Reaper

by B E Kelly

  “Don’t ever hide from me again, Lizzy,” he commanded.

  “I’m right here, Reaper,” she breathed.

  “I need to know what you like and don’t like, honey. If you hide that part of yourself from me—we won’t work,” he threatened. He knew he was being a class A ass but he didn’t want to have this conversation again.

  “You haven’t been completely forthcoming with me, either,” she accused. “I’m seeing a whole new side of you tonight, Reaper.” Lizzy wasn’t wrong. He was showing her exactly who he was and he’d make no apologies for that. “Why did you hold back with me before?” Lizzy asked. He stilled inside of her body, needing to look at her for the rest of their conversation. He pulled his cock free from her pussy and flipped her back over, pushing her up on the bed, to thrust back into her wet folds.

  Reaper gently pushed back her wild, dark hair from her face and smiled down at her. “That’s better,” he said. “I went easy on you because you were a virgin. Hell, I didn’t have any clue what to do with a virgin—I’ve never been with one before,” he admitted.

  “Not even when you were one yourself?” she questioned.

  “No,” he admitted. “I was with an older girl my first time. I wasn’t exactly innocent or naive after my time with Ron. After I got back home, I seemed to hang out with the older crowds at school. They accepted me and well, parents of the younger kids warned their little angels to steer clear of me. So, my first time was with a girl who was almost five years older than I was.” He shrugged like it was no big deal, but at the time, being treated unkindly by the kids who were once his friends hurt.

  “But, now you know the real me, baby and I will be a demanding ass, most of the time. Can you deal with that—with me?” Reaper almost felt as though he was holding his damn breath waiting for her to give him an answer.

  “So, what’s changed?” Lizzy asked.

  “I fell in love with you and you’re mine now. I don’t know if you understand what that means to me,” he said. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I was going to marry you.” He thrust his cock deeper into her core, taking what he wanted from her.

  “Oh,” she breathed.

  “Tell me you’ll marry me,” he demanded, thrusting harder into her. “Tell me that you’ll become my wife as soon as legally possible.”

  Lizzy ran her fingers through his overly long hair and down his jaw line to playfully give his beard a tug. “Yes,” she whispered. “I’ll marry you any time, any place, Reaper.” Hearing her say those words nearly made his damn heart feel as though it would burst out of his chest.

  “Really?” he asked.

  “Really,” she confirmed. “I love you, Reaper,” she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

  “Love you too, baby,” he whispered against her lips. “You’re mine.”

  Elizabeth

  By the time she and Reaper made their way back down to the bar from his room, most of the place was packed with men wearing leather and jeans. The bar smelled like beer and she realized that they had spent most of their evening tangled up in his bed. Her stomach growled and she shyly smiled up at Reaper who obviously heard it.

  “How about I introduce you to the guys and then we can order some burgers?” he said. “I’m starving too, baby. You really made me work up an appetite,” he teased and gave her ass a swat. She was still a little sore from her earlier spanking but she wouldn’t complain.

  Everyone in the bar seemed to take notice of her and Reaper, even the few women who were there. They were all attached to a biker and they were wearing their guy’s jacket. Beth was proud to be wearing Reaper’s leathers and she loved the way he kept his arm protectively slung over her shoulder, as if sending a clear signal to all the latecomers to the meeting.

  “Hey everyone,” Reaper shouted over the commotion. He put his fingers in his mouth and gave a shrill whistle and everyone stopped talking. “I want to introduce my Old Lady—Beth,” he smiled down at her and she stifled her giggle. It was the first time he had ever used her real name. Even in her dreams, before she even met him, he called her his Lizzy. Beth liked that his little nickname for her was going to remain between the two of them.

  “She’s agreed to become my wife in the next couple days,” Reaper said, and a round of cheers rang through the small bar. He dipped his head to kiss her and the crowd grew even louder. “Okay, enough of that,” he said, giving the signal for them all to settle down again.

  “Tank is allowing me to brief you all about our problems and how you can all help.” Lizzy noticed the tall, handsome man with the bluest eyes she had ever seen, looking back at her. He nodded to Reaper and she assumed that must be the president of the club—Tank. He was also one of the three men who witnessed her little lesson in humility but none of that seemed to matter right now. She and Reaper were there to enlist the club’s help and then she could be embarrassed about everything else later—as if Reaper would allow that.

  “You see,” he continued, “my boss is in the human trafficking game and he’s using my textile manufacturing business, that my father started, as a front. He also found out about my girl here and he is going after her and her family.”

  “How can we help?” Tank yelled from the back corner of the bar. “You have the club’s full backing, Reaper. You’ve been there for every one of us and we’ll do the same for you, brother.” Beth felt a little choked up at the mention of what a good guy Reaper was. She figured as much, since he took such good care of her and now her sister and niece, but it was still nice to hear.

  “Thanks, man. We appreciate that,” he said. “First, I need a couple guys to head over to the safe house where Beth’s sister and niece are staying, to keep them safe. I’ve tried to convince my girl she’ll be safer there too, but she can’t seem to let me go,” he teased. The crowd laughed and he pulled her closer. “I’ll be keeping Beth with me but I’d like backup when I can’t be with her.”

