No Way Out

by Lila Rose

  “Coffee?” he asked.

  I growled low and he laughed. “Sure, Stoke, I’ll have a coffee in my house, from my kettle, in a mug that’s in my cupboard, while I guess you can go and organise my children.”

  I wanted to squeak out a scared sound and flee the room as all amusement left his face. He put his coffee cup down and stalked toward me. When he was close, close enough for me to feel his heat, he leaned down, his lips grazed my ear. “I like your attitude, woman, but I fuckin’ loved it when you called me Declan more. You call me Stoke again, you’ll be over my lap and soon find your arse sore from my hand. Now, love, you need to learn the Hawks will have your back, even if that means dealin’ with your children while you slept because you needed your rest.” He pulled back and looked down at me. “They will be fine, Malinda, and if they aren’t, then we’ll deal.” With that, he stalked from the room, only to call over his shoulder, “I’m going for a shower before my brothers get here.”

  Oh. My.

  Fury ran through my veins, but what also ran alongside it was gratitude. He wanted to take care of things while I rested. He wanted to help me out.

  I hadn’t had that for such a long time.

  What also flushed through my body was heat from his words. His body was smoking hot, but when his breath brushed across my ear, speaking those words, his hotness level reached supernova. I fanned myself down trying my hardest not to imagine him in my shower…naked.

  I failed.

  ****

  After having a quick coffee to calm my thoughts, HUH, I wanted to get dressed. As Stoke walked from my adjoining bathroom, not the children’s, the more commonly used one by all guests, looking delectable in jeans, a black fitted tee and bare feet, I knew I was in danger of ogling him and probably humiliating myself by drooling. So when he did, I made a quick escape to my room to get dressed.

  I didn’t want bikers showing up with me still in a robe. It was already enough Stoke had eyed me up when I stood in front of him in the kitchen. When I saw his eyes roaming my body, I’d looked away quickly, wishing I was wearing something sexier. No, stupid libido. Sexy is bad. It was safer being almost a mirror image of Mrs Cliff in my frumpy robe. All I needed was to dye my hair green and put it in rollers, and then we could be twins.

  I made it out to the living room as Stoke opened the front door. “Hey,” he greeted. They gave a chin lift to Stoke, but quickly turned their gaze to me. I bit my bottom lip as they studied me from head to toe. Uncomfortable, I shifted on my feet, wondering if I’d entered a parallel universe and perhaps had walked out naked. I looked down at myself to double check, ensuring I still wore my black leggings and a long, floaty top which covered my bottom, but was a little tight across my double Ds.

  “Um, hi,” I offered with a wave.

  One looked from me to Stoke, back to me and then the man with the hard gaze and massive body turned back to Stoke, and he snapped, “You fuckin’ lucky bastard.”

  Huh? Stoke was lucky? About what? That he stayed in the house?

  Stoke then smiled an arrogant smile.

  The other one who was smiling at me stepped through the door and walked to me with his hand held out. “Hey, I’m Warden. I’m here to do your security. If anything else you need done arises, I’m more than willing to help out—” he said, holding my hand in his much larger one. He was bigger than Stoke or even Griz.

  “Warden,” Stoke warned.

  “I’m also not a Hawks member. I work with Violet. I’m a PI, baby. Just keep that in mind.” He grinned, kissing my hand he was still holding, until Stoke came up and knocked Warden to the side. If Stoke didn’t quickly place his arm around my waist, I would have stumbled along with Warden, who was now laughing.

  “So easy to fuck with you guys.”

  “Yo, kids,” Stoke yelled. Warden laughed harder, and Dodge, I think his name was, chuckled with him. Josh came around the corner first and stopped when he spotted Warden. His eyes widened.

  “Wow,”

  “Hey, little dude.” Warden smiled, holding out his fist for a fist bump. Josh gave him one and asked Stoke, “Is he taking us to school?”

  “No, kid.” Stoke gestured with his chin over to the door. “That’s Dodge. He’ll be dropping you and your sister off. Two others are already there checking the place out. They’ll bring you home after school.”

