by Jessie Cooke
“No––” Wolf started, just as Bruf blurted out:
“Rebekah?”
“It’s Beck. You want to tell this fucking ape to put me down?” Jace had his gun pointed at her pretty head and he was sure he’d never be able to pull the trigger if he had to, but her calling him an ape hurt more than he wanted to admit even to himself.
“Who the hell are you?” Wolf said. “Bruf, you know her?”
“Intimately,” the woman in his arms said. It was like another knife to his heart. Of course she knew the “hot” guy. Jace never even had a chance with the “bad” girl.
27
That night as Jace found his way up to the room Wolf had let him stay in, he was wondering why he hadn’t just left, like he planned on. He finished the bike. He made an appearance at the party…and throughout it all, he hadn’t been able to get that curly-haired blonde with the ice blue eyes off his mind. It was killing him because he knew how far out of his league she was. The two of them weren’t even in the same ballpark. But something was driving him to stay at the club and those blue eyes were all he could imagine it was.
As he put his key into the lock he heard a door open behind him. “Thought you might be Bruf.” Jace turned, intending to tell the woman that he now knew as Beck, that Bruf was probably home in bed with his old lady, but as soon as he got a look at her, the words stuck in his throat. She had been incredibly hot in her jeans and t-shirt earlier, but now she was dressed only in a white t-shirt that came to the tops of her thighs. Maybe she had panties on underneath, but Jace would rather imagine that she didn’t. She definitely wasn’t wearing a bra. The large, dark nipples pressing into the front of the white t-shirt told that story and made his cock twitch in his jeans. Her hair was a mess, but it was sexy and after she spoke, she brought the bottle of whiskey she had in her hand up to her blow-me lips and wrapped them around it. God…if he could only have an hour with a woman like that, just once in his life, he’d die a happy man.
“Nope,” he said. “Sorry.” He turned his back to her, in as much as he would have loved to keep his eyes on those long, toned, tanned legs, and slid his key in the lock. He had to get away from her. He was shaking all over and imagining things he could never have. He’d almost gotten the door open when he heard her say,
“You wanna have a drink with me?” And that was where it all started. For the first time in his life Jace fell in love, hard and fast. The problem was that he was in love with a woman who he was afraid was simply playing with him. He was more than likely a placeholder for the man who would one day come into her life and sweep her off her feet. The other problem was that she was as mean as a snake. Of course, maybe that wasn’t really a problem, because it kind of turned him on. He didn’t usually like being told what to do, but when she barked orders, he didn’t really mind. The biggest problem was that after spending a lot of time with her, he was beginning to let himself believe he had a chance. He was setting himself up for the biggest heartache of his life, and when he realized that, he got scared. When she started asking questions about his life and he started answering them honestly…he was terrified. When she decided that she was going to go through with this craziness she ached for so badly…a spot in the club, patch and all, that was what finally drove him away. He wanted to help her. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to give her the world. He wanted her to always feel as good as he felt when he was with her. But he knew that she wouldn’t accept any of that from him. She straight up told him that she didn’t want him to be her “Knight in Shining Armor.” So Jace did the only thing he could possibly do to protect himself from the agony that was going to be his heart if he stayed, he hit the road and headed home. He needed distance between him and her. That would cure it, the fantasies he had in his head. Or so he thought.
“Jace!” Mark was yelling at him from the front. Jace knew why, and he didn’t want to answer him. He’d already ignored his own phone, several times. “Jace! Can’t you hear me calling you?” Mark was standing next to him now and it was going to be impossible to ignore him, but he wasn’t taking the phone that Mark had in his hand.
“I heard you,” he said.
“Wolf is on the phone.”
“I can’t talk right now.”
Mark looked shocked. Jace had never refused Clay’s calls, and he never refused Dax or Wolf’s either. But today he knew what Wolf wanted. Wolf had already sent him two text messages and Jace hadn’t answered either one. “He told me not to take no for an answer.”
