Ridin' Her Rough (3 page)

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Torque pulled his bike to a stop in front of the metal gate that blocked off the rest of the world from that of the Phoenix MC. The video camera mounted to the top the wall flashed red, and he stared into it. Seconds later the gate slid open and he drove up the short incline. He backed his bike beside the row of Harleys parked along the side of the building and cut the engine. Dismounting and pulling his helmet off, he looked around. There were a few prospects off to the corner smoking, and a few of his brothers were in the garage looking over the inside of a truck. He whistled and three of them looked up. Torque grabbed his pack off the back of his bike and pressed it to his side. The weight was heavy, but then again that was where the guns were hidden.

The three big ass bikers made their way toward him, and he instantly recognized them. Ringo and his old ass self was limping behind the other two. Ace, the VP, and Vain, Brack’s Sergeant in Arms, met him halfway. They slapped each other on the back in greeting.

“Fuck, man, it’s been a while since I saw you here, Torque.” Ace, with his dark brown hair tied at the nape of his neck, baby blue eyes, and smile that had dropped a lot of fucking panties, was the wooer of this charter. Torque had seen the way he sweet-talked the bitches into going back with him. Hell, there were enough Cherry girls hanging around the club that he just needed to snap his fingers and they’d be on their knees sucking his dick. But nope, Ace was all about talking sweet to the females. For such a Pretty Boy, Ace didn’t fuck around when it came to getting the job done, backing up the club, and putting any asshole in his place. If Torque had ever been serious about joining a chapter this was the one he’d pick, hands down.

“Yeah, been on the road for a while. But got a delivery for your prez.” Torque looked around. “Where is Brack anyway?”

“He and Malice are inside. He’s been expecting you,” Vain said and chewed on the end of a toothpick. The sick bastard had his shades on and Torque couldn’t gauge the guy’s mood. The Sergeant of Arms was a nasty, mean-spirited bastard, but he got shit done, didn’t put up with anything, and made some of the shit Torque had done to guys look like a walk in candy-coated fields. Torque supposed that was why he was Brack’s right.

He gave Ringo a hug and slapped the old man on the back. They all headed inside. The clubhouse used to be an old warehouse until the club bought it. It had been renovated to house all of the club and their families and keep any unwelcome assholes away. It was on private property with a gate around the entire perimeter, and far enough from the center of Rush Falls that the town didn’t fuck with them all that much, but then again they had the police department on their payroll. Shit like that was necessary for them if they didn’t want random raids or the cops up their ass when things got ugly. As soon as they walked inside the scents of chili, cornbread, smoke and alcohol slammed into him. The clubhouse was popping with activity, with half-naked bitches all around, grinding their shit on brothers, sucking cocks, or fucking against the wall. “Damn, man, looks like you got the night set up.” Torque grunted out and grinned. It was more of a show than genuine.

“Yeah, Dixon ain’t too happy.” Ace leaned back in his said after he spoke. “She planned this family dinner for the guys and their families, but a bunch of the brothers brought some random chicks home, already half wasted, and that plan kind of got fucked up.

Torque looked over at Ace and cocked a brow.

“Come on, Brack’s been asking for you.” Vain led them through the fuckfest going on, and every brother he passed stopped what they were doing to greet him. Once they were in the meeting room Vain shut the door and the three of them moved toward the table where Brack and Malice were currently going over some blueprints.

“Damn, man, it’s good to see you.” He and Brack gave each other a hug. Brack was a big motherfucker, nearly as tall as Torque’s own six-foot-three-inch frame, and just as muscular. A lot of the guys in the club were big, whether from working out or over eating, but what they all had in common was they backed each other up, no matter what. Brack grinned broadly, and the scar on his right cheek stretched across his tanned skin. He hadn’t shaved in a few days, but neither had Torque, and in fact was thinking of just letting it grow out like half the guys here. “Your ride was good?”

“Yeah, man. Long, but you know I like it that way.”

Brack slapped him on the back and nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

Torque set the pack on the table, untied the leather, and unrolled it. The .38 handguns gleamed under the lights, and each member grabbed one. They were checked, cocked, and set back on the wool. “The River City chapter said you might have some fun with these.”

