Taming Blade (Kings Reapers MC Book 5)

by Nicola Jane

  I find Mum making coffee in the kitchen. “Hey,” I mumble, hugging her then taking a seat at the table. It’s been three days since I’ve moved from my room and I feel dizzy all of a sudden.

  “Wow, you look terrible,” she says, touching my forehead in that way she always does when I’m not well.

  “I’ve had a sickness bug,” I explain.

  “Which explains why you haven’t called me back. I arrived in London two days ago.” She places a coffee down for each of us and joins me at the table. “Your nan spoke to me. She’s worried.”

  “Why?”

  “She said you mentioned a new boyfriend.”

  I scoff, rolling my eyes. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  “She said he was a biker.”

  “Mum, I don’t have a boyfriend,” I repeat. “And honestly, I feel far too ill to deal with this today.”

  “Your real dad was a biker,” she blurts out and I freeze, my eyes fixed on her. She’s never talked about my real dad. He left when Mum was pregnant and then she met her new husband when I was a toddler. I’ve always called him Dad because he raised me like I was his own. Mum picks at some imaginary fluff on the table. “He was bad news, Tillie. I can’t stress to you enough the dangerous things those men do, the trouble they get themselves into.” She visibly shudders. I think back to the dead man and bite my inner cheek hard to stop me from breaking down and telling her everything. “I saw things with him, things no one should ever see. He was cruel and evil. I ran from him as soon as I discovered I was pregnant because I didn’t want him anywhere near you. He would have destroyed us both, eventually.” A sad look passes over her face.

  “Mum, I don’t have a boyfriend. We bumped into the local MC gang on a night out and we flirted. Nothing came of it, and he's long gone. I’m not gonna run off with him or have his babies.” I smile softly. “You don’t need to worry.” It’s a lie, but a necessary one to keep her from worrying, and besides, we’re history, right?

  “But I do worry, Tils,” she mumbles. “I worry your dad will find you, that he’ll hurt us again.”

  I frown, taking her hand. “Surely, if he was gonna turn up, he’d have done it by now. Twenty-eight is a little late to be rocking up and pulling the dad card. I’d send him away if he dared to.”

  “He isn’t the type of man who you can send away, that’s the problem.”

  “You want me to ask the guy from the local MC if he knows him?” I ask.

  She shakes her head. “No, that’s the last thing you should do. If they know him, they might tip him off, there’s a deep loyalty between those sorts of men. I didn’t tell him I was pregnant. I ran. Just promise me you’ll stay away from this man and his gang.”

  I nod, giving her a sincere smile. Blade’s done with me. He would have turned up here by now if he wasn’t. I have to move forward and forget about him. “There’s a man showing interest,” I say. “Not from an MC club. In fact, he’s a real gentleman. He keeps sending me flowers. We’ve only had one official date, but he was nice.”

  Mum smiles, a look of relief on her face. “That’s good news. A romantic man makes a good boyfriend.”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I haven’t heard from him since the last date.”

  “Then call him,” she says, patting my hand. “Sometimes you have to change your own destiny instead of waiting for others to make the move. Call him.”

  I took Mum’s advice and called Ethan. He’d been working shifts and hadn’t had a chance to call me to arrange a second date. It’s been a whole week since I saw Blade in the shop and I’ve heard nothing. I’ve picked my phone up a million times to call him but lost my nerve. I made the right choice, and I have to stick to it.

  Sara wraps my hair around the heated curler. “Maybe I should just stay single,” I say. “We did make a pact to stay away from men. And this back and forth between guys is slutty behaviour.”

  “We both know that was a moment of madness. And anyway, it’s only a second date. No one’s talking about relationships. You are single, you made no promises to either man, so I say let the sluttiness commence!”

  “I feel like since Travis, I’ve been on a downward spiral. Should I tell Ethan that I slept with Blade?”

  She pulls my head back so I’m looking up at her. “No!” she says bluntly. “Chill the fuck out and keep calm. You’re overthinking this. You don’t owe Ethan an explanation. Just draw a line under Blade and move forward.”

  “Maybe I’m on the rebound,” I mutter.