Fuck. Jace cleaned his hands, glared at Mark like it was his fault and took the phone out of his hand. “Hey, Wolf. Sorry, I’ve been busy.”
Wolf chuckled. “You’re a fucking horrible liar.”
“I can’t help her, Wolf. She won’t let me.”
“She doesn’t know she needs help, but you’re the only one who can convince her she does.”
It was Jace’s turn to laugh. “And what makes you think that?”
“She’s got it bad for you, Jace. Rebekah is driven by her emotions. She’s doing all of this because of some crazy need to prove she’s as strong as her father was and as tough as she believes mine was. What she doesn’t see is the difference. I need you to convince her, Jace.”
“Convince her that a woman doesn’t belong in an MC?” Jace said with a dark laugh. “That might get me killed.”
Wolf laughed too. “Maybe, but I know you’re tough enough to handle it, and by the way, I also know you’ve got it bad for her. Look, I’m not a chauvinist, I’m really not. But women and men are made differently. She’s as tough as nails, I’m not denying that, but she’s ready to square off in the ring with a full-grown man. No fucking way can she win that.” The idea of a man hitting her made Jace’s body convulse and his chest fill with rage toward the imaginary man.
“Tell her no,” he said. He knew Wolf had that power, everyone did. For some reason, the boss wasn’t using his power with her.
“I can’t,” he said. “I can’t explain it, Jace. You’ve never talked to me about your relationship with your old man, but I’m sure you heard how complicated mine was. Beck feels like a link to him for me, and maybe that’s stupid and if you tell anyone this I’ll…”
Jace laughed and said, “Did you forget who you were talking to?”
“No. I know you won’t tell her. Please come back Jace and try to talk to her.”
Shit. “Alright. I’ll head out tonight.” Jace ended the call and looked at the phone. He supposed it didn’t really matter if he was there or in Connecticut, he wasn’t getting her off his mind either way. At least Wolf’s way, he got to see her one last time.
Jace set things up with Jacob Wright before he made it out to California. Now as he waited in the wings, he felt like throwing up. That wasn’t even about the “fight,” it was just about laying eyes on her again. Beck’s face was in his head 24/7…of course her hot body was too. He missed the sound of her voice. He missed the way she cursed like the sailor she was and called him a girl. He missed everything about her and his biggest fear was that she wouldn’t be happy to see him again at all. He walked close to the open door of the back room where he was waiting. The octagon was right outside of it and he heard Jacob say,
“He volunteered, actually. I just hope you’re not intimidated when you see him.”
Jace heard Beck snort and then say, “Right, that’ll be the day.” The sound of her voice sent a thrill right through him. He loved her with every fiber of his being and it scared him to death. He took a deep breath and stepped out of the room and into the octagon. When Beck saw him, the smile fell from her face and she reached out and took hold of one of the mesh like she was trying to hold herself up. Jace didn’t know if that was good, or bad.
“Something wrong?” Jacob asked her.
With her incredibly sexy eyes on Jace’s face she said, “No…everything’s cool.”
“Okay, I’ve talked to you about sparring all week, Beck.” Jacob looked at Jace and said, “I’m sure you kn
ow what you’re doing.” They both nodded and Jake sat on the stool against one of the walls and said, “Tap hands and get started.”
Beck stepped to the center of the octagon to face him. He hoped she couldn’t see how hard he was shaking. “What the fuck you doing here?” she asked.
“Helping you out. You want me to go?”
“What do you know about fighting?”
“I’m ranked 26-2-0 in Thailand.” He was lying, joking, but Beck looked like she believed him.
“Fucking A,” she said, shaking her head.
“You two gonna fight or talk all day?” Jacob asked. So many things Jace would rather do with her all day…but that day was a good start. Slowly, over the next few weeks Jace opened up to her more, and Beck began to let her guard down. She was as tough as she said she was, and she passed every test they put her through and barreled through every obstacle. And when all was said and done, she turned down the patch Wolf would have given her because she didn’t want to bring a pile of shit down on him and his club. It made Jace love her that much more.
