The Other Princess

by Christine Michelle

  “Over an early peek at a tattoo?” My dad scoffed.

  “No, it’s about your integrity. I will not stand beside men who can’t be trusted to keep their goddamn word!”

  My brother stood then. “I told you all it was a bad idea. I am happy to wait, and I feel like I’m the one here who should be worried the most about what she put on me.”

  “We’re all thinking those same thoughts for our own reasons, J-Bird,” Double-D told him.

  “I can tell you this,” I said quietly, trying to gather my patience. “I know what each of the tattoos is already, and none of them are embarrassing in any way you could possibly muster up in your imagination. Everyone already knows what they’re about, so if that causes you embarrassment – the way you treated Ever in the past – then that’s all there will be, and it’s embarrassment you earned for yourselves at the expense of a child’s trust. The art you will display on your body is all tasteful and then some.” I sighed, running my hands through my hair to push back the length that had grown so much since I left the Army. “If you do this, if you decide to take an early peek, then you not only don’t trust your brother’s word, but you don’t trust the girl who has never done anything to earn your distrust or disrespect, and you will lose us both in a permanent way.” With that, I walked out of the room, and decided to go stay at my own house for the night. I didn’t want to be under the same roof as them if they chose to destroy everything I’d been working towards healing.

  Chapter 16

  ~ Declan ~

  I picked Ever up the following day without knowing what the men had decided once I left. None of them had bothered to contact me to let me know what happened, and I wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good or bad thing. I figured even if they didn’t tell me I’d be able to tell if they’d cheated once they see the tattoos at the reveal. There was no way they’d be able to fake their responses to those images.

  “Hey, babe,” I offered with a smirk as she opened the door looking a little frazzled.

  “Where are we going again?” She asked as she turned away from the door, leaving it open so I could enter. I followed her inside and shut the door behind me.

  “Nowhere special, casual dress is fine.”

  “Casual dress,” she repeated. “I inked a tattoo on one of the Joker’s guys today,” she admitted before running back into her bathroom.

  “You did what now?” I followed her once again, not angry, because I knew she worked in a shop that had no club affiliation, and therefore she’d have to deal with any clientele who walked through the door. Granted, she could have turned him away, but she was so green in the tattoo world she probably also didn’t have the ability to turn paying clients away just yet.

  “He just wanted some chick’s name tattooed on him. I convinced him not to use her name, and instead asked him what he liked best about her.” I snickered at that thinking about the answer most bikers might give.

  “You didn’t draw a pair of lips sucking a dick did you?”

  She laughed as she poked her head back out of the bathroom and nearly ran right into my chest. “No, nothing like that. Apparently, she’s sort of nerdy and has a dirty librarian look to her that he can’t resist. It was sweet, so I gave him this really cool book where the ink was bleeding out and dripping down into his heart.” She pointed right over her chest where she must have inked it. “It was really sweet, and he let me take a picture of it to put in my book.”

  “That’s fantastic, babe. Sounds like it was a badass tattoo, and one he won’t regret as much as if he had her name put there and things didn’t work out.”

  “That’s what I figured.” She glanced up at me then, her hand stroking my chest absently as she watched me. “You’re not angry with me for inking the enemy?”

  “Why would I be mad at your for doing your job? The shop doesn’t have an affiliation, babe. You’re free to ink whomever you choose to. Just be careful, because I’m sure some of them will know who you are to the club.”

  “Yeah, he mentioned that he knew who my father was, but he didn’t say anything bad. Just thought it was cool that I was working there on my own merit instead of over at Aces. Once he we were done, he told me he was damn glad I was working here, because I managed to keep him from doing something completely stupid and he got to walk away with a kick ass tattoo in its place.” She beamed at me, obviously proud of the work she had done, and the praise she’d received, no matter where it came from. I pulled her in close and kissed her senseless then, because I couldn’t resist. Her smiles, which I was seeing more of as each day passed, were something I couldn’t resist.

  “Where are we going today?” Her words came out as a breathless question, and I just smiled, because what I was going to show her was going to blow her mind. I just wasn’t sure if she would freak out and run on me, or if it would turn out to be that thing that sealed our fate and glued us together forever.

  “We’re going to my house,” I explained and I watched as confusion swept over her stunning features.

  “Is your family going to be there?”

  “My family?” Now it was my turn to be confused.

  “Yeah, you know, your mom, dad, brother?”

  “What the hell? Why would you want to know if they would be at my house?”

  “I don’t know. I just wanted to be prepared for whatever I was walking into. You know the last time I saw your dad, not counting the ink I gave him; he wasn’t exactly nice to me. And your brother is… well, he’s just an unknown at this point.” She bit her lip, worrying it needlessly between her teeth.

  “We’re going to MY house, Ever, not my family’s house.”

  Her nose scrunched up along with her eyebrows as she watched me. “You have your own house?”

  “Where did you think I lived?”

  “I don’t know either at the clubhouse or with your family.”

  “I’m almost 25, Ever, I don’t live with my family, and no one could possibly survive living in the clubhouse for more than a couple weeks unless they were certifiable.”

