Club Property: Adults Only Motorcycle Club Romance: Roadrunners MC (4 page)

“Carrie?” he let out and laughed. “Carrie Nelson.”

“That’s me,” Carrie replied and smiled. “It’s nice to see you, Carl.”

“That’s strange,” he said as he moved down a couple of steps.

“What is?” Carrie asked.

“Hearing someone calling me Carl,” he replied. “I mostly go by the nickname Crash now.”

“Crash,” Carrie let out as if she was testing the name. “I like that.”

“What are you doing in San Francisco?” he asked.

“Well, I thought that would be obvious,” Carrie replied.

“Huh?” he let out to show that it wasn’t clear to him at all why she was there.

Carrie let out a laugh as she moved closer to the man she couldn’t get out of her mind, and her anticipation rose because she was standing right next to him for the first time in a few years. It brought memories of her crush to mind, but she was quick to clear them away.

“I came to San Francisco to see you,” she said and smiled. “Are you going to make me stand outside in the cold, or do I get an invitation into your apartment?”

Staff Sergeant Samuel Nelson paused to let his words sink in and watched the faces of the new recruits he was lecturing to. He’d been through the process on so many occasions over the last couple of years and knew that some of the young men he was looking at wouldn’t even make it through the rigors of basic training. That was to be expected because not everyone possessed the right attitude to make it in the army.

“You need to make a commitment to yourself that you will put your mind and body on the line to get to where you want,” he went on. “I’m not going to stand here and tell you that the next couple of months of training will be easy, but I can promise you it will be worthwhile if you make it all the way through. A career in the armed forces is something that will give you immense pride, and there is no greater feeling than serving your country.” He stopped talking to glance around the assembled men once more before going on. “That’s as much as I am going to say today, so… are there any questions?”

“How many years did you put in, Staff Sergeant?” a voice piped up.

“I joined when I was eighteen,” Samuel replied. “After completing the training you are about to embark on, I worked my way up the ranks over a career of almost thirty years. I can honestly say that I enjoyed every minute of it, which is why I now help with the training to ensure that young men like you get the same opportunities I did.”

“You’re not based here then, sir?” another of the recruits asked.

“I’m semi-retired, son,” Samuel answered. “I get the luxury of going home to my wife every night now, but the boys in charge here utilize my experience and I help to knock the new recruits into shape. I’ll get to know every one of you over the next couple of months of your training, and you’ll probably end up cursing me in your sleep. I’m fair, but I’ll push you hard when I’m around to make sure you are fit and ready for service in my beloved army.”

A quiet murmur went around the room, but it ended when Samuel put his hand up. He glanced at his watch to see it was now seven in the evening and his hour long session was at an end.

“Are there any more questions?” he asked.

His query was met with silence, so he dismissed the recruits and watched as they filed out of the room in an orderly fashion. There would be plenty of opportunities for questions in the weeks and months ahead as he helped separate the wheat from the chaff then sent another group of young men on their way to hopefully a distinguished military career.

He collected his papers together from the table and placed them in a folder before eventually following the recruits out of the meeting room. There was one more thing he needed to do before heading for home, so he made his way to see the commanding officer of the base. He knocked when he got to the door and waited for the call to enter. When it came, he walked inside and stepped across the room to sit at the desk.

“So… what did you think?” Major Anderson asked straight away.

“Come on,” Samuel said with a shake of his head. “That was my first hour with a bunch of raw recruits.”

“That’s all you ever need to make a judgment,” Major Anderson replied with a smirk. “You can smell the mood of a group within five minutes of walking in the room.”

He reached in the top drawer of his desk to bring out a polished stainless steel hip flask and raised his eyebrows in invitation as he held it up.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Samuel answered.

Major Anderson got to his feet and walked to a nearby cabinet to get two shot glasses and poured the whisky from the small, curved flask when he returned to his seat. He pushed one of the glasses across the desk and Samuel picked it up to take a sip.

“So… give me your honest opinion,” Major Anderson said.

“They all paid attention and showed an interest in what I was saying,” Samuel answered. “My first impression is that the majority of them will make it through the training, but we’ll find out those that can handle the pressure in the next few weeks. I would suspect that fifteen to twenty percent of the group will fall by the wayside, but that’s par for the course.”

