Page 35

After a beat, Saint nodded to D, who began to strum his guitar, though not as fast as the others— for every four chords Boomer played, D only played one—but it seemed to fit.

Then Kady came in, adding another layer of sound, followed closely by Saint and Sam.

Hendrix soon joined in, and by the time Kady began singing, everybody was strumming the chords to the track, and the room was filled with the sounds of guitars.

The hair on the back of my arms stood on end.

It was cool as fuck.

Kady closed her eyes, her sweet and surprisingly husky tone filling the air as she leaned her mouth so close to the microphone that it almost became an extension of her. I smiled at the way she felt the music the same way Saint always did.

My woman sat back with a knowing smile on her face, giving Kady her moment. The only time she sang was to harmonize and elevate Kady’s performance, and my heart flipped over with pride for my incredible woman.

This was an everyday thing for Saint, but to Kady, it was a dream come true, and the fact that my girl gave the kid a moment she’d remember for the rest of her life filled me with so much respect for Saint that my heart swelled with it.

“What song’s this?” I asked Kennedy in hushed tones.

“These are Days,” she replied distractedly, grasping Breaker’s hand as she gazed at her daughter in awe. “It’s pretty, right?”

“Real pretty,” I muttered, taking in the words that conveyed how we should all live in the moment and appreciate life in all its glory.

It suited Kady and her voice perfectly.

Talia sat forward, her stare glued to the kid, then she glanced at Breaker. “She’s yours, right?”

My brother smirked. “She is. Kady’s also fifteen years old and too young to have the pressures of a music career on her shoulders.”

“I get it,” Talia announced. “Respect it even, but she won’t always be fifteen, and I need to point out that if you try to stop an artist making art, they wilt.

There are ways you can let Kady be who she is, but still control the outside noise.

I can help you and her with that. But don’t waste her potential.

She won’t thank you for it. Let her be who she is and let her do what she needs to do.

She’s got a good family and a solid foundation, so as long as she has the right people around her, too, she’ll be okay. ”

Breaker and Kennedy glanced at each other.

“We’ll talk before I leave,” Talia told them.

Breaker pushed a deep breath out, but he nodded, almost resigning himself to the fact that Talia made perfect sense.

Kady’s voice soared above the guitars, and goosebumps trailed down my arms.

Jesus, I knew the kid was good, but this was something else.

My stare slid to Saint, and my mouth hitched again when I saw the light dancing in her eyes as she grinned at Kady encouragingly.

I hadn’t fucking smiled this much since I was a goofy teenager. She brought something out in me I hadn’t ever experienced before, a kind of freedom and lightness that made me feel like I was walking on air.

She had something about her that moved me, and a grace that humbled me. Saint McClure should’ve been a bitch, but instead, she was an angel.

Something pinged in my mind, and I leaned closer to Talia to ask her the question that had been on my mind since the night Saint had played with Dischordium. “Why doesn’t Blue De Santis like Saint?”

She rolled her eyes. “Blue De Santis is an arrogant asshole who thinks women should drop their panties for him whenever he walks into a room.” Her eyes came to me, and she cocked a questioning eyebrow. “Can you see Saint dropping anything for him?”

I almost laughed at the thought. “No. ”

Her eyes went back to Kady. “Men have come a long way in the last hundred years, Iceman, but Blue De Santis is still stuck in a time period where he thinks if a woman doesn’t want him, she’s either frigid or a lesbian. Frankly, he’s an asshole.”

“So he tried his shit with Saint?” I asked.

Her lips thinned. “Blue tries his shit with everyone. The problem is, he’s hot as Hades, so he usually gets away with it.”

“Good to know,” I muttered, storing that shit away for future use.

She chuckled just as the song reached a crescendo. All the guitars played together in such perfect synchronicity that even the odd bum chord couldn’t spoil the magic they weaved as they strummed the last chords.

