by Blue, Jayne
I did both, but the man was on me, and I tumbled to the ground face first.
“Time to pay for what you did to Farkus.”
Shit! This was what Maddox had warned me about. That the Hawks would find me.
“Get off her asshole.”
With that, someone else physically propelled the Hawk off me.
Maddox.
“Run, Curly.” And I did what he said. There was a Hawk behind me, so I ran past the car. Hoping Maddox would handle the Hawks who’d come after me, I moved as fast as I could, but it wasn’t enough. The other Hawk must have circled around when he’d seen Maddox. He was now in front of me.
I looked back and saw Maddox in a fist fight with the other Hawk. He wasn’t able to help me, and the dogs were long gone. Shit. What am I going to do?
The second Hawk closed in on me. Then I sensed something else before I saw it. There was a shift in my universe. One I hadn’t felt in a long time.
Kade stepped out of the ally and in front of me. He reached behind him and secured me to his back with his arm.
“I’d get the fuck out of here and stay out of here if you don’t want me to bash your head open on the pavement,” Kade said to the man who just seconds before was likely about to kill me.
“You okay, Kade?” I heard Maddox yell in our direction. He must have handled the other Hawk, but I didn’t dare look backward. The standoff between Kade and this Hawk was about to get bloody.
“Yes, nothing to worry about here.”
“Oh, you gonna bash my head in with one arm around that gash? That’s rich.” The Hawk stepped forward and was in Kade’s face.
Kade pulled me in tight and, almost faster than I could see, Kade swung. His fist landed on the Hawk and he landed on the ground. The force of the movement had me reeling backward.
Kade hurriedly picked up the Hawk and hustled him to Maddox. Both Hawks were bleeding but conscious behind the wheel.
“Next time we see you in Port Az, we’ll kill you,” Maddox said, and the tires squealed as the car sped off.
I stood up. Kade and Maddox had been right there, in a second, as soon as I was in trouble. I wondered how.
My legs wouldn’t move. I stood like a statue and couldn’t help staring at Kade. He was more gorgeous, strong, tortured, dark, more everything than I remembered and I was shocked at the visceral way every part of me responded. If I moved, it would be to run to his arms.
I’d not gotten over him at all. Not one little bit.
I saw Maddox pat him on the shoulder and then nodded to me. Maddox walked away and left Kade and me there, alone on the sidewalk. We were a few feet apart, and worlds, all at the same time.
He walked toward me and I had to try to remember to breathe. He was my oxygen and I’d been without it for months. I blinked and tried to pull myself together.
Kade was so close now I could touch him, but I stayed frozen, struggling not to undo the work I’d done to move past him.
“No more walking by yourself.” He put a hand behind my neck and then leaned in and locked his lips on mine. The impact was overwhelming. My mind, my body, my heart reached out, but only my lips touched his.
Out of nowhere, there was yelping, and the dogs were at our feet. I stepped back. I recovered. I remembered that I wasn’t Kade’s to kiss or to order when to walk.
But Tookie had a memory too. The crying she’d been doing was replaced by furious tail wagging. She was happy for the first time since the Lovitts had left her.
“Who do we have here?” Kade leaned down to scoop her up. My heart exploded, and I tried to put pieces of it back together.
I scooped up Tally and she scrambled to try to get to Kade too. In a very short time span, Tally had become utterly depended on Tookie.
“How’d you get Tookie again?”
“Lovitts couldn’t keep her. This is her new best friend, Tally.” Both dogs squirmed in Kade’s arms like he was their long-lost littermate. Then I remembered the other central mystery of my day: the donation to Ruff Life. Now I had a hunch.
“Good to see you Tookie, sorry about the Lovitts. I’m walking you three to your place.” This wasn’t a question: it was an order. A classic Kade order.
“I’m around the corner, thanks.” And we walked together, quiet for a moment. Kade managed the dogs, and I opened the door to my new brownstone apartment. I’d been able to pay myself for the first time, which meant the first apartment with more than one room, and an actual couch. I was okay.
