Page 19 of Desert Loyalties

MANDRAKE

We’re at the diner from yesterday. Just talking. Eating. Laughing a little. From the outside, we probably look normal, just a couple killing time before they get back to real life. But inside, I’m anything but calm.

Skye’s sitting across from me, sipping coffee like she didn’t just drop a bomb on me yesterday. We spent the rest of the day talking, about her childhood, her struggles. She told me about Bernadette, her hippy friend who prefers Ben. I can’t really judge; all of my friends are murderers.

I can’t believe she’s been carrying that weight for so long. That guilt, that pain. And I didn’t know. I should’ve known.

When Mickey ran her background, standard protocol for anyone we let close, I should’ve asked. Hell, I helped him with hers personally. But I only looked into after she changed her name. Figured whatever came before, she’d tell me in her own time. That it was hers to give.

I told myself I was respecting her privacy.

Truth is, I didn’t want to risk digging up anything that might make me question what I already felt too damn deeply. I didn’t want to know if there was something there I couldn’t unsee. Fuckin’ coward.

But I looked into everyone else. Everyone who ever hurt her.

Jacob Nelson was just one name on a long list. A predator in a frat boy’s skin. Dealt with him personally.

Susan Beck? She started a rumour Skye got gangbanged by the entire football team. Thought it was funny. A joke. Yeah, well, the cops pulled her over last year, found two pounds of coke in her trunk. Anonymous tip. Life ruined. Boo-fuckin’-hoo.

Every single person who called Skye a whore, laughed behind her back, tried to tear her down, I found them.

Quietly. Systematically. One by one. I made sure their lives turned to ash in their hands.

Jobs lost. Reputations wrecked. Some got scared enough to run.

Some still don’t know why karma came calling.

I even found her old college professor, the one who offered her an A if she got on her knees. Took me a while to track him down. But I did. Found him fresh out of jail and he’s not going to be hurting anyone again.

I told myself it wasn’t personal. That I’d do it for anyone. Any woman connected to the club. That it was about loyalty. About protection.

Liar.

It was always personal.

Because it was her.

Because from the moment I saw her on that bar, punching Serena like a goddamn queen, I was gone. Didn’t want to admit it then. Would’ve rather chewed glass than admit it. But she owned me from the start.

And I didn’t protect her when it mattered most. Not from her past. Not from her own guilt.

I grip my mug tighter and glance at her across the table.

She looks tired, but lighter. Skye catches me looking and smiles.

I can’t stop thinking about all she went through.

I mean, my childhood wasn’t easy not at all, but I had a family, one that loved me.

I lost them to a fluke, an accident and pushed the remaining away.

I take a deep breath, its time. Time to tell Skye about the person who hasn’t spoken to me in four years, my little sister.

“I have to tell you something… about my family.” Skye looks at me, giving me her complete attention.

“My family died in a fire, I know I told you that” I start, “But I wasn’t the only one who survived.

” She leans forward; hands wrapped around her mug.

“My little sister made it out too. Two years old. Pigtails. Cute as hell. My dad got us both out before the house went down.”

She’s quiet, letting me speak. No interruptions. Just watching.

“I was seven,” I go on. “Scared, angry. Carried that anger like a skin. We were placed in foster care together at first, but I kept getting us kicked out. Fights, breaking shit, mouthing off. So, they split us up.”

Her brows draw together, softening a little.

“She got adopted. New name, new family, new life. Eventually… she forgot about me. About all of it.”

I glance down at the table, jaw clenched.

“But four years ago, she found me. She’d just graduated college and came here during her break.

She was supposed to start med school that fall but decided to take a gap year instead.

Said she wanted to reconnect. I thought she came back for me.

For us.” I shake my head, a bitter smile tugging at my mouth.

“Turns out she’d met someone. Prospect. Fresh blood. Young, dumb, and her age. I walked into her guesthouse and found her in bed with him wrapped around her.”

