Chapter 14

Chapter

Fourteen

DASH

I was makingdinner when Keir came upstairs. I’d gone to the top of the stairway to check on him, seeing he and Amelie were working with Mr. Josephson earlier, so I stayed out of the way.

Keir stuck his head in the kitchen. “I’m going to shower. What did you make for dinner? It smells good in here.”

I turned off the burner and picked up the skillet, dumping the ground beef and Italian sausage into the sauce simmering on the back burner. “Spaghetti and meat sauce. The sauce needs to cook for a while longer. How ever will I spend the time until it’s ready?” I batted my lashes for effect.

Keir grabbed the back belt loop of my jeans, dragging me with him to the bathroom. “I can think of a few things.”

My clothes came off without any effort on my part, and once in the shower, I guided Keir under the spray as my lips assaulted his. I loved the man, and it was time to show him again.

“Mmmm. You taste like peppermint.” I kissed across his cheek and down his neck, nipping the skin along the top of his shoulder. The urge to sink my teeth into his tempting flesh was strong, but of course, I wasn’t going to give in. It wasn’t uncontrollable, which was a relief.

“New body wash. This is my second shower of the day. What did you do while I was showing Amelie the embalming process? I think she’s going to go to school for—can we talk about this later?”

Without answering, I dipped to my knees, parted his cheeks, and swiped my tongue over his sexy hole. He gasped, which made my dick harder. The man knew how to push my buttons, but I knew how to push his too.

Keir tapped my shoulder with the waterproof lube we kept on the shelf, and I prepared him for a much-needed fuck. Fast and hard. Quick and dirty. God, it was good to be me.

After pounding into him for a few minutes, I reached around and grabbed his beautiful cock, slowly pumping him in half time to my throbbing dick pumping his ass. “Come for me, baby.” I pushed into him three more times, hitting his prostate, and when I felt his warm cum slide down my fist, I kissed the side of his neck again.

The desire to bite him was so intense that I had to pull my mouth away. I really needed to talk to Lilith about that shit.

After rinsing off, we got out and dried off, sliding on sweatpants and T-shirts to eat dinner. When I looked at my husband, his cheeks were flushed and he was smiling. That was how I always wanted to see him.

I filled a large pot with water and put it on the stove to boil spaghetti. After adding salt, I took the lid off the pan with the meat sauce and stirred it. “I bought a baguette. Do you want me to make garlic cheese bread?”

I turned to where Keir was opening a bottle of the red wine I’d bought during my earlier trip to the market. As he poured a glass for himself, I watched him. He seemed miles away.

“Dearly? Do you want some garlic cheese bread?” I stepped toward the fridge and got a beer for myself.

Keir quickly met my eyes. “I’m sorry. What?”

“Honey, what’s on your mind?”

Keir carried his glass of wine over to the peninsula and sipped it before setting it next to my beer. He went to the fridge and opened it, pulling out the butter and a bag of shredded mozzarella cheese before he picked up the baguette and got to work. I wanted to laugh that he’d seemingly had the same idea but was still in his head. I retrieved the garlic powder and set it down next to him.

“What’s up?”

Keir grinned. “Amelie and I had a great afternoon. She’s going to go to school to get her certification and become a mortician as well. You’re right that it’ll be nice to have her step in if we need to do something else or want to go on a trip. That’s not what’s on my mind, though. Amelie offered to give us some of her eggs so we can have our kids.” He then turned to stare at me, likely waiting for my reaction.

I took a slug of my beer. “What do you think about that?” Inside, I was jumping up and down, but I needed his take on the news.

“I think it’s good and bad. The good part is that we could have children with eggs donated by someone we love. The bad is that we could have children with eggs donated by someone we love who might not be able to see us again after the first baby is born.”

I nodded. “I get it, but Dearly, if we accept her eggs, then we can find a surrogate and get this underway. Why do you think it’s a bad thing?”

Keir stopped buttering the bread. “Don’t you worry about Amelie having a hard time adjusting to the idea that we’re going to raise her child?”

I took the butter knife from his hand and turned him to look at me. “No. It won’t be her child. It will be our child. She will donate the eggs, and we’ll know where they came from, so we’ll have a heads-up if there’s anything to worry about. Why is this a bad thing?”

“Won’t she be possessive of the eggs? The baby will be half hers, Dash. What if she wants to fight us for them?”

I took a deep breath and exhaled, staring into those beautiful blue eyes. The man I loved was many things. He was gorgeous. He was smart. He was the kindest man I’d ever met. And he was meant to be a father.

I had to get Keir to understand that we would have a family, and if it was because Amelie was willing to donate eggs, then we should be happy, right? I’d already seen it, and I was ready for it.

