“They’re perfect. Thank you.”
The women all had to have one to taste-test the batch. Then Bliss slid the tray Beth had prepared into the oven.
Drake and the rest of the men came in as the last batch was baking. She gave Drake worried glances, but she was relieved when he gave her a reassuring smile, grabbing several cookies for himself when Rider, Shade, and Train began devouring them.
“You don’t want any, Viper?” Bliss felt awkward around the leader, still finding it hard to believe she had been accepted back in the club.
“No, thanks.” Viper winced when he tried to offer a smile. “My jaw is too sore.”
“Poor baby,” Winter crooned with mock sympathy. “I’ve told you that you should find a better way to vote in members.”
“Nothing else would be as much fun.”
“I don’t know about that. The way we vote in the women is pretty damn fun for me.”
“Rider, if you want to vote in men the way we vote in women, go for it.”
As Rider took another cookie and moved away, the women all burst out laughing.
Razer and Train both looked like Drake hadn’t been any easier on them. They reminded her of the night they had gotten in a fight with the Destructors at the Pink Slipper, but it had taken several of the bikers to give them the beating Drake had. She wondered how Rider had managed to get through the fight seemingly without a mark on him.
Evie had called King and asked him to increase Bliss’s order substantially. When it arrived, it reminded Bliss of old times, when they sat around the kitchen and tried to grab the food before it was gone then sat and talked until late in the night.
Drake leaned back, placing his arm around Bliss’s waist. “Having fun?”
Bliss leaned tiredly against him, yawning. “It’s the best Christmas Eve I’ve ever had. Thank you. I’ll always remember it.”
“I will, too.” Drake winced, trying to shift her to a more comfortable position.
“I’m sorry.” Bliss started to straighten off him, but he tugged her back.
“Stay still. You’re not the only one who’s going to remember this night.”
“Can I ask you a question?” When he nodded, she asked, “Why does Rider look so good? I would have never known he was in the fight if Winter hadn’t told me.”
“Damned if I know. I gave him some of my best punches. That man has an iron jaw. He should look worse than any of us. The only reason I got past him was because I lasted so long against him.”
“Even when Jared shot him, it only took him a couple of days to recover.” Train spoke up from the chair across the table. “He’s a freak of nature. Do you know how he got his nickname in the service?” He waited for Drake to raise his brows in question. “When we were in the service, we woke up to enemy fire. We were all scared shitless, running around in the dark, trying to wake up and return fire. Thank God Shade had come in that night from a mission and was still awake. He gave us enough time to retaliate.
“We were so freaked out we didn’t notice Rider had been shot until it was over and were assessing the damage. Ten men never made it out of their bunk rolls that night. Rider coded on me twice, and when I was about to give up, I got him back. They flew him out, and once I managed to hitch a ride with the next helicopter two hours later, I went to the hospital to find him. It took me thirty minutes to find him in the X-ray room, fucking the technician. He was fucking her from behind as if he didn’t have three bullets in him.”
Drake held his ribs. “Which was why you called him Rider, for ‘ride her,’ right?”
“Yep.” Train laughed. “He gave her the ride of her life after being declared dead twice.”
“Too bad I don’t remember it. I was too full of painkillers and the pot Shade had packed in to us the night before.”
“Want me to call Tate to bring you something to take the edge off the pain?” Bliss offered noticing Drake’s pale complexion.
“No, thanks. He wouldn’t bring it, anyway. Tate, Greer, and Dustin aren’t talking to me right now.”
“Why not?” The cousins seemed too tight to not be on speaking terms.
“I told them Cash helped me become a member, and they’re so mad at me they aren’t talking to me or him. They even told him they aren’t coming to Christmas dinner.”
Bliss wondered about the triumphant smile on his broken face, but she figured he didn’t believe the brothers would stay mad long.
“Is Cash upset?”
“Yeah, he’s all broken up about it.”
Bliss realized then Drake was joking. No man who was upset his brothers-in-law wouldn’t be coming Christmas day would be singing “best Christmas ever.”
“Is Rachel mad?”
“At me, not Cash. I told him she’s having a girl. When he told her I had told him, she was so mad she wouldn’t even call to cuss me out. She’s not talking to me, either.”
“Thank God the craziness that runs in that family missed you.”
“What makes you think that?”
Bliss stopped smiling. “It did, didn’t it?” The Porter brothers were constantly in fights. Plus, Rachel had special gifts, and it was rumored her brothers did, too…
“I’ve been known to do some crazy shit in my life.”
“What’s the craziest thing you’ve done?” Bliss quirked her head to the side, studying his face up close.
“The craziest?” He stopped to think about it. “When Stephanie cheated on me, I kind of went crazy and started cage fighting on the weekends when she had visitation. It kept me from wanting to beat the shit out of the bastard she moved in with when I kicked her out.”
“You were a cage fighter?” Viper groaned. “Does Cash know?”
“Hell no. No one knew. Stephanie would have used it to try to get custody away from me.”
“That would have been useful knowledge before the fight.” Viper turned to Shade, who was sitting at the table with Lily on his lap. “That was never part of the information you gave me on Drake when I told you to check him out.”