  “I’ll do it,” a guy called from the crowd. He had the name Gunner on his leathers and Reaper nodded his thanks to the guy.

  “Thanks, I appreciate that.” Reaper looked around the room.” My business partner’s son, Ringer, has my little sister. He’s keeping her safe, but his father is threatening to hurt her to get me to comply with what he wants.”

  “What does he want?” Tank asked.

  “My silence along with my half of the textile company,” Reaper admitted. “But, I’m not willing to turn a blind eye and let him continue to hurt anymore women and girls. We need to take a stand—now, before anyone else has their families torn apart and before another woman or girl ends up lost.” Beth heard the sadness in his voice and squeezed his hand into hers.

  “Ringer isn’t bringing Sophie back here until this is over—he gave me his word that he’d keep her safe, but I need one or two guys to ride to Texas to give him a hand.” A few men raised their hands and Reaper thanked them.

  “I’ll head up the men to guard Beth’s family,” Tank said. We’ll take shifts, for the local watch and I’ll make sure Sophie is covered. But, how do you plan on bringing down your boss?”

  Reaper’s smile was mean and almost menacing. “Slowly and painfully,” he said. “I have a government guy I’m working with and he has told me that he has enough evidence to put my boss away for a lifetime. I’m just biding time until my friend can get everything in place and gives me the signal.”

  “Why would your boss want to go after your girl’s family?” Gunner questioned. That was the type of question Beth was hoping to avoid at this meeting, but she was starting to see that Reaper’s club was open to accepting her and maybe it was time to let others in on her little secret. Worst case scenario, they’d make fun of her like her friends from grade school had and call her names.

  Beth took a step forward, not letting go of Reaper’s hand, needing to maintain some kind of connection with him. “I’m a seer,” she said.

  Reaper leaned into her back and whispered into her ear. “I thought we weren
’t sharing that part?” Beth waved him off with a smile.

  “It’s alright, Reaper. I think my grandmother would have wanted me to tell these nice people why they are risking their lives for the two of us,” she said.

  “What exactly is a ‘seer’?” Tank asked. Beth had to admit the big, alpha leader scared her a little but now wasn’t the time for her to be a coward.

  “Well, it’s different for every one of us. I’ve only known two others and our abilities vary from each other, but it’s basically being able to see things that have either already happened or something that is going to happen to a person.”

  “You just have visions?” an older man asked from the back of the bar.

  “Yeah, but mine come to me in the form of dreams,” she said. “For example, I’ve been dreaming about Reaper for years. Since I was just a kid, really,” she admitted. She shot him a look to let him know that she wasn’t going to share all the sorted details. She would never do that to him. Some of the things that she saw, and that he told her were private, for just the two of them.

  “So, when she found me on the side of the road, with my flat bike tire, she already knew me. Knew my name and all kinds of details about a vision she had of me at the beach, with my family,” Reaper interjected.

  Beth smiled and nodded. “We have a connection and I knew that I had to help him. I believe I was even sent to find him, since I had no plans to go down that stretch of road—but there he was.”

  “Waiting for you—my Lizzy,” he said.

  “But that still doesn’t answer my question,” Gunner grumbled. “Why is Reap’s boss after you and your sister?”

  “Well, after I picked up Reaper and convinced him of what I could do, he asked if I’d drive him to his meeting in Texas. I did and his boss used his power and resources to get a picture of us on a State Highway security camera. He found out who I am and now, he’s going after my family. If he finds out what I can do, he’ll put even more value into finding me,” Beth finished.

  The whole room seemed to still and she wasn’t sure if she had just made a mistake by sharing her abilities with Reaper’s entire club. “Is what she’s saying true, Reap?” Tank asked. She wanted to march right up to the club’s president and tell him that she wasn’t a liar, but Reaper wrapped his arm around her and pulled her back against his body.

  “One hundred percent,” he said. “I’ve seen her in action, firsthand and I have to admit I was a skeptic at first, too. But I can’t deny what I saw and what she did. Lizzy’s the real deal,” he said. It gave Beth a sense of pride knowing that Reaper felt that way about her. She knew he didn’t believe her when he climbed into her car and she claimed to have known him from a dream. What person in their right mind would buy a story like hers without any proof? She couldn’t really blame Tank or any of the other club members for doubting her. But, whether they believed her or not, she and Reaper needed their help.

  “Please,” she begged. “My sister and her six-year-old daughter are now in danger because of all of this. Please, help them and Sophie.” The soft hum of whispered murmurs ran through the crowd and Beth knew that her and Reaper’s fates were being decided.

  “You were fantastic,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Thanks,” she said back. “But was it enough?”

  “Let’s think about this and join back here tomorrow night to vote,” Tank offered. “You have our protection and that extends to your woman and her family. Sophie is already one of us, so she’ll always have our shelter. As for the rest of it—getting involved in the mess with your boss—I just don’t know, man. The club hasn’t had the best press lately and we’ve had a few run- in’s with the wrong side of the law. I’ve been told that my members need to keep their noses clean or else,” Tank said. “Still, I want to help and we just need to figure out a way to make that possible. So, tomorrow night at eight?” he asked. Reaper and the other members nodded their heads in agreement and just like that, the meeting was over.

