South Coast Brothers Part 1

by Kacey Hamford

  “You tired, Mama?” Kelsey asked as she placed her hand on Kayleigh’s face.

  “Yeah, baby.” She softly smiled at her. I kept quiet where I was sitting in the chair beside the bed, Kayleigh needed this, she needed to say goodbye to her.

  We all looked towards the door as it flew open and standing in the doorway was Kayleigh’s brother, Blade. I gasped as I recognised him, he was the guy that had saved me from the hell I was in. He was tall and broad, with the same dark hair as her, and he had stubble covering his face. He marched over to the side of her bed and kissed her on the cheek.

  “I love you,” he mumbled.

  “I love you.”

  “Uncle Kade,” Kelsey sung and he kissed the top of her head. A few moments later Janet walked in with Tegan in her arms and I got to my feet to take her.

  “I’ll leave you all alone.” I smiled my thanks at her and she closed the door softly behind her.

  “Mama, when are we going home?” Kelsey asked as she laid her head back on the pillow so she was facing her mum.

  “Do you know what, I love you so much. You are a brave little girl and I need you to do me a favour. I need you to look after your little sister. Can you do that?” Kelsey nodded her head as she placed her thumb in her mouth. “You see, mummy is going away…”

  “Can I come?”

  “No, baby, I’m sorry. Mummy is going away with the angels; she’s going up to heaven. But I will always be with you, I’ll always be watching you and you need to remember that I will always love you.”

  “I don’t want you to go.” Kelsey wrapped her arms around Kayleigh’s neck as she cried. Kayleigh was trying to compose herself and you could see the hurt on her face as tears ran down her face.

  “I don’t want to go either, baby. Let’s have a cuddle with your sister too. Yeah?” Kelsey pulled away and I climbed to my feet to rest Tegan on the bed in between Kayleigh and Kelsey, she wasn’t strong enough to hold her anymore.

  “I love you,” I told her as I squeezed her hand and kissed her on top of her head.

  “I love you too, thank you for everything.” I nodded my head and stepped back. I looked over to where Blade was now standing against the wall, his fists were clenched at his sides and his eyes were shut. I sat back down in the chair and watched over them.

  Every hour a nurse came into the room and the last time she turned off a machine that was at Kayleigh’s bed side and quietly murmured her sympathies.

  “Mama?” Kelsey’s voice brought me out of my head and I jumped to my feet, I grabbed Tegan out of the way. “Mama, wake up.”

  “Kelsey, sweetheart,” Blade began as he walked closer to her and sat on the edge of the bed. “Mummy’s gone with the angels now,” he told her as he rubbed his hand up and down her back. “Give her a kiss and tell her you love her.”

  Kelsey leant forward and kissed Kayleigh on the cheek. “I love you, mama.”

  Ashlyn

  I NEVER CONTACTED my mum and dad once I was rescued from the Satan MC; after they kidnapped and tortured me. I was out of contact with them for four months and now that I was tainted, now that I was a different person, I didn’t want to ruin their lives by showing them the mess that I was. I was glad that I hadn’t contacted them now that Drake was forced to take me away, to try and hide me from Switch, the VP of the Satan MC.

  They had arrived at the clubhouse this morning to a letter from Switch.

  ‘You can’t keep her from me. She’ll always be mine. Those marks on her body proves that. Hand over Ashlyn and I won’t bother you again.’

  That letter was the reason that I was now pressed up against Drake on his bike as we hurtled through the back roads until we got to the A30.

  Everything this morning was a blur, one minute I was eating some toast for breakfast and the next minute I had a small bag thrown at me and was told to pack what I absolutely needed. Prez had explained to me about the letter and the course of action he thought was right, I wanted to argue with him and tell him that I would be perfectly safe at the clubhouse but then I was putting everyone else in danger and in all honesty I was scared out of my mind at the thought of Switch getting his hands back on me.

  “You tired, darlin’?” Drake asked over the mics we had in our helmets. I had no clue how long we had been riding for.

  “Yeah,” I said quietly and then felt the bike coming to a stop.

