Heart of Steel: A Satan's Savages MC Novel #1 (13 page)

“Flame, if you don’t stop asking questions, I’m going to leave you here at the pub.”

My chest tightens and I sink into my seat. My foot is now tapping at an even more rapid rate and my heart is beating so fast, I’m not sure it can cope for much longer at this speed. The silence between us is deafening, and my throat starts to go dry. He looks at me slumping his body as he runs his fingers through his hair.

“Shit, I’m sorry, babe. I just don’t want to involve you. It’s best if you don’t know.”

I swallow hard not liking what I’m hearing, but desperately wanting to know the truth. “Are you going to… hurt… Nikita’s husband?”

Steel laughs while shaking his head, then reaches out over the table to take my hand. I let him because I need some comforting right now.

“Shit! No, babe, nothin’ like that. Just a very stern talkin’ to, that’s all. The threat of bikers when we have a little chat with men like that, it’s enough to scare them straight.”

Relief floods me and I sag into the chair and close my eyes tightly taking in a deep calming breath.

“Hey Flame, look at me.” His deep voice calms me even further.

I open my eyes to look at him. “You’re safe with me.” I stare into his eyes and nod. Right now I believe him. “Hey, let’s get out of here. It’s stiflin’. I wanna take you for a ride.” His smile is radiant and relaxes me even further, so I nod and stand up picking up my bag and we make our way out to his bike.

He hands me my helmet and I place it over my head, he leans in doing up the straps for me. I find it a sweet gesture. He then leans over grabbing his helmet. We sit down on the bike and I wrap my arms around his waist. Leaning on his muscular back, I close my eyes as the engine fires up. The roar of it sends the reverberation right through my soul releasing happy endorphins. I love that feeling. Who knew being on the back of a bike could be so uplifting. He pulls back on the throttle and we’re off. The wind blows through my hair, and I open my eyes smiling at the sun setting over the hills in front of us. I’m not sure where we’re headed, but all I know is the view in front of me is amazing and life doesn’t get much better than this.

We ride for a little while up through the foothills, winding up roads and inclines. The setting sun turns to a moonlit night, and hues of purple and blue fill the night sky of twinkling stars into a breathtaking sight. Seeing it all from a bike is incredible, having a bad boy biker in my arms at the same time… euphoric!

He eventually pulls up at a lookout signposted as
Windy Point
. I smile as I’ve heard about this place. Apparently it’s where all the teenagers come to make out. Giggling to myself as he pulls up, I look out over the view and it’s simply breathtaking. He couldn’t have picked a more awe-inspiring place to come. He pulls off his helmet as I do the same and we place them on the bike. Grabbing my hand he leads me to the edge. There aren’t many people here being a Monday night.

He moves me in front of him and then stands behind me wrapping his arms around my waist from behind. The gentle nighttime breeze caresses my skin making me feel alive. My eyes stare in awe at all the beautiful lights of
Adelaide
as they run on for miles and miles—the twinkling lights below and the glistening starry sky above.

“This is breathtaking, Steel.”
It really is!

“I’ve always wanted to come here, just never had the right person to come with.”

Turning in his grip, I look into his eyes wrapping my arms around his neck. “You’ve never been here before?”

He nods and leans in running his nose along mine tenderly. It makes me smile.

“So, I’m the first person you’ve ever brought here?” I ask trying to seriously wrap my head around this.

He chuckles and nods. “You popped my cherry.”

I roll my eyes and scoff. “You’re so crude.” I can’t help but smile.

He grins. “Sorry, I wanted my first time here to be with someone special. You’re that someone special, Flame. There, is that clit shit enough for you?”

I scoff and shake my head slightly. “It was so nice, and then you went off track with the last comment. But I’ll still give you points for effort.”

He raises his eyebrows and grins. “Oh yeah, what’s my prize?”

Licking my lips, I move in so our bodies are touching in every way. “Me,” I reply and then lightly press my lips to his.

He groans softly which only spurs me on further by opening my mouth and letting his tongue in. They dance together wildly. Kissing him is the sweetest treat of all time. I could kiss him for a lifetime and it still wouldn’t be long enough. We make out until we’re panting breathlessly like the teenagers that come up here on weekends. And just when we think we might stop we start all over again. I lose track of time, kissing him is a pleasure that I don’t want to end. I don’t even care how long I’m standing for.

Eventually, my feet do start to hurt in my red heels, and I need to sit down soon. I pull back from him regretfully, as my fingers run through his short hair. “I guess we should go?” I say and he exhales and nods.