Skye’s eyes flash. “What did you do?”

“I wanted to break his goddamn face. But she told me to back off. Told me I had no right, not after abandoning her when we were kids. And she was right.” I swallow hard. “So, I let it go. Told her when he eventually fucked her over, I wouldn’t be there.”

“And he did?”

“Yeah. Walked in on him screwing her only friend. On her bed.” I rub the back of my neck. “She came running to me, tears, shaking, and all I said was, ‘Told you not to come crying to me.’”

Skye winces. “Ouch.”

“She looked heartbroken. I went over to her place the next day to apologize, but it was too late. She was gone. Packed up and blocked me.”

There’s a long pause between us, a silence filled with everything I didn’t say then and everything I’ve regretted since.

“What did you do to him?” she asks, my woman knows me well.

I meet her eyes. “I tracked him down, Chains. Beat the ever-living crap out of him. Told him if he ever came near her or the club again, I’d bury him.”

She blinks, a slow realization dawning. “Wait…”

“He went and joined the army two days later. Got the hell out of town.”

Now she’s staring at me. “But… that’s—”

“Against club bylaws,” I finish for her. “A patched member can’t remove a prospect. Only officers can. Or their sponsor. I wasn’t either. I crossed a line that could cost me my patch.”

Skye goes still. Processing. “You did it for your sister, because despite everything you lover her.” After a beat she asks, “Did she ever speak to you again?”

“Na,” I answer, “She moved to California I think, still won’t take my calls.” I let her go, the only thing I ever did was let her down.

She reaches across the table grabbing my hand. “You are an amazing man, one day when you’re ready, how about we go visit her, together?”

“I’d really like that darlin’, besides our kids are gonna need their aunt.”

“Our kids… and how many are we having exactly?” she asks, blushing.

“As many as you want, as long as they look like you.” I’d have an entire football team if she let me, but she’s the one who gotta push them out.

She looks up at me through her lashes, smirking like sin. “Think this place has a bathroom?”

I stare for a second. She’s got a wicked look, danger and heat all wrapped in one. I push back my chair, toss a few bills on the table, and follow her without a word.

The hallway’s narrow, the hum of the diner fading behind us. She disappears into the single-occupant bathroom, leaving the door cracked open. An invitation. I step inside, locking it behind me.

She’s already pressing her back to the sink, breathing shallow. "You’ve been eye-fuckin’ me since we sat down," she says, voice husky. “You think I didn’t notice?”

I grab her hips and crash my mouth onto hers, all teeth and tongue. She moans into me, biting my lower lip, grinding against the hardness straining my jeans.

“I need you,” she breathes.

I spin her, palms flat against the mirror as I press up behind her, my hand already dragging up her shirt, exposing skin I’ve memorized but will never get tired of.

Her breath hitches as I tug her panties down, let them fall to her boots.

My fingers slide through slick heat and she’s already soaked.

“You were waiting for this,” I growl, teasing her folds. “For me.”

“Always,” she gasps.

I undo my belt, shove my jeans down just enough, and line up behind her. One hand grips her hip tight while the other covers her mouth as I thrust in hard. She cries out muffled and needy arching back into me.

The room fills with the wet sound of skin on skin, her whimpers, my groan when her walls clench around me. Sweat drips down my neck, palms slipping against the mirror. I pin her there, fuckin’ her fast, deep, like I can’t get enough, because I can’t.

“Mine,” I grit out. She nods frantically. “Yours. Always.”

When she comes, she trembles, nearly collapsing against the sink. I follow seconds later, growling her name into the curve of her neck.

It takes a while to catch our breath. I kiss her shoulder, still buried inside her. Then she smirks in the mirror. “Best bathroom visit ever.”

I tuck myself away, pulling her panties back up gently, give her ass a soft slap. “You’re moving in today.”

She laughs, breathless. “Was that a command?”

I smirk. “No, sweetheart. That was a promise.”