RIDING DARKNESS (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novella) (3 page)

He wore a black t-shirt under his
black leather cut. His arms were massive for the t-shirt. His jeans were a dark
blue color and led to a pair of black boots. Brooke didn
’
t want to make it obvious she was looking this hot
guy up and down, but she couldn't help it.

Armen grabbed her by the hand.
“
This is Brooke. She
’
s my sister. She
’
ll take care of you. Pick a table.
Place a bet. Enjoy yourselves here tonight. There
’
s
no need for trouble.
”

The man looked at Brooke. But his
eyes didn
’
t move. They didn
’
t scan down to her chest pouring
from her dress. Or the tightness of the dress that hugged her subtle curves in
a way that left Brooke feeling almost naked.

Color rushed to Brooke
’
s face as she feared the
reaction her body was giving would be picked up. In other words, staring at
this giant biker was making her crazy wet between her legs. And the small thong
she wore wasn
’
t going to be
able to help with this situation at all.

“
We
’
re not here to play,
”
the man said.
“
We
’
re
here to shut this fucking thing down.
”
He then looked at Armen. He opened his leather cut and showed his gun.
“
Now this can be easy
…
or it can get way out of
control. Personally, I don
’
t
give a fuck.
”

Brooke
’
s heart raced faster.

She couldn
’
t remember the last time she had ever been this
turned on before. Maybe never in her life. And she couldn
’
t figure out why. This guy was
big and bad.

But he was so hot. And he was so
deadly.

Brooke looked at her brother and
saw the concern on his face.

All hell is going to break loose
…
and soon
…

five.

Ares looked around the room and recognized
most of the enemies of Back Down Devil MC. The eyes that dared to look back at
him did so without much worry or concern. To put it simply, without a leather
cut with a patch on it, Ares presence had no purpose to it. He was a prospect,
along with two other guys named Gunner and Bale. They were there under Miller
’
s order to make everyone nervous
and disrupt the illegal gambling so that it wouldn
’
t happen again.

In reality, Ares knew what this
was. It was a fucking scouting mission. Miller (and Gaige) wanted to find out
just who was at the gambling event, what guys from what clubs. They also would
want to know how much they were betting, what they were playing, and who was
running the damn thing. That
’
s
what made it possible for the event to even occur. Without Back Down Devil MC
this would be busted in no time. But Miller kept the chief of police really
close to the club.

This was just how life went.

Ares stared down a man in a suit
who looked nervous and excited. But that wasn
’
t
what made Ares change the course of his night. It was the sight of the man
’
s sister.

Brooke.

She came out of nowhere when the
man - Armen - called her name. Her body looked fucking amazing in the tight
dark red dress she wore. It was pretty evident that she wasn
’
t comfortable in the dress and
definitely wasn
’
t used to
wearing dresses like that. Her breasts pushed out the top of the dress that
left Ares body and mouth with a wild hunger. He took a look from the corner of
his eye so when it came time to look right at Brooke, he did so and kept his
eyes locked to hers.

He wanted to figure her out.

She didn
’
t seem menacing or the kind to take part in this
kind of bullshit stuff. But  sometimes being beautiful and silent was a weapon
more lethal than bullets and knives.

The longer Ares stared the more he
learned.

Brooke had nothing to do with all
this. She wanted nothing to do with it either. Armen was forcing her. She was
jumpy and nervous, her face burning eight shades of red.

“
I
assure you there is room for everyone,
”
Armen said.
“
No need to
have things get out of hand here. We all have money to bet. We all can join
…”

Ares stepped toward Armen. The
little man backed up. He bumped into an empty chair and then turned around and
jumped. He started to scurry away and called for Brooke. She tried to move and
Ares acted before thinking. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the arm.

“
What
the fuck are you doing here?
”
he growled at her.

“
Who
are you?
”

“
Ares.
You realize what you
’
re in
the middle of?
”

“
Maybe
I do,
”
Brooke said.
“
Let me go.
”

“
You
’
ll end up dead if you keep
playing this game.
”

“
Then
tip me well enough so I don
’
t
have to anymore.
”

“
Come
on, bro,
”
Gunner said.
“
Don
’
t worry about her. There
’
s half a dozen of them. High paid
relievers
.
”

Ares turned his head and snarled
his lip.
Relievers.
They were the women who hung around the clubhouse
and took care of the guys. They started with those at the table. Then they
settled for those with patches on their leather cuts. If nothing was available,
then the prospects got a little action.

If Brooke were in Back Down Devil
clubhouse, she
’
d get
scooped up in a second. But they weren
’
t
in the clubhouse. They weren
’
t
anywhere near it right now.

“
Serve
your fucking drinks and watch your ass,
”
Ares warned.

“
Better
yet, you watch my ass,
”
Brooke said.

Ares did just that as Brooke walked
away. The way her hips and ass moved left to right, again and again, it was
almost hypnotizing. She was taunting him with that wicked body.

“
What
’
s the plan here?
”
Bale asked.
“
I feel like I
’
m sticking out like a sore
thumb.
”

“
That
’
s the plan,
”
Ares said.

He stepped forward. Gunner and Bale
followed.