  “Awesome.” He beamed and headed for Dodge. “Hey,” he said with his own chin lift.

  Oh, God.

  “What’s up, little guy.”

  “Not much,” Josh said.

  “Josh,” I called.

  He turned back to me and whined, “Mum.”

  “Josh.” I glared at my son.

  “Mum,” Josh snapped and shook his head.

  Stoke leaned in to my ear. “Love, you can’t expect a boy his age to come and kiss him mum goodbye while other brothers are hanging around and will be witness to it.”

  “See! Stoke totally gets it,” Josh yelled.

  Crossing my arms over my chest, I glared up at Stoke and snapped, “Fine.” Even though I hated it, I understood it.

  “Nary, get your arse moving,” Josh called.

  Before I could even open my mouth, Stoke barked, “Language, kid.”

  “Whoops, sorry, mum,” Josh apologised. My son. My fourteen-year-old son apologised because he swore. Usually, he’d say nothing. Maybe give me an eye roll, but he’d say nothing.

  Was Stoke a child tamer?

  He couldn’t be. He freaked the hell out when he was handed a baby.

  That was it. He was good with older children, but when it came to a baby, he’d break out in a sweat.

  Nary coming into the living room broke through my thoughts. She came up to me and kissed me on the cheek. “See you later, Mum.”

  I smirked up at Stoke. He laughed and said, “It’s different for girls.”

  “See ya, Stoke.”

  “Later, girl.”

  “Bye, babies. Have a good day,” I called. “If you need me, just call, okay.”

  “Sure, Mum,” Nary said with a grin and closed the front door behind her. Josh had already bounded down the steps with Dodge.

  Stoke gave my waist a squeeze.

  It was then I realised that the whole time I was saying goodbye and talking, I was standing with Stoke at my side with his arm around me and my children didn’t seem fazed by it at all.

  Oh. My.

  That was not good.

  Chapter Seven

  Malinda

  Two Weeks Later

  Time seemed to be speeding up on me. Fourteen days had passed. Thankfully, it had been uneventful. Well, uneventful in a way that no one tried to harm my family. However, it had been eventful in other ways, and one way had just walked into the kitchen.

  “Stoke,” Josh yelled as he stood, “you made it.” He proceeded to do some sort of manly handshake.

  “Hey, girl,” Stoke said as he passed Nary sitting at the table. I watched as he gave her shoulder a squeeze and moved on.

  “Hi, Stoke. You on duty tonight?” Nary asked.

  “Sure am.” He grinned as he continued and came around the bench. He walked up to my side and kissed my cheek, “Hey, love, what’s for dinner.”

  Each time over the fourteen days, he walked in our house as if he owned it, like he lived there, and asked the same question. And each time, I had to still my rapid heart.

  “Homemade pizza tonight,” I informed him and turned to watch him head to the fridge and grab himself a can of coke.

  He spun around, popped the top, but before he chugged it down, like he always did, he grinned over at me and said, “Sounds awesome.”

  Oh. My.

  I loved his smiled. A smile I was becoming increasingly familiar with, even though every time he shared it with me, it made me want to melt into a puddle of goo. Instead, I sent him a small grin and turned back to the chopping board to pick up where I had been before he entered.

  The day after Stoke stayed the night, the d
ay after the event and my children left for school, I avoided Stoke like he had the plague. My emotions and thoughts were driving me insane. I couldn’t believe I had felt that relaxed in Stoke’s arms as I said goodbye to my children. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t even taken it in and protected my own children’s thoughts of what they may have been thinking…God, I wasn’t even sure if that made sense.

  He’d given me that day. He stayed clear as Warden installed the security system. Okay, so I had mostly stayed in my room, until it was lunchtime and my stomach howled in anger. I also felt bad that I was acting foolish. I went out and fed Warden, since Stoke wasn’t in sight. I talked and laughed with Warden. He was a nice man to get to know, and in the end, while he finished what he had to do, I stuck by him and kept him entertained with stories of the children and just plain old chatter.

  But then Warden climbed down off his ladder and stood on the porch looking down at me, where I sat on the old rickety swing chair. He suddenly announced, “He’s a good dude.”

