One Night in the Outlaw's Bed (13 page)

“Yeah, I was.” He pushed off the truck. “I didn’t
mean to get all emotional on you, but I wanted to let you know that since I got
the news my head hasn’t been in the right place. And to make matters worse
Meghan’s folks always hated me. The only reason I found out about their deaths
was because a female we both went to high school with that still talked to
Meghan reached out to me. I didn’t want to upset anyone and make the situation
worse by showing up at the funeral, so I stayed back and had to watch from my
bike as they lowered them into the ground.” Dallas clenched his jaw and turned
away, and seconds later the scent of his tears filled the air. Diesel moved
toward him, but Dallas held up a hand to stop him. “I’m good.”

“I’m really sorry, Dallas.” And he was, from the
bottom of his heart, because he couldn’t even imagine losing a female you cared
about and had a life with
once,
and your child all at
the same time.

“Thanks, man. I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t
want to bring it up.” He breathed out and then cleared his throat. “It hurts
like a motherfucker thinking about it, and saying this shit out loud feels like
a fucking hot poker in my heart.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “But then I
realized that adding misery to others’ lives because of how I felt wasn’t
right.” Dallas kept his back to Diesel. “I wish I would have done a lot of shit
differently, man. I wish I would have stayed in contact with Meghan, because
even if we didn’t love each other and were through relationship wise, we still
had a kid together and should have been there for him.” There was a hard moment
where neither said anything, and the scent of Dallas’s rain-scented tears
surrounded them. “So, yeah, that was that, and I think I need to sleep off this
buzz.”

He switched the conversation so rapidly that all
Diesel could do was stand there and watch as he turned and walked away. Diesel
stood there for a moment and reflected on what Jagger had told him last week,
and now what Dallas had said. He had already planned on going to talk to
Maggie, but hearing what had happened to one of his brothers cemented the fact
that he didn’t want to wait any longer to be with her. He had been stubborn and
hardheaded his entire life, but after feeling Dallas’s sadness as if it were
his own, it now seemed very frivolous.

He went over to his bike and got on. Maggie’s dad’s
house was only a ten minute ride from the clubhouse, but that seemed like a
long fucking ways off. The parts store would already be closed, but he’d swing
by there just in case and see if she was there. What he needed to do was talk
to Brian first, because if he couldn’t make the man understand how he felt for
his daughter that would be one big fucking obstacle.

****

Diesel sat on his Harley in front of Brian’s house.
He saw the other man’s truck in the driveway, but for some reason Diesel still
hadn’t gotten off his bike. There was a lot of shit going on, and the MC life
was anything but glamorous. It was violent, volatile, and filled with a lot of
dangerous and illegal things. But he didn’t want to be in Dallas’s situation
where all that filled him was regret and heartache. If things didn’t work out
then that was the way it was meant to happen. That didn’t mean he couldn’t try,
show
her what she did to him, and see what could
become between them. But Maggie wasn’t just any female that he had fucked.
There was something different about her, something that made his bear alert, feeling
protective, and wanted her as badly as it wanted to take control of his human
side. He had sat on Jagger’s words and how he felt for a week, and talking to
Dallas had made everything clear. And although that wasn’t a very long time, it
had felt like an eternity, especially when she had been on his mind every
second of the day. It wasn’t just that his body craved hers, and all he could
picture was her curvy, naked form as he pounded into her. He also liked the way
she spoke to him, liked the sound of her voice, and really fucking liked the
way she touched him and made him feel.

He was so lost in thought that he didn’t realize
Brian was striding toward him until the human was standing a few feet from the
curb. He had his arms crossed, and this really fucking pissed off look on his
face. “What are you doing here, Diesel?” The way Brian sounded solidified the
fact his rage was targeted right at Diesel, but he couldn’t blame the other
man.

“You know why I’m here.” Brian didn’t move, and Diesel
didn’t think he even breathed. Diesel took off his helmet and dismounted his
bike. If he was going to have this talk out in the front lawn, then he was
going to be eyelevel with Maggie’s father.

“This better be about you wanting some parts
ordered, and have nothing to do with Maggie.” There was a stilted moment of
uncomfortable silence.

“Brian, I didn’t come here to piss you off.”

“I’m already pissed off, Diesel. I’ve known the
Grizzlies for nearly as long as Maggie has been alive. I care about all of you
guys, and would help you out if you needed anything. I want you to put yourself
in my shoes for a moment. I want you to imagine seeing your little girl get off
the back of the bike of an outlaw MC member, one that I know for a fact deals
in illegal bullshit, and sleeps with more women than probably live in this
town.”

Diesel gritted his teeth. No one dared to talk to
him this way without getting their asses kicked. But of course he did see
Brian’s point of view, and couldn’t fault the guy or resort to violence for the
way he was being talked to. Maggie was his little girl, even if she was a grown
woman.

“I know, Brian—”

“No, Diesel, I don’t think you do. I don’t think
you’ve ever seen your daughter come home, smelling the sex on her, seeing it on
her face, and having to look in her eyes and seeing this dreamy expression because
she thinks there will be more than one night with a biker.” Brian shook his
head and dropped his arms. There was the scent of resignation, anger, and also
fatherly love coming from Brian. Diesel couldn’t say it wasn’t awkward as fuck
at having this conversation, and knowing that Brian was well aware that he had
been with Maggie, but in the end it didn’t matter, and no one and nothing could
dissuade him for moving forward.

He stayed silent for a second. “But maybe you
haven’t been in my position either.” Diesel clenched his jaw and heard the way
Brian ground his teeth. “No, I have never had to look into anyone’s eyes and
see that. I have never felt the way you felt, but you don’t understand why I am
here.”

