Ride me Down

Chapter Seventeen -Mine, Loud & Clear

Taylor leaned back in the salon chair, eyes scanning her freshly painted nails while her usual smirk returned. Her skirt hugged her hips the way it was meant to, and the silk blouse she’d chosen felt like armor. She had her red lipstick back on, her heels clicked when she walked, and for the first time since their secret mission, she felt like herself again.

Dani arched a brow, sipping her iced latte as she lounged in the seat next to her. “Well, Sparkles is back.”

Taylor gave her a look. “Yes, that was a moment, alright. I panicked. Jeans happened. Never again.”

“You don’t have to defend it,” Dani said, grinning. “But I will admit, I was concerned. It’s like seeing a hurricane show up with no rain.”

Taylor rolled her eyes but smiled. “I talked to Jax this morning. Gave him the heads-up.”

Dani blinked. “About your period?”

“Mhm.” Taylor ran a hand through her loose curls. “Told him I get cranky, need warmth, space, snacks. The usual. He didn’t even blink. Just nodded like I told him I was switching shampoo brands.”

Dani let out a breath. “Okay, that’s… weirdly comforting.”

“Exactly,” Taylor said. “If he handled that without flinching, then maybe he wouldn’t lose his mind if he ever found out about our little pharmacy field trip.”

“I mean… he might still lose it,” Dani said, “but maybe he’d lose it quietly.”

They both laughed.

Taylor reached for her phone and checked the time. “Lunch next?”

“Obviously,” Dani said. “Mason’s already lurking outside like we’re about to rob the place.”

Taylor shot her a look. “Let him tell Jax we got our nails done, bought overpriced shampoo, and ordered a bottle of wine at noon.”

“Honestly,” Dani said with a smirk, “that might calm him more than knowing the truth.”

Taylor grinned. “Then let’s keep playing the role.”

The café was warm with late-afternoon light, and Taylor sat across from Dani, picking at her salad while the scent of grilled bread and espresso lingered in the air. Her iced tea sat untouched for a moment as she caught sight of the wine list on the side of the table.

She pushed it away.

“I’m done with alcohol,” she said flatly, then raised her brows as Dani looked up in surprise. “No wine, no cocktails, no whiskey—none of it. I swore it off after that first night with Jax.”

Dani blinked. “Wait, seriously? Forever?”

Taylor gave a firm nod. “Forever. That night I had whiskey. And I woke up in a stranger’s bed. A very dangerous, very sexy stranger. And now look at me. I live in a compound full of men with guns, I have an anti-social hitman making small talk with me in the kitchen, and I’ve been claimed by the president of a motorcycle club like I’m property. So yeah, I’m good on alcohol.”

Dani grinned behind her water glass. “But that dangerous stranger turned out to be the guy who worships the ground you walk on.”

Taylor narrowed her eyes playfully. “That’s not the point, and you know it. Alcohol makes me reckless. I like control—even when I pretend I don’t. I can’t afford to lose it like that again.”

Dani leaned back with a small smirk. “You sure? Because I could totally see you knocking back a bottle and dragging Jax off for round twelve just to prove a point.”

“I don’t need wine for that,” Taylor said with a wink. “That man looks at me and I forget my own name. But I’d rather remember what I’m doing when I crawl into his bed.”

They laughed, the kind of laughter that carried the comfort of survival and the slow-building trust of two women who were no longer strangers.

Taylor added under her breath, “No more alcohol. That’s a hard rule. Hold me to it.”

“I will,” Dani said, clinking her water glass gently against Taylor’s iced tea. “To chaos-free decisions and surviving the men we love.”

Taylor raised her glass. “I’ll drink to that—with iced tea.”

The compound buzzed with energy by the time Taylor and Dani returned. Music echoed off the concrete walls, the heavy bass thudding through the floors like a heartbeat. The scent of grilled meat and smoke lingered in the air, mixed with the unmistakable tang of beer and something stronger. It was loud, reckless, and alive—pure MC energy.

Taylor hesitated near the front entrance, watching as the celebration spilled out across the lot. Men leaned against bikes with beers in hand, women laughed too loudly, and someone had already started a drinking contest by the firepit.

Dani stepped beside her, nudging her with a knowing smirk. "Well, so much for holding you to that no-alcohol promise."

Taylor shot her a look. "Don't even start."