“It’s Christmas Eve. The info was coming in slow.”
“Exactly when did you find out that piece of information?” Viper’s eyes narrowed on his enforcer.
“Right about the time it was your turn. I was going to tell you, but Winter told me not to.”
Viper glared at his innocent-looking wife. “Why in the hell not?”
“You’re constantly telling me how fighting makes you horny. I still remember the last time you were in a fight. If you think I was going to deny myself another night like that, you’re as crazy as Greer.”
Lily rose reluctantly from Shade’s lap. “We need to get home. Ember is babysitting John and Beth’s twins for us.”
The others also stood to leave, going into the living room to say their good-byes. Bliss stood back as the men all talked in the doorway and the women put on their coats.
“You happy?”
Bliss gazed at Shade. It no longer hurt to look at him.
“You were right.” All the times she had begged for his attention, he had told her he wasn’t the one for her.
“About what?” Shade paused at putting on his leather gloves.
“That I didn’t love you. That being in love wasn’t about making yourself happy, but the one you loved. I couldn’t understand that until Drake. He works hard at making me happy. I’m not an easy woman to love, though. It would be hard for me, but I would let him go if I thought it would make him happier. It would break me, but I would let him go.”
“Do you know how Drake managed to get custody of Jace during a time when it wasn’t easy for a man to, especially one in Treepoint?”
She shrugged. “I just assumed because Stephanie was the one who left.”
“No, it was because Drake never lets go of anything that’s his. It’s a Porter trait, like how Greer’s still driving his father’s old truck. Drake told Stephanie if she didn’t sign custody over to him, she wouldn’t live to raise him anyw
ay. He’s kept his family’s property intact for years, despite big money being offered for it from the lumber companies. He even bought Rachel’s, despite the mortgage crisis going on that had him losing his ass from not selling. He saved it for her until she could buy it back someday, which Cash did. He managed to save his company by working his ass off, keeping a roof over his and Jace’s head by cage fighting every weekend.”
Shade finished putting his gloves on. “You don’t have to worry about Drake ever leaving you. When I went into his office to try to convince him to sell the property next to the factory, he asked me if it was true that the women were only allowed to be with The Last Riders. I told him yes, and he asked to join the club. I told him no.”
“When was this?” Had Drake been interested in her enough to join The Last Riders before they had told her to leave?
Bliss’s heart felt as if she was standing in front of a roaring fire, melting any lingering doubts that Drake would wake up one day and no longer want her in his life. Trying to join The Last Riders was the type of gesture Shade would have done for Lily.
“The day before we voted you out. Merry Christmas, Bliss.”
“Merry Christmas, Shade.”
Bliss watched the motorcycles pull out of the driveway from the window, holding the curtain back. She noticed the snow begin to fall.
A warm arm circled her waist from behind.
“Wish you were going with them?”
“No. Actually, I was thinking I’m glad I’m not out in the cold, freezing my ass off.” Bliss dropped the curtain, turning into his arms. “Thank you for giving me my friends back.”
“You never lost them, Bliss. They’ve been watching over you. They were there the night Stark attacked. If my cousins hadn’t been there, Stark still wouldn’t have succeeded. The Last Riders would have stopped them.”
“I know. I saw them when I was running across the parking lot.”
“And you still didn’t call out for them?”
“No, I didn’t need to. I knew you would be there. I trusted you.”
“You just gave me the best Christmas present I could have asked for.”
“Then I guess I should take back that new motorcycle I had Stud custom-make for you that I hid in the back of my garage.”
Drake stared down at her in astonishment. “You bought me one of Stud’s bikes? I was going to buy Jace and Cal each one for a graduation presents, but he said he had two years of pre-orders.”
“He did. He’s running behind schedule.”
“How did you convince him?”
“I didn’t. Sex Piston did. I talked to her when she tried to fix my hair. I told her if she could convince Stud to sell me three bikes, I’d convince Jace to sell back their car. Fat Louise sold it to Crazy Bitch when she bought a new car. Crazy Bitch got aggravated at it when it kept breaking and sold it without telling the other bitches. They’ve been mad at her ever since.”
“Three?”
Bliss nodded. “One for you, Jace, and Cal. Three men in Kentucky aren’t very happy with me right now for swiping their Christmas gifts.”
“I know three who are going to be ecstatic, but I think you might have trouble convincing the boys to give up that car. They’ve grown attached to it. I told you it’s a classic.”
“Yeah, it’s a classic. It’s sitting at Jo’s repair shop right now. The front passenger seat went through the floorboard. Jace sold it to me for fifty dollars two days ago.”
“Fifty dollars? He gave Crazy Bitch a thousand for it.”
“Lesson learned: never buy a car off a woman named Crazy Bitch.”
Chapter 19
“One, don’t make me come. Two, don’t make me come. Three—”
“Will you stop doing that?” Drake stopped sucking on the pebbled nipple long enough to raise himself on his arms and stare down at the woman wiggling on the dick he was thrusting inside her wet pussy. He was sore as hell from the fights the night before; he kept telling himself it was mind over matter when each thrust sent pain screaming through his body. The only thing that mattered was his aching dick. Bliss could get a rise from a man at death’s door.
