There was something hysterical in the idea of “Grinder,” the scariest enforcer in the state, being a carpool father and sitting through parent-teacher conferences. Even if it was ridiculous, it was true. He’d bent enough in his life to have a secluded oasis, this space where he was a perfect family man with her. Tess had bent enough to accept that she loved a man who was apart from the law. She might uphold it and help others at the hospital, but that wasn’t who Derek was, and to be happy, she’d accepted it.
As she watched him hug their daughter close and kiss the top of Cindy’s head, her heart fluttered. It was the right choice. She’d make it a million times over and always be glad that she’d taken her brother’s advice, even if it had been a long time coming. Sometimes bending, changing your ways, was the only choice.
What good was a moral high ground if it left you lonely as hell?
There was a fierce horn honk outside, and Cindy squealed, then started running for the door. “Grandpa’s here!”
“Cindy Louisa, you need to walk to the door,” Derek said, his tone low and chiding.
She nodded and walked out to the door, struggling with the knob a little since her hands were weighed down with the board. A few minutes later, a quick text let Tess know that she was buckled and already on her way. She just hoped her dad had texted the pick-up confirmation before he started driving. He was so bad about that; it was the actual downside to bringing him into the 21st century.
Derek grinned and held out his arms. She slipped into them and felt him squeeze her tightly before kissing her and teasing her tongue with his own. “So we have the house all to ourselves for a weekend. Your mom already agreed to take her for an extended sleepover with Tina.”
Tess grinned up at him and licked her lips. “You’re saying that we have over twenty-four hours and many rooms to enjoy?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying, blondie, so what would you like to do from here?”
She grinned and, reaching down, rubbed at his length through the fabric of his jeans. He was hard so fast then, and she knew it had been far too long. Sometimes things got away from them in the hustle of domestic life. She had her shifts, he had his Sinners’ duties, and they both had a very active toddler who demanded their full attention. Still, even after all these years together, he responded so readily to her touch, and that left her wet and wanting already.
“I want you now,” she purred, making her voice as low and inviting as she could.
He grinned and quickly unzipped himself. “All you had to do was ask.”
Derek rushed to pick her up. She stepped back and rolled her eyes at his grumbling disapproval. “Chill it, Casanova. I just need to do this!” she insisted, slipping off her panties, and hiking up her flowing A-line skirt. “Now you can pick me up.”
He grinned and complied. At first she was held up by his arms as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She could feel his erection teasing her slit, the head of his cock teasing the wet lips of her labia. She moaned and the heat was flaring through her.
“I need you to fill me, Grinder, please.”
“I’ll do anything you want, darling,” he promised, before shoving his length deep inside her.
It had been a while, but they’d been together for so long that her channel easily expanded to fit him in. In fact, she relished the sensation of it, of feeling his girth slide deeply inside of her. He was almost scorching, and she mewled again and licked at his throat, grazing over his pulse point first before moving her way up his neck and then to his chin, scraping her teeth over the beard there before she finally came to his left ear lobe. She clenched it between her teeth and yanked with a little force.
He swore and buckled under her.
Then he began to pound into her. His rhythm was frantic, and she could feel his balls slap against her with the force of his thrusts. She gripped his waist tightly with her legs and rode him hard, her back along the wall and her inner muscles clenching around him. She could feel the heat and the intensity of the sparks building over her, flowing over her nerve endings. As the intensity built between them, she felt her skin light up with fire, and it raised to inferno levels when his fingers reached down to play with her clitoris, adding tiny flicks to get her to come.
And come she did, screaming loudly and spasming over him.
This was rare for them, but maybe it was just the time in between everything. He came then too, shooting his semen deep inside her, pounding into her so hard that she felt some of his seed drip back down her leg as well. Idly, she hoped that maybe this would lead to more. She’d stopped taking the pill a couple months ago at his request, but they hadn’t been trying in earnest yet. Still, maybe in nine months Cindy would have a little sister.
She had to smile at such a heartwarming thought.
Leaning down she kissed his lips.
“That good then, blondie?”
“That was amazing,” she said.
“I aim to please.”
“And you do.”
***
Tess woke up with Derek’s name on her lips. It took her a minute to recognize the Spartan surroundings about her, the grey walls and the smeared, bleary windows that barely let moonlight into the damp basement she’d been shoved into. She rolled over on her small cot, and the springs beneath her squeaked loudly and echoed throughout the cavernous room she’d been shoved into.
Right, there was no happy home with her own daughter or a happy life with Derek.
In the moonlight, in reality, Tess still wasn’t sure that she could ever commit to living a life with a man who broke the law at night, who hurt people. Although, if Derek hurt Trent, then she wouldn’t hold that against him. That rat bastard deserved to bleed.
A lot.
Sitting up on her cot, she looked up at the full, rounded moon. Tears streaked down her cheeks, and she pulled her knees up to her chest. When she spoke, her voice sounded wounded and small, as if she were still a child herself. “I just want to go home.”
