by Jayne Blue
Chase caught his bottom lip between his teeth and led me down the porch steps by the hand. His booted feet fell heavy on the concrete. A silver chain dangled from his jeans. His Nine was there as always in his hip holster. It seemed an extension of him. I wasn’t against guns. Far from it. My father had always carried one. But with Chase, it was just one more reminder of the danger surrounding him.
As we reached the end of the driveway, I felt the weight of my choice. If I left with him now, this would be more than just casual. He was in it for something more. Was I?
Chase handed me a helmet and put his hands around my waist. I gasped as he lifted me with no effort and helped me onto the bike. When he climbed on in front of me, I slid my arms around his waist. Like before, it felt as natural as breathing. My thighs quivered in anticipation as he started the engine. Wherever Chase planned to take me, we would ride hard and fast tonight.
He did as he promised, taking the coastal highway. The last bands of sunlight trailed along the horizon. It was low tide and the waters of the Gulf of Mexico churned gold.
Once again, this felt like flying. I wished I could tear the helmet off and press my cheek against Chase’s back. I wanted to let the scent of leather envelop me. It was part of him. I think I understood a little of what Ed had tried to tell me. Chase and the Dark Saints weren’t two separate things. That club thrummed through his blood with all the darkness and mystery I’d been warned against my whole life. But I wanted him all to myself. For now, I think that’s what Chase wanted too.
We rode further and further away from Port Azrael, heading northeast up the coast. For a while, I wondered whether he might take me to some secluded part of the beach. It sounded like heaven. We could leave both of our worlds behind and get to know each other. But Chase made a turn and we headed into Crystal Cove, two towns over.
High on a hill overlooking the dunes, Chase pulled into a restaurant I’d never seen before called Haven View. He cut the engine and dismounted.
“What is this place?” I asked, peeling off Chase’s helmet. The restaurant had a huge, wraparound patio. Chase took my hand and led me toward it, bypassing the front entrance.
There were a few patrons at the bayside tables. Chase took me around the corner. From there, we faced the dunes. It was quieter, more secluded. He took a table in the corner and pulled out my chair. The waiter was already standing by holding a bottle of wine.
“Whatever’s on draft for me,” he said. The waiter nodded.
“Same,” I said. “Not much of a wine drinker. I get a headache.”
“One more thing I like about you.”
We made small talk until the waiter came back. We ordered shrimp and lobster. When we were alone again, Chase leaned back in his chair. A cool breeze kicked up, blowing the hair off his collar.
“Is this usual for you?” I asked.
He smiled. “What do you mean?”
“This.” I gestured toward the dunes and back toward the main dining room. “This is a date, Chase Cutter. Is this usual for you?”
That sultry laugh of his skittered across my skin. “I don’t think anything I’ve done since I met you has been usual, Ariel.”
“Oh?” I took a sip from my beer. “Is that a compliment?”
“You can take it as one.”
“Good.” I liked the fact that he felt out of his element with me. It leveled the playing field somehow.
“So,” he said, leaning forward to catch my hand. “How many people have warned you not to get tangled up with me?”
I smiled and didn’t miss a beat. “All of them.”
This got a hearty, startled laugh out of him that shook his whole body. “So why aren’t you listening?”
“That—” I leaned forward—“is the million-dollar question.”
Chase considered my answer. A line creased his forehead and for a moment, he looked downright lethal. But he had that same vulnerability behind his flint-gray eyes that drew me to him in the first place.
“You’re right though,” he said, sitting back in his chair. “I don’t date.”
“I don’t either,” I said, though I knew that fact meant something different for him than it did for me. In my case, it was a function of my lifestyle. I worked long hours, seven days a week. Turning the north side had become my singular passion, eclipsing anything even resembling a social life. For Chase, I knew the opposite had to be true. He didn’t date because he probably didn’t stick around long enough with any one woman. I didn’t know whether to be flattered, offended, or scared off.
