Shade had been about to get up from the table but he sat back down, deciding to finish his coffee.
“Actually, no. Lily doesn’t seem interested in any of the boys she’s met at college, and with Charles running his father’s restaurant, they practically never see each other anymore. She says they’re just friends, anyway.”
“I think she’s attracted to older men. When I interviewed Conner, I almost couldn’t get her out of the room.”
Shade choked on his coffee.
“He’s from Texas, and he promised to teach her to ride a horse. Now that the weather is getting warmer, I’m sure he’ll keep his promise. I’ll be happy for her to spend some time with the opposite sex, and I like Conner. He’s a nice guy. I checked all his references myself. Lily will be thrilled when Conner takes her riding.”
“I bet she will be. I know I would.” Jewell snickered.
Shade’s chair scraped back from the table. He walked away, taking his dirty dishes to the sink, not caring that his coffee cup broke from the force. He then strode toward the kitchen door.
“Where you going, Shade?” Razer taunted with an evil smile.
“I need to buy a plane ticket. Someone I know needs to go home as soon as possible.”
“Oh, I hope it isn’t serious?” Beth’s voice was filled with concern.
“It’s a medical emergency,” Shade replied, going out the door.
* * *
Shade leaned nonchalantly against the kitchen counter, waiting for the club meeting to begin. He wished Viper would give them their punishments instead of making them draw them weekly.
“Where’s Viper?” Shade had been late for the meeting because he had been held up finishing an order at the factory, making up time for being late that morning.
He was fucking tired. His nights were getting longer, and nothing seemed to be working to keep Lily off his mind. And he had tried it all.
“He’s in the backyard, fighting with Winter,” Bliss explained. She was standing on the opposite side of the counter.
“What over?” Shade asked without turning around.
She lowered her voice so only he could hear her in the crowded room. “She seems to think either Razer or Viper are the reason I’ve been late to work at the factory lately.”
Shade’s face darkened. He liked to keep his business private, especially from Winter and Beth, but he didn’t expect his brothers to take the blame for something he had done. He was about to go outside when they returned.
Winter sat down at the table, and Bliss took an empty seat as Viper went into the large room connected off the kitchen where Cash handed him the red punishment bag.
“Bliss,” Viper called.
Bliss got up from the table, going to Viper. He held the bag out to her, and Bliss put her hand out and dug inside the bag. When her hand came out, she was holding a folded piece of paper.
“Rider.” Rider, who was leaning on the kitchen counter next to him, walked to Viper. He also pulled a piece of paper from the bag.
Viper repeated the procedure seven more times. “That’s everyone.” Viper handed the bag back to Cash before going to the counter to grab himself a beer while everyone read their punishments.
Shade unfolded the slip of paper he had drawn.
“I got the worst one,” Bliss complained.
“What did you get?” Natasha asked.
“Laundry for two weeks.” She pouted.
“That’s not bad. I got dishes for three weeks. Want to switch? I don’t mind the laundry if it’s for two weeks,” Natasha bargained.
“I don’t want to pack everyone’s laundry up and down the stairs for two weeks. I may be willing to switch.”
“Seed inventory,” came from Winter, and Natasha and Bliss switched papers.
Nobody wanted seed inventory.
“Mine seems the easiest.”
Shade almost felt sorry for Winter. If he wasn’t such a bastard, he would offer to switch with her. However, he was, so he held onto his own punishment.
“Dinner’s ready,” Evie called.
Shade got in line behind Evie and Stori.
“I’m surprised Viper made her pull a punishment after she found out from her aunt that Sam’s baby isn’t Gavin’s,” Stori remarked.
“Viper plays fair.” Evie shrugged.
“Have they been able to find any trace of the baby yet?” she asked.
“No. Viper said the sheriff is working to find out, and he ordered the brothers to help run down the clues,” Evie answered.
The line moved fairly quickly with Shade and Rider last in line.
“You want to go over today’s orders?” Shade asked Rider.
“Yeah, give me a minute,” he said, going to the table Winter was sitting at.
“What punishment did you get?” Rider asked Winter.
“What did you get?” she asked first. Winter was a fast learner.
“Cooking, two weeks,” Rider answered. Winter looked at Shade.
“Cleaning the stove, fridge, and pantry,” Shade answered, despite having already made up his mind. He wasn’t switching punishments with her.
“I got seed inventory.”
Shade turned away when Rider did.
Chapter 21
Shade and the original members stood outside, waiting for the brothers to eat their dinners. Many had started riding from Ohio right after work on Viper’s orders.
“You better be right about this, Shade, or we’ll be walking into a trap in the morning,” Viper warned.
“I’ve checked out The Blue Horsemen’s president. Stud keeps the club clean of drugs, but he does run a chop shop which is lucrative. His brother Calder is the wild card; he has a bad habit which Stud is trying to help him break. I don’t think he’s going to succeed, but it’s his brother, and he’s not the type of man to turn him out in the cold.
“Like he told you this morning, those assholes belonged to The Blue Horsemen until they robbed a grocery store in West Virginia. Then they were cut loose, but they didn’t return their colors and kept bragging about belonging to the club. That club may be a lot of things, but they don’t condone their men attacking women.”
