Warlords MC: Book 1 – Ace (Truman) : Chapter 5

It seemed like only a few minutes passed as she settled into a troubled sleep when suddenly, someone was pounding on her door. Charli groaned in pain as she pushed herself off the bed. She cried out with the aches and the burning from her side but managed to get to her feet, stumble over, and throw the door open. She found herself staring into the bare chest of a very large man. Raising her eyes, she saw it was King. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Some dickhead started the barn on fire. Ace sent me to get you and Ben out of the house in case it goes up next.” King growled. Grabbing her arm, he pulled her along behind him.

Charli struggled to get out of his hold until King turned around and snarled, “Either you move or I’ll throw you over my shoulder and drag you down the stairs. We ain’t got time for this shit. Ace said get you and your grandpa out of the house. And that’s what I’m gonna do, now move it sweet thing.”

Charli tried to do as he asked but her side was on fire. She tried to keep up and when she finally reached the bottom step, her grandpa was there waiting for her. He saw the look of pain on her face and he reached out for her but in her stubbornness, she pushed herself away from him. She didn’t want him to fuss so she kept her distance. She knew she was running a fever, she could feel it but now wasn’t the time to point that out.

She turned to King and asked, “What the hell happened?”

“Joker went back out there to sleep when he heard someone in the barn He thought it was one of us until he smelled the smoke. He came running down the stairs and ended up chasing shadows running from the fire. When they got away from him, he came in the house to get us. Everyone else ran out to battle the fire. Ace told me to get you and the old man to safety. That’s all I know.”

It was a tense twenty minutes before anyone came back to the house. King kept looking outside and pacing the floor. Slipping out the back door as well while he kept watch on the property.

Ben and Charli sat waiting on the sofa in the living room.

As soon as King went outside, Ben turned to her and asked, “Are you okay, sweetpea?”

Charli smiled a tired smile. “I’ll be fine grandpa. You know me, I tend to run my fevers at night, but I’ll be fine by daybreak. I always am.”

“Yeah, that’s true enough but honey, you ain’t never been shot before,” Ben reminded her.

“Please don’t say anything to the guys. I’ll be fine.” Charli begged her grandfather. She got to her feet and moving slowly, she went to the window and looked out into the night. With only the moon for light, she couldn’t see much but that meant everything was ok. It meant that they had gotten to the fire in time to put it out.

“That little bastard,” Ben swore.

Charli looked over at her grandfather and grinned. Ben didn’t usually swear in front of her or any female. She had asked him about that once when she was younger and he told her then it wasn’t good manners to swear in front of ladies. She guessed he forgot his manners for the moment.

“Don’t you smirk at me young lady,” Ben admonished her. “You know who I’m talking about. Andy did this in the hopes of causing injury tonight. He tried to kill us. Hell, he probably thought the fire would spread to the house and kill me. He thinks he killed you already. You and that other young man.”

She laid her warm face against the cool glass window. Her fever was spiking high now and she could feel herself growing warmer by the moment. “I know Grandpa, I know.”

“Makes a person wonder what’s going on his head,” Ben went on. “Why would he risk his freedom to do something like this? I mean it doesn’t make sense. What is he hiding?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care.” Charli turned to her grandpa. “I told that little bastard if he made a move on you, I’d wipe this whole county with his ass and that’s exactly what I plan to do.”

“And just how are you going to do that?” Ben asked.

Before she could say anything, Ace’s voice called out from the kitchen, “I’d like to know the same thing.” Crossing his sooty arms over his wide chest, he glared at her. “How are you going to do that?”

“No one knows the diner has cameras set up. The night he attacked Joker, it was all caught on film.” Charli pushed away from the window. Her body trembled suddenly and she knew she couldn’t go far on her feet. This sort of thing happened every time she got a fever. “All I have to do is get the video into the hands of the FBI and they will come investigate.”

Ace shook his head. “You can’t do that sweetheart.”

Charli frowned as she struggled to stay conscious while she glared back at him. “I can and I will. You just watch me.”

“If you bring the Feds into this fight, you’ll be signing our death warrants,” Ace informed her. “They will throw us into a cell and toss the key away.”

“But why?” Charli asked as her mind began to get foggy. What the hell was he saying?

King snorted. “Because honey, we’re outlaws. We don’t follow anybody’s rules but our own.”

“Oh fuck,” she whispered as she felt herself sliding into oblivion. Then her legs folded and she slumped to the floor.

She missed seeing Truman rushing to pick her lifeless body up or see the concern on everyone’s face.

The only one who looked uneasy though was Ben.

Truman snapped his head toward the older man. “What the fuck just happened?”

Ben shrugged. “She’s been this way most all her life. Whenever she gets a fever and it spikes like it is right now, she just passes out. When your brother brought her down tonight she had a fever and it was climbing higher while she was sitting here.”

Truman looked down at the woman in his arms and noted the sweat running down her face. She did feel hot against his bare skin. Looking back at the old man he asked, “Will she be ok?”

