Primal Need (Primal Howlers MC Book 2)

by Piper Davenport

  He smiled wide and nodded. “Great. I’ll call you.”

  “I look forward to it.”

  I left through the front door and headed to my car, feeling a little better than I had when I got here.

  Well, until I saw Sundance standing by his bike currently parked next to my car.

  Great.

  He glanced up, slid his sunglasses off his face and met my eyes. Lordy, he was a beautiful man.

  “What do you want?” I snapped, hitting the unlock button on my key fob.

  “I was a dick.”

  “Yes, you were,” I agreed. “Very self-aware of you. That’ll serve you well in life. Excuse me, I have somewhere to be.”

  “Will you let me explain?”

  “You called me a bitch.”

  Granted, being the CEO of a successful PR firm, I’d been called that on more than one occasion, but when he did it, it fucking hurt.

  “Technically, I didn’t call you a bitch. I alluded to you possibly being one.”

  “Which is just as bad!”

  “Not my finest moment.”

  “I have to go,” I said.

  “Jesus, are you gonna let me apologize?”

  “Is that what you’re trying to do?” I asked. “You called me a bitch! There’s no coming back from that.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You don’t seem the type to let the word ‘bitch’ break you, Dimples.”

  “Just stop.” I shook my head in an effort to hide the hurt. “Don’t try and minimize this. You’re just digging yourself a bigger hole.”

  “Jesus, I really fucked up, didn’t I?”

  “I need to get to my yoga class,” I said, turning away from him, but he wrapped a beefy hand gently around my arm and tugged me back to him.

  “Come get lunch with me.”

  I shook my head. “I have yoga.”

  “Can you skip it?”

  I met his eyes. “No.”

  “Come to the compound tonight.”

  “I’m taking Teddy out for dinner.”

  “Bring him with you after dinner.”

  “No.”

  “Dimples—”

  “I’m not going around and around with you on this,” I said. “Until I know you and your club better, I won’t trust you with Teddy. It’s a non-negotiable for me.”

  His hand slid down my arm and he stroked the sensitive spot at my wrist. “So does that mean you’re willin’ to give me a shot?”

  “You’re a pain in the butt.”

  “Yeah, but you like me.”

  “I like you when you’re not being an asshole.”

  He grinned. “That’s fair.”

  “Don’t look so happy. I’m still mad at you.”

  He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “But you’re warming to me.”

  “Don’t ever call me a bitch again,” I whispered, forcing back tears because I knew if he ever called me a bitch again, I’d break.

  “I can see that cut you.”

  I shook my head, not wanting him to know how much he’d hurt me.

  “Jesus,” he whispered. “Baby, I won’t even allude to it.”

  “Good.”

  “If you won’t let me take you out now, let me take you out next week. A do-over. Friday.”

  “I can’t,” I said and met his eyes. “I have a date.”

  “With Teddy?”

  “No. With his doctor.”

  His body locked. “Saturday, then.”

  “I need to see how well Friday goes first.”

  He frowned. “You like this guy, Dimples?”

  “I don’t know yet.” I tugged my wrist from his hand. “I need to go.”

  He stepped back and I climbed into my car, pulling out and passing him as I drove out of the parking lot. Yoga was only five minutes away, but I was still late and made a run for the class once I’d parked behind the building.

  “I’m so sorry I’m late,” I panted out as I rushed into the room.

  “No problem,” the instructor said. “There’s a spot in the back.”

  I set my purse in the cubby at the back, rolled my mat out and eased into downward dog.

  “I’m YaYa.”

  I craned my head to my right at the pretty brunette woman next to me.

  “I was late as well,” she admitted.

  I smiled. “Wyatt. It’s nice to meet you.”

  For the next hour, I focused on letting all of my irritation go. It was actually one of the best classes I’d ever taken and by the end, I was feeling really good.

  “That was amazing,” YaYa said as we rolled up our mats.

  “It was,” I agreed.

  “Have you taken this class before?”

  “Yes,” I said, grabbing my purse. “As often as I can, actually. You?”

  “No, this was my first.” She smiled. “I just moved here.”

