“Oh, I plan on being fed your cock daily,” she winks, swaying her hips seductively, as she leaves me there with my mouth hanging open, and jaw hitting the ground.
“You alright, brother?” Axe queries, coming up next to me. He’s still taking in the room and I nearly buckle with laughter as I see him grab his chest.
“Fuck no. My woman still has the ability to leave me speechless even after all these years.”
“That was a helluva good decision you made, huh?” he questions me.
“Coulda really backfired but instead, it’s grown into something I only ever dreamed about, y’know? And hell, she was with us every step of the way when we first started the club.” She was our sounding board and rock when things were shaky in the beginning.
“Yeah, remember how she was actually in the meetings when we first started? Hell, her research was invaluable and of course, how she runs the warehouse at the trucking company is nothing short of spectacular. Never have to worry about what’s going on back there with her in charge.”
I can feel my chest swell with pride at Axe’s words. Paisley has been hands-on since the beginning and other than when we lost our baby, she’s been active in everything that goes on around here. Hell, she helped get Cara up to speed when she hooked up with Axe. “We’ve got some good old ladies, Axe.”
“That we do, brother, that we do. You two ready to get hitched this weekend?”
2
Twisted
I’m sitting here next to the love of my life watching her interact and laughing with the other old ladies and members. Not a day has passed in the last twenty-six years that my heart hasn’t beat for her. “Y’all remember that first apartment you two had over the bar where Paisley worked?” Axe asks.
Paisley giggles when I start chuckling and Hatch nearly falls out of his chair, he’s laughing so hard. “What’s so funny?” Smokey questions, looking at us like we’ve lost our minds.
“The...the place was barely big enough for a bed and a television,” Hatch wheezes out, “and they had a hot plate and a mini-fridge for a kitchen. When all of us were up there, it was standing room only!” By now, he’s laughing so hard, he’s doubled over, and tears are streaming down his face. We called it the stamp because it felt like if you turned around, you’d hit a wall. My face grows soft remembering all the hours we spent there, hidden away from the world.
“That big, huh?” Cara inquires.
“Girl, the bed was against the wall and we still only had room for a small dresser that was stacked almost to the ceiling with our stuff. The ‘living room’ had a small, two-seater loveseat in it that was a hideaway. You guys should’ve seen when Hatch and Braxton had to share that. It looked like two gorillas in a sardine box!” Watching the light on my woman’s face as she shares this makes my breath stall. Damn, still to this day she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve laid my eyes on.
“Didn’t know you ran that way, Pres,” Smokey drawls.
“Fucker, we didn’t have anywhere to stay and anyhow, we were usually so wasted since these two,” he motions toward me and Paisley, “were like fucking rabbits. Hard to sleep when all you hear is moaning.”
“Which is why my liver is like a rock! We spent more time down in the bar trying to avoid the tonsil dueling competition and drank enough to support that small town bar.” Hatch’s memory brings on several of my own.
“I’ll have you know neither of us have any tonsils,” I state, which causes the room to break out in laughter. “I thoroughly checked that shit out.”
As the laughter fades away to my memories, I glance at Paisley and see her eyes shimmering with her ‘laughter tears’ over the comments everyone is making and I’m caught once again in how perfect she is for me.
I’d known Paisley a mere four hours before I decided I wasn’t letting her go. She was mine, I knew it the instant her eyes met mine. Hatch and Axe helped me devise a plan to get her to Vegas, which happened to be ten minutes down the road from where we were. Her shift ended around twelve a.m. and we stuck around drinking and laughing with her for five hours. It’s as if I’d known her all of my life. I begin sharing our story from my point of view with our friends.
“Sweetness, the guys and I are heading to Vegas for a few hours. Why don’t you come on out and spend some time with us?”
“I don’t know...can I trust the three of you?” The glint in her eyes lets me know she’s teasing us.
“Scout’s honor,” Hatch holds up two fingers.
“Dude! That’s not the honor sign,” Axe sighs.
