OWNED & UNTAMED (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (6 page)

So I sat there alone, drinking a beer that I didn’t want.

I really wanted a cigarette.

seven.

(duke)

I lined up my shot and took it. The cue ball smacked the eight ball. I sank the fucking thing right into the corner pocket I called for. Cash, Tristan, and Hudson erupted in cheers as Max threw his stick across the bar.

I put my stick down and pointed to the table.

“Fuck this,” Max said. He threw five twenties on the table and took his beer and walked away.

Cassie walked toward me with two beers in her hands. She had this little tick-tock thing going on with her hips, her shirt pulled up just enough to show some skin. She was blonde hair, blue eyed, full of wildness, obviously new to this life. Just wait until she saw her first dead body or one of us brothers cut up or shot. She’d learn real fucking fast that it wasn’t all about riding fast and fucking hard.

“Congrats,” she purred at me. “Let’s drink and pick up where we left off before.”

Temptation was an old friend of mine. But my phone conversation with Belle really fucking rattled me. Shit, where had that come from? Calling me about Jim? I hadn’t talked to him…

Fuck.

I jumped out of my convoy, like a fucking fool. I heard screams and shouts. It felt like there were bomb blasts everywhere. I was running the wrong way, no protection, all my fucking training completely left somewhere else. All I could focus on was the twisted pieces of black metal that used to be the ride Jim was in.

When bullets started to zing by me I dove forward and hit the ground. I returned fire until the guys behind me took control so I could save Jim. I got to him and pulled him out of the charred mess. His face was bloody and black. His eyes were dazed. His hands clutched to me, shaking, filthy. The second I looked down his body I saw that he was missing a leg. Shock settled in pretty fucking quickly for both of us.

“I got you, brother,” I shouted. “You’re safe.”

Jim reached up and touched my cheek. “I didn’t get them all out. Billy… I let him die…”

There were more explosions, the ground rumbling like a damn earthquake.

Seconds later we had air support.

Two of my guys came to Jim’s aid, trained medics, knowing what to do and how to do it.

I pulled back and away from Jim, our hands holding together until I had to break the hold. Then I lost my fucking mind. I stood up, grabbed a gun, and just started unloading. Everything went black. I only stopped shooting because I got shot.

“You listening to me?” a voice rang out in my memory.

I saw my left hand balled up in a tight fist. I was shaking. I felt a cold rage in my veins.

I snapped my head to the left and saw pretty Cassie. I put my hand to her lower back. “Tell you what,” I said. “Go find Max. Take care of him tonight. Tell him it was from me.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t do…”

“You’re in my clubhouse, act accordingly. You’re a fucking
reliever
so do your damn job or leave.”

That was Cassie’s first dose of reality.

I watched her walk away and I curled my lip. I walked toward the bar and Cash spun around from his stool.

“What happened?” he asked. “She finally see how small your dick really is?”

He was just fucking around, but I wasn’t in the mood.

I slammed my beer bottle off the bar. I grabbed Cash by his shirt and pushed him against the bar. I thrust forward with the broken bottle only to have someone hook their arm into mine and stop me.

“Fuck, brother,” Jasper yelled in my ear. “Take it outside. Right now.”

“Jesus Christ,” Cash said. “Go take a fucking pill or something, man.”

I dropped the broken bottle. I walked to the door and punched it open, going outside. I walked to a picnic table and flipped it over. That did nothing. I started to pace like a hungry animal, wanting to fucking attack. Yet there was nothing to actually attack that would make me feel better.

Shit, it wasn’t even about Jim. It was about Belle. I made myself very clear to her a long time ago. She didn’t need this shit in her life. Especially with her brother being hurt. And fuck, I had no idea she was taking care of Jim on her own. Her old man died a while back from heart issues. I spent the night getting shit wasted during his funeral. I fucked two different women, trying to chase the guilt away.

I should have gone to the funeral.

“Fuck,” I said.

“You need something,” a voice said from behind me.

I turned and Trev was there. “Prez…”

“Hey, take it easy,” Trev said. “You want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Fair enough.” Trev put his hand forward. “Fresh beer?”

“No.”

Trev kept the beer for himself. He stepped up next to me. He was the same height as me. I probably had a few extra pounds of earned muscle than he had. Yet he stood there so calm. Staring out into the night. It pissed me off.

“Whatever the fuck you think you have to do tonight, I would just go with it,” Trev said. “As long as you’re not going to hurt yourself physically. Or wind up in jail. But even if you do, we’ll back you up, Duke.”

Jesus Christ… did this guy really have to be that good of a President?

“Anything else, Prez?” I asked.

Trev put a hand to my shoulder; my torn up shoulder. His thumb dug into the wound and I stood there, accepting the pain.

“Your brothers have your back,” he said. “Never forget that. But don’t ever put a broken bottle to another brother’s throat without good cause. We all know your dick is huge. No need to act like some fucking dumb ass high school jock.”

Trev walked away.

That was true command. I respected him for that. Coming up to Daurian and taking over the mess Ripper left.

If I wasn’t going to fuck Cassie… or drink beer… there was only one thing to do.

Ride.

And I knew where I would end up if I got on that open road.

I had to see Belle.

eight.

(belle)

I heard Jim’s voice mumbling from the kitchen. It wasn’t my place to just barge in and snoop on him. Yeah, it was one big house but I did try my best to respect privacy. But I just had to make sure he was okay. I snuck into his bathroom and opened the cabinet. I counted the pill bottles.