“My executive officer reckoned that it would be more like fifty percent,” Major Anderson went on.

“Maybe I have more faith in the young men seeking a career in the army than him,” Samuel said.

Major Anderson nodded and remained quiet as he picked up his glass to take a sip of his whisky. He seemed to take a few seconds just to enjoy the taste, and when he started talking again the change of subject came as a surprise to Samuel.

“I have a message for you,” he said. “Your wife got in touch around thirty minutes ago and asked if you could contact her.”

The frown creased Samuel’s brow at the news. Considering he would be home that evening, his wife would only call him at the base if it was something important. The worry lit up in his mind and he was unable to conceal his sudden edginess.

“I guess I better make the call then,” he said then tipped his glass up to empty it in one gulp. “Is there anything else you need from me at the moment?”

“No,” Major Anderson replied.

“Thanks for the whisky,” Samuel went on and put the shot glass down on the desk.

He got to his feet and made a quick salute before turning to walk to the door of the office. Once he was out in the hallway, he got his phone from his pocket and switched it on. He decided to wait until he was somewhere more private to make the call and walked in the direction of the base parking lot. It was only when he was sitting in his car that he brought his home number up on the screen and made the call.

“Hi Kath,” he said when his wife answered the call. “Is there a problem?”

“I’m not sure,” she replied. “But thought I better tell you straight away.”

“Tell me what?” Samuel asked.

“A letter came to the house for Carrie today, so I asked Bella to let her know when she spoke to her.”

Samuel couldn’t stop the sigh coming out at the mention of Carrie’s name.

“And?” he queried.

“Well, Bella called the college early this evening,” Kath went on. “She was told that Carrie wasn’t there.”

“WHAT!” Samuel exclaimed as his annoyance erupted. “What do you mean she isn’t there? If she’s not at college, where the hell is she?”

“Apparently with us,” Kath said. “Bella was put through to Carrie’s student counselor and he asked how you were.”

“Huh?” Samuel let out. “Why would he ask how I was?”

“Because Carrie told him that you weren’t well and that she was needed to help out with the family business for a couple of weeks.”

“What the hell,” Samuel let out. “What is she playing at?”

“I don’t know,” Kath replied. “But she’s obviously made up a story to get herself a couple of weeks away from college.”

“Why does she want a couple of weeks away from college?” Samuel asked.

“That’s the million dollar question,” Kath answered.

Samuel let out another sigh. His youngest daughter had been difficult since she became a teenager, but finally seemed to be settling down to some normality when she made the decision to attend the English course at college. He’d hoped it would be the end of the difficult years, but he guessed not.

“What do we do?” Kath asked.

Samuel considered the question for a few seconds before speaking.

“Did Bella find out anything else?”

“No,” Kath asked. “She didn’t want to say something that would land her sister in trouble, so she got out of the conversation with the counselor as quickly as she could. All she knows is that Carrie used the excuse of you being ill and out of action for a couple of weeks to get out of college.”

“What the hell is that girl doing?” Samuel let out and shook his head as his annoyance grew stronger. “Bella’s been to visit her at the college, so see if she has contact details for any of Carrie’s friends there.”

“Sure, I’ll do that,” Kath agreed.

“I’m just about to leave the base right now,” Samuel went on. “I’ll be home in around thirty minutes or so.”

“I’ll see you then,” Kath said.

The line went dead when his wife hung up the call and Samuel pulled the phone from his ear. He stared at it for a short while before tossing it down on the passenger seat. There was no containing his irritation at the actions of his youngest daughter, and his knuckles whitened as he gripped the steering wheel tightly for a few seconds. He made the conscious effort to calm down without a great deal of success and shook his head in a grim fashion.

“That bloody girl is going to be the death of me,” he let out under his breath as he fired up the engine and put his car in gear to set off for home.

“Can I take a shower?” Carrie asked immediately when she followed Crash inside his apartment.

His eyes narrowed when he turned around to stare at her and she put a sweet smile on her face. She waited for him to speak, but the silence stretched out and it was her that went on talking.

“Please,” she went on. “It’s been a long journey to get here and I feel a bit grimy after so many hours on a bus then sitting outside waiting for you to come home.”

“Why are you here?” Crash asked.

“Can I have my shower first?”

He was silent for a few seconds more as he continued to stare at her before eventually agreeing to the request.

