Crash and Burn (19 page)

“
I
’
ve been safe from the moment I
landed in your arms, Landon.
”

“
You did
amazing for the MC,
”
Landon
said.

“
I did
it for you.
”

“
Let
’
s get out of here. I want to
take you to the clubhouse and fuck you.
”

“
That
’
s the best thing I
’
ve heard all night.
”

Miller and Griffin stayed to clean up the scene a little and
get Shay to his motorcycle. Then they all came to the clubhouse to celebrate
being alive. And now, they were at the table.

The door opened and Erik walked in.

One by one, the guys all stood and cheered.

The table was finally going to be complete again.

“
What a
fucking sight,
”
Blaine
said.

“
Welcome
back, brother,
”
Miller
said.

Erik walked to his chair and pulled it out. He stared at it
and nodded.

Landon noted how somber Erik
’
s
face and eyes were. The guy was more beaten up on the inside. That was the
hardest shit to deal with.

“
I have
to admit,
”
Blaine said,
“
this is starting to make me
hard. Seeing this. You know?
’

“
No,
nobody knows what the fuck that means,
”
Shay said.
“
Just sit down.
”

The table laughed and they all took their seats.

Miller looked around the table for a few seconds.
“
To say it first
…
we welcome back to our brother,
Erik.
”

Everyone clapped and whistled again. Blaine started to bang
his beer bottle on the table and soon everyone else did to. Miller waved his
hands.

“
Now
that we
’
re back together,
”
Miller said,
“
we can finish something someone
else started. But I
’
ll get
to that in a second. I want to talk about tonight. We voted on a favor for
Strokner. That
’
s all done
now. The impact on the club directly isn
’
t
much right now. What it does is provide protection to our land. I know we don
’
t want to share space with this
guy, but for now, what
’
s
done is done. I have to give a hand to Landon
’
s
woman, Avery, for playing along perfectly.
”

Landon nodded.
“
Thanks.
I appreciate everyone putting their trust in Avery. She belongs here. With us.
”

“
She
’
s fucking beautiful,
”
Blaine said.

“
Not
going to happen,
”
Landon
said.

“
Back to
business,
”
Miller said.
“
Now with that behind us, we are
going to find the group that tried to take one of our brothers out. Only Erik
didn
’
t die. He fought and
beat death. We
’
re close. I
can feel it.
”

“
Have we
heard from Jonesy?
”
Landon
asked.

“
We have
some information,
”
Griffin
said.
“
I expect more soon.
”

“
We will
get this,
”
Miller said.
“
For you, Erik.
”

“
Thanks,
”
Erik said.
“
Thank you all for welcoming me
back. But I want to get out there and do something.
”

“
Just
hang,
”
Miller said.
“
Rest and recover. Enjoy it.
”

Miller looked around the table again and then called the
meeting.

While everyone stuck around to talk, Landon slipped away and
charged out of the room. Nothing mattered more than getting to Avery.

He unlocked the door to his room, but Avery wasn
’
t in the bed. It took a couple
seconds for Landon to pick up on the sound of water running. Then he noticed
the clothing leading to the bathroom. The pants. The shirt. The bra. the
panties.

“
Yes,
”
he whispered.

He locked the door.

Landon walked to the bathroom and slowly opened the door.
Steam hit him and he found Avery standing at the shower with the door open, one
hand under the water. His eyes studied the amazing curves of her body. He knew
he was taking a chance at scaring her, but he didn
’
t give a fuck.

He touched her hips and said,
“
Naked
without me
…
is
unacceptable.
”

Avery jumped and then she smiled.
“
I wanted to clean up
…”

“
I
’
ll be the judge of that,
”
Landon said.
“
Turn that fucking water off.
”

Avery turned the water off and stood before Landon, fully
nude. He touched her face and then moved down to her shoulders. His fingers
traced lines to her breasts where he cupped her. His thumbs flicked her hard
nipples and she jumped. Landon slid his hands down her stomach, feeling her
fast breathing. Finally, he cupped her ass with his left hand and allowed his
right hand between her legs. His middle and ring fingers cut between her wet
lips and he slipped his fingers in her warm, welcoming body.

“
Mmm
…
,
”
Avery groaned and gripped Landon
’
s
shoulders.

