Dark Menace MC: Stone (20 page)

“Prez—”

“Stay the fuck out of it, Max.”

“You can’t put that on her, man—”

Stone glared at Max. “It’s her fucking fault
that Animal is dead,” he said firmly, leaving no doubts to anyone
in the room as to how he felt.

I breathed in deeply, because if I didn’t I
was going to be sick. I had fucked up everything. “I was trying to
do the right thing.” My voice was low and raspy, but I knew that
Stone had heard me. “I—” What did it matter? I could see in his
eyes that he’d made up his mind to hate me.

“I’m done with you.” For the first time since
we’d returned to the club he included the brothers in the room.
“This woman belongs to the club now.”

I sucked in my breath, my eyes rounding with
disbelief. Next to him Rita was all but shouting her glee. A murmur
of shock rippled through the room. My knees nearly gave way, and I
reached for the back of the nearest chair for support. Pain ripped
into my heart and my soul at the knowledge that he could so easily
give me up when I thought we’d had something. How could I have been
so wrong?

“She and her sister will work off their debt
as club whores.” Some of the men cheered and clapped.

No! No! No! I’m not hearing this!

“Stone,” Max drew Stone’s attention back to
him. “Don’t do this, brother. You can’t undo it once it’s done.
Giving her to the men—”

“You want her, brother?” Stone snarled.

“I’ll take the bitch!” someone yelled out,
laughing. I didn’t recognize him. The only bikers that I was
familiar with were Stone’s officers. The others were just rough,
manly faces in a sea of black t-shirts, cuts, and jeans. “She’s got
nice tits.”

“Stone,” Max said again, shaking his head.
“Think about this, Prez. If the woman means anything to you—”

I stared at Stone, willing him to answer.
Did
I mean anything to him? Obviously not. Our eyes locked,
but the coldness in his never changed.

“She was a good fuck.”

His words cut through me like a knife, and I
started to feel frozen inside. I guess that said it all. All he’d
wanted me for was sex. Well, at least I’d been good at it. How
could I have fallen in love with a man like him? Maybe it wasn’t
love, maybe it was just infatuation. I’d never been in love before,
so I really didn’t know what it felt like.

Except that I did.

And he was standing in front of me, giving me
up, giving his men the okay to take me to their beds. I wanted to
beg him not to do this. I’d find another way to pay back Ronald’s
debt, but I wasn’t going to become a fuck toy for the club. I was
beginning to feel numb, dead inside. I’m sure I was in some kind of
shock.

“I’ll claim Rachel, then,” Max said, smiling.
“Been looking for a good fuck, someone who hasn’t been with all the
other brothers.” He grabbed the front of his pants. “She can
continue working the bar when she’s not working my pole.” Laughter
followed his comment.

What?
I could only stand and watch as
Stone and Max went back and forth. Max had never shown any interest
in me before now. Without warning he stepped closer to me and
wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me against him. I kept my
eyes on Stone. The only thing that revealed any reaction to Max’s
words was the subtle tightening of his lean jaw. Was it regret?

No, his next words solidified his
approval.

“It’s done, then. Pack up her shit and move
it out of my room.” He stared at me the whole time that he spoke.
Damn him. I think at that second that I hated him.
I do hate
him!
I refused to break down in front of him again, wouldn’t
give him the satisfaction of knowing that he was killing me
inside.

I felt Max’s hand move from my waist, and
forced myself to remain still, even when he palmed my breast and
gave it a squeeze. Stone’s gaze dropped there briefly, something
dangerous flashing in his eyes before he could hide it.

“I hate you for this,” I said softly, drawing
his gaze back to mine.

“Good.” He glanced around the room, obviously
looking for something. I held my breath when he paused on the
cluster of sweetbutts sitting at one table. “Trudy.” He motioned
her over with a lift of his chin. Stone ignored Rita’s outraged
huff and shook her off.

Trudy and I locked eyes. She was hesitant, I
could tell that she didn’t want to go to Stone, but she really had
no choice. When she reached him he put his arm around her shoulder.
“Come on, babe. I need relief.” Her regret-filled eyes darted to
me, before she cast her gaze down to the floor as Stone walked her
out of the room.

