“Well, it’s pretty damn comfortable, and I’d like to see you go a night without me by your side and fulfilling all of those dirty desires you have after writing for a day. Those sex scenes really rev you up, and you told me just last night that your bob wasn’t cutting it anymore.”
“Too motherfucking much information!” I holler.
“If I have to know about his,” he points at Jaxson’s crotch, “dick coming near you, you can deal with mine. And watch your mouth, little girl.” I stick my tongue out at him because, well, I’m his daughter and what else can I say or do when he gives me that fatherly tone?
“Oh no I can’t! That’s gross! I was immaculately conceived!” At least that’s what Aunt Trinity used to declare when Claree and Talon started a family.
“Sex isn’t something anyone should be ashamed about,” Mom interjects.
“Woman, that’s only because you think, sleep and breathe sex!” Dad shouts.
“Jayden, you’re this close,” Mom holds her thumb and finger together, “on finding your teeth missing! As a matter of fact, keep fucking talking and I’ll remove your tongue. You’d make a much better mute than us all having to listen to the words you spit out.”
“Don’t threaten my tongue, otherwise I can’t eat your pussy.”
“Enough!” I bellow out, “my therapy has just expanded by years instead of months. Jaxson, get me out of here and make me forget.”
“Gladly,” he whisks me up in his arms and carries me over his shoulder.
“Are y’all doing what I think y’all are?” Dad cries out like a kid whose candy has been stolen from him.
“Lalalala,” I sing out. If I pretend I don’t hear him, maybe he’ll stop.
“We live with a bunch of imbeciles,” Jaxson mutters to me as he steadily marches us away.
“Wait, aren’t you coming home?” Dad yells.
“Nope, I am home, Dad,” I holler back just as we near the back door.
“Wonderful, fucking wonderful.” I hear in the distance as we hastily make our retreat.
“He’s fucking crazy,” I mutter to Jaxson.
“Are you just now recognizing that fact?” he inquires.
“No, but sometimes he surprises me.”
“I’ve got a surprise for you,” he states, climbing the stairs. And does he ever, he shows me the rest of the night what that surprise consists of.
Seventeen
Jaxson
The weeks have gone by quickly and tonight I have two surprises for Rae. One, she’s having her cut ceremony and two, Capone and I have been working our off hours on a house that I purchased with her in mind. I have DJ’s approval that she’s going to love it. The minute I saw it, I knew it would be the perfect place for us. There’s room to add on down the road if we end up with a large family, but for the time being, I’m good with it being just the two of us.
Her therapy has been ongoing, but it got a huge boost last weekend, when we sat in the clubhouse with everyone else and watched that fucker Marcus’ father, the DA, get arrested after multiple indictments were brought against him for his nefarious doings. He was involved in money laundering, accepting bribes, and using prisoners to handle his dirty work with promises of early paroles. The only reason that one came to light was one of the men approached had minimal time left and he didn’t want to jeopardize his release. Once he told the warden, an immediate investigation was launched, and it soon became evident what the prick was up to.
She’s been writing furiously in her journal and I know it’s likely the letter she told me that Marie wanted her to write. I know it’s a good thing, but I hate that she has to revisit the shit he did to her. Smiling, I head into the clubhouse and see her sitting at a table, her laptop open as she works steadily on a book idea that’s been plaguing her.
“Whatcha doing, Rae?” I ask as I lean down and kiss her.
“My book.” I know she’s not trying to dismiss me, she just gets so enthralled in it that she doesn't do well when interrupted.
“Going okay?”
“So far, yeah. I’m nervous because it seems to be going so well, but Mom assures me that happens sometimes. My characters have a mind of their own. Can you give me a bit so I can get to a good stopping point?”
“Yeah, baby. I’ll run up and grab a shower.” She looks at me then and her eyes widen. I’m filthy from head to toe thanks to slipping and falling into the mud puddle off the back deck at our house.
“Holy shit, Jaxson, were you wallowing in the mud or something?”
