CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
JJ—
It’s been a long day, and I’ve finally finished with the last customer. Closing the gate, I stare up at a million stars in the sky.
My phone goes off with a text, and I pull it out and read it. Well, shit. The timing couldn’t be worse.
When I walk inside, I don’t see Rebecca. Swinging the door to the bedroom open, I find her on the bed in just my denim shirt, an inch separating the plackets and revealing her cleavage and pussy.
“Goddamn, pretty girl. Look at you, all laid out for me like the best gift ever.”
“C’mere, bad boy. I believe we have some hot, dirty makeup sex to get to.”
I strip as I approach the bed and enjoy the way her eyes trail over my body. Each inch I expose has her breath quickening.
I watch her tongue wet her lips and her eyes darken, and my dick hardens. I join her, coming up from the foot of the bed to settle between her legs.
She spreads her thighs for me, and I stroke my hand over the soft, silky skin. I move slowly toward her pussy, letting her anticipation drag out until her hips lift off the bed wanting my touch.
I dip my head and breathe in her intoxicating scent. It drives me wild with need for her, working like magic, like a drug I can’t resist.
“I believe you said something this morning about ‘returning the favor’?” she questions with an arched brow and a wicked smile.
“I told you I was gonna make you work for it, Becca. Gonna get you so worked up you’re gonna beg me to finish you.”
“Promises. Promises,” she teases.
I arch a brow. “You doubt me?”
Before she can answer, I lower my head and use my tongue to make her eat her words. It doesn’t take long to get her amped up and thrashing, but I tease her, giving her just enough before easing up and toying with her.
“Please, JJ. God, I need to come.”
“Not yet, darlin’. You’re not begging hard enough.” I pin her wrists to the bed beside her hips to keep her from pulling my hair. That only makes her writhe more. “Goddamn, I love to see you want it so badly. It gets me fucking hard as a rock.”
“If your dick is hard, then do something with it,” she taunts, and I hear the edge in her voice. She’s really getting urgent now.
“I love it when you’re needy and desperate for it.” I attack her with my mouth again, getting her close again.
“Please, baby.”
“You ever gonna doubt me again, Becca?” I ask, breathing hard, wanting her as badly as she wants me.
Her head rolls on the pillow. “No. Never. I swear.”
I smile, then dip my head and give her that sweet orgasm she’s balancing on the sharp edge of having. When she flies over into ecstasy, her head goes back, and she screams.
Her wet, hot release floods forth, and I lap every drop, giving tender care to that hot bundle of nerves that’s swollen from all my attention.
She writhes, and her sweat-glistened chest rises and falls as she gasps for air.
“Oh, my God, that was the best orgasm I’ve ever had,” she pants.
“Because I made you wait so long,” I murmur, sliding up her body to clamp my mouth over one nipple.
Taking my erection in my hand, I circle the head around her opening, getting it wet with her lubrication, then plunge inside her hot pussy.
She moans, and I kiss her hard, feeling the vibration through my throat.
I know she can taste herself on my lips and tongue, and she moans again. I barely let her breathe, kissing her the entire time I fuck her.
But something inside me screams that this time is different. This time is not just fucking. This is something more. This is making love.
I’d always heard the term, but it meant nothing to me. Now, it means everything.
I lift my head. “Look at me, Becca.”
Her heavy-lidded eyes flutter open, and I stare into them. They’re filled with desire, but there’s love there too. She can’t hide it. It’s plain as day.
I stroke her hair from her face with a gentle, tender touch, and my hips thrust slowly, taking my time. In and out, keeping my gaze locked with hers, I watch every emotion cross her face.
I see the realization dawn in her eyes, and I know the moment she understands this is different than any other time, that I’m different.
She gets it in one single second.
Everything has changed between us, and even if I haven’t said the words yet, we both feel it. Our love is a living, breathing thing between us now.
Nothing can ever return to the way it was before we met.
I only hope she understands in the morning when I have to leave her.
When the club calls, I have to go.
If we’re going to make this work, if she’s going to be my ol’ lady, then she has to understand the life. But it doesn’t mean I don’t love her. It doesn’t mean I won’t always come back to her, and it doesn’t mean anything is more important than her.
But this time, leaving her isn’t for just a few hours. Shades said he needs me for three days.
