Page 20 of Ember
“Still scared but having you here with me helps. I can’t do this alone, Jack,” she insisted.
“And you won’t have to, honey. I’ll be right by your side the whole time,” he assured.
“Can I ask how you feel about the baby, or is it too soon? I mean, I had a few minutes to think about what life might look like when that little blue plus sign popped into the window.”
“I’ll admit—I’m a bit scared too, but for some odd reason, I love the idea of having a baby with you, Ember.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and tugged him down for a kiss.
“Thank you for saying that,” she whispered against his lips.
“You never have to thank me for wanting to be with you in every way possible, honey. I love you, Ember,” he breathed. It was the first time he had ever said that to her, and he felt as though he was holding his damn breath waiting for her to say it back. But he didn’t have to wait long.
“I love you too, Jack,” she said. He dipped his head and kissed her as though he couldn’t get enough of her, and maybe he couldn’t. Ember had become everything that he never thought that he needed or wanted, but now, he knew that livingwithout her was impossible. He finally had the woman who could scorch his world—his Ember, his Royal Harlot.
Ember
Epilogue:
Ember walked into the abandoned church and found about ten other women standing there waiting for her. She had to admit—she felt the pressure of having to build the Harlots in Yonkers from the ground floor up. Luckily, the guys in the Bastards had been able to purchase the old church for close to nothing and even agreed to help fix it up for them. It didn’t hurt that most of the new Harlot’s members were Ol’ladies to guys in the Bastards.
She looked around the room and back to the group of women who were watching her. “We do have our work cut out for us, don’t we?” she asked.
“We’ll knock this mess out in no time,” Tina assured. “Hurricane and the guys are on their way over now. Give it a few weeks and you won’t even recognize this place.” Ember wasn’t so positive about turning the old church into their clubhouse, but if it worked out, it was going to be great. After all—the old place was technically her first home in Yonkers, and when she didn’t think she had anything or anyone else in the world, the old church was there for her.
The door opened with a thud, and they all turned around to find a dark-haired woman standing in the doorway. “Um, I’m looking for Ember Wolfe,” she almost whispered. Ember had never seen the woman in her life, but for some reason, she looked almost familiar.
She stepped forward as everyone else around her stood silently by. “I’m Ember,” she admitted.
“Oh, hi,” the woman said, giving a slight wave. “I’m Lillith.” She said her name as though Ember should somehow know it, but she didn’t.
“What can I do for you?” Ember asked, hoping to get to the bottom of their mysterious stranger’s visit.
“I need to talk to you,” she said, looking around the room at the rest of the women. “Alone, if you’re okay with that.” Ember turned back to find Wren, Tina, and Brandi, all flanking her back.
“It’s okay, guys,” she breathed. “I’ll be fine. Just meet the guys in the parking lot and help them bring in the tools and stuff.” She had heard Jack’s pickup pull into the empty lot behind the church, that they were turning into the parking lot once the building permits came through. The state of New York loved its permits and sure took a long time to approve them. There was so much red tape and hoops to jump through, she wasn’t sure that she’d ever be able to open the doors to the Harlots. For now, they were all meeting at Hurricane’s House, but she didn’t want to impose on them forever. The guys needed their privacy, too.
Ember led Lillith to the corner of the church and nodded to one of the pews that was still intact. “Have a seat,” she ordered.
“The other women all listen to you,” Lillith observed, “are you in charge of them or something?”
“Kind of,” Ember said, wrinkling her nose at the thought of being in charge of anyone. “I’m this club’s Prez. Well, I will bejust as soon as we have a building to house our little MC. We’re the Royal Harlots.”
“What’s an MC?” Lillith asked. She wanted to giggle at the thought of never knowing what MC meant, but when Ember got to New York, she had no clue that biker clubs even existed. She thought that a bunch of people just got together to ride bikes. She never imagined that they had a clubhouse and rules with members and all that stuff.
“It means motorcycle club. We’re bikers and most of us are bikers’ Ol’ladies. This church will be where we meet, if we can get it all fixed up.” Ember looked around the room, and Lillith did the same.
“You have your work cut out for you,” she said. Ember didn’t miss the look of concern on Jack’s face as he walked into the back of the church. She nodded at him, silently letting him know that she was all right. They had developed such an easy way with each other that it didn’t take much to know what the other was thinking without words.
Lillith cleared her throat, garnering Ember’s attention. “Sorry, but I have to tell you something, and I need to just say it before I chicken out again.”
“Again,” Ember repeated.
“Yeah, I’ve been here six times now. Tonight was the first time that I’ve gotten up the nerve to actually come in to talk to you.” Ember worried that she had another stalker on her hands, but Lillith looked harmless enough. Her eyes were dark and stormy, but the rest of her seemed generally relaxed.
She took a deep breath and let it out. “I think that I’m your sister,” she admitted.
Ember smiled at the young woman and shook her head. “That’s not possible. My mother and father only had one kid—me. Honestly, it’s a good thing because neither was very well equipped to be parents.” Ember hadn’t spoken to her fatherin years, and the few conversations that she had with her mother were short and to the point. They really didn’t exchange pleasantries, and why would they? That would mean that they actually liked each other, and they didn’t. She still had the emotional scars from her mother telling her how much she disliked her.
Lillith handed Ember a photo of their father and the note that had his name and number on it and said, “Just call me when you’re ready.”
