We Belong: MC Romance (Rattler Romance Book 1)

by Evie Bennet

  “The dress? Show me.”

  “Seeing the bride in her dress before the wedding is supposed to be bad luck,” I teased, not that I believed it.

  Maybe I could send a hint. I arranged my gown and hair off to the side to expose a little love mark he’d left on me, taking a shot of my shoulder up to my lips. The edge of the dress was barely visible as the shot was mostly skin.

  “You’re killing me, Betts.”

  I laughed, rearranging my hair to cover the mark and looking at myself in the mirror. What a fantastic reality. This was what living in the moment and being in love looked like. We definitely needed to hire people to capture the party because I’d be swept up in our emotions.

  I was rummaging around to find the right replacement filter cartridge when the bell rang violently at the front. Glancing up, I noted that the customer was a tough-looking woman. Long, dyed, messy hair that had enough highlights I questioned the original color. Diamond tattoos behind her ear and in her hairline, almost like they were planted and dripping like a black chandelier. Smokey eyes. She was pretty. Had a bit of swagger. I almost felt shy about approaching her, not wanting to assume she was a Rattler.

  “Hi. Welcome to—”

  “Hey, doll. You Betty?” The woman’s eyebrow arched during a thorough once-over that seemed decidedly invasive if entirely un-sexual.

  Attempting to keep the edge out of my voice, I strived for pleasantly neutral. “Yes. What can I help you with today?”

  “Aren’t you just Greaser Barbie? That’s sweet.” It was hardly meant to be a compliment. I rolled my lips together, not exactly keen on digs from strangers. “I was hoping I could talk shop with you a little bit. I live down in Cleveland, run a garage of my own.” The woman strode around, looking at the parts on the wall like she was browsing clothes at a thrift store. “Never thought West Ridge was big enough to run a proper business in it. You doing all right so far?”

  “So far. Knoxville’s a bit bigger, and Vernon Hill’s not far off, but there’s something to work on every day.”

  “Yeah, but how much business can you really do out here? Your only customers are probably the occasional person who’s been put off by the used car place’s quality care or deadbeats like the Rattlers, am I right?”

  My nails flashed against my gloves. “No one customer is more valuable than any other.”

  Except Reed, obviously.

  “A paying one is more valued than a not-paying one, right?”

  “If they’re not paying, they’re not a customer.”

  The woman emitted a low chuckle. “Touché. You must be a smart businesswoman, especially to own something like this at your age. You get a loan, or is it Daddy’s money?” The glossy shadow and liner made it seem like her dark eyes were two black holes slowly sucking in everything around her, constantly consuming.

  “I do all right on my own.” I reached for my cell phone, not sure what to do with the bubbling acidic feeling in my gut that this woman intended to start trouble.

  “I’ll bet you do.”

  Increasingly uncomfortable, I texted Reed. He was probably aware of more danger in the town than I was, or maybe he’d reassure me that she was actually harmless. “Do you know any Rattlers or rival gangs with diamond tattoos cuffed around their ears?”

  The woman kept up her little investigation and baiting until my cell phone interrupted.

  She quirked an appreciative eyebrow. “Pat Benatar. I like it.”

  “Thanks,” I replied a little flatly, “Excuse me.” Answering my cell phone just around the corner, I tried not to worry about the woman going back to her car for a gun. “Reed?”

  “Hey. I’m pretty sure you’re talking to my mom.”

  That wasn’t even on the radar of possibilities in my mind. I found myself at a loss. Maybe it was a good thing she was back, but it certainly didn’t feel like it. My self-imposed silence itched up my arm like a rash.

  “I don’t know why she hasn’t introduced herself to you as such, or how she found you, unless... I’m guessing Michelle told her something when I invited her to the wedding.”

  “Minor.”

  “What?”

  “She’s a minor, she probably needed a ride. Or bus fare. So she told her.”

  “Are you okay?” Saliva rocked under my tongue, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. His breath had a sharp asthmatic pull I’d never heard before. “I’ll come down, baby. Sit tight. I love you so much. Hey, is Shelly there?”

