Kristen Ashley - Motorcycle Man

I was glad I wouldn’t be present at that conversation.

“But, bottom line,” Tack continued, “I don’t do that shit. I told you that about me right off the fuckin’ bat. You got stung when that shit went down when we started, you didn’t get over it and you took that shit out on me. Now this is twice you’ve taken that shit out on me. Don’t take that shit out on me again, Tyra. Face it, process it, deal with it, set it aside.”

He was wrong, in a way.

I didn’t inform him of that.

I just swallowed but said not a word.

Tack kept going.

“As for Hop, he don’t tell me where to put my dick, I return the favor. Mitzi can be a pain in the ass. She can also be a ball-buster. Hop does not like gettin’ his balls busted. They got problems at home. How he deals with that is not my business. It’s not yours. It’s theirs. They deal with it, we roll with it. That said, he is not the only member of Chaos who gets his rocks off when he wants with who he wants and that might not be his old lady. You workin’ at the garage, bein’ with me, you might see shit like you did today. You ignore it. You don’t share it. You can tell me, anyone else, no. That’s an absolute, babe. Never. Every woman connected to the Club knows it. This is a brotherhood and we have each other’s backs in everything. Everything. But there are boys in that Club who don’t mind bein’ claimed. Brick, when he’s got a woman, is one. Dog is another. I’m another. By that I mean, we got a woman, we don’t stray. Get that now so we don’t have to talk about this shit again.”

I held his eyes and remained silent.

“Now’s the time where you assure me you get me,” Tack prompted.

“I get you, Tack,” I whispered.

“Good,” he returned instantly. “As for tonight, because Naomi’s a bitch, rides Tabby’s ass and always has, we’ve had problems. Tabby acts out. Her and me, we had a deal. I get her clear of her Mom, she gets her shit together. She did not do that, she bore the consequences of it, you nearly bore unacceptable consequences of it and I had to clean up both of your messes. That did not make me happy. My daughter gettin’ hit by some motherfucker way too fuckin’ old for her did not make me happy. Bein’ called away from what I was doin’, which was important, to deal with your and her shit also did not make me happy. In there,” he pointed toward Tabby’s room then his arm fell, “I was pissed. Serious as shit. When that happens, you gotta roll with that shit too.”

I again didn’t move or speak.

Tack again didn’t care and kept going.

“As for the shit you pulled tonight, you didn’t duck, I’d be in an ER right now hopin’ to fuckin’ Christ that you made it out at all much less you makin’ it out as you. I think you get you mean somethin’ to me so the threat of that is not somethin’ I like either. Do not let that shit happen again, Tyra. You got a situation, you call your man. You do not call in the boys and use your position to pull the shit you pulled tonight.”

“My position?” I asked quietly.

“I’ve got my cut, I’ve got the gavel and you’re my woman. Those were recruits. You call and they don’t haul their asses outta bed in the middle of the fuckin’ night to do your bidding, they might answer to me. They know they don’t wanna answer to me. You gave them zero choice and swung their shit out there a lotta ways. Silver linin’ for you, the boys, even the recruits, save Shy who’s sharper than the rest of them, think that stunt you pulled is the shit. But those brothers do not have the cloud of the possibility of you permanently suckin’ your food through a straw still hangin’ over them. They can think it’s the shit. I do not.”

At that, I strongly suspected it was Shy who called in the boys.

I didn’t ask for confirmation though.

I didn’t say anything.

When I didn’t, Tack asked, “Now, are we clear?”

“We’re clear,” I answered softly.

He held my eyes and he did this a while.

Then the dragon went to sleep and I knew this because the hard went out of his face, it softened, the air lightened all around us and the edge was gone from his voice when he said gently, “All right, baby, now come here.”

“No,” I whispered.

“What?” he whispered back.

“We’re clear,” I repeated then continued. “Very clear, Kane. So right now I’m going to bed and I’m doing it on the couch. Tomorrow, I want to be here in case Tabby’s not still pissed at me so I can look after her. And tomorrow, after I sleep on it, I’ll decide what I’m going to do about you.”

He lifted a hand toward my neck but I jerked my head away and stepped swiftly to the side and out from the wall.

He pivoted with me, his hand dropping.

“Red, baby, what the –?”

“I told you, I needed time,” I whispered. “You’re going to give it to me.”

“I just laid that shit out,” he reminded me.

