Bash (Diablo Disciples MC #6)

SEVENTEEN

Bash

There was a small part of Bash that wondered if he was about to fuck up Charlotte’s life by bringing her into his world. Especially now when that world was charged with new enemies.

He had witnessed firsthand how diligently his brothers protected their families. How much Axel worried about keeping his queen safe, constantly worrying she would be picked off the street and used for ransom.

It meant Bash was now concerned about the implications of Charlotte being his woman. It made her a target, and it scared the shit out of him.

But there was no way to pump the brakes.

He was already in too deep. Too selfish not to keep her.

Already so addicted to that woman and everything she was.

Even now, Bash had one eye on the time, waiting to see her again. Even though they’d been hanging out for the past two days, he still couldn’t get enough of her.

That morning, the club was a busy hive as he kicked back on a stool at the bar to do paperwork. It never ended, especially now that the club was adding new investments, which meant Bash had an even more significant number of properties to keep track of. Sweet bottoms were milling around, bringing trays of catered food and liquor carts, all chatting excitedly about who would be at the cookout. They threw cookouts on their property a few times a year.

On certain occasions, such as today, other MCs would be arriving.

Part fun, part business.

Those talks would take place around the bonfire with bourbon and shared resources. As nomadic as the Riot Brothers were, they were forming a pattern by infiltrating smaller businesses around the country, using tactics of violence and intimidation. It all made sense once the MC network started talking and sharing info.

Their progress had been slow lately because Ruin took out their investor, who was bothering Tomb’s wife, Nina. They were trying to rally the troops and get back into Utah.

And that wasn’t something the Diablos would roll over for.

Going to war with any faction wasn’t ideal. Bash wanted a quieter life, especially now he had Charlotte to consider. The thought of her being used against them kept him up at night.

The logical decision would have been to leave her alone.

But it would have been easier for him to slit his own throat.

He was drawn to her like he’d never been to another living person. The need to be near her clawed at his gut. Bash wasn’t sure if he was any better, considering how she felt about the trouble her sister caused. He would protect her no matter what, with all the Diablos behind him.

“Hey Bash, got a second?” he heard and looked up from the paperwork to see Axel coming from the direction of his office.

“Sure, what’s up? Don’t say war. It’s only eight a.m.,” he joked as Axel parked in a seat next to him and sighed, scraping both hands through his long hair.

“I want to run some logistics by you about tonight. Scarlett and her cleaning crew are preparing the bunkhouses for the Apollo Kingsmen to crash in while they’re around.”

Last summer, the club queen came up with the idea of building two bunkhouses in their backyard. It made sense to have a place for the new hangarounds and prospects to sleep, and to keep the upstairs rooms for patched brothers. The other bunkhouse was suggested for the sweet bottoms. The club queen might not be too happy that some of those women had slept with her man before she came along, but she was nice enough to help them find housing and jobs.

Now, traditional barracks-like buildings housing twelve bunks each and shower rooms with a small kitchenette in each were on the property, and it would be the first time any other MC would use them as a flop on their visit through Utah. It made sense; it meant more face-to-face meetings and not over the phone when anyone could tap them.

“How many of them are we expecting?”

“About twenty, Jamie said. They’re bringing their sweet bottoms.”

Bash chuckled low. “You know, out-of-town women make our sweet bottoms act like hissing cats.”

“Scarlett will keep them in line,” Axel smirked.

“They know not to cause shit tonight. They can have their fun, but if they start trouble, Scarlett knows what to do.” And then. “I was talking to Chains about inviting Harvey.”

Bash’s head whipped up. “Seriously? We’re gonna ask the man who wants to ruin us to break bread at our table?”

Axel tapped his ringed fingers on the bar top. “Chains had about the same reaction. But I’m sick as fuck talking to that guy over the phone. I wanna look at the whites of his eyes.”

“What if he doesn’t come?”

“He’ll come,” Axel said confidently. “He’s determined to join forces with anyone with power, and he’s finding out that sucking up to the mayor doesn’t get him as much as he thought it would.”

“Denver will hit the roof if Albie comes with him. Not where Casey and the kids are. This is supposed to be a friendly cookout,” reminded Bash. For fuck’s sake, he couldn’t bring Charlotte if guns would be drawn. He wanted her to like him, not run for the fucking hills.

