Challenged (Vipers Creed MC#1) Read online

  I rolled up, stopping the SUV at the closed gate to the entrance.

  Unease whispered around me due to the heavy security. Who in the hell were they protecting in there, the fucking president?

  A large man built like a stubby Mac truck with a goatee and light brown hair came up to my window, his eyes covered by black glasses. I hit the automatic button to lower my window, waiting for it to clear all the way down.

  “What can I do for ya?” he asked, bending into the window with a smirk on his face. He made no qualms about looking down the front of my shirt at my ample cleavage. I hadn’t worn the shirt for that purpose, but I had very few shirts that didn’t show off the girls.

  I snapped my fingers three times in quick succession, and his eyes met mine. “My eyes are up here.”

  “But down there is just as fucking good.” He licked his lips as lust blazed off him.

  Men, they were all the same: Booze, bitches, and boobs.

  “I’m here to see Cade.” Dammit, I needed to stop that. Cade wasn’t his damn name any more, but separating the two came as a challenge. “I mean Spook. He’s expecting me.”

  “Fuck, boss man always gets the prime pussy.” He groaned in a way that suggested this type of occurrence was routine, an idea which I pushed out of my head as soon as it entered.

  I arched my brow. “No one gets my pussy but me,” I combated, tilting my head just a touch.

  I told things like they were and didn’t back down from a fight or a challenge. That being said, I had also learned how to cut my losses and get the hell out of a bad situation. Burly man here would not intimidate me.

  “Doubt that one.” He nodded to one of the guys in the tall tower, and the steel gate slowly started to open with a loud creak in front of me. “Have a good time, and when you’re done, come find me.”

  “No, thanks,” I murmured, driving away from him with no intention of searching him out ever.

  The wide area felt vast, almost like a whole city block. I had lived in Tennessee all my life, so of course, I’d known of the Vipers Creed. Everyone did. However, to actually see their compound, to be in their space, unnerved me. There was an aura of power that I felt down to my bones, causing me to fight back a shiver.

  Vipers Creed MC had bought an old army compound many years ago. The structure on the outside reminded me of the classic war movies I passed by on television. Inside the gates, though, looked nothing like the starkness of the outside.

  Several buildings outlined the space. An enormous structure looked like it had two, maybe three, levels to it. I assumed that was the main building, because several smaller concrete structures surrounded a large courtyard with bright green grass and a fire pit off to the side. Some actually looked as if they were homes with plants and flowers around them. It seemed homey, comfortable in a way, like a family lived here and took care of it.

  Off to the far left sat Creed’s Automotive, with several hot rods and a few bikes lining its parking lot.

  A spot near the larger building came into view. I parked my car, turned off the ignition, and then sat back in my seat, giving myself a moment. I did this before every business meeting just to make sure I got my head on straight. Too bad this meeting had to be with Cade. If rumors over the years served me right, he was the president of Vipers Creed. The two guys I had talked to confirmed it with the boss man bullshit.

  People changed a lot over time, going different paths, some good and some not so good. I wasn’t a judge, jury, or executioner in this scenario, but I had to wonder, with all the security, exactly how much Cade changed from the boy I’d known all those years ago. Did his life happen to be so dangerous that he had to be behind cement walls with guys guarding them? And if it were that dangerous, why would he choose this life?

  I wanted to bang my head on the steering wheel. It didn’t matter. I was here for one reason and one reason only. I should have found comfort in the knowledge that the meet was business, but it didn’t come.

  With a heavy sigh, I opened the SUV door then hopped down to the blacktop. I pulled my shirt down, readjusting myself and making sure the girls were covered. I’d gone simple, wearing a pair of ripped jeans, a blue V-neck top, and flats. I loaded myself up with silver on my wrists and a couple of chains around my neck. I didn’t do much with my hair besides run the brush through it. I liked having my chestnut tresses fall in thick waves down my back.

