Throughout the night, between sliding inside her, we talked about a lot of things. I told her about Tor and his bitch of a mother. Fern’s first question is why I don’t kill her and get it over with. I couldn’t stop myself from laughing at her question.
“Sweetie, I kill the woman, and they’ll know it was me. Instead of getting my kid like I want, they’ll be putting me away for the rest of my life. Not caring I’m simply doing the world a favor by ending her life. Then Tor will be in the system and it’ll all be for nothin’.”
Still, I’ll form a plan to make sure I never see her again, and neither does Tor.
Fern stirs in my arms, and I glance down to where she’s lying with her head pressed into my chest.
I tilt my head enough to brush my lips against the top of her head. “Wake up, beautiful, we’ve got things to do today.”
“I don’t wanna get up,” she mumbles sleepily and snuggles deeper against me.
“I’m sure you don’t, but I wanna spend the day with you before goin’ back to the club to check on Tor,” I state, needing her to understand my reasoning. If she does, I bet she’ll start getting her ass moving.
At the mention of Tor’s name, Fern opens her eyes and meets my gaze. “Are you sure you really want to do this?” she asks.
“Yeah, sweetie, it’s what I want. I don’t trust any other woman besides you to help me with this.” I really don’t trust anyone to do this for me and not expect something in return.
“Okay,” she mumbles and goes to get up. She gets off the bed, heads toward her dresser, and proceeds to grab some clothes.
“We’ll leave in thirty minutes. Pack a bag we’ll go out on to Alligator Point after,” I tell her as I climb out of bed fully naked without a care in the world. Fern turns around and looks at me, ready to ask me something, but when she sees my naked body, her cheeks flush beet red. I don’t give a fuck, though. She is about to be my wife, after all.
Pulling the bike into a parking spot, I put the kickstand down and hold a hand out to help Fern off the back.
I’m officially a married man. I made vows to her, the ones I spoke aloud and the ones I made to myself. I intend to make sure Fern gets back to her happy, laughing self. I miss having her around.
Since meeting her months ago when we first moved to town to help my VP out, I took to her, and she became one of us very quickly. More than that, she started to become something to me. Now she’s my wife, even if it’s temporary. I’ll do what I have to in order to bring the light back into her eyes. It’s still there. I saw a glimpse of it last night and right now as I meet her gaze.
“That was fun,” she says, taking off the helmet. “Can we do it again sometime?”
“Anytime you want.” I grin, savoring the smile beaming across her face. “Come on, let’s go have some fun. Just you and me before we let the real world in. You’ll meet Tor later when we go to the clubhouse.”
Fern’s smile falters. “Umm . . .”
“Nope, don’t even try to pull away, beautiful.” I reach out, grab her hand and pull her against my side. No way in hell I’m about to let her shut down on me. “It’s just you and me right now, no need to pull away,” I say gently.
“Okay,” she whispers, her hands clenching my shirt tightly.
“Good girl,” I mutter and press a kiss to her lips tenderly. I step back, take Fern’s hand and grab the bag she packed out of my saddlebag. The two of us walk toward the beach. I let her go when we reach the dressing rooms. Fern goes in to change, and I slip my boots, cut, and tee off. I unbuckle my belt, slide my jeans down, and kick them off. I already had my board shorts underneath. The sun beams down on my shoulders, feeling good. I’ve always been one for being out in the sun. Growing up, I spent a lot of time out in it. Hell, being a Nomad, I could spend hours riding the roads with only the sun shining down on me.
It doesn’t take long for Fern to come back out, and as she does, I notice she put on a black tunic to keep herself covered.
Taking her hand, I guide her out onto the beach.
We place our stuff down, and I guide her to the water. Fern hesitates at first, but the cool water touches her feet, and she instantly relaxes.
Fern glances around us and sees no one is very close. After she realizes this, she turns back to face me and smiles. I swing her up into my arms and carry her out into the water, where the two of us swim and laugh, and I hold her close to me.
I wish we could spend the entire day here, but eventually, I need to get back to the clubhouse. A Prez’s work is never done.
At least now I’ll be doing it with a beautiful woman by my side. One who’s going to help change not only my life but Tor’s too.
Chapter Eight
Fern
If I’ve learned anything for sure over the last couple days, it’s how Runes is a man of action. Not that I mind. We went to the courthouse this morning and sealed the deal. I’m hoping it’ll make as much of a difference as he wants. He’s made it apparent his son is the center of his world, and while he isn’t talking about Tor’s abuse in-depth with me, I can sense the way he feels ashamed for what happened. I’ll tell Runes time and time again this isn’t on him, but I know why he’s being so hard on himself. As a parent, it’s your job to keep your child safe. He must feel like he let Tor down. Regardless, at least he’s here for him now.
Now we’re at the beach, and Runes put up an umbrella he rented when we got here, so the sun isn’t too bad on me. We put moisturizing sunscreen over every bit of my skin from head to toe, and now I’m lying down on a beach towel, enjoying hearing the seagulls call to one another. We spent a good amount of time in the water when we first got here, but the only thing I want to do now is enjoy the moment.
The water crashes against the sand, and I lie here with my eyes closed, listening to the calming sounds. God, this feels great, just being out in the sun, not hiding. It’s the first time in weeks I’ve been out in the public eye, but Runes made sure to find a somewhat secluded part of the beach for us to go to. There are people off in the distance, but they’re far enough away I don’t think they’d see my scars in detail.
“When are you gonna take this off?” Runes tugs at my tunic, and I’m sure he’s teasing me.
I crack open an eye and look at him, seeing he’s messing around. “All you want is a good look at my boobs and ass.”
“Damn straight, I do. You’re all mine now, sweetie. I wanna get a look every chance I can.”
“Then do it at home, I want to keep my tunic on,” I murmur, closing my eyes.
“Fern, look at me.” Runes order is said with an authoritative voice, so I open both eyes and look right at him. “I know why you’re wearin’ this, and it’s not ‘cause you just wanna keep it on. Stop doin’ what I know you are.”
Fuck. I hate the way he calls me out. He knows I’m covering myself up because I don’t want anyone to focus on me. Sure, the other people are off in the distance, but still . . . I don’t want to be so exposed. It’s hard enough being insecure about this. I don’t want everyone to see my insecurity, because they will. In fact, there’s no denying it.