Rise in arms, p.9
Rise in Arms, page 9
part #4 of Blood Brothers MC Series
My eyes widen. “You wouldn’t dare?”
His eyebrows raise, the look in his eyes challenging. “Wouldn’t I? Don’t test me, Char. I’m a man that keeps his word.”
I swallow hard, trying to rid the sudden lump at the back of my throat. How did it come to this? One minute he’s kissing me, now he practically hates me.
She’s driving me fucking crazy. How can one woman—a petite scrap of a woman at that—make me act all caveman and shit. Fuck me.
First, I turn my head around for one second and a guy’s already trying to get into her pants, so what do I go and do? I fuckin’ kiss her. I taste her, and she tastes fuckin’ amazing. I thought I just needed one kiss to get her out of my system, but little did that do—if anything I want her even more, don’t give a fuck she has another guy’s baby inside her. I feel this insane need to own her, body and soul, and I’ve only just met her.
Now I get it, how Quill went mad for Jasmine, and Hawke for Luisa. I mean I thought I felt love for Jasmine, and I still carry her in my heart, but what I’m feeling for Charity is something new, something I’ve never felt before. It’s as if I need to carry her over my shoulder and lock her in my room so nobody else can have her.
What the fuck am I thinking? She’s running away because her man laid his hands on her, raped her from what I hear. The last thing she needs right now is another man trying to own her. But I just can’t help what I’m feeling, and she tests me, I know she does, like she did at the table when she ordered her food. And now I catch her on the back of Bear’s bike? Another fucking test, I’m sure. But no fucking way am I’m going to allow her to be up close to Bear like that. I don’t care if her arms around him are needed to stop her from falling off—I don’t want those arms to be around any other man but me. She thinks I don’t know what she’s playin’ at, but I know she’s trying to get me back for tellin’ her it was a mistake to kiss her. The words sounded bitter in my mouth when I spat them out, because it was a lie. A lie I tried desperately to convince myself of but failed to do so.
With red-hot anger searing through me, I dump her ass on the back of my bike and get in her space. “You’d better shut the fuck up and put that helmet on your sweet head, before I bend you over this bike and give you the spanking you deserve.” My hand twitches at the thought of my hand on her ass.
Her eyes widen. “You wouldn’t dare?”
“Wouldn’t I? Don’t test me, Char. I’m a man that keeps his word.”
She stills and looks the other way. She’s obviously trying to ignore me, despite the fact I’m right in front of her, but even though she’s stiff as a corpse I check that the strap on her helmet is done up securely. I don’t care. She’ll stay on the back of my bike, and that’s final.
“Everything okay here?”
I turn to face Hazel, who has a concerned look on her face. “Yeah, sis, everything’s fine.”
“Can I have a word with you?”
“What now?” I ask, looking down at my watch on my wrist.
“Yeah, now, Kane.” She’s pissed.
I sigh and meet Hazel’s eyes. “Sure.”
Hazel looks over at Charity, who’s still looking away, and walks a few feet away.
I follow her and push my hands into the front pockets of my jeans. “What’s up?”
“Why are you being such an asshole to Charity?” Hazel says straight up. “She’s been through enough, don’t you think? She certainly doesn’t need you manhandling her.”
I look down at the bitumen and kick at a stone near my foot.
“Kane, look at me,” Hazel continues, her voice gentler now.
I do and try hard as fuck to think of a reason why I am, indeed, acting like an asshole. I can’t exactly say to my sister it’s because I fuckin’ want her best friend, though. Don’t want any other man’s hands on her, or hers on anyone else but me.
“You like her, don’t you?”
Fuck. I snap my head up to meet Hazel’s eyes, and notice she’s smiling. I roll my eyes. “Don’t be fucking creating some fantasy notion about me and Charity. I’m doing this for you, remember?”
“Yeah, sure you are. Is that why you couldn’t handle her being on the back of Bear’s bike?”
