by Naomi West
Kelsey was positive some of that was just Rawl attempting to capitalize on the pitying impulses of the public, thinking that if he came back and showed remorse for his crimes in the shadow of Spike’s atrocities, he might be let off easy. At the beginning of her journey, that might have bothered her a lot. But now, basking in the glory that came with finally knowing as much of the whole story as she possibly could, Rawl’s confession was enough. She felt some restless shadow within her settle down to sleep at last. A great weight lifted itself from her heart. She had done right by her little sister at last. She had done everything she could, and she had received her answers. When the call was over, she turned toward Chopper and buried her face in his chest for a minute, breathing in the comfort of his presence. He rubbed the back of her neck until she lifted her head and looked up at him.
“Now what?” she asked, a little smile tilting the corner of her mouth.
He kissed her forehead. “What do you mean?”
“Well…” Kelsey shrugged. “Spike’s in jail. I know who killed my sister. Who are we now? What do we do?” She meant it half as a joke, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized how much her relentless pursuit of the truth had defined her. With that chapter finally written and tucked away, she had no idea where to go next. As painful as Hannah’s death had been, it provided her life with a structure that was suddenly missing.
“Here’s an idea,” Chopper whispered, his lips against Kelsey’s neck. She shivered, resting her hands on his strong forearms. He slid his fingers teasingly under the hem of her shirt. “Why don’t we celebrate?” Before she could say anything, their lips met, and Kelsey decided it would be okay to stop thinking for a while.
# # #
The buzz of the tattoo gun was like a fly droning around Kelsey’s torso — a fly that stung like crazy. She lay on her back in the parlor chair, trying to keep her mind off the pain. “Hey,” she said, running her finger along the outside of Chopper’s wrist. “Tell me something.”
“Tell you what?” he asked, looking at her with mild bemusement.
“Anything. Just say words so I don’t have to think about how many needles are poking me right now.”
He chuckled, lifting her hand to his lips. “How about this? The Outlaws are expanding.”
“Really? How much?” Since Spike’s incarceration, Kelsey had allowed herself to drift back toward club business just a little bit, but not enough to get back in over her head again. She had briefly considered asking Chopper to step down so that they might be able to live a slightly more normal life, but she quickly ditched that idea. Chopper provided for both of them, and he did it well. Who was she to tell him how to spend his time? Still, she wondered what an expansion could mean. More drug routes meant an increase in revenue, but if she’d learned anything from this experience, it was that a drug-fueled peace never lasted too long.
“I want to buy up some of those houses in that area where Spike was hiding,” Chopper said. “You know, fix ‘em up, turn ‘em into places where people could actually live.” He paused. “I think it could be good for single moms, or kids who don’t have anywhere to go.”
Kelsey’s heart swelled. She had always known Chopper could be sweet, but their hard times together seemed to have transformed a part of his spirit. The bitterness over his own rough start was gone, replaced by a desire to help others like him overcome their own. No words existed to express the depth of her pride in him. Even if he didn’t see it himself, he’d come so far. They both had. And there was so much farther to go. She took his hand and held his palm against her cheek, suppressing a wince as the tattoo needle dug into the skin below her breast.
“I love you, Jesse,” she said softly.
He smiled, a genuine, gentle smile. “I love you too, gorgeous.”
The buzzing stopped. “You know what I love?” the tat guy said, carefully wiping over his finished artwork. “I love this piece. Check it out.” He held up a mirror so that Kelsey could see. Her eyes widened as she gazed at it, the pain immediately forgotten. She’d wanted her first tattoo to be simple—a small, fiery flower standing vigil over the name she had chosen for her fallen baby boy, inked directly underneath her heart.
“What do you think?” she asked Chopper, turning her eyes to his face.
He didn’t say anything, but she saw the gleam of tears in his eyes, and she sat up gingerly, wrapping her arms around his neck. Graciously, the artist turned away to afford them some privacy. “It’s perfect,” he whispered finally. “Like you.”
Kelsey smiled. She nuzzled his neck. “And there’s plenty of room there for the others … when they come.” She knew that there would be a time when the hole in her heart could be filled, when she could carry and deliver a little soul into the world. Maybe she wasn’t ready just yet, but someday, she would be. And when she was, there was no question in her mind that Jesse would be standing by her side.
