“They don’t like your language, so I’d keep that in check,” the man said.
“Sure,” I said flatly.
“Good boy. Now, I’ve been racking my brain as to why you keep going to and from the hospital. I think it’s because you need things from the hospital. You know, not healing up so well and all that. But, a buddy of mine here thinks it’s because of a pretty little thing that works there. Maybe, a particular resident?”
I put on my best game face, even though I wanted to rip the man’s throat out with my fucking teeth.
“Maybe I just have a hard-on for the ambulance lights,” I said.
The man chuckled. “That’s a good one. I didn’t take you for the joker of the group. I figured that was more Toxin’s alley.”
Shit. They’d been doing recon on us. Which meant there was a very good chance they knew where the warehouse was.
Keep him talking. See what you can get out of him.
“So, are your men gonna shoot me in the middle of a lit intersection with cameras on the poles around us? Or, are they just for show?” I asked.
The man in front of me gazed up at the poles. He clocked all the lights as I grinned, then motioned for his men to put them down. All right. They hadn’t reconned the area. Which meant they probably hadn’t stumbled upon the warehouse. Which meant their intel on us had been garnered well before we made our move.
Good.
“I mean, I figured you would’ve known that, what with the police station for this part of the district being right around that corner back there,” I said.
I was bluffing at that point, but they didn’t know that. The man’s eyes boiled with fury before he looked at someone behind me. I peeked over my shoulder, watching a scrawny man in a black suit tremble in his patent leather shoes.
I got a good look at him. Because that was for sure their recon man.
“You better watch your back, Mr. Bear,” the man said.
I slowly panned my eyes back around as the men holstered their guns.
“I mean, I could say the same to you. But, these cameras probably gotcha pretty good, if you ask me,” I said.
“Mark my words, me and my boss will take care of you and your little crew soon enough. And as far as that bet goes? I’m starting to think you really do have your eye on that pretty little resident,” he snarled.
I clenched my jaw as he eyed me, grinning.
“Seems like I owe my pal a hundred bucks for being wrong on that bet,” he said.
I eyed each and every one of them as they passed by me. I watched them get into the SUV, and I managed to grab the license plate as they sped off. I waited until I knew they were down the road. I waited until the sound of their vehicle was out of range for my ears.
Then, I cursed to myself as I struck up my bike again. Revving my engine and taking the back roads to the hospital.
Margot was officially in trouble. Which meant she needed to come with me.
Again.
16
Margot
“Dr. Langley.”
I looked up from the clipboard I was writing on with incredibly tired eyes. The Chief of Surgery came for me, and I straightened up quickly. He had a narrow look in his eyes and a determined scowl on his face as he approached me with his hands clasped behind his back. He had on his blue scrubs and a wrap around his head. He looked as if he was supposed to be preparing for surgery right now. At four in the morning.
So, what was he doing chasing me down the hallway?
“Yes, Dr. Wright?” I asked.
“With Dr. Jackson gone, I’ve been the one overseeing the residency applicants. You’ve been doing an exceptional job. Especially with the hours you’ve been keeping,” he said.
I nodded. “Thank you, sir. I really appreciate it.”
“I’ve never had a residency applicant that actually wanted the night shift.”
I smiled. “Normally, I thrive better at night than I do during the day.”
“It’s funny you should at that ‘normally’ to it.”
I paused. “Why, sir?”
“Because you’ve been looking very tired lately.”
“I suppose it comes with the territory. Residency schedules aren’t easy.”
“No, they’re not. Especially when you’re the only one filling in for the other residents whenever they need to call out. I looked at your file, Dr. Langley. I’ve clocked the hours you’ve been working. You know residents don’t get paid overtime pay, right?”
I nodded. “Yes. But someone has to man the stations, so to speak. And if my fellow residents—”
“Your fellow residents are lazy, at best.”
I wanted to defend them, but I didn’t have a defense. Because he was right. I worked with a bunch of lazy-ass applicants.
“Yes, sir,” I said.
He grinned. “Take the rest of your shift off. I’ll find someone to cover your shift tomorrow. You’ve clocked enough hours for this week already. Anymore you work, you won’t get paid for. And there’s no use in overworking my best resident.”
“Dr. Wright, that isn’t—”
“I wasn’t asking, Dr. Langley,” he said.
He turned and walked away from me, and I sighed. Mostly, with relief. But, partially out of exasperation. The residents did take advantage of me. I knew they did. And while it was nice to see that upper management, so to speak, recognized that, I also knew my fellow applicants would now make my life a living nightmare. They’d figure I ratted them out to the Chief of Surgery myself, which would make for a very long two more months in this damn program.
But hell, I needed sleep.
I finished filling out the clipboard of information, then filed it away. I clocked out, then jotted down a note on the schedule saying that Dr. Wright himself gave me tomorrow night off. Then, I grabbed my things and lumbered out of the hospital with nothing but my bed on my mind.
Until I heard someone coming up behind me.