“You’re
right,
I don’t
understand why you’re here. Why don’t you enlighten me, because as it is,
Diesel, I am pretty fucking pissed that you would go after Maggie when there
are a lot of women that are more than willing to give themselves to
you.
” Brian looked down at the ground.

“Brian, man, I am here because I want Maggie as my old
lady.” That had Brian shutting his mouth shut with an audible snap. “She isn’t
just a one-night thing for me. I care about her, my bear cares about her, and I
came here to let you know that I plan on talking to her about it. I want her,
Brian, and even though she is an adult and will decide what she wants for
herself, I wanted to be a man and talk to you about this.” Diesel clenched his
hands at his thighs. “You know what it means to have an old lady, Brian, and
that is what I want with Maggie.”

Brian was now looking at him, but hadn’t said
anything for several seconds. He then exhaled, looked up at the sky for a
moment, and then stared back into Diesel’s face.
“Why her?
I mean I know my daughter is beautiful and intelligent. I’m not talking about
all that. I’m talking about why
her
?”
It was a hard question, yet it wasn’t. Brian was asking him on a fatherly
level. Diesel didn’t know how he was feeling, but he hoped that one day he
would, because the protective instinct of a dad was a powerful one. “The life you
lead is too much for her, Diesel, too hard. She is all I have left. You want to
take her away from me, take her into a life that could kill her without even a
thought, and then where the fuck will I be?”

“I’m not taking her way from you. I’m not doing anything
than offering her a life with me. You know that we protect our own, that I
wouldn’t let anything happen to her. I’d just as soon die than have her get
hurt.” And Diesel meant that with everything inside of him. It had been hard to
get to that point even though he had felt it down to his blackened soul, but it
had finally hit him in the damn head. He didn’t want to be without Maggie by
his side. Brian didn’t respond for several moments, but before he could have
the sound of a car approaching had them both turning. Even before Diesel saw
Maggie pull into the driveway and beside Brian’s truck, he had known it was
her. There was a tightening of his skin, and the hairs on his arms had stood
up. His bear had also come alert, moved out from deep inside of him, and made
low, demanding sounds. It had been only seven days since he had dropped her off
at her house, had been seven long-ass days since he had smelled the sweet scent
of her, and touched her soft skin. But his self-doubt, uncertainty, and
stubbornness all faded away when he watched her climb out of her car and look
between the two of them. There was confusion and worry on her face, but even
with both of those things taking the front stage he could scent her instant
arousal at the sight of him, hear the increase of her pulse, and see the way
her breath hitched. Yeah, his female wanted him just as much as he wanted her,
and that was a really good fucking thing.

Chapter Ten

Maggie stood by her car for several seconds, just
clutching her bag over and over again. Diesel was here and clearly talking to
her dad, who didn’t look very happy. What had they been talking about? Was
Diesel telling her father what they had done, like it was some kind of
obligation since Brian was close with the club? Her heart was beating a mile a
minute, and she seemed frozen to the spot, but then her dad turned away from
Diesel and strode toward her. He stopped in front of her, and she tried to calm
her sudden nerves. Her dad stared at her for a moment, and for the first time
since her mother died he didn’t try to act strong or try to hide his emotions.
He was worried about her, and that had her shoulders sagging and her heart
swelling. She glanced over at Diesel, who was leaning against his bike. He
wasn’t watching them, but she knew he was very aware of what was going on.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she moved closer
to her dad. “I’ll be fine.” She knew he wanted to be here, to make sure Diesel
didn’t hurt her, but she also knew, even if her father didn’t,
that
Diesel wouldn’t intentionally do anything like that.
“Really, everything will be okay. Let me just talk to him in private. Please.”
She didn’t know if she was trying to convince him or herself, but after a
second he nodded—if a bit reluctantly—and cast one more glance at Diesel. She
didn’t know what they had been talking about before, but there was clear
tension between them. She didn’t have to be a shifter to feel it either. Her
dad faced her and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead, and then he was
turning and striding toward the front door. Only when they were alone did she
look at Diesel again. He still leaned against his bike, but he watched her now.
Finding the strength to go to the man she had been intimate with shouldn’t have
been that hard. He had seen every part of her, had
come
inside of her, and touched her like he owned her. This wasn’t
about letting loose and enjoying the carnal need that
had
thrummed through both of them. This was going to be a situation where she had
to hear what he said, and a part of her knew it wasn’t going to be good. But
why would he come out here just to give her bad news? It didn’t make sense, but
then again a lot of things didn’t.

Maggie forced herself to move closer toward him.
When only a foot separated them she waited to see if he would be the first to
speak. But all he did was watch her with this strange expression on his face,
and then to further surprise the hell out of her he reached out, wrapped his
arm around her waist, and pulled her toward his body. For a moment all she
could do was stand there, tense and unsure of what she was supposed to do. This
was certainly the last thing she expected to happen when she saw him sitting at
the curb.

“Maggie, usually when someone hugs you it is
customary to hug them back.”

She pulled back enough to look in his face, saw the
amusement in his expression, and tried not to be so tense.

He rubbed his hand up and down her back and stared
into her eyes. “All I’m asking for right now is a hug.” His voice was soft, and
that was so unlike the Diesel she was used to.

But she leaned in, wrapped her arms around his broad
shoulders, and rested her head on his chest. “I don’t know what brought this
on, but I can’t say I don’t like it.”
Pinching her lips
together because she so hadn’t meant to say that out loud, she heard and felt
his deep chuckle.
“I didn’t mean to say that.”

I know, baby.” He continued to stroke her back, and
then moved his hand over the back of her head to cup it. He just held her for a
long minute, but it was so damn nice. Maggie didn’t know how long they stayed
like that, but she wasn’t concerned if people were watching out their windows.
This felt right on every level.