Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
jenna
Walking down the hallway, I can’t help but notice that there isn’t anyone around.
It’s creepy quiet up here tonight. I hurriedly make my way to the stairs and head down to the first floor, remembering that I saw a large kitchen behind the bar the night of the party.
Surely, there has to be food in there. The moment my feet hit the landing; I hear a familiar voice.
“Jenna!” Sienna calls to me and waves me over to the table. She’s sitting with Cali, Mia, and Marley.
Marley leaps out of her seat and practically runs into my arms when she sees me.
“Don’t scare me like that again, okay?” She squeezes her small arms around my neck.
“I’ll try, and we’ll talk about the fun little package you left for me later,” I whisper. Marley lets go and starts laughing so hard, I’m pretty sure I hear her snort. I shove her shoulder as I walk towards the other women.
“What’s so funny?” Cali asks as I sit down at the table with them. A pile of nachos sits in the middle of the table, and my stomach growls loudly.
“Oh, nothing. I just left Jenna a little surprise up in her room. And she loved it!” Marley smirks at me.
“Sure. Can I have some of these? I came down here to find food. I’m starving.” I look around the table.
“Oh, please do! We can’t finish these alone,” Mia says, pushing them toward me. I grab a loaded chip and fill my mouth. I sigh in happiness as the meaty, cheesy goodness explodes on my tongue.
Mia stands from the table and heads over to the bar. “Where are you going?” Sierra asks.
“To make us some margaritas!” Mia says in an obvious voice. “It’s 3:30 a.m., and we all have had shit nights.”
“Hear, hear!” I chant.
“Sign me up,” Cali grunts from next to me. All of the women are in relaxed, comfy clothes. It seems like none of us can sleep.
“How’s Gunner?” I ask Cali. I overheard someone talking about him getting hurt earlier when Axel and I came back.
“He’ll be fine. The bullet went clean through. He was already up and complaining about not being able to ride for a while,” she says, rolling her eyes.
Mia laughs from the bar. “Sounds about right.”
Cali and Mia talk about some article they both read, and Sierra is busy texting, so I lean over to Marley.
“Where’s Blaze? I thought you two were together earlier?” I ask.
She finishes her bite before responding. “We were. He dropped me off and helped me get the bags up to our rooms. Then he said he needed to go help Axel and Jax with something. Said to not wait up.” Marley shrugs her shoulders and grabs another chip. “Why?”
“Just wondering. Axel said he was going to be gone for only a short time. But that was around midnight,” I explain.
“Hmm, must have got caught up,” she says as Mia places the largest margaritas I’ve ever seen in front of each of us. Mia plops down in her chair and holds her drink up.
“To the amazing women of the HCMC” We all go to tap our drinks together, but Mia cuts us off.
“Wait, I wasn’t done!”
Pulling our drinks back, we look around at each other with a slight giggle.
“And to Jenna spilling her guts about the mind-blowing sex she’s having with Axel!”
“Cheers!” rings out from all the other women at the table.
I choke on the chip I just took a bite of and end up having a coughing fit.
“Oh, come on, Jenna, you have to spill. We’ve been so curious about Axel. He’s never let us set him up with anyone and has never had a steady girlfriend. But here you come out of nowhere, and he’s fawning over you like your vagina is made of gold,” Cali says very matter-of-factly. “Spill!”
I take a healthy drink of my margarita. It burns my throat on the way down. I should have remembered from the welcome-home party, that Mia’s cocktails are dangerously strong.
“To be honest, I haven’t done anything special—well, I don’t think.” I study my nails for a moment, trying to put into words whatever is going on between Axel and me.
“Don’t get me wrong, the sex is great—beyond great.” The girls all cheer and whistle. I roll my eyes as I feel a deep blush burn my cheeks and continue.
“But there’s more there. We are constantly being drawn together like two magnets. I feel safe and protected with him. I can’t explain it, but it feels… right.”