“
Still
tight,
”
he said with a
smile.

Landon lifted Avery and carried her to the bed. He dropped
her on it and couldn
’
t get
his clothes off fast enough. To make things hotter, Avery slipped a hand
between her legs and began to play.

By the time Landon was naked, he was hard and throbbing. He
climbed the bed, put his hands to Avery
’
s
legs, spread her wide, and offered himself. This time, there was nothing gentle.
He thrust hard, fast, and deep, stealing Avery
’
s
breath, forcing her back to arch, and causing her to claw at his chest so hard
that she drew bloodHe fucked Avery with all the passion he had to offer. He
lowered his body to hers and held her. He actually held her as he fucked her.
Their mouths came together, again and again, the kissing as hot as the sex.

Avery locked her ankles behind Landon and kept him moving,
even when he wanted to slow it down so he didn
’
t
come too quickly. But he couldn
’
t
help himself once he felt Avery clenching at him as she came. It was too much
for Landon to hold back so he let it all go. He drove deep inside her and held
there as he came. His mouth found the comfort of Avery
’
s mouth and they kissed for a long time.

When they finally stopped kissing and Landon pulled back for
some air, he stared at Avery and fell for her again. Avery put a hand to Landon
’
s chest to feel his heartbeat.

“
It
’
s racing,
”
she whispered.

“
The
only time a woman has done that to me,
”
Landon said.

Avery smiled and pulled with her feet, forcing Landon to
move while he was still inside her.
“
I
’
m still
…”

“
Fuck,
sweetheart, you have no idea what I
’
m
going to do to you tonight,
”
Landon said.

He wrapped his arms around Avery and moved from the bed, making
sure his cock didn
’
t leave
her body. Avery cried out and bit at Landon
’
s
shoulder.

“
We
’
re going to start in the shower
and end up in bed,
”
Landon
said.
“
Don
’
t plan on walking at all
tomorrow.
”

“
I
’
ve got nowhere to go,
”
Avery said.
“
I
’
m
right where I want to be.
”

Landon kissed her and walked to the bathroom. He caught the
reflection of himself carrying Avery
’
s
perfect, naked body. He then saw the smile on his face.

He never knew being happy could feel so good.

twenty-six.

Miller sat with Griffin as they reviewed the bullshit stuff
of the MC. The dues owed and paid. The bills and expenses for the business. All
the normal stuff that needed to be done on a weekly basis.

“
It
would have been nice to take money from Strokner,
”
Griffin remarked as he flipped through a notebook that contained the real
financial documents for the MC.

“
Money
always leads to trouble,
”
Miller said.
“
You of all
people should know that, Griffin. I don
’
t
want to be traced to that asshole anymore than we already are.
”

“
What
’
s the plan with him? You think
he
’
ll go away?
”

Miller drank from his beer.
“
Probably
not. But time will give us our options there. I
’
m
getting a little pissed off at Jonesy. Erik is going to be here any minute and
we have dick to offer him.
”

“
I know,
”
Griffin said.
“
I have two calls into him and
two calls into close associates. He
’
s
digging deep for us on this. It has me wondering just exactly who tried to take
out Shay.
”

“
Yeah,
”
Miller said.
“
Seems something bigger is on the
horizon.
”

A knocked sounded at the door.

“
Open
it,
”
Miller called.

The door opened and one of the bar backs stood there, knowing
better than to cross the threshold to the meeting room.

“
What?
”
Miller asked.

“
There
was a package outside.
”

“
Give it
to the front,
”
Miller said.

“
It
’
s addressed to you, Miller,
”
the guy said.

“
Go get
it,
”
Miller said to
Griffin.

Griffin went to the door and grabbed the small box. He then
slammed the door on the guy
’
s
face and shook his head.

“
Fucking
assholes,
”
he whispered.
“
They
’
ll do anything to get a peek in here.
”

Miller smiled.
“
It
’
s where the cool guys hang.
”

“
Fuck
that,
”
Griffin said.
“
They don
’
t get it.
”

“
Sit
down.
”

Griffin tossed the box to Miller and sat down.
“
Expecting something?
”

“
No,
”
Miller said.

Miller looked at the return address and raised an eyebrow.
“
Well, this is interesting
…”

“
What is
it?
”
Griffin asked.

