by Brook Wilder
“I wasn’t stalking. I was in the neighborhood.”
“I highly doubt that.” Jace rubbed at his eyes. Talking to this man felt like talking to a brick wall. “Maddie resigned because she felt violated and her trust in you had been betrayed. I had nothing to do with it. If you’re going to throw that accusation at me, fine, whatever floats your boat. But you leave Maddie alone. She doesn’t need the stress of you bothering her right now. Leave her to enjoy her pregnancy in peace.”
There came a sound that could have been compared to a growl.
“I’ll do you one of these days, Howard.”
Jace barked out a laugh. That threat was not uncommon to him, and to hear it from this man was amusing.
“I’d like to see you try. You talk to Maddie and I’ll come after you. You make her lose our baby and I’ll kill you. I promise you that.”
Then he hung up. He didn’t want to hear the other man and a lot of empty threats. To Jace, they would be empty. Roberts could threaten to take his head or castrate him and Jace would laugh. The bastard didn’t scare him. Tougher men than that doctor had threatened him. That would be nothing compared to them.
Schuman shook his head, not breaking his eyes away from the road as they turned into another street.
“I never knew doctors could be so crazy.”
“You and me both,” Jace grunted.
Chapter Three
Jace was humming to himself as he went into the clubhouse, nodding at people as he went past. As the days had gone on, Broken Hounds had gone from surprise that he was back to wariness at the distance he kept to grudging acceptance. Jace knew it would be a while longer before he was fully accepted but being the partner of the president’s little sister gave him some credence. Unless Maddie said anything, he was relatively safe.
At least, Jace hoped that was the case. Even though they were taking things one step at a time and it seemed to be going well, he was aware that things could become volatile at any moment. Something would come up to put them at odds against each other and Jace hoped that they wouldn’t have too many arguments. He didn’t like to argue with women, who were very good at turning on the waterworks or punching below the belt with their words.
It was a lot simpler being a man.
Maddie was curled up under the sheets in bed when Jace let himself in. She had her back to him, the flash of her bare back saying she was naked even as she bundled the sheets against herself. Jace’s cock pressed against his zipper. He couldn’t wait to get into bed and make love to his woman. His cock was begging to fuck her right then.
Trying to keep himself from jumping her, Jace went into the bathroom and relieved himself, taking a quick shower to wash away the sweat. Then he toweled himself down quickly, tossing the towel onto the floor as he padded into the bedroom. Maddie hadn’t moved since he entered the room and Jace thought for a moment that she was asleep. But she was tensed up and she wasn’t breathing as if she were asleep.
Something was wrong. But Jace didn’t think he would get an answer out of her. Was it something to do with the missed calls?
He slipped into bed and eased against Maddie’s back, rubbing his hand over her back.
“Hey.”
“How was work?”
Maddie’s voice was tight as if she had just been crying. Jace couldn’t be sure.
“Fine. We got everything sorted that Jez needed. I don’t think we’ll be having much trouble with the vendors anytime soon.”
Maddie grunted. Jace tried to pull her into his arms but Maddie resisted, pulling away sharply and huddling herself further into a ball. Confused, Jace sat up. When he had left that morning, he had nearly not met Schuman on time because Maddie had coaxed him back to bed after a quickie in the shower for a quickie in bed. She had been on fire. Now she was cold as ice.
“Anything wrong?”
“No, I’m fine.”
That again. Jace hated it when women said they were fine; it meant they weren’t fine and were expecting the man to ask because they were oblivious. Jace wasn’t that stupid. He sighed.
“Okay, I’ll bite. What’s wrong? And tell me the truth.”
Maddie took a deep breath and let it out with a shuddering sigh.
“I had cramps when I was out with Beth. Bad ones.” She swallowed. “And I did a lot of bleeding.”
“What?” Jace’s chest tightened and he began to panic. Maddie had been bleeding. “Is…are you…?”
“I’m still pregnant. The baby and I are fine.” Maddie sat up, turning so she was hugging her knees. Her face was pale and streaked with tears. “But the doctors found some cysts on my ovaries. They’re the reason for my cramps.”
Jace was reeling. To hear that Maddie had suffered a potential miscarriage, to discover it was something that had been growing alongside his baby… He was breaking out in a cold sweat. The relief that his baby and Maddie were fine didn’t eclipse the worry he was beginning to experience.
“Oh, God.” He swallowed, reaching out to touch her back. “Will those cysts hurt the baby?”
“No.” Had Maddie flinched when he touched her? “They just started growing when I got pregnant. They’re still small enough that I can have surgery to remove them and save my ovaries. It won’t hurt the baby.”
“Are you going to go through with it?”
“I’m debating about having it done sooner rather than after the birth. They’ve given me some painkillers and sent me home.” Maddie lifted her head. This was the first time she had looked at him since Jace had come into the room. “I tried to call you.”
