Nomads' Fall: Burning Bastards MC (15 page)

She walked to her car in a daze from the kiss. Fumbling with the key fob, she finally pressed the correct unlock button and opened the driver’s side door, and slid in. Her key was in the ignition when the driver’s door was opened and Demon stood there. He reached down and tilted her head sideways. Before she could say anything, his mouth found hers and she was treated to an open-mouthed fuck. They were both breathing harder by the time he let her lips loose. “You taste as good as you look.” He shut the car door and patted the top. “Drive safe,” was all she heard as she backed out of the parking spot.

She knew she was being stupid about the two handsome men. It wasn’t a question of her being shy, or even caring what other people thought about her. Those two would make a woman as crazy as the guy with the sugar packets. He had to have eaten a half cup of sugar,
how is that even possible
? The man was wired when he stomped out the door, and said that Selma was history if she didn’t accept him as he was. “I’mma free man, and I’ll be damned if I stand still while she puts a choke chain around my neck.” She hated to see older people in such misery, but this old guy looked like he was ready to lay down the law with his woman.

“I’ll just chalk the attraction down to my being as horny as Demon and Knight are.” Although how those two could possibly be horny was unthinkable. From what she observed at the clubhouse, the men had plenty of female flesh available without creating permanent strings. The lure of enjoying access to either of those men’s bodies was a powerful thing. There had been hundreds of men who came into the Lovely Lady that could’ve tempted her out of her panties, but she hadn’t wanted to become a discarded toy like so many other dancers. Like her mother appeared to have been.

If she took on one of them, she’d probably end up with both of them, according to what that nutcase psychic seemed to believe. The idea of two men sharing her had a certain appeal. Would they be forceful and bossy in the bedroom as they were in reality? “Okay, Jolly, they’re sexy, they are really, really sexy, but what happens to you when they decide you’re not enough, and you become the ‘go to girl’ between other women?” All she could do was hope the opportunity never presented itself, if it did, she feared the temptation would win.

On the bright side, a failed ménage romance might force her to decide to go back to college and finish her degree in Physical Therapy. With the number of years it would take to finish school, not to mention the internships, gaining that degree would take her into her mid-thirties. She was already a Certified Massage Therapist, but had never used the certification to work. Mainly because she wanted to be in a clinical setting or have her name associated with a real medical facility, and not some sleazy massage parlor like the one next to the Lovely Ladies. The Happy Endings massage parlor gave her the creeps. She’d seen some of the clientele that stumbled inside that storefront, no thank you.

Jolly drove around until she saw a grocery store and parked the car. Hopefully she could remember what had been on the list, but she knew Gladys would understand if she forgot something. It was the first time in years she’d pushed a cart through the aisles, or could buy anything to eat that caught her eye, and she took her time.

The cart was filled by the time she got to the checkout, and she piled as much as possible on top of the conveyer belt. She felt a little panic in the pit of her stomach when the total reached two hundred, but she swiped her shiny new charge card and waited to see what happened. The relief of seeing the register spit out the receipt was welcome and the trunk and backseat of the Mustang were full by the time she emptied the cart.

Thank you, William
. On the way back to the campground, thoughts of his demands that she, “Take the charge card, Jolly, and you’d better use it,” filtered through her mind. She’d told him she didn’t need his money, she was capable of earning her own. That little speech hadn’t gone over well at all. The man asked her if she had ever had a spanking before. From the look on his face she believed he was actually considering the action. “You will take the card and use it, or I can take you to my home to meet my wife and children, and move you in. I take care of my own. Just because you weren’t around when you were younger doesn’t mean a damn thing to me. When people find out you’re my daughter, they will kiss your little ass. You will have two bodyguards at all times, no matter where you want to go, or who you’re with. It’s your choice.”

The idea of having a second parent still hadn’t sunk in. It certainly warmed her heart to know he demanded contact with her, even if he was the kind of man that people feared and envied. She wouldn’t have dared approach him, but he pulled her into his sphere, and wonderful things began to happen. “
My own fairy Godfather
. The double meaning of Godfather, made her giggle.

