by Kim Jones
“Does it surprise you that much?” he asked teasingly. I would be lying if I said it did. For some reason, I knew Luke was capable of doing anything, and doing it well.
“Nothing you do surprises me anymore,” I said, smiling up at him. He leaned down and kissed me softly, his lips barely brushing over mine.
“I love you, babe. I need you today. There is a lot of shit going on and I am going to need you to be there for me. I know this is hard, but I need you to trust me and stay in my sights at all times. A lot of people are coming into town and I need to know that you are behind me on this. Can I trust you to do as I ask and not give me any grief about it?”
I looked at Luke’s face, full of hope and wonder. He needed me. When I needed him, he was there. He was letting me know that this was something important to him, and he wasn’t giving me the option of backing down. This made my heart swell and my love for him to deepen. If ever I was sure of his intentions of keeping me safe, it was now.
“Of course.” There was no hesitation in my voice and my eyes were determined, staring into his, daring him to not believe me. I would do what he asked and then some, I owed it to him-he was my more. He kissed me on my head and grabbed my face in his hands.
“Thank you,” he said, letting the air rush out of his lungs as if he had been holding it.
“Does that surprise you?” I asked, teasing him with the same question he had asked me only minutes before. He shook his head, smiling and breaking eye contact.
“You are about as unpredictable as the weather, Dallas Knox. Let’s eat.”
My southern breakfast was a hit with Luke. He constantly told me how delicious everything was and wanted to know where I learned to cook. I informed him that the few short years that I had lived with my grandmother, she had showed me many things like how to cook, how to can and make biscuits from scratch-each one having your initial in it.
“See, there is an L right there,” I said, pointing at the crack in the bottom of Luke’s biscuit.
“You put that in there?” I couldn’t help but smile at his comment and the innocent look on his face. Of course, I didn’t. You could just about make out any letter of the alphabet if you looked hard enough, but he didn’t have to know that.
“Absolutely. What kind of person would I be if I made you a biscuit without your initial?”
Luke shook his head, and continued eating. Apparently he believed the old tale my grandmother had told me many times, yet I was a lot younger than Luke when I figured it out.
“Who all will be there today?” I asked, standing to clear the dishes from the bar.
“Everyone. The whole club, and some brothers from a chapter out of Louisiana,” he said, watching me as I moved around the kitchen cleaning up.
“Who all does that entail?”
“Anyone who is affiliated with the club and might be in danger of Frankie,” he said, almost cautiously. I immediately wondered if that meant women that were not ol’ ladies. Luke seemed to always know what I was thinking and confirmed my suspicions.
“That includes Maddie, and some of the girls you have met before. Any hang-arounds or women the club keeps around for private entertainment. The guys will be there and we need the bitches to show them a good time. Is that gonna be a problem for you?”
I’m sure the look on my face was as if I had just seen a ghost. I could actually feel my skin pale at the thought of those women there hanging all over Luke as if he was a prized possession, which he was, but he was mine.
“They’re not for me, babe. They are for the guys from out of town and the ones who don’t have ol’ ladies,” Luke said, one of his eyebrows raised in amusement. I still had not said anything to him. Hell, what was there to say? They were going to be there whether I liked it or not. I would just have to deal with it.
“That’s fine. I can be cordial,” I said, trying to convince myself as well as him. I turned back to my kitchen duties, trying to do anything to keep the thought of them women off my mind.
“Cordial?” Luke asked. I could hear the laughter in his voice as he said it, but I refused to look at him.
“Yes, cordial. I can be nice to anyone, as long as they keep their hands and eyes off of you.” The dishes I scrubbed just a little too hard and the cabinets I slammed did not deserve the mistreatment I was showing them, but the frustration seemed to subside each time I did it.
“Babe,” Luke said, coming up behind me. “I really need you to keep your attitude in check today. Don’t embarrass me in front of my club.” Luke’s voice was gentle, but his eyes let me know that he was serious. My heart seemed to stop at the thought of him being embarrassed by me.
