Grizzly (Devil's Fury MC 8) Read online

  His room. At the clubhouse. Where all those women went to party. Did he take them to his room too? Was that where he… I quickly shut off that train of thought. Even though some part of me wanted to know, I also didn’t. It was too painful. And yet my mouth and brain obviously weren’t connected.

  “Are you taking me to a place where you hook up with the… whatever you call them?” I cringed and couldn’t believe I’d just asked him that.

  He folded his arms over his chest, making his biceps bulge in a way that had my mouth watering. It was really unfair. He shouldn’t look so amazing. Not when he didn’t want me the way I wanted him. It sucked.

  “Are you asking me if I fuck women in the room where I’m taking you?” he asked.

  I hadn’t expected him to be quite so direct. My cheeks burned hot. “Y-yes. That’s what I’m asking.”

  His lips twitched, as if he struggled not to smile. “You’re so damn cute, May. No, angel. I haven’t taken any women to that room.”

  My shoulders slumped. He hadn’t taken anyone there, but he’d been with women. He was nineteen. Nearly twenty. Single. And one of the best-looking guys I’d ever seen. I couldn’t blame the women for wanting him. With his neatly trimmed beard, the power and cockiness he exuded, I didn’t doubt he had girls and women falling at his feet. I could never compete.

  I heard his heavy tread, then his boots came into view. He tipped my chin up. “May, what’s going on?”

  “Nothing.” I forced a smile. “It’s fine. Thanks for stopping Seth earlier. I’d hate for my first time to --”

  His grip on my chin tightened and my gaze flashed to his. “Your first time?”

  “Y-yeah. I thought you knew. Wasn’t that why you only wanted to be friends?” My cheeks burned hotter. “I mean, unless you’re just not attracted to me at all, which I guess I can understand considering the women you’re around all the time. They’re more… curvy.”

  The day my friends had driven past, I eagerly looked out the window. Secretly, I’d hoped for a peek at John. Instead, I’d felt like my heart was breaking even more because I knew I’d never be as sexy as those women.

  “May.”

  I snapped my mouth shut.

  “You’re a fucking idiot.”

  My eyes went wide. He said what? “Excuse me?”

  “An idiot. You think I pushed you away because I don’t want you? Jesus. I want you too much, angel. Good girl like you deserves so much better than me.”

  “John, you’ve saved me several times now. You’re not some monster. I know what the people around here say about you and your club, but I know different. You’d never hurt someone, unless they deserved it.”

  He shook his head. “You’re something else. You know that? One of a kind.”

  “Am I still invited to go with you? Now that I’ve embarrassed myself. Again.”

  “You have no reason to be embarrassed. You’re beautiful, May. Smart. Sweet.” He rubbed his thumb across my lip. “Innocent.”

  “I’ve made out with guys before. Just because I’m a virgin doesn’t mean I haven’t done anything at all.”

  He growled and his eyes darkened. “Fair warning, angel. You won’t be doing those things anymore. Not unless it’s with me. Another guy so much as puts his hands on you, and I’ll tear him apart.”

  I smiled and reached up to run my fingers over his beard. “You say the sweetest things.”

  He snorted and took my hand. “Come on. Time to go. Just remember, at the compound, you call me Grizzly.”

  I followed him out my busted front door. He gave a nod to a man in the hall wearing a cut like his, except it said Prospect on it. If I’d have known babbling about my insecurities where he was concerned would get me anywhere, I’d have done it long ago. Since last summer, John was the only one I’d wanted.

  Chapter Two

  Grizzly

  Holy hell! My little May was a virgin? I’d known she was too good, too sweet for a bastard like me. My dad was an abusive asshole, and my mother was just a junkie looking for her next fix. I hadn’t wanted the filth in my life to touch May, but it seemed she attracted her own monsters. If being with me kept her safe from guys like Seth, then I wasn’t going to let her out of my sight.

