Taking Beauty (Taking Beauty Trilogy Book 1)

by Wild, Nikki

  “Soroka Sarkonov,” he replied calmly, his face etched with pain. “My older sister, Hannah…”

  “What… what happened?”

  He ran his fingers through my hair again. “Hannah’s alive, but I’m pretty sure that she’s going to be in the hospital a whole lot longer than you are.”

  “I shot her…”

  “Yes, and you saved us all.”

  “Sort of starting to realize that,” I smiled, but my brief happiness came quickly to a cold fear in my gut.

  “Our baby!”

  “Don’t worry Sarah… The doctor says the baby is fine. He even showed me the heartbeat,” Hunter replied soothingly.

  “What about us? Are we okay?” I asked. It was something of a loaded question, and Hunter knew it.

  We were mixed up in some deep shit now, more than even before. International arms dealing, a Chinese ballistic missile in a cargo crate… the boys shot down a goddamn cargo helicopter, for Christ’s sake!

  “Relax, Princess. We’re okay,” he reassured me. “Funny enough, I spent most of the morning talking with the CIA. While they were never public about her, they had been trailing Sarkonov for half her career, always one step behind…

  “Let’s just say they’re thankful for what they call our service. The suits in the agency are offering us all immunity if we agree to testify against her.”

  “So, I guess this means I’m not going to be getting the rest of my payment for finding the cargo container,” I replied half-jokingly, trying to ease the conversation.

  “Guess not,” Hunter replied distantly.

  A painful look was plastered across his face.

  I wanted to hold him… to tell him it was going to be okay. He’d been through so much over the last few days, and to find out his sister had been working against him all this time…

  To find out she was willing to kill me to get her way…

  It was about another sixteen hours before I was formally released from the hospital. Since I was still a little too weak for a motorcycle ride, Hunter chose to bring us back to our temporary headquarters by something a little more traditional: the services of a beaten-up, yellow taxi.

  The rest of the Devil’s Dragons were pleased to see me back, safe and sound. They were drinking and celebrating, but I needed time to process what happened before I could get back to business as usual.

  Hunter made me a comfortable spot on our makeshift bed. We stayed there quietly for a few minutes, just basking in a little peaceful silence.

  More accurately, the closest thing to silence you could get, with the club outside our doors carrying on.

  Finally, I pierced the silence.

  “Are you okay, Hunter?”

  He gave a slight shrug. “Bullet grazed my shoulder. Sixteen stitches and some antibiotics. I’ll be fine.”

  “You know that I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about your sister,” I said, my voice turning graver.

  “I just… I should have seen it, Sarah. I should have seen her pulling the strings behind the scenes. Finding out Hannah was Soroka Sarkonov has thrown my whole life into question.

  “How long has she been steering my life from the shadows? My life in this club, my alliances with the Outlaws – and you, coming back to me… How much of this was just my sister treating me like a fucking puppet?” Hunter asked, his confidence shaken.

  “None of that matters, Hunter… You’re the president of your club, and a leader to your men. Those men didn’t follow Hannah into battle. They followed you,” I replied. “They’ll always follow you.”

  Hunter gazed at my small belly bump and then glanced back up at me. When I nodded, he gave it a slight rub through my shirt.

  “My money’s on a boy,” he said softly.

  I blinked twice. “What makes you so sure?”

  “Because he’s a badass. Kid’s made it through more shit over the last couple of days than most people see in a lifetime.”

  “I don’t know. Last I checked, a girl made it through the same shit,” I replied with a grin.

  Hunter met my grin with his own, shelving his darkness for a moment. “Well, boy or girl, I feel bad for anyone who ever stands in their way.”

  “Good,” I said. “They’re going to need to be strong. The world is a dangerous place, full of dangerous people.”

  Hunter paused, studying the lines on my face. “That’s what bothers me,” he finally conceded. “We stopped Hannah from doing something terrible, but I can’t help but feel like we opened the door for something even worse…”

  “What could be worse than blowing up half a city?!?” I said angrily. “Your sister is fucking insane!”

