Banished Souls MC (7 page)

"Addie," he said. "I've had a really crappy day. In fact it's one of the worst ones I've had in a while."

Addie fumbled off the bed and managed to stand in front of him. She grabbed at his shirt. For the briefest of moments Caine feared she was about to throw up all over him.

"I can help you with that," she said, barely standing.

Very gently he nudged her with his hand. She fell over onto the bed. She seemed almost oblivious she had suddenly changed locations. "I can really help you, like I use to. You 'member how I made you feel?"

Caine made a quick call to a Hang Around who was assigned to be on standby that night. "Get over here. Now." Caine said, and hung up.

Addie was looking at him with a heavy sulking expression. "Cherish," she said, pouting.

Caine just looked at her. "Yeah? What about her?"

"She's the one keeping us apart. She's the one you love now."

He did not have time for this. "Get your clothes on," he commanded. But Addie didn't move. In fact, he wasn't sure she could even dress herself.

Caine attempted to put clothes on her, but she kept resisting. Eventually, he gave up and tossed her clothes onto her. She laughed, then cried.

He thought that shooting her wouldn't really solve anything. Instead, he wrapped her in the bed's comforter and pulled her up into a standing position.

"Oh, kinky, baby," Addie said, grinning. She was actually drooling at this point. "Just like we use to."

Then Caine put her over his shoulder and stood up straight.

Wrapped snuggly in the comforter all Addie could say was, "Oaf!"

Praying she wouldn't barf on him, Caine headed out the apartment and down the side stairs to the ground floor.

"Cherish," Addie said. "You gotta watch out for her. She's... she's a spy."

Caine passed a couple outside. They gave him a curious look but steered clear. They knew who he was.

At the edge of the street, near the entrance to the parking lot, Caine eased her down to stand beside him. He kept one arm around her so she didn't fall over.

"A spy for who?" Caine asked, not caring. You could only play along with a drunk for so long. He looked in both directions for the vehicle that would be arriving any moment.

"The Krimson Klowns."

"Uh huh," Caine said. "Why do you say that?"

Satisfied to finally have his full attention, Addie grinned. "She told me. Before. She was sent her to spy on you for the Krim..." She burped. "Krimson Klowns."

Caine was aware that Cherish had a history with the Klowns through Odin. But he didn't know the specifics. Normally, he wouldn't even be concerned. Everyone in the Biker world had a history with other Bikers. But in light of recent events, Cherish and the Klowns might be a cause for concern.

When Caine didn't say anything Addie said, "Send her away, baby. She's all bad and you know it. You only need me!" She started to cry again.

Mercifully, a dark van pulled up to the curb beside them. Caine opened the sliding door. Anchor, a Club Hang Around, greeted Caine, then looked perplexed when he saw the Addie cocooned in a comforter. "What's up, Boss?" he asked.

Caine hoisted Addie into the van and gently laid her down across a back seat. "You know where she lives, right?" He gave Anchor Addie's apartment keys. "Get her home safe."

"You got it," Anchor said.

Before Caine shut the door Addie said, "She's a spy!" Caine shut the door, and watched the van pull away down the street.

Krimson Klowns. He had to know if there was more there.

His personal cell phone rang. He didn't recognize the number, but answered anyways.

"Hey, you," came a soft voice. "It's Cherish."

"What a coincidence," Caine said, mildly surprised.

"Why is that?"

"Because I was just talking about you."

"Really?" Cherish said, surprised. "With who?"

Was that worry in her voice? He couldn't tell. "With drunk people," he said.

Cherish laughed. A wonderful easy sound.

I could get use to that sound, Caine thought. Then he shook his head. First, he needed answers. And he hoped she was willing to give them because he was not in any mood for evasiveness.

Cherish said, "I saw you at Booty Bumps. I wanted to say hi but you seemed-"

Caine cut her off. "I need to see you," he said. "I'm coming over."

Chapter 8

Cherish

Cherish hung up, both thrilled to know he was coming over, but perplexed at his tone.

Was he angry? She couldn't really tell as they didn't even really speak. And she didn't know him well enough to gauge his manner.

Still, he was coming over. That, at least, was a good thing.

Quickly, she cleaned up her motel room. Then she got down to cleaning herself up. Thankfully, most of that work was done when she had gotten ready to go to Booty Bumps earlier.

