The Last Check (Hell's Phoenix MC Series Book 2)

by Kristine Dugger

  We pull up to this massive two-story cabin on an equally large lake. What the fuck? This is not what I expected when he told me we were going to a cabin. I honestly thought it was just going to be a camper like building, not a fucking lake house. Cabin, my ass.

  Avery backs the motorcycle into a covered spot and turns it off. Curiosity is brewing in me, I ask, “Woah. This is yours?”

  He smirks, “Yeah. But I share it with the boys.”

  “You inherit this place? It is massive.”

  He laughs, “No, I didn’t inherit this place. I own it.”

  “This is a fucking lake house, not a cabin.”

  He chuckles, “Princess, come on.”

  “Ugh. You called me princess again.”

  “Well, aren’t you.”

  “So, does that make you my knight in shining armor? Saving me from my wicked family.”

  He shakes his head at me. “It’s good to hear you joke around.”

  “It’s a defense mechanism.”

  Avery grabs my hand. “There is nothing to be defensive about here. It’s just you and me.” He leads me toward the front of the house. It even has a wraparound porch. Again, what the fuck? Avery opens the door and leads me into The Cabin. Okay, now this place is looking more like cabin-ish. A couple of mismatched couches, small-screen television, wooden chairs and end tables but with an open concept. I continue to look around. The kitchen looks like something out of Mrs. Cleaver’s home. Checkerboard blue curtains, yellow walls with a baby blue fridge. I giggle.

  Avery looks at me and asks, “What is so funny?”

  I laugh, “This place is just not what I expected a bunch of big, bad bikers to own.”

  “You like your stereotypes, don’t you?”

  “No.”

  “Let’s get you upstairs and let you relax while I go into town to get dinner and such.”

  “Okay!”

  Avery leads me up the stairs and into our room with a queen-sized bed. A homemade patch quilt drapes over the bed. I have a feeling Avery’s mother or grandmother made that. He comments, “Get settled in and get some rest. You’re beautiful but looking a little rough.”

  I tilt my head at him and say, “Beautifully rough, okay.”

  He leans in and kisses my cheek. “Get some sleep. I will be out for a while.”

  “Okay!”

  He sets my bag on the bed, winks and leaves.

  I look out the window to watch him leave. This time, he was not riding his bike but driving an old-school red Ford pick-up truck. It was a beauty. My brother would appreciate the beauty of the truck. He was big into restoring old vehicles. An overwhelming sense of emotion comes over me. My brother will never get to restore another vehicle. He will never get to share his love for cars with his son. I must keep that going. I need to learn more. I should have listened better when he would ramble on and on about Camaros, Chevelle, or whatever car or truck he thought was gorgeous. Oh well. I head to the bed and moments later, I was out.

  ***

  The charcoal smell of barbeque causes me to stir awake. I rub my eyes and stretch. I spot a picture on the wall that catches my eyes. I get up and look closely at it. It was Avery and some of his military friends hanging by their tent, smiling. Avery looks young, with no beard and short hair. I knew it was him by his dorky grin. There was five of them, all in their army fatigues, grinning from ear to ear. You could tell they were close by the goofy smiles on their face. I wonder if Logan had close friends like Avery. I remember Avery saying they were hit by a roadside bomb. He survived, while his brothers died. Logan wasn’t alone, that is all I knew. I still cannot believe Logan is gone. I just wish this wasn’t reality.

  Avery

  I head upstairs to check on Presley and let her know dinner is ready. The door creaks as I walk into the room. She was standing there looking hopeless, examining the picture of my Army brothers and me. She turns and looks at me with tears in her eyes. She asks, “Are these the guys you were with that day?”

  I answer, “Yeah.”

  Here she goes. I know she is going to pry more. She sees my memorabilia.

  “What exactly happened?”

  “Don’t worry about that.”

  Her eyes narrowed and glazed. “Please! You survived what my brother didn’t.”

