Malice's Possession (14 page)

Malice helped Tuck and Rock load the last of the supplies that would be taken to the whorehouse that they had past Steel Corner. Pierce came out with the last load of dry goods to be taken over a few moments after they stepped away from the van. The cabin they had in River Run was strictly to get the girls back on their feet, but they still had other women—their own women who hadn’t been some of the prostitutes who had gotten beaten—and that still wanted to earn. Malice closed the back of the van and looked up into the sky. It was dusk, and he had told Adrianna he’d be back later tonight. He hadn’t called and checked in on her because it had only been a few hours, and he certainly didn’t want to seem like some kind of stalker motherfucker.

“You getting Dakota tonight, right?” Tuck asked and leaned against the side of the van. He reached inside his cut and grabbed a joint.

The music from the clubhouse blasted out of the open window, and he could hear the laughter of some of the club pussy filter out. “Nah, tomorrow night.” He was glad he had been open with Adrianna right way. It was better this way seeing as Molly came to the cabin once a week to check on everyone. He didn’t want Adrianna getting surprised when the women and Molly started talking. Dakota normally was brought up in those conversations, and pictures passed around. His son was the main reason he lived, and these feelings he had for Adrianna made him want to share that very important part of himself with her.

“It’s been a few months now, but your boy
is holding up okay?” Tuck asked and then took a drag out of his joint. “He seems happy the few times Molly’s brought him to the club.” Tuck exhaled.

“Yeah, he’s doing really
well. Molly’s going to be enrolling him in preschool come the fall.”

“He’s turning four already?” Tuck asked surprised.

“Yeah, crazy shit, huh?”

Tuck
, Pierce, and Rock grunted.

“His birthday is coming up right before enrollment, so he is all excited about that.”

“Damn, just starting out in the world.” Ro
ck had a joint between his lips and shook his head. “I swear I remember my first day of preschool.”

“Get the fuck out of here
,” Tuck said and started laughing around his joint.

“Hey, don’t laugh. I can remember my preschool years.” Rock looked up at the sky. “Best fuckin’ time of my
life.” He looked at them again. “Back then they had naps and snack and shit.”

Malice started laughing, too. It felt good to have humor and not have this stick in his ass all the ti
me. And the truth was he had been a grumpy asshole over the whole Molly situation.

“How are things with you two?” Tuck asked, because he was always so damn inquisitive.

“Molly? I’m good. I was good when she wanted to start dating Stinger.”

Tuck cocked a brow, inhaled
from his joint, and continued to stare at Malice without saying anything.

“You were good when she started dating Stinger?” Rock repeated what Tuck had said, and then chuckled.

“Fuck you.”

“Hey, man, I thought I heard you and the Grizzly MC member went at it? Like went all primal in the woods behind the fight barn?”
Pierce was outright howling with laughter now.

Malice was annoyed, but
Pierce was right. “Listen, I thought I still loved her. I mean she’s the mother of my kid for fuck’s sake. But it wasn’t about that. I had my own issues, wanted things the way they had been for so long, because that was what was comfortable. She’s in good hands with Stinger, though, and the Grizzly takes care of Dakota when I’m not there.” Tuck handed over his joint, and Malice grabbed it and took a deep inhale. When he exhaled and handed it back to Tuck he glanced at Rock, who stood beside Pierce. “Besides, I want Adrianna.” There as a moment of silence, and he saw the way Rock and Tuck looked at each other.

Malice held his hand out, and Tuck grinned as he handed him the joint again.
Once he had taken a couple of puffs and a nice buzz settled in, he realized that he had already known that Tuck and Rock had probably already caught on. They had been with him the entire time, and he knew it wasn’t like he had hidden his reaction to Adrianna. He handed the joint back to Tuck and leaned against the van.

“What is this
with her, a sex thing?” Rock asked.

Malice looked over at the other man and narrowed his eyes, but Rock held a hand up in surrender.

“Okay, not a sex thing. Shit.” Rock looked ahead and finished smoking his joint. “’Cause I was going to say if it was a sex thing that is kind of fucked up, man.” Rock looked back over at him. “I mean, given what she has been through.”

“
I said I wanted her at the meeting, didn’t I?”

Rock shrugged. “Man, you were desperate to make sure she was taken care of. I probably would have said anything, too.”

“She’s different from anything I’ve ever felt before, and I feel very protective and possessive of her.”

“No shit.” Tuck was squinting at him through the haze of marijuana smoke. “You went all territorial with Kink, and then it was clear you had a hard-on for her back at Marx’s
.” Before Malice could lay into Tuck about taking about that shit Tuck started speaking again. “And then you fucking laid claim on her. I meant no disrespect when I say that, by the way.”

“Yeah, the whole fucking club knew that you wanted that woman for more than just a charity case
, and that was before you said you wanted her as an old lady.” Rock said, and Malice looked over at him. Rock shrugged.

Malice ran his fingers through his hair and tugged at the short strands at the nape of his neck.
But he didn’t say anything, and in fact had known that acting so barbaric and snapping at his Brothers wouldn’t go unnoticed.

“
So you’re serious about her being your old lady?” Rock asked.

“
Really fucking serious,” Malice said and looked at each of them.

Malice looked a
t Tuck and narrowed his eyes.

“You can scowl at me all you want,
man. You don’t scare me.” Tuck dropped his roach to the ground, snubbed it out, and then picked up the butt. He glanced at Malice and grinned.

Malice ground his teeth and pushed off the van. Tuck smiled, but it was a cocky and self-righteous one.

“Fuck, man, be careful because her life hasn’t been a fairytale,” said Tuck.