“Whoever you are, you can fuck off,” I grumbled.
And as I whipped out my pepper spray, turning around, someone grabbed my wrist and backed me into a post. A figure came out of the shadows and into the flickering lights above us.
I stared into Bear’s eyes for the first time in weeks, and my knees shook.
“Bear,” I whispered.
“No need for the pepper spray. Though, we don’t have much time,” he said.
He released my wrist and I quickly put it back in my purse.
“Not much time? What are you talking—”
“They’re looking for you now,” he said.
I paused. “Shit.”
“And it’s my fault.”
“Bear, I’m sure it’s not—”
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
I drew in a sharp breath. “Do I really have a choice right now?”
“You always have a choice, Margot. I’ll always make sure you have a choice.”
His word choice fluttered my heart. It warmed me inside and made me feel like a special little angel. Almost special enough to erase our last encounter, but not quite enough. I shook my head as I slipped away from him, only to feel him grip my arm and pull me back to the post he pinned me against.
“Bear, let me go,” I said calmly.
“If I let you go, I’ll have to follow you. Keep watch. Make sure you’re safe. I did what I did the first time because you were safe without us. Now, you’re not anymore. I need you to trust that I know that, at least,” he said.
With a heavy sigh, I nodded. And together, we made our way for my car. I slipped in and struck up my engine, then watched him get in front of me. I figured the point was to follow him, though I remembered the trek. Even though I’d only made it once, the route to the warehouse was forever seared into my memory.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled into the garage, his head on a continuous swivel the entire time.
I slipped out of my car and Bear took my hand. I heard skittering on the roof as we made our way
up the steps. We walked inside and strode down the winding hallways, heading for the bedroom.
But before we got there, a massive man stepped in front of us.
“Bear,” the man said.
“Knox, not now,” he said.
“The fuck were you thinking?”
So, that’s his name.
“I’ve been doing it for the past two weeks. I have information. But I need to talk to Margot first. Privately. Please,” Bear said.”
“Doing what?” I asked.
“Holy fuck, are you out of your mind? I almost sniped through Margot’s fucking window!”
“I had to tell Brewer to stand the fuck down because I recognized the sound of your bike approaching. Figured whoever was coming was with you,” Knox said.
Brewer and Knox. Got it.
The two men stared one another down as a third came into view. He was leaner than the rest of the men I’d seen walking around here, and he approached Bear’s side with a massive gun in his hand. I tucked myself tightly against Bear’s side. The three men looked positively irate with one another. And as Bear laced his fingers with mine, I closed my eyes. Wishing for all of this to be over.
“Two weeks?” Knox asked.
“What’s two weeks?” Brewer asked.
“Give me an hour and I’ll explain to everyone. Okay?” Bear asked.
“Or you can explain now,” Knox demanded.
“The fuck’s going on out here?” Rock asked groggily as he came out of his room.
“Not now,” Bear said curtly.
Rock came up next to us and his eyes cleared the second he saw me. I nuzzled my cheek into Bear’s arm as he stepped between us and the three guys.
“Let’s give them some time,” Rock said.
“We need answers and we need them now,” Knox said.
“And you can have them after he deals with Margot,” Rock said curtly.
Then, together, the four of them finally dispersed. Leaving us to head to the bedroom where Bear locked us in. Caging us into a prison with the tension growing just beyond the door.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked breathlessly.
Bear sighed. “I’ve been coming to the hospital for the past two weeks to check up on you. Make sure you were doing okay.”
“Well, I’ve been trying to call your old cell number. But you haven’t been picking up.”
He paused. “The one from high school?”
I nodded. “Mhm.”
He chuckled. “I haven’t had that number for years.”
I shrugged. “Figured it was worth a shot anyway.”
“Wait, you were trying to call me? When?”
“I stopped trying about three weeks ago.”
“Why were you calling?”
“I don’t know. I guess to see how you were doing. How everyone was doing. I got Piper on the phone a few times, but she wouldn't talk about anything.”
“She couldn't. We were all ordered by Diesel to not say a word to anyone. We weren’t even supposed to be getting on our phones.”
“Or leaving in the middle of the night to stalk out hospitals?” I asked, grinning.
And when that grin spread across Bear’s face, the tension alleviated itself a bit.
“I was coming by the hospital to make sure you were okay. To make sure those guys hadn’t gotten to you. Then, they cornered me tonight in the middle of the road. They know I’ve been going to see you. Going to check in on you. So, I headed straight there after the encounter and now we’re here,” he said.
I nodded slowly. “Uh huh. And you wanted to check in on me because…?”
“Because I care about you, Margot.”
“You have a funny way of showing it.”
“Look, I know. I pushed you away last time and I was harsh about it. But I didn’t want to. I wanted to pull you close. I wanted you to stay. But there was no reason for me to get you involved in all this if you were already safe.”
“And now, I’m not. So, here you are,” I said.
