One Hundred & Thirty-Six Scars (The Devil's Own #1)

  “Beast,” I moan as his mouth covers mine, his tongue coming out and swiping across my own before he sucks it into his mouth. The feeling grows. I turn into a ball of fire ready to explode in this very spot. “Shit,” I whisper. “I’m…I’m…”

  “That’s it, baby, come for me,” he growls into my mouth before his pace picks up to full blast as he pounds into me with raw yearning.

  Digging my nails into his shoulders, I reach higher and higher, and just when I think I can’t climb anymore, his hand reaches down between our sweat ridden bodies and gently but roughly he rubs my clit in circular motions. My body snaps and everything lets go. Explosions fire off behind my lids as little colorful balls bounce around my vision and my body jolts from the aftershocks of what just happened.

  Bringing me back to my feet, he snaps what sounds like the condom off his dick.

  “Holy shit,” I declare, pulling my undies back up over myself. Embarrassment sweeps over me. “Shit! Do you think they heard?”

  “No,” he answers.

  “How can you be sure,” I whisper, handing his iPod back to him.

  “Because Melissa is asleep and Hella has his iPod plugged in.”

  “Oh.”

  He pulls me to him, bringing his face down to my lips before drawing my mouth open with his, his tongue massaging mine gently before he pulls back and searches my eyes. “You’re fucking incredible. My little dark angel. Go to sleep, baby, we got shit to talk about tomorrow.”

  “Okay. Night.” Even though it’s morning.

  “Night, baby.” He keeps his eyes locked on mine so I turn my back on him. Just as I’m about to take a step toward my room, his hand wraps around my wrist, pulling me into him again.

  “I need to taste these lips one more time,” he growls into the back of my neck, his dick still hard against my ass while he runs his thick thumb across my bottom lip.

  I smile, turning in his embrace before his lips drop back onto mine softly. I open his mouth up with my tongue and a groan vibrates onto my lips.

  “Fuck. Okay, get some sleep, baby.”

  “Night, Beast,” I whisper, turning around and once again continuing to feel for my bedroom door. Pulling it open, I walk inside and wash up quickly before I crawl back under my sheets and close my eyes.

  I had sex and it was pleasurable.

  Maybe there is a God?

  Just maybe he didn’t want to save me.

  The shining bright sun burns through my window and my eyes scrunch shut as I try to mask it away.

  After another failed attempt at falling back to sleep, I pull the covers over and swing my legs off the bed to close the curtains. Peering down at the bed, I see Melissa not there.

  “What?”

  Spinning around to look at my alarm clock that sits beside my television opposite my bed, I see it’s one p.m. “Holy shit!” Running to my closet, I scan for my short white silk robe, tie it around my waist and make my way down the lightened hallway, passing the now memorable spot with a smile. When I walk into the living room, Beast, Hella, and Melissa are there. Melissa is sitting on the floor with her back against the sofa, a towel wrapped around her hair in a turban while she’s eating her favorite English breakfast—sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, mushrooms and all.

  I smile. “Hey, guys. I didn’t mean to sleep that long.”

  Melissa shakes her head, wiping her hands with a napkin. “It’s fine. I only just got up and made this! There’s heaps there. I made enough to feed these two as well.”

  “Really?” I ask eyebrows raised, smiling with mock shock.

  “Yeah, they’ve already eaten. I need to go and hand the keys to my new manager I hired. Maybe we could go do that when you’re ready?” she asks, tilting her head.

  I nod my head. “Sure. I just need food.”

  “Worked up a bit of an appetite early this morning did you?” Hella smirks, giving me a wink. Melissa looks between Hella and me. My eyes narrow on him and Melissa looks to Beast, who’s shaking his head.

  “Oh my God! You slept with him!” Melissa screeches. She has no filter and gives zero shits about what comes out of her mouth. I love her for it, but not right now.

  “I slept with you last night,” I answer, tilting my head and edging her to shut up.

