Page 20 of Stone

My girl lifted a shoulder. “It’s not much, but I think you’ll like it.” She nodded toward the door. “Can we go outside? It’s really noisy in here.”

My brain registered that the music had been turned back on, and ‘Desire’ by U2 was thumping through the speakers, the crowd getting thicker as people arrived at the barn to party. It was wild, but whenever I was with Elise, nothing else existed. A bomb could’ve gone off, but still, all I’d be able to see and hear was her.

I turned for the door, slid my arm across Leesy’s shoulders, and guided her through the crowd of people. The smell of beer and cigarettes hung in the air. Most people would’ve wrinkled their noses at it, but not me; I loved it. The scent reminded me of brotherhood, loyalty, and home, and it made my heart warm every time it sunk into my skin.

The Wyoming night was thick with the scent of Sweet Woodruff and the Russian Sage that grew in the fields and woodland around the compound. I turned my head and kissed Elise on the side of her hair, storing away the memory for when I had to leave.

As much as I’d miss it, I was ready to spread my wings and take some time away from the club. When I came back, it would be all systems go with starting a business, settling down, and getting wed. I needed the time to become the man I was meant to be for Elise, and she needed the time to grow up and build her confidence without relying on me.

That didn’t mean being without her wouldn’t feel like my heart had been ripped out. It also didn’t mean I wouldn’t bethinking of her every minute of every day and counting down the hours until I saw her again.

Elise turned to me and slid her hand up my chest, lacing her fingers together at my nape. “Is it too late to go down the creek?”

I lowered my face to hers and pecked the tip of her nose. “I won’t be able to see the dips in the ground on the bike; it’s too dark, but we can take my truck.”

She beamed at me, and my heart skipped a beat at the beauty in her smile, hitting me soul deep.

Taking her hand, I led her toward my truck and opened the door for her. The instant she settled in, I leaned over, pulling her seat belt across her lap and fastening it.

My eyes lifted and locked with hers. Elise’s pupils dilated the second our gazes hit, and my gut tugged as if there was an invisible string connecting us.

Her hand came up to cup my jaw, and I nuzzled into it, marveling at the softness of her skin and the fragrant scent of jasmine that I associated so closely with my girl.

Standing straight, I closed her door, before jogging around the hood and sliding into the driver’s seat. Turning the key, I flashed Leesy a grin before putting the truck into drive and driving away from the compound.

My girl’s warm fingers slid onto my knee. I covered her tiny hand with my much larger one as my eyes scanned the road ahead, which led to an old industrial area that had been deserted when the stock market crashed a few years earlier and the factory went under. It was a mile away from the woods surrounding the creek and, with a bit of work, would’ve made a rad clubhouse.

“I wish Dad had the vision to buy this place,” I murmured. “The old warehouse is plenty big enough for an awesome clubhouse. Mayor Henderson would sell the land surrounding it,too. Imagine all that space. One day, we could build houses, and the Demons could have their own community.”

Leesy squeezed my knee. “One day, you’ll make a great prez, John. All those ideas you’ve got to grow and expand the club will come to fruition. You’ll be unstoppable.”

“We’llbe unstoppable,” I corrected, bringing her hand up to kiss her wrist. “You’ll be by my side, and we’ll make every dream come true. We just need to get through the next few years.”

I know,” she murmured. “I’ve been worried about you leaving, John, but your mom talked to me earlier, and I get it. I’m going to miss you, but it won’t be forever.”

My chest tightened at her words. Elise hadn’t let on she was concerned about me leaving. “You get why I’m enlisting, right?”

“I think so,” she replied. “You need time away.”

My gut clenched at her words. “It’s not that I need time away from you, Duchess. I’ve always dreamed of enlisting. I think I can do more for the club by training in the military and learning how to lead. My dad would teach mehisway if I stuck around, but I wanna do thingsmyway. I want to be my own man with my own ideas and experiences. Leaving you will be the hardest thing I have to do, but I think it will make me a better man for you. Someone you deserve,”

Her fingers gripped mine tightly. “You’re perfect the way you are, John, but I’ll support you regardless.”

I grinned as I turned the truck off the main road and bumped down the dirt track leading to the creek. “And that’s why you’re gonna be my ol’ lady, Leesy; you’re one of a kind. I never thought I’d meet a woman so perfect for me, but I did. God gave me you.”

Her gasp of breath was audible as my little speech sunk in.

I wasn’t usually romantic, but sweet words came naturally when I felt them from the bottom of my soul. Growing up in an MC hardened me in some ways, but I had a dad who expressed his adoration for my mom daily, and he didn’t care whowitnessed it. I’d grown up seeing more PDA than was probably healthy.

The moonbeams danced off the running water of the creek, guiding me toward the clearing where all the kids who had cars, parked when we came down to swim in the blistering summer heat. I brought my truck to a stop, motioning for Elise to stay put before I jumped out, ran around the hood, and opened my girl’s door.

Leesy placed a hand on each shoulder so I could grab her waist and haul her into my arms. She wrapped her legs around me, giggling as I carried her to our spot under an old Bur Oak tree. Burying my face in her neck, I inhaled her jasmine scent, and my cock thickened. It would’ve been so easy to lay her down, strip her clothes away along with all her inhibitions, and show her how much I loved her. But instead, I gently placed her on her ass and sank down on the grass next to her.

My hand snaked out and eased her down to lay beside me until we were on our backs, looking up at the stars.

“Look,” she murmured, pointing up toward a cluster of bright stars. “You can make out Cassiopeia.”

I took my girl’s hand, splaying our fingers together. “She was the queen of a country in North Africa, the wife of King Cepheus, and the mother of Princess Andromeda. Cepheus and Cassiopeia were placed next to each other in the sky, along with Andromeda.” I pointed toward five bright stars. “The ‘W’ shape there represents her throne. She pissed off Poseidon by boasting her daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than thesea nymphs, so he forced her to wheel around thenorth celestial pole on her throne, clinging to it so she didn’t fall off. To appease him, she tied her daughter to a rock as a sacrifice for the monsterCetus. Andromeda was rescued by Perseus, who turned the monster to stone with the head of Medusa, and later, he married her.”

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