CHASING SUNSHINE: GODS OF CHAOS MC (BOOK THIRTEEN)

by Honey Palomino

  “Then get your shit together. You’re better than this. I know you want to be Chief when I retire at the end of the year, and it won’t happen if you’re making mistakes like this, Mac. ”

  “Yes, sir,” I replied, waiting for more. He looked at me impatiently.

  “Go, dammit!”

  “Yes, sir!” I replied, jumping up and leaving his office.

  Rage. Red hot rage roared through me. Those fucking guys that were snooping around and helping Frannie’s daughter had gone over my fucking head and complained to my fucking Chief! The hot flame of anger rose to a raging inferno inside of me that threatened to overwhelm me.

  I walked out of the office and out into the gloomy grey day. I hated days like this. I lived for the days of bright coastal sunshine, beams of light bursting from the sky and warming our bones.

  There were too many grey days this far north.

  I dreamed of moving south someday, but the wife liked it here and now that I was next in line to be Chief, moving was out of the question. And if I had to endure all these gloomy days to be Chief, I wasn’t about to let some nosy fucking assholes get in the way.

  I drove home in a blind rage and I was thankful my wife wasn’t there. I couldn’t deal with her questions right now. I went to my gun safe and pulled out every gun I owned. I packed them up, along with plenty of ammunition, and placed them all in the trunk of my police cruiser.

  Those assholes would be sorry they’d ever fucked with me.

  It was going to be the biggest mistake of their lives.

  I went back inside and grabbed an unopened bottle of whiskey and broke the seal, pouring the fiery liquid down my throat to quell the panic rising inside of me. The heat turned my panic into courage and soon, I was hauling ass away from the house, determined to find the target of my anger and obliterate it.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  SAGE

  After Finn left, we devoured the rest of the pizza and Maddy and Corinne fell asleep on the couch in front of a constant stream of episodes of The Office.

  Sleep was not coming anytime soon for me.

  Instead, I was spinning. The events of the day kept replaying in my head, leaving me in a constant state of reliving Colt’s kiss. I closed my eyes, trying to feel it all again. The softness of his lips, his pulse, his hands, his heat…

  But it did nothing to quench the desire I was feeling for him.

  I sat up on the couch, pushing Corinne’s head off of my shoulder and went to the bathroom with my phone. I sat on the tub and texted Colt again.

  He’d checked on me hours ago and we’d said goodnight but now that the quiet and solitude of the night had fallen over me, the yearning for him was unbearable.

  Can you meet me somewhere? I wrote, hoping like hell he’d say yes.

  Now? He replied, immediately.

  Yes. Please. It couldn’t hurt to be polite, right?

  Okay. Are you okay? There he went again with the concern. It only made me want to kiss him even more.

  I just want to see you. And touch you, and kiss you, and feel your hands on me, oh, man, I could go on forever. Did he know what I wanted? Did he want it to?

  Got it. Where?

  Shit. I hadn’t thought that far. I bit my lip, thinking, but then he texted me again.

  Have you ever been to Ft. Stevens at night?

  Ft. Stevens? It wasn’t too far. And this early in the season there probably weren’t too many campers. It was perfect.

  That’s perfect. Meet you there in half an hour.

  Perfect. Dress warmly. His reply made me smile again.

  I put my phone in my pocket and headed to Mom’s room to change. A few minutes later, I was bundled up and tiptoeing out the back door so I didn’t wake up Corinne and Maddy.

  The drive was pretty quick, but I had to drive all the way through town and up to the uppermost tip of the state. The drive reminded me of all the times I’d driven through town looking for Mom. I wondered what she was doing right now. Where she was…for the billionth time. I thought about my meeting with Leo today. How frustrating it was that he wouldn’t tell me anything, even though of course, I was well aware of the laws prohibiting it.

  I told myself that I was going to call the police tomorrow and ask them to issue a search warrant for Mom’s patient records. It was the least I could do at this point.

