by Marie James
Leave it to Kid to bring up the words Shadow would never confront me with in front of the other guys. I would die for the fucker, but Kid’s an asshole with no damn decorum at all, so I should expect nothing less from him.
“Besides, asshole,” he begins not bothering to look up from his less than skilled shuffle. “What’s crawled up your ass? Where’s Darby?” Only now does he look up and around the room with an exaggeration that makes my blood begin to boil. “She’s usually out here on your dick by now.”
My chair scrapes back an inch or so, as I begin to stand from my chair. I know I’m being an asshole, but Kid is normally more laid back than he’s acting right now. Kid grins, unaffected and begins to deal the deck. I could pop him on the chin for taunting me, and we’d be fine by tomorrow. It’s just how we operate, and even if he would hold a grudge, it’s a chance I’m ready to take.
“Boys,” Kincaid says, the one-word chastisement enough to make my ass fall back into my chair.
It doesn’t, however, keep my middle finger from flicking up at him as he tosses cards around the table.
“Where’s Khloe?” Shadow asks, and I’m grateful they begin talking about her and Em’s college classes if only to pull the attention away from me.
“Em studying, too?” Kid asks, his voice pulling my attention back to the game.
“Naw. She’s taking a nap.” Kincaid answers with a knowing grin on his lips.
I laugh at the love-struck look on his face, readying to say something sexually explicit to Kincaid about Em, but the challenging arch of his eyebrow is enough to make me swallow my words. I hide my smile behind my hand as Kid tosses away his first shitty hand of the evening. I sometimes forget that Kincaid and Kid are no longer part of the single crowd, and they’d never give up salacious details about their women. I guess we all have secrets in that respect; only their relationships only have one cock in the equation.
I hear footsteps at my back, and from the look on Kid’s face, I can easily predict it’s Snapper. He doesn’t do well at hiding his resentment of the woman, after the shit she pulled when he came back from Vegas with a hit so hard he lost his short term memory for a while. The hairs standing up on my neck are a clear indication that Itchy is with her as well. I don’t even bother to look up from my cards as they walk past going deeper into the living room. The fingernail traveling down my chest isn’t a surprise either because I can smell the sex permeating Darby’s skin when she’s within a foot of me.
Scowl still on my face at my quasi-argument with Kid, I push my chair back a couple of inches so Darby can curl up in my lap. When Itchy huffs at something from across the room as she settles on my lap, I don’t bother to look in his direction, terrified it will raise even more suspicion. Shadow is watching me like a hawk trying to figure out what the fuck is going on in my head. My eyes do dart up to find Shadow’s who, as suspected, is glaring at me as if he can read me like a book.
“You’re mad at me,” she whispers, tilting my head up to look at her with a finger under my chin. Clear concern and sympathy are in her eyes making me feel like shit for not feeling more for her than I do. “Please don’t be mad.”
She kisses my lips, and I groan into her mouth as her tongue strokes over mine. The saltiness still in her mouth from what I can only assume is Itchy’s come shoots an arrow of desire straight to my cock. I harden against her ass, and she squirms acknowledging my readiness.
“You smell like pussy,” I whisper before taking her mouth again. “And taste like come.”
She gives me a weak smile, a tear on her lower lash threatening to roll down her cheek. I cup her face in my hands grateful for the gift she’s just given to me, something I’d never have the courage to ask for or take myself. My thumb sweeps the plumpness of her cock swollen lips just before I lean my forehead against hers. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she returns, her mouth finding mine once more. She moans, allowing my exploration into her mouth as I seek out every hint of his taste.
It isn’t until l feel Shadow shift beside me and stand that I become aware that we’re having this intimate moment in front of half of the club. My mind races, trying to remember if I said anything incriminating in front the guys.
I don’t have long to spend questioning my own actions, because when I look up, I see Shadow frozen in the doorway, back stiff as if a ghost has just appeared before his eyes.
