“Oh.” I sucked down a sharp breath and closed my eyes. Hooking my leg over his hips, I tucked him close into me and whispered, “Take it it went badly?”
“Couldn’t have gone worse. The guards dragged him away from the phone.” He gulped. “Let’s hope it don’t wreck his chances of parole next year.”
I winced at the thought and rasped, “That’s not on you.” I squeezed him. “If he doesn’t get to come home early, that’s on him. What Kenzie did, that’s on her. Nothing that’s happened is because of you. You did what you could for her. You did more than most. You’re a wonderful son to your dad, and a brother she doesn’t deserve.”
When he lifted his arm and covered his face with it, a move I’d made more times in my life than I cared to count, I felt his tears deep in my soul.
I didn’t say anything. What was there to say? I understood his pain, understood where it was coming from, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to change it. But I could be there for him. Could just lie here and let him deal with his emotions.
One thing I’d learned from Momma over the years—bikers and emotions were like bikers and vacuum cleaners. Never the two shall meet.
So, I hugged him. Stayed there with him long after my ass grew numb and my foot died a little from the position I held it in. I just stayed there, breathing in his scent, his presence, loving him and loving that he could show this in front of me.
When, after a little while, he calmed down—not that he’d exactly let loose with his feelings—I whispered, “I love you, Jamie.”
“I love you, too.” His voice was deeper than usual, and the raspiness to it made my heart hurt. He turned his head to the side, and I saw his tear sore eyes and ached even harder for him. “This’s hard for me. You know, this sharing you thing?”
I tensed, not expecting him to take that path. “Yeah, I know.” Biting my bottom lip for a second, I inquired, “Is it something you can’t carry on with?”
“Nothing like that.” He sighed. “Just, you know, it’s hard. It was harder, but I like it too.”
“You do?” I asked warily, unsure where he was going with this.
“Yeah. You’re a lot of woman to keep up with,” he teased. “You need a football team to keep you happy.”
Laughing, I slapped him on the belly and wriggled over him until I was flat on top of him—numb butt, foot, and all. “Jerk.”
“Your jerk?”
His hesitancy had my lips curving. “Forever. You’ll always be my jerk, Keys. Even if you decide you can’t do this no more.”
He shook his head, reached up, and pressed a finger to my lips. “No need to talk like that. I’m not going anywhere, just wanted you to know that you’re worth it.”
“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not, but my happiness doesn’t define or decide your own.”
“You been watching Oprah?”
“Nope, just always been this wise.”
“Oh, that right, Kemosabe?” he teased. “At first, I didn’t like it, but I dunno. It’s growing on me. You’ve been under my skin for a long time now, sugar. I figure you’re like Lyme disease. Once it’s in the system, there ain’t no getting away from it.”
I snickered. “You’re just full of compliments today, ain’t ya?”
“Compliments are what I do best.” He cleared his throat. “You gonna kiss me or what?”
Oh, I’d kiss him all right.
Before pressing my lips to his, I whispered, “I’m yours, Jamie. Just like you’re mine. Forever.”
And he sighed into the kiss, sealing my words eternally with our love.
❖
Saint
“You ever seen her dance like that before?” I asked Keys, tipping my beer at our woman as she twisted and writhed against Ink like he was a pole and she was a dancer.
Keys tilted his head to the side. “Nope. Wouldn’t mind if she danced with me like that though.” He grinned at me. “Preferably naked.”
“Fuck, yeah,” I groaned and cupped my cock. “That would be hot as shit.”
“She never danced like that before though. Don’t think I ever remember seeing her dance,” he mused.
“Can’t say that was a bad thing considering all the men are looking at her,” I grumbled.
“We need to claim her,” he said easily. “As it stands, her daddies and name get them to back the fuck off, but once we mark her, they won’t even dare look.”
The thought didn’t turn me off. I wanted Ama, wanted her any way I could get her, so marking her was the next step. The thought of my ink on her body made my cock even harder, and I passed my beer to Keys as I mumbled, “Gonna join them.”
When he laughed, I flipped him the bird, but I stalked through the heaving dancefloor.
It was Saturday night, the first Saturday night party since the last raid, since Kenzie’s betrayal, and since Bubbles had lost her baby and Lucie had tossed her out on her ass when she’d come back to the clubhouse—mean, yeah, but Lucie had never been nice. Plus, I’d seen the couple of Ben Franklins she’d shoved at her to tide her over—Lucie might be hellspawn but she had a heart too.
Tonight was also the first night we’d really outed ourselves to the club. Keys had kissed her earlier, sparking attention, Ink was dancing with her now, and that had brothers’ gossiping like bitches, and the second I sidled up to her? I knew shit would really fly because they’d be figuring Ama was like her momma.
Well, she was in one sense but not all.
The lighting was dim, the music was loud, and it was hot as fuck as I pressed my front to her back, grabbed her hips, and rocked into her. She writhed back against me with way too much skill, and I shouted in her ear, “Have you always been able to dance like that?”
As laughter escaped her, I knew I had my answer.
“Was just waiting on you boys to make it worth my while to dance,” she said with a hoot, one of her arms coming up to reach around behind my neck, and the other hauling Ink close to her as well in a mirroring move.
Stuck between us, she seemed to soar ever higher, and I didn’t care that my body was literally dripping with sweat now I was here, where the body heat was the more intense. Didn’t give a fuck that my body was way too close to Ink’s for my own good.
Something about her made me accept the craziness. Something about her made me need it.
I wasn’t sure I’d been born to lead a normal life. That was what I got for joining an MC, but fuck, it went deeper than that. What Ama brought to my days, with Ink and Keys too? I figured I needed that as well.
I’d been one of the lucky ones. Dorie had brought me into the fold, made me hers, but I still remembered the early years, before I’d had her, before, when my mom had been a shithouse. I remembered being left alone, going to sleep hungry, and hearing strange moans from her bedroom. I remembered feeling like a nuisance, feeling unwanted and alone.
Now?
I’d never be alone, and that felt good.
Yeah, I was possessive, and it was weird having to share her, but it fit. It felt right. With Keys, it was too fucking easy. I was used to her being in between us, used to us caring for her and watching out for her. Ink was a little harder, took a little more getting used to just because he was older, more on her daddies’ wavelength than ours, but I figured we were getting there.