Chapter Twelve – MichelleFelix
A week after our kitchen encounter, the piles of snow were finally starting to disappear, allowing roads and the internet to become accessible once again.
The weather was no longer so vile that it risked the power of Felix’s generator, restoring the luxury of round-the-clock electricity.
No longer being trapped in the cabin should’ve made me celebrate, but instead, it saddened me.
Soon, Felix and I would go our separate ways.
He’d reassured me that there were no other women in his life, and I was the only one he wanted.
Right now, per his own words.
I fucking hated that thought.
The afternoon sun was high in the sky, streaming through the window and creating a glow around Felix’s handsome face.
His eyelashes were enviously long, sweeping the tops of his cheeks.
His full, pink lips were parted, soft snores leaving them.
If the medical profession hadn’t called to him, he would’ve made a killing as a male model.
The gray creeping into his hair at the temples and laugh lines around his mouth were the only sign of his age.
Forty never looked so good.
Unable to resist, I pressed a kiss to the side of his mouth. I tried to be gentle and sneaky, but Felix’s eyes opening let me know I failed on the latter front.
“Hey,” he mumbled, his hand rubbing circles on my hips. “How long have you been up?”
“About twenty minutes,” I said, his touch soothing my inner turmoil. “You look pretty when you sleep.”
He cocked a brow, amusement lighting up his eyes. “You’ve been watching me sleep, you little stalker?”
“I have,” I admitted without shame. “You were using me as a human teddy bear, so I couldn’t move. What the fuck else was I supposed to do?”
At his chuckle, chills slid down my spine. I felt so content that my anxieties over our impending separation disappeared with our easy banter.
“Well, since I’ve let you languish in boredom, let me make it up to you.”
He easily pinned me on my back, spreading my thighs and settling between them. He began to kiss down my body, starting at my neck, pausing to give both my nipples attention, then continuing downward until his breath fanned over my sex. Anticipation filled me. His tongue was sinfully talented.
He dragged his nose along my slit. “Fuck, you smell good.”
Finally, his tongue darted out, licking along my slit.
My breath caught in my throat, and I grasped the sheets.
He guided one of my legs over his shoulder, giving him more access as he made out with my cunt.
Felix was a pussy eating champ, making my toes curl and working me towards orgasm within minutes.
However, before I could reach my peak, a familiar sound reached my ears.
The roar of motorcycles drawing ever closer.
A sound I typically adored, but now, it only filled me with dread.
I didn’t know if the riders were friend or foe, if they were loyal club members, traitors, or Bloody Femmes.
The pondering took me out of the moment, distracting me from his talented tongue.
I put a hand on Felix’s head, wiggling back. Unfortunately, another fuckfest would have to wait.
“Listen,” I instructed at his confused gaze.
He obeyed my command, his brows furrowing. “Motorcycles?”
I nodded and stood from the bed, gathering our discarded clothes. It seemed as if I’d been found.
“We have to get up,” I explained, racking my brain for how to explain the direness of the situation. “Trouble is coming.”
By the time we were dressed, the roar of motorcycles was deafening, and the vibration shook my cabin.
Michelle hurriedly explained what her cryptic warning meant; a club was coming after her, but she didn’t know which club.
I had half a mind to go out there with my guns blazing, warning them off my property unless they wanted legal consequences.
Two things stopped me from doing something so foolish.
Firstly, it would be one versus many, and secondly, getting the law involved risked Michelle.
How quickly life changed. A month ago, I wouldn’t have considered harboring a criminal for any reason, but that was before Michelle. Now, I wouldn’t put my girl’s freedom at risk.
My girl.
The thought made my lip quirk into a smile and made me realize that once we were out of this mess, a serious conversation was due.
“How many guns you got here?” Michelle demanded, her eyes and voice sharper than I was used to, reminding me that she wasn’t just my fiery submissive, but a woman who’d thrived in the underworld for well over a decade.
“Three,” I answered, already heading to my closet, where my shotguns lay in a case. “A pistol and two shotguns.”
“Get all of them,” she ordered, trailing behind me. “And don’t open the door unless I say so.”
I cocked a brow at her bossiness but nodded. If the situation weren’t so dire, I’d remind her of the consequences of ordering me about. However, I was smart enough to recognize that I was in over my head. Thus, I’d keep my mouth shut and allow her to take the lead.
“What now?” I asked once I retrieved the guns.
“We get low on the floor and stay away from windows and the door.”
