DARK FALL (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (6 page)

six.

Oh
…
fuck
…

Erik took a step closer to Kaity where
she remained on the ground. His eyes were locked on the other biker still alive
and standing. His hands were up, and he was shaking his head.

“
Please
…
it wasn
’
t my idea
…”

“
Take
the shit off your face,
”
Erik said.
“
Now.
”

The man tore the bandana off his
face.

“
Helmet,
”
Blaine said.

He unsnapped his helmet and let it
fall back to the ground.

“
Who
are you riding with?
”

The man ignored the question.
Blaine took a step forward. The man stepped back, but when he did he stepped
into his own helmet, twisted his ankle, and fell to the ground. He screamed in
pain and on the back of his leather, Erik saw the patch.

Eight Under.

These motherfuckers wouldn
’
t go away. If it was a war, then
it needed to be ended. They needed to all face each other and settle this shit
once and for all.

Erik walked up to him and kicked
him in the face. The man
’
s
head seemed to spin completely around. He fell to the side, his hands up, blood
everywhere already.

“
Look
at him bleed,
”
Blaine said.

“
Fucking
prick,
”
Erik said.

Erik turned and walked to the man
he killed. He rolled him to his stomach. Sure enough, another piece of shit
from Eight Under. Erik kicked over the bike the guy had been riding. Then he looked
back at Kaity. She was still on her ass, but she was trying to find a way to
stand up. Her left leg stuck straight out and when Erik saw the spot of blood,
he rushed over to help her.

“
Fuck,
”
he whispered. He had never
meant for this woman to get in the crossfire of a club problem.

Erik dropped to his knees, chains
hitting the ground. He put his gun down and his hand to her leg just below her
knee.

“
How
bad?
”
he asked.

“
I
don
’
t know,
”
Kaity said.

“
How
bad does it hurt?
”

“
It
stings. A lot.
”

“
Look
at me, Kaity.
”

Kaity looked at Erik. He gauged her
eyes and the color of her face. She looked pretty normal, considering she had
just been mixed up in a shootout and took a bullet.

When Kaity tried to look down, Erik
put a hand to her chin.
“
Keep
looking at me, babe.
”

“
Okay,
”
Kaity whispered.

Erik unclipped the helmet and took
it from her head. Her hair was a mess. A few strands fell to her face and Erik
used the back of his fingers to move it out of the way.

“
What
the fuck were you thinking?
”
Erik asked.
“
You have no
idea
…”

“
You
were going to die,
”
Kaity
said.
“
I didn
’
t want to see you die without
knowing why
…”

“
Why
what?
”

“
Why
you want to die. Because
…
sometimes
…
I want to die
too.
”

Erik was taken back for a second.
His hand cupped Kaity
’
s
cheek. He didn
’
t know what
to do right now. Scream at her? Throw her to the ground and walk away? Or just
fucking kiss her?

Kaity slowly reached up and with
just her pointer finger, she touched Erik
’
s
face. She touched his left cheek and ran her finger down his scars. Erik
gritted his teeth and pulled back.

No. Hell fucking no. I
’
m not
…
no
…

Erik stood up and offered his hand.
Kaity took it.

“
Can
you stand?
”
he asked.

“
I
’
ll try.
”

Erik pulled and Kaity flew up. She
used her right leg and purposely fell back to the building. Erik went with her,
as he was still holding her hand. He then placed his hand to her waist, not
sure why, but it felt good. He pulled at Kaity, bringing her forward. She pressed
against his body and her arms were around him.

“
Erik!
”
Blaine yelled.

Erik looked back. Blaine pointed to
the man on the ground as he crawled, blood dripping from his face.

“
I
have to finish this,
”
Erik
said.
“
Just lean against the
building and we
’
ll figure
something out.
”

Erik moved away from Kaity. He told
himself not to look back at Kaity. She didn
’
t
see his scars the way he knew everyone else did. She touched him
…
and she said
…
sometimes
…
I want to die too
.

