Page 9
Chapter Nine
Henley
P ulling into the club, I drop my heels as I come to a stop. Hael comes rolling past me, his grin wider than usual.
“Fuck, that ride was needed,” he wiggles his brows like he is trying to imply something. Our president isn’t young by any means, the old age of thirty-seven, but he acts like a child sometimes.
“Are you going to follow it up with ‘that’s what she said?’” Zale snickers as he parks himself next to us, the cocky bastard already grinding my nerves to dust. The rest of the guys snicker as I roll my eyes, hoisting myself off my bike and heading inside. A buzz rings in my ears when I shove open the main door, the party already starting as the current exhibition ends. She shrieks her orgasm as it reverberates through the club. Glancing around, my heart hammers in my throat at the thought of meeting her tonight. When I got the note that she agreed to the contract, I was ecstatic. For the most part, anyway. Her being a virgin means making progress will be slow.
Our club tattooer, Zink, sits in the corner with his table and supplies out, tattooing some chick's ass. Hael grabs me by the shoulders, steering me toward the receptionist area, and Cassie looks up at us. She gives me a bored look, her nails clicking on the ceramic tile of the podium. Her nipples are barely covered with pasties, but something in my stomach stirs with unease. She just isn’t for me.
“Henley would like to see if there have been any updates on his application. Anyone that is more like him?” Hael really is a nosey motherfucker. With a grunt, I push him off of me and shake my head. He doesn’t need to know that I already have my applicant waiting for me somewhere in the bar area. Cassie opens her mouth, but I shake my head.
“When the time is right, it will be right.” Nodding at the girl, I turn on my heel and walk away.
It’s been almost three years since I joined the dark side of this club, and each time I get ‘matched’ with someone, they end up having far too many deal-breaking hard limits. That, or they are into shit that I want nothing to do with. Either way, my prez is apparently getting impatient on my behalf because he keeps asking if they have called or if the club has gotten any new members. Usually, the answer is no, but today…
Walking over to the bar, Julio nods at me and grabs my usual, a cold Coors beer. He drops it on the counter with a jerk of his head before moving on to the other patrons. There’s a dude at the other end of the bar making a fuss because he is getting cut off after two drinks. Apparently he didn’t choose the right drinks to order.
“I love your tattoos.” I’m partially caught off guard when a young blonde sidles up to me, her fingers raking over my colored ink. Her eyes are slightly shifty, but not enough for me to think she is doing drugs or some shit. “Do any of them have meaning?” I nearly choke on my drink to laugh at her. She has to be nearly fifteen years my junior, her bright blue eyes blinking up at me with a level of innocence I wouldn’t expect to see at the club. Casting confused glances at the guys around me, they just shake their heads at me and her. Shit, I’m in this alone.
“No, they don’t have meaning.” I don’t want to be rude to the poor girl, but she is clearly barking up the wrong tree. “I’m not-”
“Did you see the exhibition they have scheduled for tomorrow? Apparently, they want to use it as a tool to bring new people into the club.” She does a fake yawn, patting her mouth with perfectly manicured nails. “What a bore, am I right?” Quirking my eyebrow in her direction, I smirk.
“Definitely not a bore, my club needs to be able to make money somehow.” Even in the red and blue flashing strobe lights, I can see her pale slightly. After a second, she composes herself and giggles.
“How exciting! I didn’t know this was your club.” The batting of her lashes gets more extreme, and if she is not careful, she might take off.
“Listen, you seem like a nice girl, but I’m not interested,” I mention quietly as I try to let her down without embarrassing her. Other women can be catty, and there’s no way I want to make this girl feel any sense of insecurity. That may make me sound like a prick, but just because I’m not interested doesn’t mean I have to act like a douche.
Her hand swats in front of her, a scoff falling from her lips. “I’m definitely not interested in you, I was eyeing up her. ” Glancing down the bar, a tiny girl is wearing practically nothing. A sheer white teddy covers her skin to the end of her round ass. I can’t tell the color of her hair from here, but when she looks over her shoulder to scan the crowd, I’m enraptured. “You were right here, and I wanted to get close enough to look at her. Thanks for being nice though, I appreciate it.” She gives me a playful wink before making her move. What I can only describe as carnal rage drips heavily in my gut at the sight of her chatting up this mystery girl. A large hand falls on my wrist, and I whirl around to see Hael standing there with his game face on.
“We got a call from Blood Reapers MC, they will need some backup in the next couple of days for a ring takedown after all. I volunteered some of our guys, I could use your assistance in getting them ready.” Guzzling down the last of my beer, I nod. Glancing over at the pretty girl, she continues to stand alone, glaring down at her drink. Something inside of my chest hurts at the longing I feel to scoop her up in my arms and take her with me. Trying to wrack my brain, I can’t remember a time seeing her here before. If I had, I definitely would have memorized the swell of her perky tits and the curves of her ass. There’s a little bit of meat on her bones, her stomach doesn’t look toned and I can see a bit of wrinkles on her thighs.