  “Hey, mouse,” a man with a bald head and a tailored beard said from my left. Black sunglasses covered his eyes, and his lips were lifted into a sexy smirk. He wore a leather vest, which had a Secretary patch on it, over a dark blue T-shirt. He was attractive in his own unique way.

  Mouse was a strange greeting, but I went with it.

  “Hi, I’m here to see Ca—Spook,” I told him, lifting my hand to block the penetrating sun that my sunglasses had no chance of hindering.

  “I bet you are.” He chuckled, running his hand over his beard as he appraised me.

  I should have felt heat from his intense stare, but I didn’t. Okay, maybe a flicker if I was being honest with myself. I knew how I looked, considering I saw myself in the mirror every morning.

  My body drove some guys crazy because I had an abundance of tits and ass. I understood that. It was even flattering that men found me attractive. At the moment though, I didn’t need his appraisal or anyone else’s. I just wanted to get this shit over with. In and out. Wipe my hands clean of Cade again.

  “Can you tell me where he is?”

  The bald man walked closer, holding out his arm with a crooked elbow like an usher would do at a wedding. I smiled. It was cute, especially from a burly man like him. I placed my hand in the bend of his firm arm.

  “Let me show you to him,” he said.

  We began to walk, and all the while, the heads of the guys sitting in the courtyard area turned and whistles erupted. I ignored the noise, falling into step with the man.

  “Thanks,” I told him with a pat on the arm.

  “Anything for the boss man.”

  While I didn’t know Cade’s life, I had some assumptions. I watched the television shows about men in motorcycle clubs and all the havoc they raised. I didn’t know if they were actually true, but at least I wasn’t going in completely blind. I did know they had a hierarchy of power, and the men had to ride Harley’s. Other than that, I only knew what the TV shows told me.

  Who am I kidding? I was pretty much clueless.

  The man chuckled deeply. “So, what’s a hot piece like you coming here for?”

  When he asked the question, I looked up at him. Lines sprinkled around his eyes and lips like he’d ridden his bike in the sun for hours. His face matched the tanned color of his head. It wasn’t a look, though; it was him.

  A small grin played on his lips, catching my attention. I didn’t know if he already knew the answer to his question and was playing me or if he actually was being inquisitive. Once again, I rolled with it.

  “I have word one of my girls is here with you. She owes me money, and I want it.”

  He opened a solid, steel door, and we walked into darkness. I ripped my sunglasses from my face as the low hum of the newly turned on lights illuminated the room. The scents of stale booze, cigarettes, and sex permeated the air like a thick haze. I knew those three smells by heart because I smelled them every day. They were my livelihood, the reason I had stepped foot in Cade’s world.

  “This way,” he said, pulling my arm.

  I followed him into a wide open space. Tables were scattered throughout with chairs at each of them. A long bar sat on the other side of the room with loads of liquor, looking like it could give me a run for my money in comparison to the one I had at Sirens.

  I felt kind of strange holding this guy’s arm without knowing his name, so I asked.

  He lifted his shades to the top of his head and stared down at me with eyes the color of the ocean. They weren’t blue, and they weren’t green. They were both, and they were breathtaking. I got suc
ked into them momentarily.

  “Stiff.”

  “Stiff?” I questioned as he walked me through the space and down a long hallway. What in the hell kind of name was Stiff?

  Pictures hung on the wooden planked walls, but at the pace we were going, I had no time to look at them without stumbling over my own feet.

  He chuckled. “Yeah, mouse. You stick around, and I’m sure you’ll find out why.” He winked then stopped us in front of a wooden door. With his fist, he banged loudly three times, shaking the pictures on the wall next to the door.

  “What?” barked a voice from the opposite side. Even with the wood between us, with that one word, I felt my body instantly awaken, wanting to pull toward the sound.

  “Someone here to see ya,” Stiff yelled back.

  “Nice intercom you have here,” I murmured.

  Stiff chuckled.

  Little did I know opening that door would change my life forever.

  THE DOOR FLEW open, sending my hair back in a whoosh.

