“Holy cow. They never cook anything like this at the Devil’s Jester clubhouse,” Erin breathed after her first bite.
“It’s certainly a step up from military chow.”
“I heard someone say you’d been in the military,” Erin said hesitantly. “If you don’t mind me asking something so personal.”
“You can ask me anything you want, baby. To you, I’m an open book.”
Erin’s cheeks tinged with pink as she smiled.
“To answer your question. Yes, I was an Army Ranger. Hooah.”
“Is that how you got your nickname?”
“Mostly.” I went on to tell her a little about my time in the service, and slowly, she began to relax.
After she was done eating her dinner, I gave her a tour of the clubhouse. Our last stop was the tattoo shop, Silver Ink, owned by the club and where I worked.
“You’re an artist?” Erin asked as she eagerly looked around at the artwork on the walls. “Wow! Are these all yours?”
I laughed, delighted at her enthusiasm. “No, baby. I’m one of five artists, but about a third of these designs are mine.”
“That’s so cool. I’ve always wanted a tattoo.”
My cock swelled when I realized that not only was her pussy a virgin, so was her skin. Which meant I would be the first and only man to own both.
“Once we get everything settled, we’ll work on something special for you, and I’ll do it.”
“Really?” Her face lit up, and she practically bounced on the balls of her feet, making me grin.
Damn, I couldn’t remember the last time I smiled this much. Erin was so genuine and interested, it was refreshing. I’d known I wanted her the second I laid eyes on her, but as I spent time with her, I became more intrigued by her personality. She was everything I’d been searching for, and I hadn’t even realized it.
Eventually, her eyes grew heavy, and I guided her back to my room. I pulled out a gray T-shirt that said “Army” on the front and tossed it to her. “You can sleep in that tonight.”
“Um, Patriot?”
“Call me Patrick, baby,” I said as I found her a clean towel.
“Patrick?”
I laughed at her perplexed expression. “Yeah, my name is Patrick O’Bannon.”
“No, I mean, okay, but you want me to call you Patrick?”
“Get ready for bed, baby. I’ll be back in a bit.” I didn’t answer her question because it would’ve led to a discussion she wasn’t ready for yet.
When I returned, she was fast asleep, so I stripped to my boxers and climbed into bed. After wrapping my woman in my arms, I fell asleep. The next morning, I was shocked to realize I’d slept through the night. The last time that happened had been before my first deployment.
7
Erin
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went shopping with Cat and Bridget, but it definitely wasn’t for us to be gone all day. Or for them to pressure me into buying whatever I wanted. By the time we returned to the Silver Saints clubhouse, my belly was full of tacos, chips, and salsa, and I had too many bags to carry in by myself. Staring at the pile in the back of Cat’s SUV, I started to freak out a little. “I didn’t realize how much stuff I got. Are you absolutely, positively sure that Patriot wanted me to buy all of this?”
“For the millionth time, yes.” Cat pulled his credit card out of her purse and handed it to me. “And you didn’t even buy all of it. We had to steal this sucker from you to make sure you got everything you needed. If we’d left you in charge, you would’ve come back with the bare necessities.”
“I don’t know.” I tucked the credit card in the back pocket of the jeans Cat had talked me into wearing out of the store. “Maybe we should return some of this stuff before he sees all the bags. All I really need are a few changes of clothes and some pajamas. I don’t mind doing laundry every couple of days.”
I yelped in surprise at the deep chuckle behind me as a pair of strong hands guided me out of the way. Glancing over my shoulder, I found Breaker reaching into the back of the SUV. He easily grabbed all of them before turning to me. “Trust me when I tell you that Patriot would lose his mind if he found out you were washing your shit two or three times a week because you were worried about spending too much on yourself.”
“See, we told you not to worry.” Cat flung her arm around my shoulder as we followed Breaker into the clubhouse while the two prospects who’d tagged along with us to the mall headed toward the front gate.
My cheeks filled with heat when he muttered, “Pretty damn sure you won’t need more than one pair of pajamas, though. Not when you’re sleeping with Patriot.”
“True story,” Cat agreed with a grin.
“I’m not sleeping with him,” I yelped, my cheeks turning beet red. “I mean, I slept in his bed last night, but nothing happened. All we did was sleep.”
“I remember my first night in Mac’s room.” Bridget let out a soft sigh and fanned herself. “But mostly the next morning.”
“You guys have it all wrong. Patriot was already gone when I woke up,” I insisted, shaking my head.
“Only because he had stuff to take care of this morning and you were sound asleep,” Cat explained as Breaker made his way into Patriot’s room and dumped all the bags on the still-rumpled bed. “Or at least that’s what he told me when he stopped by the kitchen to grab a quick bite to eat this morning. I was chomping at the bit to get our shopping trip started, and he made it clear how pissed he’d be if I didn’t let you eat before we left. All I did was ask where you were, and he practically jumped down my throat.”
Breaker walked past us and snorted. “No way in hell did it go down like that. Scout would’ve been all over Patriot if he yelled at you.”
I didn’t understand how two motorcycle clubs could be so different. In the Devil’s Jesters, the guys treated old ladies like crap all the time, and nobody cared. Not even if it was a prospect who hadn’t earned their place yet. But here, one patched member would go after another for disrespecting his woman, and everybody acted like that was only to be expected. They also had no problem with cooking. Or apparently spending money on a woman they just met. Lots and lots of money.
No matter what they said, I still felt guilty about all the things I’d bought. There was only one person who could convince me it really was okay. “Where’s Patriot?”
“He tried to get out of it, but he was booked solid with clients today, and he has a long waiting list. So he’s at Silver Ink,” Breaker answered, jerking his chin toward the stairs. “Want me to walk you over there?”
Although Patriot had given me a tour last night, the compound was sprawling, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to find my way back to the tattoo parlor on my own. “Yeah, thanks. That would be great.”
I regretted the decision when he led me into Patriot’s booth without knocking and announced, “Yo, you need to calm your woman down before she blows a gasket.”
“What’s wrong, Cherry? Did someone fuck with you at the mall?” Patriot set his tattoo gun down and rushed over to me, his blue eyes scanning me from head to toe before he looked over my shoulder at Breaker. “Where are the prospects who went with them?”