by Jordan Marie
We brought the weasel back to the cabin for interrogation. It didn’t take long. He sang like a fucking canary. Weak-ass, sniveling son of a bitch. I would probably be doing him a favor if I ended him, but I didn’t. We have plans for him.
I slam into the front doors of the compound, and I’m pissed for many reasons. Bull looks up at me and his face goes tight.
“What’s up?”
“Crush and Dance will fill you in. Where’s my woman?”
“She was feeling bad, went to lay down.”
“Thanks, man. Church meeting in two hours.”
Bull nods, and I’m preoccupied, but I see something flash in his eyes. I should stop and ask him what the fuck is going on, but I can’t. I put it on my list. I know Bull is dealing with shit. His voice is ragged and hoarse, he has a scar on his neck and his body is weaker. Rehab helped some, but he’s having issues. I need to be here for him, but I just don’t have the time right now. I put it on the back burner and go to find my woman.
She’s lying on the bed, but she’s not asleep. She’s wide awake, staring at the door, with those same damn tears in her eyes.
“Mama, we need to talk,” I close the door behind me and lean on it, waiting.
“I don’t think we do. It’s done now.”
“Done? Nicole, what the fuck are you talking about? It’s not done. I’ve just spent the last hour interrogating some jerk to find out that there’s a freaking lunatic out there gunning for my woman and Dani, because it seems Dani was married to the fucker and ran out on him fucking five years ago! How did I not know this, Nicole? How could you not tell me about this?”
“It wasn’t my secret to tell, Dani has a right to her privacy, Dragon—even from you,” she says getting up.
“She’s married, Nicole. To a rich-ass lunatic who thought she was dead. She stole five hundred grand off of him. You had to know he’d never give up trying to find his damn money. You had to know that he’d eventually hunt you down for answers!”
“He had no reason to. He had no idea that Dani and I were still in touch. We covered our bases damn good,” she says calmly. I swear if the woman didn’t own my soul, I would be tempted to slap some sense into her.
Covered their bases? What the fuck? She’s an amateur trying to take on the big boys. I had Freak research this Michael Kavanagh. What I found out still fucking leaves me with chills just thinking what someone like that would do to Nicole. I don’t want my woman anywhere around this fucker. I do not want her in his line of fire.
I look at her like I have no idea who she is, because honest to God, I don’t right now.
“Well guess what Nicole, it appears he plays connect the fucking dots pretty damn good, because he found not only Dani, he’s found you and the club, too. All because you and Dani were too stupid to give me a head’s up.”
She steps back like I slapped her. I realize I didn’t say it right, but I’m fucking pissed. I step away from the door and come closer to her.
“Damn it, you should have told me! We’re supposed to share this shit, we’re a team.”
“Don’t you pull that crap, Dragon. There’s a whole shitload of stuff you don’t share with me.”
“Club business only—I have to keep that between me and the boys. You’ve been around long enough to know how that goes. Don’t start crying about it now, just because you fucked up.”
I know that’s a fucked up way to put it. Shit. I can tell by the way her blue eyes glitter with so much anger that this is going from bad to worse in a hurry. I just can’t get a handle on it. She’s left me feeling betrayed. Still, the look in her eyes hurts me. Has Nicole ever looked at me like that before?
“Club business. How fucking convenient. Newsflash Dragon, Dani is my girl and our business is just that, our business. I didn’t fuck up shit, you’re just being a self-righteous prick.”
“We’re having a baby. We’re getting married in a few fucking days and you say this crap to me?”
“Yeah, well…I don’t see that happening.”
“The fuck you say, woman, I’ve about gone my limit with your ass.”
“That’s good Dragon, because I think I’ve done the same with yours,” she growls, as she stomps away from me.
“Where in the hell are you going?”
“I need time away from you.”
I watch as Nicole opens the door to our bedroom. Her words play over in my mind. Since the day we met, I don’t think we’ve spent more than a complete day away from each other. I need her like air. Her words cut open a piece of me that I thought was healed. The wound is even more intense now, however because it’s inflicted by my woman.
