Page 13

CHAPTER 13

Kilo

T his was going better than I expected. I smiled as I watched Camila take a bite of her burger while my brothers crowded around her. They were doing their damndest to make her comfortable. I was so grateful for that. It was a short-lived reprieve for me because I knew once we were alone they were going to do their damndest to make me uncomfortable. But they wouldn’t do that in front of her. At least nothing more than Bolo teasing me about claiming her. They wouldn’t want her to feel disrespected.

And it wasn’t even just because of me. Camila had this energy about her. You wanted to make her smile. It was easy to see that she was kind and caring and it made you want to be better. Or maybe that was just me, but considering the way my brothers were reacting to her, I didn’t think so. It did explain why I was losing my shit over her though. She was the kind of woman you wifed up.

I rubbed the back of my neck at that thought. Jesus, I needed to get my damn thoughts under control. No one was talking about marriage. Or making anyone an old lady. Or anything permanent like that.

Yet. Fuck.

“You’re thinking too much.”

I glanced over at Ruck and grimaced. “Hard to stop.”

“Just enjoy your time with her for now,” he suggested. “Quit thinking about the future.”

I snorted out a laugh. Future. Sure. My damn mind was trying to bring that shit into the present. Future would be bad enough but this was insane. I’d always been a pretty decisive guy, but I’d never looked at a woman and thought ‘yup, that’s the one’. I glanced over at Camila and blew out a breath. At least I never had before. Who knew what my rogue mind was doing these days?

“Glad you brought her.”

“Same,” I replied. “Not sure we’ll stay for the whole party.”

“No problem,” he said, then he chuckled. “Maybe it’s better if you don’t. Does she know much about clubs?”

“No.” I had a lot of explaining to do. But the minute we’d sat down Bolo, Drifter, and Strike had sat down on either side of her and started up a conversation. Even Hype was sitting across from her, but focusing all his attention on her. Mercenary was the only one who hadn’t said much, other than hi, to her. He was over talking with Code and Relay near the grill. He wasn’t a big talker on a good day let alone every other day of the week.

“Yeah, maybe leave before the women show up,” Ruck suggested, slapping my back.

If I was going to keep bringing Camila around, I needed to explain a few of the basics to her. Nothing too deep, because we got into enough shit that I wasn't going to tell her. Not yet anyway. I could imagine how that would go and something told me that explaining that we had killed a bunch of people up in the mountains earlier this month wouldn’t be taken well.

At first, I was amused by my brothers monopolizing my girl’s attention, but then I started to get annoyed. They were doing it on purpose if their smirks were any indication. Clearing my throat, I caught Camila’s attention. “Let’s go for a walk.”

She smiled and stood up, picking up her plate.

“Don’t worry about that,” Strike, our secretary, told her as he covered her hand with his. “We’ll clear this up.”

I narrowed my eyes at him as he kept his hand on hers and shot me a toothy grin. Bastard. They were all trying to piss me off. I was going to remember this when they brought their own women around. I’d have my payback. As soon as Camila looked down to get out of the picnic table, I flipped Strike off.

He threw his head back and laughed. Bolo just kept smirking at me.

Camila shot me a confused look. I walked around the table and draped an arm over her shoulders, leading her toward the clubhouse. I walked her inside. “This is where we usually have our parties, though they do end up outside most of the time.” I pointed toward the bar area. “You want a drink?”

She shook her head. “No, thank you.”

She’d drunk the beer the guys had given her earlier, so I didn’t say anything. I brought her toward the back hallway. “Back here is where we have church and some of the small rooms we have where we can crash after our parties if we don’t want to drive home. This is mine.” I opened the door and motioned for her to head inside.

“What’s the other building for?” she asked, looking around the room.

“Bigger apartments. We have some friends over in Tucson that have them on their compound and Ruck really liked that idea. So, we’re building them.”

“You're doing the building?”

The way she was staring up at me, all impressed and beautiful made me feel like a damn hero. “Well, not just me,” I told her with a grin. “Though I’m helping.”

“Maybe you could show me a few things sometime,” she said. “I’ve always been impressed with people who can build things.” She went over and sat on my bed. I had to look away to keep my dick from getting too damn excited. As much as I liked her, sex wasn’t the reason I’d brought her in here. She wasn’t a club girl. Or a hang around who came to the parties to get laid.

“What is it you like to do?” I asked. “In your spare time.”

“Cook,” she admitted with a smile. “I always wanted to start up my own restaurant.”

“Really?” I nodded. “You’re damn good at it, so I could see that. Why haven’t you?” My eyes narrowed when her gaze darted away.

“Do you sleep here much?”

I let her change the subject. Despite my curiosity I needed to handle her gently. “No. Not often. We have a couple girls who work here. They keep the rooms and bedding clean in case we do stay though.” Going over, I sat next to her on the bed. “If you want to stay for the party tonight, we should talk.”

She lifted her leg onto the bed, tucking it beneath her other so she was facing me, and nodded. “Okay.”

I sighed. “I know you’re not super comfortable with me yet, but I can’t fucking help myself.” I didn't give her the chance to ask the question forming in her eyes. Cupping her cheeks, I kissed her.

The minute my lips touched hers she melted. How the fuck was I supposed to resist doing this when she reacted to me that way? I slid my hands back, cupping her head, and angling it just right so I could take the kiss deeper. Her little gasps were driving me insane, and if I didn’t stop soon, I wouldn’t.

