NOMADS The Box Set

by Erin Trejo

  “You’re bleeding!” I nearly scream when I feel the warmth touch my fingers. Lynx closes his mouth over mine, kissing me speechless.

  “I’m fine but we need to go,” he says softly.

  “No shit. They were planning on hurting her,” Chip tells him. I can feel Lynx’s body vibrating.

  “Yeah, well they won’t be,” he hisses. “Let’s go while they’re out lookin’.”

  93

  Lynx

  I close my eyes trying to drown out the sound of the bar next door. We hauled ass out of Texas and back to Tennessee. I wanted as far from there as possible but I still didn’t have much to go on. I had friends that I called in a marker with to get us back here but my mind hasn’t eased once. If they found us once, they will again. The problem is I’m still not sure who it is.

  “Are you okay?” Harper asks, looking up at me.

  I open my eyes and shake my head, peering down at where her head rests on my chest. “I don’t like this shit. I don’t know why they did this,” I tell her. When I went out with Vic, he left. He took off saying he had something to check out and left me with the others. That’s when shit changed. They jumped my ass, beating the fuck out of me until I thought that was it. I thought that’s how I’d die. When I got ahold of that knife, they were sorry. I guessed I learned something while on the inside.

  “Isn’t it pretty obvious?” she asks almost sounding disgusted with me.

  “No it isn’t. I’ve never done shit to them but be a loyal soldier, Harper. None of this makes sense to me.”

  Harper shifts and sits up next to me, her face a maddened mess. “Your dad wants me killed, Lynx! They beat you, what more do you need to be sure?” she screams louder at me. The back door pops open and she jolts, but it’s just Chip and Stan bringing food and drinks. They set the bags down before pulling up some chairs and glaring at us where we still sit on the bed they brought in for us.

  “What do we need to do?” Chip asks first. I chuckle and sit up now.

  “Nothin’. I’m callin’ in some back up and I’ll handle this,” I tell him.

  “You don’t need them, you got us. What are we doing?” he asks again.

  “No, Chip. This isn’t about you. This isn’t your fight.”

  “You’re my best friend! This is my fight. You remember saving my ass more than once in there? Let me fucking return the favor, Lynx.”

  I can see the look in his eyes and I hate that it’s there. I nod my head once and blow out a breath. What we lived through while in the pen bonded us in a way that is closer than what I had at the MC. Chip is truly my brother and won’t let me fight alone.

  “They’ll come. How they know we’re here? I don’t fuckin’ know, but they will. We need to be ready for that shit. We need to keep our eyes open and never walk around alone. They’ll use that against us,” I tell them. Chip nods keeping himself hardened. That’s the man I met inside. The man who sits in front of me now.

  “Any idea at all?” he asks.

  “None. I went Nomad as soon as I got out. I didn’t have any issues with them.”

  “Your dad always hated you, Lynx,” Harper says softly. I sigh, pulling her back down to sit with me.

  “Enough to kill me?” I ask her. She shrugs.

  “Doesn’t matter. Either way they started shit and we need to finish it. You guys need to rest tonight. Tomorrow, we make a plan. Lure them in?” Stan asks, looking between us.

  I run my hand through my hair wondering how we do that. I don’t know exactly who we’re messing with.

  “You’re right. We need to rest and think this over. They ain’t comin’ today but we need to figure it out,” I yawn as I look over at Chip. He nods his head and him and Stan stand to leave.

  “You sure you should be staying here next to the bar?” he asks me. I nod.

  “Yeah, we don’t need any more shit comin’ to your place, man. We’ll be alright here,” I tell him pulling Harper closer to me. I lean my face down into her hair and inhale her scent. God, I need this woman. I hate that I love her so much. I hate that my life is now threatening hers.

  “Do you think Vic has something to do with this?” She asks the question that has lingered in the back of my mind since we left that place.

  I knew it was a mistake going back there yet I thought I had a friend in Vic. He’s never done anything to make me think otherwise, but now I’m wondering if I’m wrong and have been wrong this whole time. And why in the fuck would he betray me like that? Or was there ever any true friendship and brotherhood between us?

