CHAPTER 14
SNAKE
Graycie has been asleep in my arms for a while now, but the last thing I want to do is slide out of bed. I know I need to because I’m sure my brothers have information for me. The need to keep my woman safe thrums underneath my skin.
The thought of leaving her is like a punch to the gut. She’s so soft in my arms and her face is peaceful.
My woman is beautiful. It tugs at something deep in me.
I can feel the places where her nails dug into my shoulders, the air biting them slightly, but all I can do is grin. My woman is all passion. And pleading.
Fuck.
My dick tries to perk up at the memory of how she asked for what she needed. I would have been more than happy to wait. For her? It wouldn’t have been a hardship at all.
But she wanted me. No, she needed me.
The restlessness in me, which has been driving me up the fucking wall since the moment I saw my woman and couldn’t claim her, has settled. She’s mine now.
And she knows it.
As I force myself to slide out of bed, I wonder if I’ll still have to take things slow now. I don’t want to.
I want her in my house, the one here on the compound. I want to get her a safer car. I want to give her the life she’s only dreamed of. Whatever it looks like.
Even if it looks like her continuing to work at Bunz Out.
Would I rather she spends all day and night naked in our bed? Yes, but I’m aware it probably won’t happen.
But it would be ideal.
I pull my clothes on while keeping my eyes on my woman. I don’t want to miss a second, especially with her like this. Unguarded. Without worries. Free. Serene.
Once I’m dressed, I force myself to slip out of the room and hope I’m back before she wakes up. I’m worried about her because I don’t know when she ate last and now the sun is just starting to set and paint some oranges and purples across the sky.
I slip my boots on and take a moment to lace them up. If I don’t then I could see one of my brothers fucking with me and I’ll be damned if I get hurt by not lacing up my boots. Not when I have Graycie in my life.
The moment I step back into the main room, Ryker stands up a little straighter at the bar. I notice that most of my club brothers are waiting around in the room. They’ve all gone quiet, their eyes curious while looking at me.
“Church,” Ryker bellows.
As he passes me, he pauses and his heavy hand lands on my shoulder. “Whiskey has news and the brothers need to be filled in. Everyone need to be aware of a few things.”
“Yeah,” I mumble, “like how I’m claiming my woman at the table. I don’t want to have to kill my brothers for looking at her.
Ryker grins and shrugs. “But can you blame them?”
The glare I give him would scare most men. Not him.
Probably because he’s become immune after all these years.
“I could still kill you,” I threaten him.
He tries to keep a straight face, but one side of his mouth twitches. “You really shouldn’t threaten your president.”
“Yeah,” I scoff, “there are pictures of us sleeping in the same crib, but you want to tell me I shouldn’t threaten you? Come on man.”
Ryker barks out a laugh before pushing me toward the room where we have church. For the first time in my life, I’m dreading this. Normally, I’m one of the first to walk into the room and the last to leave, but my feet are dragging this time.
Because part of me doesn’t want to know what Whiskey found.
I also don’t want to relive my woman’s pain for my brothers. Especially after mapping every single scar on her body. I could trace them by memory and draw them from looking in my mind’s eye.
It takes everything in me not to wring my hands while I sit at the table. Instead, I fist them and hide them on my lap. Where no one can see.
Because I still have to be the VP of the Saint’s Outlaws MC at the end of the day.
When everyone here tonight has settled around the room, Ryker clears his throat. Everyone goes quiet, something which normally fills me with awe, but I hardly notice this time around.
My thoughts are back in my room with my woman.
Fuck. I should have taken her back to my house on the property. She’d feel so much better there than in a room at the clubhouse. And she deserves a space she can make her own.
But I was also afraid it would send her running. Or, at least, into hiding.
Not too long ago, even being in the clubhouse was something she would have avoided. But now she’s here and sleeping up in my bed.
Some of the brothers are grumbling about being called into church, but their voices are just noise to me. If anyone should complain it’s me, I just had my woman wrapped around me and I left her in bed to be surrounded by these assholes.
Ryker leans closer to me, his voice pitched low, “How’s your woman doing?”
“She’s sleeping right now,” I murmur and try, really fucking try, to hide the satisfaction in my voice.