Pulling back, I dropped my forehead against hers. “I don’t want you to think I only brought you here to fuck you.” She made a little sound and I wasn’t sure if it was dismay or interest. “But I definitely want to. Okay.” I straightened up, determined to keep my hands off her tempting curves. “But there’s some shit you need to know about the club.”

She was staring at me, wide eyed, but not speaking. I’d probably shocked her with my words, but she’d have to get used to that. I was a blunt motherfucker. Poetry and shit like that wasn’t my thing. At least she knew I’d never lie to her. Might omit a few things here and there. I started into some of what she could expect in an hour or so. Our parties started early and ended late.

She let me do most of the talking. She just listened. It was a skill for sure.

“I’m sure you have questions.”

She gave a soft laugh. “That was...a lot.”

“Yeah, that’s us,” I told her with a grin. “A lot.”

“So, most of the people coming to tonight’s party will be women?” she asked.

“Yeah. But we’ll have some friends of the club here. Guys that are hanging around to see if maybe they might be a good fit. If they are we might let them prospect with us. Others are allies of the club, who happen to be in town. Maybe some Nomads.” I’d already explained about the structure of the club. Though I kept some of it vague. Told her about some of the rides we did for charity and to help children. And kept even more of the club business vague.

If I decided to make her my old lady and the club agreed, then I would tell her more. If not, then she’d just remain in the dark about the shit we got up to. Most people would label us as vigilantes. I was cool with that description. We helped those who needed it and took care of those who demanded it.

“And…”

“What?” I prompted when she trailed off.

“Nothing. It’s none of my business,” she said.

“You’re wondering if I’ve fucked the other women?”

Her cheeks flushed a bit, so I knew I was right.

“I’m a Saint’s Outlaw, but that doesn’t mean I’m a damn saint, Camila. I’m not going to lie and tell you I’m a virgin or some shit, but when I’m getting to know a woman, I don’t sleep with anyone else. And I don’t cheat. Never have. It’s one of my lines.”

She met my gaze. “Is that what we’re doing?”

One side of my lips tip upward. “Yeah. It is.”

“Okay. I don’t cheat either.”

I arched a brow at her.

“What?” she questioned when I didn’t say anything.

“Have you even had sex?”

She opened her mouth, as though to tell me she had, but then she nodded. “I had a boyfriend for about a year when I was nineteen.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah. Do- Do you care about that?”

“That you had a boyfriend? Or that you’ve only had one?” I knew she was pretty inexperienced. In fact, I would have guessed she was a virgin based off how shy she was with me.

She nodded.

“Fuck no.” I grasped her by the chin, forcing her to hold my gaze. “I don’t care about your past.” I paused, then grinned. “Unless you don’t like that ex. Then I could go beat his ass for you if you wanted.”

She let out a startled laugh. “No, I don’t want that.”

Shattering glass from outside the door made her jerk in my hold. “Sorry about them. Did I mention they get bat shit crazy?”

“I think you said, a little out of control,” she said with a nervous laugh.

“We can leave anytime you want.”

“I like your family,” she told me.

“Then let’s go join them.” I took her hand and pulled her to her feet as I rose. This was either going to be a fun night or a shit show. Hopefully these assholes didn't run my girl off.

It was only a few hours later and I knew the night was turning toward shit show. Merc was over in the fucking corner getting his dick sucked by a chick who’d just started showing up to our parties a few months ago. My eyes scanned the room and I found Camila. She was playing beer pong with Flir, Bolo, and Code. Thankfully her back was turned to the real action in the room.

“Once you’re done with this game, we should go,” I told her as she walked up.

“Don’t worry,” Flir said in a low voice. “We’ve kept her busy.” He shook his head over at Merc. “I swear the fucker’s an exhibitionist.”

“He just doesn’t give a shit,” Bolo said with a shrug. “Not like we haven’t all seen worse over the years.”

“True,” Flir admitted. “Guess I just prefer to fuck in private.”

I went over to where Camila was standing and frowned at her. She was swaying lightly. I looked over at the glasses and frowned when I saw different colored liquids in the plastic cups. “Seriously?” I asked. “What the fuck are you playing with?”

“Whiskey, Bourbon, Vodka…” Code closed one eye as he tried to remember more.

“Absinth,” Bolo offered.

I glared at him. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Too many things to count,” he replied.

“Dammit,” Camila muttered as she missed her shot.

“Okay, game’s over,” I told the group.

“Oh fuck that,” Bolo snapped. “We’re almost done.”

I motioned toward Camila, who I now realized was in a damn daze. “She doesn’t drink much, you dickhead. I thought you were playing beer pong, not kill your liver pong.” I reached out and caught Camila as she stumbled. All night I'd been keeping an eye on her as she and the others played games. If I’d had any idea they were pouring hard alcohol into her I’d have stopped them.

“Just helping you out,” Bolo said with a chuckle.

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t need her comatose, thanks.” I started to walk her toward the back hallway but she was less than unsteady on her feet. Giving in, I bent and tossed her over my shoulder. A cheer went up from the room and all I could do was laugh and shake my head. That was my fault. Next time I’d know to monitor what those assholes were drinking so that they didn’t give it to my girl, too.