As Ares scanned the tables, the
eyes were at him again. He folded his arms, letting his muscles flex.

“
Back
Down Devil is here,
”
Ares
said.

“
Doesn
’
t look that way,
”
someone said. It was a
massively built guy from the Coast Road MC crew.
“
Nice
cuts. Think you
’
re missing
a patch or two.
”

“
Just
know who we are,
”
Ares
said.

He had to let the comments roll off
his shoulders.

They kept walking and only stopped
when Ares saw four men sitting next to each other that all had Eight Under MC
on the back of their leather cuts. The second Ares saw the men, they turned and
looked at him.

If tensions weren
’
t already high, they slowly
started to boil over.

Two of the men threw their chairs
back and stood up.

“
That
pair of aces is going to bite you in the ass,
”
Ares said to another one of the Eight Under.

“
Motherfucker,
”
the man yelled. He tossed his
cards to the table and stood up, drawing his weapon.

“
Holy
fucking hell,
”
Armen
yelled.

Ares looked at beautiful Brooke
standing with a tray of drinks in her hand. She stopped and her face looked
petrified.

“
No
need for this now,
”
Ares
said.
“
I
’
d hate to ruin your night.
”

“
You
fucking people think you
’
re
tough,
”
the Eight Under man
said.
“
You just roll
through town like you own it.
”

“
Maybe
we do,
”
Bale said.

“
Cut
the shit,
”
Gunner said.
“
Nobody is here to start shit. We
’
re here to make sure you all
know Back Down Devil is watching.
”
Gunner then looked at Armen.
“
We
’
re on to you too, man. This is
bullshit. This is illegal. We
’
ll
need something good from this.
”

“
Gentlemen,
”
Armen said.
“
I think we
’
re all here for a little time to
relax. To feel safe. To ease up on life a little.
”

“
This
piece of shit killed two of ours,
”
the Eight Under man said.

“
They
were prospects,
”
Ares said.
“
Real dumb fucks too.
”

The gun came closer to Ares. His
eyes switched between the man holding the gun and Brooke.

Stop fucking looking at her. She
could be the goddamn enemy for all you know.

“
If
there is trouble,
”
Armen
said,
“
perhaps we can take
it outside.
”
Armen reached
back for a drink off Brooke
’
s
tray. He slowly walked forward.
“
It
’
s going to be good here. The
bets are on the table. The cards are dealt. Smoke in the air. Beautiful women
all around. No need for club fights to come forward.
”

“
No
fight,
”
Ares said.
“
I fucked one of the prospect
’
s girlfriends.
”
Ares smiled.
“
And she was fucking terrible,
too. Worst pussy I ever had. No wonder she
’
s
with Eight Under. Rot goes to rot
…”

Armen came forward and stepped
between Ares and the man from Eight Under.

“
I
’
m going to kill him,
”
the man from Eight Under said.

“
Nobody
is going to do that,
”
Armen
said.
“
Gentlemen, I tried
to be kind to you. I allowed you in
…”

“
We
kicked down the door,
”
Ares
said.

“
Fair
enough,
”
Armen said.
“
But my hospitality has come to
an end. This night isn
’
t
meant for warfare.
”

Ares looked down at Armen.
“
Just what is this night for
then? Why the fuck are you in Frelen? Why the fuck is this happening in some
abandoned warehouse? Why the fuck are you messing with Back Down Devil?
”

“
We
’
re all here for a good time,
”
Armen said.
“
If anyone in your association
feels otherwise, why aren
’
t
they here?
”

Ares smiled.
“
You
’
re not worth the time. It
’
s much easier to just handle this like we are.
”

“
I
’
m sorry to say, but you
’
re time is up here. I
’
m going to have to ask security
to remove you.
”

“
Where
’
s your security?
”
Ares asked looking around the
warehouse.
“
Hiding in the
rafters?
”

“
They
’
re in the back. Closely
monitoring conversation. I don
’
t
want them walking around making everyone uncomfortable. But they
’
re there.
”

“
Bring
them out,
”
Ares said.

“
Let
them drag us out,
”
Gunner
said.

“
One
phone call and this is all over,
”
Bale added.

Ares gritted his teeth. He hated
when the other prospects chimed in like that. He was better off acting and
working alone.

Yet his eyes looked toward Brooke
again. She remained standing there, tray in hand. She didn
’
t belong with the other women in
the warehouse. She didn
’
t
seem to be in sync with Armen either. Something about her was calling to Ares.

Slowly, Ares started to work his
way between the tables. Two of the tables continued their poker games. Men in
suits didn
’
t give a shit
about motorcycle club bullshit. The Coast Road guys were keeping close eyes on
the room but hadn
’
t made a
move. The only tension was between the prospects of Back Down Devil MC and
Eight Under MC.

When Armen approached Brooke, Ares
felt his heart pull a little. He feared Armen was going to say something to
Brooke and she would then unleash her true self. Instead, Brooke looked even
more worried than before.

Then, just as Ares knew it was
about to happen, all hell broke lose.

Armen smacked the drink tray from Brooke
’
s hand. He pushed her and then
spun around, a gun now in his hand.

“
Motherfucker,
”
Ares growled and stepped
forward.

Armen
’
s
gun went off.