by London Casey
I just didn’t expect him to show up the very next day.
“Coffee?” I asked as I pointed to the table.
“Yeah, sure,” he said.
I made a move toward the kitchen and I felt his large hand touch my side. He gripped me and I froze. My body went into an instant shiver. I looked back and up at Kye. It had been so long since a man touched me. Kye was the last one to do so.
There was a moment between us, one that was definitely scary.
“I’ll pour my own coffee, darling,” he said. “You go sit and enjoy yours.”
I stumbled my way to the table and sat down. I hated that my body reacted the way it did. I should have slapped Kye a few times. Or yelled at him. Instead I sat there feeling tingly, my panties slowly getting wet. Goddammit, I was turned on by Kye.
I stared at him as he opened the right cupboard to get a coffee mug. He poured himself a coffee and came to sit down. Of course he drank his coffee black like that.
“I’ll go first,” he said. “Since I’m invading you here. Who’s house is this?”
“What if I said it was mine?”
“Darling, I’m not here to play games. I’m not here to fuck around. The truth is that I want nothing more than to go upstairs and grab my son and hug him. I sat there everyday and thought about you and him. I gave Max a cellphone and told him what to do. Maybe I should have been more clear with you. I had protection for you. I had a way for you to be okay if something happened to me.”
“Your club?” I asked. “I made my point very clear with your club, Kye. I made it on my own.”
“By buying a house?”
“It’s not mine. It’s a friend.”
“A nurse?”
I sucked in a breath. “How…”
“I’d appreciate to hear it from your mouth.”
I nodded and gave him the play-by-play of how I met Debbie and how I ended up there. I had nothing to hide. I had nothing to be ashamed of. I wasn’t the one who ended up in prison. Whether he was guilty or not, Kye put himself in that light to get in trouble.
“So she was there when the baby was born?” Kye asked.
“Yes.”
“You weren’t alone?”
“No. I haven’t been alone since you left.”
“I didn’t leave, darling,” he said.
“You weren’t here,” I said.
“Where’s the baby now?”
“Sleeping. He had a rough night of sleep.”
“Can I see him?”
And there it was… a moment I knew was going to come…
I hesitated and knew I was hesitating for way too long.
Kye finally rose up from the table. He walked toward the kitchen and rubbed his face.
“There’s so many ways to handle this,” he said. “I’ve played so much in my mind, Dakota. The things I’ve done for you. For the baby. And I know damn well I wasn’t there for his birth. And if you think for a second I didn’t want to be there…”
“I never said that, Kye,” I said. “I just… knew…”
“Bullshit,” he said. “You didn’t know a thing. You just assume because of what happened to you. And I get that. I can’t help what’s out there, darling. I just want to help what I have in front of me.”
Kye looked at me.
I stood up. “And what’s that?”
“A family,” he said. “I don’t want to come barging into your life and demand things. Or rip things away from you. But I can’t go without my family. I refuse that.”
It wasn’t exactly a threat but it sure felt like one rolling through my veins.
“I have a lot to think about,” I said.
“I did my thinking already. I’m going to see my son, Dakota. There’s no stopping that.”
“I want nothing to do with the club, Kye,” I said. “I can’t live that way.”
I saw the way his eyes burned at me. “Just let me see my son.”
“Kye, he had a really rough night…”
“I won’t wake him. I just want to…”
Kye turned his head.
Shit.
He was about to cry, wasn’t he?
I felt my heart swelling as I tried to separate the emotions. Keeping everything in parts. My hatred for the MC life. My anger at Kye for not being there. My guilt for maybe not listening to him when he asked me to. But at the same time, the most important feeling was in control. And that was protecting my son.
“Fine,” I whispered. “We can go upstairs. Just please be quiet. He had such a bad night…”
I caught my emotion in my throat. A second later, my eyes filled with tears.
Kye rushed to my side. Next thing I knew the outlaw was putting his arms around me. I clutched at the back of his leather cut, feeling the edge of his sewn on patch. I buried my face into his hard chest, smelling the leather, the life, everything that Kye was made up of.
It was a mistake to do that.
But I needed it so bad…
**
I turned the knob and pressed on the door. Standing there with Kye right then should have been such a huge moment for us. And maybe it was. But all I could think about was whether it was right or wrong to do. I let him into my life and into Ellis’s life. But Kye had a point. He had taken care of us. Even if he missed the most important part.
I stepped into the bedroom, Kye right behind me.
A small light was on the changing table, illuminating enough of the room and crib. I loved the way the nursery smelled. A mix of powder, clean clothes, and that overall baby smell. It always made me smile.
I stepped to the side and pointed to the crib.
Ellis was on his back, hands balled into fists, up near his ears. His head slightly tilted to the right. That’s how he slept. He was so tiny in his blue onesie, a blanket covering from the knees down.
I watched as Kye approached the crib. His hands touched the crib, gripping the railing. He leaned forward and stared down. It was hard to see the look on his face. But when he turned his head I saw the glistening in his eyes.
“That’s your son,” I whispered.
Kye nodded.
