Checkmate With Bishop: A Hellions MC Novel (40 page)

“Christ, but we made a glorious bastard!” Stan mumbled and I could hear the deep, deep emotion in his voice.

“We absolutely did, honey,” I shot back with a sniff, a lone tear trailing down my face at the sight of our almost grownup son.  “We honestly did.”

*.*.*.*.*

Bishop did his normal nightly routine, a slow roam through the house as he made sure every window was closed, every door locked and the kick-ass, top of the line security system was engaged.  It had been a long day and longer night since he and Dory as well as most of the Hellion council and the Honeys had set the clubhouse to rights.  But they didn’t have much of a fucking choice since the next morning was Hellion church, one that would include the Billings brothers that had come in for the party.

And what a party it’d been!  Oh sure, not like the old days.  Not like back in the fucking day when a Hellion party degenerated into some kind of sex-fest.  But it still had been fun.  Especially after all the little ones were around the back, safely asleep under Julie’s eagle-eyed charge.  Although Bishop’d seen more than one of his brothers bring a baby-monitor up to his ear to check on the doings of room one.

He couldn’t fault them for it though, knowing how close an eye he’d kept on J.R. and the other teenagers throughout the blow-out.  There had been the usual tries to sneak booze out from behind the bar as well as more than a few attempts for couples to wander away in order to find a few quiet moments in the dark of the equipment shed.  But nothing that he and his crew hadn’t done in their earlier years.

Although why the kids needed to find privacy when they danced like that out in public didn’t make a damn bit of fucking sense!  Christ!  The one basic step that each of the young couples had performed, no matter what the song, was of grinding their crotches together.  Fuck!  Bishop had seen a lot of shit in his life but to parody the sex act at that age and in front of adults?  Honest to Christ, he’d had to turn his eyes away, only to catch Huff’s.  The two bad-assed bikers both just shook their heads at the teenaged doings before turning back to the grill.

It was at the end though when things had gotten to be a bit more than Bishop had counted on.  When J.R. had pulled his parents away from the group in order to thank them for the “hellacious party and kick-ass wheels”.   The sincerity of both his son’s words and shining face had brought a lump to Bishop’s throat but when he started to swallow, he found his wet eyes wanted overflow, so he’d coughed instead. 

“You guys are the
best
,” J.R. had announced before throwing his arms around them both, pulling the other two members of their family into a group hug.  “No kid has it better.”

“Thanks, baby,” Bishop had heard Dory whisper but he hadn’t made a sound.  Hadn’t been able to, not without giving himself away.   Even just the memory of that moment brought back that same feeling of fullness, of not being able to take a deep enough breath in order to release the tension in his chest.

As J.R. left to return to both his girl and the party, Bishop pulled Dory flush against him, holding her tight to his chest.  “No one has it better,” he murmured before dropping his head to touch his mouth to hers.

“Yep, that’s what he said,” she mumbled back with a wide smile and shining eyes.

“No, babe.  I meant me,” he corrected.  “No one has it fucking better than
me
.”

Her smile grew even bigger even as the arms around his waist squeezed.  “I think you got it wrong, honey.”

He blinked and shook his head in the negative.  He’d spoken the truth as he saw it.

“No one has it better than
us
, Stan.”

Bishop abso-fucking-lutely couldn’t disagree.

With his round of nightly chores completed, Bishop walked barefoot down the long hallway that led to the master bedroom, only pausing by J.R.’s door and pressing his ear to the panel.  Seeming content with what he had or hadn’t heard, Bishop moved on.

He walked into his room, his eyes immediately going to the sleeping form of his wife.

Turning out the light and slipping under the covers, he tucked himself behind her, looping an arm over her waist.

Bishop let out a contented sigh as he closed his eyes knowing whatever dream happened that night couldn’t rival the dream he was already living.

#.#.#.#.#

Dedication

Since
Checkmate With Bishop
is the last of the Hellion Motorcycle Club Series, I’m going to skip the usual dedications…the ones that include my kids and my guy.  The ones that praise Laura, my editor and Brandi, my cover designer.  They all know that they’re valued, appreciated and that I couldn’t do what I do without them.

Truthfully, this book is dedicated to
Jennifer Guffey
, the reader who took the time to email me.  Her request, which came after she finished
Hiding in Plain Sight
, was to ask me to write a series based on the Hellions.  At first the idea made me laugh out loud. 

Me? 

Write about bikers?

But the idea took hold and I gave it a go.  And as soon as I started
The Possibility of Trey
, I fell in love.  Fell head over heels with the entire Hellion Council:  Brand, Trey, Silo, Dare, Huff and Bishop as well as Mel, the young recruit.   And maybe because I was so enamored with them, you found yourself loving them too.  At least that’s what your emails describe, the ones that lift my spirits and help to turn me back to my keyboard time and time again.  Please accept my sincerest thanks.  Your interest and readership mean the world to me.

Smiling and waving,

J.A. Hornbuckle

Phoenix, AZ

3/4/15

Author Bio – J.A. Hornbuckle

Aren’t we all curious about the person who wrote the story we read?  I know I am.

Here’s what I know about myself:

--I love red wine (although I’ve been known to enjoy a Fireball shot or two)

--Live music gives me tingles no matter what style (…well, opera isn’t really my thing!)

--Muscled, tatted, long-haired men are my own personal kryptonite.

--I can’t deal with the cold which is why I live in Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Of course that’s just the tip of the ice-berg when it comes to this lady!

At first meeting me people often think I’m somber and a little stand-offish.  I’m really not.  It’s a case of my outsides not matching my insides.  Because there’s a freaking party in my head almost twenty-four/seven.

I’m old enough to know better but still young enough to do it anyway (…the BEST part of aging is that you know the CONSEQUENCES of your actions and weigh the outcome of resulting punishment accordingly!)

I love writing, especially romances but only where the ‘man’ portion is a part of the ro-man-ce word.

And…I believe, have complete faith, that there
are
happily-ever-afters.  I hope you do too.

Email: 
[email protected]

Website: 
http://www.jahornbuckle.com
   *be sure to sign up for my newsletter*

Twitter: @JAHornbuckle

GoodReads:  J A Hornbuckle

Other Books by J.A. Hornbuckle

The Grantham Series

**Pole Dance (Jake and Caitlin)

**Human Hieroglyphix 1 (Dex and Leila)

**Tap Dance (Marianne and Ram)

**Human Hieroglyphix II (Crys and Gabe)

**Bewitchments 1 (Trevor and Zoe)

**A Grantham Christmas (compilation)

**Last Dance (Paul Adler) (coming in 2015)

**Human Hieroglyphix III (Benny and Vicky) (coming in 2015)

**Bewitchments 2 (Niko and Samantha) (coming in 2015)

Stand Alones

**Everybody Falls

**Hiding in Plain Sight (prequel to the Hellions Motorcycle Club)

Hellions Motorcycle Club Series

**The Possibility of Trey

**Reinventing Mel

**Taking a Dare

**A Civilian for Silo

**Checkmate with Bishop

Mate Search Series (Sci-Fi Romance)

**Rykhan (full length book based on Love Without Boundaries Novella)(to be published 4/2015)