Railed (Courage MC #2) (7 page)

I
woke
up on the cold cement with a raging hard on and what felt like a broken back. My hand was firmly placed against Hope’s round and full ass and I just had to squeeze it for good measure. “Am I alive?” she asked me. Who knew at this point, but all answers seemed to point to the positive.

“Don’t worry. I kept you safe.” I said. I didn’t have a damn clue what had happened last night. I remember the lights going out, drinking that disgusting tea, and falling into a black hole of endless thoughts. It was horrendous, really. Nothing I recommend, but I had been through worse of course.

She was draped across the cold ground, legs spread ever so slightly. She was so damn sexy, I wanted her now. But I knew I had to wait. Business always came before pleasure. And if you were in our crew, business was a constant stream of bullshit. She looked at me with bedroom eyes and smiled. But her smile quickly faded into an annoyed frown. Women. They were never satisfied with your noble efforts.

“You kept me safe?!” she cried, picking herself up off the ground. “That’s a laugh. You were crying like a little girl last night.”

She may have been hot as hell, but she sure was a ball breaker. “Whatever. We survived. And I’m proud of you, I guess.”

She laughed, still annoyed with me. She’d get over it, presumably. “Thanks. I guess. Although, I’m pretty sure I was the one who got you to drink the tea in the first place.” she sighed loudly.

I looked at the two-way mirror in front of us and shouted, “We did what you wanted us to do. Now it’s time to hold up your end of the bargain!”

The door unlocked and opened. The three men came in the room and sat in front of us, Indian style. “Hope. You showed a great deal of courage last night. We’re very proud of you, as we know this is a new journey you have chosen to embark on. As for you, Avery. We were disappointed by your initial hesitance. But you have been given a gift: Hope.”

“A gift? You mean this hot piece of ass?” I smiled, winking at her. She made a disgusted face at me and pushed me away.

“You lack elegance, Avery. Your whole tribe does. But you did what we asked and for that, we are willing to resume business with the Courage MC.” one of The Sapo Boys said.

“You ain’t gonna inject us with one of your toads?” I asked, half-joking, although I regretted even asking.

“Simple fables. Do you believe everything you are told?” One of the men laughed. The door opened behind them, leading us to an exit outside. “You can find your way home.” they said.

As they left, I turned to Hope. “Sorry, for being kind of an ass lately.” I said.

“It’s okay…” she sighed. “Just treat me with more respect, alright? Who knows, you may need my courage again…” she looked at his tattoo on his arm. I know what she was thinking. That I lacked the main points of what our gang stood for. Well, that goes for all of us. But, as I was finding out, she was right. I needed to hold onto our values a little more. If I were to really become the leader of Courage, I would need her help. This was a new lesson for me, but one I would value for the rest of my life.

We stepped out into the warm sun, ready for the new day. Only problem was, we were in the middle of nowhere. That’s right, the boys were ahead of us in the distance, riding their long black bikes into the sun. “You gotta’ be kidding me…” I muttered through clenched teeth.

Hope looked at me with exhaustion. “Are you serious? What do you propose we do now?”

“We walk.” I said. It was all we could do, really. These were The Sapo Boys in their heyday. Everything they did was a trick, including their sales negotiations.

We must’ve walked about ten miles before reaching a familiar service station. It was a broken down shack near the highway, with an old man out front in a rocking chair. He simply nodded to us as we walked inside.

We loaded up on water and food for the trip back. Though, how we were gonna get a ride was another story. “There are bikers all over these parts, so we shouldn’t worry.” I said. It was true, except for the fact that there also were conflicting chapters and ex-Courage MC’s hiding out around the desert here. We had to be careful.

As I was contemplating all of this, the old man out front bagged all our stuff and had us on our way. “Need a lift?” The old man asked.

I chuckled to myself. “Guess it’s clear our bikes broke down?” I asked.

“Yip. Thought you might be stranded. I can get you all back before sunset if you’re close by. Got a tractor. It ain’t much, but it does the trick.” he smiled, revealing the fact that he had no teeth. Hope nearly jumped out of her new dress, which was covered in dust by the way. My fault I s’ppose.

“Well that would be mighty kind of you.” I said, as cheerfully as I could.

“Sure thing. It’ll just be 100 even.” he said, walking to his tractor.

“100 even? Is he kidding me?”

“Just do it, Avery. Don’t make me leave you for good.” she said. I bit the bullet and accepted the bad deal. Today just wasn’t my day.

