“What do you mean by claimed and the patch thing?”
“When a woman is claimed and wears the brother’s patch, she belongs to him. All Insurgents members and other biker clubs respect the woman ’cause they know she belongs to a patched member.”
“ ’Belongs’? What does the patch say?”
“It says ‘Property of’ and the member’s name.”
“ ’Property’? You look at the woman as your property?” she asked, her voice rising.
“It’s not what you think. You citizens don’t get it. It’s like the woman belongs to the member and the member belongs to the woman. It’s a respect thing. It’s like wearing a ring or a letterman’s sweater. In our world, the women wear the patch.”
Cara shook her head. “I don’t know, it sounds sexist to me.”
“Would you wear a ring if a guy gave it to you as something serious?”
“Yeah, I would.”
“It’s the same thing, but instead of a ring, the woman gets the patch. It means respect and love, you know?”
“I guess.”
“Anyway, you gotta stick with me because you don’t have a patch. A sexy woman like you can get into all kinds of trouble if you wander off without me. Tonight, the chapters in other parts of Colorado are coming for a party, so it’ll be wild. You have to stay with me, no fuckin’ arguments.” Hawk’s eyebrows knit together as he looked at Cara.
With pursed lips, she nodded.
“Let’s go back to your place so you can pack some things. You can drive and I’ll follow you. I know you know where the clubhouse is.”
She was scared to go to the clubhouse, but she was also curious as hell to see what went on behind those brick walls. She would heed Hawk’s words and stick to him at all times. A touch of what those guys were capable of was enough to know she didn’t want to end up on the floor of the clubhouse servicing a bunch of rough, drunk bikers. She shuddered. Five months back, she never would have dreamt that she’d be hanging out at the Insurgents’ clubhouse with a sexy, rough biker as her lover. Life is strange.
* * *
“It could be a real problem having her here while she’s not claimed. Besides, we got members coming from several chapters, and they don’t know who the hell she is,” Banger said as the other members nodded in agreement.
“She’ll be with me at all times, and I’ll make sure of that. Believe me, everyone’s going to know Cara’s with me tonight,” Hawk countered.
“I don’t want trouble over pussy. Shit, these bitches ain’t worth it,” Banger stated.
“Why don’t you just patch the bitch and be done with it?” Ruben asked.
“Youse been thinkin’ with your cock for the last few months. It’d be better to claim her as your ol’ lady so youse can get back to being a full member again,” Billy snorted.
Hawk glared at Billy. “Fuck off.”
“Billy’s speaking the truth,” Axe said. The other members around the board table nodded.
“Fuck all of you,” Hawk snarled.
“Gotta admit that you haven’t been ’round here much, and when you do come, you stay for a short time and take off. Your mind’s on your cock up her pussy too much. That’s shit, and you know it. I gotta have you focused,” Banger said.
Hawk knew they were right. Ever since he’d first seen Cara at Rusty’s, he couldn’t get her out of his mind—her warm eyes, vanilla-scented hair, soft tits, and sweet pussy mixed him up too much. Thinking if he fucked her hard a time or two, he’d get her out of his system, but he realized he just wanted her more. He was surprised at the way Cara made him feel, and deep-down stirrings of feelings he thought had died decades ago gnawed at him. Fuck. He didn’t know what the hell was the matter with him; all he knew was Cara made him feel good, and he wanted to spend time with her.
The brothers were right in that he was negligent with the club; he did the minimum since all of his thoughts were on Cara, which was lame as shit. He’d be the first one knocking a member for being bitch-whipped if the brother behaved like he had been acting. But what could he say? He’d never felt like this with any woman he fucked, and he had fucked a ton of bitches.
All eyes were on Hawk, who cleared his throat and said, “I know I’ve been fuckin’ with Cara for a while now. I’m not going to say I didn’t have club business at the forefront, but I have been preoccupied.”
Banger, satisfied that Hawk owned up to his indiscretion, said, “Your bitch is your responsibility. If someone messes with her, it’s on you. I don’t want no shit over a bitch, but she is your bitch, and no brother in this membership will bother her. You better damn well make your intentions clear with the charter members tonight. Now, let’s move on to the Deadly Demons Nomads. What the fuck are we gonna do about those pieces of shit?”
