by Khloe Wren
“Right. You’ve had stitches enough times to know the drill. Come back and see me to take them out, or just get one of the men to do it.”
I gave her a nod and after standing up, leaned down to kiss her cheek.
“Thanks, darlin’. You’re a gem.”
“Yeah, yeah, save the charm for Marie. And gave that boy of yours a kiss for me. I haven’t made it up there yet today.”
Knowing Donna would keep my little visit off the books, I ducked out of the ER and made my way to the NICU to find my son and my woman, who was going to make a fuss over the fact I had a scratch.
Chapter 12
Marie
I hadn’t been expecting Scout so soon. I definitely hadn’t expected him to march in to the NICU with his hand all bandaged up. Since I’d been about to head to the bathroom, I’d just finished settling Joey back in his bassinet. After a final glance to make sure he was good, I turned my full attention to my man, who’d made his way to my side while I’d been looking the other way.
“What happened to your hand?”
“I slipped.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I raised an eyebrow at him. He knew that wasn’t a good enough of an explanation for me.
“Gonna need more than that.”
“That’s the truth, babe. I was working on a bike and the nut wouldn’t budge, so I put more muscle into it, and when the wrench slipped, my hand slammed into a sharp edge, slicing the base of my thumb open. It’ll be fine. Donna just put a couple stitches in because it wouldn’t quit bleeding.”
Stitches? He wanted me to not worry when it was bad enough he’d needed to have it sewn up? Lost in thoughts of what really lay beneath the white gauze, I kept my gaze locked onto the bandages around his hand until he used his other hand to tilt up my chin. The moment I focused on his eyes, so blue and warm, he leaned down and took my lips with his. Kissing me slowly, gently, until the tension drained from my body and my hands pressed against his chest, taking a grip on the leather of his cut so he couldn’t back away.
Until my bladder reminded me of what I was on my way to do before he interrupted me. Releasing my grip and smoothing down the leather, I stepped back.
“I need to go to the bathroom real quick.”
He gave me a smirk and another quick kiss.
“Off you go. Us boys will just hang out here and wait for your return.”
With a chuckle, I made my way out to the hallway and down to the bathroom.
When I returned to the NICU, bladder relieved, it was to Scout shirtless and a nurse helping get Joey settled on his bare chest. Before he saw me, I whipped out my phone and took a few snaps of them together. The look of complete love and adoration on Scout’s face was something I’d never forget. I’d given him that. By having his baby, I was responsible for that look on his face right now. As I stepped closer, I took another couple photos on my phone and when he glanced up, his expression was priceless. His eyes sparkled with his joy, his lips stretched into a wide grin. That moment, right there, watching my man so at ease with our son, looking happier than I’d seen him in so long, made everything worth it.
Scout
I felt so much better after getting some cuddle time with Joey, but unfortunately I’d had to put him back in his crib and head out before I was ready to leave him. With a heavy heart, I took Marie’s hand and left our son to go get our daughter. Once we had Ariel, we took her to get some flowers then headed over to the cemetery so she could visit with her momma. The guilt of not doing more to help Sarah sooner still ate at me, especially when we came here and I had to face her final resting place—glaring proof of how badly I’d fucked up.
Today a different emotion was stronger than the guilt, and when I saw that headstone it was determination that filled me. I would not allow Marie or any of the other old ladies see the same fate. I vowed to myself I would do whatever it took to end this current threat to my family, and any others that would come later. I would do everything in my power to make sure we had no one else to visit in this place.
“You’re looking a little mean there, babe. What’s on your mind?”
Marie’s fingers ran over my chest as she stroked over my shirt until her hand was over my ribs, tucked into the warmth under my cut, as she moved to stand in front of me. Wrapping my arm around her, I brought her in closer, until she was pressed firmly against my front. Now she wasn’t pregnant anymore, she fit in against me perfectly again, for which I was grateful. Nothing soothed me quite like having my woman in my arms, close enough my lungs were filled with nothing but her scent.
