Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
The Outlaw’s Nest
N ova drove by the clubhouse not once. Not twice. Three times.
Each time she drove by the old looking building, with the faded large sign of a guy with a beer belly, a big smile, holding a wrench in the air like he’d just won an award, she thought back to all those times Linc would sneak her over here. Sometimes they’d stand at the gate and he’d tell her this would all be his. Sometimes they snuck past the gate and climbed up on the roof of the building and would kiss like crazy.
The fourth time Nova drove down the street, she made the turn. Her SUV went up over and the little bump taking her from the safe road to the outlaw path. She stopped at the gate. It did not open right away.
“Crap,” she whispered.
Now what?
Nova wondered if this was a sign. The Universe telling her to get the hell out of there. To just go back home and call the police. If Nick was in some kind of trouble, then so be it. Maybe getting arrested and getting into real trouble would smarten him up. Nova put her SUV into reverse and looked in the mirror. She let out a quick scream.
A biker was behind her SUV with a gun drawn.
Panic ripped through Nova’s chest. Her vision blurred. Her mouth went dry. When she heard someone tap at her window, she screamed again.
“Why don’t you put that window down, sugar?”
Nova nodded at the gangly looking biker at her window. Her eyes checked the mirror. The other biker was still there.
With a shaking hand, Nova hit the button and the window slowly descended.
“I don’t like guns,” Nova blurted out.
The biker chuckled. “You came to the wrong place, sugar. Now why in the world have you been circling around here, huh? Something on your mind?”
“Linc,” Nova said. “I’m with Linc. Linc told me to come here. I need to talk to Slade! That’s what he told me as he was getting arrested.”
“Excuse me? Arrested?”
Nova nodded. “Yes. Linc and I met for breakfast. A cop showed up and arrested him. I don’t know why.”
“Catch the name of that cop?”
“No. He was cocky though. Just looked like a regular old cop.”
“Right. And Linc told you to come here?”
“Yes. I’m Nova. Novaleigh Vida. He and I go way back. I’ve known Linc since we were kids. We stopped talking… until now…”
Don’t mention Nick.
Why?
I don’t know. Just don’t.
“Am I’m supposed to be believe that some beautiful woman is showing up just to wait for Linc? What are the odds I drag you out of this vehicle, tie you up, question you, and then have the boys tear through this vehicle just in case you’re working for someone?”
“You touch me and you’ll have to deal with Linc,” Nova said.
The biker threw his head back and laughed. He looked to the back of the SUV. He whistled.
“Amos, back off. Go back to your post. Everything is fine here. Open the gate too.”
“Thank you,” Nova sighed.
“Don’t thank me yet, sugar.”
The biker walked around the front of the SUV and came to the passenger side. He opened the door, climbed inside and plopped down, shaking the entire vehicle. Nova couldn’t believe how big these guys were. Monstrous. Mean. She had literally stepped into another world. The laws of society didn’t exist. These outlaws lived by their own laws.
“Mind if I check the middle console here?”
“Go for it,” Nova said. “It’s nothing but fast food wrappers.”
The biker chuckled again. “I’m pissing you off, aren’t I?”
“Aren’t you worried about Linc being arrested?”
He ignored Nova. The gate started to open. The biker pointed forward and Nova began to drive. She parked where she was told to park.
“What did you and Linc talk about?”
“Personal stuff,” Nova said.
“You have the nerve to show up here to this place and you want to give me vague answers, sugar? The gate is closing. You’re here now. You’re in a different world.”
“I already said what I had to say,” Nova said. “Mess with me and you’ll have to deal with Linc.”
The biker nodded. He reached across the SUV and offered his right hand for Nova to shake.
“I’m Slade,” the biker said.
Relief hit Nova as she shook Slade’s hand.
“Don’t mind me giving you a hard time, sugar,” Slade said. He pointed to the clubhouse. “Once you step inside there, you’ll understand it. I’m the nicest guy you’ll meet here.”
Slade got out of the SUV and waited for Nova to join him. Her heart now climbed up into her throat. Her panic returned. Just looking back at the gate—shut tight—made her shiver. She was so quick to listen to Linc’s command. To show up here. She just trusted him like that?
Nova eased herself from her SUV and followed Slade toward the clubhouse. As soon as he opened the door, Nova felt like she was walking into another world.
Which she was.
The place smelled like leather, bacon, coffee, and something else . Nova’s nose tingled.
It smelled like man. It smelled like weed. It smelled like… like a woman’s body… a certain area on a woman…
It smelled like wet sex.
“Slade, what’d you bring us?”
Nova turned her head and gasped at the size of the man talking. The guy was the tallest human she’d ever seen. He didn’t look real. He looked like some massive villain from a superhero movie.
“Keep your dick in your pants, Priest,” Slade called out. “She’s with Linc.” Slade touched the middle of Nova’s back. “Just sit right here. Let Maggie take good care of you.”
Nova sat at the end of the bar. Maggie was behind the bar. Wearing cutoff jeans made into shorts so little and tight that her butt cheeks were visible. She wore a SOFRAW tank top, no bra, perky little boobs bouncing, looking for attention.
“Want a beer, hon?” Maggie asked Nova.
It’s… early…
“Just water, please,” Nova said.
A burly biker sat right next to her. “Water? Chasing a hangover? I’ve got a hangover cure.”
Nova shook her head.
“Don’t talk? Ordering water? What the fuck are you doing in a place like this? Trying to sell some Bibles or some shit?”
The gigantic, tall biker— Priest —clamped a hand down on the biker’s shoulder and squeezed.
“Fuck off, Fitz,” Priest growled. “She’s with Linc.”
Priest pulled Fitz away from the bar with ease and tossed him back like he himself wasn’t six-six and packed with muscle. Nova looked up at Priest. The guy terrified her.
In the recess of Priest’s mind he couldn’t save himself from himself, meaning he stared down at Nova and pictured her naked from the waist down, sitting on the bar. He pictured himself eating her cunt until her pussy was raw red instead of delicious pink.
She’s with Linc didn’t mean shit to Priest without the proper protocol. Priest could have easily asked for Nova to show off her ink, knowing it didn’t exist. He could easily tell her to do plenty of things… and if she didn’t listen…
“Priest, we need to talk,” a deep voice said.
Priest turned his brain off from Nova’s sweet pussy. Nova sensed it and felt relief for that. The two looked at the President of SOFRAW. Cyrus looked at Nova. A dark, judging, dangerous stare.
Nova also spotted Slade. She assumed word had begun to get around about Linc’s arrest. In front of Nova, Maggie placed two glasses. The first, a glass of water. The second, a much smaller glass.
Maggie smiled. “Liquid courage. You look like a doe in the middle of the road right now. Not the place to be if you’re this innocent.”
Nova felt a punch to her heart. She refused weakness… She grabbed the glass of liquid courage and downed it. It was straight vodka. Nova almost threw up, but held it down.
Then she pointed to Maggie. “Understand something right now. I was the first person to ever fuck Linc. Got that? Now stop trying to be my fucking friend and get me another drink.”
Maggie blushed and stepped back. Nova really didn’t want to be mean, but this was the outlaw world.
Violence was a means of survival.