by Jessie Cooke
Doc shrugged. “I’m thinking more like sink or swim. Come on,” he said, putting an arm across a confused-as-hell Hawk’s shoulders. “Buy me another drink, I’m a proud-as-fuck father.”
23
“Okay,” Dallas said, trapping Hawk in the kitchen a week later. “Something big is going on around here. I get that I’m not privy to the business end of things, and I respect that. But this is more than business…am I right?”
“Maybe this is a conversation you should be having with your old man,” Hawk told her, trying to take a step around and get back to the bar. Dallas and Dax had come home from the hospital a few days before and the club was having a big barbecue to celebrate the new baby. Hawk had just gone into the kitchen for a glass of water. He had drunk too much the night before and he was dehydrated as hell. His head was pounding too. He didn’t want to deal with Doc’s bullshit…not today. He took a step in the direction of the door. Dallas, as tiny as she was, took a step sideways to block him. He shook his head. He wondered sometimes what Doc was thinking, finding himself such a stubborn woman. She was hot, but a dumb one would have been a hell of a lot easier to handle.
“I’m not gonna let it go, and don’t think I didn’t try to bring it up with my old man. But you know how stubborn he can be.”
Hawk chuckled. “Just imagine what the combination of your genes has done to that baby.”
“Hawk?”
“Coyote’s leaving for California,” he said, giving in. “Doc was planning on announcing it at the barbecue anyway.”
“He’s leaving? Like leaving the club?”
“No. He’s going out there to scout locations and gather intel, do some recruiting…we’re starting a West Coast chapter.”
“Alone?” she said, frowning. “Won’t that be dangerous?”
“Coyote can handle it. He’s smart and tough…”
“Doc’s doing this because of me, isn’t he?” Hawk knew how Coyote felt about Dallas – hell, everyone did. No one ever said anything, though. It was a dangerous subject, as evidenced by Coyote’s broken nose.
“Again, you’ll have to talk to your old man. That’s all I can tell you, Dal.”
“Where’s Coyote? I haven’t even seen him since I’ve been home.”
Hawk raised an eyebrow. She’d see him soon enough because Doc would demand he be at the barbecue when the announcement was made. “He’s been busy,” he said.
“Where is he?”
“Haven’t seen him today.”
Dallas let out a little growl. “You should all work for the fucking CIA. Everything is fucking top secret around this place.”
Hawk chuckled again and that earned him an evil look. Being slightly evil himself and in more of a foul mood now than he was in earlier he said, “Check the shop. I think I heard him say something about doing some work on his bike this morning.”
“Was that so hard?” she asked.
Still smiling, Hawk said, “We shall see.”
“Coyote? Are you here?”
Dallas heard the clink of a tool and a few seconds later, Coyote’s voice. “Yeah, I’m here. What’s up?”
“Um…can you come out where I can see you so I don’t have to talk to your disembodied voice?” She thought she heard a whispered curse, but at last she saw him stand up from behind one of the large toolboxes. As she got closer to him, she realized that he had light purple and yellow bruises on his face, across his nose, which looked swollen…and dark purple circles underneath his eyes. “What in God’s name happened to you?”
Coyote picked up his beer, took a drink, and said, “I don’t think God has much of anything to do with what goes on around here, Dallas.”
“Did Doc do that to you?” She had noticed bruises and scrapes on the knuckles of Doc’s right hand. When she asked him about them he said he’d hit his fist up against something while he was working in the shop. He looked her in the eyes and lied…just like that.
Coyote didn’t answer the question. Instead he said, “What’s up, Dal? I don’t mean to be rude, but I need to get this finished before I’m expected over at the barbecue.”
She shuddered at the thought of Doc doing that to Coyote’s face, but it was too much of a coincidence to not be true. She changed tactics, however. “Why is he sending you to California?”
“Business,” Coyote said.
“Bullshit. He’s sending you out there because you have feelings for me.” There, she said it. She wanted him to know that she didn’t fault him for how he felt, and she was grateful for how respectful he always was. He didn’t have to go away. Eventually whatever he was feeling would fade and he’d meet someone of his own. What Doc was doing to him wasn’t fair.
