I pull back enough to meet her gaze. She has a mischievous grin on her face and looks down at the remote. I put two and two together and grin back at her. Fuck yeah. Fern just made my day a hell of a lot better. I bet she’s doing this ‘cause she knows how stressed I am.
“Come on, darlin’, let’s get this over with so we can have some fun later.” I laugh, leaning into her. I press a quick but meaningful kiss to her gorgeous lips. Not red but the soft peach to match her outfit. I didn’t anticipate being able to smile, let alone laugh today, but Fern has a way of bringing the good side out of me. This is why I don’t want us to honor the agreement we made at the start of this. We make a good team, and man, she complements me well.
Guiding Fern out to Tor’s car, I open the door for her. I look at my son standing beside the driver’s side of the car. “Drive safe. I’ll follow you.”
“You got it, Dad,” Tor says, giving me a two-finger salute.
I walk the short distance to my bike and straddle it. She’s a beautiful slick black restored 1985 Harley-Davidson FXRS 1340 Low Glide. Kicking the stand up, I prepare to back out of the driveway but wait for Tor to pull out first. Once he does, I lift my feet, set them on the pegs, and hit the throttle.
My mind goes over the possibility of my plans being a success.
I hope like fuck they are. It’ll mean everything went the way I wanted them to.
After a fifteen-minute drive, we’re both pulling into the courthouse parking lot. He finds a parking space with another one right next to it for me to pull into. Parking, I put the kickstand down, shut my bike off, and dismount. By the time I get to the other side of the car, Fern’s already out and is in the process of closing her door.
Taking her hand, the three of us walk into the building, praying things will go the way we all want them to. It has to, ‘cause if it doesn’t, no one will be able to stop my wrath.
Stepping out into the sun, I do everything in my power to keep the grin off my face. We’re still at the courthouse, and I don’t know what Tor’s thinking about the news we received inside the judge’s chambers only a few minutes prior.
Fern holds tightly onto my hand as she has the entire time. The judge granted me full custody of my son after breaking the news that Hillary died yesterday. Judge Williamson explained what he’d been notified of prior to the court case this morning. Hillary went to the Walmart near her house to go shopping and then passed out in the store. By the time the ambulance got there, she was already dead.
Inwardly I’m thrilled. Peachy as can be, she’s not only out of my life, but my son’s too. It almost makes me want to sing the song from The Wizard of Oz about the wicked witch being dead.
“You okay?” Fern asks Tor while we slowly make our way across the parking lot to where we’re parked.
“Yeah, Fern. I gotta say, there isn’t any love lost. I’m . . . I’m glad she is. She deserved it,” Tor grumbles quietly so no one can hear him.
Fern looks at him on the other side of me before her eyes come to rest on mine. She gives me an assessing look and shrugs. “Okay, then how about we go to lunch and celebrate you living with us full-time now? I heard the place we’re going to has the best lobster,” Fern suggests.
“Sure, sounds good to me.” I chuckle, loving the way Fern easily knows to drop a subject.
“Yeah, but um, can we invite Saraya to come with us?” Tor asks.
While Saraya lives with Freya, I find she’s at our house or Fenrir’s more often than not. She’s either hanging out with Tor or playing with Astrid because no one can turn that little girl down. If Astrid wants you to have a tea party and sit your ass down while wearing a tiara, you do it. Fuck, I did it the other day.
Shit, a couple days ago, Astrid had Logi giving her horsey rides around the clubhouse while making the noises. The entire time Astrid yelled at him, ‘yah giddy-up horse’ and ‘faster horsey, faster’. Quite a few of the brothers recorded it, and I’m sure we’re all saving it for an opportune moment.
“Of course, we can have Saraya join us. Go ahead and pick her up, and your dad and I will meet you at the restaurant,” Fern says happily while we get to Tor’s car and my bike.
I can’t stop myself from grinning at her this time. Tilting my head, I kiss her deeply, dipping into her mouth. I reach into my pocket and press the button on the control she gave me earlier, causing her to gasp into the kiss.
