Crash and Burn (11 page)

Landon
’
s
hand jerked up and squeezed at his thick tip. His knees bent a little and he
started to release. When he opened his eyes, it was just in time to watch the
stringy release shoot down to the top of the shower drain, swirl within the
water, and disappear.

It pissed him off.

That should have been for Avery. That could have been deep
in her pussy. Against her back. In her hand.
In her mouth
…
again.

Landon slowly jerked himself until he was completely
finished and then he turned the water off. He had both hands against the tile
again and he stared down at his throbbing cock. He was still hard, and he still
wanted Avery.

But first, Landon had to fight.

fifteen.

Avery had seen plenty of fights in her life. Bar fights
between drunk guys who usually had no idea why they were fighting. She
’
d seen really good fights
between enemies, fights that were long and bloody until someone was knocked
out. There was even the occasional jumping and beating, a group of men on one
other guy, pummeling him into a bloody mess.

Anything Avery had seen though didn
’
t prepare her for the sight she saw as she rode on
the back of Landon
’
s motorcycle,
holding him tight. They turned the corner down an alley, which seemed to be the
secret roads for the MC
’
s
in and around town. There were men guarding the tall gates to a construction
company. It didn
’
t make
sense to Avery until the gates opened and she watched a large crowd part and
allow Landon through. People were cheering, booing, cackling and laughing as
Landon and the rest of the MC made their way to an open spot where they all
parked their motorcycles.

She climbed from the motorcycle and looked around. Several
MC
’
s were given a spot to
park and gather. The crowd was surrounding a lifted platform. There were cinder
blocks along the edge of the circle. When Avery looked back to Landon, her face
must have looked confused.

Landon was smiling at her.
“
What
’
s wrong?
”

“
This is
…”

“
This is
real,
”
Landon said.

“
Fucking
right, brother,
”
Blaine
said. He gripped Landon by the shoulders and squeezed.
“
You ready to fuck someone up?
”

“
Yeah.
”

Blaine looked at Avery, but he didn
’
t say a word. Instead, his snakelike eyes stared at
her. Her mind flashed back Landon thrusting into that woman with Blaine holding
her massive breasts, easing her with his words.

It made her jealous.

For a second, Avery wanted to fight Blaine.

“
Where
’
s Gaige?
”
Landon asked.

“
Turn
around,
”
a voice said.

Gaige walked up to Landon, holding hands with a beautiful
woman. She didn
’
t look like
the women in the clubhouse. She looked more composed and confident.

“
I need
a favor,
”
Landon asked.

“
Anything,
”
Gaige said.

“
This is
Avery
…
she
…”

Gaige smiled.
“
Not
a problem.
”

“
I
’
m Emily, the woman with Gaige,
”
she said. She offered her hand.
“
You
’
re hanging with me tonight.
”

Avery shook her hand and liked the woman instantly.

“
Listen
to me,
”
Landon said,
grabbing Avery
’
s wrist.
“
This is dangerous here, okay?
There is money involved. There are a ton of assholes. I
’
m sure Emily can share a story or two
…”

Avery looked at Emily. Emily said,
“
We
’
ll
talk, don
’
t worry.
”

“
You
stay with her,
”
Landon
said.
“
Watch the fights.
And don
’
t fucking try to
leave. Got it, sweetheart?
”

“
Yes,
”
Avery said.

“
Good.
”

Landon backed up and was then surrounded by his MC. They
were patting his shoulders and chest. They were calling out to him, getting
fired up about the fights. Someone ordered drinks, which seemed to be floating
around everywhere. Soon, everyone had a beer, including Emily and Avery.

“
Here,
come with me,
”
Emily said.
“
So we can hang out and talk.
”

Before Avery could say anything, someone came charging at
them.

“
That
’
s Shay,
”
Emily whispered.
“
He
was the one who supposed to be killed in the bombing.
”

“
Hey,
loves,
”
Shay said.
“
Where the fuck are you going?
”

“
Getting
a better view,
”
Emily
pointed to a ladder and a ledge.

“
Christ,
”
Shay said.
“
You
’
re like walking targets up there.
”

“
Then
come with us,
”
Emily said.

“
Fuck
no,
”
Shay said.
“
I
’
m
here for the fights. Stay put.
”

Shay ran back to the MC and a few seconds later another man
came forward. He was a massive chunk of muscle and wore a leather cut with the
Back Down Devil MC logo on it but nothing else.

“
Protection,
”
Emily said.
“
Let
’
s go.
”

Emily took Avery
’
s
hand and they climbed up a ladder and sat on a platform made of steel. The
vantage point was perfect to see the fights. The chunk of muscle that came up the
ladder next, but he kept a distance and never stopped looking. Avery just hoped
the man wouldn
’
t have to
use the gun.

