Page 17 of Haze (Serpents of Chaos MC #2)

LU

Haze gets a call in the middle of the night. I’m half asleep, but I get a few words.

“Yeah. What? Okay. Leaving now. Keep her there.” He kisses the top of my head and quickly gets dressed before he leaves the room without a word.

When I wake up in the morning, he’s still not back.

Where the hell did he go in the middle of the night?

I’m cracking eggs for omelettes when Ora steps in, freshly showered, her long dark hair damp and hanging down her back. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” I reply with a grin. “Hey, did anything happen last night? Haze disappeared in the middle of the night.”

Ora frowns, shaking her head. “Not that I know of. And if something went down with the club, War would have gotten a phone call.” She pulls out some orange juice from the refrigerator and pours each of us a glass. “You slept with him, didn’t you?” Her tone is now a low whisper.

“Yeah,” I admit, turning to face her. “I’m an idiot, aren’t I? He might be having a freaking baby?—”

“You’re not an idiot… you both have history. He’s your person. Now, whether he’s an idiot, that remains to be seen.”

“Was it too much for him to still be a virgin?” I tease, smiling when Ora laughs. “Instead, my childhood crush had to turn into the biggest manwhore in this place.”

“I don’t know… Lore and Bones are pretty bad.”

“Haze is known for having not just one woman in his bed,” I remind her, and she winces.

“Yeah, I’ve heard. That’s next level.” She pauses and then adds, “But I bet he’s a beast in bed. Is it true about his stamina?”

I nibble my bottom lip. “Let’s just say his experience paid off.”

Ora laughs and slaps her hand down on the counter. “I knew it! That’s why he likes to show off. He wouldn’t be sleeping around so much with multiple women at a time if he had a small dick and was bad in bed.”

“Oh, and it’s pierced,” I add, fanning my face.

Her blue eyes flare. “Oh fuck, that’s hot.”

“I know.”

We share a grin. “He better be good to you, Lu, because I love having you here and never want you to leave. If it doesn’t work out with Haze, there are plenty of other options for you. I know Blade is?—”

“Luella doesn’t need any other options,” Haze’s rough voice growls, and I instantly twist my neck to look at him. His arms grip the doorframe, muscles flexing, and there’s something I can’t read in his face.

“We’ll see,” Ora murmurs, sipping her juice.

“Where were you?” I ask Haze, my brow furrowing.

He glances at Ora, who clears her throat and nods her head toward him. “I’ll start breakfast.”

“Give me a minute,” I say to Ora, walking toward Haze and trying to slide past him, but his hard body blocks the door. He’s still gripping the doorframe, leaning casually, but his eyes are hard. I thought we’d go somewhere to talk, but apparently, we’re doing it right here. “Is everything okay?”

“It was until I came here to find you and caught the end of that conversation,” he mutters, sliding the ball of his tongue ring in between his teeth.

“Ora is just protective.”

“No other man is touching you. We got problems, we fix them. You get me?”

Wrapping my arms around his torso, I nod. “Now, where were you?”

He swallows, his throat bobbing. “Aspen was found passed out on a park bench. Sheriff Grayson rang me to come and pick her up. She was out of it. I took her to the hospital and then to my house to sleep it off.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, and he nods, dropping his arms to bring them around me.

“It is what it is,” he says in a soft voice. “My life has been like this for as long as I can remember, but I’m all she has.”

I wonder if he ever gets sick of having to save people. He stepped up for his family, and he’s still carrying that burden. And now he’s got this situation with Daisy.

“If there’s anything I can do…”

“No,” he shakes his head. “I never wanted you to carry any of this. That’s why I stayed away, Luella.

None of this should have to touch you. You need to be happy, baking cakes, and living your best life.

I’m used to dealing with Aspen. It’s fine.

I know she was your friend, but in the end, she wasn’t a very good one to you. You don’t owe her anything.”

I lower my voice. “Just because you carry it well doesn’t mean it isn’t heavy.”

He takes a sharp breath. “Baby girl…”

Haze tried to save me when we were kids. He took responsibility for the girl next door because he knew I didn’t have loving parents. Nothing has changed—he’s still out there trying to save everyone.

“I’m not just here for the good times, Haze. And if we’re going to make this work, you’re going to have to let me be there for you too.”

His amber eyes soften as he lowers his face and kisses me.

I curl my fingers into his cut, pulling him hard against me. “There’s no if about it, Luella. We are making this work.”

“How were you suddenly so sure about me?” I ask. It’s something that’s been playing on my mind. “I’m not the same girl I was back then. And you went from not wanting me to being all in.”

“I always wanted you, but my demons just wouldn’t let me have you. I just tried to fight it when you surprised me by showing up here. I don’t like surprises, and I don’t like thinking you were there hooking up with one of my brothers. I acted like a dick.”

“How’s that fight going for you?” I smirk.

“How long are you going to throw that in my face?” he murmurs, pushing me back against the wall and caging me in.

“I don’t know.”

“I should have picked you up and thrown you over my shoulder that night,” he mutters, then sighs.

“And to answer your question. No, you’re not the same girl.

You’re a woman now. But our connection is the same.

That never changed. And that’s what I’ve been unconsciously looking for and never found again,” he admits, searching my gaze.

“I never got in a serious relationship, and I know you didn’t either.

And looking back, I know now it’s because no other woman was you. ”

“And how do you know that?” I ask, my brow furrowing.

He plants a kiss just below my ear. “I know everything about you.”

My brow arches. “Not directly from the source, though.”

He licks his lower lip. “Baby, you give me everything I need from the source. I’m hungry again just thinking about it.”

I glance behind me at Ora, whose back is to us as she cooks. “Let me finish helping Ora and then maybe I can.” I walk my fingers up his cut, over his treasurer patch. “Feed your hunger.”

He lowers his voice to a soft, deep rumble. “Meet me in bed in an hour. I want you naked and on your knees with your hands on the headboard. I’m going to make you come so hard.”

Does it matter how we got here?

We’re here now, and I need to enjoy it.

No, I need to live it.

This is no longer a dream—this is my reality.

And I’m going to do it by gripping that headboard and holding on for dear life.