Demon, page 27
I waited for him to speak first, resting my head back against the cushions. I sensed that he was thinking over what he wanted to say, and the more time that went by the more I began to worry, going over the last week in my head. I'd been avoiding him during the day, too afraid that I was going to get hurt. It had been too easy to pretend that I didn't love him, that we were nothing to each other, and that nothing that he did would hurt me. Then in the evenings when we met in this room, it was as if we'd flipped a switch.
I gave Demon everything that I had.
He didn't hold back.
I showed him how I felt.
He worshiped my body as if it were something sacred.
I couldn't take the silence any longer. "What are you thinking?"
He took another drink and then set his bottle down on the floor on the side of the sofa. Before I could grasp his intentions he reached for me and dragged me carefully onto his lap. "I'm thinking you'd make a helluva old lady."
What?! Not what I'd been expecting, but I held down my enthusiasm. I wasn't about to make a fool of myself by jumping up and down for joy. And then I wondered if this was Demon's way of telling me that I'd make a good old lady for anyone but him. I wouldn't put it past him to think like that.
"For who?" I asked, looking into his eyes.
"The fuck? Who do you think?" he growled with a frown between his brows.
"Well, excuse me for not knowing," I fired back with heat. "You've made it clear that you're not looking for another old lady. I'm just a fuck-buddy to you. Yeah, we're exclusive, but only in this room."
"What are you going on about, woman? I haven't fucked anyone since you came here. Hell, until you came back, I hadn't fucked a bitch since when you disappeared months ago."
"Pfft! You expect me to believe that? I know you, Demon. I watched you fuck everyone but me for months, until I couldn't take it any longer and left." I realized what I'd admitted the moment the words left my mouth.
An impatient grunt escaped him. "That was then, woman, this is now. I'm going to fucking tell you this one time only, so get it into your head--first time I saw you walking through the clubhouse doors, I knew I wanted you. I've wanted a lot of women, but not the way I wanted you from that first day. Scared the fuck out of me, it was so intense. I didn't fuck you because I knew it wouldn't just be a fuck. And I didn't want that kind of shit in my life again."
"What kind of shit?" I needed for him to explain.
A stubborn look came over his face, a tic in his jaw revealing his reluctance to get into it. Was he afraid of saying too much? Afraid of saying something that he couldn't take back?
"You know I had an old lady once before?"
I nodded. Everyone knew about Demon and Julia.
"Didn't want another one. But something about you…" He didn't finish his sentence, taking a deep breath, his eyes holding mine. "Knew you were different, babe, but I was determined not to give into it. Determined to deny myself. I fought it by turning to the club sluts, taking them in front of you so you would hate me."
I didn't hold back. "I did hate you."
"Know that. Nearly killed me every fucking time you went off with one of my brothers, to know that they were seeing you naked, touching your tits and pussy. I wanted to cut off every one of those fuckers' hands."
That made me smile.
"Didn't know at the time they weren't fucking you."
"Junior was the only one who tried, but one warning from Gage and he backed off. Said he didn't need to fight for pussy when there were so many other whores around."
A dark shadow moved across Demon's face. I wondered if Junior and Riggs were dead, but I knew better than to ask.
"That fucking pussy is going to die for a lot of reasons."
There was the answer to my unasked question. I sensed Demon looking down at me. My cheek was against his chest, where his heart was beating. I glanced up, our eyes making contact.
"We're going to stop this fucking shit between us, Bobbie. I'm claiming you as my old lady." I caught my breath at his words, a little frightened by what that meant, while they filled me with pure happiness.
"As my woman, you see something you don't like, you say something. Yeah?" He waited for my nod. "It's not just in this room that we're exclusive. You're the only woman I want. You see a bitch climb up on my lap, you knock her the fuck off and claim your man."
In spite of the soreness in my face, I managed to smile.
"You're the only bitch I want on my lap, babe. The only bitch I want behind me on my bike, in my bed, on my dick. That clear enough for you?"