  Hunter spoke his piece quietly, choosing to not argue the point. “And she might spend her life in prison for it. But what about this ‘competitor’ she talked about? Hannah – I mean, Sarkonov – told us that she was doing this for the greater good. She said she was saving millions of lives…”

  “And you believed her,” I replied, closing my eyes.

  “Let’s just say that I’m going to be keeping my eyes wide open. What’s left of her organization isn’t going to just disappear in her absence, and if she was willing to go to these depths against an enemy...

  “We might have something worth worrying about.”

  He turned to face me with warmth in his eyes. “But always remember, Sarah. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. No matter what.”

  “Noble words,” I replied, remembering our old argument over the phone – the one that threatened to destroy us forever. “Do you really feel that way?”

  “I do,” he nodded. “If you’ll stay with me, I promise that I will never let anything happen to you and our child…” He quickly changed gears, crossing his arms. “So, what are you gonna do now? Solved your big case, even if a lot of the work was done for you…”

  I punched him in the arm. “I still learned more from Talon than you did. And in case you didn’t notice, I saved your damn life!”

  “Reminds me,” he noted, shrugging off my punch, “I need to call the crotchety old bastard and have a chat about trust and fucking responsibility…”

  “You still thinking about trying to patch things up with Talon after everything that happened?” I asked.

  “Some of the groundwork is already laid for that,” he replied. “It’s why I was able to find the two of you. But I’m thinking I might let someone else lead the way on that upcoming little shit-show…”

  “Oh yeah?” I smirked.

  “You were right about a lot of things, Sarah. Being unable to take care of my club at the end of the day. Moving from city to city. My leadership of the Outlaws being a danger to us. It’s all true.

  “I did everything I could to set the Devil’s Dragons in a better direction. But it’s time to find a place to call home. Grizz had already found something out in New Orleans when he came back. I can only hope that he leads the club in a better direction now…”

  “You can’t give up the Dragons,” I gasped.

  “I’m willing to.”

  His voice rang of conviction.

  “That’s not what I want,” I answered with equal strength. “I want our child raised in a stable environment, but with a father in charge of a motorcycle club that takes down cartels and arms dealers, nobody will ever dream of fucking with him.”

  “Him?” Hunter raised an eyebrow curiously. “So, now you’re on my side?”

  “I want it to be a little boy,” I smiled. “Strong and noble, just like his daddy… kind, caring, and willing to stand up for those who lose their voice. I want him to be a man who never gives up.”

  “And you want me to keep the club.”

  “Absolutely,” I responded.

  “Grizz will be happy to hear that. He wasn’t exactly thrilled when I quietly dangled that carrot.”

  “I can see why he wouldn’t have been,” I smiled. “Grizz doesn’t exactly strike me as wanting the spotlight. He might have made a good leade
r, but he would have hated every moment of it…”

  “Fair enough,” he replied.

  My fingers trailed up his arm, to the nape of his neck. After everything we’d been through, and after everything that had happened in the last few weeks, I knew what I needed right now.

  My lustful gaze matched his quiet glance.

  He knew what I wanted, and he wanted it too.

  Together, we slid backwards into the makeshift bed, falling into each other’s warm, loving embrace…

  Sarah

  Every kiss that Hunter pecked against my bare skin sent a scorching shock of passion to my core. My lover peppered a trail of kisses along my arm, our clothes a scattered mess on the floor of our private little chamber.

  I bit my lip when he nipped my earlobe.

  “They’re right there,” I gasped.

  “They’re drinking, and they can’t hear us…”

  The Devil’s Dragons did sound preoccupied with their merriment, but I couldn’t help but wonder if any of them would hear us fucking in here. We’d gotten lucky the first time we’d tried this little stunt…

  “Besides,” Hunter huskily whispered into my ear, “this reminds me of the times I used to sneak into your room, when we were kids… when your sheriff father was asleep just down the hall…”

  It occurred to me that I hadn’t told Hunter that his sister had threatened to kill my father, even if she’d later retracted the looming danger.

