Dragon, p.12
Dragon, page 12
Laughter in the main house garage echoes loudly, beckoning me toward it. Katana is right behind me, ready to back me up no matter what. Koyn and Copper are standing side by side like a couple of behemoth brotherly tattooed beasts wearing matching smirks as Nees no doubt fucks up another one of his bikes. The kid’s gone through more bikes than our whole club combined. Clumsy ass motherfucker.
“Prez,” I grind out. “A word.”
Copper’s amusement fades away as he scrutinizes me in that ex-Fed way he’s perfected. Like he can cut me open and find answers if he chooses to. I give him the finger before ignoring him completely.
“If you’re coming to tell me you accidentally killed BP in some kinky-ass sex games,” Koyn drawls out, “I don’t want to hear about it. I’m not dealing with Stormy. You can tell her you fucked her brother to death yourself.”
Nees barks out a laugh from nearby. Before I can retaliate, Katana rests an encouraging hand on my shoulder. All irritation for Nees evaporates in an instant.
“I’ll make sure he’s still alive,” Copper deadpans. “Katana?”
Katana waits for my approval. I give him a clipped nod. Behind me, Nees complains as Copper herds him out of the garage.
Just me and Prez and my fury.
“I want him dead.”
“BP?”
I crack my neck, pinning him with a cool glare. “Fuck off.”
“You’re a real pain in my ass, you know that?” Koyn’s tone is gruff, but there’s a hint of affection beneath it all. It’s a reminder a man, a father, a husband lives inside the crazy fucking Royal Bastard.
“My patience is gone. Fucking gone. I’m going whether you allow me to or not.”
Koyn scowls, the scars on his face pinching at the movement. “Give me a couple of weeks to formulate a plan—”
“Tonight.”
“You’re fucking insane if you think I’m going to go for that.”
“Animal has eyes on that trailer. The only place Night Giant goes is to the local grocery store to buy toilet paper to wipe his ass and food. He’s right there, Prez. I can’t fucking sit still or relax knowing he’s right there within reach.”
He plucks a cigarette from his pack and offers me one as well. My nerves are shot, so a blast of nicotine will certainly take the edge off. We both light up and it isn’t until we’ve taken a couple of drags before he speaks again.
“Tonight, huh?”
“I can be there in a few hours.”
“Not alone.”
“I’ll have Katana.”
Koyn takes another drag and blows out a plume of smoke from his nostrils. “We’ll all go.”
“I don’t need everyone, Bizzy’s fat ass included, fucking this up for me,” I growl, cracking my neck. “I’ll get in and get out.”
“No.”
“Prez…”
“Jesus Christ, Dragon, I said no. You’re not doing this alone.”
“You can come, but I can’t do this with all of…them.” Bizzy. Filter. Copper.
He studies me for a long beat, reading between the lines. Night Giant is my weakness. The one chink in my armor. Prez knows firsthand what that motherfucker did to me because he was there when I was just a young man on the run and looking for a safe place to land.
“All right. Give me an hour and then we’ll get rid of this sick piece of shit once and for all.”
Music to my ears.
“Listen up,” Koyn says after pushing away his empty plate from lunch. “Plans have changed.”
Copper gives me a warning glare, which means he must’ve interrogated Cove about this new thing we’re doing. He can shoot daggers at me all he wants, but I’m not quitting Cove. Not a fucking chance.
Koyn waits until everyone is crowded in the big house’s dining room and kitchen. The house is massive and swanky, reminding me of the house I grew up in, but all the tattooed bikers seem out of place. I force images of my mother out of my mind. She’d lose her shit if the Royal Bastards were in her pristine kitchen.
Ignoring the longing to hug my mother, I focus on Koyn. Somehow, he became more than a biker brother. He became a surrogate father when I was too ashamed and broken to go back to mine. I might be a shithead most days, but I’ll forever be grateful for the life Koyn gave me when I no longer had one.
“Tonight, we’re taking down Night Giant.”
“Hell yeah,” Nees shouts, fist pumping the air. “About damn time.”
