REAPER'S KISS (11 page)

chapter twenty-eight

(ava)

*NOW*

I tried to hold tight to Jace as
his words rang in my head. But he started to move. He was gone. He jumped out
from our hiding spot and called for Glen.

Glen spun and had the gun pointed right
at Jace.

“You tried to kill me once,” Jace
said. “Here’s your second chance.”

“Where’s Ava?” Glen asked. “She
took my life. She lived the life I should have had.”

“That’s not how it works, Glen,” Jace
said. “Do what you need to do to me. You’re not getting Ava. She’s protected.
It’s too late. You lost.”

Glen laughed. “You asshole. I never
fucking lose. Ever.”

Smoke billowed into the back room,
curling like crippled fingers, pushing its way to wherever it wanted to be. I
couldn’t believe the store was on fire. I couldn’t believe Jace was face to
face with a brother I never knew I had. But that brother was the man who killed
my mother.

“I’ll just kill you,” Glen said. “Like
I should have done a long time ago. And then I’m going to kill Ava. And your
entire club. Nothing can stop me.”

For a split second, I had hawk
eyes. I saw Glen’s finger start to squeeze the trigger.

I couldn’t let Jace die.

I couldn't imagine not having him
in my life.

Holy shit
… I was in love
with Jace.

I ran forward and screamed, waving
my hands.

“Ava! No!” Jace bellowed as I came
into view.

Glen turned his head and the gun
followed a second later. A sick smile crept across his face. Behind Glen I saw
the back door to the store open. A man stood there with a gun.

“Get down!” Jace screamed at me.

His words were super slow.

I skidded to a halt and buckled my
knees.

I heard guns go off and I shut my
eyes.

I didn
’t want to see the
reaction on Jace
’s face as I took my last breath
…

chapter twenty-nine

(ava)

*THEN*

“Do you really have to go now?” I
asked my mother.

“I do,” she said. She touched my
hair and kissed me. “If that water keeps getting into the store we’re going to
have a big problem. It’ll be okay. Everything is closed. I’ll just sing some
songs and clean up the store.”

“Why can’t Dad do it?”

“You know him,” Mom said. “He took
his heart medicine. He’s sleeping.”

“Let me come and help you then.”

“No, Ava. You rest. You have
school. Don’t worry about me.”

“I love you though.”

“I love you too. All I want is for
you to be happy.”

“I’m trying hard in school, Mom.”

“That’s good. But school, money, a
house, that’s not happiness. You’ll know it when you find it. I want you to
find it. Embrace it. Never let it go.”

I had no idea what she was talking
about. But I loved when Mom talked to me like I was a grown up.

She kissed my forehead twice, then
a kiss on each cheek. That’s how she always kissed me. In front of friends, it
was totally not cool. But alone, it was the greatest feeling in the world.
Knowing she truly loved me.

“I’ll be back before you know it,” she
said. “I’ll make pancakes in the morning. Brain food.”

She ran her fingers through my hair
and smiled big.

I hated that she worked so hard at
the store. I hated that she had to go there alone to clean up water because of
the roof. I wished Dad would have done more to give her more.

Mom stood up from the bed.

I don’t know why but I grabbed her
wrist. My eyes filled with tears.

“What’s wrong?” Mom asked me.

“I don’t know. I just… I just love
you so much.”

Mom sat back down on the bed. She
hugged me. I think she cried too but I didn’t see the tears. She never showed
me her tears. She was always the tough one.

She rocked me, yes, I was a
teenager, and she hummed.

Slowly, I drifted off to sleep.

The last thing I remembered was her
kissing my cheek and whispering that she loved me and that everything would be
okay.

I never got to see my mother,
feeling her hugs, or hear her voice ever again.

chapter thirty

(jace)

*NOW*

Sid stood there and held out a mug
of beer. “To Jace. To Ava. To helping tie up a loose end for the MC.”

The entire clubhouse erupted in
cheers. Clanks of mugs echoed around and everyone had a nice cold drink. That
included me and Ava.

My right shoulder was fucked up and
I probably still needed another surgery if the muscles didn’t heal right. Ava
was unscathed. That was most important to me.

The variable I threw in was calling
up Jeff. If I had shot Glen it would have started a new war. The store was on
fire. Glen was brandishing a gun. Everything was spiraling. I needed Ava to
stay hidden because Jeff was coming. She jumped out just as Jeff showed up.

Jeff shot Glen twice in the back.

That made the entire situation easy
for the club.

Jeff had all the paperwork to show
a case of illegal gambling. With Glen setting the store on fire and shooting
me, it justified everything. All I had to do was explain that I was cruising
along with Ava to go visit her father in the hospital. We spotted smoke from
the store and went to check it out. Ava had a key. We called the fire
department. We saw Glen and he shot me. He tried to hold us hostage. Jeff heard
the call for the fire department and decided to check it out.

It was all set up to simply make
Jeff as a hero.

Fair enough.

Our payment for asking such a big
task was that Jeff took the bag of money and could do whatever the fuck he
wanted to do with it.

The store burned to the ground.
That may or may not have happened as another favor. That was up to Sid.

Ava’s father got out of the
hospital and got a nice fat insurance check for the store. A portion of that
check was kicked back to the club.

Good call, Jake.

