Devil May Care: Boxed Set (117 page)

Ella

My heart started to pound faster, but not because of arousal. Mickey’s eyes darted around the trailer. With surprising grace, he slipped over to the sofa-bed and tugged on his jeans.

“What is it?” I asked loudly. “What’s happening?”

“Shush,” Mickey said in a gruff voice. He pushed me down to the floor and leaned in close. “Stay here.”

“What?” My voice came out as a high-pitched squeak. Mickey either chose to ignore me or didn’t hear me, and before he could answer, I heard a volley of gunfire coming from the clubhouse.

“Run when I run,” Mickey said in a low voice.

“What?” I squinted. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” Mickey growled. A shiver of fear wormed into my heart and I nodded. He tossed me my jeans and top and I wriggled into them as quickly as I could. I looked at him; he was obviously wound up so tightly that he was like a coiled spring. There was a metallic, fear-like taste in my mouth and I shivered as Mickey pulled on a jacket. The gunfire kept going until I thought I was imagining it. Why would someone need so many bullets? My stomach felt ice cold. This was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

“Run,” Mickey said softly. He grabbed my hand and tugged me out of the trailer door just as the gunfire stopped inside the clubhouse. We dashed over to my rig and he opened the driver’s side door, hauling himself up behind the wheel. There was no time to argue; I knew that whatever he had in mind, I’d have to go along with. There was no way I could fight him and risk being left behind. As quickly as I could, I ran around the cab and hopped in the passenger seat.

Mickey had the rig moving before I could even pull the door shut. He shifted into gear and really cranked it hard, flying out of the lot and directly through the chain link fence. I screamed and ducked down below the dashboard as we tore through the fence with a diabolical metal shriek. Mickey was laughing to himself as he righted the rig and pulled onto the coastal highway. I realized we were headed out of Dos Palmos.

“Where are we going?”

Mickey glanced over at me and then turned his eyes back to the road without replying. I was silent as he drove, picking up speed. We hadn’t been followed, but I kept checking the side-view mirrors just in case. Mickey was more confident—he was practically whistling. I could tell a part of him was almost enjoying this.

When we got to the next town, Mickey stepped out of the rig and made a few calls. He hopped back in the cab and gave me a lazy grin.

“We’re going on a little trip,” Mickey announced. “You game?”

I shivered. “What choice do I have?” I asked softly. It almost felt like an inverse of when we’d first met, except now Mickey was the one in control.

“My guys are gonna meet us,” Mickey said, not answering my question. “We’ll be safe. Don’t worry.”

Ten minutes later, we were back on the road, surrounded by a biker fleet of The Irish. I was more scared than I’d ever been in my entire life. Even with Mickey by my side, I had no idea how we were going to come out of this alive. It seemed like something really bad was about to happen.

Swallowing in fear, I looked out the window at the bikers. Even though the sight should have reassured me, I was terrified.

This was bad. Little did I know just
how
bad it was going to get.

Mickey

Even though I hadn’t slept in over thirty-six hours, I was more wired than I’d ever felt in my life. I drove Ella’s rig out of Dos Palmos, a hundred miles north to Palmetto Harbour. It wasn’t a great town, but it was a decent place to hide out for a while. Ella had been on the edge of the seat the whole time. I knew she was scared, but she’d been brave enough to keep it under wraps. Part of me respected her for that.

“Where are going?” she asked in her trademark soft voice as we pulled out of town. I shook my head.

“I can’t tell you right now,” I told her gruffly. “Just be quiet and stay down if you see anything. I promise we’ll keep you safe.”

As I drove, I shifted around on the big high seat. It was uncomfortable; I think I’d actually pulled a muscle fucking Ella when she was tied to the coat rack. I shuddered, thinking of her sweet, receptive body as I hammered her with my cock over and over again. She was so delicious, so sweet, so perfect. I wanted her again, as soon as possible, and I knew that I’d have to have her before the night was out.

“Hey, good thing you’re a doc,” I said suddenly. “Some of my guys are gonna need to be patched up.”

Ella nodded grimly. “I was afraid of that,” she said softly. “I have my bag here in the rig. Lucky I brought it, huh?” She smiled at me and I felt a bolt of lust shoot through my body. Goddamn, what
was
it with this chick? She was incredible. I felt like I’d just handed her the keys to my cock and balls.

“You’re a prepared little Girl Scout,” I said softly. Even in the black darkness of the night, I could tell that Ella was blushing furiously beside me.

“I try,” she replied. There was a hint of coyness in her voice and I grinned to hear it.

