Phoenix’s Plight by Tiffany Casper

 

“Fall into me.

I won’t ever let you fall.”

- Heathen

 

Chapter 10

Heathen

The other man’s words from the night before hadn’t fazed him in the slightest. No, the words that had come out of June’s mouth had.

Never in his thirty-five years had anyone ever stood up for him or protected him but his own damn self.

The feeling that had coursed through his veins, he wasn’t sure exactly what that was, but it was akin to joy again.

Joy that someone had had his back. Joy that someone saw more than the behemoth man that he had grown up to be. Joy that he had found a woman who had known him without his kutte on. A woman who had wanted him not for what he could give her but just him. All six-foot-five, two-hundred-eighty pounds of him.

But now, the knock on his door pissed him off.

“Heathen, need you.” Fuck.

They had just fallen asleep three hours ago. God damn motherfucker.

He hadn’t had a dream since he’d allowed himself the pleasure of lying beside her when he slept. Sure, he had been content with just holding her with her under the covers and him atop them. But the first time he had slept beside her all night long, for the first time in his life, he actually felt that he was at home.

Sure, the clubhouse provided that semblance of belonging, but it had been lacking. Lacking in a way that only one person could make up for.

Sighing, he turned his head from the door and looked down at the curly mop of hair and stared at the strands that were thrown over his arm and on the pillow that should have been hers, but it seemed that either she claimed his chest for her pillow or he always pulled her into that position.

Regardless, he would kill anyone who tried to take this from him.

He growled low as to not wake her up. Her little snores were fucking cute as hell.

He moved himself from under her body and out of the bed. Carefully, he placed his hand under her cheek, grabbed his pillow, and folded it, then he slipped it under her head so it would hopefully seem as if it was his chest still.

Walking to the bathroom, he tried not to stomp. He was pissed.

Stepping into the shower before the water had even heated up, he braced his hands on the opposite side of the faucet.

Before he could grab his body wash, he felt tiny, soft hands glide around his waist at the time he also felt a full, soft, luscious body against his back.

“You thought your pillow was a substitute for you? Never,” she whispered into his back.

She grabbed his loofa from him, wetted it, then grabbed the body wash and filled the loofa up.

Turning around, he saw that her hair was already in a messy knot. He knew that she didn’t wash her hair but twice a week.

Standing there, he loved that no words needed to be shared between the two of them. She knew.

He watched as her hands deftly washed his whole body. Normally, he stopped her when she went to do this, but now? No.

Then she handed him the same loofa and he washed her entire body as he made a promise to her. “Soon as I see what’s going on, I’m giving you a proper good morning.”

They both stood under the hot spray as it washed the soap from their bodies.

Soon as they were clean, he turned off the water, grabbed two towels from the rack, handed her one, then he stepped around the shower curtain and toweled off.

Once he had brushed his teeth after he handed her a spare toothbrush he grabbed for her, he got dressed.

Thankfully, she had thought about it, he guessed, because before they had made it to his room late last night, she had him grab her overnight bag from her Jeep.

He stood there after he dressed, watching her get dressed, and god damn, his hard-on hadn’t gone down. No matter what he told himself, his cock was still hard. No matter how many times he imagined disassembling a weapon in his mind. No matter how many times he ran multiplication tables through his mind. None of it fucking worked.

Yeah, he was fucked.

And that didn’t bother him in the slightest.

They had caught one another, just staring at each other. The sweet little moments that they managed to carve out for themselves were their little moments.

Every time when he caught her eyes with his, if she had never muttered the words ‘I love you’, he would have known anyway. The light in her eyes every single time told him all he needed to know. She was the one person who had him. The one person who loved him.

Out of billions of people in the world, that was her. His fucking Phoenix.

He had gotten a tattoo after she had calmed down his beast when Knot had said that shit to her at the gate.

The Phoenix on his chest was her. She was his protector. He had it placed on his right pectoral. The wings from the Phoenix actually met with the tribal tattoo on his right shoulder and it looked to be one huge ass tattoo.

After he watched June get dressed in some tight-fitted jeans, a bralette, as she had called it, and an off-the-shoulder sweater, they left his room.

Hand in hand, they made their way down the flight of stairs.

He gave her a quick kiss and then left her in the company of Lil, Laura, and Whitney in the kitchen.

The moment he closed the church door, Powers banged the gavel.

“So, for Lil’s birthday, a group that she likes is playing a concert in Cherokee, across state lines. Cotton and a few of his men will be meeting us there. Planning on leaving here early in the morning, around five. We’re calling here in a little bit and ordering a couple of suites for everyone.”

Heathen had already talked to June about the plans for Lil’s birthday and he knew that she took some vacation time so she could go.

“How many we got going?” Powers asked.

Out of the twelve members, ten of them raised their hands.

It was going to be a wild ass party.

June had also told him that she had never gambled, and he couldn’t wait to watch her smile all fucking night long.

“Now as to the matter of Thanksgiving, Lil wants to have a huge dinner here at the clubhouse. Our family is fucking huge.”

“I’ll talk to June. I’m sure she can help Lil with the cooking,” Heathen stated.

“Rachel too,” Pipe offered.

“Okay. Oh, and before I forget, when you find out, act fucking surprised. Lil is pregnant.” Rounds of congratulations went through the room.

They had gone over a few more bits of information on what they needed to take care of.

When Powers banged the gavel, they all filed out. Where Heathen expected girl talk and laughter, it had been silent.

Confused, he made his way with Powers to the kitchen only to find it empty.

“Where the fuck did they go?” Powers asked aloud.

“They went to Oscar’s,” Jenny, one of the newer club girls, said as she cleaned the glasses behind the bar.

She already had shots lined up for them all. She learned quick.

Heathen had debated telling June to grab him something, but he wanted her to enjoy her time with the girls.