“Not you, numbskull. Me, Katana, and Dragon.”
“Prez,” Filter starts, irritation in his tone. “I’m going too.”
“No,” Koyn grinds out. “It’s the three of us. In and out. We’ll be back by morning.”
“What about the intel?” Payne asks. “I thought we were using him to smoke out others.”
“Fuck the intel,” I snarl. “His expiration date is up.”
“We’re taking Hadley’s Tahoe,” Koyn continues, ignoring the arguing. “Filter, Halo, Gibson—make sure we’re stocked up on weapons. Bermuda, get in contact with Animal. Let him know we’re headed that way.”
Everyone begrudgingly breaks up to do as they’re told. I grab some of my favorite knives after a quick shower. Washing Cove’s scent off me wasn’t by choice. I just hate the idea of Night Giant smelling him. That bastard took enough from me. I’ll be damned if I let him take something as intangible as Cove’s smell too. Once I’m showered, dressed, and strapped for battle, I head outside.
A fucking angel awaits me.
Cove, dressed from head to toe in black, leans against Hadley’s Tahoe. His blond hair is messy on top of his head, like a chaotic halo. My wrecked angel. He’s been dragged to hell and clawed his way back out.
“Came to give me a goodbye kiss. How sweet,” I spit out, not meeting his penetrating stare. “I’m not in the mood.”
I’m absolutely in the fucking mood, but the second I get my lips back on him, I won’t be able to stop.
“Shut up, Dragon.”
His icy words are daggers in my heart. I love the cold pain of them. Cutting, stabbing, chilling.
“Go back to the clubhouse, Baby Prospect.”
“No.”
I stalk over to him, unable to keep from shoving my hips against his. His ass hits the side of the vehicle and he sucks in a sharp breath.
Don’t touch him. Don’t touch him. Don’t touch him.
My hand shakes as I ghost it over his delicate cheek. His lips part, inviting me to do so much more than touch. To kiss and devour and own.
He reaches up and grabs my wrist, tugging me closer. I study his pouty lips as he molds my hand around his throat. A thrill shivers down my spine.
“What are you doing?” I demand, my hand giving in to his need, tightening around his neck. “You’re a distraction.”
“I’m going with you.”
“You’re not.”
He grabs my leather cut, pulling me impossibly closer. I love the ragged sound of his breathing as my grip around his throat shackles him to me.
“What happens when he gets inside your head, Chase? What then?”
I recoil at my real name, shuddering as it violates me with memories of a boy I once was. Everything darkens around me. Despair claws at me inside my chest. The world spins and then my head slams against the hard earth.
“Look at me,” Cove demands, scowling down at me.
He’s an avenging angel straddling me. Fire and brimstone in his blue eyes. Beautiful and terrifying.
“You need me,” he murmurs softly. “Admit it. I somehow understand what goes on in that fucked-up head of yours.”
My heart no longer races and thuds heavily in my chest. I grab hold of his shirt, tugging him down to me. His lips press to mine so sweetly and reverently, I almost don’t feel worthy of such a tender kiss. The sweetness fades as his tongue plunges into my mouth, teasing me in filthy ways that get my dick incredibly hard.
“You’re manipulative,” I complain.
“Whatever works.”
“Stormy teach you this shit?”
“Family trait.”
“Hmph.”
He grins against my lips. “That sounds like a yes.”
“You’re fucking deaf too.”
“I’m coming, Dragon.”
I grab his ass with two hands, squeezing tight. “Not yet. You will be when this is over.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Koyn barks out. “You can’t fuck in my front yard.”
“We were having a discussion,” Cove mutters.
“Yeah, me and Pageant Girl have the same fucking discussions all the time. Always ends up with my dick in her mouth too.” He grumbles all the way to the hatch and starts tossing shit into the Tahoe. “I’m leaving, Dragon. With or without you.”
I grab Cove’s jaw, bringing his lips to mine. “You can go with us. But Night Giant is mine. Understood?”
“Yeah, psycho. I’m not into that bloody shit like you. I’m just there to have your back.”