“
This is
crazy,
”
Avery said.

“
This is
normal,
”
Emily said.
“
I met Gaige at one of these.
”

“
Really?
”

“
Yeah,
”
Emily said. A look of sadness
spread across her face.
“
There
was a shootout though and my best friend was shot and killed.
”

“
Oh,
shit,
”
Avery said.
“
I
’
m
sorry.
”

“
Me too.
But it brought me and Gaige together. Taught me a lot about things. I
’
ve never felt like I belonged to
something so much before. I know that probably sounds strange
…”

“
It
doesn
’
t,
”
Avery said.
“
But I still don
’
t know why I
’
m here. I have no purpose.
”

Emily laughed.
“
Trust
me, if you didn
’
t have
purpose, you wouldn
’
t be
here. Landon would have thrown you out. Or killed you.
”

Hearing the words from Emily had a different sound to it for
some reason. When Landon spoke of killing, Avery took it for what it was worth
- he was a badass biker who wasn
’
t
afraid to kill anyone. But hearing Emily say it, it was scary. That made it so
much more real.

The fights began a few minutes later.

Two men entered the circle and a third shouted off a few
rules. When that man backed away, the two men left in the circle attacked each
other. They threw punch after punch, grappling to the ground, trying to get to
their feet, anything to stay up and maybe alive. One of the men slid on the
dirt. His right leg bent and he turned his head for a split second. The other
man saw and took advantage with a fist to his face, knocking the other man out
cold.

The fight was done.

Just like that.

And that
’
s
how it continued. Some fights lasted less than a minute. Some were weighted in
favor of a certain MC with big guys versus little guys. Other fights lasted
what felt like forever. The men were beaten and bloody, their eyes so swollen
shut they couldn't find each other. One thing Avery picked up on was that there
was always a winner. The fight continued until someone tapped out or fell down
and stayed down.

Then it came time for Landon
’
s
first fight.

Avery stood up when she saw him in the middle of the MC. He
took his rings off. Then he took the chains off his jeans. Gaige stripped him
of his leather cut and Landon took his shirt off. The sight of his bare body
made Avery gush instantly. He turned and pushed through the crowd into the
circle.

“
Don
’
t get too worked up,
”
Emily said.
“
Your heart will explode.
”

Avery nodded, but she couldn
’
t
help how her body felt right then. Not after seeing all those other fights. She
trusted in Landon, but all it took was one good swing from the other guy and
Landon could be on his ass.

The other guy came into the circle and walked right up to
Landon. He had a white t-shirt on and bounced himself against Landon. Landon
stepped back and made fists.

“
If he
hits him, he
’
s
disqualified,
”
Emily said.
“
That
’
s why that guy is taunting him. They all know there
’
s money on the line.
”

Landon kept his composure, even when the other guy spit in
his face.

“
What a
fucking asshole,
”
Avery
said.

“
They
all are,
”
Emily said.
“
Even the ones we like.
”

Those were certainly true words.

The fight began and Avery expected Landon to go after the
guy. But he didn
’
t, he just
stood there. The other guy spit at Landon again. He laughed. He threw wild
punches, purposely missing Landon. But Landon was like a statue. He was
waiting. He was patient.
He was beautiful.

When the man threw another wild punch, Landon made his move.
He slid to the side and when the man stumbled by, Landon punched the middle of
his back, sending him to his knees. He was on his hands and knees, so Landon
lifted his foot.

“
Oh,
fuck,
”
Avery said.

“
Shit,
”
Emily said.

Landon came down with a heavy boot, driving the guy
’
s face right into one of the
cinder blocks along the edge of the circle. Landon then reached down with one
hand. He lifted the guy
’
s
head and smashed it again into the same cinder block.

The guy was out cold.

The fight was called and Landon had barely warmed up.

“
Asshole,
”
Avery whispered.

Landon left the circle as the crowd cheered. He pushed his
way back to the MC, who were waiting and cheering. He grabbed a beer and sat
down.

“
No
offense,
”
Emily said,
“
but that is one dark man there
…”

Avery nodded.

Landon looked up and right at Avery.

Their eyes met with the call of the night fight, the laughs,
cheers all as background noise. Nothing mattered but the look between them.

Nothing in her life ever felt so real.

sixteen.

The second fight had a little more action to it than the
first one. Landon didn
’
t
think for a second he would end up losing the fight, but he did take a few
shots to his face. The guy had some size, but his tattoos were larger than his
muscles. Landon took him down with a wicked right hook to the jaw and then
hovered over the guy, giving him a chance to make the call to end the fight.

In typical biker fashion, the guy refused.

“
Fuck
you, pussy,
”
he said.