He bends, reaching down for something, as he speaks, but he’s too far away for me to hear the conversation. When he turns back around followed by the familiar face of Misty, the chick he was banging from Denver, I’m shocked, but when I look down and see his hand clinging to the handle of a fucking car seat, I nearly fall out of my fucking chair.
“What the hell is that?” I ask before I catch myself.
“Kincaid,” Shadow grunts, the first word he’s said loud enough since he stood from the table.
I already know what’s coming, so I grip Darby’s hips and guide her to standing before I rise to my feet as well.
“Everyone out,” Kincaid says, but Darby and I are already making our way to the hallway leading to the rooms.
Darby stops me with a hand on my arm. “What’s going on? Who is that woman?”
My eyes find Kid’s as we stand in the hallway, far enough out of sight but still within earshot. Kincaid can’t actually expect us not to stick around and wait to find out exactly what the fuck is going on.
“Did Shadow get some chick pregnant?” Snapper hisses. She’s upset, as if that’s the actual situation, she’s just proved some point she’s been trying to get everyone to understand.
“Shhh,” Darby chastises her friend. “I can’t hear anything.”
None of us can, other than the rapid breathing of half a dozen idiots standing together in the narrow hallway. I don’t think Shadow’s stupid enough to knock some chick up, but I can’t say I’m not grateful for the distraction. At this point, I’ll take anything to keep the eyes and suspicions out of my life, and a baby showing up on the doorsteps of the clubhouse is sure to do just that.
“What’s going on?” Em’s voice comes up from behind us. We part like the Red Sea as our untitled queen steps out into the hallway.
Luckily the women stay quiet, and I know it has everything to do with Snapper not liking her and Darby keeping her distance just like she was instructed.
“Misty is here.” Em smiles brightly at my words.
“From Denver?” she asks. “I’ve always wanted to meet her. Kincaid thinks the world of her.”
She makes to move out into the open from the hallway but I grasp her arms just as she steps past and the baby’s cries can be heard.
“She has a baby with her, Em” Her eyes widen, and she walks past us, free range to go anywhere she wants even though Kincaid commanded the rest of us to vacate the common area.
Chapter 15
Itchy
“Fuck,” I yell as my fist meets the drywall just inside the door of my room.
Feeling like a complete idiot, I pull my hand from the hole knowing I’ll be tasked with fixing it later.
I pace around at the end of my bed like a caged animal waiting for a chance to escape. The sight of Darby crawling up in Snatch’s lap isn’t what set me off, but the fact that they can be open, a kiss between the two of them means nothing as far as the guys are concerned. Anyone paying attention would either smile at their public display of affection or wish they could tag team her. I know that’s what was on Ace’s mind when he couldn’t pull his eyes from them.
Even if I thought anyone in Cerberus would have a problem if I walked up and planted a kiss on his lips I wouldn’t give a shit. I seriously don’t think one single guy here would say a damn word, but I’d never risk it because it’s not what Snatch wants.
Thinking about it only pisses me off more. Stripping out of my clothes and leaving them in a pile on my floor I head to the shower. I can’t lie, fucking Darby and Snapper for the last two hours was a great f
ucking time, but just like Snatch admitted last week in Central America, something was missing. Hot, tight pussy and two talented mouths are no longer enough to make me feel satiated.
With angry swipes of a wash rag, I scrub my skin until it feels as if I’ve been out in the sun for too long. As pissed as I am at the situation, staying away from him isn’t something I can tolerate either. I dry so ineffectively in my haste to get back out to the group, my t-shirt sticks to my wet back as I struggle to pull it on. Same goes for my damn socks and jeans. It does nothing but piss me off even more.
The anger ebbs away when I step out into the hallway to see everyone huddled together with heads bent around the door frame.
“The fuck is going on?” I ask stepping up behind Darby, but making sure not to touch Snatch while this close to other members of the club.
It isn’t until Snatch looks over his shoulder at me, concern etching wrinkles in his forehead. “Misty just showed up from Denver with a fucking baby.”
