Marked Skulls MC Series: Books 1-5 Page 3

  “I’m not leaving the house!” I declared and dad widened his eyes at me. I could see the worry in his gaze.

  “You can’t stay locked up here forever, Lila, you have to get out. I promise you we’ll keep you safe. We’ll make sure this never happens again,” dad insisted and I shook my head. I was already starting to back out of the kitchen.

  “I’m not leaving my house,” I said with trembling lips. They had no idea how afraid I was. It was a strange feeling to know that even your father couldn’t keep you safe anymore.

  Dad stood up from his chair, and looked at me insistently.

  “I’ve arranged for a guy to come and be with you, everywhere you go. He’ll stay on the porch outside your door when you’re at home. He’ll keep you safe,” dad told me and I shook my head.

  “I don’t need a bodyguard. I don’t need any help from you!” I shrieked and Rodeo took a step towards me. He looked like a lost man, grappling for ways to calm me down. None of them could. They didn’t know how.

  “Lila…you need a bodyguard, at least for some time, till all this blows over. It’s for your own protection. You’ll feel safe and then you can go about your life,” dad said and I turned from him and walked out of the kitchen.

  I could hear the scraping of chairs against the floor. Fred, Rodeo and my dad were following me to my room again.

  “Lila! Don’t you lock yourself up in your room again. You need to talk to us!” I heard dad roar as they followed me. I wrapped my arms around my torso, hugging myself to stop the tears from gushing down my cheeks. How much longer was I going to randomly keep bursting into tears? I had never been a crier, and now it seemed like I just couldn’t stop crying.

  “Lila!” dad yelled, just as I stepped into my room.

  “Brother, let her go. She just needs some time,” I heard Fred whisper to my dad and I shut the door behind me.

  In my room, I could still hear their voices outside. Dad and Fred and Rodeo were discussing me. They were all worried, but they also didn’t quite know how to deal with my fear.

  “Mouse, you’re going to get that bodyguard tomorrow whether you like it or not. I have to do everything I can to keep you safe,” I heard my father’s voice on the other side of the door. He sounded defeated, and I would have hugged him if I could, but I couldn’t find the strength in me to forgive him. I could only hear my mother’s voice as she fought with him. As she begged him to give up the MC and try and build a normal family life for me. I blamed him, and I blamed him as a father for what was happening to me.

  I couldn’t have a normal life because of his choices, and now my life was in danger.

  I walked over to my bed and dropped down on it, burying myself under a jumble of covers and pillows. It sort of made me feel safe, at least for the time being.

  It was hot and the large bay window in my room remained open, billowing the thin curtain with its soft warm breeze. I stared up at the ceiling fan as I remained lying on the bed. I was scared and angry and felt defeated. I wished I had just run away to the East Coast, but I never had the chance and now it was probably too late. For all I knew, I was being constantly watched.

  4

  Girth

  Among the small bits of information that Elwood had given me about the Marked Skulls, he had told me that they worked out of a bar called T-Bone. I arrived there around noon the next day, and walked in to find most of the MC members crowded around the bar.

  Heads turned when they saw me walk in, and I could predict the thoughts that were whirling around in their minds. This guys is too tall. Is he even human? How is he even able to balance himself?

  This was always the first reaction I got from people everywhere. It was like people, when they first met me, couldn’t even believe I was this big and tall. I was tired of answering the usual questions. I didn’t know where I got my height or girth from. No, the rest of my family doesn’t look this way and no, I don’t have a fucking disease.

  I was pretty accustomed to the stares as well, so I just walked straight ahead towards the bar counter, where I was hoping to bump into the captain. Elwood hadn’t described him to me but I got a sense of what he might look like.

  An older man with thin grey hair and a long graying beard turned and walked towards me with a smile on his face.

  “You must be Girth! Elwood wasn’t lying when he described you to me!” he said and I knew this was Lewis. This also wasn’t the first time someone commented on my appearance, it was how I got my name.

