Chapter 9

Nadia was a surprise.

I’m still reeling, much like Drake and Orion. We never saw her coming. We were fine on our own, sharing the occasional woman and never daring to hope for something serious. What woman would welcome the three of us in her life, for life? What woman would understand us and the bond that we’ve shared for so many years?

Working girls are different. They get paid for their services. But love, that’s something else entirely. I am trying hard not to build up a utopia in my head where Nadia is concerned. I keep telling myself that it’s just the kind of crazy fun that we’ve needed. It’s more than that, though. I feel it. The guys feel it. And I’m sure Nadia feels it, too.

I see it in her eyes whenever they meet mine. I hear it in her voice whenever we’re together. And it’s written all over her body. She’s so relaxed, so joyous and bright. So bold and curious. It’s refreshing, and I enjoy every moment that we get to spend with her.

Nadia is coming into her own as a woman. I’m shocked that she saved herself for so long. A woman of her beauty and wit would make one hell of an old lady.

I take a deep breath and shove my bike keys in the back pocket of my jeans as I walk into the clubhouse. The atmosphere hits me from the moment I step inside. It’s dank and unpleasant, and trouble is waiting in every corner, and it’s only going to get worse.

Paddy sits at the bar. I check my watch. It’s past noon, which is the perfect time for a first shot of whiskey before lunch. I nod at other brothers scattered around the room, and they try to smile but I can tell they’re not in the best of moods. I know the reason why, and we’re going to have a sit-down about it soon.

Orion and Drake are upstairs. I’m not riding anywhere else today, so I ask Travis to fix me a double scotch on the rocks, and I take a seat on the stool next to Paddy.

“You look like shit,” he tells me in a low voice.

“You look worse, Paddy, but I love you anyway,” I reply with a wry smile. “I’m guessing they’ve all heard about Matt last night.”

He nods slowly. Travis gives me my drink and a worried look, but I ignore him.

“Colton Harrow is a mean, cruel son of a bitch,” Paddy says. “Matt’s a good guy. He didn’t deserve that beating.”

“Is he going to make it?” I ask.

The scotch flows smoothly down my throat, burning and soothing my senses at the same time. Paddy scoffs, slowly shaking his head. “It’s still touch and go. The doc says he’ll be staying in the intensive care unit for at least another couple of days until the swelling goes down.”

“Was it Colton himself or one of his goons?”

“Colton,” Paddy says. “He used a crowbar. It was awful. And the Sea Snakes have no intention of bringing the cops in, either.”

“They can’t expose their pill operation,” I reply. “Yet it’s precisely what Colton is going after. Damn. That means we’re next, whether we like it or not. He’s coming.”

Paddy looks around, spotting Nadia before I do. She comes out of the ladies’ room, striding across the dining area toward the bar. “You’ll need to send her away,” Paddy mutters. “Quicksilver has been made aware of the situation. I know Drake promised to keep her safe, but Kai, shit’s about to hit the fan. We can’t afford that risk, not with Nadia.”

“Yeah, I know.”

It pains me to acknowledge this. We can protect her, but we cannot risk losing her in any way. We don’t know this enemy or his reach. If Colton sets his sights on Nadia, if he picks up on her value to us, he will go after her. It will render us vulnerable, and we’ve got too much to lose, especially when we’re so close to making the club legit.

“Hey,” Nadia says, her gaze lighting up at the sight of me. “Everything all right?”

“Sure,” I reply, trying hard not to show any emotion. She’s my favorite secret to keep, even though I’d rather shout it from the rooftops for everyone to know. “How are you?”

“Good, good. Working hard,” she giggles and gets down below the bar. “Ah, just as I suspected. I need a couple more cases of Coke from the storage room, Travis.”

“Hold on, I’m busy,” he replies from the other side of the bar, where he’s pouring a round of beers for our younger lieutenants and two of our remaining prospects. “I’ll be right there.”

Nadia waves him away. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I’ll get them.”

“Kai, do we have enough guns in the clubhouse for what’s coming?” Paddy asks me in a low voice, leaning closer, darkness settling in his eyes.

It pains me to see him like this. In the club’s earlier days, the Blackthorn Riders had plenty of run-ins with the law and rival MCs. There were shootouts, people were killed, and trucks were hijacked. It was an all-out war with the Black Wolves before the clubs across Southern California gathered and signed the Road Brothers Truce almost twenty years ago.

