AX (Forsaken Riders MC Romance Book 10) Read online

  She backcombed the roots of her hair and slicked on some dark lipstick before lining her eyes heavily with black liner. She looked every inch the vamp and even though it wasn’t a look she regularly went for, after her show, she felt as if it was the right one. She slipped into a tight, short lacy teddy and spritzed herself with perfume before she gave herself one more glance over in the mirror.

  “Time to work the room,” she said to herself as she pushed up her boobs and flashed herself her cute smile.

  All she could hope was that there wouldn’t be any pervy, awful guys hanging around in there desperate to talk to her. But if there was, she would be prepared.

  As she opened the doors and made her way into the main room of the club, the music was loud and bouncing, and two relatively new girls twirled around the poles on the stage. The spotlights weren’t on them, they were more background dancers than a main event, but in Tanner’s, there always had to be something happening or the men lost interest pretty fast. After all, they only really came to see tits and ass, not to listen to the music and enjoy a beer.

  Star smiled and waved to her from a small group of men that could only be truckers and Jill wanted to call over to tell her not to bother wasting her time, but what would be the point, Star wasn’t stupid. She could figure everything out on her own, she had been doing this long enough.

  You’re so negative now, the little voice in her head told her. You shouldn’t be so hard on everyone.

  “Hello there sexy,” a voice came from behind her, and she turned to see a complete stranger standing there with a leery look on his face and drunken drawl. “Loved seeing you shake it up there,” he panted.

  Here we go… she thought as she put on her prettiest smile and prepared to flatter him with her usual spiel. It wasn’t the first time she had done it, and it most certainly wouldn’t be the last. But she wanted a better couch for her newly decorated front room, and she was going to have to work for it. In the grand scheme of a night at work, what was one conversation with a lonely guy who had money to burn?

  “Well hello there, handsome,” she said sickly sweet as she slid up next to him at the bar. “So, what are we drinking?”

  “Whatever you want!” he said with wide eyes, as if he couldn’t believe his luck.

  “Oh good,” she clapped and grinned. “A bottle of your finest champagne,” she winked to the girl serving behind the bar.

  The girl laughed and winked back, they all knew the score in Tanner’s and it was part of what made it so much fun.

  “Expensive taste,” the guy said as he reached for his wallet.

  “Do I?” she said playfully as she covered her mouth in mock surprise.

  He laughed and tried to put an arm around her, which she swiftly removed.

  “This isn’t that kind of place,” she told him firmly. “But if you’d like to have a drink and talk with me, I’d love to know more about you.”

  He looked disappointed for a moment but he quickly thawed and nodded with a smile.

  It was going to be a long night, she could tell.

  Oh, for a bit of excitement, she thought as she pretended to listen to him start to bore on about his job. But remember Jill, the last time you wished for that, Jack came hurtling into your life…

  Maybe a lack of excitement wasn’t such a bad thing after all. Maybe a run of the mill night, chatting to some lonely business man, was exactly what she needed.

  4.

  “How much?” Star asked as the girls packed up their clothes and make-up in the changing room.

  “Not very good, considering,” Jill said with disappointment. “It’s the new security guy, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  Star faltered for a moment before her mouth firmed into a little slit and she nodded.

  “Yeah, but I was too nervous to say.”

  Jill knew exactly what she meant.

  “It’s probably a good idea not to say anything,” Jill continued. “You never know with these guys…”

  And that much was true. They could never be sure who was more valuable to The Forsaken Riders, men came and went from Tanner’s regularly and it was better never to ask any questions. In this game, knowing too much was never a good thing.

  “Anyway,” Jill said. “It could have been worse.”

  But it still stung. Normally, on a night as packed as it had been, and considering it was a Saturday, she could have been going home with close to two grand, whereas she had barely even made one.

  “Yeah,” Star agreed quietly.

  The girls finished packing up their things and headed to the doorway. Jill turned off the lights and they locked up the changing room behind them. They were the last one’s of the dancers and even though the sun was beginning to rise over the desert, Jill felt wide awake and full of energy.

  “Why don’t we go to the diner and grab breakfast?” she asked Star chirpily.

  “Good idea!” Star grinned as they walked down the hallway and pushed through the swinging doors and into the main area of the club.

  The mess was incredible. Even without any customers inside, the empty bottles and glasses covering the floor was outrageous. There were sticky puddles of spilled spirits and overflowing ashtrays. Crumpled up chip packets littered the outside of the rooms and the smell was of stale booze and sweat.

  “Urgh,” Jill said as she tried not to take it all in. “I always hate seeing it this way.”

  “Me too,” agreed Star.

  “Well, at least you don’t have to clean it up,” Jenny, the bar girl said as she mopped her brow.

  “Sorry,” Jill said sympathetically.

  And she meant it. She had been in Jenny’s position once. Before she learned to dance and discovered her love for it, she had begun her career at Red X as a bar girl just like her. And she knew how hard it was to clean up everyone else’s mess.

  “I’m used to is,” Jenny shrugged. “Anyway, did I tell you Bull’s got me someone to come in and help on early mornings?”

