Chas's Fervor: Insurgents Motorcycle Club (Insurgents MC Romance Book 3) (26 page)

“I have to go. Can you accompany me to my car?”

Puzzlement crossed his face. “Sure, okay.”

The cold, October night stung her face, and she breathed in the frosty air and scent of pine. Puffs of smoke formed in front of her as she exhaled through her mouth.

“I thought you were gonna stay,” Jax said as she unlocked her car door.

“No, Chas has someone with him. She didn’t want me there.” Addie’s voice caught.

“
She
? Who the fuck is with him?”

“I didn’t have a chance to exchange names with her. She didn’t seem like the type who was good at pleasantries.”

“No one should be up in my room without me knowing about it.”

“
Your
room? I’m confused.”

“Yeah, it’s my room. Even though I have a house with my old lady and daughter, I still keep my room. I’ve had it for years. Chas hasn’t lived at the clubhouse since he got hitched with his ex.”

“I didn’t know that. Well, there’s a woman in your room staying with Chas. I have to go now.”

“Wait. What did she look like?”

“She was thin, blonde, and had huge fake boobs, which looked ridiculous on her.” Addie pressed her lips together.

“Fuck, that’s June. She’s a fuckin’ hoodrat dying to be a club whore.”

“It’s good to know she has goals.” Addie rolled her eyes. “Frankly, I don’t give a damn who she is. I have to go. Tell Chas I’m glad he’s fine, and I hope he has a good life.”

“What the fuck? June doesn’t mean shit to Chas.” Jax looked at her in earnest.

“
She
wouldn’t agree with that statement.” Propelling herself into the car, she closed the door, and started up the motor.

Jax knocked on the window. Rolling it down a bit, she said, “I
do
have to go. I’ve really overstayed my visit.”

She peeled out of the parking lot, almost hitting Blade as he opened the gate. In her rearview mirror, she spotted Jax watching her disappearing taillights. Anger, sadness, tenderness, and shame fought a battle inside her.

Enough, Addie. Time to move on. I’ve got a psychotic jerk who calls himself Snake, a cocky outlaw biker, who’s messing with my heart, and a pumped-up slut telling me to leave her man alone as the people I know in Pinewood Springs. Yep, Addie, it’s time to get out of Dodge.

*     *     *

Safe on her
balcony, the chilly air refreshing her, Addie sipped from her large wine glass. She needed something to relax her, considering how much had happened over the past few hours. It wasn’t even ten o’clock, yet it felt like she had lived a lifetime. The hurtful words from the blonde woman’s mouth—didn’t Jax say her name was June?—haunted her. The woman was the complete opposite of her. June resembled Brianna, in a bizarre Stepford wife sort of way.

Massaging her temples with her fingertips, Addie yearned to reclaim her simple life pre-Chas: work, glass of wine on the balcony, and a good, steamy romance or mystery novel before bed. Since she met Chas, tranquility evaporated, and a vindictive and jealous ex-wife,
and
an outlaw, whom she gave it up for, had become her new reality. Chas invaded her mind and her heart, and she had to extricate him from her system.

Her life was twisted in knots, and Chas was too busy screwing the blonde skank to call Addie. Chas’s life hadn’t missed a beat, and what shamed her the most was how gullible she was. All she ever was to him was another notch in his fucking bedpost. She wasn’t blind—Brianna and June were both size four with fake boobs.
She
was a curvy size eighteen with natural boobs. Who was she kidding? Chas was just having fun, probably taking some sick dare from one of his club members to bang her. He probably never fucked a full-figured woman before. Hell, he probably never touched real boobs. Shaking her head, she pushed down the nauseous feeling she’d had ever since June confronted her.

Her head swimming, Addie stood up and paced around her small apartment. Watching TV didn’t appeal to her, and she wouldn’t be able to concentrate if she read, but she had to do
something
. Instead of calming down, her insides tangled in knots, and she was as jumpy as a cat on a hot tin roof. Her apartment, which had once been her refuge, seemed like her prison.

