“I’m a lover, not a fighter, but my sister is a really good fighter,” I tell them all, watching as Rogue hisses when some oil from the bacon splashes on his bare chest. “She does jujitsu and boxing.”
“Really? Maybe she could teach me some moves,” Erin suggests, clapping her hands together. “Then next time someone pisses me off, I can do more than break a nose.”
“When did you get so violent?” Ace asks her, shaking his head and turning to me. “We’re not all this bloodthirsty.”
“Says you.” Rogue chuckles, giving Ace a look that clearly says he’s no saint.
“I’m trying to make a good impression and not scare your girl,” Ace says to Rogue, tapping his fingers on the wooden table. “We’re kind of a lot to take in.”
“She’s still here, isn’t she?” Rogue replies, turning to me with a wink. “And hopefully she doesn’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon.”
Or ever.
“After this morning, I don’t think I’m physically able to go anywhere even if I want to,” I tease, making Erin laugh and Ace smirk.
“Not just a pretty face, hey, Rogue?” Erin teases, smiling over at him. “No, seriously, though. Rogue is a good man. And that’s not me just saying that. He’s a good vice president too.”
My eyes snap straight to Rogue. He’s the vice president of the Cursed Ravens? Why didn’t he mention that to me? It’s kind of a big deal. He’s not just in the MC, he practically runs it.
He is the MC.
“Erin.” Ace sighs, standing and pulling her out of the room with him. “Do you know how much shit I get from the men every time you pull something? A lot. I deserve a fuckin’ medal, basically.”
“It’s not my fault, you should have told her!” she calls back to Rogue.
Rogue places my plate in front of me and sits down, not paying any attention to the two who just left. “She’s right, I should have told you. The MC is a big part of my life, and I guess I was hoping you’d accept that and might even want to be a part of it with me,” he says to me, watching me closely. “You don’t have to say anything now. It’s early times, which is why I didn’t really bring it up, but it’s obviously something for you to consider. You’d have to put up with Erin and all these other assholes, and then there’s the whole danger side to it, and if I’m being honest, sometimes shit goes down here that’s a little wild. But I’d protect you with everything I have, and my men would do the same. So yeah, more danger, but more protection.”
I swallow hard, thinking over his words. When he puts it like that, it’s kind of scary, but I’m in it too deep now to walk away.
“Do they cancel each other out?” I tease, contemplating his words. “Because if they do, then we just have a normal relationship, right?”
A slow spreading smile hits his face. “I like that.”
“I like you,” I say, eyeing the bacon, eggs, and toast in front of me. “And thank you for feeding me.”
“You should probably get used to it,” he says, sliding me my fork. “Eat, you must be hungry.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” I say, but grin and pick up my fork.
“Oh, so you only like that in the bedroom?” he teases, reaching over and cupping my cheek.
He has no idea just how correct that statement is.
“I’m so fuckin’ happy Erin talked you into coming over here last night.”
“Tricked me is more like it,” I grumble, but I’m glad I took a risk and came here, even if wasn’t exactly smart of me. I guess I went with my gut and luckily didn’t end up on the news as a missing person. I can see why he loves his motorcycle club family so much. Erin is hilarious, and the men—well, the ones I’ve met so far—are all a mix of inappropriate and respectful, dangerous and goofy, which makes for a lot of fun.
“She’s a genius,” he states, unable to wipe away his smile. “I should buy her something to say thank you.”
I take a bite of my scrambled eggs. “No, you shouldn’t. I was so worried about you, and all for nothing.”
“I know, I’m sorry.”
“At least no one got arrested.”
“No one got arrested,” he agrees, eyes twinkling. “That’s a big win for this place.”
I’m not sure how this became my life, but there’s no backing away now.
This dashing Rogue is mine.
11
“Do you only wear black? I feel like I’ve only seen you in black and leather,” I say to him as I watch him dress, waiting for him to take me home. Vanessa messaged me saying that she’s coming over and I better be home or she’s going to eat all the food in my fridge and raid my clothes. I don’t know why I gave her a key, but I’m seriously regretting it right now.
