Winter's Touch (The Last Riders Book 8) (9 page)

“
D
o
you want me to just take off the ends, or do you want me to actually cut it?” Sex Piston asked. She had unwound Aunt Shay’s bun, unraveling her gray hair down to her waist.

“Just a trim, thank you,” Aunt Shay insisted, taking a sip of the wine Winter had set in front of her.

“Give her a refill.” Sex Piston moved to Aunt Shay, putting a comb in her hair. “How old are you?”

Winter hurried to refill the wine glass, saying, “That’s kind of a personal question.”

“I don’t mind answering,” Aunt Shay spoke up. “I’m sixty-four.”

“That hair makes you look ninety.”

“You look beautiful,” Winter reassured her aunt, sending Sex Piston a dirty glare.

“She’s lying. You look as old as dog shit. If you let me cut and color your hair, you’ll look fifteen years younger.”

“You can do that?” Aunt Shay took a large sip of her wine, seeming to think, then said, “Do it.”

Winter stared at her skeptically. “Don’t think you have to do it. I know you like your hair long.”

“Your uncle Dennis liked it long. It will be easier for me and Beth to manage if I become unable to care for myself.”

“Bitch.” Sex Piston rolled her eyes when Winter shot her another telling glance. “You’re only sixty-four, not ninety. My grandmother’s not much younger than you, and she keeps busy going to the bingo hall and taking dance lessons.”

“I used to love to dance,” Aunt Shay said wistfully.

“By the time I’m done with you, the men in the class will line up to be your partner.” Before Aunt Shay could change her mind, Sex Piston started cutting.

“She already looks better.” Killyama had made herself at home, sitting at the table with Crazy Bitch. T.A. had taken her wine with her after she had said, “I’ve always wanted to see this big-ass house,” and Aunt Shay had given permission for her to give herself a tour.

“Beth said you’re staying with your aunt until she’s feeling better.” Crazy Bitch planted her ass on the arm of a chair. “You ain’t worried about what your man is getting up to without you?”

“No, because he’s staying here with me. Viper goes to the club to get some work done during the morning then comes back here in the afternoon.”

“She has a pool,” T.A. said excitedly, obviously done with exploring the house. “Let’s go swimming.” Her eyes flew back and forth between her friends.

“Help yourself,” Aunt Shay offered. “There are towels in the downstairs bathroom.”

“Yippee! I could piss myself. I’ve never swum in a private pool.”

“Yes, you have. Remember when we spent the night at the Holiday Inn with the band that came to town to perform at the Polk Salad Festival?” Crazy Bitch reminded her.

“It wasn’t like this one. This one has a diving board!”

“I’m afraid I don’t have any swimsuits,” Aunt Shay commented.

T.A. waved off the suggestion of a swimsuit. “We don’t need one. You have a big fence, and you only have one neighbor on the backside of it.

“That’s Margaret Scott, she’s visiting her daughter in Florida.”

“Then no one will see.” T.A. clapped her hands ecstatically. “Let’s get naked!”

T.A., Killyama, and Crazy Bitch laughingly carried the wine and glasses outside.

“Go with them, dear. You don’t have to stay and watch her do my hair.” Aunt Shay tried to look through the window beside the table. Winter knew her aunt was worried about what the women would get into without an adult supervising the too-old-to-be-supervised adolescents.

“I’ll slip on my suit if you’re sure you don’t want me to stay.”

“She’s sure.” Sex Piston pointed Aunt Shay forward again to resume cutting her hair. “Get some sun. You’re pale as that white wall.”

“I’m going. Bring her outside when she’s done. She could use some sun, too.” Winter flipped Sex Piston off before moving around her aunt to leave the kitchen.

Winter changed into her suit then came downstairs, hearing the whoops and yells of the three women as she approached.

The sky didn’t have a cloud in sight as Winter sat down on one of the lounge chairs, squirting her body with tanning lotion. She offered it to the other women who took turns applying it on each other’s backs. The women had no modesty. Winter wanted to grab a towel to cover herself in front of the three women, yet none of them cared that they were nude.

T.A. and Crazy Bitch stayed in the shallow end of the pool, splashing and racing each other to the sides. Killyama lazily sat on the edge of the water, watching her friends.

Winter studied the woman behind her sunglasses. She didn’t know why, but Killyama struck her as being lonely. She was always surrounded by the biker bitches, but she seemed isolated from them. The protector of the group, she always watched the other women to see what they were doing. When Sex Piston was around, she always said what she thought. Fat Louise and T.A. did whatever Sex Piston told them to do, and Crazy Bitch was the wild card; you never knew how she would react.

When Penni had been at the clubhouse the last time, she and Killyama had gotten into a fight. Everyone in the clubhouse knew Penni had a crush on Train, and they all knew he didn’t reciprocate her feelings. Everyone also knew he had once had a one-day stand with Killyama, which she had gotten more out of than Train had. Penni and Killyama had come to blows, and Penni had dumped a pitcher of iced tea on Killyama’s head. Killyama had moved with lethal swiftness, while any other woman would have taken a minute to react.

She texted Viper to tell him to stay at the clubhouse until Sex Piston and the bitches left. She didn’t want her husband getting an eyeful of the women. Either of Crazy Bitch’s breasts would make three of hers. T.A.’s were smaller, but not by much, and Killyama’s body almost had her jealous instincts rising. She was sleek and feminine. She had a tattoo of a rose on her hip that Winter could see when she walked to the diving board.

