WOLF: An Evil Dead MC Story (The Evil Dead MC Series Book 4) (29 page)

“Then why are you standing out here in the rain with me?”

She kept her eyes averted, her arms folded and her jaw tight. But he took solace in the fact that she didn’t have an answer for that one. It meant he still had a shot. At least he hoped he did, she was still standing here listening.

But he could also see she was in full defensive mode, and he couldn’t really blame her. He’d hurt her too many times. Still, he couldn’t let that stop him. Not if any of this mattered. And it did matter. It mattered a hell of a lot. He’d come too far emotionally to give up now.

She huffed out an impatient breath. “What do you want, Wolf?”

“We’ll get to what I want in a minute. First, I need to know what you want.”

“What I want?”

“That future you had all planned out with the white picket fence and the four kids…”

“Six.”

“Four.”

“Whatever.”

“Were you serious about that?”

She shrugged.

“What if I told you I want that too?”

“I’m not sure I’d believe you. I’d think you were just saying that because you feel guilty about what happened in Sturgis. But that’s no way to start a life together…based on you trying to make up for something. It has to be what you want.”

“I do feel guilty about what happened in Sturgis. I probably always will, ‘til the day I die. But that’s not what this is about.”

“What is this about then?”

“I know what I want. And I know it took me a fuck of a long time to figure it out. But it’s you and all the rest of that dream of yours.”

She shook her head, her eyes still staring down the alley, but he saw the emotion in them.

“Crystal, look at me. Please.” She took her sweet time, but finally her eyes came to his. “I know what kind of life I lead. And I know that has never even been our biggest problem. I know the biggest obstacle has always been me. Pulling back. Guarding my heart. Pushing you away. I know I don’t make it easy for you. I know I’m hard to love. I know all that, Crystal, all of it, and yet I’m still standing here asking you for another shot.

“I know you deserve better. I know that. Hell, I’ve probably crossed every line you’ve ever drawn in the sand, more than once. Hell, a dozen times. And yet by some fucking miracle of God you still do love me.”

“Do I?”

Wolf swallowed. Well, hell, he hadn’t expected her to make this easy, had he? “I wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t believe in your love. I know you, Crystal. When you love, you love deep and strong, and I’m hoping
forever.
So here I am, standing here asking you to give me one more shot. One last shot, Crystal. I swear to God, I won’t let you down again.”

“I’m supposed to just believe that? What’s different this time?”

“I am,” he didn’t hesitate in answering.

“
You
are? How?”

“Because I finally pulled my head out of my ass. Is that what you want to hear?”

“Go on.”

Shit, she really wasn’t going to let him off easy. Hell, she’d have him down on his knees groveling in another minute. Fuck that. He still had some pride. In two steps he had her upper arms in his hands as he stood over her.

“I love you, Crystal. I always have. Through all of it, that’s never waivered. And you’ve been the single stabilizing force in my life, the only true north on my fucked up compass. It’s why I always come back to you. You are home to me.”

She looked up at him with glassy eyes and whispered, “It’s not the coming home part that’s so hard. It’s the leaving part I can’t take anymore.”

“That’s done. I’m done running, Crystal. I’m done being so afraid of failing you that
that
was all I ever did. I was never afraid of committing to you. I was afraid of not living up to your expectations of me.”

“All I wanted was your love.”

“You have it, sweetheart. You have my heart. You are my heart.”

“But will it last? Will you change your mind in a month and want out?”

He pushed his unbuttoned shirt to the side and tore the bandage over, revealing her name scrawled across his ribs in scrolling cursive letters three-inches high.

“I’m betting on forever.”

Her eyes fell to the tattoo that Jameson had finished earlier.

“You’re over my heart. Right where you’ve always been, Crystal. I love you. I always have.”

Her eyes locked with his. “Jameson put that there?”

Wolf nodded.

“He never tattoos names. Never.”

“He made an exception for this one.”

