Demon, page 4
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Demon
Fuck, I was pissed. I should have anticipated that Bobbie would skip out the minute my back was turned. Her disappearing the second she got a chance only backed up my belief that she couldn't be trusted. An innocent person didn't run, and if I found out that she was the traitor who'd caused trouble to the club, I was going to end her myself. She'd appeared genuinely upset when I'd told her about Gage, but as far as I was concerned, that didn't mean shit. The whole thing could have been an act.
I headed back to the trailer at the back of the park, meeting Sax and Cole there. They shook their heads, indicating that they hadn't found the bitch. We shut down our bikes.
"God dammit!" I growled. I wanted to get my hands on her. She could be hiding anywhere, and the dark was on her side. "She has to be here somewhere."
Cole sat back on his seat and crossed his arms. "We stopped at the restaurant, but there was no sign of her there."
"Probably found someone to take her in," Sax added.
Yeah, I thought. If that were the case, we'd never find her, and I wasn't about to go pounding on doors to locate her ass. I pulled out my phone and hit Oz's number. He picked up right away. "Need you to get me Bobbie's address right now, brother," I growled into the receiver before he even had a chance to say a word. "She lives in Pahrump."
"Yeah, I know, brother." I'd forgotten that he'd already been looking into her. "Can I get back to you?" There was a sound of irritation in his voice. "I'm nowhere near my computer."
"No." Oz was our intel man. He handled all of our security and had a knack for digging up information when it was needed.
"Fuck, Prez, I can't pull it out of my ass." I could tell by his breathing that he was rushing somewhere.
"Five minutes," I growled, hanging up. I glared at Cole and Sax, who were sitting back with knowing smirks on their rough faces. "You two stay here and take care of shit."
"Where you going?" Cole asked with a slight frown.
As my enforcer I knew that he wouldn't be okay with me going alone, but right then I didn't give a fuck. I could handle one woman on my own, and if anyone needed protection, it was her. "I'm going to deal with Bobbie myself." I wanted to be waiting for her when she returned to her place.
Sax snorted. "What are you going to do to her?" His tone implied that he already had an idea.
I smirked. "Gonna fuck the bitch and then kill her." I was being sarcastic, although fucking Bobbie had some appeal. "What do you think, asshole? I'm going to bring her back to the clubhouse." My phone dinged. It was Oz. "Yeah?"
"Twenty-four Ula Street, looks like an apartment complex."
"Got it." After we disconnected I programmed the address into my bike's GPS. Yep, the bitch lived in a shitty apartment, although it appeared to be a new complex. How the fuck could she afford that? I looked up at my brothers. "I'm heading out. Want to surprise Bobbie when she decides to go home. You brothers head back when you're done here."
"See you there," Cole said as he climbed off his bike. "Let's take care of business and then grab dinner before we head back," he suggested to Sax.
I snorted, turning my bike around and heading toward the highway. My brothers had their priorities straight. Club business came first, above our own needs. The fact that they were going to kill two men but were talking food revealed that they had the stomach for this shit. It also revealed the hardened, cold-blooded killers they'd become. Something we'd all had to become to keep our MC and its members safe, keep our club prosperous.
The three of us had come up the ranks together, each deciding on a different path in the club. I'd never envisioned that I would one day become president. Fuck, I’d thought Killer would be with us for a lot longer than he had been, but cancer had decided his fate and had put him in an early grave. I'd been his VP and was voted into his spot unanimously. Well, with the exception of Junior, his son. Junior had thought he'd be a shoe-in to take his father’s place, but no one in the club thought he was ready for the kind of responsibility it took to be president. He'd proved that over and over again with his stupid decisions and temper tantrums.
A perfect example of his immaturity was the trouble he'd tried to cause between Cole and his old lady, Raven. He’d planted used condoms in their room, making it appear as if both of them had been fucking around on each other. Good thing Cole and Raven had talked through it and figured it out. Cole hadn't wasted any time beating the fuck out of Junior, while Raven had surprised everyone by clocking Tamara, the club slut who’d also been involved, for her part in it.
