Travis nodded at the bouncers out front and pulled Billie close to his side as they gave her the once-over. Neither of them said a word, but he could read their minds—they wondered what the fuck someone as lovely as her was doing with the likes of him.
Don’t worry—she won’t be with me long. They were on borrowed time now, and he intended to make the most of every last second with her.
Inside, they walked toward the bar, Travis surveying the scene as they strode through the throng of people—most of them already well on the way to being wrecked. He recognized a few folks, but there were plenty he didn’t. Plenty of men obviously out on the prowl for a good time. He’d been planning to deposit Billie with Sophie at the bar and then go talk business with Ajax and Blue, but he found he couldn’t leave her on her own. She was too damn gorgeous and there were too many men here who would try to move in on her the moment he was out of sight. He didn’t like that thought one bit.
Tightening his hold on her hand, he approached Sophie. She looked at Billie and then raised her eyebrows at him, but he ignored her obvious curiosity. “Where’s Ajax?”
“Out back. Working on Blue’s bike.”
Without another word, Travis led Sophie around the bar and out through the door that had a PRIVATE sign hanging on it. In the shadows he saw two easily recognizable figures tinkering over Blue’s Harley. Both men looked up as the door clunked shut behind Travis and Billie.
“Evening,” Travis said with a nod of his head.
“Hi.” Billie smiled beside him.
For a moment Blue and Ajax just stared at them. “Is this a social call?” Ajax finally asked, raising his eyebrows at Billie in much the same manner as Sophie had earlier.
“Not exactly. I’ve found something.”
Ajax and Blue straightened and gave him their full attention. “About?” Ajax asked.
“Priest, of course.”
Ajax’s expression darkened and he gestured to Billie. “What’s she doing here? This is club business.”
Of course it was. Why the hell had he brought her here? He wasn’t thinking straight. Again. But Ajax wouldn’t take that excuse.
“Billie’s my…” He was about to say girlfriend, but Ajax and Blue wouldn’t be able to relate to that. “She’s my property.”
Billie made a choking sound beside him and he squeezed her hand hard, telling her to shut it. He wouldn’t let Ajax or Blue lay a finger on her and they wouldn’t if they believed she was his old lady.
“She knows the score with Priest, the Ministry, with everything. I trust her,” he told them, and surprised himself when he realized he meant it. After the way his mom had betrayed him and Priest had banished him, he didn’t think he had it in him ever to trust another person, but how else could he explain why he’d opened his soul to Billie? Why he’d told her things about himself he’d never shared with anyone outside the club and why he’d confessed his reason for being back in the Quarter?
“What the fuck does that mean?” Blue asked, clearly unable to fathom what he was hearing.
Travis inhaled a quick breath, thinking on his feet. “It means I’m back. You want to revive the Deacons? So long as you meant it about going legitimate, then I’m in. I’m moving back to the Quarter and I’m moving in with Billie. The gallery stays, so we’ll have to find another location for the clubhouse.” He hadn’t realized it himself until he’d said it aloud, but this was exactly what he wanted.
Ajax opened his mouth and Travis expected him to object. Expected him to tell him that the clubhouse had always been next door to The Priory and that’s where it would fucking well stay, but it was one surprise after another today. “You sure about all that?” he asked instead.
“Yes.” He nodded and yanked Billie against him, holding her close. He’d never been more certain about anything in his life. This felt right. She felt right. Being back in New Orleans, in The Priory with his brothers ready to reclaim Bourbon Street, felt right. He couldn’t get enough of Billie and the thought of losing her made him feel as if he were about to go into cardiac arrest. Never before had a woman made him ache with need like she did, made him want to spend time with her when they weren’t even fucking. He knew he’d protect her with his own life. He hadn’t meant to fall in love, didn’t think he had it in him, but what else did any of this mean?
“In that case…” Ajax stepped forward and pulled Travis and Billie into a hug. He slapped Travis on the back. “Congrat-u-fucking-lations. And welcome to the family, Billie.”
“Yeah, man, well done. Good to have you back, brother.” Blue’s tone was gruff, but the expression in his face told Travis he was stoked. “Guess we’d better get you a Property of Cash badge, then,” he said to Billie.
“Um…yeah…thanks,” she squeaked, sounding half terrified, half relieved. They had some talking to do, but first he needed to tell his brothers what he’d found.
“Now, business,” Travis said, glancing quickly around to check that they were truly on their own. “I’ve found some interesting information.”
Chapter 13
Billie didn’t hear a word of what Travis told his scary-ass biker friends. She was far too hung up on the whole “property” thing. Had he just said that to stop Ajax and Blue from throwing her out onto Bourbon Street? Or had he meant it? The way he’d held her hand as if he never wanted to let go, and the expression, almost aggression, in his eyes when he’d told them what she was to him had sounded damn believable to her.
And how did she feel about that?
It wasn’t a question of love—she’d been falling harder and harder for Travis from the day she met him, even before she liked him, and was now well and truly head over heels, in too deep. But property? That set off alarm bells inside her head. Loud ones. Although Saxon had appeared to the world like the perfect husband, he’d treated her exactly like something he owned. And not a prized possession, but rather something he could easily replace if she didn’t tick all his boxes on what he thought a wife should be. Last she’d heard, he’d hooked up with a law student who modeled swimwear in her spare time.
