Jaxson 3: The Last Vow (Black Devils MC)

by K. J. Dahlen

  I kept my voice low and firm. Assertive, but not viscous. “And a word about my club,” I added, “And I’m going to say this once and I expect never to need to say it again. No more drugs. None. No drugs in the clubhouse. No druggies as patch members. No associations with anyone who has anything to do with that crap. Forget it.”

  Bruno let out a steady exhale, “You’re right. I know that,” he agreed.

  I continued, “We’ve kept it clean for the past ten years and we will continue to keep this club clean from now on. I’d die in a heartbeat for any one of my club brothers. So, I’m not willing to risk them in the drug trade. We’ve seen the damage it’s done to us directly. We’ve been warned. I’ll be damned if we don’t take the lesson,” I argued, my chest heaved in a mounting fury. It was my time to lay down the law, and I meant every word I said.

  “It has been a club law for the Black Devils life since day one,” Bruno interrupted, “There were reasons for that. And I forgot that—”

  “When the bosses don’t follow their own laws,” I cut through his words, “you’re asking for trouble,” my voice was rising to a yell, “All the soldiers under your command will start to question us, and everything we stand for,” I added.

  Bruno stayed silent until he was sure I was done talking, which took me by surprise. “I’ve cut all ties with the cartel,” he assured me, “And drugs will play no role in my MC. I’ll keep them away as strictly as I keep them away from my blood relatives at home,” Bruno vowed.

  I felt my blood pressure start to normalize. When Bruno gave you his word, there was nothing in the universe that would make him go back on it.

  Bruno’s tone softened slightly, “How is your girl holding up?”

  I stepped backward and flicked Chloe another quick glance. I drew in a breath, “She’ll live,” I replied, before adding, “She might never know mental peace again after my only two blood brothers on this planet tried to end her life, but she’ll survive,” I said bitterly. I shouldn’t have spoken to the old man like that. This wasn’t really his fault, and he’d paid the hundred thousand dollars to cover Sheila’s debts to the loan sharks. For that, he had brought Chloe a great deal of peace and happiness.

  “When I lost my Annie, it broke me,” he confessed. All the coldness left Bruno’s voice, replaced with a tone of compassion. Caring. “You make the most of every damn moment you have,” he said. Though he’d never like to show it, Annie had always been Bruno’s undoing.

  Now, I understood that feeling.

  Bruno continued, “Asked her to marry me two weeks after we met. I ever tell you that?”

  “You didn’t,” I replied.

  “You care about something good in this world, you make it yours and you don’t let nobody take it away from you,” Bruno’s voice cracked and he cleared his throat. He then fell silent.

  I’d always known stoic Bruno had this side to him. Emotional. Intense. Passionate. I admired and respected that a lot about him. Bruno was a man I was more than proud to call my father. But he’d only let the world see what he’d wanted them to see.

  I could hear Bruno steadying his breathing through the phone. Sparing him any embarrassment, I said, “Will do, boss. I’ll call you later on.” And cut off the call.

  My heartbeat drummed in my thorax. This was where to old Jax would have called Dino and gotten pissed, drowning out my problems for a few hours until I blacked out. Then again, how could I do that now? I had my girl to protect. I smiled to myself as I made one more call. When I hung up the phone, I looked over at Johnny and told him, “I have a delivery coming.”

  Johnny looked confused for a moment but nodded.

  “Jax?” Chloe murmured, intercepting the moment of silence.

  Her voice had been so faint I barely caught it. I rushed into the room and dropped to my knees on the ground beside her face.

  Chloe’s eyelids fluttered open, head stirring on the pillow. Speechless and confused, her eyebrows furrowed and she blinked rapidly as she tried to understand this whole ordeal.

  She shivered and I rubbed her arms with my palms. Our gazes met. Her expression was sad and dejected. There was only one thing her mind played on. “Talk to me, baby,” I urged her, taking her hand in mine and gripping tight, I prayed she would recover from this.

  Chloe’s eyes widened suddenly. Her chest rose and fell in sudden shock as though she’d just woken from a nightmare. Her eyes looked terrified. “My mother? Is she still okay?” she questioned.

  “She’s just fine,” I told her as I saw the confusion in her eyes. Had she closed out what happened with Antonio? Then I saw the cloudiness fade from her eyes and the truth rushed forward.

  “Jax, I’ll have his blood on my hands for as long as I live. A black mark branded on my heart I’ll ever be able to erase,” she said and her breath caught in her lungs.

  God…Her words pained me to my core. She’d been so innocent and happy until I came into her life. It wasn’t her job to protect me from the bad people I’d caused to collide with her world.

