by Jayne Blue
The rest of the men laughed and fell in behind us as we walked back to the bikes together.
Chapter 25
Axle
I found Maya waiting for me in one of the back bedrooms. Mama Bear had shown her where to freshen up and gave her a change of clothes. When I opened the door, Maya looked like an angel. My angel. She wore a long, white, see-through nightgown. Her bare toes peeked out from under it.
She sat on the edge of the bed, running a brush through her wet hair. Her face scrubbed clean of the dirt and tears, she turned to me.
She took my breath away just like she’d done the first night I set eyes on her. I’d claimed her then though neither of us realized it. She was mine. No one would ever hurt her or touch her again. Not Junior. Not Uncle Frank. No one.
“I love you,” I said.
“Come here.” Maya smiled. I went to her. When I sat down on the bed next to her, every bone in my body ached. The wound in my shoulder throbbed and when I moved to slide out of my cut, I hissed in agony.
“Let me,” Maya whispered. She rose and stood before me. Her breasts were at my eye level and I brought my hands up, sliding them beneath the thin cotton of her nightgown to cup her ass.
“I’m a mess,” I said.
Maya leaned down and kissed me. “I like you that way. Rough and wild. Dirty and dangerous.”
“I think you’re crazy,” I teased. “How the hell did you ever get mixed up with me?”
She helped me peel off my vest. My t-shirt was ripped and caked with blood. Rather than trying to pull it over my head, I just gripped the collar and ripped the thing down the middle, shedding it like a second skin. Maya went to her knees and worked my belt buckle.
“Come here, baby,” I said.
“Oh no,” she said. “You can’t possibly think you’re up for that.”
I looked down. Oh, I was up all right. “Can’t help it,” I said. “Haven’t you ever heard fighting makes men horny?”
“Oh, is that what it is?” She smiled.
“Did you mean what you said to Mama?” I asked, almost afraid to give her a chance to rethink her answer.
“What do you mean?”
“Are you mine?”
She sucked in a breath. My cock twitched, aching to fill her. I had one hand on her ass and pulled her forward. I could already feel the heat coming off her. I knew if I slid my hand around and tested her, I’d find her wet and ready for me.
I slipped my jeans down the rest of the way. Maya lifted her leg and straddled me. She slid around me, easy and perfect. My breath hitched as she took my cock deep inside her and held it there.
“Are you mine, baby?”
“Axle!” she gasped. I could feel her thighs twitch as the urge to ride my dick swelled within her. I wanted to fuck her so badly my own body quaked from it. But this was more than that. This was a promise I meant for us both to keep. I’d sworn another blood vow to Bear and the club out by the dunes. Now I wanted to swear another one to this woman.
“Say it,” I said.
Maya’s eyes snapped open. “Yes! God help me. God help us both, but yes. I’m yours. I’ve always been yours. But Axle, you’re mine.”
I leaned back until I was lying on the bed with Maya hovering above me, my dick sunk in deep. “Marry me.” I hadn’t meant to ask her, but the question and my need for her answer burst out of me. I wanted it. I needed it. I’d never been more sure of anything in my life.
“What?”
“Marry me.”
I put my good hand on her hip, holding her in place. “Oh baby.”
“You said I was the best wrong decision you’ve ever made.”
She laughed. “I said something like that.”
“So make another one. Let’s go all in.”
Maya leaned down; her hair fell around us like a golden gossamer. She let out a sexy little sigh and gave me her answer.
“Yes, baby. Yes! I’ll marry you.”
Then she couldn’t hold back anymore. Maya bucked and writhed, taking me in even deeper. She came quickly, arching her back and screaming my name. She was mine. I was hers. Whatever crazy road we went down, I knew that we’d ride it together. And it was all I’d ever need.
Maya was my gift and my calling. As her lips met mine, I sealed our vow.
Epilogue
Eight Months Later
Maya
“Baby, don’t worry.” Axle’s deep voice carried to me through the thick oak door. I pressed my cheek against it and my palm flat. I could almost feel the heat of his own hand on the other side of the door.
