Reinventing Mel: A Hellion MC Novel (25 page)

But it felt like only a few minutes had gone by when I was awakened by a warm hard body pressing against my back as a thick muscled thigh slid between my legs.

"Mel?" I rasped out sleepily.

"Yeah, precious.  Sorry to wake you but you're hogging all the pillows," he breathed, his mouth right next to my ear as his strong arm looped around my waist.  "But if it gets me close to you like this, darlin', I'm willing to share yours."

Now
that's
the way to wake up
, I thought but didn't say.  Instead I snuggled until his thigh tighter against me before twining my fingers with the hand he was using to hold me with.  Secure in his arms and the shelter of his body, I let sleep claim me again.

But I was given an even better wake up when the sun was just beginning to peek through the cracks of his bedroom curtains.  

Actually it had been sounds coming out of my own mouth that had caused my eyes to open.  Deep and fervent moans had brought me almost immediately up from sleep to full wakefulness. 

Only to discover that my legs were draped over Mel's shoulders as his tongue worked its magic against my mound was downright shocking, but I was too far gone, too aroused to stay shocked for long.  He'd obviously been at his task for a while because it didn't take long before my body exploded.

And as soon as he crawled back up my body to slip next to me, I pushed him over onto his back and reciprocated.  Something he hadn't let me do before, distracting me from my efforts with more touches and kisses in just the right places.  But that time I was determined to give him the same unbelievable pleasure he'd gifted to me again and again.

I used my mouth to stroke and tease, to lick and to suck as far as I could fit him.  And from the noises, the growls and groans he made I knew he was enjoying it.  It was when I added my hands to the play, man alive.  That was when Mel began to lose the rhythm his hips had found.  I felt his hands on my shoulders and I couldn't decide if he was trying to push me away or pull me closer.

But it wasn't long until he gently grabbed the back of my neck and curled up with a moaned, "pull off, Lu," that I realized he didn't expect me to swallow.  I liked that he hadn't automatically assumed I would unlike more than a couple of the partners I'd had in the past. 

I continued my hand movements but my eyes were on his face, his very flushed cheeks and heavy-lidded eyes that seemed glued to my stroking fingers.  They flicked up to stare into mine as he groaned, "gonna hit it, girl.  Fuck, that's perfect."  His hips arched as his steel-like length began to throb and then spasm as he came hard and fast. 

"Oh, good Christ!  Oh, Lu," he moaned as he dropped back down to the mattress.

I sat back on my heels and discreetly wiped my mouth with my fingers as my eyes surveyed the absolute gorgeousness of the man spread out before me.  Were you kidding me?  He was like some of the models from the porn sites for women I'd discovered a couple of years ago.  Absolutely perfectly crafted in every way and I loved the fact he didn't have any body hair to distract me from the view.  And, man, how I viewed.

He smiled as he twisted to retrieve his t-shirt from the floor in order to clean himself up but as he did there was a hearty knock on his bedroom door.

"Mel?" I heard Derek call and my eyes flew to the portal, happy to see it was locked.

"Yeah?"

"Lulu's car's here but I can't find her anywhere," Derek said and I had to cover my mouth in order to hold the giggle inside.  The kid was, after all, only fifteen.

I saw Mel was holding on to his mirth too by only allowing one side of his grin to show.  "Think about it, Der," he called and held up a hand using his fingers to signify the seconds as he counted them down.

"Oh!  Ooh!" came the reply when Mel had two finger remaining.  "Oops!  Sorry, Lu.  Just got worried when I couldn't find you."

"It's okay, Derek.  I'll be out in a bit," I said proud that I was able to keep the laughter out of my voice.

"Is Julie up yet?"  Mel called out.

"No, but I'll wake her if you want me to."

"Please.  I've got something to talk to the three of y'all about."  Mel's voice had changed and I wondered why I was to be included in the family's talk.  I moved around the room, finding the panties I'd washed out by hand were dry and my jeans and top had remained unwrinkled.

Two days of doing the walk of shame.  How unbelievably cool!

Mel stepped into a pair of boxers and grabbed some other clothes from his closet and drawers before coming to where I stood.  "Didn't realize I was out of condoms until this morning, precious.  But it was still good wasn't it?"

"The best, baby," I murmured going up on tiptoe for a kiss.  And I wasn't fudging in the least.  What woman didn't want to be awakened more than halfway to her personal heaven?

"You want first shower?" he asked when we finally came up for air.

