Damaged and the Outlaw (22 page)

Cooper stood up
and glanced at his father. “We kill the fuckers.”

Standing, Kirk
stretched casually. “I’ll call Memphis.”

Danny was clearly
pissed while the other guys were nervous about starting shit with no clear end
point. They wouldn’t speak up now with Cooper and Kirk on the same page. It was
a done deal.

“Are you okay?”
I asked Tawny who was shaking.

“No,” she said,
walked to Judd and curling up in his lap. “Fuck anyone who judges me. If
someone gives me shit, Judd will shoot them in the face.”

Judd wrapped his
arms around his woman and smiled. “I haven’t shot anyone in a couple of weeks.”

The other guys
headed outside to bitch. While the rest of us waited for Kirk to return and
make the call, Tawny smiled at Cooper.

“Sorry I called
you a fucking idiot.”

“You didn’t.”

“Oh, in my
planned speech, I did. I guess I went off script.”

“You’re funny.
Good thing your man has a trigger finger.”

“Or what?” Tawny
said, her head cradled in the crook of Judd’s neck. “You’d tell my sister
you…what?”

Cooper grinned.
“Danny’s going to talk shit about you now.”

“I’m going to
talk shit about his shallow grave,” Tawny said, looking tired. “I’m glad you’re
listening to your gut. You’re Kirk’s son and that makes you smart.”

Looking more
confident than I’d seen him in months, Cooper smiled. “Thanks, but how do you
explain Tucker? Are you saying my mom cheated?”

Tucker glared at
his brother. “I’m his son too.”

“Based on
Tawny’s idea, you can’t be. Sorry, dummy.”

Returning, Kirk
sighed. “I never gave your mom a reason to cheat.”

Tawny grinned.
“Men are funny.” We all watched her for a minute then she sighed. “I’m on new
meds and they’re making me sleepy. Maybe a little moody.”

“Maybe?” I asked
and she flipped me off.

Kirk set the
phone on the table. “I’ll do the talking and we don’t give details to anyone
outside the room. I trust my guys not to snitch, but they’re fucking scared and
that makes them dumber. Things have been too quiet and easy for too long and
they’ve gotten whipped.”

As Tawny dozed
against Judd, I locked the door and Kirk dialed. Soon enough, a deep voice
asked, “What’s up, Kirk?”

“One of my boys
got some shit on a fancy shirt and we need a cleaner.”

“How big a stain
we talking about?”

“Big, but it’s a
delicate shirt. Needs a soft touch. The guys I know would destroy the material.
The stain is a pain, but we don’t want to ruin the fucking shirt, you know?”

“Yeah, I get
that. I know a few guys, but I’d think if your stain is as bad as I think,
you’ll want the services of someone like Saint.”

Kirk frowned.
“When I talked to J.J. in Houston the other day, he said Saint was retired.”

“Saint retires
every year then goes on vacation and unretires. He was in South America, but I
heard he’s back in Austin at one of those music festivals.”

Kirk looked at
Cooper who nodded.

“Well, have Saint
call Cooper. My boy’s running shit and I don’t want to have to unretire
myself.”

The voice on the
phone told Kirk to have a nice day and it was over. Trying to disappear during
the exchange, I felt awkward to be the reason the Reapers had to call in an assassin
like Saint. Somewhere along the line, I’d become a bystander in my own fate.

“I’ll talk to
the guys,” Kirk told Cooper. “You make sure to keep your phone close.”

“Thanks, Pop.”

Kirk just grinned,
proud dad helping his son hire a killer. Normal shit around the Johansson
homestead apparently.

After Kirk went
outside, Cooper exhaled like he had been holding his breath the whole time.
Tawny had woken up and was now stretching.

“Coop, don’t be
stupid like this again,” she said, patting his strong shoulders to the
irritation of Judd. “You can handle the job. Even if you fuck up or trouble
blows back on you, your club will watch your back. You’re not alone in this.”

“I feel like
some of this is coming from your sister,” Cooper said, standing up and patting
her head.

Judd finally
stood between the two. “Unless you want me touching your woman, hands off
mine.”

“I love when you
get all caveman,” Cooper teased. “Thanks for the pep talk, Tawny. Next time,
try not to shred my balls in the process.”

