Beard Mode (The Dixie Warden Rejects MC Book 1)

by Lani Lynn Vale

  “What are we going to name her?” I asked.

  He froze.

  “Her?”

  I smiled.

  “Uh-huh,” I murmured. “That was the reason for you coming to the appointment this afternoon.”

  He cursed and crawled up my body, stopping when he was face to face with me.

  “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I was on my way when there was a bad wreck. Spent four hours there.”

  I patted him on the face.

  “It’s okay,” I whispered. “You can come to the next one. She’ll be fatter then and less alien-like.”

  He chuckled.

  “As for her name…” he hesitated. “How about May?”

  She blinked.

  “I kind of like it,” I admitted. “Mei will like that you kind of sort of named our baby after her.”

  His smile was genuine as he rolled us, sitting me up on my feet at the side of the bed.

  “Go find that bikini,” he ordered. “I’m thinking now it’s even more important to have a vacation. We obviously have something to celebrate.”

  Turns out, Aaron did have something up his sleeve.

  A fucking beach house that he was waiting to give me for our anniversary.

  Let me just tell you it was freakin’ perfect, and I enjoyed the hell out of it—with a bikini showing off my growing baby bump.

  ***

  Ghost

  It was Stone’s fault.

  Had he not died, I would’ve never driven past her house that night. I would’ve stayed away, and not witnessed what I’d witnessed.

  But Stone had been gunned down. Shot, only to bleed out in a pool of his own blood in the middle of downtown.

  I’d ridden by. I shouldn’t have.

  I really shouldn’t have.

  But I had.

  And now I was fucked.

  Because I didn’t like what I saw.

  Not. One. Single. Fucking. Bit.

  Flash Birth

  Booth

  “Masen!” I called out from the kitchen. “Do you want coffee before we go?”

  No reply was forthcoming, and I idly wondered if Masen had gone back to sleep.

  Today was go day. Today, was the day that I’d meet my baby.

  Today, was the day that our family of two, became a family of three.

  Our lives would forever be changed by a little person, and that little person was making their grand entrance!

  “Masen!” I called again. “What are you…”

  “Booth?”

  I turned only my head, and stared at my wife.

  She was standing in the doorway, bare from the waist down.

  “Aren’t pants a requirement when you go somewhere?” I teased.

  Her mouth opened and closed, and then she looked down.

  I followed her gaze, and realized that she had clear fluid running down her legs in a fairly steady gush.

  And then realization struck.

  “Your water broke.” I said.

  She nodded her head. “Yeah,” she bit her lip. “How do I put pants on with this leaking out of me?”

  I didn’t know the answer to that.

  “We’ll have to put you in a dress or something,” I said. “Have you, uhh, checked yourself to make sure that everything is okay down there?”

  I didn’t know what I was really asking. I guess I just wanted to make sure that the baby wasn’t just hanging around in her vagina ready to come out or anything before we got into the truck and headed to the hospital.

  Sure, it was only about twenty minutes away, but I didn’t want to chance having a baby in the fuckin’ truck.

  If it was a close thing, then we needed to call an ambulance like a sane person would do.

  Did we do that? Fuck no.

  I trusted my wife’s word that a baby wasn’t about to fall out of her vagina instead of using common fucking sense and looking for my goddamn self.

  “Oh, shit,” Masen gasped, her hand latching onto my forearm. “Oh, fuck me.”

  I muttered something under my breath about ‘already did that’ and she sent me a glare.

  “Ummm,” she hesitated. “I think you need to pull over.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Because there’s something between my legs that shouldn’t be.” She gasped, her body bowing up off of the seat.

  I looked over, and tried not to laugh when the trash bag connected to the bare skin of her ass tried to fly out the window.

  That grin quickly wiped off my face when I saw the fucking hand sticking out of of her, though.

  “Is the head out?” I asked, pulling over.

  “No,” she cried out. “But, oh fuck. My legs are burning, and I can’t sit down!”

  She couldn’t. A, because there was now an arm sticking out of her vagina, and B, the trash bag wasn’t on the seat anymore.

  I turned my emergency flashers on, pressed the phone button on my steering wheel, and bailed out of the truck.

  When I got around to Masen’s side of the truck, I yanked the door open and yelled, “Call 911!”

  The woman that was in control of my car said, “You want me to call Alpha Outfitters?”

  My brows furrowed. “No!” I put the trash bag back down on the seat and directed Masen to get on her knees, “Call 9-1-1!”

  “Calling Dunkin Donuts.”

  “Goddammit,” I growled.

  “Dunkin Donuts, how may I assist you?”

  But I couldn’t go over there and dial it myself. Not with a baby currently making its way, very quickly might I add, right out of his favorite sleeping spot.

  “Jesus, I have to push. Pull it out!”

  I didn’t have to pull ‘it’ out.

  It slid out.

