Page 4 of Xander (Soulless Outlaws Motorcycle Club #2)

Nola

The moment the sign for Pierre Parish came into view, I let out a sigh of relief.

I was almost there.

Twenty more minutes to go.

Three days of driving nine hours straight.

Two nights spent in hotels.

I was worn slap the fuck out.

I made the final left turn and then breathed in a sigh of relief, again.

And there, along the outskirts of a bayou, stood the building.

A building I have never seen before in my life.

But this was the address that Aunt Tempie had texted me.

The brick building that houses the Soulless Outlaws Motorcycle Club.

It stood three stories high.

Seeing it standing there in front of me, I smiled.

Just then, a man at the gate stepped out, and I rolled down my window.

He winked, “Help you?”

I took in his close-cropped black hair and the three or so days’ growth of stubble on his face.

Then I looked at his kutte and saw that he was prospecting for the club.

I read the name on his kutte, Gavel.

I had gotten a crash course on how the MC worked from my Aunt Tempie.

See, my mother was her sister, and they hadn’t agreed on very many things.

My mother hadn’t understood the club life.

And since she hadn’t understood it, I was never allowed to come for a visit.

The only time I ever got to see Aunt Tempie and Uncle Merlin, her husband, was if they made the drive up there.

I could understand her way of thinking in some ways, but in other ways... I couldn’t.

I smiled, “Hi, I’m Nola. I’m Tempie and Merlin’s niece.”

He nodded, then smiled a small smile at me, “Heard about your folks. Sucks. You're okay, right?”

At his thoughtful question, I nodded, “Yeah. I’m good.”

He winked, then he nodded, “I’ll open the gate. One minute.”

I watched as he walked over to the little shed thing and then must have hit a button because the gate started to slide open.

Then, when there was enough space to clear my car, I waved at him as I passed by.

I had just parked my car, turned off the ignition, and unbuckled my seat belt when the French doors to the clubhouse opened.

And when I saw my Aunt Tempie and Uncle Merlin, I bolted out of my car.

In a matter of heartbeats, I was wrapped in their arms and squeezed tight.

They had wanted to come help me with everything, but after talking to Aunt Tempie and a deal that was about to go down with a group of people that they needed Uncle Merlin for, I had told her that it would be okay.

She had told me that Uncle Merlin was a tech guru of sorts for the club, and that was all she was allowed to tell me.

Did I binge-watch that TV show Sons of Anarchy so I wouldn’t look like a complete airhead?

Yes, I totally freaking did.

Did I also read every single motorcycle club romance I could find as well?

Yes, I totally did.

Lacy Rose was becoming one of my all-time favorites.

And seeing Aunt Tempie and Uncle Merlin, I smiled.

They had come up for the funeral and were able to stay for a few days.

Aunt Tempie whispered into my hair, “Hi, sweetheart. I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Hi, Aunt Tempie,” I told her.

“Glad to see you, shortie,” Uncle Merlin said.

I smiled up at him, “Glad to see you too.”

Then they led me inside the clubhouse.

It was one open space on the main level.

The entire main level looked to be what a man cave would be. Recliners, couches, and a big television mounted on the wall.

Three pool tables, a little stage, a ping pong table, as well as some arcade games.

The bar ran along the back wall.

Just then, a little girl came running around the corner with a big man chasing after her with a smile on his face.

Aunt Tempie chuckled, “And that was Soraya and Saint.”

I asked, “Saint?”

Over the years, she had told me about a few members. Saint was one of them.

She winked, “Oh yeah. I forgot to tell you about it.”

And that was when she told me how Saint had met Ophelia and her daughter, Soraya.

An older man walked down the hall just then, and Aunt Tempie smiled at me, “That’s Nuke. He’s the club president.”

The man smiled at me and winked as he made his way over to where we were standing.

Once he reached us, he lifted his chin, “I’m Nuke. You’re Nola. Right?”

I nodded, then, like I was taught to do, I offered him my hand.

He lifted a brow and smiled as he placed his hand in mine.

I shook it once, then let it go.

He winked, “Already cool as shit by that greeting.”

I shrugged, “Guess I was raised with manners.”

He chuckled, “Half the world’s population could use some teaching.”

