by Naomi West
“Who the hell is Jake?” Brian snarled, towering over us.
The door suddenly swung open. “I am,” Jake growled.
He hauled Brian away from us, his hands strong and sure. He yanked Brian out the front door. I could hear the two of them yelling at one another, but I could barely process what they were saying.
“Are you okay, baby?” I asked Cole over and over again, running my hands over him, examining his wrist.
He nodded, though, and that eased something in my chest. He was still crying, but he was all right. We were going to be all right.
Suddenly—or at least, it felt sudden, but my sense of time was feeling totally skewed at the moment, as though everything was passing by in slow motion—I realized I couldn't hear the shouting anymore, and I jumped to my feet, terrified of what I might find outside.
Jake had Brian pinned down on the driveway, and he was raining punches down on the man.
Before I could see more, cop cars were swarming out of nowhere, with policemen streaming out of the cars and surrounding the two men.
“Mama, what's happening with Mr. Jake?” Cole asked, sounding scared as he clung to my jeans.
I watched white-faced, unable to respond as Jake was handcuffed and dragged to a cop car. An ambulance showed up to that Brian away, but I could barely spare a thought for him. Jake, my love and my only hope for salvation, was being arrested.
I swallowed hard, putting an arm around Cole's shoulder and pulling him closer to me, using that contact to try to ground myself.
Jake shot his eyes towards me as they pushed him into the cop car, and I began to cry.
Chapter Twelve
Jake
It wasn't my first time in jail, and I had a feeling it probably wouldn't be my last. Not that I'd done anything too horrible in the past, but there had been a couple bar fights and a few drunken and disorderly conduct charges that had landed me in the slammer overnight.
I had never really flown off the handle like I had with Brian, though. I winced, remembering the horror in Halley's face as I'd be pushed into the cop car. I doubted she wanted anything to do with me anymore, and she almost certainly wouldn't let me near Cole again.
I hadn't been able to help it, though. Seeing her cowering there in the hall, with tears on her face, looking terrified and disheveled — it would take a much stronger man than me to not react to that. And the fact that Cole had been there as well, just as terrified and upset, with tears on his face… Well, the bastard deserved to be killed for doing that to them.
I hadn't been able to stop myself as I punched Brian over and over and over again, feeling rage course through me in a way that I had never felt before.
A guard appeared at the doorway to my cell. “There's someone here to bail you out,” he said, sounding displeased, as though he hoped I was going to be stuck in there for longer.
I stood and dusted off my jeans, following him out the cell and down the hallway towards freedom. I collected my personal effects and went through the door into the lobby of the station. Of course, it was Frank standing there, giving me a stern look. Without a word, he steered me out of the station and towards his truck. “You've botched this one,” he finally said, his eyes fixed on the road.
I swallowed hard and ducked my head. I had never been on this side of his disappointment before; that was the tone he normally reserved for use with Max. Still...
“I couldn't help it, Frank,” I muttered, hating how sullen I sounded. “God, you should have seen the bastard. He had Halley and Cole backed up into a corner and was just threatening them. I don't doubt that he hit Halley before I got there, either. I mean, fuck, if I hadn't been heading over there after the meeting anyways, I don't know what would have happened to them. I think the fucker was about ready to murder them.”
Frank frowned. “And fighting for the ones that you love is all well and good,” he agreed. “But you weren't thinking. If you had done it in private, that would have been one thing. But now a nice suburban neighborhood is worried about beastly biker dudes coming to pick fights on their front lawn, and the local law enforcement is breathing fire down our necks.”
“I just didn't want to beat up Brian in front of Cole,” I said, even though I could see where Frank was coming from.
“That was a good thought,” Frank said. “But unfortunately, the club has decided to call a meeting to discuss your misconduct.”
I swallowed hard and nodded. The thing was, this wasn't unexpected. I'd spent the whole night in the jail thinking about what I'd done, and I'd come to the same conclusions. I'd been sloppy. I'd been acting with my heart rather than my head. That wasn't the way to conduct missions, and that was exactly what always got Max into hot water. The club had every right to come up with some sort of punishment for me, and I didn't doubt that there would be plenty of them asking for me to be demoted, for Frank to pick someone else as a successor.
I sighed and scrubbed a hand back through my hair. “I'm going to have to stand trial against that bastard now, and that's going to make things even messier.”
Frank gave me a strange, crooked smile. “Well, fortunately for you, Brian has generously agreed not to press charges.”
I gaped at him. I should have known Frank would spend the time I was in jail cleaning up after me. “What did you do?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I bribed the hospital to let me in to see him. And then I suggested it might be best for Brian to leave town and to never go near Halley and Cole again. I stressed the fact that if he stayed in town, he would have a whole hoard of demon bikers out for his blood. Anyway, there are going to be repercussions to him for violating the restraining order. So, he'll be out of your hair for at least a little while. And he won't be pressing charges.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks,” I said, as we pulled into the parking lot of the clubhouse.
