POWERHOUSE

The next morning, I awake to various voices and a live wired clubhouse. Hearing their voices are what stir me from my sleep. Knowing that we all need to be ready to take our leave at the spur of the moment, I get up and hit the shower.

Dressed, neck shaved, beard trimmed, and ready to face the day, I place a chaste kiss to Salem’s forehead after grabbing my boots and socks, I then head to the main room of the clubhouse to join the masses.

Sitting on the couch, I slide on my socks and lean over to lace up my boots. Mane toddles over to me and lifts up her hand, inside is a shredded piece of bread which is squishy and broken up into pieces that are wedged between the webbing of her fingers.

Meaning, she’s wanting to share her soggy toast with me.

How the fuck do I get out of eating this without hurting her feelings by denying her offer?

“Oh yum. Is that for me?”

“Yeth,” she answers, shoving it closer to my mouth. I cringe, not exactly excited to bite into the waterlogged bread.

“Young lady,” Cameron huffs, crossing her arms across her chest and taking what I refer to as the mom pose. “Giving your breakfast away wasn’t the deal we made. You’re supposed to eat every single bite then you get to go outside and play with the other kids. You make Powerhouse eat your food for you and I’ll make you a new piece and we’ll start this process all over again, ma’am.”

“Icky, Mama. Mane play,” she argues, pointing her nubby finger to her chest. I watch with interest as the toddler then stomps her foot and places her hand without the toast onto her hip. Copying the same pose I’ve seen Cameron take whenever she’s frustrated with one of us or ready to strip the hide off someone… usually, a club bunny and it’s fucking hilarious. However, to keep from getting my ass chewed since it’d be undermining Cameron’s mothering, I bite my lip and focus on breathing. Swear to God though, if Mane says something too funny, I don’t think I’ll ultimately be successful

“Mane plays after she eats,” Cameron rebuts, her tone scolding and uncompromising.

“I’m gonna let you two hash this out,” I mutter, “I’ll catch y’all later.”

“See ya, Powerhouse,” Cameron says over her shoulder, her eyes narrowing and never straying away from her daughter.

I leave the two to have their stare off while I hit the kitchen for a mug of coffee and to dish out some breakfast of my own. Charlee’s standing in front of the stove, flipping some pancakes. She points to the pot and tells me, “I just made a fresh pot, there’s eggs in the oven keeping warm, I’ll have you a stack of flapjacks ready in a couple of minutes.”

“Thanks, Charlee girl, I’m starving.”

Scooping up a healthy portion of the eggs, and filling up my mug, I take a seat and dig in.

“Jesus, it’s an estrogen tense room out there,” Texas says, flopping down in the seat next to me. “I’m fucking exhausted.”

“I’ll make you a cup of coffee,” Jessia remarks as she and Malice come strolling into the kitchen. “Need help, Charlee?”

“Nah, I’ve got enough for you four made, eggs are keeping warm in the oven,” Charlee repeats for Jessia.

Charlee walks over, forking six jacks onto my plate then scooting over the butter and syrup from the middle of the table toward me. I nod my head to her in thanks then prep them to my liking. As my third bite is placed in my mouth, Salem enters. Her hair is tousled and her pjs still adorn her body. “Morning,” she says, rubbing her eyes.

“Morning, sweetness. Hungry?”

“Ravenous,” she responds, walking to the counter and making herself some coffee. My vision stays glued to her as she accepts the plate Charlee offers her. Patting my knee, I beckon her to me and offer up my lap to sit in. “Thanks,” she sleepily murmurs before tilting her cup back and taking a healthy swallow of caffeine.

“No thanks needed, sweetheart. It’s not a hardship to have your ass in my lap.” Leaning forward, I whisper so only she can hear what I have to say, “My hands are itching to squeeze those delectable ass cheeks of yours.”

“They’re yours to do with as you please,” she breathlessly replies.

“Damn right they are,” I rasp.

The phone ringing in the background has us all sitting a bit straighter. Boots stomping toward where the handheld is has me scooting back my chair and repositioning Salem in it.

“Eat, babe. That might be the call we’ve been waiting on,” I tell her. “Be back as soon as I can. When you finish, Beckett should be back with some clothes for you. I sent him to your place to grab you a few things.”

Her face brightens with a red tinge brightening her cheeks. “You sent Beckett to go through my unmentionables?” she asks. I watch her as she swallows harshly. “Cole. I don’t want any man, outside of you, rummaging through my drawers.”

“Normally, I wouldn’t have sent anyone to ruffle through your drawers and other things but me. This time, however, there wasn’t time for me to go. I was needed here, and you needed some clothes. I’m sorry, but I didn’t see another way.”

“Fine.” Her words are sharp yet bashful. “But I should’ve made him a list. There are some more personal items I am gonna need too.”

“I talked to Beckett before he left,” Charlee inserts. “I gave him the standard go-to list we women give when we’re placed on lockdown. My advice would be to store some things here after this. It’s easier to have double of everything spread between your house and here than to worry about a prospect going through shit we don’t want them seeing.”

“I’ll do that when everything settles down,” Salem grudgingly agrees.

“Give me a kiss, woman, so I can go and check on things,” I order. Salem puckers up her lips and I lean down and plant a wet one on her.