Racking her brain on who to call, she realized she knew very few
normal
people. Margaret would hardly be raring to go out at ten o’clock on a Friday night. She was a nice friend, but generations apart from Addie. The only person she could think of was Matt. The last time she saw him was when they had dinner together several weeks past. Maybe he’d like to go out for a drink. If she had to stay one more second in her place, with her thoughts as her only companion, she’d go stark-raving mad.

Matt sounded pleasantly surprised to hear from Addie, and he told her he’d love to have a couple of beers and good conversation. He picked her up, and they went to a new bar on Main Street which boasted thirty different types of beer. For Pinewood Springs, that was a big deal, hence the reason for the large crowd.

As Addie sipped her red wine—she wasn’t a beer drinker—she realized she was having a very good time, and there wasn’t an outlaw biker in sight. Surrounded by people who weren’t half-naked or fucking, in a clean, classy establishment, Addie could almost forget the craziness that had transpired earlier in the evening. Reclining in her chair, a small buzz finally calmed her frayed nerves, and she was in a good place.

It was past midnight when Matt walked her up to her building’s porch. Shifting her gaze toward him, Matt stared into her eyes.

“I had a really good time. I’m glad you called me.” Matt ran his hand up her arm.

“Me, too. Thanks for being a friend.”

Matt smiled slightly. “I’ll call you sometime. I’ll see you.” He scrambled down the porch.

Addie opened the lobby door then twisted around to see the darkness swallowing up Matt’s car. Ready to step inside, she jumped when she detected a rustle in the tall bushes to the side of the porch. Twisted knots formed in her stomach, and Addie bolted inside. Just when she was about to slam the glass door shut, Chas emerged from the shadows—his face hard as steel, his eyes blazing.

Addie’s hand flew over her mouth as she gawked at him, wide-eyed.

“Why the fuck did you ditch me? And why in the goddamn hell are you out with that fuckwad?” His voice cut like a knife.

“You scared me. Matt? He’s just a friend.” She wedged her foot against the door to keep it open then crossed her arms over her chest. “I left your clubhouse because one of your skanks started shit with me. I was exhausted and wanted to go home.” Weary, her face slackened.

“Who was she?”

“June, I think. She told me—in unfriendly words, mind you—you guys were together.”

“And you believed her?” Shaking his head, Chas started up the porch stairs toward her.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I? I don’t know what you do.”

He had his arm around her, pulling her close. When she tried wriggling out of his grasp, he put his other arm around her, grimacing in pain when he squeezed her.

She stopped, her face softening. “Are you doing better? Does it hurt much?” she asked, rubbing his arm lightly.

“It’s better. Doc told me to rest, but I had to find you. I wanted to make sure you were safe from the fuckin’ Deadly Demon. I gotta sit down. Let’s go up.”

Tiredness was etched on his face as he leaned into her, his eyes masking the pain she knew he was in from his grunts every time he moved his left arm. Arm in arm, they walked up the sweeping staircase to her apartment on the second floor. When he came in, he went to the couch, plopped down, kicked off his boots, and reclined against the cushions. Extending his good arm, he reached out for her. Taking his hand, she let him drag her toward the couch, tugging her down next to him.

As he stroked her hair, he asked, “Why would you believe some whore at the club who said shit about me?”

“I have no idea what you do when you’re not with me. We never agreed to be exclusive, so it’s your business what you do, just like it’s my business what I do.

“Fuck that. You’re mine, Addie. I’m fuckin’ crazy about you. You do something to me, and I want to be with you.”

“You have a funny way of showing that. Why the hell didn’t you call me? We spend a wonderful time at the inn, and I never hear from you? That’s crap, and you know it. You made me feel cheap. You hurt me.” Addie’s voice caught in her throat, and she had to swallow hard to push down the lump.

Sighing loudly, Chas said, “I know, I fucked up. I always have a good time when I’m with you. I don’t know what the fuck to do with a beautiful, classy woman. You’re too good and nice for my world. I don’t wanna drag you into it. It can be tough if you’re a citizen.”

