Page 22

Rebel

I guessed word must have gotten back to Lacey that I’d landed myself in jail, because as soon as visiting hours started, she showed up bearing gifts. This local lock-up out in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere was much more lenient than anything I’d heard of here in California. I learned real quick when breakfast arrived at the crack of dawn that the food here was inedible. So I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thrilled to see that she’d brought some food and drinks for me.

I accepted it all in the jail’s visitor’s room with the gratitude of a starving man. Although the grub and extra change of clothing were much appreciated, it was getting to see the woman I loved that made my day.

She was wearing leggings and a sweater that hugged her delicious curves and had her hair thrown up in a messy bun that really suited her. Of course, we weren’t allowed to hug, hold hands, or touch in any kind of way, but just sitting across the table from her reminded me that I had a wonderful life waiting for me on the outside.

“Our club attorney assured me that they can only hold me for up to seventy-two hours without charging me. Other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time, I haven’t done anything to be arrested for.”

“I don’t see the point of keeping you here if they can’t think of anything to charge you with,” she replied, sounding exasperated.

I opened the bottle of soda and took a big swig. I really needed something cold to drink and it went down smoothly.

“Our attorney says there’s some new hotshot prosecuting attorney looking to make a name for herself. I guess three out-of-town bikers are too good of an opportunity to resist. Grey says they need time to process the crack house and interrogate the other people they arrested. If she can find something legitimate to charge us with, she’s gonna do it.”

“Well, if you want, I’ll come and visit you every day,” she promised.

“That’s really not necessary. I hate for you to see me locked up in a place like this when I’m supposed to be out there trying to figure out who is breaking into your home and business. It’s unfortunate that your cousin was in no condition to talk by the time we got to him.”

Her expression turned excited. “Don’t worry about that. I talked to Richie myself this morning.”

“I hope he wasn’t belligerent towards you?” I asked her.

“No. It was quite the opposite,” she said, looking pleasantly surprised. “He admitted to breaking into my parents’ house. I strong-armed him into telling me why he did that, and how he ended up on such a bad path, and the story he told me and Eric was heart-wrenching.”

“I know you have a kind heart, ladybug. But you can’t take that shit at face value after he committed crimes against you and your family. Junkies always lie, it’s in their nature.”

She leaned over the table and lowered her voice. “Once you hear his story, I think you’ll understand where he’s coming from, I believe him.”

I frowned, “Unless you’ve got to be somewhere, we’ve got an hour of visitation. Why don’t you give me a brief rundown on what he said.”

“Well, believe it not, Richie and I were very close at one time, when we were kids.”

I listened carefully as she told me all about his shitty stepfather, depressed mother who ended up in a psychiatric hospital, and his disabled sister who may or may not be dead. Truthfully, I felt like we had ended up with more questions than answers but since Eric had taken an interest in the guy, I was willing to give him some grace. To my mind, nothing I heard from my sweet Lacey was justification for him to be sneaking around and breaking into people’s homes. But I could bide my time until I got released, and deal with him myself.

I then gave her the rundown on how we found her cousin and tried to impress upon her how close he came to dying when he overdosed. I wouldn’t have made the choice to take him out of the hospital even though he was stable, simply because he was at high risk of using drugs again and sitting on him twenty-four-seven would keep me from doing other important things I needed to do, like earning a living so I could support my grandmother.

Our hour flew by, and it took every ounce of self-restraint I had to refrain from taking her into my arms and kissing those gorgeous lips of hers. Seeing her walk out the door was a sharp reminder that I was no longer free to come and go as I pleased. Feeling like I was being pent up in a cage had always been a trigger for me. So, instead of pacing and getting myself worked up, I tried to calm the fuck down and read the book she had bought for me.

***

At the time of our arrest, I had been expecting them to cut us loose relatively fast. But, because of the aforementioned hotshot prosecuting attorney, it didn’t work out quite like we expected. Like I had told Lacey, the opportunity to send several bikers to the pen on drug charges had proven too irresistible for her to pass up. Prosecutor Victoria Anderson came up with a long list of charges that sounded fairly impressive. Unfortunately, by that time I’d already been in what passed for their local jail for three days, the maximum time they could hold a person without adjudicating them, and none of this was funny anymore. Truth be told, I was super pissed about being held when there was zero proof that I had done anything to warrant being arrested.

Thankfully, the judge saw right through her and ended up cutting us all loose. Storm was the only one successfully adjudicated and his bail was set at fifty thousand dollars. The club had scrounged up money for his bail and he didn’t even have to go through a bail bondsman.

