White Heat (Lost Kings MC 5)

“Yeah, I got that. Why? He doesn’t sell the heavy shit or girls.”

“Maybe what Ransom said about the dry market is true,” Wrath answers.

Scrubbing a hand over my face, I try to work it out in my head. “Fuck, I hate messing with the precarious balance we’ve got going on, but—”

“Obviously the Vipers are gonna keep coming at us. Best to take ‘em out now before they pull their next stunt,” Z says.

“You want me to bring Whisper in?” Wrath asks.

Although I’m annoyed as fuck with Ulfric at the moment, that’s not the reason I want to keep his MC out of this for now. “No. Our business with Loco’s crew’s got nothing to do with the Wolf Knights. They can barely control their own territory. They don’t need to worry about how Ironworks gets divvied up.”

Z raises an eyebrow at me. “You want us to move into Ironworks?”

“I think it’s worth exploring.”

Wrath nods. “It would give us easier access to the Vermont border.”

A grin spreads over Z’s face. “Lots of dope-smokin’ hippies in those mountains.”

“You’re such a hillbilly,” Teller snarks.

Sparky holds up a hand. “Two things, boss. We’re small, how are we going to hold down Empire and take on Ironworks? And two, unless we do some sort of expansion, I can’t grow much more than I already do downstairs.”

“What kind of expansion?” Z asks.

Sparky lifts his shoulders. “We could put a greenhouse outside, but that’s leaves us open to exposure. Aerial surveillance.”

“Yeah, flybys are between troopers and feds. No way to control that,” Wrath says.

I want to get us back to Sparky’s more important question. “As for holding Ironworks. Same as we’ve done before. Visible presence. And working with GSC, just as they’ve helped us downtown.”

“They’ve got a way bigger crew,” Z points out. “Got nothing to do but drive around in their pimp mobiles anyway.”

We go back and forth on it for a while. Finally I have to put a stop to the conversation. “None of this means shit, until we know exactly what Loco wants.”

Rock’s right. All this chatter is fuckin’ pointless until we figure out what’s going on tomorrow.

After church, Rock pulls me in for a hug. “Where’d you go?”

“Adirondacks for a few days. Did some rock climbing. Trin got some pictures.”

“Good.”

“Your trip all right?”

Rock’s mouth tips into a sly smile, but “yes,” is all he says.

Murphy’s waiting for me in the living room. “Give me a second to talk to Trin. Then we’ll go.”

“Yeah. No problem.”

Our door’s open when I get there, so I assume Hope’s visiting. Sure enough, I catch part of their conversation.

“So what else?” Trin asks.

“Fucking each other raw isn’t enough?”

Trinity’s laughter makes my own mouth turn up.

“I don’t know. I got him to country-dance. He’s better at it than me.”

“Oh, that reminds me, I have a list of bands for you.”

I can’t stand out here being a creeper all day, so I push the door wider. Hope turns in surprise.

“Oh. How long were you out there?”

“Long enough to know why Rock can’t walk straight.”

“You need a cowbell around your neck,” she grumbles.

Shit. As much as I love messing with her, I’ll admit I’m jealous. Trin and I hadn’t fucked at all—raw or otherwise on our trip. We hiked and climbed ourselves into exhaustion each day. But that was it. She seemed to be going through something and no matter how blue my balls were, I wanted to give her whatever space she needed.

Trinity’s smile at seeing me makes the pain worth it.

She slides a piece of paper out of her ever-present wedding binder and hands it to Hope. “Here. You can look most of them up online.” She points to a spot mid-way on the page. “This one’s playing down at the Midnight Saloon tomorrow.”

“We have a place around here called ‘Midnight Saloon?’”

“Looks like.”

Hope wrinkles her nose. “Roadhouse Riders? That sounds like a brand of condoms.”

I almost choke on my laughter.

When Trinity finishes laughing she flicks the paper in Hope’s hands. “They’re supposed to be really good. ‘Infused with a heaping serving of twang and sass.’ Sounds right up Rock’s alley.”

Hope rolls her eyes, then turns her little trouble-maker gaze my way. “Maybe we can go on a double-date?”