“It is a friendly cookout. I only want to talk to him. Harvey wouldn’t be dumb enough to bring Albie. According to him, he’s neutralized that dumbfuck. But we know different since he’s been spotted nearby.”

Albie, Denver’s sinister brother-in-law, had been the one to stab Denver and had been sending Casey threatening notes. Denver beefed up their home security like a royal palace for that reason.

“I’ll extend the invite to Harvey’s Mrs, if he has one. That way, he knows I won’t try to kill him.” Another flash of a smirk.

It was a risky move to bring a fox into the henhouse, but the Diablos didn’t get to the position they were now without ballsy moves.

“What do you need me to do?”

“Just keep watch. He’ll bring a lieutenant with him, I’d expect that, but none of his other goons will be allowed in. We’re putting extra security at the gates, around the perimeters, and about a mile from the club to check if Harvey stations his men anywhere near.” Axel made a disagreeable sound. “He’s made enough noise that he wants to iron out any differences, and we’ll see what he has to say for himself.” Then he added. “I’m giving Denver the heads up if he wants to stay at home with Casey.”

“Denver won’t stay home, Prez.”

Axel half smiled. “I know he won’t. That’s why I need you to monitor him.”

“Fuck, this might not be the best time to bring Charlotte. I wanted to impress her, not watch me throw myself on Denver like a fucking grenade if he kicks off.”

Bash’s complaint caused Axel to chuckle. “You’re bringing the nurse?”

“She’s weary about clubs. It stems from her sister getting in with a gang. But I don’t think she’ll think we’re any different if we brawl.”

“Nah, it’ll be fine, brother. Bring your woman. You know the others will look after her.”

The others were the mob of old ladies who traveled in a pack and conspired like crazy, sometimes including Ruin as their honorary member against his will.

“How do you do it, Prez?”

“Do what?”

“Protect your old lady in our world.”

“If you’re lucky, my brother, you find a woman who’s your equal. Not a fighter, but somewhere soft for you to land after you’ve done your fighting. She’s your sounding board when you have too many voices all speaking at once. She’s there to help carry the load you have on your shoulders. Protecting her and the life you forge together doesn’t become a separate entity. It fuses over time. It becomes like breathing.” Axel climbed to his feet, giving Bash a contemplative smile. “When it’s the right woman, she’s your balance, like you’re hers. And if dangerous shit comes along, as it inevitably does, knowing you’re combatting for a reason gives you the strength and determination, to always come home alive to your soft place.”

It gave Bash a lot of shit to think about. He only nodded, grateful for Axel’s advice.

Axel clapped him on the arm. “Invite your Charlotte. We could always use a nurse at the club.” Then tacked on. “But you know, Bash, if she doesn’t fit in with the MC…”

Shit, Axel was implying they would veto her.

That law hadn’t been used in decades, never in recent history, and he braced to fight a fucking lion because he wasn’t giving Charlotte up for anything, for anyone.

His throat worked with a hard swallow, and he glared at his boss and friend, the man he’d pledged an oath to walk into fire with, and felt a split down the middle of his torso, a definite shift in his priorities happening organically without explanation, he felt it.

“Relax, Bash, you look like you wanna throw me over the bar,” laughed the prez. “If the nurse doesn’t like us, she can always be a civilian old lady.”

Bash frowned. He hadn’t even considered that because that, too, hadn’t happened… ever. But it was in their bylaws that if an old lady caused too much shit within the ranks of the club members or she didn’t vibe well with the MC culture, she could be kept separate, she would live somewhere off the property, would never wear a property patch and couldn’t ever come to any club events.

“Would that work?” he spoke aloud, almost to himself.

“If that’s what you wanted, you’d make it work. But I have a feeling once the old ladies get their mitts on your woman, she’ll soon be ingratiated like a native. My old lady has a way of making people feel at ease.”

It gave Bash a lot to think about.

And as Axel walked off, Bash’s phone vibrated on top of the bar. He turned the screen over and frowned.

CHARLOTTE : Bash, I got called in for a shift. I won’t be able to see you later.

