33. Lia
Chapter thirty-three
Lia
I smile up at Badger and pat his arm. The giant is slowly becoming one of my favourite people. He’s treating me how I imagined a grandfather might. A bit stern, with a lot of teasing, and a general comfort to be around.
I can see why everyone loves him, but it’s not just him. It’s the whole club. Jolie was standoffish, but he’s a proper artist, and once I got him talking, he was loud and almost impossible to shut up. Valen was so shocked he walked into a wall.
Rojers, Neil, and Dog are funny and kind. They treat me like I belong here, slapping my back and touching me in impersonal ways that make me feel like one of the club. They talk about their families and have invited me to dinner with the girls. I accepted, of course.
The prospects are fun. Nick, Kyle, Luka, Rhys, and Liam are a group that just work well together. They tease the older guys with affection and good-natured fun. There is a joyfulness in their enthusiasm that calls to me, and I’ve found myself slyly teaching the young ones how to create really epic pranks.
An hour ago, Zaden announced we were having a party.
I’d stared at him before meekly waiting to see if perhaps he was going to ask me to leave, but he kissed my forehead and walked off while I turned to watch him. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I swear, I felt faint.
Io had put an arm around my shoulders and dragged me to the downstairs bathroom, where she and Pasley did my hair and makeup.
Now, hours later, I’m sitting on Ianto’s lap, while the MC parties around me, and it is everything I ever dreamed. The music is loud and people are laughing and having fun. I’ve already asked Io and Pasley to teach me to dance like that. We’d danced until Zaden had pulled me away from them and told me to sit down.
I’d pouted and asked why, and he said if he wasn’t allowed to leave, then I had to behave so that he could remain here and think not murderous or sexy thoughts.
The women have welcomed me with open arms, and the MC has accepted me. Tonight has proven it. I keep waiting for someone to drop the other shoe on my head and steal my joy away, but it doesn’t come.
Gradually, I relax and start getting louder, laughing and teasing the guys back. We’re in the lounge room, and on the five long couches are people who I’ve come to recognise as part of the MC family. Io is sitting on Badger’s knee having a political argument with Jolie. While Rojers and Dog are talking about the latest shooting game and how to beat it. It’s delightfully mundane, and I love every minute of it.
Ianto strokes my thigh, reminding me that I’m safe. Ranger walks past, and as he does, he winks at me, and I swear, that gesture goes straight into my heart and lodges there. I still can’t believe he said those words to me. I’m not sure anyone has told me that they loved me before, not for who I am.
I clear my throat a couple of times and stand up, only to find Mills waiting for me. He holds out a muffin, and I take a bite, ignoring all the jeering that turns my cheeks pink.
“Ignore them. They’re just jealous!”
Badger stands up and carefully moves me out of the way and opens his mouth to Mills. “My turn.”
I snort a laugh as Mills shakes his head and pops the rest of the muffin in his mouth.
“You had three,” Mills snaps, but I can tell he doesn’t mean it.
Io lets out a snarl and slaps Badger’s ass. He lets out a wild shriek and swings her up into his arms. They tussle, but in the end, he presses a fervent kiss to her lips, and she calms, wrapping her arms around his neck. They look so good together that it nearly brings tears to my eyes. Badger moans as he returns to his seat, pulling her down and whispering in her ear.
Valen walks into the room with a beer in his hands. He pulls me into his arms and starts dancing with me.
“I saw your moves earlier. Show me?”
How can I resist? We dance until my cheeks are hot, and I’m sweating. Only then do I slow and wrap my arms around his neck.
I lean my face against his shoulder and sigh.
“You all right?”
“I’m happy. Really, really happy. ”
Valen spins me around and around before sending me into a dip. I hang there, laughing until he pulls me up and starts singing at the top of his lungs.
I recognise the old love song, some boppy tune from the era of my mother’s reign. Valen cries out his devotion and ardor, and I laugh until tears run down my cheeks, especially when he jumps up on the coffee table. Kyle and Nick come out all glassy eyed, laughing, and decide to sing as his back up.
Jolie throws him a dollar, and that starts it. He’s soon singing to a room full of drunken bikers and taking his clothes off piece by piece.
A hand touches my side, and I turn and find Ranger and Zaden watching. Ranger holds out another one of those pink alcoholic drinks.
“I can have one?”
He raises an eyebrow, looking at me quizzically. “Sweetheart, you can do whatever the fuck you want. No one here would stop you.”
I take the drink and turn it in my hand before I throw myself at Ranger and kiss him.
A loud woo starts around us, and when we break away, I’m breathless, and Valen is on his knees on the table in a pink g-string singing about how he’s been abandoned.