So that was why Maddie had been calling him. Jace had thought it must have been a pressing matter since she’d called more than once but he hadn’t realized it was this bad. He gave her a sheepish look.
“Sorry. I had my cell phone on silent while I was working.”
That was a partial lie but Jace had turned off the ring when it got too much. The look on Maddie’s face said this was not good enough.
“There. You see?”
“See what?”
“How am I supposed to trust you if you can’t keep your fucking phone on?”
Jace blinked. What was going on? What was Maddie trying to say? Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He stared at her.
“You’re blaming me for this?”
“I’m not blaming you for what happened to me. I’m blaming you for not keeping up to your promise of protecting me.” Maddie swiped at her face as another tear escape. “You said you would protect me from everything and yet when I really needed you, you weren’t there.”
Chapter Four
Jace couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She was actually blaming him for her bleeding from ovarian cysts, something that he had no control over? He had promised to protect her, yes, but he didn’t think Maddie would have taken him literally.
That wasn’t the Maddie he knew.
“Maddie…”
“You weren’t there!” Maddie shouted.
Jace growled.
“All right, I wasn’t! But you’re expecting me to be psychic and teleport as soon as you need help. I can’t be in two places at once and I am trying to work to support the baby.”
Maddie gasped, her mouth dropping open.
“Are you calling me needy?” she demanded.
“What else can I call you? You’re asking practically for the impossible.” Jace thumped his fist on the mattress. “Yes, I said I would be there, but there will be things out of my control. I don’t like it, but I can’t babysit you either.”
“I don’t want a babysitter!”
“You’re practically asking me to do that!” Jace shouted back. Then he realized that he was getting too heated and eased back. Maddie had shrunk back a little from him and Jace didn’t like seeing her cower from him. He swallowed back his frustration. “The Maddie I knew wasn’t needy. Yes, I may have been awful to you before, but I recognized that inner strength in you. I saw it when we reconnected and that’s what I liked the most about you. I
don’t see that Maddie anymore.”
Maddie’s mouth closed, then opened and closed again. Jace wondered if she had expected him to get on his knees and beg for her forgiveness.
“People change,” she mumbled.
“Not like you have changed,” Jace shot back. “You’re letting your hormones take over.”
“What?” Maddie’s surprise disappeared and was replaced with a snarl. “Don’t you dare accuse me of being a hormonal woman…”
“I’m not,” Jace cut in. “But you’re letting them take charge. I want to be there, yes, but there will be times when I’m working. I won’t be able to drop things immediately and leave. Jeremy would kill me if I did that.”
“A text or a phone call to acknowledge me and check up on me would suffice.”
But Jace knew better. He shook his head.
“No, it wouldn’t. Not with you and you know it.”
“That’s not true!”
“It is.”
Maddie huffed, lowering her legs and folding her arms. She had tried to come across as angry but, with the sheet falling to her waist and baring herself to him, her breasts squashed together with her arms crossed, Jace couldn’t focus on anything else. His mouth went dry. Her breasts had gotten fuller, perkier since they had discovered about her pregnancy. And that was his favorite part of Maddie’s body.
“I don’t need you,” Maddie hissed.
“Prove it.”
Maddie hesitated for a barest of moments. Then she launched herself at him, kissing him hard. Jace wasn’t about to push her away and allowed Maddie to push him back onto the mattress, draping herself over his waist and rubbing her wet pussy along his cock.
Damn, that felt good.
Maddie moaned, her nails digging into his scalp. They dragged across his skin and Jace was sure he could feel blood. His hands went to her breasts and Maddie rolled her hips, tweaking her nipples with his fingers. She flung her head back and moaned, jabbing her nipples into his hands. She was so responsive, even more so than before she was pregnant. Jace loved a responsive woman.
He loved seeing that he could make Maddie moan.
His hand went to his cock and he grasped the root, pressing the head of it against Maddie’s pussy. He wanted to surge into her to the hilt and take her like an animal. But then Maddie was off him, knocking his hand away. Jace tried to sit up and go after her but then Maddie gave him as devilish grin and turned, straddling his waist with her back to him. Then she grasped his cock and stroked it firmly, running her hand around the head. Jace moaned and leant back, clutching his fists in the sheets.
If she kept this up, she was going to set him off.
Then Maddie lifted off his waist, still holding on to his cock. Jace felt her pussy close over him and his cock sliding into her. Maddie moaned and raised herself up and down on his cock, pushing more of him into her pussy. Jace could only lie back and watch as Maddie took control.
Placing her hands on his knees, Maddie rode him, her backside slapping against his pelvis. Jace thrust up to meet her, groaning as her pussy rippled and tightened around him. He gripped her hips, his fingers digging into her flesh. Then Maddie’s body began to tighten up, the way it did when she was moments away from orgasm. She leant back, grabbing one of Jace’s hands and placing it over her clit.