“We need to meet in the office for a minute, then you can go chat with the new woman.” So, he did clock where I was gazing. Laughing, I walk behind him as we make our way through the halls. My body is thrumming with need just from one peek of that woman. Something about her has me immediately drawn in. If Hael didn’t stop me, I would have hauled her ass onto the bar top and ravaged her right there. Fuck, just leaving her back there has my chest rising with carnal desire sprinkled with rage.
Hael throws the door open to his office, a few of our fellow members are sitting in the office with their feet kicked up. Rune, our hacker, sits behind his computer next to Ruel. We have been one hacker short, none of the other prospects know jack shit about technology. Deimos, Cahir, and Zale are sitting on one of the couches whispering amongst one another. They are all dressed for the show, probably looking to get some pussy tonight. Hiero, Arian, and Kaemon sit on the other couch, all three men look like they rolled out of bed. Surprisingly, this scene isn’t where you will catch them unless they have a partner or two on lockdown. Sighing, I walk over to my desk and drop into my high-back chair.
Hael claps his hands gathering all of our attention. “I got a call from our sister chapter, Blood Vipers. They are working toward taking down a ring nearby and have asked for our assistance. I planned to put it to vote at the next Church session, however, they are looking to bump their trip to the next two weeks or so.” My brows shoot to my hairline, shock obviously marring my features. “So, I have you all here to help determine if that is something we are going to accept or not. Henley and I will not be able to assist outside of the club side of things. If you want to help but cannot do tactical, don’t stress too hard.”
I can see where Diemos and Cahir both sit taller in their seats. Not able to help it, I roll my eyes. They are both hot-headed idiots wanting to do something for the greater good and not even worried if they catch a bullet or die. By all means, to each their own, but as my brothers in arms, I refuse to let them go into a fucking mission just to get their heads blown off.
“You know we are in.” Speaking of the two idiots, they bump each other with their elbows as they giggle like school girls.
“We will help from afar,” Ruel says quietly, his tone barely loud enough to reach my ears from the other side of the room. Hael claps his hand on Ruel’s back and nods in appreciation.
“If you can spread the word, have them report back to me or Henley if they want to help or not. No answer is an automatic no, so speak up or forever hold your peace.” Silence breaks over all of us as no one speaks. He nods. “You’re dismissed.” The trio jumps up from the couch, shakes mine and Hael’s hand before leaving. Everyone else follows suit while I remain seated.
My stomach dips at the thought that Bunny may have decided to flake. They would have told me that she was here by now, wouldn’t they? Dropping my head into my hands, I rake my fingers through my head and urge myself to get a grip. Plus, there’s a knockout downstairs that might be interested if my match doesn’t show up.
“You alright, man?” Hael asks, his hand dropping onto my shoulder.
“Just thinking.”
He laughs, shaking his head. “Nothing new. Is it about that girl downstairs?” I turn to look at him, and he sports a smug smirk. “Not my fault I’m perceptive,” he defends, raising his hands with another laugh.
“Fuck off,” I grumble and stand. Brushing away any invisible dirt from my shirt, I leave the office. Walking back down to the main level is intoxicating. Between the music, the exhibitions, and the people, there’s not much to hate. It definitely wouldn’t be a scene that my old man would have been into, but thankfully I’m not him. Well, not yet anyway.
Glancing around the bar area, the angel in white is nowhere to be seen. Irritation builds back inside of me. If Hael hadn’t fucking asked us to meet…
An ethereal laugh pauses me in my tracks. Turning toward the melodic sound, I see her. She laughs at something the blonde says, them both sharing a sip of whatever drink they have. Squinting, I realize hers is a water bottle. Something carnal inside of me settles at the sight of her being responsible. Spine straight, I walk over to the two of them with ease.
Just as I get behind the couch, the angel turns her head and her gaze clashes with mine. All of the air evaporates from my lungs. The soft white lights hit her just right, and she is close enough that I realize I’m swimming in her deep hazel eyes. There’s a light reddish tint to her hair, and her teeth set perfectly as though she has had braces in the past.
Holy shit.
Clearing my throat, I attempt to put myself together a bit and walk to the other side of the couch.
She keeps the water bottle firmly in her hand as she watches me, her fingers tightening around the plastic. I must have the same effect on her as she does on me.
Good.
“Oh goodness, I stand no chance,” the blonde girl titters before standing up. “Great to meet you girly, hopefully we can come together soon.” She winks at my angel before stalking off. The pun isn’t lost on me, but she swipes a hand in the air.
“She tried, but I told her I don’t swing that way. It’s unfortunate really, she is a catch!” She smiles brightly before her cheeks suddenly grow red. Nothing about her sentence seems unusual, but she must not be used to this environment. “Gosh, I’m about to start embarrassing myself if I don’t zip it.” Her laugh is contagious, and I can’t help but chuckle along with her.
“We don’t judge here. The only time you get judged is if you don’t express what you like and dislike.” Her face drops slightly, and I worry that I have said something wrong until I look down and notice her legs shifting slightly. Her thighs press into one another, the thickness meshing nicely. Shit, I can’t help but imagine what it would be like to suffocate between those two…clearing my throat, I stick my hand out. “I’m Henley.” Now her face goes from a slight blush to beet red.