“What’s wrong with black?” he asks, looking down at his T-shirt. “I mix it up sometimes. I guess I don’t really think about it. I know everyone likes to think I’m some vain guy, but I’m not.”
“I don’t think you’re vain,” I reply, standing up and hugging him from behind. “You have been extremely blessed in the looks department, though.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes. Are your brothers good-looking too?” I tease, tightening my hold on him.
He spins around and starts to tickle my ribs. “You’re never going to find out now.” He picks me up and playfully throws me back on the bed, then stalks after me.
“I should probably tell you that I have dated a biker before, albeit briefly,” I blurt out.
He pauses, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “I thought you said the ride I took you on was your first.”
“It was,” I say to him. “I didn’t tell you any lies.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It was just for a few weeks, and I didn’t ride with him or meet any of his friends,” I admit, cringing. “I found out he had a girlfriend already, so I guess I was his dirty little secret.”
“What MC is he from? Do you want me to fuck him up? Because I will. With fuckin’ pleasure,” he growls, continuing to make his way to me.
“No. It wasn’t a big deal, but I wanted to be honest with you,” I call out, laughing and trying to escape, but soon he has me pinned with my wrists above my head, his thighs surrounding mine.
“What are you going to do now?” he asks me, breathing heavily.
“Nothing,” I whisper, licking my lip. “I like it where I am right now. Maybe even a little too much.”
A wolfish grin, all teeth, appears, before he buries his face in my neck and starts to suck, but not hard enough to leave a mark. “I think I like you being here a little too fuckin’ much too,” he admits, lifting his head and peppering kisses all over my face. “Now we better get you home before your sister starts cleaning out your cupboard.”
Oh, right.
Vanessa.
I let him pull me up and say bye to everyone before heading out the front and onto Rogue’s bike.
Another place I like being a little too much.
Shit.
I walk into my apartment to find Vanessa elbow-deep in my giant bag of Doritos, half my hummus gone.
“Never one to make idle threats, are you, Ness?” I tease, glancing up at Rogue. “Rogue, my big sister, Vanessa. Vanessa, this is Rogue.”
She offers him some of the Doritos. “So you’re the biker, huh?”
“I guess so,” he murmurs, declining her offer. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You say that now,” I mutter, smiling to myself.
Vanessa hears, of course, stands, and dusts her crumb-filled fingers on her blue jeans. She then offers him her hand, which he politely accepts, and the two of them shake.
“What happened last night? It’s not every day I get a message like that from my sister,” she says, eyeing the two of us.
“Long story short,” I say, sitting opposite her on the couch. I take Rogue’s hand and pull him down so he’s sitting next to me before I bring Vanessa up to speed. Rogue tenses beside me, probably because he’s not makin
g the best impression with this story.
Vanessa purses her injection-filled lips and scowls. “I see. And is this a regular thing? The whole blackout-drunk thing? Because I thought people got that out of their systems in their early twenties.”
“Didn’t you pass out drunk last month?” I ask her, lip twitching in amusement. My sister loves nothing more than to head out for a drink and a dance, so her disapproval is kind of comical. I totally get where she’s coming from, though; I wouldn’t want my sister to be with someone I thought was a borderline alcoholic, no matter how much I myself drank, but I know that Rogue doesn’t have a problem.
She puts her hands up. “This isn’t about me, this is about him.”
“It’s not a regular thing,” Rogue tells her patiently, turning his head toward me. “I was having a rough night, and I regret drinking anything at all, trust me.”
She narrows her eyes, giving him a look that should set him on fire, then continues to munch on her chips, the loud crunching filling the room. “My baby sister is a good girl with a heart of gold, and she’s the first love of my life. If you hurt her in any way, I will bide my time, wait until you have a vulnerable moment, and then destroy you. I don’t care who you are. I’m one of the best female fighters in this city, and I have no problem fighting dirty. I also have no problem not backing down.”
