Exquisite Redemption (Iron Horse MC Book 3) (12 page)

I didn’t bother to waste time or effort shouting back, grateful when he helped Sarah into the chopper before me. Vance was the last in and as soon as he shut the door we were airborne. Smoke handed out headsets, but the noise wasn’t too bad in here. Normally I liked my luxury helicopters, but Smoke could have flown in on a fucking blimp and I’d be happy. My anxiety levels went down and I turned on my headset while everyone else did the same after strapping in.

“Situation?”

Smoke shook his head. “Not good. Lots of bodies to get rid of at once and tensions are high. Took a multiple club effort to clear that shit. Plus, a couple women were shot. Thank fuck they were all women who’re loyal to their respective clubs and know how to keep their mouths shut. They’re being treated at a top-of-the-line hospital down in Mexico now, chilling in the sun at their private villas for the next month while they recover. Cops know something went down, but not what, and those women are not talking. All the clubs are working together to smooth this over. No one wants the kind of attention this bullshit could bring.”

“Do we know what happened?”

“Ambush, but it was kind of fucked-up. We got a couple guys Khan swears are Los Lobos from the Denver area, but we also have some mystery bodies with no type of identification. Gonna run prints. Can you tell us anything about the people who took you?”

“I didn’t see much. The driver of the van clocked Sarah over the back of the head with his gun, but he’s a crispy critter right now, along with the passenger and any evidence. I was out most of the time in the van, and my memory from. And they have my cell phone and gun.”

“Assumed that when you called from her phone.”

Sarah casually added, “Before you woke up, they talked to a man with a weirdly modulated voice about you. I think he was the one who ordered the kidnapping. I was an unexpected bonus to the guys sent after you, and got taken along for the ride with the hopes of selling me into sexual servitude for a profit.”

We all stared at her as she calmly said these words and I had to bite back the fury that tore through me at the thought of
anyone
forcing her to do
anything
she didn’t want. “That will never fuckin’ happen.”

She rolled her eyes at me and I simultaneously wanted to spank and kiss her.

“I know it will never happen, because I will kill any motherfucker who tries it.” Then she graced us with a smile that almost looked genuine. “But really, I’m a nice person.”

Vance stared hard at her while Smoke laughed then looked at me with a shit-eating grin. “You’re fucked.”

Ignoring my Master at Arms, I continued to look at Sarah. “You think you could identify that voice if you heard it again?”

She pursed her lips then smacked them together in a way that made me want to kiss her senseless. “Probably. I can describe it to you if you want, but I don’t know if it will do much good. Like I said, his voice was disguised.”

“We’ll talk about it once we’re outta the air.”

“Where are we going again?” Sarah asked while looking out the window.

I looked over at Sarah and found her leaning her head against the glass while her shoulders slumped. Exhaustion lined her face and her eyes were a little glassy. I wanted to pull her into my arms, but this wasn’t the time or place.

“Denver,” Smoke replied. “Got a guy and a nurse there who’ll take care of you. Shit, they’ve got a whole medical suite.”

She rolled her forehead on the glass. “They have a shower?”

“Yep.” Smoke gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Don’t know what went on, but Beach said you saved his life, so I owe you a debt I’ll never be able to repay. Not only is he my Prez, he’s also one of my best friends.”

“She sure as fuck did.” I kept my eyes on her, drinking in the slight changes in her guarded expression as I spoke. “Bravest woman I’ve ever met.”

Her gaze darted to me and a pink flush hit her cheeks. “I was saving my own ass, you just happened to be there.”

Smoke chuckled while Vance looked out the window, but I shook my head. “Right.”

Smoke looked down at his phone, then frowned. “Change of plans. Source at the airport where we were gonna land says cops are there. We’re heading to Golden instead.”

“What?” I leaned forward, pissed beyond belief. This was not a coincidence; we picked a way-the-fuck-out-there regional airport to come in. It was in the middle of nowhere and isolated from civilization. It was so against the odds that I knew someone had ratted me out. No way a cop was gonna take one look at our blood-caked bodies and not wanna question us. “Are you fuckin’ kidding me?”

“No.” Smoke met my angry look with one of his own.

“How many people know we’re coming?”

“A lot,” Vance quickly said. “When you got snatched up, people lost their minds. Had to let them know we found you and you were alive before people sought vengeance. Got a bunch of the Austin chapter at a hotel in Golden, waitin’ on your arrival. Shit has seriously gone down while you’ve been missing.”

