Page 18 of Xander (Soulless Outlaws Motorcycle Club #2)

Xander

It’s been a month since she came back to me.

A month of kisses anywhere and everywhere I wanted.

A month of falling asleep with my body curled around hers.

A month of never leaving the bed immediately after I’ve made love to her.

A month of smiles.

A month of touches.

A month of simply having her in my life.

Remember when I said that I thought I liked my life stagnant and unchanging.

I had been wrong.

Because of what she brought to my life.

I realized I had never been fully living.

Not until this very moment.

This moment with her on the back of my bike, her hands in the air, while I revved the bike, her laughter filling the air around us.

Nuke was just in front of me, who had his head turned and was shaking his head at my woman.

We were riding back from the parade I had agreed to go to for her.

And it hadn’t been that bad.

That was mainly due to my woman plastering her body against mine to make sure that no one touched me.

Grimm had also come along for an hour or so, saw what she was doing, and I read it on his face.

He wanted that.

And I knew that the woman who gave him that... she’d feel like she was the only woman on the planet.

We had just started the music, and hot dogs and burgers were being grilled.

A man I had caught staring at my woman decided to make his move.

I rocked back on my heels and smirked.

“Brother, you ain’t going to stop this?” Grey asked as he watched the man eyeing my woman’s ass as he walked.

A man whom I didn’t know, and a man who obviously didn’t know the meaning of a property patch.

I shook my head, “Nah. For one, she wouldn’t want me to. And second, she can handle herself.”

Grey scoffed, “How? She’s a buck twenty on a good day.”

Nola just happened to glance at me, and I shot her a wink.

The smile that formed after that wink, well, that smile lit up my entire fucking world.

She didn’t need me to handle a thing because I had been teaching her a few moves for when I’m not with her.

And one of those moves... I smirked as I watched my woman bring her knee up and slam it into the man’s junk.

I heard muttered curses followed by sharp inhales of breath.

Then I moved.

Come on motherfucker.

Try to hit her for that.

I fucking dare you.

And after the man straightened and narrowed his eyes at her, I swept her behind me and stared at the motherfucker, whose eyes had just widened at the sight of me.

Then they moved down my frame and to the hand I had on her hip in a protective gesture.

“Yeah, motherfucker, she’s taken,” I growled.

A few brothers moved in and led him away.

Then I growled as I turned and eyed what my woman had on, those fucking jeans that fit her ass like a fucking glove, and asked, “You really had to wear that?”

She simply smiled, “You like my ass in these jeans.”

I growled again, “I love it, actually. But I don’t like other men seeing it and appreciating it.”

She laughed.

“And how do you think I feel when women stop and stare at you?” she asked.

I shrugged, “Don’t give a fuck they do or don’t. As long as you never stop staring at me, I don’t give a fuck.”

She poked a finger into my chest, “Exactly. So why does it bother you when that man stared at my ass?”

“Cause it’s mine,” I said.

She narrowed her eyes, “And you're mine.”

That was when I heard a whistle, followed by, “Xander, just take her up to your room and fuck the shit out of her.”

I looked at Wolf and grinned.

Then I bent at the waist, hauled her body over my shoulder and stalked up the stairs.

Laughter followed.

***

It was a few nights later, and we were tangled up in bed.

She had one of her thighs tangled with mine. Her arm was thrown over my stomach.

And a thought occurred to me.

She had told me that I was perfect for her.

And since she thought that... I wanted to give her the world.

Therefore, I pressed a kiss on the top of her head, inhaling as I did so, cherry, vanilla, chocolate, then I asked, “Do you want to get married?”

She shrugged, then she turned her face up to look at me, “I’d love that. But something tells me you don’t want that.”

And that was when I told her about my mother and how I came to be.

“You always thought that you were unwanted.” She breathed out.

I saw the light in her eyes start to shine.

She got it.

All of it.

I nodded.

And then she moved and straddled my lap.

Then she stared into my eyes and whispered, “Take my words in, Xander. Every single one of them, okay?”

I nodded.

Then she caused the wounds that my mother had inflicted on me, to slowly start to mend themselves back together.

“If I could, I’d hunt that bitch down and Google the worst ways to torture a person and try them all on her.