“Mama, don’t do this. Whatever this is, we’ll work it out, but don’t take us to this place.”
She turns around and we’re only standing about three feet apart, but it feels like a fucking ocean.
I need time away from you.
“You don’t get to decide this, Dragon. To say that I have to tell you everything, when you aren’t willing to do the same. You don’t get that. It can’t work that way.”
“Your secrets almost got us killed today, Mama. They almost ended the life of our son.”
Her hand goes to her the swell of her belly. She presses against her stomach, the ring I gave her glitters in the semi-dark room.
“And your secrets don’t do the same?”
My mind goes back to the day on the mountain when she got shot.
“You always knew there was shit going on, I didn’t keep you in the dark Nicole, even if I couldn’t give you all the details.”
“I was going to tell you,” she whispers.
“When? After the fuck-wad already killed someone I care about? Or worse, you? Do you know what the fuck it would do to me if I lost you?”
“I promised Dani I would wait until she left.”
“Left? She can’t leave, Nicole. This fucker will grab her the minute she tries to run. It’s too late for that baby, and hell, as much as she pisses me the fuck off, I like the bitch. She’s not facing this shit on her own.”
“It’s too late,” she whispers, and her hands go around her stomach, cradling it as her tears fall harder. I’m getting fucking tired of seeing those tears fall from her eyes all the time.
“What do you mean it’s too late? I got this, Mama. You know I’ll always protect what’s mine. Dani’s your girl. That makes her part of the family. I won’t let this Kavanagh fuck get her.”
“She’s gone, Dragon.”
“What? What do you…?”
“She left, not long after we got back. She’s been planning it for days.”
“Sit down on the bed Mama, I think it’s time you and I talk this out,” I say, uneasiness grabbing me at the idea of Dani out there alone.
10
Nicole
I sit on the bed, lifting my head when I feel Dragon at my feet. He slides my sandals off, placing a kiss on each ankle once it’s done. His touch is so gentle and completely at odds with the argument we’ve just had. I watch as he slowly trails his hands up my legs, pushing my dress up as he goes.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting you undressed for your nap,” he says kissing a path up my leg.
“We…I thought we were fighting?”
“We’re having words Nicole. I might be pissed, and you might be pissed but, Mama, get this straight…You’re my woman and there is no ending this, or time away from us. You feel me?”
My heart stutters. I didn’t mean the words when I said them. I’m scared, worn out, and terrified for Dani. I shouldn’t have laid into Dragon like I did. I might be pissed off because it seems like a double standard, but in truth, I don’t even disagree with him.
“I feel you,” I whisper, as his hands reach under my dress and pull down my panties. I shift so he can take them off. He throws them to the corner once they clear my legs.
He raises up and reaches out his hands to me, “Stand up, Mama.”
I let his hands e
nvelop mine and he pulls me up. My eyes stay locked on his as he slides the straps of my dress off my shoulders, and further still, until it pools at my feet.
“You’re fucking beautiful, Mama.”
“I’m as big as a house,” I argue and being over six months pregnant, it’s totally true. The only thing saving me from looking like a blimp in my wedding dress is the forgiving layers the designer fixed around the waist.
He bends down and flattens his tongue out against one of my nipples, licking it and then sucking it into his mouth. My head goes back as I moan. He slowly releases and does the next one the same way.
“Turn around.”
His words shock and excite me. Since Dragon found out I was pregnant, he has always been so careful with me. During sex, he makes sure I am in a positon where he controls the intensity of everything. Don’t get me wrong, anyway we make love is good, but there are times I miss the down and dirty Dragon I fell in love with.
I do as he orders, and my body shudders when his hands move up my breasts and pulls so my back is tight against him.
“Spread your legs out to make room for me, Mama and bend over on the bed slowly,” he whispers in my ear, his hot breath sending goosebumps over my skin.
