Warlords MC: Book 1 – Ace (Truman) : Chapter 6

Ace seemed to take pity on her and shook his head. “I’m not that kind of man, sweetheart. I would fuck you silly but only with your full cooperation. As for why I’m in your bed, you did beg me to stay. I shouldn’t have gotten in bed with you but I wasn’t going to leave you alone.” He paused then asked, “Are you feeling better this morning?”

Charli nodded then looked down at her t-shirt. Frowning, she asked, “Why am I wearing this? I didn’t go to bed in this shirt.”

“Your other shirt was drenched in sweat when your fever broke.”

She cocked her head to one side. “And did you change my shirt?”

“Well, I sure as fuck wasn’t going to let one of my brothers do it.” He chuckled. Then he sighed. “But today is another day and we got work to do.” He moved to get out of bed. Standing up, he stretched his kinks out.

Charli watched in amazement as she looked over every inch of his body. His wide shoulders and strong back. She stared hard at him to see most of his skin was covered in ink. Her mouth watered at the sight of his trim hips and tight ass. His thighs were well muscled and taut. If he would’ve turned, he would have seen the desire in her face as her eyes traced his back up to his shoulders again.

Charli literally had to wipe the drool from her mouth as she watched when he bent over to pick up his jeans and hike them up. She was a little lost as he covered his ass in denim.

He peeked over his shoulder at that point and saw her eyes on his ass. He grinned slightly then turned to grab his shirt and pulled it on. Finally, he turned to face her. “Are you going to get up and dressed?” he smirked.

Charli shook her head and cleared the daze she was in and got out of bed. Walking over to her dresser, she got clean clothes and went wordlessly to her bathroom slamming the door behind her.

Truman grinned at her little snit of anger at being caught ogling his ass of all things, though he winced at the slamming door. “Serves her right.” He saw the desire in her eyes and it almost matched his. But he didn’t want her desire, he wanted her lust, an out of control want that only he would then satisfy.

He heard movement downstairs. He went over to the window and peeked out into the backyard. Nothing seemed to be moving out there. Then he narrowed his eyes to look further out and saw a man standing in the shadows of the trees.

Truman glared as he watched the other man. He was younger with dirty blonde hair. He couldn’t see him close enough to tell if he was the same man who’d stopped at the diner or not but he would bet his last dollar it was.

Looking around the room, he found a pair of binoculars Charli had on a small table by the bed. He grabbed them up. Moving back to the window, he adjusted it to focus in on the trees. When the man came into view, he growled low with rage. It was the same man that had forced Charli to kiss him in the diner. His fingers tightened on the binoculars. This was the same man who’d stabbed his brother, then shot Charli and the one who’d killed Alex. The same bastard that had almost burned down the barn last night.

He watched as the man turned and walked away, or rather stomped away. Every step told Truman the man was angry. He drove off in an all-terrain vehicle. He watched as the little fucker drove into the distance and disappeared beyond where he could see.

“What are you looking at?” Charli asked from behind him. Her voice was soft and almost a whisper.

“I’m watching your friend Andy, watching the house, and driving away. He wasn’t a happy man.” He set the binoculars down on the windowsill.

“That man is NOT my friend and I wouldn’t want him to be,” she insisted.

Truman turned and saw her standing there.

She was dressed in jeans and another T-shirt. Her hair was loose and it brushed the top of her hips.

He pursed his lips and shook his head. “That man wants you.”

Charli shook her head. “No, he doesn’t want me, he wants revenge against me.”

“Revenge?” He frowned. “For what?”

“Because I refused his advances in high school. He was a bully then and it only got worse after his dad became Mayor. Then he just turned downright mean.”

“So… this is a revenge thing?” he asked.

Charli nodded. “Yeah, this is just Andy being a bully, only taking things one step closer to something else. He is now attempting to kill people. He had no remorse thinking that he’d killed your brother. After the incident with Joker, he told me I would wish for death if the police got involved. He knows his dad won’t let anything happen to him. He’s got police protection or so, he thinks.”

“You can’t call in the police,” Truman insisted.

“I can and I will, just not the police around here.” She shrugged.

