Bobcat (Rolling Thunder MC Birmingham Book 2)

by Candace Blevins

  A large tree had fallen against another tree, and Scout jumped up on it, walked up it about ten feet, and turned to be sure I was following him. Honestly, if I hadn’t smelled the specific aroma of someone cooking, I might not have followed him up the log.

  But I did, and was shocked to discover the most beautiful treehouse you can imagine.

  And standing inside a state-of-the-art kitchen was Bobcat, pulling something out of the oven.

  By the time I made it to the top of the log and had stepped onto the large deck, he was opening the door to let Scout and me in. He squatted to give Scout a proper hello and aggressive rubdown, but I saw caution in his eyes when he looked up to me.

  I needed to fix that, but I wasn’t sure how, so I said, “What do I smell?”

  He stood and smiled. “I looked up rattlesnake recipes and couldn’t decide on which you might like, so we have southern fried rattlesnake, Chinese snake soup, rattlesnake pasta, and a tex-mex rattlesnake chili. Oh, and I just took the twice-baked potatoes out of the oven, but they have bacon on them, not rattlesnake.”

  “You made me rattlesnake?” My eyes actually fucking watered. My mongoose loves snake above anything else she can kill and eat in this part of the country, and we both enjoy it cooked when I’m in human form. Most people say it tastes like chicken, but I have no idea what kind of snake they’re eating. Some kinds of snake taste a lot like frog legs, but rattler tastes like a chewy tilapia. Cooked right, it’s divine.

  I stepped to him, wrapped my arms around his neck, and hugged. Honestly, I initially did it so he wouldn’t see my eyes watering, but once I was wrapped in his arms, I didn’t want to be anywhere else. “Thank you.” I didn’t dare say more lest my voice break up. He’d gone to a lot of trouble to fix me a meal he thought I’d like. He’d saved my beloved Scout.

  He cared. I cared. I didn’t know where we were going with it, but I wasn’t going to blow him off or push him away again.

  “I saw the bodycam videos of you carrying Scout. You got shot. A lot.”

  “I did, but I changed and healed. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep him from getting hurt, but the graze will heal.”

  “Mac said he had to wear the cone of shame until you convinced him not to lick.”

  “It’s possible there was some venison involved in that.” He leaned back and looked more than a little sheepish. “We brought down a deer together. I still have some meat from it in the refrigerator. I figure I’ll let him eat the last of it while we have our dinner, so he’ll leave us alone.”

  “If a wildlife photographer were to accidentally get a shot of a wolf and bobcat working together to bring down a deer...”

  I laughed. The visual was almost too much.

  “We weren’t somewhere the general public would be, and now that we’re here, we can run and play as much as we want. Day or night.”

  “How long have you been here?”

  “We got here yesterday. They don’t want a bunch of vehicles to be seen coming and going. They were clear I needed to bring everything with me I needed. So, two cars have come in now, and both are still here. I assume we’ll all leave together.”

  “Why did you come? How did you get away from your duties?”

  “Aaron said you asked for me.”

  He said it so simply. I’d asked for him, so he came.

  “I’m a horrible bitch.”

  He smiled. “Yes, I know. It’s one of the things I like about you.” He moved away and stirred what I assumed was the chili. “The Chinese soup will make a good appetizer while I finish up with the last dish. I’ve already cut the pieces, pounded on them, and soaked them. They just need to be battered and fried, and we’ll be ready to eat.”

  I glanced at the potatoes, and he said, “They need to cool at least twenty minutes before they’re edible. Otherwise the cheese will be like molten lava.” He ladled some soup into a bowl and settled it and a spoon across the island. “There’s wine in the fridge.”

  I got the wine out, noted it was an exceptionally good choice, and brought a beer back with me to give him. He nodded thanks while he skillfully ran the rattlesnake pieces through an egg mixture, a flour mixture, and settled them into a hot skillet with sizzling oil.

  “It looks like you’ve done this before.”