  “Welcome.”

  “Thank you.” She slung her bag over her shoulder. “Any suggestions on good waxers?”

  “Absolutely,” I said. “Sheila at Main Street Central.”

  She chuckled and rummaged in her bag, pulling out her phone. “I will never remember that. Let me put that in my notes.”

  “Here,” I said, “I’ll send you the info, just give me your cell number.”

  “Oh my gosh, you’re amazing, thank you.”

  We swapped numbers and I forwarded her the contact information for Sheila, then walked out to my car and drove home.

  As I stood under the spray of my shower, all I could think about was Sundance and the look in his eyes as he apologized. Lordy, he was so sincere. I got the impression he didn’t admit he was wrong much, if at all. It must have been difficult for him and I appreciated the effort.

  I dropped my forehead to the tile.

  I actually really appreciated the effort.

  Sighing, I stepped out of the shower and grabbed my cell phone. I pulled up Sundance’s number and sent him a text.

  Me: Lunch tomorrow?

  Three dots appeared and I pressed my lips into a thin line in anticipation of his answer.

  Sundance: One?

  I let the death hold on my lips go and grinned.

  Me: Sure.

  Sundance: I’ll pick you up at your place.

  Me: Okay.

  My mood improved exponentially, and I couldn’t stop smiling as I got ready to take my brother to dinner.

  Wyatt

  I WALKED INTO Meteor House ten minutes early and one of Teddy’s caregivers, Wanda, rushed up to me frantically. “Oh, Wyatt, come quick. He’s melting down.”

  Well, shit.

  I followed Wanda back to Teddy’s room and found him restrained on his bed.

  “Oh my god, release him!” I snapped.

  “Riot!” he screamed.

  I dropped my purse and rushed to his bed, tugging on one of the restraints.

  “Careful,” Wanda warned as she stepped to Teddy’s feet. “He’s hitting anyone within swinging distance.”

  I leaned over my brother and stroked his cheek. “Teddy Bear?”

  He met my eyes, his breath coming in short spurts.

  “Buddy, I’m going to release you, but can you promise not to hurt anyone?”

  It took him a minute before his body relaxed and Wanda and I undid his restraints.

  “What happened?” I asked Wanda as Teddy sat up.

  “Sarah left for the weekend with her parents.”

  I frowned. “Oh, dear.”

  “He’s been yelling ‘bike’ and ‘Sundance’ for the last hour, but none of us knows what he wants, so he just kept getting more and more frustrated.”

  “I wanna see Sundance’s bike!” Teddy said.

  “Buddy, we can’t see Sundance right now. Do you want me to call him?”

  “Call him.”

  I nodded. “Okay, we’ll call him.”

  I pulled my phone out of my purse and dialed Sundance’s number. The phone rang so long, I worried it might go to voicemail.

  �
�Hey, Dimples. You miss me?”

  “Teddy missed you.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Do you have time to talk to him for a bit?”

  “I thought you didn’t trust me with him,” he challenged.

  I squeezed my eyes shut. “Please don’t throw my words back at me right now. He’s totally freaking out.”

  “Okay, baby, put him on.”

  I put my phone on speaker and held it up. “You’re on speaker.”

  “Hey, Teddy,” Sundance said.

  “Sundance!” he squeaked. “Bike!”

  “You wanna see my bike again?”

  Teddy bounced on the edge of his mattress. “Yes!”

  “Okay, I’ll make that happen. But you gotta be good for your sister until I see you, got it?”

  “Okay, Sundance.”

  I stared at my brother in shock. He was suddenly totally and utterly calm.

  “Put your sister back on the phone,” Sundance ordered, and I took it off speaker and put it to my ear.

  “Hi.”

  “You still worried?” he asked.

  “No. He seems good,” I said.

  “Bring him to the club.”

  “I don’t know…”

  “I give you my word, no one will fuck with him.”

  “What about me?” I asked, my voice husky with desire. I cleared my throat in an effort to sound more controlled.

  “Oh, I plan to fuck with you, Dimples, don’t you worry.”

