“I could follow you to the cabin.”
“You wanna risk your dad figuring shit out?”
She sighed. “No.”
I kissed the top of her head. “I’ve gotta go, baby.”
She kissed my chest again and nodded. “I’ll follow you out.”
“You can hang here, baby. I shouldn’t be long.”
I kissed her one more time and headed to the cabin. Parking out front, I walked inside and took a deep breath before knocking on Sundance’s door.
“Come on in,” he replied, so I opened the heavy oak door and entered his office where I found Sundance sitting in front of a chessboard. He greeted me, but his eyes never left the board.
“Sorry, Aero. I’ll just be a minute. I’m playing against this little Russian shit and he’s kicking my ass.”
My eyes darted around the room in search of Sundance’s opponent.
“Online, Aero. I’m playing him on the internet,” he said with a smile. “I’ll tell you what, though. If this fucking kid beats me again, I’m gonna fly to Moscow and beat his ass.”
“How old is he?” I asked.
“Eleven,” he replied plainly.
“A little young for fisticuffs, don’t you think?”
“They grow up fast in Russia,” he replied. “Besides. If he doesn’t want scars, he shouldn’t have gone into battle.”
“I had no idea chess was so brutal,” I said.
“The little fucker has a trap set for my queen and he thinks I’m too fuckin’ dumb to see it.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Arrogant little prick,” he said, holding up his phone to film his move. “He’s using both of his rooks in a coordinated attempt to take my remaining knight, but in doing so he’s left his bishop completely exposed,” Sundance said, moving his piece before turning his camera phone to face the board and yelling, “Knight to King’s Bishop three. Suck it Uri! Suck my fat American cock!” It was only after doing this that Sundance made eye contact. “Sorry about that. That little bastard’s got me all worked up.”
“No problem,” I said, quickly adding. “You needed to see me?”
Sundance’s office was the last place on earth I wanted to be. After all, what I was about to say to him wasn’t likely to improve his mood and would probably destroy my chance at club membership.
“Just wanted to check on you. You nervous about your upcoming beating Wednesday night?” Sundance asked with a smile.
“No, but I suppose we should talk about that. My patch-in party, that is,” I said, nervously.
“What is it, Aero? What’s eating you? You’re not here to turn down my offer to join the Howlers, are you?”
“What? No.” I said. “Just the opposite, in fact.”
“Opposite? How’s that? You here to sign up for extra punches?” Sundance laughed.
“I just might be,” I said.
“What the fuck is going on?” Sundance asked. “Seriously now. Are you looking to split?”
“I want that Howlers’ patch so bad it fuckin’ burns right now,” I said in a moment of vulnerability that shocked me.
“That’s good to hear,” he said.
“I didn’t even know how much it meant to me until…”
“Until what?” Sundance asked.
“The truth is…the truth is I want this patch, but after I tell you what I’m about to tell you, I’m pretty damned sure you’re not gonna want to give it to me anymore.”
“You’d have to have done something pretty fucking bad.”
“It’s not something bad. Not bad at all, and I would have come to you earlier but then you offered me a full patch…”
“Just say what’s on your mind, son.”
I forced out the words, “Violet and I are together,” and braced for impact.
Sundance said nothing. He didn’t blink. He didn’t appear to take a single breath. He just stood there motionless, staring directly at me. Then, after what felt like an eternity, he finally spoke. “Aero, do you think I’m an idiot?”
My blood ran cold.
“Sundance, I—”
“Do you think I’m a fucking idiot?” he shouted at the top of his lungs before busting into laughter.
“What the fuck?” I asked, in total confusion.
“Jesus, you should see the look on your face,” Sundance said, wiping tears from eyes.
“You knew?”
“Seriously, Aero. Do you actually think I’m an idiot?” he asked again, this time with a broad smile. “What kind of a club president would I be if I didn’t know that one of my recruits was dating my daughter?”
My stunned silence spoke volumes.
“Shit,” he continued. “What kind of father would I be if I hadn’t noticed how happy my daughter has been since you two met?”
“I don’t know what to say. I thought we’d kept everything on the DL.”
“You thought you’d kept me in the dark is what you mean?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so. I’m not really sure what to say here, because I’m not sorry for what I did, even if it means not getting my patch.”
“Why the fuck do you think I let you sneak around all this time with my daughter? Because I had a feeling you were the kind of guy that would be loyal to this club, but even more to my daughter.”
“How the hell could you have known that?” I asked.
“I didn’t know, but like I said, I had a feeling. Especially after seeing how happy Violet’s been. That’s not an easy thing to do, you know. Make her happy. Not because she’s difficult but because she holds the highest standards and expectations of the people closest to her. If you’re making her happy, that’s all I need to know about your relationship, and if you’ve passed Violet’s sniff test, that’s all I need to know to bring you into my club.”
“I…I don’t know what to say, Sundance. I’m kinda in shock, here.”
“That being said, don’t break her heart or I’ll let my boy kill you and bury your body in the desert,” Sundance said extending his hand.