I glanced at the beside clock and saw it was only eight.  "I've got time if you want to go first."  I'd planned on going home straightaway so the little family could enjoy their Saturday together, but Mel's warning about wanting to talk to the three of us blew that out the window.   While he was in the shower, I put the room to rights by making the bed and dumping his pile of clothes into the hamper I'd spied in a corner of the closet.

As soon as he was back, I made haste to get clean knowing that there were still two more people that needed their morning turn.

By the time we were all assembled in the kitchen each of us leaning on a separate portion of the countertop, Mel started speaking, detailing his upcoming run.  Derek seemed sad about having to stay at the compound and I wanted to offer my services but didn't want to stick my nose into their family business.  I was already overjoyed that he'd deemed me good enough to take care of Julie in his absence.

Julie seemed excited by it as well and asked if I could pick her up from school on Monday.

"No, baby girl.  Do like you always do and go home with the Honeys.  Lulu will pick you up from wherever you are after she's done working."

"I'll need to get some more clothes and things from my place," I advised. 

"Not a problem, precious.  Just shift my shit in the drawers and closet so yours will fit," Mel said, his arm going around my waist to pull me into his side.  "Der, if you need anything, you get one of the brothers to call her, all right?"

Der nodded and moved to stand closer to his big brother.  I saw Julie take a couple of steps forward before looping her arms around Mel's waist and burying her head in his belly.  "Hey, why the long faces?  I'll only be gone a couple of days and y'all be busy.  Pro'lly too busy to miss me."

"It doesn't feel like home if you're not here," Julie said, her voice only slightly muffled in his shirt.  I felt a lump form and my eyes prickle at the little girl's words.

"What happens if the school calls while you're gone?  Do I let Bishop talk to 'em?" Derek asked, leaning his shoulder against Mel's.

"Sorry, Der.  Bishop is leading the run.  If they call then Lu will take the message and get it to me.  I'll call 'em back from the road if I have to, but I don't want you leavin' until I'm back.  That's the important part, bro.  You don't leave without me saying goodbye, you get me?"

"Yeah, Mel," Derek sighed pressing his body into his brother's big form and I couldn't tell if it was one of relief or of sadness although it could've been some combination of the two.  "Should I give Lulu my house key?"

"Good thinking," Mel replied with a smile as he ruffled his brother's hair.  I liked how Mel was with his brother.  Affectionate in a guy kind of way that didn't give a hint of how young his brother still was. 

"Okay, so who wants what for breakfast?" Mel asked disentangling himself from all of us and stepping to the refrigerator.

It was after we'd eaten and Derek was cleaning the kitchen that Mel led me out to the  back porch to tell me about Grit.  About how my escort had been shot and killed after dropping me off yesterday and how his body had been found in the middle of the road not even a half-mile from my apartment.

And my man held me tight while letting me cry out my grief into his beautiful, hard-scaled chest at the loss of the man known as Gritty. 

But who I had started to call friend.

Chapter Twenty Five

Mel pulled into the compound with fifteen minutes to spare and with Derek on the back of his bike. 

"You think Lu and Jules will be okay?" his brother asked, twisting his helmet in his hands.

"The club will be sending people out to make sure they will be, just like they'll do with all the families.  I need you to keep
yourself
safe, though," Mel explained draping an arm around Derek's shoulders as they walked towards the clubhouse.  At his brother's confused look, Mel tried to explain without giving too much club business away.  "Things are happening with the Ghosts, Der.  And even Trey doesn't know how its gonna play out.  So if a Hellion tells you to do something, even if it sounds crazy, you fuckin' do it, all right?  Your number one job while I'm gone is to keep yourself safe."

"I will, Mel.  But you protect yourself, too.  It would kill Jules if something happened to you," Derek replied with a snarky grin. 

Mel couldn't help his own one-sided smile at this brother's words.  "Shithead."

"Dickwad," was shot back quickly before Der handed Mel the helmet and began to jog to the back of the clubhouse.  After entering, he saw Bishop and Donny bent over a map at the bar and moved to join them.

"We were going to make this run through the mountains by taking the 93 highway to Twin Falls but since the fuckin' weather reports saying we got a system moving in, we're going with the freeways," Bishop announced after their fist bumped greeting.  "I've got an app that'll warn us if the roads get fuckin' dicey but here's some rain gear just in case.  Oh, and the chaps for you, Hardwood."

"I've got Lulu with Jules but Lu's gonna need some shit from her place," Mel advised.  "She wants to go get it…"

"Oh fuck, no," Bishop said and pulled out his phone.  "Hey, beautiful girl.  Yeah.  Hardwood says you need stuff from your place?  No, sorry.  I need you to stay fuckin' put right where you are, dig?  You need to make a list and call Carly with it.  She'll get a brother to help her and get your shit to you.  Yeah.  Well sorry, babe, but that's how its gotta be for the mo'.  Just do as Uncle Bish tells you and it'll all be chilly."  Bishop listened to whatever Lulu was saying before throwing back his head and laughing.  "Yeah, I will.  Late."

