Chapter 9
Scarlett tried her hardest not to swallow her own tongue when Limit walked away, his signature swag making her pulse quicken. She had no idea how to tell the man no, but she found that she didn’t really want to.
How could she?
She’d been dreaming about seeing him again, and even though her body hadn’t caught up to her mind, she found herself questioning her own judgement.
She didn’t bother following him and instead opted to stay near the rear exit of the clubhouse.
She figured she’d catch a moment alone, clear her head, and then she’d head back inside for dinner.
Except, someone else found her first.
Esme rounded the corner of the clubhouse, her blue gaze landing on Scarlett almost instantly.
She smiled shyly.
“Hi.”
Scarlett choked out a laugh and rested her palms against her thighs.
“Hi, Esme.”
“Are you okay?,” She asked.
Scarlett had no idea how to answer that.
So, she shrugged.
“I just wanted to check on you, after…well, Limit can be really scary.”
Scarlett tried to hold it in, but she ended up laughing so hard tears filled her eyes.
Esme watched her with a smile tugging at her own mouth, obviously bewildered.
“I’m not laughing at you, Esme. I’m laughing at the situation. I don’t come from this kind of a life. I’m used to brunch at the country club, not a cookout with an outlaw biker gang,” Scarlett said.
Even she could hear the sadness in her own voice.
Esme wrapped an arm around her belly protectively, her expression borderline hurt.
“We’re a club, not a gang.”
The fact that Limit had said the very same thing to her only made it worse.
“I’m not trying to offend you. I’m just being honest.”
Esme blinked before she relaxed.
“I know you are, and if I were you, I would feel the same. I guess I’m just desensitized to a lot of things I probably shouldn’t be.”
Scarlett appreciated her honesty more than she thought she would.
“Limit’s killed people. And, still, I like him.”
It sounded like a question even to her own ears.
“I’ve killed too, Scarlett. Everyone here has faced death at some point, and believe me when I tell you, it changes you.”
Scarlett couldn’t keep the shock from her own expression as she eyed the delicate woman watching her.
“Yeah, I figured that would surprise you. I don’t take it lightly and I think about it all the time, but when it comes down to it, Ox always reminds us of one important fact: you either kill or be killed. If someone threatens one of us, they feel the wrath of all of us. That’s just how it is around here, Scarlett. I’m not being mean when I tell you that you need to make a choice. You can’t get to know the people here if you’ve already got one foot out the door,” Esme pointed out.
Scarlett knew that both Esme and Rider were one hundred percent correct.
And, as it would seem, these people were now essentially her family.
She wasn’t going to find brunch at the country club here.
Isn’t that what I was trying to shy away from, anyways?
No, Scarlett was going to have to accept the fact that she was not, so to speak, in Kansas anymore.
“You’re right.”
Esme seemed relieved to hear her say that.
“Ox is a really good man, he deserves some happiness of his own.”
Scarlett felt better after hearing that.
“I think I deserve some, too. I know I do, in fact. Let’s go get some food and relax for a little while. I’ve had about all the drama I can take for today,” Scarlett said.
And, for Scarlett, that was the truth. She had no doubt she would need some time to sort out everything she’d discovered. Both about her father and about Limit, but if everyone around her could get used to it, so could she. That’s what she told herself, anyways.
This time, she held out her hand for Esme.
When the brunette lifted her hand to take Scarlett’s, Scarlett could see how easy it could be to fall in love with the life Esme led.
What would it be like to be surrounded by a tight-knit group of people who not only supported one another, but would literally die for another?
Scarlett had no idea, but she was feeling inclined to find out.
Starting with Limit.
I may come to like it here, after all.
✽✽✽
As Scarlett settled into a chair nestled around the same table she’d occupied earlier, she was surprised to see Limit sit down next to her.
“Feel familiar?,” He whispered into her ear.
Her entire body came to life at that moment.
As she pressed her thighs together under the table, he smirked.
“Maybe,” She said as she stuck a chip into her mouth.
True to her word, Scarlett was doing her best to enjoy the dinner that Torch and Loretta had cooked up. There were hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and salsa, even an array of sandwiches. All of which looked like it would be gone within minutes if her observational skills were any good at all.
The men around her tended to inhale their food.
Limit wrapped an arm around the back of her chair, catching a look from more than one man sitting near them.
Rayna was cuddled up against Fury, her blonde hair tied up on top of her head as she watched them unabashedly. Fury was too busy shoving a mouthful of salsa down his throat to care. Green and Slayer were again across the room, watching from a safe distance.
As his fingers caressed the skin of her back, she froze.
“Are you wearin’ panties this time?”
Oh.
My.
God.
She opened her mouth to tell him yes, but that would be a lie, wouldn’t it?
“No,” She whispered back.
Limit’s grip tightened on the back of the chair, so much so, she felt bad for the worn wood as it creaked beneath his fingers.
He swept a lock of hair out of her face with his free hand before she felt his lips against the shell of her ear.
“I can’t wait to taste you,” He murmured.
Ox happened to walk into the room at the exact, moment, stopping her from replying.