  I was surprised by it because we had just been talking about football teams, so I asked, “Who?”

  He smirked. “Stoke.”

  “Um…that’s nice.”

  Warden rolled his eyes and sat next to me. “He’s loyal as well. I’ve never known a brother to be that devoted. So loyal he took a bullet to the gut helping a brother, and so bloody loyal he took a beating while trying to protect another brother’s woman.”

  Oh, God. My body shivered from the thought of Declan hurt. He was all-male and so truehearted.

  I hadn’t taken noticed of any scarring the night before.

  “He’s a good guy, Mally,” Warden said, using the nickname he gave me. “The ones I know of in the Hawks club are. I don’t know all of them, most, but not all. So I didn’t know your ex—”

  “He wasn’t my ex, Warden.”

  Warden sighed. “I’m sorry, Mally, but I think, if you’re totally honest with yourself, he kinda was. Vi knows shit. She can find a lot out and I’m sorry, but I’m one of her men, so she tells me shit. You and your husband hadn’t really been a couple for some time. All I want you to know is that…what you’re feeling when you look at Stoke, it’s okay to feel that. It’s okay to be attracted to him.”

  “Warden,” I warned. I couldn’t…I wouldn’t…I wasn’t ready for that.

  “That’s all I’ll say, Mally. Now, get me a drink, woman. I’m dying of thirst.”

  I smiled up at him. I took his hand as tears filled my eyes and said, “Thank you, honey.”

  “Damn, don’t let Stoke hear you call me that. I’ll get my arse kicked.”

  I laughed because I highly doubted it.

  But I had been wrong, and that didn’t come about until three nights later. I hadn’t seen Stoke in those two nights. He’d kept his distance. Once he had a shift at the children’s school and dropped them home, but he didn’t come in, not until the next night.

  The police had been there that day to go through my house, searching for whatever Oscar thought was there. Only they came up with nothing. The day before I had been to the police station and given my statement, as well as putting a restraining order out against Oscar.

  Oscar had disappeared into thin air. However, the Hawks members and the police were sure he’d still try something. Which was why we were still under surveillance. There was also the tension surrounding Anthony Graham, who was refusing to take a meet with Talon to sort out the issue regarding me.

  So I was surprised that when I was on the phone to Warden, who was becoming a fast friend, that Stoke walked through the back door off the kitchen. My eyes widened when he stalked in and headed straight up to me. He boxed me in, an arm on each side of me, on the bench I was leaning against.

  “I, um…I have to go, honey,” I said into the phone and Stoke’s whole body tensed.

  I heard Warden’s rumble of laughter on the other end, and then he said, “My guess is that Stoke’s there. I heard he was coming tonight. Have fun, Mally.”

  “Uh-huh,” was all I said before Stoke took the phone out of my hand, hung up and placed it on the bench. He leaned in, his arms surround me again and hissed, “Who are you calling honey?”

  “Um…Warden,” I whispered as I looked into his hard steel eyes.

  “I don’t like it, Malinda.”

  “W-what?”

  “You calling a man honey. I suggest you stop.”

  “Um…okay?”

  “Jesus,” he cursed and then grasped the back of my hair and brought my lips to his, where he continued to surprise me by kissing me with so much passion. Passion I had never felt before, even from Tank when we’d first met. He pulled away and I was sure my head tried to follow him because my lips hadn’t had enough.

  Then I opened my eyes and uttered, “W-what was that?”

  He grinned down at me. “That was me showing you I’m interested, and it was also me telling you I don’t like you callin’ other men honey.”

  “Oh,” I uttered because my brain wasn’t functioning.

  He chuckled. “Yeah, oh, now I’m stayin’ for dinner and sleepin’ on the couch again.”

  “Um…all right?”

  He laughed. “I see I’m gonna need to give you some space to think. I’m gonna go see what your kids are doing.” With that, he gave me a quick peck and left the room.

  I blinked.

  And blinked again.

  He was going to see what the children were doing.

  He was interested.