If I’m lucky, I’ll make it home for Christmas Eve.
The thought of not being here with Becca for it is unthinkable.
I can’t let her down.
We’ve built our relationship through daily physical presence. Now we’re about to face our first prolonged separation.
Now we’ll find out if this separation clarifies that our connection was never based on convenience or forced proximity, but something more enduring.
I pray we both find the same answer.
The morning sun crests the tree line as I stand on the porch and cup Rebecca’s face. My lips brush over hers in one last kiss. God, I hate to leave her.
She doesn’t want me to go. I know that, but I have no choice. She took it pretty well when I broke it to her.
“I’ll be home as soon as I can,” I whisper against her lips.
She nods, but I can see the fear in her eyes. As brave as she tries to be, a part of her still thinks I might not come back… for whatever reason.
“Bobby and Ed have got things handled.” I try to reassure her.
“I know. And Amanda and Eric will be over with the kids after school lets out. I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll call you.”
“Okay.” Her voice is soft, like she doesn’t dare hope for even that much. It’s up to me to prove her wrong—to prove to her she can count on me, whether it’s making that phone call or returning. I plan to do just that, and I’ll prove it again and again if I have to.
I climb onto my bike. There’s still some snow in the grassy fields, but the pavement is dry, so I ride, my cut on my back.
Pulling out, I see her standing on the porch watching me ride off, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders against the chill.
Hitting the blacktop, I twist the throttle and roar down the road, wanting to get back to Birmingham as soon as possible so I can return to my baby that much faster.
***
When I reach our clubhouse buried back in the rundown neighborhood beside the steel plant, I drop my kickstand and shoot off a text to Rebecca, letting her know I arrived and asking if everything is good there.
She replies immediately, letting me know everything is fine.
Our clubhouse is an old two-story frame house the club bought and converted. With an alley behind it, it’s perfect for us to roll our bikes in and out.
“Boys have been waiting for you, JJ,” Hammer says. “They’re already assembled.”
“Thanks, man.” I shove my phone in my hip pocket and trudge inside, through the common room, and down the hall to the room where we hold Church. Hammer follows behind me.
“How’s Rebecca?” he asks.
“Good. Wasn’t too happy I had to leave at the height of everything, but she understands how it is.”
“She’s a good woman. I really like her. She’s a keeper, JJ. Don’t fuck that up.”
His words ring in my ears as I push the door open.
My brothers are gathered around the table, and Hammer and I take the two vacant seats.
Shades, our president sits at the head of the table. He gives me a silent nod, then slams the gavel and begins the meeting.
It lasts about forty-five minutes, and then we file out to the bar in the common room. It’s good to be back. I’ve missed the place and my brothers. Tennessee is beautiful, but a part of me will always call Alabama home.
I’ve been a part of this club, this group of brothers who are family to me, for a lot of years now. Long enough to see Shades and Ghost and Hammer all find women of their own and raise kids to adulthood.
After a beer, we head out to take care of some business down in the south of the state, which was the reason I was called back.
There are twelve of us on this run. Myself, Griz, Heavy, Spider, Hammer, Gator, Ghost, Shades, 12 Gauge, Slick, Boot, and Brayden with Tater staying behind with the prospects.
We’re quite a sight, thundering in a pack on the interstate, headed south, drawing the attention of every motorist we pass.
It’s late when we get where we’re going.
Since we’re planning to be in the area for a couple days, we get rooms in some run-down motel.
I don’t care as long as there’s a bed and hot water in the shower.
After I clean up, I lie on the bed and shoot a text off to Rebecca.
By now, it’s almost midnight, and I hate to wake her with a call.
ME: Finally layin’ my head down for the night. Wanted to check in with you and make sure everything is okay. I suppose you’re asleep, so I won’t call. Wish I was there with you, babe.
It’s not thirty seconds before my phone rings.
“Hey, Becca. I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“It’s okay. I wanted to hear your voice.”
I grin. “It’s good to hear yours, too. How’s everything there? You okay?”
“I’m fine. Just miss you already. The cabin seems so empty without you here with me.”
“I wish I could be there. I’d much rather be in that bed with you than in this rat-trap motel we’re stayin’ in.”
“Motel? You’re not at the clubhouse?”
“No, darlin’. We had to ride out and take care of some club business. I can’t talk about it. I hope you understand that.”