“I’m trying to protect you, Margot. I know how you feel about all this. I know how much you hate me right now—”
I scoffed. “I never hated you, Bear. I never could.”
He paused. “But you hate what we do. What I do.”
“No, I’m not happy about it. I wished better for you. But you seem happy. You guys seem close. I’ve seen how you protect one another. And that’s a good thing. It’s more than I’ve got in my life, at least. And you found it all without that college education. I can admire that.”
“I went to college, you know.”
I paused. “Wait, what?”
He sighed. “I went to college. I mean, community college, sure. But, the one across town. I made that promise to you, and I kept it. Got a technical degree in mechanics, and when we aren’t being contracted out for our protection, I run a shop we own in the middle of Redding. I work on bikes, soccer mom vans, sports cars. The works.”
“You—you went to college?”
“I did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want to create more tension at the time with correcting you. You've never taken lightly to being corrected.”
I snickered. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”
The two of us stared at one another before I took a small step closer.
“There any other lie you want to clear up for me?” I asked.
“Not a lie. Just an inability to correct you on something you already assumed,” Bear said.
“Fine. I’ll give you that one. Anything else you failed to correct me on?”
“No, but I suppose I should come clean about something else. Since we’re on the truth train and all.”
I took another step toward him. “And... what would that be?”
He closed the distance between us, wrapping his arm around me. He pulled me close, causing me to gasp as I tilted my head back. My hands sank into his massive upper arms. I clung to him, feeling his girthy strength pushing against my curves. His head dipped to mine. I felt his breath softly against my lips. My eyes danced between his as I longed for him to kiss me. Longed for him to touch me. Longed for him to toss me onto this bed and have his way with me.
“Bear?” I asked softly.
“I should probably tell you I never stopped loving you. And I never will,” he said.
Then, without another word, I reached up and captured his lips with mine.
Because I hadn’t stopped loving him, either.
17
Bear
She tasted of roses and the soft summer sun. She tasted of the salted ocean crashing just outside my window. She tasted like freedom. Like passion. Like beauty.
Margot. My Margot.
The woman I never stopped adoring.
I reached down, fisting her ass cheeks in the palms of my hands. Her excess poured into the slats of my fingers, making me growl down the back of her throat. Her hands slid through my hair. I picked her up against me, my body growing stronger than ever before. My cock throbbed hard against my jeans as I walked us toward the bed, tossing her onto the mattress.
My eyes connected with hers as a playful squeal left her lips.
The only time our gaze broke was when I ripped my shirt over my head. I clamored out of my clothes, ready to feel the heat of her smoothness against my skin. She gasped at the sight of me. The hair I’d grown after our high school days. The muscle that stacked on, day in and day out. And the scars. Holy hell, the scars I had from my life.
“Bear,” she whispered.
I cocked my head. “Your turn.”
She grinned as I fell to her, sliding between her legs. I couldn't wait to devour her. I couldn't wait to taste the thickness she’d grown in my absence. I ripped her clothes off, nibbling her inner thighs and sucking on the excess around her belly button. She giggled and gasped. Groaned and bucked. She reached for piles of my hair, pushing me to where she wanted me to be.
I slid her thick thighs over my shoulders, feeling them trembling around me. Her nails raked along my scalp, trying to draw me nearer. Trying her hardest to control the situation. But I’d take my time with this reunion. With this encounter. With this apology I wanted to lap through my tongue and imprint onto every part of her body she let me access.
“Bear, please,” she whispered.
Then, I slid my tongue up her slit.
“Holy fuck,” she groaned.
I dove into her depths. I couldn't wait another second. The ocean that poured from her throbbing entrance coated my cheeks and my neck as I lapped her up. Swallowed down as much of her as I could take. She moaned and sighed. She arched her back, tilting her hips closer to my tongue. I pressed deeply into her throbbing mound, swirling my tongue around her clit. And when she shook for me, I knew she was close.
So, I backed off.
“No, no, no, no, no. Bear,” she whispered.
I chuckled as I sucked her thick pussy lips. Cleaning them off before diving in again. I filled her aching entrance with one finger. Then, two. I spread her, feeling how tight she was. And I knew the only way a woman like her could have been so tight was if she’d gone years without a man.
Just like I’d gone years without her.
“Oh, Margot,” I grunted.
I flicked her clit with my tongue, pumping my fingers inside her. I crooked them, tickling that precious spot as her walls caved in around me. They clamped down onto me, her entire body quivering in my presence. I watched her naked body flush. I watched her tug on her tits as she rocked salaciously, losing control of her body.
“You’re gonna make me come. You’re gonna make me come. Bear. Bear. Bear, please!”
“Now,” I commanded.
Her hands flew to the sheets and she wrapped them up tightly. I filled her with three fingers, feeling her quake as she unraveled for me. I held my tongue out for her, allowing her to ride it. To rock against it. To buck and grind and do what she needed in order to take what she wanted.
Dead Souls MC: Prospects Series Books 1-5 Page 25
