by Penny Dee
My hearted thundered in my chest. I’d never told anybody that story. Other than the detectives immediately after the murder. And even then I’d kept to the facts.
But in a strange way it felt good sharing the burden of what I had carried around with me every day for thirteen years. Watching my father die and not knowing what to say to him in those last moments of his life. I was the last person he saw. The last person he heard. Felt. Touched. And I’d always felt I’d let him down in those final moments of his life.
Now with bourbon cascading through my veins, I felt the heavy weight of it on my shoulders.
Honey rose up on her knees, moved across the bed closer to me, and placed her cool hand in mine.
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” she said gently and her words were like music to my ears.
I turned to her, unable to keep the tears from my eyes. When I struggled to swallow she pulled me into her arms and wrapped them around me, and I settled with my head in her lap, engulfed in the softness of her.
My eyes felt heavy. And Honey’s warmth was comforting.
Lying in her arms, I was lulled into peace by the gentle caresses of her fingertips against my skin, so I relaxed into her body and let sleep and peacefulness carry me away.
CALEB
“How on Earth did you manage this?” she asked in disbelief.
Honey and I stood on the front lawn of her apartment, watching two Prospects unload her belongings from a truck parked at the curb.
It’d been two days since I’d seen her at the clubhouse.
“It’s what I do. I get things done.” I gave her a wink. “Oh, but I left your bed behind. Amy sold it to some douche roommate with greasy hair and rather questionable personal hygiene. I didn’t think you’d want it back. You know, all those flaked-off skin cells and . . . DNA.”
“DNA?”
“By the looks of him, there would have been a lot of DNA. All over it.”
She wrinkled her nose, and damn, it was the cutest thing. “Thank you.”
The Prospects and I carried the bulky items inside, while Honey followed behind with the lighter things. Twenty minutes later, it was done. As the Prospects drove away in the Shadow Choppers’ truck, I handed her a roll of money.
“It’s not all there. Your ex-roomie went on a shopping spree. Apparently, she likes shoes.”
She looked at the roll of money. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
I loved her smile.
The air crackled with an electrical charge between us, and the urge in me to kiss her was fierce. But I had to get to chapel.
“Listen, I have something I need to talk to you about,” she said, her body language suddenly becoming awkward.
“Yeah? I hate doing this, but I have chapel in twenty minutes. It sounds serious, is everything okay?”
“Yeah, of course. I was just . . . I mean . . . I was going to ask if you wanted to do dinner sometime this week.” She smiled awkwardly. “I have to warn you though, I suck at cooking but if you’re willing to risk it . . .”
I grinned. “I would fucking love to do dinner this week. Is it okay if I call you later to organize something?”
“Sure.”
I pressed a quick kiss onto her cheek before slipping on my sunglasses. “I’ll call you tonight.”
Twenty minutes later, I sat in chapel, listening to our president, Bull, discuss club business, but I was so distracted, I barely heard a word. Despite being surrounded by my brothers, I couldn’t keep my focus and found my mind drifting back to Honey. I couldn’t explain it. As a rule I didn’t do girlfriends. Aside from Brandi, I really hadn’t dated at all. And let’s face it, Brandi only lasted because she was forward and demanding, and I’m not ashamed to admit, she was a hot babe who liked sex—sex she always wanted with me.
And it worked when it was just that.
Unfortunately, at some point Brandi decided the hot sex wasn’t enough and she wanted more from me. But I wasn’t into the idea. Brandi was great in bed, but outside of that we didn’t have a lot in common. I shouldn’t have let it get as far as it did, but it was hard to think straight when a good-looking woman consistently turned up on your doorstep wearing barely there outfits and fuck-me boots.
I’m a guy. Sometimes my cock takes charge. So shoot me.
But Honey. She was something different. Sure, she was beautiful and sexy, and from what I could tell, she liked fucking me. But there was something else about her that had me thinking about her all the time.
Had me wanting to see her.
Had me thinking I was really into her.
Had me thinking I could do more than a friends with benefits thing.
But was I ready for something like that?
If you weren’t used to it, club life could be hell to live with. Old ladies came and went. The turnover was high because some women got tired of being left alone to raise the kids and take care of the home while her old man took care of club business. Or they got fed up with their man hanging out with their club brothers at a place where there were a lot of women who were only too happy to suck club cock. Sometimes the close-knit family wasn’t enough. Sometimes having the support of the other old ladies just wasn’t a good enough substitute for their old man. I looked across the table at Davey. His old lady went crazy on him because she was jealous of the club. He was unable to take her wild mood swings and acts of lunacy, so he’d left her. But her craziness peaked and she’d shot up Indy’s car in the clubhouse parking lot in a fit of madness.
I’d seen a lot of heartache rip marriages apart.
Although, there were a few happy ever afters.
Cade and Indy were happily married with a baby on the way.
And if my cousin hadn’t been murdered, he and Cherry would still be happily married and living a good family life with their children.
