Cotton: Satan's Fury MC (2 page)

“Fuck! Get in the damn truck,” Derek barked.

“You’re just gonna leave him here?” one of them asked. “Shouldn’t we take him off somewhere so nobody can find him?”

“We don’t have time. Get your ass in the truck,” he ordered.

I’m not sure how long I lay out there in the dark before Doc found me. I barely remember anything after Derek’s truck drove off down the road, leaving me there to die. I woke up the next day in a room I’d never seen before, feeling like I had been put through a fucking meat grinder. Doc was standing over in the corner, talking to Uncle Saul, and I could see the concern in their eyes as they spoke.

When Uncle Saul looked over to me and saw I was awake, he walked over to the bed and rested his hand on my shoulder as he said, “You’re gonna be okay, Cotton. Doc found you lying on the side of the road on his way in this morning. He almost passed you by, thinking you were some drunk, but when he saw that Mariner’s baseball jacket of yours, he realized it was you. He was just going to take you on home until he saw the condition you were in.”

I tried to sit up on the bed, but stopped when a pain shot through my side. Fuck. They’d done quite a number on me. My left eye was almost swollen shut, and my entire body was covered with bruises. I started to feel a little dizzy, so I laid my head back down on the pillow. Knowing I would’ve been in even worse shape if it weren’t for Doc, I turned to him and said, “Thanks, Doc. Appreciate you helping me out.”

“No problem, kid. You took one hell of a beating last night. Glad I came across you when I did.”

As soon as he left the room, Uncle Saul said, “Just so we’re clear. I know what happened last night. All of it. Sara’s still a little out of sorts, but she’ll be fine. Luckily, her father is a brother of the club, so the situation has been dealt with. And Derek… he will be dealt with as soon as I leave here. You can count on that.” He took a deep breath, then continued, “You did good helping Sara last night. Glad you were there. She’s family, and we do what we can to protect what’s ours. You’re already showing you can be trusted to do just that. Now, get some rest. I’ll be back to check on you in a few hours.”

Just before he walked out the door, I called out to him. “Uncle Saul… what about my mom? She was expecting me home last night and she’s …”

“Don’t worry about her. Just get some rest and plan on staying here at the club for the rest of the weekend. I’ll come up with something to tell your mother,” he assured me.

I spent the next few days mending and learning my way around the clubhouse. I often worried about what was going on at home, but Uncle Saul assured me that my mom and brothers were fine. He’d told her I was helping one of the brother’s out with a side job, and he’d make sure I got to school on Monday. I had no idea how he got her to go along with it—I was just glad he did. While I was there, I decided to make the best of it. I’d always wanted to know what it was like at the club, and since I was going to be staying for several days, I finally had my chance to see it for myself. Being there was everything I thought it would be and more. The clubhouse wasn’t just a place to meet and drink beer, or even a place to work—it was home. The guys treated me like I was one of their own, and I found myself wanting to stay… even if I had to deal with Derek. I kept expecting to run into him, but he never showed. Later, I found out Uncle Saul had been true to his word, and Derek had been punished. After one hell of a beating from Sara’s dad, Uncle Saul cut him off, telling him he wouldn’t get another dime from him until he cleaned up his act. That never happened. Instead, he’d stolen money from a notorious drug dealer on the east side of town, and the trouble with Derek only escalated from there. He was set on a path no one could deter him from, and in the end, it cost him everything.

Present Day

“So, it’s official,” Henley laughed. “You’re an old lady.”

“Never thought I’d be happy to be called that,” Wren laughed. I smiled at her, trying to hide the loneliness I’d been feeling since the lockdown had started. Cotton and I hadn’t been together long. We’d barely even started to explore whatever was going on with us, but since the lockdown, he hadn’t even talked to me—much less touched me. It was hard to swallow my jealousy when I thought about Wren and Stitch. There was a time when I thought Stitch would never take on an old lady. He was the club Enforcer, and his mind was always focused on his brothers. But even with everything that was going on with the club, he’d managed to fall head over heels in love with Wren and her son, Wyatt. It’d just been a few months, but they were already making plans on becoming a family. I hated myself for feeling anything but happy for them both, but it was hard. I wanted that with Cotton, but he’d never taken that step, and since the lockdown, it didn’t look like he ever would.

Emerson, Stitch’s sister, leaned forward and grinned as she teased Wren, “Are you sure you’re up for this? Griffin can be pretty bossy.”

