Knox (Dead Souls MC Book 1)

by Savannah Rylan

“Did you have something else you wanted to tell me?”

  “Not… tell you,” I said with a grin.

  I squeezed Knox’s hands. I led him through my apartment, leaving the porch door open so the breeze could get in. We walked into my bedroom and tumbled to the bed, our legs and arms and tongues intertwined. We slid each other’s clothes off, my hands running over every inch of his muscles. Gripping his shoulders and sliding along his back and running my fingertips over his chest. He was beautiful. The most incredible man I’d ever encountered. Toeing between light and dark and never once trying to drag me one way or the other.

  His lips hit my neck and his name escaped from between my lips.

  His cock throbbed hard against my thigh. I could feel him leaking onto my skin as his hands explored my body. He massaged my tits to life and tugged lightly at my nipples. He sucked welts on my shoulders and slid his body between my legs. He kissed and sucked and nipped and licked. He covered every inch of me in his touch before he stood to his feet.

  “What a sight,” Knox said. “Spread for me like you are.”

  “Take me,” I said breathlessly. “And don’t stop until you want.”

  His eyes darkened as he took my legs by their ankles. He threw my legs over his shoulders and pressed his cock deep into my dripping pussy. He set a relentless pace, my bed rocking on its frame as my hands dug into his thighs. He pounded against me. Skin slapping skin filling the corners of my room as my body shook in ecstasy.

  Then he pulled out of me and flipped me over.

  My ass was in the air as he cracked his hand against it. I moaned at the pain, wiggling around as my skin burned at his touch. He connected his hand with my other cheek, sending shockwaves through my pussy. He slid slowly into me, filling every inch until he bottomed out against me. His hands were massaging my reddened skin and my hands were digging into my mattress.

  He felt so good.

  I never wanted to let him go.

  He slammed into me so hard my whole body moved. My toes curled and my breathing became irregular as he leaned heavily into me. His strong chest pressed into my back, sending both of us to the bed. His hands hooked underneath my leg and spread them wide, leaving me helpless with my chest pressed into the bed.

  His mouth kissed every divot of my spine as he sank his cock into my body.

  “Knox. Please. I can’t take it anymore. I-... I can’t-... please.”

  “Please what?” he asked.

  My legs were trembling and my brow was covered in sweat. My pussy ached for release and my toes were curling so hard they were cramping. He pulled out from me and rolled me over, my body spread haphazardly along my bed. My hips were throbbing with his assault as he covered me, his lips dipping to mine as he slid back inside.

  Then, his fingertips found my clit.

  “Please let me come,” I said breathlessly. “I’ll do anything.”

  “Anything?” Knox asked.

  “Anything. Yes. Anything. Oh. Don’t stop. I’m so close. Right there. Right there. Right there, Knox. Right there! Yes! Don’t stop!”

  My back arched off the bed and I pulled his face into my breasts. My pussy throbbed around him, his fingertips pressing deep into my body. I felt myself take off. Soaring through the clouds as stars burst behind my eyelids. His lips wrapped around my nipple as he rolled deeply into my body, feeling my pussy pulsing with every movement. His body pulled taut and his hand fell away from my clit, bracing himself as he filled me with his hot cum.

  Pump after pump of his arousal, coating me and marking me as his own.

  The two of us collapsed to the bed, spent and sweating as the nighttime sky blanketed the small town of Redding. His lips mindlessly pressed kisses into my skin, his muscles sinking deeply into my curves. I wrapped my arms around him and drew him closer. Wrapping my legs around him to keep him inside of me.

  I wanted him this close for as long as I could have him.

  “Did you mean what you said?”

  “Huh?” I asked.

  “When you said ‘anything’’, did you mean what you said?” Knox asked.

  His eyes rose up from the crook of my neck and met mine as his arms shook with exhaustion.

  “I guess so,” I said. “Why?”

  “I want you to come with me,” he said.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I wanna show you something.”

  “Is everything okay?” I asked.

