Black Jack

by A Parker

  Mason.

  Her brother’s best friend. Jackson’s right-hand man and the one in line to assume Jackson’s position as President should anything ever happen to him. No wonder she felt like we were cursed. She loved two men in the Devil’s Luck MC. I did not envy her for that, especially when I considered she used to love three.

  “Oh dear,” I breathed.

  She spun back to me. “What?”

  I nodded at Mason. “That’s complicated.”

  She blinked rapidly as her cheeks turned neon pink. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Sure you do.”

  “Um, no, I don’t, uh—”

  “You don’t have to say anything, Suzie.”

  Suzie bit her bottom lip, which was much fuller than the top one, and fidgeted with her thumbs, twisting silver bands around each one. “It doesn’t matter. I doubt he even knows I exist.”

  “Mason?” I whispered. “Oh, he knows you exist. How could he not notice a showstopper like you?”

  Suzie smiled, but it was a sad sort of smile that didn’t touch her brown eyes. “Because I’m William and Jack’s baby sister. We’ve known each other for too long for him to see me as anything else but the girl who used to tag along for walks to the convenience store and beg them to buy me a popsicle.”

  I giggled. “That’s cute. It’s hard trying to picture you ever being cute, but that’s really fucking cute. You’re kind of scary, you know that?”

  “Thank you.”

  We laughed, but as the laughter died away, I put a hand on her shoulder. “I can’t imagine how hard these past weeks have been for you, but I’m glad they’ve brought us together. All of us.”

  “They would have been easier if my brother was around more. Instead, he’s off going to war with the same man who killed our brother and who very nearly killed him, too. He can be an absolute ass sometimes.”

  “You’re not wrong,” I said.

  She huffed. “He doesn’t care what his choices cost me. He doesn’t even realize how fucking scared I’ve been all this time. I can’t be the last one left of our family. I just can’t. I need him here but all he ever seems to be able to do is almost get himself killed.”

  “I need him here, too,” I admitted. “I’ll do everything I can to protect Jackson from himself, and from Walter Bates. I promise, Suzie.”

  Chapter 38

  Jackson

  Samantha unfolded the dark green camping chair Grant had brought out from storage for us and put her beer can in the cupholder. “I never thought I’d sit around a fire with a bunch of bikers in a camping chair,” she said. “It kind of breaks the badass mold I had of you guys in my head.”

  “Hey now,” Grant said as he took his seat across the fire from us, “we’re still badasses.”

  “Didn’t you buy insoles for your boots a few months ago, Toke?” Gabriel snickered.

  Grant shot him a dark look over the flames. “Don’t go sharing my business with the group. You don’t see me exposing your gambling problems, do you?”

  I laughed. “We call Gabriel Joker for a reason, Toke. You can’t air someone’s dirty laundry we all know about.”

  Gabriel scowled around at us while Sam tried not to laugh beside me. “I don’t have a gambling problem, fuckers. I just happen to enjoy playing poker and I’m not half bad at it.”

  “You’re all bad at paying attention when there’s a hot chick at your table, though,” Knox said.

  Gabriel had no retort for that, so he shrugged, lifted his beer as if in a toast, and drained the remnants of the can.

  We’d spent the entire evening together and it showed no sign of slowing down anytime soon. The boys seemed content to all be in the same place right now while things felt calm, and Suzie had no interest in leaving. She sat beside Mason with Samantha’s cat in her lap. The pair of them chatted back and forth while she ran her fingers through the orange fur and giggled at the occasional joke.

  Sam caught me watching my sister and nudged my elbow with hers. “It’s rude to stare, Jackson.”

  “I’m not staring. I’m just wondering what he’s saying that’s making her giggle like that.”

  “Mason is a funny guy,” Sam said.

  “No, he’s not.”

  Sam rolled her eyes. “Women appreciate different kinds of humor than men.”

  “Apparently,” I muttered. “He’s a simpleton.”

  “Are you jealous?”

  “She’s my sister,” I barked.

