“Then put some bandaids on your nipples and pretend you’re in Fiji,” she ordered, handing my jacket to some kid in a uniform.
I dropped my head and groaned. My nipples were set to high beam and I crossed my arms to hide them.
“You’ll warm up,” Jette assured me.
“I thought the whole point of these chicken cutlet, stick on titty hoisters was that they took care of this,” I hissed.
“They would if we’d bought the right size,” Jette hissed back. “You hide your jugs better than me.” I scowled at her, but she just grinned. “Come on. Open bar means you won’t care about your ta-tas for long.”
She breezed away from me because she could. She wore a gorgeous, flower-child inspired sleeveless dress with a flowing skirt that faded from the deep blue on top into varying shades of blues as it went down.
I, on the other hand, had to waddle as gracefully as I could and keep up. Thank god I’d changed my shoes.
“Holy fuckballs,” Tackle breathed out and I glared up at him.
“Shut up,” I snapped.
He pressed his lips into a thin line and grinned.
“Jesus,” Boots hissed when he turned around. “You’re a fuckin’ babe.”
“I swear to god, if one more comment is made, I will beat the shit out of all of you,” I warned.
“Even me?”
My team parted and Doozer was suddenly in front of me. He wore a black tux, complete with deep red pocket hanky, and his kutte was nowhere to be seen.
He did, however, have on his boots, but they appeared to have been cleaned up for the occasion.
“What are you doing here?” I squeaked, and he closed the distance between us.
“You look beautiful,” he rasped, cupping my face, and kissing me gently.
I felt a sting in the back of my nose and blinked back tears. “So do you.”
He grinned. “You’re the only person on earth who could get me out of my kutte.”
“Apparently,” I mused. “How…? Why…?”
“Taxi informed me about the ball, and the doc called to see if I had any ideas on what I’d like you to wear.”
“Wait, what?” I gripped his tuxedo jacket. “You knew about the shopping torture?”
“He paid for it,” Jette piped in, and Doozer frowned.
“That was supposed to be confidential.”
“Oh, whoops. Sorry,” she said, not looking at all sorry.
“You paid for this getup?” I accused.
“Baby, there was no way in hell I was lettin’ another man pay for my woman’s dress. So I told the doc I’d like to see you in red, and she did not disappoint. You are fuckin’ stunning.”
“You came all the way here just to see me in a red dress?”
“Yes and no.” He chuckled. “We’ll talk about that later.”
“Can we talk about it now…. back at the dorms?”
“No way in hell,” he said.
I wrinkled my nose. “You can’t possibly be comfortable in that monkey suit,” I said, sliding my hands up his chest.
“Ooh, careful of my right shoulder,” Doozer said, wincing.
“What’s the matter? What happened?”
“I’m okay, but I was sort of…well…stabbed.”
“Stabbed? Like with a knife?”
“A letter opener,” he replied. “Made of solid fourteen-carat gold.”
“What? Who stabbed you with a gold letter opener?”
“Judge Snodgrass. Apparently, it was as a birthday gift from his secretary.”
“Who’s Judge Snodgrass?”
“Baby, so much has happened since we last spoke, I barely know where to begin, and I promise I will fill you in on every detail but tonight is about you.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I have the prettiest girl in the world on my arm, I’m gonna put aside my discomfort and show you off. Besides, we have all the time in the world to get caught up.”
“How long are you here?” I asked.
“Forever.”
I snorted. “Oh, okay.”
“I am.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“We’re transferring to the Savannah chapter.”
“What do you mean, we?” I demanded.
“You need to be close to the team, I need to be close to you, so Minus and Taxi made a deal and compromised with Savannah. We are both patching over… together. That is, if that’s what you want.”
I could no longer hold back the tears. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah, honey. Are you okay with that?”
“Hell, yes, I’m okay with that.” I gripped the lapels of his jacket again. “We really get to be together?”
