by Khloe Wren
Marie
I’d had a great day so far, relaxing at home with Ariel and a few of the other old ladies. Ariel seemed to be comfortable around Donna and Rose now. When Silk had come over with little Raven, Ariel had been curious enough about the baby to forget about the fact she’d been scared of Silk earlier. It helped that Silk had worn a long sleeve shirt that covered her ink. For some reason her sleeve tattoo freaked the girl out. It seemed strange to me, because she didn’t seem to mind the men and their tattoos. By the time we’d sat down to lunch, Ariel had been smiling and pulling faces at Raven, making the six-month-old grin. I thought I’d seen Ariel lean in to whisper a few times, but couldn’t be sure.
I’d been grateful when soon after lunch, she slipped down the hall to her room for a nap. It meant we could get the funeral stuff all organized without her overhearing what we were doing. I had no idea how she was going to handle it on Friday, but the least I could do for her was save her from hearing about it all week in the lead up to it.
Now everyone had left, it was just Ariel and me, who’d only woken up from her nap about ten minutes ago. I’d just chopped up an apple for her when Scout came through the front door.
“Hey, honey, I’m home!”
Shaking my head and chuckling, I called back. “We’re in the kitchen.”
He strolled in and after ruffling Ariel’s hair, he came to me and pressed a short, but hot, kiss on my lips.
“Let me go shower and change, then we’ll go check out these houses.”
Before I could say a thing he was gone again. The man never stopped. With another shake of my head and a chuckle, I turned back to Ariel, who’d now finished eating her snack.
“Would you like to go get a few toys or books to bring with us? We’re going to go for another car ride.”
She hopped up and headed toward her room with a frown on her face. I had no idea what was wrong. Surely she wasn’t upset over going in the car? She’d seemed to enjoy the ride from the hospital with her hand on Scout’s as he explained all about how a car worked. Hell, I’d probably learned more from that conversation than Ariel had.
My man didn’t waste time in the shower and about ten minutes later, we were all heading out the door.
“You got a new car already?”
“Nah, just grabbed one of the club’s cages. It’ll take some time for the insurance to come through on mine, and my bike’s gonna take me at least a week to get fixed up.”
I couldn’t hold back the grin when I noticed he’d gone out and bought a second booster seat for Ariel. It would certainly be easier having one in each of our cars so we didn’t have to be constantly moving the thing. I quickly strapped Ariel in and she happily started looking over one of the picture books I’d bought her as she clung to her rabbit.
“Ariel? Is it okay if I sit up front with Scout?”
She looked up and gave me a smile and nod before she returned to her book about wild animals. Well, that answered the question about whether it was the car ride that had caused her to be so worried earlier. It also meant I had no damn clue what it had been.
Shaking the thought aside, I moved around the vehicle and climbed into the front passenger seat. As soon as I was buckled in, Scout cranked the engine and took off.
“There’s two houses we can look at but I think you’ll like this first one better. The second one’s kitchen isn’t as good.”
Warmth filled my heart that he’d listened to me and remembered what I wanted in a house. I reached over and rested my palm on his thigh as he drove.
“I’m sure it’ll be great and I can’t wait to see it.”
It didn’t take long to reach the house and the agent was waiting for us when we pulled into the drive. After getting out of the car, I looked up the road to gauge how far we were from the others. Eagle’s house was two up on the opposite side of the street.
“You coming inside, babe?”
I turned back to see Scout had picked Ariel up. She looked even smaller than usual in his big arms. I stepped up beside him and ran my palm over Ariel’s soft hair. She was looking worried again, clearly something about a new house was bothering her. I really wished she’d just talk to me. It would make it so much easier to help her.
The agent unlocked the door and we followed her in. She was talking non-stop about all the features the house had, but I wasn’t really listening. Until I saw the kitchen, I didn’t care what was in the rest of the house. Scout obviously picked up on what I needed and asked the agent to skip forward to the kitchen.
