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“Lead away, honey.”
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I was a nervous wreck as I waited behind Blade’s bike for the gate to the Warriors’ compound to open. It wasn’t the sight of the intimidating walls or the gate that was causing it. I’d been like this since I woke up this morning. It was the fear of meeting the rest of his club. What if they didn’t like me? What if I found the men were like the men who lived in the Converts’ compound? What if the women were mindless drones who did whatever their men told them?
I was hoping none of it was true. The ones I’d met so far weren’t any of those things, so I held out hope that meant none of the others were. My nerves had shown and Blade had tried to reassure me there was nothing to worry about but I still was. As we drove past the gate, I felt queasy.
This time, we stopped in front of a large building. There were bikes everywhere. I parked at the end. I was too afraid to park between any of them in case they were assigned spots or worse, in case I accidentally bumped into one. Blade backed his bike into a spot. I sat in the car and waited for him to come to my door. He opened it and held out his hand for me to take.
“Babe, you have nothing to be worried about. I promise. No one will hurt you here and even if they tried, I’d never let it happen.”
Mentally pulling up my big girl panties, I took his hand. He held onto me even as he took the box of baked goods I had in the front seat with me out. He’d told me I didn’t need to bring anything, but I wanted to. I hoped they liked them. Seeing people eat and enjoy my baking made me happy.
He led me inside the large building we were parked outside of. It was loud and full of people. They were talking and laughing. There were kids all over the place. I couldn’t believe my eyes. They all got quiet when they saw us. I tried to shrink behind him, but he wouldn’t let me. I looked to see if I could spot any of the ones I knew. The first one I saw wasn’t who I expected except I should’ve remembered he might be here. It was Jake, the policeman. I noticed Blade wave him over. He came to us and he smiled at me.
“Have you forgiven me yet for helping this nut? I had to. He has no idea how to court a woman and was doing it all wrong,” he said, with a sparkle in his eyes.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m still thinking about it. I guess it depends if he keeps blowing it or if he learns. If he pulls out all the stops, I guess I’ll have you to thank. Do you take money or baked goods as payment?”
“Hey! There’ll be none of that shit. I know how to get my woman. I don’t need help. You were just upset, and I thought him being a cop would reassure you I wasn’t a creepy stalker.”
“But you were, man. The definition of one. If it had been anyone else, I’d have arrested your ass. As for payment, I’d usually say kisses, but I think Blade might cut me for that, so baked goods work for me. I’m not picky either,” Jake said, winking and grinning. Maybe it was because of the growl Blade let loose.
“Prospect, don’t you have work to do? Or do you really want my knife stuck somewhere you won’t like? Take this box and hide it so it doesn’t get consumed in five minutes. Or should I look for Lance? Keep that up and he’ll be patched before you.”
Jake snorted and took the box. “Like that’ll happen. I’ll see you later, Cassia. Holler if you need help.” He walked off smiling.
“Jackass,” Blade muttered.
I elbowed him. “Don’t call Jake a jackass. He’s nice and I like him, even if he did help you. Who’s Lance?”
“Lance is a new prospect. We brought him in two months ago. He’s like Jake, trying to see if he can make the cut to join. I don’t see Jake having any problems doing it. We’ve known him for years and have been trying to get him to prospect. He was Nyssa’s partner.”
“Nyssa?”
“Sorry, I keep forgetting you don’t know everyone. Let me start introducing you. Nyssa is Hawk’s old lady. She was a police officer and partnered with Jake until she quit. Don’t worry, except for the prospects, all the guys will have on their cuts like mine and they have our road names on them. The ladies are harder. They have property cuts, which tells which brother they’re with, but the names on those are their pet names, given to them by their man. As for the kids, those are too many. I just call them ankle biters.”
“Blade! You can’t call them that. I bet I can remember the kids before the adults. Although, remembering who they belong to will be a chore.”
“That’s for sure. We have over thirty of them and will add Neriah’s in July to the list. In the last five months, we’ve added three new ones. In September, Blaze and Teagan had Tatum. He has an older sister, Taya. In October, Ghost and Wren had their son, Branson. He has an older sister, Bethany. In November, Viking and Trish had a daughter, Juliet. She joined her brother, Saxon.”
“Wow, I guess there are a lot of babies. I’m surprised Neriah is the only one expecting.”
“There could be others who just haven’t fessed up. So you see, when we decide to have one, there will be plenty of kids for them to play with. That’s why we have our own daycare down the road.”
I let his remark about us having a baby slide. I knew he wanted one as soon as I said yes. I just needed time to be sure we’d work out. I latched on to his daycare remark. “You guys have your own daycare?”
“Sure do. It’s actually on Ms. Marie’s old farm. That’s Alannah’s grandma. Alannah is married to my brother Menace. We turned her place into a daycare since Ms. Marie lives here with us.”
I was about to ask him more when an older woman came bearing down on us with a determined look on her face. Right behind her was an older man. He was smiling at her. I was going to guess this was Ms. Marie. She stopped in front of us and looked me over. I stood still, not knowing what to do. Finally, she moved over to look at Blade.
“You’re lucky, young man, that I have Waylon and still a bunch of men over at Bull’s chapter, or you’d be in trouble. I’ve given up on the rest of you remaining mine. It hurts but I’ll just have to console myself with hot, sexy Hunters Creek men.”
“Woman, what did I tell you about chasing those young bucks? You’re mine and I don’t share. Plus, they can’t handle you,” the older man growled as he playfully bit her ear. A smirk appeared on her face.
“Just need to keep you on your toes. If you mess up, I have options.”
“Ms. Marie, what’re you going to do when all the guys over in Hunters Creek settle down?” Blade asked her. He had a huge grin on his face. I could see his affection for her.