My sister is too fuckin’ smart for my liking. I love Hazel, she’s my only family and I’m damn proud of her—and it kills me to lie to her—but I can’t tell her that yes, I like Charity, I want her, and I don’t want any other man to look her way. She’ll think I’m crazy and shit, and to be honest, I’m not ready to admit any feelings just yet.
“Look, Hazel, let’s hit the road. We have a long ride ahead of us and I don’t like us wasting time out here. If Blake is looking for her, then we need to get her to the clubhouse, and pronto.”
Hazel sighs loudly. “Okay, I get it, you don’t want to talk about it. But be nice to her, okay? She’s my friend.”
Hazel leans in and gives me a kiss on my cheek then pulls me in for a hug. I embrace her back and kiss the top of her head, loving the way her brown hair smells. It brings back memories of us as kids. “Love you, brother,” she whispers into my chest.
“Love you back, sis.” I pull back and look down at her. “I promise I’ll try and be nice.”
She smirks. “That’s my Kane.”
I laugh then turn around to walk back to my bike. Charity still sits there, stiff as hell on the leather seat, but I know her eyes are on me; I can feel them.
Once I’m back beside the bike, a sense of guilt washes over me. I just manhandled a pregnant woman, and one that’s already been through enough.
“Take your helmet off,” I say gruffly.
“What?” she asks, her voice muffled by the helmet.
I unclasp the chin strap and pull it gently from her head. Her blue eyes look deep into mine, and I’m sure she can see right through to my soul. She’s still pissed, though. Her flushed face, glittering stare, and creased forehead prove that.
I sit on my bike, facing her. “Look, Charity, I’m sorry about… you know…. About….”
“About how you just picked me up and carried me over your shoulder like a crazy person?”
Crazy about her! “Yeah, something like that,” I admit, scratching my scruffy jaw. I smile at her then and cup her cheek. Her face softens at my touch, and it’s taking everything in me to hold back from kissing her. Her silken hair feels amazing through my fingers, and I imagine what it would look like if she was sprawled out naked on my bed. Shaking my head to get rid of that thought, I say, “I’m sorry for treating you like that, it won’t happen again.”
“Which part?” she asks, her eyebrows raising slightly.
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“I mean the part about you kissing me and basically dry humping me, or the part where you carried me over your shoulder?”
Tilting my head, I think on her words. I can’t guarantee that I won’t kiss those sweet lips again, but I can definitely assure her I won’t manhandle her again.
“Let’s just leave it, shall we?”
She puffs out a breath and mutters, “Figures.”
I remove my hand from her cheek. “What was it you figured?”
“The fact that you can’t admit how much you want me—which is just as much as I want you.”
I feel a rush of warmth run through my veins at her admission, and my cock throbs with an urgent need for her. She wants me. Fuck! How am I supposed to forget those words?
She bites down on her bottom lip and inches closer to me. I suck in a breath; her nearness is too much. “Charity… this can’t happen,” I say, flicking my finger between our bodies.
“It can’t, or you won’t let it?” she responds, her eyes now on my lips.
Again, she moves another inch closer. Out of the corner of my eye I see Hazel talking to Tracker, and Bear is distracted talking on his phone.
“It can’t,” I state again, feeling the breath hitch at the back of my throat.
“You’re a coward,” she whispers, looking straight at me when she delivers that punch.
I straighten. “A coward? Why? Because I don’t want to fuck a woman who’s been through a lot recently, and who must be scared out of her mind to be running away with her friend, not caring that’s she’s running to an MC ?” Her eyes shine with unshed tears, but I continue. “You don’t want me, you’re just looking for someone to comfort you and look after you. Well, I’m tellin’ you now, that ain’t me. I’ll help you, get you to a safe house, but that’s it. You’re right on one thing, though. I may want you—fuck, how could any man not want you, you’re fucking beautiful—but you deserve better, a man that will give you everything you need, not a biker like me, who doesn’t care what tomorrow brings, and likes it that way. Nah, you’re better than that, so get it out of your head that anything’s happening between us, because it ain’t.”