“Not really, but I get you can’t tell me stuff.”
“How were sales today?”
“Good. Mrs. Benson came by with her son and daughter-in-law. They’ve got two cute kids.”
“Mrs. Benson?” I ask, not placing the name with a face.
“She was the director of the living nativity.”
“Oh, right. Yeah, she was a sweet lady.”
“They bought two trees, and she picked up four wreaths for the church.”
“That’s awesome.”
“And Shirley from the diner came with her two sisters. They were a hoot, and all three of them have that same beehive hairdo. They all got trees, and when they saw the stuffed Buddies, they each had to get one.”
“That’s great.” I love hearing the happiness in her voice as she talks about her day, but talking about the townspeople isn’t what I want to hear about. “You tired?”
“Exhausted. But it’s a good tired, you know?”
I grin. “Yeah. I do. Especially with all the fresh air.”
“Working outside is my favorite part. Well, that and the fact that everyone is so happy when they come here.”
“Well, you’re a big part of that, Becca. You created a fun atmosphere with the s’mores station and the music playing and all the rest.”
“Thanks, JJ.”
“How’d our crew do? Bobby and Ed pull their weight?”
“Yes, they were great, and Amanda, Eric, and the kids were a huge help.”
“I owe them big time.”
“We. We owe them.”
“They’re pulling my slack, Becca. That’s on me.”
“Next year we can hire more people.”
“Right,” I reply quietly, still not sure how I’m gonna make that work.
I doubt Shades is going to let me have six weeks away every single year just to run the place.
And even that wouldn’t be enough with the planting of the seedlings for next year that we’ll have to do in the spring and all the rest of it with pumpkin sales and whatever else Rebecca comes up with to keep the place afloat.
She was talking about selling flowers in the spring and having an Easter egg hunt with pictures with the Easter bunny for the kiddos.
As it is, I don’t want to be away from her, so that means a lot of miles between Tennessee and Birmingham. As much as I love this woman and would do anything for her, I don’t know how long I’d be able to keep this pace up. Something would eventually have to give.
Leaving the club isn’t as easy as it sounds. In all my time, I’ve never seen anyone leave. The thought of cutting ties with my brothers guts me. They’re the only family that’s meant anything to me. Hell, they’ve had my back since I was barely a grown man. This life is all I’ve ever known.
“You’ve gotten quiet. Everything okay?” Rebecca asks.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just missin’ you.”
“I like hearing that, because this bed feels empty without you in it.”
“Damn, woman. Now you’ve got all kinds of images playin’ in my head,” I tease.
“Good.”
I chuckle. “I’ll make it up to you when I get back.”
“Oh, you definitely will. I’m counting on that.”
I grin. God, I love this woman.
“JJ?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“You’ll be careful, won’t you? I mean, with whatever club stuff you’re doing. You won’t get… hurt, will you?”
“I’ll come home in one piece. I promise.”
“Don’t make promises if you can’t keep them.”
“I’m keepin’ this one, Rebecca. Got my oath on that. I should let you go. I’m sure you’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”
“You’ll call me if you get a chance?”
“Absolutely.”
“Okay. Goodnight, JJ.”
“Goodnight, baby. Dream of me.”
She giggles, and it's music to my ears. “Same.”
“That’s a given. Right now I’m imagining you in the shower with me.”
“Oh, really? Do tell.”
“I’m soapin’ your gorgeous body up good. Every inch.”
She giggles again. “Okay, goodnight, honey.”
“Goodnight, angel.”
She disconnects, and immediately, the joy leaves me. I gaze around the ratty motel room. It’s the last place I want to be. That phone call doesn’t replace being together.
I knew I’d miss her, but the feeling that engulfs me is a surprise. In the past, I could ride off from a woman and not think twice about her.
With Rebecca, all that has changed. This is a whole new ballgame for me. I don’t feel complete without her by my side. It’s like she’s my other half, and it’s crushing to be away from her. I don’t like it, and I know in my heart, that’s never gonna change.
My phone dings with a text, and I pick it up off the bed. It’s a picture from Rebecca. Her sweet face is smiling at the camera, her head on the pillow and a dreamy look in her eyes.
I set it as my new screensaver.
God, how I miss her.
No, I more than miss her—I need her.
That realization hits me like a sucker punch.