by Stacey Lynn
Needless to say, sex with Jaden hadn’t gotten boring.
And since we’d decided to stop using condoms, it’d gotten even better.
My body shivered again as he dragged his cock against me. The warm metal inside of me scraped against my G-spot and another miniature orgasm, short but just as intense as the first one, rolled through my body.
“Oh my God,” I mumbled, losing all muscle control.
My chest collapsed against his. My pierced nipple dragged across his chest, and my nipples tightened with pleasure.
Jaden let out a groan of his own as he finished inside of me. His cock pulsed and twitched. His hands tightened on my hips as he held me against him while he finished.
Hell. I loved sex with Jaden.
“I love you,” I breathed out on a shaky, completely sated exhale. Jaden had the ability to wring every last drop of pleasure and breath from my body. And he liked doing it daily. Multiple times. I hated working out, but because of sex with Jaden I was probably in the best shape of my life.
I could probably run a marathon.
Or maybe a mile without a breaking a sweat.
“Keeps getting better, babe.” He pressed a kiss just below my ear. His hands slowly dragged up my ribs to my shoulders before clasping together behind my neck, leaving goose bumps along my sensitive flesh as the warmth from his hands sunk into my skin.
“Always will.” I propped myself up onto my elbows, resting them on his chest, and faked a scowl. “But you’ve made me late.”
“Shouldn’t have worn that shit underneath your bridesmaid dress, then.”
I pushed off him, rolled to the bed, and grabbed the offending black bra and garter set. “This?” I asked, a playful smirk on my lips. “You weren’t supposed to see it until later.”
He winked and sat up. “I’ll pretend it’s the first time all over again when I take it off of you.”
I held up the thong, ripped in two. “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
He shrugged shamelessly. It was a move I had come to see often, and yet never tired of. Somehow, I lightened his anger and his guilt. Being together, we were both lighter than we’d possibly ever been.
But seeing him so carefree always hit a spark in my chest and left me feeling like I could conquer the world.
“Then go without,” he said, pulling his jeans on. He looked up as he finished buttoning his jeans. “Didn’t you say we were going to be late?”
I grinned, staring at his chest, when I saw the tattoo on the left side of his ribs: a completely cliché rose and thorns, but wrapped around them were my name, Scratch’s, and Sophie’s. He had said he’d wanted us close to his heart forever. It was a tattoo he’d had done by Jasper Bay’s newest tattoo artist. I had gone with him to GetInked2, now owned by some guy named Skull, and had felt on pins and needles the whole time. I knew they didn’t kill Gunner, but it didn’t stop me from being paranoid for the entire trip that something dark and sinister was lurking in the corners of the old place.
“Crap,” I quickly muttered, pulling my eyes off his sexy chest and ink. “I need to get going or Liv is going to kick my butt.”
Jaden smacked my ass. “I’ll kiss it and make it better if she does.”
“I’m sure you would.” I wrinkled my nose, making Jaden laugh softly. Then I rolled to my toes, pressed my lips to his cheek. “I’ll see you soon?”
“I’ll be at the front waiting for you.”
It wasn’t our wedding. It was Liv and Daemon’s. But the thought of Jaden standing at the front of a wedding, waiting for me, had my pulse racing and crimson blooming on my cheeks.
As if he could read my mind, his hand snaked out, grabbed my waist, and pulled me flush against him. “Someday it’ll be us.”
I swallowed. My knees went wobbly and I licked my lips. “Sounds good.” I barely recognized my lusty, hopeful voice.
“It’s a promise.”
Then it was his turn to lean down and plant a panty-gushing kiss to my lips before he sent me on my way. I was already twenty minutes late getting to the club for our hair and makeup, courtesy of Cassie, Callie, and Cammie.
“Married,” I said to no one in particular. “Who would have thought?”
Next to me, Faith and Marie laughed softly and we clinked our drinks together. I quickly learned a biker wedding wasn’t your typical wedding. There wasn’t a dance. There wasn’t a bouquet or garter toss.
What there was, was a lot cheers. A lot of alcohol. A night that had everyone swaying between tipsy and wasted. And dozens of men with their women, drinking it up and enjoying life.
The picture in front of me—the crowd, the laughter, the squealing of the few children that were running around—had my heart swelling to a size I never knew it could hold.
I loved this family.
It was becoming my family—a greater, louder, but no less loving extension than my parents, who had slowly come around to the idea of me and Jaden together. Not that it hadn’t taken a lot of work on my part to smooth the way. My dad finally not re-running for Jasper Bay Mayor helped.
We’d never do weekly Sunday dinners at their place, but we saw them enough. It helped that Jaden now lived in my apartment with me and Sophie, so my parents were forced to spend time with him if they wanted to see Sophie.
Gradually, my dad stopped hating him and being wary of him. Wasn’t to say he still didn’t worry, but I figured since I was his only daughter, that was his right. As long as the men were respectful, I didn’t push it further.
My mom, on the other hand, had slowly come around to welcoming Jaden, and now treated him like the son she never had.
