Thanking Her Hero (Steel Daggers MC Book 2) Read online

  “I did. You can’t have any until you get your stinky ass in the shower and get ready. We’re leaving in fifteen minutes. Make it quick missy.” She says bribing me out of bed. The temptress bakes like a god. Can’t say she doesn’t know how to get me moving. I rush through my shower but take my time applying my makeup and doing my hair. I pull on a pair of dark skinny jeans and a red flannel, and I’m ready to go.

  Ever since I left Eric, getting ready for my day has become important in way it never was before. He didn’t like it when I would do my hair and makeup. He used to tell me I had no right to make him jealous, that I was flaunting myself for every man. Looking good was never about flaunting myself for others, I wanted to make him proud. Now I take care of myself and put myself together for me. When I look good, I feel good.

  Darla is waiting for me in her Jeep Wrangler when I walk out to the parking lot. Damn it's cold out. I wrap my scarf tighter and pull my hood up over my head. I open the passenger door and crawl in, grabbing the offered coffee and chugging it. I don’t care it’s almost hot enough to burn me. It’s freezing outside, and I need that jolt of caffeine to bring me back to the land of the living. Putting my coffee into the cup holder, I stare at Darla, waiting.

  “They’re at my house,” she says.

  “You’re joking right?” I ask, holding back the wrath that my bitchier side wants to reign down on her. She shakes her head no, and if I didn’t know her better, I’d assume she wasn’t getting off on this. But I do know her, and she loves torturing me.

  “I had to make sure I could get you to the house. You’re a feisty one, and I needed leverage.”

  “You’re such a bitch!” I laugh off.

  Ten minutes later we pull up to their three-bedroom, two bath ranch style home in the middle of suburbia USA. I find it funny that a badass chick like Darla and her biker husband like living here. We talked about it the first time she brought me here. She told me that ‘we’re all people. It doesn’t matter who we are or what we look like. There’s a sense of community here that I need to keep me solid. Charlie understands and doesn’t mind.’ That was the first time I realized Darla had been through something dark too.

  When we walk into the house, Charlie is in his recliner watching the pre-thanksgiving parade news. I kiss him on the cheek and follow Darla into the kitchen. I immediately get a plate and grab the huge ooey-gooey cinnamon roll from the platter. I sit down at their bar and start devouring. Darla sets down a glass of cold milk to wash it down. I’m finished in less than two minutes. I wipe my mouth with the napkin she put next to my plate mid-roll chow down.

  “Oh my god. Those are delicious every time.” I moan while standing up to put my plate in the sink.

  “I made them for you when Charlie told me you were coming over today,” She says like it’s no big deal.

  I hug her tight “I wish I had a mom like you when I was growing up,” I whisper.

  She hugs me back and kisses the top of my head. “What I would have given to have raised you, Chelsea. You turned out to be a good woman, and you did that all on your own.”

  I shrug my shoulder and pull away, uncomfortable with any praise. “Okay. Put me to work. I’m ready to become a pie master.”

  We spend the next three hours baking twelve pies including pumpkin, pecan, and blueberry.

  Three

  Rock

  I walk into Charlie’s kitchen to find my woman washing dishes. She’s wiggling her hips and humming along with some chick singing about how she ‘could use a love song.’ I watch, enthralled by the woman in front of me. When the song ends, “You should let me love you” the Chris Lane version, comes on. I work security at the only club in town, and I’ve heard this song thousands of times.

  I stand behind her, exactly where I’m supposed to be, at her back protecting her from the world. Grabbing onto her hips I sway with her, slowing her down, and rubbing my throbbing dick into the globes of her ass. When I start singing along, into her ear, she melts into me and moves as I do.

  When the song gets to the last chorus I turn her around, holding her neck in my hands, I tip her chin up to look at me. Inches away from her lips I lose the song and speak the last lines of the song, urging her to understand the extent of my feelings for her.

  I rub my thumb across her bottom lip, dying to take it into my mouth. She breaks our eye contact, and I let her. This is the first time that I’ve professed what I want from her.

