Redemption Road

Текст добавлен: 9 октября 2016, 01:30

Текст книги "Redemption Road"

Автор книги: Katie Ashley

Жанр:

Современные любовные романы

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 19 (всего у книги 19 страниц)

Назад к карточке книги

TWENTY-SEVEN

ANNABEL

Sunlight streamed through the heavily tree-lined woods, warming even the shadowy parts. With the hem of my dress clutched in my hand, I carefully made my way through the uneven terrain. I dodged tree limbs and shrubs that might nick my dress. After all, I didn’t want to do anything to ruin my appearance, considering it was my wedding day.

I’m sure it seemed a little unorthodox to be tromping through the woods on the most important day of my life, but at the same time, there was no other way to reach the wedding venue. Rev’s near death at Mendoza’s hands illustrated to us both how precarious life can be, and made it seem a little ridiculous to wait to get married.

So a month to the day after Rev had come home from the hospital, we were becoming man and wife. Because we were on a tight schedule, most of the venues were booked up. In the end, the most obvious choice was right before our eyes . . . or at least a mile into the woods. Our ceremony would take place on the banks of tohi a-ma.

When I stumbled over an exposed tree root, Deacon’s arm shot out to catch me. “Easy there, sister. I don’t want you face-planting before we can get you to the altar,” he said, his voice laced with amusement. Behind us, Bishop snickered.

“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied with a smile.

Deacon and Bishop were not only escorting me to the service; they were also giving me away. Although my father had come through for me when I needed him, he would have never consented to me being married anywhere but in a church, outfitted in a twenty-thousand-dollar Vera Wang dress, with tons of reporters following the ceremony, making him look like father of the year. I didn’t want anything to ruin my day, so I planned on calling my parents from my honeymoon to tell them I had eloped.

When we reached the clearing, the gentle strumming of a guitar floated back to me. As the woods melted into the green grass, the pathway was strewn with rose petals. I couldn’t help smiling because it wasn’t a detail I had asked for. The beautiful soul of my hard-core biker fiancé had added that romantic touch.

As if he could read my thoughts, Bishop muttered, “What a pussy.”

I elbowed him in the ribs. “You could learn a little something from your older brother,” I countered.

He wrinkled his nose in disgust. “No fucking thank you. Hell, Rev’s always been a sensitive fucker, but since he fell for you, it’s like he’s grown a vagina.”

When Deacon snickered, I shot him a death glare before turning back to Bishop. “Let me set you straight on one thing. There is nothing unmanly about Rev, especially not in the bedroom. And you can’t have a vagina when you’re that well-endowed.” At Bishop’s openmouthed, wide-eyed look, I said, “Just in case you’re not sure what ‘well-endowed’ means, it means your brother has a giant dick and knows how to use it.”

I bit back a laugh at how I’d shocked the hell out of both of my future brothers-in-law. With a wink at them, I said, “That last comment was to show you that I’m not too uptown to be a biker’s old lady.”

Both Deacon and Bishop hooted and snorted with laughter. I couldn’t hide my surprise when Bishop reached over and kissed my cheek. “I don’t ever have any doubts about you being a good old lady, Annabel.”

I smiled at him. “Thank you, Bishop.”

Once we rounded the bend of the clearing, I could see all my wedding guests—my new family—standing on the banks of the glittering water. Outfitted in a frilly pink dress, Willow was our impromptu flower girl. She stood next to Alexandra, who held baby Wyatt in her arms. Mama Beth was beside her, keeping a watchful eye on her grandchildren. Kim and her five children were in attendance, including her eighteen-year-old daughter, Cassie. Our newest miracle had come in the form of the beautiful, intelligent girl. She wanted to be Rev’s and my surrogate in exchange for help with paying the tuition to college that her family couldn’t afford. It had seemed almost too good to be true, but after lengthy discussions with Cassie and Kim, we came to see how serious she was about it. So after we enjoyed a few years together as just man and wife, we would take the next step to becoming a family.

My heart skipped at the sight of Rev. Just as I was dressed in a simple white sheath dress with spaghetti straps, Rev wore simple black pants, a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and his cut. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. He wasn’t a tux kind of guy, and I was no longer couture.