MC presidents didn't have time for shit like that. As Killer's right hand man, I'd had a clue about what I'd be facing once I took over, the tough decisions and the sacrifices I would have to make. The responsibility I would be taking on, and not just for myself. I had fifty brothers and their families to think about, and the club was growing every day with brother's finding their old ladies and having babies. In a way I was glad that I didn't have the responsibility of a family to worry over, too.
The Extraterrestrial Highway was a long, boring ride on a lonely, barely traveled road that cut through dry, desert-like terrain. It was hot, and the sun beat down on me without mercy. There was nothing to look at except for the occasional cow or vulture. Wildlife was scarce. I was surrounded by hills made of dirt and rocks with stretches of flatland in between. Everything was one color--brown. I passed an open range sign with the picture of a bull on it, and sure enough, there was a cow crossing the road about a quarter mile down the road.
Pahrump was a little over three hours away from Rachel. I wondered how Bobbie intended to get home. The last I knew, she drove an old station wagon she'd had painted a God-awful yellow. It stood out, and I hadn't seen anything like it at the RV Park. It didn't matter, either way I was going to surprise her when I showed up at her apartment. What I did from that moment on depended on her. She was either going to come willingly, or as my fucking prisoner.
And I wasn't going to be nice.
Christ, I hoped that she wasn’t involved in the trouble with my club, but I had to wonder why she'd taken off so suddenly. I'd returned from business at Crystal's Palace to find her packed up and gone. All anyone had been able to tell me was that she'd said something about having had enough. Enough of what? The girls had it good at our clubhouse. We provided food, protection, a roof over their heads. Fuck, we even provided their medical care. They had whatever they needed in exchange for their services, and the men treated them good. But even as I thought about it, I didn't like the fucking image of Bobbie with any of my brothers.
She'd been sought after, too. Too many fucking times I'd seen her disappear down the hall with a brother's arm over her shoulder. Heard her squeal of laughter when one picked her up and carried her in a firemen's hold to his room. I'd watched and gritted my teeth, furious at myself for not letting the brothers know that it was hands-off when it came to her. She'd been on cooking and cleaning duty, but seeing her willingly going off with them revealed that she wanted to fuck them.
It had revealed that she was truly a whore in nature.
I went full-throttle and flew down the highway as if the demons of hell were after me. It was one of the reasons I liked Nevada. Plenty of roads and highways that allowed bikers to race against the wind at exhilarating speeds. Death Valley was another hot spot where we could ride for miles without any sign of civilization. There was nothing equal to defying death and having the freedom to enjoy it. Those who didn't beat the reaper did it on their own terms and welcomed it with open arms.
After three hours on the road, I rode into Pahrump. GPS took me right to Bobbie's apartment building. New, as the pictures I'd pulled up after Oz had given me her address, had indicated. Not cheap, judging from the lush landscaping, and design of the place. How the fuck did Bobbie afford this? I pulled my bike around the back so it couldn't be seen from the entrance, and turned it off. I sat there for a minute, contemplating how this was going to play out, kicking myself because I should have let Cole come after her ass instead.
This was his job. I was the fucking president. Yet the thought of my enforcer putting his hands on the woman I wanted to fuck had caused me to make a stupid decision. Not that I was worried about Cole fucking Bobbie, he had a sexy woman of his own at home. But I wouldn't put anything past Bobbie, and if she was going to try and use her feminine wiles to gain the upper hand, I wanted it to be on me.
I wanted to show her I was as immune to her now as I'd been pretending to be when she'd been a club whore.
Fuck, that was messed up.
I brought my leg over my seat and walked to Bobbie's front door.