  “I don’t wanna think he did,” I say hoarsely. “But there’s just too much coincidence. How did they know where I was? Vic knew. Goddamnit, I fuckin’ brought him right to you!” Anger courses through my veins when I move to stand up. I pace the floor, clenching my hands into fists. I want to rip those assholes apart. I want to watch them bleed, but how the hell do I do that when one of them is my best fucking friend? How could he have betrayed me like this? I don’t pay attention to what Harper is doing until I turn to look at her and see she’s naked. Her long red hair hangs around her shoulders, her eyes dark and hooded.

  “What are you doin’?”

  “What’s it look like?”

  “You know someone wants to hurt you and you stand there naked?” I couldn’t hide the lust in my voice if I had to. The woman knows what she does to me. She drives me crazy, she turns me on, she fucks with my head.

  “Those things aren’t important right now,” she purrs, moving toward me slowly.

  “Someone could come in here, Harper.”

  “Then I’d die happy, Lynx.”

  As soon as she’s in front of me, I lean down, sucking her nipple into my mouth. Harper shivers but she started this. Lifting her in my arms quickly, she wraps her legs around my waist. Walking her to the counter, I set her down gently before kissing her lips. Each touch of her sends my heart into overdrive. Each soft caress has me on edge. I pull away from her, listening to her whine. Begging for my touch. I chuckle before grabbing the stool and pulling it over.

  “What are you doing?” she whines.

  “I’m about to eat,” I growl before moving in. As soon as my ass hits the stool, I pull her pussy lips apart and dive in. My tongue slowly slides over her clit as I listen to her gasp. Harper lies down on the counter and I get to work. Slipping a finger inside of her, I suck her clit into my mouth. Slow, soft strokes keep her on edge. I work my finger in and out of her, keeping my tongue flicking over her clit. I bend my finger, rotate my hand, and get deeper inside of her. Pants come from her lips as I draw her closer to her orgasm.

  “Lynx!” Harper cries out just as she comes.

  I keep my tongue there to clean up any that leaks out of her before standing up. Harper pushes up on her elbows, eyeing me as she catches her breath. I lean over her, sticking my soaking wet fingers into her mouth. She sucks them in, curls her tongue around them and moans.

  “You like that?” I ask her. She just moans louder. I pull my fingers free before stripping out of my clothes. As soon as I’m naked her eyes are on me.

  “What do you want?” I ask as I stroke my cock.

  She keeps her eyes on my hand as I move it up and down. I can see the lust, smell the arousal. Fuck, this girl is going to kill me. Harper slides off the counter and straight to her knees. She leans in, pressing a kiss to my stomach causing me to suck in a breath. I run my fingers through her hair, slowly feeling the strands as they slip through my fingers. Harper’s hand comes up and wraps around my cock, slowly stroking me up and down.

  “You gonna tease me or you gonna suck me?”

  Harper gives me a long hard jerk and I nearly come in her hand. I grunt and groan until her lips touch the tip of my cock. My hips jerk, shoving into her throat. Harper moans around my cock, the vibrations rushing through me. I keep my hand wrapped up in her hand as I thrust into her sweet little mouth. Each suck, each thrust they both mingle together. I don’t know who belongs to who anymore. We
’re one. When I feel myself getting closer, I pull out of her mouth. Lifting her quickly, I spin her around shove her over the stool and plunge into her.

  “Hold on tight,” I grunt. I watch her hands wrap around the legs of the stool as I pound into her. Her ass shakes, her body bleeds into me. Everything about her is mine.

  “Lynx! Shit!” she cries out as I thrust deeper. Each time my balls slap against her body, I feel that much closer to her. I need this right now because I know something bad is going to happen and there’s no way in fuck I’m going to let them hurt her. Running my hand down her back, she arches into me. With my free hand I slap her ass roughly, watching the print turn red before I groan. It’s too much. She’s too much. I come hard, filling her with everything I have.