  I looked her in the eyes and cupped her face gently with a hand over her chin. “Chloe, baby, you aren’t guilty of anything. You did the honorable thing to protect me. Antonio would have killed me, my club brothers and Bruno if he got the chance. You carried the burden of killing him alone and succeeded. I’m proud of you,” I told her, and I meant it. I knew damn well how close I’d come to losing her. None of this was her fault. She hadn’t killed Antonio. He’d done that to himself.

  Chloe rolled onto her back, and her gaze left my eyes.

  I knew I had to do something to assure her of a future with me that would be better. So long as her father didn’t put a knife though my skull for this.

  I rose to a standing position. Knowing that I’d almost lost the one woman who had loved me through my mistakes, I needed to ask her something important. I wanted to. I just had to find the courage to do it. Having lived life as an outlaw. An outsider. I was used to rejection. But not from Chloe.

  I walked over to her over to the other side of the bed and gently settled down beside her on the mattress.

  Chloe tugged at her sweater, and tried to sit up. She was hot.

  I carefully pulled off the sweater and that was when I noticed the abrasion on her arm. I went to the bathroom cupboard then removed some bandages and antiseptic wipes.

  I focused on Chloe, almost mesmerized, eyes full of pity and concern. “You need rest.”

  “I’m fine,” she said, shrugging. Her eyes wouldn’t meet mine.

  “Talk to me,” I prompted again.

  Looking to her right, she tried to hide the tears that had started to form at the corner of her eyes.

  Trying to help, I craned my head over her body to see her face. I froze when I saw hers glistening with emotion, even when she was sad they glittered with the purity of amber crystal. Only Chloe had those sweet, captivating eyes.

  “Shhhhh,” I told her, in a tone gentle and soft.

  She rolled back to face me.

  I ran my fingers across her velvety skin. Leaning forward, I gently stroked her cheek. I took the wipes out and gently started to clean the small wound.

  She gave a grimace of pain. I knew it stung. Her eyes where closed while I wrapped the bandages around her arm carefully. She opened her eyes and stared at me.

  “There, all done,” I told her, voice calm.

  She blinked slow and snuggled into me. Her eyes said, ‘I want to pretend this nightmare is over.’ And it broke me to see her so torn up inside. “Chloe, I—” I stopped. What I wanted to say was stuck somewhere, on the broken road between what I felt in my heart and my tongue.

  If Chloe can find the courage to kill a man that was coming for me, I can find the courage to ask her to marry me.

  I drew a breath and her sweet scent surrounded me. Enveloped me. “There’s something I want to ask you,” Just say it Jax, “I want to ask you to marry me,” I declared, my voice low and intimate.

  Chloe’s eyebrows
furrowed in confusion. Disbelief. She grinned, “You? Jaxson Coltrane? The man’s man? The ladies’ man. The outlaw biker who answers to nobody?” she mocked slightly.

  My mouth pursed and firmed.

  When she saw that I wasn’t joking she paused.

  In truth, I’d asked myself the same thing many times before. Yet, every time I thought about it, I came up with the same answer to what I wanted most in my life… Chloe. But fantasy and reality were different things. Was I wrong that she’d wanted to pursue that? Until this moment, I hadn’t known how I would feel when I asked her this. I’d never thought I would marry anybody. I’d never even tied myself into a relationship before. But as I gazed into those golden eyes, I knew. I knew I had to make her mine. Now, and for always.

  It was torture not to know what was going on in her mind. “Nobody matters to me like you, baby,” I whispered against her lips.

  She moved closer to me. A slow smile started in her eyes, traveling to her mouth.

  I stared at her blushing cheeks; still, no answer left her lips.

  “You’re nervous,” she remarked. Her voice was warm and gentle. Chloe refreshed her smile. “Never thought I’d see the day where something set Jaxson Coltrane on edge,” she joked.

  I gave a small, involuntary shrug. What was she trying to do to me? Tell me, baby. Tell me you want this too?

  She looked up at me, contemplating.

  Impatient, I shook my head, sighing. I couldn’t take the waiting any more. “I know it’s been a rough few weeks, but now we can live, rather than simply survive. We can live without the threats from Antonio and Jumper breathing down our necks. I want you, forever. I want the whole thing.” I took her hand in mine and brought it up to my lips, placing a kiss on her soft skin. If I didn’t get the chance to treat her right it would haunt me every time I closed my eyed.

