The Last Betrayal (15 page)

First port of call? The bar. As one of the prospects flying with us makes our drinks, conversation can be heard all around, mindless chatter about what happens when we get to London.

I take a seat on one of the soft sofas, sinking into the cushions with a contented sigh. Bliss.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Champ’s husky voice says into my right ear. I turn my head slowly and open my eyes to find his sparkling ones staring right back at me.

“Hey…” I reply lowly, wetting my lips.

“You okay? You’re quiet,” he states, a cute V-shape forming between his eyes.

“Yeah, just tired from all this excitement and from the early morning wake up,” I reply, sleep lacing my voice.

“Do you want to take a nap?” he asks, though I think this is a rhetorical question seeing as he’s already pulling me up from the softness of the couch.

I groan in protest as my butt leaves the cushions. “Where are we going?”

“To one of the bedrooms for a nap,” is all he says as we head to the hallway at the back of the plane.

“No hanky-panky, mister. I’m too tired to even moan your name right now.” I drag my legs behind me, the heaviness of tiredness slowing me down.

We walk into a small but cozy room, a double bed taking up pretty much the whole space. The floral pattern on the comforter has me snorting behind my hand.

“What?” he asks, baffled by my laughing.

“The floral print? Very manly,” I say sarcastically.

“Hardy har har.” He shakes his head at me as he strips his shirt over his head, revealing the well-defined six-pack and muscled arms and pecks.

Sweet Jesus. I wipe away the drool I feel slipping from the corners of my mouth. Seeing him shirtless will never, ever, get old.

“Hey, missy, no hanky-panky, remember? I’m too tired to get it up right now.”

I shake my head from the fog of lust and strip down to my underwear.

We climb under the cool sheets and cuddle up facing each other, tickling each other’s backs to relax the other.

“So nice,” I mumble into his chest. The heat in my core amplifies as he tickles over a turn-on spot of mine. Fuck. Warmth spreads through my body, making the hairs on my arms stand on end.

I soon feel my eyes drifting closed, dreams waiting for me. “I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart,” is the last thing I hear before dreams of London kidnap me into sleep.

Stepping down onto the tarmac at Heathrow airport, I feel the rain trickling down my back. The great British weather hits us as soon as we arrive. Fucking perfect.

“Ugh…rain? Already?” Lauren grumbles, holding her hands over her head in an attempt to fight off the raindrops from messing with her hair.

We make our way swiftly to the sheltered area by our rental cars, where a man is standing, in bike leathers, watching us approach.

“You must be Blade,” I say, stepping up to the tall dude and shaking his hand.

“That’s me. Which one are you?” he asks, curiosity in his eyes.

“Champ, and this is my Old Lady, Lauren.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Lauren,” Blade says, a slight smile on his mouth as he shakes her hand.

“Likewise,” she replies with a polite smile on her lips.

“So, where’s our first stop?” I ask, shoving my hands in my jacket pocket to keep warm.

“First, you head to your hotel because, to be quite honest, you both look like shite from the long flight.”

Is he fucking serious?

“On that note, we’ll head to our car and catch you later.” I take hold of Lauren’s hand and pull her toward the car where the prospect is waiting with our luggage, getting soaked from the heavy rainfall.

“You have the keys, Marcus? Because you were supposed to collect them.” I sigh, running a hand over the back of my neck.

“Yeah, just didn’t know if you wanted me to go ahead…” he trails off when I shoot him a menacing look.

“Are you fucking stupid? Our shit could be getting wet!” I shout at him, frustrated at his stupidity.

He tries stuttering a reply, but I wave my hand at him to get our stuff in the car. I escort Lauren to the passenger side, which is the opposite of usual, and rush around to climb into the driver’s seat.

It’s been many years since I’ve been in England, so driving a car, which is the wrong way around may be a little weird and take some getting used to. I just hope to fuck I don’t crash the damn thing.

Ah, noticing quickly I’ve been given an automatic makes life a fuck of a lot easier. I can thank Cobra for that later. He knows how much I hate driving British cars.

Thumbing in the zip code, or post code, whatever, into the built in GPS, I start the car and head toward the exit.

“Have you been to England before? I noticed the slight hesitancy when you got into the car and looked around?” Lauren asks, trying desperately to not laugh at me.

