by Jolie Day
She touches my chin and runs her finger along the scar. “Is it rude of me to ask how you got this?”
Her question catches me off guard, but I shake my head because I’m not going to keep any more secrets from her now. I might as well tell her. “The last day I saw my dad—I remember it like it was yesterday—I had this strange feeling. I felt something was off. He didn’t say goodbye—nothing—even though I was right fucking there. It happened years ago.” I shake my head. “A grown-ass man trying one last pathetic attempt at building some kind of bridge between us, to at least see a hint of love from the man. But I only saw the back of his bike riding down the street. I screamed and even ran after him, and I’m sure he saw me in his mirror.”
I pause and take a breath, thinking back on that day. “I wasn’t looking where I was going, just…running. I tripped over a ball some neighborhood kids had kicked into the road and fell against the curb.” I stare at the ceiling, trying to get rid of that memory. It’s not something I ever talk about. Every time I saw the scar, even on the days I just wanted to forget about my father, I couldn’t. It was always there as a daily reminder. Then she touches my chin again, and I’m back, looking at the woman I love.
Charlie stares into my eyes, hers are sad, and dropping her hand, she gives a small shrug. “Maybe he didn’t see you.”
“Yeah, that’s what I kept telling myself.”
“Maybe he had his reasons.”
“He did. I know he did. Probably couldn’t show that he cared. He did some shit, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think he was the bastard I—we all—believed him to be for all these years.”
She’s quiet for a long time before placing her hands across her stomach and looking down at it in a loving and protective way. “You certainly don’t get to choose your family. But I guess the ones who disappoint you aren’t what’s important. It’s more about how you love and honor what you do have right in front of you.” She grabs my hand. “And, the investors shouldn’t shirk everything you and your grandfather have done just because your dad made some mistakes. He obviously paid the ultimate price for them, and so have you.”
“Try telling them that.”
“You tell them that. I’m sure if their families were put under a microscope, they’re not so perfect, either. But the MC culture your dad was swept up in is part of what gives Embry its edge. It’s what makes the company original. And refreshing.”
I’m almost breathless when she explains it that way. “I never expected anybody to understand me or my family’s company. But then again, I guess that’s why I’m here. I never expected to find somebody like you.” A huge knot forms in my throat when I see the looming uncertainty on her face. She thought she was getting a wealthy CEO and part-time biker bad boy—not somebody who comes from a family with such a dark past.
“I’m sure you’re thinking you couldn’t have ended up with a worse baby daddy.” I laugh, but I feel the words deep inside. It’s got to be what she’s thinking.
But her eyes jerk back to mine, almost like she’s offended. “I never said that. I just…I didn’t expect you to show up here and say all these things. I…I was certain you didn’t…that you wouldn’t want…”
“Well, I do.” I squeeze her hands tighter. “If you’ll have me, I very much want you and this baby. Even before I knew you were pregnant—I was coming here to tell you how I feel. And to tell you that I asked Nora not to send the annulment papers.”
Her eyes widen. “You did what? No wonder I haven’t heard from her.”
I look around the room again, noticing her bag tossed on the desk with some of the contents spilled out, including the ring. I jump up to grab it, and turn around to get down on one knee, taking her hands in mine as she sits perched on the edge of the bed.
“I don’t remember every detail of how this went down the first time, but I remember the important part. Which is that whatever I felt that night that made me want to get down on one knee and ask you to marry me was real. And I feel the same way now. I love you like a madman. And I want you to be…I want you to continue to be my wife. Charlie, will you stay married to me?”
She bursts into something between laughter and tears. “Yes,” she says with a big exhale. “If…if you’re sure.”
I grin. “Oh, I’m sure.”
“Yes, I will stay married to you.” Her voice is floaty and happy.
My heart swells, and I quickly slide the ring back on her finger and scoop her into my arms. “Don’t act so surprised that I’d fall in love with you and want to have a family with you.”
“Oh, sure. Why should that be surprising?”
“Things change, don’t they?” I slide my hand across her stomach. “With the right person.”
She presses her lips to mine passionately, losing herself. I lay her down on the bed, not wanting to break the kiss. It gets deeper, more frantic when she rolls her tongue across mine.
When I let my hands explore under her T-shirt, dragging across her stomach, it’s hard to believe that in just a few months her belly will be swollen with our baby growing inside. It’s enough to break our kiss when I stare down at it and then back to her again in disbelief.
“It’s strange how you never realize how badly you want something until you’ve actually got it. I never would’ve imagined any of this happening, but now that it is…God, Charlie, you’ve made me a very happy man.”
Her eyes are soft and tender when she tilts her head, taking me in and all my words. I can’t resist trailing my thumb along the side of her soft cheek down to her plump bottom lip. “You’re so beautiful.”
She laughs and looks down at her shirt. “Even now?”
“I hadn’t noticed the unicorn.”
“Oh, my God.” She throws her face into her hands, nudging me in the ribs. “Get up and let me change into something more suitable.”
“No way.” I grab her arm and pull her back to the bed. “There’s a better way to fix this.” I slide my hands underneath her shirt before lifting it over her tits.
