Taking a Dare - A Hellion MC Novel (17 page)

"Just wanted to give you a head's up, Pops," I
called, keeping outside the opened door. "I broke it off with
March. He's a drunk and only wanted me to get ahead in the
club."

The only response I received was an eyebrow
raise.

"Told you years ago, it was Dare or nobody!" I
reminded him loudly. I was beyond caring if the other brothers
heard me.

"Then I guess its nobody, little girl." He scratched
at his chest hair, but the look on his face made his statement more
of a question.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because if you don't marry March, you're not gonna
get with the other because…" he started, his volume escalating as
his narrowed eyes skewered me in place. "Here's how it's fucking
gonna go down. You've gotta make a choice. It's your family and
club or that motherfuckin' boy."

At his threat, I felt my jaw drop.

He couldn't be serious!

"Yeah, girl." His voice sounded almost victorious as
he took in my stunned expression. "That's the way it is. You choose
that motherfucker over March and it's over. You'll lose me and Leif
as well as all of the Hellions, no matter what chapter."

"Pops?" I managed to whisper and hated how stricken
my voice sounded.

"You want that little piece of shit? Then say
good-bye to the rest of it, baby girl." His tone and body language
were hard and harsh, grating along my insides. "Him, too. He'll be
an outcast with nothing going for him. No job and no Hellion
that'll take his back."

"Y-you can't do that, Daddy," I offered hesitantly,
angry that I stuttered exposing my feelings. My mind was racing to
come up with an argument, something valid that would circumvent his
ultimatum—but I had nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"Oh, I can. And I most absolutely motherfucking
will!"

My thoughts were whirling. My father was so certain
that his way was the right way, the only way. But he'd always
thought that, had always sought to control the things that he
couldn't contain. But to threaten me with…and then to think he
could pull Dare, my Dare, from all that he'd…

"You can't
do
that," I repeated, my mind
spinning at the image of what the bleak future would hold for me
and Dare if my pops had his way. "He's a good man and he's what I
want. The only man I've
ever
wanted."

"Big fucking deal." I watched as he scooted himself
up to rest his back against the cheap pressed wood of the motel's
headboard. "His type are a dime a dozen. You don't like March?" He
shrugged and I saw a 'no biggie' expression cross his face. "We'll
find you something better."

"I already
have
better in Dare," I said as I
fought against the ice that was beginning to surround my heart.

"You will
never
be with Dare. Not while I'm
alive," he promised with a hard look and a chin lift.

I searched his face and found he was totally serious.
My eyes moved to Dee, still holding the door open and saw she was
watching us both through narrowed eyes that shot between us. She
seemed pissed by my pop's words, which gave me the courage to speak
again.

"Just so I understand," I started and caught Dee's
gaze again. "If I choose to be with Dare then I'm no longer a
Honey, Dare is no longer a Hellion and I'm no longer your
daughter."

"That's about the fucking size of it, baby girl," my
dad growled again spearing me with a harsh look.

Glancing at Dee once more, I realized even though me
and my father were finally talking plainly, getting it all out in
the open, I still had a choice.

I'd scraped off March.

And had boldly stated (for the four hundredth and
eight-fourth time) that Dare was who I cared for, who I needed to
be with.

"I still want Dare," I said through lips that felt
almost frozen at the thought of what machinations my dad would
instigate at my words. "He's always been the one for me and he's
exactly what I need to complete my life."

This time, it was my father's face that held an
expression of shock.

"So fucking disown me. Pull his cut and get him
kicked out of the Hellions if that's what is required." I stated
bravely, jutting my own chin out. "I think we can survive without
you, Leif's or even the Hellion's approval."

A brief glance at Dee and I took heart at the
approval in her eyes. But when my gaze went back to my dad's, I
read furious resolve.

Did I care?

Kind of.

Maybe.

Sort of though, to tell the truth, not very much.

"Got shit to do, Pops!" I yelled on a giggle that was
totally faked and managed to flee down the hall to the stairs.

I'd never felt so fucking free in my entire life.

