Authors: Kim Dare
Bayden shook his head very quickly. “You don’t need to take care of me, sir.” He could take care of himself. He’d been taking care of himself for years.
“Maybe I want to look after you even if you don’t need me to.” Axel encouraged him to look up at him. “Me fussing over you isn’t any different just because you’re a wolf, pup. I’d do exactly the same if you were a human.”
Complaining about that would be dangerously close to saying he wanted Axel to make allowances for his species. “Yes, sir.” That was always a good thing to say.
Axel kissed him gently on the lips, confirming it was the right response, then went back to unpacking as if nothing that had happened was a big deal.
Several minutes passed before Bayden realised one part of the process had been missed out. “Thank you, sir.”
Axel glanced up at him and smiled. “You’re welcome, pup.”
Bayden nodded, glad that no extra explanation had been necessary. He didn’t look toward Axel again until the last item had been put away, and he needed a new order to follow.
“You can put your things in the bedroom. The bottom drawer in the chest by the window is empty. You can use that.”
Bayden carried his bag into the bedroom. Kneeling in front of the chest, he arranged his clothes and his wash bag neatly in the drawer. Bayden looked at his leather jacket. There was plenty of room for that too.
He automatically took the money from the various pockets of his jacket before placing it alongside his clothes. He looked at the money.
Leaving cash at his bedsit would have been asking for someone to steal it. Leaving it here wasn’t the same. Bayden looked at his keys. Axel trusted him. Maybe it was time he started to trust Axel too—maybe just a little bit—just with things that were replaceable.
Bayden took a deep breath and placed the money in the drawer. A second’s thought and he added the stash he’d tucked in his boot to the drawer, followed by the money from his back pocket.
He hesitated, staring at the bank notes. Maybe if he just tucked the money underneath his spare pair of jeans, or… Bayden shook his head. Trust. Axel wouldn’t steal from him. The money was safe.
A footstep on the squeaky floorboard outside Axel’s bedroom door made Bayden look up.
Axel appeared in the doorway. “The weather’s cleared. We’re riding after all. We’ll stop halfway and eat there.”
“Yes, sir.” Bayden quickly exchanged his jumper for his leather jacket, picked up enough money to deal with anything that might come his way during the ride and followed Axel down to the pub.
Within a few minutes, bikes were rolling in. There weren’t so many today, although more of the Dragons had brought men with them on their pillion seats. Evan was riding behind Griz. Bayden recognised some of the others as people who sometimes played in the back rooms of The Dragon’s Lair.
Scent made it obvious that most of them had been thinking about sex rather than motorcycles until Axel had sent out a text telling them the ride was on, but they didn’t seem unhappy about being able to ride out as a club.
If what Axel had said about a lot the men being biker groupies was true, maybe they thought the ride was part of the foreplay. The Dragons didn’t see it that way. Bayden could sense it in them. They were there to ride. Their attention was on their bikes and each other as much as on the men who’d be riding behind them.
The routine had become familiar, but that didn’t dull the feeling of riding with a club—it didn’t make it feel any less like running with a pack. Bayden’s heart pounded as he rode out of the car park and fell in line behind Tolmore. His whole body tingled with pleasure. It was like humans talked about feeling when they were drunk. It was easy to see why they got addicted to it. Bayden knew he could ride with a pack every day for the rest of his life and it would never feel like it had been too much.
When he got off his bike at the halfway point, Bayden found himself smiling to himself. He glanced around. It was a nice neighbourhood. It was the middle of the day. He didn’t have to worry about his bike.
Helmet off, he got his sunglasses out of his pocket and slipped them on. There were more than twenty men in total—all of them wearing a fair amount of leather. They caught everyone’s attention as they strode into the pub. None of the Dragons seemed to care, or even notice that people were staring, but some of the pillion riders preened under the attention, obviously enjoying it.
Strangers were staring at the group, not him in particular. Bayden still tensed up as they all made their way toward the tables at the back of the pub. He kept his head down until Axel slid his arm around his shoulders.
“Good ride, pup?”
Bayden nodded and leaned into Axel’s side. All other humans forgotten, he was once more unable to keep his smile in check. It was like running with a pack—one that was led by a fantastic alpha.
