10. Dragon
Chapter 10
Dragon
The surrounding tension is so thick that you cut it with a knife. We don't speak. There's a lot we need to say, but I'd rather do it when Skull isn't here and when we're not hiding from the sloppy-ass foot soldiers that the Feral Kings MC have guarding this trail. It's remarkably easy to get by them. I'll be killing them on the way back down.
After I get my woman back.
Fuck, I'm nervous. I'm trying not to think about it as we go about getting to the top of the mountain, but I can't help it. Nicole is still pissed at me. She has every right. I shouldn't have hidden what I thought was true about King. I should have told her, especially after we completed the file on him. Allowing her to be blindsided was a mistake I should have never made. I know all that. I'm not a man who runs from things—not normally. I panicked. Fuck, it hurts to admit that, but I did. I know the topic hurts Nicole, and the reason is my fault. I was worried that this might make her leave me again. When she went to Tennessee all those years ago, I lost it. I was a shell of a man, and I knew that if she didn't come back to me, that if I didn't have her and my kids, I'd rather swallow a bullet than go on living. I know how weak that makes me sound, but fuck. Once you've had heaven, there's no way to go back. Nicole is part of my soul. Without her, there's no me. My world begins and ends with her. It has been that way since the day I carried her across the weeds of that old rental she and Dani lived in for a bit and tasted her lips. Fuck, I think it began when I saw her pumping gas barefoot the first time we met. Other women ceased to appeal to me from that day forward.
I love that woman with every fiber of my being.
"You'll need to stay here. I'll go around, so it looks like I'm coming in from the parking lot and through the main entrance. I'll make up some shit about my bike breaking down and then share beers with the assholes." He pulls out three bottles. I can tell even in the dark with just the moonlight shining down that they all look the same and I frown.
"How do you know which ones have the drugs?" I ask, my voice hoarse.
"They all three do," he says, and I look at him like he's insane.
"How the fuck are you supposed to drink, then? We can't afford for them to get paranoid here."
"Fuck, Eyeball and Demon are already paranoid about every-fucking-thing. That's why the seals aren't broken on the beers."
"How did you get the drugs in?" Skull asks.
"Injected with a syringe into the cap."
"Has to be a hell of a syringe for it to penetrate a metal cap," Skull mutters in response.
"Special made," King answers.
"I guess it helps to have an old lady who is a nurse," I respond. As soon as I say it, I know I've made a mistake. It reflects in the look he's casting in my direction. I'm suddenly glad that most of his face is hidden in the darkness.
"Nice to know you're keepin' tabs on me," he mutters. "I'm out of here."
"If you need us?—"
"I have Skull's cell," King mutters under his breath. He stomps off and I watch him go.
"Shit," I mutter.
"He's yours," Skull says, and I shrug. "I donated the sperm, I guess. His mother was a club hanger-on. She was a cousin to Lips, and all tits and ass, had a good mouth. Back then, I was young, dumb?—"
"And full of cum. I'm familiar with the saying, hermano."
I nod my head sadly. "I was a stupid fuck. That's only becoming more and more clear through the years. Still, I knew she was a good woman for the most part and a club lifer. Living and being part of the club was all she wanted. We spent time together. I always gloved up, except for one night. I was high and drunk on top of that. It was a big party …," I shrug, hating the memory. "When she told me she wasn't on birth control because I was the only one she was sleeping with, I got pissed. I walked away after that. Told her to let me know if there were consequences. She was pissed but agreed. I promised if she was pregnant, I'd take care of the child, but made sure she knew I wasn't in the market for an old lady. We had words, but that's to be expected. For a month, I kept in contact through Lips. I wanted to make sure Mavis—that was the woman's name—didn't end up pregnant. I was on edge. I didn't want to be tied to a woman and I sure as fuck didn't want a kid. Mavis came back to another party, made sure to tell me that we were in the clear. She had started her period. I felt like a weight had been lifted from me. Mavis made it apparent that she was disappointed. She wanted to be an old lady. Fuck, I don't think she even cared if it was me that she was tied to. She just wanted what the position would bring her inside a club."
"Any biker would do," Skull mumbles. I'm sure he's had the same type of women in his club, but I shook my head no.
"Nah, man. She wanted an old man with clout. A position. She hit up Crusher and Bull after I made it apparent that I wasn't going to go there again."
"Did she find someone to take her up on her offer?"
"Lips mentioned that she was an old lady of a club that we were doing business with. I didn't see her again until years later. It wasn't until after Nicole had the boys and was pregnant with Kayden."
"I assume she came back to tell you about King."
I let out a breath as I think back to that time. "I don't know what the fuck she had on her mind. You know that saying that trouble finds you when you provide an opening?" I mutter, rubbing the back of my neck.
"I'm not so sure that's a saying as much as it is the truth, hermano."
