Chapter 18
Maddy
I awoke to the sound of the door slowly opening. Still in a dream state, I figured it was German coming to bed.
Snuggling deeper into the covers, I pulled them almost over my head because of how well the AC was working. Cocooned in sheets that smelled like German, the mattress gently depressed as someone climbed in.
Fingers, slight and with long, pointed nails, scraped along my blanket-covered arm. That woke me up! Shouting, I jumped out of bed and whipped around to see who was in bed with me.
A blonde woman with a platinum bob blinked back at me, every inch as shocked as I was to see her. “What the fuck are you doing in German’s bed!” she shouted, like I was the one who hadn’t been invited.
Or maybe she had? Was this German’s girlfriend? Oh God! I really should have had a conversation with him about that. I mean, I’d meant to. I really had. But I wasn’t sure how he felt about me, and then I was pretending to be Lexi. After which, we’d been having so much fun with the Raiders, I hadn’t wanted to address it. And then I was attacked and we were speeding down the highway toward the safety of the Devils’ compound. It was all just a bit overwhelming. Especially when you’re awoken in the middle of the night with a nearly naked woman trying to get to second base with you!
There was no denying it though. She just had to be his girlfriend. German had locked the door when he’d left and the blonde had a key to get in. I’d distinctly heard the snick of the lock when she’d entered. But, most damning of all, she’d confidently climbed naked into his bed. There was no doubt in my mind she was used to sleeping here. I felt so stupid. So unbelievably naive to believe I’d meant anything to the gorgeous, worldly biker other than a quick lay while he was on the clock. Hating myself for my monumental fuck-up, I sat there. Mute and filled with self-loathing.
I know it shouldn’t matter, but the woman wasn’t ugly. She was beautiful, in a hard sort of way. Blonde hair. Thin to the point of skinny. Flashy makeup. Obvious boob job. Basically, she was everything I wasn’t. The human equivalent of biker porn come to life. Men, I’m sure, routinely threw themselves at this woman’s feet. And by the confidence oozing from her now, she knew it, too.
“Are you retarded?” the blonde angrily hissed. “I said, Who. The fuck. Are you?”
Tugging my T-shirt a little further down my legs, I began to quiver. “I’m…” What the fuck could I say? His friend? Hardly. His boss? Gross! His girlfriend? Obviously not. Unable to finish the statement, I kind of just stood there looking flustered.
“His what?” the blonde angrily prompted. “His long lost sister I’ve never fucking heard of?”
Before I could answer, the door swung open and German was standing there. His eyes took me in first, standing in a T-shirt that barely covered my ass. They landed on the blonde next, perched in his bed, looking ready to go to war.
* * *
German
I’d headed up to bed after we’d killed what was left of the whiskey bottle. When I heard the scream from the end of the hall, I raced toward my room, instantly sober. Throwing open the unlocked door, which I’d distinctly remembered locking before I left, I tried to make sense of what I was seeing.
Maybe it was the liquor talking, but it seemed like Maddy was in bed with Cici? Man, I must be tired because it took my brain way too long to process what was happening.
“What’s going on here?” I demanded, my heart rate starting to slow now that I knew Maddy was safe.
Cici climbed out of bed and strode over to my side with more confidence than anyone had the right to possess. I noticed, as she strutted my way, she was topless and only wearing a string that passed for panties.
Truth was, Cici and I fucked regularly before I’d met Maddy. We weren’t together though, and we’d never been together. I don’t even think the blonde liked me all that much. She’d really been into my Club Brother Bishop. But when the man had rejected her after he’d met his Old Lady Evie, Cici had latched onto me in hopes that I’d let her ride on the back of my bike. But, Maddy or not, that was never going to happen.
“I was just coming to visit you like always, Baby,” she purred in a seductive voice. “I figured you’d need me after so much time on the road.”
The way Cici was spinning her words made it sound like we’d been an item. And by the wounded expression bleeding from Maddy’s face, I knew she was coming to the exact conclusion the manipulative bitch wanted her to.
“You thought wrong. I don’t need you,” I callously returned, angry with myself for ever sticking my dick in a snake like this.
“That’s not what you said the last time we were together,” Cici boldly returned, running a red-tipped nail down her exposed cleavage. “I remember you saying, “yes” over and over again until you were nearly hoarse.”
The woman was a walking red flag. But any trouble she brought to my doorstep was my fault. I’d known it since we met. At the time, I didn’t care. I’d just wanted to get off. Now, seeing Maddy looking upset and embarrassed, made me feel like a total jackass.
Grabbing the arrogant Club girl by the arm, I pulled her out into the hallway. Closing the door behind me, I demanded, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Cici smiled, but no joy reached her eyes. “I would think that’s obvious, German. I came to fuck.”
Normally, I was totally on board with a woman who knew what she wanted and spoke her mind. Not tonight. Not like this. Right now, I was disgusted. With the situation, Cici, and myself.