My eyes bulge at the sight of my underwear on this huge man. My cheeks burn, but I can’t stop laughing. I grip Ranger’s hand, holding on as I cackle.
“Um,” I glance back and forth, unsure what to say, but he looks damn good.
Zaden puts a hand on my shoulder. “It’s a thing. Just let him be. The more you make a scene, the more he’ll feel the need to do it. And he stretches the elastic.”
“Prior experience?” I ask and roll my lips to hold back a laugh.
“Yep. He likes my tighty-whiteys.”
I burst out laughing and find that Ianto, Mills, Ranger, and Valen are watching us. They have a warm, happy look in their eyes. Contented. The dangerous edge to the pack is slumberous, and I realise I want to be that for them. I want to make them smile and give them happy moments, the way they’ve given me happy moments.
“What?” I ask and arch an eyebrow. I finish the pink drink and put the glass down.
“You just…” Ranger trails off, shaking his head. He turns and sits down on Ianto’s lap, kissing him in a long, slow, lingering kiss that gets me hotter than I’m ready to admit in public.
“They are happy, Lia,” Badger says when my pack has wandered off, talking and chatting with people. “You make everything around you a little bit brighter. I’m not sure you even realise.” Badger gestures to me, and I follow him outside and onto the porch. I sit beside him on the steps.
The night is full of stars, but it’s warm and seems mysterious. Like anything could happen .
“They lived for your pranks. You have made them so happy for so long, and now I’ve never seen them like this.”
“Like what?”
“Content. Happy. It’s hard to explain, but those alphas were turning hard, year after year. But with you here, the shells are coming off.”
“I love them, too,” I admit in a whisper. “It’s scary, but I think I have for a long time.”
“Good,” Badger says and lights up a smoke. “Love them, be fierce, be what they need, and don’t betray them.”
“I would never do that.”
He pats my knee and looks up at the stars. “When I look at the stars, I miss my wife.”
“What happened to her?”
“Oh, she was sick. She lived a good life, though. She loved this club. So did Zaden’s mother. Those two women were made to be the old ladies of this club and you, I see that same spark in you, too.”
I peer up at the twinkling lights. “Hell, I don’t know much of anything. I’ve barely left the mansion.”
“That can be fixed. It’s the heart that can’t.”
“What if I’m not good enough?”
Badger chuckles. “What if you are?”
I purse my lips, confused and uncertain.
“This life is violent and rough. It’s a wild life that not many would choose. We’re more at home on the back of a bike than we are in our own homes. You have to be a fighter, a lover, have a heart that won’t quit, and a soul that loves to fly.”
I blink at him. “How do you know if you have all of that?”
“Lia, darling girl. You’re a fighter, and you love those guys passionately. You waged a four-year prank war because you wouldn’t quit, and I have no doubts in my mind that you long to soar. Don’t you understand? You were born for this club.”
“I’m stealing her now.” The words cut through the night and bring an instant smile to my lips.
“Sure, Mills, sure,” Badger says and, with a groan, gets to his feet and wanders off into the dark.
Mills sits behind me and pulls me back into his arms. “What do you think of our parties?”
“I think they are wonderful. Do you think everyone liked me?” I ask anxiously.
“Lia, everyone loves you.” Mills rubs down my upper arms and kisses the back of my neck. “I love you.”
I still as he leans in closer so his mouth is beside my ear.
“Did you hear me?”
“I heard you,” I whisper. “I’m just trying to decide if I’m asleep or not.”
Mills laughs and guides his hands up my ribs until he cups my breasts. I moan and let out a soft squeal when he pinches my nipples.
“This is real. It’s not a dream. I mean it.”
I cover his hands with mine as he squeezes and strokes my breasts.
“I-”
“I know you love us, Lia. God, I don’t need to hear you say it. I see it when you look at me. And hear it in the way you speak. It’s in your touch. I don’t need the words you’re too afraid to say. I know you, Lia, and I know how you feel.”
I turn to the side so I can twist my head and look up at him. I take a breath and shake the chains of fear loose. “Mills, I really do love you.”
Mills’ smile is beautiful.
“This is a dream, you guys and this party and the club. It can’t be anything but a dream. It’s too perfect.”
Mills laughs and drags me up. “All right, Lia, let’s mark it on the calender. You’ve attended a party. Had your first drink. Had a declaration of love. Want to do one more first?”
I peer up at him. “Like what?”
“You want to go for a ride? Want to learn how to fly?”
My eyes widen.
An hour later, I cuddle into Mills’ back as we fly along the highway. I decide that Badger was right. My soul does yearn to fly.
And I have five alphas who can teach me how.