2

  Dolly

  “Here,” Micah said, basically shoving me toward the guy with a man bun. These dang heels were going to end up breaking my ankles if I kept being pushed around like this. “Take her in your vehicle.”

  My eyes swung back to look at Micah. He had forced me to leave my boyfriend, and now, he was giving me to some man I didn’t know? I needed to call Pepper. She would be able to free me from whatever insanity her brother was involved in…but my purse was inside the bar.

  Crappity crap, crap.

  “My purse!” I told Micah. “I left it in there.”

  He had the gall to look annoyed. At me! This was his doing. Not mine. I opened my mouth to tell him just that, too, but he turned his head slightly to the left and lifted his chin at one of the other men.

  “Go get her fucking purse. Take those three with you.”

  I closed my mouth, not even bothering with a thank-you. He didn’t deserve one. This day was supposed to be the most romantic day of my life, and he had walked right into it and ruined everything. All the plans I had made. I’d even sucked it up and gotten waxed. Between my legs! Did he have any idea how embarrassing and painful it was to have someone wax up your privates, then rip it off? Now, that was all for nothing. I would be lucky if Canyon ever spoke to me again.

  “Where do you want me to take her?” the man-bun guy asked.

  Micah let out another groan and ran his hand through his dark golden locks. Micah had always kept his hair just long enough to be able to pull it back. But he never let it get too long. I hated that I knew that about him. I also knew his shoe size, favorite movie, the way he liked his coffee, and his favorite foods. Once, I had made it my life mission to know all the things about him so I could hopefully use that knowledge to win his heart. Which was a completely idiotic, naive little girl daydream. I had grown up. Thank the good Lord.

  “Fuck,” he muttered. “Where are you living these days, Dolly?” he asked me. “You still at your momma’s?”

  I threw my shoulders back and looked him straight in the eye, insulted that he’d think I was still at my momma’s house. I was twenty-one years old. Granted, I was a virgin, but I wasn’t that pathetic. “No, I am not still living with Momma,” I stated matter-of-factly. “I have my own apartment.”

  He didn’t seem impressed. “In Stuart, near your momma, I hope,” he drawled, then turned to look at the guy he’d basically tossed me off to. “She can’t go back to Stuart. Not until Canyon makes his next move. Pepper will have my balls if something happens to her. Just”—he sighed heavily—“take her to the club. I’ll figure shit out later.”

  Club? Ain’t no way I was going to his little motorcycle club’s clubhouse.

  “My apartment isn’t in Stuart,” I informed him. I started to tell him where it was when he held a hand up at me, as if I were a child, to shut me up. My back stiffened.

  “Doesn’t matter. Canyon will know where to find you. You’re going to the club until I have time to figure it out.”

  Before I could argue, the man behind me asked, “Why can’t you take her? I’m heading back to Ocala. That’s not in my direction.”

  He chuckled as if that suggestion was funny. “Surely, Levi, you’ve figured out by now that I don’t put a bitch on the back of my bike.”

  Bitch? Excuse me? I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him.

  “I’ll take her,” a deep, gravelly voice said somewhere off to my right.

  Micah nodded once. “That’ll work.”

  No, it would not work!

  “I want to go home. In a car,” I demanded.

  Micah ignored me and walked over to throw his leg over an intimidating-looking motorcycle. I just stood there and watched as he ignored me. The man wasn’t even acknowledging that I had spoken.

  “When did you start acting so ugly, Micah Abe?” I asked, my eyes narrowed as I stared at him.

  He smirked as he finally looked my way again. The dimple in his cheek still made my stomach do weird things. “Sugar, ain’t no woman ever called me ugly.”

  I rolled my eyes and put my hands on my hips. “You know what I mean.”

  He chuckled just before the roar of his bike drowned out anything else I was gonna say. The other bikes seemed to take that as their cue, and the entire parking lot became a deep rumble that vibrated the ground under my feet.

  “Better go get on the back of Tex’s bike,” the man Micah had called Levi said from behind me. Even though he was basically shouting over all the dang noise that I barely heard him.