  “I can work with that too, baby,” Hella retorts with a smirk. Beast raises his hand and slaps him upside the head. “Might wanna watch that mouth, brother.”

  Hella winks. “Sorry.”

  Melissa shoves her plate into Hella, who takes it naturally. A little too naturally, I would half expect Hella to shove it right back into her, or throw it at her.

  “Me. You. Kitchen. Now.” She walks up to me, pulling me into the kitchen by my arm.

  Once we round the corner, she checks the boys aren’t following before pointing me in the chest with a smile. “You did! How was it?”

  “What? How was what?” I whisper harshly.

  “You know? Your first time!”

  Pain lashes through my chest and my shoulders sag. “That wasn’t my first time.”

  She tilts her head, crossing her eyes in confusion. “I could have sworn—”

  I shake my head. “No. I mean, it was my first time… in a way, I guess. But it’s complicated and I don’t want to get into it right now.”

  She nods her head. “Okay. So, how was it?”

  “It?” I ask confused.

  “Yeah, you know. How’s he packing?” She runs her eyes out to the living room, scanning Beast up and down.

  “Yeah, he’s fine. You just worry about Hella.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, right.” Before walking back to the living room to finish her breakfast. Exhaling out, I make my way to the stove top, pulling down a plate and begin dishing up the food. Usually, I’m a healthy person, but right now I’m famished.

  “Hey,” Beast mumbles from the entryway. I peer up at him while pushing my English muffins down into the toaster.

  “Hey. How are you feeling?” I ask, taking the butter out of the fridge.

  Pushing off the doorway, he makes his way to me. “Good. You?” Pulling me into him, lifting me off the ground and kissing my shoulder.

  “Beast! I’m hungry.” I laugh, tilting my head to give him access to my neck.

  He places me down and slaps my ass. “All right. Eat. Then we need to talk.” Before he walks back into the living room. A few minutes later, I follow him in and take a seat at the coffee table, picking up the remote and turning the television on Crime Investigation channel where they’re investigating a triple homicide, real crime pictures and all.

  “Meadow, I still don’t know how you can watch this channel let alone watch it while you eat,” Melissa groans from her spot on the sofa.

  “It’s real, Melissa. It’s happening everywhere.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t want to watch it.”

  I take a bite out of my sausage before peering up at Beast. “What did you want to talk about?”

  Walking around the coffee table, he takes a seat next to me, leaning on one elbow. Hella throws his cap on backward and looks to Melissa uneasily. Shoving a piece of English muffin in my mouth, I ask again, “What?” while scanning both of them.

  “We need to head back to Vegas today. We have other deep shit that we need to sort out. It turns out that explosion was retaliation for some biker’s feathers Blake ruffled up a few years ago for Phoebe.” I drop my muffin onto the plate, wiping my hands with the napkin.

  “Okay. It’s all right. I get it. Biker and all,” I answer, waving my hands around. Ignoring the fact that every part of my body is already aching at the thought of him gone.

  Beast clears his throat. “Yeah, no, that’s not what I mean. We’re going to need you both to come with us.”

  I stop my chewing, quickly swallowing the large piece of sausage meat.

  “Wait. Both? What? No. I can’t!” Melissa yells from her spot, bouncing up from the sofa. “Not only because I have a life, and a business to r
un, but I fucking hate you!” She points to Hella.

  Oh dear. I wipe my hands on the napkin, looking at Beast uneasily.

  “Yeah?” he questions, standing from his spot and inching closer to Melissa with his jaw flexing, causing her body to inch backward. “Well guess what, Princess?” he seethes, his head bending to her ear. “I hate you, too,” he whispers loudly.

  “Oh, fuck. All right.” Beast stands as Melissa shoves Hella in the shoulder before running full blast to the front door and dashing out in all her turban hair glory.

  Shoving my food away, with a now lost appetite, I take a stand.

  “Okay. What the fuck is the deal with the two of you? I feel like I’m watching the live version of Eminem and Kim Mathers.”