“I was just thinking about all I gotta do to make sure no one else I care about ends up here.”
“You worried about the guys up in New York?”
I blew out a breath. Of course she’d know exactly what I was worried about, even though she didn’t know about Arrow’s call yet, she still knew.
“Yeah, that’s part of it. Arrow called earlier. He thinks I’m going to need to head up there soon. Is that all right? I’ll be as fast as I can. I don’t want to leave you...”
I’d never been so fucking torn over what to do before. I didn’t want to leave her and the kids, but I didn’t want to leave taking out the Riders to anyone but me. As the president of the Charons, as Marie’s man, as Joey and Ariel’s father, I needed to be there when the final blow landed. It was just the way I was fucking wired.
Marie giving my beard a gentle tug had me moving my gaze from Ariel to her. Once she had my eyes on hers, she spoke.
“Scout, I know who I married. I know the caveman biker inside you wants to go and get vengeance for what happened. Just promise me if you do go, that you’ll be careful. That you’ll watch your back and not do anything stupid. I know you want to go help deliver vengeance, but I need you to come back to us in one piece more than I need you to go make those who hurt us pay. Because, Charlie, I need you more than I need justice or vengeance or anything else. Do you hear me?”
This woman wrecked me. How the fuck was I supposed to argue with that? Running my fingers over her cheek, I tucked her hair behind her ear.
“I hear you, love, loud and clear.” I paused a moment to take in every inch of her beautiful face. A face I would never get tired of coming home to, waking up to. “I love you more than life, Marie. I’d never do a damn thing to risk not returning to you and the kids.”
A tear slipped from her eye and after thumbing it away, I cradled her jaw and took her mouth, swiping my tongue in to tangle with hers when her lips parted on a sigh. Her taste filled me, fuelled me to keep kissing her. Arousal roared through my body, making my cock kick in my jeans. It’d been too long since I’d had her beneath me and I both missed and craved that connection with my woman. But it would be a long time yet til I got to slip inside her core. Her body needed time to heal first.
“Ew! You two are yucky!”
With a chuckle, we broke apart. Most of the time Ariel was still so damn quiet for a girl her age, and when she came out with stuff like she just did, it made my heart sing. It was such a normal thing for a five-year-old to say and gave me hope she was gonna cope just fine when she headed to school next month.
“C’mon, kiddo. Let’s head home. What do you feel like for dinner?”
Scout
Waking with a jerk, I snapped out my hand for my phone, to hopefully answer the thing before it woke Marie. As I answered the call, I slipped out of the bed and, grabbing a pair of boxers from the floor, made my way down to the kitchen.
“Talk to me.”
Considering it was one in the fucking morning, whoever it was calling me better have a damn good reason for it.
“Scout, Wolf over in New York. Sorry about the late hour but shit is heavy over here and, well, I don’t gotta tell you how that goes.”
Shoving the phone between my shoulder and ear, I stepped into my boxers before sitting down at the table, keeping my eye on the hallway in case either Marie or Ariel came in. This was not gonna be a conversation I wan
ted either of my girls overhearing.
“Got it. Tell me what’s been going on? Arrow tells me you’re the president now. That right?”
“Yeah, that’s right but that’s a story for another day. I’ll tell ya this, though, the relationship between your club and the Knights will continue to thrive as if Jack were still the one holding the gavel. That being said, I appreciate you allowing us to have a look at those ledgers. I don’t know how much your guys have told you but we got some shit going on here with the Sinaloa cartel. One of my guys caught a few mentions of them in those books of yours. Seems like they used to be the Ice Rider’s drug supplier back in the day. Now, with these books being old as fuck we can’t really ride on that. It’s my understanding you didn’t send your men here to break bread with the Riders, so I’m calling you to tell you we want in.”
I was all for them helping us out on this. After all, the more men, the clearer the message. But I was quite sure Wolf wasn’t making this offer out of the kindness of his heart. He wanted something out of this. So until I had some more facts, I wasn’t agreeing to anything.
