No Man Left Behind: A Veteran Inspired Charity Anthology by Elizabeth Knox (black authors fiction TXT) 📕

be able to see every vein in his arms. The guy struts up at the sight of me with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Who’s your friend here?”

“This is Charlee, she came in for a drink, Rocky. Not for anything else.”

I don’t mistake the seriousness laced through Noah’s tone. He’s trying to get this guy to leave me alone, but who knows if it’ll work. This Rocky guy has a patch like Kaden, but instead of it reading ‘Enforcer’, it reads ‘President’.

Rocky runs his hands back through his hair and still comes closer to me, stepping directly next to my barstool he looks down at me like I’m a bloody steak. “I don’t know, man. She might change her mind about what she’s lookin’ for.”

“You asked about Deathstalkers? I haven’t seen any of ‘em, not even my brother,” Noah speaks up, somehow managing to continue working while speaking to this guy. But, I don’t miss the fact he just alluded he has a brother.

“Mmm, interesting. They have Snowden being their lil’ messenger boy, said we’d meet here tonight with Vader and Kinetic.”

Fuck.

I down the rest of my drink without warning, causing two curious glances to come at me. Cocking a brow, I look at both the men. “What? Never seen a lady down a drink before?” Rolling my eyes, I lift up my glass and motion Noah for another. I won’t drive myself home tonight, but I’ll make sure to get a taxi and come grab my car in the morning.

Rocky wiggles his way a bit closer to me, reaches his hand out and grazes it gently against my shoulder. He takes his fingers and loops them through my chocolate brown hair, touching me like some sort of plaything. “I’m hopin’ by the time I’m done with club business you might be lookin’ for something a bit different. It’s a shame a pretty woman like you is out here in a bar all alone.”

The bell rings on the front door, signaling there are more people coming in the bar, and I immediately look behind me. But as I do, I see eyes filled with shock and then fury.

Chapter Eight

Kinetic

Several hours after speeding out of the clubhouse parking lot, I’m pulling back in due to my Prez’s orders.

Falcon needs Vader and I to go handle some club business with the Toxic Warriors MC over at a bar on the edge of Portland called The Waterhole. It’s a little bar that is known around here as neutral territory. It’s the only place around these parts that we have sit downs with rivals, and the Toxic Warriors though aren’t completely our rivals . . . we’re not on the best terms with them. They’re still into some bad shit, at least their charter out here is.

Rocky, the president of the Oregon charter, is a pain in my side considering I’m the one who always deals with him. Falcon gave me that job since I have a connection to the Toxic Warriors MC. Viking, the national Prez, is my cousin. Growing up we’d been tight. After he joined his club and started rising in rank, I stopped talking to him too much. The only time we speak now is if we gotta. Blood may be thick but he chose his path, and I did the same.

Several months ago, he’d contacted Falcon to help run protection detail with them. The club agreed to this as long as we got thirty percent for our part. Evidently Viking’s business was growing and some of the product he pushed, more or less the pussy he pushed, needed protection getting where it was going. I don’t know much else of their business but what I did know was that none of the pussy was going anywhere involuntarily. They all signed up for this life, and Viking made sure to take care of them.

Pulling into the parking lot, I put the truck in park, open my door, climb out, and let Koda jump to the ground. Slamming the door shut, I stalk to the clubhouse to put Koda up then find Vader so we can get this shit done. I want to get this business done with Rocky so I might be able to figure out why the fuck seeing Charlee again has me this high-strung.

It’s not just about seeing her again. It’s the fact my heart is beating again, and that shit is fuckin’ with me. I swore I’d never go there with any bitch. I’m not about to let Charlee back in my heart to fuck it up again either. Not after what she did.

“Hey, baby,” Feisty says, coming up to me as I step through the door.

Fuckin’ hell. This shit is not something I want right now. If I had time, I probably would’ve taken her to one of the dark corners around the club and fucked her imagining she was Charlee. Pound into her hard enough to make her scream, releasing my anger out on her body . . . but those screams wouldn’t be the woman I really want which would just piss me off even more.

“Not now, Feisty,” I growl, stepping past her.

“Okay, baby, but I’ll be here when you need me,” she purrs.

“Great,” I mutter, heading for my room, Koda following close behind.

Grabbing my keys, I unlock the door and step inside. “Chill, Koda. I’ll be back later,” I grumble as I make sure my dog has what he needs. Food. Water. His rawhide.

Tossing him a treat I grab a clean shirt from my dresser and slide it on. I leave the room, making sure to lock it behind me and head for the main room to find Vader.

“You ready?” I ask, finding him standing at the bar talking to Nama.

“Hey, Kinetic, you’re seriously tense, babe. If you want later tonight, I could help you release some of it,” Nama murmurs sweetly. Unlike the other firecrotches around here, she’s different. Loves to fuck and get off but doesn’t