Axel took a seat on a bench and tugged Bayden down to sit alongside him. When Axel reached out to him, Bayden assumed it was too push his hair back from his face, but Axel took Bayden’s sunglasses instead.
“That’s better.”
Their eyes only met for a moment before Bayden gave in to the instinct to drop his gaze.
Axel brushed their lips together, obviously pleased with Bayden for not complaining about losing his glasses.
Already high on the feeling of being part of the pack, Bayden murmured his pleasure against Axel’s lips. It wasn’t just him. When Axel pulled away, he was smiling just as broadly as Bayden.
“Whose buying?” someone asked, from the other side of the group.
“It’s my turn.” Griz pulled out his wallet.
Evan whispered something to Griz, who nodded and handed over some money.
“He’ll need help to carry the drinks back,” Axel pointed out.
Bayden got up. He reached for his sunglasses but Axel put his hand over them before Bayden had a chance to pick them up.
“You can have them back when we get outside.” His amusement was obvious, but his tone didn’t invite any argument.
“Yes, sir.”
Bayden followed Evan up to the bar and took his place beside him in the queue. He didn’t have a clear line of sight to Axel from there, but there was a window that looked out over the car park. All the bikes were in view. They were all fine.
“Your bike’s amazing.”
Bayden tore his gaze away from the motorcycles. “Thanks.”
What Axel had said before was right—it was clear what place Evan would occupy in any pack. Humans could be omegas as well as alphas.
Brushing off men who postured and swaggered, thinking they were more dominant than him was easy. Shooting down an omega would be cruel. “You like old bikes?” Bayden hazarded.
Evan hesitated for a moment. “I’m doing one up.”
Bayden glanced at the queue, it didn’t seem to be moving at all. “How’s it going?”
“It’s a nineteen-forties Royal Enfield.” Another little hesitation. “I’ve, um…” He pulled his phone out and tapped the screen a few times before turning it toward Bayden. “Griz is helping me do it up.” He swiped at the screen, moving on to another photo, then another. Each picture showed a bike that was a bit less beaten up looking. “When it’s finished, Griz says he’ll invite me to tag along with the Dragons riding my own bike.”
He swiped again. The next picture wasn’t of a bike. Embarrassment flooded Evan’s scent. He quickly moved onto the next picture but his scent didn’t change at all. His cheeks flushed just as brightly as his buttocks had in the picture of him being spanked by Griz.
“You’ll like it.”
Evan met Bayden’s gaze for a moment.
“Riding with the Dragons, you’ll like it,” Bayden said.
Evan pushed his phone back into his pocket. “Some of the guys in the pub said they’ve given you a hard time since you started riding with them…”
Bayden shrugged.
Evan nibbled on his bottom lip.
“Axel says they won’t hassle you so much because you’re more impressed with them all than I am,” Bayden offered.
Evan chuckled, but he didn’t get the chance to say anything else before they reached the front of the queue. He began to recite the order. He was about six words into it when the bartender stopped him short.
“ID.” The guy’s scent was full of anger. Bayden half turned toward him, then thought better of it.
“Sorry.” Evan’s blush rushed back full force. He scrambled for his ID. “I’m almost twenty-one.”
“And you?”
There was no avoiding it. Bayden met his gaze.
“Get out.”
“What?” Evan looked from one of them to the other, all confusion.
“There’s a sign on the door saying no dogs. It’s there for a reason,” the bartender bit out.
Bayden held the man’s gaze. His hand furled into a fist at his side. If any of the humans understood scent, they’d have realised that Bayden was just as furious as the bartender. The difference was that Bayden’s anger was all at himself.
“You’re a shifter.” The bartender spat the species like a curse.
Bayden didn’t deny it.
“Get out, both of you.”
Bayden stepped forward. “I’m a shifter, he’s not. You saw his ID. There’s no reason for us both to leave.”
The bartender squared his stance. “Are you going, or do I have to throw you out?”
Bayden looked him up and down. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell the stupid idiot to try, but, no. He didn’t want trouble and the pack came first—even if it was full of humans and called a motorcycle club.
Bayden turned to Evan. “You’ll have to take two trips. Get the soft drinks first. Come and get the alcoholic ones afterwards.”