  “Christ, you’re depressing me. Just go tonight and enjoy yourself. Don’t make any commitments, just make the most of being treated well. And think about how happy it’ll make your mum.”

  Ethan picks me up and drives us to an expensive restaurant owned by a famous chef.

  “You really didn’t need to go to all this trouble,” I say, taking the seat he holds out for me.

  “It was no trouble. How have you been?”

  I blush, memories of Blade filling my head. “Fine. I’ve been ill, so I was in bed for most of the week. How about you?”

  “I’ve been working. We’ve been crazy busy. Sorry you’ve been ill.”

  “What do you do again?” I ask.

  “Behind the scenes work. It’s complicated and extremely boring.”

  I nod. “Sounds intriguing.”

  “It was a nice surprise to hear from you, by the way.”

  “I don’t usually chase men,” I say, laughing. “My mum is in London for a few days, and she convinced me.”

  “You told your mum about me?” He grins. “And she approves because she got you to make a move.”

  I laugh again. “Yes, she does. She’s a sucker for a romantic.”

  “Well, I’m glad she talked you into it. Although, I was going to call and ask you out tonight anyway. What does your dad think about you dating?”

  I grin. “He’s not that type of dad. Mum is the overprotective one, he’s,” I shrug, “chilled. Mum spoke about my real dad when she came to see me,” I add, and he raises an eyebrow.

  “You said before she never talks about him.”

  “She doesn’t. I got the impression she’s scared of him. She said he was a nasty piece of work and in an MC. I think she got spooked cos my Nan told her about the Kings Reapers.”

  “Ah,” says Ethan, with a knowing look. “That makes sense. I told you those guys were no good.”

  I nod. “I know. I’m listening, I promise.” I smile. “She felt she had to warn me off hanging around bikers.”

  “For good reason,” he says. “You still hanging around them?”

  I frown, resenting being spoken to like a lovesick teenager. “I don’t know why everyone thinks I was hanging around them. I happened to bump into them a few times. Blade is a regular in the shop, but there’s nothing more to it.”

  He senses my snippiness and smiles gently. “ How’s your plans for the cocktail bar coming along?” he asks in a swift move to change the topic.

  We eat seafood and drink wine. It’s relaxed and easy, how a date should be, or at least, how I’d dreamed a good date to be. Ethan is chilled, he smiles a lot, and he has kind eyes. He says all the right things, and by the end of dinner, I feel sad, not wanting our time together to end.

  “We could go for a drink,” I suggest as we head back to his car. It’s a stupid idea—I’ve already had a bottle of wine and he’s driving so hasn’t touched a drop.

  “I don’t want to rush us,” he says, and I nod, feeling the rejection. He rushes to correct it. “I mean, I don’t wanna mess it up by rushing. I really like you, Matilda, and I think every man before me was a dick to you. I want to be different, and if we go for drinks, I’ll end up kissing you and trying to . . .” he trails off when I look at him eagerly. “I want us to flow naturally and wait until we’re both sober.”

  “You’re right,” I say once we’re in the car. “All my exes were dicks. One was practically married and the other was . . .” I shrug. Words
like hot, sexy, bossy, and alpha all come to mind, followed by murderer, ass, and selfish. I shake my head and half laugh. “Never mind.”

  BLADE

  “What crawled up your arse?” snaps Lake.

  “Nothing,” I mutter, drinking the whiskey Frankie just poured.

  “You’ve been a moody bastard for days now. Is this over that girl?”

  I see Lake’s sister, Charlotte, recoil slightly. I shake my head. “No. I’m tired is all.”

  Eva rolls her eyes. “If you miss her, go and see her.”

  “I don’t miss her,” I hiss. “Who said I did?”

  “It’s written all over your face,” she says. “Cree wants me to befriend her.”

  Cree talked about getting one of the ol’ ladies to become friendly with Tillie so we can keep ears on her. Riggs is worried she’ll give a witness statement to the cops when they eventually show back up to arrest me. “Anna seemed to get along well with her,” I mutter.

  “She’s busy looking after Riggs and the kids. He doesn’t wanna add to her already heavy load.”

