Hunter (Black Angels MC Book 1)

by A. E. Fisher

  “I always wanted a family,” Mallory whispered, slumping back down into her chair, her eyes never leaving mine. “Noble gave me Adair, and I love him. But the club and the girls … and you … You made us into a family. You did that, and now I can’t have it because I can’t be near you without dying a little inside. You need to let me leave, Hunter.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t do that, Mallory.”

  Mallory leaned forward again, her eyes pleading, hands still pinned to the table by cuffs. “Hunter, listen to me. This isn’t about my feelings. Spider is still out there. And this time, he isn’t looking for information or extortion—or whatever. We took his club, his pride, his power. He’s out for revenge. Killing me or using Adair to torture me will be on the top of that list.”

  “He’s got no reason to kill you. You didn’t do anything.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. I can’t take that chance. Not on you.”

  I braced hard against the table as Mallory leaned back. “Mall—”

  “Hunter, I know you love Adair, and you may even care for me, but—”

  “I don’t,” I interrupted, and Mallory flinched, her shocked eyes staring into mine.

  “What?” she whispered, her voice quieter than I had heard all day.

  I stood, lifting my chair and dragging it around to her side of the table. I sat facing her as she looked over her shoulder at me. Then she looked at her cuffs that stopped her from moving away from me.

  “I’ll undo them,” I promised. “But first, you have to listen to me.”

  Mallory looked to her cuffs then back to me. She looked like a trapped animal, unable to escape, bracing for what was to come next.

  “When I found out you were gone … I flipped. I didn’t know what to do, what to think. It was like this huge chunk of me had fallen out of my chest. It hurt so much that I couldn’t move at first. I just stood there, staring at your note like an idiot who didn’t know what else to do. I realized that the life I had before wasn’t meant for me anymore. The girls, the drinking, the partying … it all seemed dull, pointless. If you aren’t by my side, Mallory, I don’t want it. I want you.

  “Happiness for me now is waking up in the middle of the night and finding you wrapped up in my arms. It’s getting up in the morning to kiss you awake, and get a hug and kiss from the little boy you brought into this world. It’s thinking about how we’re going to grow old together, and how those things aren’t going to change. Fifty years from now, I’ll wake up, and you’ll be there … next to me. You’re meant to be there until the day I die. And if you’re not …” I shook my head, the thought trapped in my mind. I didn’t want to think of any alternate life, not if I could prevent losing this one. Not if I could prevent losing her.

  I looked up at her, this beautiful, stunning woman. Her brown eyes were filled with unshed tears; her long, red hair and trembling full lips. I could see her waking up next to me fifty years from now. I could see her lying there, next to me, even with gray hair and wrinkled eyes. I would still think she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. So, when I looked into her eyes and went to say the words I knew she needed, I also knew they were genuine. I knew they were true.

  “So, no, I don’t care for you, Mallory. I love you. I knew you were meant to be in my life, knew you were meant to become my old lady, and I know if you ever try to escape me again, there is no way in hell I would ever let you go. You’re mine, Mallory. I can’t ever let you go. Even if you never forgive me, even if you can’t bring yourself to trust me ever again, I won’t ever, ever let you go.”

  Mallory’s tears rolled down her cheeks as she searched my eyes, looking deep into my soul. She could see the truth on my face, in my words. And as I reached to her handcuffs, popping them open with the key, she choked on a sob.

  I turned back to her, expecting her resignation to come home, to at least believe that, if she returned with me, she could learn to trust me again, could learn to forgive me, and we could be happy. What I didn’t expect was for our mouths to meet.

  She wrapped her arms around my neck as she pressed her lips against mine. She climbed onto my lap, wrapping her legs around my waist and the chair, kissing me with a force I couldn’t help responding to. I tasted the salt of her tears and the metallic taste of blood in our mouths as we connected, our tongues tangling like the world was falling apart around us.

  When Mallory pulled back and pressed herself tighter into my chest, burying her face into my neck with soft sobs, I felt weak and drained as I gasped for air. I moved my hand to the back of her head, holding her close. Then I heard a mumble against my clothes.