“You sure it’s not bad luck?” I asked as another wave of thunder rolled across the sky. From the window, I could see the white caps forming as the wind picked up.
“It’s a light rain,” he said. “The storm’s moving out to sea. We’ll have clear skies in twenty minutes. I promise.”
Smiling, I let out a breath and tapped my fingers against the door. “It’d be just like you to think you can control the weather.”
“Baby, for you I think I can. Now come on out here. Everyone’s waiting.”
“Now that is bad luck. You’re not supposed to see me until I’m walking down the aisle.”
Axle’s soft laugh was laced with sin. It sent my blood humming. I’d kicked him out of my bed for almost a month in preparation for this day. Somewhere that seemed like bad luck too. Except now, my throbbing sex threatened to drown out all rational thought. God, I was addicted to this man, through and through. If the weather cooperated, I was ten minutes from pledging the rest of my life to him. The thought warmed me.
“There’s no aisle on the beach, Maya,” Axle said. “The guys are all ready. You know how long it took to get Benz to put on a clean shirt?”
“All right, all right. I’m ready. Just go on down there and I’ll be there. And Axle?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“I love you.”
He gave me that low, wicked laughter again. I was just about ready to throw all caution to the wind, open the door and let him take me right then and there. The hell with superstition. But, I heard his footsteps going down the boardwalk. Just a few feet over the small wooden footbridge and the rest of our lives could start.
If I needed any further urging, two violins began to play the first few strains of my favorite love song, One and Only. It fit us. Axle was the only one that I wanted. Now, we were finally both brave enough to declare it in front of everyone who mattered to us.
The tiny little beach house wasn’t being enough to hold me anymore. I stepped back and checked my hair in the mirror one last time. I’d worn it long the way Axle liked it. A crown of daisies held it out of my face. Mama Bear had made it for me. She waited for me at the other end of that footbridge too along with Gran, the entire club, and the members of my family who were willing to share this day with me.
My brothers Josh and Matt came. My parents wouldn’t. It was going to take them longer to accept my choice. But, I no longer needed their approval. I knew the path my life was meant to take and now it was time for me to start on it.
I smoothed my dress. It was simple. Just a strapless, white silk sheath. I wore a chain of pearls that Gran had given me. I would walk barefoot in the warm sand. As the chorus rose, that was my cue. Taking a deep breath, I picked up my bouquet of Calla lilies and opened the beach house door.
My brothers looked out of place and uncomfortable standing beside all those tall, strapping biker boys on the beach. I felt a little guilty for dragging them down here, but it was good to see them just the same.
But, my eyes and heart were all for Axle. He stood tall and strong at the other end of the bridge. He held his hands clasped in front of him. His thick, dark hair blew in the wind. He’d wanted to club it back but I talked him out of it. I liked his hair down just like he did mine. His eyes shone and I thought I caught the hint of a tear forming in one of the corners. His face was full of love for me and my heart nearly burst at the sight of him.
 
; I don’t remember my feet touching the ground. It felt as though the breeze carried me so I floated to Axle’s side. He was right. The storm was long gone. As I reached him and he held out his hand to mine, a golden ray of sunlight burst through the clouds.
We stood in before my brothers and Axle’s. In a way, I wasn’t just marrying Axle. I was marrying the club. Mama Bear told me that. As Axle’s wife, the club would protect and provide for me for the rest of my life. I felt their eyes on us. Benz, acted as Axle’s best man. When the time came, he gave us the simple gold bands we’d chosen for our wedding rings.
Deacon Wade, the club chaplain performed the ceremony. He’d been a good friend to me over the last few months and I hoped someday he’d find someone to share his life with too. I hoped that for all of these men.
Bear Bullock, the club president hung back with Mama Bear. His arms came around her and he whispered something in her ear that made her blush and laugh. She reached up and touched his cheek, her own eyes misted with the love she had for him.
