Chapter 7
Callan
Rachel was in a fucking mood, and it was probably sick of me to get hard over how much shit she was giving the poor prospect watching over her.
Henry was a newer guy—had only been a prospect a handful of months.
And what better way to test if he was made for this life than to put him on Rachel’s protection detail?
I was still around, still hovering, not truly trusting anyone to guard her like I could, but this definitely gave the prospect a taste of what women in this life could be like. And if he couldn’t handle a woman like Rachel, then he wasn’t meant for the Royal Saints MC.
Club women, Rachel especially, were headstrong and stubborn. And they had a fuck ton of fire in their souls.
“Carter!” Rachel barked, storming over to where Carter and I were washing our bikes.
He glanced up and heaved a sigh before tossing his damp sponge into the bucket of soapy water, making it slosh over the sides.
Rachel’s booted feet quickly ate the distance between her and her brother, the prospect hurrying to keep up, a nervous look on his face.
No doubt, he thought he was about to get a lashing from Carter for upsetting his little sister.
Carter wiped his hands on his jeans, arching a brow at Rachel as she drew closer. Amusement lit me up as I prepared myself to watch the show.
“Call off your watchdog,” she snarled at him, her hands on her curvy hips as she glared up at him.
Carter looked at me for a moment and then leaned down, grabbing his sponge out of the bucket again, completely ignoring his little sister. “Your problem, Callan.”
“The fuck?!” Rachel screeched. “I know this was you!” she shouted at him. Because she knew I didn’t trust anyone with her. I was good at protecting her, and I knew I didn’t need to hover to keep her safe. Besides, Rachel needed her space. Smothering her would cause this kind of shit.
Carter shrugged at her. “Don’t give a fuck that I was the one who put the prospect up your ass, little sis. You and Callan fucked, so you’re his problem to deal with. Not mine.”
She grabbed the bucket of water before I could even stand up fully and threw it at him.
I barked out a laugh before I could stop it.
Every muscle in Carter’s body tensed, and he gritted his teeth as he swiped a hand down his soapy, wet face.
I quickly marched forward and snagged Rachel’s arm, yanking her back against me just as Carter took a step forward, narrowing his eyes at her.
“I’ve got her,” I gruffly told him, narrowing my eyes at him. President or not, her older brother or not, he was treading on thin ice making that kind of move toward her. I’d slit his fucking throat before he even thought about doing some stupid shit.
“Fuck you, Carter,” Rachel seethed at him.
He glared at her, but after a moment, he just shook his head and stormed off toward the clubhouse.
I jerked my chin at Henry—a silent order for him to get the hell on so I could deal with Rachel in peace.
Some men liked to reprimand their woman in front of others, but not me. I wouldn’t do that to Rachel.
I would always correct her in private if it was something this serious.
I marched us closer to the shed, where we stored tools and other shit, and then spun her around to face me. Her breath hitched the tiniest bit when I forced her back against the side of the metal building, my hand pressing beside her head, my other hand wrapping lightly around her throat.
“Kitten…” I rumbled, letting my disapproval hang thickly in the air.
She gritted her teeth. “You’ve been guarding me,” she snapped, getting defensive.
“Did you know Henry even tried to make me take a piss with the bathroom door open?” I blinked in surprise because no, I hadn’t.
And I would be having a “talk” with Henry later about fucking boundaries when it came to my girl, though my version of a talk didn’t really need words.
“I can’t even eat without him breathing down my goddamn neck.
” She tossed her hands up and dropped them back down, slamming them against the metal siding.
“Completely lost my fucking appetite twice today because of him.”
I leaned in closer, pressing our bodies together.
And fuck, the way her body melted, the fight dying out of her, vulnerability shining in her eyes…
it did something to my insides. Having a woman as strong as Rachel submit to me so easily was fucking heady.
And I knew how much of a gift it was—a gift I would never take for granted.
I cupped her cheek and stroked my thumb over her soft skin. “Want me to tell Carter to call off the watch dog?”
Tears suddenly brimmed her eyes, and she squeezed them shut, hiding the shimmering darkness from me.
I sighed and wrapped an arm around her neck, tugging her to me.
She gripped my cut in her fists. The last few days had been rough, her nights haunted by the memories of a dark basement and the terrifying need for survival.
I knew she was teetering on the edge of coming unglued, and I was doing my damnest to keep her from falling over.
Because if she fell… Fuck it. I was falling with her. We would crash and burn together. Lay bleeding and broken at the bottom, holding hands. Because I couldn’t—wouldn’t—let her suffer alone. Not when I should’ve protected her. Not when she was suffering because I hadn’t put protection on her.