She raises her brows with a smile. “Oh, that’s better?”
“Much,” I groan, bringing her mouth back to mine, my hands caressing her tits. Under my touch, her nipples tighten into puckered peaks, and I brush and tease them, loving the sound of her whimpering.
25
Charlie
I run my fingers through Joel’s dark hair as his body moves over mine, his hands cupping my breasts. Any concern I had about anyone being sexually attracted to me now that I’m pregnant, even if I’m not showing yet, flies out the window as he swings me over to straddle those thick muscular legs of his.
He’s right about sometimes not knowing how badly you want something until you have it. I’ve spent days focusing on how badly I didn’t want this, because I didn’t think I could want it. I didn’t think it’d ever happen. And now, all that seems to matter in the world is the way his hands wrap around my waist, begging me to press against the hardness beneath his jeans. He claws into my ass, rocking me against him. He holds me tight and pins me against his warm body like I’m the most precious thing in the whole world.
Our mouths are intertwined in an endless, deep stream of biting, sucking, stroking. He takes in big handfuls of my exposed breasts and squeezes my nipples, before lifting the shirt over my head completely and tossing it to the floor. We begin kissing again but finally he breaks free long enough to pull at his clothes and throw them aside. All I have left on are my damp panties, and they soon join the rest of the pile next to the bed. Until finally, nothing is between us anymore.
No more secrets and no more clothes, and I’ve never been more turned on in my life. He’s impossibly hard and ready to go, coaxing the folds between my legs softly and playfully with his fingers and a hungry grin. For all the fantasies I had in this very bed, and the mixture of disappointing make-out sessions with high school boyfriends, I never expected to have a man like Joel right here—especially not under these circumstances.
As his fingers slide inside of me, I know I’m too wet and impatient to dance around things. I feel the urgent need to feel the length of him inside of me as soon as possible. But I play his game long enough to stroke him and slowly take him into my mouth. He hisses out the deeper I go, trying not to pull my hair too hard in his excitement.
I keep taking him in and out until he’s writhing and begging for more. He’s caught up to me—not wanting to wait anymore, either. I push his hand away from its teasing, stroking motions, and swing my leg across his body. I toss my head back as I lower onto him, letting his hands sweep across me.
We stay like that for a while, with me moving at a steady pace as the moon shines through the window over my naked body. It gives everything a sort of magical blue cast, and I find myself wanting to hit pause in my brain. Whatever stress comes after this with marriage and a baby, I just want to remember this moment when we’re both flooded with the relief of each other.
His eyes glint in the darkness, watching me in delight, while the muscles of his chest tighten. Each time I lower myself, taking him in as deep as I can, he squirms and swears with heavy breaths. We’re both clawing into each other, feeling too good to move or go faster but yearning for more all at once.
When he can’t stand it anymore, he flips me over again, angling my legs up to slide deep inside of me at the perfect angle. I want to pull a handful of my pillow over my mouth to keep from crying out, but he holds my arms down above my head and presses them firmly against the mattress. Then he thrusts into me deep and hard, his forehead resting against mine. I gasp into his ear. He drives into me again and again, and I feel like I’m being pierced by hard steel, unable to escape. My sex begins to tighten around him as he continues to thrust into me, his head dropping to my neck as we both moan in surprise over just how good it feels—better than either of us dreamed it could. Is this what love and commitment does for sex?
It feels like I slip into some sort of alternate universe where there’s nothing but his skin and mine, sliding across one another with long, slow tantalizing strokes of pleasure. I can feel myself getting closer as he picks up the pace, and then he bites my neck—pushing me over the edge.
“Oh, God, Joel,” I whisper as quietly as I can with my voice cracking over the strain to stay quiet. “Don’t stop!”
I unravel beneath him, bucking my hips up to press further into every last earth-shattering push and pull, until the crashing wave of it subsides.
He slows for a moment, still deep inside of me, pressing me tightly against him, kissing me softly as we both laugh a little at how intense it was. But he’s not done yet, and I’m more than happy to keep going until he is. Especially with his tendency to make me orgasm more than once before he does. Of course, with as strong as mine just was—it might actually count as two or three.
But suddenly, he pulls out and begins kissing down to my breasts.
“What are you doing?” I instinctively want to close my legs, but he spreads them again.
“Just seeing if we can make a new record for you.” He winks and starts trailing his tongue around my hard nipples, making me tremble against his mouth.
The tips of his scruffy hair disappear between my legs, and I feel his warm tongue run up and down my clit as I lay back and give in, deciding that I’ll let him go at it for as long as he wants to (and that’s probably the best decision I’ve ever made). Our sleep is already shot for the night, and anyway, a woman in my condition deserves a little special attention.
Sometime after the sun has come up, Joel and I wake up with big smiles still plastered on our faces. We stare at each other in the harsh sunlight, laughing over fond memories from hours ago. He pulls me into a hug, his hand squeezing my naked butt. My body is aching and tingling with desire, and if I weren’t so afraid of my mum bursting in, I’d demand another round. It makes me that much more eager to get on with whatever happens next, so we can have many more nights and mornings like this, only in a place to ourselves.