“Or something,” I mumble, claiming her lips again. “Be ready when I get back, Rae.”
“Sure, the barbeque doesn’t start for another hour, I’ll be ready.” I watch as she re-immerses herself in her make-believe world. She won’t let anyone read it, declaring it isn’t ready to share. It shouldn’t surprise me since her mom’s the same way when the women beg to read her current work.
Taking the stairs two at a time, I enter our room and grab some clean clothes before I head into the shower. As I watch all the dirt flow down the drain, I shake my head in amusement at my own clumsiness. Normally, I’m sure-footed, but we’ve had massive amounts of rain lately, causing havoc on our town. My attention was elsewhere when I took that last step down as I was thinking about all the work that’s been held up due to the weather. It takes a good twenty minutes of scrubbing my hair to get all of the dried up clumps out. The bottom of the tub becomes a muddy mess and I know I need to clean it before Rae comes in here.
My woman seems to have become a little OCD when it comes to the room being cleaned. I worried it stemmed from the mentality of that fucker who demanded a spotless territory, but my woman reassured me it’s only because her eyes burn and her hands itch when she sees the messes I leave behind. I’m trying to be a good old man and help her out since she has so much on her shoulders these days between finishing up school and wanting to release her first book next month.
Once I’m finally clean, I search for the bottle of cleaning stuff she uses in the tub and spray it down then grab the scrub brush and go to town until the tub is once again sparkling. She doesn’t know it yet, but we won’t be staying here tonight. However, I want our room here at the clubhouse to be ready in case we need to use it again in the near future.
Finally dressed, I head back downstairs and stop at Axe’s office. Knocking, I wait to hear him say “come in” before I walk through the door. “Did it arrive?” I inquire. He nods and hands me a box. Opening it, I pull out the butter-soft cut that clearly states ‘Property of Jaxson’ on the back. On the front is her name and I managed to find a flaming phoenix patch to put on the other side. “It looks good,” I finally state after folding it and placing it back in the box.
“You ready for this?” His raised eyebrows and curious question is stated in a way that lets me know he’ll hack my dick off if I say anything other than yes.
“Yeah. It blows me away that she accepted me, Axe, because that fear was the reason I pushed so hard. I know I used our age difference, but that was the least of it.”
“You’re a good man, Jaxson. Knew it all those years ago and my opinion hasn’t changed, you’ve proved yourself to not only your brothers and their old ladies, but to her as well. A loyal brother to a fault and one that we’re all glad has our backs.” If I had a pussy I’d be crying a flood of overflowing tears at his sentimental words.
Not really sure what to say because his words have me literally choked up, I simply say, “Thanks, Axe.”
“Wouldn’t say something I didn’t mean, now...go get Rae and let’s get this party started.” Taking him up on his advice I go out to the main room where she was earlier but see no sign of her or her things.
“She’s already out back hanging out with Lily, Maysen, Claree and all of the younger ones,” Trinity states as she passes me on her way towards the rooms.
“Thanks,” I supply walking out to find my woman. I know it’s only been a few minutes since I saw her last, but any leng
th of time I spend without her in my arms feels like an eternity. Grabbing a beer from the cooler, I head towards the laughter and find the group of women laughing like hyenas over something. “What’s so funny?” I inquire as I lean in and kiss her.
“I was...I was explaining how you resembled that guy from Peanuts,” she stammers.
“Who? Linus? Charlie Brown? Schroeder?” I’m running through the names I remember and all of them start laughing harder.
“Pigpen!” shouts Lily. At her words, I shoot a mock glare at my woman who is laughing so hard she’s got tears streaming down her face.
“Woman, I’ll have you know that mud can be very therapeutic to your skin.” Yeah, I’m spouting bullshit right now, it’s something I heard on some stupid infomercial one night.
“Not regular mud, it’s special mud,” Claree informs me.
“What the fuck? How can mud be special?” I wanna call bullshit because mud is nothing more than dirt and water mixed together.
