Mace & His American Rose: The Scarlet Runners MC

by Brair Lake

  ‘You’ve made your choice then?’

  ‘Yes…’

  Avery’s lips were sweet against his as he tugged the sheet free of her body. Their bodies sinking to the ground. Avery’s moan, turned to a sigh.

  ‘Mace says you’re staying.’

  Avery turned to the president of The Scarlet Runners. The first time she met him, she thought he was a bore. Now all she sees, is the pain he tries to hide from everyone. She broke her gaze from Sinbad to look around the room. There was laughter and everyone was having fun. Mississippi has two of the club’s women on his knee. Coats is playing pool with another woman. Dill, her heart skipped as she watched Dill, the brother she never knew she had, as he flirted with a woman. Mace was at the bar, talking to Carrie. She watched the couple and sensing her gaze on him. He looked over to her, and smiled. Her stomach flipped. He is hers. ‘Yes. I’m staying.’

  ‘I can order them to return the money if you want.’

  Avery’s head flung back as she laughed. ‘Sometimes we get scammed, and it looks as though, that’s just what happened Dad.’

  Sinbad kissed Avery on the forehead, pulling her close.

  ‘You see that smile on Mace.’ Avery returned her gaze to Mace. Her head nodding as she smiled at him. ‘That’s the first real smile I’ve seen him wear for a long time. You keep that smile there and you’re welcome at the club anytime.’

  ‘What were you and Sinbad talking about?’ Avery snuggled into Mace, her arms linking around his neck as she nibbled on his neck. ‘Club business.’

  Mace chuckled, dragging her closer. His body curving into hers. They may be on the dance floor in a room full of people, yet with Avery, they soon faded away. With her he is complete.

  ‘Are you happy to be my Old Lady.’

  Her lips whispered over his throat, and he shivered. ‘I look forward to the day when I’m your old, Old Lady.’

  ‘You know I do. Don’t you?’

  She snuggled in closer to Mace, enjoying the warmth of his body. ‘You do what.’

  ‘Love you.’

  Epilogue.

  Dill stretched his six-foot frame. His body ached and he was ready for his bed. But before he could retire, he had a meeting with Noah. Dill grimaced as he ran his hand through his hair. It has to be at least sixteen years since he last spoke to his old neighbor. The day Merrie had left, had been the day he moved out of his neighborhood. Without her sweet smile and easy laugh, he couldn’t find a reason to stay. Dill raised his gaze to the sky, morning is breaking and after the heavy rains of the last few days, the sun is breaking through. It’s been a shit year for weather, and Sinbad making muttering about moving to a new clubhouse. They only just avoided being flooded, but the other brothers were not ready to move. The location of the clubhouse is good. It gave them easy access to and from Downy Lakes. To move would be foolish. It was going to be a hard couple of years, but they could rebuild The Scarlet and Downy Lakes. The timing is perfect to get rid of the deadwood.

  ‘That smile doesn’t bode well.’ Dill’s smile deepened. His gaze sweeping over his sister. She’s accepted him, no questions asked. He’d been pissed with Mace when he had taken up with the Judge’s daughter. Something which had changed once he’d learned she was not her father or Shanae. Dill chuckled, twice he’s loved and twice he’s lost.

  ‘I’m off to my old neighborhood.’

  ‘Need company?’

  ‘Nope. My old homestead isn’t the place for you?’

  ‘Afraid to hurt my sensibilities.’

  ‘No, but Mace is becoming pretty fierce.’ Dill gave his body an extravagant shudder, making Avery giggled.

  ‘You need to rest.’

  ‘I will when I get back.’

  The diner is deserted when he arrived, and he quietly ordered a coffee and sat in the booth, which gave him easy visibility of the parking lot. A glance at his watch, confirmed Noah is running late, and he grabbed his cell off the table, scrolling through for his number. When Noah had rung, and although he had sounded frustrated, he had been insistent about the meeting.

  The low growl of a car engine has him glancing out of the large glass window. A car he doesn’t recognize is pulling into the parking lot, and he dropped his cell back onto the table. When the driver emerged from the vehicle, his hand clenched tightly around his coffee mug. Sixteen years haven’t changed Merrie. She may be slightly plumper than she had been when they were teenagers. Her hair shorter, but it was still just as dark. Her head rose as though she knew she was being watched, and green eyes he hasn’t seen since the day she had left, stared into his soul. They say you never forget your first love, and the way his legs trembled, they were right. She had taken his virginity, and then she had left without a word.

  As Dill watched Merrie approach, he drifted back to when he was a boy. Few people are aware of what he went through as a child. Merrie was one of the select. She knew his dark secrets. She was the one to offer him comfort, to ease him through his darkest moments, and as a boy there had been plenty of them.