But I still remember the damage those skirmishes caused. I can still hear the gunshots popping outside my window, my father running out with his shotgun and blasting away until bodies dropped. Those were horrible times, and they left a mark on each of the club’s surviving members.

My old man would be the first to pick up a gun against Colton Harrow, but he’s not around anymore. Paddy, on the other hand, never liked it or wanted it. He was always more of a pacifist, much like Quicksilver.

He dreads having to go to war again. It’s obvious from the amount he’s drinking on a daily basis, the way he carries himself, and the sound of his voice. This man hasn’t touched a gun in years, and now he’s asking about our arsenal.

“The clubhouse is riddled with motion sensors. The office vaults and the doors are rigged with small batches of explosives,” I remind him. “And yes, we’ve got enough firepower here to start a fucking war.”

“It’s all in the basement, right?”

“And upstairs. And there are a couple of shotguns under the bar, too.”

“Good,” Paddy grumbles. I pat him on the shoulder. “Loosen up, old man. It’s not going to get that far.”

The truth is, it might. I’m ready for it, though. It’s been years since I’ve had to allow the worst side of me to come out, the heartless bastard who has no problem doing what has to be done.

There are no half-measures where I’m concerned.

Alas, Colton Harrow’s presence and violent nature signal the inevitability of it all. I will have to draw my weapon once more, and I will be shooting to kill. It fills me with disgust, yet I will do it without hesitation to protect my club, my brothers in arms, and Nadia.

“I’m going into the storage room,” Nadia tells Travis. “Do you need me to bring anything else?”

“Straws, if we have any left,” he says.

Nadia nods once and makes her way out of the bar. I watch her walk toward the storage room, navigating around a group of customers with the grace of a swan. I love the way her plump ass bounces in those jeans. It makes my blood simmer. My body temperature runs high, and the dirtiest thoughts work through my mind, steering my focus away from Colton and his Black Devils.

Paddy starts chatting with a prospect, and there are enough people around to make it easier for me to sneak away unnoticed.

Orion and Drake can wait a little while longer. I’ve got something I’m dying to do.

I find Nadia in the storage room, struggling to pull a box of Coke cans from the top of a stack. I close the door behind me and slowly turn the key in the lock, making sure that nobody will accidentally bother us. “Travis, I think I need help,” Nadia says, but she stills when she realizes it’s me. “Oh, hey.”

“You need help?” I ask.

“Yeah, just a bit. I can’t reach it.”

Much like a panther pouncing on its prey, I reach Nadia in the blink of an eye and pull her away from the stack of boxes. She yelps and giggles as I turn her around and take her in my arms. “Kai, what are you doing?”

“I’ll help you out in a second,” I chuckle and run my hands up and down her body.

I love the feel of her flesh, soft yet firm where I least expect it, my fingers tingling as they sneak underneath her Iron Horse-branded t-shirt. Her moan sets my soul on fire, my cock struggling against my jeans as I pin her against the wall.

“You smell fantastic,” I mutter and kiss her like a madman, sipping her sweet nectar.

Nadia makes me drunk, her ragged breath causing my heart to skip beats as I cup her breasts through the lacy bra and knead them, my grip tightening gradually. She trails kisses down the side of my neck, and I know my short beard will cause her lips and chin to redden a bit from the coarseness, but that just turns me on even more.

“We can’t do this here,” she whispers, sinful thoughts swirling in her blue eyes.

“Wanna bet?”

“Oh,” she moans again as I unbutton her jeans and pull them down with one swift move. She slips out of her boots, and it only takes another second for me to get her naked. She’s already wet, and I drop to my knees and proceed to eat her out. “Oh, God, Kai.”

I throw her thighs over my shoulders and have her straddling me as I go down on her, lapping at the slick folds, savoring every drop of her arousal while enjoying her whimpers of pleasure. I slip a couple of fingers in, careful to curl them with every retreat as I suck her clit harder, just the way she likes it.

She runs her fingers through my short hair, her pussy clenching and her pulse quickening as I bring her closer to the edge. I finger-fuck her the way she likes it. Hard, fast, and ruthless until she groans and quivers, a crashing orgasm gushing as I lick her clean while she slowly returns from the heavens.