“You’re actually going to pull it off, aren’t you?” he said. He took a long sip of beer; his intense stare never wavered from mine. It warmed me in a way that could be dangerous if I weren’t careful.
“Pull what off?”
“The north side. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Your house, the ones on Beckham and Tower. Hell, even Hutchins now. You’re changing the neighborhood.”
It was my turn to take a long draught of my beer. The cold amber liquid turned warm on the way down, making my head spin just a little. I wanted to be careful this time. The first night with Chase had been fueled by tequila and adrenaline. The second night, we’d both been clear-headed enough to walk away. Tonight though, this was uncharted territory. If I ended up going to bed with him, there would be no denying the strings attached. Strings. Or ropes. God, the most erotic image flashed in my mind of letting Chase do things to me I’d only read about.
“I’m trying,” I said, my voice croaking. I coughed to clear it. “I’m not the only one flipping houses down there. I’m just the most prolific one for now.”
“It only takes one to get the ball rolling. I hope I can say this without coming off, I don’t know, like an asshole. But I think your daddy would be proud.”
I finished off the last of my beer. Chase made a move for the pitcher to refill it. I waved him off. Not yet. I wanted my head clear.
“I hope so. This started out as something I wanted to do to honor him. Now it’s ... I don’t know ... it’s mine. I mean, it makes me feel more connected to him. But I feel like for every house I finish, it becomes something else. It’s somebody’s home. Somebody’s fresh start. So, it’s for them and it’s for Port Azrael, but more than that, it’s for me. I know, I’m going off the rails here and sounding hokey, probably. It’s just ... I don’t know. It saves me.”
“Saves you? What do you need saving from, Ariel?”
I hadn’t meant to spill so much of myself out in the span of a few seconds. The more time I spent with Chase, the more comfortable I became. It had always been just my father and me for so long. After losing my mom, I’d been so scared of losing him. It’s why I spent so much time with him at his shop in the beginning. Then, little by little, his passion became mine.
“I don’t make friends easily,” I said. I did reach for the pitcher this time. I poured half a glass as Chase raised a brow. The foam rose to the top of my glass and I put a finger in it to settle it. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not in a traditionally feminine field. It’s been that way since I was a kid. I’ve been in the shop and on construction sites. I don’t know. Well, you of all people should know. Everybody from the north side had something they were trying to escape, you know?”
Chase went still. I hadn’t meant to conjure painful memories for him. And I didn’t mean to compare my upbringing with his. We’d grown up a few years and a few streets apart, but it might as well have been two different planets.
“I do know. You have your crew and your calling. I have mine.”
“Oh?” I smiled.
Chase pointed to the patch above his left breast. “You know what this means?”
“Tail gunner,” I answered. “I asked you before what you’re chasing.”
He let out a bitter laugh and smiled. “Chase is my road name. I’m not gonna lie. Maybe I’m chasing everything. Tail. Ghosts. You name it. But it’s my job to bring up the rear and wat
ch everyone’s back when we’re on the road. My crew depends on me.”
Chase grew solemn. I couldn’t begin to imagine the level of trust that meant he’d earned.
“Your club saved you?” I asked.
Chase’s eyes flicked to mine. “I’d either already be dead or in jail if it weren’t for my club. So, yeah, I think you’re right, Ariel. We have more in common than a lot of people might think.”
“I’m so sorry you were ever in a position to need saving like that, Chase. I mean it. I wish I’d known you ... before.”
“Before? Before what? Before I became a Saint? There was no before, baby. It’s who I am.”
He said it with dark finality, his words becoming a challenge. He was a Dark Saint. It was in his blood and who he was. If I couldn’t accept it, it was time to walk away. In an instant, I felt as if I stood at the end of a tall cliff with churning waters below. Was I brave enough to leap?
I don’t remember making a conscious choice. But before I knew it, I’d reached across the table and took his hand. The waiter came with the check and I smiled.
“Come on,” I said. “Why don’t you take me home?”
