by Rachel Cade
“Me too.” Noa stared down at the wife he would never be finished with.
Their bodies were still joined and tangled in the sheets and there wasn’t a single place he’d rather be.
He separated their bodies before he reached over and untied her hands from the post.
Lyndie’s free hands smoothed over his forearm.
Noa paused and placed his hand on the mattress to balance himself as he looked down at her. “I don’t feel alone anymore now because of you.”
Her smile was soft, but he saw a glisten form over her eyes.
“I don’t feel alone anymore, either.”
Emotion dragged his body down to cover hers and kiss her.
The softness of her lips sent his nerves on edge.
She was his wife now and he didn’t just have her hand, he had her heart too.
Noa closed his eyes hard with that realization and kissed her until they were both breathless.
“One more?” He raised above her again to ask.
“One more,” she repeated.
“Yeah. You up for it?”
Lyndie glanced down. “It looks like you still are.”
He kissed the side of the hand that held his ring. “Always, Babygirl.”
He returned to the position behind her and reached around her waist, turning them both so that she was on top of him, her back resting against his chest.
He bent his knees so that hers flanked his.
Lyndie scooted up his body a little so that he would have enough room to enter her again, and he did, quickly.
She exhaled, letting her head fall over his shoulder.
Noa let her relax, keeping his movements slow, letting her ease with him into a gentle rhythm before he grabbed the sash again.
He held her arms above their heads and deliberately picked up the pace, feeling her ass shift over his pelvis as her body clenched around him.
“Please.” The force she put on the sash as she pulled on it made him push harder off the bed.
Noa reached around and let one of her breasts fill his free hand as she shifted on top of him.
He was close, so close he had to grit his teeth against it.
Noa let out a breath. His body had a mind of its own and went to the next level pumping inside of Lyndie. He lowered the sash but quickly grabbed her hands, holding them between her chest.
Her legs twisted above him and her walls tightened around him at the same time.
“Lyndie.”
It was the last thing he said before he fell off a cliff and drowned in an orgasm that dragged a loud yell from his throat.
Chapter Twelve:
Nothing Can Come Between Us
Lyndie gasped as Noa’s hand tightened over her breast.
Her lower back bent as his thrusts rocked her body.
When she cursed, it had to filter through clenched teeth.
His mouth was by her ear, amplifying every sound that he made. His fingers tightened around her hand when he yelled out, signaling his release.
She came a third time over him, her thighs tensing above him before going completely liquid as she gave into everything.
And everything was feeling like lava was being poured over her. His body was like a wave beneath her, pushing her toward a satisfaction she couldn’t put into words.
“That was perfect.” He kissed her neck, slacking some of his hold on her wrists.
All she knew was that she needed to catch her breath. Noa’s large hand rested on her stomach.
His other hand released the dark ribbon binding her wrists.
He took her left hand held it up for both of them.
“It looks good on you.” He laced their fingers. “I’ll be glad when you can wear it out all the time.”
Lyndie had to slide up his damp body a bit to separate them and he didn’t do much to help. His nipple rings pressed into her back and she closed her eyes, slipping off him to the bed.
Noa was a lot of husband. A whole lot. Every inked bit of him was on display and his long dark hair stretched over both pillows.
“I want that too,” she said. “I just… it’s simple and it’s not.”
“Because of Durand.”
“That’s what you call him?”
“And a lot of other things.”
Lyndie chuckled, blinking slow.
Her eyes settled on him. “Noa, I don’t care about anyone knowing I’m married to you, you know that, right?”
He stared at her. “I know if Will found out, he would try to take Max from me. I know he would.” The last part was whispered as she felt anxiety creep up at the thought. “Ashley Langley would end up raising my baby. I think that’s what she wants.”
Noa reached up and touched her nape, lowering her head to his chest.
Lyndie crossed her arm over his stomach. “I wouldn’t be able to let that happen. I’d kill them both.” She let out a deep shaky breath at the confession.
“And I’d help you hide the bodies.”
She turned her head to make eye contact with him.
His expression was impartial.
She knew he was serious… and so was she.
“You’re pretty strong, so I appreciate it.”
“There’s only a couple of reasons the sheriff’s still breathing. One of them is you.”
Lyndie rested her chin on his chest.
“He’s not going to take Max from you.”
“Noa…” She said his name but didn’t know how to proceed.
“You’re right. If he finds out we’re married, all hell will break loose. I’d be ready for it though. And you and Max would be safe.”
“And what about you?” she asked. “I don’t want you to go to jail or get hurt or anything because of me.”
“You need to trust me.” His thumb smoothed the side of her neck. “Just like you did when you left town with me today.”
She wanted Will gone, but she wanted it in a way where he took himself out. So no one she cared about went down with him.
“I get that it’s a delicate situation,” he said after she didn’t speak.
