Page 5 of Fearless
“Because he wants you as more than friends. And in his mind, you’re off limits now that you’re mine and Jandro’s.” His hand slid down to my ass where he took a gratuitous squeeze. “Speaking of, want to pay your Latin lover a visit?”
“Can you really call him that if there’s been no loving going on?”
The question came out more grumbly than I intended. Jandro was busy. All the Steel Demons were, but it was up to Jandro and the two prospects to fix up the dozen or so wrecked bikes from the ambush. You’d think these men were caged animals with the way they acted with no motorcycles between their legs.
“Greedy girl,” Reaper teased me. “Trust me, Mari, he wants to see you but it’s a two-way street.” He gave me a playful tap on the nose. “He knows you’re new to this and doesn’t want to overwhelm you. Now that the three of us are official, hiding out in the shop is a convenient way for you to come seehim. Your comfort zone is sticking with me and he’s not going to be the one to pull you out of that. That’s on you, sugar.”
He was right. Reaper repeatedly reminded me that I was the one in control of this three-way relationship. I was setting the pace and so far, I’d taken the easy route of just spending all my free time with him. Because I didn’t know any other way. He and Jandro directed the kisses at the party, but they couldn’t take charge like that all the time. I was an equal, contributing part of this relationship and I couldn’t treat this the way I always had before. Not when I had the hearts of two men to care for.
My decision made, I removed Reaper’s hand from my ass and laced my fingers with his. “Let’s go see him.”
Two
GUNNER
“Do you have any good news to tell me?”
I wanted to drop my eyes to the table under the scrutinizing gaze of my president, but I wasn’t a pussy. If I had to tell him I failed, I’d have the balls to look him in the eye as I did so.
“We have our snitch,” I said. “Although that is some dumb fuckin’ luck I rolled up at the exact moment I did, and nothing to do with my skills.”
“I’m not even sure he’s the only one,” Reaper answered, rubbing his jaw. “If Bones and Heather knew about his scheming and didn’t tell me, they have to answer for that too.”
I nodded my agreement, drumming my fingers on the table while Horus adjusted the grip of his talons in my shoulder. Those sharp fuckers used to kill me. He dug in hard at first, and I had multiple scars on that one shoulder to prove it. Eventually, I got used to him always sitting there and he loosened his grip enough to hold on without piercing me.
“So you’re holding him, then? Until you question the other two?”
“That’s the plan. He’s getting royal treatment for a prisoner, better than he fucking deserves, so he better not bitch.” Reaper’s lip curled. “If he does, I’m sure Mari will tell me about it.”
Reaper’s gaze softened as he uttered her name, and I fought the urge to snort derisively. He was utterly in love with our pretty medic and still passed her off to Jandro like some prized whore. I couldn’t begin to understand it. If she were mine, any man that looked at her with desire would feel my knife at his throat. Women had to be cared for, protected. Especially in a world like this.
And fuck me, I did care for her. Maybe too much.
I could never bring myself to join the rotation of men who orbited her. I had to be content with my place on the outside. I was a guardian and provider for the Steel Demons. I’d guard her with my life and provide whatever supplies she needed for her medical practice. I knew what I was good at, and sharing a woman was not one of them.
“So your uncle really believes General Tash will sell part of his conquered land to him?” Reaper got back on topic, his expression hardening again. “He chose expanding his territory over paying a debt? Over his own family?”
“It was a long shot anyway,” I sighed, propping my elbows on the table. “Tash has a way of making you feel like you’re getting a good deal without being too generous. And hewillhonor his agreements, up to a point.”
“Hindsight is 20/20, huh?” Reaper scoffed.
“Fucking tell me about it,” I groaned. “I should have known a rising general wouldn’t play ball with an MC forever. They all look down on us like scum.”
“You couldn’t have predicted this,” Reaper said. “He didn’t just cut us off, he worked to destroy us from the inside. Using another MC, no less.”
“He probably pays Razor Wire a fraction of what he paid us,” I realized. “We have standards and people to protect. They’re just a bunch of dirty thugs on wheels.”
“And he’ll try to wipe them off the map too,” Reaper added. “Once they’ve served their purpose for him. And good riddance to that, but,” he tilted his head, “do you think he’ll betray your uncle in the same way?”
I tented my fingers, idly tapping them together as I worked through all the likely scenarios in my head.
“Yes,” I decided. “I don’t believe for a second he’s going to give part of the New Mexico territory to my uncle. Not after he obliterated the last governor’s regime to take control of it. He’s not a rebel anymore. He stormed the castle and now he’s the new king. And he sure as shit wants to keep that crown on his head.”
“That doesn’t change a damn thing for us,” Reaper growled. “Hewillbe brought down. To keep using your metaphor, I want to throw his corpse over the castle walls wrapped in a Steel Demons flag.”
“It’ll be difficult,” I warned him. “But easier with support, of course. The question is, are you willing to accept my uncle’s help when he realizes the truth and crawls to us with his tail between his legs?”
“Hmm.” Reaper lifted his gaze to stare at the wall, his jaw tense. “Maybe. Depends how badly he needs us. I regret not making him dance like a monkey last time he begged us for protection.”