Chapter 14
Chase
For the next few weeks, I couldn’t get enough of Ariel. When I wasn’t with her, I was thinking about her. For the first time in my adult life, I spent more time with her than I did with the crew. Dom, as always, was the first one to notice. He eyed me as I walked into the club after spending the third night in a row over at Ariel’s.
“You going nomad on us, Chase?” he asked. Dom, Bo, and Kade sat at one of the round tables in the main room of the clubhouse. Mama Bear stood behind the bar. She threw a towel at Dom’s head with blistering accuracy, hitting him square in the face. This got a laugh out of the guys and a middle finger aimed in his direction from me.
“Cut him some slack,” Kade said, slapping Dom in the chest with the back of his hand. “You’re just jealous cuz he’s prettier than you.”
“You got that right,” Mama said, laughing. Her eyes twinkled when she looked at me. A second later, she dropped her smile and grabbed another towel from under the bar. If I let her get me alone, I knew she’d have words for me.
I took a reluctant seat with Dom and the others. I knew what was coming. Mama came out from behind the bar and brought me a mug. I reached over and poured a beer from the pitcher in front of Kade. Mama stood behind me and ran a hand through my hair.
“We’ve missed your pretty face, as a matter of fact,” she said. This got some awkward throat clearing from Bo and Dom. Fucking Kade just smiled. He’d been through this gauntlet himself and came out the other side.
“Sorry,” I said. “Just some things I’ve been sorting out.”
Mama Bear leaned down. She had my face between her hands and tilted up to hers. In her day, she’d been a knockout with platinum-blonde hair, big tits, and blue eyes that could stare right through you. In her fifties, she was still a stone-cold fox. Her blonde hair had gone pure white but she was still built better than most people half her age.
“I want to meet your girl, Chase,” she said. “I’ve been hearing all sorts of things around town. It’s time you bring her here.”
Dom laughed. “Sheeit. She’s going to run for the fucking hills when she sees where you lay your head at night.”
Mama straightened and leveled a hard stare at Dom. “You got something to say about my house, James?”
Dom cleared his throat again and sat up straight in his chair. “No, ma’am.”
“It’s temporary,” I reminded him. “What’s your excuse?” Dom had been living in the clubhouse apartments on a more or less permanent basis over the last two years. For me, I’d sold my house on the east side and was saving to build on the beach near where Axle lived.
“How about tonight?” Mama said, fixing her focus back on me.
“Tonight?”
“Your girl,” she said, smiling. “Bear’s in the mood for a barbecue. Didn’t you smell it when you walked in? Pig’s been out on the spit all morning.”
I swallowed hard. Shit. She didn’t just mean bringing Ariel around to meet her. Mama Bear wanted Ariel to meet the whole crew all at once.
“I insist,” she said, though her hard eyes had already told me that. “Two birds, one stone. We were planning to celebrate Kade and Harlow coming back and Gina’s going to bring the baby. The whole family will be here.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said, echoing Dom’s tone from a few minutes ago. When Mama Bear gave an order, only a fool would try to disobey it. Fuck. It wasn’t that I wanted to hide Ariel. It was just ... we were new. This whole thing was new. Plus, the full Dark Saints M.C. treatment could be overwhelming for anybody. Ariel was already skittish when it came to how I made my living.
“Good,” Mama said, giving me a peck on the cheek. “It’s settled then. Have Ariel here by six o’clock.”
“Right,” I said. “She’s going to ask what to bring.”
Mama smiled. “And you’ll tell her just herself.”
Just herself. Fuck. Ariel would have no idea what she was getting herself into.
When I broke the news to her, Ariel was surprisingly calm. Hell, she was downright amused. I picked her up a little after five thirty. My heart flipped as it always did I when rode up her driveway. My dick tightened at the sight of her. She wore a slip of a halter top. It covered everything important, but it was just a thin triangle of red fabric tied at her neck and around the back. Her tanned, toned arms and shoulders were exposed and most of her back too. All I’d have to do was loosen one string to see those luscious, full tits of hers I’d grown to love. They were the perfect size, fitting heavy one in each hand. She had on a pair of skinny jeans and her red cowboy boots.