  I couldn’t stop a smile as I sighed. “Text me your address.”

  “See you soon.”

  He hung up and I studied my brother. “Do you want to go see Sundance and his bike?”

  “Bike!” he said, jumping up and clapping his hands.

  “Okay, Teddy Bear. Let’s go.”

  I grabbed my bag and led him out to my car, entering the address Sundance had texted into my GPS.

  We drove for about twenty minutes, past several miles of tall wooden fencing, until the GPS directed me to pull into a driveway to my right. The driveway was short with gates about three feet taller than the fencing to the right and left of them, but they opened immediately, and I drove through.

  A biker walked up to my car and I lowered my window.

  “Wyatt?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  He pointed directly in front of me. “Drive about a mile down the road and you’ll see the main cabin. You can’t miss it. Sundance is expecting you.”

  “Okay, thank you.”

  I headed in the direction he indicated, finding the road lit up like an airport runway, so he was right, I couldn’t miss it. As I pulled up to the cabin, Sundance was on the porch, and Teddy started rocking in his seat.

  “Okay, buddy, I just need to park the car.”

  “Sunny!” Teddy called, slapping his palms on the glass.

  I put the car in park and Sundance was there, opening Teddy’s door. “Hey, bud. How ya doin’?”

  “Bike!”

  I pressed the button to release Teddy’s seatbelt and he jumped out of the car.

  “Let me say hi to your sister, then I’ll show you my bike, okay?” Sundance said.

  I retrieved my bag from the back seat and Sundance closed the door, pulling me in for a hug. “Hey, baby.”

  “Hi,” I said. “Are you sure about this?”

  He chuckled. “It’s family night. Kids and family, no extras, so it’s the perfect night.”

  I sighed. “Okay.”

  He gave me a squeeze. “Trust me.”

  “Bike!” Teddy said excitedly and Sundance chuckled.

  “Okay, buddy, let’s go.”

  We followed Sundance to his Harley, and he spent a stupid amount of time letting Teddy touch the bike, even sit on it, before I thought I might freeze to death if I stayed outside any longer.

  “You wanna come meet my kids?” Sundance asked Teddy.

  My brother looked to me for permission and I smiled. “You ready to make some new friends?”

  He bobbed his head and we made our way inside.

  I couldn’t help myself from holding my breath as Sundance led us into a giant great room that looked like something out of a mountain home architectural digest. Well, other than the pool tables, haphazardly positioned furniture, and random bikers filling the room.

  I saw Orion make a beeline for us and I smiled. A familiar face always felt good in new settings. A beautiful brunette followed, and I deduced it was his girlfriend. Sundance had mentioned her during chemo.

  “Hey, Wyatt,” Orion said, pulling me in for a hug.

  “Hi,” I replied.

  “No!” Teddy snapped.

  “He’s not hurting me, Teddy Bear,” I said, breaking the hug. “You remember Orion, right? He was at Chuck’s.”

  Teddy didn’t look sure.

  “It’s okay, buddy,” Sundance said. “This is Orion. He’s my son.”

  Orion smiled and slid an arm around his girlfriend’s waist. “And this is Raquel.”

  Teddy smiled at Raquel. “Pretty.”

  “Yeah, she is,” Orion agreed. “Do you want to see the pinball machines?”

  “You have pinball machines?” I asked.

  “Yeah. A guy named Ropes out of the Burning Saints in Portland is kind of a nut for vintage machines. He buys and sells them online and always lets us know when the good stuff is available. We have three now, thanks to that fucker.”

  “Well, you’ll never get him away from them,” I warned. “The only thing he loves more than pinball is skee-ball, and you’ve seen what happens when you try to take him away from skee-ball.”

  “Great,” Orion said. “Come on.”

  Teddy looked to me again and I nodded. “Go ahead, buddy, I’m right behind you.”

  Teddy went off with Orion, staying in sight of me and Sundance faced me. “Drink?”

  “Yes,” I breathed out. “Please.”

  “Suck a bag of dicks!” someone bellowed.

