by Jenika Snow
Once her shower was done she dried off, got redressed in comfortable clothes, and headed out of the room. The MC, despite it being the middle of the night, still had people up. A few guys were playing poker, the scent of smoke filling the air, the sound of their drunken slurred voices loud despite the early hour.
She moved past them and walked to the back meeting room. She could have called Vengeance, but if he was in the club he couldn’t be far.
She found him, sitting alone, his back to the door.
“Vengeance?” He slowly turned around in the chair, his face looking exhausted, his eyes heavy in appearance. “We should talk.”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah, we need to.”
Chapter 17
The first thought that entered Vengeance’s head was how beautiful she looked. The bandage on her face didn’t reduce her beauty at all, at least not to him. Constance stared at the ground, and the silence that hung between them was uncomfortable, and he didn’t fucking like it, not one bit. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to stop it.
He loved her. More than anything. His feelings hadn’t changed at all.
“How have you been?” she asked.
“Good. You?” He shook his head. “This is bullshit. I’ve not been okay.”
“Me either,” she said.
Vengeance looked at her, and he saw the tears in her eyes.
“Do you not love me anymore? Am I no longer attractive because of what happened?”
He was in shock with the direction of her thoughts. At first he didn’t know what to say, and for a few seconds, he simply looked at her as if she were some kind of foreign entity. “What the fuck are you talking about?” When he finally got his voice, he was also able to move. Stepping toward her, he cupped her face and tilted her head back so that he could look into her eyes.
Tears spilled over, trailing down his hands. They broke his heart, and he couldn’t stand to see her in so much pain.
“You don’t come near me. I’ve barely seen you since this all went down with Craig. I’ve seen Weasel and Demon more than I’ve seen you.”
Knowing she spoke the truth, he slammed his lips down on hers. At first she was tense, not kissing him back, and then slowly, second by second, she began to melt, to relent, and finally, she kissed him back.
For the first time since he had seen her passed out on the floor with blood coming from her head, he felt like he had saved her. Every other time he had only seen that he had hurt her by not getting there fast enough.
He slid his tongue across her lips and heard her gasp.
Pulling away was the hardest thing he had ever done, and he had to do it. Still holding her face, he wiped away the tears, hating that he’d put them there. “I should have got to you sooner.”
“What do you mean?”
“He hurt you, and when I went to the cemetery and you weren’t there, I couldn’t handle it. I didn’t know anything about that fucker other than his first name. I couldn’t find you, and if I’d taken my time, made you quit that damn job, none of this would have happened.”
“You blame yourself?”
“Yes. I do. You didn’t see yourself knocked out on that floor. I was fucking terrified of what happened to you, baby. So scared. I thought you were dead.” Vengeance exhaled. “I wanted to make sure his death lasted but the rage that was inside me…” He shook his head. “I couldn’t. I fucking killed him, and I wanted to make it hurt so damn bad. That fucker deserved way more than what I gave him.” His throat began to feel tight. “I’m totally in love with you, Constance. My feelings for you have never changed.”
She smiled and suddenly pulled away from him. He watched as she turned her back to him. “God, I thought you couldn’t stand to be around me.” She turned back toward him and even as the tears in her eyes glistened, she still looked happy.
“I don’t give a shit how scarred you are, or what you look like. I’m in love with you, Constance. No one else. I’ve been dealing with shit, and I did it all wrong.” He went toward her and pulled her back into his arms. Now that he had her there, he wasn’t about to let her go. His biggest mistake since getting her home was giving her space. Every time he looked at her, guilt had filled him. Craig had told him that she begged for Vengeance to come, begged for him to save her.
That had been the cruelest thing that bastard could have said to him. It had made him feel even more like an asshole. Those words, those reminders had been one of the reasons he’d ended the bastard’s life so quickly, so swiftly, without much thought to it.
“I thought you didn’t want me anymore.”
“I want you, Constance. I will always want you. You’re in here.” He took her hand and pressed it against his heart. “From the moment I first saw you as that little strange woman talking in the cemetery, you have been working your way underneath my skin.” He kissed her lips again, and his cock began to swell. “I called my sister,” he said.
“You did?”
“Yeah. It was time. Hopefully she’ll call me back, and I can invite her home. This is where she belongs. The club won’t accept her straightaway because of the crap she pulled, but in time, I think she could earn back their trust.” His sister knew what was at stake but he was more focused on Constance. Running his thumb across her lip, he stared into her eyes. “Have I earned back yours?”
“It was never gone, Vengeance.” She stepped toward him, and the hand on his heart began to slowly slide down, going toward his cock. He didn’t stop her, not for a second. They were in the meeting room, and it was private.
The moment she touched his cock, he couldn’t contain a groan. Pushing her back against the wall, he took hold of her hands and trapped her there.
“I’m trying to be nice here,” he said.