"True," I agree and then shake my head in disgust. "Nicole decided she was no longer going to the club. Some of the twinkies were causing issues. She'd put them in their place over the years, repeatedly—even kicking out a few of the women who got too brave. I always backed her. We had these big parties set up with a club from out-of-town. We were set to form an alliance. I wanted my woman with me. She said no, and I got pissed. Unfortunately, Nicole got even madder. We had this huge fucking fight. The fight had been brewing for a while. It wasn't even over anything major. It was just a bunch of little shit piling up. Nicole was worn out caring for the kids while pregnant. The club was going through shit, so I was busy a lot—leaving her alone. Nicole wanted the two of us to take a trip together and reconnect. I kept telling her I didn't have time. Dumbass that I am, I told her I had responsibilities. She let it go, but I knew it hurt her that, once again, I was putting the club first. A month or so later, I informed her we had an out-of-town club coming in and I wanted her to be by my side. Like a fucking douche, I even told her what time she needed to be ready. Nicole went ballistic. She was pissed that I was asking her to do more for the club when she was already exhausted. I didn't realize I had missed a doctor's appointment, and she had to take herself. She called to remind me, but I was out on club business, so when she found that out, she just hung up instead of telling me why she called. When I tried to call back, she refused to answer."
"Beth would have cut off my dick and fed it to me while laughing."
"I'm sure Nicole wanted to, too. Needless to say, she didn't go with me to the club. I went without her, pissed as fuck. I was nursing my anger with some Jack when Mavis walked in. She was wearing a club patch and was the President's old lady."
"Just like she was always searching for."
"I thought so. Then again, Nicole says I'm stupid when it comes to women. God knows I've given her more than enough reason to believe that over the years. I can pen a motherfucker down miles away and know when they're up to bullshit. Women? I always give them the benefit of the doubt, or whatever. Or at least I used to. Mavis weaned me off that shit."
"What does that mean?"
"She came over and I got her a drink. We spoke about old times. She did her best to inflate my ego, and fuck, it felt nice, so I let her do it. I've never wanted another woman since I claimed Nicole, and that has never changed. It never will. So, I thought it was harmless…"
"Take it from me, Dragon. Nothing involving a woman that you've put your polla into is harmless."
"I'm going to assume polla means dick," I grumble wryly as he laughs.
"What happened next?"
"The next night she came back. Nicole and I didn't talk, so I was being an asshole. When Mavis came over, I noticed she pulled the barstool up too close to me, but I didn't want her. There was nothing I was going to do with her, though, so I ignored it. I got a call, so I left for a minute to get away from the music. When I came back, everything gets a little confusing. I remember drinking and making small talk with Mavis. At one point, she put her hand on my thigh. It was way too close to my dick. I remember knowing I should make her move it. For some reason, I wasn't able to. I shook my head to try to clear the fog that I seemed to be in. I told her she should move because Nicole and her old man wouldn't like it. She laughed and I remember she moved in closer, pressing her breasts up against me. She tried to play coy, saying what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. It should have pissed me off. I remember thinking that, but instead of saying something, I could feel myself getting turned on. I sat there as she moved her hand over my fucking crotch, rubbing against my cock and then up my stomach."
I put my hand over my jaw, rubbing it, remembering shit that I didn't want to. I rub my fingers against the stubble there, harder than needed. Trying to exercise the memories of that night out of my head.
"She put something in your drink," Skull mumbles.
Our voices are not much more than a small whisper. That doesn't mean they don't cut like a molten hot knife slicing into unblemished skin. I close my eyes against the force of my memories, and it doesn't escape my notice that my damn hand is trembling.
"Dancer noticed I wasn't acting myself. If he hadn't, I probably would have taken the bitch to mine and Nicole's room in the back. Even him trying to get me away from her didn't work completely. I pulled her up in my lap. I began touching her. She was whispering in my ear about all the times that we were together. It was pissing me off, but I couldn't make myself push her away. Mavis began kissing me and my mind got hazier. At one point, I thought it was Nicole kissing me. I remember telling her how much I wanted her. Then a beer bottle came whizzing by my head. I looked up and there was Nicole. I froze. I couldn't understand how she was standing in front of me. I stood up, Mavis fell out of my lap onto the floor. Nicole grabbed her by her hair and pulled her away from me, then she brought her foot back and kicked Mavis in the face so hard that blood splattered over the floor."
"Mierda," Skull laughs. "She always was a hell of a woman."
"It didn't hurt she was wearing the boots I bought her for when we were riding. I stood up, and the world spun around me. I reached out for her, and she recoiled. Nicole screamed I was never touching her again. That if I wanted a whore, I could have her. Then, she kicked Mavis again and stomped out. Once she left, Dancer took charge. He had Mavis locked in one of the rooms, then called Doc over to see if what was going on with me was what he suspected. I was out of it for over an hour. When my head began to clear, panic hit me. Dancer had already pulled up the security cameras and pinpointed the moment when Mavis put something in my drink. I lost it. I wanted to chase down Nicole, and figured she'd be at home, but I needed to deal with Mavis first. Her old man's club was out having a meeting. They had left their women at the club. We rounded up all of them and kept them in another room on lockdown. When the men returned, we interrogated them—especially her old man. They were clueless. So, I showed their president the film and kicked his whole fucking club out and told them the alliance wasn't going to happen. Gave them two hours to get out of my fucking territory. He grabbed his woman out of the room, tore his cut off her and had his men throw her in the SUV they brought. They climbed on their bikes, and I never saw them again."
"What club was it?"
I start to answer him when we hear someone yelling in the direction King left. An alarm rings into the night and my blood runs cold.
Things just went sideways.