“Not too much longer,” Smoke said while checking his phone. “Instead of having you stay with Khan, we’re taking you to the hotel where the rest of our people are staying. The cops in Denver seem a little too interested in us right now. Nothing to do with that shit that happened back at Sturgis, that scene got cleaned up so well even the FBI couldn’t find shit.”

“Good to know.”

Picking up a hank of her blood-crusted hair, Sarah said, “Look, right now I don’t care where we go as long as it’s got a bed and a shower.”

I reached out and held her slender hand. “Baby, you’re mine now, which means you can have whatever you want. All you gotta do is ask.”

Her gaze got hard and I had the feeling I’d insulted her somehow. “I don’t need a man to buy me stuff. I have—well, I
had
a good-paying job, I have a healthy bank account and investment portfolio, so I can buy anything I want on my own, thank you very much.”

Both Vance and Smoke gave me surprised looks at my public declaration of ownership, but I kept my attention on her. “This is not the time or place for this discussion but I suggest you get used to the idea of me spoilin’ you. I know we’re new—”

“We?” she said in a disbelieving voice.

“Yeah, we’re new and it’s gonna take some time to get to know each other, but you need to understand I’m in your life now and shit is gonna be different—better in ways you can’t imagine.”

Most of the women I knew would have been jumping up and down with joy right now, but she looked suspicious. “You’re delusional.”

I only winked at her, then turned back to my men. “I want her taken care of. Whose gonna be on the ground?”

“Khan, Hulk, and Frame.”

“Hulk is her primary bodyguard when you’re not around.”

“Excuse me,” Sarah said in an irate voice. “I don’t need a bodyguard.”

I turned to her. “I’m gonna have to handle some shit as soon as we land. Might have to be separated from you for a little bit.”

“Oh.” She looked upset, then quickly hid it. “That’s fine, whatever. I just want a shower and food.”

The bright sunlight beaming through the window against the side of her face highlighted the dirt and blood marring her gorgeous features and made her pale eyes glow. “Like I said, anything you want. I promise.”

The moment our feet hit the tarmac, I spotted Khan, along with Hulk and Frame. I held Sarah’s cold hand tight, noting the tension filling her and the way she scanned the area around us as if anticipating an attack. Her unease set me further on edge and by the time we reached Khan, my tolerance for the current situation was getting dangerously thin. If I didn’t calm it down soon I was gonna go on a rampage and
no one
wanted that.

Khan, a solid guy in his sixties with a black and grey Fu Manchu mustache stepped forward. “Prez, wish it was under different circumstances, but we’re glad to have you with us. Hulk’ll take care of your girl, we got shit to discuss.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Sarah was giving Khan her “eat shit and die” look, which he was ignoring and further pissing her off. Now, I might not be an expert on women, but I knew with the trauma she’d been through and the lack of sleep, her ability to maintain her self-control was thin, and I had a feeling people died when she got fed up with their shit.

In an effort to keep her from slitting Khan’s throat, I took a step forward and put myself between her and Khan, earning an irritated huff from behind me. Thank fuck she didn’t plant a knife in my back. My skin prickled and I swore I could feel her gaze hitting me like daylight on a sunburn.

"Let me get one thing straight real quick. This is Sarah. Not only is she my old lady, she saved my life. Any man who disrespects her will answer to me. Am I clear?”

“She’s your property?”

“Yep.”

“Excuse me.” I inwardly groaned as Sarah added from behind my back, "First, I want a fucking shower. Second, crazy man with the rockin’ mustache, I am not a thing or parcel to be passed around at your whim. I go where I want, when I want, and no man will ever tell me what to do."

Smoke, the asshole, busted out laughing and I shook my head at Khan. "She's cranky when she's tired."

"No," Sarah added with so much snark it made my cock fight to get hard. "I'm cranky when I'm dirty; I'm homicidal when I'm tired."

At that Khan smiled wide. "She's gonna give you a run for your money, buddy."

"Don't talk about me like I’m not here," Sarah said and poked my back, like I was the one irritating her.

Hulk cleared his throat and I shifted my attention to him. We've been good friends for a while and I'd been up here ’bout ten months ago for his young daughter's funeral. Terrible shit, the kind of stuff that'll mess you up forever. Hulk was hanging in there, but he'd been quiet, withdrawn. For the first time in months, a smile curved the corners of his mouth as he moved around me to directly address Sarah.

"Hey, sweetheart," he said in a smooth voice as he gave her a smile bigger than I liked, even if it was good to see it on his face. "Name's Hulk, I’m Denver’s Master at Arms, and I'll be taking care of you."

"It's nice to meet you, and thank you for the kind offer, but I don't need anyone to take care of me."