Very clear, I thought to myself. There was only one more thing I wanted to know. "So, when are you going to claim me in front of your brothers?" I knew until then nothing was final.
A hearty laugh burst from him. "Five days soon enough?"
I nodded enthusiastically, smiling from ear-to-ear with tears in my eyes.
"Good. You'll need time to heal up a little before the initiation."
Initiation? I wondered what that was.
It didn't matter.
Demon was claiming me!
Chapter 32
Demon
I made my way to the warehouse with one thought in mind--finishing Junior once in for all. Until he was gone and the club was satisfied, I wouldn't claim Bobbie. I'd told her I needed five days, but that had been over a week ago. My brothers deserved to get their retribution by taking a chunk off Junior, and I wasn't going to rush it. Besides, I enjoyed seeing the little fuck suffer for what he'd done. It wouldn't bring back Gage, Tooly, Clay, or Joey, but they could extract their revenge when they met Junior in hell, because we were all going to end up there.
After today I would be able to focus my attention on my woman and Annabelle. Dr. Roberts, the shrink that I was paying big bucks to help Annabelle even step foot into Crystal's Palace, said that she was making progress, slow but steady. Apparently learning that her attacker had died a violent and vicious death had calmed her fears of him coming back for her and had given her the push she'd needed to want to move on. She still had a long road ahead of her, but I was looking forward to the day when I could bring her home.
I smirked as I entered the warehouse. Dr. Roberts hadn't been on board with me showing Annabelle the newspaper article about Darrin Cylus's body being found in a Las Vegas hotel bathroom, but she couldn't deny the spark of life that had appeared in Annabelle's dull eyes afterwards. Having Julia there had also helped. I'd had her set up in the room next to Annabelle’s. In spite of their age difference, they'd always been close. My sister had needed a woman's influence after our mother had died, and Julia had been the one to fill that void. It was the one good thing that had come out of our marriage.
I continued through the building toward the back, the murmur of voices becoming clearer the closer I got to the cage. When I turned the corner the first thing my eyes landed on was Junior hanging from the ceiling, looking like a slab of meat that was in the process of being skinned. He was still alive, but he wouldn’t be for long. He'd be joining Fisher for an acid bath that would wipe away any traces that the two men had ever existed.
Cole and Sax were there. They'd made it their mission to spend every waking hour overseeing Junior's torture. Our brothers had died; our women had suffered because of Junior's fucking decisions. It had been all Sax could do to stop himself from killing Junior when he’d first gotten his hands on him. Loco and Bull had had to hold him back. Cole had stood off to the side, arms crossed; refusing to help because he'd wanted to do the exact same thing.
I came to a stop next to Cole and Sax, looking over Junior's naked body and seeing fresh blood mingling with the dried. The smell coming from him was horrendous. He was practically dead, his body slowly rotting from the trauma it had been put through. I grimaced at the piss and shit on the floor beneath him.
"Kill… me."
I snorted at his pitiful plea, ignoring him. It wasn't the first time he'd asked to die.
"Looks like a slab of raw meat." This made savage satisfaction run through my blood. Getting retribution for an injustice done to the club was a high that my brothers understood. "Who cut his nipples off?" I was surprised that I could see the missing nubs through the blood and gore covering Junior's torso. Both brothers were grinning when I looked at them.
"Loco," Cole smirked, passing a blunt off to Sax. "Sick freak."
"He say any more?"
Sax shook his head, expelling a lungful of smoke. The only words that had come out of Junior's swollen and bloodied mouth in the last couple of days had been pleas for us to kill him.
"We end it today, brothers. Want this shit over and done with. Got a woman to claim."
They nodded in understanding. I'd already announced that I was planning to claim Bobbie. All that was left was the initiation.
"Who gets the honor?"