“I would never embarrass you,” I said, my voice shaky and barely audible. How could he ever think that?
“I meant, by defying me, darlin’. Refusing to do as I ask. I can’t stress to you how much I need you to not ask any questions and just do as you’re told. A lot of women will be there today. All of them will respect you and look to you for guidance. You are with me and that says a lot.” I nodded my head in agreement. My heart was still bruised, but I would prove to Luke that I was here for him, and that I could do this.
“Go get dressed. I need to make some calls.” Luke bent his head and his lips hesitated right above mine. I pursed my lips and stretched, closing the few inches that were between us. The kiss was chaste and soft, but any kiss from Luke left me swaying. It took me a minute, but I got my shit together and sucked in a deep breath. “This is what you want,” I chanted to myself. I knew that not all parts of the club life would be enjoyable, but I didn’t think I would be faced with them this soon. I was nervous that this would be too much for me to handle.
My cell phone rang and I dashed to the bedroom to get it and found the screen flashing “Red Calling.”
“Hello,” I said breathlessly into the phone. Damn, I was out of shape.
“You fucking?” Red asked, and I couldn’t help but smile at her crass statement.
“Red, I’m freaking a little.” What the fuck? Really, Dallas? My diarrhea of the mouth was making me look like a real pansy. Oddly, she knew what I was talking about without me having to tell her.
“Don’t freak. I know what you’re thinking and don’t. Those bitches are actually kinda cool and I promise none of them will fuck with Luke.”
I shook my head at her weird ability to know what I was talking about. “How can I be nice to people like that? I mean, don’t they have any self-worth?” I asked, not sure why I was being such a bitch, but I had to know.
“These girls are here to keep the club happy. Don’t degrade them or put them down in any way just because they don’t live up to your standards,” Red said, clearly pissed off.
“Red I-“
“No, I know what you mean. Some of these girls were not handed a life on a silver platter like you were. They have dads that they’ve never met and moms they visit every other weekend through a glass box, or visit on a street corner. They have found that they can use their bodies to make a life much better than the one they were given, so before you start judging people from your high fucking pedestal, maybe you should take a walk in their shoes.” Red was super pissed. I tried to tell myself that I didn’t really mean it like that, but I did.
I came from a privileged back ground, and often wondered why people were the way they were. My assumptions were that everyone had the same opportunities as I had growing up, but Red had a way of bringing you back down to size.
“And when we get there, these women are going to practically worship you, because to them, you are some-fucking-body. I don’t give a shit if you have a property patch on or not, these women will respect you because you are with LLC. So, when we get there, you better have your shit in check, because if not, I will gladly take an ass chewing from the guys for beating your ass.” I tried to respond in time to tell her I was sorry, but she had already disconnected.
“Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit!” I shout-whispered. Now, I had Luke sca
red that I would embarrass him, and Red thinking I was a stuck up bitch. This day was gonna be perfect.
“You ready?” Luke asked from the doorway of my closet. He was dressed in a white t-shirt, torn jeans and the black cap that I was beginning to love.
“What does DFFD stand for?” I asked, signaling to the lettering stitched on the back of his cap.
“Devils Forever, Forever Devils.” Great. I was sleeping with the Devil. “We need to go,” he said, walking up behind me and leaning down to kiss my hair.
“I’m ready.” I grabbed my oversized black coach bag that resembled a purse-if you wanted to hide a small toddler in it.
I wore a pair of dark wash skinny jeans, a black sleeveless shirt that showed a good amount of cleavage when I left the two buttons at the top undone, and a pair of black stiletto boots. I tucked the front of my shirt in my jeans to show off the large, rhinestone buckle on my belt. My hair fell in long waves down my back and over my shoulders. My makeup was dark, my nails deep red, and I loved the bad ass biker chick look my complete outfit gave me.