When he caught sight of me, a broad smile stretched across his handsome face, making warmth spread over my body. In a way, it was so surreal that I was marrying a man like Rev—a man I wouldn’t have given a second glance had it not been for my tortured past. As I gripped the bouquet in my hands tighter, I thought of how blessed I was that something so wonderful had come out of something so horrific.

The guitarist began strumming “Here Comes the Bride,” and although we grew closer and closer to Rev, I couldn’t get to him fast enough. I fought the urge to grab up the hem of my dress and start running. When I finally stood before him, I couldn’t keep my hands off him. I threw my arms around his neck and pressed myself against him.

A chuckle rumbled through his chest. “I don’t think we’ve gotten to this part yet,” Rev murmured into my hair.

I pulled back to smile up at him. “I couldn’t help myself.”

“I’m not really complaining.” Rev ran his thumbs across my cheekbones. “You look so, so beautiful.”

“Thank you. You look pretty handsome yourself.”

The minister, an out-of-town Raider road-named Fuzz, cleared his throat. “I think we oughta get this show on the road.”

“You just want to get back to the roadhouse for the beer and cake,” Rev challenged with a good-natured smile.

Fuzz grinned. “Can you blame me?”

I shook my head. “No, we can’t.” I pulled out of Rev’s embrace, and we took our appropriate places in front of Fuzz.

“Dearly beloved, we’re gathered here in the sight of God and these witnesses to join this man and this woman together in the bonds of holy matrimony . . .”

As we began the official part of the ceremony, I kept my eyes locked on Rev’s. I couldn’t fight the tears that stung my eyes. But they weren’t sorrowful tears—they were tears of pure happiness. A happiness that had been hard won. To the outside world, we were such an unorthodox pair. After all, what bride-to-be received a wedding present from her groom in the form of the death of her rapist and torturer? While Mendoza might have escaped into custody the day that Rev had been shot, he met a horrific end in jail. So horrific that Rev refused to give me any details about what had happened to him before his throat was slit.

Pushing those macabre thoughts out of my mind, I focused instead on the bright future that lay before me as Rev’s wife. The old Annabel was a former debutante who lived in a world of excess in every area but love and affection. While she was ripped violently from that world, she came to find solace and healing among bikers, and a happiness that the old Annabel never knew existed. This was where I belonged.

Don’t miss Bishop Malloy’s story in the next electrifying Vicious Cycle book

Coming soon from Headline Eternal.

For the hundredth fucking time, I felt eyes on me, stalking my every move. Casually, I glanced over my shoulder to take in the crowd. The Raiders clubhouse was at full capacity for a Saturday night. The house band was cranking out tunes, and couples were in the middle of the floor, bumping and grinding. With Rev and Annabel gone to Virginia to visit her family, and Deacon off on a fucking Brownies camping trip (of all things) with Willow, I was the only Malloy in residence.

Even without looking, I could have guessed who was eyeballing me. Three weeks ago, a new mechanic had started at the garage I was working at. His name was Marley, and he was former Army. Once he learned who I was, he expressed an interest in becoming a hang-around for the Hells Raiders. It was a way to prove yourself for moving into a prospecting position. After everything that had gone down with Mendoza, we were looking to bring in a few new guys to steady things until the heat wore off. We were still slowly and surely moving toward being legitimate. Marley appeared to be just the kind of guy we could use.

From his table across the room, Marley worked on draining another beer. But he wasn’t the one looking at me. He hadn’t glanced in my direction all night. No, it was the fine-as-hell woman beside him who had been doing her best at eye-fucking me who’d drawn my attention.

Tonight was the first night I had had the pleasure and the pain of meeting Marley’s girlfriend. She had at least five years on me, and that fact made me want to volunteer to be her cougar cub. If there was one word to describe her, it was exotic. Sure, she was probably more of an ethnic mutt, but it made for one hell of an attractive combination. One moment, she looked more Hispanic than anything, while the next, she took on an Asian appearance, thanks to her almond-shaped eyes. She had turned the heads of more than one of my brothers.

When she realized I was looking at her, a catlike smile curved her ruby-red lips. She tossed some strands of her silky, jet-black hair over her shoulders. Marley, sitting beside her, didn’t act like he noticed anything that she was doing.

