Page 20 of Mace

“Yeah, she’s gotten a little quirkier as she’s aged. I still like her though. When we have our annual bake sale, she makes piles of frybread. The kids can’t get enough of that stuff.”

I opened my mouth to tell her that Mace made that too, but she cut me off to explain what it’s like.

“Usual frybread is thick and chewy, but Mace’s grandmother’s is much thinner, almost like tortilla chips. Mostly she salts them but sometimes she sprinkles cinnamon and sugar on the top.”

“That actually sounds amazing. I’d love to try the cinnamon ones sometime.”

Rosie and I talked as the clubhouse filled up with women. I learned that they were called old ladies. It’s what they called women who were married to, or in long term relationships with the brothers. Most of them wore what they referred to as property cuts. I was fascinated by the black leather vests thatsaid property of whichever brother they’re with. I didn’t typically think of myself as property, but it seemed like it was all in good fun. Much like the men had a brotherhood, the women associated with this club had a sisterhood. It made me a little envious as it was something I had never experienced before—only being surrounded by my father and his men.

It took me a minute to realize they were decorating and putting out a massive amount of food for a party to celebrate Mace being patched in as a full member. It was really sweet how they all got together and made something special for each man when it was his turn to join the brotherhood. I really liked everything about this club.

I was even starting to wonder if they really were outlaws. I didn’t see anything untoward going on with these people. Nothing suspicious, like with my father and his men. I didn’t even get a whiff of anything shady. I kept my fingers crossed that everything went off without a hitch for Mace on his special day.

As the women were finishing up, the door to the back room flew open and all the brothers came spilling out, including Mace. And he was proudly wearing his new leather vest. Rosie pointed out that it had what was called a bottom rocker. It meant he was now an official member of the Dark Slayers MC, and I was so happy and proud for him—not because I had any personal affinity for motorcycle clubs, but because it meant so much to him and I wanted to see him happy.

He came to me immediately to show off his new vest. He wasn’t obvious about it, but I could tell he was proud. We stayed for a couple of hours, mixed, mingled, and knocked back a few drinks before we dialed back the drinking, so we weren’t throwing up on each other for the rest of the night.

I wasn’t much of a drinker, and I could tell that Mace wasn’t either. I delighted in each new thing I learned about this man. If I was being honest, he was making it past my defenses a little more each day. I didn’t know if he was after friendship or romance, but I was all about living in the moment until my father or the US Marshall’s service caught up with me and ruined all my fun.

If my handler decided I didn’t do enough to earn my protection, he was gonna throw me to the wolves and make me fend for myself. Best I could hope for was being deported back to Mexico, and the worst? I’d end up in some godforsaken detention center. If my father caught up with me, it was either going to be shotgun wedding time or lights out entirely for me. Neither of those scenarios really worked for me.

Therefore, I laughed and danced and made merry with the man of my dreams. Or he would be the man of my dreams if I were bold enough to dream of such things, and if I was certain enough of my future to believe that I really had one. And when the night came to a close, we staggered upstairs where I expected to have a private room.

I was still a little bit lightheaded from one too many glasses of wine, when I realized the room he took me to only had one bed. Mace had been drinking as well. He brought one finger to his lips as if to say if we don’t tell anyone, they won’t know. Although, he was not wrong about that, I wasn’t ready to lose my virginity to a hot biker on his special day. I stood beside the bed watching as he took off his boots and shirt. I was about to put it to him straight about the sleeping arrangements, when I saw what he was doing. He picked up a bunch of pillows from the sofa and built a little pillow fort down the middle of the bed.

His voice was a bit slurred as he said, “Sorry it’s not a five-star hotel. A lot of the brothers are staying tonight so we gotta share.”

Seeing that sweet gesture made me think why the hell not?

“Fine,” I told him. “But no touching.” Pressing one finger to his naked chest, I repeated my warning one last time. “You keep your hands to yourself, Mister. Got it?”

He raised two fingers like a boy scout and fell onto his side of the bed still wearing his jeans. I couldn’t help but smile because Mace seems like he might just be the most harmless biker in this entire club. I took off my bra but left the rest of my clothing on and climbed onto my side. Reaching over I turned off the beside lamp, feeling amazingly relaxed about sharing a bed with this hot biker that I was crushing pretty hard on.

At some point Nine jumped up onto the bed and slept at our feet, which I have to say made the tiny bed even more crowded. I didn’t remember him following us into the room, but he sure felt comfortable making himself at home. I wasn’t going to begrudge the wolfdog his comfort, and I snuggled down underneath the blanket, feeling more at home at the Slayers clubhouse than I ever thought possible.

Chapter 8

Mace

Iwoke up this morning, a full-fledged member of the Dark Slayers MC, albeit feeling a bit hungover from all the celebrating last night. The old ladies always threw a party for each brother that got patched into the club. They’re really amazing that way. I had to admit my club brothers chose well when it came to the women in their lives. I hoped that I would be as fortunate when my time came.

I rolled over and found Alicia in bed with me. At first, I was startled but then I remembered we were at the clubhouse and there weren’t enough rooms to accommodate all the brothers who wanted to stay here after the celebration last night. I thought about getting up but decided to spend a few minutes thinking over the situation with Alicia’s father.

He'd disappeared without a trace, along with all his men, leaving five dead bodies behind.

Alicia moved on the other side of the bed. One delicate hand came out to pull back the top pillow that separated us. I vaguely remembered building that semblance of a barrier so she would feel comfortable sharing a bed with me. I quickly reached down and repositioned my cock because I had morning wood pressing uncomfortably against the zipper of my jeans and that’s not something she needed to see.

Her head popped up and she gazed at me with delightfully tousled hair. “You look like you’re deep in thought this morning. What are you thinking so hard about?”

Glancing over at her, I replied, “Your old man. Where do you think he went?”

She yawned, “I’d put my money on him going back to Mexico, but there’s no way to be certain.”

I propped myself up on one elbow and reached out to move a lock of hair away from her face so I could gaze into her beautiful hazel-green eyes. “What makes you think he went back there?”

Glancing at my hand, she replied, “Because my mother is there, and we’d gotten reports that she wasn’t handling him taking me away very well. My aunt told me she wasn’t eating or sleeping to the point that she was losing weight.”

“If that turned out to be the case, he’ll be beyond our reach for a while.”

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