Jace took charge and rubbed hard, fast circles over the engorged flesh. Maddie’s pussy clenched around his cock and then she was screaming, her body shuddering over him. Seeing her in the grips of a climax sent Jace over the edge and he unloaded himself into her, his orgasm making his head spin.
Maddie’s body slumped over him. She leant her head against his shoulder and breathed heavily. Jace could feel her heartbeat pound fiercely against his chest. His was barely slowing down as he stared at the ceiling, waiting for his head to stop spinning.
The sex, as always, had been amazing. Jace had no arguments with the sex side of their relationship. But tonight, it felt like she had simply been using him for her own needs. There was a certain detachment right there that Jace didn’t like. When he made love to a woman he made sure both of them were in the moment. Maddie was not there.
She had just fucked him to make herself feel good. The only thing she hadn’t done was discard him.
Jace wasn’t about to wait around to be discarded. Pulling himself out and tossing Maddie as gently as he could onto the bed, he got off the mattress and began to dress in sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt.
“What’s wrong?” There was a rustling of sheets. “Where are you going?”
Jace turned. Maddie had sat up, not bothering to cover herself. She looked gorgeous and Jace could feel his cock wanting another round. But the previous bout had left a nasty taste in his mouth and he wasn’t interested in being used again.
“I need some air.”
“Jace…”
But Jace slammed the door before he heard Maddie’s protest.
Chapter Five
Jace paced outside the club, kicking at the wall and resisting the urge to take his anger out on the bikes. That was asking for a death sentence, when you messed with a biker’s pride and joy.
How could he have not seen this? Jace was the one who used women for his own needs, not the other way around. He made sure he was there with them, enjoying the moments. The moment it was over he was the one walking away. Most of the women knew the score up front and were happy with just one round or one night, depending on the time of day. If they were really good and weren’t fussed with the one-off sex, Jace went back for more. Those who were needier he didn’t go anywhere near.
Maddie was different. She was the only one Jace could see in his bed every night, her face on the pillow beside him when he woke up. The woman he would hold and want well into the night. She had spelt permanence to him. Jace had thought she was different.
Maybe she still was. But Jace knew when he was being used. He didn’t like it at all.
Now he knew how his lady friends who didn’t want less than everything felt. It wasn’t a nice feeling at all.
“Jace?”
Jace looked around. Jeremy was just pulling up on his bike, a bandana around his head. He was wearing jeans with a sleeveless black jacket, leaving his chest bare. His tattoos were visible through the jacket.
Jace shouldn’t be talking to Jeremy. He was Maddie’s brother. But because he was Maddie’s brother and, essentially, his boss, Jace needed some advice. If he didn’t, he was going to run and run very fast.
“You okay?” Jeremy turned off his bike’s engine and climbed off. He frowned at Jace as he tugged off his gloves. “What’s going on?”
“Your sister is crazy; do you know that?”
Jeremy grunted, pulling off his bandana and wiping his forehead with it.
“She’s always been crazy. I thought you knew that? So, what’s brought this on?”
Jace wasn’t about to tell his boss about being used for sex. He wouldn’t embarrass Maddie like that. He rubbed his hands over his head.
“She’s asking me to do the impossible. I want to be there for her but she’s expecting me to drop everything and be there when she has a panic attack.” He began pacing again, almost bumping into Jeremy. “She’s being overly emotional and blaming me for the slightest thing, even when I’m not even in the same room.”
Jeremy sighed. He leant back against his bike and folded his arms.
“It sounds like she’s got AND.”
“AND?”
“Ante-natal depression. A couple of the women in Broken Hounds have suffered from it. They were fine once the baby arrived, but beforehand was hell for their partners.” Jeremy shook his head. “Her hormones are going haywire.”
“Don’t they normally go haywire in women?”
“That’s a good point. But it goes another step, especially if it turns the person into someone completely different than the one you know.” Jeremy shrugged. “I’ve not been there but I feel for you. I do. There’s not much you can do about it. You’re j
ust going to have to take a deep breath and be patient. Take a step back and take your time. Maddie’s going to need everyone’s support right now and things are tough for her.”
Jace knew that. He wanted to be supportive. But it was difficult when Maddie was suddenly demanding something he couldn’t help her with.
“How can I be patient, Jeremy?” he demanded, trying not to shout but failing. “I’m trying to earn money for her and the baby. That child is giving me a reason to stay put. And Maddie,” he added quickly when he saw Jeremy’s eyebrows rise. “But she’s pushing me away and accusing me of not being there to protect her. I can’t protect her against a potential miscarriage. How am I supposed to do that? Stick my head up her crotch and make sure nothing falls out until the right time?”