Bishop glanced at Donny before turning his smile to the recruit.  "Lulu instructed me to take good care of 'her Mel'."

Mel closed his eyes as he felt the heat creeping up his neck even though another part of him was thrilled she'd called him 'hers'.

"Still can't figure out how you got in there so quick, Hardwood."  Bishop's tone made it sound like he expected an answer which Mel knew he wasn't going to give.  In order to get off the subject, Mel asked, "Why can Carly go but Lu can't?"

Receiving a slap to the back of his head, Mel saw Donny's hand retract and the frown on the tall, silent biker's face.

"Didn't fuckin' Dare warn you about questions, meat?" Bishop asked with a scowl.  At Mel's nod and quick apology, Bishop continued.  "But in this instance it’s a fair inquiry and one all the brothers need to fuckin' know.  Carly's ex-military and is a better goddamn warrior than most of the fuckin' brothers.  We have all the Honeys on lockdown 'cept for her and Frankie."

"We gonna ride or, like, stand around and fuckin' talk?"  Donny asked.  It was the first time Mel had ever heard him speak.

"Let's hit it," Bishop announced, rapping his knuckles on the bar and pushing away.

Mel decided his second run in a week wasn't half as bad as the first had been.  Bishop signaled an exit just outside of Idaho Falls and Mel was surprised to find that while his ass was numb, it didn't ache like it had on the run to Sheridan.

"We're just gonna grab a snack that'll fuckin' carry us through to Twin Falls," Bishop advised entering the convenience store.  Whereas Silo or Dice had been the ones that had fetched and paid for Mel and Transport, Bishop seemed content to let him and Donny do their own thing. 

"How much further?" Donny asked after they'd paid.

"Another couple of hours by my way of thinking.  Don't fuckin' like the looks of the sky, though," Bishop said and pointed his chin to the northwest where the clouds were beginning to darken and roil.  "If it gets bad, I'll fuckin' call a halt and we'll hunker down, dig?  Stayed clued into me, Hardwood."

Mel nodded at the man's instructions.  Donny and Bishop had ridden side by side and Mel had brought up the rear as they'd traveled.

Luckily, the sky waited to open up until after they'd gotten their room for the night.  Pulling back the curtain and viewing the sheets of rain, Bishop announced they were in for the night.  "We'll call for fuckin' pizza and meat here will make the beer run to the place next door."

After Mel got back into his chaps and boots, Bishop shoved a Ben his way.  "Two fuckin' twelve packs and a quart of tequila.  And not the cheap shit!"

Mel pulled the heavy poncho out of his saddlebags and made sure it was in place before he opened the motel room door.  Once outside and beyond the other men's hearing, he sighed. 

No wonder recruits were so happy to receive their member's patch
, he thought ruefully.  He'd only been at it a couple of weeks and he was already tired of being at everyone's beck and call to do the shit no one else wanted to do.  By the time he made it back to the room, he was soaked having discovered that the rain in Idaho was accompanied by a nasty wind.  And with blusters that caught the edges of his poncho's hem and hood, allowing the cold water in.

After shucking off of his dripping outerwear, Mel decided to warm up with a shower before he ate.  But there were only three pieces of pizza remaining when he finally rejoined his group.  Three pieces, a six-pack of beer and a half a bottle of tequila.  He didn't think he'd taken that long but he obviously had if that was all that was left.

Booze seemed to make Bishop more talkative and Mel was treated to a variety of stories about his fellow brothers that soon had him laughing so hard his eyes watered.

"So Silo is gettin' busy with one of the Honeys in one of the rooms at the compound when he fuckin' finds that the noise from the room next door was too loud for him to get his groove on.  And Si, being Si, decides that the fuckers needed to shut the fuck up so he could finish and bangs on the goddamn wall.  In his fuckin' opinion it was his nice-nice way of telling the brother in the other room to shut the fuck up."  Bishop's eyes were sparkling and he was chuckling as he recounted the story. 

"But the bro in the next room must've taken offense 'cause for the next couple o' hours, just about every fuckin' time Si was ready to get his nut, the fucker would start bangin' on the wall.  Not just a couple of knocks.  Nope.  Full-on smacking up and down the length of the wall, dig?  I never heard how Si finished or even if he fuckin' did.  But what I
did
see was Patch fuckin' handcuffed to the goddamn chain link fence the next morning and Silo pissing on him!"

