by Nikki Wild
“Love you too, Dad.”
All too eagerly, I disconnected the call. There was a tremendous pit in my knot-filled stomach. It had been easy to be so sure about this before, but now that it was a done deal…
“Well, that sounded pleasant.”
Hunter placed a finger under my chin.
I searched those dark, handsome eyes. Within them, I found overwhelming love and a deep pool of emotional support. Holding his warm gaze, I drank of it, bathed myself in it, strengthening my resolve for whatever would come of this.
“I love you,” he told me.
“I love you too, babe.”
Hunter planted a sweet, lingering kiss on my lips. I felt his rugged hands slide up my arms until they were massaging my shoulders, and I smiled into his kiss.
This is how I loved us best.
Supporting one another.
Nurturing each other.
Together, we were unstoppable.
“How did it go in there?” I asked.
Hunter sighed. “Not well.”
“I was afraid of that.”
“They’ll get over it with time,” he told me, holding me close. “Even with Grizz swooping in first, playing the diplomatic angle, it was a pretty tough sell. My Devil’s Dragons are a proud bunch.”
“Including you,” I whispered supportively.
The father of my child pulled away, his firm hands still rubbing into my shoulders. “Whether it works or not, they need time to come to terms with the fact that I’m even trying. But I hold their unquestioning loyalty. They trust my judgment, accept my decisions, and follow my lead…”
It seemed that Hunter had been telling me the truth all along, at least about how strongly his men felt about all of this. This entire time I had privately hoped that, out of his own reluctance, Hunter had intentionally overplayed whatever pushback they’d give us.
Apparently, that wasn’t the case. Maybe that was the best I was going to get out of them. At least they hadn’t tried to overthrow him in the middle of the meeting.
“Think they’ll be okay by the wedding?”
“Depends on when the wedding is,” he noted. “But they’ve given me their word that they will try to come to terms with this privately. The club isn’t happy, but they’re not going to fight us, even though they’ve made it clear that they are only supporting this decision out of respect for us.”
Well, better than nothing.
I moved one of my own hands up to hold his strong, rolling fingers against the tense joint, enjoying the feeling of his sympathetic, loving touch.
A sly smile pried up the corner of his lips.
“Well, babe, if we’re gonna make it for dinner, I guess we’d better get a move on…”
Eight
Sarah
It had been almost a full trimester since I’d ridden on the back of Hunter’s motorcycle.
My maternity doctor, bless her heart, had cleared me for riding on the back of a vehicle like this, but that had been a couple of months back.
She was probably going to kill me now.
Hunter made the best of the trip, driving a few under the speed limit all the while. Without a word, I knew he was trying to keep me feeling safe and secure against him. It was another little way in which he showed how meaningful I was to him, and I appreciated it, as always.
But between the growing baby perched above my bladder and the heavy rumbling of the engine, I must have made him stop at a gas station every fifteen minutes.
In the end, it was more like seven hours. All that time riding bitch on a throbbing, smoky motorcycle was grueling enough without the goddamn pregnancy symptoms.
At least it wasn’t my first rodeo…
Ten Years Earlier…
At the time I was a young, rebellious seventeen years old, my long hair fluttering in the wind. My arms were tightly wrapped around the tall, handsome biker as he drove us just over a dozen miles south of downtown Phoenix.
We were young and drunk on love.
Fate had been kind to us that night. Dad was buried up to his eyeballs at the precinct with a string of highly publicized robberies, and there was no way that he’d be home before 3AM. On Hunter’s request I’d pulled out an ironclad, rainy day alibi to cover my tracks.
My illicit boyfriend had kept our trip a surprise, telling me only to pack us a light picnic. All I knew was that we were heading somewhere “where we’ll be safe from your Dad. Hopefully.”
But it wasn’t long before I worked it out.
“Hunter…” I gasped.
I planted my lips on the nape of his neck. He leaned his skull back a little, turning slightly with a smile. “I thought you’d like this.”
“I haven’t been here since the last time with Mom, before she passed…”
Turning his attention back to the drive, he called out through the wind. “We don’t have to do this. I can take you somewhere else if you want.”
“No,” I replied into his ear. “It’s perfect.”
I knew that atop the low, nearby summit was the vantage point called Dobbins Lookout. There were two main ways to get up there – a drive, for those who just wanted to take a quick snapshot, and two miles of hike for the rest of us.
Hunter parked the bike in the parking lot near the trail entrance. Briefly glancing over at the only other vehicle, he let me down from the back of his bike with a kiss.
“They won’t find us here,” I reassured him.
“I know, I know…” He scratched the back of his head. The danger of my dad catching us was serious, but I couldn’t help thinking that Hunter was cute when he was nervous.
I unfastened the basket from the back of the bike and threaded my fingers into his. Together, we began the hike up towards our date spot.
Along the way up we passed another, older couple. Both appeared to be in their upper thirties, grinning at us over their glasses.
“How is it up there?” Hunter asked in passing.
“Splendid!” The man chuckled.
The woman pulled a little closer to him with the dropping temperature, giving us a quick wink. “Have fun, kids. The view’s spectacular.”
