Page 13 of Shadow’s Protection (Hurricane Heat MC #1)

Shadow

“Jizzy, grab me another beer.” Hawk, his signature sunglasses on even at the dinner table, slaps the shoulder of one of the prospects. He’s laughing so hard, he can hardly get the words out. He actually has to lift the corner of his shades to wipe a tear from his eye.

One of the prospects jumps up from where he’s standing in the corner, eating a burger with one hand and holding his beer in the other. The kid jams the last few bites of burger into his mouth and hustles off toward the bar. “Anyone else?” he asks.

“I’ll take one, baby,” Jackie calls from a cushy spot on a recliner. She’s got a paper plate of food balanced in her lap.

“Fuck off, Jackie,” Jizz mutters.

Hawk shakes his head and shoots Jizz a look, and the kid grabs two beers from the fridge behind the bar.

He hands one to Hawk, keeping his eyes toward the floor.

Hawk pops the cap off the bottle with his thumb and takes a long sip while Jizz walks over to the recliner and motions for Jackie to get up.

She does, and he sits down in her seat and motions for her to sit on his lap.

She leans over and gives him a long kiss on the neck, then plops her ass onto his lap and shimmies so her tits bounce. Then he hands her the beer.

“So, you wanna tell the ladies how you got your nickname, or should I?” Hawk drains half the beer in three long pulls, then sets the bottle on the table.

The corner of my mouth curls into a smile. I may be the only one who’s heard this story as many times as I have, but it’ll be at least a year before Hawk gets sick of telling it. Or until Jizz is patched in and has earned a more respectable name.

I’m sitting across from Violet. Twelve of us fit in the chairs that surround the large wooden table, while prospects and club bunnies are scattered on couches and chairs, using tray tables for their paper plates of food just like we’re a family at a big Thanksgiving.

A couple of the prospects run back and forth between the kitchen, taking orders to bring out more burgers, dogs, and buns from Penny.

It’s rare that we have this many people for a meal, but with the storm and so many of us locked down together, I made sure Violet got a chair close to me.

Phantom’s at the head, like a grim father looking over one very fucked-up family.

He’s not smiling, but he almost never does.

Savage paces the perimeter of the room, always keeping his eyes on shit.

Stella sits next to Violet, and I notice her making an effort to talk to the sexy librarian and explain the jokes or details about the crew that an outsider wouldn’t know.

Stella’s good people.

I’m not surprised she’s taking Violet under her wing. What surprises me more is how at home Violet looks at the table.

Her innocent green eyes take it all in, her dark hair falling loose over her shoulders. One of them is bare where her slouchy shirt has fallen over to the side, revealing a thick bra strap. She was so scared of the storm but then so free on the hood of that GTO. She’s unpredictable.

Just thinking about her tits and thighs makes my cock jerk in my jeans. She clocks me looking at her while Hawk stands over the prospect’s shoulder, laughing his ass off, and her face lights up with a smile.

Hawk’s got all of our attention now. He loves telling stories, especially stories that make our prospects look stupid.

Lucky for him, they almost always give him more than enough material to work with.

“So, this moron’s dick is all rashed out, it burns when he pees, so he thinks he’s caught some shit from one of the bitches he’s been banging. ”

“Hey.” Jackie is sitting in the prospect’s lap, sipping from a bottle of beer. The kid is blushing red as a tomato and squirming like he’s about to shit himself.

“Fuck you, Hawk,” he mutters, but he knows he’s gotta sit there and take it.

Hawk continues, the weak lights powered by the generator reflecting off the lenses of his sunglasses.

“So, I take his ass over to urgent care. He’s expecting some kind of STI test, and they give him one of those plastic cups and send him to the bathroom.

But the kid’s gone a long-ass time. I mean, I’m starting to get worried his fucking dick fell off or something.

When he finally comes out, he says to me in a real hushed voice, ‘That was weird. They don’t even give you any magazines or anything.

I watched some porn on my phone, but you’d think they’d have, like, something in there for you to use. ’”

Hawk bends over and braces heavily tattooed hands on his knees. “So, I go, ‘You dumbass. What the fuck did you do in the bathroom? You’re supposed to piss in that cup.’”

It takes about a second for everyone to realize what the kid did, and then the entire table bursts into laughter.

“How the fuck was I supposed to know?” Jizzy puts his hands on Jackie’s hips to stop her from jumping from his lap. “I told them I had some issues down there, and the nurse hands me a fucking cup with no instructions.”