  “No,” Jill said. “That’s great!”

  “Yeah, an actual cleaner,” she beamed. “So really, I just have to gather up all the rubbish and empties now and she does the rest.”

  “Awesome,” Star said. “At least you can get home earlier.”

  Jenny nodded with a big smile.

  “We’re going to head to the diner for breakfast if you fancy it?” Jill asked as she and Star headed toward the door.

  “Thanks for asking girls, but I’ve got my work cut out for me here for at least an hour. Next time, though…”

  “Okay Jenny, catch you later.” They all waved to each other and Jill pushed open the front door and let the desert sunrise shine into her eyes.

  The front of the club was deserted, save for a smattering of silver Harley’s that all glinted in the morning sun. The girls stood and looked around for a moment, taking in the dawn with their squinting eyes. They had spent the past ten hours in darkness, so it was good to feel the warm air on their skin and their eyes felt less tired as they adjusted to the brightness.

  “I wonder who’s still here,” Jill said as she glanced toward the bikes.

  Even though she had worked at the club for well over a year, she hadn’t met even half of the men that made up The Forsaken Riders. From what she had gathered, they all had their own turf and their own responsibilities. The same guys tended to hang around at the strip club, overseeing everything, whilst others tended to stick to the bar across town, The Bleeding Bullet. Jill had heard a lot of stories work their way back to her from the other side of town. She’d been told many tales of what that place was like, but she has yet to see if for herself. Star had pleaded with her on several occasions to head over there and see what it was all about, but Jill had never had the nerve. She saw enough of that kind of life day in and day out at work, and she didn’t want to embroil herself it in anymore.

  “Looks like Lynx’s bike to me,” Star said.

  “As if you can even tell,” Jill half la
ughed. “Those bikes all look the same.”

  “Only to the untrained eye,” Star winked.

  Jill rolled her eyes and linked her arm with Star’s.

  “Come on,” she said. “I’ll drive us, my car is out back.”

  They started to walk across the dusty ground and made their way around the side of the building. Jill could hear the sound of men’s voices getting louder as they approached the back entrance and she was sure she could make out those of King’s and Steel’s.

  As they rounded the corner fully and stepped into the private back parking lot for Tanner’s, Jill could immediately see they were stepping into the middle of a meeting. Four of the bikers were standing in a circle with their arms folded. They were all smoking and drinking, cradling half empty bottles of beer and rubbing tired eyes. They had clearly all been awake a long time just like she had, and she wondered why they hadn’t just gone to sleep in one of the back rooms when they looked so weary.

  “Hey guys,” Star called across to them.

  The four bikers all turned and let their heavily hooded eyes fall onto them both.

  “Well, well, well,” King said with menace. “Two of Tanner’s finest.”

  “The absolute finest, I think you mean,” Jill said cheekily.

  The men all nodded their heads in agreement and raised their beers in cheers.

  “You did good tonight,” Lynx said. “It was a full house.”

  “Just doing our jobs,” Star winked.

  It was tempting to loiter and talk with them, but Jill could already feel how empty with hunger she was. Her stomach was hollow and when she seriously thought about it, she couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten.

  She stopped and dropped her bag on the ground and started to root through it and look for her car keys. Her purse was so big and full of junk she could never seem to find them when she needed them the most. She could feel the eyes of all of the bikers on her, and those of Star and it made her nerves mount.

  “Jeez,” Star yawned. “Every time. Why don’t you get a flashing keyring or something?”

  King snorted with laughter and the four of them returned to their conversation. Even though Jill was concentrating on finding her keys, she could still overhear some of what they were saying, and even though she was trying not to eavesdrop too much, she couldn’t help but pick up on certain parts, and found herself taking it all in.

  “How long will he be?” Steel asked. “I thought you said he’d be here for midnight?”

  “He got delayed when he was leaving,” King replied. “I shouldn’t imagine it’ll be too much longer now.”

  “Is he ready for what’s waiting for him?” Lynx said ominously.

  “Probably not,” King said as he exhaled a plume of smoke into the air. “But are any of us?”

  “Well, we all have to be,” Steel said.

  King and Lynx nodded and Bull watched them all with narrowing eyes.

  “Of course he’ll be ready,” Bull interjected. “There’s a reason he’s been away doing what he’s doing. It’s because I trust him and because I know he’s capable. He’s one of the only people who could gain the trust of outsiders, and he knows each town around here, and the neighboring states like the back of his hand.”

  The circle fell quiet. Bull was clearly mad at them for something.

  In the distance, Jill could hear the roar of an engine coming closer. It cut through the morning silence and seemed to be firing toward them like a rocket on its way to the moon.

  “Well,” Bull said. “Looks like you all don’t have to worry about hanging around any longer.”

  He drained the rest of his bottle of beer and threw it behind him into an already overflowing dumpster.

  Star was staring down at Jill and tapping her foot.

  “Jeez,” she hissed in a whisper. “Come on, we better get out of here, who knows who they’ve got coming to meet them.”