“Sure thing, Miss Willow. Your carriage awaits.” He waves his hand through the air gesturing to his bike. Stepping back to the bike hurts more than I let on. I’ve been in these heels all day, and now standing up in them for God only knows how long, it’s a torture only women can understand.

Pulling on my helmet at the same time as Steel, I slide onto the bike behind him and grip on tightly. He starts the engine. I smile at having the same euphoric feeling running through me again that I seem to have every time he starts his bike.

We take off back down the
Adelaide
hills and toward my house. I’m relaxing so much that I lean into Steel cuddling him. He holds my hand and squeezes, and then puts his hand back on the handlebar and I smile wide at his little gesture. I’m so calm and relaxed that I forget and bring my leg closer to the bike. The scorching of my skin takes a second to register, but once the burning pain sears through my calf, I scream out in piercing agony as I jolt my leg away from the bike making it weave slightly to the side. Hot tears sting my eyes instantly, as I look down to my leg and watch the exhaust burn sear red. I immediately start crying as the burning radiates through me intensely. Steel looks down at my leg sticking out to the side and pulls down on the throttle harder. The bike speeds up and weaves through the traffic pulling over to the left-hand side. I’m breathing fast and hard as he brings the bike to a full stop. He quickly jumps off and bends down taking my leg into his hands, he looks down and winces touching my leg around the wound.

“Jesus Christ, babe. Are you okay? Are you gonna faint?”

I shake my head as I breathe in and out through my mouth rather loudly.

“I’m okay, it just stings like a…” I don’t swear trailing off but instead, grit my teeth as he pulls out his phone and dials.

“Techie, I need the location on the doc, now!”

I continue to try and control my breathing through the pain.

“Okay, we’ll be there in ten. Have him on standby, I got a burn comin’ in.” He hangs up the phone and I look down at him wondering where we’re going.

“I gotta take you to the doc, babe. This is bad.”

I nod and tense up slightly. “Where is the doc?”

He hesitates and runs his hand through his hair. “At the clubhouse.”

I have to admit, even with a raging burn on my leg I’m intrigued to see what his clubhouse looks like, even though the thought of being around a pack of hairy bikers scares the hell out of me.

“When we get there you gotta stay with me the whole time, you got me?” he demands his gaze harsh.

I nod and take in a deep breath. “I got you.”

He stands up and rubs his face. “You okay to ride to the club?” His eyes drooping and his frown deep. His concern is evident, and for some strange reason it thrills me.

I nod and grab his hand to ease his discomfort. “I’m okay, it’s not as bad as it looks.”

He smiles and exhales. “You’re a tough chick, Flame. Okay, let’s get you to the doc.” He turns and moves in front of me on the bike. Wrapping my arms around his back, I hold on tight.

“Make sure you keep your legs out from the pipes, babe.”

I nod against his back as he starts the bike taking off in a flurry of speed down the road. The wind swoops through my hair at a turbulent rate as it flicks and twists in the breeze. My leg is burning as I hold it out, but I keep my foot on the foot rest. I’m sure passersby think I’m strange. We drive down the highway to the rural outskirts of Virginia, where the land is barren and parched. Driving down a long dirt road with nothing but paddocks either side, I start to wonder if we’re going in the right direction. Suddenly, a spacious building begins to come into view. It’s like an old warehouse and it’s massive! Made from mainly corrugated iron, that’s rusted in most places, the sheer expanse of the place leaves me in awe as I look up at the giant premises.

We pull up to an enormous gate, where a man is sitting at a post set high above the gate looking down on us. He presses something, and the corrugated iron and mesh gate begins to open.

“Got yourself a new Independent, Steel?” The guy at the top of the post calls out. Steel’s chest moves up and down like he’s chuckling, but I can’t hear his laugh over the roar of the engine as he pulls in through the rusted gate to a large concrete compound. The building is to the left, and to the right lined up against the corrugated iron fence is a mass of bikes. I bite my bottom lip, it’s intimidating. The sheer amount of bikes means the same amount of men are obviously here.

Looking down past the building is a grassed area that expands forever. A large tree is a prominent feature, and there’s a small area that looks like they have bonfires. Swallowing hard, Steel reverses the bike into position and turns it off. I exhale. It feels like I’m shaking slightly—I’m nervous and completely out of my element here. I have no idea what I’m about to face.