"Come on, Sparkles. You think you can survive one of Jax's celebration nights without at least one drink? This isn’t just any party—he expanded the business. The boys are celebrating like they hit the jackpot. Because they kind of did."

Taylor watched as Jax appeared at the far end of the lot, mid-conversation with Ghost and another man she didn't recognize. He wore his usual dark tee and jeans, sleeves rolled, cigarette in one hand, beer in the other, all confidence and grit. When his eyes found hers, the corner of his mouth lifted.

Dani saw it too. "You see that? That’s the look of a man who’s going to make damn sure you forget every promise you ever made."

Taylor sighed dramatically but couldn’t hide the smirk tugging at her lips. "Maybe I’ll have one drink. For show. But I’m still not breaking my no-alcohol rule."

"Sure," Dani teased. "Let’s just see how long that lasts. Come on, if we’re late, someone’s going to drag us into a drinking game."

Taylor followed her through the crowd, the music growing louder as the sun dipped low and the sky turned to fire. This was Jax’s world, and she was starting to find her place in it—even if it came with smoke, whiskey, and a hell of a lot of noise.

And maybe, just maybe, one drink.

Dani grabbed her wrist and tugged her through the haze of smoke and loud music toward the heart of the party. The smell of beer, sweat, and testosterone clung to the air like perfume. Bikers and their girls filled the compound, drinking like they didn’t have a care in the world. Someone cranked the music louder.

“Time to celebrate, Sparkles,” Dani said with a wicked grin, already reaching for a shot glass lined up on the table with a few other women.

Taylor opened her mouth to protest, maybe remind Dani of her very serious, very dramatic vow never to drink again—whiskey was still a four-letter word in her mind—but before she could, one of the women shoved a shot into her hand.

“To hot men and poor decisions!” someone cheered, followed by laughter and clinking glasses.

Taylor laughed, “That’s dangerous company to keep.”

Dani winked, “You’re already in it.”

The burn of the first shot was instant—sharp and fiery, but familiar. The second slid down smoother. The promise to herself evaporated somewhere between the first cheer and the second glass slamming onto the table. Screw it. She could be a little reckless for one night. Just not too reckless. Right?

That’s when she felt it.

Heat prickled along her neck. A shift in the air.

Jax.

She didn’t even have to turn to know he was in the room. Her skin responded to him first—then her chest, tightening like her heart needed permission to beat again. Her head spun, though not entirely from the alcohol.

He didn’t announce himself. He didn’t need to. She felt him, like a storm rolling in behind her.

Taylor turned, slowly, and there he was.

Jax leaned against the doorframe like he owned every heartbeat in the room, his gaze locked on her like she was the reason the world kept turning. His dark eyes dropped to the empty shot glass in her hand, then dragged up her body with the kind of hunger that made her thighs clench.

Oh hell.

Suddenly, her vow wasn’t the only thing she’d forgotten.

He moved through the room like gravity bent for him—straight toward her, no detours, no hesitation. The party didn’t stop, the music didn’t lower, but in Taylor’s head, the rest of the world blurred out of focus.

He wasn’t smiling. He didn’t have to. That look in his eyes—the one that promised she wasn’t getting out of this night without losing her mind—was more than enough.

She set the empty glass down slowly, brushing her hair over one shoulder as if that might cool her heated skin. It didn’t.

Jax stopped just in front of her, close enough for her to feel the warmth coming off him, to smell the familiar mix of his sweat and cigarettes and the faint scent of whatever leather clung to him like second skin.

“Two shots?” His voice was low. Rough. Meant for her alone.

She tilted her chin up. “I’m celebrating. Thought you’d approve.”

He leaned in close, his lips brushing the shell of her ear, “I do. But you’re going to pay for that later.”

Her breath hitched. She was already paying for it. Every nerve in her body sparked alive. She didn’t need more drinks. She didn’t need more music. All she needed was this man’s hands on her.

As if he could read her thoughts, Jax slid his hand around her lower back, fingers pressing firmly against her spine. Not possessive. Not gentle. Just a reminder: she was his.

Taylor let herself melt into his side, already knowing she was lost to him tonight.

She glanced toward the hallway beyond the main room, hoping the others were too drunk or too distracted to hear what was about to happen.

Because Jax didn’t just look like he was going to make her scream.

He looked like he needed to.

And if the music wasn’t loud enough to drown out the sounds he dragged out of her tonight… well, that was the compound’s problem.

Not hers.