“I don’t want you to be nice, baby. It has been too long since you were with me, and I’m tired of waiting. I lay awake at night hoping you’ll come to me, and you don’t. I want you to make love to me, Vengeance. Please, do. Don’t make me beg.”
Damn it. Whatever this woman wanted, he would give her. He couldn’t wait to take her upstairs, and so he would take her down here, in the meeting room. No one would disturb them, and he had to be inside her, right now.
One month later
“You doing good back there, baby?” Vengeance asked over the rumble of the Harley’s engine.
“I’m good,” she hollered back, the wind rushing through her hair, the vibration of the motorcycle under her thighs.
It had been a month since the whole Craig incident, and although her face was nearly healed, and her nightmares were fading, she still occasionally struggled with what happened. She was even speaking to a therapist, not just about being brutalized by Craig, but also about losing her family.
But these sessions were different than the ones she’d gone to in the past. She was older, dealing with her emotions better, and she knew it was because she was happy, because she was finally with Vengeance and had found her voice.
She’d even started taking online classes. They were just prerequisite courses, because she didn’t know what her degree would be in, but she enjoyed being able to focus on things that weren’t about herself.
Vengeance rounded another corner, taking her deeper into town, away from civilization. They were going to the small lake, just spending some time with each other, and getting away from the hustle of life. The lake was a secluded area so isolated and private … just what she wanted.
Once they were at the lake and had found the perfect spot to just sit and admire the beauty in front of them, she wondered how things would play out in the future. Things had been hard at first, but since they talked things out it was smooth and happy.
For long minutes all Vengeance did was hold her. After all the shit that had gone down, she knew that these men, these bikers, were a breed all their own.
The sound of the wind whistling through the trees had a hypnotic quality to it, but it was the sound of Vengea
nce’s heart beating beneath her ear that lulled her to calmness. They sat side by side, neither saying anything and both focusing on the water.
He turned and faced her after a few moments, and just stared at her. Then he lifted his other hand and cupped her cheek. “Before you I didn’t know what living was really like. I didn’t care what it was like.”
She smiled, feeling the same way.
“I don’t think you realize how much I care about you.” He took her hand and placed it right over his heart. “You feel how hard my heat is beating? It’s all because of you.”
This biker was big, muscular, and brought fear in other men with just a look. But here he was, holding her hand over his heart, and looking at her with this vulnerable, open expression.
It was strange to be able to feel someone’s emotions as strongly as if they were her own.
He let go of her and faced the lake once more. It seemed like ages that they sat there in silence, but it was comfortable, easy. When he faced her again there was this peace in his expression.
She smiled and glanced down at his lips, her body warming, her need rising. Constance finally lifted her gaze to his eyes.
“I really do love you.” He smiled softly. Vengeance then leaned in and pressed his forehead to hers. “I want you to know that I’ll always be here for you. Always.” He pulled her onto his lap, and with her legs on either side of him and her body pressed to his, she let the feeling of belonging wash through her.
Constance pressed her lips to his and closed her eyes.
“Take your clothes off for me, baby.” He grinned at her.
She knew she looked surprised, but heat still moved through her body. “Someone might see.”
“We’re isolated out here, but even if someone came by I don’t care. I want them to know you’re mine.”
As the heat continued to course through her, she moved off of him and started removing her clothes. Once she was naked it didn’t take long for him to grab her again. He removed his clothing too. She thought—anticipated—they’d be intimate, but when he grabbed her hand and led her to the water, she realized he had other plans.
“It’ll be too cold, Vengeance,” she said, eyeing the water.
“I can warm you up,” he said right beside her ear. In the next instant he had his arms wrapped around her waist. She didn’t know what he was doing, not until he was taking them closer to the water and finally crashing into the cold depths.
They broke through the top, and she gasped out, laughing at the same time.
“I’ll always protect you,” he said right beside her ear. He wrapped his arms tighter around her.
Constance knew he would never let her go.
Renee listened to her brother Vengeance’s message over and over again. She knew that what they’d gone through, that they were the only people they truly had in each other’s lives, should mean more than the fight they’d gotten into.
They were family, but he’d hurt her, his words like a knife in her gut.
And the things I said had to have hurt him, too.
Life was so short, so precious. She stared at the man, her boyfriend, who had started this fight, although inadvertently. He didn’t know that Vengeance didn’t want her with him, and because of that she’d kept her mouth shut, never telling her boyfriend any of it.
And here they were, about to travel to Europe, enjoy their life.
But what kind of life was it without family?
Two months later
Vengeance slapped his hands on the bar and ordered another couple of beers. It was party time, and like it always promised, The Soldiers of Wrath clubhouse was humming with activity. They had just gotten back from a run, and all he wanted to do was be balls deep in his woman. But Constance had insisted that they stay and linger for the party.
