“Don’t worry Gunny,” Peaches taunted with the dreaded nickname he only allowed Maisie to use but she had somehow taken it for herself as well. “One of these days you’ll meet a lady ogre who doesn’t mind your shitty, grumpy pants personality and will only care about your fine packaging.” Peaches gestured at his body and laughed at her own joke but everyone joined in until Gunnar sent a death glare across the table.
None of us stopped laughing. We were feeling too damn good to stop. Even if it pissed off Gunnar.
He wasn’t pissed at all, leaning forward into Peaches’ personal space. “You think I’m hot,” he said, a rare smile aimed at someone other than Maisie making an appearance. “I knew you fucking wanted me.”
“Oh, I want you,” she purred. “I want to strip you down, tie you up and beat some manners into you.” Her shrug was deceptively casual. “If I could muzzle you, I might take you to bed for real.”
Gunnar leaned over and whispered something in Peaches’ ear and it must have been filthy because a light flush stained her honey colored skin and her eyes went a little gooey. She was turned on. “We’ll see about that muzzle then,” he said, his smile a dark promise.
“With all this good news, I’m feeling like a left out old lady,” Jana grumbled with a good natured smile. “I never would have thought when I met this big ole biker, that I’d gain this amazing, crazy family. A bunch of rough and tumble motherfuckers who were desperately in need of a woman’s touch.” She paused a second, her face a light shade of pink. “You guys gave me the confidence to live a full and proud life and I love you all for it. Merry Christmas.”
Teddy stood beside her and wrapped an arm around Jana, kissing her cheek. “Yeah, what she said.” She waved away our laughter and smiled at each one of us around the table, her eyes wet. “Seriously, even though you unleashed a stalker on me, it brought me Tate and I wouldn’t change a thing if it meant I didn’t get to have my golden haired cowboy at my side. You Reckless Bastards are the toughest sons of bitches I know, well, aside from Jana, and you are my tribe.”
“As much as I appreciate all the girly emotions and shit, if my girl has any more tequila, I won’t get any Christmas love tonight and I plan on getting some and getting it good. And all night long,” I told them all and stood, grabbing Marisol’s hand until she was flush against my chest.
“Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Mayhem Christmas to all you motherfuckers, and a good fucking night.”
Epilogue - Max
“Ugh babe, I’m stuffed.” I patted my belly after demolishing another round of leftovers and kicked my feet up on the coffee table.
“Maybe one of these Christmases we’ll learn not to eat so much.” Jana stood in the doorway with one hand on her hip and a playful smile brightening up her face. “I thought you were saving some of those leftovers for me?”
“I did. Plenty of them, actually.” She deserved it after slaving away in a hot kitchen for days, cooking enough food for feed the army of Reckless Bastards and their loved ones. And I’d convinced Mandy to give us double the amount and she was happy to, something about being able to fit into a damn wedding dress. “I only killed off three slices of pecan pie.”
Jana grinned as she closed the distance between us and climbed up on my lap. “Does that mean I get all the chocolate mousse cake to myself?” She nibbled on my ear as she posed the question, knowing exactly how weak I was when it came to her.
“Keep doing that and you can have whatever you like, sexy lady.” Her husky laugh sounded in my ear, her big, soft tits pressed against me and my body started to wake up, food coma be damned.
“I already got everything a girl could possibly want, except maybe a smaller ass.”
I rolled my eyes at her complaint, but it gave me a chance to tell her about her fine ass. “I love your ass just the way it is. Don’t change a thing,” I told her, grabbing both soft ass cheeks in my hand and squeezing to drive the point home. She moaned and I let my lips skitter up and down her neck for a long moment. “You sure you don’t want anything else?”
“Like what?” Jana sat back and cupped my cheeks in that soft, loving way she had of reminding me that I meant something to her. “Thanks to you and the club, our babies are all safe and happy. Plus, I’ve got you, my handsome man.”
Yeah, her compliments never failed to get a rise out of me, both literally and figuratively. “Keep going. I like what I’m hearing.”
She grinned, and it turned into a laugh. “I’m happy you made it back to me. All in one piece.” The fear she’d hidden from me was there in her eyes. “Can you believe it, Max? Two fucked up people like us and we’ve managed to create this incredible little family.” Her eyes went slightly glassy as she took in the images flashing on the digital photo frame I’d given her for Christmas.
Jana loved to take pictures. Especially of me and the kids. It meant I would have to endure all the sneak-attack snapshots and every moment of our lives being captured digitally, but it made her smile and that smile lit up my whole life.
My brow rose at her comment. “Hey, that’s my wife you’re calling fucked up.”
She smiled and laughed just a little, a throaty sound that was somehow sex goddess and girl next door all at once. “You know what I’m saying. It’s unlikely that we should have any of this, never mind all of this. Love and good fortune. And we do. We’re making it work, Max. It’s like we’re blessed. ”
“I’m not sure about blessings, but I’d walk through the fires of hell for you. Don’t you know you’re the best damn thing that’s ever happened to me?”
Her pale skin flushed a beautiful shade of pink which was just another reason Jana stole my breath every fucking day, despite her dirty mouth in the bedroom, she still blushed like an innocent girl next door. “Ditto, Max.”
She turned in my lap and we sat there for a long time just watching the photos from the day flash before us. “That’s my favorite one,” she said and pointed to the photo of me, Charlie and Jameson, our gray eyes shining bright for the camera, each of us with a damning chocolate stain at the corners of our mouths. “
Those guys right there, they are my whole heart.”
“And to think, you wanted nothing to do with me at first.” She gasped and shook her head in denial, but I just laughed.
“I liked looking at you, but I was worried. Most men recoil at the sight of my face and I figured you’d be the same.”
“Only I wasn’t,” I said. “From the moment I caught sight of your face, and those big green eyes, I was hooked. And I was a goddamn mess, but you saved me.”