I wanted to crumble to the floor. The thought
of him fucking Trudy was just too painful to bear. At that point I
wished that I were anywhere but there, even back with Wildman. I
could handle his abuse far better than I could handle my broken
heart.

STONE

I could feel Trudy’s slight form trembling
beneath my arm. I’d never fucked her before, but she had nothing to
worry about, I had no intention of fucking her now. Everyone knew
that Ty was in love with the girl, and unlike some of my brothers,
taking another man’s woman, even though unclaimed, wasn’t my
fucking style. Besides, as cute as Trudy was, she wasn’t the woman
I really wanted, she did nothing for me.

I hated myself for what I’d fucking done to
Rachel. I’d seen something more in her eyes than the hurt and pain
I’d inflicted on her, and had watched the life fade away like a
dying ember. I’d let my anger over the situation, Wildman getting
the fuck away
again
, and grief over losing Animal control my
actions and words. I was a bastard for blaming Rachel for his
death. The brothers knew what being a member meant. Their lives
were on the line every fucking day.

When Max had claimed Rachel it had been all I
could do to keep myself from killing him. We were more than club
brothers, we were fucking friends, and had been for almost as long
as we’d been alive. We’d grown up together in the same shitty
neighborhood, had attended the same rundown schools, and run after
the same skanky girls. Back then we’d shared just about everything,
and when I was done with one girl she’d move on to Max, and vise
versa. Fuck, we were wild back then.

But claiming Rachel?

I wondered what Max was playing at. Once I’d
calmed the fuck down I realized that offering Rachel up to the
brothers as a sweetbutt had been a mistake, and I thanked fuck that
he’d claimed her. I realized that I’d gone too far, but I couldn’t
back out and save face. Max knew me, better than anyone else, and
he fucking knew that Rachel meant something more to me than just
pussy. He’d had the insight to claim her, which would protect her
from my brothers.

I thanked him for that.

If he slept with her I’d fucking kill
him.

But he had the right.

I couldn’t remember ever fucking up so
badly.

We reached my door and I glanced down at
Trudy. So far she’d refused to look at me. I took her chin in my
hand and forced her to meet my eyes.

“I know I’m a sweetbutt, but Rachel is my
friend,” she said in a shy voice, clearly not wanting to go into my
room with me.

It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter if they
were fucking sisters. A sweetbutt didn’t get to choose. If a
brother wanted her she went with him willingly or she got out. I
grinned. I wasn’t vain, but I knew that any other sweetbutt would
think it was a privilege to sleep with the president of an MC.

Her comment made me curious, though. “Why
would fucking me change that?”

Her eyes grew round. “Because she loves you!”
she replied, as if I should already know.

“I doubt that,” I said.

She shrugged. “A woman in love recognizes
another woman in love.”

I decided to change the subject. The topic of
love had always made me fucking uncomfortable. Love was one of
those sappy emotions that fucking ruined people, and made
relationships complicated, at least in my opinion. There was no
place for it in an MC.

“I’ve changed my mind. I’m not going to fuck
you.” An immediate look of relief came over her pretty face and,
scowling, I said, “You don’t have to look so fucking happy about
it.”

“I’m sorry,” she quickly said, clearing the
happy shit off her face. “Do you want me to send Rita back?”

“Fuck no!” I didn’t even have to think about
that.

I turned her loose and opened the door to my
room. “Get gone.”

She skittered down the hall and
disappeared.

I released a heavy sigh. Maybe a shower and
some sleep would fucking give me the clarity I needed to undo the
shit I’d just done, and still save face with my brothers.

Then we would deal with fucking Wildman.

****

RACHEL

“We’ll have to get your clothes later.”

After Stone was done fucking Trudy.
I
didn’t want to think about it, but it was right there at the
forefront of my mind. The feeling of betrayal was like a knife
twisting in my heart, even when I knew that was silly because you
had to mean something to someone in order for them to be cheating.
I chewed on the inside of my cheek, refusing to shed another tear.
Fuck Stone. I could turn it off just as easily as he did, and I
decided that I hated him.

