by Harley Wylde
“You knew I was searching for Kayla. You knew exactly who she was, and it seems you knew where to find her.”
“She’s just a hot piece of ass. You’ve fucked club sluts and not cared if we had a turn,” he said.
“She’s not a slut.” My hand clenched into a fist, and I swung with all my might, knocking his head to the side with the force of the blow. “She’s my old lady, you dipshit. The mother of my child. And you fucking tried to rape her.”
He paled, and I could tell that he knew he was well and truly fucked.
Johnny stood next to me, looking ready to commit murder, but he held back. He knew it was my job to protect Kayla now, my job to take care of any trash who dared to touch her. Two other Prospects, our President, and two brothers were here as well. All watching and waiting. I knew they wondered if I had it in me to do what needed to be done. At one time, I’d have said no. It was one thing to break the law and another to murder someone. But he’d touched Kayla, and he deserved to die.
I worked him over with my fists, bones crunching as I broke his nose, his jaw, and a few ribs. He cried and begged me to stop, begged for his life. I wondered if Kayla had begged too. Had she pleaded for him to stop? To not rape her? Fury engulfed me as I made him bleed.
A phone rang, but I didn’t stop. Carter was barely recognizable, but he was still breathing, and that was a problem for me. A hand landed on my shoulder, and I looked at Torch.
“It’s Kayla,” he said softly.
“What about Kayla?” I asked.
“She woke up, and you were gone. Tank’s there, and he tried to calm her down, but she was freaking the fuck out, talking about how the daddy of her baby was going to be in jail because he was too stupid for his own good.” Torch chuckled a little, then sobered. “She got a little too worked up and passed out. I know you want to finish this, but you need to take care of your old lady.”
I glanced at Carter.
“I’d be honored to finish the job,” Johnny said. “I promise he’ll suffer. I’ll make it last all night if I have to.”
I glanced at the Prospect, the twin of my woman, and nodded. “Do it.”
Someone handed me a towel, and I cleaned up as best I could before heading home. When I walked through my front door, Tank was standing next to the couch, staring down at Kayla with a helpless expression on his face. I knew exactly how he felt. I wasn’t going to touch her, though, until I was clean. After taking the fastest damn shower, and pulling on fresh clothes, I relieved Tank of guard duty and gently roused Kayla.
“Sweetheart, can you open your eyes for me?”
Her chest rose and fell, but she didn’t so much as twitch otherwise. My hand smoothed across her cheek, and I tried several more times. My heart thudded heavily as I worried that the stress had been too much for her. Weren’t pregnant women supposed to be coddled or something?
“Baby, please wake up. You’re scaring the shit out of me.”
Still nothing.
I left her only long enough to get a cold, wet rag, and then I pressed it against her cheeks and forehead. Slowly, she started to come to, her eyes a little unfocused at first.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Tank said you flipped out, and then you passed out.”
She blinked a few times, then glared at me. “You left me! You fucked my brains out, then you snuck away to deal with Carter, knowing that I didn’t want you to do that.”
“Honey, I couldn’t let him get away with hurting you. What if you’d lost the baby when he knocked you down? What if Jeremy hadn’t come along in time to save you? If he’d gone free, someone else would have suffered.”
“He’s dead, then?” she asked, her voice eerily quiet.
“I don’t know. If he’s not yet, he will be.”
Her gaze met mine. “Then you didn’t kill him?”
“No, sweetheart. I beat the hell out of him, but he was still breathing when I left. Someone else will take care of it.” I didn’t think she needed to know that someone was her brother. “You know, being part of the club means I’m sometimes going to have to do things you might not like. Are you going to lose it every time I go somewhere?”
“No. I’m sorry. I just… “ A tear slipped down her cheek, then another. I gathered her into my arms and stroked her hair. “I don’t want to lose you.”
I couldn’t help but smile a little. “You’re not going to. I’m going to be here for a very long time. I’m going to hold your hand as you give birth to our baby, and then I’m going to knock you up a few more times. We’ll have to practice a lot.”
She giggled and pressed closer to me.
“I’m sorry that you were scared when you woke up.”
“I’m sorry I flipped out,” she said. “I’ll do better next time. I’ve just never had anyone to worry about before, except Johnny, and he can take care of himself. But now I have this baby, and I have you. I’ve never had a real family except Johnny, and he walked away. I guess part of me is scared that it’s going to disappear.”
My heart ached for her. “I’m not going anywhere, honey. We’re going to grow old together, okay?”
