Shaker (Blackwings MC Book 5)

by Teagan Brooks

  Right on cue, as if things weren’t hard enough for me already, Keegan entered the kitchen wrapped only in a towel. I sucked in a sharp breath causing her to whirl around.

  “Sorry,” she shrugged and gulped down a glass of water. “I got really thirsty in the shower.”

  “I need a shower,” I gritted out and stalked to the bathroom to take care of my issue. I tossed my shirt to the floor and started undoing my belt when I noticed Keegan coming up behind me. She pressed her towel-clad body against my back and ran her hands from my chest, down my stomach, to my very noticeable erection.

  I grabbed her hands and stopped her. “We can’t do this,” I said.

  She rolled her eyes at me, “Not this shit, again.”

  “I’m serious, Keegan. We need to talk first,” I said, ignoring her snide comment.

  She huffed, “Fine. What is it we need to talk about right this minute?”

  “Us,” I said softly. “It feels wrong to do this without talking about the future of our relationship.”

  “You didn’t seem to mind before,” she retorted.

  “I’ll admit I got caught up in the moment several times. I guess it seems different now that there’s an end in sight,” I explained.

  “Okay, so, what? You don’t want to have sex now?” she asked.

  I laughed sardonically, “Baby, with you, wanting to has never been an issue.”

  She pinned me with her gaze, hands firmly on her hips, “I’m not going to try to guess whatever it is you’re trying to say. Spit. It. Out.”

  “Do you want to be in a relationship with me?” I blurted, sounding like a complete and total pussy.

  A surprised look washed over her face for a brief moment before she masked it. “We’re married. I think that qualifies as a relationship.”

  I sighed, “That was fake, and you know it. I meant a real relationship.”

  She gave me a pitying look, “Aww, did you go and catch feelings?”

  I threw my hands in the air, “Fuck this shit!” I turned to storm out when three words stopped me in my tracks.

  “I love you,” she said firmly.

  I whirled around, “Say it again.”

  “I love you,” she repeated without hesitation.

  It was the balm my broken soul needed to heal. I closed the distance between us and cupped her face in my hands, “I love you, too, baby.”

  “Good. Now shut up and kiss me.”

  I tugged on her bottom lip with my teeth. “Oh, I’m going to do more than kiss you.”

  With that, I yanked the towel from her body and turned her around to face the mirror. “Hands on the counter,” I told her while I shoved my jeans down my legs and kicked them into the corner of the room.

  Reaching into the drawer, I grabbed a condom and quickly smoothed it down my shaft. When I looked up, Keegan was intently watching my every move. I stepped forward, nestling my cock in the crack of her ass, and reached around to cup her breasts.

  Pulling her flush against my chest, I captured her nipple between my thumb and forefinger while my other hand slid down her stomach to cup her sex. “Watch,” I breathed against her ear.

  Her eyes met mine in the mirror for a brief second before they darted to my hand teasing her nipple. When I used one finger to trace the seam of her slick slit, her eyes moved to the juncture of her thighs, and she pressed back against me.

  “You like that?” I asked with my mouth still pressed against her ear.

  “Yes,” she moaned.

  “Spread your legs for me,” I instructed as I moved my hand to her other breast.

  She immediately complied, and I slowly slid one finger inside while massaging her clit with my thumb. “Jacob, I’m about to come,” she said, almost sounding panicked, but I knew why. She preferred to come while I was inside of her.

  “Watching me toy with your nipples and glide my fingers through your wet little pussy really got you worked up, didn’t it, wifey?”

  She started panting and trying to squirm out of my hold. “Fuck, yes, you know it did,” she said, and her eyes began to close.

  “Keep watching, and I’ll give you what you want.”

  Her eyes flew open and fixated on the spot between her thighs. I removed my fingers from her heat and positioned myself at her entrance. I met her gaze in the mirror as I slowly entered her, not stopping until I was buried as deep as I could go.