He didn’t mind. She had spent a long time preparing for it, and he knew it meant a lot to her to be part of the club. With two beers in hand, he made his way outside and found Constance talking with Weasel and Joker. Amy was there, smiling and being her usual charming self.
There were times that Vengeance looked at the women who were now part of the club and was amazed at how different they all were. Amy, for instance, had been on the verge of a breakdown, a vulnerable young woman who couldn’t even form sentences to most of the guys. The only person she had been able to talk to was Joker. Now, after a couple of years of being with Joker and the club, she was enjoying the party like it was any other day. He would give his life for each of the women of the Soldiers, just like he would for all of his brothers.
Wrapping his arm around Constance’s shoulders, he kissed her neck. She released a giggle and patted his arm. “Hey, hey, we were talking here,” she said, and then held onto his arm as tightly as she could.
“I’ve not seen you in what feels like days, even weeks, and you want to talk to my brothers,” he said, nibbling her ear.
“She’s probably tired of your moaning ass,” Weasel said. “We all know you’re a woman on the inside.”
“I think he’s just said that all women moan,” Amy said.
“You’re right. We women need to band together. I’m so not making his favorite chocolate pie now. He can totally get one from the bakery—who will probably spit in it,” Constance said.
From the crestfallen look on Weasel’s face, he wasn’t happy with it at all.
“We couldn’t be that cruel,” Amy said.
“We could, but I think we could be easily swayed.”
Vengeance watched as Constance winked at Amy, and then Weasel was on his knees, hands together, begging.
Only when they caved did Weasel get up. Constance sipped at her beer, and all he wanted to do was pick her up and carry her off to bed. Instead, they mingled, and she made him be all civilized, which is what he totally did now. After an hour, she took his hand and led him back up to his room. Even though they had their own place, his room was still available for whenever he needed it at the clubhouse. No one came in here.
Constance closed the door, and he was on her. Holding her face, he slammed his lips against hers and pressed her against the door.
“You made me wait too fucking long to be with you,” he said.
“I won three hundred dollars, I will have you know, which I will split with you.” She shoved his jacket off his body, and his curiosity just got the better of him. Holding his hands up, he stopped her from tearing his clothes off. Again, he was stopping her from getting naked.
“How did you win three hundred dollars?” he asked.
“Deanna and the girls were talking about how the men would react when they came home. She said that you’d put me over your shoulder within the first ten minutes. I said nope, you’d get us a beer and hang around for an hour.” She smiled at him. “I told you I was right.”
“You actually bet on whether or not I could keep my dick in my pants?”
“Yep, and now I’m three hundred dollars up, which means I can totally get that mixer I wanted, and you can get yourself something as well.”
He shook his head and then laughed. “There are times that you really do amaze me,” he said. “I can give you money any time you want.”
“I know that, but come on, this is kind of cool. It makes me wonder how much I can earn just by you being away.” She pushed him back toward the bed. “They didn’t think you’d last all that long, and not only am I now about to suck your dick, you’re three hundred dollars up. See the positive, baby.”
He rolled his eyes, but he didn’t care. She had his pants open, and his dick out in no time at all. The moment her lips were around his length, he shoved his fingers into her hair and held her in place, slowly pumping into her mouth.
Vengeance knew a life with Constance was never going to be dull or boring. She was always teasing him, or finding ways to make him laugh. She was his other half, and he loved her more than anything.
When he no longer wanted his dick in her mouth, he pulled out of her and tugged her to the
bed. Within seconds he had her naked and was balls deep inside her, feeling her tight cunt wrapped around his dick.
“I want to put my baby inside you,” he said. While he’d been on the road, he had been thinking about this more and more. He wanted her pregnant, swollen with his kid.
“You want to have a baby?” she asked.
“Yes. I want you and I to have a kid, to have loads of them. Would you like that? Would you like to have my baby?”
She nodded, and his cock swelled even more at the thought.
“I’m not on any birth control,” she said.
“Then I’m going to be coming in you a lot. I want my kid inside you, baby.”
“Forever.”
He slammed his lips down on hers, and she melted for him.
Epilogue
Two weeks later
Constance closed her eyes, loving the wind that rushed through her hair, that the man she loved was right in front of her, and cherishing the sense of being free that washed through her. She felt a smile creep along her lips.
She was on the back of Vengeance’s bike, probably going far faster than they legally should, but she didn’t care. Constance loved this, loved that she felt alive, that she felt like she could be who she was always supposed to be with Vengeance.
She really loved the fact that Vengeance was the one that she had her arms wrapped around, that his hard body kept her stabilized.
But what she loved the most was that Vengeance gave her that nudge to find herself and be strong.
He revved the engine and took the corners tightly, having her heart jump in her throat for a second before calming. She smiled wider.
They’d finally found a place of their own, and weren’t living at the club anymore. Although she loved the MC, and the people that were there, she liked having her own space with the man she loved. And that’s where they were heading now.
