An Outlaw Wedding Read online

  Chapter Eight

  The wind was chilly as the sun was lowering behind the horizon. The deeper they went into the woods, and they higher they ascended the mountain, the more the temperature dropped and the trees became thicker all around them. But Nico hadn’t brought his truck, and instead had his female on the back of his Harley with her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, and her head resting on his back. There was nothing better than this feeling of freedom with the woman that he loved. But his nerves were already getting the best of him and twisting his gut uncomfortably.

  Another twenty minutes driving up the mountain and Nico finally pulled to a stop in front of a clearing. There was small brook that moved through the center of the patch of flowers and grass, and the trees opened so that the sun could actually pierce the top. He cut the engine and climbed off and helped Alexis off the bike, too. For a second he kept his hands on her waist and stared down at her. Did she knew what he was about to do, that he had this ring sitting in the inner pocket of his cut and was nervous as fuck? Shit, he hadn’t felt this unsure about anything in his life, but he supposed even the toughest motherfuckers felt skittish when they were about to pop the big question. He grabbed a bag from one of his saddlebags and led her to the center of the clearing. Then he laid out a blanket and gestured for her to sit down.

  “Are you sweating, Nico?” she asked, and he could hear the confusion in her voice. It wasn’t really that hot outside, especially being so high in the mountains.

  Fuck, his hands were even shaking. “Dammit.” He sat down beside her and looked at the brook.

  “Nico, what’s wrong?” She touched his shoulder, and he could scent the way she was worried about him.

  “Everything is okay, baby.” He turned and faced her, and before he lost his nerve he reached inside of his cut and pulled out the small black box. She looked down at it, and her eyes widened. “I meant to say all this sweet and endearing shit, make you know how important you are to me and that I love you more than anything else.” He ran his free hand over his hair and exhaled roughly. “But I feel out of my element here, and have never felt so nervous in my fucking life.” He hadn’t been good with all the sweet, sappy shit, but whenever he was with Alexis it just came from him. Now it seemed he was at a loss for those saccharine words that would tell the woman he loved more than anything else that he wanted her as his wife.

  “Oh my God, Nico,” she said almost breathlessly. Her eyes were wide as saucers, and she stared at the ring box with this shocked expression on her face.

  He popped the lid, and it was like fate was trying to show her with the glistening, gleaming diamond that he was a good match. At least that was the fucked up fairytale vision he had in mind.

  “Oh my God,” she said again. “It’s so beautiful.”

  He took the ring out, snagged her left hand, and slid the band of platinum with the big ass diamond in the center on her ring finger. He then covered her hand with both of his. “Look at me, baby.”

  She lifted her gaze so she was looking at him, and he heard her swallow. “Nico—”

  “Shh, baby, let me get this out before I lose my nerve.” Now he swallowed and tried to calm the restlessness of his inner bear. The beast was pacing back and forth, anxious for him to grow a set of balls and do this already. He had beaten the shit out of grown men that had crossed the club, had been on runs that put him in the thick of violence and illegal activity, but asking his woman to marry him made him feel like a vulnerable juvenile. “I love you, have loved you for longer than I can even remember. Maybe it goes back to the first time I gave you my favorite toy truck…”

  She started chuckling, and the glossy look in her eyes intensified. She was going to cry, and he didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

  “I want you by my side as my wife and my old lady, Alexis. You’ve always been mine, but I want it legal.” He stared in her eyes, ones that were the same dark, inky color as her father’s, but that held a light that the Sergeant at Arms’s didn’t. And with her creamy complexion and dark hair that brushed her shoulders, it made for a striking contrast. “Will you marry me, Alexis?”

  She didn’t answer right away, and Nico felt his heart start to pound fast and hard. Would she seriously turn him down? That had crossed his mind, of course, but then again he had been a nervous fucking wreck since he first bought the ring and decided he was actually going to do it. The tears were the next thing that came, and he moved an inch back, giving her some space, as those fat beads of wetness slid down her cheeks. She continued to stare at the ring, and with every passing moment he worried that she was ultimately going to say no.