“Some of it, yes,” I agreed and his head jerked slightly but I kept talking. “And I need to process that. I’ll tell you my decision tomorrow.”

“Babe –”

“Tomorrow, Tack.”

The softness shifted out of his face right before he declared, “You are not sleepin’ under my roof on the fuckin’ couch.”

“Okay, then, I’ll go home.”

“You are also not goin’ home.”

I held his eyes.

Then I whispered, “Fine,” tore my gaze from his and walked to the unmade bed. I flipped off my flip-flops, pulled down my jeans, stepped out of them and shoved my hands under my shirt to yank my bra off with my tee still on.

Then I climbed into his bed, pulled the covers up and settled on my side, my back to him.

I heard nothing for a while then I heard movement. I saw him round the bed and rolled to my other side, away from him. The bed shifted when he sat on it and I heard boots dropping. The bed shifted again when he got up and I heard the whisper of clothes and a belt buckle hit the floor. And last, the bed shifted again when he got in it.

Then the room was plunged into darkness.

About a second after that, just as I expected he’d do, he rolled right into me and pulled me snug and tight to his front, his body curving into mine, forcing mine to curve with his.

I let him do what I expected he’d do anyway and stared through the dark at nothing.

“What else you need laid out, Red?” he asked the back of my hair quietly.

I didn’t reply.

“It is not cool BeeBee got to –”

I cut him off, begging, “Please don’t say her name in this bed.”

“Fuck,” he muttered. “She say somethin’ else to you?”

I again didn’t reply.

“It’s clear she marked you, babe, what else did she say to you?”

“She was bleeding,” I whispered.

“That bitch was bleeding?” Tack asked.

“Tabby,” I pushed out then my breath hitched.

“Fuck,” Tack repeated and his arm got tight as his body pressed closer.

I felt the tears fill my eyes but I took deep breaths through my nose to fight them back and while I did this, Tack’s hand searched and found mine. When it did, he forced his fingers through mine, lacing them and he pressed our hands close to my chest.

“Took care of my girl,” he murmured.

I deep breathed.

“She’s safe, you’re safe, he’s taken care of, baby. It’s all good now.”

I kept deep breathing.

I felt his face in the back of my hair where he whispered, “Tyra, it’s all good now.”

I wasn’t so sure about that.

Still, I whispered back, “It’s all good now.”

“Sleep, we’ll talk more tomorrow.”

Goodie. Something not to look forward to.

Tack’s fingers tensed in mine as his arm gave me a squeeze.

He relaxed both and urged, “Sleep, baby.”

I sighed.

And, surprisingly, I fell asleep before Tack.

But I didn’t have good dreams.

I woke draped on Tack, smelling his musk.

I opened my eyes and saw Tabby’s tat under where my cheek was resting on Tack’s shoulder. Somehow in the night we’d repositioned to our usual sleeping arrangement.

And as usual, it felt good.

Then a sharp stab pierced my heart as the day before washed through my brain.

Damn.

Right. One step at a time and my first step was, bathroom. Second, as ever, coffee. And then check on Tabby. And then…

I didn’t know.

But when that step came, I’d figure it out.

Super carefully because I really didn’t want to wake Tack, I lifted my arm that was lying across his flat belly and started to roll.

The problem with that was that Tack started to roll with me. He was bigger, more powerful and his roll took me to my back with him mostly on top of me.

Great. Awake half a minute and already my day wasn’t going according to plan.

His head came up and my eyes caught his alert, totally not sleepy ones.

“Where you goin’?” he asked softly, his gravelly, early morning, warm in bed rumble drifting over my skin.

“Bathroom,” I answered, ignoring my body and heart’s response to his rumble.

His eyes drifted over my face as if he was trying to ascertain if I was lying about heading to the bathroom and instead intended to make haste to my secret chamber that would beam me to Fort Lauderdale.

Then his eyes came back to mine. “After, come back to bed.”

I shook my head. “After, I’m starting coffee.”

He gave into that but ordered, “After that, come back to me.”

“No,” I denied. “After that, I want to check on Tabby.”

“She’s good,” he muttered, his forearm that was in the bed beside me sliding up so his fingers could glide in my hair at the side of my head. “Got up after you drifted off last night, checked on her. Sat with her a while ‘cause she wasn’t findin’ sleep. Got her a couple Tylenol PMs. She went out, checked about half an hour ago, she’s still out.”