The memory of that night has me squeezing her tighter, pulling her into my lap as close to me as I possibly can. Her body against mine instantly calms me and takes me to a place where my head doesn’t seem so fucked up and my thoughts don’t seem so dark and twisted.
I need Wynter more than she’ll ever know. She’s maybe only been mine for a week now, but it feels like a fucking lifetime.
Maybe that’s because even when she wasn’t mine all those years ago, in my head I always wanted her to be. I spent my nights getting lost in thoughts of her, wondering how it’d feel if she were mine. It helped me escape my hell.
I owe her all of me. Every last bit of me belongs to her for as long as she’ll have me.
We all look over when we hear the crunching of footsteps coming down the long driveway.
Ace is the first to stand, but Kadence laughs and grabs Ace’s arm to let him know it’s okay. “It’s only Melissa. She’s bored at home.”
I see the slightest hint of a smile on my big brother’s lips, before he quickly tilts back his beer bottle, keeping his gaze on the dark shadow coming toward us. “I could’ve picked her up.”
“It’s a five-minute walk,” Kadence says with a huge smile. “You boys are crazy protective.”
“Damn straight we are, babe.” Aston stands and moves over to where Kadence is sitting. He crouches down in front of her and cups her face. “Because we protect what we love. And even though Melissa is still unsure about us, she’s your family and that makes her ours too.”
“That’s right,” Ace agrees. But it’s becoming clearer with time that Ace wants to get his hands on Melissa and work his way under her skin. He wants to change her mind about us. Or at least about him.
“Right here, darlin’.” Ace smirks and gives his chair to Melissa, before he leans down into her neck.
“Ouch!” Melissa yelps. “You just bit me.”
A twisted smile tugs at Ace’s lips. “And you liked it too, babe.”
Ignoring my asshole brothers, I press my lips against Wynter’s neck before I push her up to her feet and stand. “I’ll get you another beer.”
I get ready to walk away, but she grabs my arm, stopping me. She smiles and stands up on her tippy toes to wrap her arms around my neck. “I love everything about you, Sterling. I love everything you do for me, but I want you to know that being with me is all I expect from you.”
I run my thumb over her plump bottom lip before I lean in and suck it into my mouth, and then I bite it. “You’re my woman and this is my way of taking care of you. Get used to me doing a lot of shit for you, ‘cause I won’t be stopping anytime soon.” I run my tongue over her lips before moving up to whisper in her ear. “Taking care of you gets me hard. So fucking hard.”
I hear a small rush of air leave her lips before I walk away to grab some more beers from inside.
Just as I go to open the fridge, I hear the crunching of tires in the driveway, causing me to close the fridge and rush toward the door.
An instant smile forms on my lips when I notice Killian’s black, lifted truck come to a stop.
I step out onto the porch and watch my brothers stand around with huge smiles as Killian jumps out of his truck and tosses his cigarette at the gravel.
“What are all you fuckers staring at?” He gives us a crooked smile before walking over to Aston and grabbing his beer from him. “You act as if you haven’t seen me in years, when it’s only been eleven months.”
His dark hair has gotten longer, to the point that it’s falling over his left eye and he’s now grown out a beard.
“Good to see you, uncle.” I walk over and grab his shoulder, looking him over before I give him a one-armed hug, squeezing him harder than usual. “But fuck you for taking off for so long.”
He laughs and moves around to give my brothers hugs. Just as he pulls away from Ace, his eyes go wide once he notices three girls sitting around the fire. “Whoa. This is some new shit for you boys.”
“Yeah, well I guess we needed a little change.” I lift a brow and look over to see Wynter talking and laughing with the other two girls. She turns my way for a quick second and smiles at me. It has my heart jumping like crazy in my chest.
“She’s yours, I’m taking it.” He wraps his arm around my neck and squeezes. “Good for you. I’m proud of you. I know shit hasn’t always been easy in your life. For any of you boys, but every fucking one of you deserves to be happy. Don’t ever question that. Got it?”