“We really get to be together,” he confirmed, and leaned down to kiss me again. “Now, you ready to dance with me, slow like?”
“I’m so, so ready to dance with you, slow like.”
He grinned, wrapping an arm around me, and guiding me onto the dance floor.
As I slipped my hand into his, he held me close and we rocked together as couples waltzed around us. Neither Doozer nor I knew how to dance, so we just let our love for each other dictate our rhythm.
I couldn’t believe how incredibly blessed I’d been with this epic love, but I knew in my bones I would never take it for granted.
EPILOGUE
Trouble
One year later…
I WALKED INTO the Burning Saints Sanctuary on the outskirts of Savannah and headed straight for the kitchen. I had a six-pack of beer and it needed to be chilled before the family night tonight.
“Hey, Trouble,” Ronnie said as she walked into the room just as I slid the beer into the fridge.
Ronnie was Zaius’s old lady. Zaius had been the Savannah chapter president for almost as long as Cutter, god rest his soul, had been president out in Portland. Now that Minus had taken over Portland, it was an adjustment transitioning from the new class of biker back to old school. At least, I was used to Cowboy, but Doozer had a bigger culture shock than I did.
Well… sort of.
There had apparently been a bit of a hard sell situation when it came to me being part of the Savannah chapter. Zaius was old-school and women in MCs wasn’t something he thought was a good idea. But both Minus and Zaius wanted Doozer in Savannah and Doozer was very clear we were a package deal, so Zaius had relented.
It took me a few weeks not to feel like I was only there because my man was the valuable commodity and that was mostly due to Ronnie. That’s not to say Doozer didn’t try to put my mind at ease, but he was a phenomenal artist when it came to custom bike builds and the Saints were having a hard time keeping up with the demand. A mechanic, no matter how good, was somewhat a dime a dozen, but I had something none of them had.
A vagina.
And a way of speaking to my fellow sisterhood that was not mansplaining, so it actually didn’t take long to show the other bikers that I was needed.
I had originally planned to just sit back and do my thing quietly under the radar, but Ronnie had suggested a different way, and that way was to shove my femininity in their faces, while showing them my mechanical prowess. It had worked, and the brothers had come around a little faster than I expected.
And although I couldn’t prove it, I think Ronnie had also worked behind the scenes to make the transition easier for Zaius, which in turn trickled down to the men.
I could not, however, get out of wearing the bracelet all the old ladies wore. It had a panic button with built-in tracking device. Should anything happen to one of us, our men would be able to find us immediately. I had no idea how Taxi would feel about this piece of tech strapped to me at all times, but I figured what he didn’t know wouldn’t kill him.
Since Doozer was all about equal rights, he wore one as well, although, he didn’t mention it to the men. His looked quite a bit different than mine, so no one had questioned him about it, and we kept it between us.
“Hi, Ronni
e,” I said, hugging her. “How are you?”
“If I was better, it’d be illegal.”
“Love it.” I grinned. “Have you seen Doozer?”
“He’s in the meeting room.”
I nodded and headed that way.
I’d been at the dreaded gynecologist all morning getting my annual, so I’d planned on meeting Doozer here instead of our new home. He’d picked up the keys this morning and I couldn’t wait to move in.
After all the drama with Judge Snodgrass, Doozer was looking forward to making a fresh start far away from Portland. The relationship between Doozer and his father had grown into something quite unexpected in the wake of the attempt on his life. He and Doozer spoke every week on the phone and Doozer was even helping him plan his cross-country RV trip.
In the months after Judge Snodgrass’ death, a pile of dirty laundry surfaced regarding his dealings with the criminal underworld. Falling to his death was likely the easy road considering the list of criminal charges he would have faced. With Snodgrass gone, the Beast’s plan was dead in the water, but they’d be back, and we’d be ready.
It had taken us a month to find what I hoped would be our forever home. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, giant great room and kitchen on two acres with a shop. All this space meant we had room to grow and I couldn’t wait to have little Mancini babies running around.
