Among the Chaos: Book 2 of the Soldiers of Chaos MC Series Page 2

  After their argument last night he had come back to the clubhouse with some of the boys. What had started out as a few drinks turned into a rager and he knew he’d downed way more alcohol than usual. The sound of water stopped and after a few seconds the door opened. Melanie stepped out of the bathroom still naked. He closed his eyes again mentally cursing himself. It was one thing to sleep with a piece of club ass it was another to sleep with that bitch.

  He felt the bed shift with her weight and opened his eyes to see her crawling up the bed towards him.

  “Morning big boy,” her voice was the kinda rough that told you she was working her way towards throat cancer.

  Sure it would’ve been sexy after several drinks but right now it just made his skin crawl. She leaned forward to kiss him and he quickly shoved his hand in her face to stop her.

  “Morning. Now if you wouldn’t mind collecting your clothes and your little friend here and getting out of my room. I’ve got shit to do.”

  She pulled her little pouty face bullshit and it made Tex’s stomach churn.

  “Are you sure you don’t want another round?”

  Oh he never wanted another round and even as drunk as he must’ve been he couldn’t believe he even decided to go there in the first place.

  “Pretty sure I can do without.”

  Tex got up out of the bed in a hurry flicking Melanie off him and onto the still sleeping body next to him.

  The bottle blonde woke with a start, “Hey what the fuck?”

  Melanie gave Tex daggers but didn’t respond to his insult.

  “C’mon Brenda we gotta go.”

  “What? Really?”

  Brenda rubbed her eyes and made a very half assed attempt at sitting up. Honestly some people were so fucking pathetic and he was one of them.

  “I’m going for a shower and I expect both of you to be gone by the time I get out. Got it?”

  He needed to scrub all traces of that dirty skank and her friend from his body and fast. He and Trace were pulling workshop duty with Nikki today and there was no way he was going in there smelling of that bitch.

  “Don’t worry we’ll be gone,” Melanie replied trying to hustle her friend up and out of bed.

  At least the bitch knew the score. He didn’t want to leave that skank unsupervised in his room but if he looked at her any longer he was in danger of puking.

  “And if I find any of my shit missing you’ll be the one paying for it.”

  Melanie shot him a dark look then turned back to her friend. Tex stomped off to the bathroom locking the door behind him, no reason to give the bitch any ideas.

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  Nikki rode into the compound on her Harley. She was getting back into the routine of her life before Sheila and before Cole. Just thinking his name had a shiver running down her spine and she didn’t like that, not one bit. Nikki was working the shop with Tex and Trace today and she was kind of dreading it after last night’s confrontation with Tex. They’d got into it big time over Cole. Despite what he’d done to her she couldn’t give him up to the boys. What you reap, you sow. That had definitely been the case with Cole. She’d known all along it was going to end badly for the both of them and in her mind she deserved no better than what she’d received.

  Nikki parked up glancing around the empty forecourt. She’d arrived early in the hopes of ducking into the workshop and getting busy before either of the boys could corner her again. The club house door squeaked open catching her attention. Melanie walked out with one of her pathetic friends in tow. That bitch still made Nikki’s blood boil and she just couldn’t help but want to stomp the pavement over to her and punch her right in her face. Melanie’s friend was looking rather seedy struggling to put one foot in front of the other. Melanie on the other hand looked fresh from the shower her hair still wet. Looks like one of the boys or several showed them a good time last night. Melanie spotted Nikki and a smug smile spread across her face. Bitch.

  She turned her attention back to her bike. As she placed her stuff into her saddle bags the clubhouse door squeaked again. Someone really needed to oil those hinges.

  “Hey Tex thanks for last night. Brenda and I had a great time.”

  Nikki’s head flew up to see Melanie blowing Tex a kiss and throwing him a little wave. She watched as Melanie turned back towards her.

  “Hey Nikki,” she gave Nikki a sweet smile.

  Nikki had to fight hard not to go over there and give that skank the flogging she deserved. She felt the hum of the monster way down inside her. She would not let it out. Nikki turned away no longer able to look at Melanie’s face and glanced at Tex. He was standing rigid by the door staring at Nikki. She couldn’t believe he would sleep with that bitch. They weren’t in a relationship and she didn’t expect him not to sleep with people, but Melanie? Nikki despised that bitch and after the disrespect Melanie had shown her she expected that at least he, and Trace, would be freezing her out if none of the brothers were. She couldn’t help but feel that maybe he was punishing her for her refusal to talk about Cole.

  The boys were desperate to punish the person who hurt her and she was desperate to keep it from them. Last night’s argument had been particularly heated and Nikki had felt the monster stir. She’d ended up slamming her bedroom door in his face and locking it behind her. She was locking him out as much as she was locking the monster in.

  She’d already been dreading working with him today as it was. For him to stoop so low? She was so disgusted she couldn’t even look at him. Nikki turned quickly and spotted Trace standing in the doorway of the workshop. Shit just what she needed. She pounded the pavement with her boots and pushed straight passed him into the workshop.