Ace and Malice chuckled. Vain was still checking out one of the guns, disassembling it and putting it back together. He was thorough for sure.

“Thanks for hauling it, man. You came on the right night. You see all the hot looking pussy out there?” Malice said.

“I did, but heard Dixon ain’t too happy about that.” Brack said on a grunt.

“Thought she was going to tan my hide when she saw all the cunt out there, but I had no idea she planned on having a family dinner tonight. That shit would have been useful information ahead of time,” Ace said and Torque shook his head and laughed. “She’ll get over it, though, especially when Ringo here licks her pussy.

“Shit man, she tastes like fuckin’ salt water taffy,” Ringo said and there was a collective groan from everyone.

“Ringo, man, quit with the candy reference when you’re talking about Dixon’s pussy.” Ace grinned. “I don’t care about you screwing her, but shit, man, I see that woman as a mother figure.”

“It aint’ my problem the pussy you go after is that young shit that ain’t even matured yet.” Ringo sat his old ass down at the end of the table. “I’m telling you, boys, you go after some of that fine, aged cunt and you won’t ever go back.” Everyone cleared their throat when Ringo started making references about Dixon’s snatch.

“You’re insane.”

Malice was grinning over at Ringo when he said this. This brotherly banter was what Torque missed not being stationed in one place, but that was it.

“Pussy is like fine wine. It only gets better with age,” Ringo said and grinned wide.

“This is coming from someone who hasn’t had any pussy since Dixon came to the club, and that was like seven years ago. Shit, old man, maybe you should hit up pussy that is young and tight,” Ace said. He reached into the inside of his cut and grabbed joint, put it between his lips, and lit the end.

Brack nudged Torque in the shoulder and he leaned in close to say, “You think any more about joining us, brother? We could always use another Phoenix who knows how things run in the club.”

Torque looked over at the men still giving Ringo a hard time. “You know I’m not any good with roots, Brack.” Torque ran a hand over his jaw after he made that statement.

Brack reached over and slapped him on the back and said, “Yeah, I know. Just know that if you ever change your mind the brothers would love having you come in.”

Torque nodded, knowing that was true to the nth degree, but he still had an endgame in sight, and that was solitude and isolation when the time came.

Chapter Three

Dixon had told Delilah to be at the clubhouse at eight, but it was already nearing ten and she was just now pulling up to the gate. Of course there had been an issue with the invoices she had been tallying up. She punched in the code and while she waited for the gate to open she reached in her purse for cell. Shit, the damn thing was off. Once she had it turned on she saw Dixon had tried calling her a few times and had even sent her a text saying the dinner was canceled.

She drove her car up the driveway and pulled it next to the blacked-out van the club sometimes used for runs. Before she even got out of the car she could hear the sound of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” blaring. A few prospects stumbled out of the garage and their loud laughter could be heard over the music. She scanned the bikes, saw the usual number, but then the very last one in line had her heart beat increasing and her mouth going dry. God, she’d known Torque was going to be passing through, but she hadn’t known when. It had been a long damn time since she had seen him—four years to be exact—and seeing his bike right outside the club was like being right back at that night when she was eighteen. Delilah looked at the clubhouse again and realized there wouldn’t be any quiet family dinner, but instead an all-out kegger. “Shit.” She climbed out of the car and held her covered dish of taco dip. What she should do was get back in her car and drive home. Going in there and seeing a Cherry, most likely Pinkie, all over him once again, would only piss Delilah off, and this time she wouldn’t walk away, but finally beat that bitch and her fake blonde ass. Throwing a few punches was a long time coming anyway. “Goddammit.” She turned to get back in her car, because she knew what was going on in there, and that was not something she wanted to see, but a deep voice stopped her.

“Hey, Delilah, where you going in a hurry?”

 She turned when she heard Vain’s voice. He leaned against the side of the clubhouse, hidden in the shadows. The only thing she could really make out was his huge form and the cigarette smoke that billowed out in front of him.

“It looks like there is a bit too much action going on in there for me.”

