Page 12 of Big Easy
BIG EASY
After a little more than an hour on the road, my men and I are taking the exit toward Bourbon Street before riding out to the waterfront property on the bayou my dad uses during hunting season.
I plan on introducing Sutton to my parents while we are in town.
A few weeks ago, I met her family. She looks just like her mother.
They even have the same dimples, but she gets her green eyes from her father.
I have no doubt my family will love her.
Every year we attend a biker rally in my hometown of New Orleans, hosted by our good friends the Kings of Retribution, the Louisiana chapter.
Riggs, the club's President, holds the event to raise donations for military veterans.
Being tattoo artists, my club loads up their equipment, and we set up shop for the week's stay.
Bikers love ink, which means we make bank while supporting a good cause, because half of what Outlaw Ink makes during the rally, we put into the charity pot.
Reaching back, I wrap my hand around Sutton's calf.
I still can't fucking believe she agreed to the road trip, considering her riding experience is limited to the time we've been together, which is going on almost two months now.
Dating, if you can call it that since I've basically moved her into my home, is new to me, but Sutton has become the best part of my life.
I wake up with her by my side and go to bed the same.
At first, I worried about losing interest and having someone in my personal space, that somehow a relationship would alter my routine.
To be honest, in ways it has, but not where it matters.
I'm obsessed with Sutton and can't get enough of her.
My bed smells like her, and the apartment has reminders of her presence sprinkled around.
From the lavender vanilla bath oils sitting on the side of the tub, her Kindle always sitting out somewhere because she loves to read, to the red wine in my refrigerator, Sutton is in every part of my life now.
What I was once running from I'm currently chasing after.
She's everything I never realized I was missing in my life.
Hitting busy downtown traffic, we slow. The warm, humid air licks my skin. I take a deep breath; the aromas of Cajun cuisine fill my senses. It smells like home.
A row of bikes in the distance is the first sign we are nearing Twisted Throttle, the bar owned by the Kings of Retribution.
My men and I back our bikes along the roadside in front of the establishment and cut our engines.
"I'm so hungry. The smells around here are incredible," Sutton states as she removes her helmet.
I help her off the back of the bike. She's wearing cutoff jeans and a black tank top that says book nerd across her breast.
Taking a bandana from my pocket, I wipe the sweat from my face and beneath my beard. I grab Sutton by the hand. "Come on. Let's go inside and cool off." Sutton chews her bottom lip. "Nervous, baby?'
She shrugs. "A little. I'm not exactly biker chick material.
" She glances down at herself, and I have no idea what she's talking about.
I stop in my tracks and pull her into my body.
A piece of loose hair, fallen from her high ponytail, sticks to her cheek.
I tuck it behind her ear, then stroke the pad of my thumb along the pulse of her neck.
With no makeup on, and her skin glistening from the heat, I can't take my eyes off her.
Sutton has no idea just how beautiful she is, and it makes her even more attractive.
"You're perfect just the way you are, babe.
" Her green eyes search mine before giving me a smile, gracing me with those damn dimples I love so much.
Love.
I find myself using that word a lot when it comes to Sutton, though I've yet to speak it out loud.
A blast of cool air hits our skin the moment the front door to the bar swings open.
"Ah hell, look what the cat dragged in." Riggs' voice carries over the loud music as we walk inside.
The bar is filled with bikers and their women, and it smells of smoke, booze, and something more—my stomach growls.
"Is that crawfish boil I'm smellin'?" I ask Riggs as he meets us halfway across the bar. He extends his hand, and I shake it.
"You damn right. Pop is out back cookin' up some mudbug, corn, sausage, potatoes—the whole shebang." He claps my upper arm with his other hand. "It's damn good to see ya, brother. Ya'll bring your asses over and take a seat."
My men and our women follow the Kings' President to the back of the bar where they've shoved four large tables together and his men sit with their women.
"Well, hell. Who is the pretty thing you have on your arm there, Big Easy?" Nova grins.