  I turned my head to look over at the men on shiny death mobiles. I had been too scared to ride on Canyon’s. Momma had said getting on a bike was asking for a funeral. I believed her, but it didn’t look like I had much of a choice in the matter. A tall, lanky guy with short brown hair approached me then and held out my purse for me to take.

  I reached for it and said, “Thank you,” even though I couldn’t hear my own voice.

  He simply nodded and walked over to an unoccupied bike and climbed on it. Just like the others, he was wearing a leather vest that said Judgment on the back, above half of a skull that wore a crown and had angel wings with lightning bolts surrounding it. Fighting back tears from the pure frustration and horror this day had turned into, I glanced out at the men, trying to figure out who Tex was and if this was truly my only option.

  A man with dreadlocks and brown hair, bare arms covered in tattoos, and a dark pair of sunglasses held up a hand to me, then motioned with a nod of his head to come on. Great. I was not only getting on a death trap, but the driver also looked like he belonged in prison. Perhaps this day could get worse.

  My only other option was going inside to beg Canyon to believe me. But I had a feeling if I did that, then Micah and these men would retaliate. I didn’t want anyone hurt. Especially Canyon. Sighing in defeat, I walked over to the scary biker. He held out a hand to me, and I stared down at it. He had more rings on his fingers than my momma, and that was saying a lot. Momma loved her jewelry. I could hear her voice clear as day, telling me that I couldn’t trust a man who was covered in tattoos and wore rings.

  Well, Momma, looks like I don’t have a choice, I thought bitterly.

  Placing my hand in his much larger one, I let him steady me as I tried to climb on the back of his bike with some dignity. Which was impossible with these heels on. I looked more like a toddler trying to get up on her first tricycle.

  When I was finally on the back and felt steady, Tex called back to me, “Hold on to me, darlin’.”

  I frowned, thinking there was no way I was wrapping my arms around some strange man.

  When I didn’t do as instructed, he turned more this time and pulled his sunglasses down so that I could see the green of his eyes. “You gotta hang on to me if you don’t want to fly off the fucking back of my bike.”

  Oh. Well, in that case, I guessed I was wrapping my arms around a strange man. I nodded, and the corner of his lips twitched in amusement before he turned back around and revved his engine. I shoved my purse down between the middle of my legs before scooting closer to him and putting my arms around his very hard middle. Sure, I had seen his muscular arms, but it was still shocking. I felt his body vibrate from a deep chuckle, and I winced.

  How had I ended up here? Why did I have the worst luck in the world? Why wasn’t I more like Pepper? She would have told all of them to go to hell and walked away on her own two feet. Not caring what they said or threatened. My best friend was a force of nature. I was not.

  When the death machine I was on pulled out into the pack of other bikers, I closed my eyes, afraid to watch.

  My life couldn’t end like this. It just couldn’t. I had things to do. Losing my virginity was at the top of that list. Yes, I had a list. I’d written down my goals the day I turned twenty-one, and I was slowly checking them off said list. I’d moved out of my momma’s house in Stuart, Florida, three months ago and into an apartment in Coral Gables. I was registered to start classes at the University of Miami in a few weeks. I had cut off five inches of my hair; although it was still long, it wasn’t all the way to my waist—the way my momma had wanted it. I even had layers in it now. Something she had frowned upon, but I felt it made me look older, sexier, stylish. I still had ten more things on that list to accomplish, but I wasn’t sure I would see another day. How tragic would that be?

  3

  Micah

  Fucking piece of shit. Canyon Acree.

  Five years, I had waited to get back what he’d taken from us, but even more than that, I wanted revenge for what he’d done to my sister. The fucker had been expecting me. His acting sucked. Knowing he had gotten close enough to Pepper to figure out an obstacle infuriated me further. I’d need more protection put on Pepper. She was too damn smart for him, but he had found someone who would work at throwing me a curveball. Someone who wasn’t so smart.

