Ember's Burn: A Steel Demons MC Novel

by Annelise Reynolds

  “She’s not intentionally going to put herself in a dangerous situation.”

  “You were here in Belle when you were kidnapped. It’s not always about your intentions, it’s about other people’s.” I grabbed my cell and walked outside, dialing Hack as I went.

  “I don’t know where she is.”

  “I know you don’t. Are you tracking her credit cards?”

  “Damn, man, she’s only been gone an hour and y’all are freaking the fuck out. I didn’t know the Demons were turning into mother hens.”

  “Cut it, Hack. Now is not the time for your smart ass remarks. Her cards?”

  “I would watch them, but there are none under her name. If she’s doing anything, she’s doing it on cash alone.” Hack sighed. “Is her son with her?”

  “No, he’s here with us.”

  “Then she’s coming back. No big deal. She probably just needed a break from you fuckers.”

  I laughed. Hack wasn’t far off the mark. “No, just one fucker.”

  “Legend?”

  “Yeah.”

  Hack chuckled. “I’ll keep tabs on her phone and let you know if she turns it back on.”

  “Thanks, Hack.”

  “Yep.”

  I hung up and went back into the house. Chink was in the kitchen checking on the chili with McKenzie, Lena was sitting on the counter next to them. Phoenix and Grit were sitting at the island and talking, with Declan between them. Chink fed a spoon of chili to Lena, before kissing her.

  “Any news?” I sat next to Grit, grabbing a beer.

  “No. She took McKenzie’s advice and turned her phone off.” I couldn’t keep the trace of anger out of my voice. Piper was part of us now, even if only by association, and we wouldn’t be there for her, protect her, if we don’t know where she is. McKenzie helped her hide from us and if something happened to her, we would feel the responsibility of it. I saw McKenzie flinch, and while I regretted it, I also needed her to know the seriousness of her actions. If my anger was the only way to get through to her what a dangerous stunt she had pulled, then so be it. Tonight, she would learn a lesson she’d never forget.

  The door opened bringing in Gavel, Mom, and Natalia, it was a much needed distraction. Club members knew not to say anything until everything was explained, but the curiosity was still there.

  Legend and I didn’t come up with a story of how Natalia came to us, so I made it up on the fly. “She came from the club in Arlington.” McKenzie shot me a dirty look, knowing that the girl was young. “No, nobody has or will touch her.” I answered her unspoken questions and addressed the accusatory gaze she leveled at me. “She’s just under club protection.”

  Natalia spoke with the girls. I listened in, trying to make sure she did not dispute my lie, and thankfully she went with it. She was a smart kid, sticking with the truth, but holding the lie as well. She told the girls that she had been rescued from a trafficking ring, but she didn’t go into details about it.

  “So, this is what you went to Arlington for?” McKenzie questioned quietly.

  “No. She was an unexpected surprise from our club business.”

  “Oh. You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

  “No, baby, the less you know the better.” I kissed the side of her head, and looped my arm around her waist.

  “You still mad at me?”

  I looked at her and leaned my head against hers. “No, McKenzie, I’m not mad. I’m disappointed though. No more secrets, no more hiding people from the club.”

  “I wasn’t hiding her from the club. I was hiding her from Legend.”

  “Same thing, sweetheart. She’s out there, alone, nobody knows where. What if she runs into trouble? We have no idea where to look first.”

  “I know, but you guys overuse Hack’s computer powers. If you didn’t, I wouldn’t have had to tell her anything.”

  I couldn’t fault her for that, we did call Hack anytime we needed anything, especially when it came to newcomers to the club and our women. “You have a point there, but at the same time, we have to know you girls are safe. If anything else happened to you McKenzie…” I cleared my throat, thinking about what happened the last time I didn’t know where she was. “I can’t go through that again.”

  She cupped my cheek with her hand and kissed me. A squeal of excitement brought us back to the group. Phoenix rushed over and pulled McKenzie’s hand away looking at the ring on her finger. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Why didn’t you tell me?” She pulled McKenzie into a huge hug. Mom came over with tears in her eyes, hugging McKenzie. Congratulations came from everybody in the room, as they all gathered around to hug us.