  94

  Harper

  Lynx is always on edge. It’s been three months since we went back to Texas. Every day we move. We’ve keep moving. I hate it. I wanted to stay with Josie but I couldn’t tell him no. I couldn’t leave him again. It almost crushed me last time we were apart. I won’t let that happen again. So, we travel. We do what Lynx does. We’ve stayed at different clubhouses and some hotels. I’ve meet some interesting people on our journey. I’ve also been afraid. What’s taking them so long? What are they after?

  “Stop fidgetin’,” Lynx says. I look over and smirk at him but he isn’t smiling.

  “Lighten up!”

  “Really? Lighten up when I know what’s out there?”

  This is how he’s been since the minute we left Tennessee. He’s on edge and very irritable. I reach over and grab his hand, clasping it mine. I squeeze it hard, keeping it there.

  “You have been like this for months. They haven’t found us, Lynx. We’re okay.”

  “For how long, Harper? How long until that changes, huh?”

  “Lynx, really? Calm down. Aren’t you happy that we’re together?” I see his resolve slowly slip away. His eyes brighten if only a little. He pulls me into his lap, holding me against his chest.

  “You have no idea how happy I am to have you back, Harper. I just hate that this is us now. I didn’t want you to have to leave your friends,” he whispers as he presses kisses down my neck.

  “Then let’s go back. They haven’t showed up there and they haven’t bothered us out here. Maybe they gave up,” I say trying to sound positive, but inside, in that secret place I don’t want to give a voice, I know they haven’t. They’re waiting for something but I’m not sure what. I can feel it deep inside. I watch the internal struggle in his eyes. I know he wants to go back and help Chip. I know he wants to be there as much as I do. It’s hard for Lynx to express himself most times but I can feel it.

  “What if they show up?” he asks softly and I shrug.

  “Then we deal with it. Do you really want to run your whole life?”

  Lynx shifts under me, pulling my face so that I’m looking directly at him. “The only place I wanna run is to you, Harper. I never want to lose you again. If you really wanna go back, we’ll go.”

  A smile slips across my face as I lean in and press my lips to his. To say I’m excited is an understatement. I’m past that. I never really had a home before, but I found one in Nashville with Josie. My job was amazing and she was the best friend I’ve ever had.

  “Excited?”

  “Beyond,” I tell him happily. I kiss him once more when he shifts, lays me down and rolls on top of me.

  “That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you, you know that, right?” I nod my head as I stare into his eyes.

  “I know and that’s all I wanted for you too. I can’t change what I’ve done, Lynx. I can’t change that I ran, but I can love you now. I can make up for all that time,” I whisper, running my fingers over the goatee he’s now growing.

  “I’m sorry for how I pushed you.”

  “I know. I just want our future to be perfect. I want you and I want us together. I want everything we should have had a long time ago,” I whisper. My hearts pounding in my chest. I know I need to tell him but there’s a knot in my throat that’s afraid of what he might say. I know this isn’t what he wanted but it happened. “Lynx, I need to tell you something.”

  “What is it?” he asks between kisses.

  My hands slip around the back of his neck, pulling his head to rest against mine. I blow out a heavy breath.

  “When everything happened, I wasn’t able to get to the store. Remember how quickly we had to leave?” I ask hoping the words are coming out the way they should be. I sound like a rambling lunatic.

  “What?” he asks confused. Yeah, same here!

  “I… Shit, Lynx. I never got the birth control before.” The words tumble out like the worst word vomit ever. Lynx pulls back staring at me. My heart nearly beats out of my chest, I’m gasping for air and I can’t get enough into my lungs.

  “What are you sayin’?”

  “I’m saying I didn’t get the birth control, Lynx.” Before I can finish bile rises in my throat. I leap off the bed and run to the bathroom, throwing up our last meal. I feel dizzy like I’m in a fog when Lynx kneels down behind me, pulling my hair out of my face.

  “You tellin’ me you’re pregnant? With my kid?” He sounds like a typical man. I nod my head slowly another round of nausea ripping through me. “You’re not fuckin’ with me?”

