Pagan (The Henchmen MC 8)

She had a business it was clear she put a lot of herself into.

She apparently came from the wrong side of the tracks, but didn't show that in any of her mannerisms, speech, or style.

She had, obviously, been the metaphorical 'pulling yourself up by your bootstraps' kind of person.

You had to admire that.

The fact that I was even thinking about shit like her merits as a person instead of her tits and ass was really saying something, though.

It was saying I was interested.

And not just interested in seeing all the dirty ways she would let me have her.

I was interested in her as a goddamn person.

What the fuck was wrong with me?

"First time you caught feelings?" Roan asked, it maybe being the first time he addressed me directly before. And the strange mix of accents, all too varied to place as any one in particular, was even more prominent.

"I don't even know the woman," I half-denied. It was true enough.

"Had a compound full of women after she ran off on you last week." I knew where he was going. "Didn't see you take any back to your bed."

That was true.

Granted, I wasn't a man who needed to fuck every single night, though what man didn't want that? But I generally didn't go a week unless I was laid up with some kind of serious injury. Not many qualified. Broken leg? She could ride. Busted ribs? Blow job and ride my face.

You get it. I fuck a lot.

And I literally couldn't remember the last time I went over a week without when it was all around, freely offered.

My cock apparently had a one-track mind.

"Just need to fuck her out of my system," I said, shrugging, wondering the truth in that.

"This one of those 'if I say it enough, maybe it will be true' type of things?" he shot back, smirking, brow raised.

I snorted, shaking my head. "Take your old-man wisdom and bestow it on the other probies, brother."

"Women who fuck with your head like this," he said, ducking his head, making those freaky eyes of his all the more piercing, "they don't come around often. Trust me. Just something to keep in mind."

And with that, he was gone out the back door.

"Jstorm and Alex checked into him," Laz said, answering my unasked question as I watched the door slam. "The fuck really was a goddamn spy. He got burned and had to try to rebuild his life. Apparently, when they do that shit, they freeze your accounts and trash your credit. Act like you have had no work history for however long you work for them. Crazy fucking shit that leaves someone with that very unique set of illegal skills with nothing else to do but go into crime."

"Hence... Roan," Maze said, waving a hand toward him. "I think it's cool. Very mysterious. I'd watch a show based on him."

"You have a man," Cyrus reminded her with a smirk.

"What? I said I'd want to watch a show based on him, not fuck him. Geez."

Feeling slightly better at being on safe topics like the future of the club, something that had you told me a year before I'd be interested in, I'd have fucking scoffed. I wasn't, by nature, a 'joiner.' I didn't do sports teams. I didn't have clubs. I liked answering to no one, except maybe Ward. And that was only when I was in the ring anyway.

But, oddly enough, finding The Henchmen had been a tipping point in my life. It made me part of something bigger for maybe the first time ever. It made me responsible for something other than myself and whatever whim I wanted to pursue. It was, in a way, somewhat grounding.

And, whether any of us would have the balls to admit it or not, it was nice to belong, to have brothers to fall back on, sisters to dote on you or make fun of you. For chrissakes, one time after a fight, Penny had been so upset about cleaning up the cuts on my hands that she cleaned them out with her own goddamn tears.

That shit was nice.

I was man enough to admit that.

"What about the other guys?" I asked, hoping to keep the conversation off Kennedy and me for as long as possible. "The MC ones."

"Virgin and Sugar," Penny mused, lips twitching.

"Was I the only one," Maze said, smiling too, "when they met Sugar and he said his name like he does- Suga - had to fight from bursting out 'how you get so fly?' Because it was physically painful to keep that in."

"Me too!" Penny agreed, laughing. "I didn't want to say anything with him being all scarred and scary-looking, but I totally Baby Bash'd inside my head."

Cyrus shot me a look, lips tipped up ever-so-slightly. It was a look I was familiar with with him whenever the girls were around and bullshitting. An amused big brother type of look. I figured maybe it had something to do with his sister who was never around for him to spend time with.