Page 1 of Up in a Blaze (Polished P & P #4)

CHAPTER ONE

HENRI

O nce again, I sat in the common room at the Diamond MC surrounded by bikers and their better halves.

If my maman had asked me years ago if I would set foot in a place like this, I would have laughed heartily and told her I likely would have been killed if I even tried to enter their territory for being my wonderful gay self.

To be truthful, I was quick to judge people.

But still, I think their acceptance of me had a lot to do with my ex-employee and best friend, Dusty.

She was now married to their president, Country, and they had a little boy bébé named Seth.

I had begged for them to use my name, but Country kept shooting down my dreams.

There were little monsters popping up here, there, and everywhere.

Lucas and Wreck had their girl, Opal. Death’s woman, Raya, would spit one out in a couple months’ time.

And Courtney had two of them. I was sure there were other members in the club with children, but I wasn’t as close to them as I was Dusty, Lucas, Raya, and Courtney.

Being around all these bundles made me crazy for a bébé of my own. However, I wasn’t sure my stomach could handle all the dirty diapers. I wondered if I could find an older child who needed my love.

A child in their teens.

Hmm, maybe that wasn’t good either. I had been moody throughout my teen years.

Maybe it would be best if I got a puppy.

But that would be if I could get a certain someone on board with the whole idea.

Warm arms slid around me from behind and pulled me back against a big hard chest. “When’re you coming back?”

Tipping my head to the side, I smiled up at Blaze. The only man who had ever had my heart.

And he was mine.

M. I. N. E.

“Are you missing me already, mon amour ?”

“Just your face, not the attitude.”

Huffing, I pushed at his arms, but the big oaf wouldn’t move. He chuckled in my ear before I bent my head and nipped at his forearm, then stated, “I do not have attitude.”

Since Dusty was sitting next to me holding her bundle of joy, I heard her soft peals of laughter as she murmured, “Yeah, right, Henri.”

Glaring at her, I sniffed. “I do not.”

She reached out and patted my hand. “Sure, okay.”

She didn’t sound sincere, though. Not that I could blame her. I was fibbing. I’d been born with attitude, but at least Blaze liked it. He called me his firecracker.

“I will come out to you soon.”

He growled in my ear, “Be good.” With a pinch to my nipple, which had me squealing, he walked away.

There was no guess to where he was headed.

If I wasn’t in his life, he would live with his little computer toys.

Although, the room he was going to wasn’t his and Tech’s main setup.

This smaller computer room was just for when he and Tech were here at the compound.

Their main office had been moved to the Polished P & P escort, a brothel agency where I worked the front desk.

A job I had begged for.

A job I thought would bring me the happiness and excitement I’d lost when I owned my own florist shop.

But over the last few months nothing thrilling had happened. I even worked the busiest hours, from six to midnight, and yet, there was zero action.

Where were the shoot-outs, the asshole customers, the creeps?

All the customers I had met so far were regulars and seemed like nice men and women. I wasn’t sure how long I could continue working there if something didn’t happen.

Hopefully things would change in the coming days, because if I ended up leaving, the guilt would eat at me since Blaze and Tech moved all their equipment there when I started working.

Then again, it wasn’t my fault Blaze was an overprotective ogre who didn’t trust any other men around me since I was hot.

Dusty bumped my shoulder. “You still can’t believe he’s here, right?”

Looking to her, I noticed her man, Country, talking to another member, Death, who was Country’s third-in-command at the club. Both men had an unsavory past with my Blaze, but at least now they were civil to one another.

Although, the animosity at the start had been understandable.

It was also the reason Blaze and I had parted ways many years ago after I found out he was involved in selling organs on the black market.

The drug dealings I could have handled, as I was sure Country and Death would have as well.

We just wanted no part of those shady dealings, and since he wasn’t ready to give that part of his life up, we went our separate ways.

Until now.

It may have taken years, but after we’d spoken, he had finally seen his mistake in letting me go, and of course, he quickly snagged my scrumptious self up. I mean, I was irresistible.

Smiling softly to Dusty, I shook my head. “ Non , chérie , I cannot. It is a lot to me that he is here and had been willing to give those things up for me.”

She reached out, squeezing my hand. “I know. But you are a catch.”

“I really am.”

We cackled together.

Since shutting down his illegal activity, he was now paid by the Diamond MC—much to my surprise that Country had agreed—to assist their computer guy on anything the club needed.

Compared to those two, my knowledge of the digital world involved minimal information about my cell and laptop.

In the past, I had even employed someone for my florist shop to do the accounting for me.

That was until Blaze took over the position.

Blaze told me he didn’t want me to pay someone who had been, apparently, “ripping me off” in the first place because it was a simple task he could do with his eyes closed.