Then he sobered, “Few rules you need to know, okay?”

I looked at Uncle Merlin, and then at Aunt Tempie, and then back to Nuke and nodded.

He winked, then he pointed farther back to a set of French doors that were closed. They had the club’s logo of a skull with crisscrossed bones underneath it carved into the wood.

“That’s church. It’s off limits to everyone unless you’re a patched member of this club.” He said.

After reading the books and seeing the show, I got it, so I nodded.

Then he said, “Never touch a brother’s colors. Ever.”

Damnit.

See? Airhead?

I lifted a brow, “I don’t know what that means.”

He chuckled, then he tapped his kutte, “This. This is what I’m talking about.”

“Ah. Gotcha.” I told him.

Then he said, “No photos can be taken unless I say it’s okay.”

I nodded.

“Respect the brothers and the old ladies, and the families.” He said.

I scrunched up my nose, then asked, “Umm.... isn’t respect supposed to be earned?”

He chuckled then nodded, “Yeah. See your point. How about this? Try to be understanding until they earn your respect. Better?”

I thought about it and then nodded. “Better.”

He grinned.

And then he winked, “Welcome home, Nola.”

I smiled up at him.

Aunt Tempie and Uncle Merlin told me a few other rules that Nuke had left out.

Like, not going into a brother’s room unless you were invited by that brother.

Or not repeating anything you see or hear outside of the clubhouse.

All in all, it was pretty straightforward.

Then they told me about where I would be staying.

I felt tears prick my eyes.

Aunt Tempie just smiled at me, “We know.”

They had rented me an apartment close to where their house was. They had thought about turning their guest bedroom over to me, but they knew I had been away at college for the past three years, and I was used to being on my own.

After I met a few of the brothers, Grey, the VP, Khal, the Road Captain, and Wolf, the Secretary, I climbed into my car and followed them to the apartment building.

And the moment I opened the door, I couldn’t help but smile.

They had thought of everything. Literally everything.

Furniture was set up.

The kitchen was stocked.

Literally, the only thing I had to do was unpack, wash my clothes from the three days I had been on the road, and I would be moved in. Fully.

That night, as I lay in my new bed, I whispered, “Miss you, Mom and Dad.”

***

It was as I was helping make lunch for everyone the very next day that I happened to look up and see a man walk into the clubhouse.

I felt something in my chest ignite.

What in the world?

He was tall.

Taller than my five-foot-eight height.

And he was big.

I don’t mean big.

I mean, big.

He had on a leather kutte, a long-sleeved, dark blue, tight-fitting shirt.

Dark-washed jeans that fit him like a glove.

Black motorcycle boots.

But my kryptonite?

He had a black baseball cap on backward.

Honey hush.

Yes, I learned what I liked and what I didn’t like in college.

And I liked that.

A whole hell of a lot.

I was peering around the corner, the potatoes I had been peeling long forgotten.

Turn your face, handsome.

I want to see your eyes.

And then... almost as if he had heard me, he stopped, then turned his head.

And then... he locked his eyes on me.

I felt it.

The earth beneath my feet shifted.

Caramel colored eyes.

Holy fucking shit.

I felt the breath in my lungs stall, and only when he seemed to shake his head and look away was I able to inhale a deep breath.

Thankfully, Aunt Tempie, Agatha, she was my Uncle Merlin’s sister, Ophelia, Soraya, Minnie, Kourt, Tamber, Luna, Vienna, Ashlee, the club girls, had all missed whatever that was.

I got back to peeling the potatoes.

It was a few hours later, after we had all eaten, that I was finally able to ask the question that had been running rampant in my mind.

“So, what’s his story?” I asked my Aunt Tempie, as I jutted my chin in the man’s direction.

She looked at my face and then to where I had tilted my chin, and then did something I didn’t think she would: she freaking shivered.

“That’s one man you need to steer clear of, darlin’. Far and wide. You hearing me, girl?”

Okay… so that wasn’t the reaction I was thinking I would hear. I mean, he is a brother. Why would she be telling me to steer clear of him?

What about him has her saying something like that?

My Uncle isn’t a choir boy. Far from it, in fact.

That much I knew had to be true.

I just stared at her.