“I think I can handle it,” she blushed.

“I never thought I’d see him so happy. I’m so glad he found you,” Emerson continued.

“I think this calls for a celebration,” I announced, trying my best to put on a smile. “Who’s up for a round of shots?”

“Ah… you and the damn shots. Are you trying to kill me?” Henley whined. “It’s been days, and I still haven’t gotten over it.”

Remembering how sick she’d gotten, I rolled my eyes and teased, “Well, nobody shoved them down your throat, sis.”

“Well, I totally blame you for the worst hangover in the world! I don't know if I’ll ever be able to drink again! Just looking at those limes makes me want to gag! You’re supposed to watch out for your
little
sister,” Henley feigned a pout.

“Yeah, well, that’s a full-time job, kiddo,” I laughed. So much had changed with Henley over the last six months. I’d been bartending at the club for over a year and only managed to convince her to come hang out with me a couple of times while I worked. She usually had an excuse for staying behind, saying she had to cram for a test or work on one of her school projects. But after she witnessed the brutal murder of Skidrow, Satan’s Fury’s Sergeant of Arms, she no longer had a choice. The brothers of the club were determined to protect her, and whether she liked it or not, they’d do whatever it took to keep her safe. As fate would have it, Maverick was put in charge of keeping an eye on her. Henley didn’t make it easy on him, and there were times when I almost felt sorry for the guy. But despite their rocky beginning, Maverick found something special in Henley, quickly claiming her as his own and risking everything to protect her. I had no doubt she’d met her match with Maverick, and I was happy for her, glad that she'd found someone who would always put her life before his own. They were always together, which meant she was at the club all the time. I’ve enjoyed having her around, but since the mandatory lockdown, she'd been moody and a bit of a handful.

“I’ll have one,” Allie answered with a smile as she looked behind her, checking to see if her husband was still playing pool. “Maybe two if Guardrail’s game doesn’t end soon.”

I reached behind the bar for the large bottle of tequila and placed it on the counter next to the salt and limes I’d put out earlier. I filled each of the shot glasses, and we each took our turn tilting our heads back, downing our drinks, and wincing as the burn of the alcohol hit the backs of our throats. We’d been talking for almost an hour, and I was just about to pour everyone another round of drinks, when Cotton came in and sat down at the end of the bar. Tension washed over me as I quickly glanced over at him, all the while pretending I hadn’t even seen him walk in.

When I let out a deep sigh, Wren asked, “Are you okay?”

I smiled and said, “I’m fine. I just need to …”

“Cass,” Cotton interrupted me as he called out to me from the other end of the bar.

“Well, shit,” I grumbled under my breath. Since he hadn’t spoken to me in days, it was hard to even look at him. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been around. In fact, he was around all the damn time, watching my every move like a hawk. I knew the issues with the club were getting to him and I hated to see him on edge, but I didn’t like the silent treatment he’d been dishing out over the last few weeks. I tried to blow it off, but I missed him, plain and simple. I didn’t want him to know that his new found distance was getting to me, but I couldn’t help myself. Every time he was around, I lost my sense of reason. I had to stop letting him get to me so much. He might be the President of Satan’s Fury MC, protector and leader of the club and everyone involved in it, but that didn’t mean he could control how I felt. It was up to me to get a grip and stop letting the man get to me so much. Feigning indifference, I flicked my hair over my shoulder and looked over to him as I said, “Yeah?”

“Need a beer,” he ordered, barely even looking in my damn direction. Asshole.

“And?” I asked, placing my hand on my hip. I wanted to be mad at him, wanted to hate him for making me feel the way I did about him, but just seeing him sitting there, looking sexy as hell, was making me lose all of my resolve.

His eyebrows furrowed in annoyance as he repeated, “
Cass
.”

I let out a deep breath, and since I knew it was pointless to resist him, I finally gave in. With my eyes locked on his, I walked over to him at the end of the bar. I reached into the cooler to get his beer, and without wiping the water that dripped from the bottle, I sat it on the counter in front of him. His eyes dropped to the water that pooled around the bottle as he let out a disgruntled sigh.

“You got something you want to say?” he asked with a low, raspy voice.

