Talon (Uncompromising #1)

by Sybil Bartel

  I clenched my fists to keep from reaching for her. “What do you need from me?”

  She looked back up. “From you?”

  “Yeah.”

  Her gaze drifted from mine and I waited. I didn’t know what I wanted her to say. Everything? Nothing? Go fuck yourself for taking me up against the pool shed? Eat shit? Half of me was feeling guilty as hell for it and the other half wasn’t even sorry. Just looking at her had me so tied up in knots, I didn’t know what I was supposed to say to her about it.

  Then her intent blue eyes focused on me and she leveled me with one sentence. “You’re always doing everything for me—I’d rather ask what you need from me.”

  Just like that, the hard exterior I was trying to project crashed and burned. This Siren wasn’t asking to provoke, she wasn’t asking because she was obligated to, she was simply asking.

  Because that was who she was.

  And I was drawn to her like a ship needing a port in a storm. “Not sure I could’ve picked a more perfect nickname for you, darlin’.”

  “I’m not trying to lure you to your death, Talon,” she said quietly.

  I sucked in a breath and tried to let go of all my defensive bullshit. I took a step forward, cupped her face and leaned down to her. “I know. I’m sorry.” Then I gave her the honesty she deserved. “I want you to forgive me for taking you behind the pool shed. I want you to forgive me for his death and I want like hell to find your daughter and be the one to give her back to you.”

  “I don’t blame you for Randy and I’m not upset about the sex. I was upset that you put up a wall afterward.”

  I laughed uncomfortably and stood to my full height. “Yeah, well, I’m not used to that much…emotion.”

  The tightness around her eyes softened and she let go of the mask she worn to protect herself. “Me neither,” she replied, showing me every ounce of the vulnerable, fragile, yet incredibly strong person she was.

  Relief and warmth washed through me. “I think I’m glad ’bout that.”

  She stepped into me and wrapped her arms around my waist. “I like you, Talon Talerco. You didn’t give me a chance to tell you that this morning.”

  I was an asshole. My eyes closed for a heartbeat and I breathed her in. “Like you back, Miss Archer, a whole damn lot.”

  “You matter to me. I don’t want there to be any tension between us.”

  I pulled back just enough to give her a tired smile. “Siren, you’re hot as fuck. Even if I could, there’s nothin’ I’d change ’bout the sexual tension between us.”

  The ghost of a smile I got out of her wasn’t much, but I’d take it.

  I ran my thumb over her bottom lip then cupped her cheek. “No more secrets. We told each other we were playin’ it honest. You ready to finally give that a shot?”

  She didn’t hide behind a closed-off expression. “Yes.”

  “Good.” I kissed the top of her head and released her. “Now let’s go find your girl.” I grabbed her hand and took a step but she didn’t follow.

  “Talon?”

  The fear in her voice had me turning around.

  Her face twisted with grief. “What if she’s not…”

  I pulled her into my arms. “She’s alive, darlin’. Don’t go there.” Jesus. I hoped I wasn’t lying. “We just need to get to her before Stone makes his next move.”

  She didn’t say anything.

  I tipped her chin. “Siren?”

  “I have nothing,” she whispered. “No home, no job, no money.”

  Just when I thought she couldn’t crush my heart worse, she laid out her insecurities at my feet. I’d give her every damn one of those things if I thought she’d take comfort in them but she wouldn’t. She didn’t value material shit. I knew enough about her to know that. But there was something that I could give her.

  I stroked her soft cheek. “You’ve got somethin’ better’n all of that.” I held her gaze and gave her what she’d already stolen. “You’ve got me.”

  “But—”

  I put my finger over her lips. I was done playing it low key. “You’re gonna stay with me and we’re bringin’ her back to my house. You’re not gonna worry ’bout working or money or any other bullshit except takin’ care of your daughter and gettin’ to know her again.” This second-guessing myself, pretending I wasn’t anything other than one hundred percent alpha, was bullshit. She may have stolen my heart but I was done being a pussy.

  She started to shake her head.