A loud roar went up, and immediately, Saint began to strum another set of chords, these ones sharper than the last. She counted down, calling out the sequence and nodding to Diablo and Kady, who joined in, closely followed by the others as they began to play the opening bars of one of our favorite songs called “We Are the People.”

The notes seemed heavier when Saint played the chords.

The tune was a dance track, but I liked it because it fucking rocked; plus, Saint was good at dirtying it up to make it more my taste.

The dazzling smile she threw my way conveyed her joy, and I knew she was playing this one for me because it was a favorite.

It was Sam who leaned forward and began singing the words in a surprisingly tuneful voice. You could tell he was no singer, but he carried it well, all the same, and when Boomer and Saint came in on the chorus to sing the harmonies, it sounded fucking awesome.

The momentum of the song built, the sound of guitars crashing through the air, causing vibrations that hit me down to my bones.

It was easy to get caught up in the feeling of it all, and when Saint’s eyes locked with mine, her expression full of fire from the hard edge of the song she played, I found myself getting caught up in her, too.

She made me feel everything with just a look, and I wondered how it could be that I’d gone through the last twelve years not really getting close to anyone, and then along came Saint, and suddenly, connecting was easy.

We just fit. Sometimes it was chaotic, other times it was peaceful, but it always felt right because being around Saint made me feel softer and brighter. Like I’d woken up from hibernation and was ready to meet the sun head-on after a long-assed sleep.

She was pure beauty, and that was exactly what she brought to my life.

I thought after Allie passed that I was destined to be alone.

I thought nobody else could compare, but that was my first mistake because it wasn’t about comparisons.

It was about letting the person you loved and admired be themselves, as well as accepting and celebrating everything about them.

Allie was Allie, and I loved her to my bones.

Saint was Saint, and I loved her to my soul.

It wasn’t more or less; it was just different. Loving Saint didn’t stop me from missing Allie, but missing Allie also didn’t stop me from loving Saint.

Time had moved on, and thankfully, so had I.

Now, it was all about letting go of the past and living again.

The song began to wind down, so I turned to Gopher and jerked my chin, watching as he came sauntering over before ordering, “Get me a Coke for Saint, brother.”

“Sure you don’t want a cocktail?” he inquired, smirking slightly.

“I want a cocktail,” Kennedy piped up .

“Me too,” Talia declared.

Breaker grinned and whispered something in Kennedy’s ear that made her giggle. “On second thoughts, I’ll leave it,” she said decisively. “I’m going to bed soon.”

Gopher shook his head, smiling before going to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of Coke, popping the cap, and placing it on the bar. Then he set about making Talia her cocktail.

The brothers clapped and cheered as the song came to an end. I craned my neck to see Saint pull her guitar strap over her head and lay her eight-string down gently on the floor beside her chair, then I waited for her approach before holding the bottle out for her to take.

She gave me an appreciative kiss on the cheek before grabbing the bottle and taking a sip. “Just what I needed.”

I took her hand and pulled her against me, my arm sliding around her waist. “That was cool,” I told her.

“I know, right?” Her eyes danced. “I love jamming sessions, especially with such a range of different people. I get so used to performing with the boys and putting pressure on myself to never miss a note that I forget how freeing it is to let go and just enjoy the moment.”

I gazed down at her, taking in her obvious joy. “It sounded awesome.”

“Yeah. I love it.” Her eyes jerked to the side where Talia spoke to Kennedy, then back to me. “What did Tally think of Kady?”

Gopher turned up the music, and I leaned down to speak into Saint’s ear, giving the lobe a gentle nibble while I was down there. “I think Talia’s already planning the first album.”

“I knew it.” My woman laughed, sliding a hand up my chest and curling her fingers behind my neck.

“I just hope she doesn’t try to force it.

Tally means well, but she’s a bulldozer.