At first I figured it was for Sophie’s sake. But now she called Jaden on her own when she needed “man help” around the house and my dad wasn’t there. And she brought her car to the Nordic Lords garage, insisting Jaden take care of it. It was her olive branch, and one he took.
I was enjoying the night and the crowd when I saw Sophie rushing across the lawn, red plastic cup in her hand, amber liquid sloshing out of the sides. Jaden strolled behind her, headed my way.
“Mommy!” she squealed.
I reached down, picked her up, and planted her on my hip. “What are you drinking?” I frowned into the slightly foamy cup.
Sophie looked at me, nodded once. “Beer.”
My eyes flew open just as Jaden walked up. “Don’t even,” he started, shaking his head. “She asked for beer, we gave her apple cider.”
I rolled my eyes. “Like I thought you’d actually give her beer.” But a small part of me wondered. Jaden was incredible with Sophie, but sometimes the men didn’t think the clearest with kids around. Add in them all being drunk, and anything was bound to happen.
Plus, Sophie had sunk her little pudgy fingers into everyone’s heart and she was doted on hand and foot whenever she hit the club grounds.
“Daddy’s going to teach me to ride a bike when I get big,” she declared, her face serious and hopeful.
My heart skipped a beat. It did every time she called Jaden ‘daddy.’ After a few weeks, I’d stopped trying to correct her. She still loved her “picture daddy,” and she still talked to the photos of Scratch, but if she needed a real dad in her life, I couldn’t deny her giving Jaden that name.
And besides that, every time she said it to him, it was if I could see a small piece of his angry heart softening. The effect was instantaneous. And Jaden loved it so much that a few months ago he’d told me he wanted more kids to call him by that name—said it so adamantly and sincerely that we’d begun making love without any protection.
I could have waited until we’d done everything the “right” way and been married first, but Jaden was impatient.
And so was I. Because seeing Jaden run his fingers through Sophie’s hair and press his lips to her temple as she laid her head on my shoulder, I couldn’t hold back the surprise I’d been trying to hold onto until after the wedding.
“I’m pregnant,” I blurted. I b
it my lip as Jaden froze inches from Sophie’s face.
His head snapped to mine, his eyes widened fractionally, and his grip on Sophie’s hair tightened.
“What’d you say?”
I couldn’t read his slow drawl—whether he was upset or surprised in a good way.
I shifted Sophie on my hip and watched as Jaden stood up, letting go of Sophie.
A light sparkled in his brown eyes. “You gonna repeat that?”
I swallowed. “You heard me.”
“Yeah, but I want to hear you say it again.” The edges of his lips twisted and twitched, fighting a grin.
All the nerves I’d been holding fell to my feet and disappeared into the grass. I pulled in a deep breath and smiled. “I’m pregnant.”
“Fuck, yeah!” he shouted. In an instant, Sophie and I were wrapped in his arms, lifted off our feet, and Jaden shouted loud enough for the entire club to hear him. “My girl is fuckin’ knocked up!”
Hoots and hollers and cheers and shouts of congratulations rang through the darkening night. I buried my head into the crook of Jaden’s shoulder.
“You weren’t supposed to tell them on Daemon’s wedding night,” I scolded once he set me down on my feet. My smile and blushing cheeks made it completely worthless.
Jaden took Sophie from me, holding her on his hip, and cupped my cheek with his other hand. “You think I’m gonna fuckin’ wait to share that shit?”
“Language,” I reminded him pointlessly. At three, Sophie cursed like a sailor.
“Kiss me,” he demanded.
I didn’t wait before I leaned in, pressed my lips against his, and tasted him.
“I can’t believe how much everything can change in a year,” Olivia mused happily.
She and Faith had heard the cheering and rushed over to congratulate me. Wanting a quieter place for me to share the gossip, we headed inside the clubhouse, where we could warm up a bit and sit down.
I stretched my feet out onto the sticky coffee table in front of me.
“I know, right?” Faith took a sip of her beer and glanced at her engagement ring. It was amazing. A year ago, the three of us who had grown up friends had barely had contact with each other for five years.
Now, life was completely different. Better.
I shook my head. The shock of being pregnant wasn’t huge, but it still filled me with awe knowing that in seven and a half months I was going to be having a baby. Jaden’s baby.
By then, Faith and Ryker would be married.
“Hey,” I said to Faith, remembering a phone call she’d gotten earlier, before Liv’s wedding. “What did Meg want?”
Faith frowned into her beer cup and sighed. “I don’t know, but she’s headed this way.”
“What?” My eyebrows flew up to my forehead. “Why?”
Faith just shrugged. “Said she needed to get away and she and Brayden are headed this way.”
“Who’s coming this way?” All three of our heads snapped to the masculine voice as Ryker rounded the corner into the club house.
I bit the inside of my lip.
Faith pressed her lips together.
Olivia looked at Ryker like she’d never seen him before in her life.
His hands went to his hips and he glared at all of us. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Faith said quickly. Too quickly. She scrambled to her feet and wrapped a hand around Ryker’s elbow, pulling him outside. “Let’s go party.”
