When Dove Cries (15 page)

They turned off their bikes, flipped out the kickstands then took off their helmets as they dismounted. A murmur swept through the crowd, and North held up a hand to silence everyone. The few remaining people from inside had come out to hear the good news.

“Are you guys ready to hear this?” North shouted, suddenly looking years younger. His bright expression was a big difference from his usually stoic features.

A loud chorus of “Yes!” was called out.

“Gray Dog, leader of those fucking Demon Devils, is dead!”

There was a short moment of stunned silence before everyone began cheering. Dove felt her mouth drop open and waited, somewhat tensely, for the rest of the story.

“The bastard died of a heart attack!” Draven yelled out gleefully. “How fucking poetic is that?”

Dove was jostled to and fro as the men began to celebrate, the party really cranking up. Music suddenly started blasting from loud speakers, and she saw the sweet butts bring out bottles of whiskey. She moved to the edge of the crowd, happy to see everyone so joyous and festive, but she couldn’t help but wonder where Cade was and what had really happened.

“Dove,” Draven murmured from behind her.

She spun. She opened her arms, and he scooped her up, hugging her tightly. They stayed like that for several long minutes, and she couldn’t help the response her body gave against his bigger, muscled physique. She felt herself becoming wet as her masturbation fantasy rolled through her mind.

“Where’s Cade?” she asked.

He tensed and worry sluiced through her. He pulled back and looked her into the eyes. “It’s going to be a while before you see him again.”

“Why? He’s not hurt, is he?”

Draven shook his head. He looked around and pulled her farther away from the partying members.

“Cade is FBI.”

For a moment, she thought he was kidding, but his expression never changed. Lovey’s words from before echoed in her memory. ‘
He’s still a cop and this is still an outlaw gang
.’ The Red Wolves would not like a federal agent in their midst.

“He was sent in undercover to ferret out who was hurting and abducting women,” Draven explained. “He wanted you to know that he will return, and when he does, he wants to talk to you.”

“Did you tell anyone?”

“Tell who?”

“The club. Did you tell anyone in the club?”

“Just North and Givon,” he replied.

She took a deep, calming breath. “Don’t tell anyone else, please.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Why would you ask me that?”

“Because Lovey said this is an outlaw gang,” she replied. “I don’t want anyone to hurt Cade.”

He pursed his lips and pulled her into his arms. “Don’t worry about Cade, Dove. Okay?”

“I can’t help worrying,” she murmured. “I know you don’t like it, but I care about him.”

“I know,” Draven whispered sadly. “I know.”

“Church!” North suddenly called out, walking purposefully toward the chapel. Pistol Pete, Branch and Nick scrambled toward the chapel, and Draven kissed Dove on her nose before going over to help Nick with his oxygen tank.

He wasn’t looking forward to this meeting.

“Link and Hawkeye, I want you to join us,” North said. Link and Hawkeye were the two muscle heads of the club, and if a beating needed done, then these two were always called in.

The doors closed behind them and everyone settled at the table. North looked at each of the club leaders and tapped the gavel.

“Branch, you’re filling in for Skids, who can’t seem to tear himself away from Vegas pussy,” North muttered. “Everyone okay with that?”

The other members nodded.

“Well, good news and bad news, gentlemen, and we know what the good news is,” North said. “But the bad is the feds know about our involvement with Bryman Jay.”

“What do you mean they know?” Pete demanded. “They know everything?”

“Yes,” North answered. “They know about Draven’s drug run to Vegas, and they know about the money laundering at the store.”

“Fuck,” Branch swore. “Are they moving in on us?”

“I vowed to Tina no more prison time,” Nick muttered. “She’ll leave me for sure.”

“Hold on,” North said, holding up his hands. “Draven made a deal. No jail time for any of us. The club is safe.”

The men turned surprised eyes toward Draven.

“Just how did you manage that?” Branch asked.

“Cade Vanaker is FBI,” he announced.

“Son of a bitch!” Pete exclaimed. “I knew he was no good.”

“Want us kill him?” Link asked.

“You can’t kill him,” Draven said, a bit regretfully. “He’s the reason why none of us are going to federal prison.”

North leaned forward on his forearms, looking intently at Link and Hawkeye. “I want the ever-living shit beat out of him. I want him to know he can’t walk into our house and think a fed is welcome.”