Rogue sighs as if his patience has come to an end. “I don’t take well to being threatened, Vanessa. Your sister is safe with me, and I’m not going to hurt her. I know how fuckin’ special she is or I wouldn’t be wasting my time. So save the threats and the speech you probably spent all morning concocting. I love that Zoe has someone else at her back and that she’s had you her whole life protecting her. It makes me happy. We both want the same thing.”
“Which is?” Vanessa asks, leaning forward, her elbows on her thighs.
“Zoe’s happiness,” Rogue replies to her, unflinching. “When she’s with me, you don’t have to worry, all right? I’ll take care of her. I’ll protect her with my life.”
“The only reason you’d need to protect her is if you put her in danger,” Vanessa points out, tone sobering. “She’s safe otherwise. Nothing and no one is going to get her, unless she dies from being boring and a lack of dick.”
“She won’t be dying from that anymore,” he mutters, turning to me.
He’s right—I definitely won’t be suffering from lack of penis now that I have him in my life. I sigh in contentment. Now that I’ve had sex, and especially with him, I have no idea how I managed without it all of this time.
“And I’m not going to put her in danger. If I did, I’d save her ass. The situation might not be ideal, but I want her, and I’m pretty sure she feels the same, so it is what it is. I wish I could be some hero and say that I’ll leave her alone for her own good, but I can’t. I’m not a fuckin’ hero. I’m the VP of the Cursed Ravens. I’m the antihero, the villain, and if I have my way, you’re going to have to accept that.”
“At least you own it,” Vanessa mutters, but then squares her shoulders, and I can see the acceptance in her eyes. “You know, I never thought I’d see Zoe bring a man to meet me with heart emojis in her eyes, so I can’t complain. I just wanted to make sure we’re on the same level. She and I don’t have a brother, so it’s up to me to make sure she’s with a good man. And I don’t mean hero good, I mean good for her.” She smiles then, and it’s mischievous. The kind of smile she gets when she’s up to trouble. “At least things won’t be boring around here anymore.”
“You can say that again,” I insert, glancing between the two of them. “Now, are you both done pissing on me? Because believe it or not, I can handle myself. I might not be some ninja warrior like Vanessa, but I’m still very capable, and I like to think I have my shit together. Is anyone hungry? Because I’m thinking of making some garlic shrimp, and I’d like to cook for both my favorite people.”
I can tell that they both soften at my declaration, letting go of any worries or concerns they have over the situation. Well, mainly Vanessa. Rogue didn’t really have any concerns; he just came here to meet my sister and got the shit lectured out of him. I appreciate that he didn’t lose his cool, which must have been hard for him. He had to allow himself to be spoken to like that and take it all in, to keep the peace between them, for me, and I’m happy he did.
I need those two to get along.
Badass biker and badass big sister.
I really am a lucky woman.
12
It’s time to go back to work the next morning. When I step into Mrs. K’s room with a cheery good morning and get no reply, I know she’s having another bad day. Things have changed so much since the last time I saw her.
Before, she was just one of my favorite clients, but now she’s my boyfriend’s mother. Okay, so Rogue hasn’t said that we’re exclusive in so many words, but after his talk with Vanessa yesterday, I’m kind of thinking that he’s in it to win it. I give Mrs. K a shower and feed her breakfast before moving on to the next room. Rogue messaged me saying he has some work to do for the club today, so he’s going to see his mom in the evening and then come by my apartment afterward. I love that he makes sure he visits her as much as he can, even if he’s just dropping in to say hello.
I cooked him and Vanessa lunch, and the three of us watched a movie, had a beer, and just hung out like we were friends who did it all the time. My sister might not admit it out loud, but I think she likes Rogue. She would have said if she didn’t, but after he left she kept quiet and didn’t make any comments, which is highly unlike her. She’s usually Miss Opinion on every damn thing.