Instead of arguing, he nailed her with that bright smile and I remembered how much pussy he'd scored before he met his ex-wife. "Then my job will be a hell of a lot easier. Vacation time. All you wanna do all day is relax at the pool in a bikini, I’m down for that. Then again, I know I’ll have to beat motherfuckers off with a stick so maybe we’ll stay indoors and play Monopoly or some shit."

Her soft, bright laughter had everyone turning to look at her with an appreciative eye. Even exhausted, covered in dirt and blood, and as irritable as a wet cat she was fuckin amazing. Stuff dreams were made of. Hulk, to his credit, held her gaze and didn’t let his eyes wander down to where her big breasts jiggled as she laughed.

“You, me, and margaritas sounds like a plan. But can we do some video games instead of Monopoly?”

“Place we’re goin’ doesn’t have game systems, but it does have a nice, big shower.”

She stepped away from me so quick I could still feel her body heat even though she now stood next to a grinning Hulk. “Right. Let’s go. And, just so you know, I will gut any man stupid enough to get fresh with me right now.”

“Gorgeous, it’s not you I’m worried about slitting my throat,” Hulk said as he led her over to Frame while giving me a quick look over his shoulder to make sure it was okay to touch her. When I gave him a chin lift, he turned his attention back to my weary girl. “Let’s get you checked out then I’ll take you to the hotel so you can clean up and relax. You hungry?”

“Very.”

“Like fried chicken?”

“Do whores like premature ejaculators?”

Hulks deep laughter rang through the air and I stepped back and watched as Frame quickly looked her over, his red hair burning in the sun and his face going serious as he examined the extent of her injuries. A small portion of her ribs was bruised up and she had various small cuts and scrapes. It killed me to see that perfect body injured and I wanted to go over there and kiss every exposed bruise.

“Old lady, huh?” Khan asked in a low voice.

I kept my eyes on Sarah, ready to step in if she showed a moment of unease. “Yep.”

“How long you known her?”

“One day.”

Sarah started to walk away with Hulk, then stopped and spun on her heel. She quickly made her way back to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. Deep circles bruised the flesh beneath her red eyes, and her normally pink lips were paler than usual. “I just wanted to say thank you. You didn’t have to come back for me when I was taken, but you did.”

I wanted to kiss her, but both our lips were crusted with dried blood. “I’ll always come back for you.”

Her arms dropped. “As much as I appreciate the sentiment, I doubt the veracity of that statement.”

With those odd words she was off, leaving me staring after her as Frame came over to treat my injuries and Khan began to fill me in on everything I’d missed.

Chapter 6

Sarah

A
fter we landed at a small airport, I’d been checked over by some redhead biker medic who cleaned my head wound and gave me a strong shot of antibiotics. He agreed my ribs were bruised, and that they would hurt for a few days, then he offered me some painkillers but I declined. I could suck it up right now and would rather save them for when I really hurt. That left me with Hulk, a beautiful black man with massive slabs of muscle and kind green eyes.

We were currently in his truck and he’d asked me a few gentle questions before I made it clear I really didn’t want to talk.

After we drove for a bit while listening to some soft R&B, he said, “You’ll be staying here at the hotel until we can make sure the current shit show with the cops is handled. Pain in the fuckin’ ass.”

“Do they bother you guys a lot?”

His hands tightened on the wheel, thick silver rings gleaming on two of his fingers. “Not usually. We got an understandin’ with them of sorts. They leave us alone and we keep our territory free of street-corner pimps, drug dealers, and gangbangers. Plus, we…influence some politicians. Have some friends in high places.”

“Huh.” I yawned and right away winced. “Fuck.”

“Should’a taken a pain pill,” Hulk muttered, a point he’d made repeatedly over the last twenty minutes.

“I’m fine,” I snapped. “Jesus, I’m not some delicate fucking flower that’s going to die from a chipped nail.”

“Right,” Hulk said with a barely hidden smile.

Irritated, I turned back to examine the building surrounded by pine trees that we were pulling up to, my humble abode for the next few hours.

It was three stories high with open walkways leading to the different rooms, which had brass numbers on their doors. The hotel was u-shaped and opened to a lovely view of the mountains. As soon as we pulled into the lot, men and women began to fill the courtyard, enough that I was soon gripping the armrest between Hulk and myself. There were a few cars and trucks with motorcycles in their beds, but even if I hadn’t seen all the bikes there I would have pegged the people moving quickly towards us as bikers.