I gave them a polite smile as Hunter led me ever upwards through the rugged trail, keeping his eye out for anything dangerous or slithering. Rattlesnakes were common in these parts and Hunter had already told me tha t he’d had to face off against a few snakes in his youth. Knowing he knew what to do made me feel safe in his company.
After maybe twenty-five minutes of steady walking, we climbed up to the summit. Hunter’s hand released from mine as we surveyed the peak, spotting the familiar few benches. Some were better than others, and I picked a fairly solid one closer to the edge.
Together, we took our seats in front of that wide, majestic valley view of sprawling Phoenix. Its downtown skyscrapers looked positively tiny from up here, barely punching up from the muddled web of buildings. Dozens of miles away still, distant hills and peaks hung low against the hazy horizon.
We’d arrived just in time to catch the setting sun. Against the low cloud cover, the darkening sky was a heavenly canvas of orange, indigo, and lavender.
“It’s so beautiful,” I gasped.
“Yet, it pales in comparison to you.”
I punched him lightly in the arm. “You’re not cheesy, Hunter. Don’t be cheesy right now.”
We shared a laugh as I began unpacking the picnic. I’d baked chocolate chip cookies, sliced up green apples with caramel, and thrown together a medley of triangled sandwiches: turkey and mayo, ham and swiss, chicken salad...
Hunter put an arm around me as he took his second bite. “You outdid yourself, kiddo.”
“It’s not much, I know,” I shrugged.
He shook his head. “It’s perfect.”
I took another bite of ham and swiss – my favorite – and chomped through crispy lettuce as I leaned my head on his shoulder.
“This is perfect,” I nodded lovingly. “Thank you for bringing me her
e.”
After I swallowed and brushed my lips with the back of my arm, I leaned in towards him for a kiss. Hunter welcomed it and pulled me into a deep, passionate kiss, his breath faintly touched with chocolate and turkey.
“You taste strange,” I scrunched my nose.
“That’s what happens when you don’t let me wash my food down,” he chuckled before reaching for a bottle of cool, crisp water.
“I didn’t say I mind it.”
With a smile, he pressed a fingertip below the line of my round jaw. Dressed in black with a dark, renegade smirk on his lips, Hunter pulled this rebel sheriff’s daughter into a deep kiss that proved his deep, overwhelming love for her...
For me.
As I gazed into his dark, soulful eyes, with the most beautiful sunset of my life painting the skies before us, I knew in an instant that that was the night we would lose our virginities together…
Nine
Sarah
Long after my ass had gone numb, the familiar sight of Phoenix came into view. The anticipation was reaching a fever pitch, and I could feel Hunter slowly stiffen in front of me.
“We’ve got this, babe,” I said over the wind.
He merely nodded, focused on the road.
We made another quick stop for me to dash in and have my latest pregnancy pee of the trip. As I washed my face, I took a cold, hard look at myself in the mirror.
You’re strong, you’re an adult, I reminded myself.
Dad is going to just have to get over himself.
The woman who stared back at me was obviously unconvinced, and I grimaced at her.
Hunter was topping off his tank as I waddled out of the convenience store. Leaning against the pump with his arms crossed and his boots out, he offered me a supportive smile.
“How are you holding up, babe?” He asked.
I exhaled nervously. “Well, I’m roasting in these clothes, the entire world is shaking, and Connor’s obviously awake…”
“Is he?” Hunter perked up.
“After that ride? Definitely.”
I lifted up my sweater as Hunter pulled off his fingerless leather gloves. He dropped to a kneeling position in front of me, pressing his cheek and rugged palms to my swollen womb.
As if on cue, our son kicked.
A wide smile crossed Hunter’s lips.
“That’s our son,” his voice was thick with emotion. “I’ve never felt him kick before.” He looked up at me with such undying warmth in his eyes, his body still pressed against my womb. “Sarah… I can feel our baby moving around in there.”
I smirked lovingly.
“That’s right,” he told my baby bump, sliding his palm along my skin. “It’s me. I’m your Daddy... and I can’t wait to meet you, Connor.”
It crossed my mind, as I savored the moment, that this was how life was meant to be. I might have been exhausted and sweaty at a roadside gas station, and still feeling the world rattle around me…
But I had never been happier.
“He’s probably wondering what the hell we’re doing way out here,” I chuckled. “We’ve been on the road a long time.”
“When this is all said and done,” he reminded me as he rose to a towering stand, “We’re going to have more miles to cross. Thanks to Grizz, we’ve got somewhere new to call home…”
New Orleans, I thought wistfully to myself. I’d never been there, personally. But I hoped our son would love it.
We hit the road again shortly after.
Finally, as the overhead sun finally began to lower in the clear sky, we came to my old street. The neighborhood was exactly as I’d left it before getting wrapped up with Hunter again. Staring down at us from either side were a line of pale, two-story houses with tan rooftops and tall, round alcoves shielding the front doors. Every yard was buried under a small lake of stones; without a blade of grass in sight, the stones gave way only to thick desert shrubbery that jutted out in green or dark purple patches and bursts.
