Page 2 of Storm's Deliverance

I exhale a frustrated breath and flop back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling of my childhood room; a room I won’t be sleeping in for much longer. Rubbing my face, my thoughts trail to my new place that I’m moving into next week. I still haven’t told the parents. Jesus, Dad is going to flip out when I tell him.

Pulling back the covers, I get up to take care of business. I walk out of my room and down the stairs in nothing but my pyjama shorts and tank top. “Nice to see you made an effort for breakfast this morning,” a deep voice startles me. Gasping, I whirl around and see Hendrix standing there.

“Fuck, Drix,” I curse, clutching my chest. “What are you doing here this early?”

His dark brown hair is a short, tasselled mess on top of his head, and hangs over his bright blue eyes. His sharp dark features had all the girls throwing themselves at him growing up. Even now.

He pops a grape in his mouth. “Here for you, and to celebrate your first day.” His grin deepens, his blue eyes sparking with amusement.

“What?” I whirl around, and then I finally take note of my surroundings. The loud chatter, the laughter… I groan. “Everyone is here?” I ask.

Drix comes up beside me. “Oh yeah.” He chuckles. “Suck it up, BB.” He winks as he walks past me into the kitchen area.

BB, aka biker brat. He’s called me it throughout high school, and it gets on my last nerve. It also makes me want to stab him every chance I get.

I angrily march after him. “Call me that again, Drix, and I will make you choke on your own dick!” I yell. All the chatter ceases, and everyone’s eyes land on me. Drix just looks at me, an arrogant smirk on his stupid face.

“Can you two not bicker for once?” Aunt Maggie asks as she walks over to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. Shepulls me to her and gives me a soft kiss on my temple. Her bright blue eyes—the same blue eyes her jackass son has—sparkles back at me. “Proud of you, girl.” She gives me a gentle squeeze.

My lips curve in a soft smile. “Thanks, Maggie, and we would get along if he stopped calling me BB,” I point out.

“Hendrix!” she snaps. “You’re twenty-five years old. Grow the fuck up.”

“Sorry, Ma.” Drix grins.

She rolls her eyes. “These bikers. You have to rule them with an iron fist. Don’t take no shit,” she warns me.

I nod. “Maggie, I’m my mother’s daughter,” I say, giving her a side glance.

She laughs. “Oh, sweetheart, that you are. Just don’t punish my boy too much. Just enough to teach him a lesson,” she says, nudging me with her elbow.

She walks off to help my mom serve up pancakes. I look around the huge open plane kitchen diner area, at all the club gathered around, eating, laughing, and drinking coffee like it isn’t six am. They are a pain in the ass, but they are here for me. There is no family more loving and loyal than mine.

Congratulations banners and balloons fill the walls, and my mom had even got nurse-themed paper plates and cups. I look over at her. Her black hair is pulled to one side as she cooks bacon and pancakes; she’s wearing her usual black tank top tucked into a pair of cut-off jean shorts that just cover over her ass, exposing her tattoos. She’s beautiful. My gaze wanders over to my dad, who is standing chatting to my uncles Rage, Spider, and Beast, but his eyes are on Mom. They are always on Mom. He is obsessed with her. Even after all these years. Their love is the kind you dream about, and the kind you pray to hope to find one day.

“So, I’m guessing this is a surprise,” Maisy states, coming to stand by my side.

I exhale a breath. “Yeah, but then I guess I should have expected it.”

“Of course you should have; your mom doesn’t do things by halves, and you should by now. When our folks are proud, that means the whole club is proud, and that is an excuse to celebrate.” Maisy snorts. “Just be thankful you got work, or this would have turned into an all-dayer.”

I nod as we stand, watching our “family”, the Black Hearts MC. I had heard the rumours over the years. We all had going through high school; other girls refused to be our friend. Boys gave us a wide berth, and those that tried soon ran within a couple of days. After Chad, I gave up even trying to date through high school. I was pretty sure my dad had paid off or threatened every boy within a hundred-mile radius to stay away from me. Until I went to college, I met Zeke; that’s when things changed. I could keep him a secret; even now, none of my parents knows about him. He was my slice of happiness away from the chaos that is my home life. I had told him about my family; I didn’t tell him what MC they were, for fear of scaring him off, but said they were insane. Loving, but insane.

“You told them about Zeke yet?” Maisy asks.

“No,” I mutter, watching as Uncle Rage holds out a piece of bacon to Hades, cringing at the massive globs of drawl stretching from his jowls. “I should.”

“Yeah, you should. You’re moving in with him,” Maisy hisses quietly. “Jesus, your dad is going to flip,” she mutters.

“You think I could just move and not tell them?” I ask on a wince, knowing that was a crazy suggestion.

Maisy bursts out laughing, doubling over, holding her stomach. “You should put comedian on your resume.” She sighs, wiping the corners of her eyes. “They would hunt you down and drag you back. And that won’t be your dad; it would be yourmom, and all the ol’ ladies,” she points out. “Sometimes I don’t know who is more terrifying, our mothers or the dads.”

We watch as my dad says something that pisses my mom off. She gives him a glare that would have most men’s balls shrivelling up inside themselves. Not my dad. He simply smirks, firmly grabs her by the nape of her neck, and slams his mouth down on hers in a quick yet heated kiss. I blink. Their public displays of affection don’t phase me anymore. Their sex talk, on the other hand, makes me want to rip my ears off and bury them six feet in the ground. As much as they gross me out most days, their love is something I’ve always wanted. My mom said to never settle for anyone that doesn’t make your heart ache and your coochie tingle. The last part was a little TMI, but that was Mom.

“The moms,” I answer. “Women hold all the power. They just let the men think they do.”

I feel Maisy’s gaze on me. “You’re just as terrifying as your mother.”