Pulling back, I give her a wicked grin. “You better eat well, sweetheart, ‘cause you’re gonna need the energy,” I declare and extend a hand out to her. I get on first and then offer a hand as she gets on behind me. First, I put on my helmet and then give her the helmet I bought for her.
I notice Tor’s eyes are on me, so I get off the bike and go up to him. He’s in the driver’s seat of his car with the door open. “You okay? You seem a little upset.”
Tor swallows hard and looks right into my eyes. “Dad, did you do it?”
I debate telling him the truth, but I can’t keep shit from him. Not this. “You knew I wouldn’t let her keep hurting you or any other kids. I wasn’t gonna stop until she wasn’t a threat to us anymore,” I firmly tell him, not regretting my decision.
Tor keeps his eyes on me before ultimately nodding. “Thank you for always protecting me, Dad.”
This will mark the last conversation we ever have about his mother. Hillary is dead, and we won’t ever waste our breath talking about the past again.
Tor shuts his car door, and I step back over to my bike, swing a leg over, and start humming the “Wicked Witch is Dead”. Fern wraps her arms around my waist, and before I know it, we’re off.
Chapter Fifteen
Fern
How could they do this to kids? It’s the question I ask myself all the time these days. Especially right now while I’m sitting beside my husband, staring at the two teenagers across from us. They’re smiling, and Tor keeps telling jokes to Saraya. She smiles, but I don’t miss the pain behind her eyes, a pain I’m all too familiar with. My heart aches for both of them, and Runes might not know it, but I heard him earlier. I heard what he said and I’m glad he did it. I’m thankful this wretched being is no longer here. Not simply because she won’t be able to hurt Tor or Saraya anymore, but the other children affected by her actions too.
When we first arrived here an hour ago, Tor wanted to get a fried shrimp dish. I could sense it’s not what he really wanted, so I told him to get anything on the menu, how today’s about him. When I first said it, I didn’t realize what I was saying, so I looked right at Saraya and told her to get what she wanted too. How today is about starting a new chapter of their lives, one where they can live like real kids. While I know it won’t be completely true in their case, given Saraya’s pregnant, I do hope they’ll be acting like kids for a little bit. There’s no need for them to grow up so quickly. At least, not yet.
I remember the way I wanted to get out, the deep craving I had for it. I wanted to run away and get as far as I could, so in a sense, I relate to Saraya a lot more than Tor. I don’t know if I’ll tell either of them about what happened to me, but I do hope they realize they have an ally standing in their court.
“Fern, I totally forgot, the spa is open again, right?” Tor asks as he takes a bite of the crab meat.
I nod as a smile breaks across my face. “Yeah, it sure is.”
“About damn time, took too long,” Runes grumbles and crosses his arms.
I turn my neck and give the man a knowing look. “It took as long as it needed to. The contractors did an amazing job, and it’s better than I could’ve ever imagined. Charm said the same thing.”
It didn’t look bad before by any means, but now it looks so much better. It makes me feel like we own an actual spa, one where people would come from hours away just to pay a visit. That’s what I’ve always wanted, an aesthetic to match the vision Charm and I share.
“As long as you’re happy. It’s all that matters to me.” I know Runes’s words are more than true. Since
before we got married, all I can think about is how he always made sure I was happy. Whether it was something as small as making sure I had food if I was hungry, or telling a stupid joke to make me laugh.
It causes my heart to sink in the pit of my stomach. Everything with Tor is over now, and I know what we agreed to. We said we’d be married to prove Runes is a stable father, how it would be temporary. Only, I don’t want this to be temporary anymore. I’m slowly falling in love with this man and I doubt he has any idea.
Over the last few weeks, he’s helped me reclaim my confidence. I don’t think I’ll ever be as confident as I once was, but I know I’m better than I was when he showed up at the house that day. Hell, I didn’t even want to leave. Now I leave with Runes and Tor whenever they want to go out. I don’t even think Runes realizes how great he is for me, but I hope he knows how good we are together.