  As she approached the table, his smile didn’t falter. He had his nerves under control. Shit, Shanae never had this effect on him. Now, whenever he saw the whore, he felt nothing. He still planned to destroy the Judge, but he no longer wanted Shanae back. She has become too groomed for his liking. As Merrie came closer to the table, Dill didn’t rise to greet her. He couldn’t. His cock is throbbing, and he wanted to spread Merrie over the nearest table and fuck her. ‘It’s been a long time, Merrie.’

  ‘No hello, Dill.’

  ‘We never said goodbye.’

  Merrie’s gaze flickered towards the window, her gaze unseeing as the waitress brought over another mug of coffee. ‘No, we didn’t, did we.’

  He finished his coffee, his gaze searching for the waitress to let her know he wanted a refill. ‘You don’t come back to Downy Lakes often Merrie. What have I done to deserve this visit. You didn’t have to use your father you know.’

  ‘I only found out about the meeting this morning. I’ve come in my father’s place.’

  ‘So cloak and dagger. What do you want to talk about?’

  Merrie sipped her coffee. She would have given anything to avoid Dill. Her stomach is flipping. He had been a bad boy when she knew him. Then he had set her body on fire. For him she would have laid down her life. Defended him no matter what he had done. All he had to do, was smile, and she was his. Wasn’t that how she lost her virginity to him. He had teased her. One moment they were watching some horror flick. She had buried her head in his shoulder as some masked stranger jumped into the television screen. The next, she had been naked and he had been inside her. Merrie’s body became flush at the clear memory of that night and of that summer. She had loved Dill. According to her father, she had loved him too much, leaving no room for anyone else. ‘I didn’t want you to hear it from anyone else that I’d returned to Downy Lake.’

  ‘After sixteen years, you thought I’d be interested in knowing you were back. Did I miss the letters you sent me?’

  Merrie winced. Dill’s words hurt. So she had never written to him. At the time she had thought it was best to put the past behind them. Now there was no hiding. ‘My home was destroyed in the floods Dill. I have no choice but to come home.’

  ‘Well, Merrie, I thank you for the warning, and I’ll try to contain my rampant desire for you, and not bug you too much.’

  Merrie cringed. Had she really expected Dill to have feelings for her. Her father had kept her up to date on his shenanigans. ‘I know you’ve not pined for me Dill. Weren’t you engaged at one time.’

  He drank his refill. His gaze watchful as he studied the brunette. ‘Yeah - But I guess I’m suited for the single life. What about you Merrie. Did you ever marry?’

  Merrie sipped her own coffee, grimacing at the bitter taste before adding sugar to the dark contents. No man had ever matched Dill afterwards. All through her teenage years he had been a large force. A large part of her. ‘Not even close.’
>
  ‘I don’t believe that. You’re still as beautiful now as you were as a teenager. There must have been a man or two.’

  Merrie refused to flinch as Dill searched her face. The slight sneer to his lip hurting her more than his words. How do you tell a man he had destroyed her for all others?

  ‘A couple. But they wanted more than I had to give.’

  ‘I know that feeling Merrie. So how many hearts have you broken over the years?’

  ‘Counting yours.’

  ‘You think you broke my heart. Sorry Sweetheart, my family destroyed what heart I had, long before we had our summer of fun. By then I had nothing left.’

  Merrie’s heart wretched. She wanted to reach out and touch him. To stroke away his pain. To turn the clock back. To give him the summer closure he needed. ‘You never left Downy Lakes.’

  ‘No - I got as far as the highway before I found my new home.’

  ‘Dad said you’re a biker.’

  ‘Yep. A Scarlet Runner.’

  Merrie glanced over to the bike, she had spotted at as soon as she turned into the parking lot. It was then, that she had been tempted to turn around. For years she has imagined the conversation they would have when they finally met again. Yet this one is nothing close to it.

  She ran her fingers through her hair, wishing she had tied it back. And maybe, just maybe, she should have let her dad handle this conversation.

  Dill threw several dollar bills on the table, rising as he searched his pockets and extracted his keys. ‘I’ve got to go Merrie. But thanks anyway.’

  ‘For what.’

  ‘For this.’

  She watched Dill amble towards the door. Her lip hurt from where she is biting down on it. ‘Dill wait.’

  Merrie’s heart raced when he opened the door and stepped through the gap, then she was chasing after him. Her hand grabbing his arm as he raised his helmet. ‘Dill we still need to talk.’

  ‘About what.’ She shuffled her feet, her gaze falling to the ground before she raised her eyes up to meet the intense blue of Dills gaze. Her hands are clammy, and reluctantly she let go of the arm she is holding on to.

  ‘You have a son.’

  Coming Soon – The Scarlet Runners series.

  Dill and his Bittersweet Rose

  Coats and His Spanish Crimson Rose

  Mississippi and his Red Devil Rose

  Sindbad and his Dark Scarlet Rose