by Khloe Wren
Arrow rubbed his jaw, giving his beard a tug before speaking.
“We can’t have her living at the clubhouse. She needs a family to take her in. Keys should be able to sort out getting her all the paperwork we need to make it legal, but she needs somewhere to call home. She’s going to be like Ariel in a lot of ways and is going to need that level of care.”
Ariel was the little girl Scout and Marie had adopted after her mom died while we were rescuing them from the cult she’d been born and raised in.
Blade looked at me. “You told me your woman said to bring me home. Take her instead. I’ll live at your clubhouse—if I’m allowed—and you take that girl home to your woman to take care of.”
“I can’t just make the decision, Blade. I need to talk to Zara, and Scout. Fuck, and Keys. I have no clue if he can get what we need done. She’s not a stray dog we’re taking in, but a person. There are so many damn laws.”
Arrow interjected. “Good thing we got a lot of people owing us favors then, brother. Call your woman, run it past her. I’ll give Scout a call, he can get onto Keys.”
“Fine. I’ll call.”
I stood and headed to the back of the trailer, but as I walked past the bathroom I heard Sparrow crying again, so I stopped and knocked.
“Sparrow? You okay in there, darlin’?”
“I’m good, Mac. Just be another few minutes.”
“Okay.”
Rubbing a fist over my chest, I headed out the rear door but turned to face back into the house so I could see if she came out before I got back inside. Then I dialed Zara, making sure I used the secure app so we could speak freely.
“Hey, bunny.”
“Uh huh.”
She sounded tired and I winced at the thought of her struggling with her narcolepsy when I wasn’t there to help her.
“Sorry to call you so early, babe, but I’ve got a situation I need to run past you.”
“What’s happened? Is Blade okay? Did something else happen?”
I grinned at her response. She was certainly wide awake now. I fucking loved her so damn much.
“Calm down. Blade’s put me in a damn corner, but physically he’s the same as last night. Here’s the thing, yesterday we busted open the mob’s whorehouse and freed all the women and kids tha—”
“Kids? There were kids there?”
I was sure Zara would be thinking back to the Iron Hammers’ whore room she was put in when she’d been kidnapped and thinking of kids in that situation would probably be turning her stomach more than it did mine.
“Yeah, bunny. There was a room full of kids there. It was seriously fucked up. We got them all free and handed them over to the authorities to look after, but this morning we discovered one of the older kids had somehow snuck into the back of the van. She’s real scared, babe. Her mom sold her to the mob to pay a drug debt. She’s begged us not to let the authorities take her because she’s worried they’ll give her back to her mom.” I didn’t mention anything about her father. Zara didn’t need to know that at this stage.
“What do you want to do?”
“Blade’s agreed to come back with us, on the condition that we take this girl in to our home to look after instead of him. He’s agreed to stay at the clubhouse so we can have room for her.”
“Bring her home, Mac. We’ll make it work.”
“Her name’s Sparrow, not sure how old she is exactly, but she’s in her teens. She’s a fighter, bunny. Like you. She’d been there a while but she was still fighting. She was ready to take all of us on when we first entered the room. Her knuckles were busted up like she’d been fighting. They didn’t break her.”
“Well, now you have to bring her home to me. Do you want me to talk to her before you leave?”
“Maybe in a bit. She’s in the bathroom still. Fuck, she’s crying, babe. Bank went up and bought her some cheap shit from Walmart and she’s in there crying over it like she’s never seen clean clothes before.”
My voice was choking up but I couldn’t help it. I didn’t have to see inside the bathroom to figure out that Sparrow was overwhelmed to have clean clothes to wear. Bank’s baby sister was a prissy little thing, so I was pretty sure he would have grabbed her some extras that she’s no doubt in there struggling to accept she now owned.
“Well, when she comes out, you call me if you need to, babe. I’ll get things sorted this end.”
“Best old lady ever. Love you, bunny. How’s Cleo?”
“Love you too, babe. I just walked into her room and she’s looking much better this morning. Go get shit sorted so you can come home.”
After ending the call, I headed back in. I’d just made it to the table when the bathroom door opened once more. She looked like a little mouse standing there, unsure of what she should do next. Before I knew I was moving, I was heading her way.
“Come on out, Sparrow. Let me introduce everyone.”
“Is it okay if I do my hair out there?”
I smiled gently. “Sure, darlin’. You make yourself right at home.”
Yep, kid was going to break my heart before the day was done. I led her over to the table.
“Men, this is Sparrow. Sparrow, the blond guy with the beard is Arrow. Eagle is the one next to him with long black hair, then next to him is Blade. Bank is the one who went shopping for you and Jazz is the one who donated his hair products.”
The prospect’s cheeks went pink as he lowered his head for a few moments and the others laughed.
“Thank you so much. I love the clothes and appreciate the products.”
Her voice was quiet but everyone heard her.
“Here, darlin’, take a seat and we’ll get some food on the go for you. Want some eggs? Toast? Not sure what else we have. We can stop once we head out and grab something more substantial to eat.”
She took a seat and after setting her new backpack down beside her, began spraying some shit in her hair and slowly brushing at a tangle.