Her eyes dropped back down to the beautiful scrollwork.

“You see a side of me no one else does, a side no one else ever will, a side no one understands but you. There will never be anyone else for me. No matter how long I live. Crystal, you’re the love of my life, and you always will be.”

“Wolf.” Her voice was soft, trembling. “I’m afraid of being hurt again.”

He took her face in his hands. “Baby, I know you are. And I want to promise you I’ll never hurt you again. But I’m a guy, and guys have a tendency to fuck-up. So, I’m not gonna promise you I won’t fuck-up. But I
can
promise you I will never walk out that door again. If you’ll have me, I’m in it for life.”

He stared down at her, waiting. Jesus Christ, he didn’t know if he could bear it if she refused him now.

Her hands closed on his wrists, and she pulled his hands away. “I can’t.”

He took a step back. “Baby, I know I fucked up—” He broke off when she remained silent, shaking her head. He swallowed as dread filled him. “It’s done then? We’re finished? I’m too late?”

He watched a tear roll down her cheek.

“If you want me to leave, I will. And I won’t bother you again.” He paused. “For what it’s worth, Crystal, I’m sorry. For all of it.” He turned and stalked back inside, through the shop, past the questioning looks from the O’Rourke’s who glanced furtively toward the back door. He strode out the front door and down the steps to his bike.

He stood there a moment, his breathing heavy, his heart pounding and a sick feeling clawing at his gut. Jesus Christ, it was over. He couldn’t believe it, couldn’t wrap his head around it. She was done with him. Really and truly done with him.

He yanked on his gloves and strapped on his helmet, the whole time praying he’d hear the door behind him open, and her voice telling him to stop. But those sounds never came, so he threw his leg over his bike, lifted it up off its kickstand and fired it up. Then he roared off down the street.

****

Crystal stood motionless in the alley, his words replaying in her head as she turned over and over everything he’d just said, everything he’d just finally after all these years admitted to her. All the words she longed to hear for so long.

It wasn’t until she heard the echoing rumble of his bike firing up out on the street that she snapped out of it. He was leaving!

She ran for the door and dashed through the shop. Two steps from pulling the front door open, she saw him through the plate-glass window as he pulled away from the curb to roar off down the street. She yanked the door open and stumbled down the stairs, dashing into the street as he turned the corner vanishing out of her sight.

Out of her life.

She stood there staring down the street, her heart pounding. He was gone. He was really gone this time.

The door opened behind her, and she turned with tears rolling down her face to see Jameson standing there.

“You love him, don’t you?”

She nodded, whispering brokenly, “He’s gone.”

“It’s not too late.”

“Jameson, he’s gone.”

“We can still catch him.” He held the keys to his bike up. “If you want him.”

****

Wolf rode mindlessly, his brain on autopilot, his eyes staring unseeing down the long stretch of endless highway rolling out before him.

He’d finally come to his senses, finally figured his life out only to find out it was too late. He was too late. And he had no one to blame but himself. He’d done this. He was the one that had squandered so many chances until there just weren’t any left.

And he couldn’t blame her for not trusting him enough to believe the things he’d told her. But it still hurt like hell. It still tore his heart out. And now what was left for him? He could only imagine a lonely life stretched ahead of him. Sure he had his brothers; he had the club. But they would never fill the empty hole in his life where Crystal used to be. Nothing would ever fill the void she’d left in his heart.

He couldn’t even imagine trying again with someone else. What the hell would the point be? No other girl would ever be her. No one would ever be what she was to him.

She’d just sentenced him to a lifetime of hell. And he was guilty of every action that put him there. He’d brought it all down on himself.

The roar of a fast approaching Harley caught his ear, and his eyes checked his side mirror.

One bike, coming up hot.

It wasn’t until it was almost upon him that he saw there was a passenger, a woman with long dark hair. Then his eyes focused in on the rider and flared wide when he recognized Jameson O’Rourke.