My bag consisted of an extra change of clothes, just in case we stayed at Luke’s, and all the personal items that I planned to leave at his house. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t to mark my territory. I was trying to be open minded about all of these women I would encounter in the next hour, but that awful bitch that I was trying to bury deep inside was beginning to show her ugly face.
“You look stunning. I have a feeling tonight will end with me in a brawl over some guy looking at you,” Luke said smirking. I gasped at him. The thought of Luke in a fight made my stomach flip. “Kidding, babe. Just kidding.” My humorless laugh let him know that I did not find him very funny, but he still didn’t lose that smirk on his face. I had a feeling that Luke was being smug because he knew he wouldn’t lose if someone wanted to brawl. Oh, how I loved my conceited biker.
After the house was locked, the car was loaded, and we were seated inside, Luke’s mood brightened.
“You seem happy,” I said, turning to smile at him and placing my small, smooth hand in his large, calloused one.
“I haven’t seen these guys in quite some time. They are from our chapter out of Lake Charles, LA. You’ll love them,” he said smiling and bringing our hands up to his mouth so he could kiss my fingers. Why was that so heart melting? “I can’t wait for you to meet Brooklyn. She is like a mother to us all, and she has no problem speaking her mind.”
“Kind of like Red?” I asked, feeling my own self getting excited now.
“Red was her, twenty years ago. Brooklyn once told her that if she didn’t know any better, she would think she came from her own pussy.”
I laughed out loud at the harsh comment, and the fact that a woman who was considered a motherly figure would say it. Luke laughed with me and shook his head.
“She is definitely one of a kind. Her husband Ronnie is the president of that chapter. Other than Regg, he is one of my greatest brothers.”
“So, you have favorites?” I asked, my simple mind thinking that he shared the same love for each brother.
“I wouldn’t call it favorites. I love all of my brothers. I would give my life for any of them, but just like in a blood family, I prefer some over others.”
“How can you have more love for one that you hardly see, than you have for some that you see almost every day?” I asked, wondering what was so different about the other guys, or what they had done to make Luke not like them as much.
“Me and Ronnie go way back. He was a friend of my Pops. I don’t love him any more than I do any of the other guys; him and I just get along better and have a lot of history. Maybe it’s because I don’t see him as much and he doesn’t look to me for guidance like the other guys do. He’s my equal.” Luke explained, seeming to not understand the answer either. “I don’t know, I just miss him I guess. I miss all the guys. I have been so busy with the timber company and trying to straighten out shit with my own chapter, that I don’t have time to really enjoy the perks of being in this lifestyle, ya know?” Oh, how I did know. People would kill to be where I was on the ladder of success at my young age, but I was so busy trying to stay on top that I never got the opportunity to stop and enjoy it.
“I got ya, babe,” I said, smiling and bring our hands to my lips so I could kiss his fingers as he had mine.
“Stop stealing my lines and my moves. Babe is my word and the hand kissing is my thing. Not yours.” He was trying to be serious, but his smiling eyes gave him away.
I shook my head and looked out the window. The cars we passed seemed to be sitting still. I looked over at the speedometer and my eyes bugged out of my head. Luke drove my Mercedes like he drove a Harley.
“You in a hurry or something?” I almost shouted at him.
“I like this car. I might get one,” he said, raising his left arm that he had thrown over the top of the steering wheel to glance at the needle on the speedometer-the speedometer that was hitting the one hundred mile per hour mark. I rolled my eyes at his unconcerned expression.
“You’re gonna get a ticket,” I chastised.
“I know people, babe,” he said with a wink and of course, I melted. He could speed. I didn’t mind.
When we turned off the highway and onto the long gravel road that would lead us to the clubhouse, Luke entered into full blown LLC mode.
“Remember what I said, Dallas, and remember your promise.”
“What promise?” I asked, my heart beginning to beat heavy in my chest and my bitch meter slowly climbing. Luke gave me that don’t-be-a-bitch look. Maybe it was the tone of his voice or the “don’t embarrass me comment” but I immediately punched the bitch in me in the face and sent her back to her dark cell.