  “I didn’t see her, but she could be in the car.”

  “Okay, babe. I’m coming.”

  You don’t have to, I almost added. It wasn’t like I’d never dealt with crazy mothers or over-indulgent customers. I wanted him to hold my hand, but I also didn’t want his reunion with his mother to be like this. Before I could make up my mind, he hung up.

  Head spinning, I returned to the counter to find the former/current Mrs. Parker with her hands in her jacket pockets. “Whelp. I’m gonna head out. Nice to meet you, Betty.” She gave the whole place a once-over. “I like your shop.”

  “Thanks.”

  She liked me, right.

  I shouldn’t think the worst of her.

  She left Reed, though. That didn’t exactly speak highly of her.

  Then again, what was so great about me? I’d left my abusive family. Maybe JR’s addiction was too much for her to handle. But why leave Reed and take his sister? Why not tell him she was coming back?

  “Would you like a tour?” I blinked through a smile.

  Mrs. Parker paused, taking it all in like a ringmaster before a show. “Rain check, honey.” The tinkling bell served as a mocking wave on the way out whereas the clomping leather boots just accentuated the sashay. I tried to take a few steadying breaths, my fists clenched at my side, but not breaking my skin.

  Reed would probably think his mother abandoned him again. He might chase her. This could hurt him and it would be all my fault as the worst future wife.

  Knowing he was probably on his bike, I texted him a warning while wandering to the front. Framed between the bars of blinds, Mrs. Parker got into a sleek black Monte Carlo that screamed sophistication, but even from the door I could tell the seats weren’t the original and some kind of Mardi Gras-esque beads were hanging from the rear-view mirror.

  What gave me pause, though, was the teenage girl in the passenger seat. A denim jacket. A sloped chin, almost like Reed’s, really. Something pulled me towards them. I wanted to step in front of the car.

  What could I say? ‘Don’t. Don’t leave him. Don’t take her.’

  She wouldn’t listen. People rarely did.

  By the time I was coherent enough to yank open the metal door and run to the parking lot, they were already pulling out.

  “Wait!”

  In panicked breaths, I tried to memorize their license plate, a stream of words rearranging in my brain to help it stick.

  Water swelled up and over my eyelids, the heels of my fists not enough to stop the outpouring of emotion, of shame. I should’ve stopped them for him.

  I should’ve stopped a lot of things.

  Knuckling against my eye sockets, I wept. “Oh my God. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

  I cried for myself. I cried for Reed. I cried for the girl in the car, for the girl I used to be, unable to make it stop. Make it better.

  Moaning through my teeth, I swiped at my face with my forearms, a messy, freakish display for the world to see. Not that anyone was there to notice or even care. Whether on the side of the road or tucked away in my room, I was alone. Alone. Like Reed was.

  I couldn’t let him walk in and see that his mom had left without even saying hello to him. I was empty-handed, literally emptying myself on the sidewalk. For what? Was I expecting him to fill me up again? That I could be his family and we’d be fine?

  I wasn’t enough

  There wasn’t enough time to pull myself together before the rumble of a motorcycle vibrated the pavement.

>   It wasn’t right. I wasn’t good enough for him.

  “Baby! Baby, what’s the matter? What happened?” He panted, helmet tossed aside as he knelt beside me. “Talk to me.” His hands sank into my hair, kisses pressed to my brow as I hiccupped and choked on my own failure. Catching his breath, Reed fixed me with a wild stare. “Talk to me.”

  “I-I couldn’t stop them. They left,” I sobbed. “She didn’t even say anything worth noting, just talked about our similar businesses and how I was probably out of my depth, and there was a girl…” I rocked forward to cover my face, my mouth, everything, but Reed pulled gently on my neck, pushing his forehead against mine so I couldn’t hide. He was so sturdy and present that I felt like I was being scooped out on the asphalt. “I saw a girl in the car. I couldn’t stop them. Or I didn’t. You came all the way for me, and I couldn’t even stall them and now they hurt you all over again! I hurt you—”

  “Betty,” he interrupted sharply, reaffirming his presence with a nudge of his forehead against mine. I sniffed, throat swollen.