*****

At Church that night, Demon was happy to see the room full of brothers. Most nights like this became rowdy and a lot of big talk happened, but tonight the room was almost silent as he related the day’s happenings.

“The only clues we have aren’t enough. A small white pick-up and someone who owns and is familiar with a .308 sniper’s rifle. We know it’s either a bolt action or single shot, because it took a few seconds between rounds fired, unlike the night that asshole shot me. That guy had a .383 semi-auto. Probability says it’s a lone gunman, but we don’t know, and not knowing could get us killed.

“Big Dog is out of surgery and will be home by the end of the week if everything works out alright. His old lady is staying there with him for now. Georgie landed on his head, and hasn’t come too yet, but Gladys is up there tonight, and we hope there’s news by morning. The rodeo is cancelled until further notice, so it’ll give you some extra time to practice falling in the mud, right, Pressley?”

There were some laughs, but the brothers began to offer suggestions, and some were good ideas. They decided to do tag teams in the fire lanes and check out any suspicious people who might be communing with nature with a sniper’s rifle. Crazy Charlie volunteered for the first team, and shamed his old friend, Joker, into partnering up, “Show the young bloods how it’s done.” Show had his hunting partner, Larry, and Heckle stepped up to partner with Deago Pete. They’d search in a trident pattern and meet in the center of each area. Demon snagged Pressley to go with the greybeards as a pack mule, but waited until after Church had disbursed to tell the two old brothers about his decision.

“I don’t need no fucking babysitter, and the last titty I had in my mouth sure didn’t belong to my mother, so I’d say you’re overstepping your bounds, Demon. I survived a hell of a lot worse than a stroll up into the hills.”

He knew Charlie would start a fight to prove his point, but there was no time for that shit. “You think this is about you? Open your eyes, old man, that boy is as wet behind the ears as I’ve seen. If Tinkerbelle hadn’t insisted on blowing him for Christmas, and showing him the ropes, he’d still be a virgin. I want him paired with men who’ve been in a firefight. You and Joker have both been in the jungles of Hell and are the only one’s I’d trust not to send him off on a fucking snipe hunt. He needs to build some muscle and stamina, packing his ass up with the little bit of shit you’ll take is gonna help him. If you don’t want him to go with you, I’ll have to have him go with that fucker, Heckle, and we’ll end up having to rescue him from the forest.”

Charlie stared at him for a full minute. “Why didn’t you just say so? You need to learn to communicate, boy, I was about to have a throw down here with you.” He muttered something that sounded like “dumbass” under his breath and stomped off.

Joker was standing to the side of the conversation considering Demon, “You know, I seem to recollect that Pressley spends most of his time in the shed pumping iron. And didn’t that boy half kill the motherfucker that kicked a stray dog in town? Ain’t that where he got that cur that sits like a rock under the table waiting for scraps?”

Demon refused to acknowledge Joker’s observations. He shrugged and walked to the bar to grab a beer. If it wasn’t for fucking snipers and feeling the need to watch out for the old bastards, he’d be on a highway heading somewhere now. With the Prez and his circle out of commission, he was next in line to make the decisions.

He saw Fuller sitting with Vicky and Teach, and remembered the talk he’d planned to have with the little cocksucker after Knight had filled him in on the woman and kid. There were a lot of things he could tolerate in a brother, abandoning your kid and the kid’s mother wasn’t one of them. He pulled a chair out and sat his bulk down opposite Fuller. He barely spared a glance at the woman, his word “scram” was immediately obeyed. Even Teach left the table.

He sat for a minute staring at Fuller, trying to decide whether to throw the little fuck into a wall, or talk to him first. He wanted to beat the man bloody, but if he did that, then his immediate plans would have to wait. Fuller made to get up but was smart enough to sit his ass back down when Demon made a low growling sound in the back of his throat.