The way Ryker chuckles tells me I wasn’t successful. Then there’s his smirk.
“What’s going on?” Sidewinder looks from Ryker to me. “Is everything okay? You ran out of Hank’s so fast.”
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. When I look at my other best friend all I can do is shake my head. The way Sidewinder straightens up in his chair tells me he’s ready to jump in and have my back, have my woman’s back.
“Okay, everyone,” Ryker pitches his voice louder.
“Even though this isn’t our normal church time, something has come up and everyone needs to be aware.
” The whispers begin again and I roll my eyes because my brothers are the biggest fucking gossip queens I’ve ever met.
“Snake is going to fill us in on what we know so far and then Whiskey is going to share what he’s uncovered. ”
Everyone looks toward me and I glance around the table at the various expressions on their faces.
Most of my brothers are very serious and focused.
Diesel has a slightly unhinged look on his face, like he’s just been waiting for an excuse to unleash his crazy.
Playboy’s smirk is bordering on lecherous as he looks at me.
“Is this about a certain little baker?” Even though I know he doesn’t mean anything beyond fucking with me, I still glare at Playboy. All he does is wiggle his eyebrows at me. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
I clear my throat, trying to dislodge the lump there. I’m grateful as fuck that these men will stand with me, no matter what comes our way.
“First thing you all need to know is I’m claiming Graycie. She’s mine, my Old Lady.” I look toward Scratch since, as our Treasurer, he’s in charge of ordering everyone’s cut. “I’m going to need her property cut as soon as possible.”
One side of Scratch’s mouth tips up and he nods. “I’ll get right on it, Snake. Shouldn’t take too long to get it in.”
I give him a chin lift in acknowledgement before switching gears. “I’m sure you all noticed that my woman is skittish. She’s only been in town for a few months, and it’s obvious she’s running from something.”
“You sure you want to bring her trouble into the club?” Rector, our chaplain, asks the question, his voice curious rather than incredulous.
While I have a lot of respect for Rector with everything he’s been through, including the years he spent in the military, that’s not going to stop me from narrowing my eyes at the man. I bark out, “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Rector holds up his hands in surrender. “Just needed to see if you were claiming her for the right reasons.” He smirks and muses, “Seems I was silly to worry, you possessive dick.”
“Graycie is mine,” I snarl the words and meet the eyes of every brother in the room, the look on my face daring them to say something about it.
Not only would I not give a fuck and not listen, but those brothers would be on my shit list. They’d be damn near dead to me.
“The guy Graycie was with before moving to town was an abusive asshole.” The outrage from my brothers is fucking palpable and it makes me breathe a little easier. “They were introduced by her parents who have never given a fuck about her. At first, it was fine,” I start to explain.
“Isn’t that always the way?” The fury in Playboy’s voice isn’t like him at all, but I’m not surprised. He might like to fuck around, but when it comes to protecting the club and those in need, he doesn’t hesitate. It’s what makes him a damn good enforcer.
“Yeah,” I croak and clear my throat. My eyes close and the words slip past my lips, “She has scars on her body. From a whip.”
Some of my brothers jump up from their chairs, the sound of the legs scraping against the floor and their thunderous outrage wraps around me. It fuels me; it’s exactly what I need.
“Fucking hell,” Rector grunts and runs a hand down his face.
We share a look and the pain in his eyes, along with an apology for questioning her, is clear to see. But I don’t need an apology. I know he was just looking out for me, for the club, and, probably, even for her.
Sidewinder’s face is a mask of thunder as he leans across the table toward me. “But she got out,” there’s a note of pride in his voice. “She left and that takes fucking guts and brains.”
When I nod, the movement is jerky. Everything in me wants to leave this room and head back upstairs. I want to see her and make sure she’s still safe.
“She got a card from him,” the words scrape against my throat, but my brothers need to know.
“It’s what sent her running to me. She showed us her scars and tried to say she should run again.
” There’s a finality in my words, “I’m not going to let it happen.
She’s mine and I’ll kill the fucker who dared to put his hands on her. ”
The screens around the room light up with two side-by-side photos. One is of the front of the card Graycie got today, and the second shows the two sentences on the inside.
Just two sentences.