  May pressed against my back, her hands clutched at my waist. Having her plastered to me as my bike roared through town felt more right than anything else in my life. I’d seen the way she reacted when she thought I was fucking the girls at the club. I may have gotten my dick wet a time or two -- or more, but since saving May, she’d been the one on my mind. The disappointment I’d seen in her eyes had nearly gutted me.

  I’d pushed her away, thinking it was for her own good, but I was damn well lying to myself and knew it. I wanted her, and it seemed she wanted me too. I’d tried to tell myself she had a crush and it would pass, but maybe I was wrong. If I thought her parents wouldn’t flip the fuck out, I’d claim her here and now. Didn’t matter to me she was only seventeen and still in high school. There was only two years between us.

  I pulled up to the clubhouse and parked my bike at the end. I tapped May’s leg and she got off. Moment of truth. She’d never been to the clubhouse, and for good reason, but if I was going to keep her in my life, I needed to see if she could handle it. The bitches inside could be catty, and I’d need a strong woman beside me, someone who could stand up to them. Even though I’d just patched in less than a year ago, I hoped one day to have a shot at an officer’s position. I’d just have to work my ass off until then.

  I shut off the bike and took May’s hand, leading her inside.

  Smoke filled the air and music blasted from an old jukebox in the corner. Several of my brothers were sprawled in various spots around the room, some with their pants open. A few of the club whores were already here, willing and ready, and barely dressed. I felt May tense and could only imagine what she thought of all this.

  I led her through the room to the back hall and up the stairs. I unlocked the door to my room, shoving it open to let her in, following close behind. The second the door clicked shut and I twisted the lock the tension in the room went up. May glanced around the small space and I tried to see it through her eyes.

  “I know it’s not much,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. Her apartment might not be in the ritziest part of town, but it was nicer than this place. I hadn’t paid much attention to her bedroom, but I imagined it was filled with pretty things. I’d been too focused on May at the time and trying not to rip Seth apart with my bare hands.

  My bed was a queen but the comforter was just plain navy. I’d gotten it at the discount store, along with the gray sheets. The dresser was old and scarred. One of the drawers wouldn’t close all the way, and I didn’t have a closet so I always left my boots on the floor.

  “Bathroom is through there,” I said, pointing to the closed door across the room. “It’s clean.”

  Damn well better be. I’d scrubbed it myself. I’d learned the hard way not to let the club whores in here, not even if they claimed to just want to help clean. My brothers might trust them, but I sure the fuck didn’t. May went over to peer inside. It was just a small room with a sink, toilet, and a shower I barely fit into, but it was mine.

  “Not as nice as your place,” I said, shoving my hands into my pockets.

  “Are you kidding?” she asked. “It’s yours, John.”

  I winced and glanced behind me at the closed door, hoping no one lurked outside and heard the slip-up. I’d told her to call me Grizzly while we were here, but maybe she’d thought I meant only in the presence of others. I hadn’t been overly clear about it and probably should have been. It wasn’t like she’d been around the club before. In my private room, it didn’t matter much what she called me. I just didn’t want any of my brothers, or the club whores, overhearing her use my actual name and think she meant something to me.

  She did. She meant the world to me. I just didn’t want them to know it. Not yet.

  “Bet your room is
pretty,” I said. “I didn’t pay much attention earlier.”

  “Those pretty things come with a price,” she said. I’d wondered about her home life. She hadn’t talked much about her parents, except to say they went out of town a lot. From what I’d seen, they didn’t seem to care what she did.

  I nodded to the little TV on the end of the dresser. It was small, but I had cable. I even had a VCR and some movies, thanks to the club. Some of my brothers had hit a warehouse a few months back, and while most everything had been sold, we’d been given the option to keep some of the stuff.

  “We can pick out a movie to watch.”

  May’s cheeks flushed as she eyed the bed. I didn’t exactly have chairs in here. She toed off her shoes and sat on the bed, then swung her legs up onto the mattress. If she hadn’t knotted her hands in her lap, I might have believed she was comfortable, but it was clear it made her anxious to be here. I didn’t know if it was the clubhouse, or me. Might have been both.

  “I shouldn’t have brought you here,” I said.

  Her gaze shot to mine. “What? Why?”