  Knox rolled off my body and sat up in bed. He got dressed quicker than I expected him to before he held out his hand for mine. He helped me sit up and he gathered my clothes, setting them next to me as I watched him with a curious stare.

  “Just come with me, Monroe. That’s all you gotta do.”

  Chapter 29

  Knox

  Feeling Monroe’s hands around my waist as we rode out of Redding made me feel secure. This woman I’d somehow fallen in love with was about to meet the only other women in my life that meant anything to me. And for some reason, I figured she was gonna be upset. Up until this point, Canyon had been nothing but my sister. A force out in nature Monroe was aware of, but not present with.

  But I wasn’t sure how she was gonna handle the truth.

  The wind whipped through my hair and Monroe grabbed on tighter. The empty roads blanketed with the dark sky cheered us on with the stars that twinkled above our heads. The great red mountains were nothing but shadowed sketches against the horizon as we flew down the deserted roads.

  The roads that connected Redding with Anderson.

  I was prepared for the worst. Prepared for Monroe to throw her hands in the air and walk away. And I wouldn’t be able to blame her if she did. This was a part of my life I kept out of the way for very good reasons. This was a part of my life I didn’t trust with anyone except those I held close. And even though someone was spewing my life to people-- even though there was a rat in our midst-- if Monroe was serious about making things work she’d have to know.

  She’d have to meet Canyon and be a part of her life.

  The ride was long and it gave me time to think. About Monroe and the guys. The Black Saddles and Blaze. Everything Everly had told us and why Rex wanted to pin it on me. They could blame it on a turf war all they fucking wanted, but this wasn’t about territory. About boundaries and who owned what. This was more personal. Someone willing to kill one of their own and blame it on a rival gang had something personal invested in the matter.

  The question was, what was so fuckin’ personal for Rex?

  We passed signs for Anderson and I heard Monroe gasp behind me. She thought she had an idea of what was happening. But the truth was, she had no idea. We rode through the sleepy town, takin’ sharp turns that made her arms tighten against me.

  I’d never get used to that feeling. That feeling of Monroe clinging to me. It made me feel alive. Strong. It reminded me of the protector I needed to be for those I had come to love. It reminded me of all the things that could happen to Monroe if her bosses found out about our relationship. I knew they were in the dark. I knew Rose and Bradley had no idea what was going on. Those two toed the lines, but never crossed them.

  I knew our relationship could cost Monroe her career.

  We pulled up to my mother’s house and I felt her arms relax around me. One day, I’d have to take this woman on a trip. A cross-country trip where she wrapped her arms tightly around me through all forty-eight continental states. Fucked in a hotel in every major city in this country.

  I shook the thought from my head as I helped her off the back of my bike.

  “Knox, are you sure about this?” Monroe asked.

  “Do you trust me?” I asked.

  “Fully and completely.”

  “Then come on.”

  I led her up to the porch and let myself in. My mother’s house smelled the same as it always did. Apples and cinnamon, with a hint of lemon cleaning product. I drew in a long pull of the smell as I shut the door behind us, then I heard the pitter patter of t
hose little feet.

  I would always recognize the sound of her coming.

  “Daddy!?”

  I crouched down and opened my arms as Canyon came running into them. My mother came around the corner and smiled, her eyes traveling to the woman beside me. I picked my daughter up and swung her around, taking in how her hair billowed around her head as we moved. She covered my face in kisses and I held her close, wishing with all my might I could risk seeing her more than I did.

  “Knox, what in the world are you doing here?” my mother asked.

  “Can’t a man stop by to see his mother every now and again?” I asked.

  I reached out for my mother and I pulled her in. Canyon wrapped one of her arms around her neck and we shared a massive hug. For a moment, I forgot Monroe was there. I forgot she was standing in the corner, slowly putting the pieces together.

  Slowly making sense of the lie I’d told her all this time.

  “Who’s she?” Canyon asked.

