Page 14 of Warrant (The Berserker’s Rage MC: Wyoming Chapter #1)

Warrant

“ T he fuck you look like that for?” Scythe asked as I walked into the room we used for church.

I’d woken up a few hours after the hottest sex of my life to find Ainsley had slipped out.

Beau, the traitor, hadn’t even let me know she’d gone.

He got a scolding for that as he ate his breakfast, not that he was super concerned about a lecture from me.

“Like what?” I asked, dropping into the chair between Demo and Pyre.

I eyed Pyre, studying the man’s face. He was a closed book most of the time, but after what happened he’d been quieter than normal. I arched a brow at Demo. He shook his head. Pyre wasn’t up for talking about anything.

Fair enough. That time would come.

Glitch was studying me, and I tried to ignore him but the shit just had to open his mouth. “You slept with her.”

“No I didn’t you anti-social fucking troll.” I wasn’t about to let these assholes use my woman for their betting purposes.

Demo hooted out a laugh. “You did sleep with her! And you fucking like her.”

Asshole knew me too well.

His mouth was still open as he grinned over at me, about to continue taunting me.

We’d see about that. Reaching out, I jabbed my finger so far down his throat, I felt the muscles contract.

I yanked my hand back just in case he puked.

The guy was the size of a brick shithouse, but he had the stomach of a pansy ass.

Didn’t want him throwing up all over my arm.

He gagged, eyes tearing up. “You dickhead,” he gasped when he could finally speak again. He lunged for me and pulled me out of my chair.

“Why the fuck are you two always fighting whenever I come into a room?”

We both paused, arms cocked back, and looked over at Cypher. Our president was shaking his head as he entered the room.

“It’s just the way we show how much we care,” I said with a wide grin. Then I swore as Demo’s meaty fist collided with my face.

“That’s for sticking your fucking finger in my mouth,” he muttered. “Don’t even want to know where it’s been.”

He was lucky I’d showered before coming here. Meant my hands were squeaky clean. Not that I was about to let him taste the deliciousness that was my sheriff’s cunt. I’d have to kill him afterward and I hadn’t been lying, I liked the bastard. He was one of my best friends.

“Sit the fuck down,” Cypher sighed. He waited until everyone was settled, then pinned me with a look. “Was it consensual?”

My jaw dropped open and I sputtered. “The fuck kind of guy do you take me for, Prez?”

He chuckled. “I think I had today down on the betting pool.”

My jaw dropped farther. “You got in on the pool? …and how did you know it was today?”

Glitch muttered under his breath, shifted, counted out a wad of bills, then handed them over to Cypher. “I don’t know how you do that shit.”

“I’m observant,” Cypher said, counting out his money. “And I know you assholes better than you know yourselves.”

I shook my head at him. “I’m so disappointed in you.”

He barked out a laugh. “Yeah, like that’s going to make me lose sleep.

” He put the money in his wallet then looked around.

“Just checking in. It’s been quiet on both the MC and security front.

” He arched a brow my way. “I guess I have the new sheriff to thank for keeping you out of trouble. Not sure what the rest of your excuses are, but shit has just been…peaceful.”

“Don’t say that,” Cynic groaned. “Now they’re going to take that as a challenge.”

Cypher gave a wry grin. “Yeah well, maybe I’m bored too.”

“I could find something for us to do,” Rotor offered.

“No.” Cypher scrubbed a hand over his face. “We may as well enjoy the peace while we can. Floor’s open for anything anyone needs.”

Church had passed by fairly quickly as there really wasn’t any new business anyone needed to discuss. So, it wasn’t long until I found myself at Ainsley’s house. She was off duty today.

When she opened the door, I frowned. “Who’s that?”

There was a black and white border collie puppy squirming in her arms. She grinned at me, then gave the puppy this look that softened her whole face. “I haven’t named her yet.”

She stepped aside. “Come on in.”

I pretended to look around, the same way she had when she’d come into my home that morning. She was observant and I didn’t want it to look like I’d already been in here. Even though I had. Multiple times.

She set the puppy down on the floor and watched as I walked around her space. “Wasn’t sure I’d see you again today.”

Grinning at her, I arched a brow. “If you seriously think this morning was a one-time thing, you’re not as perceptive as I thought.”

She sighed, the tension draining from her shoulders. I wasn’t sure if that meant she was relieved I wanted more than a one-night stand from her, or if she was giving in to the fact that I was going to become a permanent fixture in her life. Hopefully the second, because I wasn’t going anywhere.

“We should talk about that.”

“What’s there to talk about?” I asked, bending over to scoop up the pup as she started gnawing on my boot laces. She was a cute little thing with intelligent eyes and a naughty streak I could already see. Just like her owner.

“This isn’t a good idea, Warrant,” she said, starting to pace back and forth.

I watched her for a few seconds, then continued, “What’s not?”