  It hits me like a Mack truck. Her grief of not knowing what happened to her brother while at war will eat away at her.

  “Babe, you don’t want to know.”

  “I do.”

  We sit down on the bed and off I went. I start, “My Army brothers and I were heading to a small village in Syria. I got out of the truck before we arrived. It was just one of those curiosity things. Next thing I know, a loud bang and I was knocked back. The truck was hit. Blood was gushing from my side. I approached Clancy first, he died. Then Mav was calling for me. Adrenaline kicked in, I got up and ran to the truck. Bourbon and Dom were already dead. Mav is all I had left. I could’ve saved him. The pain was becoming unbearable, but I pushed through it. I grabbed the door and heat shot through my hand. I flew back and hit my head pretty damn hard. After that, everything became a blur. I was told I was the lone survivor. I should’ve died with my brothers. Instead, God chose me to live and deal with the pain and stress of that day. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of them. I should’ve died with them.”

  My heart rate speeds up and I start to perspire. Her blues look at me. She wraps her arms around me. “There is a reason you lived. Thank you for telling me. In ways, it helps.”

  I examine her. She is truly genuine. “I’m glad it helped. I don’t know how. I don’t talk about what happened much. Actually, not at all.”

  Her hand brushes against my face. “I’m honored you told me. You didn’t have to, but you did.” She leans in and her soft, plump lips touch mine. Something inside of me is feeling off. This woman just made her way into my stone cold heart.

  Chapter 17

  Presley

  Dinner was amazing. Avery went through all this trouble to make me feel good. He prepared New York strips with grilled veggies and fruit skewers. For a rough, tough man, he went all out to make me smile. He plated our food and had Merlot waiting for me. I am not much of a wine drinker, but this was thoughtful. We buried my brother today and all he wants to do is take my mind off of things. Take me away from the heartache that is waiting for me back home.

  Avery assembles the fire pit. I grab my wine and sip the bitter dryness. It is exactly how I like it. As he lights the wood, Avery looks at me and winks. I shiver. This feels legit. Like we are more than just sex. I am not sure how I feel about that, but this moment with him, I am going to savor. After the flames rise from the wood, Avery walks toward me and sits next to me on the double Adirondack chair. He rests his arm across my shoulders and pulls me close. Oh, this feels right. His smell is a combination of musk and burnt wood. I can get lost within him.

  Grateful for him taking me away from my nightmare, I say, “Thank you so much for this.”

  He squeezes me tighter. Avery comments, “Not a problem, babe. Sometimes, it is needed just to get away.”

  I look up at him. His hazel eyes looking down at me. I ask, “Do you come here a lot?”

  He smirks, “I try to.”

  “By yourself?”

  “Most of the time. This place is my serenity. When I feel like my past is getting the best of me, this is where I go.”

  “Is there more to your story?”

  “Not really. War just fucked me up.”

  “I hate war.”

  “We all do, babe. But I don’t regret my time in the service. It taught me a lot.”

  “But you are suffering.”

  “True, but I’m getting better about handling it. For months after the bombing, I was hospitalized and seeing a behavioral counselor. Anger got the best of me. The only option was to leave and take the honorable discharge. When I came home, I shut everybody out.”

  “I can see that.”

 
“The worst of it was yet to come. I wasn’t working. I closed everyone out. My mother pretty much freaked out on me. Alcohol was my best friend. Then, one day, my father and Ralphie knocked some sense into me. I realized I could not live like that. Nothing was going to bring that day back nor change it.”

  “It is okay to grieve their loss. But I get it.”

  “I know. And it’s okay to get away from it all.”

  “What else?”

  He smirks, “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know. Tell me all about you.”

  “You know me already. Fucked up biker who is closed off to the world…”

  “Oh, stop. You’re far from that. You probably don’t want to hear this but I’m going to say it anyways. You have a soft side to you.”

  Avery shakes his head at me. “Babe, I’m not soft.”

  “Right now, you are.” I grab his cock.

  He laughs, “Woman, what the hell are you doing?”