“His beating belongs to me,” Draven insisted angrily. “I want it. I deserve it.”

North regarded him for a long moment. “Can you handle it?”

“You know I can.”

“Okay. But if you fail, I’m sending in Link and Hawkeye.”

“Fair enough. But don’t worry, I have no love for Vanaker.”

“What about Draven?” Pete asked, glaring at him. Draven had a feeling that this had been coming. “He brought the fed into our house.”

“I’ll take care of Draven,” North announced. “So, gentlemen, this means we’re out of business with Bryman Jay. Pete will distribute the last of our nice balloon payments, and then we’ll have to break ties off with Bryman. Now, one last piece of business before I break this meeting. Gunner Smith escaped custody and he’s out there. I want a bullet in him, and if you can manage two, that’s even better. Got it?”

When everyone nodded, he hit the gavel and all the men rose. Draven stayed where he was because he knew that North still had words for him. Branch was the last one out of the door, and he closed it behind him with a smart click.

“Don’t be surprised if the men take swings at you,” North told him.

“I expect it,” Draven replied, leaning back with his arms folded over his chest.

“Givon is going to get the rumor mill working in the town, so things are going to change again,” North said. “Destiny belongs to the Red Wolves again.”

“Old Patch would’ve been happy,” Draven murmured.

North smiled at the mention of his old mentor, a man he’d considered a father figure. “Yep. Well, Draven, I have to show the men out there you’ve been properly chastised.”

“I know.”

He stood and relaxed his arms and body. North approached him, looked at him for a moment, then hauled his fist back and hit him across the jaw. For a moment, Draven thought a steel beam had smacked him in the face. He twisted and fell to the side, his hip jarring painfully with the table. He felt a trickle of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.

North rubbed his knuckles. “Good. Now you look regretful.”

“I fucking am now,” Draven muttered as he rubbed his jaw. “Jesus.”

“Go on and enjoy the celebration,” North told him, nodding to the door. “God knows it’s long overdue.”

Chapter Sixteen

The procession of FBI cars rolling through town brought out everyone from their shops—owners and customers alike. Cade followed Givon, rumbling along conspicuously on his bike to the sheriff’s office. His FBI badge hung around his neck from a heavy-duty silver chain and it swung as he dismounted from his bike. Several black cars filled up the few remaining parking spots.

“What’s going on, Sheriff?” asked a man who’d come out from the cigar shop located across the street from the sheriff’s office.

Givon looked at Cade, who shrugged. “It’s okay, Steven,” Givon called out. “Lester Perry, also known as Gray Dog from the Demon Devils Motorcycle Club, was found dead in his bar. We were investigating him as a lead in a human trafficking ring being run out of Destiny.”

Cade saw the shocked faces of the people nearby and knew that this bit of information would spread like wildfire. He had no doubt that in a matter of hours, the Red Wolves would be getting calls from local businesses.

“I’ll be making a full statement soon,” Givon told Steven before turning and heading into his office. Cade and the rest of the FBI team followed, leaving the rumor mill to finish the job.

* * * *

The Red Wolves partied as if it was 1999, continuing from the day Nimrod came home and received his patch. Dove loved the joy around her and loved keeping the clubhouse in order. Even the old ladies had stepped aside and let her handle things. She was able to walk the fine line between the status of the wives and the reputation of the sweet butts. Dove had never really had a girlfriend before since she’d always taken care of nine men, but Lovey was fast becoming an important fixture in her life. She was always willing to lend a hand with whatever job Dove had decided to do, whether it was cooking, cleaning or doing laundry for the men who lived at the clubhouse.

Over the several days of celebration, Dove spotted North a time or two, smiling and kicking back with a beer as Allis sat on his lap. Allis was another woman Dove considered a friend, the two having bonded over their similar abductions. And although Dove decided not to talk to a shrink, she found talking with Allis just as cathartic. Givon was never present at the club, and Dove suspected he was wrapped up with the FBI, who had practically swarmed all over the town since Gray Dog’s death. Gunner Smith still hadn’t been caught, which had prompted Leo Cloud Dancer, Braden McClintock and their woman, Merrie Walden, to take a vacation out of state.