Wolf’s hand let up on the throttle almost unconsciously, and then he was pulling over, coming to a stop on the gravel shoulder. He barely had time to drop the kickstand and throw his leg off the bike, before Crystal was off the back of Jameson’s bike and running to him.

He caught her in his arms.

“Don’t go,” she muttered in his ear as he held her tight. And then she said the words he’d longed to hear and never thought he would again. “I love you, Wolf. Please don’t go.”

He pulled back, taking her face in his gloved hands and stared into her eyes. “Say it again.”

“I love you. I love you, Wolf.”

“Tell me you’ll come home with me.”

She nodded, her eyes pooling.

“Say it.”

“Take me home, Wolf.”

“If you ever try to run again, I won’t let you,” he warned as he took her in his arms again, holding her tight. Not sure if he’d ever let her go. He looked over her shoulder at Jameson.

The man smiled, and then fired up his bike and pulled out, making a U-turn back toward Grand Junction.

Wolf twisted his head, bringing his mouth to her ear and whispered, “Let’s go home, baby.”

EPILOGUE

Crystal—

Wolf was on the couch watching a football game. I sat down next to him and asked “Who’s playing?”

“Dallas and Denver. Game just started,” he replied, not taking his eyes off the game.

“Hmm. My team and your team.”

“My team’s gonna whoop your team’s ass,” he guaranteed with a devilish look.

“Oh, really?”

“Yup. You can take that to the bank.”

“Wanna bet?”

His eyes slowly moved from the game to me, and the corners of his mouth pulled up. “What did you have in mind, darlin’?”

“Hmm.” I looked at the ceiling contemplating. “If you win, you get anything you want.”

That got his attention, and he sat up a little straighter. “We talkin’ sex, here, woman?”

I nodded with a smile.

“And if you win? What do you want, baby doll?”

I thought for a moment, and then shocked him by saying, “I want you to chase me through the house. I want you to be aggressive and dominant, and show me whose boss.”

“Damn, girl.” He shook his head amazed.

“What? Too much?”

“Hell, no. I’m in.”

“So, you never said what
you
wanted.”

He gave me a sly smile. “I didn’t, did I? Maybe I’ll just keep you wondering.”

“Should I be worried?”

“I don’t know. Should you?” He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “Maybe we should make a side bet on the halftime score,” he suggested.

“Hmm. That could keep it interesting. Such as?”

“Such as if my team is up at halftime, I get something.”

“Like?”

“I get to spank your pretty little ass as many times as equal to their score.”

“Spank me, huh?”

“And if your team is up, what do you want?”

“I’ll just keep
you
wondering.”

“Ahh. Should
I
be worried, darlin’?”

I just smiled.

“Fourteen-ten, Cowboys. Time to pay up, baby.” He pulled me on top of his lap, face down, slid his hand in the waistband of my shorts, and pulled them down. His hand smacked down on my cheek with a firm
crack
.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

Smack. Smack.

“Spankin’ your ass, baby.”

“You didn’t say anything about naked. Oww!”

Smack. Smack.

“It ain’t a good spankin’, if it ain’t on a bare ass, baby doll. Now hold still or I’ll lose count and have to start all over again.”

He continued smacking me on each cheek, watching them turn a rosy pink. “Damn, baby. I ever tell you, you’ve got a pretty ass?”

Smack. Smack.

I just moaned, my head down, my hands clenching the couch cushion.

“You okay, honey?” He rubbed his hand over my bottom, and then slid his fingers between my legs. Finding me wet, he rubbed rhythmically. “This is turning you on, isn’t it, baby? You’re all wet.”

I moaned.

“You like it. Admit it.”

Smack. Smack.

I moaned again, thrusting my ass higher.

“Say it.”

Smack. Smack.

“Yes.”

Smack. Smack. Smack. And then his fingers were back, delving inside me, rubbing me. “You’re turning me on, baby. Something fierce.”

I moved against his hand. “Please, baby.”