The door was open, so I knocked on the wood as I walked inside, and all chatter stopped. Doozer sat on the edge of the table, head bowed over his phone as Squirrel and Taz oohed and ahhed over whatever he was showing them.
“Hi,” I said, and Doozer grinned, sliding his phone in his pocket.
“Hey. Perfect timing.”
“Oh, yeah?” I asked, as he closed the distance between us and leaned down for a kiss.
Squirrel and Taz gave me chin lifts as they scurried out of the room. Squirrel was at an equal level to me and Doozer, but Taz was our sergeant, so he was a little more standoffish.
“Something I said?” I retorted.
Doozer chuckled. “I’ve got a surprise for you. You up to following, or do you want to ride bitch?”
“Oh, I’m always up to being your bitch,” I sassed. “But it depends on where we’re going.”
“Home.”
“Yes,” I hissed. “I’ll follow.”
“Great. Let’s go.”
I clapped my hands and followed him out to our bikes. We drove the short ten minutes to our new home, and it was even prettier than it had been a week ago. I was so excited, I felt my heart race as we parked in front and set our helmets on the seats.
Doozer held his hand out to me and I jogged to catch up to him and link my fingers with his. He held the house keys up and jangled them before unlocking the door, then lifting me in his arms. “I love you, Stephanie Palmer.”
“I love you too, Marco Mancini.”
He grinned and kissed me as he carried me over the threshold and set me on my feet. I glanced around the room, my eyes coming to rest on a giant fish tank in the corner of what would be our dining room.
“What the…?” I breathed out and stalked over to it. “These are discus.”
“They are,” Doozer confirmed.
“Where did you find them?” I leaned down so I could watch the cutest pair of fish dance through the water.
“Cowboy helped me get them here. They’re from Dr. Sniffy.”
“Wait, what?”
“They’re Bonnie and Clyde’s fry.”
“Oh my god, seriously?” I squeaked, my eyes flooding with tears.
“Seriously,” he confirmed, wrapping his arms around me. “I have tentatively called them Sam and Molly, but we can change the nam—”
“Don’t you dare,” I said, bursting into a full-blown sobbing fest at the mention of my favorite movie characters. Particularly since Patrick Swayze was no longer on the earth, so in some ways, true life was imitating art which made things so much more bittersweet.
Doozer chuckled gently as he pulled me tighter against him. “So if I told you I may want to take up pottery, would you be up to that?”
“Stop it,” I blubbered out. “You had me at ‘fry.’ I can’t believe you remembered the correct term for baby fish.”
“I remember everything when it comes to you.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m figuring that out.”
He kissed me again, then dropped his forehead to mine. “You are so fuckin’ amazing, baby.”
“Back atya.”
“Thank you for Sam and Molly.” I turned back toward the fish tank, leaning down to get a closer look.
“You’re welcome.”
I faced him again, my eyes seeing nothing until I looked down to find him on one knee, holding up a diamond solitaire ring.
“Shut up!” I squeaked, slapping my hands over my face. “Get up.”
“Will you marry me?”
I slapped his arm. “No, get up.”
“No, you won’t marry me?” he challenged.
“Yes, I’ll marry you, but only if you get up off your knees.”
He slid the ring on my finger and finally stood, wrapping his arms around me. “You’re so lucky you said yes.”
I laughed. “Well, we’ve already signed our lives away with this house, so we’re already forever entwined. Probably a good idea to make it official.”
“I love being forever entwined with you, baby.”
“Me too,” I said, kissing him again.
The doorbell pealed and I pulled away from Doozer with a frown. “Who the hell is that?”
He grimaced. “The movers.”
“Movers? What movers?” I demanded. “We don’t have anything to move.”
“Ronnie and Jules did a little shopping.”
Jules was Wingman’s wife, and she was a ballbuster in the best of ways. Wingman was our very gruff, very scary enforcer with a heart of gold. Only, he didn’t show that heart to most people.
