Page 6 of Flirt

“Hell, brother, I not only received a spanking from my dad. That day I learned every curse word in the Spanish language.”

Mackenzie looked between us, then said, “Are one of you going to tell me what Devil did to cause all of you to get in trouble.”

Coast smiled down at Mackenzie. Even in the limited light, I could read his facial expression. The man was a goner over Mac. I smiled to myself as I thought how long he had chased her.

I tuned back into the story Coast was telling, “...the wind took out the power, leaving the whole compound pitch black. You couldn’t even see the moon and stars for the clouds. Shakes, Dare’s ol’ lady, was watching us at their house while the dads, Dare, Roscoe, Payton, along with a few members and a couple prospects who lived on the compound then, started filling coolers with ice, making sure everyone’s cabin and the clubhouse had enough wood for the fireplaces after the power had been out for a couple of hours. Shakes had their fireplace going, and we were in the living room playing games on the floor by the light from the fire and candles she had spread through the room. Shakes was curled up on the couch watching us, and then she fell asleep.”

I grinned the whole time Coast talked while Mackenzie was glued to every word he said. The story brought back so many memories with my brothers. I was even surprised I hadn’t remembered the story when I found the dead raccoon under my dad’s place.

Coast continued, leaving out no details. By Mackenzie’s facial expressions, she was enjoying every word. Hell, I was too if I was being honest.

By the time he got to the end of the story where Shakes had woken up with the bear’s face staring at her, and how her scream, then our screams, in turn, scared the raccoons. Which caused them to take off through the house, then the front door flying open and banging off the wall as the dads and Dare busted in with guns drawn—Coast and I were both laughing.

Mackenzie laughed, too, then shook her head. “Oh my God, every one of you deserved getting spanked,” she said and looked between us.

I chuckled, then added, “Then the dads and Dare spent two hours with flashlights trying to find where the raccoons had run off to. Christ, they were mad as hell.”

I noticed Mackenzie shiver, the temperature dropping since it had gotten dark. Coast saw her reaction, too. “Let’s get you in the house and off your feet,cariño. I promised you dinner,” he said and started leading Mackenzie toward his house. I walked with them across the yard, headed in the direction of my own place.

“Enjoy your dinner, brother,” I called out as Coast turned them toward the door while I continued to my place. I was happy for my brother; I had no doubt he and Mackenzie would work out. Coast had finally gone after what he wanted most. But even though I was happy for him, I felt a little forlorn. I wanted to find the same connection with a woman as each of my brothers had.

I had only taken a few steps when it hit me what I had said to Mackenzie after lunch at the diner when Coast had been out of town at his great grandfather’s place on the rez. She had thought no one noticed her looking around for Coast that day. But I had. When I told her where Coast was, she had acted like she hadn’t cared. I informed her she would know when he got back into town because he would come for her. I had been right, too. “Mackenzie?”

“Yes,” she replied as she looked over her shoulder.

“Told you,” I said and commenced walking toward my house.

“Told me, what?” Mackenzie questioned.

“He’d come looking for you,” I said, reminding her, and then smiled when there was no response from her, but from Coast.

“By the way, brother, me and you need to have a talk.”

My smile widened, and I chuckled. “Sure, man. Can you wait and thank me later? I’m heading to Whispering Nights.”

“Weren’t you considering dropping your membership?” Coast asked.

I had forgotten I mentioned it to him the last time he and I had sat on his porch drinking a beer after we had finished at the garage. It had been even before Jag and River had married.

“Yeah, but recently I came across a reason to postpone my decision. At least for the time being.”

“Good for you. Who knows, maybe this reason will be the one,” Coast said.

If my brother only knew the stuff that had been going through my head earlier about Gabriella, he would never let me live it down. None of my brothers would.

“Not sure, though I’m enjoying finding out.” At least tonight I would be, but Coast didn’t need to know any details. Especially that I had only met Gabriella a couple weeks ago, and we hadn’t gotten any further than me showing her around the club.

When we finished the tour, I led her to the sitting area off to the side of the main floor. We needed to talk and get comfortable with each other if anything was going happened between us, which I hoped for.

I had looked forward to learning everything about her, which was a first for me. Usually, I jumped right into the discussion of limits and what a sub expected from her Dom and what I would expect from her. However, Gabriella had received a text and apologized for having to cut our time short, but she needed to leave.

Only after I had witnessed the genuine regret flash in her eyes as she glanced around the club had I made the decision to push for a set time we would meet and try again. Another first for me, setting up a preset time for an encounter with a submissive. Hell, I had seldom repeated with a sub, and on the occasion I had, the time between encounters reached months. Somehow, I had known when I watched her taillights disappear into the night when she pulled out of the parking lot that my life would be changed by Gabriella.

Hadn’t she already started after only being around her for a couple hours at the most?

“I bet you are. Be safe, brother,” Coast’s voice brought me back to the present because once again, I allowed Gabriella into my head.

“Always,” I replied to Coast, then turned toward my house and entered instead of going to my truck. Talking with Coast and Mackenzie had settled the anxiousness I had previously felt. I even wondered if it was all about her or was it my subconscious trying to alert me that my guarded control was slipping.

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