CRASH: An Evil Dead MC Story (The Outlaw Series) (29 page)

“Say
it. I want to hear the words,” he urged.

“I
trust you, Crash. I do.”

“That
means something to me, Shannon.” His palm held her still, immobilized as he
dipped in to explore her mouth. “Open,” he demanded. She complied. His gentle
touch and rough command were intoxicating. He touched her like she was
precious, treasured. He made her feel desired, wanton and restless for more.

She
moaned.

Her response must have enflamed him, because he sank his hands into her
hair, controlling her head as his kisses became more unrestrained and wild.
Then, without warning, his hands dropped from her head to close around her
thighs, and he lifted her up, slamming her back into the bars. He lifted his
mouth just enough to growl, “Need you higher.”

Shannon’s arms went wide, as she grabbed at the bars, trembling under
the onslaught of his aggressive advances.

“Hang on to me, baby. I’ve got you.”

Her hands let go of the metal, and her arms wrapped around his neck, her
mouth going back to his. Then his mouth was trailing down her throat, down to
her cleavage. Then abruptly he was setting her back on her feet, his head
twisting toward the door with a muttered curse. It took her a moment to realize
the sound of the music from the other part of the building had increased in
volume. Her eyes followed his. The door was open, and Cole was standing in it.

“We got trouble.”

Crash grabbed her hand and pulled her along after him as he followed
Cole back down the hall and into the main room. Cole explaining along the way,
“Wolf and one of your boys.”

“Crystal?” Crash asked cryptically.

“Yup.”

“Goddamn it,” Crash muttered as they went through the door.

There was some type of commotion going on near the front door, men
gathered around watching something. Cole and Crash pushed through to the front.
Crash paused just long enough to turn back toward Shannon and jerk his head
toward the bar. “Go.”

She moved off to the safety of the bar as Crash and Cole forded into the
thick of the fight, each pulling a man back. Cole shoved Wolf up against the
wall, and Crash didn’t have to do more than glare at Shane, and he backed down.
Jake pulling him back a few steps. Shane shrugged off Jake’s arm.

Shannon watched as both men glared at each other from across the five or
so feet that separated them. Then she noticed Crystal a few feet from her, her
face stricken, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. Shannon pushed her way
through the crowd to reach her. “Crystal, are you okay?”

Crystal turned to her and whispered, “It’s my fault.”

Shannon frowned. “How is this your fault?”

“I led Shane on earlier. I just wanted to make Wolf jealous. I should
have known better.”

Shannon turned toward the men. This was not good.
So
not good. She didn’t think Crystal ‘belonged’ to any of them,
but she had a feeling someone was going to have words with her if they realized
she was the cause of this. Judging by the way Crash had been ‘expected’ to take
her in hand earlier, she didn’t want to see that happen to Crystal. Then she
remembered Crash’s cryptic muttering of Crystal’s name in the hall and Cole’s
affirmative response in the hall from a moment ago. They both already knew this
was due in some way to Crystal. Shannon clamped a hand around her wrist and
pulled. “Come on.”

Crystal stumbled through the crowd after her. “Where are we going?”

“Just come with me.” She pulled her upstairs, remembering she still had
Cole’s keys in her pocket from earlier when Crash had handed them to her and
told her to get upstairs. Shannon led Crystal down the hall and fumbled with
the keys in the dim light. She got the door open, pulled Crystal inside and
shut the door, throwing the lock.

Crystal plopped on the bed. “I should have stayed home tonight.”

“What happened? Why would Wolf fight Shane?”

“I told you, I flirted with Shane earlier, and it pissed Wolf off.”

Shannon didn’t want to admit she’d seen Crystal and Wolf together, so
she asked, “Um, so…you and Wolf?”

Crystal shrugged. “We hook up sometimes.”

“But that other woman? Misty. What about her?”

She shrugged again.

“So, he can have other women, but you can’t have other men?”

Crystal stood up, pacing the floor. “You don’t understand.”

Shannon folded her arms. “Apparently not.”

Suddenly they heard a pair of boots coming down the hall. Crystal and Shannon
gave each other an oh-oh look. The doorknob rattled, and then a hand slammed
against the frame. Cole’s voice boomed through the door. “Open the
motherfucking door, Crystal.”

“Shit,” she whispered. “You shouldn’t have locked him out of his own
room.”

Shannon turned to stare at the door, frozen with fear. Oh, God. What was
he going to do? Crystal moved past her to let him in, but Shannon grabbed her
arm, hauling her back. “Are you insane? Don’t let him in!” she hissed.

“Crystal, if I have to break my own goddamn door down, I’ll take you
over my knee. I am not fucking with you, babe,” Cole said calmly.

“At least he’s not shouting,” Shannon whispered.

“That’s when you really have to worry.” Crystal hurried to the door and
opened it.

Cole was standing there, both hands braced high on the door frame. His
head was dipped, his eyes piercing into both of them. Slowly he lowered his
arms and stepped into the room. His eyes hit Crystal. “What the fuck, babe? You
think runnin’ is gonna make it better?”

Crystal didn’t reply, but she did take a step back.

“I think it’s long past time you and I had a heart-to-heart,
sweetheart.”

Shannon turned to see Crystal’s eyes fill. “Are you going to make me
leave?” Crystal asked him in a trembling voice.

Cole’s eyes moved from Crystal to Shannon. He jerked his head toward the
door. “Your man’s waiting downstairs for you. Get your ass down there.”

Shannon’s eyes moved from him to Crystal, not wanting to leave her alone
with Cole. “Crystal?”

“It’s fine. Go.”

Cole’s eyes snapped back to Shannon. “What’d I just say? I tell you
something, you do it. No questions. Now move.”

Shannon moved to pass Cole, but he held his hand out. “Keys.”