Having a beautiful woman wanting
him should have made Erik feel good about himself. But it didn
’
t. It meant shit to him. It
pissed him off. He started to walk faster, charging to the man on the ground.
When he got there, the man looked up at Erik and let out a cry before Erik
kicked him again, this time in the ribs. The man lifted off the ground
completely and fell to his back. Erik pulled his gun out and got on one knee,
putting the gun between the man
’
s
eyes.

“
Fuck,
Erik,
”
Blaine said.
“
Don
’
t.
”

“
Why
not?
”

“
Please
…
,
”
the man said.
“
It wasn
’
t my idea. It was his. He wanted
to ambush you. Make a name for ourselves.
”

“
Shut
up,
”
Erik said.

Blaine grabbed Erik
’
s shoulder. Erik spun and stood,
the gun jammed into the gut of Blaine.

“
What
are you thinking right now, bro?
”
Blaine asked. His eyes were wide and intense, almost as intense at Erik
’
s.

“
I
want to keep killing,
”
Erik
said.

“
I
know, man. I know.
”

“
Let
me then.
”

“
I
can
’
t,
”
Blaine said. He put his hand to
the gun and pushed it down.
“
You
need to take a breath, brother. Something is going to go wrong and it won
’
t be good. I don
’
t want you hurt again, bro. I
don
’
t want you in trouble.
Plus, if this guy goes crawling back to his crew, what
’
s going to happen to him?
”

“
Good
point,
”
Erik said.

Blaine put a hand to Erik
’
s face.
“
You
’
ve
got to work on the pain and hate. I
’
d
start by working on that woman staring you down. She hasn
’
t been able to keep her eyes off
you since we saw her.
”

“
She
’
s looking at my fucking face,
”
Erik said.
“
Like the rest of the world.
”

“
No,
man, no. Not like that. She
’
s
soaking wet. I can smell her from here.
”
Blaine flicked his tongue.
“
I
can even taste her. It
’
s
fucking brilliant. Goddamn.
”

“
You
’
re a sick fuck,
”
Erik said.

He pushed Blaine and turned,
looking down at the man. His hands were up, shaking, scared into defeat.

“
Tell
the rest of your friends that if they fuck with me
…
fuck with Blaine
…
fuck with Back Down Devil MC
…
we
’
ve got plenty of bullets
and plenty of balls.
”

“
Okay,
okay.
”

Erik lifted his boot and placed it
on the man
’
s throat.
“
Hear me?
”

“
I
swear
…”

Erik applied pressure and the man
started to thrash and try to scream. He grabbed at Erik
’
s boot and pants.

“
Erik,
”
Blaine said.

Erik ignored Blaine. He added more
pressure and watched the man
’
s
face turning a deep shade of red. He coughed and gagged, blood dripping down
his face.

At the last second, Erik took his
foot off the man
’
s throat
and was done with it.

“
We
’
ll have to call it in,
”
Erik said.
“
Let Miller and Chief Jerry know.
”

“
I
’
m on it, man,
”
Blaine said. Then he nodded to
Kaity.
“
Figure out what you
’
re doing with her.
”

Erik walked back to Kaity as she
touched her left leg. There didn
’
t
appear to be too much blood on her leg. He slowly fell to one knee again in
front of her. She instantly stiffened.

“
What
are you doing?
”

“
I
’
m going to touch your leg. Don
’
t get pissed.
”

“
Why
would I
…”

Erik grabbed Kaity
’
s leg and dug his thumb into the
hole in her jeans. She let out a scream and slapped him in the head and face.
Erik took his hands away and stood up.

“
Fuck,
I
’
m sorry,
”
Kaity said.

Erik licked his lips and tasted a
little blood.
“
I assume
that hurt?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
You
might have a bullet in your leg.
”

“
That
sucks.
”

Erik laughed.
“
That sucks?
”

“
I
don
’
t know what I
’
m supposed to say.
”

Erik found himself trying to press
his body to Kaity
’
s.

Fuck.

