Pit’s Salvation (Saint’s Outlaws MC: Kansas City Chapter)

1. Chapter One

Chapter One

G avin “Pit” Lawson woke up as the warm, curvy body slid in beside his. How she circumvented his security system and got in each time was a mystery to him. They’d been doing this dance for over three months, and although he enjoyed every second of their time together, he craved more. He wanted dinners out with her. He wanted her on the back of his motorcycle on club runs. At his age, he’d had all the easy, no-strings sex he wanted, and he was tired of it. With her, it was so much more. If he was going to have a family and actually get to be able to see them grow up, he needed to get a move on. When he was younger, he would have scoffed at finding love at fifty-three, but he’d been bowled over when she’d rolled into his life.

As President of the Saint’s Outlaws MC, Kansas City, KS Chapter, he wasn’t used to not getting his way, but the woman he’d fallen for was one of the most stubborn, badass women he’d ever met—which said a lot considering who his mother was.

When his dad’s MC chapter had been almost wiped out back in nineteen eighty-eight, his mom, along with a couple of the originals, held the club together and came up with a plan to keep them safe until Pit was old enough and experienced enough to take over. Pit and his friends had all joined the Army just like they’d planned after high school and served for eight years. His mom had taken his dad’s place in the club, running it until Pit came back. It had been unconventional, but she’d done it. Then, before Pit came back, she’d approached an old Army friend of his dad’s to see if they’d be willing to patch over their club with Pit taking over as president. Man, the balls of his mother.

Now, years later, their club was still a one-percenter club, but it was only because Pit considered the law more of a hindrance to justice sometimes. They didn’t touch any human trafficking, drugs, or murder. In fact, they actively worked against it. Now, their gun store had a legitimate side and a not-so-legitimate side. Pit didn’t agree with the gun laws and had no problem helping someone defend themselves.

A slim, feminine hand slid into his chest hair and then drifted down his chest, bringing his thoughts back to the beauty in his bed. Of course, his cock was on board with whatever she wanted. He couldn’t resist her, and neither could his cock. If Pit had more willpower, he’d force her hand. But he was worried if he did, she’d never show up again, and he couldn’t handle that.

He inhaled her scent and wondered how long she was in town for. Her job had her going all over, and he hungered to have her by his side. If he could tattoo MINE all over her, he would. She was his, but she just didn’t know it yet. He just had to figure out how to make it happen.

“Does your dad know you’re here?” Pit asked.

Ariel Shields flipped the bedside light on, then grasped his hands, holding them above his head as she settled herself astride his abdomen.

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Ariel said, rolling her eyes. “My dad knows I’m freaking forty years old and doesn’t worry about whose bed I’m in. Are you trying to rile me up tonight, old man?”

Ouch. She knew how sensitive he was about being thirteen years older than her, and she’d gone for the jugular with her words. He bucked underneath her, knocking her off balance enough to slide her down to rub against his aching cock. He leaned up, nipping at her breast through the thin T-shirt she’d worn to bed.

“I’m trying to figure out how to get my woman to let me claim her and tell the world. The nighttime visits are hot as hell, but I want more. You sneaking out the back before anyone sees you is frustrating.”

Although Pit didn’t live in the clubhouse, his house was on the property, which made it even more annoying that Ariel was able to get in and out without any of their security going off.

“What if I don’t want to be claimed but want to claim you?”

Pit snickered, then laughed. Ariel let go of his hands, and he pulled them down and set them on her waist. He’d been humoring her by letting her feel like she was controlling him.

“Don’t laugh at me, oh ancient one.”

Her name for him had him chuckling louder, which had her gorgeous face turning red. She’d grown up with three overprotective older brothers and had a little bit of an attitude if someone dismissed her abilities. Heck, she was lethal, and he’d never dismiss her prowess.

“I’m not laughing at you.” He slid his hand up her waist, then pulled her toward him. “I was chuckling because you’ve already claimed me, and I’ve claimed you. Do you honestly believe I’d allow anyone to touch the woman who has burrowed her way into every last little part of my heart? You wouldn’t expect anything less than what your parents have, which is what I want too. It all hinges on you finally wanting more than these late-night booty calls.”

His lips ghosted over hers and slid down her neck. She shivered in his arms, and he rolled them over quickly before she could stop him. He pressed down until he was allowing almost all his weight on her.

“Do you want more, Sugar? Are you ready to give me all I want?” he whispered, licking and nibbling down her body. Her quiet moan told him she was enjoying it, but he needed her to want more. He kissed and caressed, sliding her panties down her thighs as he traced each inch of the satiny skin he unveiled.