Walking out of that jail and getting to see my freshly unimpounded ride was the best sight I could have hoped to see. In the grand scheme of things, three days was no time at all. I couldn’t wait to get on the road to see my Lacey. I’d been daydreaming about having her in my arms again the whole time I spent in the slammer.

When we pulled into the clubhouse compound, the women came running out to meet us like they sometimes do. I’d always envied my club brothers with beautiful wives and old ladies who wanted them badly enough to come outside the building when they pulled into the parking lot. So seeing my Lacey running behind Zoe and Grace filled my heart with joy and my chest with pride.

I was barely off my bike when she flung herself into my arms. “I can’t believe you’re finally here! It feels like it’s been more than three days.”

“Yeah, I hated being in lockup. I’ve been looking forward to finally having you all to myself again,” I told her with a smile as I pulled her into my arms. “Tonight it’s just gonna be me and you.”

She gazed up at me, “The old ladies have prepared a welcome home party. I’m sure you don’t want to miss that.”

I leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Fuck the welcome home party. The only thing I’m interested in is spending some time with my woman. Once I get my Lacey fix, I might come back down and party. We’ll just have to see.”

“I’m down for one-on-one time, she said breathlessly. “We can always go to your room here. It’s just like you left it.”

“Good, there should be a property cut in there for you. I want to see you in it, that’s if you don’t still think wearing my property cut is ownerish.”

Her hands flew up to cover her mouth, and she playfully responded. “Perish the thought. That was the old me.” Removing her hands, she gestured down her body. “This is the new and improved me.”

“You don’t say?” I eyed her curves with the eyes of a man who was good at visualizing his woman without clothing. Lacey’s naked form was all I wanted to feast my eyes on forever and ever.

She nodded, “I know I’m supposed to say something clever right about now, but my brain is too frazzled after finally getting you back to think of witty responses.”

I wrapped my arm around her as we walked into the clubhouse. I told her, “I don’t care about whether you can come up with cool shit to say. You’re a loyal woman with a good heart, and that’s more than enough for me.”

She glanced up at me with a smile still tugging at the corners of her mouth. “I guess I can forget about making myself all pretty for you, right?”

“What do you mean by that? You’re beautiful and I would advise you not to mess with perfection.”

“Alright, you asked for it. No more shaving my legs, weekly facials, or following the latest fashion trends. From here on out, it’s just going to be plain old Lacey.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. “You think I care about any of that shit?”

“I’m one hundred percent sure you want a nice looking old lady,” she responded brightly.

I narrowed my eyes as I looked down into her lovely face. “It’s almost like you don’t know me at all.” Picking her up, I tossed her gently over my shoulder, “I’d still want you if you were as hairy as a cat and wore pajamas all the time. That would be fine by me.”

That comment got a snort of laughter from her.

I slapped her on the ass playfully and asked, “Why aren’t you kicking and screaming for me to put you down? I didn’t think you liked primitive dominance displays, particularly where everyone could see.”

“If that’s what you thought, you don’t know me very well either,” she told me, with a grin. “All I want is you and I’ll take you any way I can get you.”

Giving her a tight squeeze, I asked, “Are you ready for us to have our own little celebration?”

“I’d love that,” she said enthusiastically. “We both deserve to kick back and relax after everything we’ve been through, especially you after spending three days straight in jail.”

Zoe had slipped off with Storm, and Celt had carried Grace upstairs to his old room. It seemed like I wasn’t the only man who preferred his woman over the party brewing in the club’s bar. It made me smile, that I had so much in common with the brothers I was growing closer to over the last few days. The Dark Slayers didn’t stand on ceremony. We were all equal here. That meant close friendships were forged between brothers with things in common, rather than us being meatheads always trying to cozy up with the club officers. Storm would never tolerate that kind of brown nosing. Besides, he was hard man to get used to. Zoe once called him an acquired taste, and that made him laugh.

Taking my Lacey to the room we had shared before my arrest felt like coming home. The only thing better than this would have been taking her to my place where I wouldn’t have to worry about anyone knocking on my door, or anything popping off.

I tossed her onto the bed, and she looked up at me with adoring eyes and said, “I really missed you, babe.”

I began getting undressed, eager to get a shower and have my fill of her. “Same here. You were all I thought about, night and day for three whole fucking days.”

She got off the bed and helped me out of my clothes. “You know what they say about missing what you don’t have?”

“Yeah, until now I never believed all that absence makes the heart grow fonder crap.”