  The sight of those amber eyes staring at me in shock, blinking, with that perfect heart-shaped mouth of hers had been like a damn slap in my face. Dolly Dixon was all grown up, and she’d turned into the beauty her youthful features had once promised. Not that it mattered. She was off-limits. Pepper would cut off my balls if I touched her best friend. She’d been protecting Dolly since they had been kids. Pepper was a wildcat that feared nothing, smart, quick-witted, and often terrifying. Dolly was sweet and a touch slow; she smiled easily, and there was a kindness in her eyes that you couldn’t manufacture. It was real. The girl was too fucking easy to manipulate, and Canyon had taken advantage of that, knowing I wouldn’t take him down when he had something so precious to my sister in his possession.

  Bastard.

  Now, I was faced with explaining this to Pepper without her taking her own gun and hunting down the VP of the Crowns herself. I wasn’t planning on killing Canyon. Just getting the hundred grand he owed The Judgment. If he touched one hair on my sister’s head again or even threatened her, then he was a dead man. I’d kill him myself. There would be no need to take Gage Presley with me to do the job.

  The sight of Presley struck fear in any sane man who knew the family—or at least who they were. In the South, there were few people who didn’t know and respect the family and their power. The Southern Mafia was no fucking joke. They killed without flinching. Their relations with the government went all the way to the White House. If one of them was sent for you, it was bad. If it was Presley, then they wanted you dead. Canyon knew that. I’d made my point.

  But then he had made his too.

  Snarling in disgust, I pulled into the gates surrounding the club, also known as The Sanctuary. I was the vice president of The Judgment MC. The only one I answered to was Liam Walsh, the president. He wasn’t here though. He rarely was these days. He spent most of his time north of here, near his daughter and grandson. They were the reason we had the power of the family on our side.

  Liam’s daughter had married Blaise Hughes, the current boss of the Southern Mafia. For a man who was also known as the Devil, he would move heaven and earth for his wife and son. The connection had made The Judgment the most feared and respected MC in the South.

  I cut the engine once I was parked and got off my bike. I had shit to figure out, but first, I needed to hand Dolly off to someone. It wasn’t like I had time to deal with her. She appeared to have more sass to her than I remembered, and listening to a woman bitch right now wasn’t on my agenda. First, I had Dylan—a stripper at one of the five adult clubs The Judgment owned—waiting in my room to suck my dick and get the edge off. I’d call Liam after that. He would have to approve me sending more protection over to cover Pepper until this was handled with Canyon.

  Tex pulled up beside me with Dolly pressed against his back. Her face was pale, eyes wide, and her lips looked fuller than normal, as if she’d been biting that lower lip of hers, making it appear swollen. Her long, dark hair was a tangled mess. I scowled, realizing Tex hadn’t put a helmet on her. If Pepper found out about that, I’d get a tongue-lashing.

  When he was parked, he smirked and held out a hand. “Take my hand, darling. Your legs are gonna be a touch wobbly. Don’t want you falling off my bike.”

  If looks could kill, the one Dolly shot me would be lethal. She placed her hand in Tex’s, but didn’t stop glaring at me, as if she was planning on balling up that dainty hand of hers and planting it in my face the moment she was on solid ground. I wondered if I would even feel it. I’d forgotten how petite she was. Those heels of hers gave her some height, but the girl hadn’t gotten any taller since the last time I had seen her.

  “I’m calling Pepper to come get me,” she threatened. “I want to go home, Micah Abe. HOME. Do you hear me?” Her voice got louder with each word.

  I flicked a glance at Tex, who was grinning like a damn fool. She made a sight, standing there with her hands on her hips and fire in her eyes. Even though she was wearing fuck-me heels, she still had to tilt her head back to look up at me. What was she, like five-two? I liked my women tall with legs for days, but I would be lying if I said Dolly’s curvy little body wasn’t sexy as hell. Not that I would go there. Ever.

  “Tell her I said hi,” I replied, then looked past her to Tex, who had gotten off his bike. “Take her to Nina. I need to take the edge off, then call Pres.”

  Tex nodded. “All right,” he replied.

  “I am not going inside that…that…place!” Dolly informed me. “I want to go home.”