  And that was it for Keegan’s patience. She slapped her hands onto the counter and pushed back with determination. With one hand gripping her hip and one wrapped around her jaw, I met her thrust for thrust. When her lips parted, and her eyes widened, I knew she was about to explode.

  I pulled out, turned her around, hoisted her up onto the counter, and slid right back into place in a matter of seconds. Wrapping my arms around her, I covered her mouth with mine and continued to move as we reached our climaxes together.

  Pressing soft kisses to her lips, I requested, “Say it again.”

  She smiled. “I love you.”

  “Yeah, I love you, too, wifey.”

  We cleaned up, and I followed her to the bedroom. Once we were settled, I asked, “Do you think we should stay married?”

  “I think it would be stupid to get divorced so we could start dating. If word got out, we would have a lot of explaining to do. Besides, it was you who suggested we stay married until I have full custody of Gabriella,” she replied.

  “How is that going, by the way?” I asked.

  “Good. Great actually. Lawrence signed the papers. He refused at first, but Luke was able to convince him otherwise. He still wasn’t happy about it,” she explained.

  “If he signed the papers, why haven’t you gone to get her yet?” I asked. I figured she would have been on her way to get her sister the second the ink hit the papers.

  “It’s not that simple. He isn’t signing over custody to me, per se. He’s agreeing to voluntarily terminate his parental rights and giving consent to adopt. The family court lawyer said adoption would be the best route to take. A judge has to review the case and approve the order before I can go get her,” she explained.

  She suddenly shot up in bed and covered her mouth with both hands. “Oh, no. I’m so stupid. I have to call Luke,” she blurted and reached to grab her phone.

  I gently tugged her by her wrist to get her attention. “What’s going on? Talk to me.”

  She turned to me with wide, panicked eyes and started to cry. “I can’t adopt her because we’re married,” she wailed.

  “Fuck. Because of the club,” I mused.

  She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and shook her head. “No, it doesn’t have anything to do with the club.”

  “Keegan, baby, tell me what the problem is,” I said, not bothering to hide my frustration.

  “Okay, okay,” she said while bobbing her head. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and sniffled. “We’re married, so I can’t adopt her. We can, but I can’t.”

  She wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. “The problem, Keegan. Tell me the problem.”

  She tilted her head to the side and stared at me. Then, she closed her eyes and dropped her chin to her chest. She shook her head and whispered, “I won’t ask this of you.”

  Realization dawned and I reached for her. “You don’t have to ask. I love you, and I want to help you get your sister. And, yes, I know that means adopting her with you. If things don’t work out with us, I wouldn’t try to take her away from you. Don’t forget, your grandfather is also a Blackwing. I may be an officer, but he’s an original member. The club won’t let anyone take her from you, not even me.”

  “This is a big deal, Jacob,” she whispered against my shoulder.

  “Yeah, it is. It’s also the right thing to do. You and I both know that.”

  “Thank you,” she said with a wobbly voice.

  “Do you have any idea when your case will go before a judge?” I asked.

  “My lawyer and Luke were trying to
get things expedited for me. I’m hoping everything will be finalized by the end of next week, but you never know with the judicial system.”

  “Let me know about any appointments or meetings. Doesn’t matter what they are, I want to go with you,” I said.

  “You’re an amazing man,” she smiled sweetly and placed a soft kiss to my lips. “When do you think we can go home?”

  “Ember said there had been a steady decline in the number of reporters at the gate each day. Phoenix said the same for the clubhouse. I’m guessing we should be able to leave here after a few more days. ‘Home’ as in your house?”

  “Well, yeah. Where else would we live?” she asked incredulously.

  I shrugged, “I don’t know. We could get a new place. Something a little bigger for when your sister comes to live with us.”

  “Let’s give the dust some time to settle before we go stirring up more, yeah?” she said carefully.

  “Okay, wifey,” I agreed and pecked her lips. “Let’s get some sleep.”