“Hold up. Why you got such a hard-on for this cartel?”
“You know how widespread the Sinaloa Cartel is. We had an altercation with their men in Queens. They declared war on Parrish. First with his wife and son, then today with his daughter. Broke into her and Blackie’s house while she and Jack’s son were asleep, tore it up, and painted the walls with blood, delivering a message.”
A growl vibrated up my throat. “Are they okay? What’d the fuckers do?”
“They didn’t touch them, thank fuck. But I’ve got my club on lockdown now and with Blackie in the can doing a bid and Jack on the brink of a fucking nervous breakdown, I gotta end this shit before bodies start dropping.”
“Why the fuck are they coming after your women and kids and not touching any of you?” I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Seriously, this shit is so fucked up. I remember when a man’s family was sacred.”
“Time’s change, brother. And not always for the better. I’m calling you because we ain’t sitting on this shit. Since the Ice Riders have had dealings with them in the past, I want to go up to Boston with you and make those cocksuckers give up Javier’s hit squad’s current location. Once we get those pigs to squeal, we’ll help you make the bastards pay for what they’ve done to you and yours. But I gotta tell you, Parrish ain’t going to be contained for too much longer. If you want to play a role in the demise of the motherfuckers who wronged your woman, you need to be on the next flight here.”
I shook my head. Their former president was losing his mind, literally, and they had one of the most prominent cartels going after their women and children. Not to mention one of their key players was in jail. Fuck. It made our issues down here seem tame.
“I gotta sort out someone to stay with my wife and daughter. She can’t drive yet, after giving birth. But I’ll get that done and be on the first flight up. I got a couple cuts I wanna toss at the feet of their fucking president before he goes to meet his maker.”
“Good deal. Let me know when you’re due to land and I’ll send a cage to pick you up.”
After hanging up I slid the phone onto the table and covered my face with my hands. I wanted to scream with how much I wished I could be in two fucking places at once right now.
“You need to go, don’t you?”
I’d heard her pad across the room, so her voice and the warm palm on my shoulder didn’t shock me. I dropped my hands away, scooting the chair back from the table as I pulled her down to sit in my lap.
“Yeah. Gonna need to fly up first thing in the morning. But I won’t go until I know you’ve got someone here to look after you and Ariel.”
She shrugged a shoulder like it was no big deal. “I’m sure Bulldog and Rose will be happy to come stay with me until you get back. How long do you think you’ll be gone?”
“From the sounds of things, not long. Hopefully only a couple of days. If we’re lucky, we’ll get it all handled in one day and I’ll be back tomorrow night.”
I seriously doubted it, but a man could dream.
She ran her nose up my cheek as she gave my beard a small tug with her hand.
“Well, I guess we should get you back to bed for some sleep then, since you’re no doubt going to be in for a full-on day tomorrow.”
She slipped off my lap and my cock jerked to life as she took my hand and led me back to our bedroom. Never thought I’d consider a maternity bra and granny panties a turn on, but when that was all Marie was wearing? My dick was hard and throbbing in my boxers. How I wished I could take her back to bed, strip her off and fuck her hard. I had no clue what tomorrow would truly bring, how much danger I’d be in. Tonight might be the last time I had with her. I didn’t want to think like that, but I couldn’t help the thoughts from creeping in.
Kicking off my boxers as Marie laid down, I drank in the sight of her near-naked and spread out for me. She went to pull the covers over her but I stopped her, jerking them back down. She gave me a questioning look, flipping her gaze from my face to my cock.
“It’s too soon, babe. No sex for another few weeks yet.”
“Just ‘cos I can’t get my cock into you yet, don’t mean I can’t still play a little.”