CHARLOTTE : sad emoji face I’m sorry, hotness. (I’m trying out nicknames, don’t laugh!) I really wanted to see you.

Bash snickered. She was too fucking cute.

And there was no way he wasn’t seeing her for twelve hours. Gathering up the paperwork, he dropped it off at the office, locked away the private files he’d been working through.

BASH : I’ll be outside waiting for you on your break. See you soon, little darling.

When he later arrived outside the hospital, he still had time to kill, so he parked and went to their bench. He’d shoot some texts to the Diablo nomads, checking in as he did weekly as part of his secretary duties. Currently, the club had three nomads.

Atom was in Wyoming working on a club venture. He rolled into town sporadically but always got on the road again within days. The last time he was at the clubhouse was for Axel’s wedding. He drank, he celebrated, and then he left.

Bash had only heard stories about Drifter. He’d never seen the man in all his years with the Diablos. He was a myth and a legend nowadays, talked about in chronicles that Bash wasn’t sure were true. He’d been part of the old crew but remained loyal to Axel when he took over. He kept his patch, left his council role, but decided on a wanderer’s life instead. Though never seeing him in person, Drifter always replied to Bash’s texts.

Their third nomad was Silver. The last time Bash texted him, the guy gathered useful intel down south about Harvey. The Riot Brothers had left Alabama in a rush, leaving bad debts and worse enemies.

As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is now my friend.

Shortly after sending the messages, Bash received two replies confirming that there was nothing of note to report. The reply from Drifter always took hours—days, sometimes, but it would come. There were contingencies for if the nomads died while away from the club. Word would reach Axel through their network. So he didn’t think the guy was dead yet.

A delicate scent caught on the mid-afternoon breeze caused Bash to raise his head and look toward the entranceway. She was too far away for him to smell her honey, but Bash was convinced he could still catch a hint. He moved like he was totally in sync with her, charging to meet her with long strides. As soon as Charlotte laid eyes on him, she smiled, affecting his heart.

The urgency to touch her felt like madness clawing at the inside of his skull, and it only settled once his hands were around her waist and his face buried in her neck, so he could inhale her.

“I smell of work,” she giggled, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

“You smell fucking delicious.” She was still smiling when Bash took her beautiful face in his hands. “Missed you, little darling.”

“I missed you, too.” She replied, more shyly. He grabbed her hand and went over to their bench. He didn’t have to play platonic anymore, so he pulled Charlotte into his side with his hand around her back, holding her low on her hip, squeezing possessively. Mine . Every part of him agreed. She was his woman.

“You didn’t have to come, you know?”

“Charlotte, I’m not going without seeing you all day.”

She dipped her head, but he still saw her pleased smile.

“I thought our lunches might stop now that—”

“Now that you’re mine? You’ve always been mine, only now you know it, too.” He smirked. “Did you think I’d lose interest in spending time with you, Charlotte? That wasn’t for show. How I feel is still fucking real. Only now, I get to taste you.” He would fuck her so soon while she blushed, he decided. He loved seeing her turn pink because of things he said.

And he’d been tame so far.

“Speaking of. You’ve been here for two minutes, and I still haven’t had that mouth. Give it to me.”

Charlotte took a second too long because she was still shy around him, though she’d been in his lap most of last night while they watched a movie. She watched the film, and Bash watched her. He got his mouth and hands on her as much as he could. Now that he was out of her friendzone, the need to maul his woman was a dark thirst. Making her moan for hours underneath his hands was a pleasure he didn’t know he craved.

With Charlotte, he could touch her for hours, driving her insane with orgasms, and not expect anything back, because being part of her pleasure was more than enough. The look of unguarded lust in her eyes was his paradise. And he lived for her sexy little whimpers. All he wanted to do was taste and strum her into crying down his throat.

So that’s what he’d been doing for the past two days. Gorging on Charlotte’s pleasure. His mouth on her neck, and a hand down the front of her pants, working her up into a dripping mess for hours.

Unhinged, unmoored, he’d defiled Charlotte’s body, touching her with worshipping hands while she cuddled on his lap and drove him wild with her tongue in his mouth, giving off the sexiest little mewls.

