Chapter Thirteen

Leia held on tight to Brim as they roared away from the compound. The warm sun beat down on her head even as the wind cooled her skin. Many people waved as they drove by, and she returned their greeting.

At the phone store she dithered back and forth about which phone would be best, until Brim took the decision out of her hands and chose the most expensive one on display. She rewarded him with a kiss. The heat in his eyes promised he'd collect payment that night.

"Do you want me to run you home or back to the club?" he asked. "I have church later on so will be busy for a few hours. I don't want you to be bored."

She held up her new phone. "I won't be bored. I'm going to collect all the phone numbers of your men and then I'll find songs to attach to them. I think they'd like that. What do you think Thorn's ring tone should be?"

He thought for a moment. "Make it something really cute. He'll like that."

"I'm going to ignore your suggestion, and instead use that idea for yours. How about that Mary Poppins song, because you're just so darn sweet?"

He rolled his eyes, but held her hand as they walked back to his bike. He straddled it and waited as she climbed on the back, wrapping her arms around his waist. Just before they roared off, she happened to glance back toward the phone store and saw a woman staring at her. She wore sunglasses and had a hat on. Although there was no way to identify her, Leia thought it might be the woman from Wal-Mart. Then the woman turned away and headed into the store. Shaking it off as her imagination working overtime, Leia quickly forgot about her as Brim headed back toward the clubhouse.

****

Brim sat in his chair in the church room, watching as each man filed in. Thorn sat to his right, but the chair to his left, which was reserved for Knuckles, was empty. Lincoln was his road captain, and the unsmiling brother glanced briefly at the chair before sitting down. He gave a polite nod to Brim. After everyone had settled, Brim brought the meeting to order.

"I only want to say this once, and that's to thank all of you for giving me room to grieve the loss of my son," Brim said, choosing his words carefully. "I've shirked my duties to you as president, and I'm sure this festered some hard feelings."

"There's not a man here that's going to call you a pussy," Thorn said.

"No man should bury his kid," Lincoln added.

A chorus of murmurs agreed with that statement.

"Did going nomad help?" another member asked.

Brim nodded. "And meeting Leia. She's … special. Treat her with kindness or I'll kick your asses."

Chuckles broke the solemn mood in the room.

"Okay, let's get down to business," Brim added.

He got reacquainted with all the businesses paying them protection money. The Death Riders had a series of companies they used to launder the money the surrounding clubs sent from their dealings. They made runs once a week to the territories, delivering the legitimate funds in exchange for a tidy profit. Long ago the club had decided not to compete with the other clubs in the drug and weapons race, focusing instead to turn the dirty money clean.

Of course, the men around the table also did favors … for a price. Their name was The Death Riders for a reason.

"We've been thinking about breaking into using online services to further the business," Lincoln said.

"Like how?" Brim asked.

"Overseas banking institutions, anonymous online payment services, peer-to-peer transfers using mobile phones, and of course virtual currencies, like Bitcoin," Lincoln replied. "It's really hard to trace any of those methods."

"I have no idea what you just said," Brim admitted.

"It's the way of the future," Thorn added.

Brim narrowed his eyes and studied his V.P. "If it doesn't work, I'm sending you to The White Death to be their V.P. Kix needs a new one."

Thorn blinked while the rest of the men chuckled.

"What happened to Slade?" Lincoln asked.

"Get this. He's married and his wife is Normandy DiLuca."

"No shit?" Ghost asked. "When did this happen?"

"Apparently, quite a while ago. He even took her name."

"Will you be taking Leia's name?" Thorn asked.

Brim picked up his pen and threw it at his V.P. "You're living dangerously, thorn in my side."

The men chuckled. A few other small issues were addressed before Brim broke church. He left the meeting room with the others, but lingered behind and headed towards Knuckles's room once more. He had thought where the man might have hidden something and realized they hadn't searched the most logical of places. Glancing down the hallway, he used his key once more to enter and went immediately to the bed. He lifted the mattress and spotted a folded-up piece of paper. Satisfaction sluiced through him. He grabbed it and let the mattress fall back into place before sitting down on it. Opening it up, he realized it was a printed map, with a red circle in the center. Looking a little more closely, the circle gave the location of the cabin.

Someone had given Knuckles his location.

Folding it back up, he put the map in his pocket and then headed toward the rec room. Leia stood around the pool table with a few of the prospects. His damn dick hardened at the sight of her because he knew this was the night she would finally be his.

"You winning?" he asked her.

She smiled at him. "I have no idea what I'm doing. Good thing I wasn't betting."

"Excuse me, boys," he said to the prospects. The young men hung up their pool sticks and left.

"That wasn't nice," Leia said.

"I'm not a nice man. In fact, I believe you were the one who called me mean."

He circled the table, stalking her like prey. He wanted to devour her, fuck her until she came unglued and screamed his name. He wanted her nails to scratch his back. He wanted her wet, willing, and ready to be his dirty girl. The glint in her eyes told him she wanted the same thing. He took the pool stick from her and turned her around toward the table.

"Let me show you how to use this stick."

He placed her in front of him, molding his front to her back. She wiggled her ass.

"Oh yes, I'm getting the feel of your stick."

He smirked. "You place it just so in your hands."

He bent her over slightly and lined up the tip with the cue ball. Her scent filled up his senses. His breath fanned across her neck as he gave in to temptation and kissed the soft skin behind her ear. She gasped.

"You line up the balls," he murmured. He licked the shell of her ear. She rewarded him with another wriggle to her ass. "You let the stick do all the work."

"Doesn't seem fair to the balls," she whispered.

"Oh, the balls will get plenty of attention if you work it right."

While she concentrated on lining up the shot, he reached around and cupped her breast. She gasped and tried to stand up, but he kept her in place, rubbing her nipple through the shirt.

"Your men are watching," she whispered. Her voice was a little husky with arousal, and yet also a little horrified.

"They know not to look this way," he murmured. "I'd gouge their fucking eyes out if they saw your tits."

He pushed his cock firmly against her ass. She moaned.

"Are you going to take the shot?"

"W-what?"

"The game."

"Oh. Um…"

Her words faded away as he unbuttoned her jeans to ease his calloused fingers inside, sliding through the curls and into her wet heat. He dipped his fingers inside her panties to her pussy and for a second, she tensed.

"Relax. Enjoy."

He traced the moist path of her clit, fucking her within the tight confines of the denim. Brim bent his head and sucked on the back of her neck, using his teeth to nip the skin, marking her.

"You're so fucking sexy," he whispered. "Fuck my fingers, you naughty girl."

She did just that, moving her hips back and forth. He added a second finger, and she emitted a soft, little moan that went straight to his cock. He grew so damn hard he thought he could hammer a nail in a two by four. Her body tensed, then he felt her vaginal walls clamp down on his digits as she gave herself over to her climax.

She slumped against him, panting. Brim pulled his hand out of her jeans and stuck his fingers in his mouth, licking off her cream.

"Damn you taste good, darlin'. Next time you come, it's going to be on my dick."