KNOW ME (DEFIANT Motorcycle Club)(12)

and I get the feeling that this thing with Orion isn’t sitting too easy with you.  But

it seems he’s giving you the best chance he knows how.  You’re out of the SF’s reach

and this way you won’t be passed from man to man.”
“No,” I agreed.  “Only one man.”
She smiled knowingly and pushed a lock of hair out of my face.  “Is that so bad?  I

see the looks between you two.”
I thought about Orion’s fingers inside of me, his mouth on my breasts, the way he

looked at me as if he could scarcely control himself.  I also thought about the

electric response of my body when he touched me.  Maybe Rachel was right; maybe this

was the best he could offer.
And with a jolt I realized that perhaps, when my father sent me to his old best friend,

he’d known as much.
***
Once Rachel deposited me at the clubhouse I was at a loss over what to do next.  She

tied on her server’s apron and returned to the bar, winking at me before disappearing

into the dark building.  Orion was nowhere in sight and it seemed poor form to go

around sniffing after his whereabouts like a lost puppy.
Sitting in Orion’s room and staring at the wall proved an unappealing way to spend the

time.   I tried to page through the books I’d purchased the day before but I only kept

reading the same familiar lines again and again without letting them sink in.
I wandered outside, stepping over rusted vehicle parts and the scattered detritus of

forgotten garbage.  A dry wash ran about fifty yards beyond the clubhouse and I knelt

beside it, trying to picture the cracked and desiccated surface roiling with rainwater.

The temperature was easily in the low nineties by mid afternoon and I could well

imagine the harshness of the approaching summer months.  I wondered if I would be here

long enough to find out.
As I meandered along the edge of the wash, I noticed two of the Defiant were watching

me.  They idled against the side of Riverbottom, smoking cigarettes and talking in

voices which were too low to reach me.  Perhaps they had been ordered to keep an eye on

me, but I also didn’t miss the way their bodies shifted as they stared up and down.  I

figured it was better I couldn’t hear them.
As the daughter of Crest Tolleson, I’d been expressly off limits to any man both in

his circle and out of it.  It was a protective shield I’d never fully appreciated

until now.  I supposed here I was off limits as well, but for a different reason. 

Here, I belonged to Orion.  At least for now.
I meandered by the wash for a long time; examining pretty rocks and small objects which

had been left when the temporary waters dried up.  Several times tiny squirrel-like

creatures skittered across my path.  One curious fellow reared up on his hind legs and

observed me boldly for a full minute before resuming his travels.
When my mind began wandering it was filled with unpleasant things.  Dice. Talon. Mario.

Ford.  All the others who’d belonged to the harsh world of the Warlocks. Punctuating

the memories of all those rough men and their tumultuous stories was always the face of

my father.  And then the scream of wrath which had ripped from his throat as he met

Ruger and the other SF’s in a final, furious battle that he’d lost.  I hadn’t asked

Orion what he knew of the massacre and I hadn’t sought out the internet since I’d

arrived. I already knew more than I wanted to.  Whatever else there was would surely

not add any comfort.
The two club members who had been watching me disappeared and were presently replaced

by others.  Finally, I grew thirsty enough to make my way indoors.  I waved at the

Defiant men, looking them in the eye.  Crest had always warned me not to keep my head

down.  He said something in the base natures of all men demanded that challengers meet

them face on.  He said they would never respect one who looked away, especially not a

woman.  Crest Tolleson was a wise man.
The clubhouse was quiet, though the smell of recent cigarette smoke hung heavy in the

main living room.  The sunken couch was shabby and the table in the center was badly

chipped, but the place wasn’t too badly tended, leading me to wonder who was keeping

it up.  In the shadows of the bar I had glimpsed two other women besides Rachel.  They

were young and watched me with quiet curiosity.  I wondered who they were to the

Defiant men.
With a sigh I straightened out the couch cushions and made my way into the kitchen.  I

wasn’t even sure who else lived here besides Orion.  Obviously the men tended to

wander in and out of the club headquarters as necessary, but I’d also counted a half

dozen trailers on the bare ground beyond the property.  Rachel had mentioned that she

occupied one of them with Casper, who seemed to be a man of some importance around

here.  I’d seen the patch on his jacket which made him second only to Orion.
As I entered the kitchen I felt a blush creeping over my skin, remembering what had