Cade had been gone for several days and Dove thought about him constantly. She missed looking at him, how his kind and caring eyes showed, and she ached for the heady rush of excitement that he always made her feel. She had Draven, and her juices ran every single time he was near her, but even though she loved being with Draven, a part of her felt like something was missing.

On the fourth night of Cade being gone, Draven took her hand and led her to a small area toward the back of the compound, where a picnic table sat under a tree. The wind blew softly over her skin, the moon hung big and bright in the sky, and they were all alone in the darkness.

Draven cupped her face then bent, kissing her softly on the lips.

“Mmm,” she murmured when he straightened. “What was that for?”

“Because I can’t keep my hands off you,” he answered, smiling. “And because I wanted to romanticize you.”

“Oh?” she asked, one eyebrow arching. “Romanticize me for what?”

“I wanted to ask if you’d like to move in with me.”

Dove blinked and took a step back. “Leave the clubhouse?”

“Well, it’s safe now to go home,” he said. “And this is hardly a place for you to live. You don’t want to know half the things that go on here, believe me.”

“But… We’d come back, right? I mean, you come to the clubhouse every day, so I could come with you.”

“My day job is the tattoo parlor,” he told her. “I usually come here at night.”

She nodded. “Okay. I can do that.”

“Baby, don’t you want to find your own interests? Hobbies? I know you’re young. I know there are things you’d probably want to see and explore, and hell, the last thing you need is to settle down—”

“That’s not what I meant.” She shook her head. “Just because I’m twenty-one doesn’t mean I have the itch to wander. What would I do? Get a job, date and screw men I don’t really know and be alone? I’ve never been alone. I don’t ever want to be alone. I tried that once in college and it was horrible. I’m not the kind of person who needs to find herself through soul-searching.”

“When you’re thirty, you may change your mind.”

“When I’m thirty, I might be dead. Or I might have children. Or I might want to learn how to ride a bike so we can cruise together. The future is a big ‘what if’, John. Do you turn your back on a ‘what if’ and miss out on the now?”

He let out a big, tension-filled breath. He smiled. “So you’ll move in with me?”

“I will. But it’s not just you and me, is it?”

Draven’s face instantly darkened and he shook his head. “No. That man killed my cousin. I can’t forgive that, Dove.”

“He was doing his job—”

“No! Tom was surrendering, it was nothing more than murder. And when Cade Vanaker gets back, I’m finally going to take my revenge.”

Dove flinched at the coldness that had transformed his features into something hate-filled and demonic. She took a step back, suddenly scared.

“No, John,” she whispered. “Don’t talk like that. You can’t hurt Cade.”

“Why can’t I?” he demanded.

“Because the feelings I have for you, I also have for him. Please don’t break my heart.”

He stared at her for a long moment. His emotions raged out of control, swirling one on top of the other until she couldn’t tell one from the other. How could she possibly help Draven and Cade find a common ground?

“Tell me one thing, Dove,” he finally said. “Do you want a relationship like what Givon and North have with Allis? Because that’s what you’re suggesting. A ménage à trois, otherwise known as a three-way fuck.”

“Don’t,” she whispered. “You make it sound dirty.”

“I’m telling you how it is, Dove.”

“Would you share me in a three-way fuck?”

He scowled. “Hell, no.”

“Would you share me in a committed, loving relationship?”

He opened his mouth to say no. She saw it on the tip of his tongue. But for some reason, he didn’t say it.

“Give me a chance, Dove,” he said, so low she almost didn’t hear him. “Let me convince you that you don’t need him.”

His meaning was all too clear and it caused something to clench in her stomach.

“I won’t sleep with you,” she told him. “Not until we all talk. I gave you that courtesy with him, so you should reciprocate.”

“Then give me what you gave him.”

He swept her up against him, and this time his kiss was far less soft, far less romantic. Now he kissed with passion, with want and need, and she felt her body instantly responding. Desire pooled in her belly, spreading its fire throughout her blood, flooding her pussy until her panties were soaked. Reason and conviction rapidly faded under the assault of his lips as he kissed a trail down her neck. He lifted her easily, as if she weighed nothing, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He held her under her ass cheeks to balance her as he kissed as far down into her cleavage as he could. He licked and nipped at her skin as he made his way back up to claim her lips again, sweeping his tongue into her mouth to claim its stake.