Familiar Arms
Morgan
Tristan was watching me while I was on stage with Hannah. The prickly feelings on my skin were not caused by him, but they were caused by a certain bearded man that was also watching me. When I was done dancing with the kids and wearing them out for their parents, I rushed into Tristan’s arms. There was always something familiar when I was in his arms. Eventually, he asked me to dance, and I was more than willing to be wrapped up in the arms of the man that was once my everything.
Then those prickly feelings started again, and I knew if I looked behind me I would see Creed. The man was cold toward me, yet I still felt drawn to him. It was easy to understand why, the man oozed with hot sex. A night with a man like that would probably result in some powerful orgasms and maybe a little shame. He paid women to be with him, and if there was a bigger red flag I’d be shocked.
There must have been something wrong with a man who paid for sex when it was obvious that guy could get any woman he wanted for free. It wasn’t just his looks that was getting to me. It was his entire presence. I was dying to see what was under that beard. With eyes like his, I had no doubt he looked younger and was probably better than any Hollywood hunk I ever met. Then again, I never went for any Hollywood hunks. I had only dated two men in my life. One was holding me in his arms, and the other was a world history teacher in California. Never in a million years would I have ever thought a badass biker would be on my radar. It was strange, because I could feel Creed’s presence before I even knew he was near me.
“I missed you.” Tristan gently kissed my temple.
“I missed you too.” It wasn’t a lie. I couldn’t have counted the number of nights I laid awake and wondered what would have happened if he wouldn’t have broken up with me.
When I turned around, I saw Creed nod his head toward me as he spoke to Josh Magnus. Then Josh began walking in my direction. Tristan and I let go of each other when Josh stopped next to us. “Sorry to interrupt, but could I speak with you for a moment, Morgan?”
I looked at Tristan and he shrugged his shoulders then I looked at Josh. “I guess so.”
He was already guiding me away from Tristan before I even finished that sentence. His hand rested on the small of my back and he leaned down to whisper. “Do you have any personal belongings in here?”
“Yes, why?” I walked toward my purse.
“There’s a few Devil’s Rejects out front, and they’re asking about you. I have orders to escort you home.”
“They’re asking about me?” I was alarmed.
“Its Shane Doyle, and he has a few of his buddies with him. Patrick has the truck pulled out front and we will follow you to your parents place.” He answered.
“Shane? I need to talk to him.” I grabbed my purse and my quilt then he took me by the arm and pulled me toward the doors.
“You will stay away from that prick. Do not ever approach him. He’s involved in things you couldn’t begin to understand.”
He threw the doors open, but as soon as I saw Shane, I pulled out of Josh’s grip and ran toward him. “Where are they?” I was yelling at him before I even got to him.
Shane was wearing one of those jean cuts with patches on it. The men with him were wearing leather cuts. He looked strung out and one side of his lips turned up into a half smile. “There she is, just the girl I wanted to see.”
“Where is she?” I set my things down then placed my hands on my hips.
He lifted one shoulder into a shrug. “Probably sucking Prez off for all I know.” He chuckled. “She always had a sweet little mouth on her.”
“She’s your fucking wife!” I was seeing red.
Creed was standing on one side of me and Drakos on the other. Josh went to the other side of the men and before I knew it, Creed’s men had Shane, and his two friends surrounded.
Shane took a hit off his cigarette and blew the smoke out slowly. “How much are you willing to pay for her? I’d settle for a hundred grand and a blow job. I know you always wanted to wrap those lips around my cock.” The other guys with him laughed and he took another hit off his cigarette and flicked it to the ground.
“I would never touch someone so disgusting! Bring them to me and I’ll give you however much money you want to leave and never talk to them again.”
“No.” Creed spoke up and stepped in front of me. “There will be no negotiating. There’s an Amber alert for Addie and it’s only a matter of time before LEO ends up raiding your compound. Hand over the girls and they won’t have reason to bust your asses.”
Shane stepped off his bike and stood with his arms crossed. “You’re talking about my wife and kid. Don’t fucking tell me what to do with them!”
Before I knew what was happening, Creed had Shane by the back of his neck, pressing his face into the gravel. Josh and Drakos had the other two men pulled off their bikes and in the same position. I never saw anyone move as fast as Creed’s men, and Patrick was pulling me toward the truck.