  Now didn’t seem like the right time…

  He dove two rugged fingers into my mouth, pressing between my lips down to the first two knuckles. I gratefully took his hand in both of mine and suckled them, knowing what was to come.

  Plucking the fingers from my wet lips, he dove them down into the slickened gap down below. Finding purchase there, Hunter rubbed my engorged clit with his thumb, pushing his fingers within my wet folds.

  “That feels so good,” I murmured huskily.

  The father of the baby in my womb rolled his wrist between my thighs, his motions tantalizing me further with every new height.

  My fingernails dug into his shoulders and I arched my spine, enjoying how well he knew my body. In the dim lighting, I felt him hungrily kiss my throat.

  It only served to stoke the fire within.

  “I need you,” I whispered.

  “I need you too,” he quietly replied back, guiding me to higher peaks with the movements of his fingers inside and his thumb on my clit.

  “No, you don’t understand,” I gasped. “I need you inside me…”

  “Too turned on, Princess,” he whispered. “Might not last too long in bed if I fuck you now. It’s probably best that I get you off beforehand…”

  “Doesn’t matter… need you inside me now…”

  “First things first,” he chuckled, pulling his hand free from between my thighs. As he shifted around in the semi-dark, I thought that he was going to mount me, pushing my legs apart to shove his hard girth deep into my wet, yearning core…

  But no, he slipped down further into the bed, before–

  Oh fuck, that feels good.

  My fingers curled into his hair as I held his mouth down to my womanhood, feeling his tongue glide across my clit and into my folds.

  My mind was bursting with pleasure. “Hunter…”

  “Knew you’d enjoy this first,” he chuckled. The warmth on his breath wafted over my exposed sex, and it sent small shivers down my spine before he descended to tongue-fuck me again.

  Stripped of most of my sight in the near-darkness, I could only rely on my other senses for support… and it ramped up the passion and the exhilaration just as much as the last time we’d done this.

  It felt fucking incredible.

  “I’m gonna come, baby,” I murmured softly.

  “Do it,” Hunter groaned. “Come on my tongue. Let me taste how much you love this…”

  At a request like that, who was I to deny him?

  My fingers dug deeper into his hair, and I pulled his face further into me in lustful desperation.

  He was driving me closer to the edge…

  I lost every last semblance of composure. Passion robbed me of my restraint, and I gave way to a crippling orgasm that shuddered through my body, igniting my core…

  I finally relaxed, gasping as quietly as possible.

  Neither of us said a word as we listened for any sign that his men outside had heard us. When no such indication came, I felt Hunter climb up onto me.

  “How do you want me?” I asked, softly.

  “Don’t move. Stay just like this,” my lover groaned. “Princess, I want to be as close to you as possible… and as deep into you as I can get.”

  “Funny… you were never one for the boring old missionary position, Hunter.”

  “Right now, I am,” he chuckled. “Means you get to envelope me with your arms when I–”

  He paused.

  “When you what?”

  “–Do this.”

  Suddenly, I felt the thick, hot erection pierce my folds. It was everything I had to not immediately moan out and notify damn near everyone in the club that I was currently fucking their boss.

  “Bastard!” I teasingly hissed, although my complaint gave way very quickly to stifled groans of satisfaction.

  “Can’t help myself,” he slyly grinned into my throat as his fingers intertwined with mine, lifting them over my head. “I never could help myself around you…”

  His every thrust filled and thrilled me.

  “You’re so huge,” I murmured.

  “You’re so tight…”

  “I always wonder how you’re going to fit inside me, babe,” I gasped. He picked up the speed, and my coherency quickly dropped with his strokes.

  “We were made for each other,” he hissed hungrily into my ear.