They were still clutched in her hand. She dropped them in his hand and
went out the door. She’d barely cleared it before it slammed behind her causing
her shoulders to jump. Shannon looked back at the door. She hesitated, not
wanting to leave until she knew Crystal was going to be okay. Pressing herself
to the wall near the door, she eavesdropped.

There was silence for a moment. Shannon dared to peek through the
frosted glass window. She could only make out shadowed forms, but it was enough
to see Crystal’s smaller form move and blend in with Cole’s larger one. She
heard Crystal’s muffled voice, as if her face was now pressed into Cole’s
chest. “I’m sorry, Cole. I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”

Cole’s soft reply drifted through the door and sounded like his head was
dipped to hers. “Honey, tears my heart out watching him jerk you around like he
does. You deserve better. When’re you gonna learn?”

Shannon could hear Crystal sniffle. “I’m a real head-case, I guess. I
keep going back for more.”

“Sweetheart, any one of my boys would treat you better. You need to move
on from him.”

There were some more low murmurings but Shannon couldn’t make out what
they were saying. Stepping away from the wall, she hurried downstairs, not
wanting Crash to come looking for her and find her eavesdropping.

Shannon
came down the stairs. Jake, Shane, Wolf and Crash were all sitting at one of
the tables. Crash looked up when she approached, his hand reaching for hers and
pulling her to stand next to his chair. He spoke to the table. “We good, boys?”

There
were murmured agreements all around. “Good.” He looked over at Wolf. “And you
need to pull your head out of your ass. Man the fuck up, brother. This shit’s
gotta stop.”

“Enough
already. I hear you.”

“Oh,
enough already, huh? That’s rich coming from you, Wolf.”

“I
got it, Crash. Message received.”

Crash
looked over at Shane. “You may not have started this, but just so you know,
you’re lucky the whole fucking club didn’t jump your ass. I think the only
thing that stopped ‘em was respect for my kid brother.”

Shane
nodded.

Crash
nodded toward the bar where Mack was sitting. “Lucky for you both,” he took in
Jake and Shane with his look. “The old man was amused.”

Wolf
blew out a breath.

Crash’s
gaze landed on him. “
You
he’s not so
amused with.”

“Fuck.”

Shannon
saw Wolf’s eyes move from Crash to something over her shoulder. Turning to
look, she saw Cole coming to a stop at the table. His eyes connected with Wolf,
and he spoke like they were the only two in the room.

“Cut
her loose.”

Shannon’s
eyes moved from Cole’s hard face to Wolf’s in time to see him nod once.

With
that, Crash pushed to his feet and pulled Shannon to him, towering over her and
reminding her how big he was. He looked down at her with a hard look, and she
could see he knew all about her running off with Crystal. The look also said he
may be through dealing with the guys, but he still planned to deal with her.
“Let’s go.”

He
pulled her toward the door, saying nothing as he led her across the parking lot
to where his bike was parked. He passed her helmet to her, climbed on and fired
the bike up. Strapping his own helmet on, he waited for her to climb on, and
then he hit the throttle and pulled out.

Shannon
pressed against him, her arms wrapping around him, and she watched the
streetlights fly by as he hit the on-ramp of the eight-eighty freeway.
 
It was late, and there wasn’t much traffic. He
flew down the interstate. The lights of San Jose, and then Oakland flashing by
them.

Crash
took the turn off the street, pulling inside the garage and shutting the bike
off. Shannon climbed off the back, unbuckling her helmet. He did the same, and
then moved toward the elevator. She followed him. He threw the gate open,
pulled her inside and slammed it shut with a clang. Then he leaned back against
the rail and stared at her. His eyes dropped to her throat, and he lifted his
hand to her jaw, gently tilting her head up and to the side, studying the
scratches and also the marks he’d left on her throat. Love bites, no, more
primal, maybe more like an animal marking his turf.

Shit!

He
let his hand drop. He hadn’t meant to do that. He hadn’t meant to do a lot of
shit he’d done tonight. His best intentions had gone out the fucking window
when he got his first look at her tonight. His eyes swept over her again,
taking in the wicked hot leather, and he felt his dick jump. Christ! He looked
up, watching the bricks slide past as the elevator ascended.

“You’re
mad at me, aren’t you?”

His
eyes dropped to her, and then he hooked his hand at the back of her neck and
pulled her close, his face inches from hers. “Just so we’re clear, Shannon. I
like Crystal. We all do. And I understand the girl code, gotta help a sister
and all that shit, but in that clubhouse, the Brothers rule, and you
do not interfere!
You need to remember
that.”

“I
hate cheaters,” she blurted softly.

He
let her loose. “Ain’t cheatin’ if they’re not even together.”

“Then
why was Wolf pissed and jealous of Shane? What about him and Misty?”

The
elevator stopped with a shudder. Crash paused with his hand on the gate. “What
about her?”

“So
there’s two sets of rules? One for the men and one for the women?”

He
shrugged. “Wolf and Crystal are a special case. Their relationship is fucked up,
and they both know it, and yet they both keep at it.”

“And
Red Dog and Mary? Is that another
special
case
? If Mary was doing what her husband was doing…”

“He’d
kill her.”

Shannon
stared at him. “I hope that’s an exaggeration.”

“I
hope so, too.”

“You’re
unbelievable. The whole lot of you.”

“I
won’t argue. Like I told you before, cheating happens everywhere. But that
ain’t me, babe.”

“Right.”

“Seems
we had this conversation once already.”

“I
believe we did.”

“So
let it go.”

She
folded her arms.

The
corner of his mouth pulled up. She was damn cute when she was all righteous and
shit.

“What
are you smiling at?”

He
threw the gate open. “Just you. You’re fuckin’ cute.”

“I
thought you were mad at me,” she reminded him, following him off the elevator.