Damaged and the Bulldog (15 page)

Winnie was awake when I turned over the next morning.
She stared at me without showing any reaction. When I kissed her, she didn’t
kiss me back. She wouldn’t respond to my questions. Winnie was awake, but not
really aware.

My first instinct was to freak out and call someone.
Who
the hell was I to handle a girl with these problems?

My second instinct was to remember what Tad said.
Winnie was the broken girl I intended to spend the rest of my life with. If I
wanted to call her mine, I needed to man up. I didn’t freak out or call anyone.
I simply got up and made a pot of coffee.

After my shower, I picked up the still awake and quiet
Winnie. She whimpered when I lifted her, but didn’t struggle. I carried her
into living room and rested her on the couch. She looked up at me and I saw no
panic in her eyes. Just the blank stare she gave me the first night we made out
and I pushed her too far.

Winnie didn’t like sleeping naked, so she wore one of
my tees. I covered her up with a blanket, turned on the TV to HGTV, and left
her to deal with whatever she was going through.

Nearby, I drank my coffee while working on payroll and
paying bills on my laptop. I really needed an assistant I could trust. The last
two were college girls who flaked when boyfriend problems distracted them. My
dream was for Winnie to take over. She was smart and organized. However, she
wanted to stay with Lark until the twins were born.

For lunch, I made sandwiches and placed a plate on the
table next to the couch. Winnie didn’t look at it. She remained silent, but
seemed to be watching TV. I caressed her head then returned to working.

Around two, I found Winnie rolled over onto her
stomach and watching me.

“Getting bored of
House Hunters
?” I asked.

Winnie smiled. “We’re out of condoms. Let’s hope my birth
control sticks.”

“I can get more,” I said, shutting down the laptop.

“I don’t want you to leave.”

“Who’d have thought we’d need more than a giant box
for the first weekend?”

Winnie smiled up at me then slid over so I could join
her on the couch.

“Are you feeling better?” I asked, as she straddled
me.

“Yes,” she said, kissing my neck. “I’m not wearing
panties.”

“No, you aren’t,” I murmured as my fingers caressed
between her legs. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

Winnie responded by rolling her hips over mine.
Quickly, my boxers were too tight.

“Are you going to ask why I was weird this morning?”

“No,” I said, slipping my tee over her head and taking
in the sight of her already hard nipples. “If you want me to know, you’ll tell
me without asking. If you don’t want to share, why should I pressure you?”

Winnie’s expression was one I’d never seen. She
grabbed my face and kissed me deeply. Never seeing her so desperate, I wrapped
her in my arms and kissed her back. Winnie sucked hard at my tongue, rolling
her hips. She only slowed when I filled her and helped her find a good rhythm.

“You understand me,” she whispered, lifting and
dropping her hips faster. “I don’t know how you can love me, but I never want
you to stop.”

“I love you because you’re perfection,” I groaned as
she brought us both closer to the edge. “You are mine and no one can take you
away.”

“No one,” she cried, coming hard.

The power of her orgasm brought me with her. Her pussy
sucked hungry at my cock and I couldn’t think straight. There was only pleasure
and perfection.

Dylan finished setting up the cribs in the nursery
then I added the bedding. Once the room was completed, we opened the door for
Lark and Aaron. Her eyes lit up then grew damp. I noticed a moment of fear in
Aaron’s eyes. For the first time, he likely imagined the room full of crying
babies. I didn’t blame him for wanting to run. Lark couldn’t run from the
reality, so he stayed put.

“It’s beautiful,” Lark whispered, shuffling around the
room.

Dylan grinned at me. “I built the cribs, to ensure
they were solid and safe.”

“Well done, man,” Aaron said, shaking his hand.

Lark exhaled uneasily. “Won’t be much longer.”

Sensing her fear, I hugged Lark. She leaned into the
embrace and I realized she was shaking.

“You should sit down.”

Lark nodded then smiled at Dylan. “This is perfect.”

“It’s the least I could do as their uncle.”

Lark’s grin widened. “It’s so real.”