  I shook his hand and looked around the bar. Unlike the Rogue Rebels, this MC was much smaller in size.

  “These are the guys, that’s Rodeo, Abe, Fred, Mickey and Joice,” Lewis was taking me around the room and introducing me to the members. I shook hands with each of them and they all seemed to be eager to welcome me.

  “We have a room upstairs for you for the time being, when you need to catch up on sleep and the likes,” Fred said and I shrugged.

  “I’d prefer my job to be a twenty-four hour thing. I can go without sleep for a few days,” I said and Fred exchanged looks with Lewis. It was what the military had prepared me for and if my task was to keep the woman safe, I was going to do it well.

  “Sure, well, you can sleep when Lila is here, amongst us, safe you know?” Lewis said and I nodded my head.

  “Where is she now?” I asked, looking about me. There was a distinct absence of women at the place and Lewis seemed to take in a deep troubled breath.

  “She refuses to leave her house,” he told me and I crossed my brows.

  “She what?” I asked and he shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.

  “My daughter is stubborn. It’s how I raised her and now I’m paying the price for it,” Lewis said, but it wasn’t a joke, he wasn’t smiling.

  “Is she scared?” I asked and Lewis walked around the bar counter and poured me a shot of whisky, which I gladly accepted from him.

  “She’s scared, sure, but she’s more angry with me than anything. She wants me to suffer for what I’ve brought to her doorstep. She blames me for everything, and of course she has a right to. But she hasn’t left her house in two days and I’m getting worried,” Lewis continued, watching me with narrowed eyes while I emptied the shot of whisky down my throat.

  When I slammed the glass down on the counter, I found that the others were staring at me. Clearly they wanted me to do something about it. What was I supposed to do? My task here was to keep her safe, I didn’t know the first thing about how a woman’s mind worked. I knew how to fuck them, sure. I knew my cock pleased them, but that was about it.

  “Girth, brother, we would greatly appreciate it if you could get her out of the place. She needs to start living her normal life again. We don’t want her to live a life of fear,” it was Fred who broke the silence, and I looked at each of their faces with their brows crossed. They were serious about it.

  “Could you ask one of her friends to…” I began but Lewis was already shaking his head.

  “Lila doesn’t have many friends. She’s a bit of a loner. We are her friends here, and she seems to hate us all now. She’s friends with the kids in the foster care center, but she hasn’t visited them in two days and they keep calling her and she doesn’t answer,” Lewis looked troubled, but I couldn’t think of a single way that I could help.

  “Okay, what is going on with the other MC? Why did they make an attempt on her life?” I asked, to distract the conversation a little. Lewis took in a deep breath and shrugged his shoulders.

  “Obviously to get at me. We can fill you in on that later, we could definitely use your help,” he said.

  “Elwood instructed me to help out any way that I can,” I replied and Lewis nodded his head.

  “Good, yes, I appreciate that. He’s been a good friend over the years and I hope to repay him someday. For today, I would like you to get Lila here. She should be among her friends, with her father…and she refuses. She goddamn refuses!” Lewis barked and banged his bottle of beer
on the bar counter.

  I clenched my jaws. This wasn’t what I thought I was going to be doing. Handling a cranky woman was not exactly my forte.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” I said, because I followed orders.

  “Abe will take you over to her place,” Lewis said and came over to thump my back in gratitude.

  “Be careful, man, she bites,” Rodeo said and a light laugh erupted in the bar.

  “And scratches and claws,” Abe added as he started walking towards the doors. I half-grinned in response and followed Abe outside, where my bike was parked.

  “So, what am I supposed to do here?” I asked him when we got on our bikes. Abe shrugged his shoulders as he revved up the accelerator.

  “Can’t help you there, man. We’ve tried everything. She refuses to leave the house or talk to us. Lewis is afraid that she’s like clinically depressed or something. He’s talking about a shrink and stuff, which is crazy. Lila doesn’t need a shrink. She needs someone to talk some sense into her,” Abe said.

