Battlefield (The Covenant Book 2) Read online

  But now I had to break up with him. Not only was he an asshole tonight but he was also Aces-obsessed, which I could not handle.

  A lot of the girls in town looked forward to their eighteenth birthday so they could finally step foot inside the clubhouse. They were drawn to the bad boys and the danger of the one-percenter motorcycle club. Some only went for a night, and others stuck around for a while. But it seemed like the type of girls who went in were not the same that come out. A perfect example was lying downstairs next to Sonny, probably drooling on a couch pillow.

  Rationally, I knew the Aces weren't responsible for my mother's choices. And I really couldn't blame my dad for not wanting to be tied to her. I didn't hate the Aces, at least not at first. I feared them. I didn’t want to be this desperate creature who fell all over herself to get the attention of a biker. I was scared to fall for a man that would not only cheat on me, but also share me with his club brothers whenever he felt like it. I was scared to go near the clubhouse because I didn’t want to be my mother. And it was my fear that made me hate them.

  Tonight, I learned that my fear was justified. I didn’t feel attracted to all bikers, and most were easy to resist. But it only took one to turn me into the creature I feared most, and that biker was Jordan Mitchell.

  From the moment he spoke to me, I felt different, like his voice triggered a part in my mind I never knew existed. Under his gaze I felt feminine and vulnerable. And when he touched me, all my strongly held hatred of the Aces seemed to disappear, and it was replaced by a need so deep it frightened me just to think about it. If Izzy had not come looking for me, I knew I would have let Jordan keep touching me.

  My anxious mind had the audacity to imagine me sprawled across that desk with Jordan between my thighs, thrusting hard and fast. My pussy twitched a little, and I groaned into my comforter. Partly from the feeling but mostly from how easily I was affected. Tonight, I realized that I had the potential to be just like my mother, a pathetic slave to my craving for a bad boy.

  I eventually dragged my ass off my bed and made it to the shower. I washed away the events of the night along with Jordan’s touch, determined not to think of it again. I also vowed never to set foot in the Aces MC clubhouse again. I simply couldn’t risk seeing Jordan again. He wasn't just dangerous; he was the gateway.

  Chapter Four

  Jordan

  I woke up this morning still thinking about my brother’s girlfriend and how much I wanted to fuck her. It had kept me awake, so I finally pulled on a pair of jeans and went out on my balcony to watch the sunrise.

  After my attempt to slake my lust with Rita, I had still been restless as hell. So, I left her sleeping in my bed at the clubhouse and came back to my apartment to get some peace and quiet.

  Cece was a fucking conundrum, the first one I’d had in a long time. I found myself analyzing every second we were together, questioning if she really wanted me or if I was the one pushing, and she simply went along out of fear. The more I remembered, the more I was certain she wanted me. It was there in her gasps and whimpers when I touched her, how the jade of her irises seemed to glow in the darkness of the room, even when she was angry.

  I couldn’t tell if I was genuinely interested in her or if was just the feeling of doing something wrong that made her seem so desirable.

  I’d done my share of evil-doing, as an Ace and as a soldier. Hell, I’d been stealing and doing misdeeds on a laptop since before I started shaving. But fucking my kid brother’s girlfriend would be a new low. Greg could be a real punk, and he had not been the easiest to live with since his mom died. But no one deserved that kind of betrayal, especially one so young. No matter how much Greg pissed me off, I didn’t want to hurt him.

  So, if I didn’t want to hurt Greg, was it simply that she was off limits that made her so sexy? I wasn’t used to being denied something I wanted, especially when it came to women. And yet, there were attractive women who were off-limits that I had no problem staying away from. Some of my MC brothers’ wives were sexy as fuck, and I could totally imagine having them beneath me. But I was never tempted to do it in real life.

  All these excuses I was trying to come up with were lame because I wanted Cece before I knew she belonged to Greg. The moment I took in her face and body, I was harder than a fucking pike. Her voice, her skin, and her scent only made my desire grow as we stood in my office.