I wasn’t okay. I knew that with every step I took in stride with Kade.
Kade put the dogs down and there was so much I wanted to say to him. So much I wished I knew about him. But I didn’t know where to start.
“Well, it was good to see you. I had to kiss you. It was probably rude. But I don’t regret it.”
I’d given him nothing of myself but that kiss since he’d stepped in front of danger for me again.
“No, I… Uh. It was good to see you, too.”
“I’ve never seen you in a skirt. You look very pretty.”
“I’m the boss at Ruff Life, so you know, grown-up work clothes,” I was self-conscious and shy. And I was stupidly blushing under his intense stare.
“Just be more careful, okay? You walk home alone. You work late. It’s dangerous.”
“How do you know what I do?”
“I’m never going to let the Hawks get to you. None of The Saints will. That’s all.”
He’d been watching out for me, and so had the MC.
“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say.
“Just be careful.” He turned his back to me and started to walk out my door. The dogs went crazy. Tookie, who’d been an emotional drama queen all day, lost it again, and Tally did what Tookie did.
I didn’t analyze it, except I knew exactly what Tookie felt like. She was doing what I wanted to do: make Kade stay.
So I did.
“Kade?”
He stopped and turned to look at me. I took a giant step forward, and then I was in his arms. Our lips met and he lifted me off the floor. His tongue and mine swirled around each other. Before I knew we’d moved my back was to my kitchen wall, and Kade’s powerful body held me there. His lips traveled to my neck, my chest, and I felt his hands rip open my sensible blouse. My nipples pebbled as he took each of them in his mouth.
I was out of breath and gasping for more of Kade. My legs were open, and I felt his strong body push close to me. The skirt that he said he’d liked was shoved up over my thighs.
I was moving with him, taking his jacket off, dragging my hands across his back, and tasting his skin everywhere my lips could find it.
“Kade, my God. I’ve missed you so much,” I said, and I felt every cell in my body come alive.
He looked up at me and stared into my eyes.
“Are you sure? I can’t lose you again. It will kill me.” His words tore my guts out. He had been in the same misery I’d been in.
“I’m sure, I need you.”
Kade pressed his lips on mine and ripped what was left of my blouse off. He feasted on my breasts, and I cried out.
“Where?” he asked, and I pointed to the bedroom. He lifted me again and carried me there. Then he closed the door to Tookie and Tally. If they cried about it, I didn’t hear it.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” Kade growled the words into my neck. His body felt so right next to mine. I slid the rest of my annoying clothes off, and we were together, moving, drowning, and coming up for air, all at the same time.
His hands touched every part of me. His mouth never stopped exploring, but finally, I couldn’t wait any longer. It had been so long without him.
“It’s good, now Harlow, now.”
“You sure like to order me around.”
I felt my own growl escape as waves of pleasure crashed over me, in me. Kade and I had been together for such a short time, but my body knew his, answered to his and responded to every pulse. We both climaxed together in a relea
se that was months in the making, but also, a lifetime.
“I love you, Kade.” And I meant it.
“You have to know I love you too. That I was here the whole time, just waiting, making sure those Hawks didn’t touch you.”
“I do now.”
I heard a little crying again. The dogs! They’d lost patience with us. Kade stood up and opened the bedroom door and then climbed back in behind me.
“You two over there,” I said and the two dogs curled up on the dog blanket I had in the corner.
“Tookie was a wreck until you showed up today.”
“I was a wreck after you left me.” Kade smoothed my hair and kissed my earlobe. I sank into his strong chest.
“I’m not sure where this is going, but I just need to be with you,” I said this out loud, even though I was not a fan of being vulnerable. I’d learned to protect myself. But Kade had broken down those walls and found me.
“I need you. However, you’ll have me, Harlow.”
“So it was you who gave the donation to Ruff Life?”
