Riding with the Bad Boy (A Dark Motorcycle Club Romance)

C
opyright
© 2015 by Emma Russell

All rights reserved.

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F
or my bad
boy

E
mma Russell is
an emerging author of romance.
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C
oyote rounded
the turn with apparent recklessness the wind wrapping around him, his jacket tight on his body. He seemed so rebellious, so free. I knew the truth.

H
e was a cold
, calculating man and any decision he made would be the one that got him what he wanted. And what he wanted was to win this race. No one else could make that turn that fast. No one else could catch up.

I
hated
that my eyes were drawn to him as he reached the impromptu finish line. I despised the way I got hot whenever he was close to me.

H
e was
my brother's best friend. My club's president, and totally off limits. I wasn't a club whore, I was protected, but that meant I had to keep away from any member of Snake's Bite M.C.. Especially a man like Coyote.

C
oyote blew
through the finish line and pulled his bike into the club parking lot where a throng of women waited to shower him with adoration. Club ass. Women who gave their bodies willingly to any man in the club for the "prestige" of being seen with them. If they weren't ol' ladies they got passed around. And they did it willingly.

I
rolled my eyes
. It wasn't something I understood. The club was a responsibility to me, not a desire. I hated it, honestly. I hated everything about it. A lifetime with the club left me completely jaded. I came out of duty. Duty to my brother and my father's memory.

"
I
almost had you
, man." My brother, Bear, swore as he pulled off his helmet and pulled a girl onto his bike, kissing her neck and making her giggle. "Charlie, you made it!"

I
cringed
; no one else called me Charlie but the guys. At least they didn't call me by my club handle Cub. I was Charlotte.

S
mart
, demanding, Charlotte. Senior year in college and ready to take on the world. "Of course, Bear. Why wouldn't I? You asked me to."

"
Y
'all heard
? Charlie is about to graduate college. Some big shot we got here. Going to be a lawyer and shit." The men cheered and passed around beer, looking for any excuse to turn something into a drinking occasion.

"
S
he'll be far too
important for us," Coyote's eyes cut right through me, bringing a scarlet flush to my cheeks.

I
started
law school in the fall. The plan was to get my degree and then specialize in criminal defense. Specifically for the club's use. I'd always been happy with the plan. I wanted to be a lawyer and it that meant paying my dues to the men who but me through school then that's what it was going to take.

B
ut law school was
, though, not to mention expensive. I worried that they couldn't afford it. Almost as much as I worried that my law degree was being paid with drug money.

"
Y
ou wanna come
in for a drink?" Bear asked, but I knew it wasn't a request. He called me this morning and asked me to come. I knew it was important.

"
D
epends
, you got anything that isn't disgusting swill in there?"

"
S
ure
, Charlie Cub. Whatever you want, Coyote can make." Bear dropped the girl he was holding, leaving her bass on the bike seat as he swept me up into his arm and guided me towards the clubhouse.

T
he rest
of the guys stayed outside with the women, smoking and talking. The race was all but forgotten, but the party was just beginning. I snuggled into my big brother's arm letting myself feel safe and secure just for a second, like when I was a little kid. It was an illusion, the man was anything but safe. He was dangerous, but he spent my entire life protecting me and I knew that I was one of the only people outside of the club who could trust him.

"
W
hat'll you have
?" Coyote asked slipping behind the bar and searching through the bottles.

"
W
hiskey sour
." It was an easy drink to make, but it hit the spot. Just what I was looking for. One whiskey sound and then I was out of there. I wasn't going to sit around and bullshit with these guys.

"
A
lright
." He looked directly into my eyes while he poured it. He had always unsettled me. Not in the way that made me want to run away. No rush had very much the opposite effect. The Prez was a handsome man. The kind that has a magnetic pull that took a struggle to avoid. Trust me, I know, I did everything in my power not to get caught up in it. I wanted nothing to do with him, or at least that was what I told myself. Still, looking at him I couldn't help but admire who he was.

M
id-thirties
and in the prime of his life, it wasn't any easier now that I put four years between my high school fantasies.

I
'd crushed
on him hard. A little too old for me and way too dangerous. It didn't help that he was my brother's best friend and brother in arms.

"
S
o why do
you really want my attention, Bear?" I downed my drink in one gulp and slammed the glass on the table.

"
W
e have a request for you
."

H
ere it was
. He could never just want to see me. He always wanted something, the club always wanted something. It never had anything to do with who I was, or how I was, no it was all about what I could do for the club. Always the club.

"
W
hat
?" My patience was starting to wear thin.

"
W
e don't want
to alarm you, Charlie, but we need you to come and stay at the club for a while." Coyote spoke this time, somehow making that request sound more like a demand than anything else.