“Maybe Amelie had a vision? We don’t know for sure that she’s not psychic.” She’d claimed to have psychic abilities since we’d met her, but none of us had believed her because we’d never seen any evidence. What if it was true and she just didn’t share things with us?

Keir smirked. “Love, I don’t think she’s psychic, but I love how eccentric she is, and my only worry is that she’ll regret giving us her eggs. I don’t want her to regret anything.”

The pasta cooked, and I stirred the sauce again before Keir slid the bread into the oven to broil. A few minutes later, we were setting the food on the dining room table and taking our seats.

Soft jazz wafted through the apartment from the speakers we’d had installed when the remodel happened, and I loved that we had our own little supper-club vibe. When he turned to me, I kissed his soft mouth. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Thank you for making dinner for us.”

His gratitude wasn’t necessary, but it was appreciated. I was a lucky bastard to have such a great husband, but I wanted to discuss Amelie’s offer a bit more. If she was okay with it, I was ready to have her and Trent over to discuss it. We just had to hammer out the boundaries.

Saturday morning,I was setting up the Serenity Parlor, the smallest of the three, for Alfred Josephson’s funeral. Mr. Josephson’s son, AJ, told us there wouldn’t be more than ten people, so we didn’t need to use the chapel, which could accommodate about a hundred mourners.

With the silk flowers at the front, the parlor didn’t look so stark and was perfect for a smaller gathering. Keir called it an intimate space, and though we didn’t use it often, it was nice that we’d updated it to a soft cream color.

Vale came into the room and glanced around, checking his nice watch before smirking at me. “What time is this shindig? I have one o’clock on my calendar. It’s just nine now.”

“I wanted to get this done for Keir before I headed off to the shop. I don’t think Lake is here to do the makeup yet, but Keir’s downstairs. AJ Josephson dropped off a suit for his father, and I think Keir’s going to begin dressing him. Maybe check with him if he needs help.”

Vale nodded and went downstairs in the freight elevator, which would need to be downstairs anyway. Once I was sure everything was ready in the parlor, I sent my husband a text.

I’m headed to the shop to work on my bike. Text me if you need help with the funeral. I’ll come home.

I waited a minute, but when he didn’t respond, I left. It wasn’t that far away so I couldn’t get back quickly if I was needed.

I hopped into my SUV and drove to Sacramento to Clegg Cycles, seeing all the bay doors were open except mine. I had some things to discuss with Quinn and Lilith, which could be tricky with all the guys around.

I parked in an empty spot in the lot, next to my father’s former Knucklehead now owned by Fish, and got out, staring at the bike I’d always loved.

“Too late to change your mind.” I turned to see Simp come out of his bay, where he’d been tuning up a crotch rocket Kawasaki.

I laughed. “Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m making my own.” I walked over to the bay to see Quinn standing by a supreme looking Ducati Supersport, which took me back to my time in Italy a few years ago.

After Danny died and left me everything, I’d taken the trip of a lifetime that nearly cost me dearly...and Dearly. It was when the boat accident happened and I started changing to become the Key to Keir’s Gatekeeper.

“Who’s is that?” I checked out the bike to see it had been rebuilt but it was in damn good condition.

A tall thin guy came out of the restroom wearing a big grin. “I’m having your guy check her out before I buy her.”

Something about him tickled my brain, but I couldn’t place it. He looked quite familiar, but from where?

I stuck out my hand, noticing he was wearing fancy leathers and some nice motorcycle boots that looked hella expensive. They appeared to be brand new, as did the leathers. Has he ever been on a bike?

“Dash Clegg-Dearly. You are?” We shook hands.

“Norm Evans.”

“You live here in Sacramento?” I knew this guy, but I had no idea how.

“New to town. My neighbor let me take her out. He’s selling her for thirteen thousand, and I wanted to know if she’s worth it. His wife won’t let him ride her anymore since she’s pregnant. Said she doesn’t want to tell their child their dad ended up as roadkill.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, that’s for sure. Where you from?” Simp elbowed me in the ribs. I guess it did sound a little like an interrogation.

“I mean, were you in a riding club where you moved from. Nice leathers, by the way.”

“Thanks. Yeah, I’m from Baltimore. Used to ride there with a group of professionals. We’d cruise the mountains in northern Maryland and ride out to the beach in Ocean City. I miss it, so I thought I’d get a bike since I sold my old one before I moved.”

I could only describe the way he stared at me as a glare. We’d just met, and it seemed as though he didn’t like me already.

Now, I was intrigued. “You know, the best way to check her out is to take her for a ride.” I turned to Quinn. “You still got that old Honda we used to keep around for shits and giggles? Norm, here, can ride it, and I’ll ride this bike to see how she fares.”