And with that said, I hand her the helmet again, trying desperately to ignore the tears that are now rolling down her face. She needed to hear it; I can’t offer her what she needs. Sure, I can get her protection, but that’s it. And yeah, I don’t want any other fucker to have her either, but that’s not the point.
With that decision made, and as much as it made things ache inside me, and not in a good way, I turn around in the seat, start my bike, lift the kickstand, and signal to the others to leave.
We drive straight through, only stopping twice for the ladies to go to the bathroom, and an hour ago we stopped to get something to eat. I’m tired as hell and know the ladies will be feeling it too but I need to get them to the clubhouse, where I know they’ll be protected by me and my brothers.
Thank fuck Quill offered for the girls to stay with Jasmine at their house, because having Hazel and Charity in the clubhouse is not something that sits well with me. They’re both beautiful women, and I can’t guarantee the boys won’t try to make moves on them. But something is niggling at the pit of my stomach, and it’s the fact I’m gonna see Jasmine sooner than I thought. The way we left things was not that great. I admitted my feelings to her, and even kissed her. Guilt washes over me when I think about how I took her in my arms and kissed her. If Quill ever found out, he’d have my neck. I don’t know what came over me in that moment. Maybe it was her in that white dress, or her pleading for me to explain why I was leaving, I’m not sure. I had a lot of feelings going on, especially feelings for Jasmine, and I couldn’t stand to be there day in and day out seeing what I could never have.
Which brings me back to why I was leaving in the first place. How can two days make such a difference? I thought I would never feel for a woman the way I felt for Jasmine. But there’s something about Charity that’s awakening something in me, something I’ve never felt before.
Right now, riding along with Charity on the back, her arms around me, her body sliding up and down mine now and then, feels like heaven. I’ve only ever had one woman on my bike, and that’s Hazel. I’ve never wanted a woman straddling my bike—it’s bikers’ code, a woman on the back of your bike means she’s your ol’ lady, and I was never ready for that kind of commitment… until her….
We enter our hometown and I feel a sense of relief wash through me. Not that me and my boys can’t handle protecting the girls, but there’s nothing like having your MC behind you.
“Are we nearly there?” Charity asks when I stop at a red light.
“Yeah, just a few minutes away.”
“Thank God, my butt is numb.”
“There’s a lot more I would like to numb on that sweet body of yours,” I say under my breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing, not far now.”
“Okay.”
Tracker pulls up on the left side of us, whistling sharply to get my attention. “Just got a call from Prez. He needs me on a job, I’ll meet you guys there.”
I signal him with my hand to go, and when the light turns green he takes off, with Bear staying close behind me.
We drive up to the clubhouse and stop at the closed gate. As soon as Rhyder sees me approaching he opens it, allowing us entry.
“Wow, this is some place you have,” Charity says as she gets off my bike and takes off her helmet. I nod over to Bear, who’s pulled up beside me with Hazel, then look over at Charity.
“This is home for me,” I reply, getting off the bike myself and looking around at our compound. The only place that has ever been home for me.
“You live here?” Charity asks, her eyebrows raised.
“Sure do. I have a room in the clubhouse, along with all of my brothers,” I explain, taking her helmet from her and placing it on my bike’s seat for now.
Running her hands down her hair to tame it, she continues with the questions. “So, when you say brothers, do you mean your blood brothers.”
I smirk at the term. “Something like that. They may not be my brothers through blood, but they’re the closest thing to family that I’ve got, and I’d do anything for any of them.”
“Wow, I envy what you have.”
Frowning, I step closer to her. “This sort of life is not what I would consider something to be envious of. It’s not a place for a lady, and I sure as hell wouldn’t want my sister living here.”
“But why?”
“You’ll see,” I say smiling, then look over at Hazel, who’s just joined us.
“See what?” Hazel asks.
“Oh, nothing. Your brother was just telling me how this place is not for ladies, so I asked him why.”
“Is that right?” Hazel says, looking around.
I growl. “Now listen here, sis. What you’ll see in there might shock you, but we’re men, and women come down to… party with us.”
“Um, what do you mean party?” Charity asks.
“You know, party—get drunk, dance, and fuck.”