  “Making you smile. I like it when you smile. You look super cute.”

  “Cute? I don’t even know what to say to this. Cute is what you call babies.”

  “True. True.”

  “Now, your turn. Tell me about you?”

  “Well, you know the shitty stuff and the good stuff. Nothing more than that.”

  “There is always more.”

  “My father owns the Omaha Bullets. I grew up with everything I wanted in life, as long as I was a good girl and followed the rules.”

  “You’re not following the rules right now.”

  “I know. I’ll get grief when I get home. And you’re right about me.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I am a fucking princess.”

  He grins, “Well, you’re one sexy princess with a wild side I enjoy.”

  “It’s my rebellious side.”

  “If it wasn’t for you acting out for attention, we would’ve never met.”

  I poke him in the stomach. “Well, I got your attention.”

  “You will always have my attention.”

  Then, it hits me. Something is going on between Avery and me. Not just two people fucking each other hard and crazy. We are coming together. Does this feel right? Right now, it does. It is time to come forward about everything. Why we had our chance meeting? I need to tell him.

  I state, “Avery, can I tell you something?”

  He smiles, “You can tell me anything you want.”

  I take a deep breath. “When I met you that one night at Dirty Jay’s, it was only supposed to be that one night, that went to morning. You were a checkmark?”

  “I know!”

  “What do you mean, you know?”

  “A girl like you doesn’t go for a guy like me. I was okay with being that checkmark for you. You’re a lot of fun.”

  “Are you fucking serious right now? You are okay knowing that you were just a sexual conquest.”

  He smirks, “I like that. Sexual conquest.”

  “Of course, you would.”

  “Babe, this has gone past a sexual conquest. It is more like a magnetic force.”

  “You’re the last check.”

  And I am ready to freak the fuck out. I cannot believe I just said that. It is like diarrhea of the mouth. A Freudian slip. No, no, no. We cannot be together. But yet, there is a warm and fuzzy feeling starting. My family will never accept him. It is fucked up, but I have no clue what to do or say. I cannot ignore how I am feeling right now. At the funeral, he thought of how I was feeling when no one else acknowledged I was falling apart inside. Avery did. He did not care how my father felt about us leaving together. He just wanted to take care of me. Holy shit. He is the last the check on the fuckit list.

  “Stop overthinking this. Let’s just enjoy our time away from everything. It is just you and me,” he interrupts my train of thought.

  We curl up closer under the country stars. He brings me close and I drift into somberness. This man, right here. All of this he has done for me. Helping me from losing my fucking mind. When I get home, the nightmare of losing my brother and best friend will come back full force. Right now, Logan would tell me not to worry about the issues at home and him being gone but to enjoy the moment and embrace life as it happens.

  Avery

  Well, I am fucking done. I am falling for her. This is a first for me. All I want to do is take away her sorrow and make her feel safe. That I am here for her. Now, she is all I want. She accepts me for who I am. I am fucked up in the head. In ways, slightly unstable. But, with her, I feel calm. Like the storm is never going to come. Is she the one who is going to help me heal? Helping her with the loss of her brother is therapeutic. I just want to be there for her. Take care of her like she deserves to be. Let her be the free spirit she is.

  After putting out the fire, I stand up and reach for her hand. Her sapphires gleam up at me. She is at comfort with me. I am with her.

  I ask, “You ready for bed?”

  She yawns, “Yeah, I’m beat.”

  Once I knew the fire was officially out, we head inside and up the stairs to our room. She strips down in front of me. She is perfect. Every inch of her curvy body. Perky tits, nice round ass and hips that I can hold as I fuck her.

  Presley blushes, “What are you doing?” She feels me memorizing her.

  I smile, “Enjoying the view.”

  “I take it you like what you see.”

  “You could say that.”

  She walks over to me in just her bra and panties. She looks up at me and says, “Avery!”

  “Presley.”

  “Thank you for being there for me. It means a lot more than you think it does.”