“Then don’t make me come!” she panted. Her hands that had been gripping the sides of her pillow went to his chest, her thumbs playing with his nipples. The ring he had placed on her finger when they had gone to bed the night before flashed when the light from the bedside lamp hit the large, sparkling diamond.
Drake raised himself up higher, wanting to see the glide of his slick dick going in and out of the pussy stretched wide to take him.
“Don’t do that! It makes me want to come when you watch us fuck.”
Drake didn’t lift his eyes, holding back his climax. Each stroke dragged his cock across her clit, making her wetter for him.
His hand went down to her stomach, pressing down as he thrust upward. Her loud screams let him know he had rubbed the spot he was aiming for. Her pussy clenched then began a series of spasms that had his cock filling her as each thrust knocked the headboard against the wall.
He lowered his seriously aching body onto hers when he finished, watching every second of her climax.
“You’re going to have to come quieter from now on. Jace and Cal will be able to hear you from all the way upstairs in their bedrooms if you don’t.”
Bliss slid her arms around Drake until she could grip an ass cheek in both of her hands. “I told you I won’t move in until Jace leaves to join the service. I’m not going to have the gossips in town saying anything to hurt him.”
“That’s why you haven’t moved in?”
She had cared enough about the boys not to want them to think badly of her. Behind the naughty exterior Bliss projected to the town, Drake knew she was sensitive to what others thought about her; she had just learned to hide it, even from herself.
Bliss began massaging his ass cheeks, and Drake pulled out of her before she could get him hard again. He didn’t have time to fuck her again before Jace and Cal returned home to open their Christmas presents.
“Your ex-wife saw me at the grocery store and told me that everyone in school was teasing him about his dad’s hot girlfriend.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because, at one time, it was something I would have done myself. I figured I deserved it. Payback’s a bitch.”
“The only bitch was Stephanie for acting that way.” He made a mental note to call her the following day. When he finished with her, she would run across the street when she saw Bliss.
Drake let her doze back to sleep while he showered and shaved. He then tossed the covers off Bliss when he came out of the bathroom.
“Time to get up. Jace and Cal will be here any minute. It’s Christmas morning, so he won’t knock before coming in. Then he’ll see just how hot his soon-to-be stepmother really is,” Drake threatened.
Bliss squealed, jumping out of bed. The only thing Drake saw was a flash, and then she was gone, the bathroom door closing behind her.
“I was only teasing,” he called out, getting dressed and listening to her mumbling threats. “You’re not going to do anything,” Drake yelled back at her mumbling. “My dick is why you fell in love with me.”
“No, it isn’t. I fell in love with the way you fuck me,” she said, the bathroom door still firmly closed, the shower running.
“It’s the same thing.”
“No, it isn’t. That’s like saying, ‘which came first: the chicken or the egg.’”
“I’m never going to understand that logic.” Drake sat on the side of the bed, tugging on his boots. He was going to be prepared to ride when they went to see the motorcycle she had bought him for Christmas. Damn, he had wanted to make the holiday special for Bliss, and she had almost outdone him on presents. She thought she was wearing his gift to her when the best one was going to be there any second.
“Bliss, hurry.”
She came out dripping wet, giving him a fuming glare. “I would have already been dresse
d if you hadn’t dragged me back to bed after my first shower.”
Drake laughed. “I told you I had a special present for you.”
“You gave me several presents last night. They were all special.” She put an extra bounce into her ass as she wiggled into her jeans.
“I’ll go make us some hot chocolate. Don’t take long.”
“I’m almost ready. Don’t forget the marshmallows.”
“I won’t. I bought extra.”
* * *
Bliss stared after Drake, wondering about the cryptic comment. Then the doorbell rang as she was choosing a green sweater to wear with her black jeans. She put on a pair of warm boots, wanting to be prepared to ride when she took the men to see their new bikes. Opening the bedroom door, she hurried out to see Jace and Cal.
She turned the corner of the hallway, coming to a stop when she saw the Christmas tree. Santa had come the night before, and he hadn’t forgotten her that year. At least a dozen presents that hadn’t been there before were shoved under the bulging tree. He seemed to have made up for every year he had missed with her.
On the chair beside the Christmas tree was a cream-colored coat with fur cuffs and a fur hood, carefully arranged with a red bow. Next to the coat was a little girl dressed in a red velvet dress with a tiny red ribbon dangling from her hair. Her feet were in shiny black shoes that were swinging back and forth.
“Darcy!” Bliss couldn’t hold back her sobs as she ran into the room.
The little girl excitedly jumped up and ran to her, holding out her arms. Bliss reached down, lifting the slight bundle into her arms.
“I thought you couldn’t get the court date approved until after Christmas?” Bliss looked at Cal who was standing next to Jace and Drake. His eyes were brimming with tears.
“Drake hired Diamond to push it through for me. They gave me custody of her yesterday. She’s mine now.” His hand tightened on the yellow envelope in his hand before he reached out to hand it to her.
Bliss shifted Darcy to her hip as she opened the large envelope. She stared down uncomprehendingly as she flipped through and read the official papers.