“Follow me,” he said.

Carrie happily did as she was told and her gaze settled on the way Crash’s taut butt strained against the denim of his tight jeans as she was led along to a bedroom. It brought a smirk to her face and she kept her gaze glued to the impressive sight for as long as she could. She dumped her bag on the floor when she walked inside the room and watched as her host for the night, and hopefully much longer, moved to the wardrobe. He searched inside to find a fresh towel then threw it to her.

“The bathroom is through there,” he said and pointed to a door.

“Thanks,” Carrie replied and her gaze dropped to his butt again as he walked out of the bedroom.

A smile spread across her face because she was alone with the man she’d dreamed about for so many years. It might get her nothing, but it put her in a position where fantasy might become reality and the flourish of anticipation sent a shiver trickling down her spine.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” she cautioned, but knew she wouldn’t be able to help it.

She walked across to the bathroom door to let herself inside and looked around. The surroundings were sparse and looked as if they could do with a good clean. A glance in the shower cubicle showed one small bar of soap, and she wrinkled her nose when she picked it up to catch the scent.

“Carbolic soap,” she let out and shook her head, but a smile flashed across her face.

No woman in her right mind would have just a bar of carbolic soap in the bathroom, and that likely meant Crash lived a bachelor life. It was a tell-tale sign that she might have a chance. She stripped naked then got under the water after switching it on. There was really no option but to use the soap, so she rubbed it between her palms to produce some lather then worked the bar over her body. The memory of masturbating in the shower the day before came in her head and the slight prickle of heat erupted on her skin.

“Not this time,” she let out.

Her hope was that there might be more than just playing with herself on the menu that evening, so she ignored the tingle between her thighs. It wasn’t easy considering the man she obsessed about was so close, but she quickly finished washing herself. The slightly weird scent of the carbolic soap clung to her when she stood under the jets to rinse herself clean, and she could still smell it when she got out of the shower.

She used the towel to dry herself then wrapped it around her chest and secured it in place. Stepping through to the bedroom, she walked over to where her bag was sitting on the floor and lifted it onto the bed. She opened it up to look inside at the clothes she brought with her then changed her mind and walked across to the wardrobe. Opening it up, she searched through the hangers and found a large white t-shirt. The urge to wear it was too much to resist and she dragged the towel from her body.

Her petite frame was swamped by the large t-shirt, but she still liked the look of herself in it. The hem sat high on her thighs and the fact that she was wearing nothing below brought on a flush of arousal that made her breathing slightly ragged.

“Keep calm,” she told herself, but knew she was about to tease the way she did when she was younger.

She considered putting on some underwear, but eventually decided not to and stuck with just the t-shirt. It was too big and loose to really put her curves on display, but the fact that it belonged to the man she had a crush on was enough to make her keep it on. She walked to the door of the bedroom then took a couple of deep breaths before stepping out to the hallway and going in search of Crash.

“That’s better,” she said when she walked in the kitchen and found him.

Crash’s eyes opened wide when he saw her clad in just a t-shirt that he recognized as his.

“Help yourself, why don’t you,” he commented in a droll voice.

Carrie gripped the hem as if she was trying to haul it down and knew it would bring his gaze to her legs.

“I didn’t think you would mind,” she said with a smile.

“Why are you here, Carrie?”

She ignored his question to ask one of her own as she stepped over to the table.

“Aren’t you going to offer me a drink?”

She sat down on the seat next to Crash and made no effort to stop the hem sliding up her thighs to put more of her legs on show. A quick glance showed that the man next to her was unable to stop himself staring and it gave her shudders. His gaze then went to the beer bottle on the table before coming to her.

“Are you old enough to drink?”

Carrie let out a laugh.

“You know how old I am,” she commented.

“I guess you must be around nineteen or twenty now,” Crash said.

“Twenty,” she replied. “So… I’m not the little kid you used to know.”

Crash shook his head as he got to his feet and walked to the refrigerator. He got another bottle of beer and used the opener hanging from the fridge handle to pop the cap.

“OK, now you have your beer,” he said when he sat down. “So, are you going to tell me why you’re here?”

Carrie picked up the bottle to take a sip then brought her gaze to his. There was no point in beating around the bush, so she got straight to the point.

