Chapter Three
I’m still cuddled into Walker’s lap, and I’m oddly content. Like this is where I was meant to be.
It’s a little scary, but the buzz I have going is keeping me from caring too much.
For one night, I am going to do something wild and enjoy it. Besides, I like talking with these three. Well, two. Walker doesn’t talk much, but he has his own comfort with the way his hands caress my skin while remaining appropriate.
“I’m going to get another drink,” I tell them, moving to stand.
Walker tightens his arms around me, handing me the bottle of water from the table.
“Drink.”
I frown, looking over my shoulder at him. His lips are so close. I could kiss them again. I could get that feeling back. The one where the rest of the world melted away, but I don’t give into the urge. This is way outside my comfort zone as is, so instead, I ask what’s on my mind.
“Why?”
He grunts, “You need to stay hydrated. I don’t want you to be sick later.”
My cheeks blush as I feel a little giddy at the explanation. I like that he is caring for me. I’ve never really had anyone to care for me like that before.
I open the bottle and drink. His eyes flare as I do as I’m told. It has a shiver going down my spine. The tension is ridiculous right now.
“So Esme, darling. What do you do for a living?” Hudson asks. “Please tell me you are a kindergarten teacher. That would be so hot.”
I giggle. I’m understanding that Hudson is a big flirt. I thought Walker would mind when he so obviously has claimed me as his for the night, but he doesn’t say anything to Hudson. He lets him flirt away with me.
Of course he does. He just met you. He isn’t attached.
I shake the thoughts away. “I’m a zoologist.”
He widens his eyes. “I did not expect that.”
“Me either,” Levi mumbles as his phone starts to ring. “I have to take this. I’ll be right back.”
He looks at me as he says the words, making me wonder why he is speaking directly to me.
He steps away before I can ask. When I turn back to Hudson, he is staring after him too.
“Is he okay?”
Hudson turns to me with a warm smile. “Of course. So, it’s getting late. Would you mind if we made sure you made it home safe?”
“Oh, really, you don’t have to do that,” I tell him.
“We want to. It would be our pleasure.”
I frown. “I don’t even know you guys. It would be unwise to let you take me home. You could do anything to me. I could end up on an episode of Dateline with people I’ve never even spoken to telling the cameras how I light up the room.”
“You do,” Walker grumbles from behind me.
“What?” I glance over my shoulder at him.
He shrugs.
I shake my head at him, turning back to Hudson. “How were you planning to get home tonight?”
“A taxi,” I tell him.
“So you were going to let a complete stranger take you home. Especially with you being drunk and alone. Who is to say he doesn’t kidnap you and do things to you?
If it makes you feel better, I can give you my ID, and you can send it to your friend.
You can share your location too. We aren’t going to hurt you, darling.
We only want to make sure you make it home safe. ”
I chew my bottom lip. He has me there. Still, I don’t even have a friend I would send it to. I glance over at him as he patiently waits for my answer.
I guess I could email it to myself. Maybe they would look there?
“Okay. Only with your IDs.”
He whips his out and hands it to me.
Hudson Ray Campbell
12-19-1992
I snap a photo of it.
Walker is next, handing me his entire wallet.
I look over at him, but he doesn’t say a word. So I open it and snap a photo of his too, also noting his name.
Walker Allen Jones
9-19-1991
Levi walks back then.
“Give Esme your ID.”
Levi nods and does it without question.
Levi Alexander Rhodes
7-10-1991
When I add it to an email, Walker grunts.
“That’s not a friend.”
I look at all three of them and glance back at my phone.
“I don’t really have any.”
The admission has all three going silent for a moment.
“You have three now, darling,” Hudson says.
“That’s right.” Levi smiles warmly at me.
“We are going to take her home,” Hudson tells him.
“I’ll settle the bill then,” Levi says, as Hudson helps me stand from Walker’s lap. He keeps my hand in his as Walker keeps his arm around my shoulder.
For the first time in my life, I feel safe.
And to think, it’s with three rough-looking men.
Sitting there with Esme and my brothers has been the best thing to happen to us in a while.
She is everything that I like in a woman.
Gorgeous, of course, but it’s more than that.
She is funny and quirky. She laughs at my jokes, which is a huge plus.
She is also in tune with our emotions. I can tell by the way she glances at Levi when he gets irritated with me.