I swallow, so fucking turned on, I can feel the wetness gathering between my legs. I do as he says, smiling when he reaches around and drags two pillows under me. I lean on them so I’m higher than the bed will allow, and it makes it infinitely easier for me. The bed is tall, but as big as I am, it’s hard to bend over these days.
His hand slides along my ass, his fingers pushing between the cheeks, teasing my opening. I bite my lip to keep from crying out in excitement. It seems like forever since he’s played with me this way. His fingers move farther down, sliding between the lips of my pussy, playing and exploring, but never entering inside of me. One finger grazes over my clit before going back to play in the creamy wetness he has created.
“Fuck Mama, you’re soaked for me. You need my cock?”
“Always. I need you to fuck me.”
He tortures my clit and then goes back and plays with more of my juices. It’s a sweet, torturing refrain that has me on the verge of climaxing in minutes.
“Who owns this pussy, Nicole?” he growls, continuing his movements in slow, methodical thrusts that have me ready to scream. When I push my ass against him, he stills it by taking his other hand and clamping down on my side.
“You do, Dragon. It’s yours. I’m yours,” I acknowledge, as finally he slides two fingers inside of me, not going as deep as I want him to, but still it’s more than he has allowed.
“Who owns your fucking body, Nicole?”
“You do. I told you, I’m yours.” I whimper, half out of my mind.
His thumb moves out to push on my clit while his fingers tease inside of me, stretching my opening. He keeps thrusting them in and out, giving me a taste of what my body is craving, but never going deep enough to fully satisfy.
“You think you can live without my touch, Mama? You think this body can go without me?”
“No, I… fuck, Dragon, it was stupid. I shouldn’t have said it. I love you sweetheart, I couldn’t live without you. Please… Oh fuck!” I growl out when I feel his free hand come down and smack my ass hard, while his fingers are still inside of me.
“We will never be done, Nicole,” he growls, spanking me again, this time with the hand that was in my pussy. The sticky wetness slides against the heat of the last blow. It feels so fucking good. He knows I love it when he plays me like this.
“Dragon…sweetheart…,” my voice is dark and full of need.
“We’re getting married, Nicole. You’re wearing my fucking ring. You will keep wearing a cut that says you’re my old lady, and you will fucking be in my damned bed every fucking night, begging for my cock. You feel me, woman?” he orders, his hand connecting with my ass again.
I’m so wet it’s sliding down my legs now. If he doesn’t give me his cock soon, I’m going to come without him.
“Dragon…damn it…”
“We are forever, Mama, say it,” he demands as once again, he delivers another blow.
The bite of pain and then the teasing he gives me after, work to send me into another zone, and I can barely hold on.
“Yes,” I cry out feeling the fluttering of my inner walls, so close to an orgasm. So close.
“Say it, Mama!” he growls again, and I can hear the sound of his zipper sliding down behind me.
“Forever Dragon, we’re forever.”
He grunts in agreement, then all at once he’s on the bed—naked, gloriously naked. He’s lying down and pulls me on top of him. I straddle him immediately, even as I wish he had taken me like we were.
“Dragon.”
“Shh…Mama, grab my cock and take me inside. I love when you ride me.”
“But, I want you like we were.”
“Just take me until it feels good, Mama. Give me this. I love seeing you riding me, your hair sliding against your skin, your body swollen with my baby. Fuck, you have no idea, woman.”
“I’m huge,” I protest, but give in. I slide down on his cock because, even though I may want the other position, I will never pass on having Dragon inside of me.
He reaches up and pinches one of my swollen nipples in punishment. I cry out as the pain runs through me. His hands move to palm each side of my stomach, where he strokes it gently, his eyes are glued there, seemingly enraptured. Slowly he looks up and his eyes hold mine. The inky chocolate depths are so deep, I lose myself.
“I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my fucking life, Nicole. Never.”
