Hawk
Lo doesn’t know it yet, but I have a surprise for her. She thinks we’re just going to visit her mother. It took some convincing to get her to agree to the trip, but once I promised I’d be by her side and back up her decision with her mom, she gave in and let me book a hotel room.
The whole drive up she told me about her childhood. I knew her father passed when she was young, and she raised her mother instead of the other way around. But on this trip, she’s telling me about the good times.
I’d worried about making this trip while she’s still recovering from her run-in with Darren but seeing her smile across the truck cab is priceless.
As we reach the city limits, she starts pointing at different places and telling me about them all. Her school. The parking lot the high schoolers hung out in. The skating rink where she lost her first tooth in a fall. The movie theater where she almost lost something else to a guy named Rick.
I’m watching Lo relive her past and it reminds me of the few good times I had of my own. Over the years I’d forgotten there were any.
We pull up to a blue-and-white apartment building on the edge of a busy main street and Lo points out the windows to what had been her bedroom several months ago. She doesn't know it, but I’ve already called the rental office and cleared her mother’s debt until the end of the year. Hopefully, we’ll be able to find a place closer to us, and Lo can help her mother finally come to grips with losing her father.
“I think I want to go in first,” Lo says, undoing her seat belt and staring up at the apartment window.
I reach over the seat and take her hand in mine. “We’re in this together. You don’t have to face any of this alone.”
Her gaze shifts to me. “I know that. And I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and my mother.” She pauses and I feel her body tense. “I’m just not sure what I’m about to walk into, and I don’t want that to be your first impression of my mother.”
The love she feels is apparent in her frown, and I want nothing more than to wipe it off her face with a kiss. But I don’t. I love Lo, and I want to make things easier for her, but this time I have to take the backseat and follow her lead.
“I understand,” I say and lean over to kiss her cheek.
She puts her hand on the side of my face and holds me close while she closes her eyes and drops her forehead to mine.
“I don’t know what I would have done without you these last few weeks,” she says.
But it’s me who should be thanking her. And I plan to. Every damn day for the rest of my life.
I’ve even put my promise into ink. When Lo pulls away and reaches for the door handle, I stop her. “Before you go in, I have something I want to show you.”
She stalls and turns back to me, her lips parted in surprise. “What is it?” There’s hope in her voice.
I glance down to my shoulder and I pull my shirt sleeve up slowly, revealing the outline of my latest ink.
Lo covers her mouth with her hands and she shouts a happy noise I can’t make out in words, but I understand the meaning. She reaches out one finger and traces it.
“A lotus,” she says.
“It’s not completely visible with a t-shirt on, but when I wear my cuts, everyone will see my Lotus flower and know how much you mean to me.”
She squeals again, and I can’t get enough of it. She leans over and kisses me, then traces the tat again. “I love it, Hawk. It’s perfect.”
“It’s not finished yet.”
She glances back up at me. “What else could there be?”
I grin. I never thought I could be this happy. Didn’t think I deserved the kind of love Lo has for me. She’s changed my world. She’s given me a new life. One I want to make the most of. So when I say what I’m going to say next, she’ll either make me the happiest man on the planet, or she’ll crush my heart. But I’m willing to take the chance.
“Our wedding date,” I answer.
“What?” Lo says. Her hands are over her mouth again and I reach up and pull them down.
“That is if you want it to be.”
She stares at me long enough to make my stomach sink before she lets me off the hook.
“Of course I want there to be a wedding date.” She wraps her arms around my neck and scoots over until she’s almost sitting in my lap. “I love you, Hawk. And I always will.” She kisses me quickly, then pulls her mouth away from mine. “But I think we might need to add one more thing to your new tat.”
I’m watching her, trying to read what she means, and then she glances down at her belly and back to me. “I was going to wait until I told my mother first, but since we’re here. How hard would it be to add a little rose bud to your arm? You can add the date in about eight months.”
I’m not sure I’m hearing her right until she drops a hand to her belly.
“You’re on the pill.”
“It turns out that’s not always foolproof.” Lo is holding her breath, waiting for my reaction.
I want to let her off the hook as soon as possible. I’ve lived my past and I have the tattoos on my body to prove it. Now I want to fill up the rest of my life with the happy memories.
I pull her in my arms once again and I hover right over her lips. “I’ll call my artist in the morning,” I say before I kiss her the way I intend to kiss her forever, because Lo has just given me the one thing I’ve wanted my entire life.
A family.
The End.
Note From The Author
Authors are supposed to have favorites, but I can’t help it. Hawk stole my heart from the first time he stepped on the page. Lo is right. Still waters do run deep and Hawk is as deep as they come. He and Lo were both such a joy to write, this story put itself on the page.
Did you notice Smokey? He’s been hiding in the background for a few books now, but coming soon he gets his chance to stand in the spotlight and find his true love. Keeping her…is another story.
What to know where it all began for this series? See Everly Fall in love with her leading man in Staking His Claim: Tattooed And Taken Book # 5
Kyle
For the past year, I’ve avoided Tempest Elite’s invitations to join their club. Aligning with them could be bad for my business. I’m also not a joiner. I’ve been on my own for years and I’ve settled into a life of long hours and returning home to silence. That is until I walk out of the TE’s clubhouse and see the woman who makes me want to change everything. She’s tall, blonde, and curvy as hell and I’m instantly wanting to brand her with my name. Only issue. She’s the Sergeant at Arms daughter and off-limits to non-members. I don’t have a prayer in hell, but that won’t stop me from trying.
Everly
I owe my life to Tempest Elite MC. Gunner, the Sergeant at Arms, adopted me when my mother chose drugs and men over her child, and I’ve been raised to respect the lifestyle. Now that I’m twenty-one, Gunner wants to see me settle down with a member and have babies. Only, the man I want refuses to join. I can’t break my father’s heart and disappoint the men who helped raise me, but I can’t say no to my heart either. There has to be a way to bring my two worlds together.