“Get the fuck off me!” I jerked out of his grip then ran over to Shane and kicked him in the nose. “How does that feel you fucking prick? You can’t defend yourself, just like when you hit Callie!” I kicked him in the face again, but Patrick was pulling me away. I saw blood coming from Shane's nose while Creed and the others were laughing about it.
“Adorable.” Drakos laughed.
I was fuming. “I’ll show you adorable!” I went stomping toward Drakos, but Patrick grabbed me around the waist from behind and picked me up. As I kicked my feet he carried me to the truck. “There is nothing funny about him treating her like a punching bag! It’s gone too far, and I need them to come home! I’ve failed them!” I sobbed as Patrick threw me in the truck.
“What the hell is going on out here?” I looked over and saw Tristan before Patrick shut my door.
“Mind your business.” Creed said.
Tristan pointed at me. “She is my business!” He stormed toward me. “Patrick, what the hell is going on?” My first love was pissed.
I spoke up. “Its Callie and Addie. He’s abusing them and now he won’t let anyone see them. I failed them, Tristan.” I was sobbing.
“So, you think pissing off a biker gang is the smart thing to do? I just saw you kick Shane. What the hell is going through that head of yours?” Tristan wrapped his arms around me.
“I just want them to be safe.” I sobbed into his neck. “I should have come home sooner.”
I looked up when I heard Creed and saw him lift Shane up by the neck with one hand. “Are you going to fuck with her?”
“Not if she stops snooping around. Prez isn’t happy about the alert, and I was sent to straighten this shit out.” Shane’s face was covered in blood and looked like a rag doll as Creed held him up.
“Morgan is off fucking limits, do not approach her and you’ll bring the girls home. If you do that we won’t have a problem. Understand?”
“Y…y…yes.” Shane stuttered.
Creed looked at me then at Shane. “You have forty eight hours to bring me the girls. I’ll meet you at the old sawmill. If they are not brought safely to me, hellfire is going to rain down on that fucking compound.” Creed looked up at Patrick. “Get her the hell out of here. My men will escort you home.”
“I’m going with you.” Tristan pushed me in the truck a little further and hopped in with us. Six motorcycles drove up behind us as I watched Creed hold Shane up by his throat and make a call with his phone in the other.
“I should have come home a long time ago. I’ve failed my best friend and goddaughter.” I sobbed as Tristan held on to me.
“You didn’t fail them. Callie made the choices that led her to where she is now. I talked to her myself and she told me everything you ever offered her. You made sure she had every opportunity to leave him, but she still chose him.” Tristan tried to calm me down.
“I have the resources most women don’t have, and I could have kept her safe.” My hands were shaking, and I couldn’t remember being so scared. It wasn’t just the bikers that scared me, it was Creed and the way he looked at me when Tristan had me wrapped in his arms.
Tristan lifted my chin to make me look at him as Patrick quietly drove us toward home. “You have done all you can do. None of those men back there are safe for you, and it's time to let go. Callie wants this life, and it’s not your job to dictate how she lives.”
I reached up and wiped a tear away. “Creed isn’t a bad man.”
“He runs with a rough crowd. You need to stay away from all of them.” Tristan reached up and wiped one of my tears away.
“Hey now, Creed is a decent man, and his men are just some sort of special ops retirees. They don’t mean any harm to anyone in this town.” Patrick spoke up.
“My Uncle trusts them.” I sniffled.
“Judging by the way they handled those bikers, those men are no strangers to violence. Do you really want the world to think you condone such a thing?” Tristan was speaking softly and looking into my eyes like I was the most precious thing on earth.
“But I do condone such a thing. Shane has a face that just begs to be punched.” I sniffled again and both men chuckled.
“She got you there, Tristan.” Patrick laughed.
“You’re a movie star, Morgan. You wouldn’t want the world to know you’re involved with people like that any more than you’d want the world to know you used to sleep with a garbage man.” He gave me a soft smile and Patrick was way too dramatic with his gag.
“Why wouldn’t I want anyone to know that? Tristan, I loved you and I never would have cared how you made a living. You broke me when you pushed me away. We might be different people now, but I will never hide the fact that I once loved you. I’m offended that you think that low of me.” He was being ridiculous.
As soon as Patrick pulled down the driveway I saw Uncle Darren’s car. That was when I realized it was probably him Creed called as we were leaving. My best guess was that I’d be greeted by Hans and Franz with disapproving looks on their faces.