She scowled at me, but I wasn’t about to help her break down all the ways we shouldn’t work on paper.

We worked everywhere else. Especially in bed.

We hadn’t spent enough time together yet to know just how well we worked, but I was betting there wasn’t going to be an area of our lives where we didn’t fit together like we’d been forged for each other.

“I’m a cop.”

“Yup.” I wiggled my fingers at the puppy, then swore when she caught one with her sharp puppy teeth. I continued to play with the dog while Ainsley started listing things off.

“You’re a biker.”

“Mhm.”

“And some kind of security something or other.”

How did she know that?

I narrowed my eyes at the dog. Looked like my sheriff had been digging into my background. Wasn’t surprising really, but it made me wonder how much she’d found out. “I was also military, and a cop,” I pointed out.

“You’re not anymore.” She put her hands on her hips. “Now I’m not even sure what side of the law you’re on.”

It fluctuated daily. Not that I was going to tell her that. “I’m always on the side of right versus wrong.”

“That’s not helping. What do you do for Sentry Securities?”

I met her gaze. Shit. She wasn’t ready for the truth. It would just send her running from me. “I’d have to talk to Cypher before I can tell you that,” I said after a brief pause.

Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t like secrets.”

Well, fuck. I had more than a few.

“I don’t have the luxury of telling you those particular secrets until I speak to him,” I admitted. “A lot of the…shit…we do is classified.”

She tilted her head. “That means you work for the government?” She sounded surprised.

She’d probably be shocked to know that it meant we worked for governments.

Plural. A lot of them. As well as individual contractors.

Cypher was careful about who he took jobs from, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a lot of thumbs in a lot of fucking pies.

I kept my mouth closed and blinked at her.

She sighed. “What about the club?”

I stiffened. “Sorry, Ains, same answer. This thing between us is new. And as you pointed out, you’re a cop. I can’t just tell you everything.”

She studied my face. “Would you ever be able to tell me about it?”

“That depends.”

“On?”

“You,” I replied with a shrug and looked down, realizing the puppy had fallen asleep in my arms. She was on her back, eyes closed, legs up in the air as she softly snored.

“What does that mean?” she demanded. Her eyes flicked down to the dog and the way I was holding her and her features softened just slightly. Then she pasted a neutral look on her face.

“It means, I’ll tell you what you can handle.”

“I still don’t know-”

“Look,” I said, cutting her off. “I don’t want to fight with you. Not about this. Not right now. Why don’t we take this a step at a time and see where it goes?”

“Because I’m the one with everything to lose if I fall in love with a criminal,” she blurted out, then looked horrified that she’d said the ‘L’ word out loud, even in such an innocent way.

She was so damn easy to read. Probably not to others, but I was starting to figure out her expressions. I’d been studying her enough that it wasn’t surprising. Not that she knew that.

“Ainsley.”

“What,” she snapped.

“Stop overthinking this.” I went over and put the puppy in the little crate she’d bought for the dog and closed the door. Then I crossed the room and pulled her into my arms. “Just go with the fucking flow.”

“Just because that’s your approach to everything doesn’t mean it works for everyone else,” she told me, stepping back. “I don’t have the luxury of taking this kind of chance with you.”

Narrowing my eyes, I studied her face. “You breaking up with me?”

“We weren’t even together, Warrant,” she sputtered. “It was one night. Sex, for one night.”

“Morning,” I pointed.

“Semantics.” She waved her hand. “We can’t make a habit of this.”

“Who’s we?” I asked. “Because I sure as fuck want to make a habit of it.”

“I can’t,” she said with a sigh. “Look, it’s…it’s not fair. I shouldn’t have shown up at your place this morning. But it’s done and I can’t change it. But it can’t happen again.”

It was happening again. I’d make sure of that.

No way I was letting this woman slip through my fingers.

But if I forced the issue right now, it would push her even further away.

I didn’t want her to ban me from coming into the sheriff’s office or anywhere else she was—how else would I make her fall in love with me?

“Fair enough,” I managed to choke the words out even though I didn’t want to say them.

She gave me a nod, a grim look of determination on her face.

She thought this was over. She was dead wrong.

This was going to end the way I wanted it to.

But I was going to have to take my time and be patient.

I’d have to approach her like I would a wild animal.

Coax her closer. Teach her to trust me. Then she’d be mine.

She walked me out toward my bike when I started whistling.

She frowned. “Why does that song sound familiar?”

“I pew pew’d the sheriff,” I sang, slightly off key.

She rolled her eyes. “That’s not even the lyrics.”

“It’s a copyright thing,” I said with a shrug.

She laughed at me. “You’re so weird.”

And yet here she was laughing at me, thinking we were ending this on a civil note. That we were both in agreement to her ridiculous idea that we weren’t going to have sex again—or anything else—in the future. She’d soon learn differently. But not yet.