“I can’t get you out of my fucking head.”

“For fuck’s sake, Carrie,” Crash let out in a quiet curse as he screwed up his face. “You know this can’t…”

“I tried,” she interrupted him to stop the words she didn’t want to hear. “I mean I really tried. It’s been what… four years since you got married and left the army? I thought that would be plenty of time to forget about you and move on, but I just can’t do it.”

Crash shook his head.

“You always were a little teasing pain in the fucking ass,” he complained. “Were you trying to get me in trouble?”

Carrie couldn’t stop the cheeky giggle coming out.

“No, I wasn’t trying to get you in trouble,” she said. “I liked you.”

“Yeah, but what the hell did you expect me to do about it?” he said. “You were the underage daughter of my superior officer.”

“You didn’t like the pretty skin and blossoming teenage curves I was showing you then?” she joked.

“For fuck’s sake,” Crash protested. “You hit the nail on the head right there. You were a teenager and I was in my late twenties.”

“And here was me thinking you liked the pretty outfits I wore for you,” Carrie continued teasing. “I didn’t notice you looking away.”

“Yeah, well it wasn’t exactly easy considering you were around me so much,” he commented. “I shouldn’t have even been looking, but you surely must have known it was never going to go past that.”

“You liked me though, didn’t you?” Carrie asked.

Crash let out a sigh.

“Come on,” he let out in an exasperated voice. “Don’t do this to me.”

“I liked you… a lot,” Carrie admitted. “I used to have such naughty dreams about you.” The memory of masturbating in the shower the day before came in her head and she said the words as soon as they came in her head. “And I still do.”

“Fucking hell,” Crash said and got to his feet.

It was obvious that the conversation was making him uncomfortable, so Carrie decided to change the subject.

“How is Sally Connolly these days?” she asked.

“I wouldn’t know,” he said.

“You broke up?” Carrie asked.

Crash walked across to the sink and ran some water in his hands before splashing it on his face. He wiped his hands over his forehead to slick down his long, wavy black hair.

“Yes, we broke up,” he replied. “The marriage was a disaster and didn’t last long.”

“Has there been anyone since?” Carrie went on.

“What is this?” Crash complained. “Twenty questions about my love life?”

Carrie wasn’t about to give up now that the chance was there to find out some of the truths of the past.

“Has there been?” she pressed him.

He returned to the table to sit down and let out a sigh.

“No,” he admitted. “There hasn’t been anyone else.”

“Did you begin dating Sally because of me?” Carrie asked.

“What!” he exclaimed. “What the hell gives you that idea?”

Carrie shrugged her shoulders.

“A pretty teen girl making eyes at you and flashing some smooth skin,” she said with a grin. “I always thought that Sally was just a distraction because what you really wanted was a taboo fantasy that was unattainable. And don’t pretend you didn’t like what you saw. I bet you even had some dirty dreams of your own.”

“Fucking hell,” Crash let out. “Did you just come here to rake over ancient history?”

“So… tell me it’s not true and I’ll get dressed and walk out,” she challenged him.

He grimaced as he stared down at the table, but the fact that he didn’t contradict her made her think there really might be a chance with him. She kept her gaze on him and their eyes met when he lifted his head.

“Look, you were a teenage girl and thirteen years younger than me,” he said. “And more than that, you were the youngest daughter of my superior officer.”

“I’m not a teenager now,” Carrie pointed out. “And you’re not in the army.”

“That might be true,” Crash said. “But it doesn’t really change anything. You’re still thirteen years younger than me, and I might not be in the army, but your father would rip me a new one if he knew you were here.”

“He doesn’t know,” Carrie replied.

“Does anybody know?” Crash asked.

“I only told one of my friends from college,” she answered.

“You didn’t quit college to come here, did you?”

Carrie was suddenly on the back foot.

“Umm… well…” she stammered, but didn’t get the chance to finish.

“Your father is going to fucking kill you,” Crash said. “And you’re taking me down as well.”

She shrugged her shoulders. His words were likely true, but the threat of what her father might do was never going to stop her going through with her plan. Once she made her mind up about something, she went all out to see it through and never even considered the consequences.

“I needed to find out once and for all,” she said.

“Find out what?” Crash asked.

Carrie lifted her eyes to his.

“You know what I’m talking about,” she told him.