  Out of time, I turned hard-ass. “I’m takin’ care of the both of you, Siren, whether you like it or not. Quit arguin’ with me and go do what you gotta do to get ready. We’re rollin’ out in twenty.” I released her just as Kendall walked into the room.

  “It’s for you,” Kendall said wryly, holding her phone out to me.

  I kissed Siren’s cheek and took Kendall’s phone. There was only person it could’ve been. “Candle,” I stated.

  “There’s too much heat now. You can’t bring her to Ocala, someone will spot her.”

  I walked out onto the lanai. “Then come get her.”

  “You know I can’t do that. Shit’s locked down tight and this mess Stone started is closing in.” For the first time ever, Candle sounded worried.

  “Like you didn’t have a hand in it.” Fucking asshole.

  The background noise got quieter and I heard a door close. “Listen, you asked for a favor. I had that shit taken care of. No one would’ve been the wiser, it would’ve looked like an accident, but Stone sunk his teeth in it and now we’re all in danger from those sick cartel assholes.”

  I played dumb. “What exactly did Stone do?” For the first time, I was starting to think Candle really was in the dark about all the shit Stone had going on.

  Candle sighed and at first, I wasn’t sure he was going to give me an answer. But then he started talking. “The second Maldonado croaked, Stone simultaneously struck three of his locations—a warehouse, a strip club and an underground gambling place. All were execution style, in and out, no warning. He took out more than half of his organization, women and civilians included. The whole thing was calculated and I didn’t have a fucking clue. He even got four LCs on the payroll at Miami port authority as of this week. Legit jobs, so no one fucks with them. Stone probably thought Christmas came early when he found out what I was planning for Maldonado.”

  “So it was him.” I fucking knew it.

  “Yeah.” Candle grunted. “You were fucking right. And it didn’t take him more than a minute to throw his own son to the wolves and have him openly claim responsibility for the hit. Fuck, I shouldn’t even be telling you this, Stone would shoot me himself if he knew but the point is, you can’t bring Kendall up here. What’s left of Maldonado’s crew has rallied and they’re already in Ocala.”

  “I haven’t heard shit about the three strikes.” I was guessing neither had André, or he would’ve said something. Ariel used to work at one of Maldonado’s strip clubs.

  “It’s not even on the news. I can’t imagine who Stone has in his pocket to keep that shit quiet.”

  Damn it. “We’re about to go after his grandkid, anything else you wanna tell me?”

  “Yeah, keep your head down and pray to God Maldonado’s men take Stone out before he finds out.”

  “Anyone gonna tell him you were askin’ around?”

  “Don’t think so, but at this point I don’t know who the fuck to trust.”

  “You need to get outta there.”

  Candle laughed bitterly. “Too late. Besides, there’s only one way to walk away from an MC alive.”

  Take out the top. “Sounds temptin’.”

  “No shit but believe me, I don’t want the headache of cleaning up the fucked-up mess that’d be left behind. The club is split in two. I don’t even know who’d still want the old ways back. Bunch of bloodthirsty one-percenters in here now.”

  I had no sympathy for him. “You made your bed.”

  “And Stone tucked
me in.”

  Not my problem. “Good thing you’re in a fortress.”

  “Right.” He snorted. “A fortress with a weapons hold Stone has been stockpiling for years. A couple of well aimed RPGs and the whole place will blow.”

  “Shit, don’t tell me that.”

  “I’d almost rather you and your Marine buddies take this place out,” he said, miserable.

  “I’m not getting involved except to help Nic.”

  “Sounds like I’m not the only one who made his bed. Just take care of Kendall, that’s all I ask.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose. “We can’t leave her here.”

  “Put her in Luna’s penthouse. He’s got tighter security than a virgin’s pussy up there.”

  How the fuck did he know about that? “He doesn’t live in a penthouse,” I lied.

  “Bullshit. Just put her there and I’ll pretend I don’t know about it.”

  Christ. “She that good in bed?”

  Candle burst out laughing. “You think I tapped that?” He laughed harder. “You are one dumb motherfucker.”