A freight train has more subtlety. I worry she’ll go at a hundred miles an hour and make Breaker and Kennedy back off more. ”

“Breaker won’t let her, and he seems set on what he’s comfortable with. He wants Kady to experience life the way she should, and it doesn’t include drugs, booze, celebrity parties, and life on the road.”

“Life on the road can be awesome,” Saint corrected. “Though not so much when you’re all sleeping in one car because you got stiffed by the venue you just played at and you can’t afford a hotel.”

I laughed.

She looked around at the old hotel ballroom that the club now used as a bar and social space, her eyes warm with admiration. “Do you know how amazing this place is?”

My gaze skated around the room. “I take it for granted now, but seeing it through your eyes makes me appreciate it again. When we first moved in, we were like kids in a candy store, but over time, we got used to it.”

Saint leaned up to whisper, “You should take me on a tour, Jacob. One that finishes in the bedroom.”

My lips tipped up. “Now?”

She laughed softly. “No time like the present.”

I didn’t need to be told twice. It had been a couple of days since we’d fucked because of our club whore argument, so my cock was already kicking like an NFL quarterback at the mere prospect of being inside my woman.

Grabbing her hand, I led her out of the ballroom and into the reception area, but instead of taking her upstairs, I headed for the doors outside.

“Where are we going?” she asked, her tone playful as we passed a group of brothers drinking beer and shooting the shit outside by their bikes .

It was dark, except for the lights from the hotel. The forecourt was lit up too, and the moon shone through the trees, casting its glow on us and lighting my way as I pulled her around the back of the building.

“Gonna show you something I’ve been working on,” I told her, leading her by the hand toward the new auto shop. I pulled my keys from my pocket and unlocked the doors before tugging her inside the building.

It took a minute for my eyes to adjust, but the light from the moon shining through the windows illuminated the space. I walked across to the control pad and hit a few buttons, which triggered a couple of the side lights on the walls.

“Come here,” I demanded gently, taking her hand again and leading her to another door at the back of the room. This one opened easily, and I pulled her through, telling her, “Welcome to my lair.”

She giggled, then looked around, the smile dying on her face as her gaze caught on the drawings and designs pasted on the walls.

I leaned down until my mouth rested on the shell of her ear and murmured, “This is my version of music.”

Saint dropped my hand and walked over to the board full of drawings of bikes attached to it.

“I started working with Bowie over at the Wyoming chapter,” I explained. “He designs customized bikes. Loved the work, and I loved the creativity, so I started experimenting.”

Her eyes widened in wonder at the images. “Jacob. These are incredible.”

“I dunno about that,” I began, but she twisted her head and skewered me with a look.

“Are you crazy? These are beautiful.” She turned back to the drawings, lifting a finger to touch one. “Look at this, baby. It’s fucking stunning. ”

“Yeah,” I murmured, my chest warming as my eyes went to her ass. “It is.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you drew this stuff?” she asked.

I shrugged. “Just did.”

“These should be in magazines.” Her attention got caught up in the artwork of a tribal design I’d recently completed. “The colors are amazing, and your ideas are so original. I’m no expert, but I haven’t seen anything like this before.”

I walked over and looked at the drawing I’d finished just before I went to NOLA. It seemed so long ago, even though it had only been weeks. “That one’s for Blade’s new bike.”

“It’s wonderful.” Her eyes met mine, and her lips curved seductively. “You’re so fucking sexy right now, Iceman .”

My dick punched against the zipper of my jeans.

I loved it when she called me by my road name. It was fucking hot.

Her hand went to her pocket, and she pulled out a hair tie.

“You wanna go, baby?” I asked, my tone low and husky with need. “You want your biker man to take you to our room and fuck you until you pass out?”

She sifted her fingers through her hair before pulling it into a high ponytail and tying it up securely.

“No,” she murmured, her eyes widening innocently.

“I want my big, bad biker to drop his jeans for me right here, and right now.” Her beautiful, puffy lips pouted prettily. “I wanna suck your big, hard cock.”