“But now, you’re a born again believer, right?”

Fisting my hand in her hair, I pulled her head back and looked into her eyes. “You better well believe it, doing without you, made a hard and fast believer out of me.” Before she could speak, I kissed her like I had the right.

My beautiful Lacey looped her arms around my neck and held on, kissing me like her life depended on it. That freed up my hand to begin ripping her clothing off. Not literally ripping but getting pretty damn close. Lacey didn’t seem to notice, much less complain. Not even when I scooped her off her feet and carried her to the shower.

The minute we were inside, I was kissing her again. A surge of pure lust coursed through my body when her soapy hands landed on my cock. It was just what I needed to feel close to her again. Something about tangling tongues with Lacey left me breathless and loving on her hard.

I came all over her beautiful body and carefully washed her off before we tumbled into bed, happy to be together once again. Everything about being with Lacey was such a joy. That was probably why I couldn’t keep my lips, hands, or mouth off her to save my life. By the time I’d finished kissing her, trailing kisses down her breasts, and sucking her nipples, she was practically begging for my cock.

And I was dying to give it to her. Finally sinking home after being in the lockup for days. She was tight and warm and welcoming. Unfortunately, I needed something a little fiercer than missionary, so I flipped her over and shoved her front against the headboard. “Hold on,” I murmured before I held up one of her legs and thrusted deep inside her welcoming heat.

Her little sounds of pleasure as I fucked her were all I needed to keep my libido going for hours. Unfortunately, my Lacey wasn’t as good at holding out as I was. She came screaming my name and hung onto the headboard as I railed her over and over again, forcing her to come again all over my cock. When she slumped back against my chest, I knew it was time to go easy on her.

I turned her over, laying her down so her head was at the foot of the bed and positioned myself over her. “How are you holding up?” I whispered in her ear.

She moaned in response.

Running one hand down between her legs, I told her, “You’re still drenched for me. Do you want more of my cock or do you need to rest?”

Her head came up and she said, “No. I don’t want to rest, I can take more.”

Cupping her chin with one hand I turned her head to look at me. “I don’t care if you can take me. What I want to know is if you actively still want my cock. It’s no fun for me if you’re not enjoying it too.”

She shook her chin from my hand and gave me annoyed look. “I want more sex with you. Don’t stop.”

I grinned down at her, “That was clear enough, baby. When you’ve had enough, just tell me to fuck off in no uncertain terms. I promise, I won’t get mad.”

“Less talking and more sex,” she murmured.

If she was up for more of my cock, I was gonna go for broke and make sure it was such a pleasurable experience that she never regretted it. Since I was already out of bed, I scooped her up and took her against the door of the room and then the wall. Every time she cried out my name, I fantasized that she was laying claim to me in her own way. It felt great, so much so, that she had to tell me when she’d had enough. I eased up and cupped her face in my hands so I could fawn all over her.

“You are the most precious thing in my world, and I hope you never forget that, even for a second.”

Her face lit up, “God, you say the nicest things. It makes me feel wanted and loved.”

“You are wanted and loved. I can’t imagine being with anyone other than you, Lacey. You’ve quickly become my everything. I love you.”

“I love you too Rebel,” she said, her eyes glistening in the dim light of my room.

***

Eventually, after three hours of mind-blowing sex, we finally decided to take a break and head down to the party.

I decided that this was the perfect time to pull out the property cut, because it was no longer a sexy game I wanted to play with the woman I was falling hard and fast for. Lacey had passed the threshold of being my one a while back. The property cut was now a way of putting all my club brothers on notice that she was officially mine and a way of alerting everyone who saw her in the community, that she was under the protection of me and my club.

I held it up for her to see after we got out of the shower and she was drying off. The sight of it made her face light up.

“Finally,” she said with a smile. “I feel like you’ve been teasing me with your property cut for ages.”

“Sorry about that,” I told her. “I can promise you that I’m dead serious about you wearing my cut right now. I want everybody in the whole damn world to know you’re mine.”

With a proud look on her face, she snagged it out of my hand and wrapped it around her naked chest. Lifting her breasts into place, she snapped the front closed. Seeing her stark naked in my cut, fired up my lust all over again. My eyes lifted to hers and I told her straight, “You better guard that pussy if you don’t want me face-down on it again.”

She laughed and grabbed her panties. “We need to at least put in an appearance downstairs, especially after all the old ladies went to so much trouble to make your homecoming special.”