I close my eyes and replay his words. My man. God. This man has a way of shattering whatever self-doubt I have and making me feel like I am the most beautiful woman in the world. He manages to heal the wounds left by my parents and numerous other idiots that have passed through in my life, and I don’t even think he tries. He just does it. He believes it, believes in me. He makes me believe it, too.
Those are the last thoughts I manage to grasp before I pick up speed in my ride and focus on doing nothing but bringing us pleasure. He grips my hips, helping to support me as I slide down on his cock, over and over, doing my best to clench tight around him.
“That’s it, Mama. Give it to me.”
I can’t maneuver like I once did; I am not flexible, nor agile. I’ve worried that Dragon would notice the difference and miss it. I worried for no reason. I see that in the look in his eyes, the way his hands move over my body, and more importantly, by the way my climax triggers his. I fracture into a million pieces, pleasure rocking me to my core, but he is right there with me. I hear him call out my name and feel his release.
Minutes later, I’m lying on my side. Dragon has fixed it so we’re now at the head of the bed, and I’m using his chest as my pillow. It’s still early in the evening, too early to be in bed, I guess—but, I don’t care.
“Tell me about Dani, Mama,” Dragon says, and I wish I didn’t have to.
“She’s not from Kentucky, and we didn’t go to high school together.”
Dragon’s body tightens against mine, and I feel shame for lying to him. He doesn’t say anything though, and he doesn’t push me away, so I soldier on.
“I told you my parents insisted I go to college to find a suitable husband, but I refused; I didn’t at first. I went for one semester. They sent me to Three Oaks Academy, in Maryland. It was the premiere private college where trophy wives-in-training go.”
Dragon kisses the top of my head and squeezes me to him. I take this as a good sign.
“That’s where I sort of met Dani.”
“Sort of?”
“Dani is a name she picked out of a Red Hot Chili Pepper’s song. Her real name is Melinda Marinetti.”
“Fuck me…”
“Of the Marinetti shipping…”
“I know the name, Nicole,” Dragon replies, and his voice is not happy. I take a breath and dive back in
.
“Her father had just died. He was all she had, because her mom died when Dani was…”
“Melinda.”
“She’s Dani to me, she always will be,” I try to explain, and I can hear how upset he is, but I figure at this point—in for penny, in for a pound—or whatever. “Anyways, when the will was read, her father made it a stipulation that Dani would marry Michael, or she wouldn’t inherit anything.”
“Jesus.”
“Pretty much. Michael was nice to Dani. He held her hand through the funeral, helped make the arrangements, and became her support system in a way. She thought he was perfect.”
“He wasn’t?”
“He wasn’t happy she started college. The will stipulated that Dani finish so many hours of college and other weird shit though, so he didn’t stop her. After they married, that’s when he changed.”
“Changed?”
“Controlling, beatings…and more, but those things are Dani’s alone to know, Dragon.”
“Why didn’t she leave?”
“Hard to leave a man who has that much power. She was young, terrified. There were a lot of reasons.”
“She reached out to you?”
“I hated Three Oaks, one semester was all I could handle. I came back home and moved in with Ray’s parents.”
“Ray?” Dragon asks, and his voice takes on that extra-growly texture.
“Cool your jets, sweetheart. Ray is like a brother to me—and gay—very happily gay.”
“Dani’s brother?”
“He’s not actually. We met him in Maryland, and we just clicked, though he and Dani have always been super close. When things got really bad Dani had nowhere else to go, she called me and Ray arranged to go get her. He was dating a man who could help her start a new life. With his help, Melinda died and Danielle Grant was born.”
Dragon shifts so that he is on his side and we talk a little longer. When I finish, he rolls over on his back and stares up at the ceiling. I lie there, not talking. Even remembering this story, totally glossing over the ugliness, exhausts me. I’ve told Dragon, but he has no idea, really. He couldn’t. Dragon isn’t a man who would ever hurt a woman—let alone hurt her in ways she’d never recover from and take joy from it. Not like Michael did with Dani.