By the time she finished her sentence, she was already lying on the floor, a hard stare silently urging me to do the same. The novelty of the situation was wearing off, replaced by apprehension. This was potentially a life-or-death situation, and a wrong move could end in disaster.
We were silent as we waited on the wooden floors, each second feeling like an eternity. The sound of motorcycle engines was replaced with tense silence, which was soon interrupted by loud banging on my front door.
“Anyone in there?” A man boomed, loud enough to travel through the walls of my small cabin.
“Shit,” Michelle hissed. “Razor.”
“Who the fuck is that?” I whisper-yelled, not looking forward to meeting a man with such a name.
“President of the KC Royal Bastards, and possible traitor,” she explained in a hurry, adjusting herself so she could aim the shotgun at the door. “He might’ve set me and Fendi up to be killed.
A chill ran through me. Michelle made a remarkably speedy recovery, but if I hadn’t been so well stocked with medical supplies, she likely would’ve joined her friend in the afterlife.
“Michelle?” another man called, the sound of his voice making her scowl.
“And who the hell is that?” I demanded, my heart dropping at the thought of getting into a shootout.
Based on numbers, it wouldn’t be hard to tell who the losers would be.
“Warrior,” she replied absently, hyper-focused on the door. “Another Bastard, and my ex.”
“What?” I said sharper than intended, unable to help the jealousy rushing through me.
She’d told me bits and pieces about her life, including her relationship with Warrior. At the time, I took it in stride, because I never expected to meet the man, much less face the possibility of engaging in a gunfight with him.
Silence fell again, before a loud crash sounded, one that had me jumping and Michelle tensing.
“We could’ve picked the lock, you fucking idiot,” the first man—Razor—scolded, his voice nearing the bedroom door.
“That would’ve taken too long, Prez,” Warrior replied, heavy footsteps drawing uncomfortably close.
Conversation died down as they opened the doors to the bathroom and the hallway closet. When they opened the bedroom door, Michelle didn’t hesitate to fire her gun. The person had the foresight to use the door as a shield, so her bullet ended up embedding itself in my wall instead of a human body.
“Michelle?” a woman said from behind the door, her voice hesitant. “You in there, sis?”
“Lake,” Michelle breathed, abandoning her shotgun and scurrying to her feet.
I made sure to grab the weapon, not wanting my cabin to become a crime scene.
The guns safely in my grasp, I followed her out of the room, just in time to see her embracing a tall woman with mahogany curls, and a Royal Harlots leather vest on. Or a cut, as Michelle had called it.
The woman was taller than Michelle, though just as slender, and when they separated, I saw that she had hazel eyes with more green than brown, instead of Michelle’s golden-brown.
“Where’s Juno, Lake?” Michelle asked, her voice thick with emotion.
It finally clicked that I was staring at one of Michelle’s younger sisters. The middle child, if my memory served me right. She was as beautiful as Michelle raved about, though I much preferred her older sister’s soft, feminine features.
“Back home. Estelle flew down when she heard you were missing, so Juno stayed with her.”
“Estelle’s in town?” Excitement tinged Michelle’s voice.
Lake nodded, though Michelle was no longer focusing on her. Instead, her gaze was glued to the three men behind Lake, as well as a handful of other Harlots. At the sight of the eldest man, she sneered.
“You have some nerve, showing up here when you fucking set me up,” she snarled, stalking to him.
Lake grasped her arm while a muscular, sandy-blond man stationed himself in front of the old man.
“Back off, Michelle,” he ordered, his hard tone making the other man with long greying black hair and a thick beard scowl.
“Fuck off, Reese,” Michelle hissed, snatching her arm away from her sister. “The motherfucker left me to die—”
Reese. I doubted the Royal Bastards had multiple Reeses, so odds were I was looking at the baby daddy of the client Ian talked my ear off about.
“He didn’t, Michelle,” Reese replied, blocking her attempt to get to Razor a second time.
“He got Fendi killed!”
“Fendi got herself killed, sis,” Lake said softly, her voice cracking.
Michelle whirled around, anger still darkening her features even as confusion crept in.
“The hell you say?”
“Your VP was a fucking traitor,” Razor said, stepping from around Reese. “Made a deal with the Bloody Femmes to take you out. Guess she missed being president.”
“And it fucking backfired on the bitch,” the final man, who I assumed to be Warrior, spat. “Better her than you.”