But as soon as we were silent again, my mood fell. This was probably my fault. If the guys weren’t protecting me, this wouldn’t have happened. Yeah, the MC was always supposed to protect their leadership at all costs, but I had a feeling that I could have avoided the whole situation if I hadn’t laid low after coming back from Ireland.

It was still a pretty fucking improbable week that I’d had. I couldn’t believe it, just seven days ago, I’d been on my way home from Ireland in a giant crate. Jimmy and Mason had lifted me into the back of this rig, and it turned out to be driven by the hottest, most willing little brunette I’d ever seen in my life. Ella had been a wildcat from the beginning and as time went on, the sex had gotten even hotter. It was incredible; I couldn’t believe how thirsty she was for my cock. It was like she was drugged, and the only relief was getting off as much as possible.

I grinned wickedly to myself. Oh, little Ella wouldn’t have any problems whatsoever getting off if I had anything to say about it. No, she’d be good and willing and tight, right in my arms.

I was getting hard again. Focusing, I pressed my foot to the pedal and sped up. The more time went by, the more likely I was to be in trouble. No matter what excuses the guys would give, I knew this was still all my fault, and I didn’t intend to make anyone else suffer.

I signaled with the rig’s lights to pull over once we’d coasted down the last hill and into the sleepy town of Palmetto Harbour. Despite only being an hour and a half away from Dos Palmos, it was like something out of another world. Whereas Dos Palmos was kind of cosmopolitan, even for a small town, Palmetto Harbour had been virtually untouched by modernity. I heard Ella gasp as we pulled into a gas station. The bikes surrounded her rig pulled over as well, and I took inventory of who was there.

“We’re going to have to find a place to stay, and then we can patch those guys up,” I told Ella. “You okay to stay awake for a while?”

She nodded, looking scared once more. “I’m fine,” she said calmly, taking a deep breath. “I promise I’ll be fine.”

“Stay here,” I ordered. I walked into the gas station and picked up some bags of snacks and sodas. My stomach was rumbling: I hadn’t eaten in almost a day. Plus, I knew Ella and the guys would be hungry, too. I asked about a motel and the guy behind the counter told me there was one a few miles away. I paid him with cash and didn’t ask for the change—his eyes widened when he saw the fat sheaf of bills that I’ll pulled out of my wallet.

“It’s just a little further,” I told Ella after climbing back up behind the wheel. “Just a little while longer and then we can rest.”

She nodded and concealed a yawn behind one of her small hands. I watched as her petite frame shook with the effort of it and felt my cock twitch in my pants. She was so irresistible; I couldn’t think about keeping my hands to myself for more than a few seconds. Everything about her was just so real, so perfect. I closed my eyes briefly and thought about what it would feel like to fuck her again. By now, she was probably so sore that she was raw. I grinned wickedly and thought about Ella walking across the motel room, buck naked, legs apart and grimacing in pain.
I’ll make you so sore you won’t be able to sit for a week
, I thought, looking at her delectable little body perched next to mine.
Just you wait, honey
.

The Sea Shell Motel was dingy. Made out of pink stucco with sparkles in the walls, it looked like a homely tribute to the ’60s. I could tell that it needed a good wash, but it was clean inside and we’d be safe there. I pulled the rig around back and parked behind some trees before scooping Ella out of the passenger side and setting her on the ground. Her color was high and she was breathing hard—all from my touch. Inside, I felt a worm of pride.
She’s so hot for me, she can barely stand to have me pick her up.
She’s an amazing chick
.

“Guys, I’m gonna get us a few rooms,” I told the club. They nodded at me. It was like I was already president again, getting the kind of respect that leadership deserved. As I walked cockily towards the motel office, I realized I hadn’t felt that kind of respect in much, much too long. Another reason Ireland had sucked: I got sick of sucking up real fast.

The bored-looking girl behind the motel counter perked up as I let myself in the grimy glass doors. She was overweight and perched on a stool, the fat on her legs spilling over. Her greasy brown hair was tucked behind her ear with a couple of plastic barrettes and I could see the shine on her skin from six feet away. She looked like she hadn’t had a bath in years. All the same, she looked at me with a seductive wink on her face.

“Can I help you, handsome?” she asked in a twangy whine. “You lookin’ for a room?”

“Four, actually,” I said gruffly.

The girl blushed and covered her fat cheeks with her pudgy hands. “Oh, lawd,” she said, and pretended to fan herself. “You mean there are more big men out there like you?”

“Not exactly like me,” I said with a grin. “I’m the best.”

“I bet you are, honey,” the girl said as she watched me peel some bills off the stack and place them on the counter. “That gonna be enough for the rooms?”

I rolled my eyes. “If you charge me more than forty a room, I’m gonna call that highway robbery,” I said with a smirk. The fat girl’s blush deepened and she greedily took the bills, clutching them to her chest with a squirrel-like defense.