“Don’t you think I should be the one to decide whether I want to be a part of your world? You made all the decisions, and left me feeling like shit.”

“I’m used to being in charge, having all the control. Didn’t even think to ask you.” He kissed the top of her head. “Do you wanna be part of my world?”

Tilting her head up, she said, “I already am. I was a part of your world from the first time I laid eyes on you.”

He lowered his head and kissed her deeply. “Another thing—no more dudes, okay? Seeing you with that guy tonight pissed me the fuck off. You wanna go out, you got me. Understood?”

Too tired to start something, Addie simply nodded.

“Babe, I’m exhausted. I gotta get some sleep.”

“You’re white as a ghost.”

She leapt off the couch and helped Chas up and to her bedroom. Stripping down to his boxers, he crawled between the sheets before Addie covered him with a blanket.

Too charged up to go to bed, Addie snuggled in her favorite yellow-and-cream toile chair in the corner of her room by the window. Over the course of twenty-four hours, her emotions had run the gamut: hurt, fear, anger, tenderness, rage, shame, and love. She had come full circle with them, and in the end, her reason lost and her body won. She loved Chas; she loved him more than she ever thought it was possible to love a man.

Chas was right; they were from completely different backgrounds, but it didn’t matter. At the end of the day, nothing mattered except being with him. She’d waited for so long to be this happy.

After an hour of thinking, she changed into a sleeveless nightshirt and slipped between the cool sheets, her back to Chas’s chest. When her body brushed against his, he circled his arm around her. As he slept, his moans of pain interlaced with his heavy breathing, and he held her tight like a child clutched a stuffed animal. Placing her hand over his, she drifted off to sleep, feeling protected and cherished in his arms.

P
ink rays of
sunlight peeked through the partially closed blinds on the square window. The town had the subdued quiet of dawn. Chas opened his sleep-blurred eyes and beheld Addie, her skin pearly in the sun’s glow. She wore peach satin, so iridescent over her creamy skin, and her flaming red hair flowed down her back. A cinnamon sugar aroma emanated from her, drifting around him—a scent he was becoming addicted to.

He lightly skimmed his fingers down her velvety arm, and static tingles crackled under them. The connection between him and Addie was intense, like electricity in a storm. He had never experienced such a strong pull with any other woman. He was fucking hooked.

When he shifted his position, a searing stab of pain burned in his arm.
Fuckin’ Deadly Demon lowlife.
Sweat dampened his face.
It fuckin’ sucks.
Addie stirred in her sleep, a melodious sigh passing through her lips. The endearing sound tightened his chest then traveled down to his cock, making it rock-hard. Swiveling his hips, he pressed against her lovely, rounded ass. He sucked in his breath, curling his arm around her waist. His deft hand found her breasts, and he flicked her soft nipples. As she moaned, he flicked faster until her pliable buds became rigid. He loved how they hardened under his touch, and he reached down quickly to pinch the base of his dick so he wouldn’t lose it.

Addie’s fine ass moved back, wiggling against his hardness. Ignoring the biting pain in his arm, he lifted himself up and leaned over Addie, who had rolled onto her back, her eyes cracking open.

“Morning, beautiful,” he greeted in a thick voice as he softly kissed her lips.

Stretching, Addie smiled then replied, “Morning. How’re you feeling?” Worry creased her brow.

“Hornier than fuck.” His gaze washed over her face.

“What about your arm? You should be lying down and not putting pressure on it. The doctor said if—”

Chas’s crushing lips and heated tongue silenced her. The softness of her lips fucking slayed him. Actually, her velvety skin slayed him. She was so fucking soft, cushy, and warm, he couldn’t stop touching and squeezing her. When he licked around her nipples in circles, she squirmed underneath him, a small yelp escaping from her throat.

“You like that, baby?” His voice was low and deep.

“You’re teasing me. I want you to suck my tits.”

“In good time, precious.” He loved hearing her beg him to do sexy things to her.