“No,” Michelle croaked, the pain in her voice making my heart ache.
The night I found her, she’d been more concerned with saving a dead woman—Fendi—than getting her wounds treated. Knowing that the bitch tried to have Michelle killed enraged me, mirroring the rage in Warrior’s expression. Agreeing with Michelle’s ex only pissed me off further.
“I’m sorry, sis, but he’s right,” Lake said, wrapping her arm around Michelle. “W-we found her phone. The dumb cunt didn’t even use a burner when setting up your hit.”
For a moment, I thought she might break down, but Michelle was stronger than that. She pulled out of her sister’s arms, swiping her eyes and turning her attention to the other bikers.
“Did she work alone?”
“Nope,” one of the other Harlots chimed in. “But we got those bitches rounded up, Prez. Candy is dealing with them until you get back.”
Michelle nodded, finally sparing me a glance, just for her attention to be stolen away by her ex.
“You can ride back on my bike, Athena,” he said quietly, his eyes searching her face.
She stiffened. “I’m good. I’ll ride bitch with Lake.” She turned to face me. “I’ll be getting my shit and leaving today, Felix.”
Her voice was quiet, filled with melancholy. Logically, I knew it stemmed from a friend’s grave betrayal, but I hoped at least a part of her sadness was the thought of leaving me.
“I’ll drive you back in my SUV tomorrow,” I volunteered. “More comfortable than a motorcycle, I assume.”
“That isn’t your choice to make, motherfucker,” Warrior snarled, his malice taking me aback.
“Shut the fuck up, Warrior, because it isn’t yours either,” Michelle snapped back.
Instead of glaring at her for cussing at him, Warrior gave me a death stare. He’d made her choice during a painful moment, which ended up costing him a wonderful woman. I’m sure jealousy was eating at him, and if I wasn’t worried about a bullet to the head, I’d be taking the opportunity to gloat.
She faced me again. “I appreciate your offer, Felix, but I need to leave today. My club needs me.”
Her words crushed me, and I wanted to tell her that I needed her, that I’d grown attached to her over the weeks and didn’t look forward to us living separate lives again.
However, I didn’t say any of that. Instead, I just nodded and silently watched as she headed off to the small laundry room to retrieve her clothing, her sister trailing behind her.
“How did she end up here, boy?” Razor asked once Michelle was out of the room. “Pretty far off from where I told her to go.”
“The shootout happened on the far edge of my property. I found her and treated her.”
Warrior snorted, as if my words were outlandish, making Reese roll his grey eyes. “So, you just played doctor with a random woman?”
“Dude, chill the fuck out,” Reese grumbled, giving Warrior a look of disapproval. “You’re embarrassing yourself.”
“Well, I am a doctor,” I said, drawing myself up taller. “Dr. Felix Good. I’m a plastic surgeon with a practice in Kansas City.” I looked at Reese. “I believe your…girlfriend is a client of my friend. Does Dr. Ian Purdue ring a bell?”
Surprise flickered across his face before he scowled. “Isn’t that shit supposed to be private?”
“Ian and I work in the same medical complex, and it was a private… educational discussion that took place in my office. I assure you, no one else overheard this information, and he didn’t share her name with me.”
It was in a HIPAA gray zone, rather than an outright violation. Regardless, I doubt an outlaw biker would go running to the law over privacy infringement.
That seemed to calm him down, and he nodded. “Good. Ainsley likes that motherfucker. I’d hate to have to kill him for fucking up.”
I blinked once. Then blinked again, his words making my jaw go slack. Warrior and Razor rolled their eyes, and Reese just cocked a brow. Before anyone could say anything, Michelle and Lake returned. She donned her cut again, though her ruined clothes were nowhere in sight.
“I’m ready to go,” Michelle announced, not sparing me a glance.
Those words got everyone filing out of my cabin.
For a painful moment, I thought she’d leave without saying goodbye.
However, she paused, then stalked to him.
Gripping my collar, she yanked my head down to crash her lips against mine.
I responded at once, the kiss brief but heated.
The wolf whistles didn’t register until after we pulled away.
Thankfully, Warrior and his boys were already outside, leaving only a handful of Harlots to witness the scene.
Michelle scowled at her sister when Lake wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. “Knew you were fucking him,” she said, earning a light punch to her arm.
“Shut up and let’s go,” Michelle ordered, storming out the door.
This time, she walked out of the cabin without a second glance, and possibly walking out of my life forever.