Misalliance (Death Dwellers MC #4.5) (6 page)

“Where’s the food?” she asked, a twinge of hunger hitting her.

“On my desk.”

She waited for him to offer to get it for her. He remained silent. Deciding to test him, she sat up and got to her feet. Despite the very small space on her side of the bed between the wall, she eased her way along. Her heart sank because Johnnie didn’t move a muscle or say anything. Once she got the plate and plastic fork, she waddled back.

Johnnie’s eyes followed her every step.

Usually, she’d be self-conscious. Now, she only felt encouraged. Not going back to her side, she sat on the edge, near his covered feet. Uncovering her plate, she contemplated the cold food. With her low energy level, she didn’t feel like going to the kitchen to warm it up. Her chin wobbled. Lately, she cried a lot.

“Move, Kendall,” Johnnie growled.

When she didn’t budge, he cursed, swung his feet around her, and stood. Snatching the plate from her, he stomped to the door and left Kendall alone to cry.

Johnnie walked into the main room, holding Kendall’s plate and regretted returning to her tonight. He was in no mood for her games, especially the guessing games she put him through on a regular basis. She couldn’t even fucking give him a straight answer about why she’d been crying when he got to the room.

He should’ve turned the fuck around and walked away, instead of going forward, hoping she’d open up to him. She’d just succeeded in pissing him the fuck off again, so he’d told her about Megan.

Tit-for-tat.

Go, Johnnie. Hurt her until she leaves you once and for all.

Fuck.

Just as before, when she’d first arrived, he had absolutely no idea how to handle her.

Women fell into his bed with just a look from him. He didn’t have to work for it. Nor did he have to dig deep and show any side of himself but a happy-go-lucky flirt.

“Hey, Johnnie.”

At the sound of Jetta’s voice, he realized he’d stopped without reaching the kitchen.

He frowned at the cold food, then nodded to Jetta. “Hey, sweetheart.”

He’d met Jetta the night Kendall walked away from him, and he and Mort went to a strip club. He’d expected it to be only a one night stand. Once he’d spoken to Kendall’s doctor and gotten the she’s-better-off-without-you-speech, however, he’d gone back to the club and sought out the stripper. Every now and then, he invited her to the MC. Sometimes, like now, she showed up on her own.

She was a redhead, tall and slender. He gave her money. They fucked and went their separate ways. That he did it on a regular basis was inconsequential.

“Are you going to just stand there with that plate?” she asked with amusement.

Ambling forward, he sat it on the bar, and nodded at the probate, who stood behind the bar, tending it.  Cowboy and the brown-haired woman had departed. Though the place was no longer standing room only, most of the tables were filled.

Jetta touched his arm, her gaze roaming over his bare chest. “I got off early tonight and I thought, maybe, we could have some fun in your room.”

As much as he enjoyed fucking Jetta, the idea of getting pussy from her tonight didn’t appeal to him. The same with Sherilyn. Even if he’d gone to her house, he doubted he would’ve fucked her. He didn’t want Jetta and he didn’t want Sherilyn.

Though he fucking hated to admit it, he knew Kendall spurred his decision. He needed their relationship at a place where she understood the boundaries. Where
he
understood
the boundaries.

“My girlfr…” No,
not
his girlfriend. He dropped into the seat and thrust his hands through his hair. “The mother of my unborn baby is here. I…she’s due to deliver in a few weeks.”

“Oh.”

Jetta’s shocked tone penetrated his brain and he glanced at her, surprised at her hurt frown.

“I didn’t know you were involved.”

“It’s complicated, Jetta,” he told her and shook his head. “I’ve never led you to believe I’ve ever wanted anything but pussy from you.”

She pursed her lips but nodded. “No, you haven’t. Your announcement just shocked me. I never knew you had a baby mama in your life.”

“Well, I do,” he said flatly. “I’ll call you.”

After a silent moment, she straightened and brushed off her skimpy dress, snorting in disbelief. “Sure.”

A moment later, she left and Johnnie headed to the kitchen, already dismissing Jetta as just another girl who’d fallen into his bed.

Kendall meant much more than that to him: the mother of his child, the woman who infuriated him.

And the one he’d always love.

Dear Diary,

Harsh truth number…lost in the count of a lot of harsh truths. But this one is an important one. Perhaps, one of the most important ones.

I HATE motorcycle clubs! I despise their chauvinistic, I-am-the-man-so you-will-listen-to-me mentality. I loathe the way women are sexual objects, and little else. They are violent, predatory, outside-of-society jerks.

But I met Johnnie in an MC. He’s the vice-president of one of the most notorious. When he chose me over the Death Dwellers and walked away, he lived in misery. In turn, I was miserable. Despite how it seems, I want him happy.

I’ve been gone for six weeks. Seeing as how I look down upon club life, I should be ecstatic to be away.

I’m not.