“I know he means well,” she croaked into my shirt.
I felt a tear press into the dark fabric, but it was only one.
She hadn’t cried since I brought her home.
Wouldn’t allow herself to. This was the first tear she’d shed since I’d found her in that fucking gas station, wearing unfamiliar clothes and trembling like a leaf, even in sleep.
“But I need space. Having someone hovering makes me feel like I’m crawling out of my skin, and—”
“Easy,” I rumbled, stroking my hand over her red hair. “Easy, kitten. I’ll talk to Carter. But if I’m not here—”
“I know,” she whispered. “I know I’ll have to have someone different as a guard. But when you’re here…”
“I’ll talk to him,” I repeated. I gripped her chin and tilted her head back so she was looking up at me once more. My thumb stroked over her bottom lip, and for a moment, I just drank her in. Then, I jerked my head in the direction of the clubhouse. “Go on inside. I think you need a nap.”
She nodded in agreement, not even attempting to fight me. Even now, she knew I usually knew best. “Okay.”
I pressed a soft kiss to her lips and skimmed my fingers down her sides, feeling her relax beneath my touch.
The trust she gave me was something I knew I didn’t deserve, but fuck if I’d ever do a goddamn thing to make her distrust me.
Even if the rest of the world turned against her, I’d stand at her back. No matter what it cost me.
“I’ll make a protein shake for you when you wake up. Sound good?”
She nodded again. “Thanks, Callan.”
My lips tilted up the tiniest bit at one corner. I lightly tapped her ass and stepped back. “Don’t mention it, kitten.”
I watched her walk off toward the clubhouse, and once she was safely inside, I followed, giving her the space I knew she needed after Henry had been up her ass all day.
When I walked inside, I headed for the chapel, already smelling the weed in the air from Carter no doubt smoking to chill the hell out after his sister had drenched him with dirty, soapy water.
Had anyone else thrown a bucket of water on him, he’d have laid them out on their ass. Rachel was lucky as fuck to be his little sister.
Sure enough, when I walked inside, he was sitting in his chair at the head of the table, a blunt between his fingers. He’d changed his clothes, and his hair was air drying. At my appearance, he grunted and lifted his chin at me in acknowledgment.
“What’s up?”
“Pull Henry off Rachel,” I told him calmly.
Carter frowned at me. “The fuck for? She needs to learn to abide by what the hell I say. Just because she doesn’t like it—”
“He’s not respecting her goddamn boundaries either, Carter,” I snapped at him, beginning to lose my patience.
“This isn’t Rachel being a fucking brat.
She’s gone through some shit, and all she wants is a little bit of space.
That goddamn prospect fought with her over her using the goddamn bathroom, fucker. ”
That shit was making my blood boil now that my girl wasn’t in my grasp, keeping me calm. Henry would be lucky if he didn’t lose a fucking tooth for that stunt.
Carter sat forward a little and snubbed out his blunt, giving me his undivided attention. “The fuck you mean?”
“I mean, he apparently wanted her to piss with the goddamn door open, Carter,” I growled.
He clenched his jaw and pushed back from the table. “Then you’re on Rachel duty. I’m going to deal with Henry.”
I arched a brow at him. “I was never not on Rachel duty,” I sneered at him. “She’s been protected this whole goddamn time.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “While you were washing your bike?”
I nodded once. “She was in the clubhouse. Safe. I was near the gates. I had the security feed pulled up on my phone the entire goddamn time. And she’s armed—knows where every gun is tucked away in this clubhouse.
” I yanked open the chapel door, glaring at him over my shoulder.
“I’m not a fucking dimwit, Carter. Rachel hasn’t been unprotected since I walked into that gas station. ”
With that, I stormed out of the room and down the hall to mine, needing my woman after Carter’s bullshit.
Rachel was asleep in the center of the bed, hugging my pillow to her chest. I quietly closed the door behind me and toed off my boots.
After draping my cut over the chair near the bed, I shucked my jeans and t-shirt before gently tugging the pillow out of her grasp.
Her eyes fluttered open for a moment. “Callan?” she mumbled, her eyelids almost immediately drooping again.
I slid beneath the covers next to her, and she moved closer to me, her arm wrapping around me, her other hand pressing to my chest. I wound my arms tight around her, all the tension in my body evaporating the moment she was pressed against me.
This was what home felt like.
“Just me, kitten,” I murmured, resting my chin on the top of her head. “Go back to sleep.”
Her warm breaths fanned over my skin, her body going slack in my arms, trusting me to protect her while she was unconscious.
I hoped to never fucking let her down again.