Claimed by the Biker Giant (Maxine and Tank) novel Chapter 277

Cloe POV

“Sorry, Storm, it was a joke. I feel like my emotions are all over the place, and I tried to joke it off, but I snubbed you. I feel bad for making you worry so much. I have had to look after myself for so long; now being dependent on someone else has overwhelmed me a bit. Sometimes I don’t know what to say or how to react. Can you be patient with me, and, er, maybe er help me when I am being an idiot?” I didn’t know how to ask for help. Storm had just returned from the bathroom, and I was hiding under the blankets before I apologised, trying to be honest, it did shock me that I was going to be top girl, and the ladies will come to me, not the kind of thing I have ever had to deal with, I always tried to be invisible, it was safer for me.

“Babe, you can yell and scream at me all you like, you have the right to and need someone to vent to, I can hit the bag in the gym, or swim laps, even scream at my friends, where you have had no one till now. I understand. Not all the time, but most of the time. You did leave me confused a few times, and I wondered what I did wrong, so maybe we both need to learn to talk to each other, even about the hard stuff. What do you say? Deal?” Storm looked at me with his puppy dog eyes, and how can I resist? He even pushed out his bottom lip in a pretend pout. Storm’s face had me chuckling, and the next thing he’s tickling me, and I am a gonna, our tickle fest happened, and the seriousness was gone, and Storm changed it to fun.

“Want to stay in bed all day?” Storm asked when he at last stopped tickling me. My sides hurt from laughing so much. It’s not fair that he wasn’t ticklish.

“No, we have a lot to do before our ceremony on Thursday, need to pack most of our stuff away, and get to the choppers, and our vehicles, and anything else you can think of, mind you, anything you forget, I am sure we can come back for, or have an excuse to have the family come visit us.”

“You’re right, and I have my mates coming over, going to ask them to stand with me. Have you thought of any girls you’d like to have?

“Penny,” I responded quickly.

“That’s a given, you would have a fight on your hands if Penny wasn’t included. “Storm made a stance like Penny does when she doesn’t get her way, but his giggle was a bit off, which made it even funnier.

Storm helped me get dressed and head down for breakfast. The dining room was packed with people eating and laughing. The table was extended to its maximum. They all stopped talking when we entered the room, which made Storm stop in his tracks, and since I was in his arms, that meant I was stopped too.

Then the eruption began. Our ceremony was the topic; no one mentioned Storm becoming Prez, so that side of it must not have been mentioned. I was glad I was still in Storm’s arms because it reduced the thumps on his back, which made me wince at how hard some were. He will have a red back tonight, and I received lots of sloppy kisses, yuck.

At last, we made it to a chair and food.

“Tandy said he would be here and will officiate; he has been waiting for one of the children to reach the age for him to do it,” Fixer said when the table settled down to what was normal for this family.

“Great, I was hoping it would be him; he had us all laughing at the last one he did.” Storm was brimming with joy. I had only seen a little of Tandy, and most of the time it had been business, so I was not sure whether he could be funny.

The table continued with decorations and other ideas. It all sounded nice, and Penny ensured I had a say in everything. She made the suggestions and then asked if I liked them. In such a way, you would be hard-pressed to say no. I felt so special. A number of people had left, some to go to work, others to do whatever they had to do, and it was down to those I had become to see as family.

“Um, excuse me.” All eyes turned to me now, and I hardened myself and prepared to talk; all my rehearsed words fled, leaving me tongue-tied.

“I wanted to say thank you for accepting me into your home, for putting up with my tantrums and outbursts, which were out of character for me. You all have made me feel so special, wanted and included. Thank you, and please forgive me for all my bad moods and snappiness.” I couldn’t think what I had also wanted to say, so I said nothing more.

I had silver spider clips in my hair, and ribbons that trailed down, almost as long as my hair, that they still refused to let me have cut short. Light blue eyelids, and blue on the end of my lashes, soft redish pink lipstick, and the tiniest amount of blush to give my pale face some colour. My dress was gorgeous, but then I had seen Fixer in photos, so I had an idea what it would look like, and smiled at my feet. That was Penny’s idea, and why it took Penny so long to decorate the chair, she wanted me to look whole.

“Don’t you cry and spoil that makeup,” Nightingale yelled when she saw my bottom lip quiver.

“Photo time.” Fixer took pictures of me alone, then with Penny, and then set a timer for all four of us.

A knock on the door had Penny skipping over.

Gramps was on the other side; he was going to walk me down the aisle.

“You look beautiful,” Gramps said, and leaned in to place a soft kiss on the cheek. Fixer took a few photos that included Gramps, and we headed down.

Two guards waited at the stairs and together carried me and the chair down the steps. At the bottom, Penny fluffed about, making it all look perfect, before we headed to the door that led outside. I had been warned what to expect, so I wouldn’t jump when the bikes revved as I walked by.

Through the door, I would see Storm, who was fidgeting, and the guys looked like they were giving him hell. He wore a sheet, an image of his father was at his wedding, but with no cut, that might make some question the missing cut, but no one would be game enough to mention it.