Frank waved away my gratitude. “Don't thank me yet,” he said grimly. “We still have to see what sort of punishment the rest of Devil's Route want to lay on you.”
I shook my head, knowing that he was right, and got out of the truck, squaring my shoulders and following him into the building.
Everyone was already gathered in there when we arrived, and they all stared at me with varying amounts of grimness on their faces. Frank and I took our seats.
“So, I'm sure that by now, everyone knows what happened with Jake last night,” Frank said wryly.
Mike snorted. “Of course we do; it's been all over the news. Apparently one of that girl's neighbors filmed the whole thing once it spilled out into the yard? It's pretty gruesome viewing.”
I felt the tips of my ears burn. “Look—” I began, but Frank held up a hand and I fell silent.
“We all know what happened,” Frank repeated. “And we all know what the police reaction was to it, mainly that they're putting pressure on us. It's not the end of the world; we've been keeping out of their way and under the radar for the most part in recent years, so they're not too upset. But we can all agree that Jake's actions were … less than ideal. All those in favor of punishment for him, this is the chance to make your voice heard.”
For a moment, no one said anything. Then, Max stood up. “I say we eject him from the club,” he said, folding his arms across his chest.
“Hey, now, wait a minute!” I said heatedly, about to point out the number of fuck-ups that Max had made and demand that he be the one ejected from the club, if we were going to eject someone.
“Max has the floor,” Frank reminded me, putting a gentle hand on my wrist in a clear warning. He didn't want to rebuke me, specially not now, when my reputation was already hanging in tatters—but he would if he had to. I grudgingly shut my mouth.
“As I was saying,” Max said, shooting me a dirty look. “I think he should be ejected from the club. We don't need that sort of image. This is the most high-profile recognition that we've gotten in years, and it's because the dumbass didn't think. Brian Scott is part of one of the uppermost
echelons of our society, thanks to his family's inherited wealth and their generous contributions to various charities. It's–”
“We get the point,” Bryce interrupted. “Maybe for once, Jake wasn't thinking with his head. “But I still think ejection is a little extreme. The kid has only masterminded most of our more complex missions over the past few years. Anyway, we all know Jake is harder on himself than any of us ever would be to him. The guilt alone should be enough to deter him in the future.”
Frank shot Bryce a warning look but didn't issue a rebuke to him either. I started to wonder what his punishment for me would be, if it were solely up to him. But I wouldn't find that out here. I'd be lucky if he would tell me that in private.
“Does anyone else have any suggestions for what the punishment might be?” Frank asked the group.
No one else spoke, and he laughed a little. “All right, so it's ejection or nothing, I suppose. Now, all those in favor of Jake being ejected from the Devil's Route MC?”
Max was the only person to raise his hand, not even his friends dared to raise their hands with him, much to his frustration.
Frank nodded decisively. “Well, it looks like he stays.” He narrowed his eyes at me, but there was a warmth there that belied his true feelings. “But don't let this happen again.” He stood up. “Well, I believe I'll need to go have a little chat with the sheriff and make sure that things are really smoothed over. Everyone else, have a great rest of your day.”
Chapter Thirteen
Halley
I drummed my fingers against the steering wheel, wishing that the traffic would actually move and that I could get to Jake's house. I was so glad to hear that he was out of jail, but no matter how bad I pressed for details, Frank hadn't told me anything more than that, saying instead that I needed to talk to Jake about all of it.
At least when Frank had called that morning, he was able to tell me that Jake was okay and that he'd be bailing him out of jail later that day. I had given Jake until the evening to call me, but he still hadn't done so. Finally, I hadn't been able to take it anymore, and I had texted him to let him know I was coming over. He had sent back an agreement, and I had left Cole with one of my neighbors, even though I didn't really want to let the kid out of my sight. Brian wouldn't be able to strike again so soon, though, not after the pounding he had taken, courtesy of Jake.
At Jake's house, I smoothed down my skirt and then rang the doorbell, fidgeting nervously, as though I was there on a first date. Which was especially ridiculous since Jake and I were engaged now — in the theoretical sense, at least.
Jake opened the door. “Hey,” he said, sounding a bit surprised. “What, were you already in the car when you texted me that you were coming over?”
I gave him a sheepish look. “Yeah,” I admitted. “I mean, I had some errands that I needed to run anyway, and Frank said that he was going to bail you out this afternoon, so I figured you'd be home.” I blushed, unsure what to say next.
Jake laughed, though. “I'm glad to see you,” he told me, catching my wrist and tugging me inside. “And I'm glad to be able to tell you that Brian is out of the picture.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. Surely, he hadn't killed Brian, or else they would have kept him in jail, right?