Aston nods his head. “I’ve realized that over the last seven months.” He grabs his beer back from Killian and tilts it back, emptying it. “It took me a while, but thanks to Kadence, I believe it now.”
“And the third one over there?”
“She’ll be mine . . . soon enough.”
We all look over at Ace, not expecting those words to come from his mouth.
Ace keeps shit inside more than the rest of us.
“It’s going to take some work, brother.” I laugh and slap his back. “Good fucking luck. You’re the most twisted of us all.”
“Deep down inside she’s craving for me to twist her up. Trust me, brother.”
“Well, assholes. It was a long fucking drive. Got some more beers before I thank you guys for taking care of that fucker Paul?” He grinds his teeth, no doubt still wanting to kill that asshole for messing with Camille’s son, even though we took care of him already.
Ace nods. “Yeah. I’ll bring some more out.” With that he takes off inside, while the three of us make our way back over to the fire.
Kadence smiles the moment her eyes land on Killian walking beside Aston. “Uncle Killian, I’m guessing.”
This has Killian grinning, showing off his perfect teeth. “You’ve heard about their badass uncle. I knew I loved these boys.”
Wynter laughs and joins in. “I’ve heard a lot about you from my father. I have to admit that I’m sort of excited to meet you.”
“Oh yeah?” Killian grabs a beer from Ace as he holds one out for him. “Who’s your father?”
“Officer Lowe.”
“Oh fuck.” He tilts his beer back, taking a huge swig. “That’s your father, huh? And you’re here with a Locke?”
Wynter nods and takes a seat in my lap as I pull her down to me. “My father doesn’t control me anymore. I do what I want and what I want is Sterling.”
“Good shit. I like that.”
We spend the next few hours drinking and sitting around the fire, everyone enjoying having Killian back.
Even Melissa seems to somewhat like Killian.
Having Wynter here and Killian back is truly beginning to feel like our family is whole.
I could really get used to these kinds of nights.
This feels too good to ever let Wynter not be a part of.
Wynter is distracted, talking with Ace and Aston, but I can tell she’s tired and needs to rest. So I grab the beer from her hand and toss it down beside us before I straddle her lap and capture her mouth with mine.
Everyone around us begins whistling and throwing things at me as I grind myself against her and move around to whisper in her ear. “Let’s go inside, baby. We can do whatever you want. Even fucking sleep, but don’t let these nut sacks keep you up.”
“Oh fuck you!” Ace says with a laugh. “I’ll keep her up all night.” He grabs his dick and smirks just to piss me off.
I stand up and kick his chair over. “Good night, fuck face.” Then I grab Wynter’s hand and pull her up to her feet. “My brother’s dick will never get close to you. I’ll cut that shit off and then smash it with his precious hammer.”
Wynter smiles and wraps her arms around my neck. “That sort of amuses me. Is that bad?”
“Not at all, babe.” Killian leans forward and tosses his empty beer into the fire with a grin. “Only means you’re a part of the family now.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“Me, too, baby. Me fucking too. Now let’s go upstairs.”
If it wasn’t for Wynter needing to rest, I’d fuck her nice and loud with every damn window open so my asshole brothers could hear her screaming my name from all the way out there.
A little reminder of how she’s mine . . .
WYNTER
Spending the other night with Sterling and his family around the bonfire felt really amazing, and the way he wasn’t afraid to show everyone that I was his girl felt even better.
Their uncle Killian seemed pretty shocked at first to see two of his nephews settled down, but you could see in his eyes just how happy he was for them.
I know he took them all in every chance he got even though he’s probably not more than ten years older than Ace.
I like their uncle, but I can definitely see why my father has hated him for as long as I can remember. He seems like the type of guy that doesn’t take shit from anyone and doesn’t allow anyone to tell him what to do. Not even the law.
