by A. M. Myers
“What are you saying?” I whisper, searching his gaze but he doesn’t give anything away. My heart hammers in my chest as my body wants to melt into his as he presses himself against me, his arms locked tight around my waist.
He opens his mouth like he’s going to say something before clamping it shut again and his eyes search my face but before I get the chance to say anything else, he slips his hand into my hair and slams his lips down on mine. We move on instinct, coming together like we were never apart and my body sings as I wrap my arms around his neck and arch into him. His kiss is rough, demanding, and full of the pain of the last ten years but it’s exactly what I need, what I’ve craved since the moment I walked away from him. Gone is the boy who treated me with kid gloves but I can’t say that I mind all that much. He sinks his teeth into my bottom lip and I cry out. My nipples tighten as I rub my chest against him, needing more and he growls against my lips.
Gripping my hair, he pulls my head back and drags his lips down the side of my neck, ripping another moan from my mouth as he kisses, licks, and bites at my skin. My belly clenches and tears form in my eyes as he works his way back up to my kiss, claiming me, consuming me. Fisting his shirt in my hands, I cling to him as a delicious shudder racks my body and I whimper for relief.
God, I missed him.
“Piper,” he groans, grabbing my hips and pulling me closer as he thrusts forward, pressing his hard length into my hip. I moan again, desperate for all of him. “Fuck. I want you…”
I nod frantically. “Yes.”
With a sexy little growl, he lifts me off the floor and spins around before setting me on the counter. His hands roam all over my body, touching me everywhere he can reach as his mouth plants possessive kisses all down my neck and lips. My pussy clenches with need. Moaning, I slip my hands under his shirt, my fingertips dancing over the ridges of his muscles and he grips my hair again, pulling my head to one side as he kisses up my neck and releases a rough breath in my ear. I shudder.
“Wyatt.”
“Aw, fuck,” he whispers, his breath heating my skin before he drops his head back. “I missed that sound, baby.”
Pressing my lips to his neck, I start dragging his shirt up his body and he leans back to pull it over his head before grabbing my hips and slamming our bodies together again. Warmth floods my body and our heavy breaths fill the kitchen. He nips at my jaw as his hands slip under my tank top and he wastes no time ripping it over my head before reaching behind me and unhooking my bra. Cupping my breast in his hand, his groan rattles against my skin as he drags his mouth down to my chest and swirls his tongue over my nipple. My eyes close and I drop my head back and my fingers find their way into his hair.
“Oh, God… Wyatt.”
“Say my name again, Pip. Who do you belong to?”
I moan as my skin tingles. “You, Wyatt.”
“Damn fucking right you do,” he growls, slipping back up my body and claiming my lips again. Oh, fuck, I love possessive Wyatt. His hand slips into the back of my shorts and he grips my ass, pulling me into him as he thrusts forward. “Tell me why you left me?”
I shake my head. “No.”
His growl is more intense as he reaches between us and unbuttons my shorts before thrusting his hips against me again.
“Tell me.”
“No,” I snap, grabbing the back of his head and shoving his lips to my neck. He kisses and bites a line down to my shoulder and I gasp as he growls, biting me a little harder than before. Yanking me off the counter, he still manages to be gentle as he sets me back on my feet but as soon as I’m steady, he shoves my shorts down my legs and spins me around. My body throbs with need stronger than I’ve ever felt and my heart flutters as he grabs my wrists and plants my hands on the counter in front of me.
“Why did you leave me?” he growls in my ear. I hear the sound of his belt coming undone and my heart thunders against my ribs as my entire body tightens in anticipation. I shake my head again in response and his frustrated groan reaches me at the same time that he pulls my panties to the side and I feel the head of his cock press against my entrance.
“Tell me,” he demands and I shake my head again, squeezing my eyes closed and mentally begging for him to thrust forward.
“No.”
With a roar, he slams into me and I cry out, my fingertips gripping the counter in front of me as he grabs my hips and squeezes them to the point of pain. He pulls back and drives home again, his pace punishing and rough but it’s exactly what I needed. Leaning over me, he reaches around my body and wraps his hand around my throat, pulling me back to him and I moan. If this were any other man, the move would terrify me but not Wyatt. He’s always been my solace, my port in the storm and even in his righteous anger, I know without a shadow of a doubt that he would never hurt me. His fingertips trace the scar along my neck and he presses a soft, loving kiss to it. It’s such a contrast to the aggressive way he’s taking me that tears spring to my eyes again.
“Wyatt,” I whisper, pain swamping my chest as I feel his love, buried underneath years of hurt and anger, and my body tightens with my impending release.
“You wait for me.”
I shake my head. “I can’t.”
“Figure it out. You’ll wait for me just like you should have done ten years ago.”
Between the mention of our past and the demanding tone of his voice, I can’t hold it back any longer and I cry out as my orgasm tears through me. His grip on my throat tightens as he thrusts into me a few more times before tensing and groaning loudly in my ear. We both struggle to catch our breaths as the silence of the apartment becomes louder and louder, my mind racing with what we just did and wondering if he thinks it was a mistake.