  Colt was already waiting for me when I pulled into the deserted parking lot. He leaned against his bike, his curls blowing in the wind, a smug smile on his face, and a blanket rolled up under his arm. A huge smile spread across my face as soon as I saw him, all of my worries melting away to the back of my mind.

  “Hey,” I said, after getting out of my car.

  “You missed me, didn’t you?” he asked.

  “That’s a very cocky assumption,” I said, laughingly.

  “I like to think of it as confidence.”

  “Is that so?”

  “It is. And does this mean you aren’t going to answer?”

  I smiled up at him as he pulled me into his arms. “I think you know the answer.”

  “I think I do, too,” he whispered, bending his head down to brush his lips against mine. He pulled away and reached for my hand. “I want to show you something.”

  I walked along with him. “I’ve never been here at night.”

  “What?”

  “Nope, only day visits,” I said.

  “Well, you’re going to love this,” he said.

  We walked for a bit, past the military fort built into the ground and down towards the beach. A cold wind whipped around us, the constant salty breeze of the coast. Colt’s hand in mine was warm and steady and despite the biting cold, I was so glad I’d asked him to meet me.

  We ended up near the South Jetty and he led me to the stairs of the observation deck, with a sign that clearly stated it was past closing time.

  “It’s closed.”

  “So what?” he laughed. “Do you see anyone around?”

  I looked around and indeed, we were entirely alone.

  “Okay, then,” I said, letting him lead me up the stairs. The observation deck is a square wooden platform that rests high up on a hill overlooking the waves below, which during the day, provides a beautiful view of the ocean. However, at night, all you see is blackness — but what you hear is a full-on symphony.

  The crashing waves below belted out a roaring song that was almost carried away by the misty wind they created.

  “It’s magical,” I said. “During the day, there’s so many people here. This is so different. I absolutely love that we’re all alone!”

  Colt stood watching me, but he pointed straight up.

  “Look up there.”

  I lifted my gaze to the sky and gasped. The sheer amount of stars you could see was humbling and breathtaking.

  “Oh, my!”

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

  “Colt, it’s amazing,” I gushed. “I had no idea…”

  “I’ve come up here the last few nights,” he said. “Had a lot of pent up energy. It’s hard to hang out in the hotel with all those guys every night.”

  I smiled, “I completely understand.”

  He pulled me into his arms again, wrapping them around me completely as I stepped into him.

  “I’m glad you called.”

  “Me, too,” I said. “The stars are amazing. This entire place is amazing.”

  “There’s so much history here,” he said.

  “I used to come up here with Mom all the time,” I replied. “Picnics and short hikes. The nearby lake is beautiful.”

  “Well, you’ll have to bring her here at night sometime.”

  His optimism was touching, almost bringing me to tears. I nodded, my breath catching in my throat.

  “Yes,” I whispered. “I will. She’ll love it.”

  “Sage?”

  “Mm-hmm?”

  “I’m going to kiss you now,” he replied. “If that’s okay. I’ve been waiting all d
ay…”

  I nodded slowly and then he did just as he said.

  His lips were salty from the sea-spray, warm and inviting, opening mine as his tongue slid into my mouth, searchingly, lovingly. I moaned into him, relishing the feel of his kiss.

  He pulled away and spread the blanket out on the platform and then pulled me down with him. We laid on our backs, staring up at the stars in silence, his hand holding mine, his pulse steady and strong.

  The stress of the day began to melt away, my shoulders relaxing with each breath I took. After a moment, I rested my head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around me.

  “Are you sure you’re doing okay?” he asked, his voice gruff.

  The somberness of his tone told me he wanted a real answer.

  “No,” I admitted. “Everything is crazy, overwhelming…”

  He stayed silent, but he held me tighter. I melted into him.

  “I don’t know what to do next. My entire future, that I’d planned out so perfectly, is so uncertain now. I worked so hard just to get into med school…”

  The tears fell from my eyes, falling onto his chest.