“That ain’t going to happen,” I told her, brooking no arguments.
She pouted, an overly practiced gesture that set my teeth on edge. “Why? Does your little friend in there not like to share?”
Her referencing Maddy incensed me for some unknown reason. “Don’t fucking worry about her. She ain’t your problem. I am!”
CiCi’s eyes turned predatory. Reaching for my belt, she said, “You can be whatever you want to be, Baby, as long as you’re deep inside my pussy when you’re doing it.”
Grabbing her hand, I said, “I’m not kidding, Cici. I’m not interested. Don’t bother Maddy again. You understand?”
I could tell the woman was processing how serious I was. When she realized I wasn’t going to budge, a malaise of rage swept across her face before she could hide it. “I said I’d be willing to share,” she repeated, trying to find the right button to push to get me to go along with her plans.
“I’m not,” I told her, pushing back in return. “Go downstairs and find someone else to play your games with. I’m tired of them.”
Hatred, pure and unadulterated, flitted across Cici’s expression before she smiled coldly. “We both know you won’t stay away for long,” she predicted. “Once that prissy bitch goes home, you’ll forget about her and come back to me. Why wait? I’ll suck you off right here, right now.”
“That ain’t going to happen,” I countered, furious at the thought of Maddy leaving. “Now get out of here before I make it so you’re not just unwelcome in my bed, but the entire Clubhouse.”
Knowing when to retreat, if only for the moment, Cici began walking away. Over her shoulder, she said, “I’ll see you around, Baby.”
I waited for her to disappear down the stairs before I turned back to my room. I experienced a moment of panic when I thought Maddy might not understand what had just gone down. Fuck! What woman would? She wasn’t a member of the Club. I couldn’t expect her to know what it was like here. How we operated.
Forcing myself to man up, I pushed open my bedroom door. Maddy was sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for me. Her big blue eyes were filled with hurt and confusion as she patiently waited.
“I’m sorry about that,” I began roughly, my voice more stern than it should have been. “Cici should never have come in here.”
Maddy didn’t beat around the bush. “Who is she, German?”
“She’s a Club girl,” I told her, though it wasn’t exactly a perfect explanation for an innocent like Maddy. Her wounded eyes were large and bright with unshed tears. Fuck! I hated it when women cried. I hated it even more when I was the one to make them do it.
“She’s your Club girl?”
“No.”
Maddy was quiet for a moment as she carefully chose her next words. “Have you been with her?”
There was no use in lying. If Maddy and I were going to be together, and that’s what I wanted, really fucking wanted, we couldn’t build our relationship on a foundation of lies. “Yes.”
Another pause. “Do you still want to be with her?”
“No,” I said, coming to sit beside the beautiful redhead.
It was then I realized she was drowning in my T-shirt and my lust flared at the thought of her wearing my clothes. Under different circumstances, I would have tossed her on her back, spread her thighs wide, and fucked her so hard she would have been walking funny the next day. Unfortunately, Cici’s unexpected entrance had ruined that option tonight.
I could tell she was working up the courage to ask me the big question. The one she’d been turning over and over in her head while I’d been arguing with Cici outside.
“Is there anyone else?”
Taking her hand, I gave it a squeeze. “No, Baby Girl. It’s just you.”
What I wanted to say was no one, past or present, had ever meant to me what she did. But I wasn’t sure how Maddy would take that information. Or if she even saw the same thing between us that I did.
“I believe you,” she said, her shoulders releasing their pent-up tension.
I didn’t realize how much tension I was holding in mine until she said those three little words. God, this woman never ceased to amaze me! So few people put their trust in a man like me. A hardcore biker who’d done things that others would recoil from. There was the Club, and my mother before she’d passed. But before, and since, nobody trusted and leaned on me the way Maddy did. And I didn’t take that shit lightly. In fact, I fucking cherished it. Craved it like the food and water I needed to live.
Stroking her cheek, I asked, “Are you tired?”
She nodded, the dark stain of fatigue still shadowing her eyes. “Yeah.”
Wanting to give her an out, I said, “Do you still want me to sleep beside you tonight or do you want me to go crash in another room?”
Maddy crawled into bed and pulled back the covers as I held my breath. “Don’t go. Stay. I don’t sleep as well when you aren’t near.”
My heart contracted painfully. I don’t know what I’d done to deserve this amazing woman in my life, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth and question it. Kicking off my boots, I stripped down to my boxers and climbed in beside her.
Spooning my girl, I pulled her in tight and kissed the top of her head. “Go to sleep, baby girl. I’m not going anywhere.”
Her breath became even almost instantly. However, I stayed awake wondering what I was going to do next. I couldn’t deny it any longer. I was in love with Madelynn Framingham. The thought of losing her was more terrifying to me than losing my own life. But, even more terrifying was the question: how did she feel about me?