Not that outsiders didn’t turn up and party, they did. I recognised some of the women from town, and some from school, and yes, some even tried to talk to Jason. One lady in particular, who attended last week’s party, did all she could to pry him away from me. She used tactics that I would have been too embarrassed to use. Even Rainn, Mannix’s wife, who used to be an exotic dancer, shook her head in disgust at the desperate antics.
However, it was Jason’s reaction that shocked and surprised me.
I noticed the woman coming over again before Jason did. This was her third attempt to get him to engage in a conversation with her. I recognised her as the sister of one of the popular girls I didn’t hang with at high school. Sara, the older sister, used to get picked for all the drama roles and got chosen to represent the school in sports. The teachers all fell for her ‘good girl’ act; they never saw her mean taunts at recess time, mainly aimed at me. My mother’s reputation as a drunk and whore, good fodder for her bullying and she gave it to me a lot. And by the looks of her younger sibling, the apple didn’t fall far from that family tree.
So, when she turned up for the night’s festivities, I couldn’t help feeling less than confident in my role as Jason’s girlfriend.
“Hey there handsome, want to get that lump off your lap and come dance with me?” Cara asked, running her long red fingernail over my man’s arm. I, of course, was the lump she was referring to, Jason liked touching me, in fact he loved public displays of affection with me. If we were walking across the street going to his or my place, he held my hand. Watching television, he curled me around him, his fingers always moving over my arms or legs while we watched movies or sports. I never figured my grumpy man had a needy side, oh he was still a grump, still grunted at people, still growled at Deck. Just never with me.
I swivelled on his lap and looked daggers at Cara. The years had not been kind to her, being five years younger than me, her fake tanning regime caused a permanent muddy tint to her skin which stuck in the creases of her wrinkles, giving her skin the appearance of a dried-out orange. Her blatant attempt to dress like a teenager only managed to look more like a call girl on her last legs.
A smug smile crossed my face and I couldn’t help think I looked so much better than her, even with my scar. Jason smirked at me, then turned to face the cow, whose sister made my school years miserable.
“You are aware that you are at the Wounded Souls’ compound? And you just insulted a patched member’s woman, right?”
I watched with silent delight, one because Cara’s face flamed a bright red, and two because Jason called me his woman. Yes, we were together, and yes, I already knew I was his. Hearing him say it with a gruff possessive tone, yeah that made my lady bits sing with joy.
“What?” She gulped uncomfortably. Where we were sitting a few other members sat with us, watching the unexpected show.
“Kelsey is my woman, not a lump. Your bitch mouth just got you a one-way ticket out of the compound and don’t expect to return,” Jason told her in a low dangerous tone, dismissing her, then looked over at Seb sending him a chin lift and a pointed look at Cara.
I waved my fingers at Cara, just before Seb took her elbow in a firm but careful hold and led her away from us.
Score a victory for the scarred loner.
“You okay sweetheart?” Jason asked me quietly, pulling me closer so his lips rested on mine.
“You just earned yourself a night of hot sex,” I whispered cheekily.
“As long as it’s your pussy, I’m in baby, only yours.”
Pressing my lips firmly to his, I poured everything I had into the kiss, telling him without words I agreed wholeheartedly with him. Jason was mine, we belonged together. Still so new, we were navigating our way as a couple. Going from lifelong friends to boyfriend/girlfriend had its hurdles.
My main one was believing Jason wanted me; his overprotective ways didn’t bother me that much. It was the bossiness I struggled with a tad. The texts three or four times a day that simply said, ‘Where are you?’ or ‘Get your sexy arse over here now’ both pleased me and annoyed me. All of a sudden, my day had to be explained and agreed upon, timed and watched. That was hard for a person who frequently got lost in her veggie patch for hours on end. Of course, the ‘Have you eaten?’ text just pissed me off, but this was a learning curve and a lot of give and take. I was yet to receive a ‘Love you’ text from him and that hurt. His feelings for me were apparent, I felt his desire for me every time he touched me, spoke up for me, or even just when he turned those deep blue eyes on me.
So, why wouldn’t he give me the words?
Because it has only been a couple of weeks dimwit. I answered myself. At least he is here with you, the rest will come in time. Feeling his hands dig into the flesh at my hips, I looked at him and smiled.
“Always only you,” I told him honestly.
For me he was the only one, the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. For him? That was the scariest part, Jason found the love of his life with Zoe, my worry was, what was I?
A near enough, that will do replacement or something more meaningful?
Whatever else was going through Jason’s head, I knew one thing for certain…
I was his, for how long, that was yet to be seen.
My hope was forever.
So, a week later the compound was empty other than the flock, myself and the younger children. Shiloh, Bastian, Memphis’ eldest son Zander, Rainn’s twin girls Evie and Lacie, Meagan and Annie- Steel and Mia’s daughters, and Booth’s boy Gabriel were all with their dads and Jason at the club’s gym training in some kind of defence class. Jason told me it was for fitness as well as making sure the children could protect themselves against schoolyard bullies. Apparently, some of the town kids signalled them out for their parents’ association with a motorcycle club. Little Shiloh and Zander copped it the worst being the oldest, which did not sit well with their fathers, Deck and Creed. Their uncles and godfathers weren’t too happy about it either.