“Okay,” she agreed softly.
“I know I’ve said that you’re mine, and I mean that to the depths of my soul. But it means something else too.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“It means that I’m yours.”
She smiled a little. “Does that mean you’re getting a property tattoo too?”
“Come on. Let’s head to the clubhouse for a minute. There’s someone I want you to meet.”
She nodded, and I walked her out to the SUV. It wasn’t a far walk, but after her passing out, I didn’t want to take any chances. We drove to the clubhouse, and I noticed Zipper’s motorcycle was out front, just like I’d hoped it would be. The man was completely bad-ass, but he was also an incredible artist and did all the ink for the club. He even had a special room set up in the clubhouse for tattooing.
We went inside, and I found Zipper kicked back at a table, nursing a beer.
“How drunk are you?” I asked.
“That’s my first one,” he said, motioning to the still mostly full mug.
“I need some ink done.”
He stood and motioned for us to follow. When we stepped into his makeshift studio, Kayla checked everything out. I let Zipper go through his spiel about the machine he used and how everything worked. Then I sat on the chair, and he looked at me in confusion.
“I thought you wanted a property tattoo for Kayla? Everyone said you’d claimed her last night.”
“She does need one, but there’s something I need done first.” I pulled off my cut and my shirt, then pressed a hand right over my heart. While my arms were inked, and part of my back, I didn’t have a single tattoo on my torso. Yet. “Right across my heart I want Kayla written in a script. Something dainty like her.”
She snorted. “Not dainty.”
“You are to me.”
She blinked at me, then smiled a little.
Once Zipper had sketched something out, and I’d approved it, he got to work. Kayla sat on the stool next to me and watched in fascination as Zipper inked her name onto my chest. When he was finished, he swabbed it with A&D ointment, then put some Saran Wrap over it. I stood up, and Kayla immediately sat in the chair.
“Honey, I don’t think you need to get inked today. You passed out earlier,” I said.
“I was justifiably upset,” she said. “You’re wearing my name, now I want to wear yours.”
Zipper shrugged. “If she starts looking a little pale, we can always stop and pick it up another day. Are we just doing a plain font?”
“No,” I said. “But I’m not going to ask for butterflies or flowers, or anything else girly like the others did. Kayla’s right. She might be dainty to me, but she’s also incredibly brave and strong. She’s got the heart of a Dixie Reaper through and through. Kayla has the heart of a lioness, and I think she’s going to be j
ust as protective of her family. All of us.”
Zipper quirked an eyebrow. “So what am I inking?”
“Have you ever seen a Celtic symbol for family that looks like a tree with knotwork?” I asked.
Zipper pulled out his phone and tapped and swiped a few minutes before showing me an image. “Like this?”
The tips of the branches were Celtic knots, as were the roots. “Yes, just like that.”
“It’s beautiful,” Kayla said.
“You need a break at any time, you just say so,” Zipper told her. “Any color preferences?”
Kayla told him her favorite colors were purple and teal, so Zipper pulled those out as well as black for the lettering. The trunk and branches of the tree were purple and he made the knotwork teal. Across the top it said Property of in a black script, and under the roots it said Preacher in a more classic font. Kayla didn’t cry once, and as Zipper tended to the tattoo and gave her instructions for how to care for it, she smiled brightly at me.
I pulled her into my arms and kissed her hard. “Now you’re never getting away.”
“Good,” she whispered before pressing her lips to mine again. “Because I’m right where I want to be.”
* * *
Kayla
One Month Later
I rubbed a hand over my belly, which was starting to show a little already, and watched in amusement as Nick tried to put the crib together. He’d been at it for an hour, and so far, he hadn’t done much except spew a ton of cuss words. I’d tried really hard not to laugh, but it was getting harder and harder. For a man who claimed to do all the work on his bike and the SUV, he sure was having a rough time with one piece of baby furniture. The parts were scattered around him in complete chaos. It was almost like the box had exploded and the pieces just went everywhere.
“Nick, I have something being delivered for the baby’s room,” I said.
He gave me a pained look. “Does it have to be put together?”
“Yep.”
He groaned and closed his eyes, probably praying for patience. I’d actually seen him praying a few times over the past month, something he’d told me he hadn’t done since Rachel died. He’d never be a true minister again, even if he was still ordained, but I think having me and the baby in his life had brought a little of his faith back. He definitely smiled more and seemed lighter overall. He’d even taken me to Rachel’s grave and introduced us, which might seem weird to some people, but I think it gave him a sense of peace.