With each passing day, I ache more for Johnnie. I wonder how he’s doing. Does he miss me as much as I miss him? Why hasn’t he attempted to contact me?

I need him, like I need air, but I can’t return to him, in the same manner I left. I have to be strong for both of us. That way, I can steer our relationship to where we find a happy medium.

There’s a bigger dilemma, and at the heart of it, is Christopher. He makes me miserable because he’s such an asshole. I can’t get comfortable as long as he hovers in our lives, like a fallen angel. Johnnie wants us to get along and if not for Megan, I’m sure we would. He can’t let up on me, not even for Johnnie’s sake.

I resent him for making my life so miserable. His attitude interferes with my relationship with Johnnie. He runs roughshod over any discomfort I may have, regarding anything, and Johnnie’s protests are drowned out.

To him, it doesn’t matter how
I
feel about the presence of other women. He’ll only stop them at Meggie’s request, and she’s too stupidly trusting to demand he not have those sluts around.

Finally, we’ve arrived at the biggest reason for my distaste and dislike of MCs. The overabundance of women, willing to do anything those bikers ask of them, whether they have steady women in their lives or not. I’m supposed to ignore all the women on the premises, offering free pussy to anyone who wants it?

Remind me why I should do that?

Right! I remember, because
Johnnie
told me to trust him.

When I explain this to Dr. Stanton, he gives me an exasperated look that completely annoys me. He offers the brilliant suggestion of finding my own set of friends, focusing on my law career, having a place away from the MC if Johnnie and I ever reconcile.

Obviously, the man hasn’t been listening. If Johnnie and I are together, I
have
to watch him to make sure he doesn’t cheat. Not only can’t I lose my identity like Meggie has, but I refuse to blindly trust Johnnie as Meggie does Christopher.

Dr. Stanton ended our session, threatening to release me on the assertion I’m not progressing. We end up arguing and he whispers some awful word to me that sets my blood to boiling every time—obsession. What infuriates me more is his claim that I’m obsessed with
Christopher
.

I tell the good doctor to fuck himself and he throws me out of his office. Charlotte is on her way to play intermediary.

I only want Johnnie.

Chapter 4: A Whiny Two-Year-Old

Shrugging into his cut, Johnnie inched into the space between the wall and Kendall’s side of the bed. Careful not to waken her, he bent and kissed her forehead. He’d jerked off in the shower, regretful of the way he’d stopped their lovemaking last night before he’d returned to the wedding.

In the cold light of day, he faced the truth he’d been denying since she’d walked into that bedroom yesterday. He wanted her. No other woman would suffice. So why had he denied both of them the intimacy they each needed from the other?

He should’ve taken her, found the release only she could give him. But, fuck, so much stood between them.

Frustrated, he thrust his fingers through his hair and moved away from her. At the foot of the bed, he gazed at her again. God, but her pregnant body fascinated him. He wanted to explore every inch of her, kiss every place the baby had changed.

Awakening this morning and feeling the cold seeping from the concrete floor, he’d reached for Kendall, as he had so many mornings before. Only this time, he found her, touched her soft skin. He didn’t wake up angry and hurt at her desertion. She lay with him in his bed and then, in his arms.

He’d ignored his dick stand and spooned her, enjoying the way she pushed against him, snuggling closer. Just the way she’d always done. As full realization of her presence dawned on him, memories of their time together had flowed through his brain.

If only he could pinpoint exactly what had gone wrong between them, he wouldn’t feel so helpless. Without knowing, if they reconciled, it could go wrong again.

As he came to this conclusion in the silence of the early morning, he also knew that he wouldn’t be as kind when she faced him. That annoyed him a little more. She would be here for six weeks and he couldn’t make her suffer the entire time. As long as he kept a barrier between them, he’d be able to stay in control of the situation. He wouldn’t make love to her, and he’d let go of the peace, happiness and contentment he was experiencing. As soon as he remembered all the reasons he needed to keep his distance from her.

A solitary knock on the door snapped him out of his stupor.

“John Boy?”

At Val’s call, Johnnie stomped to the door and opened it. “Kendall’s sleeping, so shut the fuck up.”

“Told you that you should’ve went through with the plans to build your fucking house, fucker,” he whispered, the cherry on his cigarette glowing red in the darkened hallway. Only Johnnie, Arrow, and Stretch stayed at the club full-time now and, of course, Dinah. “You wouldn’t have this problem.”

Flipping him off, Johnnie grabbed the reports on the medical lab, and hurried behind Val. Halfway down the hall, he flicked on the overhead light. “No fucking way would I build a house without Kendall here to add her touches to it.”

“Well, bitch is back. Get to fucking moving, so you can stop acting like a whiny, two-year-old.”

Johnnie grabbed Val’s shoulder and spun him around. “What the fuck did you say?”