“So, the children are learning to do what exactly?” I asked the ladies. We were all gathered in the kitchen; the younger kids were happily playing under the careful watch of Seb in the dance room. From the kitchen, I could hear the loud music blaring and lots of cute giggles.
“Well, our men think the kids need to learn hand to hand combat. That way if a ten-year-old comes at them with a machete on the playground, our beloved children will know how to disarm them before they break their necks,” Mia replied drily, earning bursts of laughter from all of us.
“The last thing Shiloh needs is more encouragement in the tomboy department,” Charlotte mumbled good naturally. “She is talking about giving up ballet so she can join karate.”
“Oh, come on Charlotte. You didn’t really expect her to do ballet forever, did you?” Stella asked her, taking a sip from her wine glass.
As soon as the men left with the kids, the wine came out. Stella, Charlotte and Rainn the only ones to have wine in front of them, Mia and Memphis both pregnant were drinking juice while I had a good old-fashioned beer. Wine wasn’t my thing; honestly, beer wasn’t either but this afternoon was about getting to know each other away from the watchful eye of the men and the screaming laughter of the kids.
I knew Stella well enough, and Charlotte because she went to Jason’s on a regular basis to pick up or drop off Shiloh and Bastian. However, today was the first time I was able to sit down with the other women in such a quiet, casual environment.
So far, I liked what I saw from the other ladies.
“I get that she wants to be a ninja, bike builder and the president of the Wounded Souls, but couldn’t she be a ballerina too?” Charlotte complained with a slight slur to her words. Eyeing her glass, I saw that it was half-full.
I swear it was nearly empty only a few minutes ago I mused, suspicious she was onto her second glass already. Jason warned me that Charlotte was a lightweight when it came to alcohol and that girl’s nights tended to
get out of control fast.
“At least you only have one daughter, spare a thought for Mia and me. With my three and her two and another girl on the way, the Steel brothers are going to be merciless when the boys come calling,” Rainn muttered. “Mannix is already driving poor Ebony crazy with his driving up and down her street on his bike checking to see if she has a boy over and she is twenty. Lacie and Evie have no chance.”
I stifled a giggle, Mannix was an intimidating looking dude that was for sure, I wasn’t sure if it was his eye patch or the multitude of dark, scary tattoos that covered him. His oldest daughter’s boyfriend must shit himself every time he hears a bike exhaust go by.
“Well, Steel loves having girls. When we found out this little one was a girl too he strutted around the main room like he invented fire. Meagan, Annie and I can’t get enough of his alpha ways,” Mia piped up, a cute blush covered her pretty face as she spoke of her tall good-looking husband. Steel was definitely up there in the looks department, blond flowing hair and a face Hollywood moviemakers hunted. He was also a lovely person, a bit of a jokester, and the one in the group that enjoyed taunting his fellow brothers.
“What about you Memphis, does Creed want this baby to be a boy or a girl?” I asked the stunning blonde who was sitting directly across from me, under the table I could hear the soft snoring sounds from her sight dog, Jasper.
Jason was thorough with filling me in on all the information I needed to know about the flock. When he got to Memphis, I knew she was blind, which was very apparent when I first met her. The first thing she did was trace her fingers all over my face, paying special attention to my scar. It had been a very strange, very uncomfortable experience at first, I had never met a blind person before but I knew of some blind people. Memphis’ unique way to ‘see’ a person was definitely special.
The second thing, Jasper was her second dog and she was sensitive about talking about her original sight dog she named Apollo. There was so much to remember for a person who spent much of her time accompanied by a fat sausage dog and a rabbit.
“I think it would be safer for the whole family if we have another boy. Zander, Cole and Dane have it pretty easy compared to the girls,” Memphis said with a smirk. “Not that I wouldn’t love a little girl,” she added with a dreamy look on her face. Her exquisite green eyes shone with a happy kind of sadness.
“A girl with her daddy’s smile would be lovely,” she said quietly, her hands on her burgeoning belly.
Was I missing something?
“Oh, don’t mind me Kelsey. Being blind is my normal, but not being able to see your own baby’s face, that never gets easy. Creed has this amazing way to explain every single detail to me when it comes to our children. If we had a little girl, I fear my husband would lose his shit.”
“Thank god Booth and I decided one was enough for us. Can you imagine Vincent Booth, President of the Wounded Souls with a daughter?” Stella exclaimed in mock horror.
“It doesn’t bear contemplating,” she added with a shake of her head.
“Okay, so what about you Kelsey, do you and Jason have any plans to have kids?” Mia asked me, at the same time reaching for a delicious-looking custard slice from the platter in the middle of the table. Stella’s cooking skills were amazing, but her baking was out of this world. On the table was a smorgasbord of sugary treats, and it pleased me that some of them were made with my honey and fruit.
Charlotte tensed beside me, her reaction to Mia’s question peaking my interests, but when she reached for her glass I decided it must have been my imagination.