"
W
hy
?" I turned on him, my gaze impatient.

"
B
ecause you're in danger
."

"
T
hat's impossible
. I keep my head down."

"
W
e've pissed
off some very powerful assholes, and they warned us that they'd be coming for our families next."

"
B
ut I have
finals and graduation. I can't just drop my life and come back to the club. You wanted me to do this, remember?"

"
Y
ou will still be
able to go to school and graduation. We've worked it all out, Charlie. We'll have someone escort you to classes and we'll all be there for your graduation."

"
S
o let
me get this straight," I said as I pinched my nose, "you want me to come home and be under constant guard because you did something solid and illegal?"

"
I
t's
that or risk getting kidnaped, or worse." Coyote's voice was harsh. He was some being kind.

"
W
ell fuck you both
." I was pissed. "Fine, but I don't want Raccoon babysitting me. He freaks me the fuck out."

C
oyote grinned
.

"
O
h little girl
, you have no idea what you've walked into ."

I
looked
around the little room in the back of the clubhouse accepting my fate.

"
A
re
you sure that's everything?" Audrey asked as she looked around the tiny room. It was the smallest room in the very back of the clubhouse, but it had a private bathroom and that was why they put me in it. I sighed. It wasn't at all like the dorm that she and I shared on the college campus, that one had two beds and enough room for desks as well as our dressers and closet. I was going to miss it.

"
Y
eah
, I'm sure that's all of it." Looking around now I was kind of depressed. It wasn't like being at college anymore. It was like being back in prison only game you accepted in this present, I was born into it

"
I
still don't understand
why you want to move home." I couldn't explain what was going on to Audrey, she wouldn't understand. So I just told her that would run out of funding and I couldn't afford to pay the last check towards board . " if this is about money, I'm sure I could ask my dad and keeping be more than willing to give you a payment ."

"
I
won't take charity
, Audrey I appreciate all that you've done for me. That's where I have to draw the line " It was the only way I could think to rebuke her offers of generosity.

C
oyote appeared
in the doorway of my little room one arm leaning on the jam this he looked over the scene. He glanced at Audrey and then smiled at me. It wasn't a nice grin, rather an off-putting, nervous expression.

N
one of them
what you keen on having a stranger in the clubhouse but it was my stipulation if I was going to be forced to stay here. I needed to be able to have my best friend with me and to have a study partner for finals. It was the only way I'd move in, and they rarely agreed.

I
made
sure she had complete access to my room, and open access to all the common areas of the M.C. clubhouse. They reluctantly agreed, but Coyote was especially hesitant. He didn't want anyone in his domain that he didn't trust.

P
art
of me swore he didn't trust me either. The way he was looking at me, his eyes filled with curiosity convinced me of it. It didn't matter because I was playing their little game, whatever trouble they were in I wasn't part of it. But I was still caught up in the consequences. This was the safest option, but it still wasn't something that I enjoyed.

I
looked
around the wood paneled room, it was cramped and a little bit warm but it was my home for the next two months.

"
C
ub
, when you're ready I need to speak with you. Send away your little girlfriend first," he winked at Audrey and then sauntered off down the hallway.

"
I
s he for real
?" she asked watching him as he walked away, his as looking good in those tight jeans. I had to admit, it was a pretty nice sight.

"
W
hy did
he call you Cub? " she was just filled with questions today she. I was surprised she caught that she was so busy looking at type his muscular body I surprise she realized he spoke at all.

"
I
t's a family nickname
. My brother is Bear, my father was a Grizzly, and I'm Cub." I shrugged, it was better than calling me Charlie.

"
I
like that
. I wish I had a handle." She thought this whole world was exciting, but it wasn't. It was terrifying.

I
watched
her as she took it all in. It couldn't be easy, a rich girl like her coming into a place like this. "I never thought places like this actually existed. They were just things that I saw on the news sometimes or read about in fiction. You know?" Audrey flounced on my bed the worn springs of the clubs bunk bouncing her like a little old trampoline.

"
T
hank
you so much for helping me, Audrey. I really do appreciate it." This was going to suck. All of it. Dammit. "Now I'm going to have to ask you to leave, I'll be at school tomorrow around 10 where would you like to meet?"

"
S
ure
, girl. You go ‘talk' to that handsome looking bad boy." She winked. "Oh, and who's his hot friend, the bulky one, you know, he's got black hair…" she trailed off obviously thinking about him.

"
O
ops
." Audrey blushed.

"
I
won't hold
it against you if you flirt with him, but just don't do in front of me." I doubted that would last long, Bear was incorrigible, and to be honest, so was Audrey.

W
e talk
for a little while longer and then she left out the back so that she can "bump" into Bear.