“Wow, sounds romantic,” Mia says as she rests her head on her hands.
“But as romantic as it is, I’m worried. We’ve only known each other for a little over three weeks. These feelings aren’t normal. We are supposed to go slow, right?” I ask honestly.
“Who says?” Sierra asks. “Because what I’ve learned from being around these men is that they love fiercely. Everything they do is quick. In this life, if you don’t reach out and grab what you want, it will be someone else’s a moment later.” I watch as all the other women nod at the table.
“Don’t overthink it, Jenna. We’ve all seen the way he looks at you,” Marley states.
“And how’s that?” I’m fishing for information here.
“Like you are a living, breathing angel.” She slaps my arm. “He’s obsessed!”
We spend the next hour talking and drinking. We talk about the men in our lives, our jobs, funny stories. I don’t think I’ve laughed this hard in years.
We are all still sitting and chatting when a giant man with a scar running the length of his face approaches us.
As he gets closer, I can’t help but notice how gorgeous he is.
Tall and muscular with soft, short chestnut hair.
His brown eyes don’t compare to Axel’s, but they sure are nice to look at.
I’m starting to rethink my whole idea about bikers—these guys are all smoking hot.
“Ladies,” he says in the deepest voice I think I’ve ever heard.
“Hey, Motley,” Mia says, a blush creeping up her cheeks. Interesting. I’ll have to ask her about that later. “I’m sorry I didn’t say hi on your birthday. You were busy, and I was stuck behind the bar.” She continues.
“No worries, love. It was a crazy night,” he says as he wiggles his eyebrows. He looks around the table at all of us.
“Sierra, you look good. How ya been?”
“Great, Motley. Still working at Axel’s shop and trying to keep up with the grump that is my old man,” she chuckles. Her face is now flushed from the tequila.
“Where have you been? We haven’t seen you in months,” Cali asks.
“Been up in Dalewood. Had a job to do with the charter in that area. Came back because I heard the boys had a little fun without me. Why? You miss me, Cali?” He bats his eyes at her.
“You wish,” she says, rolling her eyes.
“Mark my words. One of these days, you’re going to realize that I’m the big, bad biker you need—not that asshole you call an old man,” his words laced with mischief.
“I’ll be sure to tell him you think so when he’s up,” she laughs. He winks at her and then makes eye contact with Marley and me.
“Club girls?” he says to Mia as he moves to stand over me. She goes to respond, but he starts to talk. He puts out his hand. “Nice to meet you, gorgeous. I’m your biggest fantasy come to life.”
I stare at his hand and then back up at him. “That’s the best pickup line you could come up with?” The girls all chuckle as he cocks his head with a shit-eating grin.
“Oh, I like this one,” he states. I shake his hand and laugh with the girls.
“I’m Jenna, and I’m definitely not a club girl. Whatever that is.” I nod toward Marley. “That’s Marley. Same goes for her.” He winks at Marley and then brings his attention back to me. He still hasn’t let go of my hand and is now staring at me as if I’m a difficult puzzle he wants to solve.
“Well, not-club-girl Jenna, why are you hanging out in a biker bar at 3 a.m. if you aren’t part of the club?”
Suddenly, the front door slams open. Axel, Blaze, and Jax strut in with terrifying looks on their faces.
Axel instantly makes eye contact with me, then his gaze travels up to where Motley is still holding my hand.
His jaw ticks, a movement so small that if you weren’t attuned to him, you wouldn’t have noticed.
I’m starting to realize that’s his tell—the one that screams, I’m mad as all hell.
“That’s why she’s here,” I hear Sierra giggle next to me. Motley drops my hand immediately like I have the plague and backs away with his hands in the air like he’s been caught red-handed. The confident, cocky man who stood in front of me a second ago is gone.
“Shit, Ax, I didn’t know she was with you. She just caught my eye,” he says as he shrugs with an unapologetic, smug look. I think he knew exactly what he was doing.
I can’t stifle my laugh as I watch the three of them walk over to our table.