  “Why would I lie to you, Lynx?” I glance over at him and see the torn look in his eyes. It only takes a second before he stands and grabs a towel, wetting it in the sink. He drops back down and pulls me into his lap, wiping my face.

  “You wouldn’t lie to me. I know that. Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. That’s what took me so long at the last stop. I got a test and took it in the bathroom,” I admit weakly. I should have told him I suspected it, but I didn’t know how. I didn’t want to be on the road when I told him either.

  “You could have told me, I could have waited with you, Harper.”

  “I was scared, Lynx.”

  “Of what?”

  “That it would be too much and you wouldn’t want it, want me,” I sob. Lynx grabs my face in his hands and jerks my head around so I have to look at him.

  “Don’t you ever think that. I fuckin’ love you, Harper. I’ve loved you since we were kids. This was all I ever wanted. You, me, this.” His hand moves to linger over my stomach and fresh tears fall down my cheeks.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. If I didn’t go to jail, shit, we probably would have already had one,” he teases with a smile that melts my heart. “A little red-headed baby girl that looks just like her mom.”

  I lose it and cry harder, laying my head in the crock of his neck. Lynx runs his hand up and down my back.

  “I’m gonna be a dad,” he whispers and I smile.

  “You are.”

  “Think I’ll be good at it?” he asks sounding a little tense. I know why too. He grew up with his dad and that wasn’t an easy life. He had to fight far too much and too often for a child, but I think that’s what will make him a great dad. He wouldn’t want his child to live like he did or be treated the way he was.

  “I think you’ll be perfect,” I whisper holding him tighter.

  “You like Nashville?” he asks randomly. I almost laugh, but I can detect the serious note in his voice.

  “I love it. Josie is like family to me.”

  “Do you want to call it home?”

  I pull back surprised at his question. Lynx is a lot like me. He never called one place home, especially not with his dad. He may have felt it was home because that’s all he was used to, but that wasn’t a real home and we both knew it.

  “Are you serious?” Lynx takes a deep breath and nods his head.

  “I want you to be happy, Harper. I want you…no, I want us to be somewhere that we can raise the baby without worryin’ about other shit. If you want to stay in Nashville, we’ll find a place there.”

  I’ve never been so happy in my life. I’ve never felt this sense of peace and comfort but
with Lynx that’s all I feel.

  “What about being a Nomad?”

  “I’ll still be me. I’ll just be me in Nashville,” he winks at me. My heart races when I throw myself into him. He laughs and tumbles back into the wall as I kiss him.

  “You taste like puke,” he reminds me. My cheeks quickly flush as I try to pull back but he doesn’t let me.

  “I love you, Harper.”

  “I love you more.”

  95

  Lynx

  Home. That’s a different feeling for me now. When I was a kid, the clubhouse was home. Or at least I thought it was. Turns out it was all a lie. Home is here, I can feel it. Harper is my home as well as Chip, Josie and Stan. We’ve all bonded through the experience and I’ve never seen Harper smile so much. This is what she’s always needed. Stability and place she feels safe and loved. She has all that and more here.

  “A daddy, huh?”

  “How many times are you gonna ask me that, Chip?” I laugh as I finish painting the walls. It’s only been two weeks since we’ve been back but we’ve found a little house and I went back to work with Chip.

  “Too many. I just can’t believe it. You of all people,” he laughs.

  “What’s wrong with me bein’ a dad?”

  “Not a damn thing. I think you’ll be a great dad. Just didn’t picture you as the family man is all,” he says, smirking over at me.

  “Yeah, I didn’t either, but once she told me, I was all in.”

  “You were all in before that,” he says with a laugh.

  “You’re sick.”

  “You love me,” he teases back.

  I set the brush down and turn toward him, leaning against the unpainted wall with my arms crossed over my chest.

  “You know you mean a lot to me, yeah? I don’t talk about feelin’s and shit but you’re my best friend, Chip. Have been for the last five years, man. You’re more family than my blood.” Chip smiles at me, tears forming in his eyes. He nods his head and sniffs them back.