Same with Mirabella and Jacob. I’d never seen two people more in love. But Mirabella was also murdered by the same man who had killed Isaac, and unable to cope with life without his wife, Jacob had laid his bike down in front of a truck.
Given a chance, their lives would have been rich with love and happiness.
They were proof that love in an MC was possible.
My brother’s fingers snapped in front of my eyes and broke my daydream. “Dude, what the fuck? You high?”
I gave Cade an up-close look at my middle finger and turned back to face Bull. He’d just asked me a question. “Sorry, man, what did you say?”
Bull took off his glasses and fixed his bright, piercing blue eyes on me. He suffered from acute color blindness and it affected his ability to tolerate light, so he usually wore dark sunglasses, even at night. When he took them off, the vibrant blue of his eyes was almost other worldly. It made him look formidable. That and the fact that he was six foot something and radiated a powerful ruthlessness you didn’t want to fuck with.
He was my mother’s younger brother and he had taken the reins of our club following my father’s murder.
“Everything sorted for Tully’s bucks night?” he asked me.
Somehow I was in charge of arranging Tully’s bucks night. He was marrying one of the actresses from Head Quarters, the adult entertainment studio we were invested in. The studio produced adult movies, and more recently, capitalized on its reputation with a line of sex toys. The wedding was due to take place on the grounds of the new studio. A few months ago, someone had burned down the original warehouse, but we’d just finished rebuilding it, and it was bigger and better than before.
Thankfully, I had Mrs. Stephens to help me with Tully’s bucks night. She was our conservatively dressed, modest personal assistant with the horn-rimmed glasses and knee-length tweed skirts. She arranged and supplied everything for the club, from toilet paper and condom supplies, to strippers, weddings, funerals, and birthday celebrations at the clubhouse. She was methodical. Unassuming. But I would bet my balls she had a gimp stashed in her closet. So far she h
adn’t batted an eyelid at anything we’d requested for Tully’s bucks night, which was only days away.
“It’s all sorted.” I nodded at our President.
“Any other business to bring to the table?” he asked the room.
“What’s the word on the two overdoses in Humphrey last week?” Hawke asked. “My kid sister is a senior in high school, she said one of them was from West Destiny High and was a football player. Said there is talk about a bad batch of E. Think we need to visit the Knights and see what shit they’re letting loose into our town?”
“The weed drought in this town has extended across the southern belt,” Cade said. “Indy says they’ve had a lot more drug overdoses lately and they think it’s because people can’t get their hands on any weed, so they’re turning to liquor or blow, while some are dabbling in meth, horse, special K, all kinds of shit. Not to mention the oxy and other prescribed meds.”
“People are used to getting a high. If they can’t get it one way, they’re going to get it another,” Bull said.
“Hawke’s right, we need to reach out to the Knights and find out what the fuck they’re up to,” Maverick said.
“Agreed. I’ll reach out to Saber. Find out what shit they’re letting into our goddamn town.” He looked directly at me, Cade, and Maverick. “Make yourselves available this evening. The four of us are going to pay him a visit tonight.”
And with that, Bull brought down his gavel and brought an end to chapel.
CALEB
The next day, I saw it on my desk as soon as I walked into my office at Sinister Ink.
It was a bright pink box with a clear window on the lid. Splashed across the cardboard in a quirky font was the name Honey Bee Cupcakes.
“Ooh, a present!” Pandora said, walking in and putting a box of latex gloves onto the stainless-steel equipment station in the corner of the room. “Is it from her?”
Her being a secret admirer I had somehow acquired over the last couple of months. It had started out innocently enough. At first, she sent me small stuff to the studio—a hip flask of Jack Daniel’s, movie tickets, and a limited edition Easy Rider movie poster that now hung in my workstation. But lately it had gotten weird. A few days ago, it was a lacy thong attached to a Polaroid of a shaved pussy, legs spread and all.
And the thong had obviously been worn.
I didn’t know what to make of it. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a fine looking pussy. But all the creepiness surrounding the gifts and the stalking meant my dick was asleep in my pants. If she was so interested in me, why didn’t she approach me like a normal person? You know, come up to me and speak to me instead of all this crazy shit.
I picked up the box. But these weren’t from her, they were from Honey. She had attached a note.
Thanks for being that guy who gets shit done xx
I glanced at Pandora who was staring at me. “No, these are from someone else.”
“You got a new girl?” she asked, surprised. Her perfectly made-up eyebrows disappeared behind her straight, blonde bangs.
I couldn’t keep the smile from my face at Honey’s gesture.
I’d hoped to see her last night, but when Bull organized a sit down with the President of the Knights, I messaged her and told her I would call her today sometime.
“She’s a friend,” I said, opening the lid of the box.
There were six cupcakes in total, all with different toppings and decorations. I picked one with a heap of chocolate frosting and sank my teeth into it.
“Goddamn!” I mumbled with a mouthful. They were out of this world. I offered one to Pandora, but she waved it away.