“No. If you want
sweet talking, go cuddle with Farah.”

Judd took her
hand and started for the door then paused. “She’s right about people having
your back, Cooper. Those guys outside want shit to be the same forever, but
life ain’t like that. They’ll follow or we’ll make them follow. Either way,
you’ve got the club at your back.”

Cooper nodded
then glanced at Tucker who was messing with his phone. As Judd and Tawny
disappeared out the door, I joined Cooper.

“I know what
this’ll cost you,” I said as Tucker laughed at something on his phone. “I’m
behind you whatever you decide. You’re my president and this is my club.”

“If shit goes
wrong, you watch out for my woman, okay? My family is yours and you make sure
they’re safe.”

“Always,” I
said, shaking his hand. “I’ll die to keep them safe.”

“Good deal,”
Cooper said, suddenly looking like a twenty two year old guy.

Walking outside,
we noticed Kirk joking around with the older guys. He had a way of making his
people behave. The guy knew when to use a hard stance and when to go soft.
Cooper would figure it out too, but he was still a kid in too many ways. No
matter his age, he just ordered the assassination of members of a rival
motorcycle club.

Showered and
dressed, I sat on the little walkway outside the garage apartment. No more than
thirty minutes had passed since Vaughn took off and I didn’t know how long it
would be before I heard from him. When I got restless, I wanted to smoke. Right
then, every nerve was on edge. I wanted to smoke and cry and chase after
Vaughn. It was pretty pathetic.

Instead, I held
my Fair Bear while flicking at my lighter. I also did what Vaughn told me to do
when ugly thoughts overwhelmed me. I daydreamed about our evening. I thought of
bowling with him and how he always smirked when he got a strike. No matter how
many times he got the strike, he always looked as if he had defeated a great
foe. I loved that little grin.

Soon, I was
smiling to myself and the lighter sat unused on my lap.

Vaughn would be
fine. He was coming back to me. I’d found a good man inside a bad boy outlaw.
Maybe one day, he wouldn’t be living on the edge any longer. He could truly be
a part of Ellsberg, the Reapers, and our family.

By the time
Bailey came running from the house, I was chilling in the hot summer sun. She
raced up the stairs then plunked down next to me.

“You almost
died,” she said, yanking me against her. “Someone tried to kill you.”

“It’s okay,
Bailey. Vaughn handled it.”

“Were you
scared?” she said, getting comfy next to me.

“Of course. The
bastard shot up Vaughn’s cabin.”

“Are you with
Vaughn or will you dump him to have a safe life?”

Frowning, I
studied her. “Was that a real question?”

“No. I’m just
uneasy because the club is having a meeting and I’m not invited.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Maybe it’s for
the best. I might not want to be part of the ugly stuff. In fact, I think I
want a nice man to love me and not some scary fuck like Vaughn. No offense.
He’s a super hot scary fuck, but he’s still living a dark life and I don’t
think I want that. I mean, I have to worry about my brothers and Pop. I don’t
think I want to worry about my man coming home.”

Remaining
silent, I was nervous again. Bailey studied me then sighed.

“I said the
wrong thing, didn’t I?”

“You said the
truth. That’s not wrong and I’m not a child who needs lies.”

“Okay. This
being nice thing is hard. Lying is wrong then it’s right. I’m afraid to say
anything and would totally stop talking, but I like talking. Besides, when I
tried to stop talking, I forgot and talked anyway. Do you think I should try to
be preppy?”

“No, and stop
trying to be someone else. I don’t know who you were before I met you, but I
think you’re awesome. Anyway, if you need to ask someone if you should do
something then you probably shouldn’t do it. Follow your gut and you’ll be
you.”

“Can I still get
my fake boobs even though I asked if I could?”

“You can get any
damn thing you want. You’re an adult and you should decide for yourself. I’ll
respect whatever you decide because I respect you. Nuff said.”

Bailey grinned
and leaned her head against my shoulder. “I’m glad you’re my friend. You’re
kind of fucked up, but you seem happy. Well, right now you seem nervous, but
you seemed happy with Vaughn. You love him a lot and I know he loves you a lot.
I saw how he was easily bored with chicks and he doesn’t get bored with you at
all. For a guy like Vaughn, that’s love.”