Most of the men were rough looking, some big, some small, but they all had a total “don’t fuck with me” vibe going on. The women ran the same gamut, from a gorgeous brunette in a bikini top that could have passed for pasties and denim shorts small enough to be thong panties, to a blonde woman who was probably in her late seventies with skin as wrinkled and tanned as an old leather couch. That older lady wore a bright purple kimono with Jack Daniel’s bottles all over it and a pair of old-fashioned high-heeled shoes with pink feathers on the toes. I liked her on sight.

They converged on the truck while Hulk came quickly around to my side and helped me gently out, his touch polite but his stance protective.

A tall woman with her dark brunette hair in braids sauntered up. Then a woman with a shellacked helmet of hair wearing a black tank top and great legs gave me an up-and-down look, then glared—so I glared right back. If she thought a mean look and attitude were going to intimidate me, she had the wrong chick. I had no idea who the hell these people were, but I’d had a rough night and I was struggling to keep my considerable temper under control. Jesus, I stood here obviously covered in blood despite my efforts to clean up with baby wipes at the airport, and I was getting catty looks? These people were weird.

I knew my bitch glare was more powerful than hers, and gave her a taste of it while a group of older men came up to us with grim looks. The sun was warm on my skin and I hoped we’d get to someplace I could sleep soon. The performance, the drinking, and finally killing a couple men had caught up with me, even if I didn’t show it on the outside. I’d perfected hiding my pain, hiding my discomfort. Probably because my psychopath of a mother occasionally liked to see me suffer along with her when her bipolar was on the downswing.

“Beach okay?” an old man with a long, white Santa Clause beard growled out.

Unlike the real Santa, this man’s blue eyes weren’t merry, they were cold and furious. I was unable to help myself, my muscles tensed, ready for violence. It was a knee-jerk reaction when I felt threatened, a flood of flight-or-fight chemicals consuming me and 99% of the time I chose to fight. What can I say, I’d been molded in a world filled with violence, my innocence taken away far too soon, and I’d survived those hard times because I was a fighter. A survivor. I didn’t need anything or anyone to get by, but damn it was a lonely life.

Startled by my unexpectedly melancholy thought, I glanced over at Hulk while he gave the men a rundown of what had happened.

Hulk put his hand on my shoulder and I shrugged it off with a glare, irritated how the men were giving me openly disbelieving looks at the mention I’d saved Beach’s life. Hulk studied me for a moment, tension tightening the fine lines around his eyes, but whatever he saw on my face seemed to calm him. A dimple popped out in his cheek as he gave me a wide smile, handsome enough that he made me blink, and I’ve been around some unbearably hot guys in the entertainment business.

“Ms. Sarah,” he said in a voice loud enough to echo in the courtyard, “is going to be our guest for a bit. Our honored guest. She got our Prez safe when he got shot and taken and he’s in her debt. He also claimed her, so I suggest you treat her with respect or you’ll be hearin’ from Beach, and you do not want that.”

Everyone looked at me now with expressions varying from disbelief, to open welcome, to scary blank face. The scary blank face was mostly on the guys, but there were a few women who looked like they could hold their own gazing back at me with no expression. I didn’t mind; my father was one of the most suspicious people in the world and I was used to people treating an outsider like…well…an outsider. My dad, stepmom Mimi, and twin sister Swan all lived on an honest-to-God prepper commune in Texas. They, along with about five thousand plus other families on various compounds, made up their own town on a shit ton of land in the Texas Hill Country. Being self-sufficient, they rarely left the compound and all visitors were looked at like potential invaders.

With this in mind, I gave the bikers watching me a bright smile that I’d practiced for hundreds of hours for the various pageants I was in as a kid. “Hey.”

Okay, I probably looked creepy as shit giving a merry wave and a smile while looking like roadkill, but it was the best I could do at the moment.

A few said hey back, but the guy who seemed to defer to was a handsome Spanish guy in his thirties with a short mohawk and tattoos all over. He wasn’t wearing a shirt so I got a nice view of all that intricate ink stretched over thick muscle. The tattoos crawled up to his neck in some Aztec-looking pattern, calling attention to how thick his muscles were. He gave me a deliberate inspection, staring me up and down, then smiled.

“Well, well, well, never thought we’d have Miss March as the Prez’s old lady. Beach does not disappoint, but darlin’, you’re lookin’ a little rough.”

“I don’t have time for your bullshit. I need my own room to crash in and a laptop.” I cracked my neck then yawned again. “With all due respect, I’m past exhausted and I’ve been up for almost two days. Can I please get a shower then collapse somewhere with a clean bed?”

“She’s staying in Beach’s room,” Hulk said quickly.