But she was terrified at the same time. It wasn’t that Derek and the Sinners wouldn’t come for her; they would. Tess was terrified that when they did, they’d be slaughtered. She was about to lose Derek, and it was her fault. Her fault for slowing for the road block to begin with, her fault for not finding an escape route yet, and her fault for falling for him. That last thing she wanted after saving his life in the hospital and even after seeing the thugs beat him on the road was to watch Derek die.
“Please,” she said, doing something she hadn’t done in five years. “Jason, if you can hear me, watch over Derek, keep him safe. Please.”
With that, she pulled out the St. Christopher medal and stroked it with her fingers. Maybe Jas or God or whoever could hear her prayers tonight. As long as Derek survived, she didn’t care, just make sure that so many people didn’t die merely to save her life. She didn’t deserve that, couldn’t live with that kind of guilt, knowing the price at which she existed.
“Jas, I love you. Help me.”
Chapter Thirty Five
Derek adjusted his mint green scrubs.
Actually with how often he was putting those on, he really did need to go to med school or nursing school. Hell, he wasn’t being picky. He could be an orderly. It was just his second time in about a week shoving these on in order to go incognito at Boone General. Once he’d explained the kernels of his idea to Spike and Smitty, they’d made a call and made sure that Captain Brock Johnson had deliberately thinned the guard around the emergency department. It was still risky coming here where they were looking for him, but a clean shave as well as a mask on his face was helping do wonders for his ability to blend in.
As he approached the reception corner of the emergency department, he was relieved to find that Lizzy Alacron, Tess’s best friend, was there. He waited for ten minutes, pretending to peruse the information pamphlets and the one doctor who asked after him, he was able to bullshit away by claiming he was going to restock everything and soon. She stood a
nd went over toward the staff locker rooms.
Derek groaned. Last time they’d met there, it had ended in disaster and the police rushing in, but at least she was getting to somewhere private where he could speak with her more freely. He needed to know as much as he could about Lizzy’s connections out in the community. She was a nurse; surely she knew some of the cops around town. Cpt. Johnson was on their take, but he’d adamantly refused to send in cops with them, to give them the boys in blue as help on the sly. He wasn’t wrong. No matter the people they already had paid off, it wasn’t everyone on the Boone P.D. Hell, it wasn’t even fucking close. There was no way to justify it or to keep it from ending up in audits and internal affair investigations. Their arrangements worked best when neither the feds nor the cops across the county or, God forbid, the state troopers got involved either.
It was frustrating that Cpt. Johnson couldn’t give them some brass off the clock for the night, but it wasn’t unexpected. That was why Derek was always looking for other alternatives.
He sighed as he stepped up to Lizzy’s locker. He held up his hands and moved the mask from down off his face. The Latina’s face grew dark and angry and she started to bolt for the door. Derek decided buying time to calm her down was the best thing he could hope for. He rushed out quickly and put a hand over her mouth.
“It’s not what you think. I’m not here to mess anything up. Ron’s not even with me. I just need to talk for five minutes, and I’ll leave quiet.” He pulled his hand back long enough to see if she’d understood, if she could be convinced to agree.
She was still in his arms but glared up at him, and her tone was harsh and loud when she spoke. “I’m not here to compromise with you. Your sick ass deserves to be in jail. This locker room finally got fixed from the last set of damage you caused, you murderer.”
He sighed and put his hands over her mouth again. “I didn’t kill anyone with that knife. It’s beyond complicated, but you have to believe that I just want to take care of Tess as badly as you do. I love her. Because I do, the Sinners are trying to save her.”
Lizzy went rigid in his grip, and her brown eyes were wide, fearful. He took a chance and removed his hand again, but not before warning her to keep it down. She narrowed her eyes at him, her glare obvious, but still kept her voice low as she spoke. “What do you mean that the Sinners have to save her?”
“It’s what it sounds like. Tess and I were on the way to taking the knife to my president. The rival gang was going to set him up, has been using our resources against us.”
“And I care why?”
“Because part of that ploy was kidnapping Tess as leverage. We have to meet them at their damn stronghold in less than two days, midnight Wednesday to be exact. It’s a slaughter if we walk in just as they want, so I had an idea.”
Lizzy pulled away from him, but just paced, didn’t bolt. Derek took it as a promising sign, as proof that she was as invested in taking care of and protecting Tess as much as he was. “I can’t believe any of this. I thought you were a bit wild but a good enough guy. I just wanted Tess to come out of her shell a little. She’s been so upset, so closed off---”
“Since her brother’s accident, believe me I’ve heard.”
“Exactly, and you were cute and liked her, and I just called you because I thought it would be fun. I had no idea that you’d end up getting her in the middle of damn biker warfare. I wish I’d never done this.”
“Then maybe you do know how I feel. I never wanted to drag her into this part of my life. It’s why I didn’t tell her at first who I really was.”