  Sighing, I turned my attention back to Dolly. “You can’t go home. Canyon knows where that is. You’re not safe there anymore, Tink. He thinks you set him up. Which is fucking comical, but he’s never been a smart man. Now, take your little fired-up ass inside and go be a good girl while I figure out what to do with you.” Which wasn’t the truth, but what was I going to tell her? She didn’t need to know that he had used her.

  Her eyes narrowed, and the gold flecks in the amber color looked as if they had caught on fire. “What did you just call me?” she demanded.

  “Tink,” I replied, amused with this new side of shy little Dolly Dixon. It was spunky, and I hadn’t expected that from her. “As in Tinker Bell.”

  Her eyes flared, and she straightened her shoulders, as if that would make her taller. It was cute. “Is that a jab at my height?”

  I let my eyes travel down her body slowly before lifting them back to meet her eyes. “Well, you’re not blonde, blue-eyed with a little green tutu on.”

  Her hands fell from her hips and balled at her sides.

  “All right, sugar,” Tex interrupted. “Let’s get you inside. Nina will have something good to eat, and she’s real nice. You’ll like her. I swear it.”

  Dolly barely acknowledged his words as she kept her gaze locked on me. “I’m not hungry, and I don’t want to go inside. Call Pepper now, or I’m going to.”

  She took a deep breath, and I tried real damn hard not to let my eyes drop back to her tits, but I failed. She’d not only gotten some sass about her, but Dolly had grown a rack. That tiny little body might lack length in her legs, but, damn, she had all the right curves. She was a compact little bombshell. Just like every porn cartoon version of Tinker Bell I’d ever come across on the internet. Not that I searched that specifically, but I was thinking I might need to do it later.

  Reaching for her purse, she was distracted by her attempt at being threatening, and I snatched it from her hands, then tossed it over to Country, who had been standing behind her, watching the entire thing with an amused grin on his face. He caught it and raised his eyebrows at me in question.

  Dolly spun around to see what I’d done with it, giving me a clear view of her juicy, round ass. Yeah, I needed my cock in a willing mouth now. I was too damn horny to deal with my little sister’s best friend.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded.

  “Making sure you don’t call Pep until I do. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to unload in a hot, willing mouth.”

  I strode to the door, opening it up and ignoring Dolly’s outraged shout. With a grin, I headed for the stairs. The guys could handle her until I was ready to deal with her.

  Climbing the steps two at a time, I could smell the scent of Dylan’s perfume. She overdid it with the stuff, but her mouth was like a fucking vacuum from heaven that sucked you dry. I could overlook the other stuff. Even her clinginess. When she got too clingy or acted jealous, I always shut her out until she got over it. I didn’t want one woman. I wanted a fucking lineup, an array of choices that came with no strings or commitment.

  Only once, when I had been young and stupid, had I loved a girl. I’d almost made the mistake again and fallen in love with a woman who had saved us both by being smart enough to end things. I wouldn’t give a female that power. Besides, having them all there laid out for the taking, a different flavor every time, it didn’t get much better than that. My life was good just the way it was.

  When I had the club’s money back from Canyon, then it would be right near perfect. Liam would hand over the control of our biggest club, River Styx, to me. I had plans to make it the best in the southeast.

  Shoving open the door to my bedroom, I walked inside to find Dylan already naked, on her knees, looking up at me through her long, dark lashes that the club paid for her to keep. Her platinum hair, which I knew wasn’t her real hair color, fell down her back in waves as she tilted her head back and looked up at me.

  “You hungry for my cock?” I asked, pulling my gun from its holster and placing it on my dresser before unzipping my jeans.

  “Always,” she purred, licking her red-painted lips.

  “Good. I need to fuck that pretty face hard and pump my load down your throat,” I told her.

  The eagerness to please me shone in her eyes and it was one of the reasons it was hard to just cut her off. In this world, I needed that at times. The feeling that someone wanted me for more than who I was, what I looked like, my power, my title. With Dylan, I could pretend she did. Even if my feelings for her were nothing more than a small affection.