A
few miles
later we were on the highway. The tractor couldn’t go much past 20mph and I could tell Hope was angry with me. “How do you think I feel? My new bike is stranded at the steakhouse.” I said. She was doing her best to give me the silent treatment. I hated the silent treatment. “Alright. You want me to say it? I’ll say it. But it don’t change nothing. Here it is. You ready? I’m sorry. S-O-R-R-Y. I’m sorry baby, cutie pie, sweetcheeks, and beautiful…” I tried every name I had on her. Eventually she had to give in and laugh a little.

“What do you think was in that tea we drank?” she asked me.

“Hell if I know. I told you earlier. It’s probably poison.” I shrugged.

“No, I’ve seen poison. Pretty sure it kills you. This stuff just brought out the bad thoughts I had buried a long time ago. Stuff I probably should have dealt with.” She stared into the darkening desert sky.

“I didn’t see nothing.” I mumbled.

“You didn’t see anything? Nothing? It’s hard to believe, Avery. They knew what they were doing. They gave us something real; it wasn’t just in my head.”

“Let’s just drop it.” I said. There were too many memories I needed to forget. So many brothers I had watched die. Both my parents … My whole past, present, and future were fucked. So when I told her to drop it, I meant it. It wasn’t something I enjoyed talking about.

“But Avery, you said that you loved—”

“I said, drop it.” That shut her up real quick. Frankly, I didn’t mind coming off as an asshole all the time. With people like her, I kinda had to play that character. She would never understand the things I had seen, the people I called my family, nor would she be empathetic to my plight. I was as guilty as I was a pawn in the system of economics. I grew up poor and abused so I abused the world and robbed everyone in sight. Who’s gonna be sympathetic to someone like that? Ghandi? Jesus? Bullshit.

There was no love for a guy like me. It was too bad. These desert skies, as they faded to dusk, got me pretty lonely. And Hope? Well, she was a perfect creature. God spent a little extra time on her. She deserved more than I did. So I guess in that moment, I decided I would actually try and help her. Why not?

W
e made it back
. We actually made it back. Although, I wasn’t sure what was worse: being in the presence of The Sapo Boys or hanging out with the Courage MC. Both were equally torturous for a woman like me.

We were quickly brought into the strip club, amidst half-naked women calling me ‘baby’ and ‘honey.’ “Just ignore them Avery said, shielding me inside. We walked to the back of the main room where Bruce announced we would be having a big dinner together, a celebration of sorts. Avery had settled the score and the higher ups were happy. Maybe this meant I’d get my house back.

Avery pulled the chair out for me, like a gentleman. It was odd, but ever since our little mind exploration in the desert last night, he had been treating me unusually well. He was already at the drinks; however, pouring himself full glasses of whisky and smoking cigars with Bruce. With every celebration came bad news. I knew that much. With every award ceremony came with a set of angry losers. The ‘winners’ built their own world, made of fragile glass.

He gave a toast to the members of the MC. “To business and the return to better days. Some of you remember the 90’s and the glory this crew had seen. We’re still enjoying the benefits of it, myself included. But there’s more to be had. There’s more to give to
everyone,
every last one of you.” Upon hearing these words, Bruce’s face seemed to contort. He looked at Angelo and rolled his eyes. They weren’t having his wealth distribution speech. The workers of the MC didn’t deserve the better fruits. They were succumbed to the scraps left on the marble table.

Bruce raised his glass in faux solidarity. “Yes. To a long life of Courage. Let’s all enjoy this night together.”

All of the men cheered and swallowed down their drink. It was a sight to see as the powers were now shifting to an uncomfortable degree. The bikers were excited of course, but what about the ones that ran the place? Were they going to give everything to Avery and his men so soon? Was it ever in their sights? These are the things a woman thinks about in moments like these.

“I want you tonight.” Avery leaned over and whispered. “I’m hard just thinking about you…”

I smiled and felt his hand caress the inner part of my thigh, underneath the table. I instantly felt my wetness soak through my cotton panties. He went further up and felt my core, only letting go because some commotion broke out near the entrance. All of a sudden, there was yelling. A man, covered in dirt and bruises came in the front and addressed everyone.

“Avery is trying to take control of the MC!” he shouted. All the heads of the table stood up and grabbed their pistols and shotguns, including Avery. “You see? They point their guns at an unarmed
brother
! And look where Avery is sitting? Right next to the boss with his new beautiful woman. Oh how the mighty have fallen.”