  “Oh,” she popped off the word, completely surprised by the knowledge that I had my own home. “I didn’t realize,” she continued on and I just stood there taking in her reaction, and wondering what it was about my home ownership that was throwing her. It didn’t take long to find out, as her mouth seemed to keep running with the thoughts flitting through her head whether she meant me to hear them out loud or not.

  “It’s just, I guess I don’t know you as well as I thought I did. How could I not know you had your own home? That’s weird right? It never occurred to me to wonder where you went at night when you left me. I just thought since the club was calling you away, that’s where you would be.”

  “Most of the time it is,” I informed her as I pushed a piece of hair back behind her ear. “I bought my home while I was away in the Army, and when I first moved back I started working on renovating it. I haven’t actually spent more than a couple nights there because of it.”

  “You’re renovating a house that will be your home when you’re done, but you never spoke of it?”

  Ah, I was starting to see where she was going with this. She thought I’d kept it a secret for a reason, and I had. It was a secret I was keeping for this night in particular, the night when I was ready to give her everything and have her know exactly what being mine meant. “Come on, Ever, allow me to introduce you to my home. It’s what I had planned for tonight.”

  “Okay,” she spoke quietly as she took my hand and allowed me to guide her out of her apartment and down to my Harley. It never got old feeling her legs slide over the leather seat and lock in place on either side of mine. In fact, my bike felt empty – damn near lacking – whenever she wasn’t with me now. Once she was settled I still had to touch her, pretend to pull her closer by grabbing hold of her thighs and tugging even though I knew she couldn’t possibly get closer. Her warmth radiated through me and her light vanilla perfume enveloped me, tantalizing my senses.
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  “Ready?” I called back to her. Her hands squeezed tight around my waist, digging into my flesh and making me wish I didn’t have plans to take her anywhere, because now the ride across town seemed too much to endure before my hands would be free to roam along her body again.

  “I’m ready when you are, Deck.” She whispered the words in my ear just before I started the engine, and the way she said them made me think she wasn’t just talking about being ready for the ride.

  ~ Ever ~

  We turned on to a road I hadn’t actually been on since I was a young girl. A boy too uncaring to notice what he’d done had dashed my dreams the last time I had come down this road. I should have known then that J-Bird would end up causing me insurmountable trouble since he was the one to shatter my girlhood dreams. Oddly enough, Deck stopped his bike in front of the exact spot it had happened too. When he killed the engine and tapped my thigh signaling me it was time to get off. I did so without question as I glanced around. There were exactly three houses on this part of the road. Two were across the street from where we parked. The other one… I couldn’t even bring myself to glance up at it, because it had once meant something to me. It had been a dream I’d had.

  Once off the bike, and having secured the helmets, Deck turned to me and smiled. “Well, what do you think?”

  “About what?” I asked dumbly.

  Deck smirked. “About my house,” he teased and then lifted my chin with his finger and pointed my face toward the house I had dreamed of as a young girl. When I saw it, it was as if I were looking upon my dream come true instead of the old dilapidated house it had been back then.

  “This is the house I used to dream about,” I mumbled.

  “I know,” he whispered into my ear.

  “What do you mean you know?”

  “You were about, what? Thirteen, maybe,” he answered his own question as I stood there wondering what he was getting at. I was here, sitting up on the porch behind the mess of vines that had grown up there. It was the perfect spot to get away. I heard you and Jay as you came closer. He was just humoring you while he waited for Toby to finish messing around with the girl across the street.”

  “Toby was across the street that day?” I glanced back over my shoulder at Deck, who now stood behind me with his arms wrapped around my waist.

  “Yep, the little shit was nailing Emory Ward back then.”

  “She was 17,” I informed him scandalized.

  “That she was, which made your big brother a damn God among boys at your school. Not that anyone would ever tell you why, I guess.” I just shrugged.

  “What does this have to do with that?” I asked pointing at the house.

  “See, I was sitting here that day, thinking of what I would do to the house if I could buy it and fix it up. I had all these ideas, but then I saw you and Jay walking up to it so I hid back behind the vines and listened. You were telling him that one day you would buy this house. Then you explained how you would fix it up and paint the outside a cream color instead of white, and the shutters would be blue, because it was both bright and cheery while also being calming.” I laughed nervously, because I remembered saying those exact words, and so damn dreamily too. “You told him how you would fix the gardens out here, and what you would do to restore some of the insides that you had peeked at before.” I listened and I could picture every bit of it as if I were seeing it for real.

  Something was dawning on me as he spoke about my past conversation with his brother. I wasn’t staring at a dilapidated old house any longer. It had been fixed up. Those vines were no longer a burden on the porch. The cream colored porch that matched the house with blue shutters and blue trim, just like I said I wanted it.

  “You told him that one day it would all be yours along with two dogs and all the babies you would raise here.” He squeezed my waist then and I turned in his embrace.

  “You painted it the way I said I would?” I asked, my voice breaking a bit on the end of the question.

  He nodded his head at me. “I did, because after I heard your words it was the only way I could picture this place.”