  “Baby, you’re making a male feel pretty fucking worried here.”

  She looked up at him, and he couldn’t help it. He reached out and brushed her tears away.

  “Alexis, are your tears good or bad?” He was a man, and didn’t know jack shit about females and what it meant when they cried during these situations.

  “They are good tears, Nico. God, they are so good.” She launched herself into his arms, and he fell back with an oomph.

  “So, that’s a yes then?” He cupped her face and grinned up at her.

  “Yes, of course I’ll marry you.” She leaned down and kissed him. “But my dad’s okay with this all? I mean I would marry you even if he wasn’t, but if he is against it this will probably be a challenging wedding and marriage.”

  He couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, I got the all clear from your scary old man.”

  She smiled and then chuckled. He certainly was a scary old man. “I love you so much, Nico.” She kissed him over and over again, and then those kisses of happiness turned into ones of passion. “Shift for me, Nico,” she said softly, heatedly.

  Nico pulled back and looked into her dark eyes. “You want to see my bear, baby?” He lowered his gaze to her lips. “You want to snuggle with a grizzly?” He grinned, teasing her. He had shifted quite a bit when he could first do it, and aside from his emotions taking control, or needed to run wild for a while, Nico stayed in his human form more times than not.

  “I miss the big, soft and grouchy beast.” She leaned forward and kissed him. “Come on, Nico.”

  His woman didn’t need to ask him twice. He moved back and stood. After getting off all of his clothes, he allowed his bear to come forth. Skin tore, muscles stretched and grew, and he felt his feral animal come forth. Fur replaced flesh, he grew to a staggering height of ten feet tall, and his hands and feet became paws. He stood before her, his bear aware of his surroundings, always on alert, but also focused on Alexis. He huffed and glanced down at the hand she held out to him.

  “Come here, you big grizzly.” She smiled, and he felt his human and bear fall harder for this woman. She was theirs.

  He moved closer, and when he rested his big body beside her, he closed his eyes and reveled in the feel of her running her hands through his fur. For several minutes all they did was stay like that, with her breathing steadily, moving her hands through his fur, and pressing her face into his neck. She felt safe with him, and he fucking loved that. He’d protect her with his last breath, and never let her get hurt.

  “Nico, shift back,” she said softly.

  It only took her a moment for him to turn back into his human side, and then he was moving onto his side and facing her. He kissed her hard and possessively, and grabbed the back of her head, molding her closer with him. “Baby, if we don’t stop I’m going to end up fucking you on the forest floor like some kind of animal.” His cock punched forward when she groaned.

  “I want you to take me right here. I feel so incredibly good right now, Nico. I want your animal to claim me.” She took control of his mouth, but his inner beast wasn’t about to be dominated.

  “You asked for this, baby,” he growled out and flipped them so she was now the one on her back. “You’re mine, Alexis. My old lady, my woman, and soon to be my wife.” And then he tore her clothes away and claimed his female with his h
uman side and his bear.

  ****

  One month later

  The Landon house was filled to capacity as everyone gathered round the massive dining room table for Nico and Alexis’s engagement party. Odin had even driven up from school to celebrate, and the atmosphere was happy, energized, and filled with family love. All of The Grizzly members from Steel Corner were in attendance. Stinger, Molly, Lina, and Ben were sitting at one end, and Stinger was laughing at something Dakota said beside him. She glanced at the young human woman that Dakota had brought to the dinner with him. She had never done the lunch date with Dakota like they had talked about when she first came back, but she knew Dakota had gotten busy with the club, and she had been busy, too. She had met Michelle, Dakota’s girlfriend, right before they had all sat down, and although the girl seemed nice and genuine, Alexis didn’t know if it would work. She seemed very high maintenance for Dakota, with wearing a ton of makeup, carrying around her designer bag, and then there was her tiny cell phone with the Swarovski crystals etched into the back. Dallas and Hope sat on the other end with their kids Tarren and Tawny. What put a big smile on Alexis’s face was that Lucas was beside Tarren, and the grin he gave her best friend wasn’t that of a man that just wanted a piece of ass, but wanted something much more.