  “Hop off, darlin’,” he spoke and I climbed off the bike, noticing that my legs were stiff and my back ached.

  “Where are we?” I asked, looking around as I removed my helmet. My long blonde hair fell down around my shoulders. There was a large building in front of us and a row of bikes were lined up to the left hand side, Drake had abandoned his bike in front of them.

  “This is the Wiltshire Crusaders MC. We’re staying here for the night.”

  “We can’t just waltz up to any MC and expect a bed.”

  “No, darlin’, you’re right, we can’t. But this one is one of our charters.” I must have looked at him blankly. “We are all one big MC, but we have our own clubs.”

  “And who is in charge of all these clubs?” He climbed off the bike and took hold of my hand leading me towards the door. I pulled back and he stopped walking.

  “Each Prez is responsible for their own club. Come on.”

  “I’m not sure about this.” He placed his hand on the side of my face and I nuzzled into it.

  “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I promise.” I gazed up at him and the look I saw on his face was genuine. His short beard was always kept tidy and I couldn’t resist running my hand over his head, he kept the sides shaved which left a tidy, short Mohawk. His muscles were big and bulging and I had caught a glimpse of an arm tattoo on his right side.

  I had been having feelings towards Drake for a little while now, but everyone kept reminding me that he wasn’t allowed to touch me, that I was considered club property as they protected me and until Drake was patched in I was off limits. It would be a forbidden love.

  I ached to feel the softness of his beard against my lips instead of my cheek and I couldn’t deny the sexual tension that radiated between us.

  Our moment was cut short by the loud shrill of a phone ringing, I stepped back and reached into my pocket. I pulled out my phone to see Cory was calling me. I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face, he was sweet to me, caring, and just what I needed a couple of weeks ago but I came to the realisation that he was too caring, he was forever asking me if I was ok and never just took charge of a situation.

  “What the fuck!” Drake roared as he snatched my phone out of my hand, threw it onto the floor and crushed it with his large boot.

  “What are you doing?” I screamed.

  “You’ll have to find another way to talk to lover boy,” he growled, his face getting closer to mine. “No mobile phones.”

  “What if we get into trouble? What if Cammie needs me? She’s due to have the baby soon.”

  “They have a way to get into contact with me.” That was all he said before he turned around and banged on the large wooden door, it creaked open. “Ashlyn!” he shouted and pointed to the floor beside him, was this what I wanted when I wanted a guy to take charge?

  “Drake, good to see you man.” An older guy with white hair slapped Drake on the back and then opened the door wider. “Come on in.”

  Drake clasped my hand in his and pulled me inside behind him. My eyes darted around and I was surprised to see how quiet it was, the bar was empty and no girls were around.

  “Who is this young beauty?” He smiled at me and I couldn’t help but tighten my grip on Drake’s hand and step in closer to him.

  “Ashlyn, this is Dredge.” I nodded my head at him and offered him a small smile.

  “She yours?” he asked Drake as if I wasn’t in the room.

  “Yeah. Prez said you had a room for us?”

  “Yeah, the last door on the left.” He pointed to the long corridor. “Food’s in
an hour, if you’re hungry.”

  “We’ll be there.” Drake patted him on the shoulder and pulled on my arm to get me to follow him.

  “Where is everyone?” I asked as we walked down the long hallway that was full of doors, the dark wood made the hallway gloomy and I wondered why there wasn’t any lights on.

  “No idea.” We stopped once we reached the door and Drake opened it up and stepped back for me to proceed ahead of him. I looked around and there was a double bed, bedside table and wardrobe.

  “I’m hoping that’s a bathroom in there,” I muttered as I pointed at a door. Drake sauntered over and pushed the door open to reveal a toilet, sink and small shower. Well we both wouldn’t be fitting in there, shit, what was I thinking? That wouldn’t be happening between us, it wasn’t allowed. I would just have to keep a lid on my feelings for a bit longer, until he was patched in. “Where are you going to sleep?” I asked.

  “Right here.” He smiled as he jumped on the bed and crossed his arms behind his head. “I need to sleep on the right hand side, darlin’, it’s closer to the door.”