  “I don’t know what the fuss is about. Tillie won’t talk to the cops. If she was going to, she would have already.”

  “We don’t wanna see you go to prison. And until the cops come back and arrest you, we won’t know what evidence they have. If they happen to find out you two were a thing, they’ll question her. Is she likely to crumble under pressure? We’re just thinking about you, Blade,” says Eva.

  “Yeah, who else would throw the knives around here?” asks Chains with a laugh.

  “I’m gonna accidentally, on purpose, bump into her,” says Eva. “Just check in with her and see how she’s doing. Hopefully, she’s moved on and just wants to forget about the Kings Reapers.”

  I nod once, not wanting to answer her in case she realises that I don’t want Tillie to move the fuck on. I want her here, with me. I sigh heavily and hold my glass up for Frankie to refill.

  Riggs comes out of his office and scans the room. His eyes fix on me and I groan. “I need some brothers down the docks. Blu, Blade, and Chains.”

  “For?” I ask. Luckily for him, I’ve only had one glass.

  “To unload a trailer full of sex toys,” he says and we all spin around to look at him. “I told you, I wanna invest in other shit.”

  I peer into the first box off the trailer. He wasn’t kidding. At least twenty boxed gold dildos stare back at me. “What the fuck’s he gonna do with all this shit?” I ask.

  Blu smirks. “If you gotta ask that, you haven’t lived.”

  “I know how to use a fucking dildo,” I mutter. “I’m just wondering what Riggs expects to do with all this. This shit would fill a shop. He don’t own a sex shop!”

  “If you’d been around more these last few weeks, you’d know he’s investing in this to see if it pays off. He knows a club owner looking for this sort of thing in bulk.”

  “A club owner?” I ask, confused.

  Blu throws another box to me and when I miss, it splits and boxed butt plugs scatter. I raise a brow. “It’ll be a club with a difference, stupid. One of the ones you like to visit when you go to Blackpool,” Chains says with a grin. “Riggs wants in on the club.”

  “At least you won’t have to ride far out if we open in London,” adds Blu.

  “I don’t pay for sex,” I snap. “I don’t need to.”

  “Cos you can tap Charlotte whenever you feel like it,” states Chains.

  “Man, shut the hell up. You’ll get my arse kicked if you keep talking shit like that,” I answer. The last thing I want is Lake on my back about his sister.

  “On a serious note,” says Blu, helping me collect the butt plugs. “You heard much from your girl?”

  “She ain’t my girl, brother. We’re over. I’m no good at relationships. I always fuck it up.”

  “That’s what I used to think, till I found Gia.” I roll my eyes. All these brothers are fools in love. I don’t have the time or patience for that.

  After we’ve emptied the trailer into the waiting van, I leave Chains and Blu to take it back to Riggs. I detour, driving past Tillie’s place because that’s the pussy I’ve become.

  I slow as I approach her house and spot her on the doorstep talking to that weird stalker guy. I grip my handle bars tighter. At least I can tell Eva she’s moved the fuck on. As I pass, she looks up and stares at me. I’m glad she’s seen me, and I hope she feels bad for fucking me then seeing him.

  All the way back to the club, her face haunts me. It’s not until I get inside that the guy's face enters my mind. I’ve seen his face before, and it bothers me. I head straight for Eva. “I saw Tillie,” I say, and she raises her eyebrows. “Not to speak to. In passing,” I clarify. “She was with a guy. But I’ve seen his face before. I feel like I should know him. Try and get to the bottom of that.”

  Chapter Ten

  TILLIE

  It’s been two weeks since I saw Blade, and I can’t lie, it’s killing me. He drove by my house last night as I was saying goodnight to Ethan. I thought he might call me, but he didn’t. I fell to sleep staring at my phone. And then I get mad at myself for even thinking about him like that. Ethan deserves my full attention yet Blade keeps creeping in my mind. What is it about bad boys that hooks me in?

  I shake my head as Sara spins in a new dress she’s trying on. “It’s too short,” I say. “You can’t wear that to your dad’s charity ball.”

  “It’d give the rich bastards there something to gossip about,” she mutters.