*
“I don’t have to deal with delicate too often. But I can adapt.”
“Did you let Tin know you would take over while he’s gone?”
“No, not yet because he’s going to say, ‘Good now get your ass back here.’”
Lyndie smiled. “He does sound like that.”
“Just a few more hours with you. Then we’ll head back.”
She looked at him with steady eyes. “Have you ever killed anyone before?”
“We do what we have to. There’s levels to it.”
“I never really ruled out a group that called themselves the Death Skulls actually, you know, living up to the name.”
“You never ruled it out and you married me anyway?”
Lyndie reached up and stroked his goatee from the chin to the tip. “Yes.”
“You’re gonna make a good old lady, then.”
*
Will was out in his backyard smoking a cigarette.
He felt like a stranger in his own house. She’d pretty much moved her whole family in.
It was such a shitty situation, but he had to chuckle at the irony.
He wanted to be a part of the Langley family, just not like this.
Somewhere in the house, Ashley was bossing around her dad’s nurse, an extra person in his place. His personal doctor made daily visits at his fiancée’s request.
He wanted the man six feet under, and instead, he was in his house bandaged and thriving.
Will eased the smoke out of his mouth. He knew getting angrier about the situation wasn’t going to make it better.
That was the thing about plans; sometimes they didn’t go like you intended. Sometimes instead of outright failing they splintered off into new lanes of bullshit.
But… it was okay.
He needed to meet with Henry, and after putting out his cigarette, he realized his car was b
locked by three others.
Will didn’t want to talk to anyone, so he grabbed Ashley’s keys and took her car, with it being the closest at the end of the driveway.
He met Henry at the station after hours.
No one was there so they had privacy.
“The night of Langley’s Town Gathering.”
“Yeah?”
Will leaned against a desk. “I reached out to Los Bandidos. Arranged for them to send some of their guys here too,” he shrugged. “Do what bikers do. We can deal with a little property damage, scare the shit out of the town folk, Langley getting really hurt or worse. So the people of Amber Falls can understand that the Death Skulls are too dangerous to be here, then we’ll take care of that for them.”
“Dex busted two tires on a chase with them earlier tonight on the edge of town.”
Will sent his eyes heavenward. “And what became of it?”
He lost them and felt like a dumbass after and didn’t follow up. We were out on the run, like you said… multitasking.”
Will let out a breath. “Is his car getting taken care of?”
“Yeah.”
“Everything’s going back the way it was. No more battling for control. No more outsiders.”
Henry hooked pushed his hands into his pockets. “Really glad to hear that, sir.”
Will was glad too and he was feeling better. When he got back into Ashley’s car, he glanced over how disheveled it was. Files were all over the backseat. Papers were even under the sun visor. He reached for them and noticed one was from a doctor’s office.
She hadn’t mentioned being at the doctor’s, but it wasn’t a big deal.
He flipped it open and read under the car’s overhead light.
The more he read, the deeper his frown became.
Infertility.
“She can’t have kids?”
*
“An old lady?” She raised her brows.
“Yeah,” he answered. “My old lady.”
“Is that a biker thing?”
“Yeah,” he answered again. “Tell me how you would do it.”
“Do what?”
“Get rid of Durand.”
The playfulness in the conversation dropped. Lyndie never felt so put on the spot in her life.
“Are you asking how I would kill Will?”
His mouth parted a second before he started talking. “There’s many ways to get rid of someone besides that.”
A tingle ran over the bottom of her feet. Will being completely out her life, out of Max’s life for good, gave her a sense of peace that she longed for. She could let go of the fear the anger and regret with no reminders.
“Will… he needs a taste of his own medicine.” She ran her hand over his stomach. “If I was going to get rid of him, I would make sure he lost what he loved the most: the town’s respect.”
“You want to ruin his reputation?”
“Not just that. He needs to lose his job, everything. Ashley would leave him, Langley would forget he existed. He’d never get custody of Max.”
“Well, you fuck with a man’s livelihood like that, it makes him dangerous. Then he’s got nothing left to lose.”
“So he’d need to be in a place where he had nowhere to go.”
“And a lot of time to think about everything he had and lost.” He stroked the wet hair by her temple with his fingertips.
Lyndie’s heartbeat relaxed a bit under his touch.
“What is that?” Her voice was a little hoarse, she realized when she tried to raise it.
On his chest over his heart, she saw ink that blended into the intricate artwork that was already there. She saw her name spelled out in cursive with a tiny heart beneath and below that, Max.
“Noa, what is that?” Her voice was hushed.
Noa glanced down at his own chest before looking back up at her. “I was wondering when you would notice it.”
Lyndie smiled and leaped on him with her tired body for a kiss.
*
Will pulled back into the house.
He sat there for a minute staring at his front porch light.
Then he got out and shut the door.
He found Ashley on the phone in the living room.