Landon smacked him in the face, cutting his knuckles on the
guy
’
s teeth.

The guy opened his mouth and started to cough. He turned his
head and spit pit blood and a tooth.

“
Done?
”
Landon offered.

“
Kill
me, asshole.
”

Landon made another fist that came down like a sledgehammer.
He connected with the guy
’
s
face and Landon wasn
’
t sure
if it was his fist or the fact that the guy
’
s
head smacked off the ground, but he was out cold.

Landon stood and lifted both his hands.

The crowd cheered and just like that, Landon was two and
zero.

He walked to the MC and Miller was there first to greet him
with a hug.

“
Good
job, brother,
”
Miller said.
“
One more and we clean up.
”

“
I
’
ve got it.
”

“
Your
cheek
’
s a little puffy
there, bro,
”
Blaine said.

“
Thanks,
”
Landon said.

Landon looked up and saw Avery staring back down at him
again. Even from the distance she fucked with his head. Emily took Avery
’
s hand and pulled, forcing her
to sit back down. Emily was talking, but Avery stared at Landon. He stared
back.

“
Hey, do
you hear me?
”
Shay
’
s voice cried out.

“
No,
what.
”

“
This
next one is a motherfucker.
”

“
Really?
”
Blaine asked.
“
Whose mother did he fuck?
”

“
Christ,
”
Landon said.

“
What?
”
Blaine asked.
“
I
’
m
lifting the fucking mood here. This is going to work for us, bro. We clean up.
We pay Jonesy. We get the information on who tried to kill Shay and almost
killed Erik. It
’
s all
coming together.
”

“
Jesus
Christ,
”
Miller said,
“
I can
’
t believe I
’
m
saying this, but Blaine is right.
”

“
I know,
”
Landon said.
“
That may be the smartest thing
he
’
s ever said.
”

“
Well,
fuck you all then,
”
Blaine
said.

Landon jumped up to a table and sat between Nate and Jace.
Jace offered a fist and Landon bumped it.

“
That
was good shit,
”
Jace said.
“
Whatever the fuck has you fired
up, keep it up.
”

“
We have
any whiskey here?
”
Landon
asked.

“
Not
before a fight,
”
Miller
said.

When Miller turned around, Nate opened his leather cut and
pulled out a flask. He handed it to Landon and Landon downed as much as he
could. It burned the whole way down his throat and made his stomach hurt
instantly. But he needed the distraction from the bullshit running through his
head.

Fucking Avery.

The fights continued and Landon found himself sitting alone.
The rest of the MC had thrown down some money on other fights hoping to win beer
and pussy money. Having the
relievers
in the clubhouse all the time was
a necessity for survival, but they also enjoyed outside action. Strippers, mostly.
And the best strippers took the guys to the back and dropped to their knees.
That was what the beer and pussy money was for.

“
Fuck!
”
Blaine screamed and broke from
the group. He walked over to Landon, his hands on his hips.
“
That little fuck out there just
cost me about five half decent blowjobs.
”

“
Tough
night,
”
Landon said.

Blaine laughed. He put his hands to Landon
’
s shoulders and looked at him.
“
Hey, bro, what
’
s happening up top?
”

“
I
’
m fine.
”

“
No
…
up top, behind me. You have
that chick up there with Emily. What the fuck?
”

“
Don
’
t worry about it.
”

“
Hey, I
’
m going to worry about. After
what you told me
…”

“
We
’
re here to get the cash to get
answers,
”
Landon said.
“
Leave Avery out of it.
”

“
Can
you?
”

“
She
’
s out of it.
”

“
Then
why the fuck is she sitting up there? She yours now? You a committed man or
some shit?
”

“
Blaine,
you don
’
t have a fucking
clue,
”
Landon said.
“
Let it go.
”

“
Yeah,
okay.
”
Blaine pushed away
from the Landon.
“
I just
don
’
t want anymore of my
brothers to be in danger, you know?
”

“
No
danger here,
”
Landon said.
“
I
’
m
helping her and she
’
s
helping me. That
’
s all
anyone needs to know right now.
”

Blaine walked back to the fight just in time for Gaige to
stroll over and sit next to Landon.

“
You
going to give me shit about Avery?
”
Landon asked.

“
What?
Oh, the chick? I don
’
t give
a fuck, bro. No offense. What you do
…
that
’
s you, man. She and
Emily seem to be getting along.
”

“
Are you
picturing them going down on each other?
”
Landon asked.

“
Fucking
right I am,
”
Gaige laughed.