  No denying that. I was caught between a motorcycle gang and a pissed-off cartel, about to steal a stolen kid and play house with the MC’s president’s dead son’s woman while I hid his Sergeant-at-Arms’ coveted lady crush. Dumb didn’t begin to cover it. “Pot, kettle. Go fuck yourself.”

  Neil stepped out on the lanai. “Wrap it up.”

  “You first.” Candle hung up.

  I turned to Neil. “We might have a problem with extraction.”

  “There is no surprise in expectation,” he stated.

  Cryptic fuck. “You and your fuckin’ proverbs. You’re not normal, you know that, right?”

  He looked pointedly at the tattoo on my right forearm and read the ink, “This Too Shall Pass.”

  “You wanna know the difference between us?” I eyed him up and down like he couldn’t take me in a heartbeat. “I don’t go tellin’ that shit to people.”

  “No, you advertise it, in ink.”

  Prick. “I own it.” I smiled just to fuck with him. “And I’m better lookin’ ’an you so I can get away with it.”

  “Would you like to know the real difference between us?” he asked without a lick of emotion.

  “Besides our accents?”

  “I fuck harder,” he deadpanned.

  “Viking wins,” Kendall interrupted.

  We both turned to look at her.

  “You two done comparing dick size? The Irishman says he needs to fly.”

  “Scottish,” both Neil and I corrected her.

  “Whatever. Him and Cuban Boy are done playing with all the toy guns the Irishman brought and they loaded them back in the Batmobile. Its wheels-up time, boys.”

  Jesus. I’d shoot myself if I had to live with her. Two days was two too many. “Gimme five, I’m grabbin’ a shower.”

  Kendall’s lips hinted at a smile. “I think you two should shower together. Soap each other up. Then you’ll know whose is bigger.”

  Keeping my eyes on Kendall, I inclined my head at Neil. “Keep it up and he’ll proverb you.”

  She looked at Neil’s dick. “Is that like a sex thing?”

  “André,” I hollered, wondering what the fuck he saw in her.

  He popped his head out. “What’s up? We ready?”

  “Five minutes. Candle thinks this could be a hot extraction. We got what we need?”

  He nodded. “We’re covered.”

  I glanced at Kendall then gave André a slight shake of my head. “Ocala’s out.”

  “Mierda.” He rubbed a hand over his chin. “I’ll call my guy Tyler to come get her.”

  “No, you know what you gotta do.”

  André went still.

  Kendall looked curiously between us.

  “Can she speak Spanish?” he asked me in Spanish.

  “Yes,” Kendall answered.

  André switched to broken Danish. “I’m not taking her, my house. No fuck off way,” he said, butchering the syntax.

  “No choice,” I answered back in Danish.

  “No,” he repeated.

  I looked at Neil and switched back to English. “You got a better idea?”

  “No.”

  “Shit.” André looked at Kendall. “Don’t make me regret this.”

  “Okay, I’ll bite, regret what?” She sounded bored.

  “You’re staying in Miami,” André ground out. “At my place.”

  “Yippee.” Her voice was flat but her eyes looked worried as fuck.

  AN HOUR LATER, KENDALL WAS at André’s place and we were in the air. Neil was sitting in the cockpit with Roark. André had his feet up and his eyes closed and I had Siren tucked under my arm.

  “You good?” I asked her.

  “I’m comfortable.” She’d curled her feet under her and I’d wrapped a blanket over her legs.

  “Not exactly what I meant.”

  She threaded her hands together. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about her sooner.”

  Having a conversation with Siren reminded me of that movie where the guy compared life to a box of chocolates. I never knew what I was going to get when she opened her mouth to speak.

  I thought she’d say something about her daughter or ask details about what we planned to do once we got to Lexington. Instead, she was thinking about me. “Because you regret not tellin’ me or because Stone has a two day jump on us?” I wasn’t trying to be an asshole, I was going for clarification.

  “I’m not sure two days makes any difference. Stone is going to do what he’s going to do. I learned that awhile ago.” She exhaled then looked up at me. “I wasn’t being dishonest. I was being cautious. And before Randy died, I didn’t think I had a choice.” She ducked her head again. “And you wouldn’t have slept with me if you knew I had a child.”