The anger in the room spikes again, but it’s not a wild feeling. It’s steady, sure, strong, and fucking focused.
My throat is dry as I stare at the photo on display. I desperately want to go right now and hunt this asshole down.
Whiskey clicks something on the laptop he has open in front of him and the screen displays a man who looks more like a weasel than a human. I know who it is without him needing to say a damn thing.
“Sylvester Ray,” Whiskey fills everyone else in. I don’t tear my eyes away from him and memorize everything I can. Because I’ll be looking for him. “He’s a defense attorney in Phoenix, which is where Graycie lived before coming here.”
“Does he have any connections?” Ryker is the one who asks the question, but we all turn our attention fully toward Whiskey.
I knew it wouldn’t take him much time to get the information we would need. I should be relaxed now that my brothers are at my back. Still, my gut is screaming at me that someone is going to have to hold me back from going on a murderous rampage before this meeting is over.
“Not any significant ones,” Whiskey answers.
He lets out a small huff, one corner of his mouth twitching.
“He thinks he has big fucking connections though. He has no problem trying to use the low-level people he’s helped beat a charge to try and intimidate people.
The thing is, he has no real power and neither do the people he’s represented.
” Almost begrudgingly, he adds, “He does have a solid court record though.”
“I don’t give a fuck about his court record,” I snap.
Ryker gives me a look, one that tells me to calm down. I have to take some deep breaths and think about my Graycie-girl upstairs in my bed right now.
My voice is strained as I ask, “What about her parents?”
Whiskey shoots me a look filled with sympathy. “That’s a non-starter. They haven’t looked for her. They aren’t worried about her. From what I can tell, they think she’s in Phoenix living her life with that piece of shit.”
I’m not the only one who curses under my breath with that revelation. I’m damn glad I told my woman that she’s never going to have contact with them again. Hell fucking no, she doesn’t need the stress or disappointment in her life.
“We’ll be her family,” Rector is staring right at me as he speaks, probably seeing the turmoil on my face.
I nod once because it’s all I have in me.
“There’s a problem,” Whiskey speaks up and puts something on the screen. I don’t bother looking at it, I keep my eyes on the man in question while contemplating killing the messenger.
It wouldn’t help, but it might make me feel better.
“Sylvester took a leave of absence. He’s in the state,” Whiskey growls the words. “I was able to track him to the Nashville airport, where he rented a car. I haven’t found any evidence that he’s been in Dogwood Ridge, but I’m sure he’s headed this way.”
“When did he get in?” I can barely get the question out as a red haze threatens to take over my vision and my fists clench even tighter.
“He sent the card a week ago and then arrived in Nashville three days ago,” Whiskey’s voice is steel, his anger just under the surface.
“He probably assumed Graycie would think he was still in Phoenix and not go on high alert,” Ryker muses.
His eyes sweep over the room and take in the way my brothers are on the edge of their seats. Not just because they’re always ready when violence is involved, but because their loyalty is bone deep. Since I’ve claimed Graycie, she’s family. It’s as simple as that.
Ryker’s voice hardens and becomes glacial, “He probably thinks she’s all alone, and has no idea that she has the Saint’s Outlaws at her back.”
The pounding on the table is deafening, but I revel in it. It’s the sound of my brothers rallying around me, around my woman.
Whiskey puts Sylvester’s picture on the screens again and everyone’s focus shifts to it. My gut unclenches slightly because they’re going to be out there looking for him. I have no doubt that they’ll find him too.
Sylvester Ray’s days are numbered. He simply doesn’t know it yet.
A sinister smile curls on my lips as Ryker dismisses church. Brothers file past me, each one reaching for my shoulder and giving a squeeze.
In solidarity.
In support.
They remind me, silently, that they’ve got my back and Graycie’s back.
Ryker and I stand at the same time along with Sidewinder. We’re the last three people in the room and the look we share is loaded.
“We’ve got you,” Ryker promises.
With a nod, I stride out of the room. I don’t need to thank them; they already know. And I need to see my woman and make sure she’s still okay.
Sylvester can try and come for her, but I’ll burn the world down before I allow anyone to lay another hand on her in anger. He’s a dead man and I can’t wait to get my hands on him.