Her breath hitched and her cheeks grew pink as I lowered myself down next to her, running my hand down her body until I could slip under the edge of her panties. She was still bleeding a little, so I didn’t even try to go any further than her clit. With just the tip of my finger, I gently teased the little nub. With a moan, she rolled on her side, and cupping my face in her palms, pulled me to her, initiating a kiss I soon took control of. I took her mouth like I wanted to take her pussy, thrusting my tongue in to dance with hers before retreating and doing it again.
One of her palms dropped from my face and she knocked my hand until I pulled out of her panties. But before I could voice my displeasure at losing my toy, my whole body jerked with pleasure as she wrapped those delicate fingers of hers around my cock and started stroking.
“Fuck, babe.”
I rested my forehead against hers as she continued to tease me. I was on edge already, having gone way too long without a release. Then she let go and pushed my hip until I was laying on my back. Through half-closed eyes, I watched her as she crawled over me, her hair teasing the hell out of my chest as she purposely let it tickle my skin.
I wrapped my hand in the silk to move it out of the way as she got to where I wanted her and finally wrapped those lips I loved so much around my straining erection. I bit my lip to keep the groan from slipping out. The last thing I wanted was to wake Ariel right now.
Cupping my balls with her free hand, she worked me over like she’d gotten hold of my instruction manual and memorized every damn word of the thing. Every stroke, every touch and lick felt like heaven and before I was ready, my eyes rolled back and I jerked up, coming into her mouth.
I had the best old lady ever.
Once I’d got my senses back, I reached down and grabbed her shoulders to lift her up the bed so I could kiss her, loving how I got a little taste of myself because she’d swallowed me down.
“Fucking love you, Marie.”
“Love you too, Charlie. Now, get some sleep. I don’t want you getting hurt because you’re too tired to function.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I rolled over, killed the lamp then pulled her in against my body so I could spoon up behind her. As I drifted off, I sent up a prayer to whoever was listening that I would get to come back to her after we ended this shit up north.
Chapter 13
Scout
So far everything had run smoothly. Bulldog and Rose had come over first thing to stay with Marie and Ariel, and I’d gotten on the first flight out, no issue. I could only hope the trend continued.
Now I was standing outside Newark Airport, scanning the crowd at the pickup line for anyone wearing a Satan’s Knights cut. When I finally saw one,
I headed in the man’s direction.
“You Scout?”
“Yeah, you got a name?”
“Nico, aka Satan’s Knights’ Bitch,” he muttered as he tipped his chin toward the passenger seat. “Get in before Parrish cuts my dick off.”
With a shake of my head and a chuckle, I opened the door, tossing my bag into the back before taking a seat. Then, before I had a chance to buckle my seatbelt, the crazy bastard had taken off from the curb and was weaving in and out of traffic, leaving me gripping the door handle.
“Fucking hell, are there always this many cars on the damn road?”
“Pretty much. Welcome to New York, cowboy.”
“I ain’t no cowboy. Wrong club, kid. We might do runs with the Satan’s Cowboys MC but that’s the end of it. We ain’t them.”
I was pretty sure he was just poking fun at me because I came from Texas, but no Charon would like being called a cowboy, so I figured it best to get that shit straight with Nico from the start.
“Hey, man, don’t get your panties in a twist. I didn’t even know that was a club.”
I gave him a nod. “No harm done. We’re good.”
The rest of the ride passed in silence as I stared out the window at the insanity that was New York traffic. I was suddenly real fucking grateful I didn’t have to attempt to navigate through this shit on my own.
When he pulled up in front of a bar and killed the engine, I wasn’t sure what the fuck was going on.
“Thought we were going to your clubhouse?”
“Yeah, you’re looking at it. Some fuckers blew up our old one a while back, now we meet here. One of the brothers owns it. We got rooms upstairs, cold beer on tap and the hottest fucking bartenders this side of the Verrazano. Pretty sweet deal.”
He hopped out of the car before I could ask anything more about the whole blown-up-clubhouse thing so, I decided to let it drop for now. After grabbing my bag and slinging it over my shoulder, I followed his lead and trailed him up the path to the bar’s main entrance.