  ***

  I was right; we were able to return to Keegan’s house within a few days. Once there, we spent our evenings preparing a room for Gabriella. Keegan wanted her transition to living with us to be as smooth as possible. Personally, I thought she was worried about the upcoming court date and needed to stay busy to keep her sanity. When I asked her about it, she completely denied the possibility.

  The weekend before the court date, we headed back to Kentucky. Keegan managed to get access to Lawrence’s house in order to pack up any of Gabriella’s belongings as well as any of their mother’s items that held sentimental value. Keegan was dead set against bringing any furniture from the senator’s house into hers. Since we rented a box truck to move Gabriella’s things, I suggested we go ahead and shop for her bedroom furniture.

  Keegan found what she wanted at a furniture store in the downtown area. After we loaded the furniture into the truck, we stopped to have lunch before going to Lawrence’s house. The server had just returned with our drinks and taken our order when I heard a voice from my past, a voice I never thought I would—nor wanted to—ever hear again.

  “Well, if it isn’t Jacob Marks,” Beth’s nasally, shrill voice sounded from behind me.

  I visibly cringed and tried to swallow down the bile forcing its way up my throat. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before acknowledging the bitch of all bitches. I slightly turned in my seat toward the speaking demon, “Hello, Beth.”

  She sauntered up to the table, swaying her hips in an exaggerated fashion. “Hello, Jacob,” she said breathily. “It’s so good to see you.” She turned to give Keegan a once over, “And who’s this?”

  Keegan straightened in her seat and squared her shoulders. “His wife,” she snapped.

  Beth laughed, “Oh, that’s right. I heard about your nuptials. Honestly, I thought it was a rumor.” She glanced at Keegan again, then down to her hand. Her eyes shot to me, and an evil grin appeared on her face before it morphed into one of surprise. She gasped and glanced between Keegan’s face and mine, “You gave her my rings?”

  Keegan tried to hide the hurt on her face, but I saw it, and Beth did, too, before she was able to mask it. Keegan yanked her hand into her lap and glared at me. “What do you want, Beth?” I barked.

  “I just wanted to come over and say hello to my ex-fiancé,” she replied sweetly.

  I rose to my feet, “I was never your fiancé, and you know it.”

  “You bought those rings for me,” she replied.

  “No, I bought those rings for the woman I thought you were before I found out you were nothing but a lying, cheating, gold-digging whore,” I spat.

  Beth twirled a piece of her hair around her finger, “Are you still mad about the baby?”

  I looked at her, really looked at her, and suddenly realized I was playing right into her hands. She wanted to stir up trouble and cause a scene, and I was making it easy for her. I smiled like a psycho and stared at her in silence for several beats. “Of course not. I’m upset with you for disturbing my lunch with my beautiful wife.” I raised my hand beside my head and snapped my fingers. Kellan appeared at my side almost instantly. “Please take out the trash,” I said.

  “Gladly,” Kellan said, grabbing Beth by her shoulders. “Let’s go.”

  Beth shrieked and started yelling, “Get your hands off of me! Someone, call the police!” She was fighting Kellan every step of the way. I guess he had enough of it because, in the next second, he hoisted Beth over his shoulder and marched out the front door as he announced, “No need for concern. Just a little lovers’ quarrel.”

  I dropped back into my chair to find a set of wedding rings on my plate and no Keegan in sight. Fucking Beth. I sighed and tried to figure out how I was going to fix this mess. I sent a text to Kellan and told him where to meet me; then I paid for our uneaten meal before heading to my next stop.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Keegan

  To say I was mad would not be an accurate statement. I was furious, for a number of reasons. Reason numero uno, some two-bit hussy publicly claimed that the wedding rings on my finger were hers. Reason number two, Shaker’s past included a fiancée. A fiancée I knew nothing about.

  It was only a matter of time before he showed up at Lawrence’s house, so I was trying to pack and get out of there as fast as possible. I didn’t want to talk to him, not yet anyway. Unfortunately, I heard him enter the house less than an hour after I had arrived. He didn’t call out to me, and I didn’t volunteer my location. Lawrence’s house was huge; it would take him several minutes to find me and even longer if I was hiding. With that thought, I tiptoed over to Gabriella’s huge toy box filled with stuffed animals and buried myself inside.