“
Me too.
”

“
Hey,
about Strokner
…
man, I
thought my message
…”

“
The
eyes,
”
Landon said.
“
Fuck it. It was a good message.
Fuck him, too. Did you talk to Miller yet?
”

“
No.
”

“
We
’
ll get him at the table then,
”
Landon said.
“
It might do us good to keep
Strokner on a leash. He wants us to kill some fucking business guy. Not a
problem. He
’
s dumb enough
to trust us, you know that, right?
”

“
Yeah, I
do,
”
Gaige said.
“
But where
’
s the end in this?
”

Landon jumped off the table.
“
The
end in all of this? Death. Between then and now is life. What happens in life
…
well, that
’
s up to us, I guess.
”

Gaige hugged Landon.

A few minutes later the call came for Landon to fight again.

His third and final fight. The fight that was quite
literally for all the money.

Landon walked through the crowd again. Guys screamed for him
to win, some screamed for him to lose. One guy called him a
‘
fucking pussy
’
and before Landon could turn to
rip the guy
’
s throat out,
Blaine was right there knocking the guy to his ass. A little fight broke out,
but Landon didn't stick around to see how it played out.

He went to the circle and stood there. His opponent entered
the circle. He was about his size. The only difference was that this guy hadn
’
t fought yet. And the guy had
his rings on.

“
What
’
s this?
”
Landon pointed.

“
I
’
m keeping them,
”
the guy said.
“
You can fuck yourself.
”

The middle man remained between Landon and the other guy.
There was a tattoo across the guy
’
s
chest that read
DECK
.

“
Are you
Deck?
”
Landon asked.

“
Fuck
you,
”
the guy said.

“
You can
’
t wear those rings,
”
the middle man said.

“
Then
the fight
’
s off,
”
Deck said.
“
Everyone collects their bets
back
…”

“
No,
”
Landon said.
“
I
’
ll
fight.
”

“
The
rules
…
,
”
the middle man said.

“
Fuck
the rules,
”
Landon said.

“
Fuck
them,
”
Deck said.

This guy was a complete idiot. Even if Landon lost the
fight, Deck would get his world rocked by other crews on the way out. Leaving
the rings on was a sign of disrespect to the fight. If Landon lost, all those
with money on the fight would be pissed because Deck left his rings on.

None of that mattered to Landon because he wasn
’
t going to lose the fight.

“
Let
’
s get this going,
”
Landon said.

“
Are you
sure?
”
the middle man
asked.
“
If you get hit
…”

“
I don
’
t give a fuck,
”
Landon said.
“
Call it. Now.
”

The middle man backed away and it was time to fight. Deck
was the first to throw a punch, hitting Landon in the gut. The hard rings
against his bare skin hurt, but it was nothing compared to the first punch Deck
landed against Landon
’
s
face. The rings were like knives, slicing and cutting. Landon stumbled back, to
the crowd
’
s dismay, as they
ooohhh
’
ed
over the sight. Deck was ruthless, charging right at Landon, hitting him again,
taking him to one knee.

The next hit sent Landon to the ground on his back. Deck had
a hand to Landon
’
s throat
and he squeezed.

“
Fucking
loser,
”
Deck said.
“
Trying to be some kind of
fucking hero.
”

Landon sucked on his bottom lip as much as he could,
collecting his own blood. He spit blood into Deck
’
s
face. Deck screamed and let go of Landon, trying to wipe his face. Landon
rushed to his feet. Enough was enough with this asshole.

A quick one-two punch, ribs and chin, sent Deck spinning
backwards. When Deck swung at Landon, Landon moved. He slammed a fist into Deck
’
s ribs and felt something crack.
Deck dropped to one knee and clutched his side. He put a hand out. He was
gasping for air. As a sign of respect, most guys would have held off for a
second, but Landon was out of patience and care. Especially if Deck was going
to keep his rings on.

“
Fuck
you,
”
Landon said.

He swung hard and hit Deck in the side of the head. Deck
spun and hit the ground. He put his hands out and pushed up, keeping himself in
the fight. Landon looked back and up, and saw Avery standing, her eyes wide. He
couldn
’
t stop looking at
her, even when the crowd cheered and yelled for Landon. Then came the warning
cries. He ignored those too.

What the fuck was it about this chick?

Landon never felt this way before
…

A ring filled fist connected with his left cheek as Avery
pointed and jumped, trying to warn him about Deck.

Landon spun and was on his hands and knees a second later.
Deck kicked him in the ribs - once, twice, and the third time sent Landon to
his back. Deck placed his foot on Landon
’
s
chest and raised his arms. But this wasn
’
t
a fucking victory, not by a long shot. Pissed off even more, Landon grabbed
Deck
’
s foot and twisted it.
His ankle snapped like a twig and Deck let out a horrendous scream. He stumbled
back and yelled each time he tried to put pressure on his ankle. Landon got to
his feet to finish the fight.