“Cool it with that shit,” He said waving a hand between them.
Limit didn’t respond to Ox, but she did feel his hand creep up her thigh beneath the table after he loosened his hold on her chair.
Scarlett didn’t know what would happen between her and Limit.
That’s a lie.
She knew exactly what would happen, and only a quarter of her entire being wanted to halt it.
Scarlett knew that if she showed Limit any interest, he would take her again. She wasn’t used to being taken, but she definitely remembered their first encounter.
She had to ask herself if she could overlook everything she’d learned throughout the day.
Could she really, really, let it go?
As she pondered that, Loretta entered the room and this time she wasn’t alone. There was another woman beside her and both of them were clad in nothing but skin-tight dresses that had Scarlett cringing and some of the men smiling wickedly. Just as she leaned into Limit to tell him she wouldn’t mind heading back to his room, at least so they could really clear the air, the redhead sauntered towards Limit with a gleam in her eye that was all too familiar.
“Limit, baby, I heard you’ve been lonely,” She cooed as she slipped onto his lap.
Scarlett practically fell out of her chair, she pulled away from him so quickly.
He glanced at her over his shoulder like she was crazy.
Scarlett was glaring at the both of them, her eyes narrowed in utter distaste as Limit tipped his head back and looked at the redhead in his lap.
“Not so lonely, Ruby. I’m a little busy.”
She pouted her crimson lips in his direction and ran a palm along his angled cheek.
“Maybe you’ll pay me a visit,” She pleaded.
Scarlett scoffed, her chest filled with something that could only be named jealousy. Green, and red hot, it struck her like a bolt of lighting before she shot out of her chair and ambled towards the bar. Emily was nowhere to be seen, which meant she was virtually alone to deal with her admittedly heightening anger. Torch, the prospect (whatever that meant) was busy manning the bar when she slapped her palms down against the wood.
He turned towards her, his gaze straying towards something over her shoulder- something she couldn’t even stomach peeking at herself.
“Trouble in paradise, princess?”
Scarlett tossed her hair over her shoulder and gestured towards the bottle of whiskey in his hand.
“Make me a double, and don’t call me princess. You don’t know the first thing about me,” She snapped.
Torch only smiled, an annoying half-smile that was definitely mocking her.
As he poured her the whiskey, she felt a presence behind her.
“You okay?,” Ox asked.
As she sipped, she tried not to think about the fact that she really had no right to be jealous.
Limit wasn’t hers, and he probably never would be.
She knew he was a no strings kind of guy, he’d said so their first night together.
Yet, the sight of the redhead on his lap had her stomach rolling.
“I’m okay.”
She tried to smile but Ox saw right through it before he held an arm out for her.
“Follow me, I have something I want to show you,” He said.
She took his arm gratefully, fully aware of the fact that half of the room was busy looking back and forth between her and Limit.
As Ox opened his office and gestured towards the chairs in front of his desk, she followed.
“I know your mom didn’t prepare you for literally anything you stumbled upon today, and for that I’m sorry.”
She waited for him to round his desk before she looked up at him. Ox perched himself right on the edge and crossed his arms across his chest.
“The girls are afraid you’ll run. Truth be told, I’m a little scared of that myself. Nobody here would blame you if you did, either.”
Scarlett looked down at the whiskey in her glass and took a long sip.
“It’s tempting.”
Ox only nodded at her admittance.
“I bet it is. This life is…hard. Unrelenting. But, a lot of these men here were looking for a kind of brotherhood that most people only dream of. I know you can’t appreciate that now, but I hope that one day you will.”
Scarlett nodded.
“Today was hard for both of us. I don’t know what your mom told you, but I loved her. I thought her and I would…I don’t know. At least last a little longer than we did, but I knew she wasn’t happy living this life. That’s why I don’t want you to feel pressured to love it here,” He told her.
Scarlett reached for his hand and felt the hard pads of his fingers with her soft digits.
“I don’t know what it’s like to lose a love like that. I was engaged before I came here to a man just as materialistic as the life I’ve apparently led up until now. Coming here today showed me quite a few things, and not all of them were good. Not all of them revolved around your club either,” Scarlett admitted with a small shrug.
“Mom and I haven’t ever been very close. Looking back now, I wonder if it’s because I remind her of you. I love her, don’t get me wrong. But, she’s never been as accepting as you are right now. I needed that, and I didn’t even know it until right this second,” She said as her tears finally fell.
Not for the first time, Scarlett wished she could be a little bit more like her mother. Maddie was like a brick wall; she never showed any emotion, and when she did, it was brief and shallow.
Scarlett felt Ox’s grip on her hand tighten.
“Don’t cry, Scarlett. Everything happens for a reason, right? I’m glad it was only twenty-two years I missed out on. Around here, people don’t tend to live long.”
His words made her wince.
“I don’t know what I’m doing here.”
Her own words shocked her.
Scarlett Hunter didn’t ever not know what she was doing.
She always had her whole life figured out.
She always knew precisely what was coming her way.
Not anymore.
Not now.
Ox gripped her shoulders in his capable hands and smiled.
“None of us do, sweetheart. None of us do.”