  “Well, I’m not much of a talker,” I told him as we rode away.

  The house that Lila Lewis lived in was a small cottage, with a neat little porch outside and a small square front garden. I surveyed the place as I climbed up the steps to her front screen door. Abe was behind me.

  I was glad it was a small house, it meant that keeping surveillance on the property wasn’t going to be hard.

  I opened the screen door and knocked firmly. A seashell wind chime tinkled above the door in the warm breeze.

  “Fuck! What is she up to!” Abe growled from behind me, when the door hadn’t opened in several minutes. I rapped on it again, and finally, we heard the shuffling of feet on the other side.

  Locks and chains were heard being slid open, before the door was cracked apart, just an inch. Just enough for the girl to look through.

  “Who the fuck are you?” she asked, and I heard the sizzle in her voice. All I could see were large blue eyes and a delicate bow shaped pair of pink lips. It was hard to imagine, even from just this sliver of her appearance, that she was Lewis’ daughter.

  “I’m Girth. Your father sent me. I’m your new bodyguard,” I said and took a step towards her. Lila slammed the door shut on my face, spooked, and Abe brushed me aside and banged on the door.

  “Lila! It’s me, Abe! Open up. Your dad sent us,” he barked and she opened the door again, this time wider.

  “I told him yesterday, that I don’t need a bodyguard!” she said and crossed her arms over her breasts.

  She was in the tiniest pair of denim shorts, and a thin racerback white t-shirt. I could see her fully now, and my gaze travelled from her face to her short petite legs. Lila was a delicate slender woman, with rosy cheeks, golden blond wavy hair and large blue eyes. She was absolutely fucking gorgeous and I cleared my throat, so that I’d stop staring at her like a wild salivating animal.

  “Your father is right, you need protection at all times, at least for now,” I said, from behind Abe and Lila looked over her friend’s shoulder at me. Her blue eyes had darkened and she squinted as she stared at me, looking me up and down. I knew what she was thinking, she was absorbing the fact that I was a very big guy. It was everyone’s first reaction to me and I was used to it by now.

  “So he sends me the biggest guy he knows?” she asked, sticking her hip out on one side as she stood in front of us, blocking the door.

  “Lila, could you please step aside so that I can come in and survey your house?” I asked, trying to ignore the movement in my pants. I was sent here to protect the woman. She was the daughter of my new boss. It wasn’t my place, neither the time, to picture her naked.

  Lila stuck her chin up proudly in the air. She had her luscious pink lips pursed together. Her arms remained crossed over her perfectly small breasts.

  “I’m not going to let you just come into my house. You’re a stranger and I don’t trust you,” she hissed and Abe threw his head back and closed his eyes. He seemed to be exhausted by her behavior and I didn’t blame him. Elwood wasn’t exaggerating when he told me that Lila Lewis was a firecracker.

  “Your father sent me. Abe is here to make introductions. You can call your father and ask him if you want. It’s good that you’re being careful and suspicious,” I said, hoping that this tactic might work, but it didn’t. Lila stood her ground firmly, eyeing me up and down some more. I could still feel my cock moving in my pants. It was an instant reaction that my body had towards her.

  I couldn’t stop picturing her small petite frame clinging to mine. I couldn’t stop fantasizing how her small breasts might bounce as she rode me. Was she a screamer? A squirter?

  “Fuck off!” she hissed and Abe stepped away from between us. He was at the point of giving up.

  “C’mon, Girth, lets get out of here. We’ll come back with Lewis or Fred,” Abe said and he had already started walking down the steps. “You’re being stubborn, Lila. We are all trying to help you!” he remarked as he walked towards his bike.

  I remained standing there in front of her, staring right into her eyes. She seemed to be challenging me with her gaze and I challenged her back. I may not have known how women worked, but I sure knew how to stand my ground.