Hunter turned his head slightly, muttering just loud enough for me to hear over the rumble of his engine. “Well, this brings back memories…”
It sure did.
Our destination was a house coming up on our left, one of the nicer ones on the street. It wasn’t quite the overpriced, imposed mansion that loomed at the end of the cul-de-sac, but it was still picturesque and clearly maintained with care.
“Your Dad has always been concerned with appearences…”
“That’s the ex-military in him,” I noted. “Ever since his time in the army, Dad’s had a lifelong obsession with keeping things neat and clean.”
Hunter slowed us down, gazing at the house. I couldn’t see his expression from behind him, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t tell how he bristled at being so close to it. The clear, visible reminder of his discomfort in being here only further endeared my lover to me, and I lovingly squeezed his torso in my embrace.
There was something under his breath.
“I didn’t hear you,” I said.
“Thinking aloud,” he apologized. “What you said about your Dad. There are definitely worse obsessions to have.”
I dwelled on that for a moment.
Hunter grunted as he turned us onto the concrete driveway, parking right in front of the closed garage door – next to my father’s old truck. From here, we couldn’t see the front door, but undoubtedly my father had heard the rumbling of the motorcycle engine.
I wondered what he thought of that.
“Give me a second to check the bike,” Hunter noted after he carefully helped me off the back, dropping to his knees on the driveway. “Think I heard a noise I don’t recognize. It’ll give me peace of mind to do a quick look-over.”
“That works,” I smiled. “That’ll give me few minutes alone with Dad, anyway.”
He glanced up with a wide grin. “Kind of what I was thinking. Not that I’m exactly eager to look him in the eye again… But seeing you without me first might keep the old coot cooled down.”
I laughed bitterly. “One can hope…”
“Hey,” he stood up again. In a stride, he closed the distance between us to grasp my shoulders and look me square in the eyes. “Sarah, no matter what goes down, I’ve got your back… and I promise you, I’ll be on my best behavior. If there’s any chance this thing is gonna work… I’ll give it my all. I know how important this is to you.”
I smiled appreciatively.
“Thanks, babe.”
I planted a quick peck on his lips.
“Go,” he said, flashing me a handsome smile.
While Hunter knelt back beside his chopper and pulled open a compartment with a couple of tools, I turned towards the familiar front door of the Buchanan household.
I had spent the latter half of my childhood growing up in this house, always under the stern, protective eye of the local sheriff. He’d been a firm but loving father, rough around the edges but he was still my dad at the end of the day.
He always told you how proud you made him…
It was true.
After the fiasco that drove Hunter into the desert, along with whatever few survivors and escapees were left in the Devil’s Dragons MC, I had followed my father’s ragged, prestigious footsteps into law enforcement.
Months of police academy…
Years working the late night beat…
Crushing every gender barrier on the force…
The day I’d been promoted to detective was the happiest of my father’s life, and he made sure I damn well knew it. For all his flaws, my disciplinarian father had never been prouder.
Now, it was time to bring the bad boy home to Dad… the very same punk kid he had spent years trying to swat away from me, using every resource as a police sheriff to pull it off.
Worse, I was bringing that punk back home with a glistening ring in my pocket, and a kicking baby in my womb…
I smiled to myself. Well, here goes nothing.
My knuckles rapped loudly on the do
or.
There was the sound of small commotion from nearby, probably the living room. After all, he was expecting us, and I heard the soft footfall of his approaching steps.
3…
2…
1…
The doorknob jingled, and the door pulled open from the inside. There, standing awkwardly in the doorway and leaning on his cane, was my sun-weathered father, dressed in white slacks and an airy matching button-up.
“Sarah!” He greeted me, his arm held wide.
I carefully embraced him. “Daddy!”
It felt so great to hold him again. His age was beginning to wear him down, and he was thinner and rougher than I remembered.
It was crazy to think that I hadn’t seen him in almost a year. That had been right before I found a photo of Hunter, buried in the case files on my first day as a Phoenix detective…
“You’re dressed so warmly,” he grunted, eying my scarf and the thick garment. “Too sunny for that shit! You’re the first person I’ve seen wearing a sweater out here in ages…”
“Oh, there’s a nice breeze out…”
My father waved that thought away.
“Bah, doesn’t matter. If you’re comfortable like that, who am I to judge? All that’s important is that you’re here now…”
He looked at me with such fondness.
I was almost utterly taken aback.
My father stepped aside, pulling the door further ajar. “It’s great to see you, sweetheart. Now, why don’t we get you and your man inside, wherever he is, and out of this warm Arizona air? I’ve got dinner heated on the stove. I cooked your favorite, like I said!”
“That’s great, Dad. I appreciate it.”
I stepped inside after him, almost tripping on the doorframe. My father turned on his cane to help, but I waved him off.
“I’m okay. Just a bit nauseous…”
“From those clothes?” He asked thoughtfully. “Why don’t we get you into something a little cooler? You still have some things in your old bedroom, I’m sure that stuff will fit…”
I quickly banished that thought.