Sterling decided he wanted to go for a ride after dinner so, after riding around for a couple of hours, he asks what I want to do before we go back to the Locke house.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Benny’s ice cream so I suggest we stop for some.
Even with everyone’s gazes following us around as if we don’t belong here, being here with Sterling feels good. Feels normal. Like something a normal couple would do.
It makes me happy because truthfully, I want everyone to know we’re together. All my old friends, old teachers and anyone I’ve ever met in this shitty little town.
I want them to see that Sterling is loved. I want them to see that he’s just like the rest of us when it really comes down to it.
He eats, sleeps and breathes just like everyone else.
They may fear him, may think he’s a savage beast, but he’s capable of love too.
“Come here, baby.”
He’s straddling his motorcycle, but grabs my arm and scoots back, pulling me in front of him so that I’m straddling his bike, facing him.
He smiles at me and then leans in and runs his tongue along my chocolate/vanilla swirl cone. “Mmm . . . it’s been such a long time since I’ve tasted their homemade ice cream. Probably since I was ten and my uncle brought me here.”
I take my free hand and wipe the chocolate from his mouth with a smile. “Sure you don’t want me to walk over and grab you a cone?”
He shakes his head and leans forward to run his tongue around my ice cream again. “This is the last lick. I promise.”
“You sure about that?” A twisted smile takes over my face as I shove the cone against his lips, leaving a huge smudge of chocolate and vanilla. “You have a little . . .”
Before I can finish what I’m saying, he grabs the back of my head and crushes his lips against mine. I moan out and run my tongue over his lips, realizing that my dessert tastes so much better served on him.
He squeezes my thigh and then bites my lip right as I’m pulling away. “We can get messy if that’s what you want. I’ll lay you right over there on that picnic table, cover your body with ice cream and lick it off with my tongue. Every fucking last inch of you.”
His words have me getting excited, feeling needy for him to take me. It doesn’t even matter that we’re still getting dirty looks from people.
I let out a small moan when he pulls me farther onto his lap and grinds below me, letting me feel how hard he is.
“Sterling . . .” I lean in and run my cold lips over his ear. “I think I’m ready to leave now.”
“Fuck, me too, baby.” He grips my hips, squeezing them hard as he pulls me in and kisses me again. He sucks and tugs on my lips, giving me a small taste of what’s to come.
It’s not until his phone begins yelling at us that we pull away from each other so that Sterling can see who’s calling him.
“Those fucking assholes.” He squeezes his phone. “Ace and Killian need my help with moving my uncle’s ex and her son into their new place. I swear I could kill them right now.”
“I would help you too right now.” I move my hips above him, giving him a small tease before I climb off the bike and kiss his cheek. “Let’s go so you can get this over with and hurry back to me.”
“Fucking shit.” I hear a frustrated growl leave his lips as he grabs my ice cream and tosses it before helping me onto the back of his motorcycle and taking off.
My whole body is aching for Sterling to take me at this point and waiting for him to get back is going to be torture . . .
Sterling and the boys have been gone for over three hours now, helping Camille move. Us women offered to help, but the men refused to let us to a “man’s job.”
So I’ve been sitting here with Kadence and Melissa playing games and talking about the Locke brothers.
Melissa cracks me up every time someone mentions Ace’s name. She’s trying really damn hard to fool us into believing she isn’t attracted to him, even just physically, but we call bullshit.
She’s into him, even if it’s only for a good fuck from the oldest Locke.
“I’m not into him for the last time, so please stop.” Her face is red because Kadence has been talking about Ace slamming her against a wall and having his way with her.
“Mm-hmm . . . we all know you’ve wondered if he fucks just as rough and twisted as he is.”
“Is that right?”
Us women look over toward the door at the sound of Ace’s husky voice.
Apparently, we’ve been too wrapped up in messing with Melissa to hear the guys pull back up.
Killian walks in after Ace, wiping his shirt over his sweaty forehead, followed by Aston and then Sterling.