I watched her pull on her jeans after those pretty pink panties, totally enamored with everything from her curves, to the lilting laughter in her voice, to the way she looked at me. Her eyes ate up my body as I dressed. Keeping my hands off her body was more difficult than I imagined it would be. I distracted myself by telling her, “I doubt anyone would notice if I didn’t put in an appearance. They probably had the club officers in mind when they planned the homecoming. I’m just the spare that got swept up in the festivities, and I like it that way. It means I can come and go as I please without a care in the world.”

She eyed me as I slid my cut on. “I think you’re very wrong about that. The club girls are all distraught over losing out on the best cock in the clubhouse.”

My eyebrows shot up because that was the last thing I ever expected her to say. I just shook my head dismissively, “Who the fuck cares what they think?”

She just shrugged and came to cuddle under my arm, “I think you make more of an impression on people than you realize. Let’s go downstairs, have a drink or two and relax.”

“You can drink if you like,” I told her. “I’m too keyed up to dump alcohol on top of that.”

With my woman on my arm, I felt like the king of the world. I held off on the drinking in case Lacey wanted more sex later, but sitting around with my club brothers and shooting the shit with Lacey sitting on my lap was the most relaxed I’ve ever been in ages. Laying around my cell, sleeping on and off from sunup to sundown had made me anxious and left me wanting something to do to stay awake.

When my club brothers began to thin out, I glanced down at Lacey and asked, “Would you like to take a ride on the back of my bike. We could ride along the coastline and relax at one of the scenic overlooks. I know a couple of places with amazing views and one that’s a little out of the way. It’s impossible to see from the highway.”

Her hands flew up to clasp together and she nodded. “I love being on the back of your bike. I never thought I’d take to something like motorcycles, but they’re definitely growing on me.”

I bent down and gave her a kiss before whispering, “It’s almost like you were made to be mine.”

She jumped up onto her toes and kissed my cheek. “What do you mean by almost? I love you and of course I was meant to be yours.”

“You say that now,” I told her good-naturedly. “When I’m old and grumpy, you’ll be singing a different tune.”

She shrugged and her reply caught me off guard. “You’re already grumpy but I still fell head over heels in love with you. I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”

“I’m not grumpy,” I shot back, then gave her a grin. “Okay, maybe sometimes I can be a bit tetchy. I’m surprised you managed to put up with me all this time.”

She cupped my face in her hands and said, “One day you’re gonna realize that true love can’t be bought, sold, forced, or coerced. It comes when you least expect it and explodes your life in the best way possible. You, Benjamin Ross, are an acquired taste and I wouldn’t change anything about you.”

She pulled me down for another kiss, and I came willingly because she left me speechless. No woman had ever accepted me for being me before. We walked out of the clubhouse hand in hand, and I led her to my bike. “I’ve been thinking a lot about us while I was in lockup.”

She climbed onto the back of my bike and smiled up at me. “Did it have anything to do with putting me in your property cut?”

I nodded, “Yeah, that went better than I expected.”

Seeing her sitting on my bike, wearing my cut did things to me, made my cock hard and my chest ache with love for her.

“I’ve been thinking of you too,” she confessed.

“Oh yeah, about what?” I asked, hoping it was something good.

She reached out to run her finger over the handlebar of my bike, there was something in the teasing way she stroked it that made my cock stiffen. “I’ve been thinking that I want to see more of you, especially at night.”

My heart jumped in my chest, and I immediately responded with the first words that popped into my head. “If you’re asking to move in, my answer is hell-fucking-yes! I’d love to have you at my place full-time. That’s actually part of what I was thinking about when I was forced to cool my heels in jail for three long days. Only it was less like vague thoughts and more like fantasies.”

Her eyes lit up. “I’m glad we’re on the same page about that. My dad seems to be doing better now and the two of them are going through some kind of second honeymoon phase. Having me in the house is getting awkward. It was only supposed to be temporary anyway, until I found my own place.”

I grinned at her and pulled her helmet out of my storage compartment. “Yeah, I already know all about how well your dad’s doing. I talked to him last week and he’s thinking about renewing their vows.”

“My mom will be thrilled. She needs something special to pick her spirits up right now.” Glancing away, she murmured, “We’ve all been through so much lately.”

I stepped forward and tilted her face up to look into her eyes. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here to support you when you talked to your cousin. I know it was traumatic for you when your family skeletons came tumbling out of the closet so unexpectedly. But don’t worry darlin’—from here on out I’m gonna be by your side.”

She reached up, locked one arm around my neck and pulled me down for one of the sweetest kisses I’d ever had.