"Brothers, meet my girl, Sutton." I make the initial introduction before going down the line, and Sutton gives them a small wave. "Babe, the one wearing the big ass grin is Nova." Her eyes bounce between him and Riggs, realizing they look identical.
"We may look alike," Nova states, then runs his hand through his hair. "But I'm the good-lookin' one." He laughs when his brother flips him the bird.
"Beside him is his wife, Promise. Then his brother, President of the Kings of Retribution, Riggs, and his woman, Luna." This entire time, Riggs is signing for his wife, and Sutton notices. Luna faces Sutton and signs, nice to meet you, and Sutton returns by signing back.
"You know ASL, babe?" I ask.
"Very little. I had a deaf patient once, who taught me a few basics."
She never ceases to amaze me.
I continue with my introductions. "Wick there is VP, and beside him is Tequila. Near the end of the table sit Kiwi and Piper. The big guy over there leaning against the wall is Everest and standing with him is his girl. London."
"Seems cupid has been shootin' his arrows in a lot of asses here lately." Kiwi pulls Piper into his side. "Funny how that love thing comes along and bites us in the ass when we're least expecting it." He lifts his beer to me. "Welcome home, brother."
"It's damn good to be back," I tell him and pull out a seat, tugging Sutton onto my lap, where she sits for the next couple of hours.
The sun is setting over Crescent City, and we are all full as a tick and ready to call it a day. Leaving Twisted Throttle and the Kings behind, my club hits the road for the forty-minute ride out to the lake house.
Sunsets are different around here—almost mystical.
Like strokes of paint brushed across, purple clouds hang above the horizon.
The sun's rays burst outwards in warm golden hues against the dove grey sky.
Nearing the cabin, we are surrounded by water.
There's an absolute stillness that settles over the bayou while our bikes move us further down the open stretch of road.
The hum of the tires against the asphalt becomes the background music to the end of another day.
Turning right, we travel another half mile down a long dirt road.
My family's hunting house comes into view.
Unlike the home I grew up in, this one is a simple two-level home on stilts, with four small bedrooms and one bathroom on the first level, along with the combined kitchen and living room area.
The second level is a loft room, and on the back of the house are two decks, one on each level of the home, which overlooks the water.
We pull up beneath the home, parking our bikes near all the hunting stands, and disassembled duck blind.
"By far the best thing about our annual trip to New Orleans, brother.
" Slider gazes out at the water as he dismounts his bike, then helps Julia climb off.
The two of them walk out toward the dock.
"It's beautiful out here," Sutton scans the area as I unload our overnight bag from the back of the bike and take her by the hand.
"I spent a lot of time out here as a kid with my old man. We'd spend all day, fishin', or huntin'."
"You grew up out here?" she asks as I lead her up the stairs behind the other couples and enter the home.
"Only part-time." The men settle into the rooms of their choosing, and I lead us up another set of stairs into the loft. I toss the bag in my hand onto the bed. Sutton crosses the small space, unlocking and sliding open the glass door. She steps out on the deck and leans against the railing.
"I'm glad you asked me to come with you." She breathes in deep as I settle in behind her. "The sunset is beautiful out here."
"That they are." We watch the bayou swallow the sun, and its light begins to fade. Gold changes to crimson and the deepening red soon shifts to a dark purple.
With Sutton in my arms, we watch dusk fade into the night. Lighting bugs flicker above the water, and croaking frogs start to harmonize with the cicadas. "My parents want us to have dinner with them tomorrow," I remind her.
"I hope they like me," Sutton turns her body to face me.
I dip my head, hovering my lips above hers.
"What's not to love? They will adore you.
" My mouth covers hers, and the kiss intensifies.
Gripping her ass cheeks, I lift her feet off of the decking.
Sutton wraps her legs over my hips. I carry her to the bed inside, where I rid her and myself of our clothes then worship her body.
The following day is spent at the rally, with my men tattooing at least thirty bikers. It's finally the end of the day, and instead of shooting the shit with the others downstairs, I'm hanging in Riggs' home, above the bar.