Oh, God…
Please say something…
My heart races for a whole other reason as he pulls out of me and I hear his belt clink. When I spin around, he is pulling his jeans up and he refuses to meet my eyes, an unreadable expression on his face. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, he leans down and scoops up his t-shirt before meeting my gaze with a sigh. We stare at each other for a second before he shakes his head and walks out of my apartment. The door slams behind him and I stare at it for a second before the tears start falling.
Chapter Thirteen
Wyatt
A heavy sigh slips past my lips and I close my eyes and I run my hand through my hair before opening them again and staring up at the same spot on the ceiling that I’ve been staring at for hours. I’ve been here, thinking and making myself crazy since three this morning when I was woken up by a very vivid dream of Piper and me, with just one thought running through my head.
I fucked up.
The plan when I went over to her house last night was simple enough. Step one, find out if Eden was telling the truth about Piper lying to me and if she was, get Piper to open up and tell me whatever this big secret is. Step two, find a way to get my woman back. I’m not naive enough to think that it will be easy but after my little revelation at the barbecue last night, it is the only option.
See?
Simple.
Except, as soon as I walked through the door of her apartment and saw the ridiculous little shorts she was wearing that showed off her toned legs and I remembered what it felt like for them to be wrapped around my waist, I knew I was I trouble. When the smell of her honeysuckle perfume, the same stuff she used to wear when we were kids, surrounded me and I saw the framed photo of us on our wedding day proudly displayed on her bookshelf, I was fucking doomed. My head was swimming and I couldn’t ignore the way she makes me feel. It’s fucking insane that even after ten years apart, and all the pain and anger between us, that she can still do that to me but every cell in my body was screaming at me to pull her into my arms and never let her go again. I was going to use our connection and the insane chemistry between us to try and trip her up, forcing her into revealing something she didn’t intend to but I got careless and I was right there with her. Next thing I kno
w, I’m balls deep inside my wife for the first time in ten years and demanding answers that she refused to give. Now, all I can fucking think about is doing it again. Groaning, I throw the covers off of my legs and sit up on the edge of the bed as I drop my head into my hands.
Fuck.
What a goddamn mess.
At least the night wasn’t a total waste, though. One thing I know for sure now is that Eden was telling the truth when she told me Piper is keeping secrets from me. Not that I know what those secrets are yet but as soon as I looked into Piper’s eyes, I knew she was lying. I honestly can’t believe I didn’t see if before and the other thing that became very clear to me last night is that Piper still loves me just as much as I love her.
So, why did she leave?
Shaking my head, I stand up and toss my covers back so the bed looks like I at least made an attempt to make it before I throw on some clothes and head downstairs. I don’t want to say that why she left me doesn’t matter anymore because I still want to know but it also has lost some significance after what happened last night. Whatever took her away from me ten years ago didn’t do anything to the love we share or our connection and if anything, I’m more determined to get my wife back than I was before. I’ve been a goddamn idiot for a decade and that ends now but first… I have to know what happened to make her leave me. It’s clear to me now that there never was anyone else if the look in her eyes and our wedding photo on her bookshelf is any indication but I am more confused now than I was before she walked back into my life.
What the hell made her leave?
Maybe I should just ask Streak to dig into her past but I want her to be the one to tell me. How could we truly move forward if she wasn’t?
Trudging into the kitchen, I sigh and after turning on the coffee maker, I sit down at the table and stare down at the files in a neat little stack before flipping open the first one. Laney’s picture stares back at me and I remember what Streak told me about Mitch last night. Sighing, I lean back in my chair and cross my arms over my chest as I stare at the file, my mind working through the new information… or lack of information, really. The fact that Streak can’t find any information on the man makes him even more suspicious but what can I do without hard evidence? God, maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree here. It takes a hell of a lot of brutality to commit these murders and if Mitch had that, shouldn’t we have seen it? Because there is a big difference between being a narcissistic asshole that hits your wife and the kind of psychopath that puts together a whole revenge plan that includes murdering three women.
The rich scent of coffee fills the air just before the machine beeps, letting me know it’s ready and I sigh as I stand up to grab a cup. I check my watch and glance over at the front door. After I got home last night, I tried to distract myself from how badly I had messed up and all the damn questions that have only gotten louder in the last twenty-four hours by reading through the files but I still couldn’t focus so I called Rodriguez to follow up on what Streak shared with me. He didn’t answer but maybe I can try him again now. I don’t know how much information he has to give me but truthfully, I’ll take anything at this point. It feels like I’ve been studying these damn files for years even though it’s only been a few months and I need to catch a break soon if I’m going to convince my brothers that we need to be looking into this. Stream billows around me as I pour myself a cup and turn, leaning back against the countertop as I sigh.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I dial his number and walk back over to the table, setting my coffee cup down before I slump in my chair. My gaze locks onto Laney’s picture again and I shake my head.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Diego. It’s Fuzz. You got a minute?” I ask, leaning forward and flipping the file closed. I can’t stand to look at her face anymore. It’s like she is mocking me with my inability to solve this or find any sort of evidence to back up my theory.
“Yeah, a couple. What’s up?”
“It’s about the cases.”