“How would you know? You’ve never been a scout!” Hatch plays with Axe.
“No, I wasn’t. But neither were you. But I have watched Star Trek and I know that’s the live long and prosper sign, you idiot.”
“Oh yeah, I’m definitely along for this ride,” Paisley laughs. “Let me go get my wallet from my apartment and we’re good to go.”
“We’ll go with you.” My fear is that if I let her walk out those doors, she’ll have time to think it over and change her mind.
“Yeah, we could use some fresh air,” Axe states, helping me out.
“Well, considering I live upstairs, it’s not long enough to gulp in any night air.”
“Say what now?” Hatch’s brows raise. “You live in a bar?”
“Not in a bar, above it.” She intently narrows her eyes in his direction.
“That’s. So. Cool! Drinks whenever you want, I can get down with it.” Hatchet looks like a kid that was just told to pick out whatever he wanted for treats from a candy store.
“It’s not very big,” she advises, “but it suits my needs for right now.”
“Tour!” Hatch shouts out, as he gulps down the last of his beer from his mug.
“It’s not even worth five cents,” she warns. “You’ll see.”
We followed her down a hallway to a locked door. After she ushers us up the stairs, I see another door at the top and am happy to see it’s locked as well. She unlocks the door and steps inside and we quickly file in behind her. “Uh, you weren’t kidding, were you?” Hatch asks as we stand nearly shoulder to shoulder in the smallest living room I’ve ever seen.
Her giggles send my senses reeling as she motions with her hand, “This is the living room, over in that corner is the kitchen, through that door is the bathroom and straight ahead is the bedroom. Voila! Tour over, please remember to tip your hostess.” Beauty and humor, two things I can live with.
“You cook in here?” Axe questions, walking over to the table where a hot plate sits. There’s a small mini fridge next to it and I worry that she might not be eating well.
“Not really, but it will warm up a bowl of oatmeal on a cold morning.”
“Babe, you live in a warm climate, when does it ever get cold enough for oatmeal?” Hatch asks.
“Good thing I’m not a huge fan of it then, huh? Let me grab my wallet,” she states, heading toward the corner she’s deemed her bedroom. My eyes note the double bed and immediately, I wonder how the hell I’m gonna fit. She goes over to the bed and crouches down to pull out a lockbox. Good girl, she’s using her head and not leaving anything of value out in the open. I make a mental note to get a stronger lock for the doors.
As we walk back down the stairs at the back of the bar, I look around and notice for the first time there’s not a handrail lining the wall. Looks like that will be one of the first things I do to improve this place. Can’t have her losing her balance and falling down these steps. They’re at a steep incline and I can mentally picture the three of us men attempting to climb them at the end of the night. We’ll already be stumbling around as it is and attempting to make it up this incline will make it that much more challenging.
If anyone was to hear my thoughts, they’d think I was an overbearing neanderthal, but my minds made up. I want her, I need her, and I will have her...forever if my cards lay out the way I’m envisioning them. I have this deep-seated feeling that she’s my forever, and when you f
ind that one, you don’t let them walk out of your life. You grab hold and dig in for dear life.
Once we’re out of the bar, I lace her fingers with mine and walk her over to my bike. Unlocking the saddlebag, I pull out two helmets, grateful that I bought an extra one when they were on sale. Of course, the guys gave me shit for it, but who’s laughing now?
“I used to ride with my grandpa,” she says as I put it on her head. She smiles as I do up the straps then lean in and kiss her nose.
“He was biker?” I ask.
“He wasn’t in a club, just loved riding. I went with him to different charity events and stuff growing up. Good memories.”
I’m hoping I can give her more good memories. Putting my own helmet on, I swing my leg over the seat and say, “Hop on, sweetness.”
Within minutes, we’re on the road with Axe taking point and Hatch riding behind me. An idea begins forming and I’m anxious for us to stop so I can toss it out to the guys. Her arms are wrapped snugly around me and feeling her tits pressed against my back has me fighting a useless battle to keep my cock from getting hard.