“We’ll stick with the plan, then.” Viper paused before he continued. “There’s another piece of business we need to discuss before we go inside.”
“What?” Cash asked.
“Joy.” Shade waited impatiently for Viper to get to the point, and then understanding came when he and Razer exchanged looks.
“The votes?” Shade asked intuitively.
Viper nodded his head. “She has Rider’s, Knox’s, and Cash’s. She needs three more to become a member.”
Shade leaned his hip against the picnic table. Joy required six votes from the original eight members to become a full fledged member of The Last Riders. She needed three more from either Shade, Train, Lucky, Razer, or Viper.
“Razer told me he wants to relinquish his voting rights.”
“That’s not a problem. That still leaves enough men for the women to get six votes,” Train reminded Viper. Train didn’t get what Viper was beating around the bush about instead of coming out and saying it.
“I want to relinquish mine also, and since Lucky won’t vote while he’s committed to his job, right now that leaves us one short of voting in new members.”
“Fuck,” Knox growled.
Rider didn’t look any happier. The men both enjoyed breaking in the new members.
“You could always give them your markers,” Shade suggested.
“I don’t like giving out my markers for new recruits. We came up with this idea so we would know the women were loyal to the club, not just a few brothers they fucked. It’s about building trust and loyalty.”
“Then give them your votes.” Shade shrugged. “I don’t see the problem.”
“I won’t betray Beth,” Razer snarled, taking a step toward Shade.
“I won’t betray Winter,” Viper said grimly.
“S
ettle down. There are two ways to give them your vote; do I need to remind you? You could both fix it that you’re near with your women when another member is giving their vote. From what I hear, both Beth and Winter like to watch.” Shade could tell Rider, Knox, and Train liked that suggestion. Those three were the biggest show-offs in the club. Cash didn’t look like he gave a shit.
Razer and Viper relaxed.
“That might work,” Razer agreed reluctantly. “But what if it doesn’t? I’m not going to jeopardize my relationship with Beth to watch Joy get fucked.”
“Then one of you needs to give their marker or pass your voting rights to another member. Crash would be a good choice. He’s been in the club since the beginning. The only reason he wasn’t an original member is because he was the last to get out of the service.” Shade’s booted foot swung back and forth as he talked.
“I’ll give him my voting rights until Lucky is willing to resume his,” Viper agreed. “With Crash being able to vote, Knox, Rider, Cash, Shade, and Train make six.”
“Thank fuck that’s settled. I’m hungry.” Cash left with the others following behind.
Viper and Razer were also about to leave as Shade straightened.
“Remember, a marker can count as a vote. That’s how Beth was made a member,” Shade reminded them.
Viper and Razer both turned back to face him.
“Why’s it so important to you?” Viper snapped.
“When I own something, I like to know what it’s worth,” Shade stated. He had worked hard to earn Viper’s marker, and if it couldn’t be used the way he planned, it was useless to him.
“You want it for Lily, don’t you?” Razer asked, stepping closer to him.
“I don’t see her fucking six members to get their votes, do you?” Shade asked, not backing down.
“I don’t see her in the club at all.” Razer’s hands clenched by his sides.
“I do.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Razer swung at him.
Shade caught his fist mid-swing, and then Viper pushed them apart, placing his body between them.
“It’s okay for Beth to become a member, but not Lily?” Shade snarled.
“There’s a fucking difference!” Razer yelled back.
“You think I’m stupid? I know there is. You wanna tell me why? What happened to Lily to screw her up so badly?”
Razer’s shoulders slumped in defeat as he began shaking his head. “I honestly don’t know, brother.”
“Then shut the fuck up.”
“She doesn’t even know you exist.”
As Shade closed down, turning his back to the two men, Razer’s harsh breathing gradually slowed down.
“I’m sorry, brother, but it’s the truth.”
“Don’t call me brother.” Shade walked to the door.
“Shade… My marker will count as a vote.”
He didn’t stop at Viper’s words, going through the door with the two men behind him.
After Viper gave Evie the signal to take the women in the other room, leaving the kitchen and TV room filled with the brothers, he came to a stop in the middle of the room. The room went quiet as he began to speak.
“I want to thank everyone for being here. I know you put in a hard week at work and spent the night riding up here. First off, I would like to tell everyone that, with Winter’s help, we were able to prove Gavin didn’t disrespect the club rules by fucking Sam. The bitch lied, just as we all knew she had. We still haven’t been able to locate the baby, but the sheriff is continuing to investigate. We offered our assistance if he needs it. Evie and the women have been given permission to do what is necessary if Sam makes any further attacks on the club, but as of now, we are done with the bitch.”
Murmurs of approval filled the air before they quieted down with Viper’s next words.
“I wanted to handle this a few weeks ago, but Shade cautioned me to hold my hand. The group Sam has attached herself to are one-percenters, and he didn’t want us to strike out before we were ready. We are now prepared, and that’s why I sent for you. We planned on hitting their club tonight, but they called for a meet this morning. My guess is they have someone watching the house and are aware we are about to strike.