“Dallas, you talking to me out here, alone, about this, is not going to help the situation. Doc is right to be pissed. He’s right to want me as far away from you as possible. I would feel the same.”
“No. He’s not right. You haven’t done anything.”
“Look, Dal…” Coyote wiped off his greasy hands and took a seat up against the bike he’d been working on. “Doc didn’t get where he is by allowing anyone to walk over him. He doesn’t just demand respect, he commands it. He has a gift, and I’m impressed by him on a daily basis. I’ve learned so much from him. And instead of looking at being sent to Cali as a punishment, I’m looking at it as an opportunity. So please, don’t try to stop this. It won’t do either of us any good. You know that once Doc makes up his mind, that’s all there is to it. And in this case, I wouldn’t even want him to change his mind. It’ll do me good to be on my own. I do solitude well, Dal. I’ll be okay.”
“It’s not fair,” she said. “You’re my friend. Shouldn’t I be allowed to have friends? None of the women around here like me and I can’t carry on a conversation with any of the other guys the way I can with you. It’s not fair, for him to take that away from me, and put you in a dangerous situation, because he’s jealous.”
“He’s not jealous, Dal. Doc knows nothing would ever happen between us. What you have to understand is that if he can see how I feel, then everyone else can too. Just think what it would do to the respect that his men have for him, if he just allowed some guy to walk around here mooning over his old lady. I completely understand what he’s doing and why. And, like I said, it’s an opportunity for me. Before you know it, I’ll be the president of my own club. And you know what?”
Dallas had tears in her eyes. She hadn’t even realized just how much her friendship with Coyote meant until that moment. He was really her only friend on the ranch. “What?” she said, grudgingly.
“No matter how far I go in life from here, I’ll always owe Doc for giving me a chance, giving me my start, and teaching me how to command respect without being an absolute dick.”
Dallas snorted. “It looks like he broke your nose. How is that not him being a dick?”
Coyote shrugged and grinned. “He was drunk when he did it. Besides, it’s a lot less than what I’d do to some SOB that fell in love with my old lady. Now do me a favor, Dal…go back to the party before Doc notices that neither of us are there. I’m not looking to get my ass kicked again today.”
She fought back the tears that so badly wanted to spill down her cheeks as she turned to leave the shop. She made it all the way to the door but stopped when she got there. “Coyote?”
“Yeah?”
“Weren’t you practically a professional fighter at one time?”
“I wouldn’t say professional, but I did okay.” Dallas had heard stories and she knew he did better than “okay.”
“Doc doesn’t have a scratch on him anywhere but his knuckles. Why is that?”
Coyote stared at her face for a few seconds and then said, “The better man always wins, Dal. I’ll see you up at the club in a bit.”
24
Six Weeks Later
“Where’s Doc?” Dallas ran into the club, carrying the plastic carrier that Dax was tucked into. She had just come back from the doctor and her
last postpartum checkup. She had also taken Dax to the pediatrician and they both got healthy stamps of approval. Her doctor went one step further, however, and she couldn’t wait to tell Doc. She’d already been all the way out to their house, but he wasn’t there.
“Saw him going out to the shop a little bit ago,” Badger said. Dax made a noise in his sleep and Badger looked down at him and wrinkled his nose. When he looked up and saw Dallas was looking at him, he smiled and said, “Cute kid.” Dallas liked Badger less a little each day and she couldn’t figure out why Doc trusted him. She wished more than once that he’d sent Badger out to California instead of Coyote. There was something not right about him, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. She tried talking to Doc about it, but he had laughed at her and told her he couldn’t pick and choose his men based on “women’s intuition.”
Dallas gave him a fake smile for his fake compliment and headed out to the shop. She saw Toolie as soon as she walked in. “Hey! There’s the mama and the little prince. How are y’all doing today?” Toolie wiped his oily hands on a towel and went over to look at the baby. His reaction was worlds apart from Badger’s. Toolie’s smile was genuine; it reached his eyes. Dallas sat the carrier down and smiled at the older man.