But Travis was nothing like Saxon. Although he valued money, he’d worked hard for his, and unlike Saxon he knew what it was like to live in poverty. She had no idea about how it felt not knowing where your next meal would come from, so how could she judge him? No, instead she admired him for being stronger than what life had thrown at him. For rising above his circumstances.
Whereas Saxon had almost been jealous of her art, Travis encouraged it. Saxon made her feel barely necessary during sex, as if any woman would do as long as he got his rocks off, whereas Travis made her feel…so much. How could she even begin to describe the emotions he sparked within her? There were no words. She’d barely been living during her marriage, but in just over a week Travis had awoken her in so many ways.
It was a sin to try to compare him to Saxon—they weren’t even in the same realm.
Yes, she wanted Travis. That fact was irrefutable. But she could be stressing for no reason. Until tonight, Travis had never mentioned staying in New Orleans or having anything more than a fling with her, and there was every possibility he’d said what he had simply to protect her.
A lump formed in her throat at that thought. But if that were the case, then why had he let her come with him in the first place?
Deep down she was certain he felt the same way she did, but had he truly admitted that to himself yet? It had all happened so fast, yet at the same time she felt like she’d known Travis for eternity.
“You guys coming in for a celebratory drink?” Ajax’s question startled her out of her reverie.
“Sure,” Travis replied.
Billie wished she’d been paying attention. She didn’t know if they were celebrating the information on Blade and the Ministry or Travis coming back into the fold or even her becoming his supposed property, but after he’d told them he trusted her, she wasn’t about to throw that in his face. She could find out whether he meant it later. A
nd if he did, what exactly being a biker’s property entailed. Besides wearing his patch, that is.
She swallowed, trying to hide her anxiety, and smiled. “Sounds good.”
The business conversation over for now, the four of them trekked back inside. It was even more crowded now—people dressed in black filling every corner and crevice—but as the bikers approached the bar, the crowd parted, making way. Sophie turned away from the person she’d just handed a drink to and her face lit up as Ajax leaned across the bar and kissed her possessively on the lips. Billie averted her gaze and glanced around The Priory. She’d been here before but never really thought about what she saw. The people that hung out here were real; they didn’t put on airs and graces like those in her social circle back at home or pretend to be anything they were not. They accepted others for who they were.
“You okay?” Travis leaned down and whispered into her ear. His hand slipped around her back and rested on her hip, his touch sparking shivers that spread quickly through her body.
“Yep,” she said, turning to look into his eyes. She felt safe, strangely right, being here with Travis. As if this was the place she’d been looking for her whole life. And he looked the part now…much more like the biker than he did when he first arrived. The leather cut suited him and she liked it.
He grinned back at her. “We’ll have a quick drink and then we’ll make our excuses.”
As if on cue, Sophie laid four glasses of bourbon one after the other down on the bar between them and then lifted a glass of her own. “What exactly are we celebrating?”
Ajax turned and looked at Billie. It was almost a smile, and the closest thing she guessed any woman that wasn’t Sophie would ever get. “Billie’s joining the clan.”
“What?” Sophie’s mouth hung open a moment. “You’re Cash’s old lady?”
Uncertain of how to answer, Billie looked back to Travis. His thumb slid lazily over her hip and he gave her an encouraging nod. “Yes,” she said, knowing she wanted this to be true more than anything. “I am.”
“Well, fuck me. Wonders never cease.”
The others laughed and lifted their glasses, and Billie found herself laughing right along with them. There wasn’t a lot more said on the issue. Sophie had to tend the bar, so Ajax told her he’d fill her in on everything later. He arranged a meeting with Blue and Travis for the following morning, asking Travis to summon some guy called Prince. Then, they finished their drinks and made their excuses to slip away, promising to throw a party for Billie when all the shit had died down.
“A party?” Billie asked as she and Travis weaved back through the hordes of people. “What for? My birthday isn’t until February.”
“Good to know.” He squeezed her hand as they slipped out onto Bourbon Street. “But this party isn’t about how many candles you have on your cake; it’s about telling the club that you’re mine.”
The way he said mine raised the hairs on her arms and the nape of her neck. “Did you,” she whispered, barely able to get the words out, “mean all that about me and you? Or was it just…”
“I meant it,” he said almost aggressively, pausing on the sidewalk between The Priory and her gallery and taking both her hands as he looked right into her eyes. “I want you, Billie. No way I can stay away from you. Right from the start you snuck under my defenses and made me feel things I didn’t want to feel. Things I didn’t think I was capable of feeling.”
Although part of her was singing hallelujahs at this news, she felt she needed to say her bit. “It would have been nice if you’d given me an inkling of this before you told your friends.” She’d been walked over before and she wasn’t about to enter into a relationship with a control freak ever again. No matter if the sex did blow her mind. Every. Single. Time.
He blinked, as if taken aback. “Are you saying you don’t have the same feelings for me?”