He tossed her panties toward the chair in his room and looked at her. Her dark brown hair was splayed across his pillow. Her toffee-colored eyes stared at him with hunger. She was still a little self-conscious of her body even though he told her how much he loved her curves. She’d slipped on one of his T-shirts before coming to bed. She worked out to keep in shape for her job, but she still had a bubble butt and what she called her Buddha-belly, which, no matter what she did, would never be hard. He loved every soft inch of her and told her this endlessly. He laid kisses on her ankle, moving up her leg, enjoying tasting and touching every satiny inch of her. A loud banging and the doorbell ringing had him closing his eyes for a second.

“Please let me be imagining that sound,” he said.

Ariel giggled. “If you are, I am too. It sounds like Sledge is trying to get your attention.”

Pit figured it was him too because he always knocked like he was knocking down a door to fight a fire, which made sense because Sledge was a fireman. Pit slid on his jeans and grabbed his gun from the nightstand. Ariel was getting dressed. He wondered if he’d return to find her ghosted from the area. He’d hoped he could convince her tonight to let people know about them and take the next step. He slid to the side of his door but leaned to look through the peephole. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but some of his brothers were on his front porch at one in the morning, along with some of the Bluff Creek Brotherhood MC. Neither boded well for him getting back in bed with Ariel anytime soon tonight.

He opened the door and hoped this didn’t turn into the clusterfuck he was imagining it could.

“Sorry, Pit. I called and texted, but you didn’t answer. Baron, Roam, and War are concerned about Ariel.”

Pit waved his arm toward his family room to have them join him. He wasn’t sure how much more this could get screwed up. Ariel was the woman he’d imagined in his life since the moment he’d seen her in a bar. But she ghosted in and out on her assignments, never staying more than a night or two. He was positive he meant more to her than just a string of one-night stands, but she wasn’t one of those women who shared stuff. She kept everything locked down.

He sat down and waited for the men to start.

“Why are you here?” Pit asked when no one said anything after a few minutes, looking at Ariel’s dad and two of her brothers. Brew was the Vice President in their Texas Chapter and hadn’t made the trip. Ariel’s dad, Baron, was one of the originals who started Bluff Creek Brotherhood MC. He’d been the President until he’d handed it over to his son, War. Roam was War’s twin and served as the Treasurer for their club. He also ran the club’s tattoo shop and had done some of the tattoos Pit sported. Baron, War, and Roam were closer because they were at the original chapter in Bluff Creek, Kansas.

“Well, I was concerned about Ariel last time she swept through town. She was secretive, and so I had Scoop give me some trackers to install on her vehicle and items she used a lot,” War explained.

Awww man, this is not how Pit wanted his friends to find out that he was having sex with their sister and daughter. He’d been hoping that Ariel would agree for them to go public. He was going to make a drive to Bluff Creek, explain how he felt about her, and ask for Baron’s blessing. It might seem old-fashioned, but since he’d basically been having sex with the princess of Bluff Creek behind their backs, it seemed like the least he could do.

Banging on his door had him wondering who else would be screwing up his life tonight.

Crux, another one of his brothers, their Chapter’s Chaplain and the manager of their gun range, opened the door. It might seem like those jobs didn’t all mix, but Crux made them work.

“Hey, Pit. Looks like you have some more visitors.”

The grin Crux was trying to hide had Pit wanting to kick his Chaplain, but that was frowned upon.

Remington, War’s wife and also the head of Franks and Daughters Bail Bonds, walked in along with a couple of her sisters. Sarah was the bail bonds tech person, and Beth was their surveillance expert. With what he’d learned from Ariel, besides working with them, she considered them all good friends.

“Remi, what are you doing here? This is club business.”

Remi rolled her eyes and walked over to her husband, then thumped him on his ear before he knew what she was doing.

“What the hell, Remi?”

“Oh, so it’s club business. Explain to me how club business includes putting trackers on your sister’s stuff when she’s a grown woman.” Remi’s glare could have melted metal, and Pit was wholeheartedly glad he wasn’t on the receiving end of it.

“Remi, War was just doing what I asked. I was worried about Ariel,” Baron said.

Remi rolled her eyes and stared at Baron.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever been as disappointed in you three as I am today. Did any of you three think to directly ask Ariel what she was doing? Or where she was going? Or did you just decide she was the club princess who couldn’t take care of herself and the big, strong men would keep track of her?”

Pit shuddered at the sarcasm dripping from Remi’s words. He’d worked with Remi multiple times when their interests of saving women intersected. She was a badass just like his Sugar was. Ariel rolled her eyes sometimes when he called her that, but he was positive she loved it. He’d told her why he was calling her that pet name the first time they got together. She was sweet as sugar but could be hard as steel when needed.

“Now, Remi…” War started.

“Don’t ‘now Remi’ me, you neanderthal.”

“Remi, you know that older brothers need to watch out for their sisters,” Roam stated, trying to back up his twin.

