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  HEATHENS

  Book Two

  Red Kings Series

  By Eliza Marsh

  Contents

  HEATHENS

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  20

  21

  22

  23

  24

  25

  26

  27

  28

  29

  30

  31

  32

  33

  34

  35

  36

  37

  38

  39

  40

  41

  42

  43

  44

  45

  46

  1

  There was no better feeling than riding a motorcycle on a sunny afternoon, not a care in the world as the wind whipped past. Everything else was drowned out by the roar of the engine, while the vibrations of the powerful machine settled a calm over the rider.

  Sentiments Jackie would never admit to anyone out loud for fear that she never heard the end of the 'I told you so' comments. The boys were always talking up the feelings they got from riding, speaking almost poetically about the experience they had every time they climbed onto their bike.

  It was true, though. There was a certain level of freedom while on a motorcycle, like the world just couldn't catch up. For the past several weeks, this had been the place she felt happiest, safest.

  That was mostly, however, in part to the man sharing the bike with her.

  Dean placed a hand on her leg and squeezed it gently, while the other hand continued to grip the handlebar of the motorcycle as he guided it expertly down the empty back road. Jackie tightened her hold around his torso, as much as her heavily pregnant stomach would let her, and laid her cheek against the cool leather covering his back. They journeyed through the outskirts of town with no real destination in mind, simply enjoying the quiet escape from reality together.

  Life had changed a lot for Jackie in the last several months - from getting pregnant to finding out her baby daddy was a deranged criminal to fleeing the city and nearly dying. Now two months after the car crash, she was finally settling back into life in Macon.

  Except this time, she was living with a different guy.

  There had been much debate about the living situation once Dean had convinced her that living in Macon was her best option. While the idea of picking up and moving yet again frustrated her, she just didn't feel safe in Lakeside after what happened. So she had done what was best for both her and the baby and moved back to the place she had called home for three years and to the people she had started calling family. That left poor Tyler bouncing back and forth between the towns, committed to one charter, but ever loyal to his best friend.

  Instead of asking her opinion, Dean had promptly moved all of her belongings into his place, stating that it was the simplest and most obvious choice. Given that they had only recently patched things up, Jackie wasn't sure that it was really the best option. But with no other living quarters readily available, she decided to give it a try to see if maybe, just maybe, this thing between them would actually work.

  Dean wasn't as quick to the idea of being a parent as she was, but the idea was growing on him. She would catch him looking longingly at her belly when he thought she wasn't paying attention. He had also purchased more than enough clothing to keep the baby warm for a lifetime. He was so focused on preparing for their son's arrival that they had time for little else in regards to their relationship. But so far, it seemed to be working for them. Things had quickly fallen back into place, the quiet comfort of just being around each other sinking in as though it had never left. They didn't talk much about the specifics of their relationship or their future, taking it one day at a time just like Jackie had promised.

  She snapped back to reality as they came to a stop in the parking lot of the Eastside Mechanics garage, the property that also housed the clubhouse of the Red Kings Motorcycle Club. Jackie groaned and let go of Dean, waiting as he settled the bike and got off.

  “You promised no bikers and no garage today,” she whined at the man as he smiled gently at her and pushed his chin-length dark hair out of his eyes before offering a hand to help her from the bike.

  “I know, but something came up. We'll only be here a minute.”

  Jackie grabbed his hand and carefully climbed off the machine, rolling her eyes in annoyance. They spent enough time at this place with these people; all she wanted was one day with her man to herself. “You better make this worth my while, asshole.”

  “Keep talking, and I'll take your present back.” He led her towards the garage with a comforting hand on the small of her back, his worn boots scuffing against the warm September pavement.

  She turned to look at him as her face lit up with interest. “Present? For me? What is it?” she asked eagerly.

  His deep chuckle echoed into the garage bay as they entered, catching the attention of Nash. The stocky, tattooed man stopped what he was doing and approached the pair, a mischievous glint in his eyes despite his usual stoic expression.

  “Nash, what'd he buy me?” she asked immediately, staring him down as she waited impatiently for an answer.

  “Buy you?” the raspy voice asked innocently as he shifted his eyes to the other biker. “He didn't buy you anything.” Dean glared at the response as Nash tossed him a set of car keys.

  “Are we going somewhere then? A vacation?” Jackie asked in excitement, completely getting lost in the idea as her imagination ran wild.

  “You ask too many damn questions,” Dean said with a sigh. She opened her mouth presumably to ask something else, so he cut her off. “Jesus, you're standing next to your present.”

  She stood still momentarily, before looking to her left at the giant toolbox and then to her right at the car parked in the bay. “Uhm, you're giving me a job at the garage? How sweet...” she trailed off, not exactly excited about her present anymore.

  The boys laughed, and Dean moved to stand in front of her as he placed his hands on her arms. “The car, babe. It's yours.”

  Jackie did a double-take at the shiny black Range Rover behind her, looking from it to Dean and then back to the car. “Mine? You bought me a car?”