Again she sounded scared. Aaron took her hand and led
her to the couch.

“I’m so sick of sitting on this fucking thing,” she
sighed, finding a comfortable spot. “After they’re born, let’s burn the couch.”

“Or donate it,” Aaron said, bringing her a glass of
water.

“Don’t ruin my destructive groove with your good
sense.”

Aaron kissed her softly as Lark clung to him. Leaving
them to share quiet time, Dylan and I climbed into his SUV.

“Those cribs are beautiful,” I said to distract from
our worry over Lark.

“Thanks.” Dylan leaned over to kiss me quickly then
smiled. “I want to show you the houses I’m working on.”

Grinning, I loved how Dylan took something ruined and
rebuilt it. I wasn’t blind to the similarities to our relationship.

Tall, narrow, and grand, the first house was a
Victorian. Once loved by a family, it ended up a college rental. Dylan took it
from rundown and abused to grand again.

“Could you see yourself living here?” he asked,
wrapping his arms around me from behind.

“No,” I said softly.

“Good. Me either, but I’d have moved in tomorrow if
you said yes.”

Squirming around to face him, I sighed. “You’re so
whipped.”

“I know, but only when it comes to you.”

“It’s only fair since you own my heart and could
destroy me if you wanted.”

“Could, but never will,” he said, taking my hand.
“Let’s go look at the midcentury house.”

“What if I don’t like that one either?”

Dylan opened the car door and shrugged. “Plenty of
houses in Ellsberg that need love. We’ll find one and make it ours.”

Those others houses weren’t necessary. I loved the
second house. The ranch style reminded me of my parents place, but Dylan had modernized
it. With three bedrooms, it wasn’t too big. The kitchen was perfect for my
fancy meatloaf dinners.

“I don’t want to be away from you,” he said as we
stood in front of the picture window and looked out at the approaching evening.
“I need you to be with me every night and smiling at me every morning.”

“What if you live with me and realize I suck?”

Dylan rolled his eyes. “This house won’t be finished
until after the New Year. Until then, I’d like you to stay at my apartment. If
it’s okay with your parents, we can stay at their house some nights too. Get
you used to be away from them slowly, so you’ll be ready when the house is
done.”

“We can’t have sex at my parents’ place,” I said,
giving him a grin.

“You are so sex obsessed,” he said, sighing dramatically.
“I blame myself for being that good.”

“Do you really want to do this? You don’t have to
rush.”

“What’s the point of waiting, Winnie? People wait when
they’re unsure. I’m not. I know what I want. Do you want to wait?”

I shook my head then looked around the room. “I can
imagine us here. I can see my family visiting and the crew. This is a house
meant to be filled with happiness. Maybe we can even get a dog one day.”

“I wonder what kind?” he teased, wrapping me in his
arms.

My fingers teased his jacket where I knew the bulldog
hid underneath. The sad pup needed a real home filled with warmth and
stability, just like Dylan. Looking around, we’d found that home.

Early in the afternoon on an otherwise normal day,
Cooper called and told me to meet him at Whiskey Kirk’s. I left Nick in charge
at the worksite then drove my Harley out the bar where Cooper and Tucker sat on
their bikes.

Cooper roared forward then stopped next to me.

“I know you’ll fight for the club because you stood up
for Nick. I know you’ll die for the club because you took a bullet for Winnie
and Harlow. You have balls, but so does Nick and he’ll never be part of the
club. What he lacks is ice in the veins. If you want to be a Reaper, you need
to look at evil without blinking. You think you can handle that, Dylan?”

“Yeah, man, what’s going on?”

Cooper looked back at his brother who was ready to
ride.

“Most of the guys who came up with my pop are ready to
sit on their asses and play with the grandkids. They’re not soft, but they
don’t want to get dirty anymore. I need younger guys I can trust. Guys willing
to bleed and draw blood for me.”

Rubbing my scar through my black sweater, I remembered
the way I felt when the Devils showed up at the work site. Before they even went
for the girls, I wanted them dead. I understood they’d come to my town to cause
trouble. They were the enemy and I hated them. The rage scared me, but it also
felt good.

