Page 10 of Hero: Claimed

The second part, now that comes harder. We decided what with Brinley showing up, we needed to find out what was up with the Riot.

And what we found out is all kinds of fucked.

Riot and Pythons in bed together. Some pretty dirty shit. Drugs, the kind that got most of our club killed back before I joined. And who are they taking territory from? Horde chapters. It’s a fucked-up mess.

We’d been so busy dealing with Houdini’s, hence, Elise’s shit. Then Caitlin’s shit. And finally Liv’s shit, which turned back into Houdini’s shit, we didn’t know the Horde had expanded their territory further west. All of those fucks want Lords’ domain. That ain’t gonna happen.

Lords protect our own.

It seems we’re surrounded on three sides and they’re all pushing in. Intel Duke needs yesterday.

We pull off to stay in a cheap biker-friendly hotel for the night. After checking in and dropping my bag in the room, I head out to find some takeout. There’s a taco truck parked down the street from where we’re staying. As I stand in the bitch of a line, which tells me these are going to be some freaking great tacos, I think about the Riot and the Pythons, all the territory the Horde’s been gaining.

Fuck.

I thought we shut that shit down when we took out that meth lab to rescue Scotch’s woman and babies.

Once I get up to the order window, I order enough crunchy tacos to feed me for three days, or enough to share with the brothers if I decide to be nice. I pay, wait for my bag, and take off back to eat and crash for the night.

Boss and Blood are both outside the room smoking when I walk up on them. And I stop in my tracks when I hear what they’re talking about.

“Do you really think he’s gonna be able to pull it off?” Blood asks.

Boss takes a long draw from his smoke, then purses his lips as if thinking about the question. “It’s admirable that he wants to help her… after seein’ the shit the Riot are into, I can’t imagine sendin’ her back to that. But he likes getting’ laid and she’s—”

“Not his type. No, she sure as hell ain’t.” Then Blood takes a pull from his cigarette, too. “What if we tell everyone she’s a hot mama, like Hannah suggested? She doesn’t have tobea hot mama.”

“Brother, that ain’t gonna work and you know it. She seems sweet, but no one’s gonna buy that the Lords’re suddenly takin’ on—”

“Be careful how you finish that,” I warn, stepping out from around the corner. “I already said I’d do it. I’m doing it.”

“You’re a good man for wanting to protect her,” Blood says. “It means a whole lot to Hannah, which means it means something to me, too. But I’ve never seen you with a woman her size. Hell, most of ’em remind me of Elise one way or another.”

Boss startles and turns his head slowly to glare at me. I squint my eyes, glaring back at the both of them. “Don’t go there, brother. I don’t got a thing for your wife. She’s hot, but she fits the type.”

“Right. The type that Brinley don’t fit. So how you really gonna convince people that you’re stickin’ your dick in large pussy?” he shoots back.

I sigh. He’s right. Fuck, I hate that he’s right. “I don’t know, but I have to. She’s not going back to the Riot. I’ll figure something out because I couldn’t live with myself if she ended up back in that hell.” Done with the conversation, I storm past them to go into the room. But before I slam the door, I give them my parting shot. Shaking the bag, I tell them, “And I’m not sharing my tacos.”

I hear laughing and a grumbled, “We’ll see…” from one of them right before the door closes them out.

The next morning, we check out, grab breakfast and then we ride. I ended up sharing the tacos with them, figuring the ones I didn’t eat would get soggy and suck ass. We ride through valleys and mountain passes, all during one hell of a thunderstorm. We only pull off when the lightning starts to split the sky by colors—all bright whites and pinks and purples. Too dangerous to be out on the open road, especially on bikes.

Hours later and soaking wet, we round the last bend, the gate to the compound coming into view. Dutchy, one of the newest prospects, sees us and waves us in as he rolls the chain link open.Jesus, does the kid look young. He has to be at least eighteen because we don’t accept recruits any younger, but damn, he has a baby face. Complete with freckles. I give a short wave as werumble through and god damn, I’m a shivering mess. A warm shower is first on my agenda. Then a debriefing with Prez.

Blood lives here too. Boss, as a full patched-in member, has a room here for whatever he wants to use it for. Unlike his single days when the room was used to entertain pieces or hot mamas, now it’s for when he and his wife have too much to drink or when we gotta bring the women in for protection. We dismount and head inside. It’s afternoon on a Saturday, so pretty quiet. With all the kids around now, it’s not near as smoky as the old days. But that ain’t such a bad thing.

“We going to Duke now?” I ask.

“Meet here in twenty?” Blood offers.

“Saw my wife’s car. Better make it thirty.”

We all laugh and take off for our separate rooms. Nothing to separate me from a hot shower. Fuck. I cannot wait. I open the door to my room and pause only once to look at my big, comfortable bed. A bed calling to me. But no, I keep going and open the bathroom door.

The room is filled with steam.

Brinley. Fucking Brinley in the shower. Her back to me. I can see every inch of her through the clear curtain. The water rolling off her creamy-beige skin in rivulets, collecting slightly at the small dimple right above her ass.Jesus,shit. I’ve got no business paying attention to her ass.

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