“You don’t understand, you can’t call the police. King told you last night that we can’t be involved with the police. They’ll lock us up for sure. And I’m not going to jail in this town or any other fucking town.”

Charli shrugged. “Not my problem.”

His fingers tightened into fists. “I can make it your problem, sweetheart. If that’s what you want, I can easily make it your problem.”

She shivered but met his eyes without pause. “You aren’t that type of a man. You would never hurt me unless I deserved it and I haven’t done anything wrong here. I’m not afraid of you.”

“You don’t know me sweetheart. You don’t know anything about what kind of man I really am. But you’ll learn,” he stated under his breath.

She just kept on glaring at him as she tossed her head and her long hair bounced across her shoulders. “I’m hungry and I don’t have to listen to you.”

He grinned and took a step forward. Grabbing her around the back of her neck, Truman pulled her to him. He bent down and when his lips were close to hers, he whispered, “Sweetheart, you do have to listen to me if you and your grandfather want to live through this. I’ll keep you safe but you will do everything I say.”

Charli growled deep in her throat. Curling her lip up, she snarled, “We’ll just see, won’t we?”

Truman liked this fire in her but just now, this was too important for him to indulge in what he liked. He whispered back, “Indeed we will.” Then he leaned in and smothered that luscious mouth with his. She gasped and he invaded her mouth with his tongue. He pulled her closer and she groaned.

With her breathless whimpering, she ground her hips against his engorged cock. When he felt her respond, it was his turn to let out a groan. He deepened the kiss and finally when he broke it… they were both panting for air.

Charli looked up at him with a dazed expression.

He saw her struggling but all he could do was rest his forehead on hers. His blood pounded through his veins and for a moment, he couldn’t even form a thought. He wanted to pull her close again and again, but he knew if he did that, he wouldn’t be able stop himself from taking her. He would find it impossible to keep from stripping her bare and shoving his hard cock into her wet warmth. He’d pound into her without any thought except her pleasure and his until neither of them knew their own dammed names.

Truman halted his lustful thoughts. He wasn’t here for sex, dammit. He had to remember the mission. He gazed down at her sweet face and shook his head. He suddenly realized that she was the only thing that might keep him from finishing this mission and he couldn’t let her do that. The job they were here to do came first and he was almost ready to forget that.

He took a step back to clear his head. He saw the glaze of passion still there in her eyes. Being this close to Charli was making him forget the most important thing in the world.

The WarLords.

They were all bound and determined to see this thing through. End the useless killing, lies and deceit—once and for all. He owed someone who had saved his life on more than one occasion to see this mission through.

Truman took another step back and stepped around her. He headed to the door. He couldn’t stay here with her, he had things to do and people to kill.

Charli watched wordlessly as he walked out on her. She was left dazed and alone and she didn’t know why. First, he kisses her and is all over her. Then he acts like she was some kind of poison and retreats. She had never known a man like him. To say he confused her would be putting it mildly.

After he left, she wanted to stomp her foot and growl at the man in question but she couldn’t. She didn’t want to show him that she wanted him at all. The arrogant bastard. How dare he kiss her then leave her standing there like a conquest he’d just made!

With a huff and a raise to her chin, she went downstairs and ignored him.

Ace watched her as she came into the kitchen. When she wouldn’t look at him, he smirked.

She went around him to get a cup of coffee and sat down at the table beside her grandfather.

Ben looked over at her. “How you doing, baby girl?”

Charli shrugged as she sipped her coffee. “You know me. My fever broke and now, I’ll be fine. I checked my wound and it looked ok.” She wrinkled her nose at him. “I think I’ll make it.” She stared at Ben and noted the lines on his face were deeper this morning. Laying her hand on his arm, she asked softly, “And how are you doing, Gramps?”

Ben shrugged. “Didn’t sleep much but I’m ok.”

Charli nodded. “Ace said he saw Andy watching the property this morning.”

Ben growled. “That little bastard.” He paused a moment then looked closer at his granddaughter. “What exactly happened last night?” When she didn’t answer, Ben shifted in his seat. “Did that big oaf take advantage of you girl? Is that what happened? Did he force himself on you?”

Charli choked on her coffee then swiped the hot liquid from her lips. Turning her head, she gaped at her grandfather in stunned disbelief. “No, he wouldn’t do anything like that. I wouldn’t allow that.”