  “You doing good, baby?” Nico asked from beside her at the head of the table.

  She turned to face him and leaned in and kissed him as her response. Jagger started talking to Nico, and Sonya and the youngest Landon, Cain, came in with a few more dishes of food. She looked around the table again and took note that this was her family, the ones she wouldn’t have changed for anything else in the world. Court and Lilly were sitting beside each other, and Mason was beside his mom, pouring her some more iced tea. Diesel was speaking with Drevin, and Diesel’s wife, Maggie, and their sons Bodhi and Jakob were saying something to their mother that had her scolding them. That had Alexis laughing because it wasn’t too often she saw grown Grizzly members being reprimanded by their moms. But that was the thing with the MC. They might be tough and hardcore, take care of their families when the time called for it, but deep down they had a soft spot for their families, and were vulnerable at times, too.

  Alexis stood and held her champagne glass up. Looking around the table showed men in leather cuts, sporting beards and bandanas, and hard expressions, but she saw beneath all of that to the real men and bears that were sitting before her. They came to celebrate this moment in their lives, and she couldn’t have asked for anything more heartwarming. “Thank you all for coming.” She held her glass higher. “I love you all, and I have never been prouder to be a Grizzly member than I am right now as I see all of you here to support Nico and me.”

  There was a moment of silence, and then all of the men at the table started pounding on the wood hard enough that the dishes rattled. They didn’t need to say they loved her back, because that small gesture, and then the low hum that turned into a dull roar was all she needed to know that everyone here had each other’s backs. They were one unit, one family, and God help anyone that fucked with them. They were The Grizzly MC, and they were definitely a force to be reckoned with.

  Chapter Nine

  The bachelorette and bachelor party

  “It feels like it’s been a long fucking time since I actually took you out on a date, like a date-date,” Nico said and grinned.

  “It has been a really long fucking time,” Alexis said in return and started chuckling when Nico growled low in his throat.

  “You know how hard I get when you drop the f-bomb, baby.” He reached out and grabbed her hand. “Say it again, baby.” He leaned forward, grinned this cocky smile, and wagged his eyebrows.

  “You get hard over everything, Nico,” she said, and couldn’t help but laugh at the expression he had on his face.

  “I only get hard when you’re in the damn room.”

  She laughed harder. They had just finished dinner, and after Nico insisted on getting dessert, which of course required him to feed her the chocolate covered strawberries and whipped cream, they were now waiting for the check.

  “Come on, say it, baby, ‘cause my cock feels like it’s about to explode if you don’t.” He made this pouty face. To see this big bear shifting biker giving her puppy dog eyes, and all but begging her to say the word “fuck” just so he could get his rocks off, turned her on to no end.

  She slipped off one of her heels, shifted so her ass was slightly off the chair, and placed her foot right between his big, muscular thighs. He let out this groan, and her pussy instantly became moist. The length of his hard cock was monstrous as it pressed against his jeans. She moved her foot up and down, stroking him and grinning when his pupils dilated. She could make him lose control and shift right here and now if she tried hard enough. “I can’t wait to leave here, go back to your place, and let you fuck me so hard and rough that I won’t be able to sit comfortably the next day.”

  He growled so loud this time that a few of the patrons in the next table over glanced their way.

  “I want that big cock of yours inside of my wet pussy, and I want you to fuck me like you own me, Nico.”

  “I do own you, baby.”

  She was so wet now, and her clit felt like her heart was beating a mile a minute in the tiny bundle of nerves.

  “Can I get anything else for you two?” The waitress showed up at that second, of course, because it was the most inconvenient time, and flashed a fifty-watt smile their way.

  Nico grunted in annoyance and shook his head. The waitress set the check down, and stood there for a minute, which was an awkward minute too long. When they were left alone again Nico pushed back in his seat, adjusted himself, which had her grinning, and grabbed his wallet. He tossed some bills on the table, stood, rolled his head around on his neck, and overall looked like he was ready to crawl out of his skin. “Come on, baby.”