“No shit?” I ask watching his hand settle at the small of Darby’s back when she leans against his shoulder to get a better look.
Taking a chance I know I never should, but not giving a fuck either way, I place my hand over his. Instead of rejecting me and jerking his hand away, he spreads his fingers so I can slide mine between them, a small victory all things considered.
I can’t see shit, being at the far back of the small group, but my focus in on the warmth at my palm until all hell breaks loose in the living room. I hear Shadow and Kincaid barking orders over the wail of a baby with brand new and very efficient lungs.
I can’t even be mad when Snatch releases my hand to move himself and Darby out of Shadow’s way as he barrels into the hall with an ashen Misty in his arms.
“Fuck,” I mutter as he walks past.
Kincaid follows close behind instructing Snatch to wait out front for Doc Davison to arrive. Next is Em, holding a car seat close to her face as she tries to soothe the wailing baby. It’s like the fucking twilight zone in this mother fucker today.
Unsure if I’m needed or not, I stay in the hallway, waiting for instruction of some kind. Darby leans into my side, and instinctively I wrap her in my arms.
“Does this happen a lot?” she whispers as the other members begin to clear out and head back into the living room.
“Do women show up unannounced claiming to have gotten pregnant by one of our guys?” Kid asks as he holds his arms open to Khloe who has exited her room after the commotion.
Darby nods. “Never,” Kid and I say at the same time.
Action in the doorway to Shadow’s room draws our attention. Our VP steps a couple inches into the hallway.
“Ace-Itchy, go to fucking Target or something and get some formula and diapers.” His order leaves no room for argument.
“How the fuck do we know what to get?” I hear Ace ask causing me to look over my shoulder because I was sure he’d left the hallway with everyone else.
“I don’t know shit about babies,” I add.
“Just get one of everything,” Shadow says as he reaches into his wallet and hands Ace a credit card.
“Come on fucker,” Ace says to me as he turns to head to the front door.
My eyes catch Darby’s, pleading for help.
“Don’t look at me,” she says holding her hands up and stepping out of my embrace. “I don’t know shit about babies either.”
Something about the idea scares her, and it’s written all over her face, but I don’t have the time to investigate her weird ass reaction right now.
“Go find Snatch, babe. I’ll be back in a little while.” I give her forehead a swift kiss and follow Ace out the front.
I nod at Doc Davison on my way down the front steps, grateful we have him as a resource when shit goes down at the club.
***
“Seriously?” I ask Ace as he walks up to me.
I’m scouring the sixteen million different kinds of baby formula at Walmart, knowing Shadow would expect the best for that tiny baby even if he isn’t the father.
“What?” He looks down at the stupid fucking Tonka truck. “It’s a boy. He was wrapped in a blue blanket, asshole.”
The woman loading her cart with jars of disgusting looking baby food a few feet away gasps and disappears around the end of the aisle. Honestly, I’m surprised she didn’t leave sooner, seeing as two bearded bikers were within a few feet of her. She didn’t look like the type that we’d ever run into socially.
“He said diapers and formula,” I sneer, frustrated over the endless choices in front of me. “And you’re wasting your damn time in the toy section.”
“Don’t be a dick,” he snaps tossing the truck into the cart. “I got the diapers, and the toy section is right over there. You’re the one holding this ride up not me.”
“You found diapers that quick?”
He beams like he’s just solved an algebraic equation. “Yep. Heard Shadow say she had a C-section four days ago, so I got the package with a big four on it.”
“Fucking idiot,” I mutter walking past him and shoving a can of formula that touts brain health and has breastmilk like qualities into his hands. “Size four in diapers is for like really damn big kids, not newborn babies.”
“How the fuck am I supposed to know that?”
I grab the diapers out of the shopping cart and head to the other aisle.
He’s easily distracted, like an excitable Chihuahua on crack, so it doesn’t surprise me that he’s nowhere to be found when I swap out the diapers for a familiar brand I’ve seen commercials for labeled with NB.