  “She …” Cade’s words stopped, a smile appearing on his alluring lips. “Well, hello there, little mouse.” He looked over at Stiff approvingly. “You brought me a present?”

  There was that damn word mouse again. Did I look like a rodent or something?

  Stiff snickered, and I stiffened. Did he think I came to play?

  “No,” I said with every bit of authority I had, pulling my arm away from Stiff’s. “I know I’m a little early, but we have a meeting at seven.”

  Cade’s eyes lit with recognition. So now he remembered me.

  “Trixie?” He sounded dumbfounded.

  God, the years had been good to him. He was hot then and sexy as hell now. The universe was a nasty son of a bitch. He had the same jet black hair as when we were kids except longer, almost down to his shoulders, with a slight wave to it. The five o’clock shadow around his lips looked like maybe it could be a ten o’clock, instead. The dark scruff only added to his defined features.

  His eyes. God, his eyes. They were the things that got all the girls, including myself, to bend to his will. Blue, but not just any blue. No, his were a cobalt blue that reminded me of a beautiful Japanese vase I had seen once.

  Venturing down farther, I saw a leather vest with a black T-shirt underneath, spanning across his wide chest. The patch of President was in bold white letters stitched into the fabric with several other patches lining either side. His bare arms may not have had fabric covering them, but they were covered from wrist to under his shirt with tattoos that looked intricate in their design. Bottom line, I thought he was gorgeous in school, yet now, sexy hot didn’t even cut it.

  I blinked, coming out of some sort of daze, and pushed my confidence back into gear full force. “It’s Trix. We have a matter to discuss,” I reminded him as he stared, looking at me from the tips of my toes to the top of my head, appearing to take me in just as I did him. “And you checking me out isn’t solving that.” Hypocrite? Yep, that’s me.

  Sure, my perusal of him was perfectly fine, but him … I shook my head. Smartass mouth rears its ugly head.

  “May not be solving your problem, babe, but the view is spectacular.” His voice was even deeper than over the phone. Sexier. Smoother. While good over the phone, it happened to be so much better in person. No, Trix. Get your money and get the fuck out.

  I tried not to let the blush creep up my neck. I knew it did, anyway, from the heat I felt.

  I cleared my throat, gaining his attention back up to my eyes from my tits. “Nanette. I want her so I can get my money.”

  My traitorous body had other ideas besides the cash, though, as arousal punched me in the gut. I willed the quivering between my legs to stop with little success. If anything, with each second I stood in this man’s presence, the feeling became more intense. Thank Christ I wore a padded bra, or my nips would be raging through my shirt.

  His pink tongue swept across his plump bottom lip. I watched each painstakingly slow inch. Brief flashes of that tongue on my body, my neck, my breasts coursed through my head. It took me back to a time when his touch encompassed me.

  I broke my gaze from him, not wanting to go there. I couldn’t go there.

  “Why don’t you come in?” he coaxed, opening the door wide in invitation.

  Stiff chuckled beside me, and my gaze swung to him.

  “What?”

  His head shook almost knowingly. I wish I knew what he did.

  “Nothing. In ya go.” The heat from his hand on the small of my back guided me into the room, him following.

  Two men sat in front of a large wooden desk with stacks of papers, a computer, and a phone on it. Their eyes instantly prowled me up and down, my skin prickling from all the attention.

  I received male perusals at work all the time. Sirens was a strip club, after all. Regardless, from the way their eyes scanned, I felt devoured. The room was filled with a dominance that pulsated off the walls, bouncing around the space in waves: darker, rawer, more … manly. The smell was heady. It wasn’t just the two men; the power came from all four of them together in this confined space. I didn’t know if I should be intrigued, turned way the hell on, or if I should run for my life.

  “Who do we have here?” asked a man with pepper hair streaked with salt and a matching beard that fell down to his chest. Even sitting in the chair, I barely had to look down at him, which set me on edge.

  “This is Trixie,” Cade announced.