She was the one who didn’t deserve you, Xander.

She wasn’t worthy of being your mother. Am I horrified that had she made the decision not to have you, you wouldn’t be here?

Yes. I am. But I am thankful because she made the decision to have you. ”

“She gave birth to the most amazing man I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.

And there’s not a thing I would change about you.

I love you, Xander. I love your heart. I love your mind.

Everything. And if you want to get married, I’ll happily take your last name.

It might have been hers at first, but it’s the name behind the man.

The name behind you . And to me, you're perfect. And that means everything to me, that you’d be willing to give me that. ”

Then she winked, “I should be demanding you give me your last name because I’m a greedy bitch when it comes to you.”

I lifted my head and pressed a kiss on her lips, then I said, “You want it. You got it.”

And then as her words came to me, and that means everything to me, that you’d be willing to give me that , I rolled until I was on top of her, and then I slid my cock into her already waiting entrance.

***

Four weeks later, I slid the diamond band onto her finger.

Still trying to keep the tears at bay when a few moments ago I saw her for the first time in her wedding dress with her property patch displayed firmly across her back.

My woman had a smile on her face that was all for me as she walked toward me with Merlin at her side.

The dress she had on was form-fitting and flowed out around her knees.

She told me it was a mermaid kind of thing.

Sure, it was beautiful.

But what made it stunning was that it was on her body.

A body I couldn’t wait to worship... every day for the rest of my life.

And when Nuke, who was presiding over our nuptials, said, “Now allow me to introduce to you, for the first time ever, Mr. and Mrs. Xander Phillip Kope,” everyone cheered, hollered, and clapped.

But my eyes were on my woman, who was smiling so wide that I wanted to keep that vision at the forefront of my mind. Right there with the face she makes when she comes. Right there with the look she gets on her face every time I tell her that I love her.

I bent my head and pressed a kiss on the top of her head, and whispered, “Love you.”

Her whispered, “I love you too,” settled deep inside of me.

Just like the other forty-nine times she’s said it to me.

I had my arm wrapped around her waist as Merlin whistled, getting everyone’s attention.

Then, once everyone quieted down, he said, “When Nola was ten or so, her father handed me an envelope. He told me that if anything ever happened to him, I was to take his place and watch out for her. And when she met the man, she wanted to be with for the rest of her life, I was to read this at their ceremony.”

Nola inhaled a sharp breath at his words.

Tempie moved and took Nola’s hand that wasn’t wrapped around my back.

Merlin opened the envelope and pulled out a sheet of paper.

Then he locked eyes with mine and started to read.

“To the man that captures my daughter’s heart, she’s hell on wheels, you're welcome.” Soft laughter sounded at that.

“She might be hell on wheels, but with that comes the biggest heart I’ve ever seen.

I’ve watched her when she moved to help older couples.

I’ve watched as she smiled at mentally disabled kids her age and helped them with a smile on her face.

I’ve watched that big heart of hers welcome everyone.

But I’ve never watched her love someone. ”

I looked down at my woman, who was sniffing, and tightened my hold on her.

“And I know that if you’re lucky enough to be standing beside her right now, that you feel it.

That you feel that big heart of hers welcoming in every single jaded part of you and doing its best to help keep those parts safe and treasured.

Because those jaded parts of you, those are the parts you might not like, but to her, they make up you. ”

I swallowed as I buried my face into the top of her head, taking in his words, and knowing that they rang true.

Every single noun, consonant, and syllable.

“I might not be there to kick your ass if you fuck up, but Merlin is there. And I know that he will. To my daughter, when he fucks up, and he will, because he’s a man, give him the silent treatment for forty-eight hours. Brings me to my knees every single time your mother does it.”

“I love you, Nola girl. I know with the man you chose, you're going to shine so bright that even the stars in the night sky will wince.”

At those words, I inhaled a sharp breath.

I had thought the same thing.

Never before had I believed in fate.

But hearing his words, written before I ever met her, over a decade ago... were the same words I had vowed to Nola.

Fuck. Me.

I was now a believer in fate.

That things happen for a reason.

And maybe... just maybe the reason I was slated to be my mother’s son, to have gone through what I had, so I could be the perfect man for her.

For my baby.

My heart.

My wife.

My life.