“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed this killer dress I’m wearing, Caleb. But if you take a good look, you’ll see there is nowhere for me to hide a fucking cupcake on my hips!”
Pandora had always been a bitch; in a way, it was a necessity to work at the tattoo shop. But since she’d gotten engaged to her boyfriend a few months ago, her moods had been crazy.
“Relax, you’ll work it off in time for the wedding.” I winked at her, but she scowled at me and folded her arms across her impressive rack.
Before she could reply, the front door to the studio opened and Cade walked in. He looked a little tired. Indy was due to give birth soon, and my older brother was so pussy whipped, I imagined he was doing everything he could to satisfy his queen’s pregnant whims.
He nodded toward the cupcakes. “Are they from her?”
Cade also knew all about my mysterious stalker.
When I shook my head, he picked out a cupcake with a generous marshmallow frosting and took a mouthful.
“Goddamn, that’s incredible.” He moaned dramatically and then looked at the box. “Honey Bee Cupcakes. Man, I’m going to have to take some of these home to Indy. They’ll get me brownie points for days.”
Ari walked in from his office down the hallway. He nodded toward the bright pink box in my hand. “Are they from her?”
When I shook my head he picked out one with pink icing and devoured it, nodding his head in approval. Ari wasn’t one for showing too much excitement, so this tiny display of enjoyment said something.
Pandora rolled her eyes at all the moans of appreciation.
“You guys sound like a bunch of teenage boys in a fucking whorehouse,” she said, walking off.
My phone buzzed. It was a message from Honey, and I couldn’t help but smile.
HONEY: You like your cupcakes?
ME: Hell yeah, lady. Might need to swing by and get some more. Cade wants some for Indy.
HONEY: I’m not at work. But I can arrange to have some sent over.
ME: Why aren’t you at work??
HONEY: I just bought a bed :)
I couldn’t help myself.
ME: I can be there in ten
My phone buzzed almost straight away.
HONEY: Make it five
I didn’t need any more encouragement.
“I gotta go,” I said grabbing my keys. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” I paused in the doorway and looked back at Cade and Ari. “And you fuckers better keep your hands off my cupcakes.”
HONEY
My orgasm was quick. We didn’t make it to my brand new bed at all. When Caleb turned up, he was so turned on he took me on the kitchen counter.
Followed by the couch.
Then the recliner chair.
Now he stood in front of me doing up his belt buckle while I sat on the kitchen counter feeling well and truly satisfied.
“What are you doing later?” he asked.
“I have to run a few errands this afternoon. Then I’m going to spend the afternoon reading a book on my new bed.”
He stepped between my legs and kissed me. “How about I come and join you when I’m finished.”
The kiss deepened.
“I don’t think I’ll get any reading done if you do.”
He grinned and teased me more with his delicious lips. “I promise you, you won’t.”
His mouth and tongue kissed me into all kinds of crazy, lighting up my body and making me want more.
“How about I cook you that dinner?” I asked.
Tonight I would tell him about the baby.
“Dinner sounds fucking great.” He moved away and grabbed his cut off the recliner and his wallet from the coffee table. “I should be done by about six o’clock.”
“Okay, then, I guess I will see you sometime after sex,” I said. Then realizing what I’d said, quickly added, “Six! I mean I will see you sometime after six!”
Caleb grinned and leaned in to kiss me again. “Sure you did.”
I grinned against his lips. “I really did mean six o’clock.”
“Six, sex. They both work for me.” He winked as he clipped his wallet to the silver chain attached to his jeans, and shoved it into his back pocket. Throwing his cut on, he gave me another delicious grin as he disappeared out the door.
After he left, I showered and dressed. In th
e bathroom, I noticed the bottle of pregnancy vitamins on the counter. I picked them up and looked at them in the palm of my hands.
Tonight.
I had no idea how he was going to take the news. I’d seen him four times since our one-night stand but the timing had been wrong every time.
But tonight was different. Tonight his world was going to change.
We would sit down and work out how this was going to work. The baby was going to change everything, and it would be better to establish clear lines in the sand before things went any further.
First, the sex would have to stop. Because sex would only complicate an already complicated situation. Sometimes sex wasn’t just sex. No matter how many times you told yourself that. No matter how many times you dressed it up with labels like friends with benefits or fuck buddies. Sometimes real feelings crept in unnoticed, hidden behind all those delicious orgasms you were having without commitment, or so you thought. Then suddenly he was off with someone else and you were hurt.
And if I was really honest, I already liked hanging out with Caleb more than I should.
So, the sex was out.
Secondly, I didn’t expect anything from him. I was ready to be a single mother. I could do this on my own; but he had a right to know about his kid.
That settled, I visited the market and picked up some ground beef, sun-ripened tomatoes, fresh thyme for homemade meatloaf, as well as a fresh Vienna loaf to make garlic bread. Ironically, I wasn’t much of a cook, and meatloaf was about my limit.
