Dakota's Claim (6 page)

“And
then what, Dallas just cock blocked you, huh?” Marcus said to Gabriel.

“Dude,
it’s not even like that. Tawny is different. She’s sweet and smart, and doesn’t
put up with anything.” Gabriel slammed his fist into the red punching bag. “And
she knows what it’s like to live this type of life, thick in the MC, with shit
always going down.” He punched the bag rapidly.

Dakota
moved a step closer, not able to stop
himself
, and
knowing that going after a fellow brother wasn’t right.

“But
it doesn’t matter anyway, she told me she was only into me as a friend, and she
didn’t act like the kiss affected her. I want her, man, but I am just going to
back up and give her some space to see where she wants to go with things.”

Dakota
stopped after he heard that. If Gabriel was going to back off then Dakota
didn’t need to make that fact known. Hell, he didn’t know what in the hell he
would have said to Gabriel anyway concerning Tawny.

Marcus
took a step back from the punching bag when Gabriel braced his hands on his
legs.
“Hey, man, you good?”
Marcus asked.

Gabriel
turned and stared at Dakota, his chest heaving, his inked-up body covered in
sweat. “What’s up? You look homicidal.” Gabriel grabbed a towel, wiped the
chest from his face and chest, and tossed it into his open bag on the floor.

Dakota
curled his hands into tight fists, knew that starting shit with Gabriel
wouldn’t end well for either of them, and forced himself to breathe out his
anger. “I’m good,” he said in a low voice, turned and grabbed his bag off the
floor, and headed out of the garage. He wanted to go see Tawny, but he probably
shouldn’t
seeing
as he was in a pretty foul mood. The
sound of his cell going off in his bag had him stopping by his truck and
pulling it out. His heart dropped to his stomach when he saw it was a text from
Tawny.

Tawny:
Hey. Can U maybe meet up with me tomorrow
to talk?

She
wanted to talk?
What could she want to
speak with me about? Maybe the fact you’ve been following her and that she
probably saw you on more than one occasion?

“Fuck.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face, tossed his bag on the hood of his truck, and
grabbed a t-shirt out of the inside. Once he had it on he picked up his cell
from the hood of the car, typed out a quick text that he could meet her
wherever she wanted tomorrow, and then shoved it in the pocket of his shorts.
Well, looked like this confrontation was happening whether he was ready or not.
And Dakota was just going to have to lay it all out for her, tell her how he
felt, and then hope that she didn’t laugh in his damn face.

Chapter
Five

Dakota
sat in the small, Grizzly owned bar that Tawny worked at, drank his beer, and
knew that he shouldn’t have come here without at least sending her a text. He
had told her that he’d meet her tomorrow after she messaged him, yet he had
gone home, showered and changed clothes, and then found himself at her place of
employment, watching her. He couldn’t walk away from his feelings, couldn’t
force himself to know what was best for the both of them and turn his back on
the Grizzly MC girl. He was from another motorcycle club, from a different
world than she was. He was human, and although she didn’t shift, couldn’t
because she was a female and only
males
of her kind
could turn into their animal counterparts, she still lived that animal lifestyle.
She had the instinct of her inner bear, whereas he just went with his gut on
things. But he had waited years to approach her on this. How would she even
react to that fact? Would she be annoyed that he had blown off his feelings for
so long?

But
despite the fact that being with her, or trying to be with her, would mean he’d
probably make a lot of Grizzly members pissed because they were overprotective
of their women, Dakota still wanted her like he was addicted.

The
fact he had kept his distance wasn’t by sheer force alone. This lifestyle was
ingrained in him. He lived for the thrill of the violence that was part of it
all, and yearned for the power he felt when he was with his brothers. He knew
that being with Tawny might not be the best decision he had ever made, but he
couldn’t forget about it.

He
couldn’t forget about her. Not any longer.

For
three years he had backed off, but he was more ingrained in the club now, even
looking into taking over the position of club enforcer from his father, Malice.