Trinity judges the look on my face accurately. “Good luck with that, Hope.”

“Are you guys done with church?” Hope asks.

“Yeah, Rock’s probably looking for you.”

Once she’s gone, I’m able to get my hands on Trinity. She stands on the bed, giving her enough height to tip her head down at me. My hands automatically settle on her hips, because that’s where they fit best. “You two catch up?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“I gotta head out in a few.”

For some reason her mouth turns down. “Are we okay?”

“Yes. Why? It’s club stuff I need to take care of, angel. That’s it.”

“No. I mean our trip. I’m sorry we—”

“Stop.”

“Are you sure you want an ol’ lady with so much baggage?”

Fuck, she kills me. I lean in so we’re sort of nose-to-nose. “Yeah, I’m big enough to help you carry it.”

“Oh, shit,” she whispers. “Sometimes you say the perfect thing.”

It doesn’t matter which one of us makes the next move—although I’m pretty sure it’s her. In the next second, our mouths meet and I can’t even remember what we were talking about. If the way her hands paw at my clothes are any indication, we want the same thing. She pulls away, breathless and pink-cheeked. “Do you have to go?”

“Not right this second.” I don’t think there’s anything that could drag me away from her.

Her hand reaches down, rubbing and squeezing the length of my dick through my jeans. Tearing my mouth away from hers takes some effort and I groan. “Don’t. If you breathe on me wrong I’ll explode.”

The corners of her mouth turn down—this time in a playful expression. “I’ve been bad, haven’t I?”

I’m too focused on her hands working her shirt over her head to answer.

“Maybe,” she says, drawing the word out. “You shouldn’t let me come as punishment.”

That snaps me out of my lust-fog. My hands grab her hips, turning her and yanking her pants down at the same time. “No. Because that would be punishment for me too.”

I’m not sure which way I want her. On top of me so I can see my star inked on her side? Kneeling in front of me while I plow into her from behind? Doesn’t matter. It’s all good. I’m way too frenzied to weigh all my options. My dick just wants in, he’s not concerned which way he gets there.

Some small part of my brain’s still functioning, because I lean over and yank one of her nightstand drawers open—what I now consider her toy drawer because, yup, bought lots of buzzy stuff and stuck it in there for us to play with—and grab what’s quickly become my favorite thing, a little purple butterfly. She makes the craziest noises when it hits the right spot. The little device has all sorts of straps to keep it in place, but I’m way too overloaded to fuck around with that shit right now.

“Here.” My voice comes out all rough and short.

She tosses me a smirk as she takes it. “What do you—”

“Don’t even play with me. You know what I want.”

The butterfly’s got a little remote control, and I flick it on. I swear to God the image of making her wear this around our house while I fuck with the remote all day long has entered my brain one too many times. We really need to get moving on building that house. “Put it on your clit and keep it there.”

She

gasps as the little toy makes contact and drops her shoulders to the bed. “That’s right. Ass up,” I whisper. She got my shirt off and my pants undone, but I’m in too much of a hurry to get them all the way off. Grasping her hips, I pull her closer and angle myself just right to thrust into her hard.

“Oh, fuck,” she whimpers.

“That’s right.”

She makes this chuckling-moaning noise, that’s hot as fuck and has me pulling out and slamming back inside over and over. Nothing but tight, wet heat surrounds me. I’m greedy and desperate, but I need her to come first and by the sound of the sweet little noises she’s making, she’s almost there. I flex my hips, rocking into her and pulling back a few times. Her low moans turn into sharper cries of pleasure, triggering a primal need inside me. Thank fuck, she finally comes, clenching tight around me as I explode, emptying myself inside her for what seems like forever.

Slightly dizzy, I fall down over her, wrapping her in my arms and turning her for a kiss. She jerks and moans in my arms and I realize her little vibrator’s still going strong. Laughing, I sit up and grab the remote, flicking it off. “You okay?”

“Fuck. I think so.”

My hand cups the back of her head, pulling her in for a kiss. “Right answer.”