She pulled back and looked at him, soaking in the magic of his sea-blue eyes, the warmth of his touch. She’d come to him from such a dark place, and he had helped her create the vision of a beautiful future.
“Thank you,” she said, running her thumb over his bottom lip. “You saved me.”
He laughed, his eyes tender. “Kels, the only reason I could save you is because you saved me first.”
“That’s not true,” she protested, her features lit by a smile. “As if Chopper Slater needed saving.”
“Just because I wasn’t lost yet doesn’t mean I wasn’t getting there.” He pressed his lips against her temple. “I needed someone to come in and challenge all my idiot ideals. Show me there was somethin’ beyond bikes and money and hating Spike. Call me by my real name.” He ran his hand through his hair. “That was you, and that’s why we’re here right now.” He reached across her and picked up the mirror, and together they looked at the name inscribed on her body. “That’s why we have this.” She had never spoken it out loud, but she didn’t need to. It was a secret, hers to keep until she chose to release it.
The name of their unspoken love, carried in Kelsey’s body and heart for as long as she could bear it, and even after that.
The beginning of their legacy.
Aiden. Their little fire.
THE END
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Books by Naomi West
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Brute: A Motorcycle Club Romance (Dark Vultures MC) (Asphalt Sins Book 4)
The brute only saved me so he could break me.
I woke up in a strange city with no memory of how I got there.
The biker found me, and took me in.
But this motorcycle club is no safe haven.
And there’s a devil coming after me… determined to drag me to hell.
Vera.
I remember my name, but nothing else.
And even if I didn’t already have amnesia, the outlaw brute’s burning eyes would have wiped my mind blank.
When I’m looking into those dark irises, there’s only him.
Tall. Raw. Tatted. Powerful.
Staring back and owning me with just a glance.
Rascal never asked to be the man I turned to for answers.
But something in my gut tells me I can trust him – even though his leather kutte and cocky swagger tell me I should be running in the other direction.
I need him in more ways than I know.
And after a night spent bending for him – serving him – begging him for just one more touch – it seems like I’ve lost everything…
Only to find where I’m truly meant to be.
But this unlikely paradise is about to come crashing down a
round me.
Because there’s someone else out there.
Chasing me. Hunting me.
And the phantoms of my past won’t until they’ve consumed us all:
Me.
Rascal.
And the baby in my belly.
Beast: A Motorcycle Club Romance (Hounds of Hades MC) (Asphalt Sins Book 3)
He ripped me apart like a savage beast.
The bad boy biker came to the auto shop to fix things up..
Then he came to my bedroom to break me down.
But when someone I trusted turns out to be a monster, I have no other choice:
I have to beg the outlaw to protect me.
JESSI
Rip is an engine, a dynamo, loud and dirty and aggressive as hell.
And just like the bikes he loves, he’s dying to tear me apart.
Piece by piece, bit by bit, he’s going to dismantle me – just for his own savage pleasure.
But when he’s done…
He sure as hell isn’t going to be the one to put me back together.
It’s not just my body that’s falling apart under the biker’s touch, either.
My dreams for the future are crumbling to dust at the same time.
I thought a college education would be my ticket to the big time.
Fame, fortune, the whole nine yards.
But it turns out Rip isn’t the only beast who’s hungering for a bite of me.
There’s far worse out there, hiding their cruel vices behind friendly faces.
And all of them -all of these animals – want one thing and one thing only:
To shove me down onto my knees and make me their property.
RIP
She was a pretty little peach…
And she f**king hated my guts from the second I walked in her daddy’s chop shop.
That only made me laugh.
I love a good challenge.
And even though she’s far from my first vicious conquest…
This little vixen will be the most fun yet.
Go ahead and resist, I tell her.
We’ll see how long you last.
But then something happened that I never anticipated.
Jessi begged me for my help.
There’s someone else who thinks they can lay their hands on my woman.
Hell f**king no.
I don’t share; I don’t play nice.
And if this creepy son of a b!tch plans on touching so much as a hair on her head…
I’ll rally every damn brother in my motorcycle club and we’ll bring burning hellfire to his doorstep.
I’ll make him suffer and plead for mercy.
And right before I end him, I’ll tell him the one thing in this world that’s a pure f**king fact:
She. Is. Mine.
Bull: A Motorcycle Club Romance (Asphalt Angels MC) (Asphalt Sins Book 2)
I claimed my dead brother’s woman.