Hawk is laughing so hard I can see the tears streak past his glasses.

Phantom’s got a smirk curling just one side of his mouth—about as much humor as that guy will ever show to anyone.

Savage is shaking his head, a shit-eating grin on his face.

He’s an ex-SEAL or something like that. He doesn’t like to talk about his past, but I’m sure he’s seen a lotta stupid shit from new recruits.

“It was a serious case of fucking jock itch, okay?” Jizzy rubs his head in frustration. “No big fucking deal.” He reaches a hand around to cup Jackie’s shoulder. “A little cream, and my shit’s as good as new. I was just relieved I didn’t catch anything from you, babe.”

She fakes looking offended, but she is laughing too hard to pull it off. “I wanna know what the hell you did with the cup of jizz.”

Hawk fills in the rest of the story. “You’ve never seen a prospect move so fast. He goes up to the nurse and, in a scared little kid voice, is like, ‘Ma’am, could I possibly get another cup?’”

I feel Violet’s eyes on me, and I flick a look her way. Along with everybody else, she’s laughing, but she never once looks away from me.

I lower my brows toward her empty plate. With one finger, I gesture at it.

She gets me, shakes her head, and mouths, “I’m good.”

I grab my empty plate and walk around the table to pick up hers. Then I take her hand. “Let’s get out of here before we get dragged into cleanup.”

I dump our paper plates in a trash bin near the bar, then lead Violet back toward my room.

We enter without a word, and once we’re inside, I grab a book of matches and light a few jar candles I have in my room.

Violet smiles. “Books and candles. What’s next, Shadow? Are you going to show me your library card?”

“Ain’t had one of those in a couple of decades.” I chuckle. “We have a game to finish playing, and I figure with all the cooking we did, we can leave off the lights. Give the generator a break.”

I grab the bottle of whiskey and drop down on the couch. Violet sits on the opposite side and faces me, crossing her legs under her.

“Same game?” she asks, holding out her hand for the bottle.

“You got a better idea?” I pass her the bottle, twisting off the cap and setting it on the side table.

She shakes her head and holds the bottle up to me. “I’ve got so many questions.” She leans forward slightly, her tits moving against the soft fabric of her shirt. She takes a drink. “You ready?”

I grin and nod. “Lay it on me, librarian.”

“What do you do for work?” She asks the question delicately, like she’s not sure whether it’s okay to ask.

I hold out my hand for the bottle. “The club has businesses,” I say simply. The less she knows, the better. “I do whatever’s needed.”

She hands me the whiskey. “The club seems more like a family than I would have thought.”

“Is that a question?” I lift my brows and offer the bottle back, but she shakes her head.

“An observation,” she says, smiling. “I can see why people like it here. It’s fun.”

“Fun?” I drink because that one word is a whole-ass question. “One thing I never call this place is fun.” I point the bottle at her. “You, however, are a hell of a good time.”

She blushes and takes the bottle back. “Well, I can’t say I could ever see myself…I don’t know…” She’s quiet for a moment, as if she’s convincing herself it’s okay to say the words. “Snorting coke off Jackie’s stomach. But I had fun today.”

She takes a long sip, and I notice she’s not wincing as much as she did yesterday. Maybe it’s the full belly, or maybe my girl is already building a tolerance to the burn. “Two-part question.”

I expected questions about my dick, and she dives in headfirst, wanting to know about my frenum piercing. I explain that, no, my piercing never shreds through a condom and, no, it doesn’t require any special care other than keeping it clean.

We pass the bottle back and forth and answer what feels like two hours of sexual questions that get me hot and hard.

Finally, she’s sitting in my lap and kissing me with every shot she takes.

We’re both fully dressed and enjoying this game, but just like last night, I start to see signs that she can’t take much more booze.

“Shadow,” she pants my name against my ear. “How the heck are you so delicious?” She trails her tongue along the side of my neck.

I clamp my fingers against her plush ass. “That’s a question. You’ve got to drink,” I tease.

She does, and I reward her with a kiss so deep and hungry that I swear I come back a little drunker from the whiskey on her tongue.

“My turn.” I’ve been waiting for the right moment to ask this, but if she passes out, I’ll miss my chance. I drink, and then, holding her face in my hands, I ask, “So, this fucker Clive. What’s his deal?”

She sobers up a little and looks down. “That’s a big question, but I guess it’s a fair one.”