  “You’re fidgeting. Uncomfortable.” I shook my head. “This is my world, May. Not yours. It’s why I tried to keep my distance. You don’t belong here.”

  She got off the bed and came closer, not stopping until she placed her hands on my chest. “John, where I belong is with you. I can get used to this place. I don’t care where we are as long as we’re together.”

  I reached up to cup her cheek. Her skin was so damn soft. The way she looked at me, the innocence in her eyes, nearly took me to my knees. The world didn’t have nearly enough people like her, and I worried life would chew her up and spit her out. Another reason I’d held off was her age. At only seventeen, I had no right to put my hands on her. It wasn’t illegal for us to be together, but it didn’t mean people wouldn’t take exception to a sweet high school girl dating someone like me.

  The people in town would talk, and I knew it was May who’d bear the brunt of the censure. I didn’t want her to suffer through something like that. She deserved to have the world at her feet.

  “I should take you home and stay far the fuck away from you.” I sighed. “But I don’t think I can. They’ll test you. The club and those women out there. I can’t be here to protect you all the time, May, and they won’t let me. I don’t want this life to harden you. You’re my angel and I want you to always stay this sweet. I’m worried being here will change you.”

  “If I can’t handle it, I’ll let you know,” she said. “I admit what I saw when we walked in wasn’t at all what I’d pictured. It shocked me, and I certainly don’t want to strip down out there like those women.”

  My hold on her tightened. “You won’t have to.”

  Well, fuck me sideways. She might. They could very well ask her to show her loyalty in ways I’d never allow. I hadn’t thought everything through and might have just dug a hole neither of us could escape from. The club had rules, and if May wanted to be part of my life, she’d have to abide by them too.

  “May, there’s something you need to know. Leaving this room isn’t safe. Not even if you’re with me. There are certain rules to follow while you’re here. When it comes to women, they’re fair game. Even if they knew I wanted to make you mine, they’d push you. Test you. And I don’t mean mine as in the sort of relationship you have at school. It’s more. A lot more.”

  “Like we have to get married?” she asked, her head tipped to the side.

  “No. The club doesn’t do marriage. They need a chance to get to know you. After some time has passed, I can ask them to vote on whether or not you can be my old lady. You’d get a cut kind of like mine but it would say Property of Grizzly on the back.”

  She moved in closer, the heat of her body pressing against me. Fuck if my dick didn’t get hard. I wouldn’t act on it. Not right now.

  “Are there other old ladies?” she asked.

  “Just one. Magda is the Pres’s old lady.”

  A fist pounded on my door, rattling it on the hinges.

  “Open the door right fucking now, kid,” King bellowed.

  I pushed May behind me and unlocked the door, letting it swing open. King, the club’s Treasurer, looked pissed as hell, his gaze zeroing in on May. The look he shot me was full of fury, but I refused to back down. Besides, he wasn’t much older than me.

  “Why the fuck am I getting a call from Don Cartwright about you running off with his son’s girlfriend? Not to mention he says you beat the little shit and left him black and blue.”

  I heard May hiss like a pissed-off kitten. “I’m not that asshole’s girlfriend.”

  I closed my eyes briefly and shook my head. Now wasn’t the time for her to decide she was all tough and shit. Yeah, she’d have to prove she was worthy of being part of the club as my old lady, but this wasn’t the first impression I’d hoped for.

  “Not his girlfriend?” King asked. “Then just who the fuck do you belong to?”

  I saw her step out from behind me and point in my direction. “Him.”

  I straightened to my full height, which put me a good three inches taller than King. I should have gone over more shit with May before I brought her here. She had no idea what she’d just done. He rubbed a hand over his eyes and muttered something that sounded like Jesus H Christ. “All the women you have at your disposal, and you pick one who’s going to cause the most trouble. The Pres is going to be pissed.”

  “Magda will love her,” I said, hoping it was true. She’d taken on the role of mother to all of us, and if anyone needed mothering, it was May. I was counting on the two of them bonding and smoothing my girl’s way with the club.