  “Not exactly,” Nash said quietly, causing Dean to mutter some rather explicit words in his direction.

  She turned quickly to face the pair, suspicion on her face. “What does that mean? You didn't buy it?” Dean's face went blank, immediately telling her the answer wasn't something she would like. “Did you-” she glanced around quickly, then lowered her voice to an angry whisper. “Did you steal this car? Are you giving me a stolen car?!”

  Jackie had heard bits and pieces about the club's illegal ventures over the past few years, everything from drugs to weapons and, more recently, murders. However, she had gathered the most information about their car theft ring that spanned across the entire country, the stealing and transportation of said cars being this particular charter's primary source of income.

  “Jack-”

  “Don't you 'Jack' me!”

  “Hey,” he grabbed her chin gently and focused her attention on him. “It's safe. I had it brought in from another state. It's been completely wiped and given new numbers, so it's untraceable.” She looked up at him skeptically, not sure she trusted an outlaw's definition of 'safe.'

  “And if you don't trust his judgmen
t,” Nash chimed in from the side, “you know I wouldn't let him involve you in anything stupid.”

  Dean grunted and sent a glare towards his friend, but knew that his statement would go a long way in convincing Jackie that the car was safe. Despite everything that happened, the unlikely pair had remained very close through it all. Dean was both grateful and annoyed by this fact, not sure if he liked that someone else's opinion was sometimes worth more to his lady than his own.

  “Besides,” Dean replied, directing her towards the door of the backseat. He figured she would have some doubts over the plan, so he had come prepared. He opened the door to reveal a car seat tucked neatly in the back. “The baby won't exactly fit on the back of my bike.”

  She beamed up at him, the idea of their future child instantly warming her up. The last month had given her plenty of time to settle into the idea of being a mother, a family, and she was finally excited about the upcoming adventure. Still, the illegality of it made her pause. “Are you sure we can't just buy a car?” she asked, looking at him hopefully.

  “You got forty grand laying around for one of these things? Cause I sure don't.”

  Jackie sighed and nodded, aware that finances were a constant stress of late. The expenses had been stacking up quickly as they prepared for the baby, leaving Dean to work long hours at the garage on top of the club's illegal wages. Jackie offered to pick up shifts at the diner, knowing they would take her back in a second, but Dean had refused to let her work now that she was six months pregnant.

  “Right, the stolen car it is.” She looked the car over more carefully, noticing the quality leather interior, the chrome accents, and the modern features. “Well, at least you stole me a nice one.” Holding her hand out, Jackie smirked up at the biker. “Gimme the keys, and let's take it for a test drive.”

  2

  It was a quiet Sunday morning in the Rockwell apartment. Like every Sunday morning, Dean was lazing peacefully in bed. With his head under the pillow to avoid the sunlight now filtering through the blinds of the window, he could just barely hear the shower running in the connected bathroom. His pregnant girlfriend followed the same routine every morning despite Dean's eagerness to stay in bed as long as possible most days. Just as he began drifting off again, the sound of knocking echoed through his brain. He ignored it in favor of continuing his attempts at sleep, but the presence on the other side of the door made itself known once again.

  The shower turned off, and Dean prayed to whoever was listening that Jackie would answer the door.

  “D, could you get that?” her voice chimed sweetly from the next room.

  Groaning into the pillow, he wondered when exactly he had become so domesticated. Rolling out of bed, Dean traipsed slowly down the hall, clad only in his boxers, as the knocking continued.

  “Yeah, I'm coming. Christ...”

  He was going to be severely pissed if it was the nosy old bat from two apartments down complaining about the noise levels coming from their apartment. Again.

  Flinging the door open, Dean blinked momentarily at the empty space before him. Had he just been ding-dong-ditched? Someone was going to die...

  His gaze drifted a few feet lower as he finally noticed a red-haired, freckle-faced eight-year-old. Dressed sharply in a boy scout uniform, the kid clutched several boxes of popcorn in his trembling hands. The pair stared at each other, one set of eyes wide and terrified, the other looking down irritably.

  “What?” Dean grunted impatiently as the kid continued to just stand and stare in silence. He raised his eyebrows expectantly when he received no response. The biker leaned against the door frame with a sigh and crossed his muscular, tattooed arms over his equally muscular, tattooed chest, which only seemed to make him more intimidating to the poor boy. “Speak, kid, or I'm closing the damn door.”

  “P-popcorn?” the boy stuttered quietly, looking as though he was going to flee down the hall any second.

  “What? I can't hear you.” Dean's patience was starting to run thin as he imagined being back in his warm, cozy bed.

  “Would you... like to buy some popcorn?” he said, trying to sound more confident and only succeeding slightly.

  Rolling his eyes, the dark-haired man tried to remind himself to be nice. “No.”

  A shocked expression flooded the boy's face at the outright rejection. Still, not wanting to push the intimidating man, he merely nodded in response. “Oh... okay.”

  “Okay,” Dean replied, ready to close the door and head back to bed now that this stupid conversation was over.

  “Mickey?”

  Shit.

