Sons of Mayhem 4: Snakes and Angels (9 page)

Nicole

I didn’t know what the hell was going on. After the assurances Jase had given me the night before about handling everything things sure didn’t seem to be going right. I wasn’t supposed to be part of this.

I tasted blood on my lip as
I turned my head back from Lonnie’s blow.
Bastard
.

A yell escaped from my lips as he grabbed me by the hair and shoved me forward. He started walking me to where Jase and Eag were sitting in the dirt. I looked down at him but he couldn
’t speak, his mouth covered in gray duct tape. He raised his eyebrows at me and shook his head slightly.
What is that? An apology? Regret? What’s going on?

Lonnie shoved me forward again as he released my hair and I fell onto Jase and Eag. My face landed in Jase
’s chest, my nose pushing into the leather of his jacket. I breathed in deeply, the scent of the leather reassuring me despite our precarious situation.

I turned around and sat leaning against Jase, grimacing when I saw the rifle Gauge was aiming right at us. Next to hi
m the Doctor stood, shifting his weight from foot to foot, a toothy grin on his lips that looked like he was having the time of his life.

We sat silent in the dirt as Lonnie walked over to join the Doctor, Gauge and Bottle. T-Bone was lumbering over from t
he truck. I felt a bead of sweat roll down my head, but it wasn’t from the heat.
How the fuck did I end up here?

When T-Bone finally reached the Doctor the former medical practitioner let his shotgun rest against his leg as he clapped his hands together in
glee, before picking it up again. “We are gathered here today, due to the acts of traitors!”

“
Damn straight,” said T-Bone.

“
You’ve got that right,” said Gauge, not moving even a fraction of an inch as he spoke, his rifle still held up against his shoulder, pointed right at the three of us on the ground.

The Doctor
’s eyes seemed to widen as he made himself more and more irate. Spittle flecked from his mouth as he spoke. “Due to these snakes,” he paused to spit before continuing, “we have lost Bigfella to the prison system, and Brodie to the heavens.” The Doctor looked up to the sky and shook his head. “And for what?

“
For
money
? Fuckers! They’ve nearly ruined us. We’re never going to be the same again.
Never!”

Lonnie spat on the ground, his face fuming.
“The club’s been royally fucked.”

T-Bone growled.
“That it has, brother. You don’t know the half of it.”

Lonnie cocked his head at T-Bone in confusion, before returning his angry gaze to us.

The Doctor’s face had grown red and when he wasn’t speaking his grin was beginning to look manic.
You’re a goddamn fruit loop Doctor. You and that English bastard.

The Doctor
’s voice seemed higher when he next spoke. “You traitorous snakes. You dogs. You sicken me. You sicken
us
.”

Lonnie nodded in agreement, and then frown
ed when Bottle, Gauge and T-Bone didn’t respond at all.

“
The cost of betraying the club is
death
. You knew it when you joined. But you’re scum. Fucking lowlife scum. You thought you could get one over on us. Fuckers!”

I was shaking harder now. The man in
front of us seemed crazy, and Lonnie didn’t seem much better. The only comfort I had was the warmth emanating from Jase’s body next to mine. If he was afraid I couldn’t tell.
I hope he knows what’s going on.

Gauge, still unmoving finally spoke, his voice c
old and hard. “I don’t know about you Doc, but I’ve had about enough of this shit.”

I watched as the Doctor bobbed his head up and down like a toy.
“Yes! Let’s get this over with!” His mouth was wide with a manic grin as he began to raise his shotgun. My eyes were wide.
Somebody do something.

“
That’s not what I meant.”

The Doctor turned to look at Gauge, not understanding. I cocked my head slightly.
What does that mean?

My unspoken question was answered when Gauge, lightning quick, swung his rifle from his
body and whacked the Doctor around the head with it. My mouth gaped open in shock at the quickness of his motion. Gauge was a mere blur as in one fluid moment he continued to move and kicked the Doctor in the stomach with a heavy military boot, before bringing it down and knocking his shotgun to the floor.