Then, it was time for me to say the words that would bind me to Axle forever. For better or worse, through sickness and in health. I pledged myself to him for all the days of my life. Then, Axle took me in his arms, lifting me straight off my feet. As he sealed our vow with a kiss, a hoot went up among the club members, loud enough to carry out to sea.
Someone popped a cork and the sounds of the violin music gave way to rock and roll that blared through the speakers Bear had set up along this stretch of beach. Beer and wine flowed and my brothers got treated to a wedding reception, Texas and Dark Saints-style. We had a pig roast at one end of the beach and all the fixings in between.
I danced with Bear, then Deacon, then Benz. Some of the girls from Cups made it out and Benz was busy trying to make time with Nikki, then Kirsten. The bar had reopened two months ago under new management. The DiSalvos still owned it, but Junior was gone. Axle wouldn’t tell me everything that happened. But, I had my suspicions. It only mattered that Junior DiSalvo would never be in a position to hurt me or anyone who worked at Cups again. Earlier in the day, I’d opened an envelope from Christine DiSalvo. She’d left a simple note on a wedding card that read, “Congratulations and best wishes on your future. I can assure you the past will never touch either of us again.” In it, she’d written us a check for fifty thousand dollars, enough to pay the remainder of my college tuition.
I hadn’t wanted to accept it, but Axle said it was her way of making amends for what her son had done. We showed it to Bear and he agreed. We had to accept it. The club needed a clean slate with Christine DiSalvo and she was using our wedding to do it. It made me uncomfortable thinking it was payment for my silence. Axle said it wasn’t and that Cory Kline had got his justice.
The DiSalvos even offered me my job back at Cups, but I got a better one, working in the Psychology Department at Texas A & M main campus. I’d picked a major, School Psychology. I already had an internship lined up in the Port Az public school district. Axle swore he had no hand in that but I had my doubts. Like Mama Bear said, the club will provide.
Axle found me after my turn around the dance floor with Benz. He circled his arms around my waist and pulled me against him as we looked out at the sunset.
“Happy?” he asked.
“It’s the happiest day of my life,” I said, my body flooded with warmth as his hands spread over my stomach, searing through the thin silk fabric. I reached up and cupped his jaw just like I’d seen Mama do to Bear during the ceremony.
“I don’t deserve you,” he said as kissed the top of my head.
“Yes, you do,” I answered.
“You might not always like club life,” he said, his voice dropping low.
“I probably won’t. But, it’s part of who you are. And I love all the parts of you, baby. For better or worse. I said it in front of a priest and everything.”
Axle laughed. “Deacon’s only half a priest. He never took his Holy Orders. We got to him first.”
I turned in his arms. “Close enough. And I’m sure there’s a story there I might like to hear.”
Axle’s firm lips met mine. My body ached to feel his. We’d been so long without each other, I had half a mind to let him take me behind one of the nearby dunes and consummate this marriage with the party going on a few feet away. By the giggles I heard coming from that direction, I was pretty sure Zig got the same idea and took Kirsten back there about an hour ago. Laughing, I said as much to Axle.
“Welcome to club life, baby,” he said. “It ain’t ever dull.”
“Mmm. Thank God. Meanwhile, I think you’ve all succeeded in scaring my brothers half to death. Last I saw, they were hanging back by the beach house cornered by Kade, E.Z. and Chase.
Axle laughed. “Naw, they’re just jerking their chain a little.”
“Well good,” I said. “It’ll give the Ballard boys a story or two to take home with them.”
Axle’s face grew serious. “You’re not upset your folks wouldn’t come?”
I took a breath and considered the question. “I suppose I should be, but no. Their life is their life. This is mine. I like my boundaries where they’re concerned. And, strange as it may sound, I feel like the Saints are more my family now than the Ballards ever were.”
He kissed me again. “I swear it. You and I were the ones who took the vows today, but the club is bound by them. For better or worse, in sickness and in health. I’ll honor you all the days of my life. The club will be there for you too. Forever.”
