Tyrant (Kings of Carnage MC: Alabama #1)

Chapter 6

Tyrant

“ I t’s cooling off. Fall’s here, and we’re heading Midwest. It’ll be much cooler than Alabama. You ever go that far?” I ask, wanting to help her clear her mind of whatever horror she’d been dreaming about.

“No, first time.”

I nod. “It gets chilly, especially at night. We’re in Oklahoma, but just wait, the further west we go, the cooler the nights are filled with warm days. It’ll fuck you up if you’re not prepared for it.”

“You’ve been there before?”

“Many times on runs and such,” I reply automatically, not stopping to consider she may not know what any of that means. “Scoot on in, so I can keep you warm.” I turn onto my side to block the wind on one side. My hand goes to her waist, scooting her until her side is pressed to my chest. I tug her until she turns onto her side as well, facing me, her face lightly pressed to my chest, then fix her tiny blanket to drape over her back and cover the small gap between us. “Better?” It leaves me in a rumble, enjoying having her like this. My arm drapes over her side and back, keeping her blanket in place and giving her more of my warmth.

“You’re not cold?”

“Nah.” I really want to tell her it’s impossible to be anything but hot having her so fucking close to me. If she gets any colder, I may offer to lay my body on top of hers, then fireworks will be happening for sure. I’ll come, she’ll orgasm a few times, then we’ll both sleep better. With the amusing thought, I close my eyes and concentrate on pretending like she’s not in my arms and eventually drift off to sleep again.

It goes the same way for the next two nights as well, only it gets increasingly harder and harder to keep my hands off of her. Sleeping next to someone, especially being in that proximity, and an intimacy starts to take shape. Three nights of sleeping together under the stars without another person around, and the last night we’re outside, the desert is a chilly bitch. I woke up to her underneath me, my body shielding hers and offering her my body weight.

As soon as we woke up and I felt my stiff dick, I jumped off. She couldn’t look at me all morning without her cheeks blazing crimson. It makes me think she’s a bit more innocent or shy than I’d originally pegged her for. Rather than say shit about it, I’ve decided it might be best to back off a bit. I was getting a little too comfortable, constantly considering her comfort and well-being before my own, and I barely know the chick. We ride for eight hours each day, so there’s not much talking done during the day. It’s the nights that are getting me. We lay in the dark, shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, under a bright moon, twinkling stars, all alone together, and it feels like we have all the time in the world to just talk. I can’t remember ever wanting to simply have a conversation with a chick I was aching to fuck. And trust me, there’s one hell of an ache going on between my legs.

Anyway, the normal amount of time I’d spend balls deep in a chick, I’m using to talk instead. Blair’s a bit reserved, which I can’t blame her for since we’ve barely gotten acquainted, but she still shares bits and pieces of her life. Take, for example, she went to college. She’s a smarty pants, not just a hottie pants, and I’m finding it real attractive on her. I’ve never cared if a chick I was spending time with went to school for anything, but ever since our conversation about it happened, I find myself, when I’m rolling down the road and unable to speak to Blair, lost in my head. Wondering which girls, if any, that I’ve fucked have gone to college.

It's even more ridiculous, in my opinion, because none of those chicks are around or mean anything significant in my life. Sounds piggish, but it’s not. I’m simply keeping it real. Another thing I’ve picked up on is this faraway expression she’ll get at times, and at others, she’ll start to say something then stop. Makes me wonder if she’s got a kid or if she’s just worried about that monster she briefly touched on in the beginning.

Each night she dreams, and every time I’m startled awake because of her nightmares. Last night, when I woke her up, it was cold, and she’d clung to my chest. I think it’s how we ended up with me on top of her, practically smothering her smaller frame with mine. When I try to ask her if she’s okay and if she wants to talk about it, she swears she’s fine. I’m not dumb; I’ve been around men who’ve seen some shit for my entire life, practically. I’ve had ties to the club for as long as I can remember with my uncle and cousins. I show her the same respect I give any of them and shut my damn mouth. If she wants to share, she will. I hope.

It takes us a little over two hours on our last day riding before we finally make it into the city. “This place is nice.” She glances around the hotel after we’ve climbed off my motorcycle, and the guy at valet has promised they’re keeping it up front with the other bikes.

Nodding, I explain, “I’ve learned with shit like this, it’s better to find a secure lot where my bike won’t get stolen. It’s too crazy on concert nights to go anywhere anyway. I try to find good parking, and a close hotel to any events I attend makes shit easier. The last thing I want to do is drive around this God-awful city.”

“Not a fan of Las Vegas?”

“Fuck no. Too noisy. Too full. Come on, let’s get checked in.”

She follows me inside without argument but not for lack of trying previously on her part. I made sure she was well aware two nights ago that we’d be staying at a hotel for tonight and tomorrow night. The concert is later today, but I’ll need tomorrow to recoup, I’m sure. After we get time to chill, she’s going to ride back with me but get off once we’re on the outskirts of Alabama. She doesn’t know where she’s going, just that it needs to be close to Alabama but not too close. Those were her words, not mine.