  “You two done in here or what? Pass me one of those pies Rock.”

  When I start to grab one, Chelsea is on me pushing me away from the pies. “Don’t you dare,” she commands then points her laser eyes at Charlie. “Those pies are for the shelter. You get two, and they aren’t here. You want pie, go talk to your old lady.”

  I love the fire flowing through her and the ease she feels at being herself. I never get to see her like this, except when she’s bossing Charlie around. I’m impressed with how far she’s come in the months that she’s been with the Steel Daggers.

  “Y’all better get to delivering those pies if you want the shelter to have them in time for dessert.”

  “Let’s go, babe,” I tell her and grab two pies as she grabs a few and starts to follow me.

  “How are you going to fit all of these pies on your bike?”

  “Who said I was riding my bike?” I ask.

  She looks confused, and I know it’s because there’s still so much she doesn’t know about me. That will be changing moving forward.

  When we get to the driveway her eyes go wide while she stares at my lifted black F350.

  “I can’t get in that.”

  I put the pies I’m carrying into the back and then grab the ones from her hands.

  “Good thing I’m here then, huh?”

  She ignores me and goes back inside to get the rest of the pies. I follow her, something I’ll be doing happily for the rest of my life. We load the rest of the pies into the back and drop them off at the shelter in more than enough time to get to Pres’ house for dinner.

  I help Chelsea back into the truck and buckle her in, which she didn’t hate as much the second time I did it today. I get into the front seat and look at my future baby mama.

  “You hungry?”

  She studies me. “I’m not going over there. It will be weird.”

  “Why would it be weird?”

  ∞∞∞

  Chelsea

  Why would it be weird? Hasn’t he noticed the tension between Emersen and I since we talked right after Halloween?

  “Come on Rock. Emersen and I aren’t exactly talking right now.”

  “You call me Harrison.”

  “What?” I stop and ask.

  “My name is Harrison. I want you to call me that.”

  A smile forms on my face quickly at the knowledge that he wants me to use his real name. “Fine. Harrison. Emersen and I aren’t talking. I said some things that hurt her. Plus, she’s still healing from what happened a week ago, she doesn’t need me coming to her home and adding more stress.” I explain to him.

  “You ever think she needs her best friend more than ever right now? That maybe those words you said may not matter anymore, haven’t mattered since the day you said them.”

  I never thought about it like that. Could she not care? Am I the one who has been pushing her away? I know that all I wanted when I left Eric was to talk to Em. Shit, it’s possible.

  “Okay. I’m ready.” I look up into his gentle brown eyes and say assuredly.

  “Just like that?”

  I laugh “Yeah, just like that. What you said made sense. It’s worth an awkward hello to see her. If she needs me, I want to be there for her. Like I wish I would have let her be for me.”

  He reaches up and clasps my neck in his hand, rubbing his thumb against my pulse point. “Proud of you Angel.”

  I smile. He’ll never know that he’s the first person to say that to me. “Why’s that?”

  “You’ve come a long way since this
summer. I’ve been watching you.”

  “You don’t say?”

  “Smart ass. Chelsea, I can see the darkness that lingers at times, but you don’t let it settle over you like it used to in the beginning. You pulled yourself up and got yourself right. You did that on your own babe. You’re so strong. Stronger than you now.”

  A few tears spill down my cheeks, and he wipes them away and holds my face between his hands. He leans in close, ghosting his nose against mine. He kisses my forehead and drops a few against my cheek until he gets to my mouth.

  “My Angel, so beautiful.” He whispers against my lips before placing the softest kiss I have ever known against them. He kisses me slow and sweet and ghosts his tongue across my opening. I open my mouth instantly, giving him permission to kiss me the way I need him to. His tongue sweeps across mine like it’s taking a stroll on a Sunday. He’s gentle and relaxed, but simultaneously owning this kiss like a boss. I’m holding onto his forearms like I’m holding onto this thing we have. I’m holding on, scared I might fall, unwilling to let go.

