Biker's Claim The Broken Angel is Mine (Cora and Jake) novel Chapter 41

Cora POV

Leaving that place was a two–edged sword.

One part was happy to be with Gunner again, the traitor side of my mind and, of course, my body. He was good in bed, and has a very large, yeah, that part, and knows how to make a lady feel good.

The other was like I was giving in, defeated, beaten out of a home I was trying to create. It was like my life was fighting against me all the time, and I was losing. The emotional journey was harder than I thought it

would be.

The clubhouse gates loomed ahead, and my heart raced at the sight, a new kind of safety, physically anyway. Snail was manning the gate. He saluted me as we went by, a smile on his face. We stopped at the entrance of the clubhouse, and I had only just climbed off, when I was engulfed in strong arms and the smell of freshly baked bread and garlic.

Scones.

She held me so tight, I thought she was going to squeeze the stuffing out of me.

“I missed you.” She whispered in my ear and sniffed back her tears of joy. I raised my arms and hugged her back, letting Scones get what she wanted, needed, and if I am honest with myself, I needed it too.

Gunner came over, removed my helmet, smiled at me, and said he would organise my belongings so they would all go into his room. That’s a lot of stuff; some surely would have to go into storage. I pushed that thought behind me as I let Gunner take the helmet, and Scones‘ arms circled me again, leading me away

from Gunner.

“You back to stay, for good?” Scones asked as she guided me to the private sitting room, lounge, not sure what you would call the room, really, it’s a women’s meeting room. At the same time, the guys have their meetings, the ladies come here, and talk, chat, and make assumptions on what the men are discussing, any new news, that sort of thing, a room that belongs solely to the claimed ladies, men do not enter, like ever, the ladies‘ personal space. A guy would stop at the door and knock, respecting that women need a place of their own.

It’s nothing like I had expected, not that I had many thoughts on what goes on in a club like this one, but it still surprises me with the little details that show that they respect the claimed ladies, and treat them well. Most depict a woman as the man’s slave, and to obey all orders given, accept them taking on other girls even though they are taken, like rock stars, or sports stars, even actors, all do that, but in this club, I learned that they honour their commitment to a woman. Give them protection, their kind of love, and trust.

I noticed that the claimed band together, support each other, and monitor the club girls‘ behaviour. There are rules, one of which is that the club girls don’t touch a patch member. The man will take a girl if he’s interested; it’s agreed that it was to get a release, not to claim, though most girls hope they will one day be claimed. Most of the unclaimed men have likely taken the club girls to bed at some stage, so the

likelihood of being claimed was low. Very low.

That thought saddened me a little.

Gunner might have been with them, but I couldn’t go down that slippery slope.

I have enough on my plate already without adding any more unnecessary.

Jealousy was ugly, when I had no claim on him, it was a stupid road to take. Was there even room in my head for more problems to fix?

“Girls, look who’s back.” I hadn’t answered Scones‘ question, not that she gave me much chance to, Scones prattled on while she dragged me to the girls‘ room. Yeah, still don’t know what to call this room. I think I like the name “sitting room” best, because that’s what they do here: sit and talk.

“Cora!” The girls who were here chorused, and engulfed me in a group hug, me somewhere in the middle of six ladies‘ arms, faces kissing my cheek, but I couldn’t say by whom, words of welcome back, and you shouldn’t have left in the first place. I had been gone only a week, and they acted like I had been gone for months or years. The warm, unexpected welcome had brought tears to my eyes, because I couldn’t remember the last time I had been welcomed like this, as if I were a long–lost sister, returning to the fold.

The tears rolled down my cheeks, and I didn’t try to hide them, couldn’t move my arms even to try, until they released me from their embrace.

This was new to me, being wanted, and not expecting anything from me.

“Give the girl some room to breathe.” Strikes voice suddenly rang out from the circle of heads.

As if an invisible cord pulled at them, they all released me and stepped back, looking at my tears still flowing down my face; their smiles turned to concern at the sight of me.

“Cora?” Scones touched my shoulder. I turned to look at her. She looped her arm through mine and guided me to the nearest chair. Together we sat, the others taking seats too, looking at me expectantly.

I didn’t know what to say. What did they want from me?

“Are you okay? The guys just up and left, taking the van, and then you returned with a vanload of your belongings. What happened? You’re not hurt, are you?” Dizzy asked, the others nodding as if agreeing with

her.

“I am okay. Someone came knocking on my door, and it scared me. I thought I was safe because it was a gated community, but they walked in when the gates opened to let others out. I lost confidence staying there. Gunner brought me back here, while the trouble blows over.” I tried to give as little information as could while still satisfying their curiosity. I’m not ready to share what happened to me with them, not yet. Only Scones knows, and for now, that’s enough, and Gunner, of course.

“What does that mean? Until the trouble blows over, you can’t leave Gunner again. He’s been a tiger with a thorn in his foot, growling all the time. He’s not been the same since you left.” Bluey added, she loves to gossip; there’s no way I would say too much with her in the room.

“Just that, I am not sure that living at the clubhouse is for me.” But Dizzy interrupted before I could say

more.

“You are one of us, you became one the day you stopped your car, and rendered aid to Gunner, no hesitation, from the stories I’ve heard, then protected him from the shooter. Don’t give me not part of the club crap.” Dizzy added a few more expletives that I don’t even know what they mean.

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