Lucien's War (13 page)

“You’re
pretty damn smart, baby girl.” He leaned down and kissed her on the head, and
she glanced at Lucien over her dad’s shoulder. He watched them, this strange
look on his face, but one that made her feel happy. Lucien made her feel
special, wanted, and like nothing would ever hurt her.

“Come
on, brothers, let’s go drink and celebrate,” Cain said, and the four men moved
into the living room.

Cookie
still sat at the table, and when Callie turned toward her she stood.

“Congratulations,”
Callie said and gave Cookie a hug.

“You’re
okay with being a big sister?” Cookie asked and chuckled softly.

“You
ready to be a mom?” Callie asked and pulled back, smiling.

Cookie
stared at her for a moment, and then grinned. “I think I really am.” They
pulled away from each other, and then she tilted her head toward the kitchen.
Callie followed her father’s old lady, and once they were several rooms away
from where the men were, Cookie turned and faced her.

“Tell
me everything, Callie, because this is serious shit.”

Callie
nodded and exhaled. “Yeah, I know.” She stared at the woman that was like a
best friend to her, that had been there during her hardest time, and that she
looked up to. “But I love him, Cookie, and he loves me,” she said softly,
feeling all of her emotions rise up. “We didn’t mean to do anything behind
anyone’s back, but it just kind of happened.”

The
sound of the guys laughing had Callie looking behind her into the hallway. Her
heart was in her throat, and she was so nervous about saying all of this out
loud.

“How
long has this been going on exactly?” Cookie asked, and Callie looked back at
her.

“Officially?
Like two weeks
but we’ve stayed away since I’ve been back from orientation. We planned on
telling Dad, but the time was never right.”

Cookie
shook her head and leaned against the counter. They stared at each other for a
suspended moment. “Tell me what in the hell happened.”

For
the next several minutes Callie told Cookie everything. She told her about the
party and Lucien taking her back to his place because she didn’t want her dad
finding out. She told him how she had fallen madly in love with him, and how he
had pushed her away for months until he had come to the university and they had
finally been together.

“So
… you were like with him?” Cookie was sounding more and more shocked with each
passing second.

Callie
didn’t go into detail, but she did nod.

“Damn,
Callie, this is so bad.”

 
“No, Cookie, it’s not bad in the sense that we
love each other.”

Cookie
shook her head. “No, I’m not saying it’s bad that you love him.” She moved
closer. “This is bad because you’re with the President of the club, and hid it
for three months from your dad and everyone else, Callie.” Cookie took Callie’s
hands and gave them a light squeeze.

“We
didn’t hide anything for the last three months aside from the fact Lucien
helped me out when I was at that party. Nothing happened at all until two weeks
ago.” Of course that wasn’t an excuse. “I should have told my dad about the
whole party and me being drunk and going to Lucien’s the next day at the
latest, but I was afraid of the repercussions within the club. I didn’t want
anyone to get upset with Lucien for keeping it from them.” She shrugged, looked
at the ground, and refused to cry. “But then everything just escalated when he
was at the university with me. My feelings have only grown, even though he’s
tried to push me away and kept his distance.”

“Oh,
honey,” Cookie said and pulled her into a hug. “Everything will be okay.”

“No,
no it won’t be, Cookie.” Callie shook her head. “My dad will feel betrayed, and
I can see why he would, but I honest to God love Lucien.”

Cookie
pulled back and looked into her eyes. “And he loves you?” she asked, and Callie
nodded.

“He
does. I know he does by the way he looks at me, touches me, and speaks to me.
He’s different when he’s around me, if you can believe that.”

Cookie
gave her this soft smile. “Yeah, honey, I know exactly what you mean.”

****

It
was late, Cookie had called it a night an hour ago, and Cain and Tuck had
already headed back to the clubhouse to finish partying. Lucien was happy for
Kink and Cookie, knew that the club was just as much a part of his family as
his old lady and daughter were, but wished they could have come clean about
each other. Tonight was obviously not the night to talk to Callie’s dad about
Lucien wanting her as his old lady, about how he loved her, would do anything
for her and was so damn sorry for betraying Kink the way he had.

He
grabbed his keys out of his pocket, and although he wanted to go and see Callie
before he left, he knew that wasn’t the wisest choice right now.

“Heading
out, brother?” Kink said from the stairway, and Lucien turned and faced him.

“Yeah,
it’s getting late.”

Kink
nodded. He scrubbed a hand over his hair, looked back at the bedroom door
Cookie had slipped behind, and then this smile broke out across his face. “Can
you believe I’m going to have another kid?”

Lucien
grinned. “Man, I hope you’re prepared for that. You’re getting pretty fucking
old.”

Kink
started chuckling, and then flipped him off. “Yeah, I know. And if it’s another
girl I’m fucked, because I’m already freaking the fuck out about Callie going
off to college and those motherfuckers messing with her.”

Lucien
cleared his throat, opened his mouth to just tell Kink about every fucked up and
shady thing he had done and thought about concerning Callie, but then the
object of his affection, obsession, and love walked through the kitchen door.
She stopped, looked between them, and he could see how nervous she was. Hell,
this right here was an awkward situation.

“Listen, I’m going to head to bed
anyway, but I’ll see you at the clubhouse tomorrow.”

Lucien
nodded.
“Sounds good, brother.”
Lucien should have
just left, but instead he stood by the front door and stared at the way Kink
embraced Callie, kissed her on the top of the head, and then turned and headed
toward his bedroom.

Callie
stared at him, smiled softly, and he wanted to kiss her, hold her, and tell her
that they didn’t need to hide anymore. But today, now, was not the fucking
time. “I’ll see you later, Callie.”

She
swallowed, ran her hands on her thighs, and then nodded. “Bye, Lucien.”

