will come looking for me at your place. You were the one to tell him that I’m staying with you tonight, weren’t you?” she asked.
“Damn it, ,” Dare shouted, “stop being so stubborn and let me help you.” Banshee crossed the room, suddenly taking interest in what was going on between and Dare. The last thing she wanted was her club’s Prez to get involved in her mess.
“What’s going on here?” Banshee asked. “Why are you yelling at my girl?” Banshee called all the Harlots her “girls” and usually liked it. Right now, she felt like a petulant child about to be ratted out by Dare and Savage.
“Well—” Dare started. held up her hand, effectively stopping him from tattling on her.
“I can answer for myself,” she insisted. “Wyatt has been giving me a little bit of trouble since we hooked up a few months ago. The guy doesn’t seem to be able to take a hint.” She looked between Savage and Dare and then, back to Banshee, hoping that she wouldn’t have to answer any more questions from her.
“Why is this the first that I’m finding out about this?” Banshee asked.
“Because I thought that I could handle Wyatt on my own. I didn’t want to involve anyone else, but tonight he left me no choice. He followed me in here and I got scared, so I pretended that Dare and I were together. Now, he wants me to go home with him,” she concluded, practically pointing her finger into Dare’s solid chest.
“Well, I can’t say that it’s a bad idea,” Banshee said. Having her agree with the guys wasn’t something that expected, and would probably present a problem.
“You can’t be serious,” said. “I can take care of myself, Banshee,” she insisted. “I think that we both know that.”
“Right, but you said yourself tonight that, Wyatt caught you off guard and you needed Dare’s help,” Savage reminded. It felt as though they were all ganging up on her and she was sure that there would be no winning the argument.
“You aren’t going to even give me a choice,” she said, looking between the three of them.
“No,” Banshee breathed, dashing all hopes of being able to return to her own home tonight. “Let Savage and I look into Wyatt and if we find out that he’s not a part of the Ghosts, then you can return home. Just give us a few nights.” The thought of staying a few nights with Dare both excited and terrified her. She didn’t trust him at all and trusting herself with him was going to be a challenge. For some reason, the bossy biker turned her on—not that she’d ever tell him that, and spending a few nights with him would take all her resolve.
“Fine, I’ll go home with Dare, but we will be staying in separate bedrooms,” she insisted.
Dare smiled at her, and she wasn’t sure why, but that simple action pissed her off. “That might be a problem, honey,” he drawled.
“Don’t call me honey,” she insisted, “and why will it be a problem?” wasn’t sure if she wanted to even know the answer, because there was no way that the three of them would let her back out of her promise now.
“Because I only have a one-bedroom apartment,” Dare said, “but I’m willing to sleep on my sofa if that would make you more comfortable.”
“None of this makes me comfortable,” she grumbled. “I’ll take the sofa. I wouldn’t want you to put yourself out.”
“Stubborn,” Dare breathed, “fine, have it your way. You ready to head out?” he asked.
She wanted to tell him that she wasn’t, but there was no changing anyone’s mind. was going to have to put up with Dare for a few nights, and then, she’d be back home—at least that was the plan.