Chapter 5

FIVE

SMOKE

Laughter fills the air as I look around our small group. I don’t know how the guys did it, but they found enough females to sink a battleship, and as far as I can tell, they are all sweetbutt material. Not that I’m interested. Nah, my sweetbutt days are over, and I’m not mad about it. Since the moment I met Kelly, the thought of another woman touching me disgusts me. I turn back to the grill and flip the burgers before turning my attention back to my woman.

Kelly is sitting on a picnic table close to me. She’s leaning forward with her elbow rested on her knee and her chin in her hand as she takes it all in, and her hair blows in the breeze around her.

“What do you think?”

She looks over at me and blinks. “What?”

I nod toward the guys. Gunner has a girl in his lap, and Bear is up grinding on a woman who’s bent over Tank while the other women dance.

“Oh, all that?” she murmurs.

Fuck it.

I pull the burgers off the grill and head toward my girl. I get on the bench behind her and pull her into my arms so she’s sitting between my legs.

“Tell me what you’re thinking.”

She nervously licks her lips before turning back to me. Her face is so close to mine that our lips brush. “I want to know what it is you guys do. I want to know everything, but I don’t want to push.”

“Well, the first thing I can tell you is we typically don’t tell our women anything.” She flinches, but I continue. “But that’s for safety. If anything were to happen to us, we want our women to be in the clear. We don’t want our shit falling onto you.”

“So you do illegal stuff?”

“Would it be a problem if we did?” I challenge.

“Do you hurt innocent people?”

“No, women and children are safe from our wrath. When we act, we do it knowing that the person in our crosshairs isn’t innocent. Now don’t get me wrong, not all clubs are like ours, but we have a strong moral code.”

“What about animals?”

I bite back a smile. “Animals are off the table too. Fuck, assholes who hurt animals are right up there with those who hurt kids as far as I’m concerned.”

Slowly, Kelly shakes her head. “Then no, it doesn’t bother me that you do illegal stuff. Just because you do bad things doesn’t mean you’re a bad person, and as far as I’m concerned, you’re one of the best men I know.”

Shit, her thinking that makes me feel ten feet tall.

“I’m glad you said that.” I lean in and steal a quick kiss. “Yeah, the guys and I do shady shit, but like I said, none of it will come back on you. There will be nights that I won’t be able to come home or call because I’ll be tied up with club business, but just know, I will always be loyal to you,” I say, squeezing her tight.

“And what about when you aren’t out doing whatever it is that you do?”

“Well, the building that we’re going to put walls in will become our clubhouse. The guys and I will live there until we decide to get our own places, but even then, most of our time will be spent there.” I nod toward our group of people. “Some of those women might join as sweetbutts, or hell, who knows, one of them might turn into an old lady. Then with the other shop, we will turn it into a garage where we work on bikes and cars.”

“Basically a front,” she says.

“I guess you could say that. Most clubs have a legitimate business on the books in case anyone comes looking.”

Kelly’s nose wrinkles. “What’s a sweetbutt and an old lady?”

I kiss her neck. “If I have my way, you would be an old lady. It’s a lady that a man is committed to and has claimed as his own. You’ll see her with her own cut with her man’s name on her back. She’s off-limits to everyone but him. An old lady is the only woman you will see on the back of a man’s bike. Think of it like the biker version of marriage.”

Her breath catches.

“What makes you think I’d say yes?” she sasses, making me chuckle.

“You telling me you wouldn’t say yes?” I nuzzle into her neck, making her laugh.

After a moment, she hums and taps her lips. “I don’t know. My aunt always told me to take a guy for a test drive before I commit. So depending on your performance, I might say yes.”

I toss my head back and chuckle. Damn this girl.

“What’s a sweetbutt, though?” she asks, getting back to the subject on hand.

“A sweetbutt is a club girl who usually lives on the grounds. They are under our protection and are there to please the guys however they want. That could be doing a brother’s laundry or being there for them sexually. They know the score before they join.”

“And they can change their mind and leave at any time?”

“Yeah, when they join, they sign an NDA to protect us all. If they leave, they can’t run to the cops and spill whatever they overhear and shit. We try to cover our asses as much as possible.”

“Makes sense.”

We fall silent. I watch her as she absorbs everything I just laid out for her.

I take a deep breath and ask what I really want to know. “So what do you think? Is this the kind of life you could see yourself being a part of?”

Kelly turns in my arms and cups my face. She brings her lips to mine and kisses me softly before pulling away and resting her forehead on mine. “I think I could get used to it.”

“That’s good, dollface. That’s real good,” I tell her gruffly.

Kelly

All evening, I’ve been watching the women dance and laugh. They are loud, brazen, and everything I’m not.

He wants me, though.