  I turned my head and pushed it against her cheek until she pulled back just enough so her forehead rested against mine and her tear-stained face and puffy eyes filled my sight.

  “You stupid fucking bastard,” she sobbed out. “You should never have let me get this fucking far.”

  I felt a laugh bubble up in my throat and dropped my head onto her shoulder as I fought not to let it out.

  “Don’t laugh!” Mallory slapped my chest.

  She began climbing off my lap, but I dragged her back down and kissed her hard. She moaned against my lips, her body curving into mine, raking her fingers through my hair.

  I had known it when I first saw her, and I knew it now.

  This woman would be the end of me.

  I pulled back and looked at my woman, at her big, brown eyes, her panting chest, her swollen lips, and everything felt right.

  “Marry me,” I demanded.

  I hadn’t come here to give a proposal and was just as surprised as she was as she stiffened on my lap. Her gaze jumped to mine, and when I saw them, I didn’t regret my words. Hell, she was going to be bound to me for the rest of our lives, so why the fuck not start straight away?

  She looked as if she was about to cry again. Even so, a small smirk pulled at her lips, and I knew what she was going to say.

  “Don’t tell me what to do.”

  So fucking ruined.

  I growled and watched her eyes narrow as if she had more to say. Instead, Mallory’s sass melted into a small smile, and she softened against me. Her eyes locked on mine, and I knew what she was thinking.

  Marriage meant trust. It meant forgiveness. I knew I said I wouldn’t care if she never did forgive or trust me, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want it.

  It felt like a lifetime had passed before she dropped her forehead against mine and, with the softest voice, whispered, “Yes.”

  I grabbed her hard and gave her a kiss that would never compare to any she’d had before. When I pulled back, she was panting, holding my shirt like she feared she might swoon straight off my lap. Her flushed cheeks and smoldering eyes told me she was looking at everything she desired. Well, almost everything.

  The door burst open and Adair came flying into the door, roaring his heart out as he clambered onto our laps and squeezed himself between us without a second of hesitation. He clung to his mother’s shoulder, one hand gripping my shirt tightly. I held my arms around Mallory’s waist and willed myself not to let go.

  Jax flew into the room next, skidding to a halt as he sent me an apologetic look. “Hope we didn’t interrupt.”

  Anna skidded into his back, followed by Wolf peering over them both through the doorway.

  “Nah,” I said. “You have perfect timing.”

  “Fuck yeah!” Jax hooted before Anna slapped him on the arm.

  “Three-year-old, you dipshit,” Anna hissed.

  “Seriously?”

  Mallory burst out laughing and buried her head back into my neck, Adair wrapped tightly between us. She wobbled, and I tightened my grip and pulled them closer to stop them from falling.

  “You better hold on tight,” Mallory whispered into my ear at my breath of relief. I could hear her soft chuckle beneath Anna and Jax’s squabbling, with Wolf trying to shut them up.

  I smiled into her hair, feeling like the happiest man in the world, and whispered back,
“Don’t worry; I ain’t ever letting you go.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Mallory

  I sat inside the clubhouse two weeks later, joined by the club girls, old ladies, Anna, Kay, and Bell—basically anyone with a vagina—as we waited for the men to come back inside. I was annoyed, if not pissed, at their need for this archaic ritual that seemed completely pointless if you asked me. I made it known, too, as Anna passed me a beer.

  Georgia, who turned out to be nice though outwardly bitchy, painted my toenails. She had finished my fingernails a few minutes earlier after I had been pampered from head to toe the entire day. Why? Because I was getting married tomorrow to my fiancé, who had insisted on having the wedding as soon as humanly possible. The sooner I was chained to him, the better.

  And where was this fiancé, you ask? He was getting his ass kicked in the parking lot.

  “It’s fucking stupid,” I seethed. “The wedding theme is ivory, not black and blue!”

  “Stop moving,” Georgia instructed. “You’re gonna ruin the paint.”