My leg is burning as I cautiously step off the bike and pull off my helmet. Steel follows then turns to face me while looking down at my leg. “How you doin’?” he asks grabbing my hand.

I shrug but then freeze and tense up as two ferocious looking Rottweilers burst through the compound toward us, barking loudly and snarling. Jumping as they come toward me, I cower behind Steel squealing slightly as he chuckles. My heart is racing as they come right up to Steel baring their teeth at me, their hackles up and their eyes full of fury.

“Easy boys, down,” he commands. They instantly lay down and stop growling, turning from guarding into smiling and happily wagging their tails.

“Steel, are they gonna bite me?” I ask hesitantly still hiding behind him.

He turns to look at me and smiles. “Nah babe. They just didn’t know you. So they were guarding. They’ll be fine now they know you’re okay to be here. Cassius, up,” he says and one of them jumps up happily still wagging his tail. I jump slightly as he pads over and cuddles into Steel’s side and he pets him like he’s an old friend.

“Trust me, he won’t hurt you. Pet him, he’ll love you forever.”

I open my eyes literally thinking he’s crazy. Steel smirks grabbing my hand and pulling me out from behind him. I tense up entirely, and he moves my hand down to Cassius’s head and I flinch, but he nuzzles into my hand. My shoulders relax a little, and I raise my eyebrow seeing an entirely different side to this dog. He’s actually quite the cuddler. Not to mention kind of cute with his black body and reddish/brown highlights on his face, with little flecks of grey. I figure he might be getting on a bit in age.

A couple of burly guys walk around the corner, and Steel grabs my hand smiling at me. “C’mon, let’s get your leg checked out.”

I nod as the two men look me up and down. I furrow my brows at them, and they start to whistle as they walk to Steel and me.

“Is this a new club girl, Steel?” The one with long blond hair calls out.

“No Ryder, she’s mine.”

I open my eyes wide as we continue to walk toward a big black door on the side of the clubhouse. I can’t help it as a small thrill of excitement flows through me at the words he’s just spoken.
She is mine.

Steel pushes in the heavy black door and the thunderous sounds of ‘
Kashmir
’ by Led Zeppelin invade my eardrums straight away before I’ve even walked inside. We continue through the short hall, and then into the vast expanse of the room. The walls are lined with wood panelling, and there’s pictures of heavy metal bands and naked women everywhere. Biting on my bottom lip, I try not to look at the pornographic photographs. To the right is a bar that extends the entire length of the room. The wooden bar has stools along the entire length for the bikers to sit at—it actually kind of looks like a bar in here. There’s a few tables and chairs set out where I guess they’d eat and drink, mixed with a few lounges and even bean bag sofas. Then on the side, there’s a room with two wooden doors, but the doors are shut. I don’t know what’s behind there. At the end of the bar is a hallway, and off to the left of the hall is a couple of pool tables.

And
oh my God,
there’s a woman with mahogany hair sitting on the pool table naked shooting ping pong balls out of something that should not have ping pong balls shooting out of it, and they’re landing into full beer Steins. Swallowing hard as my heart starts to race watching the scene in front of me, the guys around the woman cheer as she shoots out another one and it lands in a stein perfectly spilling the beer over the edge. One of the men picks up the stein throwing the ping pong ball out of it, and then brings the cup to his mouth and starts drinking the beer. My lip curls up in disgust as I frown, and Steel pulls my hand and keeps us moving through the open room that looks like what I would now class as a
dingy
bar.

We walk over to a green lounge suite and I can’t seem to take my eyes off the girl on the pool table. She shoots another ball hitting a guy right in his face and the men all cheer. I inhale a deep breath while folding my arms over my chest and lean back into the lounge wondering what the hell I’ve gotten myself into?

“Stay here!” Steel says distracting me from the show.

I look at him as he turns away from me checking around the clubroom like he’s looking for someone in this crowded space. Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I notice a man walking toward Steel and me. He’s very tall and well built, with a brown beard but platinum blond hair and a nose piercing right through his septum. He looks really quite intimidating and scary. My muscles tense, and I start physically shake this time as he looks down at me and half smiles. It doesn’t ease my nerves.

“Hey Jigsaw, have you seen Techie or the doc?” Steel asks and the giant man called Jigsaw keeps staring at me. It’s unnerving.

“Jigsaw?” Steel asks again as Jigsaw places his hand in front of me.

I tense up but take it not wanting to offend him. He pulls me up from the seat and tilts his head as his eyes search all over me. I stand still not knowing what to do as he says absolutely nothing.