  The real kicker came when I told her to bend over my desk. I watched as she turned from a vengeful warrior into a docile little submissive as my words sank in.

  It was a dream to find a woman like her. So often I met women who were willing to do anything for my attention. Cece wasn’t afraid to fight me, to piss me off. But she also wanted to submit, to be controlled. She wanted to be dominated. I was getting hard all over again as I thought about being the one to do it.

  “Morning,” Greg said as he came out on to the balcony in jeans and a t-shirt but no shoes. This was my apartment, but Greg had been staying here for a while. When his mom died, he still had a year of high school left and it was either move in with me or let him go into foster care. We made a sad little family, sharing a father, and the fact that our mothers were dumb enough to fall for his bullshit lies about love and family. They both had died of natural causes, but dad was scraped off the highway after a motorcycle accident.

  It was awkward as hell when he first moved in and I tried not to act like a parent, but we’d formed a loose friendship if nothing else. These days, I usually stayed at the clubhouse to give the kid space now that he was nineteen, but I still had my own room here. It was nice to get away from the clubhouse sometimes.

  He sat down next to me on an old lawn chair and took out a cigarette. Ironically, I quit when he moved in, trying to be a good role model. So much for that.

  “Met your girlfriend last night,” I said casually.

  His eyes lit up. “She’s hot, right?”

  Fuck yes, I thought but simply nodded.

  “I don’t remember a lot,” he said.

  I wanted to smack him over the head for his dumb ass behavior. Getting drunk and leaving a girl like Cece alone at the clubhouse was stupid. I could vouch that no Ace would rape her, but there were a lot of other bikers there last night. She could have been hurt or molested.

  She was molested, by you, my conscience said.

  “Izzy gave her a ride home,” I replied.

  Greg rubbed his face. “Shit. How pissed was she?”

  I shrugged, not wanting to guess at the girl’s feelings as she left the clubhouse last night.

  He pulled out his phone and started to text. After he finished, he leaned back in the chair and continued to smoke.

  “You fuck her yet?” I asked, needing to know.

  “No, I keep getting called out at second,” he said with a sad look.

  I just nodded and looked away, willing myself not to imagine his hands on her.

  “Got any advice?” he asked.

  I briefly thought about telling him to break up with her. So, you could sweep in and have her instead, asshole? My annoying conscience was having a field day today. Instead, I said, “She seems like a good girl, so you better play it straight if you plan to keep her.”

  “Keep her? I need advice on how to nail her. After she gives it up then I'll decide if I'm keeping her,” he said arrogantly.

  I looked at my younger brother, wondering if I was this stupid when I was his age. Probably.

  “How old is she?” I asked.

  “Nineteen.”

  I felt my groin tighten at the number while my brain winced. She was legal but still so young. She didn't seem that young last night. The way she handled herself spoke of a woman a few years older. But at same time, when I touched her, she quivered like an innocent. As if the sensations were completely new.

  I glanced at Greg. I doubted he knew how to pleasure a woman yet. At his age, all I cared about was getting a girl wet enough to get it in. It wasn’t until an older woman came along the
summer before I left for the army that I knew the wisdom of giving a woman her pleasure before taking my own. Her name was Alison, but everyone else knew her as Mrs. Weaver, the wife of the town attorney, and now Mayor Weaver.

  “So, are the Aces going to vote on prospects soon?” Greg asked cautiously.

  I let out a heavy sigh. “I don't know. We haven't talked about it in a while.”

  “If it comes up, are you going to sponsor me?”

  He had been dropping subtle hints all summer about wanting to join the MC, but I was hesitant. When I joined, it was after I left the army. I had a few years of independence and experience before I decided to dedicate my life to the club.

  “Are you sure you don't want to go to college? That was what your mother wanted,” I said.

  “No,” he said angrily. “I don't want to go to college.”

