Page 21 of The Queen of Nightmares

A loud, ear-piercing whistle sounded from behind us, and we broke away from each other to turn to see who it was. Jack’s arms never left me as we watched Barrel strolling toward us with a huge grin on his face while carrying a small black case.

“Nice shot there, Red. Looks like I may have some competition for my title.” Barrel gave me a wink, then Jack a chin lift. “Hey, Prez. Got that thing you requested.” He rapped on the hard plastic case with his knuckles. His words had definitely piqued my curiosity, but luckily, I didn’t have to wait long to find out what he meant.

Jack took the case with a nod of thanks as the men did a manly back pat. “You got it faster than I expected, even for you.”

I tilted my head. “What does that mean?” I asked as I glanced between the two of them, confused as Barrel stood there grinning and Jack gave me a wink.

Jack set the case on the large tree stump next to his gun and popped the plastic tabs on the side. “Barrel can get his hands on just about any gun you could ask for. He’s somewhat of a weapons expert, especially when it comes to guns, and can shoot better than anyone I’ve ever met. If he has you in his sights down the barrel of his gun, you’re already dead.”

“Barrel!” I gasped as the realization hit me. “That’s how you got your name!” I grinned up at him and watched in fascination as his cheeks grew suspiciously pink. He reached up with one hand and ruffled his green hair in embarrassment. It seemed like the unapologetic cocky loverboy didn’t take compliments well. “How did you get so good?”

He grunted. “I was a sniper in the military for a little while.”

I could sense there was more to it than that, and my curiosity refused to allow the story to end there. “Only a little while?”

“Yeah. Uncle Sam and I thought it was best to end our relationship.”

Jack snorted. “He punched his commanding officer in the nose when the guy found out Barrel fucked his daughter and tried to assign him to latrine duty as punishment.”

I covered my mouth with my hand, not even trying to stop the giggles from erupting when Barrel turned a glare on Jack.

“Oh my god. Exactly how many times has your dick gotten you into trouble, Barrel?” I could barely get the words out through my laughter while Barrel switched his glare to me, crossed his arms over his chest, and refused to answer.

As I wiped at moisture from the corners of my eyes from all the laughing, Jack tugged me back to him, wrapping his hand loosely around my throat to growl in my ear. “No thinking about other men’s cocks.” I snorted, then turned so I could press a kiss to the underside of his chin, feeling the stubble there rasp against my lips.

“Trust me, the only cock I ever think about is yours.” Then, a thought occurred to me. I started wondering about the others and how they got their names. “Doc’s obvious, but what about Shock?”

Barrel finally laughed as Jack shook his head with a smirk. “Shock spent some time in a psychiatric hospital.”

“That’s awful,” I said with a grimace. But it explained a lot when it came to that creepy smile. He was a nice guy and was the first to come to my rescue when I needed it the most by way of getting Jack to help me. But that smile made shivers run down my spine sometimes.

I hesitated to ask. “What about…” I was going to just forget about it, letting the question drop, but Jack answered anyway.

“There wasn’t a padlock, safe, or door that Lock couldn’t get into.” We all got quiet after that as we remembered the man who’d been murdered. He’d been their friend for longer than I knew and was one of Jack’s closest men. Hell, he’d been the Vice President of the club. I cleared my throat and poked him in the side, hoping to lighten the mood.

“We all know whereyournickname came from.” I traced a tattooed finger. “Maybe I should start calling you Bone Daddy,” I snickered, though, secretly, I didn’t hate the name.

Barrel laughed loudly while Jack just smirked and shook his head before sweeping me up into his arms. He held me so close to his chest that I barely had room to wiggle as he buried his head in my neck and bit me there just hard enough to make me gasp through my giggles.

“First of all, little Queen, it’s a road name, not a nickname. Secondly, you can call me daddy all you want in bed while I’m giving you my bone.”

I groaned in mock disgust as I playfully slapped his chest. “Oh, that was lame. Starting with the dad jokes already?” I squirmed as he nipped at my skin again in retaliation. I glanced over where Barrel was still laughing hard enough to double over, grabbing his sides.

“Holy shit, that was fucking funny.” Barrel wiped at his eyes once his laughter had died down to the occasional chuckle. He pointed his finger at Jack. “His road name has nothing to do with being tatted up like a walking Halloween sideshow. Naw, his name actually comes from the fact that he enjoys filleting a man open to the bone. It’s his favorite form of torture. He didn’t start getting the ink done until after his uncle gave him the road name.”

I stood there, slack-jawed, as the words tumbled around in my brain. I wasn’t sure what to think about what it said about Jack that he could do that to someone. I knew he was cold and ruthless. I even knew that he could kill someone without losing sleep, but to slowly torture someone? I slowly turned until I could see Jack’s face, his expression carefully blank. I decided right then that there was no way I would judge him.

I cleared my throat. “And here, all I got was the nickname Red. I feel cheated.”

A look of relief swiftly crossed his features before he wiped it away. A small smirk toyed with the corner of Jack’s mouth as he stared down at me. “Did you forget? You’re much more than just Red. You’re my little Queen, and the queen is the most powerful piece on the board. The king needs his queen. Without her, he is destined to fall.”

ChapterSixteen

JACK

Iwatched Sally as she lovingly wiped a microfiber cloth over the short barrel of her new Sig Sauer P238. It was a tiny little weapon that barely fit into the palm of my hand, but it was fucking powerful. All I cared about was that it did the job it was intended for. The fact that my little Queen had nearly lost her mind when she saw it for the first time was just a sweet bonus.

“Alright, baby, I think your new gun is clean,” I chuckled as she glared up at me before smiling back down at the shiny purple Sig.

---