Page 60 of Crush's Fall

“It’ll be easier to show you,” she commented and pointed down to her legging-covered thighs.

Curious, Dragon stood and scooped her up. As he carried her out of the room, toward the restrooms, Crush and Pinky chuckled as the rest of the girls hooted and hollered.

Thirty minutes later, Crush was sitting with Pinky and a few other Claws members at a corner table in the clubhouse, when BonBon, Dragon’s mother, walked in.

She halted just inside the main room of the clubhouse, and her head ticked to the side. Crush knew why. They had heard the noises and voices coming from the women’s bathroom since Dragon and Kisy went in there. Crush wasn’t about to speculate on what Dragon was doing to Kisy, but from what they heard, it was effective.

Crush and the rest of the people in the room — several members of the Howlers, the Claws, and the Ol’ Ladies — watched as BonBon crossed the room and stepped down the hallway. She stopped at the door to the women’s restroom and knocked, before she called out, “While I’ve been there and understand what is coursing through your veins right now, you have quite the audience out here, kids.”

“Be right out, Mom,” Dragon loudly growled out from inside the restroom. Crush and most of the others in the room were shifters, so they could hear him clearly.

There was humor in his mother’s voice when she replied, “Thanks for making my son so happy, Kisy.”

“Mom,” Dragon barked.

“Okay! Okay. It’s just sex, but fine. Hurry up.”

As BonBon came back into the main room, Crush and the rest of the onlookers were cackling. BonBon wasn’t like most moms, but she was one of the best.

Lucifer

In the following days, Lucifer went with Crush to the site of the demolished club a couple of times and with Trip once. As he watched the faces of the club members who were trying to clean up the site, Lucifer felt their despair and anger. The Hell’s Dogs did more damage at that site than just destroying a building.

Yeah, they were furious about the destruction of their property and their business, but they were also upset that their employees were left swinging in the wind, and they weren’t sure what to do about that.

To Lucifer, that was the easiest problem to deal with, or at least, it was the problem they could solve the quickest. As he helped the Howlers and the Claws with cleanup, he thought on how to fix that.

When he and Crush got back to their apartment and she plopped down on a stool at the island, Lucifer hated the stress he could see in her face and the tension in her body. He sidled up behind her and began to rub her shoulders and upper back.

He hit a particularly tough spot between her shoulder blades, and a moan came from her mouth, making him smile for a moment.

“The HDMC bullshit never ends, huh?”

She sighed. “It feels that way.”

He continued to rub and work out any knots he found. “Would it help if we broke the giant situation into smaller, more manageable problems?”

She was quiet for a moment. “What do you mean?”

“Not that it’s any of my business, but… it seems to me that the most immediate issue is finding work for your employees, right?”

Crush let out another deep sigh. “Yes.”

“We could… Well, you could offer them to help with cleanup and rebuilding the site. I’m sure some of them would like to help restore the place. The rest… I’m sure there are places within the other business where they could help. Sure, you might end up being over-staffed in some areas, but it’s better than your employees suffering.”

Crush looked over her shoulder at him. Her expression showed interest and contemplation with her drawn brows and focused eyes. “I’m listening.”

He moved his hands up to her neck, forcing her to face forward again as he worked on her tense muscles there. “For instance, the bartenders and wait staff could help in the clubhouse or the diner. The dancers could help in the merch shop or maybe work the counter at the tattoo shop, so the artists can focus on their work. Maybe some of the dancers have some experience working in salons or have office experience that Kisy could put to good use.”

At that point, Crush was nodding a bit as he spoke, so Lucifer continued, “I think taking that off your shoulders would help with the stress load and free you up to focus on what you plan to do with the club.”

“I’ve been thinking… The Claws are half owners of Heat. Yet, we don’t have much say in how it’s run or what it is. That needs to change.”

“I agree.”

“I need to talk to my club and figure out if we walk to keep things the same or change things up,” she mumbled as her head bobbed from the loosening of the muscles in her neck and shoulders and his ministrations.

He grinned. “My badass mate is about to put her boot down with the Howlers, isn’t she?”

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