  It had been a year since her passing, but I'm not sure if Greg ever processed his grief. He seemed over emotional at times and aggressive. That's why I hadn't brought his name up for prospect yet. As my family, he would have a spot, but as his sponsor, it was my responsibility to make sure he was ready to be an Ace. He thought it was all women, drugs, and money, but there was so much more. Aces worked for everything we had, and we worked together. Until I knew Greg could care about something beyond himself, I was holding back the prospect patch.

  “The next time the prez brings up the possibility of new prospects, I'll throw your name in for voting,” I said to placate the kid.

  “Thanks, man.”

  He put out his cigarette and stood.

  “Greg,” I said, making him pause. “The next time you bring a girl to an Aces party, don’t leave her alone. She is your responsibility to protect. Understand?”

  He looked sheepish as he nodded.

  “Hey, you need anything from the grocery store?” Greg asked.

  “Yeah, grab some food for this place.” I had been hungry last night, but the fridge had nothing but ketchup and weeks old pizza. “And grab some beer, too.”

  “I can’t get the beer. I'm going to Bigby's to talk to Cece, and she won’t sell it to me.”

  I just nodded. Bigby’s was the only grocery store in town. I had business there, but it was never shopping.

  I stayed out on the balcony until I heard the front door close, wondering how Greg’s conversation with Cece would go. Part of me hoped she would give him another chance, but another part hoped he went down in flames.

  Chapter Five

  Cece

  My head hurt when I woke up this morning. It always does when I don’t sleep. I kept waking up from weird dreams, some of them starring Jordan and some starring Greg. My mind obviously had some issues to work out. It had been two days since my run-in with the biker, and I was still trying to rationalize my actions, as if an intellectual explanation for the lust I felt would be better than admitting my attraction to the man.

  My best one so far was that I had simply let my sexuality be bottled up for too long and it was acting out at the wrong times. I had stayed a virgin for this long because of my fear of becoming my mother. But now my hormonal teenage body was desperate for attention, and the slightest touch from a man had my pussy dripping.

  The problem with this explanation was the question of why my overly hormonal teenage body didn’t react to Greg’s touch the way it reacted to Jordan’s. I was quickly convincing myself that I had been angry with him at the time, which overrode my need for sex. Totally made sense.

  I was in zombie mode as got in the shower to get ready for work, too distracted with my analysis to put a real effort into anything.

  I decided to give Greg another chance when he brought me flowers at work on Saturday. He apologized and listed all the ways he was an ass that night and asked for the chance to make it up to me. I said okay, but we hadn’t set up another date yet. I wasn’t sure how I really felt about Greg, but I needed someone to take my virginity and I knew he was safe, at least to my heart.

  I was waiting on the porch when Lauren pulled up to my house. There was no driveway, just a dirt road leading through the trailer park. Lauren and I had been friends since middle school and now worked together at Bigby’s. We had a lot in common, namely having no father and a slutty mother. We also had the kinship of being poor with no prospects for the future. But we had our friendship, which we agreed was better than any scholarship.

  “Hi,” she chirped when I settled into her Bonneville. “How’d it go on Friday?” she said, sliding her heart-shaped sunglasses into her hair. Lauren was a light blonde with a nice round face, doe-like blue eyes, and skin that was always tan. She also had a perfect body. Literally, she had the perfect body because she was gym junky with an optimistically perky personality to match. We made a good couple because her sunny outlook on life countered my somewhat darker one, which had daily aspirations that a solar flare would destroy the planet and everyone on it. I kept her grounded, while she reminded me of all the reasons my life was worth living.

  “I already told you in my text,” I replied.

  “You gave me vagueness. I want the details,” she whined. “Particularly the details about Jordan.”

  I really regretted telling her about that. “Can we talk about it after I’ve had my coffee?” I asked.

  “Okay, sweetie,” she said and put her glasses back on her nose.

  The drive to Bigby’s was less than ten minutes, and Lauren filled the time describing her misadventures in internet dating.