  “It’s club tradition,” Baby said from where she and the other girls sat on one couch, the old ladies on the other. “This way, they get everything off their chests.”

  “Don’t worry about Hunter,” Amanda, Polo’s old lady, said. “He’s a big boy. He can handle himself.” She only rarely came to the club, choosing to stay at home with the kids, who were all but grown now. She was a lovely lady, and I wished she had been here on that awkward first day when I had clashed with the club women. She was mothering and had been the one to tell the other old ladies off once she had found out what had happened. That was after both Anna and Kay had chewed them out. Now, the old ladies didn’t bristle at me when they saw me. They had somewhat warmed up to me, but there was still a lot of work there. Even so, they had all jumped in to help with the festivities, because nothing brought women together like a wedding.

  “But Wolf is huge,” I said, emphasizing his massiveness with my arms.

  Wolf, Ripper, and Hunter were the biggest brothers in the club, and while Ripper and Hunter had only an inch or so difference in height, Wolf was at least six-seven. That was almost three inches taller than Hunter. Not to mention, he was also bulkier and broader.

  “Wolf’s an old man with pride,” Anna scoffed. “He’ll get as pummeled as Hunter will. Then they’ll get over it.”

  “If Wolf hits him in the face, I swear I’ll kill him,” I seethed.

  I already told Hunter if he came back black and blue, I was going to cover him in makeup. No way in hell were my wedding photos going to be sacrificed because of this stupid rite. Why couldn’t guys kiss and make up over apologies like normal people?

  “Jeez, Mal, didn’t think you were the bridezilla type.” Bell laughed, swapping my beer out for a pink martini. “Where’s the squirt, anyway?” She looked around the room for my little page boy.

  “My mom’s looking after him while she’s having the church decorated,” I answered, taking a sip of the fruity drink. “How’d you know how to make this, anyway? You’re only eighteen.”

  Kay grinned. “I taught her all she knows. Figured she better learn what it is she’s drinking before she hits the streets in a few years.”

  Bell sat down beside me, making the couch bounce and Georgia growl. Bell growled back before scowling at her mom.

  “Yeah, she also let me drink as much as I liked on my eighteenth birthday party at the house so I’d experience a real hangover to deter me.” Her face soured at the memory. “God, it was awful.”

  I looked over at Kay, shocked.

  She just shrugged, guilt-free. “She hasn’t tried to sneak drinks since.”

  I had thought of Kay as the soft, mothering type. Apparently, though, she was loaded with a lot of tough love.

  Anna laughed as she looked between mother and daughter. “Yeah, I even offered her some vodka last week, and she looked like she might puke.”

  “Anna!” Kay chastised.

  “What?” Anna shrugged. “From where I come from, you know what a hangover is by fourteen and drank straight liquor by seventeen.”

  “That’s different. You can drink at eighteen in England,” Bell countered.

  “Wait,” I interrupted. “You’re from England?”

  “Yep.” Anna grinned. She dropped her American accent and, with her beer raised, said, “Born and raised, baby!”

  “No way,” I said. Two Brits in a month? “You’re pulling my leg.”

  Anna winked.

  Before I could investigate further, I heard a loud cheer from outside. I looked toward the door as the cheering continued.

  “Looks like they started,” Baby noted.

  I shifted in my seat, and Georgia, who had been adding little jewels in the shape of a flower, gave a great big huff. “I don’t know why I’m fucking bothering.”

  “I don’t like this,” I complained, ignoring her, my eyes still glued to the door. “Why can’t they forgive each other already?”

  “People forgive each other differently, Mal,” Bell said, bumping my arm. “Let them get on with it.”

  “Forgiveness can come at any time, for the simplest of reasons, huh?” I recalled, thinking back to the girl at the airport.

  Anna straightened on the other side of me. “Where’d you hear that?” Her tone was suddenly serious.

  I turned to look at her, seeing how intense her eyes were as they stayed glued on me.