  “…and I feel like a total jerk, worried about myself, and my stupid life, when I don’t even know where Mom is…”

  My voice trailed off into a series of sobs that seemed endless.

  Colt’s embrace never weakened.

  Sniffling, I did my best to control myself after a moment. His lips landed on my forehead and I leaned into him, leaned into his warmth.

  “It’s okay to feel all that,” he said. “Sometimes, things don’t work out the way you plan. And that’s okay. Maybe life has other plans for you.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “Did that happen to you or did you always plan to be a rogue biker superhero?”

  He laughed and shook his head.

  “No, life did not go to my plans,” he said.

  “Tell me about it. I don’t know anything about you,” I said.

  “You sure you want to know?” he asked. “It’s not a pretty story.”

  “I’m sure,” I said.

  “My old man took off when I was a kid,” he said. “Left me to take care of my mom and sister. One day, I came home and my sister needed protecting. I may have taken things a little too far. Her boyfriend ended up dead.”

  “Dead?” I asked, my heart skipping. “You killed him?”

  “Yeah,” he said, nodding as he stared up at the stars, avoiding my eyes. “I went to prison for five years.”

  I gasped. I’d have never guessed that in a million years.

  “I never would have thought…”

  “Yeah, most people say that,” he said. “But I tried to rebuild things after I got out. I had a lot of plans back then. But society doesn’t take too well to ex-cons, so I changed my plans, I guess you could say. I was in another club at first, but I landed a spot in the Gods and here I am. It feels good, though. It feels right. Even if it wasn’t what I planned to do.”

  He fell silent, letting me process what he’d just said. I didn’t feel what I expected I might. There was no judgement. He’d protected his family and he’d paid a price. He’d gone through hell. And yet, somehow, now he’s ended up here, letting me lay my head on him like the steady rock that he was.

  No, there was no judgement. Only respect.

  “I understand,” I said, softly.

  I raised my head, my lips falling on his hungrily. His lips met mine, our kiss turning urgent and deep. My thighs wrapped around his waist as he pulled himself up and hovered over me. I pulled back, drinking in the vision of him staring down at me with such unbridled lust, a backdrop of thousands of stars sparkling behind him. It felt like a dream. A dream I desperately wanted to never, ever end.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he said, as if he was reading my mind. I’d never seen a more beautiful man, and the contrast of those stars were like the universe showing me what true beauty really was.

  “Colt, I’ve never met anyone like you,” I said. His thighs were pressed against mine, his sex throbbing against me, so hot, so hard.

  He reached up and cupped my cheek, his thumb running along my bottom lip sensuously.

  “Sage,” he growled, shaking his head. “I’ll be damned honest. I want you. I want you so badly. But it’s your call. I didn’t know what you were going through the night we met, so I probably didn’t exercise as much caution as I should have. But the circumstances are different now, and the last thing I want to do is take advantage of you.”

  “Colt?” I said, his cock drumming against my thigh, inching closer to my center. Waves of desire washed over me and I pressed into him.

  “Yes, babe?”

  “I want you, too.”

  His eyes dilated, his lips parted and he almost gasped. But he caught himself, breathing in deeply, as if he were breathing in my words.

  “I don’t want to think about anything. Take me back. Take me back to that night, before everything barreled in…”

  His lips were hard and hungry, his kiss stopping short of being painful. But I wanted the pain. I wanted to feel anything but this constant frustration. Anything but this incessant worrying. Anything but this immense weight that I couldn’t put down.

  He tore his lips from mine, his eyes searching mine again.

  “Sage, I’ll give you whatever you want. If I can provide just a little bit of an escape, then I’m happy to give it. You just tell me if I go too far.”

  “Take me all the way. Give me everything you’ve got,” I said, smiling up at him. “And don’t stop till we reach the stars, Colt.”

  He stared down at me, his eyes widening with desire.

  “Sage,” he growled, my name a warning on his lips.

  “I’m all yours,” I whispered, a quiet promise.