“Yeah. It’s in the shed.” Quinn turned his back to us and walked to the key rack, pulling the key to the padlock from the hook and headed to the shed behind the garage.

Norm’s eyes lit up, though I wasn’t sure why. “Sure. Sounds like a great idea.”

I went over to the shelf where I saw Fish’s helmet. “Can I borrow that?”

Fish grinned but spoke through his teeth. “What are you doing? The man is paying Simp a couple hundred bucks to look at that bike. You know Simp’s a good mechanic.”

“I do, but I wanna know if the guy can actually ride a bike. I don’t want some sort of liability issue if Simp says the bike is good and the idiot gets hurt because he doesn’t know how to ride. I’ll be fine.”

I patted Simp on the shoulder twice while Quinn pushed the bike in front of the garage. “Somethin’s up with him, ain’t it?” Quinn tilted his head toward where Norm was standing.

“Yeah. I’m riding this bike out to Sutter’s Fort Park, and then I’ll trade him and ride the Ducati back. If we’re not back in half an hour, send Lilith to look for me.”

I lifted my right hand, snapped my fingers, and saw Quinn freeze. I glanced at Norm to see him heading toward me, so I snapped again before Norm noticed, returning everything to normal. That told me what I needed to know.

Some others had the ability to change their appearances, as I’d witnessed with Jo and Scotty more than once. Apparently, Norm was one of them.

I got on the old Honda Danny and I had shared as kids. It was a 1973 Honda 175cc bike that had been rebuilt more times than I could count. The only thing original on the bike was the handlebars, but it still ran. It would top out at about eighty-five miles per hour, but I’d get to see how well Norm could handle the Ducati on the highway.

Fish stuck a license plate on the back of the Honda for me, and I started the little bike before pulling on the helmet and idling while waiting for Norm to mount up. Once he had the bike purring and his helmet secured, I motioned for him to follow me, and away we went.

We drove through the streets until we got on the Elvas Freeway, Norm following me on the Ducati as I pushed the Honda to its limits the whole way. He stopped next to me at the entrance to the historic park. I put the kickstand down on the Honda and hopped off, leaving the key in the starter.

I turned to Norm. “How’d she ride? You rode her to Clegg, so what did you think?”

Norm shrugged. “Okay, I guess. I’m not the professional here. How does that bike handle?”

“It’s more like a minibike. Do you know how to get back to the garage? You won’t be able to keep up with me. I’m going to open her up to see how she does at a higher speed.” My gut told me he’d see it as a challenge. I hoped to fuck he did.

We started out riding side by side, but when we got to the first intersection, I took a right. What I didn’t expect was for him to take the turn as well and to keep up with me on that old beater. I glanced at the speedometer to see I was going fast enough that I’d go to jail if I got pulled over, but it was an industrial part of town near the Sacramento River, and since it was Saturday, there wasn’t a lot of traffic.

I was sure I was far ahead of him, so I took the ramp for the I-5, and when I merged, I opened her up and took off. When I looked in the rearview mirror, I saw Norm speeding down the highway not far behind me.

He got closer, and his foot came off the peg, aiming for the back tire of the Ducati. I damn well wasn’t putting the bike down, so I put on the brakes, fishtailing a little but remaining upright.

Norm didn’t anticipate that I’d slow down, so he sped by me, and I hit the throttle again to catch him. Fucker wasn’t getting out of my sight. How the fuck is that bike going so fast?

He took the exit onto North Harbor View and then followed it around until he reached Reed Avenue and headed back to the shop. When we stopped in front, I got off the Ducati and went for him. The motherfucker was trying to kill me, and really, I wasn’t sure if he could or not, so I was pissed.

“You stupid fucking idiot.” I was screaming so loud that the shop emptied into the parking lot.

I grabbed the fucking douche by the jacket and got into his face. “You could have killed us both, do you realize that? What were you trying to do by sticking your foot out like that? Were you going to kick my tire?”

Quinn and Lilith came out of the shop, Quinn stepping between us. “What the hell is going on?”

I didn’t take my eyes off Norm. “He tried to make me wreck on the interstate. I had the bike opened up, and he stuck his boot out to kick my tire. I’d have died if she’d gone down.” I didn’t say the ‘probably’ out loud. I had no idea what I was dealing with and wasn’t about to tip my hand.

Lilith snapped her fingers, and all the humans froze, including Quinn. She then stared at Norm Evans. “Explain yourself. Who’s your creator? I can see that you’re masking your aura and your identity, but I know you’re no more human than me.” She then eased my fist from his jacket and patted my hand.

Norm laughed hard and disappeared, leaving Lilith and me to wonder what the hell had just happened.