Big day? What’s going on? Quickly, I finish my impromptu breakfast by sucking my fingers into my mouth and licking the sugar off carefully, not missing Ink turning away and looking like he’s adjusting his jeans. Then I say, “Okay, tell me. What’s going on?”
“Here.” Ink passes a leather jacket over. It’s new. Soft and lined. “I didn’t have time to get my patch on it, but we’ll do that in time.”
“We going for a ride?” Glancing outside I see it’s probably a cold, but dry day.
Ink chuckles. “Not exactly.”
“Oh, come on. Let’s get on with it.” Mace looks impatient. There’s a look on his face which I don’t quite trust.
Chapter Forty-One
Ink
I toss a glare in Mace’s direction. Then give one in Pyro’s. Trust him for not keeping his mouth shut. Under the guise of them wanting to give my old lady support, I know they’re really here to see whether she’s going to crash or put a scratch on Beaver’s Sportster. I’ve far too much confidence in her for that, but it won’t help having darn near the whole club watching her, but once Liz had overheard me getting the keys from the prospect last night, word had gone around.
I know the Tucson chapter have a couple of bike-riding old ladies, but this is breaking new ground for us. Lizard seemed surprised I wasn’t concerned about the thought of my old lady having her own motorcycle as though it might be a challenge to my manhood, but I’m not at all. Instead, I hope she likes it. I can’t wait until we’re heading out onto the highway.
I’d organised this as a distraction for her after Patsy and Connor had disappeared into the sunset, so to speak. I knew she was devastated but had admiration for the way she was trying to hide it. I hoped making one of her dreams come true might make her acceptance of her new life a little easier, replace the normality she’d lost with something new.
Right now, I’m grinning at her confusion and suspicion, and can’t wait to show her the reason why everyone’s around.
“Come on.” Again, placing my hand against the small of her back, I lead her out the main door of the clubhouse. The front parking lot has been emptied, to give her the space she needs the brothers had moved their bikes around the back.
Her eyes first look at me in confusion, then at the men crowding out behind her. She clearly expected to be on the back of my Fat Bob, which isn’t out here. Instead, there’s just one bike looking forlorn without its companion.
Taking her hand, I put something in it. She looks down, squints at the object, then quizzically glances at me.
I nod toward Beaver’s ride.
He’s clearly cleaned it for her. Every bit of chrome sparkles where the weak winter sun hits it. The cherry red paint is shiny and bright.
“My riding lesson?” She turns and looks behind her, her eyes narrowing in on Mace. “So that’s what you’re here for so early on a Saturday.” Her gaze goes over every man and old lady in the club who have followed us outside. “You all expect me to fall off, don’t you?”
“Nah,” Mace contradicts, having looked around and taken on the role of spokesman. “We’re just here to cheer you on.”
“Yeah, show us how it’s done!” shouts Liz. Then I hear him mumble, “This I had to see. A bitch learning to ride.” He gets treated to one of my glares too. So much so, that he takes a step behind Pyro.
“Ignore them,” I tell her, and lead her over to the bike.
As I’d expected when the idea of her riding first came up, her height gives her a clear advantage and she has no trouble at all standing astride that Harley, and with both feet firmly balanced on the ground, pulls it upright, easily handling the weight.
“Hey, Ink. Hold up.” Mace, comes over, frowning at me. “Think you ought to talk her through the basics.”
My eyes crease. Like what? I can’t actually remember not being able to ride, to me it’s just like breathing. If I had to give instruction how to draw air into my lungs, it would be as hard to describe it. As Mace starts to tell her shit like where the high and low beam is, and where the indicators are, I start to welcome his assistance.
Taking his cue, and not to be left out, I explain the front brake on the handlebars, and the rear operated by her right foot. Truth is, without his reminder, I’d have overlooked all that.
“Okay,” she says, her teeth biting her lip, then giving me a cocky grin. “I know how to stop. How do I start?” I notice her eyes gleaming with excitement. Unable to resist, I lean over and take her lips with mine.
“Get on with it. We haven’t got all day,” I hear Beef call out.
“Thought she was going to ride the fuckin’ bike, not that we were going to watch you ride her,” Pyro shouts.
“I wouldn’t object to a show,” shouts Liz. His comment is followed by an ouch, and I make a note to find out who punched him later and thank them.
“You ever driven a stick shift, darlin’?” Mace asks, while I’m still glaring at my brothers. I turn back in time to see her nod, and Mace continues, “You’ve got your clutch there,” he points the lever out, “and your left foot works the gears. Where you are now is neutral. When you start the engine, pull in the clutch and nudge down to select first. You’ve got five gears. To select second, pull in the clutch, come back to neutral, and kick up to second, then clutch, then up to third.”
“Just up, up and up?”
“Yes,” I re-enter the training session. “You just keep kicking up through those gears as necessary. Back down the same way.”
“Just be gentle when you come back from first to neutral, kick too hard and you’ll go into second. You’ll get the hang of it after a while,” Mace reassures her.
She’s concentrating so hard she’s forgotten she’s got an audience. But she is getting impatient. “Can I just get going?”