From the corner of my eye, I spot a familiar face, and it feels like I’ve been punched in the gut. I suck in a deep breath through my nose and slowly look from the corner of my eye. Sure enough, my ex-boyfriend, Tyler, is in the same damn restaurant.
He’s clad in a fancy suit, and a woman sits beside him with dark hair just like mine. She’s wearing a sapphire blue dress, and there are two young girls sitting across from them. One looks just like the woman, but the other is a spitting image of Tyler. Just as I start to tear my eyes away from them, Tyler’s eyes lock with mine and they widen. We both know the other is here. He sees me with my family, and I see him with his.
How does a man like him have a family? A narcissistic, gaslighting, son of a bitch like him nonetheless? The man who told me he wanted nothing to do with my ‘broken ass’ when he found out I was pregnant. He’s the same dickbag I broke up with. The father of my baby who died inside me.
Fuck, every emotion comes pushing to the surface, and my hands begin to shake. Runes must be able to tell because he grabs onto my hand and brushes his thumb on top of it. He leans in closer to me and whispers in my ear, “Whatever’s goin’ on with you, it’ll be alright. I’m right here, sweetie, and I’m not gonna let anythin’ happen to you.”
His words take a lot of my emotions away, but I do end up scooting closer to him. He wraps an arm around my chair and brushes his hand against my shoulder. I sip at the glass of ice water in front of me while Saraya and Tor playfully pick on each other. I don’t know if Runes realizes it, but if these two didn’t go through everything they have, I bet they’d be dating.
We all finish up eating, and Tor says he’ll take Saraya back to Freya’s house. Meanwhile, Runes and I walk out to the bike together. But before we get on, he looks right at me. “I expect we’ll be having a conversation when we get home.”
Fuck, he wants to tell me how I can get out of this. He wants to talk about how our deal is over with . . . and I’m not ready for this. I swallow hard and simply nod at him. He gets on the bike, and then I do too. He hands me my helmet, and I put it on, and he puts on his. I wrap my arms around his body, and he takes off, but little does Runes realize I’m shedding tears as I hold onto him, not wanting this to ever end.
Chapter Sixteen
Fern
Runes takes me through Tallahassee for a while, riding through suburban neighborhoods and even takes me on the back roads. For a while, I figure he must be on the way home, but he doesn’t take me there. Instead, we simply keep riding, enjoying the warm air brushing against our faces in the sun. Before Runes I hadn’t ever been on the back of a bike before. Little did I know the significance of it until recently. I’m hoping it means Runes has deep feelings for me just like I do with him, but until the two of us actually have a heart-to-heart, I doubt I’ll know.
After a while, Runes takes us back toward the house and he pulls in under the tree. I get off first, take off my helmet, and hand it to him. He proceeds to get off the bike and places the helmets on the handlebars.
“We gonna talk about what freaked you out so bad in the restaurant?” Well, here he goes cutting straight to the point. I don’t blame him, but I thought maybe we’d ease into it. I’ve never told Runes about Tyler. I’m sure he knows I’ve had a messed-up dating history, but it’s not exactly like I go around saying how much my relationship fucked me up. It’s not exactly something I’m proud of.
“I wouldn’t say I was freaked out,” I correct him, because I wasn’t. Was I shocked? Hell to the yes. Was I terrified? Certainly not. Tyler is nothing more than a man who preys on insecure and naïve women, just like he did when he was with me. In all honesty, I feel bad for the woman he was with and who I believe are his daughters. Men like him don’t change, so I won’t bother even giving it a second thought.
Runes chuckles lightly and shakes his head. “Then what were you?”
“Stunned. Bewildered. Alarmed. I wasn’t afraid of him, Runes, and I’ll have you know I won’t ever be again.” Shit, I realize what I’ve said as soon as his face contorts to one filled with worry. He wrinkles his brow and awaits for me to say something more, so I continue on, “When I was a teenager, I dated the guy sitting at the table in the restaurant. He was the apple of my eye for a while, but I quickly learned what he was really like.” It wasn’t as quick as I would’ve liked, but life is a constant lesson.
“You need me to track the son of a bitch down so I can teach him a lesson?” While I appreciate Runes’s offer, there’s no need.