“You don’t need to fucking tell me how her life has been. I was right fucking there.” His anger was totally misplaced, and snapping at Tuck like this wasn’t right, but the asshole was baiting him, and Malice knew why. They stood nearly toe-to-toe now, Malice breathing heavily as his anger was still very strong inside of him, and Tuck standing there with a stoic expression on his face.

“You’re right, I don’t need to tell you shit, but look at yourself, Malice.” Tuck took a step back and did a onceover. “You’re about a second away from kicking my fucking ass, and over what, because I said her life wasn’t a fairytale? Or because I’m busting your balls?” Malice closed his eyes, loosened his hands that were in tight fists, and breathed. He realized that he had been having this internal fight with himself. And he didn’t even know why.

“You want her, that’s pretty fucking clear,
but don’t get fucking pissed when someone points out the obvious.”

Malice started pacing,
trying to calm down with every step he took. “It isn’t just me wanting her more than I’ve ever wanted anyone before. It’s that I feel like she knows me, like she doesn’t judge me or my lifestyle. That’s why I placed my claim with her at the meeting, and want her as my old lady.” Yeah, she had mentioned he looked hard and scary, but she had still gone to him, still poured her heart out, and fuck, he was falling hard for this woman.

“
Up until you met her you were all about the club whores.”

He looked at Rock.
“Yeah, and? You fuck these club girls after saying one syllable to them. Is it so hard to believe that I might want a woman for myself?”

“Sex doesn’t equal
love.”

He turned on Rock and felt that familiar warmth of anger start to rise.
He might not be in love with her yet, but fucking hell, he cared about that girl so damn much it consumed every part of him. If this was how he felt after only knowing her for such a short time, he didn’t doubt he could love her so fucking hard it hurt.

Rock ti
lted his head toward the front door of the clubhouse. “If I asked you to come with me and pick out a fine looking honey to screw, would you go for it?”

Instantly
Malice grew disgusted, because thinking about any other woman, about what they tasted like, smelled liked, and felt like under his mouth, tongue and hands turned him off faster than a cold shower.

“That’s what I thought.” Rock went to move past him, but smacked him on the back and said, “You want her, and if she wants you then go fucking take what’s yours.
” And with that Rock moved away from them and into the clubhouse.

“He better not get shitfaced because he’s taking this load over there tonight.” Tuck grinned and moved over to him. He placed a hand on his shoulder, and the smell of the pot they just smoked, and whatever whiskey Tuck had been drinking on filled his nose. “I wasn’t trying to bust your balls or start shit. I can tell you want this woman, and I’m glad you’ve found someone that draws you in like she does. You were with Molly for a long time, and I know sometimes it’s hard to move on.”

“No, I’ve moved on from Molly, as in when she told me it was over with. I was just too pigheaded and controlling to just let things end with the mother of my son. There weren’t any real emotions between us for a long time before things ended.”

“I know, but after that you were a cranky and foul bastard.”

Malice chuckled, and then so did Tuck. “You going to the barn fight tonight?”

Tuck shook his head. “Kink’s going.” Tuck gave him a look that said Kink needed to blow off
even more steam. The Brothers of Menace helped The Grizzly MC, a grizzly bear shifting MC that lived in Steel Corner, by fighting at the barn The Grizzlies ran. The underground bareknuckle fights brought in a little extra income to the club, but also allowed them to blow off some much needed steam.

They gave each other a half hug
, and then Tuck turned away and headed toward the clubhouse. He stopped right before he entered and turned to look at him.

“You wanna throw back some drinks?”

Malice shook his head. “Nah. I’m heading out for the night.” The look Tuck gave him told Malice that he knew he was going to see Adrianna. Tuck grinned and turned and headed inside. Malice stood there for a moment, thinking about all of the things Rock and Tuck had said and everything he had thought about and felt since he had met Adrianna. He was going to have her because there was no way he could stay away now. But she wanted him, too, and that was a pretty powerful fucking feeling. His cell vibrated in his pocket and he reached in and got it out. The screen flashed MOLLY. It wasn’t who had been consuming his mind lately.

“Hey
, what’s up?” He held the cell to his ear and grabbed his keys for his bike and started moving toward the Harley.

“I’m going to have to cancel you getting Dakota tomorrow. He’s got some kind of bug. He’s been throwing up, as a little fever, and is as crabby as you are on most days.”
There was clear weariness in her voice.

“He’s okay though? He doesn’t need to see a doctor?” He was worried, but seeing as Molly was a nurse and trained in shit like this, Malice didn’t freak out too badly.

“He’s fine. There is some kind of crap going around the playground in town, and I am sure that is where he picked it up at.”

“You want me to come over and see him? I can bring some soup over.”

“You made soup?” Molly started chuckling, and Malice grunted.

“Fuck no
, I didn’t make soup, but Tatum made some chicken and rice this afternoon.”

“No
, but thank you. He can’t keep much down and has been sleeping most of the day. He was disappointed in not seeing you, but I think it is best. You’d end up getting it, and then everyone would have to hear you bitch and moan.” Molly started laughing again, and Malice could hear Stinger saying something in the background.

“Okay, but I’ll call tomorrow and see how he is doing.” There was a second of this weird silence
, and Malice sighed. “What, Molly?”

“I
was at the cabin in the back when you stopped by.”

“Yeah.” He straddled his bike, and although he didn’t say it he knew what she was going to say.

“And I talked to the new girl … Adrianna.”

He didn’t respond
, just put his helmet on anxious to get off the phone and see Adrianna. He wanted to see Dakota, but his kid’s health came first, and if Molly thought he needed his rest, then he did.

“Some of the girls were talking about
how you were the one to bring her to the cabin, and that she was staying there for an undetermined amount of time.”