It was the day after he first told her that he loved her that his life changed once again, mostly because that next morning she told him she loved him too, and he believed it. He felt it. It filled him with the kind of happiness and wonder that he’d always dreamed of but never believed he would experience. Even Wolf noticed when he called Jace into his office not long after he first heard her say those three little words.
“Wow, all these years I’ve known you and I’ve never seen anything make you smile like that,” Wolf told him.
“Sorry boss.”
Wolf laughed. “You don’t have to apologize for being happy, Jace.” That was something Jace was still learning, but it really was getting easier. “Sit down, maybe I can make you happier.” Wolf told him. Curious, Jace sat and waited for Wolf to go on. “There’s been a lot going on that I haven’t filled the club in about. I’m honestly not sure how much I’m going to share when the time comes. But there’s something I need to ask you and depending on your answer, there might be a lot I have to share with you.” Jace cocked an eyebrow and wondered if Wolf had been doing a little early morning drinking. “Do you like living in Connecticut?”
“It’s alright,” he said. “It’s home.”
“What if it wasn’t? I mean, if you were to move somewhere else, would you be able to move your sister to another facility?”
“I could, if I needed to, yes. Are you asking me to move, Boss?”
“Maybe. I’m asking you first if you’d like to trade in that nomad patch for a permanent one?”
“Here?” Jace liked Wolf and he loved his Westside Skull brothers. The idea of being so close to Beck was the driving force behind his sudden desire to say yes, however. He had that on his mind and wasn’t prepared for what Wolf said next,
“Not exactly. For all those reasons I’ll talk to you about if you accept my offer, Dax and I have decided to start a new chapter of the club. Manson did some research and found a nice shop on twenty acres in Phoenix…”
“Arizona?”
Wolf bit back a smile and said, “Yeah, the one in Arizona.”
“Sorry Boss. I’m just wondering why you’d pick Phoenix. Is it because that’s where Beck is from?”
Wolf shook his head. “No. We looked at several other places between here and Boston and the property in Phoenix just jumped out at us as the best deal and space for what we’re looking for. See, we thought if you accepted the presidency, you’d need a space to move your bike shop as well because…”
“Excuse me…I’m sorry, did you say presidency?”
“I did. We’d like you to start this new chapter up for us. You’d be the president and you would be free to recruit whoever you wanted and put them in whatever positions you like…well, all except one. We have one guy who we need to get out of California and we think he’d be an asset to the new club. Of course, as president if he didn’t work out you’d be in a position to do whatever you needed to do.”
28
Tahoma “Tommy” Tsosie sat on the Harley Davidson, behind the rise of the hill that was covered with juniper trees, and watched the couple from about fifty yards away. He wasn’t a pervert, although he did appreciate how beautiful the woman was, and wonder about her taste in men. No, he wasn’t there to watch their illicit display of sex on his ancestor’s sacred land. He had gone there to try to make contact with them and talk some sense into them. He’d already been to the tribal council, twice. He got dragged out physically the last time and lectured by both of his parents for hours. But, if he didn’t stand up for his people, the tribe that was down to mere thousands in numbers now, who would?
They looked like they were celebrating. Celebrating the purchase of land that no one had the right to sell in the first place. As they ate the little picnic they’d brought and drank their sparkling cider, Tommy turned the binoculars onto their bikes. They both had some kickass Harleys. Hers was nice, but the big dude’s was the sweetest bike Tommy had ever seen. His parents were old hippies, and Tommy had been raised on the reservation, at times by his aunts and uncles and grandparents when his mom and dad were riding from coast to coast on their own Harleys. Tommy had some resentment about how often he was left behind. But overall he’d had a great life, and now that his parents had settled back in Phoenix, they had all grown close. His mother was even talking about how much she wanted to be a grandma, so maybe they really intended to stay put this time.
