Page 2 of Eagle

Tensions had been high. I’m surprised Scotty didn’t meet his destiny anyway because of it. Hawk had done his best to run the club, but when we went out to follow leads, he let his dark side get the better of him more than once. The world was probably a better place for it. The people we’d been shaking down were like leeches on the community.

Hawk was still scowling when we made it back to the bikes. He put his helmet on and mounted up. “Back to the clubhouse. I need to speak to Ma.”

I hoped Lacy was still up. After the night I had, burying myself in her sweet little pussy seemed like a good plan. When we went to that strip club up North the second time because Falcon had a weird vibe and wanted to tip off Daisy, we ended up in a little bar brawl and the girls came with us.

Lacy was Daisy’s only friend, and she didn’t want to leave her there. I was surprised when Falcon practically pushed a strange blonde woman onto my bike. I’d never had anyone on the Harley with me. Ever. Enough bunnies tried, but after seeing my parents’ volatile breakup when I was a teen, I decided that life wasn’t for me.

My dad was a hardworking man. So much so that he was gone a lot doing manual labor while mom had “friends” over. When I was in middle school, she started leaving to go visit those friends. Probably because I was starting to wise up to what those friends really were.

Dad had been working his ass off to pay our bills and he came home early one night because his boss, who turned out to be Raven, told him he deserved a break. When he came home, I was in my room with headphones on and Mom was nowhereto be found. I didn’t know where she was but told him she said she’d gone to a friend’s house.

He waited up for her and the confrontation was explosive when she finally came in. Dad was never an aggressive man, but he was mad as hell. He didn’t lay a hand on her, but she certainly tried to attack him. I watched from around the corner of the hallway that led to the kitchen. Even though I knew she was wrong, I also knew a man putting his hands on a woman wasn’t okay. Dad taught me that, so I was ready to step in if need be.

He didn’t hit her, but hedidhold her wrists to stop her from slapping at him and backed her to the wall. He punched a hole clear through the sheetrock before he backed away, ran his hand down his face, and quietly told her to get the fuck out.

She pleaded at first, then became angry when he didn’t listen. She said she’d take everything from him, including me. But even though Dad was hardly ever home, I knew it was because he was taking care of us. When she deemed me old enough to fend for myself, she stopped taking care of me so she could fuck the neighborhood. When court time came, I chose him.

Dad wasn’t in the club, but they looked out for him. Over the years, when I got a little older, he let me go to the parties, but I wasn’t allowed inside the clubhouse at that time. I just had to chill outside and play horseshoes and shit. I loved it immediately. It was a family–a close one. I’d met Hawk and Falcon at school, but until I started hanging around the clubhouse, we didn’t know each other that well. But after being sequestered with them while the big guys did adult shit, we bonded. I knew when the time came, I wanted to be part of it. Raven wasn’t the Prez at the time, but he got me in to prospect. Dad didn’t like it much, but he didn’t fight me on it, either. Hell,I was eighteen. He knew he couldn’t do anything to stop me.

Since he was such a good friend of the club, Dad was there when I was patched in and it was the proudest moment of my life. Now I helped take care of him, and he didn’t have to work two jobs. He never remarried but hardly had any women around. He still came to parties sometimes, when we had them, but even the bunnies had a hard time catching his attention. Seeing how bad Mom fucked him in the head, I wanted none of that. Plus, the club was my priority. We were all happy as fuck for Falcon and Daisy, but to say she became a distraction and a disturbance was the understatement of the century. Although, without all that shit going down with her, we may not have learned as fast about the rat on the inside.

Lacy could become a distraction if I let her, so I reminded myself daily that while she was sweet and cute as fuck, keeping my distance emotionally was for the best for both of us. And I didn’t make her any promises for anything. I didn’t want to lead her on. She knew she was free to come and go but chose to hang with me. We had a good thing going. Why ruin it with feelings?

Even as I fired up my bike and tried to tell myself that, a vision of her soft features and smokey blue eyes flashed in my mind and my chest tightened. As we rode toward the clubhouse, I wondered how many times it would take myself repeating that to believe it.

Chapter 2

Lacy

Earlier, I had watched Falcon track down Daisy to let her know he had club business. We were still pretty new to the life, being here just a few months, but we knew that meant something dangerous, probably illegal. We didn’t ask questions, which I was fine with. These guys could have left me in Jersey with Tony, but Falcon was so smitten with Daisy, when she asked to bring me along, he didn’t think twice. I owed her, and these men, my life and my freedom.

I’d be completely fine being told there was club business. Except, Eagle didn’t come find me. I heard about the run from Daisy after the Hollywood kiss between her and Falcon. She couldn’t stop smiling and gripping her cut. She got a cut. With her name on it. And it had “Property of Falcon” of on the back.