He forced himself to take a step
back.
“
Listen to me
carefully. I don
’
t do this
kind of shit, okay? You took a bullet for me, which means you took a bullet for
the MC. It might not mean shit to you, babe, but it means something to us. You
’
re coming with me back to the
clubhouse to get checked out. You can crash there instead of some motel in
town, okay?
”

“
You
don
’
t have to do that.
”

“
Yeah?
I don
’
t?
”
Erik backed up three steps and
nodded.
“
Come on, babe,
walk to me.
”

Kaity frowned and took a step
forward. When it came time to use her left leg, she winced. He balance was
wobbly and Erik folded his arms. Kaity took another step and then fell to the
ground in pain. She was at his feet and when she looked up, there were tears in
her eyes.

“
The
leg?
”
Erik asked as he
stared down.

Don
’
t care about her, man. Don
’
t fucking care
…

“
My
life,
”
Kaity whispered.

Erik bent his knees and scooped
Kaity up. He stood, holding her. She looked shocked as Erik walked to his
motorcycle. Blaine was on a cell phone. He snapped it shut and gave a thumbs
up.

“
We
’
re in the clear on this,
”
Blaine said.
“
Let
’
s get out of here.
”

Erik helped Kaity to the motorcycle
and then ran to get her the helmet. He put it on her head, snapped it shut, and
moved hair out of her face, again.

When Erik started the motorcycle,
he waited for Kaity
’
s hands
to reach around his body. All he wanted to do was rough up Jack and Willy at
the auto garage. But if there was anyone who knew how fucked up life could get
and how fast it could change, it was Erik.

seven.

At the clubhouse, Gaige, Nate,
Shay, and Jace were standing outside, laughing, smoking cigarettes, and when
they saw Blaine and Erik, they all broke out in applause.

“
They
’
re back!
”
Shay cried out.

Erik kicked the kickstand and got off
his motorcycle. He looked at Kaity.
“
Stay
put for a second.
”

Blaine took off his helmet and
opened his arms. He spun around once and walked to the group.

“
Well,
that was intense,
”
Blaine
said.

Shay grabbed Blaine and hugged him.
“
Fuck, brother. You can
’
t go out there and get killed on
us.
”

Erik approached the group then with
caution.
“
It's not all what
it seems.
”

“
What
happened?
”
Gaige asked.

“
They
came out of nowhere and started shooting at us. Could have killed us, but they
wanted us to surrender. They wanted us on our knees, blindfolded, and I
’
m pretty sure they were going to
take pictures to show Eight Under that they were worthy.
”

“
Fucking
assholes,
”
Gaige said.
“
Well, I
’
m glad you
’
re
okay.
”

“
Who
’
s that?
”
Nate asked.

“
Who?
”
Gaige asked.

“
There
’
s a woman on the back of Erik
’
s ride.
”

Gaige looked and raised an eyebrow.
Erik put a finger to Gaige's chest and shook his head.

“
Don
’
t,
”
Erik said.
“
Don
’
t say a fucking word.
”

“
I
’
m going to,
”
Gaige said.

“
He
picked her up like it was nothing,
”
Blaine said.
“
I offered to
show her a good time and she didn
’
t
want it.
”

“
That
’
s a surprise,
”
Jace said and the small group
laughed.

Well, everyone but Erik.

Erik didn
’
t want to fucking laugh. Being back at the
clubhouse suddenly made him regret helping Kaity. Being back at the clubhouse
made him want to run back upstairs, get his gun, and finish what he started a
while ago.

Just one fucking bullet
…
and it
’
s all gone.

“
She
took a bullet for me,
”
Erik
said.
“
For us.
”

Everyone shut up instantly. Shay
slipped his hands into his pockets and looked at Kaity.

“
She
’
s hurt?
”
Jace asked.

“
Yeah,
”
Erik said.
“
Took one to the leg.
”

“
Damn,
”
Gaige said.
“
We need to get her upstairs.
Fast.
”

“
Where
’
s Miller?
”
Erik asked.