“They make sure it doesn’t have any junk in it, I don’t know exactly. I’m not a scientist or anything, but I watch documentaries from time to time.” Okay, these women are their own brand of crazy and I need to get my old lady far away before she’s infected. I think these women have a screw loose, I still say give me a bucket of water and I can go to any batch of sand and create mud to use in all forms...mud wrestling is the top thing that comes to mind.
My mind suddenly gets lost in visions of a naked Rae and myself wrestling around in a pile dirtying each other spectacularly before I clean her up.
“Y’know they’re all crazy, right?” Smokey mutters.
“Kinda figured it when they started saying that there’s ‘special mud’ or some shit.” I use my fingers in air quotes while mimicking their words.
“Y’all are calling us crazy? I don’t remember being the one laying up in a tree a couple of weeks ago,” Rae points out.
“Yeah, well I had a pissed off papa grizzly on my ass. You’d hide too if his claws were out.” He looks at her as if she’s a special brand of nuts.
“Don’t y’all start this shit,” Axe walks up and joins us with a beer in his hand.
“We didn’t start anything, the dynamic duo there did,” Claree rolls her eyes in exasperation.
“Hey, don’t put me in that category with Smokey, that’s Bandit’s job.”
“I don’t appreciate you tagging me with any labels especially while combining it with him,” Bandit points at his twin.
“Hey, I resent that,” Smokey flusters out.
“I can’t take this shit.” Axe throws his hands in the air and swivels on his feet and walks away from us all.
“Take a walk with me,” I utter to Rae. She walks up to me and takes my stretched out hand as we walk towards the back of the property.
“What’s going on?”
“There’s going to be some surprises tonight, I just want to warn you. I don’t want anything catching you off guard with all the progress you’re making.”
“What kind of surprises?”
“They wouldn’t be ones if I told you. Just don’t want you flipping out or anything.” She’s grown so much since we first rescued her several months ago and now that we’re home with the rest of the family, she’s settled further.
“That’s not fair, Jaxson!” She’s never been good at waiting and doesn’t tolerate the unknown gracefully.
Grinning at her, I pull her close and kiss her, not stopping until we’re both breathless. “Patience, Rae.”
“Yeah, you’ve known me how long now? Has that ever been one of my qualities that you recall?”
I start laughing because when she was a little kid, her impatience to know what she got for Christmas led her to unwrap everything under the tree, then rewrap it. Only, she got the tags screwed up. Imagine Hatch’s surprise when he got a Barbie dreamhouse one year. They had to resort to keeping nothing under the tree until well after she fell asleep on Christmas Eve.
* * *
Ralynn
* * *
How could he tease me like this? Telling me there’s an upcoming surprise and then keeping it from me like that. I swear sometimes I want to smack him upside his head, then I remember how much I enjoy said head as it’s between my thighs. He frustrates me, then puts me back into an amazing mood. We continue walking in silence until Nan hollers out that dinner’s ready.
Making our way through the family style buffet set up, I grab a couple of pieces of rib, brisket, corn on the cob, potato salad and green bean casserole. Some of my favorite foods all blended together into one dinner. Grabbing silverware, I head towards a picnic table, Jaxson close behind.
“Looks like Nan went all out for you,” Jaxson murmurs in my ear.
“I was always her favorite,” I announce proudly.
“I don’t have any favorites, Rae.” Nan scolds me like she always used to whenever I’d say this and have Lily and Luca crying like a couple of tit bags.
“Don’t worry, Nan. I now know that I’m your favorite,” Lily sticks her tongue out at me and all I can seem to see happening from this squabble is a bunch of food flying and insults shared. It wouldn’t be the first time and I highly doubt it’ll be the last. We’re mature like that.
“There will be no food fights tonight,” Uncle Braxton states, walking by our table. Spoilsport. It could’ve been a lot of fun, especially since we’re older and have better aim now.