Dakota
lifted his beer and took a long drink. He stared at Tawny, feeling like an
asshole for sitting here in a corner table surrounded by the shadows. She was
currently leaning over the counter at the bar owned by The Grizzly MC in Steel
Corner. Her ass was popped out, and his fucking cock grew hard as a lead pipe.
Damn her for being so hot that he was risking getting his ass kicked by the
whole Grizzly MC crew. It was clear he couldn’t control himself anymore where
she was concerned. And damn
himself
for being so
obsessed with her anymore that he was actually crossing town lines and coming
to her work just to watch her. He wanted her badly, so damn badly.

But
in his defense he was also watching out
for
her, or at least that was what he told himself. Yeah, he was seven years older
than she was, and although she was only twenty-one, and had a crew of outlaw
biker family members that would gladly knock a motherfucker to the ground for
messing with one of their own, there was a part of him that just couldn’t stay
away, didn’t care about the repercussions that could happen.

He
watched her grab two beers from behind the counter, and
take
them over to the table of college guys being rowdy and overall obnoxious. He
had slipped inside, but she hadn’t been out front to see him. For the last
twenty minutes he had just sat here, knowing that this bar could get insane
when the liquor flowed. Dakota had no damn clue why her father, Dallas, let her
work here. If he had a daughter no way would he let her work in a place like
this.

He
may not be a bear shifter, not able to grab onto the power that her family
wielded when the time came, but he was a Brothers of Menace member, a strong
and mean motherfucker when the situation called for it.

Dakota
brought his beer to his mouth, watched as Tawny set the bottles on the table,
and when she went to turn one of the little pricks had the balls to slap her
ass. Dakota’s anger burst free, and he found himself standing, his bottle
knocking over and falling to the ground, and moving toward the little bastard
that had dared touch her. He could hear Tawny’s outraged voice, and a part of
him grew pleased she wasn’t taking any shit.

“Hey,
keep your damn hands to yourself or I’ll have one of the guys throw your
drunk
asses out.” She turned, about to leave, but Dakota
grabbed her around the waist. She made a little noise of surprise, and when he
had her safely behind him he grabbed the asshole that had touched her.

Hauling
him out of the chair by the collar of his shirt, Dakota used all of his strength
to lift the fucker high. The man was on his toes, his eyes wide, and his hand
up by his
throat,
as if he actually thought he’d be
able to get out of Dakota’s hold.

“Dakota,
what are you doing?” Tawny asked from behind him, her voice a little shocked.

He
didn’t answer, couldn’t. He cared about Tawny and saw her as more than just a
friend or part of his family. Although she may not know that, he couldn’t
control the possessive and jealous side of him that called out to put this
prick in his place.

“You
think it is okay to put your hands on an unwilling woman?” Dakota ground out,
feeling his entire body grow tense with his rage. Yeah, he was acting like a
jealous boyfriend right now, probably overstepping his bounds where it
concerned Tawny, but he didn’t give a shit. He couldn’t control himself.

“Man,
I was just teasing with her, having a good time and all that,” he gasped out,
and Dakota curled his lip in disgust.

“So
touching an unwilling woman is teasing to you?” His voice was deeper, harder,
and he was getting even more pissed by the second.

“Dakota, please.
Let him go.”

He
looked over his shoulder at her. She stared up at him with wide blue eyes, her
blonde hair fanned out over her shoulders. He turned back toward the prick he
had suspended in the air. His buddies were now standing, moving backward. They
were smart, smarter than this dick.

“Please,
man.” The guy was begging now, and Dakota loved it.

Dakota
leaned in, flared his nostrils as the stink of alcohol and stale cigarettes
filled his nose, and made a low noise in the back of his throat.