  Right into my fucking hands, like a slippery wiggle worm that had a set of lungs on it like a goddamn freight train.

  I stared at her, my baby, in shock for a few seconds, still wondering what in the hell had just happened, when Masen twirled.

  She disrupted the trash bag that was covering my seat—my light gray cloth seats—and sat down.

  I didn't even care that she was getting my seats stained with stuff that I’d really rather not think about.

  Why?

  Because I had the most perfect, tiny, beautiful version of Masen in my hands, and I was finding it hard to breathe.

  “She’s perfect,” My wife whispered.

  I silently agreed as I repositioned the tiny child in my hands, unsure what I was supposed to do with her.

  Red and blue lights lit up the area behind my truck, and I closed my eyes in silent thanks.

  Downy, the redheaded cop that was on the SWAT team with me, stepped out of his SUV, and started to round the front of the truck.

  The minute he saw it was me, he stopped and stared.

  “You okay?” Downy asked.

  I held up the baby that was still crying and wiggling in my arms, and Downy’s eyes widened.

  He took one look at my half-clothed wife, then reached for the mic on his chest.

  “Call a medic,” he said to dispatch. “Side of the road on The Loop.”

  Then, he stayed back as my wife and I studied the newest member of our family in private.

  ***

  Downy

  “You’re never going to believe what I just…what’s wrong?” I asked, staring at my wife that was being held by another man.

  Our kids were running around wild in the house beyond where they were standing in the middle of the living room, but I couldn’t find it in me to care.

  Not when there was tears of agony running down my wife’s cheeks.

  “My dad,” Memphis cried. “He was shot, and he died a little over seven hours ago.”

  That explained the multitude of bikes that were outside.

  “Oh, baby.” I went to her.

  She abandoned Aaron’s arms, and stared at me with such
pain in her eyes that it was hard to find a breath to pull into my lungs.

  “Why him?” she cried out, pain leeching into her every word.

  I looked over at Aaron.

  “What happened?”

  “Stone was shot by a gang member on the street. We did everything we could, but he died. Bled out on the street,” Aaron murmured, trying to talk quietly.

  Memphis’ shoulders shook harder.

  I dropped my mouth to the top of her head, and held her while she cried.

  Aaron nodded once to me, and then slipped out silently.

  All the while I wondered if a body could break from sobbing, because that’s what it felt like my wife was doing. Breaking.

  ***

  Booth

  Nearly six hours later, I was staring at my brother with very little strength left in my body.

  “Shit,” I said. “Are you sure?”

  I nodded, feeling sick.

  He’d just left Downy with a heartbroken Memphis.

  “Yeah, I’m sure,” Aaron grunted. “I…fuck. I had to tell Memphis that her father died, and she cried in my arms. I held her like that for over an hour until her husband got home. I should’ve fucking waited for him, but dammit. Shit, I was in a hurry to see you, and my head wasn’t on straight.”

  Downy, the man that’d been there to offer his help when Daniela was born, had just lost his father-in-law in a gang related shooting. He’d died, and Aaron had ridden over six hours to tell his wife about it in person.

  At the time that I’d called Aaron, I thought this day was perfect.

  But now, there was a pall on this beautiful day, stained by the loss of a great man that the world would surely miss.

  “That’s terrible,” I finally choked out.

  He shouldered past me into the hospital room, coming to a halt next to the bed where Masen was holding Daniela to her chest.

  She took one look at Aaron, then stood up and wrapped her single free arm around him.

  Aaron wasn’t much of a toucher, so it surprised me when he not only allowed the touch, but returned it.

  “Fuck.” I said softly, watching my two best friends in the entire world hold each other and offer the other comfort.

  Then Aaron stepped back, and reached a lone, scarred finger to trail down Daniela’s cheek.

  “She’s beautiful.”

  Masen moved, and placed Daniela into Aaron’s arms.

  The moment that Daniela was safely ensconced in her uncle’s arms, he sat down on the side of the bed and stared at her, studying her every feature, just as I had done.

  “He’s going to be okay,” Masen whispered.

  I looked down at Masen, surprised to find her at my side.

  “Yeah?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  ***

  Masen

  Daniela made a startled sound in my arms as I opened the door, upset that I’d jostled her in my rush to open the front door. The moment the door opened to reveal the visitor, tears sprang to my eyes.

  “Hey, Memphis,” I greeted my sweet friend, opening the door wider. “How are you holding up?”

  Her eyes watered.

  “The funeral was a week and a half ago,” she said. “I thought it was about time to come say hi.”

  She walked in, and the moment she was over the threshold, I placed Daniela into her arms.

  Memphis’ eyes filled with tears.

  “One life taken, and another born, all in a matter of an hour,” Memphis whispered. “She’s beautiful, Masen.”

  Sadness swept over me for the hurt I could hear in my friend’s voice.

  But there was something about my child that sucked people in. Made them feel better.