  “With chicken, but the process seems to be the same.”

  “Who chose the wine?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Aaron. Why couldn’t it have been me?”

  I looked at his beer and then him, and he grinned. “Yeah. Okay.”

  “I’m going to put my backpack in the bedroom and use the restroom, and then I’ll open the wine and try the soup.” I looked towards some steps. “I assume I go up?”

  “You do, and I love the bedroom, but I’m not sure how happy a mongoose will be in it.”

  A dozen steps up, and I was in a living room, complete with both sofas and floor pillows. I walked through this room and up another dozen steps, and I understood what he meant. The bedroom was glass all around, angled down so sunlight wouldn’t reflect out and give away the hiding place, but it meant it felt like the bed was nestled in the tree. A small armoire was in front of the tree trunk, with some low shelves beside it for storage, but otherwise, the three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view was uninterrupted. This was a dream home for a cat, but my inner animal preferred to sleep in an underground den.

  And yet, I was happy here. The thick cover of forest above and around us gave me a safe feeling. Also, the knowledge this was a secret Drake Security safehouse, and that it was heavily monitored so no one would get in without a big alert going out. I settled the backpack on the floor and sat on the bed to pet Scout. “How do you feel about being up in the air?”

  He looked around and then headbutted me and rubbed against me. So long as I was here and petting him, he didn’t care.

  I went back down to the second level to use the bathroom. The three levels weren’t directly over each other, but spaced around the tree to give balance

  “I see what you mean,” I told Bobcat when Scout and I returned to the kitchen. “Oddly enough, the forest canopy is close enough and dark enough, I’m strangely okay with sleeping in a tree.”

  Dinner was so mouthwateringly good, it was almost a sexual experience. The flavors, the spices, all surrounding one of my favorite things to eat. Why had I tried to run away from this?

  When we finished eating, we cleaned the kitchen together, and our conversation continued to flow. But then, out of seemingly no-where, he said, “If you want the bedroom to yourself, I can change and make use of one of the cushions in the living room.”

  I stopped scrubbing the frying pan and turned to him. “Why would I want the bedroom to myself? Do you not want to join me?”

  He shrugged. “I called you. You didn’t call me back. I wasn’t sure where we stood with that and I don’t want to assume anything.”

  “I’m sorry about that.”

  He seemed to want more of an explanation, but I wasn’t sure what to tell him. After several moments of awkward silence while we cleaned, I said, “I don’t think I can give you a reason that makes sense, other than I was being stupid. I’m sorry. I’ll try not to be stupid again.”

  “You thought it a nice place to make an easy break?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe.” Okay, so that was exactly it, but I’d changed my mind. I didn’t want to lose him. The thought terrified me, but I couldn’t deny my attraction to him any longer.

  “I think I need you in my life, and that scares me. It’s possible I wasn’t being entirely rational.”

  He chuckled. “You’re one of the most rational women I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. I suppose being able to make you irrational should be some kind of badge of honor.”

  I shook my head. “You’re such a damned feline.”

  He chuckled and pulled me into his arms. “Better than damned cat, I suppose.”

  And then the world spun around us and my brains scrambled. His lips on mine. His tongue. Hi
s arms around me. The heat of his body all around me. He lifted me. Walked. Climbed the stairs. Walked. More stairs. Scout wasn’t happy when we closed the door to keep him out of the bedroom, but this needed to be just me and Bobcat.

  I couldn’t let Bobcat take charge. Tonight, I needed to get us started.

  It was important.

  And it took every ounce of my willpower to put my hand on his chest and push my head away.

  I scented his confusion and disappointment, but it couldn’t be helped. I had to do this.

  “Put me down and…” I breathed out. “Just stand where you are. I need to do something.”

  Surprisingly, he did as I asked without arguing or protesting. I’d worn slacks and a sweater, and I quickly stripped them off, slid my panties off and tossed them on the pile of clothes. My bra was the last to land, and I stepped backwards, away from him, until the backs of my legs hit the side of the bed. I sat, pushed back, leaned back, put my feet near my butt and spread my legs in invitation, and met his gaze. “I’m yours.”