But I wasn't quite sure if I liked the feeling.

Chapter Seventeen

When he first opened his eyes, Dare was unsure where
he was until he remembered that he'd grabbed a key and decided to
catch a few zzz's in one of the clubhouse rooms before going to his
desk. Once he'd established his 'where', his mind immediately went
to the 'why' portion. Why he'd needed sleep and what had caused the
lack thereof.

The image of Ryley in his bed, naked. Writhing on him
as he fucked her hard while she'd whimpered and called out her
pleasure. The mental picture, so clear and sharp in his mind found
him reaching for his morning wood only covered by the sheet.

Christ! She'd been hot, hotter than he could've ever
imagined and had obliterated all his previous fantasies of being
inside her. The way she looked, smelled and sounded had blown him
away. But when he'd finally, fucking
finally
, had slid
himself into her tight, wet heat…

"Fffuuuccckkk!" he moaned, spilling himself over his
abs as his cock throbbed in his hand. God. When was the last time
he'd done a selfie? He couldn't remember because for years, when he
had a need, he just grabbed a Honey.

He had to admit though, his stroking one out on just
the memory of his girl had been more satisfying than a lot of his
sessions with the women of the club.

But how could that be?

A fuck was a fuck, right?

A man got hard and when his blood was up, any pussy
would do. At least, that was what he'd always believed and had said
more than once. But something inside was calling bullshit on those
previous statements.

And at that thought, he remembered the rest of it. Of
her telling him they could only have the one night. Called what
they had between them 'temporary' and without a future. Words that
no longer held a sting but simply pissed him right the fuck
off!

He shoved the sheet aside and sat on the edge of the
bed, feeling the anger move through him at the memory.

Fuck you father, Ryley.

Goddamn. He said that to her, told her straight up
how he felt about her old man, thinking he could just demand that
they stay away from one another and that Dare'd fuckin' comply. As
if. But when Ryley was willing to go along with that crap, Dare had
thought he was gonna lose his motherfuckin' mind. The fact that she
bought that fuckin' load of shit and had told him they only were
able to have the one night…bullshit.

Bull-fuckin'-shit!

Her dad wanted him away from her and was willing to
use any means to ensure that happened.

Well, the old fucker was in for a fuckin'
surprise
, Dare thought resolutely while he stood and made his
way to take his second shower of the day. Trey'd said he'd support
whatever decision Dare would make. And while Dare's mind wasn't
completely clear on the how or when, it was plain that he wasn't
gonna kowtow to demands.

He was a Hellion.

He was free and didn't have to obey any fuckin' rules
from anybody if he didn't want to. If he and Ryley wanted to be
joined at the hip, it was their bidness and no one else's, least of
all Gus's, for Christ's sake!

Stepping into his jeans another thought hit and
slammed into him so hard he dropped his ass to the mattress.

She was still gonna leave.

So even if he did pursue her while she was in town,
take her to his bed again and again in spite of what her father
demanded, the fact still remained that she would go back to her
life in Spokane. Her job of doing good things for kids that needed
good things to happen to them. Teens that needed her in their
lives.

His heart again sank at the memory of the Escalade's
brake lights as he stood in the lonely forecourt, watching her
drive away just a couple of hours before. It had been too close to
how he'd felt when he was seventeen and watched her ride away from
him. And if he'd lost it then, how much harder would it be to let
her go after this go round? He already felt closer to her than any
goddamn person on the planet so he knew seeing her leave this time
would blow his shit to hell and beyond.

Fuck! He needed to get a goddamn grip, get it under
control and get a motherfuckin' plan in place. He stood, trying to
think to work it all out in his head but his temper was still in
the flare position. The thought of her going away again, of leaving
him, made Dare wanted to fuckin' punch the shit out of something or
someone.

"Enough," he practically yelled as he grabbed his cut
and shrugged himself into it.

He slammed out of the room and stormed across the
forecourt avoiding the line of bikes parked in the middle space of
the large driveway. There had to be something doing in his office
that needed his attention. Anything that would take his mind off
the fuckin' situation that made his head want to explode.