  “We’re sleeping in there, together?”

  “Yeah, you got a problem with that?” Hell yes, what if I couldn’t keep my hands off him?

  “Uh, no, it’s fine. I’m probably just going to grab an early night.” I pulled my bag closer to me and routed around in it until I found my toothbrush and something to sleep in.

  “You not hungry?” I shook my head. “Ok, I’m gonna go grab some food and a drink.” He straightened out his clothes and headed for the door.

  “What… What if someone tries to get in here?”

  “No one is coming down to this room, darlin’. This is a small chapter, less than ten men. All married, all over sixty. It’s pretty much like a retirement chapter, you’re perfectly safe.”

  “Ok.” I dipped my head and let my hair cover my face. I didn’t want to be left in here alone and I didn’t want to go out there either. I could feel my eyes start to water and I didn’t want to make Drake feel like he had to stay with me.

  “I’ll be no more than an hour,” he told me as I turned away from him and headed into the bathroom.

  I stared at my reflection in the mirror and my mind drifted off to the first time I knew I wanted Drake as more than just a friend.

  It was party night at the Cornish Crusaders and Cammie and I were sitting at a small round table with a glass each and a bottle of wine between us. It was one of the locals nights so it was fairly busy.

  “Have you seen more of that Cory guy?” Cammie asked. I had told her a couple of weeks ago that I had seen a bit of one of the local guys, his name was Cory, he was tall and had a dark long Mohawk on his head.

  “No, not really.” I glanced around, looking for someone that I shouldn’t be looking for. There he was standing at the bar with Solar and Tat. He was tall, muscled with just the right amount of stubble. I longed to feel that against my skin. The only trouble was, he wasn’t interested in me. Drake had always had some girl draped over him on locals night. I was surprised he was alone tonight. I quickly diverted my gaze when his eyes snapped towards mine. I couldn’t help the little bit of blush that had crept up my cheeks by just being caught. Maybe he would realise now that I liked him.

  “Ash, you ok?” I snapped out of my Drake fantasy and looked back towards Cammie. Mason was now sitting with us and his arm was draped over her shoulders.

  “Yeah, I’m just feeling a little bit hot. I’m going to get a breath of fresh air.” I stood up, flicked my hair over my shoulder and tried to make my way through all of the people. Once I was outside I strolled down to the piercing and tattoo building and leant against the wall, it was peaceful down here, I couldn’t hear the noise from the party and I closed my eyes taking deep breaths.

  “You ok?”

  I screamed when a loud booming voice interrupted my peace.

  “Fuck, Drake. You scared me half to death.” I placed my hand over my erratically beating heart and took some deep breaths. I looked around to see that we were the only ones down here. “What are you doing down here?”

  “I saw you come out here, I just wanted to check that you were alright.” He pushed his hands into his jeans pockets and rocked on his feet. Something about that movement made him seem nervous and not as cocky as he normally was.

  “Yeah, I just wanted a breath of fresh air before I went to bed and it’s nice and quiet down here.”

  “It is.” He took a step closer to me and I had to look up at him. What was he doing? “You look beautiful tonight.”

  “I do?” I asked. I was only wearing my black skinny jeans, sandals and a blue off the shoulder top.

  “Hmmm mmmm,” he answered, his gaze kept jumping from my eyes to my lips. If he wanted to kiss me then I wished he would just do it. He took another step closer and I unconsciously reached out and placed my hands on his waist, underneath his leather prospect jacket.

  “You are gorgeous, Ashlyn,” he whispered, his breath warmed my lips and before I knew what was happening he was kissing me. His hands framed my face so he could tilt my head to gain better access. My fingers squeezed into his sides as I opened my mouth for him, once our tongues started to dance my body flooded with desire. I had never felt like this before and I wanted more. I slipped my hands underneath his t-shirt to feel his warm, toned skin.

  “Drake!” Someone yelled. “You out here?” He pulled back.

  “Yeah, Solar, what’s up?”

  “Get up here, man.”