The Doctor collapsed to the floor, his mouth wide open but no sound escaping as he gasped for air. As he fell into the dirt Lonnie swung his weapon up to face Gauge.
“What the fuck are you playing at?”

Ga
uge just shook his head.

“
It’s alright Lonnie,” said T-Bone.

“
Put the gun down,” said Bottle.

“
The Doctor set us up! He framed us!” I yelled. I was the only one of us captives who wasn’t gagged with tape. Lonnie turned to look at me, realization flooding across his face.
Sorry you smacked me now, asshole?

Lonnie lowered his weapon and looked down at the panicked man on the floor, shaking his head. He lifted his head again.
“But, the tape?”

“
Fake.”

“
But how?”

“
He’s been recording Eag and Jase for weeks. He patched together their conversations on the computer and made them sound real.”

Lonnie cocked his head at me.
“How do
you
know?”

Before I could answer Bottle spoke for me.
“Eag confessed to her last night. When he found out what was going to happen to him he decided to run for it. Jase didn’t let him.”

Lonnie looked more confused than before.
“So, the bit about Eag was true?”

Bottle was walking over to us, and yelled over his shoulder,
“Yep.”

Next to me I felt Jase begin to rise to his feet, so I did the sam
e, my legs unsteady. Jase held out his wrists to Bottle, who pulled out a knife from his boot and cut the tape binding him.

I heard a yelp and looked back. Gauge had given the Doctor another kick in the stomach. He must have looked like he
’d nearly recovered. I shook my head softly.
Motherfucker. Try and kill Jase? Try and kill
me?
Bastard.

With his hands now free Jase was working on pulling the tape off of his mouth. Next to him Eag began to stand up, but quickly toppled over again when Bottle gave him a p
ush with the tip of his boot.

“
Don’t move fuckhead.” A panicked look appeared on Eag’s face at Bottle’s command.

Jase managed to get the tape off his mouth and turned to me. He enveloped me with his two strong arms and I pressed my head into his shoulder.
Thank God
. He hugged me and patted my back, before holding me by my shoulders at arm’s length.

“
I’m sorry about this. You weren’t supposed to be involved. I didn’t realize just how crazy that asshole was.”

My voice was small.
“It’s okay. You stopped him.”

He nodded. His eyes bore in to mine.
“You know what has to be done, right?”

I nodded.
They have to kill him.
I looked at the rat writhing under the floor underneath Gauge. That asshole had tried to
kill
me. And not just me. Because of him Brodie was dead, and their club president was locked up.

Did I feel anything for him? Did I have compassion for that asshole lying on the floor clutching his stomach, moaning? Not much. I guess there are different kinds of people in the world
— those who’ll put up with others shit, and those who won’t. Those who’ll bow down, be cowed, be forgiving and those of us who stand up for ourselves, who hurt those who hurt us, punish those who wound us and kill those who would kill us.

I didn
’t care a jot for that man.
He deserves everything he’s going to get.

But I was still shocked when Jase held me tightly by the shoulders, looked into my eyes, and told me what had to be done. I gulped.
Can I do that?

Jase

Can she do this? What happens if she doesn’t?
Jase gulped.

“
Usually a civilian wouldn’t be here. This kind of business should be kept separate.”

She nodded to him, her eyes fierce with righteous anger. She seemed to understand that this was a unique situation.

Jase looked her in the eyes. “You’ll do it?”

She
nodded. “I’ll do it.” Her voice was a whisper but despite the low volume there was a steely hardness underneath.
She ain’t no regular college girl, that’s for sure. She’s a keeper.

Gauge dragged the Doctor over to the oil barrel by a boot before releasing
him. “What about this one?” he indicated Eag with a steel-capped toe.

Jase shook his head.
“I promised we wouldn’t kill him if he helped me.”

T-Bone looked at him, his expression unreadable.
“He betrayed us, Jase. No one will mind.”

Bottle nodded.
“Fuck that guy.”