As she checked her hair she had a sudden thought. Could Caine have found out she made out with Basher? Was that the reason for his odd tone?

If she was honest with herself she would say no, it wasn't. These guys are used to having lots of girls. They also usually didn't give a damn who those girls hooked up with on their off hours.

Usually.

If that was the case she would tell him the truth. No more lies. Regardless of what it was. She was bound and determined to start out fresh and without creating any problems for herself here.

And she wasn't going to start with the man she fully intended to make her own.

There was a firm knock on the door.

Heart pounding, Cherish answered it.

Caine stood before her. He was tall, wearing a black leather jacket over a grey t-shirt. His eyes regarded her with warmth, for which she was relieved. But there was something to his expression. He was in business mode.

"Hey," he said. He walked in without waiting.

"Hey, yourself," she said, closing the door. She couldn't decide if she should be throwing herself at him, or fleeing down the street.

Caine stood in the middle of the motel room, as if unsure of what to do with himself.

"Beer?" Cherish asked, trying to help him decide.

"Yeah, that would be great," he said. He removed his jacket and threw it across a chair.

As Cherish passed him toward the mini-fridge she smelled his cologne, his faint must. He very much smelled like a man. And this turned her own more than she expected.

"So, you sounded... I dunno. Strange on the phone," Cherish said as she grabbed two beers. She handed one to him as he sat on the edge of the bed.

Not quite knowing what the situation was, Cherish sat on the chair instead of beside him, like she wanted.

Caine took a swig of the beer. He looked frustrated. But at what Cherish didn't have a clue.

"Yeah," Caine said at last. "It's been a trying day."

"One of those days, huh?" Cherish said. "Those days really suck."

He nodded, and for the first time smiled at her. Cherish's heart melted at such a beautiful sight.

Cherish took a timid sip of her beer, then worked up the courage to ask, "Want to talk about it?"

Caine regarded her, as if sizing up his words. "Nah, its all business really. Nothing to worry about."

"That's cool. I understand," Cherish said.

Caine went quiet again. Cherish grew more worried. What was going on?

She gave up and decided to just come clean. New beginnings and all. "Look," she said. "I want to tell you something. You might not like it."

Caine froze, bottle at his lips. He lowered it, eyes locked onto hers. "Tell me what?"

Cherish took a breath, then said, "I'm sorry about Basher."

He looked flummoxed. More than flummoxed, he looked shocked. "Basher?" he managed to ask. "What about him?"

"Well, I wanted your number, to call you. And Addie wouldn't give it to me..."

"Forget about Addison," Caine said. He looked at her inscrutable. "Basher?"

"I wanted your number, so I got it from him."

"He gave it to you?" Caine's voice started to rise.

"No, no," she said quickly. "I took it from him without him knowing."

Now Caine looked absolutely befuddled. If he wasn't such a big tough guy Cherish would describe his expression as cute.

"How did you do that?" he asked, genuinely interested.

"I made him think I was... into him," she said slightly embarrassed. "While he was, uh, caught up in the moment I went through his contact list on his phone." She offered him an innocent smile.

For several heart beats Caine did nothing. Just stared at her agog. Then he burst out laughing.

Surprised, Cherish started to giggle.

Caine kept laughing. He laughed so hard he fell over on the bed, spilling his beer.

Cherish was laughing, too. More with relief than anything. She really had been unsure what Caine would do. Now things seemed okay. For the moment.

Caine sat up, wiping tears from his eyes. "Ah, geez. I needed that."

"So you're not mad at me?" Cherish asked. She hated how timid she sounded.

"What?" Caine said. "No, I'm not mad. Is that what you thought?" From the look on his face he realize that's exactly what she must have been thinking.

He put his beer down on the side table. "Come here for a minute." He patted the bed beside him.

Cherish put her beer down, too, and sat next to him. Just brushing up against him made her feel all mushy inside. Like a school girl with her first crush.

Caine looked at her with a soft expression, but he was being serious now. "Look, I got a lot of stuff on my plate right now. Club Business. And it makes a guy more than a little paranoid. I got to be. Its how we Bikers survive."

Cherish nodded. She knew this already.

"So, I hate to start up the twenty questions with you again. I know we kind of started earlier, but now I need to be sure of a few things."

"About me?" Cherish asked.