  Showing me he was interested…in me? That was what he meant…yes?

  He didn’t want me to call any other man honey.

  Stoke was interested in me.

  Declan Stoke was interested and he showed me in the best way possible.

  Only, it all freaked me out.

  I’d only buried my husband three days earlier. Even though Warden was right, Tank and I hadn’t been in a relationship in a long time, it was still hard to comprehend at that time.

  Laughter rang out from the hallway where the children were with Stoke.

  Because he was seeing what they were doing.

  He was interested.

  Yes, all of that, everything about it, was going to take a large amount of time to get used to.

  Since then, that first kiss, he had been to dinner at my house every second day. He’d slept on the couch every second night and kissed my cheek, just my cheek, every time he walked in.

  That was all.

  He never made any other move.

  Inevitably, I was confused.

  He made my kids, and I have to admit myself, laugh a lot. He made us all feel at ease and smile. Declan Stoke wormed his way into our home and our hearts. It was already obvious the children adored him.

  I was still out on the matter.

  He was amazing with the children, even helped with their homework if he arrived in time for it.

  I liked him.

  Really, I did, and my heart had warmed. But it also warmed for Warden, Mattie and Julian. So was the warmth for Declan different for the others?

  I was unsure.

  Regardless, I wished he’d kiss me again. Maybe then, my mind would be made up. Then again, as soon as that thought ran through my mind, guilt hit me.

  I was still fighting with myself on so many levels.

  Nary and Josh loved having Stoke visit. They loved he took time out for them, so I was worried that when it ended, how they would react. I was also concerned that as soon as all the crap was over, he would be over with us as well.

  Actually, I was terrified about it.

  Because of the kids, of course…and nothing else.

  No other reason at all.

  That was right. I didn’t mind if he was done with us at the end. I didn’t mind I would lose his smile, his humour, his kindness, his smokin’ hot body to ogle at. Or when he called me love, when he said my name if he was angry, annoyed or in a sweet mood.

  I didn’t mind at all.

  My body jolted back i
nto the present when his hand threaded around my side to stop on my stomach. “You’re mind seems to be tickin’ over a lot tonight,” he whispered into my ear.

  Barely containing my gasp, I couldn’t still the shudder. He hadn’t done that in the last two weeks.

  He hadn’t shown this closeness in front of the children since that first day.

  “Um…yes,” I answered.

  “Hope its good thoughts, love. If not, I can provide some good ones.”

  “Uh…okay?”

  He chuckled and nuzzled his nose against my neck. “Maybe later, yeah?”

  “Ah…maybe?”

  His snort touched my skin and then he left his lips there. I closed my eyes, only to open them seconds later when he moved. He went to sit at the dining room table with my children. “Okay, what’re we learning tonight?” he asked.

  Josh went straight into talking about some math problem, but I noticed Nary wasn’t even looking at Stoke. No, she was looking at me, studying me.

  I wasn’t sure what was going through her head, but then she gave me a sweet, small smile and—heck—a thumbs up.

  Then before I could respond to her thumbs up, there was a commotion at the front door, followed by a yelled, “You let me in there. No one stops me doing shit. You best tell your boss that.”

  “Fuck,” Stoke hissed.

  “Declan,” I snapped as Josh laughed and Nary grinned big.

  He turned to face me. “Love, Mrs Cliff is a nut.”

  A giggle fell from my lips. “I know that, but she’s harmless.”

  “Yeah, unless you have a dick.”

  “Declan,” I snapped again.

  “Babe, she thinks all of us want a piece of her arse. She flirts and then yells at us. She’s up in our grill all the time, threatening she’ll bring her boys in if we don’t sort your shit soon. Whoever her fuckin’ boys are.”

  “Declan Stoke, watch your language around my children,” I yelled.

  He gave me an eye roll, stood and came at me. I was in his arms next and he was looking down at me. “Love, I’m a biker. I’m a mean motherfucker. A lot of people know that. I curse because it’s in my blood to do it. Your kids are old enough to know this and they’re also old enough to know that if I hear a swear word outta their mouths, then they have to deal with me. Right, kids?”