He sighs. “I don’t have anything new to give you, Fuzz. I really fucking wish I did but even I’m beginning to think I’m going crazy over here.”
“Yeah,” I mumble, running my hand through my hair. “Streak mentioned that you brought Dina’s husband, Mitch, in after she was killed…”
“That son of a bitch,” he hisses and I bite back a laugh. “He promised me he wouldn’t go through my files anymore.”
I chuckle, shaking my head. “Naw, he didn’t. He was looking into Mitch for me and saw that you brought him in for questioning.”
“Ah, okay…”
“He didn’t dig any further than that,” I assure him. “Out of respect for you, of course.”
He scoffs. “Respect, my ass. He won’t dig into my shit anymore because I told him I’d haul him into the station next time he did it.”
“Shit,” I reply, laughing as I shake my head and picture the look on Streak’s face if Rodriguez stormed the clubhouse and put him in cuffs. Rodriguez chuckles.
“Yeah. So, what do you need to know about Mitch?”
“Did you get anything out of him?”
He sighs again. “Not really. I asked him where he was when Dina was killed and he had an alibi…”
“How solid of an alibi?”
“Not super solid,” he answers, frustration lacing his tone. “But solid enough that I couldn’t justify keeping him any longer. His friends vouched for him but you know how that goes…”
I nod, running my hand through my hair. “Yeah. They’ve got his back whether they actually saw him or not.”
“Exactly. Why are you looking into him? You think he had something to do with this?”
“I don’t know,” I sigh, leaning back in my chair and shaking my head. “It’s a theory but I’m not getting anywhere with it.”
“Run it by me,” he instructs.
“Well, the killing started with Dina, right? So, yeah, technically, it could be anyone connected to the girls we’ve helped but why start with Dina? Not to mention, that when Storm and Chance went to pick her up, they got into a fight with Mitch and Chance pulled a gun on him…”
Rodriguez sucks in a breath. “I didn’t know that part.”
“I mean, nothing happened but seems to me a guy like Mitch wouldn’t take that embarrassment very well.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
My mind drifts back to what Streak said last night and I lean forward, flipping open Laney’s file. “Have you been able to find anything else on him? Streak said the guy is pretty non-existent online.”
“Naw, man. He lives his life like he’s got something to fucking hide but he does it well enough that I can’t find anything.”
Staring down at Laney’s photo, I nod. “You think he’s capable of this?”
“Shit, Fuzz,” he sighs. “You never know what someone is really capable of… but if you told me he was the guy, I wouldn’t be too surprised. He’s got serious anger issues and I get the feeling that is just the tip of the iceberg so yeah, I guess I think he’s capable.”
“You ever get anywhere on Laney or Sammy’s cases?”
“No,” he answers, pain lacing his voice and a pit forms in my stomach. I know he hasn’t been coping with Laney’s death very well but when you add in the fact that he still hasn’t found her killer, it only makes it worse.
“All right. Well… if you find anything, will you let me know?”
He sighs again. “Yeah, you got it.”
We say good-bye and after I hang up, I lean back in my chair and sigh. My mind drifts from the cases to the other huge problem in my life right now.
Piper.
What in the hell do I do about her?
Scrubbing my hand down my face, I close my eyes and the image of her looking up at me last night pops into my head, her green eyes boring into my flesh and I suck in a breath. My eyes pop open and I check my watch again, contemplating driving over to her place and demanding answers again before I stop
myself.
Shit.
Should I really be doing this?
Maybe I have just finally lost my mind and this whole plan to get Piper back is a delusion, fueled by my insanity. Then again, I haven’t felt this good in fucking years and even the frustration of the cases is not enough to damper my mood. Not when I can still feel her skin under my fingertips and her lips pressed against my neck. Fighting back a smile, I shake my head.
There are a few things I’m absolutely certain of - one, Piper never cheated on me. There is no possible way that is how things went down ten years ago because more than once I’ve caught her giving me the same damn look she used to give me when we were kids, like I’m her whole damn world. And yeah, she is still keeping secrets from me but that brings me to number two. Whatever she is hiding, whatever she has kept locked up for a decade doesn’t matter. We’ll get through it together. Last and most important, I’m not going to stop until I get my wife back.
If Piper thinks she’s seen me determined before, she’s got a whole other thing coming.
Letting my smile break through, I stand up and swipe my keys and phone off of the table before heading toward the door, ready to do whatever it takes to win her over. As I climb on my bike and it rumbles to life beneath me, I try to imagine what happened back then to make her leave. Since working with the club, my mind is full of awful scenarios but none of them really explain why she would leave. Did something happen to her? Did someone hurt her? The thought makes my blood boil and I swear I’ll hunt down whoever it is and make them pay. But it still doesn’t explain her disappearance…
I shake my head and steer my thoughts toward how I can convince her to open up to me as I pull out of my driveway. Clearly, I can’t use our connection because we’ll just end up in the same spot we were in last night, naked and all over each other, and if I try to push her, it will only make her lock up. I definitely need to drop the baby thing, though. As much as I want that for us, it’s not the only thing I want or even the most important and getting her to open up to me is going to be hard enough without adding that little element into the mix.