“Well, me and the club. It’s the money we got from the guns.”
“I’d say we’re even then.”
“Never, but it was unanimous. They never meant to put you in harm's way. Neither did I.”
“Thank you. What’s next? Will the Hawks be back?”
“I’m not going to lie, probably, but I’ll always be here.”
“Good.” There were questions I should ask. There were loose ends that were probably frayed. I would get to that. I knew that Kade’s bed, Kade’s arms, Kade’s life was where I wanted to be.
And if there was trouble, I could handle it.
Tookie was the smallest dog in Ruff Life, but I had no doubt she was the scrappiest. I was the same.
Furever Families
Kade
I watched Harlow. I always watched her, when she slept, when she cuddled with Tally and Tookie – who now lived with us – when she managed her staff at Ruff Life. She did things with confidence and grace, and she didn’t seem to know it.
I was a lucky son of a bitch, no question. Moving in together had eased my mind somewhat, but I still worried. Full out war hadn’t broken out with The Hawks but that was because they were under intense ATF scrutiny right now.
The Hawks were licking their wounds, but they’d be back. We didn’t know when, but not today.
It was Furever Family day and the delivery was a very quick trip. Harlow didn’t drive the long hauls anymore, I was glad for that. She’d done so well fundraising after The Saints’ donation that she’d hired a driver and expanded the number of dogs Ruff Life could save. To say I was proud of her was an understatement.
I watched as the truck pulled up and she got out. Today’s Furever Family event was at The Dark Saints MC. Harlow had matched Benz, Bear, Maddox, Axle, and a few other Saints with dogs from Ruff Life.
I met the truck and she hopped down.
“Hey,” she said and kissed me. I still couldn’t get over how that felt, that we were together, and I actually had an old lady.
“Let’s get these families together.” Harlow’s assistant Tracy had come with her to help the process.
“Tracy, you grab our leads, okay? We need Maple first.”
“Hi, Kade,” Tracy said.
I had Tookie and Tally on their leads and they were losing their shit over the activity.
“Hey, Tracy.”
Benz and his woman, Jenny were adopting Maple. I watched Benz go to utter mush.
“You’re a pretty girl, such a pretty girl.” Benz was nuzzling the dog and I swear, his lady, Jenny, the tough police detective, was crying. There was something about meeting your dog for the first time that melted a person.
“Next up, we have Benji!” Who the hell knows what kind of mutt Benji was but Mama Bear and Papa Bear were in love. Rufus, our club dog was too. Thank goodness Benji was fixed or there’d be puppies all over this place.
Harlow had placed six dogs with the MC and she was beaming.
“Only one more furever family here.”
Maddox walked up to the truck.
“Tracy, can you bring Bella up?”
I watched Tracy, bring the little bulldog out of the truck. Harlow was right; the girl looked like Snow White.
Bella was a tenacious, muscle-bound animal and Tracy was thrown a bit off balance. I watched Maddox, who essentially looked like a wild animal himself, reach out a hand to help her.
“Let me help,” and Maddox, the feral, turned into Maddox, Bella’s dad. It was a good day.
The dogs and The Saints were getting to know each other and they were all grateful to Harlow for finding the right matches.
“You did good, Harlow.” I put an arm around her shoulder and kissed her neck.
“Bella was giving Tracy some trouble, did you see?”
“Yeah, it’s good now. Maddox don’t take no shit!”
We walked out to the back of the club. Mama Bear had insisted on a furever family cookout.
“I think he likes Tracy.”
“What?”
“I know how to put people together.”
“I thought you only did that for furry animals.”
“Maddox is a furry animal.”
“Fair point,” I said and hugged her in tighter.
There was a storm coming to The Saints. It stayed in the back of my mind all the time, but I could protect Harlow and our menagerie better if she was with me.
Harlow was my forever family, just like The Saints. We were stronger together.
Tookie barked at us and I picked her up. She nuzzled my cheek.