“To be cordial.” Oh yeah, that.
“I promise to be good and I’ll try to not be a bitch,” I said, holding up the scouts honor symbol in hopes of lightening the mood. Surprisingly, it worked.
“That’s all I ask, beautiful.”
Ahh, the “beautiful” word. It got me every time-along with the wink and the smirk and the “babe” and the white t-shirts and the lips. My thoughts of Luke were interrupted when I saw all of the motorcycles lined up in front of the club house.
“Holy shit,” I mumbled. There had to be fifty bikes there, along with several SUV’s-all black and all Cadillac. Luke laughed at my expression and his happiness was contagious. Instead of being nervous, I was now practically elated to meet them all.
Luke pulled the car into the garage next to his truck, which I last saw at the hospital. How had it got here? I reached for the handle to get out, anxious to meet everyone, when he tightened his grip on my hand and pulled slightly so that I turned to look at him. He smiled when he saw my face.
“I love that excited look in your eyes. I love how you are willing to embrace this and all of the chaos that comes with it. I love you.” My body sagged with his words and tears burned the back of my eyes.
“I love you too, baby,” I whispered, so overcome with the emotion on his face that the tears that were burning my eyes only moments before were now threatening to spill over.
“This is your family, Dallas. The ones you have met, love you. The ones who are anticipating your arrival, love you. I know you will make me proud.”
“I will,” I managed to choke out. I took a deep breath to stifle the sob that was building in my chest. I was so lost in the depth of Luke’s blue eyes that I had not seen anyone approaching the car. My door was swung open and I nearly jumped out of my seat as I was greeted with the sexiest, raspy voice I had ever heard.
“I’ve been waiting all day to meet this sexy bitch.” Without anyone telling me, I knew instantly, that this was Brooklyn.
She was everything I imagined her to be. Her long, dark dirty blonde hair was braided to the side and an orange bandana covered her head. She wore the brightest red lipstick that I had ever seen and it worked perfectly with her light blue eyes. Her black tank was tucked into blue jeans,
and God must have known that I would need a discussion topic, because her rhinestone belt buckle was identical to mine. Faded tattoos covered the tops of her breasts and her arms, and I could tell that this woman had lived this life for quite some time.
I didn’t have time to process much more, because she was pulling me out of the car by my arm before I could even look to see if our boots had the same rhinestone studded heal.
“Ooh Luke! She is a sexy bitch, and she has style! I’m Mama Brooklyn and I told Ronnie that if he didn’t get me over here to meet this woman that had stolen Luke’s heart, I was going to cut his balls off.” I was in love. I had never had feelings for a woman, but I could easily see myself living the rest of my life with her.
“Hi,” I managed to squeak out. She had me fully engulfed in a hug and was squeezing me as if I were her long lost son back from a tour in Afghanistan.
“Brooklyn,” I heard Luke say from somewhere behind me. “Meet my girl, Dallas Knox.”
Brooklyn held me at arm’s length so she could take in a full view. She said my name again, mostly to herself, then looked me in the eye.
“Baby, I have been around a long time. I can tell when a woman is in love, and you are a woman in love.” I beamed at her, confirming her statement.
“Yes ma’am, I am.”
“Good, but if you fuck him over, I’ll fuck you up.” I laughed at the words, remembering that Red have given me that exact line the first time I met Luke.
“Oh, she knows,” came a voice from the back of the garage, and I looked to see Red walking towards us with the swag of a black man with a twelve inch cock. How did she do that?
“This is my mini me,” Brooklyn informed me, letting me go so she could throw her arm around Red and place a kiss on her lips. That must have been a biker thing. They all seemed to do that.
“So I have been told,” I said, closing the few feet between me and Red and throwing my arms around her. I hoped that she had forgiven me for my snotty comment earlier. When she wrapped her arms around me and kissed my cheek, I knew I was back in her good graces.