Mace laughs, his eyes meeting mine. “Okay. You’re going to start the engine, put it into first, then very gently start letting out the clutch. The bike will begin to move. You’re tall enough, you can slowly walk it forward. Just have a go, use the clutch, take it a few feet, pull the clutch in and stop.”
She does. A huge smile spreading over her face when the bike starts to move.
“Hey.” Beef’s wandered over now. “Next time, sweetheart, you twist the throttle a little. Only a little, you hear me? Too much and you’ll scare yourself and crash.”
She nods at him. Selects first, lets the clutch find the sweet spot, then once the bike starts pulling forward, very, very, gently, twists the throttle. I run alongside her, proud as punch.
“Hand off the throttle, clutch in, and pull the front brake,” I yell, loudly to be heard over the rumble of the engine.
“Can I do it again?” she asks, her eyes shining.
“Give it a go.”
For the next half-hour she starts, stops, keeping to first and second gear while learning the confidence to raise her feet off the ground. When the skies darken and rain starts falling, I call it a day.
There’s a round of applause as she walks into the clubhouse, and fuck me, I’m proud when she takes a bow. Beaver, now looking relieved, offers her a celebratory shot.
“What do I have to do to be able to ride on the road?” she asks, as she takes it.
I may have checked out the current rules. “You need to get M added to your driver’s permit. You take a written test, pass a road skills test and that’s it. You work at the government offices, ask the DMV department to arrange it.”
“I will. Hey, Beaver. Your bike really up for sale? Can I buy it?”
Fuck, she’s wasting no time. “For a good price,” I growl, my eyes signalling Beaver a message. I’ll give him what he wants, but she’ll only be paying what she can afford.
“You did good.” Mace comes over. “You’re going to be a natural. Got a feel for it already, saw that.”
I watch her, animatedly rehashing her lesson with Mace, happy how he and the other brothers have come to accept her now they know the truth, that she really had no part in me
being taken in by the cops. I settle back against the bar, happy to let them talk, and me just listening. Mace and I have always been tight, and it’s great to see him trying to make up for any awkwardness with Beth. He’d admitted he’d played the enforcer on her when he thought he might have needed to make her talk, but that’s water under the bridge. I’d understood, I’d step up too to protect any of my brothers should I think there was a need. It looks like my best friend and old lady are going to be good friends now.
Me, with an old lady. Was it really only a few short weeks ago I’d met Beth for the first time?
Pyro and Mel’s wedding. I hadn’t had a clue how things were going to turn out. There I’d been, happily single, thinking there couldn’t be anything better than having my choice of club girls to go with for the night. Sex without strings, then kicking them out of bed afterwards.
Once Beth had made a beeline for me, I’d fallen under her spell. Under normal circumstances, she’d still have ensnared me, but I’d have taken it slow, fought it kicking and screaming all the way. Having the chance taken away had focused my mind, made me see it was her I wanted with a clarity that might otherwise have taken months or even years.
I watch her again for a moment. Judge and Sparky are now giving her tips on what to do the next time she rides the bike. It makes me remember, if I hadn’t had stepped up, one of them might have claimed her. Thank fuck I came to my senses in time.
Beth catches my eye, and winks.
Yeah. She’s mine. I’ve got an old lady, and fuck me, am buying a house. A house Beth and I will visit later and see what we can do to make it our own. I don’t want to remove the memory of her mother, but Patsy has lived in it forever, could do with some updating for sure.
In time, maybe we’ll be setting up a nursery and filling that house with kids.
Sooner, though, when the weather warms up, I’m looking forward to setting up the grill and getting some burgers and brats on to cook for my brothers. Probably after a good long ride out with them and my old lady beside me on her own bike. Can life get any better?
A few weeks ago, I thought I had all I ever wanted.
I’d been wrong.
“Hey, Ink. Got a moment?”
I check Beth’s still reliving her moment of triumph among her admiring fans, and turn to Mace, surprised to see Beef alongside him. “Sure.”
“Want to show you something outside.”
They seem relaxed, so unconcerned, I go along with them. We pass through the yard Beef had tidied and made safe for Steph, Theo and whatever other clubhouse children might come along and through the gate in the fence beyond which is the end of the flattened ground. Out here is another of the old steel mill buildings, disused and abandoned long ago.
I stand and stare, looking for what they’ve brought me here to see.
“Thought you’d have given us more time,” Mace offers.
My brow creases.
“Yeah, we probably needed the full thirty years to get it done,” Beef says moodily. “You sure about this, Mace?”
“Yeah. The building is structurally sound. Brick needs repointing in parts, and most of the wood has gone, but the fabric is there.”
They’ve lost me. “There for what?”
For an answer, Mace turns fast and while he pulls his punch, it’s still got enough force behind it to have me reeling back, sucking in air and bent double. He’d given me no time to tense my stomach muscles.
“See?” he says to Beef while I’m still gasping. “Going soft.”
“I can see.” The VP’s laughing, the bastard.
“I’ll give you fuckin’ soft.” I launch at the enforcer, only to be held back by Beef’s strong arms.
“Hear him out.”
“I would if he started to make fuckin’ sense,” I gasp out.
Mace waves his arms toward the falling down building. “Thought it was time we had us a gym.”