"Yeah," he said, nodding his head. She could tell he didn't want  to be doing this with her but he had to.

"Okay," she said. "Fire away."

He looked at her a moment, then asked, "Are you with the Krimson Klowns?"

Cherish froze. She felt her throat go dry. She blinked in surprise at Caine who was watching her intently.

No more lies, she thought.

She collected herself, and looked directly at him.

"I was," she said. Caine watched her, waiting.

"I had been with a guy who ran with them. I was his old lady for a long time. But things didn't work out. So I left. Came here to try and get away from him and his asshole friends. I wanted to start a new life for myself without his... cruelty." She looked at him again, locking eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. We really didn't get a lot of time to talk."

Caine watched her for several long moments. Then he sighed, and visibly relaxed. "Okay. Thanks for telling me. And you're right, we didn't get much time for me to vet your past. It's just that things are getting a little nuts right now and I still have to be certain of a few things."

Cherish swallowed. "Whatever you want to know," she said.

"Who is he? Your old man?"

"Ex-Old Man," she said with emphasis. "His name is Devlin. And his the Sergeant-at-Arms for the Krimson Klowns." This information didn't seem to impress, let along scare, Caine in the least. Cherish took this as a good sign.

"How long were you two together?"

"About three years. Three years too long, to be honest. The whole time we were together I just wanted to leave. But I didn't have many options. Plus, I got use to that life, being his property. I guess I was just scared to try and make a change."

"What made you finally leave?"

"His obsessiveness. He actually beat a man to death over me. A Hang Around for the Klowns. This guys was sweet and all, but I guess he made Devlin jealous. Every man who talked to me made him jealous. Anyways, after I found out Devlin had killed him I decided to get out. Get out before I was the one he would beat to death next."

She caught herself starting to cry. After a long moment, Caine put his arm around her shoulder.

"Sorry to push you for all this," he said. "But I'm in a situation now where I have to be sure." He kissed her forehead.

"It's okay," she said between sniffles. "I totally get it. You guys gotta know who you're dealing with. It's tough, having to keep your guard up all the time."

Caine chuckled a little. "Yeah, but if we didn't then there wouldn't be any Bikers left. We'd all be in jail."

Cherish laughed at that. She hugged him, and he returned it back.

As he held her he asked, "People in my crew, they are always wary of spies from other Clubs. Getting into our business, messing things up. You know I'm gonna check out your story."

Cherish pulled back from him, a look of terror on her face. "Oh, please don't tell Devlin I'm here!" She was almost shouting with fright. "He'll take me back. Kill me even!"

Caine held up his hands, trying to placate her. "No worries. I'll make sure no one ever knows you're here. I'll just tap into the Biker gossip channel and see what is said about the Klowns. I'm sure it will come up that you ran away. Bikers love complaining about their women. But no mention of you being here. I promise."

Cherish could see his logic. He had to know for certain. Not just for him, but for the rest of the Banished Souls piece of mind. She nodded.

She buried her head into his chest. "Just don't let him take me, please."

"I promise that will not happen," he said. He sounded emphatic.

After a few minutes Cherish regained her composure. She felt something with him. She sensed it before. Not when she first looked at him, he was gorgeous after all, but when they first kissed. There is a sense of being with him giving her a feeling of completeness. Of being whole.

She really could not explain it, but she did know she had never experienced it before. If scared her as much as it thrilled her.

Now she was in his arms, and if felt... right.

Caine eased her face up so she was looking at him, in his eyes. She could get lost in that gaze. Perhaps she already was. Such a warmth hidden deep within that tough biker exterior. And he had shared that with her. She hoped he would share that with her again.

She needed him to.

As if he could read her mind, he leaned closer and kissed her. Soft and gentle. His tongue probing for hers.

Suddenly, Cherish pulled away from him. He looked at her in alarm and confusion.

"What about Addison?" Cherish asked. She was determined to know once and for all what their deal was.

"Addie?" Caine asked. "Like I said, before she was just a fling. Now she is just a regret."

"So she is not your Old Lady?"

He laughed, "Not at all. I did buy her a stupid volvo she wanted, but that's nothing. Other than that there was nothing serious. Not in the least. And she is certainly not in the running for the job of being my Old Lady."

Cherish felt relieved. "So that position is available?" She grinned.