“Whatever you have would be great. Thank you.”
Eagle pushed back his chair. “I’ll get something for you, darlin’.”
Arrow caught my gaze and lifted an eyebrow.
“Verdict?”
“She’s in.”
That had him grinning. “Knew she would, brother. No way was she gonna say no. Okay, I’m going to go ring Scout and get shit started. I’ll let you explain to our newest daughter of the club what she just got herself into.”
Sparrow turned her gaze to me then stilled.
I returned to my seat next to where she was sitting.
“Before I explain, I want you to know we’re not going to force you to do anything, Sparrow. This is your choice. Now, you said you don’t want to go to the authorities here in L.A. Does that mean you want to leave the area?”
She frowned at me but began to detangle her hair again as she spoke.
“The further away I get, the less chance they’ll find me.”
“South Texas far enough away for you?”
She tilted her head and frowned at me.
“What do you mean?”
“We’re not local, darlin’. We’re members of the Charon MC, a motorcycle club in Bridgewater, Texas. I just spoke with my old lady—ah, my wife—and she’s told me I should bring you home with me to live with us. We’ve got a ten month old baby girl. That going to be okay with you?”
She finished the knot she was working on before she spoke again.
“I love babies. Are you sure? You would just let me into your home like that? It doesn’t seem real.”
I smiled at her. “It’s for real. We can call Zara, my wife, if you want to and she’ll tell you the same thing.” I sighed trying to think what to tell her to make her believe me. “The president of our club, Scout, together with his wife, adopted a little girl nearly a year ago. Her name is Ariel and she was born and raised in a cult where her mother was the only woman. I don’t need to tell you what her mother was put through. Sadly, she didn’t survive, but
her daughter did and now she’s a daughter of the club, a very well loved and cared for little girl. You come live with me and my old lady? You become a daughter of the club too. That means you have every member of the Charon MC at your back no matter what. Little Ariel isn’t the only one who’s come from a rough background. I don’t think any of the club members have had an easy life. MCs seem to attract those that have done it hard. You’d find acceptance and understanding if you came with us. No one will judge you, I promise. But it’s your choice. If you want to stay here and try to make it on your own, that’s your call. Personally, I’d much prefer take you with us so I know you’ll be safe. But I refuse to force your hand.”
Eagle came in with a steaming plate of scrambled eggs on toast.
“This’ll tide you over till we stop on the road. We didn’t exactly stock up on food since we haven’t been here long and weren’t planning on staying.”
“Thank you.”
Her voice was so damn quiet. I hoped it wouldn’t take her long to pick up some confidence around the club members.
“I’ll let you eat in peace while I go help the others pack up, but you’ll need to give me an answer once you’ve finished eating. We need to get on the road.”
Zara
Since Mac had called yesterday morning and I’d told him to bring Sparrow home to me, I’d been flat out. With a lot of help from Donna, Keys, Silk, Taz and Flick, we’d converted our spare bedroom into a teenage paradise. We’d left the queen sized bed in the room, but I’d gone out and bought some funky but stylish bedding. I’d thought about painting the walls a new color but like Taz pointed out, we didn’t have time for it to dry so we nixed that idea. Instead, we’d added a couple of posters to the walls, a nice comfortable chair with a throw rug and cushions that she’ll be able to curl up in. A bookshelf with several books to start her off. I was grateful Mac had been able to give me her clothing and shoe size so we’d been able to go buy her a few things. We didn’t go crazy buying a full wardrobe for her because I wanted to take her shopping so she could pick her own stuff after she had a couple of days to settle in.
Now it was getting dark and it was just me and Cleo, who was thankfully feeling much better. The new meds were working on her ear infection, and her reaction to the amoxicillin had nearly completely cleared up too. When I heard the sound of a least a couple of Harleys, I lifted Cleo from where she was playing on the floor and headed to the front door.
“Shall we go see if Daddy’s home? And your new sister?”
“Dada dada dada!”
With a laugh at my little daddy’s girl, I opened the front door and stood there watching the two headlights come down our road. Eagle peeled off first up his and Silk’s driveway, then Mac was rolling up ours. Cleo started bouncing against me and clapping her hands while she babbled excitedly at seeing her precious daddy returning.
Mac killed the engine then turned his head to talk to the girl who was sitting behind him. She looked over at me, clearly nervous, but I’d seen the grin she’d been sporting when they’d first pulled in. If she was going to live in Bridgewater, it was a good thing she liked being on the back of a bike. I took a few steps closer to them but not wanting to freak out Sparrow, I stopped when she gripped Mac’s shoulder and climbed off the bike. She looked awkward as hell and clearly needed some practice. Practice I was sure she’d get in no time.
Once Sparrow had two feet on the ground, Mac was off and made short work of helping her with her helmet before he ditched his and was in front of Cleo and me in a flash.
“There’s my girl! You about done scaring the hell outta me and your mom, little lady?”
Cleo, blissfully oblivious to the fact her father was half-heartedly trying to scold her, did her best to jump out of my arms to get to him. Mac grabbed her and after giving her a little toss in the air, cuddled her close with a kiss to her temple. Once he had her securely in his arms, he turned and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.