All good.

I grabbed the heaviest pain killer and twisted off the cap. I looked inside and tried to do my best mental count. It didn’t look like there was a lot missing. Other than his normal dosage.

I put the cap back on and stuck it in the cabinet. I shut the door and saw the reflection of Jim as he stood behind me.

I let out a loud scream and jumped.

When I spun around, Jim was still there, his phone to his ear.

“We’ll finish up tomorrow,” he said and ended the call.

“Jim,” I said.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“You know what I’m doing.”

“Making sure I’m not trying to kill myself?” Jim asked.

“Don’t do this,” I whispered. “I have to…”

“Yeah, right,” Jim said.

He turned and walked away. I went after him. “Who were you talking to?”

“Just taking care of myself, sis. Just like you wanted me to do.”

“What does that mean?”

Jim paused and looked over his shoulder. “My business. Not yours.”

I followed him to the kitchen and I saw a bottle of whiskey on the table. There was a folder open with papers in it. Jim closed the folder and grabbed the bottle of whiskey. He drank from it and walked away with the folder.

I considered pestering Jim but I took it for face value. If he was doing something on his own for himself that had to be a good thing. A good sign. So I left it be.

My plans shifted. I wanted a hot bath, a glass of wine, and a good night of sleep. I had a meeting the next day at one of the properties. At least it was something to do.

I made it to the steps when I heard an all too familiar sound. My hand on the post, one foot on the first step. I shut my eyes and shook my head, telling myself it was impossible. No way a motorcycle was coming anywhere near our road. Hell, the last time a motorcycle was here…

The sound got louder.

I turned and saw a flash of light through the glass of the front door. I hurried to tear it open as the motorcycle came to a stop. I flicked on the porch light, which didn’t help me see any better, and I opened the door.

My foot touched the porch as a towering figure climbed off the motorcycle. He took off his helmet and started to walk forward, without fear, like he owned the house.

I tried to find something to say but the second I actually saw him in the pale light of the porch, I lost my breath.

Duke was here.

**

I thought I was going to collapse. I put my hands to the doorway as Duke stopped at the second step. Even there he was already taller than me. He had forever been taller than me, from the day I met him when he and Jim were in sixth grade. They used to get in trouble with firecrackers, always trying to blow something up.

Duke stared at me with his perfectly squared off jaw, full of dirty scruff. I couldn’t help but wonder what it felt like. His eyes were as dark as I always remembered them, even if they looked a little more lost than normal right then.

It had been years.

So we stood there, staring at each other.

Duke forever stubborn. Me forever hurt by his actions.

“Jim here?” he finally asked.

“Inside. Drinking whiskey.”

“Shit,” Duke said.

He stepped up to the next step, then he was on the porch. His shoulders were as wide as the house. Time had been good to his muscles, that was for damn sure. Duke had always been strong and lean, but once he entered the military he became thickly carved with muscle.

My eyes looked at the leather cut he wore.

So all of it was true.

I pointed to the leather cut. “Back Down Devil…”

“What about it?”

“You’re a criminal now?”

“You here to judge me?”

“This is my house, Duke. My father’s dead. You knew that, right?”

“Sweetie, listen to me…”

“No. I won’t.” I stepped out onto the porch and nodded to the door. “You want to go save him? Do it now. Do what you said you were going to do a long time ago.”

Duke walked to the open door and stopped. He turned and looked right at me. Down at me, actually.

Why the fuck did he always have to look so good?

A hand shot out and touched my arm. “I never let anyone down, sweetie. And if I did, then I guess I owe some apologies. I thought I was saving everyone.”

I didn’t expect that from him, considering the way our phone conversation went.

Then Duke leaned down and pressed his lips to my cheek. His scuff was like sandpaper. His lips were soft, just like I always remembered them to be.

And then he walked into my house.

Back into my life.

Back into my heart.

nine.

(duke)

What the fuck are you thinking?

I licked my lips and could taste Belle. Fuck, I never stopped tasting Belle, even after the years passed by. I wasn’t into the whole apologizing shit either. But if Jim was going to hurt himself, I wanted to be there to kick his ass before he did it.

Sometimes the demons won the fight, okay? That was just how it went. You came back from that other place but you never were allowed to leave it. That’s why I did what I did with my life. Keeping my freedom kept me a step ahead of those demons. Shit, it put me side by side with the reaper, but that was a risk I was willing to take.

The house was different from the last time I saw it. It was bigger, an addition put on. The idea made sense. Belle’s old man worshipped Jim. Fuck, I was jealous of Jim the way Big Jim looked at him. I wanted Big Jim to be my father. No shock that he built a ranch level addition for his injured son. Knowing Jim though, he fucking hated it. He hated any restriction. Being a hot head was what made me and Jim good friends for such a long time.

I turned the corner in the kitchen and looked toward the living room. Jim sat with the television off and a bottle of whiskey in his hand. I entered the room and walked to a chair and plopped down.

He looked at me, looked away, then looked again. “What the fuck?”

“Jim,” I said.

He held out the whiskey bottle and studied it. “What kind of whiskey is this? It makes ghosts come to life.”

I leaned forward and plucked the bottle from his hand. “I’m not a ghost, brother. I’m right here.”

“Brother,” Jim said and laughed. “You still think of yourself as that?”