I’m so much calmer as I walk down the hallway a few minutes later. Murphy’s hanging out with Teller, Rock, Z and Hope, but jumps up when he sees me.

“Christ, you said a few minutes.”

Yeah, I can’t even pretend to be sorry.

The ride out to Danny’s is long, but it’s a nice autumn evening, so it doesn’t bother me. Wish I could have brought Trin. Hated leaving her. But not knowing the situation, I didn’t think it was a good idea.

Of course fucking Loco’s at the diner when we walk in.

He gangster-walks his way over with his arms wide open. I swear to fuck if he hugs me, I’m gonna punch him. “Wrath. Checking out the place for your prez?”

Asshole.

“Nope. Just in the neighborhood. What up?” Murphy answers. Little fucker has some big, brass ones when he wants to.

Loco seems to be in a good mood. He leads us to a big booth in the back of the restaurant. It’s right next to an emergency exit. Exactly the spot I’ll choose for Rock to sit tomorrow.

“I’ll even let you have that seat,” Loco says, indicating the one where I can keep my back to the wall and my eyes on who comes in the front door. I grunt at him and nod at Murphy to slip in first before sliding my big frame into the booth.

“So what do you think of the place?” Loco asks once we’re all seated and have placed our orders.

“Let me guess. You own it?”

Loco grins, wide and crazy. “Yeah, man. Gotta di-verse-ify. You should appreciate that.”

“Yeah. So what’re we doing, Loco?”

He tsks at me and I sort of want to grab him by the throat and shove him through the plate glass window.

As if he read my mind, he tips his head at the window. “Bulletproof.”

“Nice. Now, give me an idea about tomorrow’s agenda.”

He shakes his head. “Nah. That’s a surprise for Rock. How’s he doing, by the way?”

“Better now.”

“Good.” He stares at me thoughtfully for a few seconds before speaking. “Vipers. That’s all I got on my agenda for tomorrow.”

“Figured.”

He knocks his fist against the table once. “You boys enjoy dinner. It’s on me. I’ll see ya tomorrow,” he says before taking off.

Murphy slides around the curved booth until he’s opposite me. “Weird,” he mouths silently.

My shoulders lift. Loco didn’t get tagged with his name by accident.

“You and Trin have fun on your trip?” Murphy asks. I don’t answer right away for two reasons. First, our waitress drops off our dinner. Second, I don’t know if I want to talk to Murphy about my ol’ lady.

He thoroughly inspects his plate, as if he expects to find a razor blade hidden inside his burger.

“I’m sorry about the other night,” he says after he’s completed his investigation and deemed his food safe.

Unsure of what he’s referring to, I raise an eyebrow.

He sighs and sits back, dinner apparently forgotten. “Heidi giving Trinity shit. I should have…I was worried you’d be pissed if I said something.” He shrugs. “She’s your ol’ lady. It’s not my place. But I should have—”

Fuck me. Here I’d been pissed at him for not keeping Heidi in check and he’d been keeping his mouth shut out of fear of disrespecting me. “It’s fine. I just want Heidi to drop her bullshit grudge against Trinity.”

“I know. I was hoping being in the wedding together would help.”

“Let it go, bro. We’re fine.”

“Are we?”

Murphy’s got this hopeful expression on his face that very much reminds me of when he was a kid. Makes me wonder how much of what Trinity said about him lookin’ up to me is true. The feeling of being old slams into me. I’ve known Murphy since he was a baby faced—as Hope put it—kid. I realize he and I really are fine. He may have had my girl’s attention from time to time over the years. But he never understood her. She never confided in him. He’s not ready or able to take care of her the way I am. And it’s not his fault she and I were so stubborn and stupid for so long.

“Yeah. We are. Now finish your burger so we can get the fuck out of here.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

“I don’t think I’m hot enough to be marrying Rock,” Hope says as she twists and turns in front of the dressing room mirror.

I barely hold back my eye-roll. “Since he can’t keep his hands off you, and you’re walking bowlegged again today, I think that’s a crock of shit.”

She buries her face in her hands. Her shoulders shake and at first I’m worried I made her cry. Then I realize she’s laughing. I give her a little shove. “Come on, hurry up. I want to get back to the clubhouse before the guys so we can get ready for tonight.”