“Mace was going to get it ready for when you came out of jail. But,” Beef winks, “you fucked up his plans.”
A gym? I turn and eye the building. It’s certainly big enough. But I can’t help messing with Mace. “You want me to go back inside so you can get on with it, Ground Pounder?”
His shoulder bumps hard into mine. “Nah, you fuckin’ Leatherneck. Want you to stay right where you are, Brother. Working on it with me.”
All jokes are put to one side as he turns and looks straight into my face. “You’re fuckin’ home.”
I am. And fuck me. A gym of our own? “You brought this up in church?”
“Not officially. Didn’t have a chance, but I know everyone’s for it.”
“Count me in,” says Beef. “Need somewhere to work off Mel’s fuckin’ cupcakes.”
I walk to the building, then eye the surroundings, then look back at the fence behind. “You know, we could do more than just have this for us. It could have its own access. Maybe start a new business venture on our own land.”
“Now you’re talking.” Beef looks at the unpaved road that runs along the back of our property, an approach road for the mill at one time. “You know, you might just have an idea there, Ink.”
I raise my chin at him. Of course, at the back of my mind is the thought that I’ll be able to train with Beth under my watchful eye and won’t have to deal with the worry of her being out of my site at that place she currently frequents.
Did I say I’ve got it bad for my old lady?
Well, I have.
Vanna
Being a single mom of a fourteen year old boy isn’t easy. Now he’s gotten on the wrong side of the law, I’m at the end of my tether. He has a dad, just one who denies his existence. But for my son’s sake, I have to give it one last try to break the barriers down. Perhaps this time he’ll step up and help.
Trouble is, he doesn’t recognise me, let alone the boy he left ten years ago.
He’s also the member of an outlaw MC, and nothing like the man I used to know.
Mace
Lizard had been right to worry about the girl wanting her ‘Property of’ tat removed from her back. Putting a patch on someone has meaning in our world and at the very least we need to know whose patch we’re removing.
Then I find out about the kid she’s brought with her, and the story she tells is heart-breaking. I didn’t realise by offering mine, and my club’s protection, not only was she going to break it, she was going to steal the heart of this confirmed bachelor as well.
That patch I have to ignore? Well, unless we tread carefully, that’s going to bring trouble to the club.
Reading Order
Turning Wheels
Drummer’s Beat
Slick Running
Targeting Dart
Heart Broken
Peg’s Stand
Rock Bottom
Joker’s Fool
Mouse Trapped
Paladin’s Hell (Colorado Chapter #1)
Blade’s Edge
Demon’s Angel (Colorado Chapter #2)
Devil’s Due (Colorado Chapter #3)
Truck Stopped
Devil’s Dilemma (Colorado Chapter #4)
Amy’s Santa (Next Generation #1)
Ink’s Devil (Colorado Chapter #5)
Coming Soon
Devil’s Spawn (Colorado Chapter #6)
Note 1:
Each book can be read as a standalone, but to get the best reading experience for the Satan’s Devils, read the books in the order above.
Note 2:
While the Blood Brothers series is completely separate to the Satan’s Devils series, there is some crossover. Turning Wheels continues the story of a minor character who appears in Second Changes, and some characters appear in both series.
Other Works by Manda Mellett
Blood Brothers – A series about sexy dominant sheikhs and their bodyguards
Stolen Lives (#1) Nijad and Cara
Close Protection (#2) Jon and Mia
Second Chances (#3) Kadar and Zoe
Dark Horses (#5) Jasim and Janna
Hard Choices (#6) Aiza
Satan’s Devils MC - Arizona Chapter
Turning Wheels (Blood Brothers #3.5, Satan’s Devils #1) Wraith and Sophie
Drummer’s Beat (#2) Drummer and Sam
Slick Running (#3) Slick and Ella
Targeting Dart (#4) Dart and Alex
Heart Broken (#5) Heart and Marc
Peg’s Stand (#6) Peg and Darcy
Rock Bottom (#7) Rock and Becca
Joker’s Fool (#8) Joker and Lady
Mouse Trapped (#9) Mouse and Mariana
Blade’s Edge (#10) Blade and Tash
Truck Stopped (#11) Truck & Allie
Satan’s Devils MC - Colorado Chapter
Paladin’s Hell (#1) Paladin and Jayden
Demon’s Angel (#2) Demon and Violet
Devil’s Due (#3) Beef and Steph
Devil’s Dilemma (#4) Pyro and Mel
Satan’s Devils MC - Next Generation
Amy’s Santa (#1) Wizard and Amy
Acknowledgments
I enjoyed writing about Ink and Beth, loving their characters. But somehow, my vision in my head hadn’t translated on to the page properly. Massive thanks must go to Danena and Maggie for reading the early draft and telling me where things weren’t working. Hopefully they’ve helped me create a book which you’ve enjoyed reading.
A new person I have to thank is Sara, my tall friend, who gave me some ideas for Beth’s story. I hope you like where I’ve taken it. Thank you, Sara – I’ve enjoyed our chats and learning about tall people’s problems.
Ink's Devil: Satan's Devils MC Colorado Chapter #5 Page 42