  And Daniela did the same miracle on Memphis that she did on Aaron over a week ago.

  All they had to do was hold her for a half a minute, and they were already smiling.

  If that didn’t say beauty right there, I didn’t know what did.

  What’s Next?

  Fear The beard

  3-30-2017

  Prologue

  I don’t understand your specific brand of crazy, but I do commend your devotion to it.

  -Truth to his ex

  Truth

  “Anybody home?” I called loudly as I came out of my workshop.

  Destiny didn’t answer, and I frowned.

  I could’ve sworn I heard something.

  “Destiny?” I rumbled, peaking my head around the corner of the bedroom of the single bedroom shotgun house I shared with her.

  Empty. As was the bathroom that I could see due to the door being wide open, and all the lights being on.

  I could see Destiny’s makeup, clothes, and shoes strewn all over the floor of not just the bathroom, but the bedroom as well.

  She’d gotten dressed in a hurry.

  Normally she didn’t leave the expensive dresses I’d bought her lying in a heap like that unless it was because I’d thrown it there after ripping it from her body.

  And boy did she have a sexy body.

  That was the only thing keeping us together at this point. The sex.

  It was always good, which made it hard to kick her to the curb because she was the easy way out.

  If I didn’t have her to come home to, I wouldn’t have the nightly sex I craved.

  And I wasn’t the type to spread my dick around to the women that I knew I could land. They always had expectations.

  Destiny, however, did not. She didn’t expect me to marry her. Hell, a lot of nights she didn’t even expect me to come home at all.

  Which was good seeing as I was a member of The Dixie Wardens MC, Mooresville, Alabama chapter.

  Sometimes I spend the night at the clubhouse after a club party—which she most certainly did not go to—and she didn’t complain.

  Growling when I saw the empty bracelet box that was supposed to contain the bracelet I’d bought her for Christmas, one she wasn’t supposed to wear unless it was a special occasion due to the fact that it cost several thousand dollars, laying haphazardly on the night stand, I turned off the light and headed to the front door.

  The kitchen was empty, as was the living room as I passed through it on my way.

  So what had I heard?

  Something caught my attention before I could get there, though.

  Some motion.

  Something that was moving through the sheer white curtains that Destiny insisted we had to have, and I stopped, eyes narrowed.

  That was where I parked my bike.

  On the side of the house, hugged right up against the window so I could see it as we passed in and out of the living room.

  That bike was my baby.

  The absolute best thing that’d ever happened to me in my entire life.

  And someone was sitting on it.

  Was it Destiny?

  I hated when she did that.

  When she’d go outside to talk on her phone, because I was the first to admit that she was obnoxiously loud and I wasn’t complaining when she did, she’d lean on it.

  I’d tell her not to, because her weight could offset the balance of the kickstand and cause it to smash into the side of the house, and then I’d have to fix a dent or a scratch, and I most assuredly didn’t want to do that, but she’d do it anyway.

  Just to piss me off, I was sure.

  So that was what I expected as I flicked open the curtains to peer outside.

  I’d been about to raise my finger to tap on the glass when what I was seeing caught my attention.

  Destiny was on my bike all right, but some man was on it, too.

  Some man with his balls laying unbound against the leather of my seat.

  The leather that I’d fucking stitched by goddamned hand.

  The leather that I’d picked from a motherfucking magazine.

  The leather that’d seen no one’s ass but mine—and not even bare.
>
  Anger welled up inside of me, and I finally took my eyes off the man’s balls sticking to my seat to the man’s face, and that’s about when everything exploded.

  Because it wasn’t bad enough that they were fucking on my seat.

  No, Destiny was fucking a man on my bike that was my cousin.

  My cousin that made my younger years a living hell by teasing me about my pretty looks, and my girl hands.

  Hands that I’d made sure were strong and rough over the years by doing what I loved—being a swordsmith.

  Somehow, I found my Colt .45 in my hand, and someway, I pointed it at the man’s head.

  And before you get all bent out of shape, the safety was on.

  He, however, did not know that.

  Tapping on the glass with the gun, I made sure that the laser in the grips was activated, and pointed right at about eye level.

  So when he turned toward the sound of my tapping, he got a red laser straight to the eye, causing him to look up and blink at me in confusion.

  I let up off the laser, allowing him to see just what was waiting for him, causing him to freeze.

  “Get off my bike,” I growled.

  The window muffled the words, I was sure, but he got the gist fairly fast.

  Hopping off and dislodging Destiny’s pussy that was taking his pee-wee sized cock, I watched dispassionately as she fell to the ground in a wet pile of dirt and mud, causing Destiny to cry out in confusion.

  She looked up at Kenneth, my asshole cousin, in confusion, who was busy trying to tuck his tiny pecker back into his perfectly tailored slacks, and followed his gaze.

  I let my real feelings out from behind the veil I was containing them with, and Destiny understood completely.

  She was boned.

  Well and truly boned.