I’d never get over him fucking Trudy.

Max opened his door and I followed him into
his room. Once the door was closed I turned to him instantly and
said, “I’m not sleeping with you, Max.” I swallowed with
difficulty, knowing that I probably wouldn’t be able to stop him if
he insisted. “You’ll have to rape me.” Okay, it was a little
dramatic, but I wanted to make sure that he knew how strongly I
felt.

He chuckled. “Relax, babe, I didn’t claim you
to sleep with you. I claimed you to keep you safe from my brothers.
They can be brutal with new pussy.”

His comment caught me totally by surprise.
“But why?”

He placed his hands on my shoulders and
pushed me down onto the bed. “I did it for Stone,” he said, sitting
next to me. “Right now he’s making decisions because he’s pissed,
and grieving. Later on, when he’s had a chance to think about shit,
he’ll regret what he did.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Look babe, I know Stone, he’s proud, too
fucking proud and stubborn to take you back after you’ve slept with
half the brothers, especially since he gave you to them. He’d
rather live with his mistake and pretend it’s not affecting the
fuck out of him. That’s why I warned him not to do something he
couldn’t undo.”

“But he’d be okay if I just slept with you?”
I asked, not convinced.

He shrugged. “It’d fuckin’ bother him, but he
needs to be punished a little for giving up the best thing that’s
happened to him. Don’t get me wrong, babe, what you did is serious
shit, no one goes against the prez. But your biggest mistake was in
not trusting him.”

“I do trust him,” I insisted.

His eyebrows lifted. “Then you should have
trusted him to get your sister back.”

“Look, babe, I know Wildman,” I said,
mirroring his comment about knowing Stone. “I thought by doing it
my way it would be quick, safe, and blood-free.” I thought about
Animal. “I was a fool for thinking so naively. I was trying to
prevent a fight between your club and the Red Devils.” By going
freely to a man that I despised.

“You had good intentions, babe. I get
that.”

Why couldn’t Stone have come to the same
conclusion?

“We had plans to end Wildman—” he stopped
abruptly.

“What?” I encouraged him to continue, but he
only shook his head.

“Club business.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes. “I want
to go see Maddie.” I stood up, and he followed suit. “Do you know
what room she’s in?”

“Has to be the one down the hall and around
the corner, it’s the only vacant room I know of.”

When we stepped out into the hallway Max went
one way and I went the other. I was anxious to check in on Maddie.
I didn’t bother to knock, opening the door quietly and peeking
inside. Maddie gave the appearance of sleeping, but I went inside
anyway and moved to the bedside. I put my hand on her forehead as I
sat on the edge of the bed. She surprised me by opening her
eyes.

“Rachel!” She sat up and we hugged each other
tightly. “I’m so glad to see you. Where are we?”

I smiled. “We’re at the clubhouse of Dark
Menace, honey. You’re safe.”

She lay back and sighed heavily. “Oh, God,
what a nightmare.” Tears filled her eyes and she glanced toward the
wall. “You were right about Wildman. He’s an evil monster. He likes
to play mind games.”

Maddie wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t
already know. I could well imagine the terror he had put her
through with his filthy promises and verbal threats. I wondered if
she had as many bruises beneath her clothes as the ones that were
visible. I brushed some of the hair out of her face and tucked it
behind her ear.

“You should see a doctor, Maddie. You might
have injuries that need attention.”

“No,” she said flatly. “No doctor. I just
want a bath and change of clothes. I’m fine.” The look on my face
must have told her that I wasn’t convinced, because she added,
“They didn’t rape me, Rachel, I promise.”

I had no choice but to believe her. “Can you
tell me what happened? How did Wildman find out about you being my
sister?”

She snorted. “Ronald—” She began to cry
softly. “He told me about the money he owed Dark Menace, and how
there was no way he’d be able to come up with it by the deadline.
He was desperate, Rach. He said he was giving a tat to a biker when
they began to talk. When he found out it was a member of the
Predators he panicked, but he couldn’t just stop in the middle of a
tat, and then he was offered a job.”