“You fucking heard me, Johnnie,” Val barked back, shoving him away and blowing smoke in his face.

“Val, Johnnie, e-fuckin-nuff,” Christopher ordered, stepping between the two of them.

“No, it isn’t. This motherfucker compared me to a whiny toddler.”

“He ain’t sayin’ no shit that ain’t true, Johnnie. Your cunt is back. Instead of you bein’ happy, you tryin’ to fuck up worse and leave with
another
fuckin’ cunt.”

“Fuck you,” Johnnie fumed. “You fucking told me to get to know Sherilyn better last night. Now, you’re changing your mind.”

“I know what the fuck I said, assfuck. But you want fuckin’ Kendall. That bitch is back, and yet you still pissed like a motherfucker. Why, Johnnie, huh? She hurt you, so you hurtin’ her back? Take her back or let her go. That’s simple shit. Your fuckin’ problem is no bitch ever made you work for her shit. You just get in pussy cuz you smile.”

“As if it was any different for you. As if it
is
,” he spat. “Megan doesn’t make you work worth a fuck to get in her. You just smile at her and she throws her legs open.”

Of all the reactions Johnnie expected, it wasn’t Christopher’s laughter. “Megan is the spoilest ‘lil motherfucker alive. I don’t work for her shit cuz I learned what the fuck to do not to get locked out in the first fuckin’ place. But this just the whiny shit Val referring to. There’s pussified behavior and then there’s pussified behavior and you, Johnnie, take the fuckin’ cake. Get your balls back, tell that cunt what you so fuckin’ mad about, and move the fuck on with your lives together.”

“Outlaw!” someone called from the main room.

“Motherfuckers arriving, so we’ll continue this later. I’m giving Megan a Valentine’s dinner tomorrow. Val and Zoann gonna be there. You and Kendall come the fuck over, too.”

With that, Christopher turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Johnnie to rage in the hallway.

“Isn’t he suddenly tolerant?” he snarled to Val.

“Of who? Kendall?”

“Who else? When has he willingly invited her anywhere?”

“Never,” Val said slowly, giving him a curious look. “But he always invited you, even when she was here, and he knew if you went to a function, she’d be there. So what the fuck’s your point?”

What the fuck was his point? Other than she’d hit on Christopher. They hadn’t been home two good hours from Hawaii before she’d walked away. Ever since she’d returned, Christopher had been campaigning for their reconciliation, sounding almost as if he wanted Kendall around. Why the fuck was he suddenly changing towards her?

“John Boy?”

He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Fuck, Val. She hit on Christopher in Hawaii,” he whispered.

Shock travelled over Val’s features and he studied Johnnie, lit another cigarette, and studied him some more. He finally said, “And?”

“Didn’t you hear me?”

Val puffed out smoke and lifted a brow. “I heard you, but I’m not making a connection.”

“He could’ve told me.”

Val snorted. “It would just add another girl for you two to come to blows over. I’m still not getting why you think Kendall offering him pussy matters to Outlaw.”

Johnnie growled low in his throat at Val’s words, barely restraining his desire to punch the fuck out of him. “He knows about me and Megan. He might want Kendall around to bait me in retaliation.”

“John Boy, you on something? Outlaw don’t have time to play those fucking games, especially with your bitch.” Val stepped closer, his voice dropping by octaves. “He wants her dead, but he wants you happy. The only thing Outlaw ever look at when he see Kendall is one of two things. Your old lady or her taking her last breath. But we both know that wasn’t the case with you and Meggie. She might not have been in love with you, but your dick had her pretty fascinated. Another thing, Johnnie? Every time he pulled his nine on you, he hesitated to fire. You didn’t. You want to question fucking loyalty, go look in the fucking mirror.”

Stunning Johnnie into silence, Val stomped away.

Twenty minutes later, with the minutes from last week’s meeting read, and Stretch’s monthly treasury report completed, Johnnie gave his numbers on the medical lab, then the floor opened for new business.

Cowboy raised his hand and Christopher nodded to him. The biker stood and glared at Stretch for so long, brothers started to squirm.

“You got something to fuckin’ say, motherfucker?” Christopher bit out, lifting a brow, looking between Stretch and Cowboy.

Cowboy scowled. “Where’s Digger?” he asked brusquely, when another tense moment went by. “Shouldn’t we have brought him in yet for justice?”

“Don’t fuckin’ know where the fuck he at. If I did, he’d be buried.”

“Seems mighty strange you can find everybody, except for him,” Cowboy persisted. “You sure you not slacking on behalf of Mortician?”

Roaming from behind the podium, Christopher offered a nasty smile to whichever brother his gaze fell on. “Any other motherfucker accusin’ me of stackin’ the odds in Digger favor, speak up.”

