Chapter 1 - Mike
Mike stifled a yelp when the back of his head collided with a shelf and knocked off plastic bottles that vaguely smelled of bleach. But there was no going back when Mona snuck in behind him and pressed her soft chest against his arm so they could both fit into the tiny maintenance closet at the back of the store.
He’d been away for two weeks and had kind of assumed that the whole Harlyn debacle would have blown over by now, but her brothers had reappeared ten minutes after Mike’s arrival. They were out for a ring on their sister’s finger and Mike sure as hell wasn’t going to give them what they wanted.
So here he was, squashed in the maintenance closet and hiding as if his lover’s husband had just come in and she’d been forced to put Mike away somewhere.
That had been fun only once.
Mona shifted against him, and Mike had to bite his lips to stop a comment about her boobs pressing into him. “Can’t you just go fuck them up so this is over with?” she whispered, pronouncing words in the sweet cadence of her Italian accent.
Mike scowled. If it only were that simple.
“It would have made a mess in the shop. I’ve been back for less than an hour, and the last thing I want is Mom on my back.”
Mona groaned. “Some outlaw biker. Afraid of his mom. You just wanna feel me up.”
Mike’s lips stretched. “Come on, you’re my sister’s wife. I would never,” he said in a tone that suggested he would have, even though he’d pretty much classified Mona as a sister once Rain had put that ring on her finger. Throughout their trip, they’d been sleeping in the same hotel rooms—sometimes in the same bed if it was cheaper—and he’d kept it kosher.
Mike could swear he heard Mona snort in the darkness, but focused on Shay’s raspy voice out in the shop.
“I already told you Mike’s away. If you’re not buying anything, you should leave,” she said sternly. She was a small woman, frail despite her wild black hair, and the tattoos covering most of the skin she showed, but she faced the Jaren brothers with confidence, as if she were disciplining one of her four kids. The Jarens weren’t breaking her, but if they tried, Mike would have to ignore the possible damage to the store and fuck them up whatever the cost, because as the old lady of another MC brother, Shay was family.
She was also the first woman who’d managed to put reins on Mike’s cousin, Kane, which made her a treasure that needed to be protected at all cost.
But she didn’t need anyone’s aid and stood her ground. “Go on. Out. And don’t try anything stupid. We’ve got cameras all over the place.”
The three men went silent, and Mike imagined them sharing uncertain glances. They damn well knew there would be hell to pay if they as much as stepped on Shay’s toes.
He held his breath, listening to the silence hanging in the air just outside the closet.
The most outspoken of the brothers, Eric, raised his voice with no prelude. “A slut like you won’t see we’re only doing this for our sister’s sake! She was untouched until he put his dirty hands on her, and he will marry her, or he’ll dry out in the desert, with a hole in his head!”
Wow. That had escalated quickly.
Shay was unfazed. “I’ll pass on the message.”
One of the brothers huffed like an angry bear, but the short statement was followed by stomping, which meant they were leaving. Mike couldn’t even enjoy Mona’s breasts anymore, itching to get out of the dusty confines.
Finally, after what felt like forever, the door to the closet opened, and Shay gestured at them to come out, adjusting the cup of her bra, which peeked out from under her tank top.
“They’re gone. But you know they’ll be back. Hope Harlyn’s V was worth the unboxing,” she said in her low, raspy voice.
Mike rolled his eyes and opened one of the store’s fridges to pull out a can of beer. It came from a local brewery, and while more expensive than big brands, it was Dad’s favorite, so they always had it in stock. “Hey, I didn’t coerce her into it. That girl is like a pussycat in heat, and I bet the only reason why she’d even want to marry me would be to get the hell out from under her family’s ‘protection’,” he said and took a sip of the cool lager.
The shop belonged to the Heller family as well as the rest of the gas station, the garage, and the Smoke Valley MC clubhouse which housed a private bar and numerous rooms, including Mike’s. He was the oldest of the siblings to still live at the compound, as it was a rite of passage to move out once you started a family. Which meant Mike would stay forever, and he wasn’t complaining. The clubhouse was a constant stream of parties and pussy, with the added perk of being close to family within the safe confines of a tall concrete wall that kept away jealous husbands. What more could a man want?
He winked at his reflection in the glass door of the fridge. At thirty-seven he didn’t look his age, courtesy of avoiding the kind of baggage some of his brothers had saddled themselves with. Kids, a house, and a woman to keep happy. Even Rain, his lesbian sister, for some reason had decided it was time to ‘settle down’, and now her and Mona were mothers to twins. Mike still had a little chip on his shoulder over not being their first choice of sperm donor, but it was only his ego talking, because he didn’t actually want the responsibility. Their brother, Leo, could have it.
He pulled at the blond beard that had become a bit too bushy during the trip. What he did want after two weeks on the road was a visit to the barber’s. Tanned, ripped, with blue eyes that made women pay attention, and Smokey patches on the back of his vest, he could easily live this way into his sixties. Their sergeant at arms, Admiral never ‘settled down’ and it was working out just fine for him.
Mona cleared her throat and poked Mike’s side. “Are you checking yourself out?”
Shay snorted, but before she could have added her own snarky remark, the back door burst open and Kane rushed in, looking around with the eyes of a rabid pitbull. Shirtless, his flaming red hair wet, all the circus-themed ink on show, he was the human equivalent of a comet arriving to smash into anything that could hurt his old lady.
Mike waved him off. “Chill, they’re gone.”
“They shouldn’t have come here to harass my Shay in the first place,” Kane roared, getting into Mike’s face.
Yikes. And this was the guy who used to claim it was his destiny to sow his seeds in any field that needed plowing? He’d really fallen hard. Mike saw this pattern all around. His older brother, Jack, had married his favorite stripper just two years back, and Leo had followed not long after, marrying a man when no girl would accept his ring. The world had turned on its head, and Mike wasn’t joining that crazy train any time soon.
“And this is my fault how? Since when is it a crime to fuck a willing chick?” Mike asked, leaning against the closet door.
Kane snarled. “Since her family is some backwards dumbasses who worship aliens and lock up their women’s pussies like they’re filled with diamonds. Sort. This. Out.” Droplets of spittle landed on Mike’s cheek, but he’d let that slide for the sake of their family bond.
Mike hummed. “They don’t worship aliens. They make figurines of little green men for a living. Jesus.” Which reminded him that he needed to get rid of the ashtray Harlyn had given him as a present, claiming she’d made it herself.