Chapter Fourteen #2
We said our goodbyes and headed to our room. Once the door closed behind us, I breathed out a sigh of relief. The chaotic atmosphere, while okay for a short while, got overwhelming very quickly.
Moonlight sliced through the blinds, painting a thin silver stripe across the rumpled sheets on our bed. I made love to Ada there in the moonlight. I worshiped her body like the goddess she was to me. I’d spent thirty-seven years in hell but found heaven as my reward for all I’d gone through.
She lay beside me, one leg draped over mine, her head nestling into the steady rise and fall of my chest. Our sheets tangled around us, soft and warm.
I felt her fingertip trace the curve of my muscle before stopping as the small diamond in the setting of her ring caught the faint light.
She moved it back and forth so the stone twinkled softly.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “For choosing me.”
“I think that’s my line.” I smiled against her head. God, I loved this woman so much!
We both drifted for a while after that. I dozed off but woke as the sun peeked over the mountains beyond the river. I carefully extracted myself from Ada, doing my best not to wake her.
I moved to the tall window in our room and pulled the blinds, looking out over the yard. I pushed the bottom of the window out, the hinge opening outward to let in the morning air.
Dawn painted the sky in shades of pink and gold, the light creeping across the Kiss of Death compound like a slow revelation.
I stood in front of the window, one hand braced on the metal frame, the other around a steaming mug of coffee as I watched the world wake up.
Below me, the first signs of life stirred as prospects moved around the yard.
A low rumble broke the morning stillness as the first bikes fired up.
Knuckles emerged from the main building.
Gunnar followed close behind. They exchanged words I couldn’t hear, something that made Gunnar laugh and Knuckles shake his head.
Normal. Ordinary. The kind of moment I’d always wanted to be part of, which was the reason I’d gotten involved with Kiss of Death to begin with.
The heavy gates slid open and a handful of riders formed up and rolled out into the world beyond.
I watched until they disappeared from view, the gates remaining open for day traffic.
An open gate. The symbolism wasn’t lost on me.
I’d walked through those same gates with nothing but a small duffel bag with a lifetime’s worth of possessions and nothing else.
I’d expected to find just another version of the yard.
Different players, same game. Instead, I’d found something I’d never expected.
People who became more than just allies of convenience.
A purpose beyond mere survival. I’d found all that and so much more.
Ada was my world now. My reason to keep going.
I hadn’t realized how lost I felt until she started helping me find myself again.
The compound spread below me now felt like home, a concept so foreign I’d almost forgotten what it meant. Home had always been an abstract idea, something other people had.
“Jag?” Ada’s voice came softly from the doorway. I turned to see her wrapped in that colorful throw from our bed, her hair loose around her shoulders, sleep still clinging to the corners of her eyes. She’d never looked more beautiful.
“Woke up early.” I reached for her and pulled her into my arms. “I like watching the sunrise. Never thought I’d miss it like I did.”
“Until you couldn’t watch it.”
“Yeah.”
That was Ada. She read between my lines better than anyone.
We stood in companionable silence, sharing my coffee.
The sun climbed higher, burning off the last of the morning mist. I looked down at her, this woman who’d somehow seen past every defense I’d built, every wall I’d erected.
Who’d taken one look at the scarred, damaged man I was and decided I was worth loving anyway.
“I never expected any of this,” I confessed, my voice low. “Nothing about my existence now ever flew close to my radar. Certainly not you.”
Ada turned to face me, her eyes serious despite her smile. “You deserved a second chance, Jag. Everyone does. Besides, you didn’t do anything to land in prison. You tried to do what you thought would get you accepted.”
“Yeah. I was stupid and I paid for it. Still” -- I brushed my thumb over her bottom lip --”that path led me to you. So I can’t regret any of what I did.”
She placed her hand on my chest, right over my heart. “I’m glad you took Knuckles up on his offer to come here. But I’d never have wanted you to spend your whole life in a place like that. Not even if it meant I never met you. You’re too good a person.”
“Ada, trust me when I tell you, it was worth every Goddamned second of time I spent in there to be here with you now.”
Her gaze softened as she looked up at me. “Yeah. You really need to give Knight lessons. You’re really good at this poetry stuff.”
I scowled down at her. “Ain’t no poet.” Her laugh was enough to warm my chest. Oh, I’d growl and tease her for a while but only because I loved to hear her laugh. “But if it means I get to keep you with me, I’ll keep sayin’ poetic shit.”
I covered her hand with mine, feeling the ring press between our palms as Ada threw back her head and laughed.
For the first time since I took up with Gremlin, I felt at peace. Not just the absence of danger or the temporary lull between fights, but actual peace. The kind that settled into your bones and made you believe, just for a moment, that maybe the world wasn’t entirely fucked after all.
I wasn’t naive enough to think there wouldn’t be hard days ahead. The past had a way of circling back when you least expected it. But standing there with Ada, watching the sun rise over what had become our home, I knew we’d face whatever came next together.
I was no longer just surviving but truly living. Ada leaned her head against my shoulder, her warmth seeping through me like the sunrise. Around us, the compound stirred to full wakefulness, the day unfolding with all its possibilities. And for once, I looked forward to whatever came next.