I ran my thumb along his jaw. “Does that mean I’m officially your old lady?”
He reared his head back and his eyes twinkled.
Laughing, I confessed. “I’ve been reading up on club lingo.”
Axle let out a deep-throated laugh that vibrated through me. He grabbed my ass with both hands and lifted me against him. “Damn right, you are,” he said. “How does that feel?”
The hard outline of his cock against the thin silk of my dress sent a shockwave of arousal through me. Those dunes were looking better and better.
“Mmm,” I said, throwing my head back. I could barely think straight. “I think it feels pretty good. Now, what’s the protocol? How long do we have to stay at our own wedding reception? Because if you keep touching me like that, the whole party is going to see how bad a state I’m in.”
Axle put me down. His eyes widened and a sexy snarl lifted the corner of his lips. My cheeks had to be flushed. I’d worn no underwear to avoid panty lines. He could see the outline of my nipples plain as day as they pebbled under the thick cotton.
“Axle,” I gasped. “Please?”
“Let’s get the hell out of here, Mrs. Hart?” he said, his voice ragged with lust.
Mrs. Hart. Axle’s wife. I’d never get tired of the sound of it.
My husband took me by the hand and led me up the dunes. He waved to a few of the club members as we passed. Then, we got to his Harley. I climbed on the back, hiking my dress up all the way to my thighs. Wrapping my arms around Axle’s waist, he revved the engine, drawing the attention of our guests. They raised their drinks in another toast and whooped and hollered as Axle waved.
“Your turn,” Axle shouted over the roar of the engine. I blew a kiss to the guys and held my bouquet high.
I aimed for Nikki. She stood a few feet away from Benz, her cheeks a deep shade of guilty red and her skirt was a little off kilter. If I had to guess, Benz had made use of the Dunes too. Laughing, I threw my flowers. The wind caught them though. Instead of arcing near Nikki, they landed against Benz’s chest with a thud. He grabbed them one-handed and endured a merciless round of ribbing from the other guys as Axle waved one last time and we drove away.
As we rounded the curve away from the Gulf, the stars came out, lighting our path like diamonds. I pressed my cheek against Axle’s back and held on tight. My heart full of love, Axle took a narrow curve, following the winding path toward our new home. The home we would share as husband and wife. Though I
would never know what the road ahead might bring, I knew we could face it head on. I had his back and he had mine. Whatever else we needed, the club would provide.
The moonlight framed Axle’s profile in blue as he looked back at me and smiled. My Axle. My heart. His Harley roared between my legs as he took the next turn and we rode on together.
THE END
A Message from Jayne Blue
Thank you so much for coming along for the ride with Axle and Maya. This series has just grabbed hold of me. I hope it has for you too. I’ve got TONS more planned for these bad boys. Up next, Benz takes the lead in Dark Temptation. Here’s a little preview…
Dark Temptation
By Jayne Blue
It was wrong. The place. The man. The moment. Everything was wrong. But Benz got closer with that one big step and I felt something inside me turn over.
I wanted him. I wanted his unruly beard against my cheek. I wanted him to put his arms around me and pull me to him. God help me I wanted him to kiss me as rough and wild as he had the other day.
I knew better. I was raised to hate him. And I’d bet he was raised to hate me. But there we were.
His breath mingled with mine. I tried to control the way my chest rose. It brushed against the leather he wore. We were that close. Benz’s hands where on both sides of the wall, he had caged me inside of him. I could break free. Even if he didn’t want me to I had the skills.
No man who’d ever tried to hold me could. I always slipped away.
But the hell of it was I didn’t want to. I knew what he tasted like. I knew what he did to my body even when he was across the room.
So I did something stupid, reckless, and wild.
He had challenged me with his look, his walk, and his body. And I accepted it.
I leaned forward and took his lower lip in mine and bit down. Not hard, just a tug, and then I sucked it into my mouth. Then I leaned back.