Ben nodded. “I think so. She hasn’t had one of these episodes since her grandmother passed five years ago. My wife was the one who tended to her until her fever broke.”

“What do I do with her?” Truman asked feeling a little lost with her small form draped over his arms.

“Tuck her up in her own bed,” Ben suggested with a shrug. “She should be fine by morning.”

Truman looked over at his brothers. “Ok, I’ll stay with her for the rest of the night. One of us should stand watch and we’ll switch out every two hours. Get some sleep, morning will be here soon enough.”

Ben got to his feet slowly. Walking toward Ace, he stared at his granddaughter with concern. “When she wakes up, make sure she takes some aspirin or something. She’ll be weak from the fever.”

“Go to bed old man, I’ve got her now,” Truman grumbled under his breath.Ben shook his head and shuffled away back toward his bedroom muttering as he went, “Yeah son, that’s what I’m worried about. That’s what I’m worried about.”

When it was just them in the room, King asked softly, “Why didn’t you tell them what we’re doing here?”

“Because they don’t need to know what our mission is, not yet anyway. Until we find what we came here to find, we don’t say or tell them anything. Got it?” Truman glared at them all.

“But Ace,” Joker pleaded. “She’s scared of us now. That’s no way to treat somebody that saved my life.”

“No, it isn’t brother. But at this point, until we know the lay of the land and what’s really going on here, that’s the way it has to be.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry kid, but this might be the break we were hoping to get and I’m not giving it up.” Truman turned on his heel and carried her to stairway heading upstairs.

He laid her on her bed then went to her bathroom and wet a wash cloth with cool water. Returning to her, he began washing the sweat away from her face, neck, and arms. When she didn’t rouse from his actions, he began to worry. Usually, this woman would be spitting fire at being touched like this. He removed her t-shirt and paused for a moment to admire her body then he instantly felt like a creep as his gaze couldn’t leave her chest. Her breasts were full and round and as he stared at her pretty pink nipples he felt his body respond. His blood was rushing to his cock and he was rock hard.

For being comparatively a short girl at 5’6, she wasn’t missing any of her lady bits that for for sure. He had yet to see the rest of her but what he’d seen so far, he approved of highly. He looked around the room and walked over to her dresser. Opening one of the drawers, he found another t-shirt. Going back to her, he slipped it over her head. Before he could cover up her breasts though, he leaned over and sampled her goods. Licking her skin, he tasted her sweat but he also tasted her own sweetness. He groaned as his tongue bathed her hard nipple and he couldn’t resist sucking it into his mouth. One little taste was all he wanted and that’s all he took. Pulling away, he quickly covered her breasts and torso with the t-shirt.

Charli moaned as he moved back. Then in the softest tone, she whispered, “Please don’t leave me…” A tear slipped down her cheek. ‘Please stay?’

Truman groaned. He knew she was still caught up in the fever. He leaned down to swipe the tear away then he softly kissed her lips. “I’ll be back sweet thing. I’m not leaving you alone. I’ll be back.” He covered her with the blanket and went back to the bathroom. His cock was hard as steel at the moment and he needed time to get his body back under control before he crawled into that bed with her.

Closing his eyes, he felt his big body shuddering, then a calm settled over him. Truman then had control back. He’d done it many times. He had trained himself over the years. He turned to the sink, grabbed the soap bar and began washing the smoke smell from his skin. As the dirty water washed down the drain, he thought about the real reason they were here.

If his brother Joker had really seen Ghost Riders here last week, they were gonna bring hell down on Pepper and his crew. That would mean that Pepper had lied right to his face and Ace couldn’t let that go, he was a better man than that. He knew to look below the surface of any man or woman he met. And he hadn’t read deception in Pepper’s eyes when they spoke last.

This mission they were on began four years ago. Four very long and heartbreaking years in the making but now, they felt they were so close to finding the answers. Looking at himself in the mirror, he made a silent vow.

He vowed he would see this mission through to the bitter end, no matter what they found. His brothers all knew what was at stake and so did he. When they’d lost Alex a few months ago that put a big hole in their plans but it also made the group stronger, more determined to find the killer they were after.

Now there was something stirring inside him and he just knew they were closing in. He could almost taste victory. And that was something he wasn’t going to let go of. Looking through the bathroom doorway at the woman in the bed, he felt she was the key to this whole damn thing. But he couldn’t figure out how that was… yet. He couldn’t let her go and for once, that didn’t bother him.

He was usually a fuck and duck kind of guy. Even though it had been some time for him. He’d avoided women for the most part while this mission had been going on. He’d never fallen so fast for a woman but when his eyes met hers in the diner, he had fallen hard. And now? Now he would use what she knew to complete his mission, no matter the cost. He was Truman “Ace” Bridges, after all.