  I turned at the sound of the screechy, feminine voice and found a drop-dead gorgeous blonde virtually hissing at a just as gorgeous biker who was grinning at her like he was enjoying the show.

  “Sierra, you gonna stow that anger or am I gonna deal with it?” he asked.

  “That’s Wrath,” Sundance said. “And Sierra apparently wants him to eat a bag of dicks, but that’s no different than yesterday, so he must not have complied.”

  I chuckled, inching closer to Sundance. I had never experienced anyone yelling like that and it was a little disconcerting, albeit funny. Sundance slid his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close, guiding me to the bar.

  “Ratchet’s our treasurer,” he said. “He’s the one downing the beer by the pool table.”

  “Daddy?” a female voice called.

  I looked up and saw a pretty, tall blonde walk toward us, but she didn’t really look like Sundance, other than his eyes.

  “Hey, Letti,” Sundance said. “Wyatt, this is my daughter, Violet.”

  Sundance kept his arm around me as I reached out to shake her hand.

  “Where’s Drake?” Sundance asked.

  “He’s coming later,” Letti said. “He was meeting up with Alyssa or something.”

  “My other kid,” Sundance provided. “How’s your giraffe?”

  Letti chuckled. “Ellie’s amazing.”

  “Violet’s gonna be a zookeeper, but for the moment, she’s got an internship at the Denver Zoo,” Sundance said.

  “Oh, Ellie,” I said. “Didn’t she just have a baby?”

  “Yes. Her calf is six months old now and she’s pregnant again. Ellie’s kind of amazing.”

  “Sounds like it,” I agreed.

  “I’m going to say hi to Cone,” Letti said. “It was nice meeting you, Wyatt.”

  I smiled. “You too.”

  Letti walked away and over to a biker standing by the window.

  “That’s Snowcone,” Sundance provided. “Letti’s current crush.”

  “Are you
okay with that?”

  “He won’t touch her. He knows what’ll happen if he goes down that road.” Sundance gave me a squeeze. “What do you want?”

  “Do you have Macallan?” I asked.

  “Goin’ for the expensive stuff, huh?”

  “Right, sorry. I’m happy with anything.”

  He laughed, raising an eyebrow. “We’ve got it, Dimples, just didn’t take you for a whisky woman.”

  “I’m an expensive alcohol person,” I admitted. “But whisky’s my favorite.”

  Sundance gave the man behind the bar a chin lift. He had long hair and a beard and was kind of hot. I kept my opinion to myself but smiled back when he smiled at me.

  “Moses, Wyatt. Wyatt, Moses,” Sundance said.

  “Nice to meet you,” I said.

  “You too, sweetheart.”

  “Hand me the bottle of Macallan and two glasses,” Sundance said.

  Without blinking an eye, Moses set two glasses on the bar and bent down to retrieve the bottle of whisky. Sundance poured two glasses and I downed mine, so he filled it again.

  “Stressed?” he asked.

  “They had him restrained when I got there to pick him up,” I whispered.

  Sundance frowned. “What the fuck?”

  “He was hitting everyone, apparently.”

  “Why?”

  “Best guess…his girlfriend is gone for the weekend and Teddy couldn’t deal.”

  “So, they fuckin’ restrained him?” he growled.

  “He’s ten-feet tall, Sundance. His hits are like bricks. I don’t blame them, and he wasn’t hurt.” I took a sip of my freshly filled drink. “I’ve asked them not to up his meds, so they have to do something to protect the staff.”

  Sundance took my glass from my hand and set it on the bar, grabbing my hand and tugging me toward a hallway.

  “Teddy—”

  “Is fine,” he interrupted. “Orion’s got him.”

  I craned my neck to see Teddy at a pinball machine, no longer looking for me. Instead, he was enjoying the attention being showered on him by Orion and Raquel, and now Letti, so I let Sundance lead me away.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “Somewhere private.”

  “Why?”

  He pulled me into a room and closed the door, pinning me against the wall. “Because.”

  Leaning down, he kissed me. Gently at first, his tongue pressing against the seam of my lips, and I opened for him, gripping his vest as he slid a hand to my neck and deepened the kiss.