  I stare at her, “I want to be there always for you.”

  Her chest rises. “You really mean that?”

  I grab her hand and rest it on my chest over my heart. “Feel that? It won’t let me not be there for you.”

  Her eyes start to water.

  I rest my forehead to hers and continue, “I will be your last check.”

  She leans up to me and gently places her lips on mine. We fall to the bed. She pushes my shirt off and over my head. I unhook her bra, freeing her more than a handful breast. Next, her underwear are gone. My pants were thrown to the floor. Both of us deep into our kiss, wanting each other. I lay over her.

  She pulls away and looks up at me.

  Her dark chocolate hair falls over her face. I brush the hair away from her delicate face, mesmerized by the beauty that is my princess.

  I ask, “What is it about you that I can’t stay away from?”

  Presley sighs, “I don’t know. I feel the same.”

  I lean down and press my lips against hers. I’m not a man of many words when it comes to how I feel. But at least I can show her this way. Our tongues interlock, slowly, not starving like before. She grips my back with her legs, inviting me in. This is just her and me. Nothing coming between us. Just me showing her that she is my woman. I enter her in a slow rhythmic movement. Our lips still connected. Moans escape her underneath our lips. Her fingers caressing my scalp. I push deeper. Her legs grip tighter.

  She purrs, “Avery. “

  Slow and steady.

  Again, she moans, “Avery.”

  I’m taking what is mine and that is every inch of her soul. She has me. I thrust deeper. Her hands trail down my sweaty back. Again, she says, “Avery.”

  The way she moans my name is making it hard not to unleash. Not this time. This time, we are more than just two people who like to fuck each other. We are Us. This, I claim.

  I pump my hips with a hard push. She purrs, “Oh, God!”

  My woman is close. She whimpers, “Avery, give it to me. Never hold back.”

  That is all it took. Hips in motion, digging deeper into her. Nails claw at my back and she screams, “Avery.”

  I lost it.

  I’m in too deep.

  Releasing inside of her, bare and all. She is the most intriguing, beautiful woman I have ever m
ore than fucked. It is fucking happening. I have fallen for this woman.

  Chapter 18

  Presley

  Our bodies are tangled like a pretzel. Safe and sound in Avery’s arms. My head is resting against his chest. His hold is tight. I glance up at him. The sun reflecting through the curtains on his face. He looks peaceful and relieved. I inhale and exhale. It is so cliché to feel this way, but this man is the most beautiful man I have ever laid my eyes on. Yeah, it was all physical in the beginning but there is so much more to the man holding me. He opened up to me about his past, his struggles and most importantly, how he feels about me. I never thought someone like him would be for someone like me. I lift my head up and notice the digital clock says 10:37 am. I guess we were both tired, emotionally and physically. Last night was special. We connected on a different level, a deeper level. It was like the next step for us. What is the next step? I do not want to really think about that right now. I just want to enjoy being here with him, away from reality.

  Knock. Knock.

  Avery stirs and awakes. Another knock on the door. Avery grumbles, “Who the fuck?”

  A husky voice answer, “Hey, asshole. Get your lazy ass up.”

  Avery moans, “Smith, I’m busy right now.”

  “No, you’re not. I’m not hearing any screams and moans.”

  “Bro, what the hell?”

  “Hi, Smith!” I interrupt, hoping to divert their attention.

  “Hey, gorgeous,” says Smith.

  I look at Avery and he shakes his head at me. Avery comments, “Give us a few minutes.”

  “All right, man.”

  We look at each other and smile. This time, he had a boyish smile, like the one in the picture. Oh, I like this. Like it a lot. I ask, “Um, why is he here?”

  Avery runs his hand through his golden hair and says, “I invited everybody up for a bonfire tonight.”

  “When did you do this?”

  “While you were sleeping yesterday afternoon.”

  “I’m hanging out with you and the boys this weekend?”

  He smirks, “Is that a bad thing?”

  “That is a lot of testosterone for one woman.”