I head to the front, only to find him nose to nose with a woman who, although would fit right in at the clubhouse, looks like a hooker in the middle of Walmart.
“For fuck’s sake,” I mutter, closing the short distance between us. The way she’s smiling, popping her gum, and pushing her tits further in his face, if it weren’t for the size of the place, I’d swear we were in the damn dollar store.
“You like babies?” he asks leaning further over the shopping cart, which I’m sure is the only thing keeping his mouth off of her skin.
She grins wide. “Yeah, but my pimp thought sterilization was best after the last pregnancy scare.”
Where the fuck do these people come from?
“Down boy,” I say and thump his ear after tossing the correct sized diapers into the cart. “You know the doctor said no sex during a herpes flare-up, even if you are on the meds.”
He glares at me, but Hooker Barbie doesn’t miss a beat. “Which medicine? I’ve had the best luck with Valtrex.”
I nearly gag as I pull the cart out of his grip and head to the front. It takes less than half a minute for him to catch up with me.
“Fuck, thanks, man. You really saved me back there.”
I shake my head at his idiocy. “You’ve got to be joking.”
I pull the items from the cart and place them on the short conveyor belt, rolling my eyes at the little rubber duck he’s tossed in there but add it to the small pile nonetheless.
“Yeah, man. I don’t know how you know which girls aren’t right, but I appreciate it.”
I huff a laugh at his ridiculousness. “You didn’t notice the burns from her crack pipe on her lips?”
How this man survived numerous combat tours, I’ll never know.
“I never got past her tits,” he admits.
“Leave it to a set of tits to be the fall of mankind,” I mutter stepping out of the way so Ace can pay for the items.
Chapter 16
Snatch
“You sure you left anything in the store?” I ask Emmalyn as we climb out of the SUV and head to the back.
“Probably not,” she answers without hesitation and full seriousness. “Really?” I open the back hatch of the Tahoe, barely catching a bag before it falls to the ground. It’s stuffed to the max.
“Babies require a lot of stuff.” She reaches for the bags, but I stop her. “All Ace and I
tchy managed to get last night was a can of formula, diapers, a Tonka truck, and a rubber duck.”
I shrug because it seems like legitimate shit to buy for a baby. I’ll have to commend Ace on the rubber duck. There’s no way Itchy thought of that, and it’s a nice touch.
“I’ll bring it all in, Em.” She laughs, shoves past me and grabs a couple of bags.
“You sure you want to take Misty feminine products?” She waves a package of pads so big in my face, I’m certain they’re adult diapers.
“Hell no.” I step out of her way like I’ll be tainted if I get within arm’s reach of that shit.
She laughs, sifting through the back before tugging a couple more bags free. “If you could bring the rest in that’d be great, and I’d love you forever if you can put that bassinet together for Griffin.”
“I’m gonna tell Prez you’re hitting on me.” She winks at me before turning to head into the clubhouse.
“He’d never believe it. Thanks for going with me even though you hung out in electronics the entire time.”
“What can I say? I’m a guy. I don’t mind shopping, but the bike shop is more my speed than Target.”
“Hey, Em?” I catch her before she disappears inside. “What the hell is a bassinet?”
“The bed thing, Snatch.” I hear her laughter until it fades away inside.
It takes four trips to get all of Em’s purchases into Shadow’s room. I saved the bed thing for last, planning to lay everything out in the living room and toss it together really quick. Just as my ass hits the floor and I papercut the shit out of my finger trying to get into the box, my phone chimes a text.
I grumble, typing out my response to Itchy’s text asking where I am with one hand because my injured finger is in my mouth.
“You sure know how to turn me on, sucking on your finger like that.”
My eyes snap up to my best friend, agitated he’d say some shit like that outside of the sanctuary of one of our rooms. It doesn’t, however, prevent my cock from thickening, a rather uncomfortable situation considering I’m in jeans on the damn floor.