  “So, have you had a real date yet?” I asked as we punched our time cards.

  “No,” she responded. “I never get that far. Whenever I find one I like and then we talk about meeting, they just stop messaging me and block their profile. It’s strange.”

  We moved to our lockers to put away our purses and take out our blue Bigby’s smocks that were completely unflattering, but it was worth it to wear jeans and t-shirts to work.

  Lauren came over to braid my hair for me as she continued to talk. “How do I know if I really like a guy if we never meet in person?”

  I giggled. “Maybe you’re on the wrong site or something.”

  “Maybe,” she said with a sigh and finished my Katniss-style braid. She went to the small mirror in the break room and put her hair up in a cute, messy bun.

  Just then, Mark came into the room. “About time,” he said, completely failing to act the part of the hard ass boss.

  He inherited Bigby’s from his dad, but he never fit the role of store manager. He was successful with the store, but you could tell he was meant for bigger things. He was also good-looking with a friendly smile and thick brown hair that he kept trimmed and styled. And his black rimmed glasses gave him a sexy teacher vibe.

  “We’re almost ready,” I said as I grabbed my Chapstick and stuck it in my pocket. I looked at Mark, but his eyes were on Lauren as she primped in the mirror, completely oblivious to his stare.

  This wasn’t the first time I’d noticed Mark’s interest in my best friend. His eyes always seemed to linger on her, but I never thought it was creepy. He wanted her but didn’t have the confidence to do anything about it.

  I coughed to get his attention. Mark’s eyes came to mine, and I gave him a little smirk.

  “Just get out there. People are waiting to check out,” he said and then left.

  Lauren turned to me. “I swear he gets ornerier every day.”

  I think you mean hornier, I wanted to say, but I kept the little joke to myself. Lauren and Mark needed to come together on their own, so I tried not to interfere in case it blew up in my face.

  We grabbed our coffees and went to the checkouts to start the day. We moved on to stocking shelves when another cashier arrived an hour later.

  “You’ve had your coffee. Now, what happened?” Lauren asked, picking up our earlier conversation.

  I looked around the aisle to make sure we were alone. “After Greg tried to, you know, he left me in the office. I was about to find an Uber when someone came in.”
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  “Jordan?” She asked, her eyes lighting up.

  “Yes.”

  “And?” she asked, drawing it out.

  “He thought I might have been snooping around in his office and he wanted to pat me down to see if I took anything,” I said softly, my cheeks heating as I thought back to being bent over his desk.

  Lauren's mouth dropped open and her eyes lost all focus. “Oh, to be touched by a man like that.”

  I sighed, feeling guilt and lust all at once.

  She lifted a brow. “Don't tell me you didn't enjoy it?”

  I kept pushing boxes onto the shelf, refusing to answer.

  “Hey, you promised details, now spill it.”

  My hands shook a little as I thought about the next part because I knew Lauren would suck it up like a Hoover. “He told me to turn around and put my hands on his desk.”

  She bit her lip but smiled at the same time. “And did you?”

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  I opened my mouth to continue, but she held up a hand. “Whoa, I can tell this is going to be really good so let's wait until we are on break before you tell me the rest. I want you to be able to tell it slow, so I can savor every moment.”

  “Okay,” I giggled.

  It would be better to wait, I thought. Not only did I want privacy but just thinking about it had my body producing the same slickness it did that night.

  We had finished stocking the cereal and went to the front to wait at the checkouts. It was a slow morning, so Lauren and I just stood at our registers, talking. Mark didn't mind if everything was stocked and cleaned at least once a week. I had my back to the door when I heard the sliding doors open. I turned and immediately froze.

  Jordan stood there looking back at me.

  His look was different in the daylight. He was still intimidating but less menacing. The sharp angles of his face were exactly as I remembered, making me feel hot again. He had on jeans and black boots, but he wasn't wearing his Aces cut. Instead, he had on a leather jacket that was simple but sexy.