Page 6 of Claim Me

“Here’s what happens next,” Noble says after fighting a painful yawn. “You’ll go home with Caveman tonight. I’ll see about getting your dogs transported up here. In a few days, when you’re feeling better, Aunt Fred and Elvis will come over and work out this situation.”

“No.”

“I’m not asking, Indigo,” Noble says. “You’re either going to obey, or I’ll make you obey.”

“Think you can take him?” Caveman asks, always stirring up trouble.

“Indigo won’t fight me. He’s always been a good kid.”

Frowning at Noble, I mutter, “I’m not a kid.”

“When you’re as old and drunk as I am, everyone’s a kid,” Noble says, using my shoulder to steady himself as he stands. “Now, stop digging a hole for yourself and find a couch at Caveman’s house to crash on.”

Despite their clear orders, I don’t move. I still feel Siobhan on my body. I can’t go somewhere to sleep and pretend I didn’t ruin my best shot to be happy. Staying here on the road feels like the right choice. I want to wallow in my misery. Even if I was seeking freedom from the pain, I don’t deserve to find it.

However, I’ve spent decades following the orders of large, tatted men. They were the ones to help Lorrie when no one else would. They also yanked me out of the darkness after my mom died and my brother went away.

Eventually, I became a large, tatted man. That’s why I obey them and walk my motorcycle to the clubhouse. Noble tells me how he’ll convince Aunt Fred to leave me alone for a day or two, but she’s bound to seek me out.

“You can’t hide from family,” Noble says. “Even when you fuck up.”

I wish I could explain what happened. Yet, if I say the words, the truth becomes set in stone. I still want to pretend I can get a do-over. This time, I’ll say the right words and keep my hands to myself.

Instead of fessing up, I follow Caveman to his three-story house on a slip of land near a highway. Like his older sister, he’s taken in kids over their years. That’s how it works in the hills. People get down on their luck or die and their kids are handed off to whoever can afford them.

Caveman doesn’t have a wife, but he’s taken in plenty of kids. He’s a good dad and chapter president. I might have been happy here, but Caveman sent me to stay with Aunt Fred.

Finding me staring at a picture on the wall of his “romper room,” he says, “My sister won’t be able to stay away. You own a real special part of her heart.”

His words offer me a small comfort, even though I’m not looking at Aunt Fred in the family photo. I only see Siobhan, smiling for the camera as she holds her toddler twins on each hip. Sync is with her. Though they seemed happy, he was already restless.

I can’t imagine getting bored with Siobhan in my bed every night and at my side all day. She’s fun to be around. When I feeldown, she’ll sit with me and make the world better. She doesn’t even need to try. Siobhan’s got magic flowing through her veins.

Tonight, I got a taste of what I’ve wanted for so long. As I crash on a couch and Caveman leaves me to sleep, I try to remember only the good stuff with Siobhan. I zero in on the way her fingers felt against my face and the flavor of her lips. Siobhan was so beautiful as she orgasmed while moaning my name.

For a short time, she saw only me, and I got to be someone better.

SIOBHAN

Without the girls around, my house feels too quiet in the mornings. Our gray cat Bubbles refuses to acknowledge me until the twins return home.

Before dawn, I wander around my spacious five-bedroom ranch house, looking for something to do with myself. Two local girls clean my place once a week. Like many of the women who work for the club, they come from abusive homes–whether their abuser be their parents or a significant other.

Most people who are offered help when they’re down become very loyal to those who lent them a hand. The club’s generosity creates a web of faithful followers.

I could probably do a little paperwork for the clubhouse or our employment agency. Carys usually handles most of it since she’s better with numbers and hiding income by maximizing losses. However, my sister is taking a long maternity leave with her latest baby. She claims having a child in her thirties was twice as difficult as when she was a young mom.

Sitting down at my kitchen table, I work for all of ten minutes before I give up and grab my purse. I need to get out of this quiet house and be around people. I also want to know what Indigo has shared with people.

Not that he’s a gossip. He might not say anything. Is that what I want? Should we just pretend this morning never happened?

Before I can answer such a question, I need to talk to Indigo. He’s different now. I’d viewed him as my brother, simply another rowdy man in a family full of them. Now, he feels sexy, complicated, and addictive. I never could have guessed such passion was hidden inside him.

I wish I could get Natasha and Hunter to talk me through the situation, yet I’m afraid to show up at their houses. If Indigo complained about me to Bear and Tack, I’d be walking into drama. I need to be soothed, not riled up.

That’s why I head to the farm. My parents know how to dismantle even my biggest problems and make everything feel manageable.

The farm is located on the south side of Banta City. My parents live in a large farmhouse with their minor foster boys. Next door isanother farmhouse for older, single guys like Indigo. Farther down the road into the farm are dozens of homes filled with club families, including my sister, Pork Chop, and their three kids.

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