Somehow Hope convinced Rock to take her to the Midnight Saloon to check out the band for their wedding. Rock invited—although I strongly suspect ordered is more accurate—Wrath and I along. I’ll admit, I’m excited about our little date night out. It feels like such a normal, couple-y thing to do.

“Okay. Okay. You think this is it?”

“Yes.” The few alterations that were made to her wedding dress are perfect. So is the taupe sash I want to add. It matches the cowboy boots Hope tentatively picked out perfectly. “I still don’t know about the boots. I ordered a pair of gold flats in case I chicken out.”

“It’s your wedding day. You can wear a tiara and cowboy boots if you want.”

She chuckles and hands me my dress, then turns for me to unzip hers.

I turn at her sharp intake of breath. “That color’s so pretty on you.” She scrunches up her nose. “You’re way too pretty to stand next to me at the wedding.”

“Oh, jeez.” Then I roll my eyes because that’s one of her favorite expressions and now she has me saying it all the time too.

Standing behind me, she gathers my hair up. “Maybe we can hire someone to do our hair. Some sort of updo thing would be great.”

I’m not a professional by any means, but between Swan and myself, I figured we had hair and makeup covered. I don’t get a chance to explain that though, because she squeals and folds my ear down. “Ow! What’re you doing?”

“Wyatt!” she yelps as reads the small tattoo hidden behind my ear. “Oh, my gosh. That’s so sweet,” she croons.

Brushing her hand away, I grumble, “It’s supposed to be a secret.”

“Oh, sorry. But that’s so cute. Did it hurt there?”

“Yes. But not as bad as my hip.”

She nods and before I chicken out, I ask her. “You think we’re cute?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m so glad you guys worked out”—she flails her hands in the air—“your whatever issues out. You’re perfect fo

r each other.”

I turn so I’m facing the mirror. “You don’t think it’s weird?”

“Weird?” She seems puzzled by my question, then I think it sinks in. “Oh. No. That’s none of my business.”

I risk a glance at her in the mirror. “You’d never do that though.”

“Yeah, but I’m not a beautiful, badass biker chick with tons of self-confidence either.”

My jaw drops. Is that how Hope sees me? She’s not laughing. Not even smiling. One thing I’ve learned about her, she’s honest—to a fault sometimes.

“You think I’m self-confident?”

She shrugs. “You’d have to be to hold your own with those guys.”

“All right, Loco. You got me here first thing in the morning. What’s up?” I ask, hoping to sidestep the big bro-hug he’s trying to snare me in. I don’t know when he thinks we ended up on bro-hug terms but I can’t say the feelings mutual.

“Come on, man. I was worried about you.”

“It’s true, prez,” Wrath says with a smug grin. He’s finding this whole thing way more amusing than I am.

Finally, I relent and force a smile on my face. “Yeah, heard you were a big help when they guys needed a location. Thanks for that.”

Loco glances at Wrath. “Yeah, how’s she doing?”

“Fine. Says she wants to stay with us for now. My girl’s lookin’ after her.”

Loco makes this exaggerated-surprised face that I’d love to punch.

“So, what am I here for? Z said you had something major to discuss.”

Loco flicks his gaze at Z and smirks. Next to me, Z shifts. I’d bet everything in my wallet, he’s also resisting the urge to punch Loco.

“Yeah, come on. Let’s sit and eat like civilized men.”

Sucking in a deep breath, I follow Loco to the back of the diner. Wrath gave me the story last night, but I indulge Loco in some conversation about his new business venture. After I’ve gotten some coffee in me—which dials back my irritation a fraction—I put a stop to Loco’s yammering. “All right. What am I doing here?”

“Vipers man. They’re hot on your ass since you got out.” He slides his gaze to Wrath and Z. “Heard you left quite a mess behind. Killed two of their guys. Took one of their whores and torched their safe house. Stole their fuckin’ dogs. That’s badass. I’m impressed,” he smirks and Wrath rolls his eyes, but doesn’t say anything.