Damn,
he was getting hard hearing her say his name. He wanted her so damn badly, and
the fact it had been two weeks since he had touched her was eating away at him.
Before he said something, or did something, that would disrespect Kink in his
home, he turned and headed out of the front door and to his bike. He straddled
his Harley, grabbed his helmet, but then he heard the front door open and
close, and saw Callie moving toward him with her bare feet padding on the
cement. Before he knew what she was doing she was in his arms, her mouth on
his,
and her tongue sweeping along his. Callie had her arms
wrapped around his neck, and he grew hard for her. Fuck, he wanted her so damn
badly.

“Baby,
we can’t do this. We can’t disrespect Kink this way, not anymore.”

She
pulled away, breathing heavily, and her mouth glossy and red from their kiss. I
know, but I missed you. I
miss
you,
Lucien.”

“Damn,
Callie, I miss you, too,” he said softly, and then grabbed the back of her head
and kissed her soundly. He ran his tongue along hers, swallowed her moans, and
knew that he should stop, but not able to end his obsession for her. Kink was
right inside. Lucien wanted to respect his brother and VP, but he couldn’t
stop. He couldn’t bring himself to pull away, to do the right thing.

“You’re
right,” Callie said against his lips, and pulled away. They were both now
breathing hard. “We need to tell him, but tonight isn’t good, not when they
broke the baby news.” She looked down at the ground. “But tomorrow, since he’ll
be at the clubhouse, the guys are still on the run, and we can be open and
honest.”

He
nodded. Taking hold of her chin with his fingers, he lifted her head so she
looked at him. “Yeah, baby, tomorrow we will tell him, and then we won’t have
to hide. Everything will work out.” But he knew that wasn’t the truth, because
shit was going to get real, and blood would be shed.

“Let’s
go for a ride, Lucien,” She said softly, and then smiled. “My dad and Cookie
went to bed, and believe me when I say they won’t be coming out all night.” She
grimaced, and then shook her head in disgust. “Believe me.”

He
started chuckling. “Callie, that probably isn’t the best idea right now.”

“I
know, but I just want to be free, to be on the back of your bike, and when we
tell my dad I know being with you is going to be hard.” She looked at the front
door.
“Just as hard as it is now, because he’ll be furious,
Lucien, and rightly so.”
She looked at him again. “Just let us enjoy
this moment of solace in being together.”

Looking
at her face, taking in the small slope of her nose, the bow-like quality of her
red lips, and the softness and brightness of her blue eyes, he knew he couldn’t
deny her anything, even when he should. When he didn’t respond, but lifted the
corner of his mouth in a smile, she leaned up and kissed him softly.

“Let
me get my shoes.” She looked sad almost, and he smoothed a finger down the
bridge of her nose. “Just a quick ride, Lucien, because I know after this is
all said and done things will definitely be different.” She turned and went
back into the house, and he exhaled. He was a piece of shit friend right now.
He knew better than to
keep this
going on even though
he knew it was wrong until they spoke with Kink. He was a bastard, but loving
Callie meant he couldn’t stay away, couldn’t stop being with her, even though
that was what a brother, a member of The Brothers of Menace, should do.

****

Callie tightened her hold on Lucien’s waist
and rested her cheek against his back. If there was an outsider looking in at
all of this, what she and Lucien were doing and how they were keeping all of
this from her dad, they would probably see her and Lucien as a bunch of
betraying assholes. But that wasn’t how she saw it. She saw it as not wanting
to hurt her dad, as loving a man that others would consider to be forbidden,
given
who
he was and who she was. But Callie couldn’t
help how she felt, and didn’t want to stop her emotions, or be suffocated by
what others considered wrong and traitorous.

Lucien held onto both of her hands with one of
his, and gave them a light squeeze. She closed her eyes and listened to the
rumble of his Harley beneath them, of the wind moving over their bodies, and of
the scents invading her nose. His cut was smooth leather and buttery soft, and
the smell of age and of it being well cared for filled her nose. The strength
and power she felt from Lucien consumed her. It might have only been a short
amount of time that she had actually
been
with Lucien, but they were the most alive and exhilarating two weeks of her
life. After months of pining after him, wanting something she never thought
she’d have, she was finally feeling whole. It was strange feeling this, having
this solidity in her life, and feeling like things were finally right.

They had been riding for the last twenty
minutes, were still near River Run, but were outside of the city. The trees
surrounded them, and the moon was full and bright enough that she could see clearly.
She didn’t know what the future held, but she knew that she wouldn’t give up on
what she wanted, no matter what anyone said. And what she wanted was Lucien
Silver, a man twice her age, the President of an outlaw biker gang, and her
father’s friend. She just hoped her dad saw that being with Lucien made her
happy, and that he accepted it because this was her life.

Chapter Eleven

Kink
was due at the clubhouse a little later that day, and although Lucien was
relieved to finally be at this point where everything would be out in the open,
he was also nervous over Kink’s reaction. This was a man that had been there
for him no matter what, that had risked his life for Lucien on more than one
occasion, and who was like family to him. Kink was going to be hurt, and
although Lucien wished things hadn’t gone down this way, he also wouldn’t take
anything back he had done with Callie. Yes, he had pushed her away at first,
and forced himself to focus on things that weren’t forbidden to him, but
obviously his feelings weren’t just passing.

The
sound of a door opening had him turning away from the paperwork he had been
going over. Aside from a few prospects and Cain and Tuck, the rest of the
members were on a run to seal down some land in The Springs, along with a crate
full of guns in trade for coke. The Brothers didn’t mess with drugs normally,
but after getting a stash in trade for taking down some punks that were
harassing local community college girls in Harlow, coke had been their payment.