  He reached behind his neck with one arm to pull his shirt off, and the motion was so feline, my already heated blood pulsed even faster. I could hear my own heartbeat, and I could feel it in my clit.

  He took three steps to me and climbed on the bed, over me, but he didn’t touch me. I scented… trepidation? It took me a moment to put a finger on it, and I immediately felt guilty. I’d done that. I needed to fix it.

  “I can’t promise you I won’t freak out again, but I can promise I won’t freak out without talking to you about it.”

  He kept looking at me, and I was suddenly terrified the trepidation was whether he was willing to accept my submission. Did he still want it, when it came with attachments?

  He shook his head a single time, leaned down, and kissed just to the right of my lips, then just to the left of them. He rose back up. “I need you to know I value your submission. I’m honored, and…” Another small shake of his head. “I just needed to be sure you’re actually submitting and not merely giving me a thank-you for getting Scout back.”

  “There’s no way I can thank you for getting my Scout back to me. If I gave you everything I own, it wouldn’t be enough. This isn’t about that.”

  Apparently, that was what he needed to hear, because his lips crashed down on mine and he took my breath away. He kissed me all over, saving the best for last, and my world spontaneously exploded when he finally pulled my clit into his mouth.

  When he at last entered me and fully accepted my submission, it was the first time I’d made love in years. Tears filled my eyes, but I wasn’t crying. There was so much emotion, it spilled out. How had I fallen in love with this man?

  The lights glinted off his dark-blonde, oddly patterned hair as he rose and fell, rose and fell. Our hearts beat together.

  And his eyes. I was the bird to his cat. He completely mesmerized me and I had no intention of ever fighting it again.

  I’m so used to explosive, the world-no-longer-exists-around-me orgasms, but this one was soft and beautiful. We came together and it was magnificent without being violent. Somehow, he managed to get under me to hold me, so my head rested on him and my body folded around him, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so relaxed. So comfortable.

  So at home.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Bobcat

  The irony is that if she hadn’t pulled away and then came back, I might have run once I knew she wanted something serious.

  But after having to face a possible future without her in it, I wasn’t prepared to do so again. She’d submitted to me. Tess had fully, one hundred percent given herself over.

  I knew this wouldn’t be the case outside of sex, but that was okay. I loved her in part because of her take-charge attitude, her intelligence, and her self-confidence.

  We fell asleep with her head on my chest, and I awakened with us both lying on our sides, her ass against my dick.

  And my dick hard as granite.

  The night before had been sweet. We’d made love. Part of me wants to cringe at the term, but fuck if it doesn’t exactly describe what happened.

  This morning, however, I overpowered her and took her ass, exactly the way I know she likes. Hard. Rough. Relentless.

  And I made damned sure she came while I filled her ass full.

  We showered together and had sex again, this time with her back against the tile and her legs wrapped around my waist. I’d had to go round up a condom while soaking wet because I hadn’t been prepared, but it wasn’t a disaster. We laughed. How can a screw-up bring people closer together? I decided not to analyze it too much.

  Tess

  Our morning in the treehouse was the stuff memorable honeymoons are made of. We finally managed to shower and make breakfast, but we’d already had sex five times before we finally sat down to our meal.

  And then he bent me over the back of a kitchen chair and went at my ass again before we’d managed to get the kitchen completely clean afterward. I’d been worried about how Scout would react to us having sex, but he seemed to be grossed out rather than territorial. He just grumbled and went into another room. I’d been afraid he’d attack Bobcat if he thought I was being hurt, but he seemed to know the kitty cat wouldn’t hurt us.

  Before Bobcat started yet another round, I found a notepad and pen on a small desk in the living room, and I took it to the kitchen. “Maybe I’m jumping the gun, but this is how I operate, and I have a feeling you’ll appreciate it. We need to have a discussion about logistics.”