Not too long later we make it to the main strip in Vegas. First stop, a casino where we can do a little gambling. Plus, get some drinks into us for the upcoming night’s events. She doesn't know it yet, but she’s not going home a single woman...she’ll be leaving the strip a married one. I’ve never been one to jump head-first into a relationship, but there’s something about this particular woman that makes me want to jump in feet first. My heart and head are on the same page when it comes to her.
When we get off the bike, I grab her hand in mine and we intertwine our fingers. The electricity that zips through my body at her simple touch lets me know I’ve made the right decision where it comes to us. We walk through the doors of the casino and the excitement of everyone gambling is like an electric current. Hatch’s eyes widen with all the half-dressed women walking around. He throws a later sign over his shoulder as he follows a redhead towards the bathroom.
“Well, guess we’ll see him in about an hour,” Axe huffs out in laughter.
“What? In the bathroom?” Paisley asks astonished.
“Um, yep,” I answer her.
“Classy,” she looks over at me and wiggles her eyebrows. “Let’s hope he comes out of this with his dick still intact.” She pulls me towards the slot machines and even though they aren’t my favorite, I’d sit at that damn machine all night long if the glint in her eyes stays.
“Hang on, sweetness, we need to get change first,” I tell her.
“You go get the change, Travis, I’ll hold our machine. This one is gonna be a winner, I can feel it!” Her enthusiasm is contagious, and I find myself whistling as I head to the change machines and quickly feed a few twenties into the slot. Grabbing the cup they have next to the machine, I fill it up and then take a second one. Walking back toward her, I see Axe standing nearby, shooting death glares at the men who try to approach. The thing that hits me is she’s completely oblivious to their stares.
Handing her one of the cups, I sit at the machine to her left and start feeding the nickels into the slot. With Hatch otherwise ‘occupied’, Axe snatches a handful of my nickels and takes a seat at the machine on the other side of Paisley. A few minutes later a petite blonde wearing next to nothing comes and sits next to him. A smile forms on my face as I watch Axe make a fool over himself trying to impress this woman.
“Looks like your friend Hatch isn’t the only one looking to get lucky tonight,” Paisley states angling her head towards the two.
“I can’t take those two anywhere with me,” I dramatically sigh, causing her to roar out with laughter. Her head thrown back with her hair cascading down her back gives me another fantasy. I can see me behind her, pumping my hips back and forth, with those long tresses firmly in my grip. Adjusting myself, I begin to count how many times the machine spins seeking a match. “Hey, I’ll be back, gonna go with Daria here,” Axe utters, interrupting my thoughts.
“Daria, huh? Just keep it gloved.” He punches me in the shoulder and walks way, his arm slung around the blonde who he’s been flirting with for the last thirty or so minutes.
“Really? You have to remind him of that?” Paisley asks.
“No, not really, just giving him some shit. How are you doing over there?” I glance over just in time to see the jackpot hit. The bells and whistles go off and I watch as she jumps up and down, excitement causing her eyes to sparkle.
“We get to celebrate, Travis! Let’s go cash this in and see what we can get into. Wait, we need Axe and Hatch to come back first.”
“They’re resourceful, they’ll find us.” Wanting time with her to myself for a while, I grab her hand and we head to the cashier. Just as we get the funds, Hatch comes up with his redhead followed by Axe and Daria.
“Did ya win?” Hatch slurs out. Great, he’s fucking drunk.
“Yeah, she won big.”
“Let’s get a room and celebrate! We can order room service,” Paisley begins to bounce on the balls of her feet. More drinks in her, sounds good to me.
“That’ll work,” I agree with her.
“We need one of those suite things where we all have a room,” Axe announces while looking at Daria with stars in his eyes.
“Ooh, that sounds like fun!” Daria hollers out, her voice comes off as whiny. I’d rather be listening to nails sliding down a chalkboard. Axe is going to have to place tape over her mouth if he plans on getting off. There’s something about her that crawls under my skin, I can’t place my finger on it, but I hope for Axe’s sake we figure it out before he’s in too deep with her.