I pass the lady standing behind the fake marble front desk my ID and credit card, then wait for her to do her tap-tap on her keyboard and find my reservation. She sighs, then huffs, then mutters to herself. Finally she meets my gaze, appearing a little frightened and a lot intimidated by my presence. “I’m so sorry, sir, but our system is completely down. It’s been giving me issues the past few hours.”

I offer a shrug in return, because I have no idea what her system being shut down means for me. “I just need my room key, don’t care about anything else.”

“Right, um, can you fill this out so when we’re back online, I can get you checked in? I have you on my list as an incoming reservation, but can’t bring anything else up.” She sets my ID and credit card on top of two papers. One has credit card symbols on it with tiny writing and a bunch of other mumbo jumbo, and the other one is a blank piece of printer paper with hand-drawn lines and gibberish beside it. Whoever made this has seriously shitty penmanship.

I stare at it, then stare some more. The writing is so bad it’s harder than usual to pick the words apart. There’s also the fact that everyone is looking at me while I glare at the counter, and it’s beginning to feel like the walls are closing in around me. This should be easy and something I could breeze through, but the anxiety of not fucking it up starts to be a bit crushing. My vision tunnels and suddenly all the words seem blurry. I don’t need glasses, I can see just fine, but apparently not right now. Someone clears their throat behind me, and just when I’m about to flip my shit, break the fucker’s neck, and tell everyone else to fuck right off, Blair steps forward.

She smiles kindly to the chick behind the counter, then grabs a pen and scans over each paper. “I can only imagine how frustrating that must be for you. I’ll get these filled out, no problem.” She jots the information down quickly, then hands the forms back. “Here you go. Do you need anything else from us, Jennifer?”

“Let me program your keys and you’ll be all set. Thankfully, that machine doesn’t need my booking program. I’ll call up to your room when we’re able to process everything electronically. If I miss you, no biggy. You can stop by to check for an update anytime if you want to,” she tells Blair, seemingly much more comfortable dealing with the pixie beside me. Jennifer slides our keys in a black box-looking thing, types in the room number, the machine beeps, then she’s handing the keycards over. “Free WIFI, the password is your last name and the room number.”

“Name and room number?” I question since I only just managed to catch the end. I was too busy glancing around the entryway and at everyone else to hear the rest of what she’d muttered. I tuned out from her spiel once Blair took over handling the papers for me. She hands me my ID and credit card as Jennifer begins to explain the details again, a little less patiently, and it takes everything in me to pay a lick of attention because Blair’s hand just brushed against mine, and I swear it zapped me. The brief touch was enough to drive me wild, which is basically insane in my opinion.

“Yes sir, your name is Chris Knight, so your password would be Knight313 .”

“Got it,” I grumble. “Thanks,” I remember to say as we’re walking away, not wanting to come off as a total meatheaded tool. As we get away from the desk and the prying eyes, I say, “I appreciate you having my back-back there. She started talking and mixed with the gibberish she wanted written down, I couldn’t focus anymore.”

Blair offers me an easy smile, nodding. “Of course. It’s the least I can do when you’ve had mine several times already. Besides, after riding so much the past few days, it’s amazing we can both think or even hear correctly. I still feel like I’m vibrating a bit.”

My brow scrunches up in thought, trying to work out the times she’s thinking of with me having her back. Nothing comes to mind, aside from when I offered her the ride initially. We get to the room, and thankfully, the key works, so the outage must be affecting downstairs and not the rest of the hotel. I’m shocked to discover only one bed in the mini suite when we enter, but then it hits me: I only booked one bed because I didn’t have any guests coming with me when I was checking out the local hotels to the concert venue. “Shit, I’ll call down and ask if they have any rooms with two beds.”

“I can sleep on the floor,” she responds without hesitation and it fills me with fury. She should not be so damn accommodating, and whoever made her this way is a complete asshole.

“Absolutely not.” I immediately disagree, shaking my head. “I’ll call downstairs and see if they can get us moved.”

She finally gives in. “Okay, thank you. I’m going to take a shower while you figure out if we’re staying in this room or moving.” She points to one of the complimentary bottled waters near the fridge and microwave, and I nod. Blair can have whatever the fuck she wants, but I know she’ll barely ask for a thing. I’ve learned that much about the quiet but proud woman over the past few days. She takes the water and the bag of all her belongings with her, flashing me one more grateful glance before she disappears into the other room. I wish she’d taken some of the candies and snacks from the bowl next to the water as well. Sure, I’d have to pay out the ass for them, but it’d be worth it knowing she’s eating whenever she feels hungry.

She cracks the door, calling through the small opening, “Hey, there are some toiletry items in here, travel stuff. Mind if I use them?”

“They’re all yours, Sugar. You let me know if somethin’ is missing and I’ll have them bring it up for you.”