He looked back to Ellis. His right hand came forward and I bit my lip. I didn’t want Ellis awake. At the same time I didn’t want Kye to hurt Ellis. Hurt Ellis? Yeah… what if he touched him too hard? Had Kye ever touched a baby? My mother instinct was going crazy and Mama Bear wanted to keep her cub safe.
Kye gently touched Ellis’s stomach. He then stroked the baby’s cheek with his middle finger. A smile climbed across Kye’s face.
The moment was magical. I could feel the happiness radiating from Kye.
Kye then brought his middle and pointer fingers to his lips and kissed. He then placed those two fingers to Ellis’s delicate head.
Then Kye turned and set his sights on me. He came right at me, hands at my waist, walking me back from the crib. The way he stared down at me I’d only seen a few times before.
Right before he fucked me.
“Thank you, darling,” he whispered.
“For?”
“Bringing him into this world. I can never make it up to you that you had to go through that alone.”
“I… what’s done is done, Kye,” I whispered. “I don’t know what else to say.”
“I want you to know that I’m going to be a good father to that boy. And a man to you. What you both need. I’m here.”
“That means a lot,” I said.
I saw his eyes move up to the wall. Then he whispered, “Ellis.” He looked at me. “You named him Ellis?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I had to pick a name.”
“I read your list,” Kye said. “I didn’t like any of those names.”
“What about Ellis?”
“I don’t like that one either,” he said and grinned. “But if that’s his name…”
“It is,” I said. “Can’t change it now.”
There was more hesitation between us.
It was hard to hold it
all back. The truth was that I just wanted to jump into Kye’s arms. I wanted him to have a turn holding me. Hell, holding everything. I wanted to slip away and take a hot bath or just forget about every problem in the world for more than thirty seconds.
But I couldn’t let that happen.
I broke away and motioned for the door. “I don’t want to wake him.”
Kye nodded.
We ended up back downstairs, at the front door.
“I need to see him again,” Kye said. His phone started to beep and he looked at it. “Shit. I have to get moving. But I need to see him, Dakota. I need to hold him. I need to look into my son’s eyes.”
What was I supposed to say to that?
I put my hand to Kye’s chest and took a breath. “Just wait here a second.”
I turned and hurried away, going against so much of what my mind and heart were battling about. I tore open a drawer in the kitchen and found Ellis’s hospital pictures. I had nobody to send pictures to but Debbie insisted on buying a package. I took a wallet and walked it back to Kye.
“Here,” I said. “This is your son.”
Kye held the picture up, the smile crawling across his face again.
I loved to see Kye smile. He rarely did it.
“I think I love him already,” Kye said.
Talk about making your heart explode. What woman wouldn’t want to hear the father of their child say that? Even if Kye was an outlaw. Even if he had just gotten out of prison for murder.
Murder that he didn’t commit, Dakota. Remember that.
“This is nice,” he said. He tucked it into his leather cut. “But it’s not the same.”
“I know,” I said.
Kye’s phone started to beep again.
I saw the look on his face.
He needed to go.
“Come back tomorrow,” I said. “Okay?”
“Okay, darling,” he said. He touched my arm. His hand had a firm grip as he leaned in and planted a kiss on my cheek. “I won’t let you down.”
Without speaking another word, Kye then gave me his cell number. He told me to call him for anything.
Kye turned and I stared at the patch on his back. Back Down Devil MC. The MC wasn’t just a club to him. Or to anyone in it. I knew that. I knew how the club life thought about their association. That didn’t bring my father back though. That didn’t make wrong suddenly seem right.
Kye walked to a truck and I stepped out on the porch.
“A truck?” I called out to him.
He opened the drive’s door and stepped up. Let me tell you… if Kye was a sexy man on a motorcycle, seeing him standing there at a big black pickup truck was a very close second. My body was on fire again as he looked at me with his dark eyes.
“Need something to drive my son around in, don’t I?”
Kye got into the truck and started it.
I stood there in shock as he backed down the drive and drove away.
It took me a few minutes to gather up everything that had happened.
But in usual fashion, Ellis started to cry.
It was time for me to be Mom again.
But in my heart… I secretly wanted to be an outlaw’s woman.
chapter fifteen.
(kye)
My tires cried out as I pulled into the lot. The guys were already on their motorcycles, in a line, ready to go. I was fucking this up. Because of a woman and a baby.
Trev had gotten a call from someone in the PD that Night Soul MC was gearing up for a big move. In altercations with our MC, two of their men were killed. We sent the Irish after them but they weren’t interested in wiping them out. Made sense because a low ranking MC compared to the Irish were very different.
So now Rocco and Gunner were gearing up to move some weapons and drugs for serious cash. Could it have been tied to me in prison? Perhaps. But I doubted that Night Soul were smart enough to pull something like that off.
I ran to my ride as Tristan called out, “Hurry the fuck up!”
I threw him the finger and jumped on my ride. I waved my finger in the air and Trev and Jasper led the pack.
We were riding with purpose but not with the entire table. Trev wanted me there to get my feet wet again and to see the Night Soul reaction to my presence.