Daisy deserved it. She had been my only friend for a while, and I was so glad she talked the guys into getting me away from Tony, too. She could have left me behind but didn’t. Falcon was obsessed with her, and even before he claimed her as hisOld Lady, everyone was already talking like she was. It was no surprise that she got her own cut. I was happy as hell for her, but it stung a little to think how polar opposite my relationship, or situationship, was with Eagle.

He was a lot different than Falcon, much less intense. He cracked more jokes and was overall more lighthearted. He was gentle and kind. I remember hopping onto this stranger’s bike the night all hell broke loose at the club, and the feel of his firm body under that leather and the warmth of his masculine fragrance. He was reassuring and confident. I’d be lying if I said my pussy didn’t throb almost immediately, just from his presence.

The first few days I was here at the clubhouse, he took me shopping and let me get anything I wanted. I felt like Vivian in Pretty Woman. He showed me around, took me to his job–well his official job–at the tattoo shop. I think whatever he did for the club was different but, again, we didn’t really know what they did. It seemed like a dream. A fantasy. We shared a bed for a few days, but he didn’t try anything. What a gentleman he was.

Eventually, I made a move. It was all so perfect and the comfort of having a man that I welcomed instead of one being forced on me was empowering and gave me a sense of control again. And the sex…just wow. He knew exactly what to do and then some. Again, wow. But while my dewy eyes were clouded, his demeanor never changed. He wasn’t mean. Far from it. That’s what was so frustrating. He probably treated me better than any man I’d ever been involved with, except he kept his distance. Other men always made it clear we were together; I was theirs–too bad I failed to ask if that went both ways.

Once the new and shiny wore off, I started to realize he wasn’t just being super polite and patient. He was closed off to intimacy. I had shared what happened to us and he listenedintently, said how sorry he was I went through that, and not to worry…I was safe now.

I figured maybe he was slow to open up, or he was trying to give me time to feel comfortable. The truth was, I had started to fall hard for him from the get-go. But my crush started to feel more likecrushingas weeks went by and nothing changed. We hung out around the clubhouse when he was there, and I still slept in his room, but it wasn’t what I’d expected. Not that I should have had any expectations at all. I was lucky to be there; lucky they took me in. And really, sleeping with him was much nicer than I’d imagine the bunny rooms were. They had a lot of twin bunks and sometimes more girls stayed than beds were available.

After all this time, though, I figured I’d get some glimmer of him really liking me, not just having a regular plaything. Now, I was starting to feel like that was all I was; all I’d be to him. I’d seen it with the bunnies since I’d been around. And after having so much time to myself while he was at work or doing club business, I made friends with a lot of the bunnies. From what I gathered, it was typical for the guys to have fun with a bunny for a bit, then move on to another. Sometimes they’d keep the same girl around for sex, but apparently it was odd that I was staying with him every night. As I lay there in his bed, in his room, I stared up at the ceiling wondering what kind of shape he’d be in when he got back. Would he even care that I was waiting up for him?

Slamming my hands down by my sides, I blew a breath through pursed lips. I was being silly. Seriously, I was lucky as hell to even be at the clubhouse, much less sleeping in his room every night, instead of sharing a small bed with another woman.

I could do this. I just had to be smart, know my place. I’d let this thing run its course and then see what, or who, happenednext. But one thing was certain: I needed some money. I’d asked several times about going to Destiny’s Desires to try out, but every time I got some weird and short response like “maybe next week” or “I think they’re full.” Jeannie, one of the bunnies who came around but lived offsite, worked at the strip club and she was saying they could use some extra girls. With his attitude towards me, it didn’t make sense that he’d try to keep me away because he was jealous. But after speaking to Daisy and learning how Falcon was opposed, not only because he thought it was dangerous, but because he was also a little possessive, I assumed keeping me away was for her sake.

Was that it? Was Eagle keeping me entertained because of Daisy?I shook that off. Maybe at the beginning, but Falcon claimed her. It wasn’t like she’d take off now because of me. Plus, as crazy as Falcon was about Daisy, she was equally smitten with him. She’d told me more than once that she wanted me to stay, but if I wanted to leave, she’d support me as long as I promised to keep coming around and stay in touch.

I wasn’t supposed to know, but they took out Tony, so wasn’t the danger gone? That had to have been what they were worried about, right?

Upset with myself for caring at all when he’d be back, I tried to close my eyes, but the dull thud of bass from the music downstairs was keeping me from drifting off. After tossing and turning for nearly an hour, I got up to use the small restroom. Maybe if I emptied my bladder, I could fall asleep.

I was washing my hands and adjusting my messy bun when I heard the unmistakable thump of Eagle’s boots just as the door to the bedroom opened and closed. My core fluttered.Traitorous bitch. Always thinking of herself and never of my heart.

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