I took in a deep breath, letting the scent of his cologne surround me as I tried to think of something clever to say, but it was no use. I hadn’t talked to him in days and being so close to him had my brain turning to mush. It didn’t help that under his cut he was wearing my favorite gray t-shirt that showed off the definition of his perfect damn chest, and those faded jeans that made me want to reach out and grab his ass. Shit. My eyes dropped to his perfect, full lips, and I couldn’t stop myself from remembering all the wicked things that he could do with his mouth. Just thinking about kissing him made me want to run my fingers through his salt and pepper hair. Damn. It was too much. I needed to touch him, to feel his body pressed against mine again, and act on all those crazy feelings I’d been having for him. I wanted to tell him how much he meant to me, but I couldn’t cross that imaginary line we’d drawn so many months ago. He’d kept things simple, never letting me know for certain that he felt the same way about me. But I wasn’t blind. I could see the way he looked at me, the longing behind those beautiful, dark eyes. But he’d never said the words. He’d never made any declaration of how he felt about me whatsofreakingever. I wasn’t the kind of girl who threw herself at any man, no matter how desperately I might want him. Nothing real was going to happen with us until he took that first step.

With all the sarcasm I could muster, I said, “
Nope
. All good here.”

When he sat there, silently staring at me, I turned my back to him and started to leave, only to stop dead in my tracks when his fingers wrapped around my elbow, pulling me over to him. When I looked up at him and noticed the intense expression on his face, I froze. I could only stand there silently staring at him.

“I think you have something to say,” he pushed. He was right. I did have something to say… hell, I had plenty to say, but I couldn’t. Maybe I was too proud. Maybe I was just a coward, but I just couldn’t take the chance. When I didn’t answer him, he stood up, towering over me with a disapproving look.

“What exactly do you want from me, Cotton?” I snapped. “What is it that you want me to say?”  I could’ve said a thousand things, but as usual, I said the wrong damn thing at the wrong damn time. He quickly stood up and walked over to me. Without saying a word, he took my hand and pulled me down the hall. When we got to his room, he opened the door and led me inside. After he finally released me, I was left standing in the middle of the room while he stood several feet away from me with his arms crossed and a curious look on his face. The silence was deafening as we stood there, staring at one another, and when I couldn’t take it any longer, I cocked my head to the side and asked, “You got something you want to say?”

I watched with apprehension as he took a step toward me, staring at me like a predator studying its prey. My heart started pounding against my chest, and without me even realizing it, I began backing away from him, only stopping when my back hit the wall. In just a blink, he was there, hovering over me in all his glory, and seeing the look of lust in his eyes made all of my angst about his feelings quickly fade away.

“I can’t do this anymore,” he said softly.

“Can’t do what?” When he didn’t answer, I asked again. “What can’t you do anymore, Cotton?” At that moment, it was if I was watching all of his walls fall down right there in front of me, leaving me with a Cotton I almost didn’t recognize. He looked so vulnerable standing there, making me want to wrap my arms around him.

“This thing between you and me. Cass, you know… you’ve always known,” he whispered, the warmth of his breath caressing my cheek. I could see the longing in his eyes, and I couldn’t imagine wanting him any more than I did at that moment, but it just wasn’t enough.

“I’ve waited, Cotton… all this time, but all I’ve gotten is silence from you. So, now I need the words. I need you to tell me,” I pushed, but he said nothing, not with words, yet the burning in his eyes continued to lure me in.

“Cotton?”

Still no answer. Instead, his hand slipped behind me, pulling me closer to him, and when he looked down at me with those dark, piercing eyes, my world stopped turning. The only thing left between us was the anticipation of our lips meeting once again, filling the air around us with want and need. When he finally lowered his mouth to mine, the anticipation didn’t end, it was just the beginning. His tongue brushed against mine, and I felt an electric shock shoot up my spine, setting off an explosion of desire that couldn’t be contained. It was all I could do not to completely unravel in his arms.

He released my mouth just long enough to say, “I’ve tried to stay away… thought it was the best way to protect you. I thought I wasn’t good for you. I wanted you to have only the best, but I can’t do it anymore. I’m just too selfish.”

It was finally happening, the moment I’d been thinking about… dreaming about for all these months, and I wanted to remember every detail—the scent of his skin, the warmth of his touch, the taste of his mouth. My hands wound around his neck, and my fingers raked through his thick, dark hair as he deepened the kiss. I knew then that everything had changed. We both knew it. In true Cotton form, he had given me my answer—and what an answer it was.