Axel comes around to me, giving my head a quick kiss before resting his hands on my shoulders and kneading the tension I’ve been holding there.
Having his hands on my body is messing with my mind, and I have to fight not to close my eyes and sink into the heavenly massage.
I wasn’t tired moments ago, but I feel like I can finally relax.
“Touch her again, and you’ll be eating all your meals through a straw from here on out.” His tone is calm and all alpha. I slowly look up at Axel, raising one eyebrow in question.
“Are you joking? Who says things like that?” I ask. I shouldn’t like that he’s threatening another man, but I can’t help but get a little turned on by it. I want to grab him by the belt loop and drag him upstairs.
“I do. He shouldn’t have his hands on you and shouldn’t be looking at you like that,” he says, looking down at me with a heated gaze—one that says this conversation is over.
I sigh and look over to Motley, who has the world’s biggest grin on his face.
“Well, well, well. The mighty Axel has been snatched up, eh? Didn’t hear anything about you claiming anyone, but I have been away a while,” Motley states. Axel’s hold on my shoulders goes still.
“Claim?” I ask, looking at Marley across the table. I laugh. “What the hell is he talking about?” But her face looks unsure as she looks around the table at the other women.
Cali shrugs. “It’s their way of saying you’re theirs. Once a member of the club claims someone at the table, it means you’re pretty much married in the eyes of the club. It also means you have the club’s full support and protection.”
I blink a few times, trying to work through all this information.
I’ve only known Axel for a few weeks, and although my feelings for him are strong, this seems pretty intense.
The nachos and margarita churn in my stomach as reality is once again thrown right into my face.
I really need to get home tomorrow and put some space between us. Get my thoughts together.
“Every guy does this?” I look up to Axel. His face is serious, and he stares at me for a moment before responding.
“No. Only those who want to make their woman their Old Lady,” he states, moving his gaze across my face almost as if he’s trying to read my expression.
“Hmm,” is all I can say because I’m not really sure what to say.
I have a million questions, but I’m having a hard time actually forming one.
Everyone else at the table returns to other conversations, and I take a moment to think.
I barely know many of the people at this table, including Axel, but somehow, I feel almost at peace—like this is where I belong. I sit up and shake the feeling away.
“I can hear you overthinking again.” His breath smells like whiskey and smoke. I close my eyes and sink into the feeling of him around me.
“Yeah, well, when I hear talk of you ‘claiming’ me, I feel like that is something I need to think about,” I whisper back. “This is happening too fast, Ax.”
“We will talk about this upstairs, Angel. I’m not claiming you yet.” He brushes my hair back off my neck and starts to trail kisses from the base of my neck to my jaw.
“You think? I barely know you,” I say with a low laugh.
“Dear Lord, take it upstairs, you two,” I hear Cali say from across the table.
I feel my face heat as I sit up and look up to see everyone staring at us. I was so lost in Axel that I had completely forgotten we were with company. I look to Marley and mock-glare at her as she stares at me with an I told you so grin. I can’t help myself and end up smiling right back at her.
I could get used to this—being with Axel, being a part of this group.
But that little annoying voice in my head reminds me that something that burns this hot and bright is bound to fizzle out sooner rather than later.
Looking up at Axel I take a moment to memorize his face.
I need to remember that I am in control of this.
We can slow down and talk about us later.
“How’s Gun?” Blaze asks Cali, pulling my attention back to the conversation.
“Good, asleep when I left him, but I should be getting back.” She stands and stretches her neck from side to side. “Bye, ladies. Let’s meet in the morning for coffee? Seeing as we are all stuck here for a few days.” She walks up the stairs as we all say goodbye.
“A few days?” I look over to Cali and then to everyone around the table. “What?” Everyone at the table looks at me and then to Axel. Seems like I’m the odd one out again.
“Well, that’s our cue to leave,” Sierra says pointedly. They all stand and head their own ways, and I’m left in my seat, confused.