SALEM

My eyes stay stuck to Cole’s departing form. Damn, my man is stunningly gorgeous and sexy as sin. I can’t believe he’s all mine. I never saw myself settling down with a rough and rowdy man, but Cole swept me off my feet, and for me, there’s no turning back.

Am I perturbed that he has Beckett going through my personal things? Yes. I absolutely am. But his reasoning behind his purpose is understandable and I don’t feel there’s a need to add any extra stress to his plate.

I can’t help but wonder if I’m going to fit in with the other old ladies or not. They’d give their men hell for making this type of decision without consulting them first.

Me? I listened to his input and decided it wasn’t worth fighting over and left it alone. With everything going down, this just doesn’t seem like a battle that needs to be taken on. It’s settled at the bottom of the barrel, nowhere near floating close to the top.

My life matters. Not just to me, but to Cole as well. I’m unwilling to take any unnecessary chances when it comes to my safety. Cole’s protectiveness makes me feel special and cared about. That’s something I don’t want to ever lose which is why I don’t argue with him.

“You took that rather well,” Charlee says as she takes a seat next to me.

I think over what she said before putting in my two cents. “My dad always told me that if it’s not life threatening, or something that’ll impact me on a large scale, that I should be willing to let that sleeping dog lie and not wake him. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“Huh. I’d wake that dog and let it bite Gunner’s head,” Cameron asserts. “I grew up in a house where my day was planned out for me. Down to what I was allowed to wear, who I could be friends with, and whom I was supposed to marry. None of those were beneficial to me, it was all about them and what would enhance their bank accounts.”

“Your folks were the biggest assholes on the planet,” Charlee snorts. “They never gave a shit if their decisions would hurt you or not.”

“That’s true,” Cameron affirms. “They’re two of the most selfish sonsofbitches to have ever existed.” After that statement, she tells me about her past with her parents and their vicious way of raising her and controlling her every movement.

Thank God for Country stepping in and Gunner taking over. There’s no telling what would’ve happened to her if those men hadn’t taken charge.

I find myself glued, entranced to their present conversation and storytelling, eager to know more about two of the old ladies I’ll hopefully spend a lot of time with outside of our present lockdown, that is. I can tell from the little I’ve seen and heard so far that both Charlee and Cameron are ballbusters but in retrospect, they’re also two of the most caring and loving ladies to those who are under their wing.

Hopefully, that’ll soon be me.

Being underneath the umbrella of their protection and guidance is important to me. I stand out from the other women, I’m more accepting and tolerable to the men’s whims than they are, which may add a bit of reason to the chaos they’re likely to bring to the table

On any other given day of the week, that’d make me feel like an outcast, living in the shadows, vicariously watching on the outside as the other women plan and plot while pushing their men’s buttons past their boiling points.

But on this day, I feel included, part of the in-crowd so to speak.

It doesn’t matter that I don’t want to nudge my independence against the men’s nature to protect us women. Instead, I’m going to nurture it and enjoy it.

It’s been a long-damned time since I’ve felt cherished by another person, and I’m going to hold it as close to me as I can without stepping over any invisible boundaries that aren’t plainly obvious to the unobservant eye.

“Girl’s got it bad,” Charlee hums with a spark of recognition in her eyes.

“Yep. But we know how that is,” Cameron utters. “Once those men wrap you around their fingers, there’s no turning back.”

“Isn’t that the truth,” Stella adds, walking through the kitchen door, flopping into one of the empty seats and smacking her head down onto the hard Formica top of the table.

“What’s the matter with you?” Charlee asks Stella.

“I tossed and turned all damned night. I’m exhausted,” Stella answers.

“Kruger,” both women say his name simultaneously with a hint of understanding laced in their tone.

“Yep, Kruger,” Stella confirms. “He’s a needy bastard sometimes.” With that verification we all crack up in giggles. “He’s a damn horndog, I tell ya.”

“Aren’t they all?” Cameron asks.

“They’re like the energizer bunny. They keep going, and going,” Charlee snickers.

“Well, Kruger needs his batteries to die the hell down. I don’t know where he gets his pent-up energy from, but I’m wiped out. He needs to find a different way to release his repressed vigor.”

“You make it sound like he’s addicted to sex,” I snort. I mean, I like sex just as much as anyone else, but there’s a limit to how much I can physically take before I need to call a time out. Surely, the guys don’t recover quick enough to go all night long. Right?

“Oh, honey,” Charlee deadpans. “Just you wait.”

“For clarification. Was that a southern ‘Bless your heart’ you just issued me?” I ask her.

Charlee’s only response is a snort before she pats me on top of my head.

“Remember when we told you to hold on tight?” Cameron quizzes my memory.

“Yeah. I remember,” I remark.

“This will be one of those instances, Salem. Hold on, because your man is going to ride you hard until you yield.”

“Oh. Okay,” I stoically respond, wondering if I need to invest in an endless supply of ice and freezer baggies. If I’m interpreting what they’re saying correctly, my hoo-ha is gonna be getting a workout and will be sore to the touch for a long time to come.

At this point, I’m not sure if I’m giddy about that, or dreading the fact that I have to wear pants in public.