“I won’t, sir.” I said, shaking it. “Besides, if I did break Letti’s heart, I don’t think she’d give Orion the chance. She’d take me out herself.”
“See,” Sundance said with a grin. “I knew you were smarter than you looked. See you tomorrow at family night.”
I smiled, and walked out the door, hearing Sundance bellow as I left, “What the fuck? Fuckin’ checkmate? Goddammit!”
Violet
“VIOLET, WE’VE GOT to go,” Aero bellowed down the hallway.
I let out a frustrated groan and leaned forward to get a closer look at myself in the mirror, plucking at a rogue eyebrow hair.
“Babe!”
“I’ll be ready when I’m fucking ready!” I growled.
“I really like your eyebrows where they are, beautiful. You keep plucking at them and you’ll end up looking like some nineties version of Rhianna.”
I scowled at him in the mirror. “Let me worry about my Rhianna eyebrows.”
He smiled and tugged on the back of my T-shirt. “Why are you so freaked?”
“Are you seriously asking me that?”
“Yeah. I’m the one who has to hold my own.”
“Well, I’m hoping to make it so you don’t.”
“What the fuck?” he hissed.
I faced him. “You shouldn’t have to—”
“I swear to Christ, Violet, you say anything to anyone about any of this and you and I are gonna have a problem.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“Because it’s none of your business and you fuckin’ know it.”
“If my family beats my man to death, it most certainly is my fucking business,” I growled.
He cupped my face and leaned closer to me. “You need to leave this. And when I say you need to leave it, I mean you are never to mention it to anyone outside of me.”
“I can’t—”
“You need to hear my words and agree to keep your mouth sh
ut, Letti. If I can’t trust you with this, then I can’t trust you with anything.”
I felt like he’d hit me. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Are you shittin’ me?” he ground out. “I would never hurt you.”
“Threatening to break up with me,” I clarified. I knew he’d never hurt me. He’d never hurt anyone he cared about.
“You keep quiet, it’s a non-issue.”
“Oh my god,” I whispered.
“Vi—”
“Nope.” I pushed him away. “I’m going home.”
“Bab—”
“Again. No.” I stalked out of his bathroom and grabbed my purse off the bed. “I need a time out.”
“It’s family night.”
“It sure is,” I agreed, and headed toward his front door.
“You’re gonna miss family night?”
“Are you going?”
“Yeah,” he said.
“Then, yes, I’m gonna miss family night,” I retorted and pulled open the door.
It was slammed shut before I could exit.
“You’re not leavin’ until we work this out,” he warned.
“Let me go, Jasper.”
“We need to talk about this.”
“I don’t want to talk about this,” I hissed. “Let me go.”
“This isn’t how we do shit, Violet. We hash it out.”
“Well, I don’t want to hash it out. I want to leave.”
He removed his hand from the door, and I pulled it open, escaping.
Sort of.
He still followed me to my car and waited for me to get in and drive away before heading back to his apartment, but I chose to ignore his gallantry because he’d been a total dick five minutes before. After pulling into my driveway, I walked inside, and went straight up to my room.
I had about four minutes alone before Drake knocked on my door and walked inside. “Are you coming with me?”
“I’m not going at all,” I said, sitting in my overstuffed chair and opening my laptop.
He frowned, leaning against my doorframe. “You love family night. You sick?”
“Nope.”
“Where’s Aero?”
“At home, I expect.”
“You guys in a fight?”
I met his eyes over the laptop screen. “I’m good. You go without me.”
“Does Dad know you’re not going?”
“I’m sure he’ll figure it out.”
“Well, then, I’m sticking around.”
“Drake,” I breathed out. “You don’t need to babysit me. I’m fine.”
“Yeah, well, until I hear that from Dad, I’m not leaving.”
I heard pipes and raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like we’ll hear from him in a minute.”
He pushed away from the door with a nod.
“Close my door, please,” I said, and focused back on my laptop.
A few minutes later, I heard the beep of the alarm and listened for a while to see if anyone came looking for me. They didn’t, so I let out a sigh of relief. It looked like I had the house to myself and decided a glass, or a bottle, of wine was in order.
Setting my laptop aside, I kicked off my shoes, then made my way downstairs. The house was eerily quiet as I grabbed a bottle of red off the rack and grabbed the opener.
“Hey, baby,” Aero said, and I screamed, throwing the corkscrew at him, nailing him in the chest. “Fuck!” he hissed, rubbing his chest.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I snapped.
He was standing in the family room looking delicious and sexy.
“I’m still on you, whether you want me to be or not.”
“You should have called Scrappy,” I said. “Or at least warned me you were coming.”
He shrugged. “You wanted a time out.”
“Yeah, from you.”
“Time out means you should go to your room.”
I let out a frustrated squeal. “Now you’re just being a dick.”
He smiled slowly. “You want a time out, baby, you’re doin’ it with me close.”
“I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Did I say you gotta talk to me?”
“Good,” I snipped, grabbing a wine glass, and filling it to the brim.
“You’re gorgeous when you’re pissed. You know that?”