  “So what now?” Beth asked.

  “Now, we wait and while we do that—we get hitched,” Reaper said. Beth had to admit that sounded like a pretty good plan to her.

  “Deal,” she said.

  ****

  They stayed the night at the bar, in the room Reaper rented from Tank. It gave Beth the chance to get to know his friends a little better and she had to admit, she really liked them all, but Tank was quickly becoming her favorite. She found out the he was not only the president of the Reckoning MC, but he also owned the bar and lived there full- time.

  After everyone else had pretty much left for the night and Reaper went up to their room to get some shut eye, she found herself alone with Tank and he didn’t hold back with his questions. Beth liked how protective he seemed of Reaper. Honestly, she felt the exact same way about her guy and she gladly answered all of Tank’s questions. After she shared about Lyra’s part in the whole messed up story and how her sister seemed to be channeling Sophie, Tank agreed to keep an eye on Lyra and Lil himself. Beth was grateful for his help and worried just what her sister would think of the massive man covered in tats with the bluest eyes Beth had ever seen, watching over her and Delilah. Really, she wasn’t giving Lyra a choice in the matter. Beth was confident Tank would be able to protect her sister and niece and that was all that mattered to her.

  The next morning, Tank showed up at the Justice of the Peace at the same time as she and Reaper and told them he and Gunner were going to be their witnesses. He wanted to make sure their nuptials were legal and he joked around, saying that he wouldn’t believe Reaper got hitched if he wasn’t there to see it with his own eyes but Beth could tell it went deeper than that. They were a family, thrown together by the common thread of their club and Reaper was lucky to have them as brothers.

  They had a private ceremony and Beth wished she had something better to wear than her jeans and a t-shirt, but Reaper assured her she was perfect just the way she was. They said their vows and Beth was pretty sure she was the luckiest woman on the planet; especially when he vowed to spend the rest of his life dreaming with her. Their shared connection in their nightly dreams was still their private secret and one that she’d protect until her last breath. She loved that he picked up just how much their connection meant to her. Reaper was her soulmate—literally and she was looking forward to spending the rest of their lives together.

  When their short but sweet ceremony was over and all the papers were signed and legal, they headed back to the bar to meet the other members for the vote. She had to admit, she was more nervous about tonight’s vote than she was about getting married. If the club voted against helping to bring down Reaper’s boss, she didn’t know what they would do. Either way, Reaper assured her they would find a way and the only thing she cared about was sticking by his side through the thick and thin of it.

  Reaper

  When they got back to the bar, after getting hitched, he was surprised to find that the guys had decorated not only his room but also the bar. They even went the extra mile and picked up a make-shift wedding cake for Lizzy and him and he loved how happy it seemed to make his new bride. She was quickly becoming his everything and seeing her excited about their surprise party meant the world to him.

  The little party also helped soothe his frayed nerves from worrying over whether or not the club was going to help out with bringing down Anthony Sr. He knew it was a big ask but he was still hopeful that they would give a hand. He was grateful that they had already agreed to help with protection for Sophie, Lizzy and her family, but he knew that bringing down his business partner was going to be a lot tougher than he planned. Anthony Sr. had eyes and ears everywhere and he worried that whatever plan they came up with would get back to his boss and they’d be screwed. He still wasn’t sure if he could completely trust Ringer and the suit he brought to their meeting—Dave. The only reason he was willing to give them both the benefit of the doubt was because Sophie trusted Ringer and Dave was with some secret, government agenc
y that stood to gain a lot of kudos, if they brought down a major player like Anthony Sr.

  “Thanks for doing all of this, man,” Reaper said to Tank, slapping him on the shoulder. Out of all the guys in the club, he was closest to Tank. He and Tank had all but grown up together and he trusted the guy with his life. They were all his brothers, but the bond he and Tank shared went beyond that.

  “Always,” Tank promised. “I’ll have your back no matter what the vote tonight.” Reaper knew he could count on his friend, but he also knew the importance of a vote when it came to club decisions. They put just about damn near every decision they made to a vote—it was how they worked.

  “I know, man and I appreciate you telling Lizzy you’d personally watch over her sister and niece. I know it means a lot to her. She and her sister are really close. The kind of closeness I wish I had with Sophie,” Reaper admitted. He had always had a decent relationship with his little sister, but the more he tried to boss her around and help her out, the more Sophie pushed him away. Her favorite go- to line when they were arguing was that she was a “grown- ass woman who could make her own damn decisions”. She was right—she was an adult but that didn’t make it any easier for Reaper to let her go. When their parents were gone, he was left to take care of Sophie and he took that job seriously. Now, letting Ringer do that job for him felt plain wrong but there was nothing he could do about it. Besides, if Ringer hadn’t gotten his sister out of town when he did, things might have ended differently for her.

  He knew that Anthony Sr. would stop at nothing to get to him and Reaper knew that meant he’d go after the people he loved—Sophie and now Lizzy. Reaper hated that his boss’s evil shit could touch his family and he’d do just about anything to make sure that never happened.