Steel just stands there smirking, and I want to slap him for not helping me. Jigsaw smiles and it’s actually a kind smile as he turns to look at Steel.

“Tio,” Jigsaw says in some kind of accent.

Steel laughs and nods and Jigsaw gazes back at me and smiles brightly.

“W… what?” I ask, my voice breaking slightly.

“That means ten in Swedish,” Steel says confusing me further.

I furrow my brows and tilt my head. “What does ten mean?”

Steel and Jigsaw chuckle. Jigsaw leans in kissing my cheek. His rough beard tickles my skin, and I flinch back startled by his forwardness. “Ja, definitivt tio.” And with that confusing Swedish talk, Jigsaw ups and walks away leaving me utterly confused scratching my head.

Steel chuckles pulling me to him and wrapping his arms around my waist.

“W… what j… just h… happened?” I stutter out.

“That was Jigsaw.”

“Is his name Jigsaw ‘cause he’s such a confusing puzzle to work out?” I ask.

Steel bites his bottom lip trying to hold back a smirk. “Yeah… let’s go with that.”

I furrow my brows thinking there’s more to the story, but I’ll find that out another time. “So again, what just happened?”

He smiles. “He likes you.”

I tense up. “As in likes me, likes me? Like wants to claim me… likes me?” I ask suddenly, even more worried than when I came in here.

Steel throws his head back laughing hard, his chest rising and falling harshly with his laughter. “Oh God, you’re funny. No, babe. Likes you, as in thinks you’re hot. Tio means ten, he was givin’ you a score…. a ten out of ten for hotness.”

My eyes open wide. “He was scoring me?”

He smirks. “Yeah.”

I let him go and sink back down into the lounge suite. “Will all the guys in here do that?” I ask not really wanting to know the answer.

He scrunches his brows and slumps his shoulders. “So you’ve just been told you rated the hottest you can possibly rate on the hotness scale, and you’re upset because of that?” he asks and I roll my eyes.

“Do they do that to every woman that walks in here?”

He huffs and sits down on the seat next to me, the cushion dipping slightly. “I guess. We’re men, it’s how we work, babe.”

I turn my head to face him forcefully squinting my eyes and flaring my nostrils. “So you rate them, too?”

He runs his hand through his hair and exhales. “Shit. What am I meant to say here?” he asks and that’s enough of an answer. Shaking my head, I stand up and move to walk out.

“Flame, stop!”

A tall nerdy and yet somehow sexy guy comes up to me with a… man? Woman? I have no idea what that person is, and it halts me in my tracks as Steel catches up to me. I leer at the man-woman and I can’t help my staring. It has short hair like a buzz cut. The facial features are of a man, a chiselled jaw and a strong nose, but the eyes are soft like a woman’s. The body is a little soft and pudgy, so it’s hard to tell if the boobs are because it’s female or if they are just man boobs. I’m actually coming at a loss, and it’s not like me to stare for so long but fuck, I have no idea what this person is.

“Willow meet Techie, my best mate, and Dr. Stevie Reynolds, the club doctor,” Steel introduces us and I inhale sharply now knowing this is actually a male, even still I’m slightly confused by him.

“I hear you have a burn on your leg, Willow? Care if I take a look?” he says and his voice is soft and agile, nothing like the masculine vibe he’s portraying.
This is doing my head in.

“Sure Doctor.”

“Please, call me Stevie. Everyone else does. Now take a seat on the lounge and I’ll get my kit and fix you right up, love,” he says and my head’s spinning right now.
This place is so weird.

Swedish bikers that rate women.

Nerds that look like bad boys.

Doctors that look like lady boys.

What the hell is this place?

I plonk myself down on the lounge while Steel talks to Techie and I gaze around the room. It’s only then I see an older man with mutton chops sitting on the other side of the room staring me down. His hard glare unsettles my nerves until a half-naked, very young and attractive girl walks over to him and sits on his lap. I look away, but I can’t help myself, I casually glance back and when I do she’s on her knees giving him head. I gasp and look away quickly as his eyes meet mine.

What the actual fuck!

Steel was right, this place is
not
for me!

My heart is racing and I feel a little nauseous. I’m not sure if it’s from the pain in my leg or from this atmosphere. The smell of booze and cigar smoke permeates the air, and I’m pretty sure the stench of sex is lingering as well. This place wreaks, and could do with a woman’s touch. And not one of the women in here. These girls are so attractive and could get modelling jobs easily. I can’t help but wonder how these women all live their lives.