“Of course. Please follow me.”
She led us through a family room into a spacious, well set up kitchen.
“It truly is a spectacular kitchen. The current owners completely renovated this room about two years ago. I’ve been told that the husband was training to be a chef and was struggling to practice in the previous kitchen, so he had it gutted and turned into a chef’s dream.”
“He sure did.”
I was nearly giddy with excitement. The stove was huge, with eight burners. It had to be industrial. And a double oven! I pressed my palm over my heart as I ran the other one over the sleek, stainless steel appliance.
The low rumble of Scout’s laugh came from behind me. “I think you just sold a house, darlin’. Although, I do believe I might have a struggle on my hands getting her to leave until the paperwork can go through.”
The agent chuckled and I had to smile.
“This kitchen is perfect. It’s even better than the one at my place. So, let’s have a look at all the other rooms. Are all the bedrooms upstairs?”
“All but one. There’s a guest bedroom with a small, attached bathroom downstairs, then the master and two bedrooms on the upper floor. Shall we head up?”
Part of me didn’t want to leave the kitchen until I’d opened every cupboard and appliance to fully check them out, but the rest of me knew we were looking at the whole house, not just the kitchen. My cooking requirements weren’t the only consideration. I followed Scout up the stairs and was impressed with how light and airy this top floor was.
“There are two baths up here, one connected to the master bedroom and the other is between the other bedrooms.”
Scout bypassed the master bedroom and went down to the others. I wondered what he was up to for a moment, but when I saw Ariel’s face and the frown she was sporting, I figured Scout had an idea on how to fix whatever was bothering our little girl.
“So Ariel, you’ll get to pick which one you want.” He placed her on the ground so she could check out each of the rooms for herself. “It’s totally your choice, little darlin’, and you can even pick what color we paint the walls for you. It’ll be your space, just like your room at my house is now.”
By the time she’d thoroughly examined every inch of both rooms and bathroom, she returned to us with a smile on her face. Was that what had been bothering her? She thought she wouldn’t have her own room at our new house? Tears pricked my eyes as she took my hand and guided me into the room that faced the backyard, its big window looking out over the trees and grass.
“You want this one, sweetheart?”
She nodded her head and turned to face Scout, checking his reaction.
“Done deal, kiddo. How about we look at the rest of the house, yeah?”
While she was facing away from me, I brushed the tears away and sucked in a breath. This poor little girl had been through so much, but I vowed she’d not suffer like that ever again. She’d always know she was loved and wanted, and I would always make sure she had everything she needed in life.
By the time we left the house twenty minutes later, Scout had put an offer in and the agent had told us she should be able to get back to us if not tonight, then in the morning about whether it was accepted. Scout had also spoken to the woman about putting his place on the market.
As soon as we got home, I took Ariel to her room and popped a movie on the TV there for her to watch. Since she’d never seen a TV before, movies enthralled her thoroughly.
Especially this one. The Little Mermaid, her namesake.
With her occupied, that meant I had over an hour to do what I pleased. And what I wanted to do, was Scout. I rushed from the back of the house in search of him and found him grabbing a beer from the fridge in the kitchen. I took the bottle from his hand and returned it before I took his hand and led him toward the stairs with a grin.
Picking up on what I was after, he growled low in his throat before he scooped me up and ran up the stairs. Once we were inside our bedroom, he put me back on my feet and pressed me against the now closed door.
“Whatcha want, babe?”
“The new place is perfect. I’m so happy, and excited, and overwhelmed... I need to let it all out. I figured what better way to do that than show my man exactly how much I love him.”
“How long do we have?”
“Ariel’s watching The Little Mermaid, so we have a little over an hour.”
His smile was a little wild as he flipped the lock on the door then set about stripping off his clothes.
“Need you naked, babe. If I do it, I’m gonna tear your clothes off.”
Before I did as instructed I cupped his bearded jaw between my palms, stilling his movements.