Charity’s eyes widen, and Hazel slaps me on my shoulder. “You manwhore. Is this what you get up to while I’m at school studying?”
“I am a good-looking guy, sis,” I tease. “Can I help it if the ladies want in my bed?”
“Ewww, you’re a pig.”
I laugh out loud and drape my arm over Hazel’s shoulders. “Come on, let me introduce you to my boys.”
I lead the way into the clubhouse, and as soon as I open the door the music I could hear from outside blasts through my ears. I walk through first, holding Hazel’s hand in mine, and Charity holds on to her other as we walk into the main room. Bear passes us and heads straight to the bar to have a beer. Gunner, and Torch, one of our newest members, are at his side in an instant. Bear turns to face us and lifts his head toward us. The boys look over their shoulders in our direction, and every one of them have big smiles. Fuckers! I know what they’re thinking—new pussy. Well, fuck ’em. Like fuck they’re getting their hands on Charity, and they’re sure as fuck not touching my sister.
I look over my shoulder then lean in close to Hazel. “Stay close, and do not, I repeat do not leave my side.”
Hazel frowns. “Why’s that?”
“Just do as I say, okay? You’re like fresh meat. Any man here will want in your pants tonight, and that includes you too,” I yell over to Charity.
Charity points her finger at her chest. “Me? Why would they want me? I mean I’m nothing much to look at, but Hazel here…. Well… she’s gorgeous.”
Not much to look at? Is she fucking crazy?
I move closer and lean into Charity’s neck. “Just stay close, and if anyone bothers you, let me know. We won’t be here long, just gotta find Prez and let him know we’re back.”
Charity smiles and looks around the clubhouse, her mouth in the shape of an O as she stares at some of the brothers, who are obviously drunk, some with naked women on their laps.
“Are they… you know…?” she asks, pointing at Tracker’s brother Tate and some whore he’s with.
“Oh my God, they’re having sex on the couch,” Hazel gasps out.
“Now you see why I don’t want you two stayin’ here. This is a clubhouse, there ain’t no shame in what we do here. We like pussy, and the women here like givin’ it.”
Charity’s face snaps to mine. “You mean you do that too?”
I swallow hard, contemplating whether I should be honest with her or not. I decide honesty is the best way, if she thinks she and I can have something real… well, she’s better off knowing what sort of guy I am. The kind of guy who takes a different woman to his bed each night.
“Oh, please. You have to ask that, Charity?” Hazel interrupts. “My brother is a manwhore. You should have seen him when he was younger, different girl each night. Right, Kane?”
I smirk. “What can I say, women love me.”
“You wish, brother dearest,” Hazel says, rolling her eyes at me. I don’t miss the way Charity’s body stiffens at the mention of me being with a different woman every night. What does she expect? I am single, don’t have no woman, or ol’ lady, for that matter.
She bites down on her bottom lip, her eyes avoiding mine. If she could see how hot she is right now. All those women that I’ve slept with have nothin’ on her. Charity is perfection. A tiny waist, round ass, and luscious breasts—every guy’s wet dream. Thing is, she’s smart too, and with a good head on her shoulders.
I’m soon brought out of my thoughts when Blaze and Hawke approach us, tapping me on the back when they’re in arm’s reach. “Hey, Trigg, who you got here with you?” I don’t mind Hawke and Blaze asking me questions about my sister and Charity, because I know how much they love their women. Hawke and Luisa are so deeply in love, and have twins together as well. Every time Luisa is in a room, Hawke is not far away from here. And Blaze, well, he and Tess have been together awhile, and he’s a loyal man to her. I’ve never seen him with a whore, or any woman for that matter, only ever Tess. Tess is Blaze’s ol’ lady—gorgeous, tattoo’s covering her tanned, olive-toned skin, with short stylish hair and brown eyes. Blaze told me one night not that long ago, when he’d had a few drinks in his belly, that he’s asked Tess to marry him a few times, but she’s said no. I know there’s more to that story, but Blaze doesn’t want to talk about it. I guess everyone has their own shit to deal with.