  He needed me. I had to get myself together to support him.

  “You are my family. You’re the one I came down here for. My mother…” He sighed, tilting his head and closing his eyes so tightly that my own tears dried up. Caressing his face didn’t seem like enough. Leaning forward, I ignored the sting of salt and kissed him, pushing every bit of my love into it.

  “I’m here. I’m here,” I reminded him, sniffling, crawling into his arms until our hearts were pressed up against each other. “I’m here for you. Always.” I kissed his hair, his cheeks. “I love you. I-”

  Reed’s phone went off in his back pocket, a sigh working its way through his chest. I leaned back on my feet to give him enough space to pull it out of his pocket.

  Even though the Rattlers changed their phone numbers fairly often, the one for JR remained recognizable.

  We exchanged a worried, tense glance.

  “Hello?” His mouth set in a firm line. “I’m with Betty. And? Yeah.” I sniffed, wiping my face on the inside of my wrists and watching him for any sign of distress, but his expression was almost eerily pensive. Maybe this was how he processed Rattler business. I scratched his knee a little with my nail just to see his blue eyes flash at me.

  We would be okay.

  My hopeful half-smile didn’t have a chance to be reciprocated before his terse reply to JR. “Fine. I’ll be there when I can. Fifteen minutes? I’ll text you. Bye.”

  With a little huff, he hung up the phone and snapped the crick in his neck.

  “You okay?”

  “He says he needs me at the trailer. Probably to reunite with Tamara.”

  Stroking his tense jaw seemed to help, if only incrementally. “And Shelly?”

  “Yeah,” he admitted begrudgingly. “And Shelly.”

  “Can I go with you?”

  His gaze jerked up to my face. “You don’t have to. You’re working, and I know she was probably… that it’s a complicated situation.”

  “Reed, I’m with you. Anything you’re facing, I want to face it too.”

  Fixing him with what I hoped was an endearing, reassuring expression, I stroked his cheeks. I could do this. I could help and stand by him in the face of his whole family.

  His lip twitched in a smile. “Okay.”

  “Okay?” I grinned, eager to redeem myself.

  “Yeah, okay.”

  We hobbled up and into the shop where I cleaned my face and flipped the OUT TO LUNCH sign on the door. I almost gasped when he yanked me back by my belt loops.

  “Did I tell you how much I appreciate this?”

  “You don’t need to say anything. I’m happy to.”

  “Okay,” he amended, nuzzling into my neck. “Let me show you.”

  Part of me wanted to hesitate. His biological family was waiting for him. But he looked happy, his eyes soft, lips curling just the tiniest bit. Plus, I always wanted him and hooking up might give him confidence.

  “What if I want to appreciate you?” I gripped his shirt, tilting my chin so I was looking up at him through my lashes. “Maybe I want to be on my knees for a better reason when you come to visit me.”

  “All right then, appreciate me,” he teased, tongue poking my lip just before we kissed.

  The magnetic heat of desire came over us. We fell into each other, swarming in love and lust until we made it to the back room and couch. As he removed his clothes, I leaned over and snagged a condom from the stash I’d started keeping in the first aid kit. It struck me as romantic and sweet, a tribute to that first stroke of intimacy. I got distracted by Reed’s admiring smirk and he had to tug on my belt loops to snap me out of it.

  “What did I hear about you getting on your knees?”

  “Let me show you.” I licked my palm and gripped him, sitting on my heels on the couch cushion. The position allowed me to work him to a good pace until I stretched my neck and was able to take him on my tongue. Grunting through his nose, Reed pushed. Hot. Hard. Warm. I would take all of him inside of me, however he needed me. I sucked and swirled and pumped, relishing the way he grabbed the back of my head and paced me.

  “That’s it. Harder.” His eyes fluttered shut in ecstasy.

  Moaning, I gripped his ass and tried to relax my throat to take him deeper.

  Everything. He could give me everything. All his stress, all his love. I could take it.

  “Get on your hands and knees.”

  Nodding, I smeared my spit over his beautiful cock, wondering if he would come on me.