I sipped my wine. “I’m ignoring you.”
He stepped up to the island and leaned across it. “I love you.”
I rolled my eyes and turned my back on him. Mostly, because if I continued to stare into his beautiful eyes, I’d fold and kneel before him, begging for his dick. Hearing the creak of his leather, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“Stop it,” I growled, keeping my eyes closed.
I let out a squeak when his face was suddenly pressed against my crotch, my eyes flying open as I almost dropped my wine glass. I set it down and slid my hand into his hair. “What are you doing?”
He was on his knees, grinning up at me as he reached for my zipper.
“I’m not talking to you,” I reminded him.
“This doesn’t require talking,” he pointed out.
“Jasper, this isn’t solving anything.”
“Talk or fuck, baby. Your choice.”
“Neither.”
He sighed, standing, and settling his hands on the island, pinning me in. “Do you understand, at all, where I’m coming from?”
“Excuse me for not wanting you to be beaten into a vegetative state.”
“So, you have no faith in my ability to hold my own?”
“Have you met my dad?” I retorted. “He’s got four inches and thirty pounds of muscle on you. Not to mention Stoney.”
“And you think your dad’s gonna let it go so far that I end up a vegetable?” he challenged. “He wants me in his club, not in a body bag. Did your brother end up a vegetable? I’ve got twenty pounds and two inches on him.”
I wrinkled my nose. “They took it easy on Ori.”
“But you think they’re gonna beat me so bad I’ll shit in a bag?”
I bit my lip.
“Letti, answer the question.”
“No, I don’t think I will.”
He kissed my nose. “You feel better now?”
“No.”
“Liar,” he said with a grin.
“Seriously, Jasper. No one I’ve dated has ever ran the gauntlet. I’m Daddy’s little girl. Not to mention, Orion’s baby sister. This is not good.”
He slid a lock of my hair over my ear. “Your dad’s good.”
“He said that? Specifically.”
“Yeah. Dads love me.”
“Lots of experience with dads, huh?”
He ignored that question as he grinned. “We talked things out. It’s all good. But, if you try to intervene, it might not be.”
I rolled my eyes. “You didn’t have to be such a dick about it.”
“I’ll concede that I could have been a little gentler in my approach, but sometimes, baby, you’re headstrong and stubborn, and you don’t listen to me.”
“What?”
He chuckled, leaning down to kiss me gently. “I love you. You have to trust me that I’ve got this. You have to trust your dad that he’s got this.”
“I don’t want your pretty face bruised. You have such lovely teeth as well. No losing them.”
“Baby, the purpose of the gauntlet isn’t to lose teeth or to beat anyone down.”
“Then why do it?” I snapped.
“Because it proves you’ve got what it takes to be part of the brotherhood. It’s not only to show you’re tough, but to see your future brothers face-to-face as you’re taking the blows. They need to look in your eyes to see what you’re really made of.”
I huffed. “Why can’t you macho assholes find some other way of bonding?”
“Like what?”
“
I don’t know, take a pottery class or, maybe, dance lessons.”
He laughed. “I’ll be sure to bring it up as my first point of order as an official patch at church. Until then, you’re just going to have to let me get hit in my pretty, macho, stupid face.”
I stroked his beard. “It’s not stupid.”
“Thank you. Now kiss me while I still have all my teeth.”
Before he could connect with my lips, I gripped his chin. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“I’m sure. I’ve got a high pain threshold, baby, and Needles will be there for medical treatment.” He kissed my neck. “And you’ll be waiting for me at home, like the perfect old lady, icepacks and pussy at the ready.”
“Don’t hold your breath.”
He chuckled.
“No, really. Don’t hold your breath. You might pass out. Remember to breathe.”
“You know I’ve been in a fight or two before, right?”
“What? No! When?”
“You want them listed chronologically or alphabetically?”
“Oh my god. Neither,” I growled. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I’ll be careful.” He grinned, kissing me. “You wanna fuck before we head to the club?”
“Yes, of course, I want to fuck before we head to the club.”
“Good answer.”
We made our way up to my room where he reminded me exactly what he could do with a full set of teeth.
* * *
“You know, now that we’re official, you’re gonna need to let me on the back of your bike,” I said as he drove my car to the compound.
He sighed. “Yeah.”
“I’m a good passenger, honey.”
“I’m sure you are.”
“I was on Dad’s bike before I could walk.”
“Not sure how I feel about that,” he admitted. “But you being a good passenger doesn’t actually make me want to take the risk.”
“We can ride around the property a bit.”
“That’s actually a good idea. We can do that next week.”
I beamed. “Can’t wait.”
Pulling up to the cabin, we climbed out of the car and Aero cupped my face. “Ready?”
“I have no idea,” I admitted.
He grinned, kissing me gently, then taking my hand and leading me inside.
“Aero!”
I turned just as Sabrina and Stoney’s kid came running up to Aero. He scooped him up and threw him in the air as Felix squealed with laughter. “Hey, buddy. Have you grown?”
Primal Hunger (Primal Howlers MC Book 4) Page 7