“Whatever you're thinking, no, that's not what I mean,” Jake said, taking in my distressed look. He pulled me into his arms, holding me against his chest in a way that was rapidly growing familiar to me. “What I mean is, Frank went to talk to him at the hospital. I don't know exactly what he said, but I do know that between that chat and my unceremonious beating of the man, he has agreed to never come near you again, for fear of what the club would do to him otherwise.”
I could feel my eyes widen. “So, he's never going to—”
“No,” Jake said firmly. “In fact, from the way Frank tells it, I doubt you're even in for a custody battle over Cole.”
I shook my head, amazed that it had been that simple. “Jesus,” I said — an ejaculation that I had probably picked up from him, since I'd been raised to never say the Lord's name in vain. I didn't even know what else to say here, though.
Suddenly, I leaned up on my tiptoes and kissed him, unable to stop myself. The thing was, my emotions were going haywire. I had been so scared when Brian had been there, then I had been so worried for Jake when the police had taken him away. And now, I was just so elated to find out that not only was Jake out of jail, but he also was confident that Brian would never bother me again…
Jake groaned and deepened the kiss, his hand coming up around behind the back of my neck so that he could keep me in place. His lips worked tenderly against mine; his tongue slipped along mine and smoothed the desperation out of the kiss.
“Fuck,” he muttered as we pulled apart from one another, his forehead resting against mine. “I want to take you right now, right here in the hallway.”
“So, what's stopping you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow cheekily at him.
He let out an animalistic growl and scooped me up into his arms, carrying me down the hallway. “The fact that I have a perfectly good bed and you deserve better than to be taken forcefully in the hallway,” he said as we went.
I giggled a little as he tossed me onto the bed, but I wasted no time in stripping off my clothes, and he mimicked me. Soon, we were both fully naked, and he crawled across the bed towards me. “Are you sure about this?” he asked, his gentleness at odds with his previous actions, but much appreciated.
“Yeah,” I said breathlessly. “Jake, you have no idea how badly I want this, how badly I need this.”
“Oh, I know,” he said, his voice low with desire. “I've wanted you since the moment I laid eyes on you again, when you came by my shop.”
“Show me,” I whimpered, my legs falling open of their own accord.
Jake grinned cockily at me and then bent down to kiss his way down along my jawline, along my collarbones, down to my breasts, and finally, down along my stomach to my navel. He paused there, grinning up at me.
“Come on,” I groaned, when it became clear that the only reason he was pausing was to further tease me. I moved a hand as though I would bring myself off, but he slapped my hand away.
“Don't you dare,” he said, and I fell back with no complaints, letting him take control.
He dragged his hands down along my sides, and I shuddered, the friction right on the cusp between tickling me and turning me on. I could feel my toes curling even from that simple touch, could feel my slit dampening between my legs. And when Jake moved his fingers between my legs, I knew that he could feel my arousal as well.
There was something dirty and yet satisfying about that, too, knowing that he knew just how turned on I was by even those simple touches. Knowing that he was there, touching me, because he was just as lustful as I was. This wasn't Brian; Jake wasn't just going to use me for my own needs. The way that he touched my folds said that clearly he would stroke me to completion and then still make me keen for more. I remembered that from the first time we had coupled, the night that Cole had been conceived.
I gasped, though, as his fingers suddenly dipped inside of me, the rough pads dragging sensually across my most sensitive parts. As Jake worked his fingers, his slid his mouth up my body, until he was raking my earlobe with his teeth, sending shudders of lust down my spine.
“Jake,” I whimpered, squirming a little already beneath his ministrations. I needed more, I needed to feel him inside of me, filling me up, in a soft and careful way that I hadn't felt in eight years now.
Jake smiled gently at me, as though he were just as needy as I was, and without further ado, he lined up his prick against my entrance. I could feel his tip sitting there, waiting for him to thrust forwards—but he paused there, asking me with his eyes if this was really okay.
In answer, I reached up above my head, hands finding the headboard and using it for leverage so that I could push myself down, spearing my body on his thick, swollen cock.
/> We both paused for a moment at that, trying to catch our breath. “That feels...” I began, unable to finish that statement.
Jake groaned and dropped his forehead down against my collarbone. “I know,” he said. “God, you're so fucking tight, Halley. If you only knew what you do to me.”
I grinned a little and began moving against him, making little motions with my hips, trying to find some sort of a rhythm that he would respond to.
But after a moment, he caught my hips in his hands, forcing me to still. He began to move his own hips, shifting them upwards so that the tip of his prick hit my very core, and then shifting them backwards so that I could feel the slow drag of his entire length against the walls of my pussy.
I grabbed at the sheets, already pleasured beyond reason, unable to control my eyes as they slipped shut. “Jake,” I whimpered.