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  Fuck. That’s all Tex could think. That and how he was going to punish Melanie for being such a bitch. He saw the hurt in Nikki’s face even if she masked it well. Why the hell did it have to be Melanie? He could’ve had anyone of those women last night but for some reason he’d ended up with her. He knew what it looked like too. It looked like he’d purposely sought out Melanie to punish Nikki for their argument last night and maybe he had.

  He was angry at Nikki, frustrated at not being able to punish that bastard who hurt her but mostly he was hurt. He was hurt she wouldn’t confide him now but he was also hurt she hadn’t confided in him before. He’d thought he was that thing she needed, the one she could trust, that she could turn to. Instead she’d chosen to let some sick bastard she barely knew beat her. What did that say about the pair of them?

  “Well done Brother!” Trace yelled at him the sarcasm in his comment obvious.

  Like he needed to be told? Time to try some damage control. Although at this stage he wondered if it wasn’t too late for them anyway. Tex crossed the forecourt towards the workshop.

  “You really are a dickhead sometimes,” Trace chastised him as he too pushed past him into the workshop.

  He ignored Trace and kept moving into the office. There he found Nikki shuffling through some paper work.

  “Ok so today we need to finish that bike for the Preacher.”

  So she was gonna ignore him.

  “Ace?”

  “The parts have come in for the custom job on that Night Train I don’t care which one of you takes that one.”

  He tried again louder, “Ace?”

  “I’m gonna take that rebuild on the pan head.”

  This time Tex made sure he made himself heard, “Nikki?!”

  She stopped fussing with the papers and moved over to the computer.

  “What Tex? You wanna take the pan head?”

  Jesus she could be so frustrating sometimes.

  “No I do not want to take the rebuild on the fucking pan head.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  She glanced at him quickly then turned back to the computer screen.

  “About what just happened out there?”

  Nikki peered at the screen and started clic
king on random things. She was really doing a half assed job of this nonchalance thing, he could tell.

  “Look Tex you’re single you can do what you like. Who you sleep with is none of my god damn business same as who I sleep or slept with is none of yours. Now there’s a pan head out there calling my name so I’m going to get my gear on and get to work.”

  She left her randomly clicked order form and ducked into the bathroom locking the door behind her.

  This is what they’d been reduced to shouting matches, emotional warfare and locked doors. Tex took a step toward the bathroom but Trace grabbed his arm stopping him from pushing his case through the closed door.

  “Leave it Brother. You’ve done enough damage. Let her work it out then talk to her later. And word to the wise you better freeze that skank Melanie out, the same way the rest of us are. Cos she just screwed you good and I don’t mean the time she spent on your dick.”

  Tex sighed and hung his head. Trace was so right.

  “Right, which job are you taking?”

  Trace glanced out into the workshop.

  “Better to put some distance between the two of you for today so you take Preacher’s bike it’s set up on the other side of the shop. I’ll take the Night Train.”

  Tex nodded and headed out into the shop.

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  Nikki waited until Trace and Tex’s voices had gone quiet. She hated this shit. She wanted to throw some stuff around, break something and scream the walls down but she couldn’t. She wasn’t giving in and going back to that place. She was all about keeping her shit tight. More like holding on to her shit by the tips of her fingers. She could feel the darkness smoldering away inside her just waiting for the right trigger, or the wrong one, to cause a major explosion.

  She needed to shove that shit deep and refocus, try to get her life back. The last thing she needed was to lose her shit. If it happened at the wrong moment it could cost her everything, the club, the boys, her life. She needed to find a way to soothe the beast and to control it. Her thoughts immediately went to Cole. She couldn’t do that anymore either. Nikki screwed her eyes shut and took several deep breaths. She buried those feelings behind the wall and opened her eyes. Now she needed to get busy and quick.

  Chapter 3

  Nikki could hear the music coming from inside the club as she exited the workshop. The boys had closed up shop and left a couple of hours ago. Trace had tried to drag her out but one look at Tex and she needed more time out. She’d buried herself in that engine rebuild until it had leached most of the energy out of her. Now she was ready to go home. Instead she was headed across to the club house because if she didn’t make an appearance there’d be questions asked and she just couldn’t put up with it.

  A cold wind blew across the forecourt waking her up some. A movement at the corner of the clubhouse caught her eye. Nikki glimpsed a cut as someone slipped into the shadows around the side of the building. Nothing unusual about seeing a brother wandering around the clubhouse but this felt weird. Maybe it was the unnatural stealth of the movement or the shiver that moved through her body but something was off.

  Instead of heading for the door Nikki ducked around the opposite side of the building. As she neared the rear corner of the clubhouse she heard Reaper’s voice.

  “So what’s the results?”

  There was silence and then he spoke again, “How much longer will I be able to shoot?”

  A short pause, “And riding?”

  What was he talking about?

  “Right. You sure there’s no other explanation?”