“Yeah, I have, thank you very much, just hate the damn backwardness of cars. But this is automatic, thank fuck.” Making our way out of Heathrow airport after going through border control and UK customs, I steer us in the direction the robotic woman’s voice tells us where to go.

The hotel suite is just as I’d hoped. I booked the top floor suite to make this trip special for Lauren. I watch from the sidelines as she looks around the room, her eyes lighting up in wonder.

“Wow,” is all she says, blinking rapidly, unshed tears glistening her eyes.

“Um…Why do you have tears in your eyes?” I rub the back of my neck, feeling uncomfortable and a little worried that she doesn’t like the room.

“It’s so beautiful…” she trails off, looking at me, and a smile, showing all her perfectly aligned teeth, spreads wide across her face.

Woman. They cry at everything. “It’s just a room, sweetheart.” I roll my eyes at her before leaving my post to wrap her in my arms. The sweet smell of honey suckle drifts up my nose, relaxing my tense muscles.

“I love you.” I hear her say, muffled by my shirt.

“I love you too, sweetheart.” I kiss the top of her head before pulling away. “I have shit to do with the club, you okay here to unpack your stuff?”

“Sure, I’ll text Alexis to come on up.” She smiles at me while dragging her cell from her pocket. She walks off to the bedroom to the left of the living area of the suite.

I walk to the fully stocked bar in the corner of the room, pulling a bottled water from the mini-fridge.

“Catch ya later!” I call out as I head out of the room. Punching the button for the elevator, I lean against the wall and tip my head back. However much I’d love to come to England for a vacation with Lauren, this isn’t a proper vacation. This is for work and shit needs to be done and quick.

After a short journey in the elevator, I step out to see the guys already congregated in the lobby.

“Champ! Get your ass over here already! We have to go meet Blade, and he doesn’t like to be kept waiting!” Prez shouts over to me, already halfway to the main entrance.

Jogging over to them, I fall into step between Cobra and Dope. “So, who is this Blade dude anyway?”

“He’s an enforcer over here, helps out clubs when they need it. I was told he was part of Devon Destroyers MC for a little while, fuck knows what happened there. Those guys are good people,” Cobra tells me.

“Ah, right. I’m guessing he’s helping the British Crusaders with this fuck up then.” I don’t pose this as a question; it’s just a mere observation.

We clamber into the mini bus that Prez hired to haul us all around in and we get strapped in. Fuck knows where we’re going, but Prez seems to know where to go.

Unpacking my suitcase, I lay everything out on the queen-sized bed before deciding where to put everything. At least I remembered to pack a jacket, just in case.

A light knock sounded on the suite door, and I leave the room to answer it. Poking my head out the door, I notice a glowing Alexis standing there, a smile fixed on her face. “Hey, girl!”

“Hey, back,” she replies, sauntering passed me and into the room. “Holy shit!”

“I know, right? It’s massive.” I shake my head, wondering if I looked as spellbound as Alexis does when I first entered the room. I shake my head and laugh at her as I head back to the bedroom to put my clothes away.

“Shit, Lauren. I thought mine and Cobra’s room was huge, but this…fucking Jesus.” She drops onto the bed, bouncing a few times before making herself comfortable. “They should make beds like these in the states. So damn comfy.”

“What do you want to do today?” I ask her as I hang my clothes in the wardrobe, as they call it here.

“Shopping? Duh. We’re in London. Stupid question, Lauren.” She crosses her feet at the ankle and leans back against the headboard.

“I don’t know why I bothered asking. Let me just put these last few things away, and we can leave.” Placing my panties in the top drawer of the dresser, I turn around and rub my hands together. Done.

“Let’s go.” She jumps up like a bee has stung her ass, and I laugh out loud and follow her out the bedroom.

I shrug my shoulders into my only jacket and place my cut over the top. I’m not leaving here without Champ’s stamp on me. I grab my purse and head out the suite doors, placing the key card in the safe compartment in my bag.

“Where to first?” Alexis asks, pressing the button for the elevator. “I hear the Burlington Arcade shopping mall is supposed to be pretty good, seeing as we’re in Piccadilly. Not sure how far that is from here, but we have prospects from the British chapter that can take us,” she says as we step into the chrome elevator.