“
Upstairs,
”
Nate said.
“
We
’
re
meeting soon.
”

“
Nate,
”
Gaige said.
“
Run up and tell Miller what
’
s going on and that we
’
ll meet soon. Jace and Shay, get
the door open.
”

“
I
’
ll carry her,
”
Blaine said. He cupped his
hands like he was holding a set of breasts.

“
Fuck
off,
”
Erik said.

“
He
’
s grumpy,
”
Blaine mumbled as Erik walked back to Kaity.

He offered his hand to Kaity and
nodded.
“
Hurry up. Don
’
t make me regret this.
”

“
Sorry
I can
’
t move fast. I
’
ve been shot.
”

“
Just
come on,
”
Erik said.

Kaity moved from the motorcycle.
Erik watched her apply pressure to her left leg. She didn
’
t really wince yet Erik felt
compelled to carry her. He grabbed Kaity by the arm, pulled her close, and then
lifted her. She let out a whimper and her arms were then tight around his neck.

“
I
don
’
t have time to waste,
”
Erik said.
“
You saw what happened back
there. I have to get moving.
”

As he carried her, Erik felt Kaity
looking at him. He knew if he looked at her something bad was going to happen.
And bad meant good
…
and
good meant kissing her. He had no idea what came over him to think that, but it
was true. And if he started kissing Kaity
…

“
Welcome
to the clubhouse, sweetheart,
”
Shay said with a laugh as Erik carried Kaity across the threshold.

Once in the clubhouse, everyone
began to cheer. Landon, Miller, Griffin, Case, Jude, and Aiden applauded as
though Erik had just come back from getting married. One of the guys behind the
bar even took a handful of beer bottle caps and threw them up as though it was
rice.

They scattered everywhere and Erik
stopped walking. He put Kaity down on the arm of the couch and walked to the bar.
He put a fist down and gritted his teeth.

“
Give
me two,
”
Erik said.

The guy who had thrown the caps
twisted two new caps off and handed the bottles to Erik.

“
There
you go,
”
he said.

Erik spotted one of the bottle caps
and grabbed it. He put it between his thumb and pointer finger. Then he aimed
and flicked his finger, sending the bottle cap perfectly into the man
’
s eye behind the bar. The man
grabbed his face and screamed. It pissed Erik off to see these weak guys that
wanted to be part of the MC. Like they thought it was a joke or something cool.
This wasn
’
t cool. This was
real. Hearing the guy scream wasn
’
t
good enough for Erik. He reached across the bar and grabbed the wannabe Back
Down Devil member by his shirt. He pulled him forward and then took a handful
of his hair. The bar erupted in yells, trying to call Erik off, but he didn
’
t give a fuck. He slammed the
guy
’
s face into the bar. Erik
let go and the guy flew back into a shelf of booze, and then fell to the
ground.

“
Anyone
else want to throw shit at me?
”
Erik yelled.

Everyone quieted down. As Erik
walked back to Kaity, it was so quiet that the sound of his boots hitting the
beer bottle caps and scratching the floor echoed all around.

Erik handed Kaity the open beer
bottles and then he scooped her up again. She cried out and some beer spilled
on her. Erik didn
’
t care.
He set his sights forward and walked her down the hall to the bedrooms.

At his door, he put her back down.

“
This
is my room,
”
Erik said.

He opened the door and surveyed the
room for a second. It was a mess of clothes and other shit. The bed was a mess
and the smell of booze, cheap perfume, and sex lingered in the air. Erik half
expected to see the
relievers
from this morning still in the bed.

But they were gone.

He took the beer bottles from Kaity
’
s hand and put them on the
nightstand. She managed to hobble her way to the bed and sat down. Erik stood
and handed her a beer.

“
Have
a drink,
”
he said.
“
Before we talk.
”

“
Talk
about what?
”

“
Look,
this isn
’
t a fucking
vacation. This isn
’
t cool
and exciting. This is real life.
”

Kaity pointed to her leg.
“
You think I don
’
t know that?
”

The way her lip curled made her
look badass and beautiful. Erik turned away and caught his reflection in the
mirror. Before he knew what he was doing, he threw the beer bottle across the
room at the mirror. He missed the mirror by an inch, but the beer bottle
exploded when it hit the wall.

