Chapter 9

9

LAYLA

I ’d never been one to sleep late—which was a good thing, considering how early school started—but the sun already shone through the slits in the blinds when my eyes blinked open. Between the long ride to Roman’s place and everything we’d done in this bed last night, I was more than ready to drift back off to sleep. But the buzzing sound that had woken me happened again, and Roman unwrapped himself from me to twist toward the table on his side of the bed.

“What?” he grunted.

I turned over, cuddling into his pillow while I blinked up at him sleepily. Roman didn’t look happy about whatever the person on the other end of the call said. Then he bit out, “I’ll be there, but give me a little bit. Layla’s with me.”

His casual use of my name blew my mind. Especially since his caller must’ve recognized it since he ended the call right after that without them asking who I was.

“Fuck,” he grumbled, setting his phone on the bedside table before rolling toward me and snaking his arm underneath my back. “Are you good with grabbing breakfast at the clubhouse? The prez wants me to come in to talk to him about something important.”

I was curious about his club, but also a little nervous about going there since I had no idea what to expect. Plus, there was another issue. “I don’t have any extra clothes with me, remember?”

“You’ll be sexy as hell wearing your jeans with one of my shirts.” He traced the underside of my breast, and my nipple puckered. “Even more so when we come back and you’re just in my shirt, hiked up so it isn’t covering these perfect tits of yours while I fuck you.”

His dirty talk got to me just as much as it had last night, making my inner walls clench. The sexy picture he painted with his words also had me quickly agreeing. “Pick one out for me.”

“Sure thing, gorgeous.” He captured my mouth in a deep kiss that had me melting into the mattress in a puddle of need before he pulled away to climb out of bed.

I was still blinking away the sensual fog when he returned, fully dressed and holding a chambray-blue button-down shirt. Holding it out, he asked, “Will this work?”

I nodded. “Uh-huh.”

“The last thing I want to do on our first morning together is rush you outta bed, but we need to get going.” Bending low, he brushed his lips against mine. “But I promise to make it up to you later.”

“Wow,” I breathed as I watched him walk out of the bedroom. Shaking my head, I climbed off the mattress and searched for my panties, bra, jeans, and socks. Then I padded into his bathroom to get cleaned up before tugging on my clothes.

His shirt was too big for me, but that wasn’t a surprise, considering our size differences. But I thought it wasn't too bad when I left the bottom two buttons undone and tied the ends together.

Judging by the heated look in Roman’s eyes when I walked into the living room, I looked better than I realized.

“Whatever Mac needs better be important.” He wrapped his long fingers around my wrist and tugged me against his chest. “You have no idea how hard it is not to carry you back into my bedroom right now.”

Tilting my head back to smile up at him, I murmured, “Luckily, I don’t have anywhere to be anytime soon, so we can do that when you finish your meeting.”

“Damn straight.”

He led me down the stairs and helped me onto his motorcycle. After we put on our helmets, I wrapped my arms around his body, pressing my chest against his back. Being so close to him with his bike vibrating between my legs left me incredibly turned on when we drove through the gates of his MC’s compound. The guy at the gate looked surprised to see me behind Roman, confirming what he’d said about me being the first woman he’d put there.

I beamed a smile at Roman after he parked and helped me off again. “Thanks.”

“Any time, gorgeous.”

We walked into the clubhouse hand-in-hand, and I paused just inside to take in my surroundings. The bar lining one wall seemed like something that belonged in a place bikers called home, but the women lined up at the gleaming wood surface seemed a little out of place. They were all beautiful but dressed to fit in at boring places—like the mall or a family restaurant. Except for the leather vests they wore that were a smaller version of the one on Roman’s back.

A few of them were visibly pregnant…and they were all grinning at me.

Roman shrugged from his leather vest and slipped my arms through the too-large holes, making most women giggle. Glancing at them over his shoulder, he sighed and shook his head. Then he pulled me in for a quick kiss and muttered, “Need you to wear this while we’re here.”

“But why?” I asked, my brows drawing together as I jerked my chin toward the other women. “They’re the only ones out here.”

“Never know who’s gonna show up, and I’m not gonna run the risk of you walking around in here without my mark on you.”

His explanation didn’t make a lick of sense, but he seemed to think it was sufficient because he turned and strode away.

“Who do you think is going to hit on her, Rom?” one of the women asked.

“Not a single soul with her in my cut,” he tossed back.

“I’m so confused,” I mumbled, shaking my head.

“Don’t worry. We’re well-versed in translating alpha biker speak,” a blonde who looked to be about the same age as my brother said.

The woman sitting next to her with golden-brown hair nodded and waved me toward them. “Yeah, you can consider us the welcome committee.”

The blonde bumped her elbow against her arm. “It’s only fair that we get to give you all the inside information on Roman since we’re the reason you two met.”

I remembered what he’d said about why he’d been in my hometown a week ago and realized the two women looked familiar because I’d seen them walk across the same stage as Luther. “Congratulations on your graduation.”

“Thanks.” The brunette beamed a smile at me as I walked toward them. “I’m Lorelei, and this is my bestie, Karina.”

Another blonde who looked a lot like Karina added, “And I’m Kiara, her bestie’s half sister.”

Oakley, Alyssa, and Wendy rattled off their names, too.

“Nice to meet you all. I’m Layla.”

Wendy giggled. “Yeah, we know.”

I tilted my head to the side. “If you’re going to give me all the inside information, maybe you can explain how nobody seems surprised that I’m with Roman.”

“Aw, she calls him Roman.” Lorelei clapped.

“Yeah, but that totally makes sense.” Karina shrugged. “I’m with Cash but never call him Cassius, and Lorelei is with Benji, who always goes by Grey. But Roman is a super cool name, even though Rom doesn’t use it with anyone but you.”

“Aiden likes for me to use his real name, too,” Wendy said.

Oakley nodded. “Same with Kendrick.”

“And Garrison,” Alyssa added.

Feeling a little overwhelmed, I confessed, “I have to admit, this isn’t going at all how I expected when Roman told me we were coming to the Silver Saints clubhouse.”

“Yeah, our guys are good at defying expectations all around.” Oakley laughed while raising her hand and started ticking off her fingers. “There are no club bunnies. You’ll never have to worry about cheating because all the men are dedicated to their old ladies. Although they’re technically not one hundred percent on the up and up in the legal sense, the lines they cross are limited compared to other clubs. They’d never be involved in something that would hurt women, children, or other innocents.”

“Um…that’s good to know.”

“Stop, you’re going to scare her off,” Wendy chided, shaking her head. “Don’t mind Oakley. She wants to be a lawyer, so her mind goes to all that legal stuff.”

A lawyer and a biker sounded like an odd pairing, same as Roman and me since I was a kindergarten teacher. I already felt more comfortable than expected and felt I had a lot in common with the other women. “I’m not scared. I just really appreciate how welcoming you’re all being.”

“That’s something else that’s special about the Silver Saints—we’re family.” Alyssa bumped her shoulder against Wendy’s. “And not just because a couple of the guys have claimed a member’s sister for their own.”

Their teasing made me giggle. “It sounds as though there’s a heck of a story there.”

Lorelei let out a low whistle. “Girl, you have no idea.”

And then they filled me in on how some of the couples had met. Tales of kidnapping and worse made Roman’s and my story mild and downright bland, which left me feeling very lucky after what they told me.