Now I sat on a barstool with Ava in
my arms, the club cheering.

I looked at Ava and smiled. We
kissed and then finished our drink.

The rest of the guys were there for
the night to pound beer, whiskey, and pussy. Good for them. I wasn’t going to
be one of them tonight. I had a different plan in mind.

After finishing my beer, I went to
see Sid.

“Prez.”

Sid hugged me. Pain shot through my
shoulder. “Fuck…”

“How’s the ride?” he asked.

“I hate anything with four wheels.”

Sid laughed and slapped my cheek. “It’s
a big ass pickup truck though. You have to like that.”

“It’s not bad. I could get used to
it.”

“Don’t get too used to it,” he
said. “You only have so much time… if you can’t ride, you can’t wear the cut.”

“Trust me, Prez, I’ll be back in no
time,” I said. “Don’t worry about that for a second.”

“You did good. Showing restraint. I
know you wanted to pop that guy. And I’m sorry I took off in the store like I
did. The second I saw the gasoline I knew I had to get Jeff there and get shit
worked out with the fire department.”

“No worries.”

“No worries,” Sid said.

We hugged again and Sid walked
away, being drawn in by the big blue doe like eyes of a woman looking for a
night with an outlaw.

I walked to Ava, took her hand, and
led her out of the clubhouse.

I never thought I’d see it in my
life…

Me leaving the clubhouse. Holding
hands with a woman. Taking her to a pickup truck. Looking back at her. Smiling.
I can
’t wait to take her home
…

I slid my hands up Ava’s body and
cupped her breasts. Fuck, she was full and firm. She was riding me harder than
I rode my motorcycle. One hand on my good shoulder, the other hand holding the
headboard to the bed. I loved watching the way her body pumped at my cock,
sliding up and down, fucking herself into orgasm after orgasm.

I planted my feet firmly on the bed
and started to thrust up at her. I loved the sound of my body slapping against
her. I loved the sound of her moans and cries of pleasure. Better yet, I loved
the way she threw her hair back and whimpered a few seconds before she would
come.

She had me mesmerized.

From her body to her heart.

But right then… fuck the romance
shit.

I wanted to fuck.

I forced myself to a sitting
position. I grabbed Ava with both hands at her waist and tossed her back and
off me. Yeah, it fucking hurt my shoulder to do that. I lunged forward and ripped
open her legs, thrusting my cock right back at her. The entire thing took me
all over a few seconds, but then I was on top. My cock filling her. To the
fucking hilt.

I held there and gritted my teeth,
feeling her pussy throbbing against me.

I fucked her until I couldn’t
handle anymore. I slid my left hand behind her head and pulled her mouth to
mine. Our tongues battled as I came inside her.

And I kept coming. When my cock was
out of cum, I didn’t stop. I stayed right there, gently fucking her. I brought
Ava to one last climax before I eased out of her body.

I then pulled her on top of me and
rested in my bed. I put my arms around her and held her. I could feel her heart
racing. Shit, I could feel my heart racing too.

“Sweetie, sleep here tonight.”

Her head popped up. “What?”

“Tonight and forever,” I said. “You’re
not a guest anymore in this house. Or in this bed. I want you here. You’re not
some woman I want to fuck. I want to fuck you and hold you. I want to wake up
tomorrow and have you again. I want to love you…”

Ava grinned. “Big bad outlaw is
turning to mush.”

“I blame the pain meds,” I said and
laughed.

“You saved me,” Ava said. “You were
everything I’d been waiting for.”

“I’m sorry you lost everything.”

“I didn’t lose a thing,” Ava said. “I
gained everything. You, Jace.”

I kissed her. She kissed me back.

“I fucking love you, sweetie,” I
finally said. I had to get it out there.

Ava climbed on top of me.

I had plans for sleep.

She had plans for something
else.

chapter thirty-one

(ava)

*AN HOUR LATER*

I opened my eyes. My head was on
Jace’s chest. He was naked. I lifted the sheet and looked at his dick. Even
when he wasn’t hard he was big. I bit my lip and felt my inner thighs tremble.

I propped my chin on his chest and
watched him sleep.

I watched the sexy outlaw sleep.

He was gorgeous. So rough around
the edges. His tattoos and muscles making him look like every parents worst
nightmare for their daughter.

But he was my dream man. Not a
knight in white but an outlaw in black.

I couldn’t have imagined anything
more perfect. Even with everything as a mess.

Dad had his insurance money and
promised to stay away from problems. I couldn’t control him though. That was
his life. My mother would forever remain a memory, perhaps an angel watching
over me. Her murder wasn’t technically solved in the eyes of the police, but in
my eyes and heart, it was solved. I now understood what Jace did and what it
meant.

Maybe in life there weren’t good
guys and bad guys.

There were just lines. Some lines you
could cross, some lines you couldn’t. An outlaw like Jace didn’t give a shit
about any lines. He did what he wanted.

He’d forever protect me. I’d
forever hold him when he needed me.

I took a deep breath and smiled.

I felt okay. I felt alive. I felt loved.

I reached up and traced the
chiseled jaw of Jace’s face.

“I love you too, outlaw
…”

THE END.

Hey darlin
’

Before you go, I
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’
S KISS. It was a wild ride
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Jaxson Kidman