Page 188 of Outlaws of Tulsa

Her lip trembles. “I don’t feel like a hero.”

“Maybe not, but you sure as hell look like one.”

Stormy

Two weeks later…

Ifollow the sound of Gibson’s guitar after a much needed nap. That’s all I’ve done the past couple of weeks, while we’ve hung out at Koyn’s rather than going home, as I’ve tried to recuperate. Getting kidnapped is awful on a regular day, but add in pregnancy, and it’s too much. Thankfully, my man is doting and attentive. At times, he just hovers with a worried glint in his eyes, which is why I told him to go spend time with Nees and let me rest.

Now that my cranky bitchiness has faded, I miss him again.

Fatigue isn’t the only thing making me grumpy. Being intimate with Copper is at the crux of the matter. As much as I want him to make love to me again, I’m worried. Doc visited with Jameson a couple of days after we came back home to check in on us. I’m still pregnant and my face will always be scarred—Hadley says Koyn and I are practically twins now—but my main concern is the unprotected sex with Dragon. Until I get the test results back, I don’t want to chance infecting Copper with anything. At the time, I was in short-term survival mode, but now I’m thinking of the long-term and a STD doesn’t bode well with me.

I find Gibson in the living room with his groupies—aka Bizzy, Calla, Hadley with the baby, Nees, Pete, Charlie, and Mel. They’re all listening to him play his popular rendition of HankWilliams, Jr.’s “A Country Boy Can Survive.” Something about hearing that song puts my soul at ease. I blow Gibson a kiss, loving how his handsome face reddens slightly, but he never misses a beat. Of all the people we brought back with us, only a few stayed, and oddly enough it was the ones I was trapped in that room with, minus poor Terri. At first, I worried Mel would be a problem, but once she was cleaned up and given some mood stabilizing medication, she chilled out and is actually quite funny, even if she does continue to call the other guys PeePee Pete and Crybaby Charlie.

Bermuda is in the kitchen peeling potatoes. Shirtless. His OU ballcap is flipped backward and he’s swaying his hips to the song, lost in his own world. Whichever girl thinks she’s good enough for my Bermuda is going to have to go through me first. It’s going to take one helluva woman to get my approval.

I give him a hug from behind, enjoying his familiar warmth, before continuing my trek to find my man. Filter and Koyn are standing on the back patio sharing a smoke. The animosity I’d felt from Filter has faded. His attention is elsewhere these days. Not sure if I approve of the looks he gives Calla, but it’s better than hateful ones toward me. As Gibson’s song ends, he transitions beautifully into Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man.” I grab my coat and then head out back, smiling at Koyn and Filter.

“You seen Copper around?” I ask, hugging my coat tighter around me.

“In the garage talking to Cove.” Koyn drops his gaze and Filter stifles a laugh.

“What?” I demand, not at all liking the fact that the prez of the Royal Bastards MC can’t even look me in the eye.

“Nothing,” he grunts, still not looking at me.

“Oh, it’s something,” Filter tattles.

Koyn punches his arms. “Asshole.”

Since neither of these idiots is going to tell me what the hell is going on, I storm around the side of the house to the open garage. Katana is leaned against the garage doorframe, growing stronger each day since he was shot, watching Dragon.

Dragon in all his masculine glory is on a mission to see how many pushups he can do, the muscles in his back all bunching with power as he moves. All he’s done since we got back is brood, hide, and push his body to the extreme. It has to bother him that Night Giant got away. Knowing what I know now, it makes me wonder how he’s faring. I know when to push and when to stay away. Until we see his taunting, crazy-ass smiles again, I’m going to let him work through it in the best way he can. Besides, his best friend always has his back, shadowing his every move. I wink at Katana and then head over to where Cove and Copper are in deep conversation on the garage couch.

Something’s different about my brother. At nineteen, he’s always been on the small side, but something in his stature seems bigger or taller today, which is insane because Copper is a mountain beside him. I squint, trying to pinpoint what it is.

Not wanting to break up their conversation, I start for the clubhouse when Copper pins me with a hot stare that melts my insides. I mouth to him I’ll be right back and he nods.

“Erin in the clubhouse?” I ask Katana on my way out.

He nods as if it’s a dumb question. She’s always in the clubhouse. In fact, I don’t think she’s left once since she decided she was leaving Koyn’s and staying there instead. Since Payne and Halo are missing, I assume one of them has taken up watch while the other patrols.

The trek from the garage to the clubhouse isn’t far, but it’s cold. I shiver against the blistery wind and hurry to the massive clubhouse. It’s like any biker clubhouse complete with a giant hangout room with a rock fireplace, a kitchen, full bar and seating area, a meeting room where Koyn says they’ll startholding Church, an office, laundry facilities, and a dozens of bedrooms. Of course, because Koyn is Koyn, it’s been recently furnished with top of the line furniture and décor—somehow rustic and manly but still looks expensive.

Once I’m inside, I find Erin sitting on the love seat near a roaring fire, a hot mug of steaming coffee in her hand and a bottle of tequila tucked into the cushion beside her. Her brown hair that was once matted dreads is now a cute chin-length bob that suits her, thanks to Hadley giving her a cut last week. The always present scowl on her face unnerves me, though. She’s not the girl I remember. They took all the good parts of her and left her this angry husk.

“Hey,” I greet, keeping my voice soft. “Just checking on you.”

“Same as yesterday,” she clips out. “You don’t have to babysit me, Brenda.”

It’s then I notice Halo sitting at the bar, still and quiet. He gives me a nod of acknowledgment, conveying in one look that she’s always like this, not just to me.

“We’re going to leave in a few days to go to Copper’s,” I say gently as I sit down beside her. “I want you to come with us. Or, if you want to go home—”

“I’m not going home,” she snaps, burning her glare into me. “I’ve told you that already.”

“Okay…” I sigh. “I’m just trying to help you and make you comfortable. Do you want to stay here or do you want to go to Copper’s with me? The twins are coming and—”

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