In all our talks, he’d never once said how she had died, and I’d always been a little curious. That day, the entire story came out. It seemed their life together hadn’t been quite as perfect as he’d said. Rachel had been spending time with another man, and while it might have been innocent, it had driven a wedge between Nick and her. The day she’d died, she’d been out with the other guy, and the car they were in had been broadsided by a guy who ran a stop sign. It just happened to hit on Rachel’s side. Nick said she’d lingered a few days, but she’d never woken up.
He’d confided that even knowing she’d been out with someone else, he’d still loved her, had still wanted their marriage to work. And maybe that’s what he’d truly been mourning all this time. Not only the relationship they’d once had, but the one he’d wanted them to have. The kind he and I shared.
There was a knock at the front door, and I went to answer it, letting in my brother and Ivan, who carried a large cardboard box. Johnny winked at me as they went upstairs and carried the box into the baby’s room.
“Another fucking bed?” Nick yelled as I neared the doorway. “Christ, woman! How many beds does the kid need?”
“Remember that appointment you couldn’t make two days ago?” I asked as I stepped into the room. “The one where I got to hear the baby’s heartbeat?”
He nodded.
“Well, unless you want your babies to share a crib, we’re going to need two.”
Nick stared at me. “Two?”
I nodded. “Yep. There were two heartbeats. It seems we’re having twins.”
He flopped onto his back and stared up at the ceiling a moment, then sprang to his feet and held me tight. “Twins. We’re having fucking twins,” he murmured against my hair.
“You just better hope they’re nothing like their mother,” Johnny said. “Kayla got into all kinds of shit when she was little. I always got blamed, but nope, she was the instigator.”
I stuck my tongue out at my brother.
“I love you,” Nick said as he held me tight. “I don’t fucking care that it’s too soon to say something like that. It’s how I feel.”
I breathed in his scent and closed my eyes. “I love you too. I think I have from the moment I saw you sitting all alone at the bar in the clubhouse. You looked so damn lost and broken, and I wanted to fix you.”
“You did,” he said. “You healed me, Kayla. You’ve given the life I always wanted. The family I always wanted.”
Johnny cleared his throat. “If you two are going to get mushy or get naked, I think there’s somewhere else I need to be.”
Ivan snorted. “Yeah, like anywhere but here.”
I turned in Nick’s arms and smacked my brother on the back of the head, then whacked Ivan too.
“Just you wait. Both of you. One day, some woman is going to walk into your lives and knock you on your asses. And I hope like hell I’m there to see it. You know what I’m going to do when it happens?”
“What?” Johnny asked, looking a little worried.
“I’m going to laugh my ass off.”
Nick chuckled. “I think she just cursed you. Maybe you should stay away from the ladies for a while. Just to be safe.”
I grumbled under my breath, but my irritation was quickly forgotten as Nick swept me up into his arms.
“You two know the way out,” he called out over his shoulder as he carried me down to our bedroom.
He slowly undressed me, then knelt at my feet, pressing his hands to my slightly rounded belly. “Twins,” he muttered.
“Yep. Twins.”
He pressed a kiss to my stomach, then murmured softly, “I love you, both of you, so damn much.”
I ran my fingers through his hair and wondered how I’d ever gotten so damn lucky. Me, the girl who had never known what a family truly was, who had never known love. Somehow, I’d ended up with a wickedly sexy, honorable man who worshiped the ground I walked on. And I loved him more than anything. Life was about as perfect as it could get, and I had to wonder if maybe wishes really did come true… because Nick was everything I’d ever wanted. And so much more.
Harley Wylde
Short. Erotic. Sweet.
Harley’s other half would probably say those words describe her, but they also describe her books. When Harley is writing, her motto is the hotter the better. Off-the-charts sex, commanding men, and the women who can’t deny them. If you want men who talk dirty, are sexy as hell, and take what they want, then you’ve come to the right place.
When Harley isn’t writing, she’s thinking up naughty things to do to her husband, drinking copious amounts of Starbucks, and reading. She loves to read and devours a book a day, sometimes more.
You can find Harley online at http://harleywylde.com. Harley Wylde is the “wilder” side of award-winning author Jessica Coulter Smith. You can follow her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/jessicacoultersmithauthor/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/kitcatjms.
Visit Jessica’s website: http://jessicacoultersmith.com. Want to be notified of new releases or special discounts? Sign up for her newsletter! Find more books by Harley Wylde at http://changelingpress.com/author.php?uid=196.
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