Lonnie didn
’t speak. He seemed to be avoiding contact with Jase, probably because of the way he’d hit Nicole.

The acting president of the club faced his men.
“We’ve seen too much fucking betrayal lately. It ends now. Within the club, we’re brothers, we do not fuckin lie, or cheat, or steal from each other.” There were murmurs of agreement. “I promised this fuckhead we wouldn’t kill him. Unlike those two fuckers, my word means something.”

T-Bone nodded approvingly.
“You’re a better man than me Jase.”

“
Or me,” said Bottle.

“
I’d have wrung his neck last night,” said Gauge with an ominous chuckle.

Lonnie remained silent but gave a nod of the head.

Jase nodded slowly. “He’s banished. I don’t want that fucker within a hundred miles of the club. And if we expand? He gets the fuck further away. If anyone sees him in our territory take care of him however you want.”

With the decision made Gauge dragged Eag back to the rest of the club members. He
’d now have to take his last action as a
Son
.

Jase wrapped his h
and around Nicole’s waist and led her over to the men. She stood confidently among them, a look of firm determination on her face.
She’s really going to do this, huh.

The Doctor lay unmoving, facing away from them. He seemed dead already.

Everyone held a rifle, handgun or shotgun. They were in this together, and the deed had to be carried out together. And if a civilian was present, like Nicole? She had to join them. Jase could no more change this rule than he could stop the sun rising again tomorrow. Luckily Nicole had seemed to understand.

They fired together in unison. After it was done Jase looked at her. Nicole
’s face was at first unreadable. She didn’t seem scared any more, and she didn’t seem upset; at least not in a normal sense. No, he thought, the look on her face was something else. She turned to look at him, her eyes glinting. Realization rushed through him.
She looks… proud.

Nicole

I had my arms wrapped around him as he drove us away back to the compound. He
’d asked if I’d wanted to go back to the dorm. But I hadn’t. I wanted to be with him, at least for a little while. I knew he’d undoubtedly have club business to attend to soon, but I hoped we could snatch a few minutes alone.

The guys had sent Jase off with me. I
’d played my part by firing the handgun I’d been given, but I didn’t need to be there for the rest, when they got rid of the body.

I shivered at the memory. I
’d never fired a gun before. I don’t know if I even hit him. But the memory of the weapon lurching in my hand as I pulled the trigger again and again until it stopped would never leave me.

Should I feel bad? Is there something wrong with me that I don
’t? Or maybe it’s right — after all, the fucker tried to kill me first.

I was contemplative on the ride back as
the day’s events ran over and over in my mind. But not just the events of that day, but from the previous few weeks too.

I think something changed in me that first day in the warehouse. When I
’d first had a taste of the power of the club when we stood over the meth-heads who’d shot at us, and I’d got my first taste of Jase. Like a switch being flicked, I’d become more than I had been. I was still the good college girl, but now I was something else as well — a biker chick; or a biker’s chick at the very least.

I
’d come to the realization that we can either stand up for ourselves, or we can get trodden on. We can fight for what is right, for our friends, for our brothers, for our beliefs, or we can let them get trampled on and be ridden roughshod over. Jase had me taught me that.

Now I knew no one would fuck with me, no one
could
fuck with me, not ever again. And not just because I was with Jase, but because I had changed myself — I simply wouldn’t take it now. I’d give back twice what anyone dished to me and they’d rue the day they fucked with me.

My fingers were digging into Jase
’s thighs when we finally pulled into the compound. It was silent and empty. We were the only ones there. I hopped off the bike and pulled off the helmet I’d been wearing.

He clambered
off and I grabbed him by the hand. Hands held tight together we headed to the main door. It wasn’t locked — it never was. There was almost always someone there, and if there wasn’t? Who the hell would break into the clubhouse  of an outlaw biker gang? No one who valued remaining in one piece, that’s for sure.

We headed inside, not speaking. I
’m sure his mind was just as turbulent as mine, if not more so. He’d had a lot more shit to deal with than I had. But then again, maybe he was more used to it than me.