  Jackie waddled her way into view, now fully dressed and ready for the day. The floral maternity dress was stretched across her ever-expanding belly, making her look every bit of seven months pregnant. Surprise covered her face as she took in the scene in front of her, the guilty-looking biker avoiding her eyes. She turned her attention to the boy scout, her warm voice as sweet as sugar. “Hi honey, how are you? How's your mom?”

  Mickey perked up a bit at the new arrival, the man in front of him suddenly not as scary as before. “Hi Ms. Jackie, we're both fine, thank you. How's the baby?”

  Ms. Jackie? What the fuck?

  “Oh, he's just wonderful. What brings you by this morning? Is that popcorn? I love popcorn.”

  Dean rolled his eyes at the wholesome, picket fence vibe of the situation and wondered just how much money he would have to hand over to make this kid go away.

  “Yes, ma'am, I have three different flavors. I have caramel, white cheddar, and butter. Would you like to buy one? All of the money I raise goes to help our troop go on educational trips, and whoever raises the most wins the big prize and a special merit badge.” The boy lit up as he rambled through his rehearsed speech, clearly excited about the idea of being the winner.

  “Of course, let me just find my wallet.” She wandered towards the kitchen slowly, muttering to herself as she hunted for her purse. “Where'd I put it?”

  Dean sighed, hating that his good guy instincts wouldn't let her pay for anything. “My wallet is on the table. There should be some cash in it.” He heard her briefly thank him as she grabbed it and pulled out the money. As she headed back to the door, Dean turned to the kid and narrowed his eyes. “How much is this shit gonna cost me?”

  Mickey grinned happily up at him, no longer scared of the tattooed biker now that the nice lady had shown up. “Fifteen a box.”

  “Jesus Christ...” he muttered as she handed the boy fifty dollars.

  “We'll take one of each flavor-”

  “We will?”

  “-and keep the change, sweetie.”

  “Thank you, Ms. Jackie. Have a nice day!” Mickey beamed up at the couple happily and pocketed the cash before bouncing empty-handed back down the hall to his own apartment to restock his popcorn supply.

  Dean closed the door slowly and glared down at his pregnant girlfriend with a huff. “Really?”

  “What?” she asked innocently as she moved to the kitchen to put away her new purchases. “That could be our son in a few years. Wouldn't you want people to buy things from him?”

  “No, because our son isn't gonna be a stupid boy scout walking door to door begging for money.”

  She whirled around and leveled him with a stare, which he gave right back to her. “We'll see about that. I happen to think the boy scouts is a good program for young kids.”

  “Whatever, I'm going back to bed. We can have this conversation again in six years.” Dean turned towards the hallway, intent on crawling back under his covers and getting another hour or two of sleep.

  “No, you aren't. Tyler is coming over to help you put the baby's furniture together while he's in town, remember?”

  Dean stopped halfway down the hall and looked to the ceiling. “Fuck me...” he muttered, wondering if it was acceptable to do shots this early in the morning if only to get through several hours with her easily-excitable best friend. Walking back to the kitchen, he stoppe
d in front of her and sighed. “Why do you hate me?”

  She laughed and wrapped her arms around his large torso, looking up at him with a smile. “I love you. And Tyler will be helpful. He's smarter than he looks.”

  “Well, that's not saying much,” he replied sarcastically, earning a grin and an eye roll from his partner. “Do I at least get sex before I'm tortured?” His hands slid down to her ass, her pregnancy increasing his favorite feature a sizable amount.

  She giggled as he pulled her closer and growled in her ear. “Only if you're quick, he'll be here in twenty.”

  “Challenge accepted.”

  Exactly twenty minutes later, they were just making themselves decent when someone knocked on the door and let themselves in. “Hello everybody,” Tyler said cheerfully as he entered the apartment and settled onto the couch next to several boxes of furniture, eager to get started.

  “Make yourself at home,” Dean grumbled, rolling his eyes at the blonde and heading to the kitchen for coffee. He was now dressed in his standard day off attire of loose basketball shorts and a sleeveless shirt.

  Jackie entered the living room a few seconds later, wrapping her arms around Tyler’s shoulders from behind his seated position and kissing his head. “Morning dear. Thanks for coming over to help.”

  “Oh sure, no problem. Anything for my little nephew.” He grinned and turned around to rub her protruding stomach happily. Turning back to the pile of furniture boxes, Tyler moved the first one closer to him to read the top. “'Seven-in-One Convertible Lifestyle Pod.' I'm not sure what that even means. Where are you going to put all this stuff anyway?” He looked around at the one-bedroom bachelor pad that Dean had lived in for years.

  “Well, you're sitting in the baby's room. For now, at least. We'll need a bigger place sooner rather than later. After I can get back to work, start bringing in some money. This kid is draining the bank account, and he's not even here yet.”

  “What about your paintings? Those selling at all?”

  Jackie shrugged and looked down at him, leaning against the back of the couch. “Every now and then, yeah. I haven't had much time to paint anything new lately. Not really feeling the inspiration.”