The Devils were dead and I’d never get payback for
what they did. Yet Cooper offered me the purpose I’d been missing.

“I’m in. The Reapers saved Winnie and I’m willing to
do whatever necessary to protect the club.”

Cooper gave me a nod. “We have business outside of
town. Follow us then prove you’re ready.”

Following Cooper and Tucker past the Ellsberg city
limits, I wasn’t sure what awaited me. I didn’t really care either. Some things
felt right while others never did. Obeying Larry’s rules and chasing after Lark
always felt wrong. I did it for a long time anyway. Once I flipped off the old
man and took Lark’s advice, I followed my gut.

My instinct told me Winnie was the one. No matter her
past or problems or what her parents thought, she was mine. My instinct also
told me joining Cooper was a necessary path.

We turned from a paved road to a dirt one leading into
the woods. After another ten minutes of slow driving over rough ground, we
reached a small cabin. Cooper parked next to me while Tucker roared around the
place as if looking for someone. I noticed two Harleys parked nearby along with
a small truck.

Tucker finally parked next to me. We joined Cooper who
stared at a hawk flying over the woods.

“I’ve had my eye on you since the Devils came to
town,” Cooper said, glancing at me. “Ignore the romantic vibe to that
statement.”

Tucker snorted in amusement, but Cooper ignored him
and continued, “The rest of the guys at the worksite hid when the Devils showed
up. You decided to take on armed bikers with a fucking hammer. How you didn’t
end up in the ground I’ll never know, but it made me think you have the kind of
balls a man needs to run with guys like these two.”

Cooper opened the door where Vaughn and Judd stood in
a one room cabin. Nearby, a guy was tied to a chair. He looked up when we
entered, but I sensed he was stoned.

“Dude,” he said when Cooper approached.

“Yeah, dude,” Cooper muttered then glanced at me. “I’d
like you to meet Corbin. He’s a dealer from Acton Ridge. A low level guy who
mostly sells pot and ecstasy to high school kids for their weekend parties.
Mellow shit like what he takes.”

“Yeah,” Corbin giggled.

Cooper rolled his eyes. “So Corbin was driving home
from picking up something for his munchies and the highway patrol pulled him
over for speeding. Now here’s where the drugs rot your brain shit comes in.
This cop was looking to give him a ticket. He wasn’t suspicious of Corbin’s
stoned manner. Wasn’t looking to check his car. He only wanted to write up a
ticket to hit his quota. What does Cheech here do? Shoots a cop.”

Studying the stoner, I didn’t think he looked like a
killer.

“So Corbin calls us for help. Says he wants to run to
Mexico to hide from the law. Yep, Mexico,” Cooper said, rolling his eyes. “So
clearly he doesn’t know much about current events. Most importantly, Corbin
says if the cops catch him, he’ll make a deal and turn on the club.”

Tucker grunted while nearby Judd looked sleepy and
Vaughn bored.

“Let me tell you something about the club, Dylan. We
watch out for our own. If you’re one of us then your enemies are our enemies.
If someone fucks with you then they fuck with us. The law is the same way.
Corbin killed one of them, so they won’t make a fucking deal with a cop killer.
Doesn’t matter really. They won’t catch Corbin and he’s not going to Mexico.
We’re doing him a favor really.”

Stoned beyond comprehension, Corbin giggled again.

“You want in the club, this is your test,” Cooper
said, handing me a gun. “This is the same gun he used on the cop. We need him
to disappear. There’s no other option. The media is making a huge deal out of
the shooting. Apparently, Corbin killed Captain America who was married to
Barbie and they had a house full of Gerber babies. If the cops ever get hold of
Corbin, I doubt he’ll live to the trial.”

“So I kill him?” I said, looking at the gun. “And take
care of your problem?”

“Or we’re setting you up to take the fall,” Judd
muttered. “You are leaving your fingerprints on the gun that killed a cop.”