“We are doing great, Toolie. How are you today?”
He was making faces at the baby. “If I was any better I’d be twins,” he said.
Dallas laughed. “Where’s my old man?”
“He went into the back, checking out a new paint job, I think.” Dallas tried not to get too involved in what went on out in the shop. She knew they had legitimate business; a lot of Harleys got brought in and worked on or customized. But she also knew that roomful of parts and freshly painted vehicles out back could get them into a lot of trouble if the police ever walked in with a warrant.
“Do you mind watching the baby for a few minutes? I need to talk to him.”
“Not at all. Lemme wash my hands first, just in case the little man wants to be held.”
“Okay, but you have to hold his head, Toolie, he can’t hold it up himself yet.” Toolie made a face at her and said:
“I raised my three brothers since I was twelve years old. I know how to take care of a baby.”
“You did? I didn’t know that.”
“I don’t talk about it much. My mom and dad got in an accident when I was twelve. Dad died, Mom was…just never really the same. The boys were two months, three years old, and five at the time. I got ’em all to adulthood without too many broken bones and only a few arrests,” he said, proudly. Dallas smiled at him again.
“That’s great, Toolie. Maybe you can babysit for Dax sometime.”
“Anytime,” he told her with a wink. He finished washing the grease off his hands and she watched him dry them carefully before unbuckling Dax’s seatbelt. The baby had just woken up and he’d be hungry soon…but there was something Dallas needed first. She watched Toolie slide one hand under the baby’s head and the other under his diapered butt and slide him out of the carrier. Toolie was talking to him the whole time. “Such a handsome little prince, aren’t you? You’re gonna have the girls going wild.” Dax was staring with his big blue eyes at the grizzled biker. He looked like he was interested in what Toolie was saying. Dallas thought her baby was probably a genius, like his daddy. She could tell that he already had deep thoughts.
“You guys okay?”
Toolie rolled his eyes and told Dax, “Tell your mama to go on, will you? We’re fine. We’re gonna share a joint and a beer and watch some porn…”
“Toolie!”
He laughed. “Get! We’re good.”
Dallas left, laughing, and went into the back to find Doc. He was in the paint room, looking at a ’69 Pontiac GTO with a brand-new paint job. He didn’t see Dallas come in and she heard him asking Inky, the painter, “VIN numbers all changed?”
“Yep, this car’s first owner wouldn’t recognize her. Paint’s all dry, Toolie’s already been through the engine…she’s ready to roll.”
Dallas cleared her throat. She knew Doc would be upset with her if she overheard too much. “Oh, hey, baby,” Doc said, going over and sliding an arm around her waist. “How was your appointment?”
“Fabulous,” she said. She looked at Inky and said, “Inky, could you take a little break? I kind of need to talk to my old man.”
Inky looked at Doc and Doc nodded at him. When the young kid was gone, he looked back at Dallas and said, “Where’s the baby?”
“Toolie’s watching him.” Doc raised an eyebrow and Dallas giggled. “He raised his three brothers, did you know that?”
“Can’t say as I did.”
“It’s a true story,” she said with a wink. “He’s fine, really. They were going to have a beer and share a joint or something.”
Doc chuckled. “Oh well, in that case…So what’s up, babe?”
Dallas reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a square piece of paper. She handed it to Doc and with a curious look, he unfolded it. She watched a smile spread across his face as he read it. “Hot damn! Not that I don’t love your blowjobs, baby, but I’ve been aching for that pussy.”
She giggled. “She’s been aching for you. You wanna do it in the car?”
Doc’s eyes got big. “Seriously?”
“Mm-hmm,” she said, putting her hands on his belt. She had it undone before he recovered from the shock of her suggestion.
“Maybe we should run up to the house….”
“You scared?”