  “You sure you don’t want to go to a hotel?” he asked with a faint smile.

  “And miss this view?” I asked. “You? Surrounded by stars? With that look in your eye? Looking at me? No way in hell I’d trade this for a popcorn ceiling.”

  He laughed, kissing me softly.

  I looked up at him, my laughter fading fast.

  I didn’t want to laugh. I didn’t want to think. I wanted one thing and one thing only.

  “Take me, Colt,” I whispered. “Here, now, please…”

  He moaned softly and then something snapped in him. His kisses turned hard and then grew harder, so urgent and hungry that I thought he might draw blood. His hardness pressed into my center, his own silent promise of what was to come.

  My body shuddered with pleasure, my thighs widening, pulling him closer, the world melting away with each crashing wave below us. Frustrated by the clothes between us, and yet not quite willing to succumb to frostbite, I pulled my shirt up and then his, our skin sliding together deliciously. I reached down between his legs, gripping his hardness with my fingers. Throbbing hotly in my hand, I knew I needed more. I let go, then slid my hand into his jeans, capturing his shaft and squeezing gently, his velvety soft skin sliding against my palm as he gasped, throwing his head back and groaning.

  My entire body dilated with pleasure watching the effect of my hand on him. He bent down, his mouth finding my bare nipple easily as I’d opted out of wearing a bra tonight, his hands finding my other breast as his mouth played with my taut nipple, his soft curls falling over me, landing on my breasts and my face like tendrils of silk.

  I pulled at the fly of his jeans, releasing the snaps quickly for better access, then plunged my hand back inside of his boxers, searching for his hot, throbbing heat again. He reached down and did the same with my jeans, then quickly pulled them over my hips and down my trembling thighs, pushing them off completely, until he was back on top of me, wasting no time as his hardness slid into me quickly, sending ripples of pleasure through my body like shocks of electricity.

  I tightened my thighs around him, holding on as he pushed inside of me, my fingers gripping onto his biceps as he sank every inch of himself into me.

 
; “Colt, my god, yes, yes…” I hissed, the words falling uncontrollably from my quivering lips.

  My hips rose and fell to meet his thrusts, my desire growing to an aching need of release. His lips found mine and his tongue plunged into my mouth searching and giving, all at the same time.

  I moaned loudly, as he continued to thrust into me, harder and harder, his cock throbbing hotly inside of me. I opened my thighs wider, wanting him deeper, needing him as close to me as he could possibly get.

  His heat ignited something deep inside of me, fanning a small spark into a blazing, hungry inferno that raged, my hips flailing against him, my body a wildfire of desire that threatened to destroy everything I’d ever known as waves of ecstatic pleasure washed over me. I cried out his name, my nails ripping down his back as my orgasm ripped through me.

  Pushing deeper, harder, his breath grew shallow and quick. He ripped his mouth away, his eyes crashing into mine as he thrust violently, his eyes widening as I felt him swell, throwing his head back as a low growl escaped from his lips as he shuddered and exploded hotly deep inside of me.

  All I knew in that moment was that my body couldn’t live without Colt.

  Like water, like air, I couldn’t believe I ever lived without him, without his body, without the nourishment of his love, without his light.

  We slammed into each other, coming together, our shouts of ecstasy drowned out by the ocean’s symphony below us.

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  LEO

  If she was nervous yesterday, she was much more so today.

  Sage sat across from me, a lovely vision in black skinny jeans and a floral top with hints of green that matched her eyes.

  She did remind me of her mother, it’s true.

  It was almost as if Frannie was looking back at me through her. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

  Of course, Frannie told me all about her. And Maddy, too.

  She was very proud of Sage, and now that she was sitting across from me — her expression half trepidation and half trusting — I could see why. If I had a daughter who’d worked as hard as she did to get into med school, I’d be proud too.

  The desire to tell her that was overwhelming, but of course, it was out of the question. Even that small amount of information could cost me my license.