  He sucks my bottom lip into his mouth, nibbling softly before releasing it and kissing the bite.

  “You’re succulent Chelsea. I’ll be counting the minutes until I can steal another taste.”

  Four

  Chelsea

  I’m nervous the entire fifteen-minute drive to Pres’ house. I’m not only having dinner with the girl that used to be my best friend, but also my boss. My boss that knows I upset his woman. The man who hasn’t said much to me in the past month. He hasn’t been mean, just different. He’s treated me as an afterthought when before he was kind and treated me like he cared how I was doing. It hurts, but I get it.

  We pull down the unpaved driveway that leads to beautiful log cabin surrounded by woods. There are at least ten bikes parked near the garage and I can’t help the growing excitement that comes about being around this crew of bad ass men.

  When Harrison parks, I wait for him to come around to help me out of his too high off the ground truck. Honestly, I just need the extra minute to get my bearings. He unbuckles my seatbelt as if I’m a child, and I secretly I love it.

  “Ready Angel?” He asks softly. I nod my head, and he lifts me out of his truck until I’m at his side, my hand clasped reassuringly in his.

  Emerson answers the door wearing a cut similar to Pres’, except hers says Property of Pres on it. I knew it was coming since he made it well known at Spanky’s that she’s his. I couldn’t be happier for them. She immediately wraps her arms around me, nearly knocking me over in her excitement.

  “I’ve missed you so much!” She says, and it’s like the last several months have melted away. The distance I placed between us is no longer there and we’re Chelsea and Emersen again.

  “I’ve missed you too!” I tell her, ready to start crying any second now.

  She lets me go but grabs my hand pulling me inside. It’s almost like a chain because Harrison hasn’t let go of me once. Emersen leads us into the kitchen where Pres is taking the turkey out of the oven. She walks up to him and hugs him holding on extra tight. They’re so adorable together. I was wrong when I said she wasn’t tough enough for this life. She proved me and several others wrong. She is perfect for Pres and this life.

  “Congratulations Pres,” Harrison says from beside me.

  “I see we’ve all got a lot to be thankful for today,” Pres says staring at Harrison and me. Then I see it, the big sparkly rock on Emersen’s left hand.

  “What? You’re engaged? When did this happen?” I squeal running up to her and giving her the biggest hug I can muster.

  She giggles and hugs me back. “Last night. He asked me last night after…” She clears her throat. “Well, that doesn’t matter. Anyway, Ryker put my cut on me and told me that I would always be his old lady, but that it was time for me to make him an honest man. He told me I had a month to plan the wedding. The brute didn’t even ask.” She sounds outraged but is laughing, and I know she has found her person, the one that will have her back for the rest of her tomorrows.

  I look at Harrison who is shaking Pres’ hand. Could we be happy like this? I look from Harrison to Pres, then back to Harrison, who’s in a dead stare at me. The way that’s he’s looking at me along with everything that has happened between us in the last twenty-four hours has me questioning everything I thought I wanted and scared to reach for it.

  “Hey, Chelsea, why don’t I show you around the house. Rock has been here before.”

  It takes him a minute to drag his eyes from mine, but eventually, he looks from me to Emersen.

  “Rock, let’s talk outside. We have some Steel Daggers business to discuss. All the guys are out there.”

  After they walk out, Emersen turns to me. “Wow. How long have you two been a thing?” She asks while getting us each a Dr. Pepper.

  “We’re not. Or we weren’t this morning. I don’t know Em, today has been a weird day. Thanks,” I say and grab the offered drink.

  I follow her into their living room, and we sit on the loveseat facing each other.

  “I thought I was getting a tour.”

  “That was code for girl talk. Ryker picked up what I was throwing down and became scarce like a good man. Chelsea, I hope you don’t mind, but Ryker told me about how they found you.”

  I wince, not wanting to remember that night. “Yep.”

  She grabs my hand and squeezes tight. “Chelsea, I have no idea what you’ve been through. After what happened last week, I don’t want to let stupid stuff get in between us. You are my best friend and I need to know you’re okay.”