  “You know we need to run this by Bullseye,” he said.

  “I know. She needed me, and a safe place, King. I wasn’t going to leave her there with a busted door.” Never mind I was the one who’d torn through it. I’d do it again too if meant keeping May safe.

  His eyebrows went up. “Is that where Isaiah went?”

  “He’s watching the door until it can be repaired or replaced. I hadn’t had a chance to call anyone yet. Had to bust it down when I heard what was happening.”

  King’s shoulders sagged. “I don’t want to know, do I?”

  “He was going to rape her, King. I know this club isn’t exactly squeaky clean, but if I find out anyone is hurting a woman that way, I’ll gut the bastard. Brother or not, Cartwright’s kid had her on her knees and was trying to unfasten his pants.” Fury rolled through me again just remembering the scene I’d walked in on. The fucker was lucky he was still breathing, although it seemed I shouldn’t have been so lenient.

  “The Cartwrights are going to rain down hell on us if we keep her here,” he said. “But you were right to protect her. She says she belongs to you, but you know damn well how things work around here.”

  “I know.” Didn’t mean I liked it. If I ever got into a position to make a difference, there were a bunch of things I’d change. The first being how the club would try to treat May. I didn’t think I could keep my cool. “Anyone touches her…”

  He looked over at her again and nodded. “Right. Got it.”

  “So how do we do this?” I asked.

  “Head into Church and take her with you. I know it’s not done, but we’re not bringing in the full club. Just Magda, Bullseye, the three of us, and Killer. We’ll start small.”

  I took May’s hand and followed King down the back stairs. He motioned for us to enter the club’s sacred space and presumably went to get the others. Magda arrived first, clucking her tongue at us.

  “You starting trouble, Grizzly?” she asked.

  “No, ma’am. Just finishing it.”

  She smiled and pulled May into a hug. “Welcome to the Devil’s Fury. The big growly men will be here in a minute. I’d say their bark is worse than their bite, but I’d be lying. Don’t worry. If this one here wants to keep you, I’ll give you my support. He’s a good one, which means you must be too. Dou
bt he’d want to hang onto a girl who wasn’t a sweetheart.”

  “She’s an angel, Magda.”

  “You know anything about this club, girl?” Magda asked May.

  My girl shook her head. “Only that Grizzly is part of it. And I know people around town don’t think much of any of you, which is stupid. I’ve never met anyone better than Grizzly.”

  Magda studied May, staring into her eyes for so long I wondered if she was trying to hypnotize her. “All right. You let me handle Bullseye. Once he falls in line, Killer will too. But be warned. You’ll have to fight to keep him, May. There are women here who’d love to get their hooks into Grizzly, and they’ll see you as competition.”

  May lifted her chin. “They can’t have him.”

  “I’m afraid you’ll need more than words. You ever fight?”

  May’s eyes went wide. “N-no.”

  Magda sighed and focused on me. “Boy, I hope you know what you’re doing. Those jackals out there will chew her up and spit her out.”

  “No, they won’t. They’ll have to go through me,” I said. And I meant it. Never again would someone hurt May. Not on my watch.

  Chapter Three

  May

  When the man John had called King came into the room, he brought two others with him. I assumed it was the Bullseye and Killer mentioned before. All of them seemed big, rough, and a little scary. Even with Grizzly and Magda at my side, I’d have been a fool not to worry. What if they didn’t want me here? And what had King’s cryptic words meant? What exactly was expected of me in order to be with Grizzly?

  I noticed their names were on their cuts, just like Grizzly’s. I knew I needed to keep thinking of him that way, or I’d slip up and call him John at the wrong time. I didn’t want to embarrass him, or make him angry. He’d stressed the importance of using his club name, and I’d make sure that’s what I did.

  Bullseye looked me over, making me feel a little like I was on display. “How old is she?”

  “Seventeen,” Grizzly said. “She’s still in high school, but I don’t care, Pres. I’ve tried to stay away and I can’t. She means too much to me. Besides, it’s not illegal for us to be together so if you’re worried about extra heat from the cops there’s no need.”