  “Oh my god, I thought it was you,” says a female voice. Eva enters the shop followed by Lake. He eyes Sara and grins, making a beeline for her.

  “Hey.” I smile. “How are you?”

  She rolls her eyes and takes a seat next to me in the window. “Honestly, I’m drained. I’ve been shopping for an hour and Lake is no help. He tells me everything looks fine.” She glances around the shop and stands, grabbing a dress off the rails. “This is it,” she gasps. “This is the one.”

  “Try it on,” I encourage. “I’m waiting around on Sara anyway.”

  “You’re a real doll. Thanks.” She smiles, rushing to the changing rooms.

  I watch Sara and Lake talking in a hushed whisper. The way she looks at him is something I’ve never witnessed from her before. She really likes him, and it breaks my heart.

  “Tillie, could you come in here and help me?” shouts Eva.

  I go into the change room as she pulls back the curtain. “I can’t fasten it,” she says, turning her back to me. I take the zipper firmly and tug it up. “I can’t do this with Lake.”

  “Weren’t any of the women free today?” I ask.

  “Anna is looking after Riggs and the kids, so she’s got it pretty full on right now. Leia is throwing herself into motherhood, rightly so, of course, and Gia is a nightmare when she comes shopping. She has a million outfits but still buys a million more and insists on trying everything on. She looks amazing and it makes me feel fat and frumpy.” Eva turns and eyeballs herself in the mirror.

  “It looks great,” I say. “And I find it hard to believe you’d ever look fat or frumpy.”

  “I think Cree will hate it,” she mumbles. “He’s weird about me showing this much skin.”

  I scoff. “Tell him to shove it up his arse. Be proud and show it all off.”

  Eva laughs. “Men like Cree can’t be stressed like that. It causes all kinds of naughty drama. He’d lock me away in the bedroom until I promised never to wear it again.”

  “What?” I gasp, horrified.

  She smiles. “No, nothing like that,” she insists. “He loves me so much, he’d never hurt me. He just likes me to be his in every way. He doesn’t want other guys staring at me like that. It pisses him off.”

  “Sounds a little controlling to me,” I mutter.

  “I’m not explaining it so well,” she says. “The guys in the MC aren’t like ordinary guys.”

  “You’re telling me,” I retort.
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  “They’re complicated and broken. They’ve been through a lot thanks to this damn government and the Forces. Cree’s past is,” she pauses, “dark. But he’s amazing and I wouldn’t have him any other way. A moment with him is worth all the stress of avoiding scanty dresses like this, cos when he gets stressed, he takes it out on me,” she says, winking seductively. The penny drops and my mouth forms an O shape. “And most of the time, I can handle that. I’d wear something like this just to get his blood pumping. But tonight, I want something pretty and elegant. I want his eyes on me the entire night.”

  “Where are you going?” I ask.

  “Enzo’s nightclub. It’s Cree’s birthday.”

  “I know the perfect dress,” I say, heading back into the shop and retrieving the dress I saw but couldn’t afford.

  I hold it out to her and she smiles wide. “I love this,” she gasps, taking the white dress. I unzip the short dress and she shimmies out of it, quickly trying on the white dress. It hugs all her curves. The split running up the thigh isn’t obvious until she walks, which is the perfect balance of elegant yet sexy. “So, how’ s things with you? Are you seeing anyone?” she asks.

  I smile. “Why are you asking?”

  “Just interested,” she says. “I told Blade he’d fucked up. You won’t be single for long.” My heart squeezes at the mention of his name, but I resist the urge to ask after him. “These guys are stubborn and foolish at times. It makes me mad when they mess up a perfectly good relationship.”

  “We weren’t in a relationship,” I tell her.

  “But you could have been if he hadn’t of . . .” she pauses, looking at me with sympathy. “That first date was a wash out, I get that, but he isn’t all bad, yah know. Blade is funny and easy to talk to. All the women love being around Blade.”

  “I bet,” I mutter.

  “Oh fuck, I didn’t mean like that. God, I’m messing this all up. Why don’t you come tonight and I’ll buy you a cocktail to make up for it? I can put you and your friend on the guest list.”