There’d be hell to pay from The Devil’s Hawks, but we would be ready.
This was life with Harlow, with The Dark Saints.
This was everything.
Harlow
I’d been trying to atone for someone else’s sins. That’s what had changed, I knew I never could. I didn’t hurt those animals, my Dad did.
Almost every day since Kade and I had been back together he reminded me of that fact.
I was learning to love alot about The Dark Saints. I was also learning that there were things I didn’t want to know.
The Dark Saints were a family. That was the strangest thing. They were more a family than I’d ever been a part of and I had to admit I loved it. I didn’t love that there would be more danger, that Kade would probably be in the center of it. I tried not to dwell on things that I couldn’t control. Another daily challenge.
But I also believed that a life worth living wasn’t one lived in a bubble. My relationship with Kade was messy, loud, and rife with mistakes. But I loved it more thant the life I was trying to forge on my own, with only the dogs to keep me warm.
The Furever Family event at the MC was a huge success and as everyone headed out back of the club for Mama Bear’s potato salad and Bear’s burgers on the grill I could see that there were more MC members perfect for a forever family in the future.
I didn’t know all the MC members yet, but Deacon and Zig seemed likely prospects for my next group of puppies.
I watched Tracy, my sweet assistant at Ruff Life, as she showed Maddox some of the tricks that his new dog Bella could do.
I wondered if I should warn Tracy to stay away from the men of The Dark Saints MC. She was sweet and innocent and Maddox was about as scary a man I’d ever seen.
But he’d saved my life. Just like Kade had.
That’s when I realized no one could keep me away from Kade. God helped them if they tried.
Benz, who’d recently adopted Maple, came up and pulled me out of my deep thoughts.
“Thanks for hooking us up with Maple, Jenny has been begging me for a dog for a while now.”
“You’ll love Maple, she’s a great girl.” I’d learned that Jenny was a police officer. She seemed to be happy as hell with Benz. It was giving me hope on how all this might work.
“I never apologized.”
“Apologized for wh
at?”
“Axle and I should have investigated who was driving that truck. We took Bear and Rudy’s word for it and you wound up in danger. That’s on us and it’s also on us to be sure the Hawks don’t land on you again.”
“I’d thought I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and it put me in the path of two rival clubs. But lately, I’ve been thinking it was good luck, or fate, not bad.” And it was true. Kade made me happy and I thought I made him complete. Not many people ever find that in life.
“Still, we’ve got your back. That’s our vow. But I do know what you mean, me and a cop? Not exactly something that works on paper.”
“But it does work?”
“Yep, it does,” Benz said and handed me a beer. He winked at me and then headed back to his Jenny and their new furbaby.
Kade found me again and put an arm around me. He kissed my cheek. I wondered if I would always feel a shiver down to my belly everytime he touched me. From the looks of Mama Bear maybe yes was the answer.
“This MC has a very soft underbelly,” I said and Kade scowled at me.
“Don’t let it get around.”
“I won’t.”
“Now let’s go get you some food. Mama Bear said she’d kick my ass if you didn’t eat.”
“I think I’d like to see that.”
Kade squeezed me tight.
I knew the Hawks were probably coming for me again. I knew violence didn’t end in peace.
But if they were coming for me I’d be in the arms of The Dark Saints. And they were ready.
The End
Don’t miss the next smoldering book in the Dark Saints M.C. Series.
Dark Desire
Two Souls. One dark. One light. Will love be strong enough to save them both?
Chase Cutter has sworn his life and soul to the club. They took him in when violence and darkness stripped his world away. Someday, he knows that darkness will come back for him. He’s spent so much of his life chasing vengeance, he never expected to step into the light.
Then, one woman…Ariel…shatters the walls Chase has built around his heart. Ariel’s soul shines so bright Chase can almost start to believe in love again. One touch, one kiss and Chase just can’t let go. But this time, when the darkness rolls back in, it just might drag Ariel down with him.