The main room seemed smaller than I remembered.

“Beer?” he asked.

I looked up at him.
“In a minute.”

He looked down at me and I saw him biting his lip. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then with a slight shake of his head he reached down and grabb
ed me, throwing me over his shoulder.

I gasped as I soared up to his shoulder, helpless.
Take me.
He walked me over to where he wanted me and put me down next to the pool table.

“
Take off your clothes.”

I looked up into his eyes, my body shivering slightly
.
Yes Jase.
I reached down and pulled off my shoes. I lifted my t-shirt over my head. I bit my lip out of nervousness as I reached behind me and undid the strap of my bra.

His eyes ran over my body and drank me up. It was cool in there and my nipples were
hard as I watched him watch me. My hands went to my jeans and in a moment I was working them down my legs, followed by my panties.

Finally I stood there naked before him, my hands by my side as he shook his head softly.
“Goddamn girl.”

I raised my eyebrows
slightly at him.

“
Turn around.”

I did as I was told, and placed my hands on the pool table. I gasped as he placed a hand between my thighs and ran it up my inner leg to where I was hot and slick before it disappeared. I let out a moan. I shivered and spre
ad my legs a little wider and moved my feet a little further back.

I heard his jeans drop to the floor and I shook in excitement. A hand wrapped around my throat, gently squeezing as I felt his other hand manipulating himself. I felt him between my legs, a
nd ever so slowly he slid inexorably deep inside me.

His other hand reached wrapped around my body and he squeezed a breast hard as he began to thrust himself inside me. Ahead of me was a large, dirty mirror and I met his eyes in the reflection. I could se
e him leaning over me, his hair hanging down around my shoulders, one arm around my throat and the other fondling and grabbing at my breasts sending electric shocks shooting through my body with every squeeze or tease of a nipple.

After the afternoon I
’d had I needed this, I needed to be taken, to be used, to be filled, to be loved, to be dominated. He pumped his hips as he thrust into me again and again, occasionally squeezing at my throat sending blood rushing to my head.

I rocked my hips back into him, m
atching his rhythm perfectly. I stared at us in the mirror, watching my breasts shake as he drove into me harder and harder.

Moans escaped between my lips as he brought me closer and closer to the edge.
Fuck it.
I let my moans get louder.
No one else is here.

I let myself get carried away in the moment, carried by emotion and yearning, physical craving and release. My moans got louder and he joined me in filling the empty clubhouse with noise.

“Oh yeah baby,” he said. I didn’t,
couldn’t
, form words, only animalistic sounds of pleasure.

“
Take it. Take it all.”
I’ll take it any time.

Faster he pounded into me.
“You like that, huh?”
I do, I do.
I groaned in confirmation and let out a squeal.

“
You like getting it from the big, bad, killer?” I moaned agreement.
I’m a killer too now.

I reached around behind me and grabbed at his ass as he thrust harder into me, and squeezed my breasts hard. We were both close to release when we heard it. The sounds of motorcycle engines outside. They were coming back.

It only drove us on. I dug my nails into his muscular behind as he held me tightly and seemed to try and force me
through
the pool table. As the engines got louder so did my screams.

With a final cry of,
“Oh fuck!” I felt Jase’s last few rapid thrusts into me as he brought me over the edge. He squeezed my throat and breasts and I swung my head up to the ceiling and let out a scream of release, half choked by the grip of his hand.

I collapsed forward on to the pool table and lay there panting. My body was slick with swe
at and I ached from his rough treatment. I knew I’d be bruised the next day.

He withdrew himself from me and I heard him pull up his pants. I realized the engine sounds had stopped and I heard voices coming from outside.

With a final groan I pulled myself to my feet and began to pull on my clothes. I was sitting on the pool table pulling on my shoes when the guys came in.

Jase handed me a beer.

“Here. Are you okay?”

I smiled at him.
“Better than okay.”

“
I’m sorry, but…”

“
You’ve gotta have a meeting, right?”

He nodded.

I took a sip from the beer. “Call me a taxi?”