A frown line appeared in between Ryker’s eyes as he slowly perused Faith’s body and then looked at all of us.
“What’s going on?” he repeated.
I shrank into the couch. I had no clue, but the phone call had shaken Faith up earlier and she didn’t seem eager to tell Ryker about it now.
Finally, she quietly whispered. “Meg called. She’s coming here.”
“What?” Ryker shouted. His eyes flew wide open and he twisted out of Faith’s hold. “Why?”
“I don’t know, but she didn’t sound good.”
“What do you mean, she didn’t sound good?” he hissed at Faith. I’d rarely seen Ryker mad.
It wasn’t a sight I wanted to see again anytime soon as he leaned over Faith, barely containing his concern for Meg and Brayden.
“Calm down. I don’t know anything. She called, sounded scared, said she was coming, and I said okay.” Faith shrugged. “She’ll be here tomorrow, I figure.”
“Fuck,” Ryker muttered and reached for his phone. In seconds he was dialing her number, and then snapped the phone closed when Meg apparently didn’t answer. He pointed a scolding finger at Faith. “We’ll talk about this at home.”
Faith smiled but it was shaky and uncertain. We all watched as Ryker turned on his heels and stomped out of the clubhouse.
“You okay?” I asked her once the door slammed shut behind him.
Faith tossed back the rest of her drink and sat down. “It’ll be fine. We’ll go home, have hot make-up sex, and he’ll get over it.”
I laughed. “Thinking of hot make-up sex sort of makes me want to go piss off Jaden.”
“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Liv said, standing up. “But I get to go have wedding night sex. So we’ll see you next week when we get back.”
The three of us laughed and drew each other into a hug.
“Have fun on your honeymoon,” I told Liv as she waved goodbye to us. She and Daemon were taking off to Colorado the next morning and would be gone for a week. “That leaves just us,” I said, turning to Faith.
Faith shook her head and grinned. “Nope. It leaves just you. I’m going to go get started on make-up sex.”
“Got it,” I said, following her out of the clubhouse to the yard, where the party was still going strong. The bass from the music vibrated the ground beneath my feet. “I’m gonna skip the angry sex and go straight for the ‘you knocked me up, let’s celebrate’ sex.”
“Ohhh,” Faith laughed. “Baby sex. I haven’t had that yet.”
I bumped her hip with mine. “You will someday.”
She threw her arm around me, and pulled me toward the men. One of my hands went to my belly, and I smiled when I saw Jaden take in my hand on my stomach.
His grin went wide. His eyes softened.
And I knew.
I had my man. I had Sophie. And I had a new baby on the way.
Nothing… nothing… could be better than this.
To my BadAss CP’s – you ladies, as always, rock. I’m so thankful for all of you and absolutely adore the friendships we’ve made. Thank you for always being there to help keep me sane. I can’t wait until the day where we can all meet.
To Heather Carver, Samien Newcomb, and Natalie Gerber. Thank you for being such amazing beta readers. Y’all rock!!!
Thank you to my editor, Amy Jackson. You’re the absolute best!!! I’m so honored I had the pleasure of working with you on this book.
After almost two years of writing and publishing, I have met some incredibly amazing writers, readers, and bloggers on this crazy journey. Thank you to every single one of the blogs that have helped promote my books through reviews, release days, and blog tours. Most especially, thank you to: Love Between the Sheets for all your excellent promotional help. Thank you to Reviews by Tammy and Kim, Three Chicks and Their Books, Up All Night Book Addict, Carver’s Book Cravings, Shanoff Reads, A Literary Perusal, and Wild Wordy Women. I know… I’m leaving off a ton… but please know that I truly appreciate all of you more than I can say.
To the readers: You’re the BEST!!!! Thank you so much for cheering me on, for pushing me to get books out, and for loving my books when I finally finish them! I read every single review, every post, every message, and every e-mail. Thank you for taking the time to let me, and others, know how much you love this series.
And to my family. I couldn’t do this without your support Thank you for giving me the time to get lost inside my head while these books are written.
To my God and Savior, Jesus Christ. All
Glory and Honor is Yours.
Stacey Lynn currently lives in Minnesota with her husband and four children. When she’s not conquering mountains of laundry and fighting a war against dust bunnies and cracker crumbs, you can find her playing with her children, curled up on the couch with a good book, or on the boat with her family enjoying Minnesota’s beautiful, yet too short, summer.
She lives off her daily pot of coffee, can only write with a bowlful of Skittles nearby, and has been in love with romance novels since before she could drive herself to the library.
If you would like to know more about Stacey Lynn, follow her here:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/staceylynnbooks
Twitter: @staceylynnbooks
Blog: http://staceylynnbooks.blogspot.com
If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review on the site where it was purchased.
And don’t forget to check out Stacey’s other books:
The Nordic Lords Series
Point of Return
Point of Redemption
Point of Freedom
Point of Surrender – coming 2015
Other Books
Just One Song
Just One Week
Remembering Us
Don’t Lie To Me
Try Me – A Don’t Lie To Me Novella