  “You go on ahead, Abe, I’ll stick around here,” I said. I didn’t even turn to look at him as he got in his bike and I heard him riding away. Lila was glaring at me, trying to get me to leave just with just her eyes.

  “I can do this all day. It’s my job and I’m going to get it done. So, you can either go back in there and I stay out here in the porch, or you can let me in and I can have a look around the house and make sure it’s secure,” I said, fighting every urge in my body to lunge at her, to wrap her blond hair around my wrist and pull her to me.

  Lila gulped and I watched as she clenched her jaws. I could see that she was at war with herself, she was at a bit of a loss for what to do.

  “Fine, you can fucking come in,” she mumbled and she turned on her heels and walked into the house.

  I followed her in, secured the screen door shut and locked the main one. When I turned to her again, she was still standing with her arms crossed and I knew that if she was anyone else, other than Lewis’ daughter, I would have fucked her over that red couch I could see in her living room.

  5

  Lila

  I couldn’t believe that Daddy had sent this guy to my home! I didn’t even want a bodyguard. How was he going to protect me? I wasn’t safe anywhere! Didn’t Daddy and the guys understand that? What I needed, was to get out of here, leave Orlando!

  He was a hulking mass of muscle and strength and I wasn’t sure how to react to him, except by being irritated. I wanted to be angry, and push him out of the door—not that I had the strength to be able to do that. I wanted to scream and throw a tantrum but something told me that this man didn’t have the patience for that. He wasn’t like Daddy, and neither was he going to let me get my way the way my friends Rodeo and Abe did. This man would have to be dealt with in a different way.

  He was standing in the middle of my small hallway, his head nearly grazing my low ceiling. I couldn’t recall ever meeting someone so tall. He had a thick scruffy dark beard to match his dark hair. His eyes were golden brown and they were smoldering as he stared at me. He was wearing a black leather jacket and I could see the patch on it. A patch that wasn’t the Marked Skulls.

  Dad had brought in an outsider to protect me! I didn’t understand it. Had he even met this guy? Did he know that I would be violently attracted to him? Was that dad’s plan all along?

  Neither of us had spoken for a while. We just kept standing there staring at each other. I realized then that my cheeks were flushed. I could feel the back of my neck burning up. The muscles in my belly were tightening as I stood under his glare. How strong was he? Would he be able to lift me up with one hand? I had no doubts that he could if he wanted to. A shiver ran down my spine at the thought of that. Of being helpless in his arms, of the weight of
his large muscular body over me as he plowed his cock into me.

  I shook my head to drive those thoughts out of my head. This wasn’t about how deliciously hot this man was, this was about how I didn’t want my dad or the MC to help me.

  “You shouldn’t make yourself comfortable here. I don’t need your help,” I said, breaking the silence.

  The guy, who’d introduced himself as Girth, looked around the hallway, and then started walking towards me. My back snapped straight. As he walked towards me, I was already fantasizing him tipping me backwards, clasping my ass and kissing me senseless.

  But he brushed past me and into my small living room.

  “Don’t worry, I have no intention of invading your privacy. I’m going to stay outside on the porch,” I heard him say and I followed him.

  He walked to the window of my living room, testing its ability to slide open. I watched him as he walked around the room, knocking on the walls lightly.

  I followed him into the kitchen, where he tested the windows again.

  “What are you doing?” I asked him and Girth kept his brows crossed, and I followed him to the bathroom in the hallway.

  “Making sure that all the entry points are secure. Are there windows in your bedroom?” he asked, and came to a stop in front of my bedroom. The door was tightly shut.

  “I don’t want you going in there!” I snapped at him and Girth looked at me. There was a lazy quality to his golden brown eyes. He appeared to be a calm person, someone strong and even tempered. It seemed like it would take a lot to agitate this guy. Like he didn’t lose his temper easily. However, I wasn’t about to be fooled so easily by him. I knew exactly the kind of men, these guys from MCs were. They were all the same under their toughened hard exterior; they were rowdy arrogant wild animals.