He flicked the cigarette butt away and pushed off the wall. Vain emerged and the shadows moved over him like a blanket falling away. All of the members were big, needing that kind of muscle for what they did, but Vain was a different breed all his own. He was almost as intimidating as Torque, but to her he reminded Delilah of a big brother. They all did.

Vain looked behind him at the main clubhouse doors. “Yeah, it’s pretty intense in there.” Vain turned back around and grinned. His straight white teeth flashed in the darkness. “Dixon was pretty pissed when a bunch of the prospects and some other members brought home some females. They would have cleared out the clubhouse if she said so, but by then she was already pissed.”

“She go home?”

Vain started chuckling and shook his head. “Hell no. Ringo took her in the backroom. I think he probably convinced her that if she gave him a lap dance she’d feel better.”

“Ew. I love Ringo, but that’s not what I want to hear.” Vain laughed at her statement.

“I know, baby girl, but it’s funny as fuck to see your face when you hear that shit.” Vain might be grumpy to everyone else, but he opened up a little to her, and she knew he only let Delilah see this part. “Besides, Torque came in town and they are getting blitzed in there.”

She couldn’t help but smile at Vain’s words. She looked over at the doors, but of course couldn’t see anything. He was in there. When she looked at Vain again it was to see that he watched her intently. Nothing got by the members, and right now she had no doubt spoken loud and clear, just like she had four years ago.

Vain got out another cigarette and lit the end. It burned a brilliant red as he inhaled, and then he exhaled slowly. “You better be careful, Delilah.” He took another drag.

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she asked, but knew what he was talking about before he even responded.

“You do realize that you’re shit at lying, right, baby girl? And that you let your emotions come through like a damn race car?” Vain inhaled once more from his cigarette. “How long have I known you, Delilah?”

God, if this was awkward as hell. She stared into the handsome face of the man who had been around for longer than she could even remember. Markus “Vain” Tallmadge was, at fifty-one, a year older than her father, but the only place he wore his age was in his demeanor. He was ruggedly handsome, as were all the other members, but she had always felt this darkness that he harbored inside. It was those shadows that made him a very scary man at times.

“A long time, Vain.”

He nodded slowly and took another drag from his second cigarette. “Yeah, since the first day you came into Brack’s life.”

She swallowed hard when he took another step. She wasn’t scared of any of the men in the MC, but there were times she felt intimidated because they could read people so easily.

“You can’t hide much, especially from me. The few times I’ve seen you around Torque there has been that look in your eye.”

She shifted on her feet and tightened her grip on her covered dish. “I don’t have any look in my eye when he’s around.” Delilah didn’t take shit from anyone, and could hold her own, and that was thanks to the environment she had grown up in, but this was something she was about to back down from. No way was she going to talk about what she really wanted from Torque. It was bad enough that she had never had a real boyfriend. Growing up, the guys who dated her tended to be leery of even holding her hand when they were forced to pick her up at the clubhouse so the guys could “introduce” themselves. To say her sex life was lacking was the understatement of the century. Being a virgin at twenty-two wasn’t horrible, but hell, when sex was all around her, and it was those guys banging anything with a vagina, it made them look like hypocrites for thinking she shouldn’t have sex herself until she was married and as old as they were.

“I’m not talking about any of this with you, Vain.” She tried to sound like this conversation wasn’t getting to her, but she knew nothing got past Vain.

He stared at her for a moment, as if appraising what she was thinking, and then shrugged. “Delilah, I’m not your old man, not going to try and father you or give you advice. None of us have any right to harp on you and the choices you want to make in your adult life, but we will continue to protect you.” He took another long inhale from his cigarette. “All I’m saying is be careful. Be
very
careful, because you haven’t seen the way Torque looks at you when he thinks no one is watching.”

Her heart started to race at Vain’s words. Torque looked at her a certain way? A way that made Vain point it out to her like a warning.

“And I also want you to remember how you felt when you saw that pussy all over him all those years ago. It hurt you, baby girl, he hurt you, and he will again. It’s in his nature. A Nomad don’t want anything good and right to settle down with. They want easy and fast, and then they can move on to the next thing. You feel me?”