  “Me? Are you okay? I didn’t know what to do that night. The clubhouse was crazy with all the guys trying to locate you. I refused to leave until I knew you were safe. I stayed right there until we got the call that Pres had you.”

  “I’m doing much better today, especially after last night. It’s time you let it all out Chels and then begin to let go of it.”

  I nod, I need to release this poison before it eats me alive. “Do you remember that guy I told you about, the one I started seeing right before graduation who was ten years older than me?”

  “Eric?”

  “Yeah. God, I don’t even know where to start with this.” I shudder thinking about the things I let that man do to me. “My breaking point wasn’t when he filmed us having sex.” I can picture it now. I was gagged and on my knees begging him to take me, while the camera was pointed at my ass. “He called me a slut and a whore. Eric told me that I wasn’t someone who was worthy of love. It was bad, but I stayed.”

  Emersen grabs my hands on holds on, supporting me when I need her most.

  “What killed me was when he invited his buddies over to our apartment and showed them the video after they had been drinking for a few hours. He told me it was my duty to please him. That if I loved him like I said I did I would do what he wanted. I wanted to make him happy. I wanted to be worthy of his love. He wanted me to give his friends a blowjob, but I refused. He slapped me in front of his friends, hard enough that I fell and hit my head on the coffee table. His friends laughed it up while I laid there crying.”

  I hear her gasp. Staring at our hands and holding on tight, needing her strength to get through this, I continue.

  “He yelled at me and sent me to the room, told me that I sickened him, that he couldn’t look at me. Later that night he walked into the room horribly drunk and beat me for the first time. The next day he woke me up with flowers apologizing for his behavior. He begged me not to go. Told me he’d never been that drunk before, and it wasn’t him that hurt me. I fell for his bullshit, mostly because I was embarrassed I let this become my life. I felt like it was my fault. I stayed.

  After that, I started rethinking all my choices. Why did I throw my independence away that I had worked so hard for? How could I have been that stupid? I never applied for a job, because Eric promised he’d take care of me. That he’d pay all the bills, all he asked was I do was my fair s
hare by cleaning up the house. I didn’t realize he was beginning to isolate me. I didn’t have a cell phone, and he refused to get me one saying I could just use his. I didn’t have a car because he was at work and when he was home, he didn’t feel comfortable with me driving it around. There were so many little things just like this Em and I couldn’t bare to tell you.”

  “Jesus Chelsea. I would have come for you. We could have left and gone somewhere new. I love you babe!.”

  “I know. I love you too. It’s not as easy as it sounds while you’re living it though. I look back now and can see how it all spiraled. With as much as I talked to myself, going back and forth about what I should do, I would have sworn I was going crazy. I wasn’t in a good place.”

  “That’s an understatement.” She snips, and her words hurt. “Shit, sorry Chels. I’m just pissed that he did this to you.”

  “You mean that I let him do this to me. I should have been stronger. I should have left before he had a chance to lay a hand on me.”

  “That’s not what I meant Chelsea. Get to the rest of it, hun. Say it so you can start living without it hanging over you.” She encourages.

  I take in a deep breath and breathe it out slow. “A month after the first incident, he had his friends over again. I was nervous, but I felt like I knew what could happen, so I was prepared this time. When they started drinking, they all started flirting and touching me. I kept looking at Eric to see him smiling and encouraging it. I decide to go along with it even though it grossed me out. It felt wrong, like I was cheating. Why would he want other men touching me when he was supposed to love me? I was a virgin before Eric and I became very uncomfortable with all of them flirting and touching me. When one of the guys put my hand on his dick, I pulled away, feeling ashamed that I had encouraged their behavior this time. That wasn’t who I was.

  I told them all that I was tired. I left and went to the bedroom, but I didn’t undress. I locked the door and prayed Eric didn’t come back here and force me to do something with them. I eventually fell asleep. When I woke, Eric was straddling my middle and hitting me in the face. I tried to get him off me, but he was stronger and kept hitting me, repeatedly.