It was Trev and Jasper up front. Then Trent, Cash, and Duke. I was trailing last as the tail.
As we powered through Daurian, all eyes and heads turned to us. Most people were smart enough to know that when we rode in groups, shit was going down. But to them, as long as that shit didn’t involve them getting hurt they should kiss the ground they walk on that we were saving their ass.
If Night Soul started pushing guns and dope through Daurian, dealers would work their way into town. That would bring attention to the town and the MC. We’d fight back. The bigger names would show up. And it would either be a bloodbath or a breeding ground for corruption.
Call us outlaws, but we were able to regulate certain crimes that the PD couldn’t come close to touching.
Once we started to move beyond the town, we cruised up and around the twisting mountains. The open road was a beautiful thing. I hadn’t properly taken my two wheel beauty out for a ride since getting out. And here I was, on a mission that would certainly end in violence.
The exact kind of shit that Dakota hated and didn’t want me to be part of.
I thought about my son as we took a turn off the road. Dirt and dust kicked up, clouding our view. My right hand had touched the baby boy. I had felt him take a breath. I had touched his soft skin. I had smelled him. It was life changing.
Trev pulled to the side of the road next to a thick tree trunk and waved us all over. He flipped open his burner cell and then shut it a few seconds later.
“Up ahead there’s a house. That’s where Night Soul is starting to store their supply. Slowly buying it up. Slowly dealing out the drugs. Moving to stay under the radar.”
“Fuckers,” Cash said. “Let’s blow the house up.”
“Let’s see what they’ve got first,” Jasper said.
The six of us all took a walk. Within seconds the barn looking house popped out of the horizon. We really had no way of being hidden so we just walked up to the porch like we owned the place.
The old door swung open and out walked an old man wearing dirty overalls, a white shirt, an unlit cigarette hanging from his mouth. He peeled a straw hat off his head, showing greasy white hair. His face was long, worn out from time and the cigarettes.
He pulled out a pack of matches and struck one against a post on the porch.
Then he asked, “Can I help you?” and then lit the cigarette and sucked on it so hard his cheeks caved in.
“We’re looking for a friend,” Trev said. “Heard he might be hanging around here.”
“A friend, huh?” the old man asked. He sucked on his cigarette again.
I stepped up next to Cash and gave him an elbow as I looked around the property. This was the kind of place that would be perfect to set up shop for something bad.
“Look, if you know why we’re here, then make shit easy,” Jasper said.
“You wanna pick some fruit?” the old man asked. “Or maybe you boys can just go fuck yourselves.”
Duke moved forward, Trent alongside. They were the first to show off their weapons. The old man didn’t even hesitate. Instead, he took his cigarette out of his mouth and stuck his fingers into his mouth and whistled.
The front door exploded and out came five guys. They were dirty, roughed up, and they wasted no time in charging off the porch, brandishing knives, ready to take us on.
“Sorry, boys,” the old man said. “I’ve got things to do today.”
He turned and went back inside.
We all took a step back and readied ourselves.
The first guy that went near Trev I took on. I threw my shoulder into him and drove him back from the President of the MC. It was just instinct by then to protect the leader of our charter.
> Cash was a little more subtle. He took out his gun and pulled the trigger. One of the guys screamed and flew back, hitting the ground. He turned and pulled the trigger again. Another guy stumbled but then threw a knife, slashing Cash’s forearm open.
Now the fight was on.
The guy I tackled to the side threw an elbow, cracking me hard against the side of my head. I released my hold on him and went punch for punch, working him away from the group.
Inside the house, there was movement.
An old engine fired up. It backfired and the engine roared.
I threw a hard right, sending the guy I was fighting back, and I made a run for it.
The entire MC did the same thing, wanting to see what the hell was going on here.
“Don’t let them get away!” Trev bellowed.
I made it near the back of the house and was met with another three men. They quickly grabbed me and took pleasure lifting me up and slamming me to the ground. The guy I was fighting kicked me in the middle of the back, stealing my breath. The rest of the guys charged by me like a damn stampede. I jumped up, Duke grabbing my cut and lifting me to my feet.
A few more wild punches were thrown.
A beat up truck was sitting there, the engine roaring over and over.
In the bed were two more men, standing with machine guns.
“Get the fuck down!” Jasper screamed a second before the weapons went off.
I ran toward Trev and tackled him down.
We retreated back to stay away from the flying bullets. There were too many times I saw the ground right in front of me get dinged with a bullet, throwing up dirt inches from me.
I watched as the old man who had been on the porch ran from the back of the house toward the truck. He threw his cigarette down and climbed up. A second later, Gunner from Night Soul MC was there.
I couldn’t stand it anymore. I took out my gun and just started to shoot. I emptied the clip, not having a great shot at anyone or the truck.
I started to load a new clip and I spotted a third person climb into the truck. Wearing a black coat, pulling it up to shield his face. The second he jumped into the truck, it started to drive away. The truck kicked up dirt and dust but I was able to get the license plate number.