“You want something, honey?”

“You know I do.”

“Well, since you took your whuppin’ like such a good girl…”

I moaned as his fingers continued, bringing me to the edge and then over.

He leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Damn, baby. I love to watch you come.”

When the game was over, Wolf flicked it off and threw the remote on the coffee table. “Damn, Broncos. I can’t believe we blew that pass. He was wide open.”

I just looked at him and smiled.

A grin spread across his face. “Oh, yeah. I’ve got a debt to settle up, don’t I? How fast can you run, baby doll?”

“Do I get a head start?”

“Sure. One-two-three.”

I squealed and leapt off the couch, heading around behind it.

Wolf jumped up, vaulted over it, and was two feet behind me. I darted around the dining room table. I could tell he was contemplating vaulting over it, but it held a crystal vase that was his grandma’s. He stalked me, first to the right, then to the left.

“I can bide my time, baby. You know I like a good chase,” he growled with a wicked smile.

I made a dash for the kitchen and got around to the other side of the small dinette set in the breakfast nook. I faked to the right, to the left, to the right again. He stalked around until he was on the far side and I was near the hall again. Then he smiled, reached out, and shoved the table to the side, out of his way.

I screamed and took off, running as fast as I could down the hall. He tackled me going up the stairs, catching me by the ankles. I fought and kicked, and managed to scramble free to dash up the stairs. He caught me again as I rounded the corner to the master bedroom, his body tackling me into the wall as his arms came up on either side of me, bracketing me in.

I was pressed face first up against the wall, his chest pressed up against my back. His breathing was heavy in my ears as he leaned his head in close. My heart was pounding. He slid his left arm around my neck until my chin was resting in the crook of his elbow. I slid my hands onto his arm, loving the feel of his muscles.

He pulled back on his arm, just enough to show me who was boss. Then he leaned down and whispered in my ear, taunting, “Now what’re you gonna do, baby?”

My chest rose and fell with my quickened breath.

When I didn’t respond, he tightened his arm just a bit and whispered, “Tell me.”

I whispered back, “Submit.”

“Mmm. I like the sound of that.” His voice purred in my ear. “You’re mine, woman. You understand? To do with as I please.”

A shiver ran down my spine as a sexual thrill shot through me at his words. I answered breathlessly, “Yes.”

He kissed my neck, nuzzling the soft skin below my ear.

“Got your blood up, didn’t it?” I taunted.

“You know it, darlin’. Was that your plan all along?”

I smiled. “Maybe.”

He put a couple of inches between us, and out of the corner of my eye I could see his gaze rove down my back and over my ass. His right hand slid up my thigh, pushing the loose material of my running shorts aside, running his hand over my exposed cheek. He rubbed his jaw along the side of my head, his mouth hovering over my ear again as his hand slid around my hip bone, still inside the loose material. He pressed his palm against my pelvis and pulled me back against him. “More than just my blood is up. Can you feel that, baby? I’m rock hard. Can you feel how much I want you?”

I nodded. “Tell me. Talk dirty to me.”

His palm slid down, his fingers delving inside me. “You’re so wet, baby. I can’t wait to slide inside you. Bury myself all the way to the hilt. Feel you pulse around me, your hot wet pussy clenching around me.”

I moaned.

“You’re gonna give it to me. Anything I want.” He spun me around and pushed me back against the wall. He took my hands in his, lacing our fingers together and held them pressed to the wall above my head. He brushed his lips over mine, just barely touching them. When I tried to deepen the kiss, he pulled back, letting me know he was in control, and we were doing this at his pace, not mine. His mouth brushed mine gently again and again, until I was crazy with need. When he had me writhing and moaning, he bent and scooped me up, tossing me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried me down the hall to the bedroom. He kicked the door shut and dropped me on the bed.

I bounced once before he came down on top of me.