“Kai,” she manages, her core still pulsating around my fingers as I give her one last thrust. “Kai!”

“Don’t ask me to fuck you,” I tell her, smiling as I get her back on her feet. “We’ll catch up tonight. Patience, Grasshopper.”

“So, you just came here to tease me?” Nadia replies, giving me a sour look.

I cup her pussy and kiss her on the lips. She enjoys tasting herself—she told me that much the last time I did this, a couple of nights ago while Drake and Orion watched. “I was hungry. I’m going to be even hungrier tonight,” I say, taking a step back.

“You’re going to be walking around all day like that,” Nadia says, nodding at my jeans.

I glance down and notice the bulge. “Yeah, I guess.”

“I can’t wait to have you inside me,” she purrs like a kitten as she clumsily puts her panties back on. There’s nothing I enjoy more than watching her brain glitch, leaving her completely uncoordinated in the wake of a soul-shattering orgasm.

All I can do is laugh lightly and kiss her again, only this time, I’m tender and gentle, cupping her face and breathing her in. Jasmine and lilies. Nadia’s favorite perfume. Her skin is soft and silky, warm under my touch. I could stay here forever and not care about anything else. I wish I could.

“Travis is going to come looking for me,” she says.

I help her get the Coke cans from the top of the stack, but before either of us makes it to the door, a loud thud outside sends my senses into immediate high alert. Those were the front doors opening aggressively. Nobody walks into my clubhouse like that. Nobody.

“Kai?” Nadia gives me a startled look.

“Stay here and lock the door,” I tell her and walk out, my body tense with a familiar yet unpleasant feeling. Before I even see him, I feel him.

He’s hard to miss.

Colton Harrow stands in the middle of my clubhouse, tall and heavy, exuding darkness, an eerie sense of calm oozing off his broad shoulders like the stench of death itself. Some of our crew are present and standing, their eyes reduced to dark slits as they watch him like hawks.

The air is so thick that it’s getting hard to breathe, and my mind races for an appropriate reaction.

“Can I help you?” I ask in a flat tone of voice, my shoulders squared as I cautiously walk toward him. As soon as our eyes meet, I realize that war has finally come to our doorstep. There’s no avoiding it.

“You’re too tall to be Orion,” he says.

I’m only a couple of inches taller than my best friend, but I know this fucker is merely trying to get on my nerves. Colton Harrow reeks of trouble. Well-built but pale as a ghost, his ginger hair and thick ginger beard create an unsettling contrast with his wide, cold, green eyes. His smirk makes my skin crawl.

There are patches on his leather vest belonging to different MCs in the area. He wears them like trophies, proof he’s barged into their clubhouses and shot them up until they surrendered. I see the gun in his holster, but it’s strapped. He won’t get it out before I jump him, and I think he knows it.

But Colton isn’t here to fight. Not this time. He came alone. There are no other bikes outside except our own.

“I’m Kai,” I tell him. “And I’m going to ask you again. Can I help you?”

“Oh, you’re the VP. Roger that. No disrespect intended,” Colton replies with a wry smile. “I want to talk to your club president. I understand that’s a guy named Orion.”

I glance back at the sound of footsteps. Orion and Drake have joined me downstairs, both of them looking dark and tense—much like the rest of us. I catch a glimpse of Nadia standing in the cracked doorway of the storage room. As soon as she sees me notice her, she vanishes back inside.

“I’m Orion.” He comes forth and stands beside me. “You must be Colton.”

“Ah, my reputation precedes me,” Colton chuckles dryly.

“Let’s step outside and talk,” Orion replies.

To my surprise, Colton thinks about it for a moment—and I can tell he’s offended. A drink is usually offered whenever a club president comes to visit. It’s an ancient tradition, so Orion’s suggestion should be taken as an insult. But this psychopath just smiles and nods, taking a step to the side so Orion can walk out first before he joins him.

From the way he moves, I know Orion doesn’t want Drake and me to go with him.

Colton gives me one last look, then heads out.

As soon as the doors close behind them, I feel as though I’m able to breathe again. Drake comes up behind me. “We have shotguns under the bar, right?” he asks in a low voice.

“Yes.”