Chapter 5
Bobbie
I gave Georgia and her friend, Debbie, a last wave before turning back to my front door to unlock it. I was so glad to finally be home, thankful to be out of that horrible situation. Happy that I'd gotten away from Demon and his men. I'd waited a full day before asking Georgia for a ride, paying for her gas and buying her and Debbie lunch for their trouble. Georgia and I hadn’t spoken about what we'd gone through, content to deal in our own ways. I wasn't sure how much she’d told Debbie, but I knew that she would have had to tell her something to explain away our suddenly unkempt appearances.
I had no doubt that the men involved would be dead before the Desert Rebels left that trailer. I didn't know what they'd been looking for, but I had the feeling that it had something to do with what had gone down at their clubhouse the day Gage had been killed. Thinking about his death caused a wave of sadness to wash over me. We'd gotten close during the months I'd been at the clubhouse, and had spent a lot of time together in his room, just hanging out. Not once had he made a move to get me into his bed. He hadn't been interested in me in that way.
I closed and locked the door behind me and leaned against it with a sigh. I noticed that there was a faint smell of food in my apartment, and at first I suspected that it was coming from the garbage. But it wasn't a bad smell. My gaze moved around the small space that was my apartment, taking in the tiny kitchen, living room, and up to the hallway that led to my bathroom and bedroom in one sweep. Nothing appeared out of place, but when I went to flip on the lights nothing happened. I flipped the switch several times and then groaned, my mind spinning as I tried to recall when my electric bill was due. Damn! I was only a week late. Surely the electric company hadn't turned it off that quickly.
I went to the fridge and opened the door, sighing with relief when the light came on and I was hit by the cold. Oh, good, I thought to myself. It must just be a burned-out light bulb. I peered at the contents inside the fridge making a mental note what might need to be thrown away after being gone for so long. The half-eaten omelet, and left-over Chinese take-out for sure. I narrowed my gaze on the pizza box inside and frowned. I didn't recall having ordered one before being taken.
Oh, well.
First things first, I thought. I needed to call the clinic and pray that I hadn't been replaced for not showing up for work for the last two weeks. Then I needed to get to the clinic to take whatever tests necessary to confirm that I was clean and healthy. The thought of having an STD almost made me sick. An unwanted pregnancy? I didn't even want to think about that. A lump formed in my throat and I rushed to the bathroom, thinking that I was going to throw up. I hung my head over the sink and gagged violently, but nothing came up. While there, I decided to brush my teeth.
I brushed for a good four minutes before rinsing my mouth out with half a bottle of mouth wash. Surprisingly, just doing that little bit had made me feel better. I quickly stripped my clothes off and crammed them into the small trash can next to the toilet. Next, I reached in and turned on my shower, getting the water as hot as I could stand it before stepping inside. It was so hot that it stung my skin, but I didn't care. I scrubbed my body down several times until it was pink and almost raw, and washed my hair, sighing with pleasure at the scent of my own fragrant products running down my body.
Before I knew it, tears were running down my face. I'd always prided myself on being a strong woman, and I wasn't a crier, but considering that I'd been kidnapped, half-starved, beaten, and raped for two weeks straight I allowed myself the outlet I'd been denying before then. I needed to fall apart, needed to give myself permission to get it out of my system. Sobs began to fill the tiny, steam-filled bathroom as I accepted what had happened, accepted that I hadn't been able to stop it. I screamed and hit the shower wall before sliding down and pulling my knees up, letting the water pelt my abused body.
I let the scalding water rain down on me until I couldn't cry anymore, until the water began to turn cold and I knew that I had to get out. I don't know how long I’d been in there when I forced myself to turn the water off and get out. I wrapped a towel around my body and padded barefoot to my bedroom for clothes. It was the time of day when darkness was just beginning to take over, but I could still see well enough not to use the lights. I walked directly to my dresser, where I pulled out a pair of panties and a sleep tee.
I dropped the towel to the ground and reached for my panties.
"You've lost weight."
I screamed and jerkily grabbed my tee bringing it up to cover me. My eyes darted to the bed, where the voice had come from, to find Demon sitting up against the head board with his long legs crossed at the ankles. Relief and anger vied for first place in my emotions, but blinding anger won out.