“You’ll find
someone too and he’ll love the Bailey I love. He’ll love the real you and you
won’t have to fake shit with him. I know it’ll happen, but you need to be
patient.”

“I will be. Not
because you told me to, but because it was my decision. I’m all about making my
own decisions. It’s my new thing.”

Hugging my bear,
I sighed. “I hope Vaughn is okay.”

“Pop won’t kill
Vaughn. It’d make him look dumb after all he did to protect Vaughn. My pop is
hella smart. Coop is too. Tucker isn’t, but he’s loyal. Vaughn will be okay.”

“I’m glad you
came to check on me. I’ve had so few great things in my life and I’m afraid to
lose Vaughn.”

“Like you lost
your little brother?” When I nodded, Bailey sighed. “I’m trying to be nicer to
Sawyer even though she’s evil. I just know it’d break my heart if something
happen to her.”

“You can train
her to be less evil. Or teach her to use her evil for good,” I said, thinking while
Sawyer was a brat, she was far from evil.

“I will. I’ll be
a good example for her and teach her not to shoot squirrels. I don’t like when
people shoot the little animals. It seems mean.”

“What animals
are okay to shoot?”

“Big ones unless
you’re poor and need to kill the little ones for food. Just shooting them for
fun seems mean. Like they don’t have enough trouble getting across the road
without getting splattered.”

“You could
become a tiny animal advocate. Stop the slaughter of squirrels.”

Bailey laughed.
“Start a protest group. Those whiny groups are super popular at school. I’ll
start one for squirrels.”

“You know,
that’s not such a bad idea. You need more experience running things, so you can
build up your confidence. If you really plan to manage the family’s legit
businesses, you need to learn to be in charge. The Save the Squirrels campaign
could be a good start.”

Bailey’s
expression shifted into something wiser than usual. None of the frowning diva
or frowning lost child. She looked like someone with a plan. I guess that’s
what she really needed.

For years, I’d
wandered around with no idea what I wanted, let alone needed. Months ago, I
swore off men. Now, I loved Vaughn in a way I never felt possible. Finding a
path was liberating.

Bailey returned
to the house to get ready for a night out with Jodi and Sawyer. I sat on the
walkway with my bear and waited for Vaughn. Not long after Bailey left, I got a
short text saying he would be over in an hour and I should pack an overnight
bag. Just that. No dire warnings. No cryptic messages. Just a guy planning to
pick up his girl for a night out, followed by a weekend of fun.

Hugging my bear,
I ran inside to find something to wear. Filled with relief, I wanted to dress
up for Vaughn. My only dress was a red flowered summer dress with spaghetti
straps. I didn’t own heels, so I slipped on sandals then made up my face. Once
looking as pretty as possible with a peeling nose, I packed up for the weekend
including my bear then waited outside for Vaughn.

The sound of his
Harley set my skin on fire and I hurried down the steps to meet him. Until I
saw him…no felt him against me, I wouldn’t truly feel at peace.

Vaughn looked
like heaven, wearing black jeans, tee, and boots. His hair was loose and damp.
He gave me a hell of a smile when he saw my dress.

“How the hell
did you get more beautiful while I was gone?” he asked, climbing off the black
Harley.

“It’s just the
dress.”

“Ladybug, it’s
everything.”

Melting into his
arms, I soaked in the heat of his body. Vaughn kissed my head while playing
with my ponytail.

“I’d look better
if my back wasn’t flaking and peeling.”

Vaughn ran his
warm fingers over my skin then sighed. “Even your burned skin is sexy.”

Instead of
teasing him about his hippy hair, I pulled Vaughn down for a kiss. I’d been
missing his lips on mine for hours. Now, he was safe in my arms and I only
wanted him.

“We could stay
here,” I murmured, needing him inside me.

“Sex kitten, you
need to learn restraint,” he teased, taking my hand. “I want to celebrate. A
great meal and a game of bowling followed by a ride home in the warm evening.
Once we get to my place, I will get you naked and keep you naked until you
forget how to dress yourself.”

Laughing as he climbed
on the Harley, I shook my head. “You and those threats.”

“Hey, sugarcane,
how you gonna bowl in those sandals?”

“Socks in my
overnight bag.”

Vaughn glanced
back at me then shivered. “I find your organizational skills so hot.”