“Luke.” Avery muttered. “You shouldn’t have shown your face in here. If you have any sense in you left, you turn around and leave.”

“Is that so? Well, I guess you call the shots now, Avery. You’re the new boss right?” The crowd of bikers started whispering to each other. The room was filled with tension. Some of the men even put their guns down. I was looking for an exit, ready to run right out and never look back. “Bruce, did you sanction this?” he asked.

Bruce walked forward, arms out to his side. He had set his gun down on the table in an honorable display of truce. “I’m the boss, Luke. You know that. Now put down the damn gun and walk out that door.” He kept moving forward, as slow as he could.

“You’re the boss, huh? Well, that ain’t what you were saying a few days ago. Remember? You called me in for a secret meeting in that back room. You were there, Angelo. Same as you Avery. Remind me again, what was the topic of that meeting?”

Angelo stepped forward this time. “Put the fucking gun down, hot head.” he said. It was a bit much, but tensions were escalating quickly. I looked at Avery who was holding his gun with as much aim and precision as a Marine at war with his enemy. He looked so powerful, so perfect. He was a true soldier, ready to give his life for his family at the drop of a hat. I
needed
him. I needed him to carry me out of this hellhole, to pick me up and pin me against his wall, and have his with me. It was all I could think about, as I slowly backed away towards the emergency exit.

“YOU!” Luke shouted. “Avery’s hot mamma. Get the fuck back over here.” His gun was aimed right at me.

“You keep aimin’ that gun at my girl and I’ll blow your head straight off.” Avery said through his coarse throat.
My girl?
I wanted to show him what being his girl was like. I wanted to give him everything he wanted. I wanted to be his dedicated woman. I would ride to the ends of the desert with him, wielding our guns, and fighting off any enemies that came our way. I wanted to.”

“You mean the girl you were trying to set up?”
What?
I looked at Avery in heartbreaking confusion.

“You don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, Luke. I’m giving you ten seconds to leave or bullets will fly into that flesh of yours. 10!” But Avery was shaking. Something had been said that shouldn’t have. There was so much I was being kept in the dark about.
What the fuck is going on?

“Avery? What’s he talking about?” I whispered.

“Ain’t nothing. He’s a psychopath.” he said to me, though I could smell the lie coming straight from his mouth.

“Tell her, Avery. Tell her how you’re just using her to get to Bobby Farole. That you used her to fix The Sapo Boys deal. And now you’re gonna use her to be the figurehead for you, the ideal biker wife. Look, she’s already wearing that dress you bought the last woman.” Luke said, giving us a sinister smile.

“Avery, I…” I nearly fell to my knees from the pain. How could he do this to me? He used me. He took me in when I was vulnerable and made me agree to do his bidding in exchange for my life back. But he wasn’t going to give me that. No one could but myself. All he had was his gun and a gang of derelicts and drunks. I turned and ran out of the building, promising myself I wouldn’t stop for anyone. This was it. It was time to come back to my senses. I loved the bad boys, but it was no life for me.

Goodbye, Avery. We had our fun. Now it’s time for me to leave and figure things out.
I called Jack. “Hope?!” he cried out into the receiver. “Is that you?”

“It’s me, Jack. And I need help.” Tears were streaming down my eyes. I could hardly even breathe. How could he have done this to me?

“I saw the headlines. Are you really with that biker? Hope, you need to get out of there. That guy is bad news. He’s been in prison three different times now. People think he’s killed people.” If Jack only knew the truth. He’s probably killed more than a few people. He’s in the god damn Courage MC.

“Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m calling. I need a car to take me somewhere.” I whispered, running along the side of the road. I looked behind me to check if anyone had followed. Nothing. In the distance I heard a gun shot.

“What was that?” Jack screamed. “Hope?!”

“Just send the damn car!” I shouted, finding cover behind a large bush. It wasn’t the best of hiding places, but it was something.

“Alright. Send me your address. I’ll get you here safely.” he said.

“I’m not going to your house.” I calmly stated. “I need to go somewhere much further.”

“Hope, where are you going? You need to tell me. I’m your manager.”

“
Were
my manager. I’m going to Kansas. I’m going to see my sister.” I hung up the phone and sent him the address, heart beating directly against my bones. This was going to be a long couple of days…