“Oh, I can’t have kids, I lost an ovary when I was in my teens, and the other one suffered significant trauma when my mother attacked me with a sledgehammer. The doctors said the chances of me falling pregnant naturally were minimal,” I blurted out all at once then stuffed a tiny cheesecake into my mouth, hoping that would shut me up and prevent me from answering the barrage of questions I knew was coming.
I was still getting over the interrogation Jason put me through the morning after our first night together. He made me go over the whole story of why mum attacked me and how she did it. He listened silently with an expression of pure hatred every time I mentioned my mum, then he just got angry when I explained his parent’s involvement and how the three of us decided to keep it from him. All in all, it hadn’t been the most pleasant breakfast conversation, and not one I planned on having ever again.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Rainn asked, the piece of caramel slice in her hand suddenly dropped with a squidgy splosh into her wine glass on the table. Stupidly, I mourned the loss of the sugary treat, Rainn had grabbed the last square before I could, her weakness she’d said.
Well now no one was going to have it.
Cursing myself three ways to Sunday, I folded my hands on the table and waited.
“Kelsey, that’s utterly horrible,” Charlotte gasped, her hand reached out and folded over mine. “Your own mother?
“It wasn’t the first time, and it certainly wasn’t the last,” I answered her shocked question, turning my face and showing the scar. “She left me with constant reminders of how much she hated me, how having me ruined her life.”
“I cannot even imagine laying a hand on any of my children in anger. Our four kids are a blessing, no matter how testing they can be at times,” Rainn declared visibly upset at the thought of hurting her children. I knew that Mannix had two kids from his first marriage who turned out to be his cousin’s kids and not Mannix’s biological kids. You couldn’t live in our part of town and not know about his ex-wife’s affair and subsequent paternity shock. However, Mannix refused to let his kids go, and after some nastiness both kids sided with the only father they ever knew and happily stayed with him and Rainn. James was eager to join the police force and Jason was helping him achieve that.
Envy, jealousy, longing. Those words swam in my head thinking about the family dynamic created by the Wounded Souls. They truly cared about every single person in the compound, whether they were blood relations or not. I never had that safe feeling growing up, instead I spent my whole youth constantly frightened of what kind of punishment my mother would dole out from one day to the next. My only reprieve from her terror was the house across the street and the people that lived there. One son in particular who took caring to a whole new level. Without Jason and his family, I really would not have survived.
Taking in the sad, concerned faces around the table, I got the feeling that a new family was taking me into their fold. Without warning, I burst into uncontrollable tears, then found myself in the middle of a warm huddle of pregnant bellies, dancers, a romance writer, and the Pres’ stunning wife.
For the first time in my memory, I had real friends that cared.
Rainn pulled away from the huddle, her eyes filled with unshed tears. I could tell my brief story of what happened to me affected her deeply. The sexy redhead came across as the strongest of the group of women. She came across to some as brutal with her honesty at least to those who didn’t know her well.
To see the tears, the depth of emotions in her eyes both touched and overwhelmed me. The change in the mood from jovial and fun to sombre. A guilty feeling washed over me, I needed to fix it.
Swiping the tears from my cheeks with my fingers, I took a deep cleansing breath.
“Let’s drink!”
Chapter 13
JASON
I laughed along with Deck and Booth as we watched the kids roll and tumble on the padded gym mats, giggling and shouting at each other all in fun.
“Who’s idea was this again?” Creed asked with a rueful grin. His son Zander was currently on the mat with Shiloh in a kid-safe chokehold. My niece was not taking being bested by a boy well, the poor girls face was red, mostly in frustration than anything else. Both Deck and I were keeping a close eye on her, making sure she was keeping it fun rather than a competition.
“To teach the kids how to fight each other with their fists? That woul
d be my idiot brother,” I happily answered, earning a punch in the arm from Deck.
“It’s called self-defence wanker. Last week an older kid walked up to Shiloh and Zander and asked them if their biker dads could score them some weed,” Deck announced, completely shocking me.
“Why is this the first I am hearing this? Fucking hell mate, what did the kids do?” The cop in me struggled with the uncle side, the uncle one wanted to find the older kid and serve him up on a platter for even thinking about approaching my girl. The cop side was more concerned that children were trying to score drugs around schools.
“We only found out ourselves yesterday, Jay. Shiloh and Zander weren’t sure about telling us and maybe getting into trouble at school. Then he approached them again and Zander went straight to Creed and told him everything,” Booth explained in his typical calm way, the only clue he was pissed off was the rubber band on his arm getting a snapping.
“Gabriel admitted he knows of kids talking at school about the club the same way. Unfortunately, the stereotypical MC shit is following our kids at school. We haven’t told our wives about this and for now I want it to stay that way. It’s bad enough this is touching our kids, I don’t want Stella taking it on,” Booth said firmly, ending any discussion on the matter.
I nodded my head in agreement. “Agreed. I will make sure the drug squad is aware of what is going on, they might want to set up some surveillance. Or, at the very least get some police presence around the place, let people know they are being watched.”
“Good idea Jason, thanks for that mate,” Mannix said, his eye on his twin girls. “We also have Ford tapping into some nearby cameras. I don’t think the school will be willing to help out, that will require them to admit there is a problem.”
Love Heals (The Love Duet Book 2) Page 11