  I believed it.

  His weight over me felt goddamn incredible, even as he was careful to not crush the growing baby bump that was already showing from my abdomen. Soon, I was going to have an obvious belly… proof that I was carrying the heir to the Devil’s Dragons in my womb.

  I loved the thought of that.

  I loved him…

  “God, Sarah, I don’t know if I can keep this up,” he groaned into my ear. “You’re so fucking tight, I just can’t hold on much longer…”

  “Do it,” I whispered. “Come for me.”

  “But I want–”

  I silenced him with a deep, passionate kiss.

  Truth be told, I was so electric with need for him that I wouldn’t be surprised if I came again. If he could only hold on just a little longer…

  He did just that, pausing for a moment while rubbing my clit with his thumb. My fingers dug into his shoulders and I bit my lip to keep from shouting out in pleasure. Goddamn, my sex drive has been running on overtime…

  When I insisted otherwise, grabbing his hips and pulling him deeper into me again, Hunter took the hint and steadied himself as he picked up the tempo once more.

  Making love to Hunter in the dark had me so fucking turned on that I could feel my fluids practically running down my thighs.

  My lover, just like always, could sense my complete arousal. I knew that it was stirring something deep and primal within him, threatening to overtake him until he fucked me into submission…

  “Do it,” I begged. “Fill me up, just like when you did before and put this baby in my belly…”

  Another crushing orgasm was on the horizon. I knew that if I could just get him to get off soon…

  He didn’t take long.

  Maddened passion overcame him. His body clenched around me as the thrusting of his cock inside me quickened in speed, driving me towards total eclipse…

  There it was.

  My body was racked with passion, my spine arching beneath him. Just as I parted my lips to let loose an incredible, uncontrollable moan of pure satisfaction, Hunter’s rough hand clamped over my lips.

  He stifled my volume as I let loose, descendi
ng into a complete, writhing mess of multiple orgasms. The crushing climaxes hit me one after another as I felt Hunter stiffen against me, his cock driving as deep into my wet chasm as it could burrow before letting loose rope after rope of his hot, milky seed.

  I didn’t care who heard us anymore.

  But after my string of orgasms eventually wore off, and my lover finally relaxed against me, I heard distant laughter and song.

  The bikers hadn’t heard a goddamn thing…

  “Oh god, Hunter,” I murmured in the dark as he slid off of me. “That was just as hot as ever... you always knew how to treat me right.”

  “It’s a talent of mine,” he chuckled. “Never had any trouble getting you to come for me, did I? Not even when you and I were kids…”

  “Not even the first time,” I smiled.

  He was sitting on the edge of the cot, and I sat up beside him, exhilarated from our fucking. Not only had the sex itself been hot, not only had it been blind, but it went down with the danger of being caught – his whole club was sitting outside that door…

  “It’s a bit stuffy in here,” he spoke, suddenly. “Care to join me on a quick ride?”

  “As a matter of fact…”

  “Close your eyes, then.”

  I felt him leave my side, and soon a standing lamp was flicked on. I shielded my eyes in anticipation as the dim, fluorescent bulb quickly flickered to life.

  After we recovered from the change in lighting, we quickly dressed. I examined myself on my smartphone screen, making sure my makeup wasn’t too smeared and my hair wasn’t a total mess.

  It kind of was.

  But then again…

  I kind of didn’t care.

  Triumphantly, we left the room, hand-in-hand. The club members barely paid us any mind, with the exception of a few of the more sober ones. They raised beers in respect as Hunter quickly paused to address his men.

  “Gonna get some fresh air, take a quick ride. Grizz, you mind holding down the fort?”

  The solemn biker merely smiled.

  Moments later, Hunter helped me onto the back of his motorcycle, and soon we were hitting the road.

  Night had long fallen over Los Angeles. We rode for a while, with my lover weaving between streets until we hit the main interstate, driving further into the sprawling city.