“I’m going to kill Viper for touching my woman. No one does that shit without a payback,” Hawk seethed.
“Do we want to start a war over a bitch?” asked Axe.
Hawk had to hold himself steady, because he wanted to leap out of his chair, pounce on Axe, and beat the shit out of him for being so stupid and disrespectful.
“It’s not just about Hawk’s woman—it’s also about us. There’s evidence these motherfuckers were framing us for all kinds of shit, including the murders of those women. That can’t fuckin’ be ignored,” Jax said, pounding the table with his fists.
“They also sent in a woman to Dream House. She was one of the strippers, but she was stealing from us and giving the money to the Nomads. I found out she’s one of the motherfucker’s old lady,” Hawk said.
“I made sure she’d never steal again, the fuckin’ whore. Those assholes have crossed the line!” Jax fumed.
The members murmured their agreement. Banger said, “Those motherfuckers messed with us—game on. We’ll stomp their fuckin’ brains out, no hesitation, not a fuckin’ blink of an eye. We will fuck them up. Let’s bring it to all the members tomorrow evening. We’ll call an emergency church. If everyone agrees, then we’re gonna take care of business.”
“Yeah, we’ll show those assholes not to fuck with Insurgents,” Jax cried out.
The rest of the members were chanting, “Insurgents forever! Forever Insurgents!”
Hawk’s chest swelled with pride. This was his family, and they’d do anything for each other. They were Insurgents three hundred sixty-five days a year, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. They didn’t let anyone fuck with them, and they always had each other’s back. He’d make sure to tell Viper he’d fucked around with the wrong club as he stomped on the fucker’s balls.
Chapter Twenty-One
The motorcycles started arriving around three o’clock that afternoon. The old ladies were busy in the kitchen making mountains of baby back ribs, boiled corn, coleslaw, and mashed potatoes, knowing the members would be hungry after riding from various parts of the state. The chapters came from Cortez, Niwot, Fruita, Erie, and Silverton. There was a buzz of excitement in the air, and the brothers were ready to get crazy.
Cara watched out the window in Hawk’s room as the members began turning into the compound in droves. The leather-clad men were black ink streaks on their Harleys, and in the afternoon sun, the motorcycles’ chrome shone like the gleam of a sword. The engines’ rumble made the window vibrate. Cara had never seen anything like it.
Hawk came into the room and walked toward Cara. Putting his arms around her, he drew her against him, nuzzled her ear, and said, “Are you feeling the fever in the air?”
“Yeah, I am. I’ve never seen this many motorcycles, or men in leather, in my life.”
“Wait ’til you go to a rally, like Sturgis. It’s fuckin’ awesome.” He licked her earlobe.
“Are women invited to the party? I don’t see any women, only men on their Harleys.”
“Old ladies don’t come to these parties. They’re making the food, but they’ll leave after everything is prepared. The women who come to these parties are lookin’ for a good time: booze, fucking, drugs. That’s the way the brothers like it.”
“Is that what you like?”
“I did. I’m not gonna lie to you, baby, I loved goin’ to club parties. I fucked and drank hard for years. I don’t drink as much as I used to, and I don’t want to fuck anyone but you.” He kissed her neck. “Why would I go lookin’ for pussy when I’ve got the sweetest one of all?”
Cara smiled, but she couldn’t help but wonder if any of the women Hawk had been with would be at the party that night. Of course, she wanted to ask him, but she didn’t want to sound like a jealous shrew. She knew he had a past, and she knew the reputation of bikers, so she couldn’t be surprised he had been with so many women. Even knowing all that, she still felt a stab of jealousy. How could she compete with these crazy, wild women who threw caution to the wind and embraced life with abandonment? Were they better at pleasing Hawk than she was? I’m being dumb. Hawk is with me. He could be with any of these women tonight, but he’s with me. I have to quit obsessing about his past sexual life.