“I guess I should go downstairs and tell Mum the good news. And get some breakfast.” I finally sigh, not wanting to peel myself from the bed. “I’ve noticed that skipping meals makes me awfully faint now.”
“No skipping meals,” he orders in concern. “You’re eating for two now. If anything, you should be eating extra meals.” His attention turns to his phone, which has been turned off this whole time. “I’m scared to turn it back on.”
“As much as I’m sure everyone at the office is upset for you leaving them hanging on the IPO mess, I can’t think of a better reason to do so than coming here for me.”
He leans in and kisses me, gently speaking against my lips in his sexy low rasp. “I should’ve never let you go in the first place.”
Our quick kiss turns into a long one, followed by a collapse back onto the bed. We ravage each other’s mouths for longer than we should before finally accepting we have to go back to the real world now.
“You go ahead downstairs.” He kisses my shoulder and gives me a playful smack to my butt as I climb out of bed. “I’ll just stay here and try to come up with something to fix this whole clusterfuck before I call.”
“It’s a shame none of those bankers are bikers,” I muse as I slide into panties and a pair of jeans. “They wouldn’t be so judgmental if they were. I can see them now—all sitting around the boardroom table discussing the tainted past of the club, but all they’re really thinking about is how they can’t wait until the next time they’ll be able to hop onto a bike and feel the wind in their hair. Oh, and all those vibrations!” I tease, still topless, planting a kiss on his cheek.
He slides both hands around my rear and pulls me close to him. I feel his breath on my breasts and my nipples harden instantly—to his delight. “You’re a very bad girl, you know that?” he mumbles, giving them a playful nibble.
The deep growl in his voice gets me all riled up again, giving me half a mind to make everything else wait.
“I really should go down now before my mum comes to us.” I pull back and leave him to it, whispering “good luck” before I put on the rest of my clothes and shut my bedroom door behind me.
I find Mum singing in the kitchen, happily preparing us a big breakfast, complete with a selection of coffee, croissants, and tea.
“What’s all this?”
“Oh, just a little feast to celebrate.” She beams.
“Celebrate what?”
“Well, Joel is still here, isn’t he? And you’re all lit up with that look in your eye. I take it things went well?”
She pries into me with her eyes, and I have to do my best not to flash back to just how well it went last night, at least not while she’s staring at me like that.
“Yeah.” I shrug innocently. As I say it, Joel comes bounding into the kitchen sooner than I expected. “Well, Mum, I guess this is as good a time as any to officially introduce you to…”
“…her husband.” Joel smiles.
She shrieks and laughs, pulling us both into a big hug, as if this were all completely normal circumstances for accepting a new son-in-law into your family.
“Did you make your call that fast?” I ask him as soon as we’re free from her grip.
“Actually, no. Time difference. Offices are closed. Also, um, I have an idea. As a matter of fact, it was yours. You’re a genius.”
“What did I say?”
“You’ll see. But we really do have to get back to New York as soon as possible.”
My mother insists that we sit down and enjoy the big breakfast she’s prepared, which we’re both happy to do. But whatever Joel has in the works seems big. His excitement is infectious and making me eager to get back, too. Plus, I know I’ll get to pop up on Nora’s doorstep and surprise her.
The minute we’re done eating we start gathering our things and tell my mum goodbye. I’m reluctant to leave so soon, but he promises many more frequent trips back to London from now on.
“The past of this company as far as my father is c
oncerned isn’t exactly something we’re proud of,” Joel explains confidently to the table of men. “Which means the worth of our company isn’t something everybody can appreciate. That’s why I’ve asked all of you here today.”
On one side of the room sits a row of gruff-looking biker dudes, while a line of stuffy-looking bankers in suits sit across from them. It’s an odd mix of ties and chain wallets, salt-and-pepper facial hair, and smooth skin with the scent of aftershave. Joel’s two worlds are officially sitting in a room together for the first time ever, and he seems more optimistic than I’ve ever seen him.
“I hope you’ll take the time to look over the information we’ve prepared for you. Please note that any money my father ever embezzled from this company has been replenished. And while I can’t undo some of the other mistakes he made, I think we can all appreciate the fact that unique, sometimes risky circumstances sometimes yield the most rewarding gains.” He flashes a subtle grin in my direction before continuing, “And I’m confident that’s what each of you will find if you work with us to make this public stock option a reality.”
The room erupts in a chorus of excited whispers. Except for the biker dudes—they already had their minds made up before they came. All Joel had to do was find other old-school guys like Max who were fairly well-off. Marcus Willingham, Joe Francis, Jonah Michaels, and Aaron Patterson—kick-ass experts in their field, and New York elites—knew all about Joel and Embry Gear and were eager to commit to buying a good number of the shares before they were even on the market.
With a little digging, Joel was able to find out which of the original interested investors also dabbled in cars or bikes. He tried to reach them and renew their interests, replacing the other bankers with men who were more open-minded and could take comfort in the eager investors already waiting for their chance to snatch up the stocks, even if they were scary-looking bikers.