She sighed, then she said, “That’s Xander. I can’t tell you how many women have come through those doors wanting to get a piece of that man, or any of the brothers.”

My eyes moved of their own accord when the man I now knew to be Xander stood.

Then they followed him.

It wasn’t until I could no longer see him that I turned my attention back to what was going on.

***

It’s been a full two weeks since I moved here.

I had already found myself a part-time job.

Yes, I had plenty of money from my parents and their life insurance, as well as the money I won when my parents’ lawyer sued the man who had hit them.

He was serving two counts of vehicular manslaughter in prison.

He shouldn’t have been drinking and driving.

I had also looked into what I could do to finish my degree in accounting.

I had just taken a sip of my Coke while I waited for everyone to get ready.

There was a parade we were all going to that was benefiting an area that had been devastated by a flash flood.

“Okay, so I was in Grey’s bed last night. Kourt was in Nuke’s bed. Vienna was in Jury’s bed. Tamber was in Jasper’s bed. Luna was in Khal’s bed.” Ashlee said.

Vienna nodded, “Those are the only brothers you can approach.”

“What about him?” Luna asked.

I looked over to who she had pointed at, Grimm, I think his name is.

Vienna chuckled, “What about him?”

“I want him,” Luna said.

Minnie shook her head, “No. He hates to be touched. The last girl, well, she tried to touch him one night. It was like he zoned out or something. It was creepy as hell. And thirty minutes later, her room was cleared out, and her phone number doesn’t work.”

Luna sighed, then said, “Okay, what about Xander?”

Ashlee chuckled, “Xander doesn’t mess with the club girls. We all know he had a woman he saw on the regular a few years ago, but that’s about it.”

Then Luna asked, “Kettle?”

“Kettle is much like Grimm, but he doesn’t talk all that often.”

I zoned out after they had talked about Xander.

Sure, I heard what they had said, but I was still stuck on the little tidbit about Xander.

Then I sighed.

Yeah, right.

He’s a freaking seventy-nine, and you’re an eight, on a good day.

***

Once everyone was ready, we headed to the area where the parade was taking place.

It didn’t take me long to notice that Kettle, Xander, and Grimm weren’t with us.

I wondered if Xander was like Grimm and Kettle. Not wanting to be touched.

And judging by the number of people who had shown up, getting touched today was probably a very real thing.

***

My phone lit up the next night.

And I gasped at the reminder I had set.

Aunt Tempie looked at me and lifted her brow.

“You're able to see the Milky Way tonight,” I told her.

She knew my love of astronomy.

She chuckled.

Then I stood up, raced out to my car to get my big red blanket, then raced around the side of the clubhouse and to the back of it.

Seeing the fire pit, I knew of the perfect spot.

The back corner that didn’t have a lot of lights lit up near it.

That made the spot perfect.

That was until I saw a man sitting in a chair in the prime location I needed.

And when I got closer, I felt my breath catch.

It was him.

Xander.

Oh, my goodness.

I really thought about trying to find another spot.

But as I looked up into the night sky... I knew that my impulsive self wouldn’t let me do that.

Therefore, I walked over.

And the moment I reached him, those caramel-colored eyes came to me, and I watched as a tick started in his jaw.

Shit.

I bit my lip.

Then my mouth opened before I could snap it closed, and words came tumbling out.

“Umm, hi. I hope I’m not interrupting, but well, you see, I love astronomy. And tonight, the Milky Way is supposed to be visible, and well, I won't be able to see it if I sit near the fire, so if it’s okay with you, I’m going to lay my blanket down over here. I just didn’t want to interrupt you.”

I stood there and waited for him to tell me no, to shake his head, anything to deny me; however, he didn’t move.

But I did notice that the tick in his jaw had stopped.

He kept his gaze on the fire pit and then took a drag from his cigarette.

So, since he didn’t say no, I nodded and then walked a few feet away and laid my blanket down and then settled down on it on my back and gazed at the stars. Waiting for the Milky Way to present itself.

And as soon as I saw it, I gasped.

It was stunning.

Incredibly stunning.

What I didn’t know was that the big man who dwarfed the seat near me had turned his head to see the sight in front of me.

However, it only held his attention for a few moments.

Because something else had captured his attention, unlike ever before.

Me.