The way she reaches down and squeezes Walker’s arm when he seems to be getting restless. She helps settle him.
It’s good to see Walker get so possessive over a woman again. Not that I mind what he has been doing since he decided to swear off women, but we needed this. We needed a positive in the hell that’s been going on for the last several years.
Levi has been making changes to the Devil’s Den since taking over, and one of them is the requirement to form clans and take on one single female. Many of the guys are still adhering to it, but a couple broke off from their clans to find one single woman.
We could never do that. I cannot imagine having a woman and not sharing her with these two. We have been a unit for so long that I can’t even comprehend what it would be like living apart.
Another big change is what the club is doing.
We were just a part of the crew system, a system of organized crime that adheres to unspoken laws between clubs, but Levi thought that it was time we branched out.
So while we still partake in that world, we also formed the Devil’s Den MC.
That opened a whole new world for us, especially after our former leader, Zade, had fucked us on so many levels.
With the rewards come risks, though, and looking at the gorgeous little woman next to me, I’m not sure she will fit in with this life. She is sweet and kind. She is soft where we are hard.
Could it work? Would she even want to take on three men?
It’s only been one night, but she has already invaded my thoughts.
“You didn’t have to buy my drinks. I could have bought them,” she tells me, looking up at me from under Walker’s arm.
“A gentleman never lets the woman pay.” I wink at her.
“I thought that only applied for dates.”
I smirk. “Oh, so this was a date? Noted, darling.”
I tap her nose.
Her cheeks grow redder than they were before. “What? No?”
“Shh. It’s okay. It can be a date. Just the four of us. No one needs to know.”
She looks away embarrassed, but she doesn’t argue again. That’s promising.
Walker’s eyes meet mine as he realizes the same thing.
We step outside, walking toward the three motorcycles parked right out front.
Levi comes up behind us as we reach them.
“Okay, darling. Have you ever ridden before?”
Her eyes widen as she shakes her head. “No, and I’m not going to tonight.”
Levi steps in, cupping her cheek. “Esme, we took care of you tonight. We got rid of the ex. We did everything we could to make you comfortable. Does that not earn us a little trust?”
She frowns, so I push him out of the way. “It’s fine. I’ll get us a taxi and come back for my bike.”
She looks up at me, her eyes determined.
“No. Levi is right. I trust you at least enough for a ride home. You’ll go slow? Keep me safe?”
I bend so I’m the same height as her. “Of course, darling. When you are with us, we will never let anything happen to you.”
She nods. “Okay then. I don’t have a helmet though.”
Before I can grab mine, Walker is already putting his on her. It’s too big, but she doesn’t seem to mind. Then he pulls his jacket off, revealing his cut beneath as he helps Esme into his jacket.
I wanted her on my bike, but it looks like Walker has claimed her on his.
I’ll let him have this one. Next time, she rides behind me.
“What now?” she asks.
“You lean when he leans. Keep your hands tightly around him,” Levi tells her.
“Feel free to feel up the abs. He’d like it.” I wink at her.
“Hudson,” Levi barks at me, making me laugh harder.
“Let him get on first, then we will get you on behind him,” I tell her.
She does as we ask, and when she is finally nestled behind him, I take a moment to snap a photo.
She looks like she fits in like the puzzle piece we have been missing.
It’s so stupid to feel that way after one night, but she’s something special.
There is a light about her that we all can see.
I can tell by the way Levi studies her and the way Walker already protects her as if she is already ours.
I know it won’t be that simple. She could say no. She could only want one of us, which would never work with our group dynamic, but for one night I play pretend.
“We need your address, darlin’,” I tell her.
She gives it to us as Levi inputs it into his GPS.
I climb on my bike and let Levi take the lead, Walker behind him and me taking up the rear. Then I allow myself to enjoy the ride. To enjoy the view of her on my best friend’s bike.
One day we will need to have a talk with her. Let her know exactly how we operate. I hope like hell she wants us all as much as we seem to want her. I hope this doesn’t tear our group apart because it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Walker like this. Like he actually wants someone with a pussy.
No, it will all work out. It has to. If she’s not the one for us, then we keep searching.
The right girl for us is out there. We just need to find her.
My eyes stray to the beautiful blond on the back of the bike in front of me.
Hopefully we already have.