  “Sorry, we were going to announce it when everybody was here tonight, you just happened to notice the ring.”

  “I’m so happy for you.” Phoenix wrapped McKenzie in a huge hug again, squeezing her tight. When they separated, both of them had their emotions evident in their eyes. “Love you, Mac.”

  It was the first time Phoenix had called McKenzie Mac since she first asked to be called Ember. When McKenzie didn’t correct her, I took it as a victory. She was moving forward.

  Chink picked me up in a big bear hug after Phoenix finally let go of me, congratulating me. I tugged on his beard and winked at him. “Maybe we should have shaved half your beard in your sleep instead.”

  “What are you talking about?” He kissed my cheek and set me back down.

  “Oh, nothing, just that paybacks are a total bitch, and Piper and I owed you for taking that damn picture.” I punched him lightly in the stomach, feeling his rock hard abs. “Ugh. Is there not one of you guys that are soft, and not hard as a damn rock?” Everybody started laughing, and my cheeks turned pink. “I didn’t mean THAT.” I laughed it off, and shook my head. “Perverts, all of you.” I gave an exasperated sigh, and sat back in Titan’s lap.

  “The hard Demon that matters is me, babe,” he whispered in my ear. “Remember that.”

  “Yes, Sir,” I said jokingly, but I felt his cock twitch beneath me. I smiled, leaned in and whispered into his ear, “On Friday, after the Halloween party, I have a special surprise for you. Will you do to me what you did at the hotel, Sir?” I was teasing Titan as much as I was teasing myself. My core was already ready for him again.

  I watched as his eyes closed and a low groan rumbled through his chest. “You’re a dangerous woman,” he mumbled quietly just so I could hear him.

  “Good grief,” Phoenix said, grinning. “Can’t you two keep your hands to yourself and the sexual tension out of the air for a few hours?”

  Without missing a beat, Grit pulled Phoenix into his arms, and kissed her, devouring her much the same way Titan does me. We were all laughing and cheering, when Ink came in through the back door, followed by the rest of the club.

  “We probably should have done this at the clubhouse,” I said, seeing how cramped the house was starting to get.

  “It’s fine. We’ve been in more cramped spaces before.”

  “Do I even want to know?”

  “And you call us perverts.” Titan grinned and kissed me quickly. “We were all in the military, it kind of comes with the territory of living in groups, having a brother to watch your back, and you watching theirs, a support system, and loyalty that runs thicker than blood. It’s why Stone, Gavel, Halo, and my dad founded the Demons.”

  “Who’s Halo?” I asked my question a little too loud because the room started to go quiet. I looked around at everybody, the women all seemed as clueless as I was. They all noticed the hard looks that came over the men’s faces, and waited to see what had caused it.

  “The man who took off with my mother,” Grit said. His voice was cold, and flat. I’d never heard him like that before. Phoenix grabbed Grit’s hand, squeezing tight, her shock at hearing the man’s name and that he had been an original member, was evident on her face.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

  “It’s ok,” Gavel
said, giving me a smile, though it was forced. He came over and pulled me into a hug, kissing me on the top of the head. “Don’t worry about it, baby girl.”

  After those tense moments, Ink turned everybody’s attention by asking Chink what he did to deserve his bike being wrapped. Chink took off outside to the laughter of everyone inside. I wished Piper was here to see his face because, when we all followed him out, he was cussing up a blue streak.

  “MCKENZIE!” he yelled, and I just laughed harder.

  “Uh-oh, guess I’m in trouble now, he used my real name.” Titan wrapped his arm around my waist.

  “I’ll protect you.” His own amusement was evident. The next thing I know, I’m squealing, and pulling away because Titan put a big piece of ice down the back of my panties.

  “Oh my God!” The shocking cold against my ass had me dancing away from him as he and everyone else laughed. “Jason Miller! I’m going to get you.” The offending piece of ice fell out the bottom of my shorts when I put my hand down my panties.