“But—”
“It’s fine. Tell Axel that I’m going outside and I’ll keep an eye on the bikes.” He turned on his heel and walked out before it could all go to hell.
He was several yards outside, head buzzing with fury, before he realised that it was raining again. He looked up. Droplets pattered down on his face, cold and heavy, like the first drops of a fresh downpour. Bloody typical.
* * * * *
“Where are the drinks?” Drac asked.
Axel looked over Evan’s shoulder. Sod the drinks. “Where’s Bayden?”
“He asked me to tell you he’s going outside. He’s going to keep an eye on the bikes.”
“What the hell does he think’s going to happen to them here?” Drac asked.
“Yeah, I thought you’d cured him of that,” Hale said.
Axel sighed as he pulled himself to his feet. He’d thought he had too.
“That’s what he asked me to tell you,” Evan repeated. The stress he put on the words registered.
“And the truth?” Axel asked.
Evan glanced toward Griz and received an encouraging nod. “The bartender said that the no dogs sign on the door applied to wolves too.”
“What? How the hell did he even know he’s a wolf?”
Evan dropped his gaze, but not in submission. Axel followed his line of sight. Bayden’s sunglasses lay on the table. His eyes. “Shit!” Axel grabbed the glasses and his helmet, and rushed outside.
Bayden’s bike was still there. Axel didn’t actually have to jump on his bike and chase him down. But Bayden wasn’t standing by the bikes either. Lifting a hand to shield his eyes from the rain, Axel scanned the area until he spotted Bayden.
He was tucked under the arched porch of the building opposite, keeping out of the rain as much as possible. He was leaning against the wall, his hands shoved in his pockets. He seemed to have settled himself for the duration. His attention was on the line of bikes, rather than the pub door.
It obviously hadn’t occurred to him that anyone would come out after him.
Axel was halfway across the car park when he saw Bayden tense up, only to relax when he saw who was heading in his direction. He had thought someone might come out there after him, Axel realised. Bayden had been ready for the bartender and maybe a couple of the bastard’s friends.
Axel stepped under the porch and wiped the rain off his face.
A glance in his direction seemed to offer Bayden a wealth of information. “Evan told you what happened.”
“Did you doubt he would?” Axel slid his hand through his wet hair. “You shouldn’t have asked him to lie.”
Bayden shrugged. “I’m outside. I’m keeping an eye on the bikes. I didn’t ask him to say anything that wasn’t the truth.”
“Were you planning on telling me the whole story at any point?”
“No.” Bayden thought for a little while. “Sir.” It was completely disconnected from his original answer, but it was there—he hadn’t forgotten.
“Because?” Axel asked.
“It’s no big deal. I’ve been thrown out of plenty of places before. It’ll happen often enough in the future.” He looked down. “You should go back inside, sir.”
Axel ignored the last part—it didn’t deserve to be acknowledged. “And it happens a lot more often if your eyes are visible,” he finished for him.
Bayden glanced at his sunglasses in Axel’s hand, but he didn’t try to take them. He shrugged again.
“Why didn’t you tell me, pup?”
Bayden turned his attention back to the bikes. “It’s not your problem, sir.”
“What?” Axel grabbed his shoulder and made him face him.
“You gave me an order, sir. I’m supposed to obey it, not get you to change your mind.” He glanced at the shades again, then looked quickly away. He folded his arms across his chest. “I should have stopped wearing them the first time you told me you didn’t like them.”
“Do you think I’d have insisted you obey me if I knew it would make things more difficult for you?”
“Yes, sir.”
Axel caught hold of his chin and made him look up.
“I said I’d obey any order you gave me. I meant it,” Bayden bit out.
“Any order within your limits,” Axel corrected.
“It’s not a limit! I’m not going to set limits because some humans are arseholes. They don’t get to control how well I submit to you.” Fury burned in his eyes. It was the only outward sign that he wasn’t entirely calm, everything else was carefully controlled. “Sir.”
“I told you at the start that there’s room for discretion in front of some people.”
Bayden hesitated.
“You can wear them—”
Bayden shook his head. “No. I’ll—”
“They aren’t controlling anything. I am. It’s my decision. I’m making it. You have permission to wear them when we’re out. But you’re not allowed to wear them in the Dragon—ever.”