  “Yeah, and she’s hanging on his every word whereas she gives you pushback and flak. I wouldn’t blame you if it bothered you.”

  “It doesn’t bother me,” I muttered.

  Sam leaned in close and whispered in my ear. “Then stop staring at her and brooding because it certainly looks, sounds, and feels like it bothers you.”

  I shifted in my chair and pulled my eyes away from Mason getting chummy with my sister. Perhaps they just felt relaxed and happy after everything had turned out all right for the Devil’s Luck. They deserved this night.

  We all did.

  Suddenly, Suzie swung up to her feet, knocking Toes off her lap. The cat meowed from the rejection, prowled around the fire, and hopped up into Sam’s lap. His tail flicked but some one-finger strokes between his eyes settled him down.

  “Watch yourself there, Suzie,” I warned as my sister swayed on her feet. How much beer had she had to drink tonight?

  Mason reached out and put a steadying hand on her elbow. “You all right there, Suze?”

  Suzie brushed his hand away. “I’m fine. I’m fine. I wanted to make a toast.” She lifted her beer and a bit of it sloshed out the opening and spilled down the front of her tank top. She giggled at herself and swept it away before turning serious. “I want to make a toast to us.”

  “Here we go,” Knox muttered.

  “Suzie’s drunk again,” Toke said.

  “Get comfortable, boys, we might be here a while,” Abel added.

  Laughter ensued around the fire until Mason told everyone to settle down. “Let the girl talk. Go on, Suze. What did you want to say?”

  She gave him an appreciative look before turning back to the fire. She stared into the amber flames, which glowed against her fair skin. “I want to tell you all that I’m grateful for you, even if you are a bunch of barbarians with no manners.” This elicited snickers from the men, which made her smile. “Without you, Jackson might not be here. Without you, hell, we all might be nothing. But together we’re a family, and there’s nothing stronger than our bond. Our blood. I might not be allowed to wear a jacket or get my own ink,” she added darkly, shooting me a stern look, “but in my heart, I’ve always felt like I was one of you. Thank you for never making me feel like I wasn’t.”

  Samantha sniffled beside me.

  Knox caught her tearing up. “Oh fuck, boys. Maybe we should’ve made a one-girl only rule.”

  Sam wiped at her eyes and smiled. “Then you’d have to leave too.”

  Everyone laughed at that, including Knox.

  “I’m not done,” Suzie called over the noise. “I have one more toast to make. To Samantha.”

  Samantha stiffened.

  Suzie smiled at her. “Welcome to the family.”

  A chorus of hoots and hollers went up, and Samantha beamed at all my brothers—and sister. She looked happier than I’d seen her in some time. All traces of grief about the fire and losing her home were gone, if just for a moment.

  “Oh shit,” Susan muttered. “I’ve got one more.”

  “Fucking hell,” Abel sighed.

  “Get on with it, Suzie!”

  “Make it quick!”

  “We ain’t got all night to get sentimental!”

  Susan shushed them all. “Shut up, you assholes. One more toast. To William.”

  Silence fell and the moment of stillness stretched on. Nothing moved or made a sound except for the flames dancing in the firepit between us.

  “To William,” I sa
id.

  The others followed suit, lifting their beers and toasting to my brother, whose death I still did not have all the details of. I’d decided I didn’t really want them. I knew all I needed to know, and that was that he was dead, he was never coming back, and Walter Bates had done it.

  Suzie poured her beer out onto the ground. “We miss you, brother. And we will never forget you or the man who took you from us.” The beer emptied, and her stare hardened and seemed to glow red in the firelight. “In the end, Bates will know justice. We will see it done. He will feel the heat of the fires he lights and he will feel the pain he’s inflicted on others. Then we will spare him from his misery.”

  Mason blinked up at Susan. “Suze, maybe you should sit down. You’re going to scare us all off.”

