Priest: A Motorcycle Club Romance (The Viking’s Rampage MC: Tucson Chapter Book 2)
Priest: A Motorcycle Club Romance: Chapter 14

It was impossible not to have fun with this group of people. Everyone was laughing and slinging insults at each other while we played. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched Priest bring over pretzels that were long and stick shaped. He and the girls popped one in their mouths, pretending they were cigars as they played.

I was sure there would be people who’d be horrified that these guys were gambling with kids this young, but from where I sat? Those girls were having the best night of their lives. Considering what was going on with their mother, I was so happy to see them smiling and laughing. Also, they were damn good at poker. It was obvious this is what game night for them was and somewhere along the line they’d weaseled their ‘uncles’ into playing for cash.

Gabby had a pile of green in front of her and her sisters hadn’t fared too badly either. Caitlyn was still learning the ropes, but Gabby would lean over and whisper advice to her during each hand. Although she still wasn’t talking, occasionally you would see her smirk or grin. Her new family was drawing her out of her shell.

My heart clenched every time I saw it. They’d clearly accepted Caitlyn into their fold already. A small piece of me wondered if it would be that easy for me? I hoped so, but would also understand if they had a hard time accepting that their dad had a new woman in his life.

Toxic had spilled the beans earlier, but the girls hadn’t really reacted, so I wasn’t sure if they knew what it all meant. It didn’t matter, I wanted to become a part of this family, so I’d take whatever trials came my way and hopefully by the end we’d all get what we wanted.

The night passed quickly and I was actually disappointed when Priest called out that it was time for the girls to be put to bed. I wasn’t the only one. Butcher almost threw a full on tantrum, worse than the girls ever could have.

Hush nudged Priest and motioned to the girls. “I know we’re babysittin’, but if you want to come help get them to sleep, we don’t mind.”

Priest’s eyes found mine and I nodded in encouragement. “I’ll wait here,” I told him with a smile. It wasn’t my place to be helping with bedtime yet, even though my heart longed to go up those stairs with them.

I watched him herd his kids upstairs, then looked around as the men started cleaning up the mess from poker night. I grabbed the bag of pretzels and brought them back to the kitchen. When I came back into the living area, Riptide smiled at me.

“You don’t have to help clean, Taz,” he told me. It was strange how quickly they’d all gone from calling me Jenny to the nickname Priest had given me. Then again, they were used to nicknames.

“Bro,” Butcher complained. “If she wants to help clean, let her. Less for us to do,” he muttered as he grabbed the folding chairs.

Riptide just shook his head, but didn’t say anything when I grabbed a towel from the bar, wetted it, and wiped off the folding tables before they broke them down and brought them back to the storage area.

After everything was put away Lockout stopped and leaned on the bar. “I’m glad you’re here,” he told me. The others had all drifted away, calling goodnight to me as they went.

“Thanks, Lockout,” I replied.

His eyes strayed over to the stairs. “He’s going through a rough time, but having you around is going to help. Goodnight, Taz.” With that he left me alone to wait for Priest.

I sat down at the bar and smiled. It was nice to know I was accepted by Priest’s brothers and their old ladies. That took a lot of pressure off my shoulders. Now all I had to do is make sure that his daughters didn’t think I was the wicked step-mother.

Jumping when the door behind me opened, I glanced over my shoulder. The two women stopped short when they saw me sitting there. The smaller of the two narrowed her eyes at me, but didn’t say anything. She just ran a hand through her short blonde hair and went behind the bar.

The second woman gave me a quick smile then hurried past. They started restocking the small bar area quietly and efficiently. I didn’t need anyone around to tell me that these were two of the sweet butts, or club bunnies, as the guys in Austin called them.

“Hi,” I finally said after a few minutes. I didn’t want them to think I was completely stuck up. These women hung around the club, hoping one of the men would make them an old lady. If that ever happened I didn’t want them to think I’d treated them badly.

“Hi,” the brunette said with a grin. “Would you like a drink?”

“Oh, no thank you. I’m Jen…Taz.” I went with Priest’s nickname. If he was going to use that while I was at the club, then I would too. I didn’t mind it so much now that I didn’t think he was making fun of me.

“I’m Scarlett. That’s Pixie,” she said with a wave over to her companion.

“It’s nice to meet you both.”

Pixie just gave me a sullen look, but didn’t say a word. She kept wiping off the bar.

Mentally, I shrugged. I didn’t need to be friends with her if she wasn’t willing. That was fine by me. I just didn’t want to be rude to anyone in the club. I knew that could cause problems for Priest and that wasn’t what I wanted.

Before Scarlett or I had a chance to talk more Priest came back downstairs. He came over and stroked his hand over my hair. He seemed to really like it, which made me happy because it’d always been a pain in the ass to deal with. Now I didn’t mind the over the top hair care regime I had to be dedicated to. Not if he liked it.

“Hey. I’m yours for the rest of the night,” Priest told me.

My chest warmed at the look in his eyes. The fact that this man wanted me was still a shock, but I wasn’t stupid enough to talk him out of it. At least, not anymore.

“We can go out. Go back to your place. Or…we can go up to my place.” There was nothing implied there, he was genuine. I knew what each of the options meant, but he was leaving it entirely up to me. Given that fact, there really was only one option I cared for.

I bit my lip, shooting a glance at the women behind the bar. Scarlett was grinning, but Pixie was glowering down at the glass she was wiping out. “Let’s go upstairs,” I told him, trying not to blush since the others were listening.