We get lost in another kiss, ignoring Katana’s sniggering as he passes by us. It isn’t until Koyn starts laying on the horn like a crazy-ass motherfucker that we break apart.
Time to put down the monster once and for all.
Cove
A road trip with Prez, Katana, and Dragon isn’t exactly my idea of a fun time. Especially since I’ve been reduced to sitting in the third row because Katana took up all of the second one. Dragon is surprisingly chatty up front with Koyn, talking about boats of all goddamn things.
Boats.
Dragon is a lot of things—mainly fucking crazy—but boats aren’t something I think of when I think of Dragon. I think of knives and tattoos and piercing green eyes. Blood and mayhem.
Not sunny days in swim trunks, trolling all over Lake Keystone.
As if he senses that my thoughts are on him, he turns in the passenger seat, his intense stare boring into me. “Want to come up front and sit on Daddy’s lap, Baby Prospect?”
I flip him the bird. “Fuck off.”
“Are we ever going to talk about this?” Koyn asks, his voice gruff. “I know I’m not the only one around here wondering how the hell you two ended up in the same bed.”
“BP was needy for cock. I have a cock that’s needy for attention,” Dragon says, his lips curling into a wicked grin. “Match made in heaven.”
“Hmph. Heaven. Whatever.” Koyn shakes his head. “I still can’t wrap my head around it.”
“Neither can I,” I mutter. “Are we there yet?”
“Almost,” Koyn says. “We’re going to meet up with some of Animal’s guys.”
Animal is the prez of the Little Rock, Arkansas Royal Bastards MC chapter. From what I can tell, he’s pretty tight with Koyn. They’ve backed us up on a lot of shit, including the rescue that went down when Dragon, my siblings, and a few other people we took in were all held captive by Night Giant and his crew of sick fucks.
Night Giant is what’s left of that whole ordeal. Koyn wanted to draw more information out of him, since we have eyes on him, but Dragon could only be held off for so long.
Koyn pulls into a decrepit convenience store parking lot and parks at one of the gas pumps. He doesn’t get out until a Harley rumbles to a stop on the other side. Dragon lets down the window as Koyn climbs out.
“Hey, man,” Koyn says, knocking fists with the burly biker. “What do we need to know?”
The man points down the road. “Another mile and turn right. He’s hunkered down in a shitty trailer. Only leaves to go to the little mom-and-pop grocery shop up the road. We watch him go in and then come back out.”
“Does he make contact with anyone once inside?” Koyn asks.
“They don’t have a public phone inside. I went in once just to see. It’s a real shithole inside. He goes back to the trailer and just waits.”
“Waits?”
“Seems that way.”
“On what?” Dragon demands, joining the conversation through the window. “For us to cut his balls off and feed them to him?”
The man snorts out a laugh. “Nah, man. I think he’s waiting on a rescue. It just ain’t come for him yet. Whoever he’s waiting to rescue him seems to have forgotten about him.”
Night Giant is a lot of things. Fucking scary and sick, but he isn’t stupid. Not by a long shot.
“Thanks, bro,” Koyn says, pulling a wad of cash from his jeans pocket. “Tell Animal I owe him a favor. After tonight, there won’t be any need to watch that motherfucker anymore.”
Koyn does another fist bump with the guy and then climbs into the Tahoe. He drives out of the parking lot and back onto the road. We follow the guy’s directions and turn off on a road littered with potholes. He slowly drives until a baby blue trailer peeks through the trees.
“We’ll park here. Wait until dark and then move in.”
Dragon scoffs. “You can sit here. I’m not waiting another second.”
He climbs out of the vehicle. Katana follows him, always having his back. Koyn utters a string of curse words under his breath. “I swear to fuck, this shit drives me insane. Let’s roll, BP.”
The four of us prowl through the woods, Dragon leading our pack. As soon as we get a good look at the trailer, Dragon holds up a fist, signifying we need to stop. I walk past Katana and Koyn to stand beside him.
“You okay?” I murmur.
He cracks his neck and whips out two knives. “I’ll be better than okay once I’ve gutted that pig.”