“Hey, bunny. Missed you somethin’ fierce.” He pulled back and held his free hand out to Sparrow. “Come meet my old lady and our daughter, darlin’.”
I smiled as the teen slowly crept closer to us.
“Hi, Sparrow. My name’s Zara, I’m so glad you decided to come stay with us. The other women from the club and I have your room all ready, but if you don’t like anything in there, we can change it. Just say the word.”
Her mouth dropped open and she stood there blinking at me. My heart broke a little at her reaction to having her own room. I went toward her with my arms open
“Can I give you a hug?”
Her mouth snapped shut and she nodded, but didn’t move. So I went the rest of short distance between us and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her in against me. She held herself stiff for a moment, before she tentatively lifted her hands and put them on my lower back. I rested my cheek on the top of her head.
“We’ve got you covered now, sweet girl. I can’t promise your life will be suddenly all sunshine and rainbows, but I can promise you this: you will never be alone, you will never go hungry, and you will always have somewhere to call home and people you can trust at your back.”
I felt her silent tears wet my skin through my shirt as I rubbed her back gently.
“C’mon, sweetheart, let’s go see what you think of your new room.”
Keeping an arm around her shoulders, I guided her inside our house. As we walked through, I pointed out where things were, then we headed upstairs with Mac following us with a very chatty Cleo.
“Here we are, Sparrow. Your room. Like I said, we can change anything you want.”
She gasped as she walked into the middle of the room, then stopped to slowly turn in circles with her hands over her mouth.
“She breaks my heart more every time she gets something she should have always had.”
Nodding my agreement with Mac, I dashed away the tears that were running down my own face as I watched her absorb her new surroundings.
“Mac told me your size, so we did a little shopping for you. Just the basics to tide you over until I can take you to pick what you want later in the week. I thought maybe you’d like a few days to settle into the house before we go do that.”
She dropped her hands and bolted toward me. I wasn’t sure what the hell she was planning before she wrapped herself around me so tightly I was forced to take shallow breaths.
“Oh, honey.”
I wrapped my arms around her and just held her.
“My mama, my mama!”
Cleo’s insistent voice had Mac and me chuckling, but Sparrow stiffened against me.
“She is your mama, baby girl, but you’re gonna have to learn to share her with your new big sister. Sparrow? This is Cleo. She’s a demanding little thing and once she gets used to you, you can expect her to start demanding all your attention too.”
I felt the way Sparrow took a deep breath before she peeled herself away from me. I took Cleo from Mac as she threw herself at me, taking a possessive hold around my neck as soon as she could.
“Cleo, you going to say hi to Sparrow?”
Apparently now she had a hold on me, she was happy to greet Sparrow, because in an instant she gave the teen a big grin, revealing all four of her teeth. Sparrow returned it and reached out to run a finger down her cheek.
“Hey, Cleo. Oh, wow, she’s so soft!”
I grinned at the awe in Sparrow’s tone. “Yep, there’s nothing quite as soft as a baby’s skin. I nuzzled my nose in against Cleo’s neck, making her squeal in delight.
“Well, it’s way past this little lady’s bedtime so I’m going to go put her down for the night. If you need anything, our room is up the other end of this hallway. If the door is closed, just give it a knock and we’ll be right there, okay?”
She gave me a small smile. “Thank you. So much.”
“You’re most welcome, sweet girl. There’s towels in the bathroom, so just make yourself right at home and we’ll see you in the morning. This one
gets us up pretty early.”
We’d already shown her where the bathroom was so I left her to get settled in while I took Cleo to get sorted for the night.
“I’m gonna grab a quick shower before bed, babe. Let me give her a cuddle goodnight.”
My body lit up at the thought of a sexy, wet Mac and the second he finished with Cleo I made damn fast work of the night time routine so I could get back to our bedroom and my man.
Chapter 11
Mac
After I washed off all the grime from traveling, I braced my palms against the tile, let my head drop forward and allowed the water to hit my back, the heat taking some of the tension out of my muscles. Sparrow’s innocent joy and awe at seeing her new room nearly took me out at the knees. I wasn’t kidding myself, taking that girl in was going to be hard work. At the moment, she was still in shock that she’d stumbled into a way out of the hell in which she’d been living. But she was a teenage girl, one who’d been hurt and abused. I had no doubt she’d lash out and have struggles. Zara and I’d have to be careful to keep Cleo shielded from any fallout, but I knew we could do it. With the club at our backs, we’d get Sparrow sorted out and living a happier life.
I heard the shower door open, but didn’t move, waiting to see what my woman was up to. I’d missed her so damn much, I wanted nothing more than to spin around and grab her, but I knew she would have been missing me too and I wanted to give her a few minutes to do as she pleased with me. I was sure we’d both thoroughly enjoy whatever it was she was about to do, and my response to it.
Warm hands landed on my hips before they slid up my back to my shoulders. Her warm, naked body leaned against my back, her hard nipples poking me as she pressed in close and slid her palms around to my front. Opening my eyes, I watched as she moved her hands first up then down my torso until she got to my cock, which was rock hard and throbbing for her.