  I turned my head and took in the shocked look on Monroe’s face. Her eyes were bouncing between Canyon and I, probably trying to take in everything. I set my daughter down on her feet and went to Monroe and I expected her to back up.

  But instead, she met me halfway as her eyes connected with mine.

  “She looks so much like you,” Monroe said.

  “I’m sorry. But I didn’t feel it was important-”

  Monroe held up her hand before she crouched down to my daughter. The two of them were eye level with one another and I watched Monroe hold out her hand. Canyon took it and shook it with a fury before throwing her arms around Monroe’s neck, and I poised myself to scrape my daughter off her.

  But instead, Monroe hugged her and smiled.

  “You’re very pretty,” Canyon said.

  “Not as pretty as you are,” Monroe said. “I’m Monroe.”

  “I’m Canyon. And that’s my grandma, Lola.”

  “Miss Lola, it’s very nice to meet you,” Monroe said.

  “Nice to meet you, too. Sorry if I seem a little shocked, but Knox has never brought a girl home before.”

  “Never?” Monroe asked.

  “Nope,” my mother said.

  “Do you like coloring?” Canyon asked.

  “Depends. When’s your bedtime?” Monroe asked.

  “A little later tonight. And I’ll deal with the fallout, Momma,” I said.

  Canyon took Monroe’s hand and dragged her into the kitchen. I looked over at my mother and I saw the smile growing across her cheeks. We followed them into the kitchen and sat down at the table, and my mother started preparing cups of coffee for all of us.

  “I like coloring princesses. But sometimes I like animals, too. Like bears,” Canyon said.

  “Is that your favorite animal?” Monroe asked.

  “Nope. My favorite are horses. I wanna ride one someday.”

  “I used to ride them all the time when I was your age,” Monroe said.

  “You did?” I asked.

  “Mhm. There was a ranch up the road and I was friends with the son of the man who owned it. As long as I helped muck out the stalls, they didn’t charge me anything to ride.”

  “What is ‘muck’?” Canyon asked.

  “It’s when you shovel horse poop out of a stall,” my mother said.

  “That sounds really gross,” Canyon said.

  “No grosser than cleaning up after yourself,” Monroe said.

  “Grandma, could I have some juice?” Canyon asked.

  “Here, you guys sit. I can get it,” Monroe said.

  “No, no, no. You’re a guest. Now after this visit you won’t be. But for now, you’re my guest. Sit,” my mother said.

  I looked over and watched as Monroe and Canyon colored on the same page. The way my daughter looked up at Monroe was the way a daughter should look up at her mother. I held my coffee mug in my hands and sipped on it, watching the two of them continuing to interact. Monroe would make a joke and Canyon would fall apart in laughter. Eventually Canyon got sick and tired of coloring and made a tic-tac-toe board.

  And of course, Monroe kept letting her win.

  “What time is it?” Canyon asked.

  “Almost eleven,” I said.

  “Oh,” she said with a yawn. “Okay. Do we have time to watch a movie?”

  “I don’t think we have time to do that,” Monroe said. “But we do have time for a bedtime story. Do you want me to read you one?”

  “Oh! Oh! Oh! Can you read ‘Are You My Mother?’ to me?”

  Monroe looked over at me and I nodded my head, urging her to answer any way she wanted.

  And I smiled when Monroe said ‘yes’.

  I watched the two of them cuddle on the couch while Monroe read my daughter’s favorite story to her. It was a bittersweet moment because I knew why she enjoyed the book. She thought she was a lot like the hatched bird in the story. Going around and looking up at people and wondering if they were her mother. I watched from the kitchen table, trying to keep a distance as Monroe bonded with my daughter.

  Then once the story was over, I scooped Canyon up and went to tuck her in.

  When I came back downstairs, I heard Monroe and my mother talking. Their voices were low at first, but as I got closer I could hear what they were saying.

  “He does it to protect Canyon and I, but I know what he does,” my mother said. “Don’t be upset with him. Canyon was a shock to all of us.”