Shutting off the bathroom light, he made his way over to the bed and began stripping off his clothes. Crawling into Charli’s bed was the last thing he should be doing… but here he was.

When he settled in, he reached for her and pulled her close to him. He was more than surprised when she seemed to fit right into him, almost like she was made to fit him. When her head found a place on his chest, he breathed a little easier.

His mistake was in thinking sleep would come easy to him. It didn’t. He felt her breathing and fell into her rhythm and after a long time, he too fell asleep.

As the room began to lighten with the morning sun peeking over the eastern horizon, Charli stirred. She felt so warm. She was wrapped up tight and she felt safe. She could tell her fever was gone and that was good, so why then did she still feel so warm?

She took a deep breath and there was something different about her pillow. It was hard and smelled like something she’d never smelled on her pillow before. It smelled like what she thought Ace would smell like. Leather and man. Then she wrinkled her nose at the slight scent of smoke. Why would my pillow smell like that?

Then her eyes snapped open and she remembered the fire last night. Her arms tightened on her pillow and she struggled to clear away the post fever blurriness from her brain. Her pillow suddenly moved and her body was caught tight against something that wouldn’t let her move.

“What the hell?” she whispered as she pushed up to look down at what was supposed to be her pillow. Frowning, it didn’t click for a moment. Then she raised her confused gaze and saw the amused hazel eyes that were looking back at her.

“Morning sweetheart.” His voice rumbled in her ear.

Charli reared back and fought to get away from him but Ace wasn’t letting her go. “What the Sam hell do you think you’re doing in my bed?” She hissed.

“I think I’m waking up with an angel in my arms and you know what?” He tapped her button nose, “I like it.” Leaning toward her, he grabbed her cheeks with both hands and covered her mouth with his in a deep hard kiss.

She opened her mouth to scream and he pushed his tongue in deep.

Oh, wow… this… he tastes so good. Charli groaned.

With her sweet groan, Truman’s body tingled with goosebumps, like it never had before. His hands came up and slipped under her shirt as he touched the same skin he only licked in the middle of the night. He groaned again as he felt pure electricity course through him. The need to possess her fully came on so strong, he didn’t think he could control it. When he broke the kiss, he saw stars—never had kissing a woman been like this.

Then…

She slapped his face… hard. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Charli almost growled the question at him.

“Well, I thought I was dreaming there for a moment but sweetheart… dreams aren’t supposed to hurt.” He rubbed his cheek as he glared at her. “Would you mind telling me why you swung on me?”

“Better question,” Charli snapped back with fire in her eyes. “You tell me what you’re doing in my dammed bed? What gives you the right to even be here?”

Ace grinned as he laid back, chuckling and laid his massive arms behind his head. His gaze remaining on at her as he spoke, “Aww darlin, I guess you don’t remember begging me to stay with you last night then huh?”

Charli shrank back but couldn’t go far. Her arms and legs were still tangled up in him. “I didn’t! I would never…” She paused looking uncertain. “Did I?”

Truman smiled wickedly. “Yeah, baby girl, you did. Well, I’ve never been one to turn a woman down, so I did the only thing I could. I stayed the night with you.” Then he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “And I have to say sweetheart, I enjoyed myself all too much, and so did you.”

Charli hung her head and turned bright red. Tears began to fall silently to the blanket that covered them both.

She missed seeing the look of surprise on his face or the concern. The next thing she knew he was cupping her jaw and raising her eyes to his.

The tears surprised him. Brushing them away with the pads of his thumbs he whispered, “Am I all that bad?”

Charli bit her lips and thought about what he was asking for a moment then she slowly shook her head. “No, you aren’t. I just hate disappointing my grandpa like this. I’m not that kind of a girl. I wouldn’t…” Her voice fell away as she swiped at her tears. “He didn’t raise me to sleep around.”

Truman felt the blow to his chest. He realized she thought they spent the night doing all the things he’d wished they’d done. Gathering her in his arms, he brought her to him. “Oh darlin’, if you hadn’t been out like a light I would have made love to you, but even I’m not that much of a bastard. Even I wouldn’t take advantage of a woman in that way. You were safe in my arms.”

Charli stared at his face for a long moment as if trying to see the truth there in his expression. “Then we didn’t…”

Truman shook his head slowly. “No Baby, we did not. I wanted to. God dammit, I fucking wanted to. Never been so tempted in all my miserable life. But you were sick. I just held ya. That’s all.”

With a sigh, Charli laid her head on his chest.

Truman laid there and held her in his arms. This was another thing he hadn’t counted on. A woman. Possibly a woman for him. After all these years and all the miles. He’d found one that fit him. With her fire and that sweet body? He knew once he tasted her for real… He would never let her go. But as for Charli…

How hard would she fight him? Would she want a mean ass biker like him? Would she adapt to the MC life?

He squeezed her tighter to him. He would find a way to make it happen. Like his brothers always said. He always had… an Ace up his sleeve. Smelling her silky hair, Truman smiled.