"Dare? You've had a couple of calls from a Sheriff
Gentry," Lulu advised as he passed by her desk on the way to his
office. "I put the first call into your voicemail, but he's called
back twice since then."

He stopped dead in his tracks at her words. Jim? When
they'd parted at the small café in Billings, Dare would've sworn
he'd never hear or see from his brother again. Why would he be
trying to connect now? And with the shit morning he was having, he
didn't think it was going to be a fuckin' good convo. "Uhm, thanks,
baby girl. I'll get back to him."

Turning on his computer after plopping his ass in his
huge chair, he caught himself rubbing at his mustache. He'd didn't
like all the crap roiling, brewing inside. It wasn't him for
Christ's sake! He wasn't a worrier and didn't over fuckin' analyze
ever little shit thing in his life. Not since he'd put that shit
behind him when he'd left foster care. Not him. He'd rather laugh
and get others to join in than to get pissed off over the crap that
couldn't be helped.

He'd leave that fuckin' shit to other brothers. Ones
that seem to get off on it.

His mission was to enjoy life to the fullest,
something that had seemed to go off track with the reappearance of
the aqua-eyed beauty from his past.

Fuck her and the SUV she rode in on! Double for her
ass-hat dad!

He logged into the system and was just picking up the
phone to listen to Jim's voicemail when Silo came in and sat in one
of the visitor chairs. Propping his boots on the edge of Dare's
desk, the large bald brother gave him a chin lift but otherwise
didn't say a word.

"What?" Dare could hear the tight edge in his own
voice as he barked the question at his Hellion brother and hated it
for what it exposed.

"Saw you fuckin' leave yesterday and caught the
attitude when you slammed in here. Am wondering what's doin' in
that pretty little head of yours," came the rumbled reply.

"Nothing," Dare growled out. He saw Si's eyes drop to
the clenched fists Dare had on the desktop. He deliberately
straightened out his fingers in an effort to relax.

"Callin' bullshit, asshole. If you bend over, uncle
Si can pull that stick out for you."

Dare felt his face crease into a grin and watched
Silo do the same. "Just having a shit day, man."

"And that shit day wouldn't happen to have the
initials of Ryley Daniels, would it?"

"Have you
ever
fuckin' seen me get my boxers
in a wad over fuckin' pussy? Geez, dude!" Dare tried to chuckle but
it was a cheap imitation of what normally came out of his mouth
without effort.

"Never thought I'd see it with Trey either, but…"
Silo replied with a squint and a shrug. "Fuckin' something has lit
the fuse on your tampon."

"Christ, Si!" Bishop cried as he sunk his ass into
the other visitor chair and crossed his ankles on the edge of
Dare's desk as well. "Why do all your references lately have to
fuckin' do with girlie cycles? The Midol for Lu and now a tampon
mention? You got something you wanna confide?"

"Fuck you," Silo shot back.

"Sorry, baby. I don't swing that way so you can only
have me in your dreams or spank bank, dig?"

Dare immediately felt the black oily shit inside
retreat at his brothers' banter. "So what's with the social call,
mi amigos?"

"Just came in to give you a head's up for a confab
with Spokane in the conference room in thirty." Dare's eyebrows
lifted at Bishop's announcement. "Just the two councils with a
speakerphone for the Spokane Hellions that didn't make the
run."

"Is this about what I suggested?" Silo asked, almost
preening.

"Dunno. Was just told to get the word out." Bishop
said with a shrug before his eyes moved to Dare. "What the fuck is
up with you? When you stormed in here, you looked like you were
gonna fuckin' kill something."

Dare sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, can you
fuckers speak up? Your voices are muffled from having your noses so
fuckin' far up my ass. Need both you and them out of my
motherfuckin' office. Have shit to do before the meeting."

"He
wants
to work? Fuck, Si," Bishop derided
with a laugh, holding both hands up and twisting his wrists. "Does
it feel like a cold day in hell, brother?"