“He’s such a lucky fucker, always takin’ the best women for himself.” The hot guy with the mohawk winked at me. All the men laughed and the guy with the mohawk handed the gun off, then stuck his hand out. “Name’s Sledge, I’m the National Vice President for Iron Horse. Good to meet you, Sarah. Saw you work that pole back at Sturgis. I’m a big fan.”

I shook his hand, wanting to wrap this up and get inside. A migraine was beginning to threaten and already the light was bothering me. I knew the stress combined with getting my head banged around triggered it, but I left my pills back at the campground in
Playboy’s
RV, which meant Marley had them. Crap.

“Can I get a phone?”

“Why you need a phone?”

“Beach still has mine.” Closing my eyes against the glare, I sighed.

“Rosco,” Hulk bellowed over his shoulder to the watching crowd. “Burner, now.”

Before I could draw a breath, a short and beefy guy with a good dark pornstash and an easy smile handed me a phone.

“Right,” Sledge said and turned his attention back to Hulk. “Drop her off in Beach’s room and come back down. We got shit to discuss.”

The crowd began to disperse a bit and I was grateful Hulk quickly led me up two flights of stairs to what was evidently Beach’s room. While I was pissed over the way Beach had talked about me with his buddies back at the party, I had to admit the fact that he shoved his way through a stampeding crowd of people to get to me made my heart flutter a little bit. He took a bullet for me. If he’d been hideous, I wouldn’t have a problem telling him to piss off, but he was so unfairly sexy. He was the kind of man women dreamed about, but never saw in real life. Well, maybe not exactly what women dreamed about; he could be a prick, but God I wanted to see him in all his naked glory.

My semi-benevolent, mostly horny thoughts about Beach came to a crashing halt when Hulk opened the door and the first thing I saw in the dim light filtering in through the heavy curtains was an older bottle blonde with thick eyebrows lounging on the bed.

How did I know she was a bottle blonde? She was nude and the carpet didn’t match the drapes.

At the sight of me, she sat up, her dark eyes narrowed as her overinflated lips stretched into a pissed-off pout. Now, I’m not one to cast stones for cosmetic surgery, if it makes you feel better about yourself by all means go for it, but this bitch had a really shitty doctor and her growing sneer pissed me right the hell off.

“Who the fuck is that, Hulk?”

The big man at my back made a tired sound. “Naomi, get the fuck out of here. Have you lost your damn mind?”

“But Beach always asks for me,” she whined, and any happy horny thoughts I’d had about Beach died a quick death.

“Don’t fuckin’ bullshit me,” Hulk growled as he tossed what I assumed were her clothes at her. “I don’t know who the fuck let you in here, but I can guarantee you it wasn’t ’cause Beach wants to see you. Now get the fuck out.”

Snarling at Hulk, the woman jerked on her uber-short white skirt. “Beach will be pissed when I tell him how you’re talking to me.”

Letting out a deep, not-so-nice laugh, Hulk took a menacing step closer. “If you think he gives a fuck about how I talk to a club whore, you are out of your damn mind. Now, last warning, get the fuck out before I tell Beach about you bein’ a pain in my ass.”

“Fuck you,” she snapped.

When she walked past me, she pushed me back and my injured side hit the wall, sending a wave of pain through me that snapped my self-control.

In a blind rage, I grabbed her by the back of the head and smashed her face against the wall hard enough to make her nose gush blood. She gave a terrified scream and I threw her away from me.

“Hulk, get her the fuck out.”

“Stupid fuckin’ bitch,” Hulk muttered. “Damn, girl, you went all ninja on her and shit. Nice moves.”

He shoved the sobbing woman out the door and I paid him no mind when he returned a moment later, without the bloody woman. “So, in the future, if you have a problem with someone, let me handle it.”

“So, in the future, if you fuck up and someone hurts me, I’m supposed to stand there and pout while the men handle it? No.” My eyes stung with unshed tears and I lifted my hand in his direction. “This discussion is over, time for you to leave.”

“Hey now, I’m sorry ’bout that, girl. I had no idea she’d be here and I can assure you Beach don’t want nothing to do with her. And you’re right, if someone hurts you, don’t fuckin’ wait for a rescue, handle that shit yourself if you can.”

Hating how quickly I was becoming debilitated and the fact that I needed to ask for help, I said through gritted teeth, “Don’t care. My head hurts. Migraine.”

I staggered forward until I felt the edge of the bed with my knees, then crawled onto it with a low moan. Everyone needed to shut up and let me curl into a ball of agony and zone out. Nothing touched the pain of a migraine, not even when I’d blown out my knee during ice skating, and that shit had hurt. I pulled one of the thin hotel pillows against my stomach and curled around it.