  Hella smirks, shrugging his shoulder. “Fuck knows.”

  “Did you sleep with her?” Beast asks, shoving his hands in his jean’s pockets.

  “Of course they did.”

  Hella shrugs. “I think so. I don’t know but I haven’t fucked anyone else since that bonfire.”

  “It’s only been three days,” I point out, my tone bored.

  “Yeah, that’s a long time for him,” Beast mumbles next to me. “What about you?” he adds, watching me closely.

  “What? Coming to Vegas? I haven’t been there since. Well… I haven’t been back there in a long time, I just don’t know.” My voice softens. “I don’t want to cause you any headaches, though, I know how serious this must be. How long are you thinking?”

  Beast walks over, pushing a few stray hairs away from my face and tucking them behind my ear. “I own that town, baby. I put your demons to rest when I snapped his neck. You will always be safe with me.”

  “You may have sent the demon back to hell, Beast. But I’ve lived with the memories of it all my life.” Wrapping my hands around my torso, I smile up at him. He pulls my arms apart and pulls me into him, wrapping them around his waist and kissing me on the head. I rest my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

  “I know, baby, I know. Do you trust me?”

  “You know I trust you, Beast.”

  He kisses me on the head again, mumbling into my hair, “Three weeks? Give me three weeks to sort this shit out.”

  Sighing, I pull out of his grasp and peer up into his dark eyes. “Okay. Let me sort out work. And I’ll give you two weeks… not three.” He nods his head, letting me go.

  Hella moans, flopping down on the sofa. “Why can’t I pick the smart girls like Meadow? The ones that know what’s good for them. I always attract these psycho, smart mouthed, stubborn, bitches.”

  I shake my head at his term for women while I walk to the kitchen to get my phone and call the girls at work before dialing Melissa. I need to get her to come somehow, she’s not safe here. Everyone has noticed how Hella is toward her. No doubt, that sort of news would travel fast in the MC community making her a possible target.

  After hanging up my phone, I’ve sorted out my work and Melissa. She’s hard work, but you just have to put things into perspective for her. She’s not dumb, Phoebe and she have been best friends since they were little. She knows what comes with club life.

  I walk back into the living room. “I’ll pack a bag. Melissa and I will take my car. As much as I’d love to be on the back of that bike for five hours, Melissa will kill me.”

  Hella snaps his head up. “She’s coming?”

  I nod my head. “Yep. She just needed me to put it into perspective for her. She knows, she’s been around SS since she was a little girl, Hella.”

  He nods his head. “Thanks.”

  I tilt my head. “Why do you care? About her, I mean?”

  He shrugs his jaw flexing. “I don’t care about her. And I may be an asshole, but I don’t want her to get hurt because of me.”

  “You’re wrong about one thing.”

  “Oh?” he questions, swinging his arm over the rim of the sofa. “And what’s that?”

  “You’re not an asshole, you’re worse.” I walk to my bedroom, packing up my bags and bringing them back out to the living room.

  This is going to be a long trip.

  When we pull into a gated farmland that stretches down a long, gravel driveway, I shrug Melissa, who’s fast asleep next to me. “Wake up, I think we’re here.” We follow Hella in down the bumpy road and I look back in my rear vision mirror to see Beast on his bike with his skull bike mask covering his mouth. My cheeks flush, I don’t know why, but that mask turns me on—only on Beast. Hella wears an identical one and it doesn’t do the same things to me. Melissa yawns from her seat, stretching her arms wide while I flex out my neck.

  “Shit. What are we doing,” she mumbles under her breath, placing a mint in her mouth.

  Taking one off her, I absently look into the rear vision mirror again. “I don’t know. We stick together, though. Beast said there’s a house that we can stay at.”

  “All right. This should be interesting.”