“No, it’s all in the past. I’m sorry for making you worry. I just never thought I’d see the guy ever again, so seeing him while we were there was crazy.”
“You don’t get to be so vague about it now, Fern. You’re actin’ like I shouldn’t be worryin’ about it, but I see you. Better than that, I know you. You’re not the type who likes keepin’ shit in, so what do you need to get off your chest?” Runes keeps his eyes locked on mine and waves his hand for me to follow him into the house. I follow in close behind him, and he unlocks the front door. As he pushes it open, he holds the door for me and allows me to walk in first.
Once we’re inside, he comes up alongside me and takes my hand in his. “You know all my dark shit, sweetheart. Whatever happened in your past, I’m not gonna judge you for it. You know that, don’t you?” Runes pulls me toward him, and my chest bumps against his. He wraps an arm around my waist, and again his eyes are locked on mine.
My heart swells three times as big from the confines in my chest. “Of course, I know. How couldn’t I? You’ve been nothing but exceptional to me. Runes, you have one of the purest hearts I’ve ever seen.”
Runes cracks a smile and laughs. “This pure heart of mine is charred to the core and soaked in blood, sweetie. I don’t know how you can even call it pure.”
Without giving it a second thought, I place my hand over his chest, right where his heart is. “Because I know the man underneath all the bloodshed, and he’s not as bad as he might think.” I’m well aware Runes has done bad things. I mean, he’s in a biker club called the Raiders of Valhalla MC. Their name alone is terrifying, but it’s also a warning. Swaying those who would oppose them to reconsider, or at least I hope they would. Vikings were known for their raids hundreds of years ago, and Charm told me each of the men are descendants of real-life Vikings. Even so, the raiders from centuries ago had women who loved them too, and they were able to see past the horrors their men committed.
Runes grows a bit closer to me and takes his other hand, wrapping it around my throat gently. He licks his lips, and I take in short, small breaths as I await his next move. His eyes waver over my body, and before I know it, his hands are at the bottom of my blouse, pulling it up desperately. We act like sex-crazed teenagers, pawing and ripping at the other’s clothes.
Before long, he’s shirtless and his trousers are falling to his feet. Meanwhile, he’s staring in awe of me. “You had this on under that?” He licks his lips once more, eyes focused on the white-lace getup I’m wearing underneath. When I bought this online, it said it was a maid outfit, but if it is, it has to be a sexy French maid outfi
t.
He runs his fingertips against the white lace and sucks in a sharp breath. “Fuck, I’m not gonna be able to hold back from this, sweetie.”
I smirk. “Maybe I don’t want you to. I had this planned as a surprise if things went well today, and all things considered, I’d say we have something to celebrate.”
Runes drops his hand from my waist, slides it across the lace covering my ass, and snakes underneath. Within a second, he’s pulling at the black lace thong until it drops to my knees. He flips me around, presses me against the wall, and his hardness presses against my ass. “You have no idea what you’ve done to me today, little girl.”
I look behind me and stare directly at him. “No, I do, and I want you to unleash the beast.” I lick my lips seductively, and Runes curses under his breath.
He pulls his cock out from the confines of his boxers and lines himself up at my entrance. I took out the bullet thing earlier. It’s nothing compared to the real deal, and this is what I’ve wanted more than anything.
Without warning, he’s ramming himself inside me. My walls burn, not able to have the time I’m used to. He’s a thick and long man, which means I’m always needing a few minutes of foreplay, but there’s no foreplay today.
Instead, he’s getting down and dirty, and he’s ready to make sure it counts. His balls slap against my wet pussy, and I cry out with every thrust. He changes his angle, rubbing against my G-spot with every thrust, and I lose it.
He’s fucking me so hard I’m not paying attention to anything going on around us, until now. “Dad, we still going to GameStop?” Tor’s voice rings from down the hallway, and I instantly tense. I smack at Runes, but he doesn’t relent, and the next thing I hear is.
Sinister (Raiders of Valhalla MC Book 2) Page 7