As I walked up to her, I had the urge to cover her. She was stunning and sexy. The idea that the rest of the guys would see her in that riled me.
I slid my arms around her waist and pulled her to me. “I’ve been waiting for this all day,” I said, lowering my lips to hers. Ariel sank into the kiss. Her nipples popped against my chest and I realized she wasn’t wearing a bra.
Fuck. At this rate we weren’t gonna make it past the porch let alone on the back of my bike and all the way back to the clubhouse.
“You sure you’re ready for this?” I said. “My crew’s a lot to take all at once.”
Ariel smiled up at me. “Baby, I’ve been handling good ol’ boys all my life. Don’t underestimate me.”
“Never.” I slid my hands over her hips. Ariel’s skin warmed beneath mine as my fingers played at her waist where her skin was bare.
“Come on,” she said. “Let’s take the long way around. I’ve made some progress on the Hutchins Street house I want to show you on the way out.”
I stiffened, then let a breath out. We hadn’t talked about that house in weeks. I’d managed to put it mostly out of my mind. Ariel sensed a shift in my mood. She reached up and smoothed her thumb over my cheekbone.
“Sure, baby,” I said, catching her wrist. “Real quick. We don’t wanna keep Mama Bear waiting.”
“Hmm. Mama Bear. How’d she get that name again?”
Ariel followed me down the steps. She hopped on the back of my bike. Her arms around my waist felt as natural as breathing.
“It’s what she is. You’ll see. As far as Bear? Nobody alive knows for sure how he got his road name. Not even E.Z., our Veep. If Mama knows, she’s not talking.”
I revved the engine and pulled out of Ariel’s driveway. We drew some stares from her neighbors as I made the turn and went five blocks down to Hutchins Street. After all that time, I still got the same pit in my stomach as that peaked roof came into view.
It was different today though. Ariel wasn’t kidding about doing some work. She’d ripped out the rusted chain-link fence in the front and all of the dead bushes. The cement sidewalk was also gone. In its place were new stone pavers, but they were in the wrong place. Hell, the front door wasn’t the fro
nt door anymore. She’d moved it over and centered it. There was a whole new porch at the front of the house.
“Come on,” she said, dismounting. Ariel held her hand out to mine. I followed her, my heart hammering inside of me as we got closer to the front. She could change things. She could give the house a whole new face and maybe even gut the insides. But she couldn’t change everything. The demons still lived inside those walls, as far as I was concerned.
Ariel punched a code into the lockbox and swung open the new door. The foyer leading up- and downstairs was gone. The house opened up to the main floor now. Inside, there was hardly anything familiar. The wall separating the kitchen and living room was gone.
“Fuck me,” I whispered as I followed Ariel inside. It was still a construction site inside with a bare subfloor, unfinished walls, and power tools laying everywhere. But I could almost see the house through Ariel’s eyes. It was a hell of a lot better than my own.
“Wait until you see the back of the house,” she said. “I had to take it from four to three bedrooms, but I think it’s better this way. You’ve got to check out the master suite.”
Ariel talked a mile a minute, swept up with excitement. I loved her like this. She was animated, gesturing wildly, framing each room with her hands as she described her vision. I wanted to see it her way. But with each step I took toward the back of the house, I could only see the past.
It struck me hard, like an anvil in the chest. My breath left me and my throat ran dry.
Mama? Wake up. Wake up! You’re bleeding.
Shouts. Screams. A siren wailed in the distance. There was someone talking to me. A hand pulling me back. It was too late. I’d seen everything. I’d seen what they’d done.
I blinked. Once. Twice. I saw my mother dancing, laughing through a gap in the closet wall. She’d told me to stay in my room. Mrs. Danberry couldn’t take me tonight. Mom had a date. She always had a date. It would only last for a little while, she promised. If I was good and quiet and stayed in my room, she’d take me to Hinkle’s for some ice cream tomorrow. I could even get it for breakfast.