Knox's Stand (The Last Riders 3)

“Hungry?”

“I’m starved,” she answered.

“Lunch should be ready; let’s go downstairs.” Knox held the door for her. Diamond seriously wished she had made up an excuse to leave, hoping not many Last Riders would be downstairs.

As she entered the kitchen, she was embarrassed to find the large room filled with the members in line for food and several already eating. She looked around the room, seeing neither Beth nor Winter. Knox handed her a plate and she got in line behind him, going down the line of a vast array of food. They had hamburgers and hotdogs with salad and several vegetables.

They found a seat at one of the occupied tables. Knox left then returned with a beer for each of them. Evie and Jewell both smiled at her when she sat down. She picked up her fork when Bliss and Rider also joined them at the table. At first the conversation was stilted, but then they began talking about the factory that they ran next door.

“What do you make?” Diamond questioned.

“Medical kits, solar batteries and generators. Basically anything a prepper or disaster victim would need to survive without help from outside resources,” Evie answered her question. The woman was friendly, giving no evidence of jealousy of her spending the night with Knox. She didn’t seem to mind that Knox had another woman sitting next to him. “We also have a large variety of seeds and want to expand our horticulture to include more.”

“How are the new employees Viper hired working out?” Diamond asked, the promised jobs had been one of the main reason’s the school board had given Winter a job as principal at the alternative school.

“Makes life a lot easier on us. We don’t have to pull as many shifts, or work long hours. We actually have time for more relaxation,” Bliss added happily.

“Like you let that stop you before,” Knox joked. Bliss stuck out her tongue at Knox. “Be careful or I’ll make you put that tongue to good use,” he said, leaning back in his chair.

Diamond turned to him, throwing him a look for giving the woman a suggestive comment in front of her.

“Hell, no; I’m not going through this shit again.” Diamond jumped when she heard Jewell’s voice.

“Excuse me?” Diamond said to the woman staring at her.

“We lost Razer because Beth couldn’t share. Then we lost Viper because Winter damn sure wasn’t going to share. Let me tell you, those men could fuck for hours, so losing them was a big fucking deal. Knox has skill no one else has and we’re not giving him up.” She put her hands on the table, leaning toward Diamond. “Take Train he’s pretty good, or better yet, take Cash; he never shares his bed. I’m even willing to sacrifice Rider, and let me tell you that will be taking a big hit, if you know what I mean, but you can’t have Knox. He’s a fucking sex machine. There’s no way you can satisfy him by yourself. Actually, we’ll be doing you a favor.” Jewell nodded her head. “You can have him during the days and we’ll take care of him during the nights. Plus, you can have Sundays.”

Bliss and Evie didn’t say anything, although Diamond could see the agreement in their eyes. Rider looked pissed and the men that she thought might be Train and Cash had stopped eating and were just as livid.

“I work days.” Diamond tried to control her temper.

“We do, too,” Jewell snapped back.

“Well, that’s too fucking bad, and you having him nights and practically the whole weekend doesn’t work for me, either.” Diamond couldn’t believe she was negotiating over Knox’s cock.

“Deal with it, because you’re not having him to yourself,” Jewell snapped.

“Aren’t you going to say something?” Diamond turned to Knox.

“We let the women handle this on their own,” he answered in amusement.

“Asshole.” As Diamond started to stand up, everyone at the table started laughing. She sat back down. “Very funny,” she muttered.

“You deserve it, getting all uptight about him making a comment to Bliss. You can’t pretend he hasn’t fucked everyone here at this table, or ask him to treat them different because your ass is sitting here. If he hadn’t said something, then he would be trying to hide shit.”

“You’re right,” Diamond admitted to the woman.

“Good, glad we got that shit straight. Can I eat my lunch now?” Jewell asked, picking up her fork.

“Yes.” Diamond laughed, finishing her own food.

It was easy to see how Beth and Winter had adjusted to The Last Rider’s lifestyle. The women were nice and didn’t try to stake their claim, instead they were friendly and yet let you have your own space and privacy. Evie was obviously the leader and confident. Bliss was shy with the women, but more outgoing with the men. Jewell was an in-your-face, tell-it-like-it-is type of personality, which Diamond could admire. She felt a friendship developing between them as they sat there, drinking another beer.

Rider stood up, taking his plate. “Since no one cares about me, I’m going to go work on my bike.”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t interested,” Jewell said, looking at him, leaving no doubt what was on her mind.

“Later. My manhood has taken a blow. It’s going to take time to recover.”

“More likely you used it up last night with Dawn and don’t have anything left.”

“Later, Jewell.” Rider didn’t deny Jewell’s theory.

“I’ll be waiting,” she answered.

Everyone gradually wandered off, leaving Knox and her sitting alone. “I like your friends.”

“They can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but they have become a family to me,” Knox said.

“What about your parents?”

“My dad is in prison for drug trafficking and my mom disappeared when I was a kid; don’t kno

w or care where she is.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I haven’t given a damn about it since I joined The Last Riders. They have my back and I have theirs.” He shrugged.

“I’m glad you found that, Knox,” Diamond said and meant it. Knox obviously meant a lot to The Last Riders.

“I met Evie when I was in the service and she introduced me to them. After a few months, they asked me to join the club when Gavin and Viper were first starting it. I got along with them all so I joined in and took a stake in the company. It was the best and smartest decision I’ve ever made.”

“Were you and Evie…?” Diamond questioned carefully.

“At first I thought Evie was in love with me, but she knew I didn’t return her feelings. She was the first woman I was with, Diamond.” Diamond was shocked by his admission. “Picture me as a kid in high school.”

“Oh.” His size alone would have set him apart, and his harsh features wouldn’t have been attractive to a high school girl.

“No one after high school?”

Knox ignored her question. Diamond had already learned that when Knox didn’t want to talk, he didn’t. She thought that he probably had become involved with someone then she must have dumped him. Diamond didn’t blame him for not wanting to discuss a broken relationship.

“It must have been hard when you joined The Last Riders and saw her with the other men,” Diamond probed.

“The first time I saw her with another man I dreaded it because I thought it would bother me, but it didn’t. I just thought about how hot it was. I knew I wasn’t in love with her, but I didn’t know how I would feel about sharing someone I was in a sexual relationship with, then I discovered that I enjoyed it. Then the other women became available to me and I went pussy crazy.

“The feelings Evie had for me died somewhere along the way or they weren’t there to begin with. Now we’re good friends and neither of us want it any other way. For some reason, whenever someone new joins, they picture us as a couple, but we aren’t. We never really were.”

Diamond knew why, but didn’t tell Knox. That was Evie’s secret. The only reason she knew was, God help her, she was beginning to feel the same way for the big man.