My heart instantly reacts to seeing him, along with my body that is still aching for him to take me.
The guys are barely inside for two minutes when everyone’s ears perk up at the sound of another vehicle coming down the driveway.
“Wonder who the fuck that could be,” Aston grunts from the couch.
Red and blue flashing lights have me walking toward the window and looking outside. My stomach drops and my throat instantly goes dry when I see my father’s squad car pull up at the end of the driveway.
I watch with my heart racing as my father and his partner, Officer Newberg, step out of the car and look up at the old house in disgust.
Apparently, now that Kevin’s had almost a week to recover from what Sterling and Ace did to him, he’s regained enough energy to contact the one person he knows will attempt to control me since he can’t.
“Shit . . . my father’s here.” I close the curtain and turn around to see Sterling already making his way outside. “Sterling! Wait . . .”
I hurry to the door, but Aston blocks my way, not allowing me to step outside. “Stay inside,” he growls at me. “My brother knows how to get rid of these assholes and if not, then my brother and I will help.”
“Aston, move.” I push his arm, but it stays firm. “I’m not going to make Sterling deal with him alone. He’s my father and he’s been controlling me for as long as I can remember. It ends today. Now. Move.”
When Aston doesn’t move, I bite his arm, surprising him and causing him to move just enough for me to slip past him and out the front door.
My eyes go wide when I look over to see Sterling right as he headbutts my father, causing him to stumble backward into his car.
I cover my mouth as Officer Newberg rushes over to Sterling and tackles him facedown onto the ground. He falls hard, but it doesn’t stop him from swinging his head back in just the right amount of time to hit my father’s partner in the forehead.
Apparently, getting himself arrested is his way of getting rid of them.
After a few seconds, Sterling stands with his hands in the air with a cocky little smirk on his face as my father curses and pulls out his handcuffs, ready to detain him.
“Don’t you fucking dare!” I yell, getting my father’s attention. “This has nothing to do with him and everything to do with your need to control your famil
y. I’m not going anywhere and neither is he.”
I take quick steps, stopping right in front of my father.
His eyes go wide with anger at the realization that I’m putting my foot down for the first time. Well, I’m tired of being controlled. First him and then Kevin. I will never allow anyone to control me again.
“Get in the front seat,” he demands. “There’s no way in hell I’m allowing you to stay here with these fucking savages. Especially after what Kevin told me this morning. This family . . .” He points at the house with his jaw clenched. “Is no good. Do you know how many times I’ve had to come here because of their drunken, drugged-up parents in the past? Do you know how many times I’ve had to arrest their uncle for stealing and fighting? It’s in their blood to be bad. These boys aren’t any different.”
“No. It’s in their blood to protect their own. It’s in their blood to love hard and fierce, and take out anyone who stands in their way or threatens to harm them.” I step up to Sterling and wrap my arms around his neck. “This savage . . . this man that you claim is no good is the only one who has ever made me feel safe and protected.”
My father looks shocked as he lowers the cuffs. “How could you say that when I’ve done everything in my power to protect you from harm since the day you were born?”
I stand in between Sterling and my father and place my hand on my father’s chest, pushing him away from us. I don’t want him laying even one finger on my man. “No.” I shake my head, feeling the pain and anger in my chest grow as I think back to just over seventeen years ago. “Do you really think I was too young to remember you coming home drunk and beating my mother until you had to rush her to the hospital? Or the fact that she never came home after that?” My whole body shakes as anger and rage takes over. “You lied to me my whole life. You told me she was in a car accident and didn’t make it, but I always knew the truth. Why do you think I stayed away as much as I could and moved away the first chance I got?”
I feel Sterling’s hand grab my waist, then he pushes me behind him as if to protect me from my father, but there’s no mistaking the shock in my father’s eyes at hearing the truth. The one he thought he’d kept hidden from me all this time.
Savage Locke (Locke Brothers, 2) Page 8