He laughed. “Scared? No, baby, I’m not scared of anything.” Dallas knew that was true, and it was the one thing that worried her the most. But today, she wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of the joy of making love to her man after almost two months.
She had his belt undone and was working on his jeans. “We should hurry. I’m not sure how long Toolie signed on for. I’m totally serious, old man. Let’s go.”
Doc laughed and pushed her back up against the GTO. “Who you calling an old man?” he asked, sucking in a hard breath as she slipped her hand around his cock.
“You’re my old man,” she whispered.
He laughed again, “Good save.” He reached around her to the door handle. While he opened the door with one hand, he was pulling the straps of her dress down off her shoulders with the other. Dallas let go of his now throbbing cock and pulled the dress over her head. Doc’s eyes got big again when he saw that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath the dress. “Um…no underwear today?”
She giggled. “When I got dressed at the doctor’s office I was in such a hurry to get home and do you…I didn’t have time for things like bras and panties.”
He shook his head and pulled off his shirt and jeans. Then holding the door open and flipping the front seat forward he said, “Get in the backseat, baby.” Dallas slid in on the smooth, cold leather and so did Doc right after. By that time his shorts were gone too. He put his arm around her and pulled her in for a kiss.
Dallas loved the way he kissed her. Every time they kissed, her body felt like it was the first time all over again. He never hurried, always let his tongue take its time, licking and tasting the inside of her mouth. Then he would nibble and lick at her lips before finally ending it with a toe-curling, oxygen-stealing open-mouth kiss that any romance novelist would die for a chance to describe. While he kissed her this time he slid a hand down between her legs. He hadn’t touched her there in over a month…almost two. He’d been afraid to make love to her the last couple weeks of her pregnancy, or at least that’s what he told her. When she was feeling bad, she wondered if he didn’t find her attractive with her swollen belly…and of course there was Abril…she couldn’t get her out of her mind. For now, though, it was just her and Doc in the back seat of a freshly painted Pontiac GTO…and life was good.
He ran his fingers along her slit, playing in her wetness before bringing them up and pressing into her clit and rubbing it in circles. She wanted to tell him he n
eeded to hurry up…but she was enjoying what he was doing, way too much. His mouth was suddenly on her neck, licking and sucking, breathing his hot breath onto her sensitive skin and causing her to shudder violently. He licked her nipples, being careful not to bite down on them like she knew he liked to. They were sore from nursing and her heart warmed when she realized he was being gentle because he knew that. His lips made it down to her stomach and she pushed against the front seat with her feet, widening her legs, dying for his tongue to be in her hot center. Finally, he licked around the tops of her thighs and she grabbed his shoulder-length blond hair and cried out his name when his tongue touched her desperate pussy at last.
He spent some time, probably way too much time, licking and sucking at her lips. His tongue kept skimming over her swollen clit and she was squirming all over the seat, gasping and moaning. Doc slid two fingers up inside of her and began to work them around inside, and move them in and out while sucking, nibbling, and slurping at her clit. It was so good…so sexy…that for a few minutes she forgot again they had to hurry.
He was still working his fingers in and out of her and she was getting close to an orgasm. She lost her train of thought again when he applied pressure to the ridges of her tight muscles with his expert fingers. She arched her back, brought her hips up off the seat, and cried out again, this time louder as her orgasm rushed to the surface. She pulled at his hair with one hand and dug at the skin of his shoulders with the other. It seemed to take forever for her to come down from the high the orgasm had put her on, but when she did, with her eyes glazed over and her lips and tongue barely able to form speech she said:
“Doc, now. Fuck me. Now.” Doc let his fingers slide out of her and she let go of his hair so he could sit up. Once he was sitting on the seat, she climbed up and straddled his lap, reaching down to take his throbbing cock in her hands and guiding it to her pussy. It had been so long, and of course she’d just had the baby, so she was tight, and sore, and it took a full minute for her to wiggle down on top of him so that he was buried inside of her and they were hip to hip. Doc was gasping now, gripping onto the cheeks of her butt so tightly that he would likely leave handprints there.