  A string of profanities poured from Reaper’s mouth. A loud thud like fist on brick accompanied his rant.

  Nikki leaned back against the wall and listened as his footsteps moved away from her and the side door of the clubhouse slammed shut. She was thoroughly confused. What could be wrong with him that he wouldn’t be able to shoot or ride? She hadn’t noticed he was unwell but then why would she? It’s not like she socialized with him or even worked with him really. Her phone buzzing drew her attention.

  *Hey Baby girl get your head out of that engine and come inside. I’m so lonely in here even Tex is starting to look attractive*

  It would appear from that text the boys were quite a few drinks ahead of her already. She had better get in there and show her face or they’d send a search party out for her. She sighed and pocketed her phone. Time to get in among the chaos.

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  Trace sat at the bar bourbon and coke in hand. He watched as Tex sunk himself to the bottom of another bottle. He had some skank rubbing herself all over him. That was not a great look after this morning but at least it wasn’t Melanie. That’s what happened when emotions ran deep, sometimes you got carried away.

  A cold breeze swept through the room bringing Trace’s attention to the main door. Nikki stepped in to the room. God she was beautiful. Even though she was rolling in her cut she never looked like a bikie moll. Her legs stretched up from her ankle boots to her short tight black skirt and Trace wanted to wrap them around his body. Her blouse was light and floaty and rather feminine for her. The top buttons were left undone revealing the creamy valley of her cleavage. His mind filled with images of his mouth on her skin and he knew he couldn’t wait any longer. Tonight was the night.

  She spotted him and headed straight for him a soft smile on her face.

  “From grease monkey to sex goddess in thirty seconds,” he exclaimed as she perched on the chair next to him.

  Her smile brightened. “It took a bit longer than thirty seconds. I was already on my way over when you messaged me.”

  “You want a drink?” he asked her.

  “Sure.”

  Trace flagged the bar bitch to grab Nikki a drink and when he turned back he noticed her attention was elsewhere.

  Trace followed her line of sight and spotted Tex. The bird he was with earlier was now working his lap despite Tex’s obvious disinterest. He gave it five minutes before she was out of Tex’s lap and on her ass on the floor.

  “He didn’t mean to hurt you, you know?”

  “I know. He doesn’t think before he acts,” she shrugged, “It’s just him.”

  Her gaze came back to him and he could detect the hurt hiding behind those beautiful eyes. It was always there. Some days it was less obvious than others but it never really went away. He wanted to rescue her from it. But he couldn’t do it on his own. He needed to get that idiot to pull his head out of his ass because the only way they were going to bring Nikki back was if they worked together. The two of them had to look at this thing between them and Nikki from a different angle. Right now though, it was about him and her.

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  Trace reached up and caressed her cheek gently. His soft and gentle touch was a familiar relief. Nikki closed her eyes hypnotized by the repetitive stroke of his fingers on her skin.

  “Come to bed with me?” His words were soft and seductive.

  Nikki’s eyes screwed tightly shut. She needed every ounce of herself to keep her shit locked up tight and she just didn’t know if she had anything left for anyone else.

  “I don’t think I can give you what you want Trace,” she answered him her voice full of regret.

  He continued to stroke her face softly and Nikki felt his body heat shift closer to her.

  “I’m not asking for anything other than this moment. Let me take you away for a little while.”

  She wanted to go away for a while, to leave all the shit behind and spend a night back in her old life. Trace’s lips brushed gently over the skin of her neck, his breath caressing her flesh. She wanted so badly to give in and let his gentle touch take her to another place and time.

  “You need this Nikki.”

  She needed a lot of things.

  “I need this,” the longing in his voice came out loud and clear.

  She’d never been able to say no to Trace or Tex. Not if it was something they truly
needed. She wasn’t going to start now.

  Before she could answer him Trace’s lips gently brushed against hers. His tongue swept out tentatively seeking entrance to her mouth. She parted her lips and his tongue stroked against hers slowly and purposefully. The room around them began to fade away but more than that the constant hum of the monster deep inside her seemed to dim. Her hands travelled from her lap up to his face and into his hair. She clung to him praying this moment of peace would last.

  Suddenly he stood between her legs his arms encircling her waist. Nikki felt the press of his body against hers. The evidence of his need rested against her sex. He rocked into her applying a delicious amount of pressure to her clit. She moaned quietly into his mouth and his hold tightened on her. Trace’s lips disappeared and the chaos around them invaded her senses once again.

  “Is that a yes?” he asked.

  Was there any other answer to that question?

  “Yes.”

  Trace helped her from her stool and lead Nikki through the crowd. As they were moving through the party Nikki felt eyes on her. Her gaze went straight to Tex. He was trying his best to discreetly dislodge the slag on his lap. She was too drunk and too busy trying her hardest to fuck him with her clothes on to take any notice of his efforts and he was clearly becoming frustrated. The next second Tex upended the bird and she landed on her ass on the floor. Nikki shook her head and turned away.