“You meant that you’re damn wet works and a thug.”
He shook his head and ran a hand through his beard. “I mean that I have a life outside of being a Black Top Sinner. I didn’t realize it until I met Tess, even, but I’m more than just beating guys to a pulp or doing what the club wants. I care about her, and she’s going to die if we can’t figure out a good way to save her.”
“Then what can I do? What’s the plan? You want me to sneak you some drugs or something?”
“No, although I have to admit if we could dose them en masse feasibly that wouldn’t be a terrible Plan B.”
“I’m serious. I’m just a nurse, what can I do?”
“You have contacts on the force, though, right?”
Lizzy hesitated but he knew from the way her eyes shifted left, the way she kept avoiding eye contact that he’d hit on the truth. “I might, but don’t you all have everything bought off with meth money or special prostitute deals?”
“We haven’t paid them that well. Look we go in just as us with no second flank, it’s game over. If we can get a few off duty cops to moonlight…”
“So they’re going to help you all win a gang war?”
“If they take out the Death’s Head Crew with us today, then they can focus all their resources after Wednesday on the only functional game in town. You know that whole ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ bullshit? Well, tell me it wouldn’t appeal to the cops. It’s easier on a strapped budget to fight off or coral one gang than two whose violence is spilling into the streets. Besides, if we don’t do this, I’m not even sure as tough as the Sinners are if we can get Tess back.”
Lizzy paled, her browned skin going ghostly white. “They really are going to kill her, aren’t they?”
“Not while I’m still breathing, they won’t, but I can’t do this alone,” he said, grabbing her shoulders gently and looking Lizzy directly in her eyes. “Lizzy, please, help me. I promise I’ll get Tess back if you do and, then, hell. I’ll both kick my own ass and give her the choice to leave me behind after all of this. If being with me drags her into trouble like this, then, you have to understand, it’s the last thing that I want to do to Tess. She’s better than that.”
Lizzy nodded and stepped back. Discretely, she rubbed at the corner of her eyes. “Tess is better than both of us. I’ll call Ricardo, my boyfriend. He has S.W.A.T. connections and helps out there. It’s up to you to convince him, but he loves Tess like a sister. I think he will help, but after Wednesday?”
“Yes?” Derek asked, voice tight.
“The armistice is over. We help you once and then, hand to God, Ricardo’s going to work his ass off to get all of you taken down for Tess’s sake. I mean, Jesus. Her family has already been through the ultimate pain, and you have the gall to drag her down into all of this.”
“I wish I hadn’t.”
“Me too, but we can’t change that at all can we?” she bit back as she pulled out her phone.
***
Lt. Ricardo Jimenez wasn’t a tall guy. He was maybe only 5’8”, and Derek had to look down at him when the officer came to sit at his kitchen table. However, he was broad and had a thick neck. Derek noticed the way the other guy scanned the room and his rigid posture. At least he was someone who knew his territory and how to hold himself. That gave Derek some hope, assuming he could convince him to help, but he’d gotten this far through Lizzy, so he had to keep trying.
The other man regarded him and gestured to his hip where his service revolver sat in an already opened holster. “You try anything and, first, Lizzy and my partner know I’m here. Second, I’m a crack shot, so I wouldn’t try it, compadre.”
Derek nodded and held up his hands, palms up. Hell, if he’d been thinking better of it, he’d have gotten a white bandana or flag. Maybe a literal white flag would have been seen as a sarcastic answer to everything, but he was seriously entertaining it. He just needed both Jimenez and Lizzy to understand how serious he was. His life wasn’t worth it without Tess there. She was the first person in forever who had seemed to trust him, to really believe in him when it came to it and look where that had gotten her.
“I’m not. It’s not a trick. I didn’t even ask you to come to the clubhouse.”
“Only a fool would go into a roadhouse like that. Your gang knows me by now. I’ve led enough drug busts and other things that they’d shoot me on sight. You had to inv
ite me here.”
Derek nodded. “It’s nothing to do with the gang, although a cop even off duty showing up would put them on edge. You’re not wrong on that end.”
“Didn’t think I was.”
“Anyway, it’s bigger than that. The Death’s Head Crew is really putting the screws into us. They’ve infiltrated our board. It’s the big reason you’re here with me. No one but the president and vice president even know I went so far as to reach out to Tess’s friend. No one but me knows I’m meeting with you period. It’s more about keeping this last ditch, Hail Mary move a secret because I don’t trust most of my own crew.”
Jimenez narrowed his eyes further, to the point that they were almost slits. “Then that doesn’t instill me with confidence either. The last thing I want to hear is that you can’t even trust your own crew not to betray you. That’s about the scariest damn thing I could know----even if I do become nuts enough to trust you, doesn’t mean the rest of the Sinners won’t stab me and mine in the front.”
Corrupted: A Motorcycle Club Romance (Blacktop Sinners MC) Page 20