  “Oh, I’m looking forward to it, baby.”

  It took Chink a while to cut his bike out of all the plastic, which I filmed for Piper’s entertainment. We were all scattered around the house, the sun was setting before Legend came back.

  “Any luck finding her?” Titan asked when the door slammed shut behind Legend.

  “No. She’s not at the bar or restaurant. I’ve no clue where she went. I went by that salon they like to go to, Daisy’s something or other, but she wasn’t there and hadn’t been there.” Legend sunk down on the couch.

  “Where’s my Mommy?” Tears welled up in Declan’s eyes as he looked to us for answers.

  “Come here, Little Man.” He went to Legend after a moment’s hesitation. Legend picked him up and sat him on the arm of the couch next to him. “We don’t know where she is. She wanted to go have some time by herself, but she should be back tomorrow.”

  “What did I do?” The kid’s bottom lip quivered, and I felt like the biggest kind of ass in the world.

  “You did nothing wrong, Declan, your momma needed a small break. She may even be back before tomorrow. What if I let you stay up late tonight to see if she comes back before you fall asleep?” I watched the exchange between Legend and Declan, and for the first time, I thought that maybe, just maybe, Legend would be a good dad to the kid. Oh, he would need help for sure, hell even now, Piper needs help, but I looked around the room and saw all the concerned faces. The bikers, the club girls, hell even Chink who’s scared of kids had a concerned look on his face because of the tears filling Declan’s eyes.

  They say it takes a village to raise a kid, this kid’s village was a bunch of badass bikers, club girls, and old ladies. He is damn lucky. It made me wish I had a club behind me growing up, but then at the same time, if I did, I may not appreciate it as much as I do now.

  “Alright y’all, it’s ready,” Chink said, giving the kid some time to compose himself outside of the gaze of every adult in the room. Dozer took off for the kitchen like a shot out of a gun, others weren’t far behind him.

  “Seriously, all this fuss over chili?” I looked to Titan for confirmation.

  “It’s damn good chili.” He led me into the kitchen, his hand resting in the small of my back. The smell of the chili permeated the air. Everybody had brought something. I laughed at the overabundance of beer.

  Titan and I went onto the back porch since there were so many people in the house and not enough places to really sit. Phoenix and Grit were already on the swing, so Titan and I sat on the steps. “It’s delicious,” I said taking a bite of the chili. “We should do this more often.”

  “Chink won’t go for that,” Grit said around a bite of chili.

  “Why not?”

  “He hates cooking.” Titan laughed. “That’s why when he does make his chili, everybody drops everything to get there.”

  “Why won’t he give anybody the recipe then, so they can make it?”

  “He just won’t. We’ve tried to get it from him, well, Mom has tried, many times.”

  “I’ll get it from him.”

  “How?” Grit asked.

  “They’re called boobs, Grit.” I laughed when he choked on his beer.

  “I’ll gouge his eyes out before he sees your tits, McKenzie.” Titan’s voice was low and menacing.

  I rolled my eyes. “Then I guess I’ll have to come up with another plan, but I will get the recipe.”

  “Don’t count on it.” Grit laughed.

  I raised my brow. “You want to make a wager on that, Brice?”

  He didn’t know what he was getting into. “Ok, what do you want?”

  “I want Phoenix’s bachelorette party to be in Vegas. Just us girls.”

  “No.”

  “But, I thought you said it would be impossible for me to get the recipe?”

  “Fine, you can have her bachelorette party in Vegas on one condition…”

  “Yes?”

  “My bachelor party is the same weekend in Vegas. We all go, we just go for two separate parties. That way, we’ll be close if you girls get in trouble.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Seriously, what kind of trouble are you expecting?”

  “I have no idea, trouble just seems to follow you girls around.” I couldn’t fault him that. Between Phoenix and I, a lot of trouble had made its way to Belle.

  “Ok. We can do that. Now, what is it you want?”

  “I’ll leave it up to Titan to decide your fate on that one.” Grit winked at me. I turned to look at Titan, he had a devilish smirk on his face.