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered and before I knew what had happened he had left me standing there, alone and horny.

  Drake

  I HAD BEEN a little longer than what I told Ashlyn, the guys were full of stories and their women just kept feeding me. I wasn’t one to ever turn down free food, especially food that tasted that great.

  I turned the handle on the room that me and Ashlyn were staying in and rushed in as I heard a whimper. I didn’t expect to come back to see Ashlyn thrashing around in the bed, she had kicked the bed covers off and she was only wearing long PJ bottoms and a t-shirt, that had ridden up so that her skin was on show. I couldn’t see much as it was dark in the room, her cry snapped me out of my perusal of her and I rushed over to the bed. Should I wake her? She sounded distressed and my heart broke to see her like this. I definitely had it bad for this woman. It hurt me to see her hurting. I tested out the waters by calling out her name, she didn’t respond so I placed my hand on her leg and she kicked out against me. Fuck, what was going on in that head of hers?

  “Ashlyn, darlin’, I need you to listen, I need you to wake up. It’s Drake. You’re safe, darlin’, please just wake up.” I ran my hand over her head and her eyes pinged open, she screamed and shot up the bed until her back was flat against the headboard and her knees were tight against her chest. She cradled them and buried her head on her knees. I flicked the light on beside the bed on and watched as she sobbed and rocked herself gently. Fuck, I didn’t know what to do, I know what I wanted to do, I wanted to hold her tight against me and not let her go. I stood up from the bed and slung my leather jacket on the floor, followed by my boots, socks, jeans and shirt. I wasn’t sure if she was ready for skin on skin contact so I left my boxers and white t-shirt on. I climbed in the bed beside her and laid down.

  “Come here, darlin’.” I opened my arm up for her and at first she looked unsure, her eyes were red and wet and her hair was a mess, I wanted to smooth it away from her beautiful face but didn’t think that would go down too well. I nodded in encouragement as she looked at me, then she threw herself at me. Her face planted my chest and she cried, soaking my t-shirt. I rubbed my hand up and down her back, trying to soothe her. Once her cries had silenced, she pushed back slightly.

  “Sorry, I got your t-shirt all wet.”

  “It’s fine.” I reached behind me and pulled it off over my head, dropping it onto the floor. I looked at Ashlyn as she gasped and I couldn’t help the smile that crossed my face
when her eyes burned into my chest. Was she checking me out?

  “Do you wanna talk about it?” She shook her head as she laid her head back on my chest and trailed her finger over my chest tattoo. I was trying to be caring and understanding, but my body clearly didn’t get the memo, as it was reacting to the way she was touching me. “Do you wanna go back to sleep?” She shook her head.

  “I’m scared,” she whispered.

  “What are you scared of darlin’?”

  “I don’t want to see him again.” She didn’t sound like she was crying but the evidence was on my chest as I felt her tears run down my chest.

  “You’re not going to see him again,” I stated.

  “I do see him, every day, every night. In here.” She stopped tracing the lines on my chest to point to her head. “I can’t get him out of there.”

  “Darlin’, what can I do? How can I make this better for you?”

  “You can’t. It’s something that I have to live with, forever.” She turned away from me and rolled onto her side. “I’m damaged.”

  I scooted down the bed until I was laid behind her, I wrapped my hand around her tummy and pulled her back into me. She let out a little yelp and stiffened in my arms.

  “Go to sleep, darlin’, I’ve got you.” She relaxed and I nuzzled my face into her hair, kissing her gently on her neck.

  Ashlyn

  WHEN I WOKE the next morning my head was pounding and I was overheating. As I tried to move, a strong arm held on tight to me. I froze for a brief second until I realised that it was Drake’s arm. I peeked at him over my shoulder and he was still fast asleep. He looked peaceful and I didn’t want to interrupt that. I slowly raised his arm and tried to crawl out from under it. When I was almost free, his grip tightened and he yanked me back against him.

  “Where do you think you’re going, darlin’?” he murmured into my hair, his voice was deep and husky from sleep.

  “I need to use the bathroom,” I told him as I tried to pull away from him.