“You know, Fuller, we have a rule about treating our kids like family, we don’t fuckin’ hide them, and we don’t fuckin’ forget them. If their mommas need anything, a brother steps up and makes sure her and his kid are taken care of. The woman that stopped to help me is still lying in that hospital bed, and her kid is still sitting in that fucking waiting room with his granny. I had a long talk with the two of them while they waited for Barbara to get better. They live in a goddamned rat hole, and Barbara was on her way home from her job at the poultry plant, in a car with bald tires, burned more oil than gas, and rust was the only thing holding it together. She was damn lucky she hadn’t been killed in a wreck before that fucker filled it full of holes. She also works part time at the tire place in town to make sure your kid has food and clothing to cover his little ass.” His voice had only gotten louder with his prosecution of Fuller, and the man was acting outraged that he’d been called out.

The words, “It’s none of your business,” came out of the cocky young bastard’s mouth and people all around them started getting up and pulling tables and chairs away from where Demon was rising from his seat. No money exchanged hands or bets made on this fight, everyone already knew Demon was abandoned by his own father as an infant, truth to tell probably a third of the club members had been raised in similar circumstances. Fuller would get no sympathy from any man here.

Demon grinned as he shoved the table from between him and his prey. He wanted to hurt something, and this fucker was lacking the brainpower to understand he was facing the worst ass beating he’d ever imagined. “Well now, I was really hopin’ you’d be dumb enough to say something that fuckin’ stupid.”

Fuller knew he was screwed when the third slap landed on his ear. While Demon grinned at him, holding his shirt to keep him in place, the fist to his gut told him that he was one dumb sonofabitch. The punch to his jaw wasn’t enough to knock him out, but he saw stars and the big man wasn’t finished. He hadn’t landed one punch, and all he wanted to do right now was let the pissed off giant kill him or knock him out, he didn’t give a damn which way it went, as long as the pain stopped. He felt himself flying through the air onto a tabletop that immediately crashed to the floor, and watched as the redheaded Demon from Hell stood over him.

“That shiny Jeep you like to show off in now belongs to Barbara. The club owns a nice little block of rentals, and the one she and the kid are moving into, you,” Demon took a deep breath trying to calm himself down. “You motherfucker are paying the rent for them.” He pointed his finger at the prone Fuller who could barely see out of one eye. “If I find out you cause her another minute of trouble or problems, you won’t be a problem for long. You got that?” The nod from a bloody lipped Fuller was enough for Demon. He went to the bar and downed a beer.

Knight talked to Needles and waved Teach over to him. “Take the fucker home, leave him fifty bucks in his wallet, take the key to the Tulip street house and give the old lady and kid the money and key, if she needs help moving anything, call Tiny.”

Chapter
Fifteen

Something had to give. The breach between him and Knight was like a damned canyon and if he didn’t find a way to patch it up, he might as well hit the fucking highway. Membership was growing faster than anyone could have guessed it would, so there was plenty of business for him to take care of between the various chapters.

Fuck it
, he was too restless to sit around here and wait for another crisis to fall on one of them. He needed to blow the cobwebs off, and there was only one way guaranteed to help with that, even if it was almost ten o’clock at night.

He was on his hog before second guessing himself, and opened the throttle the minute he got on the road, noticing there was almost no traffic.

*****

Knight finished his beer and watched Demon stride to the door. He felt the need to go after his best friend and have the talk they’d put off for too damn long. This friendly stranger attitude between them was fuckin’ bullshit. The fact of the matter was that he was the one to cause the rift to begin with. If he hadn’t told Demon about joining Big Dog and Future that day, there wouldn’t have been a problem to begin with. They both had a fascination for the woman, and were aware of the other man’s feelings at the time.

*****

Demon knew someone was following him, he could hear the growling rumble of the Harley’s engine. It was too dark to see who was riding the hog, but then he didn’t really give a shit. With the way things had been going around the crib, who knew what they were tracking him for. The second bike stayed a distance behind him, which pissed him off. He backed off on the throttle, and allowed the other bike to come up on him. This better not be some lame assed excuse for one of the less than ethical brothers to attempt to convince him to help stage a takeover of the club. He’d been approached a few times since Big Dog was voted in as the Chapter’s President. Hell he’d enjoyed the courting, but push always came to shove and his loyalty to the club and Big Dog was the only reason he hadn’t moved on long before now. Well, that, and Knight. They’d been closer than brothers most of their lives, and he wasn’t ready to give the relationship up until he had to.