“I
could fuck you up right now until you wouldn’t even be able to walk out of
here,” Dakota said in a low, dangerous voice. He wasn’t even bothering to hide
his anger. “I want to do that so fucking badly, because the woman you just
touched deserves better than a
drunk
ass motherfucker
putting their nasty damn hands all over her.” He squeezed the guy’s collar
tighter, watched as he struggled to breathe, clawing at his hands, and Dakota
grinned. He could do so much to this little bastard right now, but he was
refraining because he knew Tawny wouldn’t want a scene.

“Dakota,
please, just let him go.” Tawny was pleading now, and as much as he wanted to
kick this asshole in the balls and throw him out, he set him on the ground,
held onto his shirt for a second, and then pushed him away. The preppy guys
grabbed his shirt collar, loosened it, and breathed out. Dakota turned around
and stared down at Tawny, who had wide eyes and a mixture of shock and anger on
her face. He opened his mouth, maybe to explain what in the hell he had done,
or to apologize because now he felt like an ass, but before he could say
anything the feeling of pain lanced through his head. The sound of glass
shattering filled his ears, and then he smelled blood. Dakota heard Tawny gasp,
saw her put her hand over her mouth, and then he turned around. One of the
assholes in the prep group held a now-broken bottle in his hand, his eyes wide
as he clearly realized Dakota wasn’t going down, and moved back a step.

“Shit,”
the prick said in a low voice, and Dakota grinned.

“Yeah,
that sounds about right.” His head ached, and his vision was getting a little
blurry, but he pushed it all back, circled his hand into a tight fist, and
slammed it into the fucker’s face. The guy flew back and into the wall, and his
two buddies must have gotten balls of steel in the last minute because they
charged forward. Dakota grabbed one by the throat, and swung out his fist to
knock the other guy back. Two on the ground and one in his grasp, and Dakota
felt the adrenaline pump through him.

He
clocked the guy he was holding three times, watched the blood trickle out of
his nose and mouth, and knew that if he wasn’t careful he could easily kill
this man with his bare hands. He was pissed over him touching Tawny, and
enraged that they actually thought to take him down. He was a Brothers of
Menace member, a lethal biker that had learned to kill in order to protect the
ones he cared about, and asked questions about his actions after the fact.

“What
the hell?” One of the security workers who had been came barreling in, saw
Dakota, and although he was a big fucker, Dakota was bigger. The bouncer
stopped, looked at the three groaning men on the floor, and stared back at
Dakota.

“Steven,
take these assholes out of here. They started all of this,” Tawny said in her
soft, but anger-filled voice. The bouncer nodded, and before Dakota could move
or say anything Tawny had his hand in hers and was pulling him to the back of
the bar.

She
pushed the backdoor open, and he was walking into the storage room. There was a
sink off to the side, and when Tawny let go of his hand it was to go over to
the first aid kit on the wall. Dakota turned and shut the door behind him, and
the feeling of warm wetness trailing down his forehead had him lifting his hand
up and touching the sensitive spot. The fucker really got him good with that
bottle, and although he was pleased they couldn’t walk their asses out of here,
he wasn’t feeling any less pissed. He looked at his hand, saw the blood spread
out over his fingers, and growled out low.

“Easy
there,” Tawny said and glanced over at him with a small smile. “You’re starting
to sound like a Grizzly.” She went back to grabbing some supplies out of the
kit, and then turned and walked back over to him. Taking his hand in hers, she
led him over to a small desk and two chairs in the corner of the room. “Sit
down and let me clean that cut.” She pulled the chair out, and they both sat
down, her right in front of him and their knees touching.

“You
don’t have to do this,” Dakota said, although the truth was a part of him liked
her tending to his wounds. He felt like she was his old lady and looking after
him.

She’s not your old lady.

“I
know I don’t. I want to, Dakota.”

His
fucking dick started to get hard at the fact she had said his name. She glanced
up at him with just her eyes, the blueness of them light and clear, and doing
funny things in his chest. God, he loved Tawny Stoker, had for a while now, and
that was bad news.