  My head snapped his way. “Cade, I told you my name is Trix,” I ground out, surprising myself with the retort. Normally, I kept myself in check, but being in this man’s presence short-circuited my brain, making my sass go on a rampage.

  A deep laughter filled the air. “Yeah, Cade,” salt and pepper man teased while the other two men hid their amusement. Still, they did nothing to hide the fact that they were openly checking me out.

  “Damn, Spook, how long has it been since someone called you that?” said another man who had light brown hair that was totally unruly, like he’d either just gotten out of bed or had run his hands through it a thousand times.

  Cade’s eyes were on me, penetrating me with his glare. He took a step forward, and I took a step back, unsure if that look boded well for me.

  My awareness of my surroundings came into focus, and unfortunately, I saw the room only had one door. The window was high, so I wouldn’t have enough time to get out. Internally, I sighed. I knew better than to leave home without my gun.

  “I fucking told you, the name is Spook.” His body pulsed, and I felt it down to my core, shaking me a bit. However, I held firm, not moving another inch or flinching. My stubborn ass wouldn’t back down even if he could hurt me. Truth be told, he’d already hurt me worse than anything physical he could manage.

  I held up my hands, palm up, surrendering, my bracelets falling down my arms and scraping my skin. This was his rodeo, and I needed him calm to get what I needed.

  “Sorry. To me, you’re Cade. That’s how I remember you. I don’t know you as Spook.” What happened to the boy I’d been with in high school? This definitely wasn’t him. No, he was all man now, and I needed to be mindful of that. “I’ll do my best to call you Spook. Where in the world did Spook come from, anyway?”

  The men in the room didn’t hide their full-out laughter. Cade cut them off with a furious glare.

  “That’s a story for later. Out,” Cade barked at the men, who got up, shaking their heads, and left the room just like Cade had ordered. The door shut with a click that echoed in the space like a loud warning buzzer.

  As his eyes penetrated mine, it took every bit of steel in my spine to keep myself from shrinking under their intensity. I met his stare, not giving an inch. The heat in the room crackled like electric wires were attached to both of us, drawing us together. I tried to fight the pull.

  “Trixie.” The one word rolled off his tongue, but not in the anger he gave the guys when he ordered them out of the room. This was different. “I’ll always
be your Cade.”

  My stomach fell. I stood here fifteen years later, in a room alone with Cade. The boy who had crushed me as a kid, who still had a fucking hold on me that I hadn’t been able to let go of and we were only feet apart. Thoughts of the past bombarded me.

  His penis touched my entrance while he hovered over me. I could feel the tip pressing into my unused body. I closed my eyes as Cade pushed in farther, pain searing through me as he moved. I said nothing, though, trying to hold back the whimpers in my throat. Sex was supposed to be fun and feel good, or so my friends had told me. This didn’t. Not at all.

  “You’re so fucking tight, so fucking good.” His words felt nice, giving me the extra nerve I needed at that moment to keep going. I wanted to make him feel good.

  His body stilled, his eyes slicing into mine with confusion then understanding. “Fuck, you’re a virgin,” he growled.

  I blushed. I had kept it from him. I’d heard the stories of him from other girls. I knew he wasn’t a saint, and for once, with Cade, I wanted to be a sinner. He made me feel, and I needed that, craved it.

  “Fuck, why didn’t you tell me?” Intensity flashed in his eyes, scaring me a little.

  “Just do it, Cade,” I told him as he looked perplexed, like he didn’t know what he should do.

  I grabbed his hips and gave them a squeeze, answering the silent struggle in his head.

  “It’s gonna hurt,” he told me, closing his eyes like it would pain him to see me hurt. It only made me care for him that much more.

  We had been seeing each other for six months. He hadn’t pressured me into sex, but I knew he wanted this. I wanted this. I wanted to be closer to him in any way I could.

  “Do it,” I repeated, and then he thrust inside me hard.

  The pain shot through my gut, and I cried out, unable to contain myself.

  Cade put his hand over my mouth to muffle my wail. “Trixie, you can’t scream.”