He only had a few IRS forms to complete now since I sold the shop.

His wisdom could be why Country didn’t pass up on the chance of having Blaze work under the MC. Not only could he keep an eye on my man, but the president would use Blaze’s smarts to his advantage.

“Darlin’, you want another drink?” Country asked as he and Death stood from the table. If I didn’t have Blaze, I would have continued to drool over many of the men in this club, but my attention was now and forever focused on Blaze.

Besides, a lot of the brothers in the club were big balls of intimidation.

When I’d first met Country, I’d lost count of the times where I thought he was going to kill me after I’d pretended to be Dusty’s man.

“I’ll take one, honey.” She smiled up at him.

He bent and pressed his lips to hers, then against her neck when I heard her sigh. He straightened with a smirk, taking Seth into his arms before he flicked his gaze to me.

I stared back.

He kept looking at me like he expected I knew what he wanted.

I did not read silent biker man.

Dusty laughed. “Want a refill, Henri?”

“Oh, non. Thank you. I have work later.”

See, you hired a responsible man for your business, Mr. President.

But all Country did was tip his chin up and leave for the kitchen.

“I know I asked this at the start, but how are you finding working the late hours now?” Dusty asked.

“The hours don’t bother me. The boredom might.”

Dusty groaned. “Oh no.”

“Yes, chérie. There has been no excitement. I am afraid I will have to bring in a book to read.”

She laughed. “You read?”

“I do not, but I am willing to try. We can’t tell Blaze any of this, of course.”

She nodded. “I hope things change soon. Not that I want drama to happen just for your sake. But it’ll help a lot of other people’s lives.”

“ Oui , it will. Tech would murder me if I up and quit since Blaze moved their toy room there, and I think my man would help him.”

Dusty snorted. “Their toy room?”

“Oui, they play and play and play on their little screens.” I picked up my glass and drank the rest of the soda.

“You’re not really salty over them working, right?”

“Non. I get jealous with the time he pays his work. But when he gives me all his attention, that makes up for ignoring me.”

She grinned. “You get jealous over computers, and he gets jealous over anyone looking at you.”

“We are a fiery couple that go well together. Most days.” Leaning in, I kissed her cheek. “Have a good night, chérie.”

“Talk to you later. And, Henri, try to have fun.”

I winked, standing. “I will make fun somehow.” Worry pinched her brows, and I quickly reassured her with “Do not fret. No harm will come to your man’s business.”

“Or you,” she called as I walked off.

Turning back, I blew her a kiss and loudly said, “ Au revoir .”

What I loved about this biker place was that I wasn’t treated as an outsider—like now when many returned my farewell.

Outside the computer room, I tapped on the door and said, “Stop stroking those keys. I am coming in.” I pushed through and stepped in.

Neither of them looked over at me and continued to tap, tap, tap away.

Sighing, I glared at the back of Blaze’s head.

“Mon amour, if you don’t stop, I will strip naked and—” I smiled when he spun his chair around to me.

“Better. We don’t want to scare your friend. ”

“I agree,” Tech muttered.

Blaze scowled at him. “You’d be fuckin’ honored to look at him naked.”

Tech stopped typing and groaned. “Yeah, yeah. Your man is a god.”

I preened. “Why, thank you. I can give you a sneak peek.”

Tech stood, hands up in front of him. “I don’t wanna peek at anythin’. Stop tryin’ to get your man to kill me.”

Chuckling, I shrugged. “But I think if you were not here, I would have more of his attention.”

Blaze let out a deep huffing sound and stalked toward me. When he stopped in front of me, he wound an arm around my back and with the other he gripped the front of my throat to pull me close. “Stop being greedy, firecracker. You get the best of my attention.”

Melting against his chest, I glided my hands up over his hard muscles. “You like me being greedy, mon amour.”

His gaze softened and heated as he remembered how greedy I had been by swallowing his cock and seed twice before we’d come to the compound.

The hand around my throat tightened, and he watched me closely as he deprived me of oxygen.

He’d wait until I was nice and red in the face and marked around the neck before he allowed me to breathe.

He loved how needy I got when he controlled me and my body.

Releasing my throat, he said, “Let’s get you to work.”

After catching my breath, I pouted, pushing my hips forward to run my erection against him.

He smirked. “Later.”

I glared. “I hate you.”

He kissed me rough and hard, forcing his tongue in to roll with mine. Another thing he knew I loved.

Blaze pulled back, his gaze roaming over my face. “No, you don’t.”

He was right. I could never since I loved him completely.

There was a sigh before Tech said, “Can you two keep your romance to a room I’m not in?”

“Non,” I said without looking away from Blaze, whose lips twitched.

“Let’s get you to work,” he said.

And let us also pray something happened tonight before I bashed my own brains in on my desk from boredom.