“Unless you want
to fuck right now, we need to go because you’re getting me moist.”

Vaughn glanced up
at the apartment then back at me. Clearly contemplating a quickie, he probably
realized we’d never leave once we got started. He was right, of course. Instead
of giving into our urges, we drove to the Texas Roadhouse for steaks and ribs.

Another girl
might play dainty with a hot guy. If she knew Vaughn though, she’d realized he
liked pigging out and didn’t like doing it alone. We made a great team when it
came to demolishing plates of meat.

“All this meat
is making me go caveman,” Vaughn said, licking his fingers and arousing me.
“You know you love it.”

Laughing, I
nodded. “Let’s go to your place and I’ll lick you clean.”

Vaughn was
tempted again. The big head eventually won over his very needy little head. I
suspected if Vaughn knew I called his cock little that he’d have something to
say about it. Fortunately, he wasn’t a mind reader.

Despite his
decision to put off sex, bowling was clearly foreplay. He kept training me
which involved sliding up behind me and feeling up different parts of my body.
My tits got a little attention followed by my butt. My legs were his favorites
and I realized how much he liked the dress. In fact, I caused him to mess up
his turn by swinging my hips so the dress swayed just right. He lost his focus
on the ball, rolled it wrong, and right into the gutter.

“Cheater,” he
growled.

“Next time, I’ll
flash a little tit.”

“Big fucking
cheater,” he said, kissing my forehead.

“I want to win.”

“I want it
more.”

“To win or do
you want something else?” I asked, licking my lips.

“Dammit, woman!
I’m trying to bowl here!”

Laughing, I bent
forward and gave him some booby action. Vaughn responded by chasing me around
the bowling alley until a few drunk guys whistled. Suddenly, he was angry
caveman ready to club strangers for entering his territory. Watching him switch
from funny guy to dominate male in a matter of seconds, I needed to get him
naked very soon.

My wish was
granted after a few more games of bowling. Feeling him up the whole drive to
his place, I had plans for him. Yet, I might have underestimated Vaughn’s
arousal. When we got to the garage, he threw me over his shoulder and walked to
the elevator.

“Me need pussy,”
he said, pushing the button.

“What if your
neighbors see me?”

“No care. Me
need pussy.”

Laughing, I hung
from him as he carried me and my bag into the apartment and tossed me on the
bed. I stood up and reached for him.

Vaughn’s lips
moved to my shoulder where he yanked the dress strap out of the way to suck at
my flesh.

“Be careful with
my dress. It’s my only one.”

“Buy new one. Me
horny.”

Even giggling, I
grabbed his face and forced him to look at me. “If you go caveman and tear up
my dress, I’ll go cavewoman and kick your ass. Understand.”

Vaughn gave me a
sweet grin. “I’m going to fuck you until you can’t stand.”

“You keep
threatening that and I keep standing up afterwards. Someone’s full of shit.”

Stepping back,
Vaughn gave me a grin. “Take off your precious dress and I’ll keep my caveman
hands to myself.”

I twirled for
him then slid the remaining strap from my shoulder. Reaching back, I unzipped
the dress then swayed as it slid past my tits and hips and pooled on the floor.
My pink panties joined the dress then I turned before bending over to pick them
up. I heard Vaughn inhale at the sight of my pussy smiling at him.

Once the dress
was folded nicely on a chair, I ran for the bed and landed on my hands and
knees. Wiggling my ass for him, I glanced back and grinned.

“Me horny. Need
cock.”

Vaughn nearly
broke the bed by jumping on it. I was still laughing at him when he ran his
tongue along my already wet pussy. He shut me up instantly.

“Woman taste
like honey.”

“Too verbal for
a caveman,” I moaned as he thrust into me. “Otherwise, no complaints.”

Vaughn grunted
his response then let loose with the need he kept in check for hours. Holding
me by the hips, he thrust deeper and harder. I braced myself to keep from
toppling forward from his intensity.

“Perfect,” he
groaned when he finally let go.

When he lost
control and just fucked me hard, I could do no more than enjoy the ride. Out of
breath, Vaughn leaned forward and nuzzled my hair.

“I remember how
to work pronouns again, lollipop.”

Giggling, I
wiggled away from him and rested on the bed. He quickly joined me and gave my
peeling nose a kiss.