“Fine,” she said snippily, pushing a handful of keys on plastic tags across the counter towards me. I grabbed them and stuffed them into the pockets of my vest. As I walked out of the motel, I could feel the fat girl’s eyes on me like a brand. I had a feeling she was going to go into the bathroom and rub herself to orgasm after I’d left. I’d never seen that level of excitement in a stranger’s eyes before.
You’re so hot, even the fat chicks want you, Jameson,
I thought to myself with a wicked grin.
You can’t keep these little girls away
.

Ella looked fearful when I scooped her up and carried her up the steps of the motel. We’d gotten adjoining rooms on the second floor, and she appraised my men with the cold medical gleam of a real doctor. In no time at all, she was running the tub for hot water and washing wounds. Most of the guys were okay, but Jimmy needed stitches across his forehead. I winced as I watched her pull the crooked needle and black thread through his skin. It was worse than the injury I’d incurred fucking Ella in her rig the first time, and I remembered very clearly the pain of the stitches.

“Is everyone alive?”

Jimmy’s eyes flicked towards me. He opened his mouth but Ella clamped her free hand over it.

“Don’t even think about talking,” she said in her sweet voice. “Unless you fancy this needle accidentally going in your eye.”

Jimmy’s face flushed and he looked at me with an apologetic frown. “Sorry,” he mumbled quickly when Ella took her hand away.

I rolled my eyes. I was still mad, mostly at myself, but also at the whole situation. Seeing my guys wounded and bloody just made the realization sink in—I’d been so selfish, asking them to watch my back while I was with a girl. And not just a girl, Ella. I’d put her in danger, too. I felt like a little shit, but there was nothing to do now but make sure everyone stayed safe.

Taking a deep breath, I walked out of the room and lit a cigarette. Mason was standing with his hands on the railing, looking out at the empty parking lot. Even though we were just as close to the ocean as we were in Dos Palmos, I couldn’t smell anything but waste and sewage.

“Sorry about this dump,” I said, gesturing to the motel. “What happened back there?”

“It was a shitshow,” Mason said. He exhaled loudly and I passed him my cigarette. After he’d taken a deep drag, he looked over the empty lot again.

“Well?”

Mason shook his head. “Ain’t nothin’ for you to worry about, boss.”

“Tell me,” I demanded, my voice growing stern. “I know this is my fault. I know I’m responsible. I just need to know how I can start to fix this.”

“They settled a score,” Mason said. “I think they were probably hired to come after you after we almost got pulled over the other day. Everyone knows how corrupt the Dos Palmos cops are. We can’t get away with shit.”

“But they think they can storm in and shoot up my club?” I glared. “Who died?”

“Two of the prospects got shot when they were barring the doors,” Mason said solemnly. “Their bodies are back at the house. When this shit settles down, we’ll arrange some kind of a funeral. They were good guys, that shouldn’t have happened.”

I tightened my hands into fists at my sides. “I know,” I said heavily. “It’s all my fuckin’ fault. I got y’all involved in this, and now Ella, too. I can’t let anything happen again, we have to be safe from here on out.”

From inside the hotel room, there was a shriek. Mason turned to me with a frown and we pushed inside. What I saw made me laugh out loud: Ella was pinning Jimmy down to the bed, tugging his pants down over his skinny hips.

“He took a bullet in the ass and he won’t let me see it,” she whined, tugging down his leather trousers. “Help me, Mickey!”

I laughed out loud. “This is too much,” I said casually. On the bed, Jimmy wriggled and groaned. “You have to let her see it, man,” I told him, chuckling. “You don’t want that shit getting infected, do you?”

“I don’t even have all my necessary equipment,” Ella said. “I’m almost out of antiseptic and thread.”

I shook my head. “You’re gonna have to do better than that,” I told her softly. “I know it’s hard, but we can’t go to a hospital. Everyone’s gonna be looking for us there, you know that.”

“I don’t think I can do much more,” Ella said. She yawned and I saw dark circles under her warm brown eyes. For a moment, I longed to pull her into my arms and hold her tight. She was covered in dried blood and I knew she was exhausted. It wasn’t even three in the morning yet, and we had a long way to stay up before we could think of going home.

“You have to try,” I told her firmly. “For me, please?”

Ella looked and me and swallowed hard. “Okay,” she said softly. “I’ll keep going.”

I nodded. “Good girl,” I told her. “You wanna check Mason out?”

Mason shrugged off his leather vest and let Ella remove his shirt and checked his vitals. He had some shrapnel in his arm but she was able to pull it out on the first try with a gnarly-looking set of medical tweezers.