The bathroom door closes, and I head for the phone. I even pick it up, but then the thoughts of sleeping next to her the past few nights under the stars all alone hit me, and I hang the receiver back up. We haven’t needed two beds before now, and the last thing I want to do is put distance between us, setting us back a step. The space would only work against what I want to accomplish and that’s Blair completely naked, writhing beneath me, and moaning my name.

I make a call, but it’s to the concierge, asking them to bring up a variety of shit they think my travel companion might need if she was short of supplies. I gave them her size and description to the best of my knowledge, and they promised to send one of their shoppers up with supplies. All courtesy of my credit card on file. Never stayed at a place like this with everything I want right at my fingertips. Sure, it comes at a cost, but I already warned them it’d max out if they tried charging a cool grand on it, and they assured me they’d keep it reasonable.

Not gonna hold my breath, but after traveling with Blair and her asking me for virtually nothing…Well, it makes me want to buy her whatever she sets her eyes on. Not that I’m set up for that sort of thing financially. I have enough cash saved to get by with what I need and spoiling a woman on a rare occasion won’t set me back too much. Helps I live at the club, no rent or anything to worry about, so it just collects in my bank account.

The bathroom door opens sometime later, steam billowing out as Blair enters the tiny room to find me sitting on the edge of the bed, hands clammy like it’s prom night, and I’m about to fuck the virginity out of some chick I’ve barely been dating for two months. No pressure at all. “The water is divine; I feel five pounds lighter after the massage the hot water gave me. So, are we moving rooms after all?”

I should tell her the truth. It’s the right thing to do and if I was a good man, I would. I’m not. “Nah. Talked to the front desk, but it looks like the hotel is full. I asked for a cot, but they seem to be out of everything right now. Looks like we’re sharing a bed unless they find another room for us before we leave.”

Her lips twist into a frown for a beat, but then she loses it, her expression softening as she gazes at me. It’s rare a chick looks at me the way she does. It’s usually out of hate ‘cause they think I’m a grumpy asshole or filled with lust over the idea of fucking an outlaw biker. No one just offers me kindness as Blair seems to do without a second thought. “No worries, Tyrant. I appreciate you asking and for letting me stay with you. I’ll sleep anywhere so long as it has air conditioning during the day and some sort of breeze at night. Since we’re in the desert now, though, I have a feeling after what you’ve told me, I won’t want a breeze at night.”

I chuckle, while inside I’m fist pumping in relief. She bought it, and now I’ll get to have her in my bed tonight, exactly like I’d been daydreaming about all day long yesterday through to this morning. It’s hard to think of little else when she’s sitting so close to me for eight hours every day and then sleeping pressed against me for at least eight more at night. Sixteen hours out of each of the past three days has been filled with us intimately close in proximity to each other. I don’t feel like I’ve known her for less than a week, but closer to knowing her for at least a month or more. All the talking we do in the evenings has only further cemented the notion. I like her. I respect her. Most of all, I’m more than ready to drop trow and fuck her. “You can eat those snacks if you’re hungry.” I gesture to the bowl filled with bags of Chex mix, chocolate macarons claiming to be gourmet, and honey oat granola bars. I don’t like any of that shit anyhow. I’m not much of a junk food eater unless it’s Moon Pies and sweet tea.

“They’re free, like the waters?”

I nod. Another lie. A small one, but my soul’s already going to hell, so what’s one more added to the mix of my transgressions. Fuck it. “I asked them to bring up some more stuff, so if anyone comes to the door with a bag, you can answer it.” Her eyes grow wide, so I quickly follow up with, “Or not. Tell them to leave it against the door and grab it when they roll out or holler for me. I’m going to hop in the shower to get this road grime off me but can hurry out if you don’t feel comfortable.”

She nods. Biting into her lower lip as she stares at me. “Can I do something?”

“Of course,” I grumble the words, head tilted as I don’t know why she’d be asking my permission for anything. She can do whatever the fuck she wants, and if anyone protests, they can deal with me. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

“I’ve been wanting to do this but not appear too forward in doing so,” she softly admits, then she’s standing in front of me. My brows leap to my hairline as she leans forward, wrapping her arms around my waist. Her hands rest mid back, keeping it completely innocent, but her pressing against my front this tightly as she wraps me in a hug has me feeling some type of way. She possesses a power she doesn’t realize she holds in the palm of her hands…how to turn me to putty for her. She gives me a strong squeeze in the process that has my arms coming up to wrap around her in return, not wanting to let her go so soon.

When was the last time someone hugged me like this?

“You’re not too forward for me,” I manage to choke out. My throat’s suddenly dry, along with the weird ass tightening in my chest. My heart pitter-patters right along like it’s a drum building up a crescendo. “Your hair smells nice,” I mumble absently.

She pulls away, beaming up at me. She has to be the nicest person I’ve ever met before. She offers her beautiful smiles to me like I’ve somehow earned them when I’ve done nothing of the sort. She claims she doesn’t have any money, but her looking like that is all the currency I need. Knowing she’s happy, and believes I did something right, makes me feel on top of the fucking world.