I stared up at him, this man I loved with such passion I couldn’t even remember a time in my life when he wasn’t in it. It was as if I hadn’t really started to live until I’d met him. And now, every night I went to sleep with him lying next to me. And every morning I woke up with his arms around me.

He grinned down at me.

And I swear to God, that smile was all I’d ever need to be happy.

Wolf—

Crystal and I were in bed, she was admiring the new tattoos that Jameson had done to cover my scars. She especially loved tracing with the tip of her finger the swirling cursive swoops of her name on the slash across my ribs just over my heart. It had covered the wicked scar beneath well, as did the wolf tattoo on my chest.

I still have a scar on my face. No tattoo would ever cover that, and my beard only covered part of it. I looked up at the framed picture hanging above the bed. The picture Crystal had found. “Like the picture, babe.”

It was a black and white photograph of a lion with a scar on its face and a saying below that read:

Never be ashamed of a scar.

It just means you were stronger than whatever tried to hurt you.

“We both have scars now,” she said. I took her hand and brought her palm to my cheek, pressing it against the scar on my face.

“Does this bother you?”

She shook her head at me, grinning. “That scar just makes you look even more badass and sexy.”

“Ya think?”

“Definitely.”

I glanced back up at the picture. “Big Cat…I can definitely relate. Guess you tamed this big cat.”

It was ironic, I thought, as I considered that pacing cat inside me. It wasn’t so restless anymore. In fact, it hardly paced at all anymore. I smiled. Then I rolled over, taking Crystal to the mattress and coming down on top of her. I slid inside her.

“Again, Wolf?” Crystal asked, laughing up at me.

I grinned down at her. “Just getting started on those six kids you want.”

“I don’t want six kids, Wolf. I just said that to get a rise out of you.”

I stared at her a stunned moment, then dropped my head and muttered, “Thank God.”

Crystal shook with laughter under me, and swear to God it was the sweetest feeling.

Wolf—

Eight months later…

Crystal and I went to visit Shannon in the hospital to see the baby she’d just delivered. As we walked in the hospital room, I could hear Shannon and Crash arguing about the baby’s name.

“I am not naming my precious little girl Harley,” Shannon argued in a no-nonsense voice.

“You’re daddy’s precious little princess, aren’t you?” Crash cuddled the baby close as he stood holding her next to the hospital bed. “Tell mommy to hush, Harley Jean. What does she know about a good biker chick name anyway?” He whispered against his newborn daughter’s cherub cheek.

“Aw, isn’t she precious?” Crystal cooed as she walked over to peek at her. She kissed Crash on the cheek, then she moved to the bed to lean over and kiss Shannon. “You did good, Mama.”

I slapped Crash on the shoulder. “Congratulations, Brother. She’s beautiful.”

“Oh, look, Harley Jean, this is your Uncle Wolf.”

I grinned down at the little bundle and reached a hand to tickle her belly with two fingers. She immediately lifted her tiny hand and grabbed my finger in her fist with a surprisingly tight grip that had me chuckling. “Well, good morning, Harley Jean. Aren’t you a beauty?”

Crash tore his eyes from his daughter long enough to glare at me. “Really, Wolf? Already flirting with her?”

I grinned, enjoying his torment.

“I am not calling her Harley Jean, Crash,” Shannon insisted from the bed.

“Harley Jean, don’t listen to mommy, she loves your name. She’s just cranky because you gave her quite a workout. That and her nipples are sore as h—”

“Crash!”

He grinned and nuzzled his baby girl, whispering, “So go easy on ‘em, okay, Princess?”

I watched Shannon cover her face embarrassingly, and then my gaze slid over to Crystal and our eyes connected and held, silent communication passing between us. I knew Crystal was already pregnant. It was something she’d shared with me just last night.

I grinned at her and winked, and damned if she didn’t give me the most beautiful smile in return.

Maybe our story wasn’t a fairytale, by anybody’s stretch of the imagination, but that was okay, because we finally had our own happy ending.

And life was good. Life was very, very good.