He stopped midway between Cowboy and where he’d been standing to make a full circle, his cold gaze sweeping through the room. “We searchin’ for Digger. Any motherfucker welcome to bring him to me, dead or alive. I don’t give a fuck. My bigger concern is Sharper fuckin’ Banks. We find that motherfucker, I think we find fuckin’ Digger. Sharper gave the order to kidnap Bailey. He was ultimately goin’ to kill her. Sharper gave the order to put a hit out on Kendall. He ain’t put nothin’ direct out on my Megan, but she still got involved, so they fuckin’ dead men. As long as Sharper alive, our bitches not safe.”

After waiting a moment for his words to be processed, Christopher sauntered over to Cowboy, his fist connecting to his nose so fast Johnnie would’ve missed it, if he’d turned his head. Blood sprayed onto Christopher and Cowboy’s face. Not deterred by Cowboy’s moans or his size, Christopher grabbed him by the cut.

“If you ever call me out like that again, motherfucker, you fuckin’ dead.”

He ended with a punch to Cowboy’s face that sent the man sprawling to the floor. Unlike Christopher’s hesitation to pull the trigger on Johnnie, Johnnie knew it wouldn’t be the same result with anyone else.

Christopher threw Bull a dirty look, waiting for the brother to take up where Cowboy had left off. The two were good friends. Instead of risking Christopher’s wrath, however, Bull looked away and began whistling.

“Any other order of business?” Christopher asked coldly into the deathly silence, returning to his place. He went through his notes as the low hum of conversation rose up. “Let’s prepare to fuckin’ adjoin.”

Arrow raised his hand and Christopher sighed, but nodded.

“You said our bitches aren’t safe?” Arrow asked with a thoughtful frown. “What about our Bobs and club regulars? We have to protect them, too.”

“Yeah, what about the Bobs?” Bunny’s old man, Trader, asked. ‘They haven’t been around in weeks.”

“Club ass been here, yeah?” Christopher responded.

“Yeah, but…”

“We ain’t been havin’ nothin’ special for them Bob bitches to be around, Trader.”

“Can we think of something? Like for real. Never had my dick sucked the way that Bob whore did it.”

Arrow stood and bowed, then tipped an imaginary hat. “My doing,” he bragged, causing laughter. “We have practice sessions twice a week.”

Trader whistled. “Fuck. You need some help?”

More snickers. A grumble and moan from the back pulled Johnnie’s attention to Cowboy clutching a table and sliding into a chair, his face a bloody mess, his nose swollen.

“You ain’t into Bunny no more?” Christopher asked, not fazed by Cowboy’s awakening or his bloody appearance.

“Being around your old lady is making Bunny want a baby. I don’t trust her not to get knocked up on purpose, so I keep my cock covered with her. When the Bobs suck my dick, I don’t worry about a condom, and that shit feels fucking awesome. Bunny don’t like giving head, but she loves to get her pussy ate. I have to get my blow jobs from somewhere.”

Christopher grimaced. “I think Megan invited her to the Valentine’s thing, and she said she bringing you. I don’t give a fuck what you do with your dick. Hear me? But if you do your bullshit in front of Megan and Bunny not around, I’m fuckin’ you up. I’m not fuckin’ up your shit, as long as you don’t piss off my girl, and fuck up mine. Cuz the first fuckin’ thing she’ll do is expect me to put a cock lock on you for Bunny’s sake. I ain’t doin’ that
never
. Which mean she’ll get madder than a motherfucker at
me
cuz of your roamin’ dick.”

Val made a face in Trader’s direction. “Same with Zoann,” he muttered.

While Christopher made no apologies for his words, Val looked and sounded embarrassed.

“Bunch of whipped pussies,” Arrow said, hooting with laughter.

“Arrow,” Christopher began, not addressing his teasing. “See if you can get the Bobs here for something in a week or two.”

“No,” Johnnie protested, frowning. “Kendall is here. They’ll upset her.”

“Then take her to a fuckin’ hotel,” Christopher snapped. “Cuz her bein’ upset ain’t my fuckin’ problem.”

Val eyed Johnnie. “Stay with her in the room.”

“She’s six fucking weeks away from delivering my child. Those women can’t be here,” Johnnie insisted.

“Them bitches a part of our life, Johnnie,” Christopher growled. “Ain’t no gettin’ round that shit. Your bitch gotta deal with it or she gotta go.”

“We’ll discuss this later,” Johnnie promised.

Christopher shook his head. “No, the fuck we won’t,” he said, and refocused on Arrow. “Pick four brothers and get four motel rooms. Assign one brother to every five girls, until this shit over.”

“That takes care of the Bobs,” Arrow said with approval. “What about our regular club girls?”

“Bring May and Gurly to the club,” he instructed. “Round up the other four and assign another brother to them.” He seemed to tick off names under his breath, using his fingers as the counter. “Ellen, Kiera and April dead. Fuck, that’s nine. What the fuck the other bitch name who stick with us?”