  Susan settled back into her chair and tucked her legs up under herself. For some time, nobody spoke. We stared into the flames as Suzie’s words danced around in our brains. I didn’t know what the others were thinking of, but I thought of William and the oath I’d made to him and our dead parents that he would have the justice he deserved.

  And I would have the vengeance I needed to move on.

  Eventually, we would see it done. Maybe not today or tomorrow but eventually.

  Samantha leaned toward me. “She’s been struggling, Jackson. Have you spoken to her, just the two of you recently? I think she could really use her big brother.”

  “Suzie?” I asked.

  Samantha rolled her eyes at me. “Yes, Suzie. You know, your sister? She and I were talking this afternoon, and don’t tell her I told you, but she’s barely holding it together, Jackson. I think a moment with you and some reassurance would go a long way.”

  “I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”

  “Sooner is better than later.”

  “Just who do you think you are, telling me what to do?”

  Sam reached over and ran her hand over my chest. “You can punish me later.”

  A ripple of desire went through me. “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”

  “Oh, I have a bit of an idea.”

  Chuckling, I pulled her chair closer to mine. Toes grunted and groaned in protest but never left her lap. “You know all that shit Suzie said about family and about you being part of ours?”

  Samantha nodded.

  “I feel the same way,” I said. “We’re your family now, if you want us.”

  Sam searched my eyes. “I do. I want everything that comes along with loving you.”

  All the air in my lungs got stuck.

  Loving?

  Sam’s eyes went wide as she realized what she’d said, and she turned a magnificent shade of pink that was only emphasized by the fire.

  “Come here,” I growled before taking her by the back of her neck and pulling her in for a kiss. She tasted like beer but felt like heaven against my lips, and as she smiled, the boys began to hoot and make fun of us.

  “Kiss her real good, Black Jack!”

  “I hope he brushed his teeth!”

  “Careful, buddy, that heart of yours ain’t in prime ticking order yet.”

  “She got you hook, line, and sinker!”

  “Another one bites the dust.”

  Laughing and more drinking ensued while Samantha and I kissed and put hands on each other, and I forced myself to break away. I kissed her knuckles. “I’ll be back,” I promised.

  “Don’t go too far,” she said.

  I left Sam and went to Suzie, who was slumped in her chair gazing into the fire, more than likely thinking about William.

  “Can we talk?” I asked.

  She blinked up at me and looked almost dazed, but she accepted my hand when I offered it, and we walked across the lawn to the back porch, where we settled on a lounge chair big enough for the pair of us and out of earshot of the others.

  “What’s up?” Suzie asked.

  “I’ve done a shit job of being your big brother lately, Suzie.”

  Susan inhaled sharply. She opened her mouth to speak, but I held up a hand.

  “I have more to say,” I said. “I dropped the ball after William died. I told you I’d be there for you and then I just… wasn’t. I’ve been so focused on the fight that I forgot you’d lost someone, too. I forgot how much we needed each other and I’m sorry about that.”

  Susan swallowed to stop herself from crying. She used to do that as a young girl too, after William and I had teased her mercilessly in the backyard. “It’s okay, Jackson. The fight is in your nature. Besides, you were a bit distracted. And not just by Bates. I didn’t realize that all this time you were falling in love with her.”

  I smiled. “Wild, right?”

  “So wild.”

  I put a hand on her knee. “Can you forgive me?”

  Susan wrapped her arms around me. “You’re already forgiven.”

  Chapter 39

  Samantha

  Toes had been asleep in my lap for well over an hour before the group began to disperse. Mason, bless his heart, scooped a very drunk Suzie up out of her chair and carried her over his shoulder like a rag doll to his truck parked out front and made sure she got home safely.

  Jackson held his tongue on whether or not he approved of her ride home.

  Grant and Knox stayed at the fire, but all the others left, and I found myself nodding off in my chair, so Jackson got to his feet and invited me to come to bed.

  Grant kicked his boots up on the stone circle outside the fire pit. “Have fun, lovebirds. It’s your lucky night. I just bought a new bedframe for the guest bedroom and guess what? She doesn’t squeak at all.”