Ben raised a suspicious brow at her. “Well then, why are you ignoring him?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“I’m not ignoring him,” she whispered rudely, not liking these questions at all.

“Don’t start lying to me now girl.” Ben glared at her. “I raised you better than that.”

Charli shook her head. “Grandpa, if anyone is being ignored here, it’s me. I didn’t ask them to come here and I didn’t ask for their help. I just did what Joker asked me to do. He said his brothers would come to find him and he told me they would get their revenge for what happened to him. All I had to do was tell them what happened. I don’t know what this mission they are on is but I just want them to go away now. I think I was better off before they got here. I want no part of whatever it is they’re planning. I have to live here after they leave and living here was hard enough as it was.”

“Maybe you should just get out of here, find another place to live,” Ben grumbled. “You should get out on your own. You don’t have to stay here with an old man, you know.” He looked away.

Charli could see him tense up and she knew he was really upset now. He didn’t often let things get to him like this.

“This is no life for a young and vibrant young woman like you,” he muttered under his breath.

Charli patted his arm gently. “Grandpa, where else would I go? You’re my family. You are all I have left now. And this place…” She looked around at the room. “This is the only place I could ever call home.”

Ben shook his head. “Oh, baby girl, I’m not gonna live forever. You know that.”

Charli leaned closer to her grandfather and whispered in a fierce voice, “I’m not going anywhere, grandpa, not ever and not without you.”

Truman watched Charli whispering to her grandfather and couldn’t help but wonder what she was telling him. He noticed his brother King coming up beside him and taking a seat. He glanced over at him and was taken aback by the look of anger on his face. “What crawled up your ass already this morning?” he drawled.

“You.” King growled with a disgusted expression on his hard face. Turning his head, he observed Charli for a moment then turned his dark gaze back to his brother. “What are we doing here, Ace? I mean I know we came after Tanner and I’m more than glad he lived through that knife attack, but what are we still doing here in this fucking farmhouse? Don’t we have things to do? A job to finish?”

Truman turned toward his brother and glared at him. “Yes, we found our brother and yeah, we got a mission to complete but you know what? I think Charli is the key to unlocking this whole thing. I think she has more to tell us and I’m not leaving until she tells me all of what she knows.”

King snorted. “Are you sure you just don’t want in her pants?”

Truman growled low in his throat as he got up and shoved his brother out of his way. “Don’t you talk about her like that!” he warned King.

Joker came up to his brothers just then. “You two need to stop this shit.” Glancing over his shoulders at Ben and Charli, he turned his angry gaze back to his brothers again. “We got work to do, instead of fighting amongst ourselves. We need to find out what’s going on in this town. I have a feeling the guy that stabbed me has something to do with Alex and our mission.”

Truman calmed himself and stared at his little brother. “Tanner…You said you saw Ghost Riders doing business with this guy, Andy, right?”

Joker nodded. “The Ghost Riders usually come once a week and if they keep the schedule, they’ll be here tonight.”

Truman nodded as he reached for his phone. “I’m gonna get Pepper here to figure this out. He swore to me his MC wasn’t involved. Either he’s lying to my face or something else is going on here. Either way, he needs to know about this.” He turned his back on his brothers and moved away while he made his call.

Joker turned to King. “What the hell is going on with you two?”

“Ace is losing sight of the mission because of her.” King motioned his head toward Charli. “And I don’t fucking like it.”

Joker looked over at Charli and saw her staring at Ace.

She must have felt his gaze because she suddenly glanced at Joker then her face flushed as she quickly looked away.

Glancing over at King, he saw him nod. Joker swore under his breath.

Ace came back over to his brothers and told them, “Pepper and his Enforcer are on their way. He wanted to bring more of his men but I told him too big a group would draw the wrong sort of interest.”

“Well, let’s hope the Ghosts stick to the scheduled pick up then.” Joker nodded. “But they have been on the same pickup for the last three weeks.”

Ace nodded. “I saw Andy watching the house today. He must know we’re here.”

“Where was he watching from?” King asked.

“From just inside the tree line and he drove south when he left.” Ace looked troubled. “I don’t think he’s done with Charli or her grandfather yet.”