“I love you, Charlie, so much.”
Then the man who owned my heart kissed me. As he continued to seduce me with his long, drugging kisses, his hands worked at my clothes. Within minutes I was naked and he was tweaking my nipples as his mouth moved down my neck toward the tight peaks.
“Fucking love you so much, Marie.”
He dropped to his knees and nudged my legs apart. I was already on edge, and when he covered my core with his mouth and thrust his talented tongue in deep, I blew apart, banging my head against the door as I came for him.
Before I could come back down, I was on the bed with Scout leaning over me and sliding his thick erection deep inside me. Looked like my man wasn’t going to waste one moment of this short time we had to ourselves. And I loved him even more for it.
CHAPTER 14
Scout
After a crazy few days, it seemed like it was Friday before any of us were ready for it. My offer on the house had been accepted, but closing wasn’t going to happen until early January so we had time to pack up the house and get that sorted. The agent had listed both my and Marie’s places for sale and already had a few people interested in mine, for which I was grateful. I had the money and credit rating to get a mortgage on the new place, but it would be a lot simpler if I could sell the old place before closing and pay for the new house outright. The upside to being an only child was that my folks had gifted me the house when they’d retired down south.
But as much as we’d all been busy during the week, there wasn’t anything that was going to distract my girls today. The day I’d been dreading all week. I had no fucking clue how either Marie or Ariel were going to handle saying goodbye to Sarah. I was struggling with my own guilt over what had happened to the poor woman, and I had the added stress that we still hadn’t been able to locate that little fucker, Simon, yet. Surely he wouldn’t pull shit at a fucking funeral. Would he?
“You both ready to go?”
Marie walked up the hallway with Ariel walking beside her. The little girl was wearing a dark green dress that she’d picked out herself yesterday. It had a mermaid on the bottom of one side of the skirt that had instantly caught her attention when she’d seen it. The material was soft and Ariel hadn’t stopped stroking it and rubbing her cheek on it since we bought it. Marie had added black stockings and shoes together with a cute little jacket thing. Winter in Texas wasn’t normally too cold, but we’d actually gotten snow last week and the air still held quite a chill, so I was glad to see my girls were rugged up appropriately. Marie looked stunning in a long sleeved, ankle-length, elegant black dress that she’d matched with some sexy, heeled dress boots I couldn’t wait to peel off her later. I’d let Marie choose what I wore, and she put me in the black jeans and white shirt from our dinner in Houston. However, today I was wearing my cut over the top of the shirt. Had my holster and gun, too.
“Yeah, let’s get moving.”
The flat tone of Marie’s voice gutted me, but I knew I couldn’t fix this shit for her. Today was just something we were all going to have to struggle through. I reached for Ariel and she moved into my arms so I could lift her up against me. With a sniffle, she buried her face against my shoulder as she took a fist full of my beard. I pulled Marie in close and pressed a kiss to her temple.
“C’mon, love.”
With a nod, she headed out the door and I followed. Arrow and Nitro were outside, waiting for us on their bikes. They would travel with us to the cemetery where the graveside service was going to be held. They’d keep watch and make sure no one tried anything as we traveled.
It took a little doing, but I eventually got Ariel to release my beard so I could buckle her into her booster seat. I fucking loved how she’d accepted me this past week. She still wasn’t talking, but she was a lot more generous with her affection now than she had been. She’d even started instigating hugs with both me and Marie. I was so fucking proud of her with how far she’d already come since we’d pulled her out of that damn ranch house.
The drive to the cemetery was a quiet one, and thankfully it didn’t take more than ten minutes to get there. I wanted this day over with already, wanted to move forward with my girls and create happy memories with them. But I knew today had to happen. I was going to have to stand by and watch both my girls cry their hearts out and know there wasn’t a damn fucking thing I could do to fix it. Sarah was gone. No one could bring her back.