I met the hopeful look in Sax's eyes. It was clear that he wanted the privilege, and he deserved it. "You do, brother." Junior hadn't been the one to rape Holly, but he’d been the cause of it.
I turned toward Junior, looking at all of the damage we'd done. I'd taken my pound of flesh, too.
For my downed brothers.
For the destruction of the clubhouse.
For Holly and Raven.
For Bobbie.
For fucking Fisher.
None of us had held back the anger and pain that we'd felt over Junior’s betrayal. I hadn’t been lying when I'd said that he looked like a slab of meat. The first thing we'd done was beat him with our fists, taking pleasure until our knuckles were raw and bloody. We’d used a crowbar to break his bones, starting at his shoulders and working our way down his body, until every bone had been broken and his body had hung limply. Then the real fun had begun.
Bull had broken the bones in his face and knocked out most of his teeth.
Reid had snipped off his fingers.
Colton had sliced the word “traitor” across his chest.
I'd burned off his club tattoos.
He'd been sliced open in several places and had salt poured into the wounds. Someone had taken his left eye. Sax had sliced his dick and poured acid over it, watching with morbid fascination as it literally melted away. That was a sight I may never get out of my head.
Through it all, the sounds of Junior's screams echoed through the warehouse, first his cursing, and then pleas when the pain became too much for him. But pain was what we understood. Some of us thrived on it.
"Please…kill…me…"
I stared up at his body without remorse. We'd done what we’d had to do, not what we'd wanted to do. He'd gotten exactly what he deserved. "I hope trying to become president was worth it," I sneered, not expecting a response. "You were born into the Desert Rebels. You should have gone to your grave protecting your brothers, not in disgrace. Killer deserved a better son."
Junior hung there silently. This would be a warning to all of our brothers about what we did to our enemies. It would show them that we didn't tolerate this shit, and that if they were stupid enough to try a take-over or anything else that bordered on betrayal, there would be consequences. Didn't matter who the fuck they were. It was a fucking shame that we had to deal with a brother in this way, and I was done.
"End him." I turned and walked away.
Fisher was already gone. One clean shot right through his head. It wouldn't have done any good torturing him when we already had the leader. Kid had taken it like a man, too. He'd knelt down in front of me and accepted his fate with something like remorse on his scarred face. He’d known that he'd fucked up and that there was no coming back from it. I'd put the barrel of my Glock right between his eyes and cocked it. "Close your eyes, kid." The second his lids had dropped, I'd pulled the trigger.
Hadn't felt good about it, either.
If Riggs had survived, he would have been right up there with Junior. He'd gotten lucky. At least the three assholes that we'd taken out at Riggs’ house had turned out to be the same fucking mercenaries that Junior had hired to attack the club. There was still an old coot out there that had helped create a diversion at the construction site that day, but I doubted we'd ever find him. As far as I was concerned, once Junior was dissolved, shit was done.
As I walked away from the warehouse I heard a pitiful cry come from Junior, surprised that he still had the energy for it. I was heading inside the clubhouse when a movement drew my gaze to the picnic tables toward the back of the property. Holly and Bobbie were sitting there, but they weren't talking. Holly was staring off into the woods beyond the fence. Even from a distance, I could tell that her thoughts were miles away.
Bobbie looked my way and I pivoted at the last second, changing direction. Her face lit up, and I couldn't deny the feeling of contentment in my gut when those baby blues smiled into mine. She fucking took my breath away. In spite of everything that she'd been through, she remained strong. She had a lot of qualities that I had never thought I would have found in a woman--not that I'd been looking. She was beautiful and curvy and fucking smart, but what made Bobbie sexy was her strength and her lack of fear when she had to do what needed to get done. She was gutsy, maybe a little too mouthy, and she tried to protect those she loved.
Holly and Raven had said that they would have fallen apart if it hadn't been for her.
I was fucking proud of her.
Hearing my approach, Holly tore her concentration away from the trees and turned her head. I was thankful to see the mild smile spread across her face when she saw me.