Studying the gun, I looked at Judd and smirked.
“Asshole.”

Judd and Vaughn smiled while Cooper glanced at Tucker
who was getting antsy.

“There are two kinds of killings. Personal and
business. Killing is easy when it’s personal. The business stuff like with
Corbin is trickier. Messing with my family makes me homicidal. Messing with my
business makes me cranky. Guys like those two evil fucks,” he said gesturing at
Judd and Vaughn who winked, “can kill without feeling shit. You aren’t them.
You’re like me. So I suggest you kill as if he’s the guy who messed with your
woman. Always works for me.”

I looked at Corbin giggling at an unknown joke. He was
no one to me. His death wouldn’t be a loss to the world, but I still paused.
The gun didn’t feel heavy in my hand like I would have imagined. I felt no fear
or even nervous with everyone watching me. Some people could coldly take a life
and others couldn’t. I’d always wondered which kind of person I was. Just to be
safe, I imagined the shaggy stoner was the evil fuck Sugar Bum.

Corbin’s last word was dude.

After I pulled the trigger, nothing really changed.
Corbin stopped breathing, but that was it. I expected the sky to darken and an
overwhelming sense of foreboding. Had I just sold my soul to the devil?

While Vaughn, Judd, and Tucker dragged Corbin’s body
wrapped in a tarp, I walked with Cooper.

“I did my first kill when I was seventeen,” Cooper said,
looking up at the still circling hawk. “A perverted little flasher freak who
sold meth for us. He was a funny piece of shit and I’d known him for years.
Part of me felt bad for killing him. When I thought about him being a pervert,
killing him wasn’t so bad. Of course, we were killing him because he was
stealing from the club. That’s not the point. You think about whatever you need
to think about to make the shit happen.”

“So what happens now?”

“They’ll dump him in a shallow grave. The crap
Tucker’s carrying is lye. It’ll clean up a lot of the evidence. The guys will
do a clean on the cabin. Vaughn and Judd do this shit a lot. That’s their job
in the club. For you, I only expect loyalty. I’m not interested in your
business. If I have a problem, it’s your problem. Club goes both ways. Get it?”

“Yeah. I get it.”

After watching Vaughn and Judd dump the body and cover
it with lye, I followed Cooper back to the cabin.

“How are things going with Winnie?” he asked as we
waited for the others to finish.

“Good. We’re moving into one of the houses I’ve
remodeled. I’m planning to propose too.”

“Did you ask Tad for permission?”

Frowning, I shook my head.

“Give the guy a break. You show up, bang his daughter,
steal her away, and don’t even fake like his opinion matters. You’re lucky he
doesn’t beat you with a stick just for the hell of it.”

My frown darkened then I remembered Cooper was having
a baby girl soon.

“I’ll ask Tad before I propose.”

Cooper smiled. “You feel weird yet? Pulling the
trigger is easy, but the stuff afterwards will bother you.”

“I’ll be honest, Cooper. If you wanted me to kill a
kid or a woman, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I’m not hardcore and you shouldn’t
think what I did proved I was. Corbin was a dead man walking. Someone was
killing him. It just happened to be me.”

Studying me, Cooper smiled. “I don’t want blood
thirsty freaks, you know? A lot of clubs have violent muscle. That might sound
great, but try controlling the fuckers. I prefer obedient dogs to the rabid
ones.”

“Thanks for comparing me to a dog.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, smirking.

After the guys cleaned up including Corbin’s truck, I
followed them out of the woods and returned to Whiskey Kirk’s. We sat at
Cooper’s booth and drank whiskey shots until Tucker puked.

Later, Kirk, Tad, and the older guys arrived to shake
my hand and throw back a shot of whiskey with me. Tucker puked twice more
before I finally stumbled into Tad’s SUV.

He drove me to his house where I crawled into Winnie’s
bed. She frowned at how I reeked of alcohol. I burped a hello and her frown was
replaced by a grin. After helping me out of my boots and jeans, Winnie cuddled
up next to me, kissed me gently, and ordered me not to puke on her.