Page 20 of Gator

The wedding reception was in full swing, and Devlyn was nowhere in sight. I should have known she would chicken out. Thought my woman had more spirit, but I guessed wrong.

“She wasn’t feeling well,” a soft voice said from over my shoulder that had me turning around to see Henley, Devlyn’s baby sister, standing behind me. “But I think you already know why.”

I nodded.

“Gator, I don’t know what the protocol is for when a president of a biker club gets my sister pregnant, so I’m just going to speak freely. Okay?”

I nodded again.

“I love my sister. She’s the strongest person I know, and there is nothing I wouldn’t do for her. But what she’s going through now... well, I know I’m not who she really needs. Oh, she will fight you tooth and nail. She’s stubborn that way, but I believe she cares more than she’s willing to admit.”

“She hates me, Henley.”

“No, she doesn’t. She’s scared. It’s the one thing Devlyn hates the most, not being in control. And let’s face it, this is something she can’t control, but I have a feeling you might be able to help her.”

“That’s if she doesn’t kill me first.”

Henley chuckled. “Yeah, that’s true, but you’ve managed to stay alive thus far. I’m willing to bet you’re also stronger than her. Strong enough to withstand what she throws at you and break down her walls because trust me, Gator, beneath her rough exterior is a woman who just wants to be loved. The question is, are you that man?”

“I claimed her, Henley. That night, I claimed her.”

The sweet woman smiled up at me and nodded. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a set of keys and handed them to me. “A bit of advice. Don’t give her time to think. Just take her and hold on tight because she’s about to take you on the ride of your life.”

Smiling, I bent down and kissed Henley’s cheek. “Thank you, sis,” I whispered, before running for the exit.

I had a woman to claim!

Chapter Nine

I was dreaming of fire-breathing dragons as alligators ran for their lives when I heard his sickeningly sweet words.

“Ça va, mon chèr?”

I prayed to every deity I knew, hoping and begging that I had imagined his voice.

It couldn’t be.

Seriously, the universe had a truly sick sense of humor.

I refused to believe it. Like, I’d rather believe the pigeons outside were plotting world domination than accept this reality.

“I’ve missed you,” his thick Cajun voice declared, a low rumble that somehow managed to be both seductive and disgusting, like a perfectly good chocolate bar with a tiny, crunchy cockroach hidden inside.

“Fuck,” I whispered, mostly to myself, attempting to maintain a dignified level of shock. But when he chuckled—that deep, throaty chuckle that could melt glaciers—I knew I wasn’t dreaming.

My worst nightmare had arrived, wearing a ridiculously charming smirk and smelling faintly of sandalwood and impending doom.

“Happy to see me,Bébé.”

“About as happy as I am to learn I have an STD,” I grumbled, because honestly, that’s pretty much how I felt.

“I’ve missed you,Bébé. It’s time to come home.”

“Iamhome.”

My apartment, albeit cluttered with questionable stuffed gators and a half-finished model of the Eiffel Tower made entirely of spaghetti, was definitely my home.

What? It isn’t like I have a vibrant social life. I have to do something to occupy my mind!

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