“No,” she said quickly, rushing to assure him that that wasn’t the issue at all. After the week they’d shared, how could he even think that? “Hell, Travis, I’m pretty certain I’m falling in love with you and have been since the moment you kissed me without asking.”
His lips curled upward and he had the good sense to look sheepish. “Well then…”
“But,” she said forcefully, “I’m not sure about the whole ‘property’ thing. It sounds so crass and backwards. As if you picked me up for a bargain at your local Walmart.”
He chuckled and pulled her closer against him. Her insides glowed as he dropped her hands but snuck his up around her back, finding the bare flesh between her sweatshirt and jeans. Who was she kidding? She was a goner. Her body well and truly signed up to this property thing, even if her brain was still clinging onto a few reservations.
“You’re way too classy for Walmart. And I’m way too choosy. I’ve never wanted to be with anyone long term until I met you. For a decade I haven’t let myself trust or want anyone. But you’ve taught me there is good in the world, alongside the crap, and I want some of that.”
The battle with her hormones was lost long ago; now she was losing the battle with her tears. He may not have declared undying love, but she could read between the lines. This confession was huge for someone like Travis.
He continued. “I know if you haven’t been around MC clubs for long, the words property or old lady might seem disrespectful, but I assure you they are anything but.” He pressed a kiss against her forehead before continuing, explaining it to her a lot like Sophie had. But coming from him it sounded appealing. Sexy, even. Then finally, “If you agree to be my old lady, you’ll make me the happiest guy in the world and I promise you, our relationship will be one of mutual respect, encouragement, fun and lots and lots of great sex.”
He stared down expectantly at her and she realized he was waiting for an answer. How could it be anything but “Yes!”
The biggest smile she’d ever seen lit his face, and then he leaned over and closed the already tiny gap between them. His hands were in her hair, his mouth claiming her as his own and she knew that despite appearances to the contrary, despite the biker club lingo, Travis would never compromise her in the way Saxon had.
And that was the last time she ever wanted to think about her ex-husband again.
Finally, he pulled back, but she was glad he didn’t let her go, because her head was spinning from the events of the last few hours and his unexpected confession. And there were so many more questions taking up her headspace. “What about your work? What about Tallahassee? Are you really moving back to the Quarter?”
He nodded. “Let’s go inside and discuss this somewhere more comfortable.” The wicked gleam in his eye told her they’d both be horizontal during any conversation, but she didn’t have a problem with that at all.
Later in bed, with Baxter asleep on the floor beside them, Travis’s fingers trawled lazily through her hair and over the bare skin of her neck as he explained how he could work from anywhere.
“Tallahassee was never really home,” he confessed, “although I tried to fool myself that it was. I don’t have any real friends there and it was never in my blood, not like the French Quarter, not like the Deacons, not like you.”
Billie bit her lip, then asked, “The Deacons were an outlaw club, right? Does that mean I should be worried about what you might be getting involved with?”
He shook his head. “Priest wanted us to go clean years ago, but he got conned into one last job. We torched a building and a guy died.”
She was quiet as he continued. She knew his past, had accepted him for what he was.
“None of us have ever been clear on exactly what happened and why Priest sent us away, but it was the brotherhood we missed and that’s what we want to recreate. I’m not looking for a life of crime and I’ll keep working for myself.”
“Okay. Good.” Because surely she needed to have some scruples. “So what will you do about the Ministry?”
Travis sighed. “I honestly don’t know because we’re not at full
strength, but I don’t want you to worry about that. I’m not going to let any harm come to you, I promise.”
It wasn’t herself she was worried about. Not wanting to think about that, Billie turned her attentions back to Travis’s body. Tracing her fingers along the lines of his tattoos was rapidly becoming one of her favorite pastimes. For someone who had never given much thought to tattoos in the past, they intrigued her now. Should she get one done?
She was about to put this question to Travis, but she bit her tongue at the last moment. Maybe she’d surprise him. Maybe she’d get it in someplace only he would see. She grinned, imagining the look on his face when she unveiled it. And then she chuckled as she thought about the look on her family’s face if they ever saw it.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
She shook her head and kissed him again.
Chapter 14
After their first official “church” meeting since the Deacons had returned, Travis followed a still reluctant Micah out of The Priory. But whereas Micah, or Prince as he was known to the club, continued on down Bourbon to whatever had been keeping him busy these last few weeks, Travis turned into the gallery and glanced around at the mix of sculptures and paintings. Funny how you could change your opinion of a place in a matter of days. Billie’s enthusiasm for the art she sold had rubbed off on him, and seeing New Orleans again through her eyes had helped him rekindle a love affair with the city he’d thought long gone. He was in such a good mood that even Rolley’s presence in the gallery didn’t annoy him.
The scruffy hippie glared at him but Travis ignored it, instead heading inside to go find Billie. Yet as he did a walk through the rooms, calling both Billie and Baxter, he found no sign of either of them, so he dug his cellphone out of his back pocket and dialed Billie’s number. Within a few seconds her ring tone sounded from somewhere in her bedroom.
Fire Me Up Page 17