  “Logistics for how to keep you safe, or for how to make things work between us?”

  “Aaron’s in charge of the first.”

  He nodded and sat across from me. “I’m in a one percenter club, and the bar association could give you grief if they find out we’re an item.”

  If I hadn’t already admitted to myself I’d fallen in love with him, that moment would have solidified it. He didn’t make me say it. He already knew, and he put it out there.

  So, I put something out there, too.

  “Correct. But I love you, so we have to figure out how to work our way around that without compromising either of our positions.” I took a breath. “You’ll have to make your move to Birmingham permanent. I can’t begin to imagine what that’s going to entail for you emotionally.”

  “My Chattanooga brothers are my immediate family, and I’ve viewed my brothers here as more of an extended family. You’re going to have to be okay with frequent trips to Chattanooga, and I’m going to want you with me more often than not.”

  “I look forward to meeting them. Will the local club let you join permanently?”

  He nodded. “They’ve been trying to recruit me. Not aggressively, but Mad Dog and others have made it clear they’d love for me to stay.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. That had been my biggest fear — that the option for him to stay wasn’t there.

  “What are the pen and paper for?”

  I looked at them a few seconds and chuckled. “I thought we’d need to make lists. Things to do to make this work. Turns out, we’re going to be okay. I can’t promise I’ll be able to go to Chattanooga with you every time you go, but I can promise we’ll work to align our schedules to make it happen...” I paused while I considered what I could promise. “I’d like to say once a month, but since this is a promise, I’m going to say once every two months. I won’t promise something I’m not certain I can make happen.”

  “One of the many things I love about you.”

  I looked up and my heart skipped a few beats when our gazes met. We’d now both admitted to loving the other. Aloud. It was a few seconds of romance and emotions, and then he got us back on track. “I think this means our biggest obstacle is the Alabama Bar Association.”

  “The American Bar Association says a lawyer shall not have sexual relations with a client unless a consensual sexual relationship existed between them when the client-lawyer relationship commenced.” I to
ok a breath. “Technically, you aren’t my client. However, you’re the employee of a corporation I represent, which means I’m not in a great place as far as ethics are concerned. I met you through attorney-client conversations. The fact you’re part of a one-percenter club might be used against me, but they’re more likely to go after me because of how we met.”

  He sat back and crossed his arms. “I got no problems with lying. If you don’t want to, I’ll respect that, but it’s the simplest solution.”

  I shook my head. “Tempting, but no. The rule is there to confirm consent. Much as a prison guard can’t have a consensual relationship with a prisoner because the guard has legal dominance, the argument is that in a trial, an attorney is seen as a ‘savior’ of sorts, and thus it’s an imbalanced relationship from the start. You hadn’t been arrested for anything when we started our dance. I hadn’t represented you, personally, when we began.” I took a breath. Making any kind of threat against an RTMC brother is always a bad idea, but it had to be done. “Mostly, the rule comes into play when a client complains to the Bar or presses charges. Bikers aren’t known for using the law to make a point, so I’m not worried about you doing so. If you did, I’d use the fact you knew every inch of the law in Tennessee since you’d run a brothel for years, and thus you only needed me for assistance in the differences in the law between the states and counties, and to actually file motions on your behalf. There was no dominant relationship.”

  He smiled. “So, if I throw you under the bus, you’ll throw me and my brothers under one as well?”

  Before he could point out the legalities, I supplied my logic. “I work for the Birmingham RTMC. There’s no attorney-client privilege between me and the Chattanooga chapter. They are two completely different entities.”

  He tilted his head to the side. “Point, but the conversation is moot. As you noted, I wouldn’t take you to court to complain you were dominant and we had a non-consensual relationship. Further, we can be dishonest without lying if we say our relationship was formed before I became your client. Using your logic, that statement isn’t a lie. I have no issues stating we were dating before I came to town, and it was one of the reasons I chose to move down here, but if you don’t want to go that route, we won’t.”