I sit alone in my car for my lunch break, like I used to do before Rogue started coming by with lunch for me, and although lunchtime used to be the favorite part of my day, I feel like something’s missing now. I don’t enjoy it as much as I used to, and I even find myself going back to work earlier instead of lingering in my car until the last possible second, which was my usual routine. It’s crazy how meeting someone can change your life.
One person.
One chance meeting.
Can change everything.
And I don’t know how I feel about that. What happens if we don’t work out? Considering the situation, I think I need to be realistic. Yes, I’m all in with him, because I think he’s worth the chance, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to get my happy ending.
I need to brace myself for that.
But that doesn’t mean I’m going to go down without a fight.
Fiddling with the white silk of the sexy nightie I put on for Rogue’s arrival, I roll over onto my stomach in bed and open my book to where I last left off when there’s a knock at my door. Actually, it’s more of a thump thump thump, a knock of urgency, and it makes me get up and move quickly to the door. I glance through the peephole and see Rogue, so I unlock the door and open it dressed in only my nightie. He’s not alone. Next to him is Ace, who has his arm wrapped around Rogue’s shoulder and is holding his stomach, bending over in pain.
Something bad has happened.
“What’s wrong?” I ask Rogue, glancing over him to make sure he’s okay.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know where else to bring him,” Rogue apologizes, all but carrying Ace inside. “Do you have a first-aid kit? I couldn’t take him back to the clubhouse, and this is the only other place I could think of.”
“Yeah, I have a first-aid kit,” I tell him, locking the door behind them. “Go and lay him down on the couch. I’ll grab it from the bathroom.”
I rush and find the kit in my medicine cabinet and bring it back to Rogue.
“You’re a nurse, right? Can you help him? Because there’s no way in hell we can go to a hospital without landing in prison,” Rogue says, his voice calm, but I can see the panic and worry in his eyes.
I glance down at Ace and see the blood starting to come through his blue flannel shirt, and I start to freak the fuck out. Lifting up his shirt, I look at the bullet hole that h
as pierced him on his right side, and I gasp. “Rogue, I care for the elderly, I’m not an actual registered nurse! I wipe asses for a living! I can’t help him! He needs a professional.”
I don’t know what to do. I’m guessing someone has to pull the bullet out, stop the bleeding, and then fucking pray to the biker gods that he stays alive.
“We don’t have a professional,” Rogue grits out, opening the first-aid kit and rustling through it frantically. “We need to get this bullet out of him.”
“Did you call Erin? She’s a nursing student! She’ll know more about this than me,” I tell him, grabbing the thick bandage Rogue hands me and covering the wound with it to stop the blood.
“Erin is going to fuckin’ kill me,” Ace murmurs, covering his eyes with his arm. “I didn’t tell her what we were doing today.”
“Well, I’d rather Erin kill you than this bullet, brother,” Rogue says to his friend, touching his arm affectionately. “If you die, who’s going to lead at my side? Come on, it’s going to be fine. Erin is on her way, but we need to keep this fucker alive until then, and we need to figure out how to do that.”
I pull out my phone and do some quick searches, including how to remove a bullet without going to the hospital, which apparently is a popular search, because it comes up straight away.
“Rogue, grab that vodka from my cupboard,” I order him, reading through what I need to do. “This is going to hurt, Ace, but we can’t just sit here and do nothing; we’re losing time.”
Ace looks like he’s going to lose consciousness, and I don’t think we have the time to wait for Erin. I’m just going to have to go with my gut here, try and help him, and then hope that she can either fix what I’ve done or help with his aftercare.
Rogue hands me the bottle of vodka, and I open it and stare into my man’s eyes. “Can you give him something to bite down on?”
Rogue pulls off his leather belt and places the strap between Ace’s teeth and moves to hold him down. I pour the alcohol onto the wound and flinch, wincing in pain for him, but Ace simply clenches his teeth and takes the pain without moving his body one bit.
Going Rogue (The Cursed Ravens MC Series Book 3) Page 7