Will took her arm and snatched her into the kitchen.
“Will, what are you doing?” she asked. “I’m on the phone.”
He hung it up, staring hard at her.
And harder still for a long time.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“What is this?” He flipped open the paper in her face.
She immediately snatched it. “Let’s go outside.”
Will followed her and they ended up in her car again. Her eyes were wide as she began to speak. “I can explain.”
“Do that. Because it looks like the paper said you can’t have kids.”
“That’s not what it says!” she spat. “It’s not. They have treatments for it.”
Will leaned toward her. “When were you planning on telling me about it, huh?”
“Will, I can fix it. It’s not going to be a problem. Please…” Her shrill voice bounced off the closed windows.
He sat back hard in the seat, his mouth tight. There was a lot he wanted to say. A big part of him wanted to reach over for her…
“You’re going to go back to Lyndie, aren’t you?” Her voice was flat.
Will didn’t answer.
What a fucking mess this was.
“We’re engaged, right?” he answered quietly. He stared out the windshield, focusing on the car in front of him, not feeling anything. “We… can try to figure out a way to work through it.”
Ashley reached over and grabbed his hand. “Yes, yes, of course we can.”
“Okay.”
That was all Noa said to Tin when he returned to the clubhouse.
Chaos met them on the edge of town with the van so he could get Lyndie back home under the cover of dark.
One day soon, her home and his home would be the same thing.
Tin was in his room, all packed. He wondered if it was too late, if he’d already asked Bleed, figuring he didn’t want any part of it.
Tin rested his hands on his waist and watched him from the door.
“I’m ready. I can do it.”
“All that pesky healing came along? You look a little different.”
Noa held the back of his neck. “You’re gonna bust my balls about it?”
“Of course.”
*
“Alright. Thanks for not drinking and being up to see me off.” Tin looked around at the guys he put together. “I’m trying to get this family business done in Florida, but I want to make sure this one’s okay too. Here’s my replacement.” He pointed at Noa.
Noa folded his arms at the bar.
The room was quiet for a bit and he hated that shit.
“Skorpio.”
Noa’s side gaze was on the floor until he looked over at them.
For a brief moment, he saw everyone he lost.
They were smiling at him.
A sudden blur came over his vision, but he pushed through it.
Then he saw the wiry group of Nomads he would soon be a charge of.
Bleed raised both hands with his usual flat expression and started a round odd applause. Noa caught the lift in his lip as the others joined him.
“Fuckin’ finally!” Chaos raised his hand high to clap. “No disrespect, Tin, you know I love you.”
Tin’s eyeroll was quick before he flashed his teeth. “Sure, kid.”
*
With Tin safely on his flight, the guys returned to the clubhouse.
A regular sleep schedule wasn’t in any of their futures.
Noa didn’t know what any of this would come to, or where Amber Falls would be when this was all done, but he knew they had to fight.
“We need to get into formation with this police department,” he said at the top of the table. “It’s obvious now that we’re not going
to be in harmony here. And we don’t have time to figure out what side Langley’s going to fall on.”
“You think he’d try to get rid of us too?” Chaos asked.
“Hopefully the old man is focusing on being happy he’s breathing. These cops we have to prepare for more than anything. They’ve got the most to lose if we stick around, even over the Aztecs, cause they just dip over the border.”
“He’s got some kind of celebration coming up. We saw some flyers for it in town.”
“I just want us to cover our bases. I’m going to see if I can meet this guy he’s been with, Mitch. Low tier mafia dudes are usually easy to flip, but we’ll see.” He pointed at Chaos. “All that equipment you’ve been ordering can get put to some use. I want some cameras put up in town and on the perimeter so we can have eyes on everything. Over at that closed-down antique shop too, since they did their buy there, just for good measure.” Noa focused on Bleed. “You have a special assignment.”
Bleed eased back in the chair. “Lay it on me, Commander.”
“Ashley. Ashley Langley.”
“The old man’s daughter?” Bleed’s eyes narrowed.
“He wants you to pump her for information.” Chaos laughed through his teeth.
“Not even that.” Noa tapped his fingers on the desk, feeling comfortable with the orders. “He doesn’t need to get that far to get what he wants.”
“And what should I do, El Presidente?” Whisper asked from the open door.
Noa regarded him before saying, “You’re with me.”
Chapter Thirteen:
Battle of Wills
Lyndie made sure not to have Max with her when she was set to meet Ashley at the theater. She was almost prepared for the woman not to try not to show.
But a couple minutes to ten, she saw her pull up and park in front of the building.
She didn’t offer an smile as she got out of the car, just grabbed a file and walked up to her.
“Glad to see you’re on time,” Lyndie pointed out.
Ashley glanced up and down the street as if she were worried about being seen with her.
“Why are you doing this, Lyndie? It’s a waste of time. You’re not going to get approved for a loan.”