  “You know, if I wasn’t so sure I’d win, I would actually be worried about it.”

  “If the bet was in my hands, would you be more worried?”

  “No.”

  “Why?”

  I thought if the debt were owed to Grit or any of the other guys, and I would be ok with it. They wouldn’t ever do anything to hurt me. I trusted them. “Because I trust the club.” I never thought it would be possible for me to trust a man, much less a group of men, but I did. The Demons were all protectors, honorable and ruthless when needed, but they would die to protect each other and the women in the club, and they would take it hard if one of their women was harmed. It’s why Titan beat himself up so badly about what happened to me, and if anything happened to Piper, they would carry that burden.

  I looked at Titan. “I need to go find Legend, but I owe you an apology too. While she needs space, I shouldn’t have made her untraceable. You’re right, if anything happened to her, I’d never forgive myself.” I kissed Titan’s lips lightly and got up, heading into the house in search of Legend.

  He was sitting with Declan perched in his lap, reading a story. It surprised me to see him so at ease with the kid, but then I remembered in the restaurant when Declan accidently knocked over the water. Legend had calmed the kid down, and made him laugh, he was good with him then, just as he is now.

  I stood, leaning against the doorway, listening as he read a Dr. Seuss book about fish. Whenever Declan would stumble over a word, he’d unobtrusively help him out. Legend, though an arrogant ass, was a good guy, but then all the Demons were arrogant asses.

  My thoughts wandered to a day when maybe I’d have a kid with Titan. Those thoughts led me to thoughts of Liliana, and I said a prayer of thanks that she was safe, happy, and loved. The guilt I’d carried for so many years, giving her up into the unknown, was lifted. I had done the right thing.

  I didn’t notice that Declan had finished his book, but I jumped when Legend’s shadow fell across me as he walked by. “Legend.”

  “Not now Ember.” His voice was a little gruff and angry, but I wasn’t going to let it rest.

  “Stop. Please.” The few people in the formal living room stopped to look at us, cheers from the family room could be heard. Declan looked at me curious and worried as to the tension that had come over Legend. He did stop, but he didn’t turn to look a
t me, he stood there, stiffly. I sent Declan to the kitchen so I could talk to Legend without him around. I could tell he was holding his temper at bay by the tense set of his shoulders and how he clenched his fists. I walked in front of him, and his anger was palpable as he looked at me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told her to turn off her phone.”

  “You should have stopped her from going, period.”

  “No. She’s an adult. She needed to get away for a while, something I completely understand.” I felt myself getting angry. “She is not a prisoner here. This is her home, she can come and go as she pleases for you to say otherwise makes me think maybe you two shouldn’t be together because you are a controlling son of a bitch, and that is something she definitely doesn’t need.” I looked over my shoulder at him as I walked away. “One thing about you guys that you all have in common, when it comes to pussy, if it doesn’t come easy, another one will. Maybe that’s where you go wrong, one pussy is as good as another until you find one that doesn’t want your dick to begin with.”

  I’d said my apology for letting her know to turn her shit off, but that was all I was sorry for. Other than that, I hope wherever she went tonight, she got laid and got Legend out of her system and off her mind.

  “She’s twenty pounds of concrete in a five pound bag.” I heard McKenzie’s parting comment to Legend, and she wasn’t wrong. We were all average-to-good-looking guys, then you add to it our time in the military and our bikes, women seemed to flock to us. We were not used to working for it.

  “Does she put you in your place often?”

  “No, but she does keep me on my toes.” I grinned and watched my brother pull at his hair in frustration. “It’s simple, Legend. You want her, you go after her, just know it means the end of the club girls. She needs a steady man and someone to be there for Declan. If you can’t be that man, someone else will.”

  “I didn’t fucking touch her.”

  “Her head was in your lap, Legend. If you saw Piper with her head in another man’s lap, what the hell would you do? She also got off your bike. What would you do if you saw Piper climbing off another man’s bike or out of his car? Where would your thoughts go? Especially if she had lived the life we live.”