  After about five minutes, I felt like an idiot for hiding from Shaker. I was a mature adult and should just tell him I was upset and not ready to talk about it yet. Surely, he would understand and give me some space. I started to climb out of the toy box when I heard a voice that decidedly did not belong to Shaker.

  “Keep looking! She’s in here somewhere,” Lois Hensley hissed.

  Panic gripped me. Who was she talking to? How did she know where I was? More importantly, why was she looking for me?

  “Keep your voice down, Mom. We don’t want her to hear us,” Preston whispered harshly.

  Shit! Motherfucking pile of giant cow shit!

  “Looks like she’s been in this room,” Lois said, sounding much closer than she had before. Where was Shaker? I felt my pockets for my phone, hoping I could manage to send a text to him when I remembered turning it off and tossing it on the passenger seat of the box truck.

  I tried to keep myself still and breathe as quietly as possible. It was getting harder and harder each second. The stuffed animals weren’t exactly breathable, and it was getting uncomfortably hot. I needed to hold out until Shaker arrived. I had no idea what Lois and Preston wanted with me, but I knew it couldn’t be anything good.

  Searing pain shot through my scalp as I was yanked from the toy box by my hair and unceremoniously dropped onto the floor. When I looked up, I came face to face with the barrel of a gun. “Stand up, bitch,” Lois ordered.

  I held my hands up in surrender and slowly rose to my feet. I couldn’t hide the tremor in my voice when I asked, “Why are you doing this?”

  “You know damn well why I’m doing this. You have ruined everything for me. The least I can do is return the favor,” she spat.

  I needed to keep her talking. I had always heard that, keep them talking so you can try to find a way out or wait for help to arrive. “What did I ruin, Lois?”

  She scoffed, “You can’t be that stupid. It’s because of you my husband will probably spend the rest of his life in prison. You tarnished my son’s reputation, my family’s reputation. And you destroyed my income!”

  I couldn’t help myself. My resolve to stay calm flew out the window with her accusations. “Are you serious right now? I didn’t have anything t
o do with your husband going to prison. The FBI was investigating him and Lawrence well before they decided to kidnap and sell me. As for your son, he’s the one who thought he could get away with sexually assaulting me. And I can’t even begin to process your comment about your income. You are a woman, and you’re pissed off about losing income generated by trafficking women? You are one twisted bitch,” I yelled.

  Her face turned damn near purple with anger. “Shut up! Just shut up!” she screamed.

  Pop.

  Pain exploded in my chest.

  Pop.

  The pain in my chest expanded to my stomach.

  Pop.

  Everything faded away.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Shaker

  I had a bad feeling, and it had nothing to do with Keegan being upset with me. No, this was different. A deep, piercing sense of dread consumed me.

  “You all right, man?” Kellan asked from the driver’s seat.

  “Not really. Something’s not right. I can feel it,” I said quietly.

  Kellan didn’t comment or ask any other questions, but I did feel the car accelerate as he tried to get us to the Hastings estate faster.

  When we pulled up to the house, the reason for my dread was painfully obvious. A familiar car was parked beside the box truck we rented. “Fuck! That’s Preston’s car,” I barked, climbing out of Kellan’s cage and reaching for my gun.

  We ran to the house with our guns drawn. The front door was wide open. I cautiously, but quickly, entered the house. My eyes frantically searched for Preston or Keegan.

  Pop.

  Pop.

  Pop.

  Oh, fuck no. Gunshots. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt Keegan wasn’t armed. Without thought for my own well-being, I sprinted toward the sound. I could hear Kellan’s footfalls behind me. We ran down a long hallway and rounded the corner to find Lois Hensley with a gun trained on Keegan and Preston Hensley with a gun trained on me.