Even though he wasn’t a patch-wearing brother, I still shouldn’t have been giving her the eye. You didn’t fuck around with other guys’ women. It usually led to trouble of the fist-flying kind. And even though there were more than enough hot pieces of available ass here tonight, I couldn’t help letting my mind wander to places it shouldn’t with this woman.

My ears perked up at the sound of a baby’s cry. I knew the cry very well—it belonged to my nephew. As I headed across the main room of the roadhouse, I could see Alexandra in the doorway to the kitchen, walking around, trying to pacify the fussy baby.

“What’s wrong with the little man?” I asked.

Alexandra huffed out a frustrated breath. “I have no idea. He’s just been fed and had his diaper changed, but he insists on being whiny.” She kissed the top of her son’s dark-haired head. “Truth be told, I think he’s sick of me. With Deacon gone camping with Willow, he’s had no one else to amuse him the past three days.”

“Here, let me take him.”

Alexandra’s brows rose in surprise. “Really?” When I nodded, she passed him into my waiting arms. He immediately dried up the sniffling and gazed into my face. “Who knew you were so good with babies,” Alexandra mused.

With a wink, I added, “Nah, it’s more about the fact he’s had too much tit time. He needs to be with some men for a while.”

“You’re terrible,” she replied, smacking my arm playfully.

“You love me, though,” I teased.

Alexandra leaned over and planted a kiss on my cheek. “Yes, I do. Very much.” Patting Wyatt’s back, she then said, “Bring him back when you get tired of him or he gets tired of you.”

“Sure thing.”

As I walked Wyatt around the main room, several of my brothers stopped to talk to us while their old ladies or girlfriends cooed at Wyatt. Although he was all Alexandra when it came to the looks department, Wyatt was like his old man in that he knew how to work a crowd. He grinned and waved his hands, drawing smiles from everyone we talked to.

“What a little cutie,” a voice said behind me.

I turned around to find my eye-fucker standing behind me. “Thanks.”

“Is he yours?” she asked.

“Oh hell no. He’s my brother’s.”

She smiled as she reached out to stroke Wyatt’s chubby cheek. “I take it you don’t have any of your own.”

“That would once again be a hell no.”

“You’re awfully good with him.”

“I like kids just as long as they belong to someone else,” I answered honestly. When Wyatt reached for her, she looked at me to gauge my response. “Sure. You can hold him.”

Wyatt happily dove into her waiting arms. “Aren’t you a charmer?” she murmured.

“I don’t think we’ve met,” I said as she sweet-talked Wyatt.

“I’m Samantha. But you can call me Sam.”

Extending my hand, I said, “I’m Bishop.”

“Nice to meet you.”

I knew with her introduction that she had to be new to this whole lifestyle. Most of the women knew that when introducing themselves, they were to say which man they belonged to. “You’re with Marley, right?”

She nodded. “This is my first MC party.”

“And what do you think about it?”

“It’s . . . interesting?” she answered honestly.

I laughed. “Sounds like you’re trying to be nice. Trust me, this one is pretty tame. Wait until you go to a rally.” At her wide eyes, I added, “It has to be seen to be believed.”

“Somehow I don’t think I like the sound of that.”

“You’ll get used to it. Especially if Marley becomes a prospect and then a patch member.”

At that moment Marley showed up behind us. “Hey, Bishop. I see you got to meet my girl.”

Deep inside, I wanted to snarl at his reference to Sam being his girl. Of course, I had no fucking reason to do that. Hell, I didn’t even know her. Yeah, she was one hell of a looker who got my dick up and running, and she seemed to have a sweet side when it came to the way she was interacting with Wyatt. But that was it.

“You’re a lucky man,” I finally replied.

Marley grinned and planted a smacking kiss on Sam’s lips, which caused her to step back slightly. But then she gave him a beaming smile. “I guess I’d better hand over this cutie,” she said. After I took Wyatt back from her, she said, “Thanks for letting me hold him.”

“Anytime.”

She then slid her arm around Marley’s waist and they moved away from me. Just as they got halfway across the room, she glanced over her shoulder at me, giving me that catlike smile again.

When she turned her head back, I groaned, which caused Wyatt to glance up at me in surprise. I smiled at him. “Little man, your uncle is in deep shit.”