  “Your brother told me how stupid I was that day,” I reminded him. “He told me that no man would ever buy me this house, because it wasn’t worth fixing up, and should just be torn down to make way for something better.”

  “I heard him,” Deck answered me. I knew he was an idiot then too. I have to tell you, I hate that he dashed your dreams that way, but I’m glad he was too much of a tool to see that your dreams were as beautiful as you are, and worth cherishing and making come true instead of stomping on them.”

  Shit. I was going to cry, again. This man had a way of bringing all my emotions to the forefront. Before I could choke out any more questions, Deck was moving on with his explanations.

  “I’m not done the renovations, but I thought maybe from this point forward you could help me with all the things on the inside. I have all the basics done in there. The wiring and plumbing are all updated, but most of the fixtures, painting, and flooring all need to be chosen and installed.”

  “You want me to help you with the house?” My voice had a wistful quality to it that I couldn’t hide even if I’d wanted to.

  “I do,” he answered simply as he rocked me gently back and forth where we stood in each other’s arms on the sidewalk in front of the house I’d always dreamed would be mine one day. “It’s more than that though, Ever.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I told you that you were mine, and I was yours. I don’t just want you to help me renovate the house. I want you to help me make it a home.”

  “You want…” I started, and then choked on the rest of the words that got lodged in my throat. “What?”

  Deck smiled softly at me, and then leaned in to plant a gentle kiss upon my lips. He spoke without moving back so that each word was a puff of breath caressing my lips. “I want this to be our home, Ever. Yours, mine, and eventually all of our children and two dogs, if you still want them. If you’ll have me?”

  The last was a question, and one I had no problem answering. “Of course I want you,” I told him before I slid my own lips against his and nipped at first the bottom, then the top. “Are you sure about this though? There’s…”

  “I’m sure.” His words were firm and unyielding. “I’ve never been more certain of anything, Ev. I want you here with me. It doesn’t have to be right away. Maybe after I get the toilets reinstalled, eh?”

  I laughed at that, which was what he intended. “Yeah, I bet that’ll be a big help so the bushes don’t end up over fertilized.” My face immediately flushed, because I’d forgotten I wasn’t just talking trash with one of the guys for a minute. Jesus, I was talking to the man who had just taken me to my dream home, and asked me to be a part in making it just that – with him. And here I am talking about shitting in the bushes. Ugh!

  “That was really gross,” he teased, and then grabbed my hand and pulled me along with him straight up the walk and to the front door of my very own childhood dream.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Inside so I can show you were the working toilet is in order to save my poor bushes from your baser needs.”

  I groaned while he chuckled. I should have known. He was a biker after all. No one had a worse, or better depending on your perspective, sense of humor than a man in a kutte. They were, after all, the type of men responsible for shaping my sense of humor over time. I was beginning to think that hanging out with my brother and Jay so much when we were younger probably didn’t do a lot to make a girl that normal men would be attracted to later on in life.

  Luckily for me, it seemed I had a not-so-normal man completely smitten with me. Finally thinking it to myself made me smile. “I would kill to know what just put that smile on your face.”

  I grinned bigger, but I didn’t tell him. “I wouldn’t be a woman without my mysteries,” I explained as he shook his head and rolled his eyes.

  “Damn
, I’d hoped you missed the bus on all that bullshit. I guess I’ll just have to find a reward system for when you give me each of your secrets.” He waggled his eyebrows and shot me a goofy crooked smile, but even his playful side did things, in combination with his words, that I didn’t completely understand about myself yet. Namely, the tingles that seemed to travel straight down my spine and settle in my lower belly with a fire I hadn’t really ever felt before except when Deck was kissing me.

  I don’t know what triggered him, maybe it was the look on my face or the pheromones I was giving off, but Deck’s eyes suddenly glazed over and he pulled me into him, searing my lips with his in a kiss so heated I was surprised our clothes didn’t just melt off. “I was planning on dinner,” he mumbled against my lips.

  “Not that hungry,” I informed him before devouring his mouth once more. I let out a startled gasp as Deck lifted me, causing me to brace myself by throwing my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist as he stomped through the house with me along for the ride. I have to admit, as eager as I had been to see the inside of the house, none of it registered. The only thing I was aware of was Deck’s hard body beneath my softer one, and the fact that his hands were holding me up by the firm grip he had on my ass.

  Once we made it up the stairs and into the room at the end of the hall with the open door, I finally took note that there was actually furniture in here. Of course, I only noticed after Deck tossed me onto the unmade bed. He stripped off his kutte and laid it across a large, overstuffed cream chair that had a blue chenille blanket draped over it. That snapped me back to reality a bit, and I turned to glance around the room I was in. It had to be the master, and it was everything I’d ever dreamed my bedroom would look like as a grownup. The entire color scheme from the outside of the house had been transferred to this room seamlessly. It was done in smooth creams and brilliant blues, the aesthetic of it all taking my breath away.

  “Deck,” I whispered in awe. He glanced around too, possibly seeing his room through my eyes as he did so. “This is gorgeous.”