  “Three slaps, Betty.”

  “Yes, Reed.”

  His palm snapped down and sent me reeling. I was so wet already and the tingling just spread with the heat.

  “Yes!”

  “Count them or they don’t mean anything.”

  Before I could respond, he smacked me again, evening out the sting. “One.”

  He flicked his dick against the flesh of my ass cheek. I just wanted him inside of me. Another slap and my nails sunk into the cushions. “Two.”

  I purposely let the next one slide, which earned me two in quick succession. “Now it’s four.”

  “Th-three!”

  “And?” The last smack was toe-curling and ultimately the most satisfying.

  “Four.”

  “That’s it, Betty.” As my nerves rippled with need, I heard him tear open the foil packet and slide behind me on his knees. “Open.”

  There wasn’t much room, but I spread my legs. His fingers flexed over the familiar grooves he’d imprinted on my hips. As our bare bodies slid together, I reached back with one hand to caress his bicep, reminding us both how strong he was.

  “I love you.”

  A cry, a hard thrust and he slammed into me passionately enough that I could feel my body stretch to accommodate him.

  We could do this. We could do anything.

  14

  Family

  “Do I look—is this okay?” I tugged my shirt down, probably giving off vibes that I was Reed’s crazy, Greaser Barbie like his mother suggested.

  At least I was Reed’s.

  Getting off the bike, his muscles taut yet relaxed from our earlier romp, Reed looked like he was totally in control. He could stand his ground, fight them, or even escape with me wrapped tightly around him, of course. I would protect him. Well, I would try.

  “You look amazing.” By his upturned hand, I knew it was time to face the family. Taking a deep breath, I knotted my fingers around his and stared at the trailer.

  “Are you ready?”

  “Yeah.”

  With one squeeze of our joined hands, Reed towed me to the front door. He knocked, two sharp thuds against the cheap door. It was the first time I was going into his old home with him. It seemed odd. He didn’t even live there anymore. I wondered if the fire alarm still worked or if JR punched it out again.

  Friction almost sucked the rubber out of the seal frame when JR opened the door, his complexion slightly
pale and sweaty. His eyes lit up in surprise upon seeing us together, for some reason. Like I was a ghost, or maybe it had something to do with Reed and the unexpected family reunion. “Reed. Uh, Betty. Nice to see you. I didn’t really expect…” He shot a glance inside and between us, wiping his mouth. “Well, come on in. I have a surprise for you, boy.”

  We crossed the threshold one after the other. I ducked my chin in deference to the home I wasn’t sure I’d ever been truly invited to. Tension was thick in the trailer. It seemed even smaller than before with so many people in it. Family, I remembered, scooting forward so the door didn’t catch me on the butt as it closed. My ass was still warm from Reed’s attention and the ride. JR avoided everyone’s gaze as he wandered to an empty part of the open kitchen to peer through the kitchenette window. He probably wasn’t thrilled to have a crazy stalker in his house, nor his family.

  In the living room, a teen girl got up from the couch closest to the open window, her wary expression blooming into nervous excitement. “Still no manners?”

  “Shelly.” Reed’s voice sounded different. I stared at him, trying to figure out if he was okay. He squeezed my hand and let go when his sister moved forward so he could lift her into a hug.

  Something trembled in my chest at the sight of them. It wasn’t because he was holding a girl, swinging her until she grinned, but because it was so emotional, and I wasn’t even capturing it so he could enjoy it later. I wanted to see him happy so badly that I almost felt sick. I had to get a grip, though. This was his time and this was big for him.

  I darted a gaze to the far corner of the room where Tamara sat back and watched the reunion with cool amusement, gaze flickering to me when she caught on that I was looking.

  The siblings loved each other. They belonged together, too. Where did Tamara fit into that?

  Trying to smother unpleasant thoughts when I should have been focused on being supportive, I clasped my hands together in front of me.

  Maybe I could get a photo of the pair later, when JR’s folded arms and wary gaze weren’t lingering on my nervous posture, probably waiting for me to pry Reed from his sister and ask him to hold me instead.