  A couple of weeks ago, she would’ve been right. I avoided women with kids because I wasn’t looking for the complication. But this was Siren. Saying I was anything but sunk the moment she fell into my arms would be a fucking lie. I cupped the back of her head and brought my lips to her ear. “You forgettin’ ’bout two hours ago?” I brushed a soft kiss against her neck and pulled the edge of her ear between my teeth. “Wanna test me again?”

  She shivered. “Having a child around will make things…different.”

  I leaned back and took her chin so I could see her eyes. “You worried about somethin’?”

  Concern etched across her face. “Everything’s going to change.”

  The thought of the child in that picture, her angelic face a carbon copy of her mother’s, imagining the two of them together, it did something to me. Like a lost part of the puzzle clicked into place. Maybe it was seeing Layna lose her baby a few months ago, or maybe it was the life I had stolen from me when Leigh died, but I wasn’t going to let this child slip away. I was going to find Maddie and I was going to give Siren her daughter back.

  I rubbed my thumb over her bottom lip and leaned in. “I hope so. I want two beautiful Archer women to wake up to.” Slow and sweet, I sank my tongue into her sexy mouth.

  The kiss went from zero to sixty in a heartbeat. My dick throbbed, my body curved around hers, and she became my world. All I could think about was being inside her, pounding into her tight heat and hearing my name cross her lips as she came apart underneath me.

  I gripped two handfuls of her hair and forced myself to pull back. “Damn, Siren. I’ve got no control around you.”

  “I don’t want you to.” Her voice was breathless and husky.

  She was so damn sexy, I groaned. “With three other men on board, trust me, you do.”

  She smiled. She fucking smiled.

  “Hot damn.” I grinned. “That’s my girl. I was missin’ that smile.”

  As quick as it had shown up, her smile disappeared. “Am I?” she asked innocently.

  I stilled. A hundred thoughts ran through my head with a hundred different ways to answer her. But deep down
, I knew what this woman needed. And it wasn’t a guy who gave her any bullshit. “Every way a woman can belong to a man, you belong to me, Siren.”

  “Why?” she asked cautiously. “You could have your pick of any woman, someone without all the baggage I have.”

  Her ice-cream analogy that first night popped into my head and I smiled. “You ever been surfin’?”

  She shook her head.

  “When you first hook a wave, a punch of adrenaline hits your gut, giving you a high you can’t imagine.” I ran the back of my fingers across her jaw. “Then you settle in for what you hope is the best ride of your life.” I threaded my hand into her hair. “You fly across the water like you’re soaring through the air but better because it’s faster, harder and louder. Then a last curl brings you down, you look over your shoulder and it hits you—you just rode the perfect wave. But instead of being satisfied, you paddle back out hopin’ to recreate the magic.” I leaned in and her breath touched my skin like an offshore breeze. “I’m done paddlin’ out because I found my magic. You’re my perfect wave.”

  Shy and so fucking sweet it made my heart trip, her smile came back.

  “Oh darlin’, that smile’s a loaded weapon. It could bring a man to his knees.”

  Humor flushed her cheeks. “You’re sitting.”

  I gripped her waist and dragged her on top of me. “So are you.”

  Her small hands grasped my face and she turned serious. “Thank you,” she said with quiet reverence. “For everything.”

  “I haven’t done anythin’ yet.” I pushed her hair behind her ears. “When you’re holdin’ her in your arms, then you can thank me.”

  “I will.” Her soft lips covered mine.

  “Hey.” André cleared his throat. “None of that.”

  My hands snaked up her back and I deepened the kiss for a second before I let her go. “I can’t kiss my woman?” I asked André, not taking my eyes off Siren.

  She blushed a pretty shade of pink.

  “Kiss, yeah, but dry hump in a small ass plane? No.” André stood and stretched then moved to a seat next to us. He smiled at Siren. “Hello.” He held his hand out. “I’m André Luna.”

  A tentative smile touched her lips and she glanced at me then shook André’s hand. “Hello.”