Remi shook her head again. Then hit a button on her phone, sending a text, he assumed. His door opened, a-gain, only this time, Pit was ready to hide. Pit had known that if Baron was mad at him for sleeping with Ariel, then they could settle it in the ring. Now, with Baron’s wife, Regina, here, he wasn’t sure what the outcome of tonight would be.

“What do you three think you’re doing?” Regina asked, with her arms crossed, tapping her foot as she waited for their answer.

“Regina, we’ve been worried about Ariel. She’s barely come home since the boys returned. And she doesn’t check in that often,” Baron said.

“With you,” Regina said.

“What?” Baron asked.

“With you. She doesn’t check in with you because every time she calls, you always put a guilt trip on her that she doesn’t call enough or come home enough. She and I text and chat every week.”

Pit hid his smile behind his hand because he really didn’t want to get beat up tonight. But seeing Regina’s strength, he was getting a glimpse of how Ariel would handle their sons in years to come, if they were blessed with them. He could see Regina had obviously passed down the steel spine to her daughter.

Baron stared at Regina, then asked, “Why didn’t you share what she said?”

“You never asked me about Ariel. I’m guessing you and your two thick-headed sons were too busy planning how the big, strong men would keep Ariel safe. I love the three of you and your protectiveness,” War started to smile then paused when Regina continued, “but she’s not a baby. Sure, she’s your younger sister, but she is a strong, fierce forty-year-old woman who is friggin’ amazing at her job.”

“But she doesn’t say exactly what she does,” War sputtered.

“She told you she works at the bail bonds in investigations. What more do you want her to tell you?” Remi asked.

“But what exactly does that mean?” Baron asked.

“She investigates things we need investigated. What more do you need explained?” Remi replied.

Pit couldn’t see where this was going, but he was a tad concerned that the club’s relationship with Bluff Creek Brotherhood MC might be damaged. Ariel was going to be his wife and Ol’ Lady, but he’d hoped to be able to control how War, Baron, and Roam found out. Now, it was anyone’s guess how this would turn out.

“So why come here?” Pit questioned.

He felt a little stupid focusing their interest back on him, but he wasn’t sure how he fit in.

“Well, we don’t check that often. Most times when we check, we see the tracker in Topeka, where one of the bail bonds offices is, or in Texas a couple of times, but then today, we saw she was in Kansas City. Then four trackers started all going different ways. One went toward Colorado. One went toward Chicago. The other two went south on Interstate thirty-five and then split, one east on Highway Forty and one west. We decided to see if we could stay here and then start trying to figure out what happened,” Baron said.

“How about we all go get some sleep and then we can talk about it tomorrow? I can guarantee that Ariel is fine,” Beth Franks, the youngest sister of the bail bonds, stated.

“How can you guarantee she’s fine when the trackers are all going different directions?” War asked.

“Well, they’re all going different directions because Ariel was angry when I called to tell her about them,” Beth stated, grinning at War.

“How did you find out about them?” War asked.

“Sarah saw them on Scoop’s laptop when her husband left the program up and running when he went to the bathroom. She was a little irritated at the high-handedness of you guys,” Beth stated.

This wasn’t getting better, and Pit was worried this would be an epic explosion they couldn’t come back from.

“How about Sledge and Crux get you all either rooms in the clubhouse or into our cabins to stay the night? I’m sure everyone is tired. Then we can sit down tomorrow and see if you all still need help.”

Pit was really hoping they’d take him up on his offer. He hadn’t heard any sounds from the bedroom and really hoped Ariel didn’t walk out now.

“We’d love a cabin, Pit. Remi, Sarah, Beth, and I can stay together. I have no wish to sleep beside my husband tonight since he obviously didn’t want to let me in on his plans,” Regina stated.

He nodded at Crux. “Ladies, come with me. Do you have luggage we need to get?” Crux said as he led them out of the house.

Baron, War, and Roam stood up. “Sorry to barge in, Pit. When I saw all those trackers going different ways, all I could think about was a human trafficking ring trying to get rid of evidence. We’ll stay in the clubhouse, and I’m sure I’ll be trying to figure out how to get in my wife’s good graces tomorrow,” War said.

“Sledge will get you set up, and there’s no reason to apologize. I can see how it would scare you. We can all get together tomorrow morning.”

Pit waited until he saw the guys go in the back door of the clubhouse before he closed and locked his door, turning off the lights as he made his way back to his room. He walked into his bedroom. Ariel was sitting on the bed.

“Well, this seems a fine situation we’re in,” Pit said.

Ariel giggled, then fell over chuckling on the bed.

“Oh my gosh. Your face when they were talking. How they didn’t see the fear in your eyes was beyond me. Now what do I get for not coming out there and blowing everything up tonight?” Ariel said, smiling.