Killyama stepped up to it gracefully, going to the edge. Her feet began bouncing the board as she raised her arms. Elegantly, she jumped into the air before coming down, diving cleanly into the water with barely a ripple. She came out of the water fluidly, swimming to the other women, who were lazily floating.

Killyama talked to them for a few minutes then gracefully lifted herself out of the pool. She walked to where Winter was sitting on the lounger.

“Crazy Bitch and T.A. are out of wine.” She took one of the large towels she had brought outside for them, wrapped it around her body and tucked it between her breasts. “You want something while I’m inside?”

“No, thanks. I have bottled water.” Winter had never really cared for the taste of wine.

Killyama nodded, going inside.

Winter laid her head back on the lounger, feeling drowsy. She sleepily opened her eyes when Killyama returned with another bottle of wine.

She had intended on making sandwiches for everyone, but she dozed off before she could put the action in motion. It was the sound of clapping that had her waking up.

She saw Aunt Shay shyly standing by the pool as the women admired her new hairdo.

Winter couldn’t believe her eyes and had to blink them several times to clear her vision. When she did, she sat up.

“You look fantastic, Aunt Shay.”

Sex Piston had done a miraculous job on her. She had given her a more youthful appearance by coloring and adding in highlights, styling her hair to brush against her jawline.

Her aunt patted her hair, turning toward her. “You like it?”

“I love it.”

One minute, she was rising from the lounger, and the next, she was staring up at the breasts hanging over her.

“Move, Crazy Bitch. Let her have some air.” Sex Piston’s face appeared over her when the breasts moved away.

“What happened?”

“You did a nose dive into the grass,” Sex Piston answered. “Are you okay?”

“I think so.” Winter started to rise, but Killyama pushed her back down.

“Take a minute. Then I’ll help you up.”

Winter nodded. The small movement had a nauseous feeling attacking her stomach.

“I think I’m going to throw up,” she moaned, trying to hold the bile back.

“T.A., go get her a glass of juice,” Killyama ordered.

“I must have slept in the sun too long.”

Winter took Killyama and Sex Piston’s hands as they lifted her back onto the lounger. She accepted the juice T.A. handed her, taking small sips. After the third one, she felt her pitching stomach settle.

“Are you feeling better?” Aunt Shay asked anxiously.

“Yes.” She finished the juice and was setting it down on the small table when Viper, Moon, and Train came running outside.

The three came to an immediate stop when they saw the three naked women standing next to her. Viper was the first one to come to his senses.

“What happened?” His eyes were filled with worry.

“I don’t kn—”

“The bitch fainted,” Sex Piston finished before she could.

“I was going to fix lunch, but I fell asleep in the sun before I could. When I woke up, I must have stood up too quickly and passed out.”

Train grabbed her wrist, taking her pulse. “Her pulse is fine,” he said, letting her wrist go then looking in her eyes.

“When did you get back?” Winter asked, surprised to see him back so soon.

“This morning. I have the next four days off. Then I fly out again Saturday.”

“Oh, it’s good you’re back. Rider and Moon have missed you.”

“No, they haven’t.” Train grinned, pulling a blood pressure cuff out of his satchel. “Rider is eating my share of the food, and Moon has confiscated my room.”

“Then you need to hurry back so you can kick him out.”

“I already have,” he said, unwinding the blood pressure cuff from around her arm. He looked up at Viper. “Her blood pressure is normal. She seems okay, but she needs to go to her doctor tomorrow to make sure.”

“I’m sitting right here,” she said grumpily, feeling foolish with everyone staring at her.

“I know you are. I can see.” Train put his blood pressure cuff back in his satchel. “You look good in that bikini,” he teased.

Winter gave him a threatening glare, taking one of the towels to wrap around herself. T.A., Crazy Bitch, and Killyama didn’t make a move to mimic her actions, standing blithely naked as the day they were born while the men went back to staring at them.

“Don’t you dare.” Winter tugged Viper to sit down next to her on the lounger.

He grinned at her, kissing her pouting lips. When his mouth then dropped open, she was ready to pummel her husband, until his amazed words cooled her temper.

“Is that you, Aunt Shay?”

“Yes.” Now it was Aunt Shay’s turn to have eyes on her. “Sex Piston did my hair. Do you like it?”

“Aunt Shay, if I weren’t already married to Winter, I would marry you.”

Her laughter warmed Winter’s heart.

Aunt Shay smiled sweetly at him before thanking Sex Piston as the three naked women went into the house to get dressed.

Winter started to stand up. “I’ll go fix some lunch for everyone.”

“Don’t bother. We were going to the diner when Killyama called. While they get dressed, why don’t you get changed and we all go?” Viper suggested. “It will do you and Aunt Shay good to get out of the house. Neither of you have been out since she got out of the hospital.”

“Aunt Shay?” Winter asked.

“I would enjoy getting out,” she admitted.

“Then I’ll get changed.”

It only took her minutes to change. She was still feeling nauseous. The way her mother had acted when she had found out she had cancer began to play in her mind. Some breast cancers ran in families. Winter went to regular doctor appointments and got routine screenings, but the fear that was always in the back of her mind had been growing with the way she’d been feeling lately.

All the joking around to Viper about death was coming back to haunt her, and she quickly made a doctor’s appointment for first thing the next day.

Both she and Viper were extremely healthy, working out and watching their diets. She needed to find out what had been making her feel so ill. One of the benefits of being a Last Rider was knowing how to fight when the odds were against you.