  “While I was at the airport, I …”

  I heard another roar of noise, louder than before.

  “That’s it!” I snapped, pulling my feet away from Georgia and slipping them into my flip flops, despite hers and everyone else’s shouting. Then I went straight to the door, swung it open, and ran into the parking lot.

  I found all the brothers crowded around in a circle, Wolf’s and Hunter’s heads rising above the rest. Anna and Bell caught up with me first, but they weren’t quick enough as I barged into the circle, pushing past the men who went to yell at me before seeing who I was and stopping.

  As I made it to the inner ring, a hand clamped over my mouth and an arm circled my waist, preventing me from stepping into the middle.

  I wiggled and scratched at the arm over my mouth and around my waist, trying to break free.

  “Calm down, darlin’,” Jax whispered in my ear. “I don’t want you getting hurt, and Hunter sure as fuck won’t be happy with me if you get a black eye.”

  I stopped wriggling and growled into his hand.

  He laughed before he said, “I’m going to let you go now, but promise me you won’t step in or interfere?”

  I didn’t respond.

  “Promise?” Jax pressed.

  I nodded into his hand.

  Jax let go, and I gasped for breath.

  “Bastard,” I hissed.

  Jax laughed before tapping the nearby brother on the shoulder. Pretty turned around and looked down at me with wide eyes before he looked up at Jax. He then tapped Lamb next to him, who looked behind Pretty, saw me, and frowned. He then looked back at Jax, who shrugged, making Lamb roll his eyes. I hadn’t noticed before, but they were a beautiful pale brown and looked almost brass-colored in the sunlight.

  He shoved Pretty, forcing them both to step in front of me, hiding me from view. Between their massive structures, I was barely able to see Hunter and Wolf fighting.

  “Best not let Hunter see you, or he’ll be pissed,” Pretty explained. “Stay back there and don’t say anything.”

  I nodded, looking beyond them as the crowd roared again.

  Hunter staggered back a step from where Wolf pulled his fist back from Hunter’s stomach. They both had labored breaths, but neither showed any signs of being punched in the face, which I was relieved about. They circled each other like huge predators, both bare-knuckled and covered in sweat.

  Hunter ducked forward, striking two punches to Wolf’s chest, and Wolf responded with an elbow to his back. Hunter dropped to one knee before push
ing back up to his feet and moving away.

  Wolf stood with his back slightly bent, as if he wanted to stand tall, but his front was probably riddled black and blue. I winced as Hunter hit him in the gut again, trying to move back before Wolf could catch him. However, Wolf recovered quickly and returned the favor before Hunter could dodge out the way.

  The two continued to throw punches back and forth, their mouths moving as they beat on each other, obviously working out their issues. The main issue was Wolf’s concealment of everything to do with me and the Hell’s Runners.

  Hunter had thought Wolf had told him everything, but apparently, when Wolf had mentioned having a contact within the Hell’s Runners, he hadn’t included the fact that it was Hunter’s younger half-brother.

  Hunter still didn’t talk about his half-brother, Chains, who I had briefly seen during my kidnapping and when I had caught him sneaking out of a meeting with Wolf at the cookout. Jax had told me that Hunter hadn’t taken meeting him well and had beaten him up badly before he had left. Evidently, Chains had tried to come to the clubhouse to explain, but Hunter wouldn’t have it, chasing him away. I figured a part of him was projecting that issue on Wolf.

  Hunter raised his fist, and when I thought he was about to hit Wolf again, his president caught it, and the two wrapped an arm over each other’s shoulder. It was one of those quick man-hugs, and then they were apart in seconds, both wincing as they stepped back, staggering toward the crowd.

  The fight was over.

  I saw my opportunity, moving to give Hunter a piece of my mind. However, Jax quickly lifted me off my feet and made a mad dash back to the clubhouse, where he threw me inside.

  The rest of the girls slipped back in after me, except Anna, who marched straight up to Wolf with her hands on her hips. I wanted to see the confrontation, but the door was slammed shut as the crowd began to disperse.