“
The
return address just says
Jonesy.
”

“
What?
”

Miller took out a knife and cut the tape on the box. He
opened the box slowly and at the last second, he realized he should have maybe
done it outside. It could have been a fucking bomb for all he knew.

But it wasn
’
t
a bomb.

“
Jesus
fucking Christ,
”
Miller
said as he pushed the box away.

The box tipped over and out rolled a severed human finger.

“
Shit,
”
Griffin yelled as he stood up.
“
What the fuck
…”

Miller stared at the finger and then curled his lip.
“
Motherfucker.
”

Miller reached for the finger and lifted it off the table.
There was a big gold ring on the finger. On the center of the ring was a big
letter
J
.

“
Whose
is it?
”
Griffin asked.

Miller showed Griffin the ring.
“
Take a fucking guess.
”

“
Christ.
That
’
s
…
that
’
s Jonesy
’
s
finger.
”

Miller nodded.

This was bad.

Really bad.

twenty-seven.

Erik looked in the mirror at himself. A lot of the cuts were
healed, the scabs either picked off or washed off. He touched his face and felt
the bumps of the fresh scars. The scars wouldn
’
t
peel away. They would be there forever as jagged flesh.

He looked liked shit.

Erik closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

When I open my eyes, they
’
ll
be gone. It
’
s not that bad
…

Erik opened his eyes and the scars were still there. His
arms were still achy and his right leg hurt most of the day, leaving him with a
limp. He hadn
’
t been able to
ride a motorcycle in weeks and according to Miller, his job was to rest and
relax while the rest of the MC was out there, doing something.

Rest meant nothing to Erik. He wanted to be on his
motorcycle and he wanted to be out there, doing something. He wanted to fight. He
wanted to kill. He needed to get all this anger out of his body before
something bad happened.

Erik reached down and felt for his gun. He lifted the gun
and looked at its reflection in the mirror. Then he put the gun under his chin.

One fucking pull
…

Erik
’
s
pointer finger could end all the pain. End the need to stare at the scars on
his face. End the wondering and anger of who did this to him.

Erik
’
s
hand shook as he tempted himself to do it.

If he committed suicide, Erik wasn
’
t sure what would happen to his body. Would he
buried in his leather cut? Would he be honored as a member of the MC? Would he
be laid to rest with the rest of his fallen brothers?

“
Fuck,
”
Erik whispered.

He moved the gun from his chin and put it back on the sink.

He
’
d
been like this for over an hour now. Debating whether live or die. If he was
dead, he would feel nothing. If he was alive, he felt like death. The cycle spun
inside his body and soul ever since he woke up in a fucking hospital and pieced
together what had happened.

Erik turned on the cold water and splashed some on his face.
He calmed himself with a reminder that he was going to meet with Miller and
Griffin to talk about what they knew. Erik reminded himself of what Landon had
done for him. He fought three rounds in one night - even taking down a guy who
kept his rings on - all to pay for the service of Jonesy to get revenge for
Erik.

As much as Erik wanted to kill himself and finish what
someone else started, he needed to be respectful to his brothers. Erik tucked
the gun away and left his bathroom and his room. He walked the hall slowly,
listening to the sounds of the clubhouse. At the meeting room, he paused and
then opened the doors. Entering, he found Miller and Griffin looking pissed off
and flustered.

“
What
’
s wrong?
”
Erik asked.

“
Erik,
”
Miller said.
“
Come in. Sit down.
”

Erik looked at the table and saw a finger.

“
What
the hell is that?
”
Erik
asked.

He looked at Miller again and didn
’
t need an answer. The tides had the feel that they
were turning and had been for some time. Some men rose while some men fall. The
same could be said for crews. Sitting at the top meant a lot of people wanted
to kill you for your spot. This wasn
’
t
a
dog eat dog
kind of thing, this was
kill before you
’
re fucking killed
kind of
life.

Erik limped to his chair and leaned against it.

His body, mind, and soul were still recovering, but it was
obvious that time was going to march forward, with or without him. Erik lifted
his head and looked at the wall.

BACK DOWN DEVIL

It was his life. It was his blood. And if Erik was going to
die, it would be while fighting for the MC. Because at least that kind of death
came with honor.