Tommy turned his attention back toward the “intruders.” He had done his research. He knew the man’s name was Jace Bell and he was both a member of the Skulls in Boston and California, and the president of their newest chapter, the Phoenix Skulls. Tommy knew that he designed custom bikes and that his intentions with part of the property they’d just bought was to build a custom bike shop. On the rest of the property, they planned to build a clubhouse for the MC. Tommy didn’t have a problem with the MC in theory. He loved to ride as much as the next guy. What he had a problem with was the land. He had grown up listening to his grandmother’s stories about how that strip of land had been stolen from their ancestors. They’d been moved onto a reservation and their land had been taken over by the government. Tommy’s grandmother told him about sacred ceremonies that had taken place there, and burials of some of the greatest chiefs of all time. The land was sacred and Tommy had been trying to get the tribal council to see that, and claim it back, ever since he’d come home from college the year before. And then the worst thing he could have imagined happened; the government sold the land to a developer, who then turned around and sold all twenty acres to the MC. Talking to these people and hoping they’d be reasonable was his last resort. If they didn’t listen to him any more than anyone else did…he just didn’t know what he’d do.
He put the binoculars up to his face and trained them back on the couple. Her name was Rebekah Golden and Tommy had been able to find out that she was actually raised in Phoenix. She’d been in the navy for seventeen years and then in California for a few months, but now she was back. Tommy wondered if her being local helped his cause any. He hoped so. He really didn’t want any trouble and he didn’t want to cause any for anyone else. All he wanted was his ancestors’ land back so it could be passed on and revered for generations to come, the way it was meant to be.
The couple was finished with their picnic and now they lay on a blanket, kissing. Tommy watched her as she climbed up on top of the big guy and seemed to be trying to devour him through his mouth. He’d never been kissed that hard and passionately and for a few seconds he forgot he wasn’t a voyeur as he watched with a keen interest. She was rubbing her body all over him, and his hands were all over her. They were both fully clothed, but they looked like they were having sex nonetheless. Tommy watched as the man’s big hands disappeared under her shirt in back. After several minutes of letting him touch her that way, she sat up and let him push the shirt over her head. When Tommy saw that she had on a black bikini top und
er the shirt, he was both disappointed and relieved. That probably meant they were planning on using the hot springs…and not having sex.
Once the woman, Rebekah, had that t-shirt off, she leaned back down and began to kiss the man again. His hands went to her butt then, massaging it through the tight jeans she was wearing. Tommy felt his jeans grow tighter in front as he watched. He still wasn’t being a pervert, he was waiting, for his opportunity to talk to them. With one hand on the binoculars he groped with the other into his saddlebags until he found his smokes. He pulled one out and put it between his lips and then he groped for the lighter, never taking his eyes off the couple as he did. She had stood up and now she was bent over him slightly, shimmying her jeans down over her hips. Tommy wondered if they had any idea that people hiked up here all the time. Did they not care if they were watched? Shameless, he thought as he adjusted the binoculars so that he could get a clearer picture.
Once the hot woman was down to nothing but the black bikini top and skimpy bottoms, she took the big guy’s hand and pulled him up off the ground. Tommy watched her push the man’s shirt over his head and he frowned when he saw the man’s chest. The scars were ugly and took up a big part of his chest. The one on his neck was almost frightening and made Tommy wonder what he’d done to deserve that.
His attention returned to the woman. Jesus, she was so hot. She was unbuttoning the man’s jeans now and Tommy, against his better judgement began imagining her doing that to him. In his defense, his girlfriend dumped him right before graduation and since he’d been home, he’d been busy with his activist projects…to sum it up, he was horny as hell. But still, he wasn’t there to watch a porn show. It wasn’t his fault that he’d been on his way to find these people and they had decided to get naked and crazy in the desert, in public. He watched the woman bend over to push the man’s jeans off his feet. She had a perfectly round, white butt and the black bikini didn’t leave much of it to the imagination at all. That wasn’t Tommy’s fault either, was it? Was he just not supposed to look when she put it out there like that?