  Bringing my car to a halt outside a massive building that’s built like a barn, only reconstructed. It’s all black with their MC logo stamped across the top of it. Just behind the barn, there’s an equally large garage, that again is stamped with their logo across the front. The unfamiliarity of my surroundings begins to build in my stomach as I internally swallow the uneasiness that’s about to settle inside me. Clutching the door to my white 2014 Audi A3 Sports sedan, I climb out, pushing my phone into the pocket of my skinny jeans and zipping up my hoodie before shutting the door behind me, the gravel crunching underneath my white Chuck Taylors. Beast walks up to me, taking my hand in his and pulling his mask down to sit around his neck. “You all good?” he asks, planting his soft lips on mine.

  I am now. “Yeah, we’re both good.” I look at Melissa, who’s taking out her phone and handbag from the car, with her ass in the air, bending over.

  “Melissa,” I whisper loudly. “Pull your shorts down.”

  She peers up at me from her elbows that are resting on the passenger seat. A smile comes on her lips. “Hey, I said I’d come, not that I would behave.”

  “Jesus…” I whisper, shaking my head. “I’m going to apologize now for her behavior,” I mumble to Beast, who chuckles under his breath.

  Hella walks up behind Beast with a smirk. “Apologize for what?” Looking between us before locking his eyes on Melissa’s glorious ass. “What the hell are you doing, Melissa? He rounds the car just as she straightens out of it with her bag in her hand.

  “Hella, leave me alone. Me and you do not know each other.”

  “You sure about that?” he asks, narrowing his eyes and glaring down at her with an intensity that screams hate.

  “Round 10… Fight,” I mimic in the best Tekken voice I can master. Beast laughs, wrapping his long fingers into mine. “Come on, I’ll show you girls around. Hella! I’ll meet you back at the bar.”

  We both stop, watching Melissa and Hella’s epic stare-down. Both as stubborn as each other and both play just as dirty. Sighing, I walk to Melissa. “Come on, feisty. Let’s go.” Offering a small smile to Hella before dragging her away. “Jesus,” I mutter to her while we walk back to Beast. “You’re going to tell me what the hell is going on tonight.”

  “Ready?” he asks with a smirk. Why does he have to be so beautiful? Images flash in my head of our night last night and my cheeks flare fire hydrant red.

  “Ready!” Melissa pipes in, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

  I nod my head and smile. “Sure, ready when you are.”

  Walking up the porch steps of our eastbound house, I swing open the front door and step aside for the girls to walk in and get acquainted with everything. Meadow goes in first and my eyes follow her through, those tight jeans wrapping perfectly around her little peach ass. Smirking, I bring them back to Melissa and she smiles, following suit.

  “You know, if you hurt her, I will hunt you down and burn the skin off your balls,” she says quietly and casually, peering up at me under her eyes with an in
nocent smile on her mouth.

  Narrowing my eyes, I shut the door. “You’re a little crazy. You and Hella are going to kill each other.”

  She laughs, walking toward the stairs that lead up to the bedrooms. “Maybe. But if I succeed in dragging him down to hell with me, I’ll die a happy woman.”

  “Jesus, what the hell did he do to you?” I answer, rounding her body while looking for Meadow.

  Her face drops, sadness overcoming her, only for a brief second because before I know it, that psycho little smile is back on her face.

  “It doesn’t matter. Meadow?” she yells out, leaving me standing in the hallway dumbfounded. He could have done a number of things, Hella has no emotions when it comes to anything, like me, we both care for a very little amount of people. I don’t think I ever stopped caring for Meadow, though, I think this was the universe's way of getting me to sort my shit with her. Or maybe I was supposed to bring her ass back to Vegas all those years ago. Who knows?

  I walk into the kitchen, opening up one of the fridges to see it filled with food, wine, and all sorts of groceries. I had called Bethy before we left Westbeach to get her to do a shop, and I’d give her the cash when I returned, but she went over the top—like she always does. Bethy stays away from the clubhouse nowadays, but will make an exception every now and then.

  The girls round the corner, Meadow pushing her hands into her back pockets. “All unpacked. It’s peaceful here, I don’t know what I was expecting.” She giggles, looking around.