Even silent Donny let loose with a sharp bark of laughter at Bishop's recollection. 

"Which one is Patch again?" Mel asked, upending his second beer.

"Ah, bro.  Patch is gone.  Took a bullet in the shit that went down on the gun run last summer.  In fact, your bike used to be his," Bishop said sadly with a head shake and it seemed all three men were reminded of the war that HMC was currently fighting.

"What's doin' at the club?" Donny asked.

"Last fuckin' tweet said only nine Ghost's cuts had been captured.  Seems the fuckers are livin' up to their name."

Mel felt like he needed to move and began to clear up the remains of their dinner and the empty beer cans knowing it'd be his job anyway as a lowly recruit.  But his mind was on the different teams that were searching out the rival gang.  What were they facing?  Were the Ghosts dug in someplace or were they hiding in order to pick Hellions off one by one as their president had promised?

"I fuckin' found out that Collins is a church-going asshole.  So tomorrow we're gonna pick him up after he's made his fuckin' weekly peace with his maker and take him back to his office.  We're gonna rent a car for this, dig?  'Cause our rides might put an even bigger fear of god in the congregation than their pastor can."  Bishop had obviously done the research on Collins and his routine.  "We're gonna see how much green he can come up with but being Sunday, I don't hold out too much hope.  We may have to fuckin' keep him overnight which might help him remember other fuckin' sources to get the dinero he owes."

"What about that asset shit Trey talked about and the leaning thing?" Mel asked and saw Donny nod as if he wanted the info on it too.

"Pre-lien," Bishop corrected and spelled the word out.  "It's a legal thing that makes sure HC gets its green or we get to stop the job.  I fuckin' mean everything and everyone on the job stops work until we get what we're fuckin' owed.  I already filed the fuckin' Stop Notice with his lenders two months ago, which should've been the fucker's first clue that he was done.  But the asshole put up his own personal property and his vehicles as collateral, or the
assets
Trey mentioned. "

"But what are the Hellions gonna, like, do with a house out in bum-fuck?" Donny asked.  Mel had wondered the same thing.

"Sell it," Bishop said firmly.  "At the last tax assessment, the Collins' crib was worth double what he owes.  Now I'm done playing teacher.  It's Saturday night and I need pussy.  Think I'm gonna call a pro.  Either of you boys want one?"

"Too fucking tired, man," Mel mumbled.  While it was truthful, his words didn't convey all the facts about why he didn't want some unknown hooker on his dick.  And at the top of his list was 'because he had a better girl panting for him at home'.

"I'm in for a BJ if you wanna, like, share," Donny countered.

"Cool.  Lemme see what the desk clerk suggests," Bish muttered reaching for the bedside phone.

Mel hoped he'd be able to sleep through the festivities his brothers had planned.

*.*.*.*.*

I saw Carly pull up in a black SUV and park behind the Cutlass before she and another Hellion started removing my suitcases, sewing machine and the box of material I'd asked them to bring.

Opening the door with the intention of helping them lug my stuff in, Carly waved me back and barked, "stay in the house, Lu."

I glanced over at Jules as saw she was as confused as I was by Carly's tone. 

"She's normally really nice," Julie mumbled with a frown.   I went to stand with the little girl at the dining room window and ran my hand across her small shoulders. 

After lugging my stuff in, the man went right back to the SUV to lean against it while his head moved back and forth as if surveying the neighborhood.  As she closed the door, Carly's whole demeanor changed and she went back to the fun loving girl I remembered from my night at the clubhouse.  "Namaste, bitches!"

Julie had no problem getting with Carly's new program but I lagged a bit behind.  Why had the woman been so serious before?

"C'mere and give your Auntie Carly a hug, Lil' Taste!"  While Julie greeted the other woman, I took the suitcases to the bedroom and put the sewing machine on the dining table.  When I went back to the living room I saw Carly was on her knees and using her fingers to try and poke Julie in the sides.  Julie, however, was in a karate stance her little face as serious as anything and was using her forearms to block the other woman's efforts to touch her.

"Ooh, someone's been practicing, I see,"  Carly crowed gathering the bright-haired girl in a big hug and rocking her back and forth.  "You've gotten better, Lil' Taste.  A
whole
lot better!  But I need to talk to Lulu a minute.  Do you mind if I take her outside?"

"Can I watch TV, Lu?"  I was still getting used to having the little girl ask for permission before she did almost anything.  I didn't know Mel's rules though and just kept giving my agreement when she needed it.

"No,
back
yard, Lu," Carly said on a low note when I reached for the front door.