“I was not happy they wanted a meet, but did so because Shade urged me to at least talk to them. I’m glad I listened. The president of The Blue Horsemen informed me that the four men who attacked Beth and Lily are outlaws, no longer associated with their club. They have been trying to get their colors back, but they have been outrunning their enforcers. We offered our help, and they accepted.
“Shade has put in motion a set-up for tomorrow that they won’t be able to resist. We won’t need a show of force, but I am not an idiot. I won’t send you back to Ohio until our business with them is complete.
“Enjoy yourselves tonight, and we’ll take care of business tomorrow morning. If everything goes as planned, you can be back home tomorrow night.”
After the meeting broke up, the brothers spread out, making themselves comfortable. Viper and Razer went in search for their women in the other room.
Shade went to the kitchen cabinet, taking a bottle of the good whiskey and a glass, carrying it downstairs to his room. He wasn’t in the mood to hang out with the brothers.
He stared down into the glass of whiskey he poured, seeing Lily’s image. She had dragged him from his emotionless shell, and it was affecting his relationship with the brothers. Hell, he was probably planning for something which was never going to happen.
A knock drew his attention.
“Come in,” Shade said, not bothering to straighten from his sprawled position on the bed.
“You in the mood for some company?” Joy came strutting in the room.
Shade swallowed the remainder of his whiskey. “I’m in the mood to have my dick sucked.” Shade reached out and set his glass on the nightstand.
“I can do that.” She licked her bottom lip.
Shade stretched as the woman climbed on his bed between his sprawled legs. Her head bent toward his mouth, but Shade moved his hand to the back of her head, taking a handful of her hair.
“Did I say I wanted your mouth on mine?”
“No.” A look of fear flashed in her eyes.
“The only place I want that mouth is on my dick.”
A smile widened her lips. “Okay.” Her hands went to his jeans, unbuttoning them and sliding down his zipper. Then her mouth slid down the expanse of skin she had exposed as she pulled his cock out.
“Raise your skirt so I can see your ass,” Shade ordered.
She wiggled her hips as she raised her skirt, not lifting her mouth from him as she exposed her ass with the tiny red thong.
Shade heard her gasp as his cock hardened even further. The hand still in her hair pressed her farther down on his surging cock as he lifted his hips.
“Bitch, this is going to be one vote you’ll never forget.”
Chapter 22
“What makes you think Slot and the rest will show up?” Stud, the president of The Blue Horsemen, asked.
“They’ll show.” Shade didn’t shift in his seat as the others did, waiting impatiently for the five bikers to arrive at the wrecker yard just outside of town.
They watched the painfully thin tow truck driver drop a car he had towed in next to the dilapidated garage. For the last ten years, Lyle, the tow truck driver, had hated spending more than ten dollars on anything other than liquor.
An old pick-up drove onto the lot, coming to a stop. Greer climbed out of the truck and was slamming the door when five motorcycles turned into the parking lot.
“Damn.” Stud whistled low. “How the fuck did you figure this out? We’ve been trying to find them for the last three months.” Stud threw two men sitting on their bikes nearby a disgusted look.
Shade merely shook his head, unwilling to give his source away.
The Greer brothers were assholes and wouldn’t give information out on their clients. Howe
ver, being the one to buy the weed for the club had provided him with an invaluable source: Rachel. Their younger sister who had gone to school with Lily had offered to help when Shade had asked for information on the men who had attacked the women.
“Wait for Greer to leave,” Cash cautioned. “He keeps a rifle in his truck, and if he sees us coming, he’ll pick us off like sitting ducks.”
The men watched as Greer returned to his truck and drove away. Then the bikers remained talking to Lyle until one shoved him hard against the side of the garage.
The clubs started their bikes, riding down the old, paved road on the hillside no one used anymore. The renegade bikers tried to scatter when they saw them coming yet were surrounded, finding their exits blocked.
Viper and Stud rode their bikes to the front of the line.
“Slot, Timber, Marsh,” Stud mockingly greeted his former brothers, not bothering to address the two who had taken off running on foot.
Rider and Train brought one back while Knox dragged another by his leg, after he’d run him down on his bike.
“Hey, Stud, we haven’t seen you in a while. How you been doing?” Slot spoke as the others remained silent.
“I’ve been doing well,” Stud began conversationally, leaning forward on his bike. “You were supposed to give your colors to Pike. Any reason you didn’t?”
“We never saw him, and—”
“You forget where the clubhouse is?”
“No, but figured we wouldn’t be welcome.”
“You’re right about that,” Stud spoke through gritted teeth. “Since we’re all here, being friendly and shit, I’ll be taking them.” The renegade bikers took off their vests, handing them to a large Blue Horseman.
“You robbed Deaton’s grocery, and he’s a friend of mine.” Fear clouded Slot’s and the other’s faces at Stud’s words. “The Last Riders said you also tried to kidnap and rape two of their women.”
“We didn’t know they were with The Last Riders. Who knew they could have such pretty women?” Slot’s lame joke fell on a humorless crowd of bikers out for revenge.
“You always did think you were funnier than you actually are. Look around; nobody’s laughing, you dumb fuck.”