Marie
I did my best to hold it together throughout the service as Ariel clung to me. Earlier in the week I’d decided not to stand up and speak at the funeral. I could barely think about Sarah without bursting into tears, no way could I stand up and speak to a room full of people about her and not completely break down.
Thankfully, the Chaplin Scout had called in to handle the service was very understanding and hadn’t pushed me to do it. He was from up north somewhere, but apparently visited a lot of clubs around southern Texas to perform various ceremonies. I wasn’t entirely sure how he fitted into the biker world, but his cut had the Satan’s Cowboys insignia on it so I guessed he was one of theirs. And for a man who’d never met Sarah, he did an excellent job of recounting a few memories of her before he prayed for her to have a peaceful crossing to heaven where she’d be free of all pain and worry.
I wanted that for her so much. I’d never given a lot of thought to what happens after you die, but I suddenly found myself praying hard that heaven was real and Sarah was up there enjoying her freedom and watching over us as we continued life here on earth.
Now that the service was over and I stood with Ariel, and with her hand in mine, we moved to stand next to the coffin that had now been lowered into the ground. I gently tossed my pure white rose down on top of the coffin first.
“Your turn, sweetheart.”
I’d let Ariel choose whatever flower she’d wanted, and she’d picked a big sunflower for her mom. She leaned forward and dropped the bloom on top of mine, staring at it the entire time. I swiped the tears away as I tried desperately to not start sobbing. Ariel needed me to be strong.
The Chaplin came to stand next to me for a few minutes.
“You know, Marie, it’s perfectly okay to cry. To let Ariel see you cry for your sister. It shows her it’s okay for her to grieve too. Society tells us we need to stay stoic and strong for our children, but in reality, they need to see us be weak sometimes. So they know it’s okay to have emotions and to release them.”
His words cracked my shell wide open and sobs tore from my throat. Ariel turned and buried her face against me and her little body shook as she too sobbed her heart out. Instinctively I knew it was Scout I sensed coming up behind me and I lifted Ariel up against me, before turning to bury my face against his chest. He wrapped his arms around the pair
of us, and after pressing a kiss to the top of each of our heads, just stood there holding us as we both cried for Sarah.
Eventually the storm passed, and after a few final sniffles I pulled back from him. I tilted my head up and he took the invitation and leaned down to give me a sweet kiss on the lips. He then handed me a tissue with a small smile and I used it to wipe my eyes. Ariel was clinging to me but her body wasn’t shaking any more.
“Ariel? Sweetheart?” She lifted her face and I wiped her eyes before stroking my knuckles over her reddened cheek. “Are you ready to go?”
She wriggled to get down so I lowered her till she stood beside me again. She walked up to the gravesite and my heart split in two when she kneeled down in the dirt beside her mother’s grave. I could see her mouth moving, but couldn’t hear her quiet words from where I stood. No child should have to say good bye to a parent so young. It was wrong on so many levels.
A lot of the other club members who’d come to support us had moved on to the clubhouse already, where we were holding a wake of sorts, but that could wait. No way would I rush this. Ariel needed to say goodbye, and if this is how she wanted to do it, then she could take all the time in the world to finish it. Scout was by my side, with his arm wrapped around me, his palm rubbing up and down my arm. I realized in that moment that he truly was my everything. My shelter, my protector, my home. Now that he’d finally woken up and claimed me, I knew he’d always be there for me, always be willing to do whatever it took to give me what I needed or wanted.
After several minutes, Ariel stood on wobbly legs and took a step toward us. Scout, seeing her struggling, rushed forward to pick her up. He lifted her high so she could look to me over her shoulder. Suddenly her teary red eyes widened, her body stiffened and she screamed out loud for the first time.
“No! Look out!”
Ignoring the shock of her actually speaking, I spun around just in time to raise my hands and shove aside the arm of the scrawny looking man who had been about to grab me. In that moment, I was so grateful that Zara had convinced me to go with her to a few of Mac’s self-defense classes down at the gym.