  “I’m not upset with him. I couldn’t be with something like this. A father protecting his daughter is the fiercest force I’ve ever seen,” Monroe said. “Does he think I’m upset with him?”

  “I don’t think so. But I don’t want you thinking he kept this from you intentionally.”

  “He’s protecting his family. I can’t fault him for that,” Monroe said. “How old is Canyon?”

  “Ten,” I said.

  Monroe whipped her head around to see me as I leaned against the kitchen doorway.

  “She was dropped on our doorstep by an ex of mine when she was almost one. Haven’t seen the woman since.”

  “Not once?” Monroe asked.

  “Nope.”

  “How could someone do that to their own child?”

  “I wasn’t known for picking winners, Monroe. I happened to get lucky with you.”

  I watched her cheeks flush as she brought her coffee mug to her lips.

  “Will the two of you be staying long?” my mother asked.

  “The plan was to come in only for a couple of hours,” I said

  “It’s pretty late, though. I’ve got a spare bedroom if the two of you want to get some sleep,” my mother said.

  “I’m okay with it if Knox is,” Monroe said. “I don’t have to work in the morning.”

  “What do you do for work?” my mother asked.

  “I’m a lawyer,” Monroe said. “For a firm in Redding.”

  “So, you bail my son out of trouble when he needs it?”

  “I still don’t know how you found out,” I said.

  “I’m your mother. I know many things you think I don’t know.”

  Monroe looked up at me with that mischievous twinkle in her eye. She never did answer my mother’s question, but she did convince me to stay that night. The two of us curled up in bed together, my arms wrapped around her and holding her close. We fell asleep looking out the window on the outskirts of Anderson, with my mother at the end of the hallway and my daughter across the hall.

  “You’re a good man, Knox. And don’t let anyone convince you differently.”

  And for the first time in years, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

  Epilogue

  Monroe

  Two Months Later

  “Have a good weekend, Monroe. And remember, we’ll be closed Monday and Tuesday.”

  “Thanks for the reminder, Bradley. You’ve only told me twelve times this week,” I said.

  “I got Rose to take time off so we could go on a cruise. Sue me if you don�
��t like it,” he said.

  “Can I? Really? Is that a thing?” I asked.

  “Get out of here with that crazy talk,” he said with a grin.

  “Enjoy your cruise. Take all the pictures.”

  “Just make sure to keep an eye on your email. This RICO case is still breathing down our necks.”

  I shut down my office and walked out with a cloud looming over my head. I hadn’t been feeling well the past couple of weeks and I was ready to get home and sleep. With the assistant U.S. attorney still preparing a case against The Dead Souls, the firm wasn’t getting much reprieve. Between that and our normal caseloads, all of us were pulling thirteen-hour days and still taking work home on the weekends.

  It was rough, but it was what we had to do.

  Every time I thought we had a way to get the government to drop their case, there was something else that popped up. Something else we couldn’t ignore that solidified the fact that they had someone on the inside. Which was why it was imperative that Rose and Bradley were kept in the dark about my relationship continued with Knox.

  I didn’t want them thinking they could lean on it for leverage.

  Even with Everly’s admission of what she saw her brother do, it didn’t get us any closer to figuring out how this RICO case was being built. It was bigger than we thought, and Blaze’s murder was just a small part of it. Blaze’s murder had been closed for a couple of months and there was no use in reopening it. The only thing it would do was cause more headache for the club and more work for the firm.

  Neither of which anyone wanted or needed.

  I got into my car and drove to the drugstore. I walked up and down the aisles, grabbing a few things here and there. A pint of ice cream. Some soda. Dill pickle-flavored chips. I didn’t know why, but that sounded good.

  My mouth was watering just thinking about it.

  I grabbed a couple of things for nausea and headaches before I headed to the shampoo aisle. I was out of almost everything, and I quickly realized I was going to need a cart. Hauling the small basket around in my hand was already causing me to break a sweat.

  Which was odd, because I never sweat.

  Even in the one hundred-degree temperatures of California.