Page 13 of Fallen Dove (Fallen Lords MC 2nd Gen #1)

Adley

The night blurred with slammed orders, spilled beers, and laughter that rang loud enough to rattle my bones. But underneath it all, I felt Mason. Every time I walked by every brush of his arm when we both reached for the same order slip, every accidental graze of his shoulder to mine, it was there.

Nobody else noticed. But the cameras did. I caught their little red lights blinking from the corners of the bar, documenting every stolen glance, every too-long pause when our eyes locked.

By close, I was flushed, exhausted, and wound so tight I thought I might shatter.

“Ready?”

Mason’s voice came low behind me.

I turned, surprised.

“For what?”

He jingled his keys.

“Ride home.”

I blinked.

“You don’t have to do this. I could ask Penny for a ride. I should have my car back by Monday.”

“Until then, you’ve got me.”

He didn’t say it like a choice. He said it like fact.

We stepped out into the night. The crowd noise was gone, replaced by the quiet hum of crickets. Mason held the helmet out to me.

I slid it on, and when I climbed onto the bike, I felt the heat of him under me, strong and solid. He glanced over his shoulder, eyes catching mine.

“Straight home?”

I knew what he was asking. My pulse hammered in my ears. Mason or home.

“Let’s take the long way.”

The bike roared to life, and we shot down the road. Weston fell behind us quick, streetlights fading into open fields. The moon hung fat and low, stars scattered like diamonds across the black. Cool country air whipped against my cheeks, but all I felt was Mason. My arms around his waist. My chest pressed against his back. Every vibration of the bike rattled through both of us until I couldn’t tell where he ended and I began.

We didn’t speak. Didn’t need to.

Half an hour later, he turned down the gravel road to Point Lake. The water glittered under the moonlight as he parked by the boat landing.

I slid off, and tugged the helmet free.

“I haven’t been out here since high school.”

I pointed toward the trees down the shoreline.

“That’s where we’d sneak wine coolers and blast Paramore like we thought we were rebels.”

Mason chuckled, but it was low and rough. He leaned against the bike, legs stretched out, arms braced back on the seat like he owned the night.

I lifted my hair, twisting it into a messy knot to cool my neck. His eyes followed the movement, slow and deliberate, trailing down over me until my breath caught.

I stepped closer, until I stood between his boots.

“What are you thinking?”

His gaze burned into me.

“I don’t think I can say it out loud.”

My pulse jumped. “Why not?”

“Because I shouldn’t be thinking about you like that.”

Heat flooded my cheeks.

“Like what?”

“Like wondering what you taste like. If your curves are as lush as they look.”

The air crackled. My heart pounded so hard it hurt.

“Why wonder when you could just find out?”

He shot to his feet, towering over me.

“I should get you home, Adley.”

I pressed forward, toe to toe with him.

“I don’t want to go home.”

His jaw flexed.

“Then what do you want?”

“The same thing I wanted fourteen years ago.”

“Adley…”

“I’m not eighteen anymore. I’m not some girl who’s going to run just because you tell me to.”

“I never told you to run.”

His voice was rough, and frayed.

“I didn’t want you to leave Weston.”

“I had to. I couldn’t stay here wanting you and watching you be with someone else.”

His hands fisted at his sides.

“Adley, I-”

“No. You listen to me. I want you, Mason. And I know you want me too. I don’t know what’s stopping you.”

“Your dad.”

I shook my head.

“I’m thirty-one years old. My dad doesn’t tell me who I can and can’t date. He didn’t in Chicago, and he won’t here.”

Something dark flared in his eyes.

“You dated in Chicago?”

I tilted my head, and lips curved.

“Does that bother you?”

His lips pressed tight, but no answer.

I stepped closer, and my chest brushed his.

“You don’t like that I dated, but I’m supposed to accept all the women you were with? That’s hypocritical, Mason. Especially when you were the one who rejected me.”

“I didn’t reject you.”

His voice was a growl now, raw with something close to pain.

“You were Slayer’s eighteen-year-old daughter. I was a damn prospect.”

“It didn’t matter to me.”

“It mattered to me.”

“And now? Does it still matter?”

My hand splayed against his chest, right over his pounding heart.

“Is the club still more important than me?”

His nostrils flared. His hands shook. Then he snarled, “Fuck it.”

His arm locked around my waist, and he yanked me flush against him. His other hand cradled my cheek, and tilted my head back. His mouth crashed onto mine.

The kiss was fire and desperation. Fourteen years of want pouring into one collision. My fingers tangled in his hair, his beard scraping my skin, and his tongue claimed mine like I’d always been his.

My hands slid over hard muscle as his grip roamed down to my hip, my ass the pulled me closer. Every inch of him was heat, strength, and solid.

When he finally tore back, both of us were panting. I could barely find my voice.

“That was worth waiting fourteen years for.”

His forehead pressed to mine, breath ragged.

“The club and your dad are going to kill me when they find out I touched you.”

I traced a finger over his lips and grinned.

“Then we just don’t let them find out. About this.”

I kissed him softly. “Or this.”

Longer. “Or that.”

“Adley…”

He growled low and hoisted me up. My legs wrapped around his waist, and my arms locked around his neck. He kissed me again, rougher and hotter, until my head spun.

“You’re going to be the death of me,”

he rasped against my mouth.

“I had rules. We just broke every one of them.”

I smiled, smug.

“I’ve never been one to follow rules, Mason. Especially when it comes to what I want.”

More kisses. His hands, my lips, both of us lost in the storm.

Finally, he pulled back with his chest heaving.

“I need to get you home. It’s late.”

I didn’t want to. Every cell in my body screamed to stay right here. But I only nodded, breathless.

We walked to the bike, and before he straddled it, I caught his arm.

“Things aren’t going to go back to the way they were before, are they?”

His mouth captured mine in a firm kiss.

“We don’t need to announce it to the world right now. But there’s no chance in hell I’m keeping my hands or lips off you.”

Good enough. For now.

I grinned, slipped on the helmet, and climbed on behind him.

And as the bike rumbled to life, I knew everything had changed.