Taking a deep breath, I pull my forehead away from his and stand on the bench. Jax’s hands fall to my thighs as I spin in his grasp.

“Where ya going?”

I ignore his question and show him. Carefully, I straddle his lap and place my arms over his shoulders. Jax’s big hands grab my ass and pull me down onto him, grinding his dick where I want it most.

Not right now. Not in public, I remind myself.

Everything about Jax feels right. If he were anyone else, I wouldn’t be showing this level of affection. Hell, with my very limited dating experience, I never even liked the other person holding my hand, but with Jax, I can’t get enough of his touch.

He makes me feel strong and makes my shyness go out the window.

“So, I’m old lady material, huh?”

“Damn right, dollface.”

“I guess that means we’re serious then,” I tease.

Jax’s hands flex on my ass, making me gasp. “Only way we could be more serious is if you had my name on your back, but that can wait.”

“How can you be so sure that this is going to work out?” I ask as I start to play with the hair on the back of his neck. “It’s only been a couple of days.”

Jax hums as his eyes flutter closed for a moment. “That feels good, keep doing that. I know this is going to work because I’ve never been obsessed with a woman like I am you. When I look at you, I see a future.”

“I didn’t see you coming,” I admit.

Jax chuckles. “Neither did I, but I can’t say I’m mad about it.”

I lean forward and brush my lips over his. Like a snake, Jax latches onto my bottom lip, biting it before releasing it slowly, making me hiss. He runs his tongue over my lip, soothing the sting.

“You like that?”

“I do,” I gasp as he kisses the spot right behind my ear.

“Fuck me, I can feel how wet you are through those tiny little shorts. I can’t wait to figure out what else you like.”

“You can find out right now.”

“Baby, while I have no problems fucking you on a bench for the world to see what’s mine, our first time won’t be like that.”

“No, what will our first time be like?”

Jax opens his mouth to say something but stops when someone yells out.

“Oy, Prez, where are we on that food?” one of the guys asks.

“Fucking Tank,” he mutters under his breath as he taps my thigh.

I stand up, getting off his lap. Jax slides off the picnic bench and openly adjusts his cock, not caring who sees. Who would have thought that such a simple action could be so hot?

“We have cold burgers or you can wait ten minutes for hot ones,” he tells the guys.

I sit back down and watch him. I can’t help but envy the way he moves with such confidence. I don’t know if I will ever get over the fact that he’s mine and that he wants me just as badly as I want him.

“You want cheese on your burger, dollface?” he asks over his shoulder.

“Yes, please.”

The girl who was occupying Gunner’s lap gets off and joins her friends. He walks over and takes a seat next to me.

“How’s it going, Kel?”

“Not too close,” Jax tells him.

Gunner rolls his eyes but doesn’t listen to him.

“It’s going well. How are you?” I ask.

“Couldn’t be better. I have this killer ice-cold IPA, my brothers are with me, and some beautiful women to keep us company.” He winks.

I shake my head. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Figured me out already, huh?”

“You’re a man.” I shrug.

“How’s work? Those assholes give you any more trouble?” he asks, changing the subject.

“Work’s fine. I don’t know if Jax told you, but the offer was accepted on the property you guys wanted.”

“Your first sale, congrats.” He holds out his fist.

Gently, I bump mine against his, making him laugh. “Thanks. I’m pretty excited about it.”

“And to think those pencil dicks didn’t think you could do it.”

“One of those pencil dicks tried to convince me to let him take over right before I got the call,” I confess.

Gunner tenses, and Jax growls at my admission.

“What do you mean?” Gunner asks slowly.

I shrug my shoulders. “Honestly, it’s not a big deal. He just told me he thought I should let him take over so you guys got the best treatment.”

“What the fuck did he think he could do that you couldn’t?” Jax asks.

“I mean, it’s not like he could be any more hands on than you.” Gunner chuckles, making me laugh.

“Barry is just one of those guys who thinks women shouldn’t be doing the hard stuff. It is what it is.”

“You need a new job,” Jax says under his breath.

“We should teach him a lesson. You don’t treat one of our women like that and get away with it,” Gunner says as he cracks his knuckles.

“It’s not a big deal, I promise. Honestly, you guys are making a bigger deal out of this than I am. I’ve dealt with worse.”

“Just because you have, doesn’t mean you should,” Gunner points out.

While I don’t disagree, I keep my mouth shut. These guys just don’t understand how it is because, well, they are men.

“Shouldn’t you flip those burgers?” I ask, pointing toward the grill.

Jax turns around, back to the grill. “Fuck. I hope those assholes like their shit on the charred side.”

While I don’t understand their outrange, I can’t say it doesn’t make me feel special.

If this is what it means to be one of them, then sign me up.