“South along the fence line is where I walked to see the meeting,” Joker mentioned.

Ace nodded. “He’s part of all this and we are gonna find out what he’s doing and who he’s doing it for.”

Joker and King nodded.

Truman got up, went over to the table, and sat down next to Ben. “Who owns the land south of your farm?”

Ben shook his head. “There’s a small building on there but as far as I know, Rudy owns that spread, but he moved away years back. At least, I don’t think he’s using it at all… it’s been for sale for the last twenty years.”

“So, no one should even be there right?” Truman asked.

Ben shrugged his shoulders. “No, not really. My friend Evan lived there until he passed away three years ago. Rudy tried to sell it after Evan died but no one was interested then either. It’s too far from town for most folks. It’s a good twenty minute drive out to the house. Guess people are in too much of a hurry nowadays.”

“So there shouldn’t be anyone there?” Truman repeated as he stared at Ben.

“Not unless Rudy sold it or is renting it out.” Ben was staring back at Ace then shifted his keen gaze to Ace’s brothers. “Is there something going on out here that we should know about?”

“I’m not sure yet, but I aim to find out later today,” Truman promised him. Then he looked over at Charli. “We’ve got two more guys coming in tonight. Figure you might want to know that.”

Charli nodded. “Yeah, I would have wanted to know that before they just showed up here.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and asked, “Who are they and why are they coming?”

Truman crossed his arms over his chest and just stared at her. “That’s club business woman, and I won’t tell you about club business.”

Charli looked like he’d just slapped her in the face. “Hey, big guy… I don’t damn well care about your so called business. I just need to know when we get new people out here. Cause it’s gonna be noticed.” She let out an angry huff of air, like she didn’t think much of his business at all. With a hard glare at him, then at his brothers, she pushed back in her chair, got to her feet, and marched out of the room.

The men all paused at this, as they watched her go up the stairs to her bedroom. Then they all heard the hard slam of her bedroom door.

Ben shook his head and glared at Truman.

Truman glared back at the old man before he turned his gaze to the stairway. He didn’t say a word but he couldn’t, could he? This was club business and she didn’t need to know. No one outside the WarLords should know any of it.

“Word of advice boy…” Ben leaned in close to him. “Charli is more like her grandmother than her dad, and my wife was one you didn’t want to piss off. That just wasn’t a good idea.”

Truman shrugged. “She doesn’t need to know what we’re doing here. She kept her word to my brother and that’s all she needed to do.”

“And yet, you and your brothers are still here,” Ben reminded him with a raised brow.

Truman pushed his fingers through his hair and was silent for a few minutes. Then he leaned forward and grabbed his coffee which he knew was cold by now. “We need to be here for a little while longer then we’ll leave you in peace. But we are where we need to be right now. Maybe when this is over, things will turn around here and this will be a decent place to live again.”

Ben snorted as he rolled his eyes. “Yeah and maybe pigs will fly.” He then stilled and stared hard at Ace. “Just don’t go making her fall for you then leave. You break her heart and I’ll break your face.”

Truman paused to stare at him…then he let out a chuckle.

His brothers all laughed at this threat from old Ben.

Ben glared at the huge Biker named Ace. “I’m old but I still know a few ways to hurt you, son.”

They both heard Charli’s door open and looked over at the stairway in time to see her come down with her diner work clothes on.

Ben’s angry expression turned to shock.

Truman stood up. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

“To work, obviously,” Charli quipped and slowly motioned to her outfit and name tag as if he were slow and dumb.

Joker put his head down in his hands with a sigh.

King raised a brow and leaned back in his chair to watch this tug of war play out.

“The hell you are!” Truman roared at her. “If you show up at the diner, Andy will know he missed killing you last night. You aren’t going to work.”

Ben and Ace’s brothers, who were all sitting at the table, looked to Truman as he yelled then their gazes shot over to the small woman with her fierce expression to see what her response would be, even though they knew—it wouldn’t be good.

Charli turned slowly back around to face him and narrowed her eyes, as she had to look all the way up because of his towering height. “You can’t tell me what to do. This is my business.” She emphasized the words he’d said to her earlier. “And big man… you got absolutely no say in what I do.”