  Without think, I blurted out, “Sometimes I do.”

  Grant sputtered his beer all over the place while Knox roared with obnoxious laughter that might have woken some of the neighbors.

  Feeling quite proud of myself, I followed Jackson back to the house with Toes in my arms. He was a lot more alert now and would probably spend the entire night exploring Grant’s house. If he left his bedroom open, he would be down at least six pairs of socks if they were left lying around.

  Toes really had a thing for socks.

  Jackson pulled the sliding door open and I let Toes leap out of my arms. With a cheerful meow he scampered off toward the living room, where I heard his little claws on the carpet as he bolted from one end of the room to the other.

  Oh yes, he would have a good night indeed.

  Jackson and I moved through the dimly lit house toward the guest room, and out in the hall by the bedrooms, Jackson caught my wrist and pulled me back to him.

  “Thank you,” he said softly, interlinking his fingers through mine.

  “For what?”

  “For noticing that my sister needed me. Sometimes I guess I get tunnel vision and the things that should matter the most become secondary. I can’t always turn it off. The instinct to fight, that is. There’s always a score to settle. That much has always been the same. But you and Suzie, you mean more to me than any fight ever could. I hope you know that.”

  I tried to hide my smile from him and stay serious. “Jackson, are you sweet-talking me?”

  “Maybe. Is it working?”

  I pulled him farther down the hall toward our room. “Just looking at me is enough.”

  He arched an eyebrow.

  I meant it. Jackson had a way of looking at me that had, since the very first time he sat across from me at the bar the night he got back to town, left me feeling disarmed in the best kind of way. He sucked all the air out of a room and made it impossible for me to notice anything or anyone but him. He stole my worries away, and when he was around, I was always in the present moment instead of worrying about the past or the future.

  That was a gift nobody had been able to give me since my father was alive.

  Jackson backed me up against the bedroom door. The handle bumped into my hip, and the slight pain made me feel alive. After nearly burning to death, it was funny all the little things that gave me peace now, like burning
my finger on a piece of freshly popped toast or stubbing my toe on the corner of the dresser.

  He ran his hands up over my hips and under my T-shirt, and I lifted my arms so he could pull it off over my head. With a playful smirk, he turned me around and used my shirt to tie my hands behind my back. He gave a sharp tug on the knot which cinched around my wrists and told me to try to pull them apart.

  I couldn’t.

  He rested his chin on my shoulder and stood behind me with his hands on my hips and his fingers slipping under my jeans. “Did you forget that you had this coming tonight?”

  Punishment.

  “No,” I whispered.

  His hands on my lower stomach under my jeans felt good but like a cruel tease. I pushed my ass back into his crotch and felt how hard he was. How long had he been sitting around the fire thinking about this?

  Probably as long as I have.

  He pinched the sensitive skin at the top of my thighs, right where the band of my underwear sat. I flinched and let out a surprised whimper, and he trailed his kisses over my shoulder as if apologizing for the pain.

  I leaned my head back against him. “Do you remember when you told me I belonged to you?”

  “Yes.” He nipped at my earlobe, pressed his teeth to the side of my neck, and worshipped my skin with kisses.

  “It goes both ways,” I breathed.

  His lips stilled on the groove of my shoulder.

  I smiled to myself. It wasn’t often that I could catch him off guard, but there was nothing more satisfying than the moments where I could.

  “You belong to me, too,” I cooed. “And I have my own terms and conditions.”

  “Don’t try to be funny.” He removed one hand from my jeans and yanked my zipper down to give his right hand room to slip under my panties. “We both know who owns who.”

  “Yes, we do.”

  He chuckled. “I’m not playing your games.”

  With my hands bound behind my back, there wasn’t much I could do, but I liked getting him going like this. I liked the heat of his breath on my neck as he slid his hand down, down, and down until he felt how wet I was for him. He purred in my ear and called me a bunch of things, none of which I had ever let a man call me before.