“Does it have to be messy?” I hiss. “Can you just put a bullet through his head and be done with it?”
“Nope. The asshole needs to pay in pain,” Dragon says in a detached tone. “For what he did to me, to you, to everyone.” He turns to face us. “I’m doing this alone.”
“No way,” I snarl.
Dragon’s lips twitch on one side. “Fine. Balls of Steel here is coming with me. Prez and K, you watch our backs.”
Koyn mutters his affirmation. Dragon creeps from the trees through the tall, overgrown grass like a lion stalking his prey. I walk behind him, matching each of his footsteps with similar ones of my own.
We reach the back door of the trailer and pause, listening for sounds. All quiet. It makes my heart lodge itself in my throat. I check the safety on my Glock, making sure it’s ready to fire in case this psycho monster comes charging at us.
Dragon turns the doorknob, slowly pushing into the trailer. The metal hinges creak in protest, making us both tense up. Still quiet. No footsteps or anything.
Dragon’s heavy boots make the floor groan as he steps inside. Each sound we make feels like a blaring alarm, alerting the madman to our presence. Still nothing.
The air is pungent with the smell of a cheap microwavable dinner. I motion at the coffee table where the plastic container is full of food and still steaming. Dragon nods, understanding. He’s here. Somewhere.
Chick-chick.
Dragon yanks me to the floor just barely before a shotgun blast obliterates the wall behind where I was standing.
We roll out of the way as another boom makes the floor explode.
The massive, towering monster emerges from the kitchen, a shotgun in his giant hands. He fumbles to shove two more buck shots into his shotgun, but Dragon is faster, meaner, more vicious. The shotgun is easily ripped from Night Giant’s grip despite his size and strength. Dragon is a man on a mission.
“Arghh,” Night Giant roars as he and Dragon crash to the kitchen floor.
I scoop up the shotgun and finish loading it in case I need to use it. Koyn and Katana emerge from outside, hollering to make sure we’re okay.
“He’s got this,” I assure them, my eyes glued to the way Dragon just stabs Night Giant over and over and over and over again in his protruding belly through his stained shirt.
“I wanted to make this last,” Dragon snarls, “but as it turns out, even you don’t deserve a special death. I just want to stick you and make you bleed.”
Night Giant is no longer fighting. When I’d seen him every time before, he’d had a mask on. Now, he’s maskless and looks like your everyday guy with a dark beard. Except, rather than writhing in pain, the creep is smiling.
“You m-must b-be his little t-toy.” Night Giant coughs up blood, spewing it everywhere. “You always w-were his f-favorite.”
A chill skitters down my spine at his words. Dragon is still in a crazed rage, now cutting off the man’s shirt to access his flesh.
“Dragon…” I mutter.
He ignores me, his blade slicing through the man’s gluttonous stomach. This guy is different. I’d remembered Night Giant was huge like this guy and had a similar voice, but he was solid, not fat. It’s what made me feel so confused about not hating giving him a blowjob. The parts of him he allowed me to see were far from ugly.
“Dragon,” I say louder. “It’s not—”
A phone rings from somewhere in the living room. Koyn’s footsteps are heavy as he goes toward the sound. Katana hovers nearby, ready to step in in case Dragon needs it.
He won’t need help, though.
Not here.
First off, the guy is already dead.
Secondly—
“Fuck,” Koyn barks out.
I leave Dragon to his mutilation of the corpse, turning my attention to Prez. His features are hard as he listens on the other line.
Pushing past Katana, I stand beside Koyn, frowning at him. While he listens to the person on the other end of the cheap burner phone, his fingers are flying over the screen of his own phone. The hairs on my neck stand up.
This isn’t good.
Bile creeps up my throat. Whatever he has to say, I know I’m not going to like it. I’ve never seen Koyn look so…furious? Disgusted? Distraught?
“No,” Koyn snarls into the burner phone. “Not just no, but fuck no.”
He ends the call, tossing the phone onto the couch. I gnaw on my bottom lip, waiting for him to spill the beans. His fingers spear into his dark hair and he tugs at the ends as he paces the small living room.