“No,” I breathed out.
“Yes,” he countered, releasing me, and heading for the door.
He pulled it open and Ronnie and Jules strolled in, followed by bikers carrying boxes and furniture.
“Glad you’ve got your clothes on,” Ronnie said, hugging Doozer, then me.
“Five more minutes…” I retorted, and she laughed.
“The club has bought you your bedroom set,” she said. “We know you’ve got nothing just yet, but you have to have a place to sleep and after much arm twisting, Doozer gave us the link to the set you’ve been eyeing.”
“But that was almost ten-grand,” I whispered.
“We know,” she whispered back.
“Oh my god, Ronnie. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She grinned, holding up a six-pack of beer. “Now show me to the fridge and let these boys work.”
I blushed and led her and Jules into the kitchen.
“I don’t have dishes,” I admitted. “But how about I order pizza?”
“That sounds great,” Jules said.
As the men hauled all of the heavy boxes and parts up to our bedroom, I sat with Jules and Ronnie in the kitchen and drank beer while we waited for the pizza.
Before our food arrived, however, several of the other club women arrived carrying bags of groceries and cheap dishes to ‘tide us over’ until we could buy what we wanted.
Before the night was over, I’d had to excuse myself at least sixty-two times to wipe away tears I’d been trying to hide most of the evening.
I couldn’t believe how incredibly welcome and loved I felt, and I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life with Doozer and our new family.
By the time everyone filed out of our house, however, I was horny as hell and needed to christen the bed.
“Meet me upstairs?” I said in my best come hither voice.
Doozer met my eyes with a grin almost wider than his face. “Yes, ma’am.”
While he locked up the house, I rushed upstairs, grabbing my overnight bag I would no
t let anyone else touch, dropping it on the bed. I pulled out the nipple clamps I’d stowed in there holding them up just as Doozer walked into the room. I’d bought these particular toys myself and it had shocked the hell out of both of us when I discovered I like them so much. So much in fact, I was contemplating actually piercing my nipples. I hadn’t quite gotten up the nerve to do that yet, but it was still in the maybe pile.
“Oh, ho, you want to play,” he deduced.
“Hell, yes, I want to play.”
We rushed to divest ourselves of our clothing, then I pushed Doozer onto the bed, straddling him with a grin. He was rock hard as I wrapped my hand around his dick and guided it inside of me. I lowered myself, then braced my hands on his chest as I lifted my hips, then slid down again.
“You gonna go that slow all night?” he teased.
“I’m priming the pump.”
“How about you let me take over and fuck you until you can’t walk.”
“If you want me to shut my mouth, I’d suggest you grab the clamps and fuck me from behind.”
He tweaked my nipple with a grin. “Yes, ma’am.”
Sliding gently out of me, he retrieved the nipple clamps off the nightstand while I positioned myself on all-fours.
He reached under my body to clamp me, then slapped my pussy. “Spread wider, Trouble.”
I spread wider and his fingers dipped inside of me before slapping my pussy again. I whimpered as I felt the flood, loving what he could do to my body.
He slid two fingers inside of me again, before replacing them with his dick, then one of his fingers pressed against my tight hole.
“Oh, god, yes,” I hissed, and he pressed it into me.
I almost came right then and there, but he started to move, his finger matching the rhythm of his hips as he fucked me.
“Doozer,” I whimpered as my body thrummed with need.
“Don’t come.”
“I… oh, god,” I whispered.
He removed the finger from my ass and gripped my hips, slamming harder and harder until I could no longer hold myself together, screaming his name as an orgasm washed over me, and I collapsed on the bed.
He thrust twice more and then I felt his dick pulse as he rolled us to our sides in a spoon fashion, tugging the clamps from my nipples.
I reached back and grabbed his thigh as I worked hard to catch my breath. “I’m gonna need you to buy lube.”
Doozer (Burning Saints MC Book 5) Page 17