“Wait a minute,” Trinity interrupts my story. “Are you telling me that you two married the same day you met?”
“Dad met my mom at a casino?” Lily whispers, “You knew my mom, Aunt Paisley?” The interest in her face makes me shiver. Daria wasn’t a good person and Lily doesn't realize it, but she lucked out the day Daria walked away, and then when Cara entered her life.
I watch as Cara walks up to her daughter and wraps her arms around her. Cara isn’t the jealous type, if anything she wants the best for her kids. Axe walks up to join them, “Anything you want to know, I’ll tell ya. I didn’t realize you had questions where Daria is concerned,” Axe cautiously shares with Lily.
Lily’s face is contemplative, and she looks long and hard at her dad before saying, “I’m not lacking anything, Daddy, but no one has ever really talked about her before is all. I guess I’m curious.”
“There’s not much to say, baby girl. Not really. While I was out of the country on military assignment with your two uncles, she had you, dropped you off with Paisley, and disappeared.”
Yeah, she did a fuckton more than that, though. Hell, she abandoned Lily, who was a preemie, on my old lady and wife. Thank God for Nan, though. She came when Paisley called and between the two of them, they got that sickly little girl healthy before we came back to the States. She told me, during one of our rare phone calls, what was going on, but we agreed to keep Axe in the dark because there was nothing he could do from four thousand miles away. Instead, she and Nan took tons of pictures and started a baby book for the milestones that women think are so important. I glance at my old lady, pride radiating from me, as I think how hard it likely was for her to deal with an infant and a toddler. Although from my memories, I recall how she would tell me that Tig was a huge help.
3
Paisley
The first time the men went back overseas was hard. Not only did I find out I was pregnant, but Daria decided we needed to become the best of friends. She was the first person I’d see when I woke up and the last face to grace my presence as I’d escape to my apartment each night. The first night we all met Daria, I was tipsy and thought she was a good person. Apparently, when you’re drunk, and the blinders are on everyone comes across as pretty as a rainbow. That night is still one of the best nights of my life, outside of birthing my children.
“Wow
! Look at the view!” I squeal to Travis. We’re on the tenth floor, and from here everything looks alive and exciting.
“I see it,” he says, but when I twirl around to speak to him, I notice he’s not looking out the window but right at me. I can feel the heat spread across my cheeks when I realize he’s thinking about me being the beautiful one.
“Thanks,” I shyly counter.
“Wouldn’t say it, if it wasn’t the truth,” he adamantly affirms. “Prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
I wonder if his time in the military has caused some sort of traumatic brain injury because I’m really nothing special. I mean, I’m confident in my own skin, but I can’t compete with Miss America. Hell, I’m not very tall, and sometimes, my curves drive me crazier than I wanna think about. My best feature, the one thing I take pride in and truly like about myself, is my thick hair! But when Travis looks at me, I forget all of that because he makes me feel beautiful. “Um, so, how long are you guys on leave?”
“Two weeks, sweetness. Got any plans you don’t mind changing?” Two weeks...I have three weeks saved up of paid vacation time. This seems as good a time as any to use it.
For a chance to spend time with him? Hell no. Working in the bar, I’ve come across a lot of good-looking men, but he’s head and shoulders above any of them, and I find myself entertaining thoughts of what we can do during his leave. When we’re alone, of course. “Other than work, not really, but I’ve got some vacation saved up I can take.”
“Good, because I want to spend as much time with you as I can,” he states, moving closer and pulling me into his arms. Internally I’m screaming ‘me too’...but I keep a calm facade on the outside.
“Yeah?” I ask, my voice coming out breathy. Totally not like me at all, but he sets all the sparks flying and I forget to inhale. What happened to that calmness I was trying to portray? Seems to have fled the moment my mouth opened.
A Twisted Kind Of Love: Rebel Guardians MC Page 2