  Pushing my ego aside, I told her, “I was too dumb to realize what was most important to me before. I just want you to know I’ll never treat you like I’ve done these past few weeks. Give me a chance to do all the things I should have done before and marry me, Chloe?”

  Chloe continued to stare at me. Her face impassive. She didn’t say anything. She couldn’t. As though she couldn’t stand to tear me down after what I’d just said.

  “Tell me honestly, Chloe? Will marrying me make you happy?”

  She stroked a hand over my cheek, and I felt every single hair on the back of my neck enliven individually as she moved her skin over mine. She rose to a sitting position and my body followed. I moved in toward her lips to kiss her. I couldn’t let a woman like this walk out of my life. Letting my lips linger at her wrist I whispered, “I want you forever.”

  She looked up at me as though she might cry, and I sent her a reassuring smile. “Nobody will ever mistreat you again,” I murmured gently.

  Chloe shook her head and turned until her body no longer faced me. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She dropped her feet to the floor and stood up.

  My heart twisted into knots as she crossed the room toward the open door.

  I flew out of bed to run after her.

  She stopped in the doorway and lifted her hands to cover her mouth. “Oh, Jax.” She turned to face me.

  I wrapped my arms her, “I’ll do anything to protect you. Anything,” I whispered in her ear, looking over her shoulder at the five hundred red roses I’d had delivered to the house while I was on the phone.

  She’d seen them apparently.

  I pulled back from her body. “I’ve been so mercifully blessed with a second opportunity to make the right choices in life, and I’m taking it.” I reached out and shut the door behind her then pulled off my shirt. I knew I looked like hell. I felt worse. But I also knew that Chloe was the only person in the world who loved me for all I was. “Be mine, Chloe,” I whispered softly.

  She gave me another smile.

  I carefully stripped myself bare and Chloe let her gaze sweep down my body. I pulled her to the bed and laid us down. I lay at her side. My attention centered on her. My heart accelerating. “You’re not alone in this world, baby. I’d never make a promise that I can’t keep, and I vow to always be there for you when you need me. To put you first.”

  Chloe’s grin widened, her eyes sparked with a sensual magic that lit my insides on fire.

  “Oh, please…” She laughed. She knew I meant it but she couldn’t quite believe me. And she held me by the cheeks and kissed me deeply.

  Before we could get into what we both wanted desperately, my phone rang again. I groaned and thought about not answering it but I was the President of the Black Devils and as such, I couldn’t ignore the call. I grabbed my phone and growled, “What?”

  “Jax,” came a voice on the other end of the call. “This is Dino and I’m in jail…”

  I closed my eyes.

  “They picked me up for murder,” Dino answered. “They think I killed Roy.”

  I looked over at Chloe. I wanted nothing more than to take her to my bed and fuck her silly but this was my brother. Then I saw her smile slowly.

  She nodded and began to pull her clothes back on.

  I looked confused for a moment then she leaned closer to me. Whispering, she insisted, “You need to handle this. I don’t like it but this is who you are. If I’m going to marry you, I can’t stand in your way.” Her hands came up to hold my face. Looking into my eyes, she said the words I’d wanted to hear, “And I am going to marry you Jax. I love you. I would die for you.”

  My heart about burst out of my chest at her words. I returned her smile and whispered to Dino, “Bruno and Marco are on it. I’m on my way to you brother…”

  Then I kissed the only woman I would ever love.

  J.R. Ryder is a romantic suspense and contemporary romance author from the UK.

  I’m Jesse R. Ryder, author of steamy suspense romances.

  I come from London, UK (home of Big Ben and dreadful weather), with my family and...our new bunny, Rosie

  I had been a voracious romance reader for all my adult life, and I recently took the leap from fan to author! Romantic suspense and erotic romances are my ABSOLUTE favorite

  When I’m not writing, I love to be out with family, biking, hiking as often as I can.

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  Author of the Bestselling Series: AMAZON ALL STAR WINNING Spawn & Spitfire and the Bratva Blood Brothers

  I live in a small town (population495) in Wisconsin. From my deck, I can see the Mississippi River on one side and the bluffs, where eagles live and nest on the other side. I live with my husband Dave and dog Buddy. My two children are grown and I have two grandchildren. I love to watch people and that has helped me with my writing. I often use people I watch as characters in my books and I always try to give my characters some of my own values and habits.

  I love to create characters and put them in a troubling situation then sit back and let them do all the work. My characters surprise even me at times. At some point in the book, they take on a life of their own and the twists and turns they create becomes the story. Of all the stories, I could write I found I like mystery-suspense-thrillers the best. I like to keep my readers guessing until the very end of the book.

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