  “I need to go to the bathroom.” The low sound that left him was one of irritation, and she chuckled softly. She turned and headed to the bathroom, did her business, and once she was at the sink and washing her hands she looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her dark hair was getting longer, nearly touching the center of her back now. Nico had asked her to grow it out for the wedding, and she couldn’t help but think that he wanted it long so he’d have something to hold onto when he fucked her. A shiver worked through her. Before she was anything more than friends with Nico she had never spoken so coarsely or with so much vulgarity in her tone. But it was like Nico brought out this other side in her, one that wanted to be bad and say bad things.

  Alexis grinned at herself.

  She was turned on, incredibly so, and she wanted out of here and in his bed just as badly as he wanted her under him. But it was also fun, and arousing, to tease the beast inside of him. She turned and left the bathroom, and her gaze was on her floor. She slammed right into someone, stumbled back, and had to brace her hand on the door to steady herself.

  “So sorry.” The scent of alcohol filled her nose instantly, and when she looked up it was to see a college aged guy standing right in front of her. He was bracing his hands on the doorframe, too, but it was clear he was drunk as hell. His glossy eyes were half-lidded and red-rimmed, and he smelled like a brewery. But she remembered seeing him over at the bar with a few other guys. They had been loud and obnoxious as they counted down their shots, but Alexis and Nico had been in their own little world and hadn’t paid much attention to them.

  “Hey.” He grinned this lopsided smile, and she wrinkled her nose at the sour smell that came from him.

  “Excuse me.” She went to move past him, but he reached out and grabbed her arm.

  She looked down at where he held her and cocked a brow. “If you want to keep that hand, and your balls, I’d suggest you let me go.”

  His response was another sloppy smile. “I saw you sitting with that douche, the one with the lame leather vest on.” He leaned in close, and she moved her head back an inch. “I can b
e a bad boy for you.” He went to kiss her, totally liquored up and out of his mind, and frankly an idiot, but she could handle herself.

  She wrenched her arm out of his grasp and went to turn away without responding, but she came face-to-face with Nico. Her grizzly bear biker was looking rightly pissed, but before he could react, the college asshole grabbed for her again. He was most definitely not from Steel Corner, because if he had been he would have walked away knowing who he was fucking with. Alexis turned, felt her own bear rise up and give her strength, and then brought her knee up. She connected right with the college guy’s junk, and a wave of satisfaction filled her when the asshole fell to his knees and cupped himself right away. Alexis turned and faced Nico, and it was to see him smiling.

  “Well, damn. I was going to handle the fucker, but looks like my woman showed me that she can take care of herself.” Nico pulled her into the hardness of his body and claimed her mouth. He kissed her for several seconds, but when the douche on the floor started groaning louder, Nico pulled away and looked down at him. Alexis could see his bear was still right at the surface. If she knew anything about bikers, or bear shifters, it was that they didn’t forget about shit like this, and wouldn’t be content until blood was spilled.

  “Come on, Nico, let’s just go home so you can fuck me.” She had used the word again that seemed to make him putty in her hands, and just as she was hoping, he growled low in approval. He grabbed her hand and said, “You know how to defuse a situation, that’s for fucking sure.”

  She reached out and ran her fingers along his hard shaft pressing against his jeans.

  “Okay, I need to get you home now, or I’m liable to come right in my fucking pants, Alexis.” And then he was all but pulling her out of the restaurant, across the parking lot, and nearly tossing her ass in the passenger seat of his truck. She was laughing the whole time she watched him quickly make his way around the front of the vehicle and then finally climb in. Nico wasted no time in started the car and pulling out onto the street. His place was a half hour drive from the bar and grille they had gone to in the small shifter town of Sweet Water. The owner of the restaurant, Trace Dakota, was a polar bear shifter and had known the club for a few years now, but because they lived in different towns they really didn’t speak very often.