"What the fuck, Demon?! What are you doing here? How did you get in?" I watched him like a hawk as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and rose to his feet. His long strides ate up the distance between us and suddenly he was standing in front of me. I forced myself to hold his sharp, assessing gaze.
His eyes dropped down the front of me, burning me with their intensity. "Get dressed. You're going with me."
His arrogance caused me to see red. "No. I'm not." I so wanted to slip into my tee, feeling exposed in spite of the fact that I was holding the shirt against my body. He'd seen me naked before, but this situation felt far more intimate than when he’d watched as I’d tried to wash Roland off of me. His eyes hadn't held that predatory, hungry look like they were now.
He took a threatening step closer. I took a step back, coming up against my dresser. I caught my breath, feeling a rush of heat envelop me. I did not want Demon. I didn't want him to touch me. I hated him. He leaned down close to my face.
"I caught you with our enemies, bitch. Considering the trouble we've had and the fact that you conveniently left the club right before all that shit went down, you look guilty as fuck."
"You're crazy!" I hissed. "My leaving had nothing to do with what happened at the clubhouse, or with your brothers. As for finding me with your enemies, they took me, asshole. One of those cages was mine!" I was trembling with emotion.
Something flickered in his eyes but it was gone so fast I was sure that I'd imagined it. "That may be, but there's still too many unanswered questions right now. Until I get to the fucking truth you'll be a guest of Desert Rebels."
"Fuck you, Demon! Get out!"
"Maybe if you hadn't run, I wouldn't be here now," he growled, so close to me I could feel his breath against my face.
"What did you expect me to do? Stay there and continue to be abused?"
His upper lip curled. "Innocent people don't run, Bobbie. And I have a fucking traitor in my club."
I swallowed hard. "It's not me," I insisted. "You think I'm stupid enough to betray the Desert Rebels? I know the rules, Demon." Christ, I'd been around MCs my whole adult life.
He nodded, but his expression revealed that he wasn't convinced. "Yeah. And all of a sudden you have this nice fucking apartment, nice fucking furniture. I bet you even have a nice, new car," he gritted between his teeth.
My jaw dropped as I realized what he was implying. It suddenly became clear to me how my situation looked, and why he thought I’d betrayed his club and been rewarded for it. I'd left the clubhouse right before the attack had occurred, although I’d had no way of knowing what was going to happen. He'd walked in to find me sucking off a man who happened to be wearing a cut from a rival MC. He probably thought I'd been there willingly. Then I’d run off, and he tracked me down to a nice apartment, the nicest I've ever been able to afford.
I had a new car, too.
Shit.
"I can explain—"
"Damn right you will," he snarled. "Now put some fucking clothes on or I'll take you the way you are."
I opened my mouth.
"I mean it, bitch."
We stared each other down. My heart was racing because I knew Demon would do it. He wasn't the kind of man to issue empty threats. He was so angry, I could feel the waves of fury rolling off him, and an angry Demon was a scary Demon. I'd seen him in action when I'd been living at the clubhouse. He'd earned his place as president because he did whatever he had to do to run the MC. He was ruthless and dangerous.
A killer.
And knowing all those things about him excited me. It shouldn't have, but I couldn't help myself. He was as alpha as they came, built like a hulking machine that showed no fear. Being this close to him, to this monster, brought back to me all over again how much I wanted him to take me without mercy, to claim me with rough passion as I'd watched him do with the other club whores for months. I may have hated him, hated what he made me feel, but I wanted him, too. I hated him for hurting me, even while he didn't know that every time I saw him with a club slut he was slowly killing me inside.
"What's it going to be?" he asked after a minute of silence.
I raised my chin, determined to show him that he didn't intimidate me. "Step back. I can't dress with you standing over me."
For the first time since I’d found him in my apartment, his expression relaxed. "Good fucking choice."
He backed off, but he didn't go far, and he didn't turn around, either. He crossed his massive arms over his massive chest, an arrogant smirk spreading across his hard face.
