36. Paige
36
PAIGE
Home.
I'm not sure exactly when it happened, and it seems crazy after such a short time, but when I wake up in Poe's bed, nestled between him and Crank, with Savage asleep in a chair, angled to keep watch, I've never felt more home than I do right now. Like I belong. Like I'm safe.
Alive.
They're all asleep, and I don't think I can get out of the bed without waking at least one of them. It makes my heart beat faster, but I also really have to pee.
So I give it a go. I haven't even gotten over Poe when Crank wraps his strong arm around my waist and yanks me right back into him, my back against his chest and his… oh, hello there.
“Let go, before I pee all over you,” I say with a giggle, squirming in his arms.
He chuckles, the rumble vibrating my back, but he releases me. “But you're coming back here. We're not done with you yet.”
Jeez. I guess all it takes for bikers to get all possessive is a little mortal danger. No problem.
When I return, Savage and Poe are awake, too, and everyone is on the bed so I don't have to climb over anyone to get back to the middle, though I'm immediately trapped in a cuddle sandwich between Savage and Poe. Pretty sure it's Poe's hand that sneaks around to the front and cups my boob in a comforting, familiar way, not pressing for anything more. Not yet, at least.
“How's your burn?” Savage asks, tracing his finger gently underneath the tender stripe on my cheek.
“Sore. I'm going to have a scar on my face forever, aren't I?”
“Hey, it's cool,” Poe says. “Chicks dig scars.”
“On men, not on ourselves.” I roll my eyes dramatically.
Crank laughs. “If you think for a second that the scar makes you anything other than badass and even more sexy to us, you don't know us very well. It's hot. Almost stopped my heart when you pulled that shit, but it shows you’ve got guts. That you’re willing to do dangerous things. Like us. We’re the dangerous things that you'll be doing.”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it right away. No need to explain.” I give him a nudge, but smile too. As long as they don't care, then I can't let myself care either. They're the only ones who matter in the end.
“Not sure how many lives you're at now, kitten, but that was definitely one of them.” Savage is still stroking my cheek. I lean my face into his hand until he's palming it. “Maybe time to slow down a little. Don't want you using them up too quickly. I'd get real disappointed.”
“Yeah, me too.” God knows that I'd hate to miss out on my guys after going through all of this to be with them.
Crank, showing a beautiful expanse of skin as he was sleeping in just his boxers, gets up and heads to the bathroom. The sink runs and then he returns with a washcloth. “Come here.”
The guys let me up so he can pull me into his lap and clean around my wound. His other hand is getting frisky around my thigh. “Hey,” I say as I put a hand on top of his, stopping it, just pressing it against me. It feels nice, but I'm definitely not up for wild bedroom acrobatics quite yet. My head's still way too full of gunfights, and dead people—poor Heather, even if she was a greedy bitch—and the stress of being held hostage for hours, not knowing if I'd come out alive on the other end.
I feel so lucky to have gone through everything and not just lived, but found a whole new family.
He finishes cleaning my burn, then kisses me right below it. “Baby girl, no one's gonna force you to do anything you're not ready for. It's been a rough week of the type that most people will never ever have. It's understandable that you need to recover. Or at least learn to accept. Some things you never fully recover from. Fuck, if you want therapy, we'll find someone. Don't want your head all fucked up just because you had a greedy uncle and aunt. You don't deserve that trauma.”
I want to say that they don't deserve theirs either, but it'll probably fall on deaf ears. Men.
The moment Crank finishes with me, Poe pulls me out of his lap and into his own, squeezing me close. “Fuck, we were so worried about you. Fabbri was lucky to get off as easy as he did. If he'd hurt you, his death would've been a lot more prolonged and painful.” The way his voice goes deadly at the end gives me chills. If there's a hell he can think about it from, Fabbri should be happy that he got shot right away. I'm not generally for killing people, but I sure won't mourn his death.
There's a knock on the door.
“Jesus, now what?” Savage gets up since Poe has his hands full with me, and opens the door. “Yeah?”
Jessica grins as she looks him up and down. “Did I interrupt a good time?”
He smiles and shakes his head. “Just waking up. Figured she should at least be able to wash off all the blood and get her heart rate back down to normal before we ramp it back up. Come on in.” He opens the door all the way.
She lights up when she sees me and holds up a pretty yellow vase with a massive bouquet of roses in it. “Happy not dying day!”
“Um, thanks?” I have to laugh. “It's my first, and hopefully my last celebration of that particular holiday. Thank you for the flowers, though. They're beautiful.”
“Of course. I was so worried when I heard that the first person here who'd really understood what it's like to be… well like us, had gotten herself in trouble. So I'm glad you’re okay. And when you feel up for it, I'd love to hang out some more, since I had a good time last time. Plus Bonnie keeps threatening to start a girls' shooting club, and it'd be a sad club with only three members.” She smiles and puts the vase on Poe's dresser. “It looks nice here. Anyway, I'll take off so you guys can get back to fucking.” As I splutter, she shrugs. “Or whatever you were doing, but that's usually where it leads anyway.” And then she's out, passing by a confused looking Hellfire, who came in at the tail end of it.
Poe rolls his eyes. “Guess we're holding court today. Come in, Prez.”
Hellfire nods his head in greeting. “Just checking in. Figured I'd give you guys an update while I'm at it. How's the burn?” He looks at my cheek, and if a girl with a big scar bothers him in any way, he doesn't give any hint. It's just concern.
“It's getting better, thanks. Sore, but the guys are taking care of me.”
“I just bet they are. Anyway, believe it or not, yesterday's mess got us a couple of friends with the cops. Even with Detective Burton's demise. We had a couple people reach out discreetly, interested in keeping lines of communication open. Just in case, of course.”
“Of course,” Savage says dryly. “I don't trust them.”
“Oh, fuck no. That's not what we're doing here, but it gives us insiders we can call on if necessary, and that could prove useful. But the moment they think we’ll turn over for the law, we're outta there. Fuck ‘em.” Hellfire puts his back to the wall and leans on it, crossing his powerful arms over his chest. “Now the Fabbris… we're gonna have to keep an eye open for them. We nailed Stefano and they took a big hit, but Mafia keeps coming back, like fucking roaches. We're gonna be hearing more from them now that they're moving in, but this will slow them down. Downside is, killing Stefano also put us on their radar. Before we were just some MC in the same town, but now we're enemies. So watch your backs out there.” He shrugs. “I guess that's it. Just wanted to make sure that the girl that got us into the whole mess is recovering alright.”
“I'm okay. Thank you.” I smile at him.
Hellfire snorts and shakes his head, like he has no idea why they think I’m worth it but he’ll humor his men. “Good. Anyway, I got work to do. You can get back to fucking now.” Before I can answer, he closes the door behind him.
“Does everyone think we're just fucking in here?”
Crank laughs. “Anyone who's ever looked at you. We're gonna let you recover, but we're suffering the whole fucking way while we wait.”
“You have hands. You know how to take care of yourselves. Trust me, Savage gave me a thorough demonstration. Somehow you managed before you met me.” I lean into Poe, enjoying his warmth, and for now, ignoring the hardness that has come between us.
“That was before we met you,” he says. “Now we know what we’re missing. Like the final puzzle piece.”
“You still know how to jerk off. Now hold me, and make me remember that I'm home.”
Savage sits next to us and runs his hand up and down my back. “You're home, kitten. You're fucking home.”