Bash reached a hand to the base of her neck and helped her come forward a few inches. “Missed this mouth,” he groaned and then took it, encouraging her to open it by licking the seam with the tip of his tongue. When he moved inside, Charlotte softened, kissing him with enthusiasm.

“My sweetest little virgin.” He grunted against her lips, and she answered by poking him.

“You’re mean,” she half-smiled, “does it bother you?” she asked seriously, and Bash grabbed up her hand, laying it across his upper thigh, right where his cock was hard and ready.

“I feel like whatever answer I give, it’s a trick question,” he smirked, and she smacked him again.

“It’s not a trick question. I was fine with being the oldest virgin in the world.”

Dramatic little thing. Bash grabbed the white sack of food he’d brought her. “Eat, baby.”

“Okay, I’ll eat, you talk.”

“Your virginity is going to be something I savor for the rest of my life.” He answered honestly. “Knowing I’m the only man who gets to see you naked. To be the one who pries your legs open to taste you. Have you sliding all over me because I’ve made you addicted to getting my dick inside you so often. Making you sweat and beg is more than I can fucking take.”

Charlotte gaped. A sugared grape she paused halfway to her lips.

Bash wasn’t finished.

She needed to grasp the extent of what was on his mind since she’d confessed she’d had no other man before him.

The wait to fuck her was agony.

It was also paradise.

“Your virginity isn’t nothing, darling. It’s a gift I will treasure. I will eat, suck, lick, and fucking devour it until it coats my lips. And once my cock gets into you, I’ll wear it like a goddamn crown, dripping all over me.”

Bash leaned in to kiss the base of his shy, speechless girl’s neck where the pulse was quivering so deliciously he could easily bite down and mark her.

But that was too deranged.

He’d save that for the bedroom.

“Eat your lunch, darling. You’ll need your energy.”

He meant for the next hours of her shift, but damn him if he didn’t get a dirty kick out of watching Charlotte turn the reddest red when she interpreted it to mean he was going to fuck her. Maybe tonight.

She shoved grape after grape into her mouth, nibbled on her favorite salty crackers, and it was comfortable minutes later, she said. “I liked your dirty talk, Bash. But I don’t think I’ll be brilliant with sex acrobatics. Don’t forget, I’m a novice. Even with foreplay! I’m going to mess it up, and you’ll go back to your biker babes and strippers who know how to suck and ride and twist and do all the fancy stuff to turn a biker on.”

His little darling was fretting over nothing, and she looked so sweet with her soulful eyes raised to his. He wanted to eat her alive.

“You turn me on by existing, Charlotte.” Didn’t she get that yet? “You get this little hitch of breath in your throat when I kiss you, and it makes me want to fucking maul you like a deranged lion.”

“Bash,” she laughed, her worried features easing.

“I mean it. That’s the last thing you need to worry about. Anything you need to learn or try, you’ll do it with me. Yeah?”

She nodded shyly, popping a grape between her plump lips. Lucky fucking grape.

“Are you gonna be my good girl?”

Her free hand tightened on his thigh, and Bash grunted from his chest. He wasn’t into public sex, but he could make an exception on their bench if she continued touching him.

“I’m not a patient man, Charlotte. Tell me what I want to hear. Will you be my good girl?”

“Oh, my god, yes,” she said in a hushed tone, and checked to see if anyone was eavesdropping. That would never happen. Even while entirely focused on Charlotte, Bash was aware of their surroundings and had marked the number of people who’d left the main entrance.

“Yes, what, Charlotte?” he pushed, smirking.

“Yes, I’ll be your good girl.” She huffed like a beautiful queen, glaring at him, but her eyes were heavily glazed with lust.

Charlotte wanted to be his good girl as much as he needed it. Maybe more. She just didn’t know what she was agreeing to yet.

“Now you’ve made me lose my appetite,” she grumbled dramatically, sighing and huffing as she leaned into his side.

“Finish your lunch, Charlotte.” He insisted.

She snapped her gaze to him and then smiled. “I guess I should. For all this energy, I’ll need to do the sex acrobats.”

A laugh bubbled out of Bash’s chest at her antics.

He couldn’t fucking wait.