Claimed by the Biker Giant (Maxine and Tank) novel Chapter 13

Tank POV

The best sleep I have had in years, I didn’t have that nightmare tonight. Having Maxine in my arms must have been the reason for a dreamless sleep.

I reached for her, but the bed was empty, her side cold, from being gone for a long while.

Threw the blankets off and headed to the bathroom, emptied my bladder, and opened the shower door. It was still wet from her shower, and a towel was thrown into the basket for washing. It felt good to know she was comfortable helping herself. I will have to get some girl products for her. I thought as I took a quick shower, with a grin on my face.

The sounds of laughter and utensils scraping plates, the smell of bacon, toast, and coffee in the air, reached me before I made it down the last level of steps. This was life: good friends, good food, and hopefully a girlfriend on the horizon. She never answered my question about claiming her, but she didn’t say no either. There was still hope until I got ano, and then I would have to work harder to get that yes. It had only been a day; I am a patient man, and I will get that yes eventually.

There she was, placing food on a tray, which Cricket took away to place on the side tables that were already full of food.

I couldn’t resist showing everyone she was mine, in the only way I could, by giving her a long kiss. To the delight of the guys in the kitchen, I am sure that it will be the talk in the gang house for days to come.

I placed two plates, she grabbed the coffee, and I led her to the table by the pool. It was a favorite spot where I often sat, chatting with the Prez, Bruiser, and their woman. We fit well on this table, like it was meant to be, like it was always like this, a quick greeting and then chow down.

The eggs were amazing. I didn’t know scrambled eggs could be so fluffy, and the added bits made the flavors burst in your mouth. I am not a food critic, but these were by far the best I had ever tasted. It didn’t shock me that Maxine had cooked them, she made cakes for the guys at the shop, that I managed to taste a few times, when I brought over or collected a bike, was always in a hurry to do things, wish back then I took more time to get to know her more, mind you I heard she had a boyfriend, and that would have put any thoughts of being mine out of the question, I don’t take other guys women.

We complimented her on her cooking, and so did the men when they heard she was the one to cook, as they approached the table before heading off to start their day. Maxine blushed at the compliments, turning her lovely pink. I thought it was adorable.

“Maxine, spoke with Mike, he is happy for you to finish your time here, fixing bikes, and he will sign it off, said you only had a few weeks left anyway, you finished all the modules. It just requires his signature, that you have done the time. He knows you are more than capable, and also suggested that you might want to stay here, better for travel, but then you love to ride your bike, might prefer a quick ride each day.” Prez was talking to Maxine, and I was sitting listening, dying to add to her staying, but didn’t want her to feel pressured; she had been through enough.

“Thank you, Prez, I appreciate that you talked with Mike. I was going to do it tomorrow at work.”

“Well, your workplace will be here from now on. Today, we will get all that stuff out of the storage unit and set it up in that shed. Plus, if you want to move here, we can pack up the flat. Also, your wages will change; we will take over that part. Mike has sent out office management, your information, and it will include a little higher rate, as we will pay you as if you have been signed off.”

“What rules will I have if I live here?” Maxine asked, not taking her eyes off Prez.

“Come and go as you please, live by our code, which I believe you have already been informed of. If there is a dispute, what I say goes, no exceptions. Work with the girls, like you did this morning.

Keep the room clean; we don’t have maids here. No curfews, plus if you want visitors, they need to be approved by the sergeant-at-arms. I heard your three girlfriends have been approved; some of our guys are interested in them, too, so they might be visiting without you having to call them over.

That tart was kicked out, won’t be allowed back in.” He chuckled with a knowing look.

“Good, she was not my friend, and I didn’t invite her; she invited herself. I am waiting for my sister’s call to yell and scream at me about last night. Somehow, Alice’s behaviour, or should I say being kicked out of here, will be blamed on me.” Maxine looked a little sad, but that look vanished fast when the Prez replied.

“We can handle anything she dishes out. You are not alone anymore, not that you were alone. You have your three girls, but you now have a whole pack behind you. Your enemies are our enemies. That includes your parents, sister, and ex; they were put on that list the day we heard what happened. We don’t usually get involved in family issues, but we can make an exception in your case.” I smiled with pride. We might be seen as badass guys who like breaking the law, but there are some areas we won’t go,

We are protectors of this town, being owners of more than half of it. Not all were running illegal businesses; most are legit. This was our town, and we protect what was ours and hurt those who hurt ours.

We support our town: one way was sandbagging the river during floods that threaten the town center, rescuing farmers stranded on their property, and helping with the cleanup afterwards. We are a lot of muscle that can be used for the good of our community. They might fear us most of the time, but call on us when the town is in danger.

It was a crazy situation in our town, but with that fear comes respect. When rival gangs rode in, our president got a call asking us to come to town because an unknown group was there. We knew who they were and already had eyes on them. Still, it was nice to be the preferred group that the town was comfortable with.

“Thank you,” Maxine replied, picking up her plate and starting to clear the table.

“Leave that, time for you to go with the boys and get that storage unit emptied.” Sticks shooed Maxine away, and Sticks side bumped Maxine with her hip, almost knocking herself over. Maxine was stronger than she looked, as Sticks just found out.

“Go with her, Tank,” Prez said, pushing us to get the job done.

Placing my arm around her waist, we headed to where the trucks were idling, waiting for us. Maxine gave the driver the address, and we climbed in, pushing Maxine in the middle, and some bikes followed us to help with the loading.

Maxine opened the double doors to the storage unit, and I gave out a loud whistle.

“That was not what I was expecting.” The unit was chocka’s, like you couldn’t put anything else in there if you tried.

“I did say I had a bit of machinery.” She shrugged and began giving instructions on the gear we were taking. An hour and a half later, we pulled the last piece out of the unit. The fun part had been working out how to fit it all in the two trucks. It was a jigsaw, and it amazed me that Maxine had been the one to move it all in there by herself and make it fit. Some machines were heavy, like the lathe, which was heavier than we thought, and it took two men to move it. How did she do it by herself? She had to have had help, didn’t she?

We drove back. Tomorrow, Maxine will hand in the keys.

The rest of the morning and partway through the afternoon, Maxine had the guys moving stuff around until she was satisfied with the sheds set up. It looked great.