  Jill realized her hands were trembling. She knew all about what had happened when the Red X had been stormed and attacked by The Iron Riders, and one of the most memorable details was that it had happened at dawn. She looked up at Star with pleading eyes, begging her not to start hassling her at that precise moment.

  “This is him all right,” King said as he took a step forward and raised his hand to his eyes to shield his vision from the sun.

  The bike was so loud it sounded as if a truck was pulling into the parking lot. Jill got to her feet and instinctively wanted to move out of the middle and quickly to the side of her car. She and Star stood next to each other and watched the gleaming bike pull around the side and up next to them. Bull, King, Lynx and Steel all spread out of their circle and started to walk forward towards whoever had joined the party, and Jill’s heart was pounding in her chest, worried of what they may be about to witness or get caught up amongst.

  The bike’s engine went quiet and the man straddling it swung his leg over the side before planting his feet firmly on the ground and stretching his arms up high over his head. Jill could hear the click of his bones as he moved and it made her spine tingle.

  He was wearing a helmet and mask over the lower half of his face, but when he reached up and pulled the helmet from his head, she could see he had a thick wiry mass of dark hair underneath. She was transfixed. It was almost as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She had never known the bikers to stand out the back like this at such a time on a morning, or to talk about someone so openly. Jill didn’t know a whole lot about the inner workings of a motorcycle club, but she did know one thing… Either this guy was a Forsaken Rider, or he was from a rival gang. And the way the four men she knew were all spreading out to stand around him, she really feared it was the latter.

  But Bull had said he trusted him…

  “Here he is,” King said with outstretched arms. And Jill felt herself relax slightly.

  The man who had just stepped off the bike matched them all in size and muscle tone. He was tall with wide shoulders, dressed in full leathers and sporting a smattering of dark and dangerous looking tattoos across his hands. His knuckles were covered in letters, but the way he was standing Jill couldn’t make out what it said. All she knew was it looked mean and bad to the bone.

  “Boys,” the man said as he reached up and began to slowly remove the mask from the lower half of his face.

  The sun was shining brightly, and it was obscuring Jill’s view. She hadn’t even been aware but she had stopped dead still and wasn’t even looking for her keys anymore. Her gaze was fixed on this newcomer, and the fact that she felt so intrigued but couldn’t say why. She moved out of the glare of the sun, and it was then that she could fully see him. His jaw was strong and chiseled, but it was hidden beneath a big, rough looking beard. His eyes were dark, but the whites of them shone and glinted beneath his thick brows, and even from a distance Jill could tell how penetrating they were.

  “So you’re back,” Lynx said as he held out his hand and wrapped it up in his as he pulled him in for a hug and slapped him on the back.

  The newcomer embraced them all one by one, and they all seemed to know him well. He certainly wasn’t a rival, that was for sure.

  “I’m back, and it feels good to be here,” he said genuinely.

  Jill’s mouth was agape slightly as she watched him and the way he moved around them. He was strong and confident. He was part of their family, and she felt almost denied that she had never had the pleasure of making his acquaintance before.

  Star nudged her and Jill shook her off.

  “Jill?” Star hissed. “The keys?”

  Jill nodded her head and reached back into her bag. The bikers were all laughing and joking, hugging each other some more and opening a bottle of beer for the new arrival.

  “I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve set foot in this place,” the new guy said as he took a swig of his beer and looked up at the club. “I don’t think I even came back once it changed from Red X.”

  “You did
n’t,” Bull confirmed. “You were busy over at the club house, and then I gave you your orders.”

  The new guy nodded, and then he slowly turned and let his eyes fall onto the two girls standing there watching them.

  “So I suppose you’ve also never had the pleasure of meeting Jill and Star?” King asked with a cheeky laugh.

  “No,” the new guy said as he looked sternly into Jill’s eyes. “I certainly haven’t.”

  Jill could feel her heart beginning to race and she had to suck in a deep breath as subtly as she could. Star started to chatter mindlessly beside her, flapping around and acting cutesy, but Jill couldn’t take her eyes off him, and she couldn’t move. And it appeared that she was having the same effect on him.

  “I’m Star,” Star interrupted their moment and jumped between them and held out her hand. “I’m a dancer here.”

  Even as she barged in between them, he still didn’t look at her, his and Jill’s eyes were so deeply locked, and it was going to take something big to break it. Jill didn’t want to be the first to look away, but she was aware of how awkward the atmosphere was becoming around them, and she couldn’t think of anything else she could do. She shot her eyes to the ground and pushed her hair behind her ears with embarrassment.

  “Nice to meet you, Star,” the new guy said as he politely and reluctantly shook her hand.

  He waited for a moment and then he took a step forward so that he was so close to Jill she could smell the mixture of gasoline and cologne on him. It made her insides tighten.

  “So that means you must be Jill,” he said.

  She let her eyes wander up to meet his and he had her there again. It was as if he was some kind of harpoon and he was pinning her against a wall, slowly destroying her. But the weirdest thing about it was she kind of liked it, even if all she could see was trouble ahead.

  “Yes, I’m Jill,” she managed to whisper.