“I wouldn’t voice an opinion against witnessing a pillow fight,” the newest prospect verbalizes.
“Watch what you say,” Jaxson growls, causing the poor kid to grimace and scamper off like a scolded puppy. “Fucking jerk,” he mutters.
“Gonna have to teach that one what’s allowed and what isn’t,” Uncle Smokey says to the group of us.
“Why? It’s not like you’ve learned it yet,” Uncle Braxton comments.
“I’m special,” he implies.
“As special as they come,” Hannah placates him patting him on his arm.
What she failed to say to him is that we all remember he has to be treated like a third grader otherwise he doesn’t know how to communicate like a normal person. He never grew up, and personally I think that’s why Aunt Hannah loves him and Uncle Bandit so much. Every day is a new adventure on the playground.
“Let’s eat before another meal goes cold,” Nan looks at everyone and we all quiet down because when Nan gets that look, it means she’s fixing to put us all in our place. Or tell us how the cow ate the cabbage as she always states. Dinner is consumed and before I know it we’re all sitting around the club’s fire pit, having a grand old time with booze freely flowing and the kids nestled away in the clubhouse. A shrill whistle permeates the air and I see Jaxson get excited and rush over to where Uncle Braxton and Uncle Twisted are standing.
“What’s going on?” I ask my mother.
“I have no clue, but we’re fixing to find out.”
Eighteen
Jaxson
“Tonight is special to all of us. We’ve all watched and witnessed our Rae grow up into a fine woman. On this day, Jaxson has asked that we perform a cut ceremony differently. Because she’s one of us already, we’ve prepared a different speech and will perform this differently from all of the others. This is our second daughter who will be getting patched in as an old lady. I’m honored and thrilled that this day has happened, and she’s chosen a worthy brother for an old man. Instead of me talking, Jaxson has asked to run this. So, everyone shut the fuck up and let him do his thing.” When Axe gives me a head nod and steps back, I look at Rae and the love I see shining back at me leaves me nearly speechless.
Taking a deep breath, I motion for Rae to join me in front of everyone and turn to face them. Standing behind her, I drape her cut that Twisted hands me around her shoulders and start to speak. “Rae, there’s not a day over the past twelve years that doesn’t have a memory of you in it. As a kid, you brought laughter into my otherwise joyless life, and kept me and my fe
llow prospects on our toes with your antics. Watching you grow into the woman you are today, I know I tried to keep you at arm’s length, convinced I wasn’t good enough. Yet you tore that wall down, brick by brick until it lay there, a crumbled mess. The day we rescued you is the day that I pulled my head out of my ass and recognized that you were it for me. Our story is already rich in memories but is still just beginning. Just as the phoenix on your cut shows how you’ve risen from the ashes of before, it also indicates that where we’re concerned, I’ll never clip your wings but let you soar. As long as I’m by your side, I’ll always feel as if I’m standing on a strong foundation. I told you when we were at the cabin that I’d love you until my last breath and I’m stating it now, in front of our family. I love you, Rae. Welcome to the Rebel Guardians MC, not just as a daughter of our enforcer, but as my old lady.”
The applause is deafening, and the cries of the women are expected. I can’t believe that I’ve overcome all of my fears as far as relationships go and have come out the other side stronger than I’ve ever been before. I wouldn’t have done any of it without the encouragement and embrace of the woman standing at my side. Her strength in overcoming what happened to her was my inspiration and guidance into finding a different life for myself. One where I’m not lost in the shadows surrounded by darkness, but one full of light and endless devotion. An unconditional love that I never realized existed with a man and woman, it was something I thought was reserved for a mother and her child.
She turns to me, her cut still over her shoulders and throws her arms around me. Grabbing the cut before it falls, I pull her close and kiss her. “That’s one,” I tell her before I help her slip her cut on. A sense of pride washes over me when she turns again, and I see my property patch on her. Yeah, she’s mine, motherfuckers. All mine.
Jaxson & Ralynn Page 14