“Sounds good to me. Have a good night girls,” Priest called out to the others as he led me over toward the stairs.

They both returned his greeting and I heard Scarlett giggling as we went. “Scarlett is nice,” I said as we walked up the stairs and down the hallway.

Priest looked down at me in surprise. “You know her name?”

“I introduced myself,” I replied, with a shrug.

His smile slowly moved over his face as he stared down at me in disbelief.

“What?”

“Most old ladies wouldn’t bother, that’s all.” There was a far away look in his eyes now and I wondered if he was remembering back to the way his ex had dealt with club life.

“There’s no reason for me to be rude,” I informed him. “Though I don’t think Pixie and I will be friends anytime soon.”

He snorted and opened a door, allowing me to step through first. “She’s been in a mood since she started a fight with Seek, got her ass handed to her, then almost got kicked off the property.”

My eyes widened and I looked back at him. “Seriously? Who’d want to fight Seek? She’s like twice the size of Pixie.”

“Pix has a thing for Hush,” he said, his hand going to the small of my back as he directed me farther into his apartment. “Pissed her off when she realized Hush had found himself a woman. Not that he ever gave Pixie the time of day. She just held out hope he would.”

In a way I understood how Pixie felt. I’d moped around Grams’ house waiting on my own biker to call or text and tell me he’d made a mistake. Eventually, I’d let the hope go, thinking it wasn’t realistic to think he still wanted me. That’s why everything that’s been happening with him over the last couple weeks felt like a dream.

His arms wrapped around me from behind and his lips trailed over my neck. A shiver of desire raced over me. “The guys are having a party later tonight. It’ll probably get loud,” he murmured in my ear.

“Oh. You can go if you want.”

He grasped my chin in his strong fingers and forced me to look back at him. “You think I’d rather go down there than be up here with you? I was hoping we’d make our own party.”

The low rumble of his voice had my nipples hardening. This man always seemed to make me melt whenever I was near him. I turned in his arms and leaned up so I could brush my lips over his.

“I like the sound of that.” He’d already mentioned that Hush and Seek were babysitting the kids tonight, so we had the apartment to ourselves.

He growled deep in his chest and suddenly I was airborne. I gasped, but he had a firm hold on me as he picked me up and started toward his bedroom. The apartment flashed by and I tried to take in everything I could. “This place is bigger than I thought it’d be.”

“Yeah, Lockout gave me one of the bigger spaces ‘cause of my family.”

That was all he said before he kicked the door to the bedroom closed behind us and, for the second time that day, dropped me onto a bed. His was much bigger than mine. It would need to be for him to sleep comfortably in it. He was so tall his feet had hung off my bed.

I watched him with heavy lidded eyes as he stripped out of his cut and t-shirt. My tongue was glued to the roof of my mouth seeing all his muscles on display. He was so gorgeous I almost expected to wake up to find out this was all a dream.

He flicked open the button on the top of his jeans and toed his boots off. I bit my lip as he shoved his jeans down and off, leaving him in only his boxer briefs.

All I could do was lay there and devour him with my eyes. I didn’t take off any of my clothes. I sort of liked it when he did that, even though he ended up ripping them. Sex with him was going to become expensive, but so worth it.

He crawled across the bed like a predator stalking its prey and my belly fluttered with excitement. I gripped the sheets, stopping my impulse to run. I didn’t actually want to get away; it was just hard not to bolt under his intense scrutiny. His lips were warm and firm against mine and I relished the way his body covered mine.

I moaned into his mouth, arching against him. I couldn’t seem to get enough of the feel of our bodies pressed together.

Something chirped nearby, but I was too wrapped up in the haze Priest seemed to create within me whenever he touched me.

Chirp, chirp.

He swore and pulled away from me. “Sorry, Taz. I have to get that.”

Get what?

I blinked in confusion, heat leaching away from my body now that he wasn’t on top of me. Watching as Priest grabbed his pants, I lifted up onto my elbows.

He pulled out his cell. “Yeah?” He waited a beat, then spoke. “It’s late-” He shook his head, his eyes fixing on me. I could see the apology in them, but there was something else. “Yeah. Okay. We’ll be there.”

He disconnected the call and came to sit on the edge of the bed. His shoulders hunched as he rested his forearms on his thighs.

“Is everything okay?”

“Wendy wants to see the girls.”

I looked over at the clock. It was nearly ten o’clock at night. “She can’t wait until tomorrow?”

“No.” The way he said the word I knew something was going on, but I didn’t ask. He’d gone from happy and carefree to looking like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders in the span of a minute.

“What can I do to help?” I asked, sitting up and scooting over to him. I rubbed the smooth skin of his back, enjoying the feel, but mostly needing to offer him comfort.

Wordlessly he turned and dragged me onto his lap. He buried his face into my hair as I wrapped my arms around him. We sat that way for a few minutes, in silence.

Finally, he raised his head, the fierce look of a warrior on his face. “I’ll go get the girls.”

I scrambled off his lap and watched as he got dressed again. I was still fully clothed, so I just waited to see what he needed from me. “My mom can come pick me up if you want,” I offered since I didn’t have my car here.

He shook his head, but didn’t meet my eyes. “Would you come with us?”

Surprise flashed through me, but I nodded. “Of course.”

“Thanks,” he murmured.

I knew asking me to come was for himself. He’d have to be strong for his girls. Deal with whatever was about to come. But I could do that for him.