"Hi, handsome," Bobbie greeted me.
We hadn't seen each other all day. "Hi, beautiful." I slid my arm around her waist and jerked her against me, catching her surprised gasp with my mouth. I'd meant it to be a quick kiss, but as usual; I couldn't control myself around Bobbie. She was too delectable, and she gave me all I demanded from her. Forgetting about Holly, I transferred my hands to her ass and clenched the rounded globes, groaning low and grinding her against my hard dick.
She ground back with a moan, sucking my tongue like she was sucking my dick. Before things got carried away, I reluctantly pulled back and gave her a slap on her ass. "Gonna fuck this later," I growled into her ear, low, so Holly wouldn't hear. Other than eating her sweet pussy a few times and a blow job for me, I'd purposely not touched her since we’d rescued her and the other women because I wanted her injuries to heal.
She giggled softly and sank her teeth into the side of my neck. I wasn't sure if it was in retaliation for the slap or my graphic promise, but it made me want to lift her short skirt and fuck her up against the picnic table. I glanced over her head at Holly, who was watching the exchange with amusement.
"How you doing, sweetheart?"
"I'm okay."
The standard response when you didn't want to talk about it. I didn't expect her to be okay, and according to Sax, they were in trouble. She was distancing herself from him. I told him to give it time, and that if she wanted to talk to a professional the club would take care of it.
"You going to the rally with us next week?" The club members and their old ladies were going to the Street Vibrations Fall Rally in Reno. Five days of music, races, fireworks, and the likes. After all the shit that had gone down lately, my brothers deserved to get away and have some fun.
"I, ah, haven't given it much thought," she confessed after a moment. Her gaze shifted to Bobbie. "Are you and Raven going?"
Bobbie nodded. "A change of scenery and some fun will do us all good."
"I'll think it over, then." Her eyes came back to me.
Sax and Cole emerged from the warehouse, and Holly's gaze followed mine to them. "Give him time to clean up, yeah?" I knew that Sax wouldn't want her to see him covered in Junior's blood. She released a sigh and turned away, the woods across the way capturing her attention again.
"It's over, then?" Bobbie asked softly, with deep emotion in her pretty eyes.
My gaze skimmed over the fading bruises on her face. I understood what she was asking, and she needed to know the truth. I wanted her to feel safe again. "Yeah, babe." And then for Holly's benefit I added, "They're all gone."
Fuck. I watched a single tear roll down Holly's cheek. Bobbie reached up and cupped my jaw to sooth the tense muscle into relaxing; her sweet smile of understanding helping to calm the savage need that I suddenly had to punch something out of rage. Jesus, this woman was good for me. Even through the tears filling her eyes, her empathy and strength were evident. She didn't say anything. She didn't need to. I curled my hand around her neck and pulled her foreword until our foreheads were touching, breathing in deeply.
Her light scent was a balm to my fucking soul. The mint on her breath made it real.
"Are you okay?"
When was the last time anyone had asked me that? "I'm good, baby. Got some things to take care of today. You want to keep me company?" I had a meeting with the builders and our lawyers in Las Vegas to go over the contract. Smith had recommended us for the job, but the builders had still taken bids for it, and we'd come in somewhere in the middle.
"Sure. Do I need to change?"
The thought of her on the back of my bike with that little skirt hiked up around her thighs while the heat of her pussy pressed my backside was hot. My hands slid down below the hem of her skirt to her bare thighs. Her soft and silky flesh and the thought of her sweet ass just a few short inches away caused my palms to glide upward to cover the enticing globes.
I sucked in my breath.
She giggled.
"You're killing me, babe," I said when I found that she was naked beneath her skirt. "And no, you'd better not fucking change. I want that wet pussy up against me while we're riding."
"Where we going?"
My hand slipped between her legs so I could slip a finger between her folds. She was slick with cream. "Vegas." I felt myself losing control, my dick harder than steel.