He was breathing heavily. The urge
was still there. It was getting stronger. He wanted to put an end to all the
bullshit. The urge was real. His right hand opened and he slowly started to
reach down. He was going to do this. He didn't care if he did it in front of
Kaity. Her nonchalant demeanor in the midst of all the excitement proved that
she was hiding her own demons.

Erik felt Kaity touch his hand. She
squeezed once and then let go.

“
It
’
s okay,
”
she whispered.

“
It
’
s not.
”

Kaity lifted the beer bottle to her
lips, took a drink, and then placed the bottle in Erik
’
s hand. He closed his fingers around the bottle.

“
Don
’
t throw this one please,
”
Kaity said.

She offered a quick smile and then
swallowed hard.

Erik lifted the bottle to his lips and
pounded the entire bottle of beer at once. Then he aimed and threw it into the
trashcan. He set his sights to the nightstand and opened the top drawer. It was
full of bullets and condoms, but there were also a couple spare bottles of
whiskey. When he glanced at Kaity her eyes were wide at the sight of the
condoms.

Erik grabbed a bottle of whiskey
and took two huge gulps. It burned going down, but it started to settle the
urge inside him.

“
Erik
…”

“
I
have to look at your leg,
”
Erik said.

He crouched down and put his hands
to Kaity
’
s waist. She
jumped and gasped.

“
Calm
down,
”
Erik said.
“
If I was fucking making a move
at you, you
’
d know it.
Slide the fuck back.
”

Kaity slid back a few inches. Erik
straightened her leg and touched it. It was impossible to not think sexual
thoughts when he was pissed off. He had already punched someone today and shot
someone. Now all he needed was a good fuck to satisfy him.

“
How
bad does it hurt?
”
he
asked.

“
It
just stings.
”

“
Don
’
t take this the wrong way, but
you need take your pants off. I need to see your leg and get the bullet out if
there
’
s one in there.
”

“
Okay.
”

Kaity started to slide forward but
stopped. Her left hand had slipped under the sheet. When she pulled her hand
out, a neon green bra was hooked over her pointer finger.

“
Yours?
”
she asked.

“
Fucking
funny,
”
Erik said.

Erik wasn
’
t ashamed of what he did. He was a biker. He was
part of a MC that lived and died by honor and bullets. In between living and
dying, there was some time to enjoy booze, pussy, and fighting.

Kaity held the bra up and shook her
head.

“
Got
something to say?
”
Erik
asked.

“
Small
chest,
”
Kaity said.
“
Too bad for you.
”

Erik backed up a few inches and
made fists. Why did Kaity just say something so fucking flirty and sexy? She
had a bullet hole in her leg, yet she was more focused on getting to him. What
was she getting at here? What did she want?

“
Do
you want to keep this?
”
Kaity asked.

“
You
’
re starting to piss me the fuck
off,
”
Erik said.
“
Stand up and strip your pants
off.
”

Kaity stood and dropped the bra.
Erik saw it on the floor and shook his head.

Stupid fucking relievers.

Erik was eye level with Kaity
’
s button on her jeans. He
watched her open the button and unzip her pants. She stuck her hands to her
waist and wiggled her hips as she pushed the jeans down. When Erik saw the dark
red panties on her body, his cock thickened. He throbbed; the blood rushed
everywhere. He groaned as Kaity started to take her jeans off.

“
Can
you help?
”
Kaity asked.

She put her hands to Erik
’
s shoulders, slightly bent. She
looked down at Erik, her hair falling in front of her face. Nothing about this
was meant to be sexual but the room was filled with the tension.

Erik clamped his hands to Kaity
’
s legs, just above her knees.
Her left leg was still slightly bleeding but Erik couldn
’
t help himself. He was struggling to control the
intense feelings running through his body and his mind, but he managed to help
Kaity out of the rest of her jeans and then he gently pushed at her hips.