She was begging for my help.
So I made her beg for her release.
But the girl comes with baggage…
My brother’s baby in her arms.
XANDER
I’m drowning in booze and sorrow.
I know that this is killing me.
But the thing is, I just don’t give a damn.
I’ll either drink or f**k myself to death, whichever comes first.
After all, what’s the point of carrying on?
Those motherf**kers stole my brother’s life in a stupid bar fight.
Petty. Reckless. Dumb.
But that’s the outlaw way, isn’t it?
Life is cheap out here.
And I’m the only one left who cares about Arsen’s death.
At least, that’s what I used to think.
Then she knocked on my door.
I thought it was the liquor making me hallucinate.
This delicious girl, with curves for days and a glimmer in her eyes that gets me rock hard…
What could she want here? With me? A degenerate biker?
Then I saw what she was holding, and I understood.
Kayla is my brother’s ex and the mother of his baby.
She needs my protection.
She’s desperate.
Well, that makes two of us, sweetheart.
Because I’m dying to see what you look like…
When you’re on your knees, begging me for more.
KAYLA
I can’t help thinking this is wrong.
But I don’t have a choice.
Because I have nowhere else to turn.
And with a baby to feed, I can’t afford to hold out for something better.
Besides, there’s a little voice, deep in the back of my head, whispering ugly truths.
Telling me that I like this – submitting to my ex’s brother.
It’s saying I love being his pet, his toy.
It’s saying that I’ll keep it up, for as long as he wants, as long as he keeps me and my baby safe from harm.
Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this.
Maybe I shouldn’t be sleeping with this bull, this beast, this animal.
But I’m addicted to the biker.
And every time I open my mouth, the same words come rushing out before I can stop them:
I need more, more, more.
Stud: A Motorcycle Club Romance (Cobra Kings MC)
They said I couldn’t have her. I told them to try and stop me.
The bad boy stud has wandered into dangerous territory.
MC President Bishop Blaine thought bedding a pop star would be the story of a lifetime.
He gets what he came for, and then some…
When the diva ends up pregnant with his baby.
LOLA
I thought outlaw bikers were supposed to be tall, dark, tatted—and dumb as rocks.
But Bishop Blaine is only three for four.
And unfortunately for my sake, he's managed to outsmart every member of my security team to get to me.
It’s true: he’s got his own selfish motives in mind.
Like laying his sinful, inked hands over every inch of my body.
But it turns out Bishop got to me just in time.
First, we're ducking a spray of bullets.
Then, next thing I know, he has me out back behind the bar…
Pinned to the wall beneath him, as he lets far more than his eyes travel my forbidden figure.
BISHOP
Lola is famous. Off-limits. Totally uninterested in a rebel biker like me.
Until I make things interesting for her.
Granted, I've had help.
Someone's out to kill her, and I smell a rat in her inner circle.
She can't trust those who are already closest to her, so I plan on making myself as close as possible.
I’m gonna run my filthy hands along those lush curves until I make the little pop starlet shiver and beg for more.
But I should’ve known it would all lead to trouble.
As I discover, it isn’t just a killer we have on our plate.
Because Lola turns up pregnant – and she swears the baby is mine.
This was never supposed to happen.
I’m an outlaw with a motorcycle club to run, not a whipped baby daddy to a famous actress.
Until, all of the sudden, that’s exactly what I am.
But we’re from two different worlds.
She walks red carpets and wears expensive gowns.
I ride choppers and keep my club kutte on my shoulders at all times.
Having a baby together is sheer madness.
But despite all that…
There’s something in my gut that says I have to protect these delicate creatures now – my woman and my baby.
I'm going to catch this falling star and make her mine.
And if the man hunting her thinks he’s gonna lay a finger on my family...
He’d better be ready for war.
He Doesn’t Care: A Bad Boy Secret Bab
y Motorcycle Club Romance (Fourstroke Fiends MC)
HE DOESN’T CARE THAT I’M ENGAGED TO ANOTHER MAN.
Nothing will stop him from claiming me.
He’s not the kind to stick around after he’s had his fill.
But then something happened, something we never expected…
I got pregnant.
Owen Flynn is a dark prince from the wrong side of the tracks.
Tall, tatted, ripped – and utterly, completely wrong for me.
I’m your classic rich girl stereotype:
An art student with overprotective parents.
They want me to do the right thing:
