by Franca Storm
"Yeah. She's a year and a half now. I can't believe it. She's growing up so quickly already."
I scrubbed my hand over my face. "Fuck, Matt. Why didn't you tell me?"
"This might sound like a load of bull right now, but I was going to." He took another swig from his beer bottle. "It's just really complicated."
"You're hiding them."
He nodded. "As far as Rebel knows, I live in a bachelor apartment ten minutes from the restaurant. I have my bodyguard drive me back and forth, because he's good at losing a tail, so it minimizes the risk of that maniac finding out that I have loved ones. Or, as he would see it, a weakness, and a point of leverage. This house is in Christina's name. We've avoided getting married to keep it off any official record. I'm not on Rosie's birth certificate either. Nobody outside of us and Tag know about any of this."
"Not even our parents," I realized. The fact that neither of them had brought up their granddaughter at all had made that clear.
"Why do you think I dropped out of law school and cut ties to them? Christina was pregnant then and I knew, I just knew if I'd still been tied to their world, that my daughter would suffer. They would have exerted their control and pushed their wants and plans for what she should be on her. Like I said the other day, their world is toxic. And, Rosie, she's so innocent and new to the world. I won't let her be corrupted and suffocated by them."
"Jesus Christ," I muttered, shaking my head.
"What? You don't agree with what I've done? You, the guy who rode away years ago and has never looked back, or regretted it for a second?"
I folded my arms across my chest. "You don't think I've ever regretted it?"
He looked surprised. "Have you?"
"I turned my back on the only life I'd known, cut ties to the people I cared about, and went out on my own into the real world without a fucking clue. What do you think?"
"I'm sorry. I thought it was all just relief to you."
"It was hard. For a long time that's all it was. But I'm a stubborn bastard and I don't back down. And now, things are really good." I stepped up to him and laid my hand on his shoulder, needing him to really hear me. "They can be good for you too."
He pulled back, worry all over his face. "I thought you'd understand more than ever with what I've shown you now. I can't risk rocking the boat with Rebel. I can't endanger my family or myself. They need me."
"Yeah, they need you full-time, not just whenever you can sneak out from under that maniac's surveillance." I gestured at the house. "This isn't a life. It's living in fear. Hiding. The way you're living your life is limiting to you and them. You can't go on like this."
"I'm doing what I have to, Luke."
"No, you're doing the only thing you think you can do. But there's another way. I will get you out."
"What? How?"
"Ridgefield is a safe, well-protected town, guarded by my club. Within those borders, I can guarantee your safety. Yours, Christina's, and Rosie's. Nobody will make so much as a hostile glance in your direction, let alone, actually harm any of you."
Pinching the bridge of his nose and looking more than a little overwhelmed by the suggestion, he started pacing. It took him several moments to come back to me and finally give me an answer. "I don't know, it's a lot to undertake. Uprooting them like that and starting a brand-new life."
"As opposed to this fucked-up one you're currently living?"
He cursed, chugged the rest of his beer, then threw his hands up in the air. "Well, what about the restaurant? I can't just leave it. I have loans to pay off, a responsibility to it."
"I'll take care of that. You don't need to worry."
"Even if that's true, crossing Rebel is going to hurt your club and put all of you in a hell of a lot of danger. I don't want to put that on you."
"It's already on me. The second I set foot in that restaurant, I was pulled in."
"God, I'm so sorry, Luke."
"Matt, you're my brother. You don't need to be sorry. All I need from you is your cooperation from here on out. I need you to trust me."
He nodded fervently. "Yes. I can do that. Of course."
"All right then. I need to contact the club and fill them in on everything. Keep doing what you're doing for now. Stay under the radar. I'm gonna have one of my club brothers watching your back from here on out. He'll be at a distance. You won't even see him."
Despite my reassuring words, he was still majorly on edge, struggling to keep still, and losing the battle of keeping it together.
And that was when I realized.
I got that he felt a sense of guilt about me and the club getting pulled into all of this, but it was too much guilt. There was something else going on, something more that he'd been reluctant to disclose.
Goddamn it. We didn't have time for this.
If there was one thing Spartan had taught me over the years, it was how vital it was to have all the facts before reacting. And we needed to react soon. We needed to end it. For one thing, the longer it went on, the longer Matt was in danger, and that danger would only build. Then there was also the deadline Sky was on before she had to sell her soul to The Electi. Even though she hadn't explicitly stated it, I doubted very much that she was being given a favor from them for nothing in return. They'd been in her debt once and she'd used it to buy her freedom. Doing this would mean her owing them, which would fuck up how hard she'd worked to go legit. It would pull her under. Just the idea of it made me sick to my stomach. But the alternative was risking the club and my brother and his family.
"There's something else," I accused.
He swallowed hard, then told me, "Rebel came by the restaurant last night."
"What?"
He held up his hands. "Relax. It was right in the middle of the dinner shift, busy as hell, so he was brief. He wants me to take him as my plus-one to the Annual Reilly Garden Party." At my blank look, he explained, "Dad started it about five years back. Mom does her socialite thing and does all his dirty work organizing it. It's basically an excuse for the rich and high-class to get together and boast about their ridiculous levels of success. Rebel sees it as a great opportunity to get an in with that world."
"Using you to do it."
"Yeah. This is sudden, though. The party's tomorrow. He must be getting antsy, under some pressure from those Hounds of Fury guys to close the deal, or something."
"How did you get an invite when you've cut ties to all of that?"
"Family, right? I just called up Mom and she got me in."
"And that got by Dad?"
"He's a stickler for the rules and he didn't exactly take it well when I abruptly shifted my life's path, so, no. She didn't tell him."
I cocked an eyebrow. "She's been doing a lot of that lately."
"Yeah. They aren't getting along well. Their marriage is on the rocks."
I'd sensed some tension during that last dinner, but I'd put it down to my unwelcome presence. Apparently, it was way more than that, though. I shook it off. I didn't have time for that right now. I had to focus.
"I'll be there to watch your back."
He grinned. "You?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"For one, the dress code doesn't include leather pants and motorcycle boots. Plus, you're the outcast. All attention will shift to you the moment you arrive."
"Yeah, I get that. I meant in a covert capacity."
"Oh," he said, sheepishly. "Right, sorry."
I rolled my eyes. Whatever. "We'll work out the details in the next few hours. Let me call the club and run all of this by them."
"Sure, yeah," he murmured, and I could see his worry.
I stepped up to him and grasped his arms. As his gaze snapped right to mine, I told him, "It's all gonna be fine. From here on out, I've got you."
He drew in several deep breaths, then managed an almost-convincing smile. "I know."
"Go be with your family. I'll come inside in a bit."
He nodded his agreement, then hea
ded back into the house just as Sky was making her way out onto the patio.
She shut the door after him, then came to me. A soft smile graced her lips as she said, "A lot to absorb, huh?" She was using that gentle tone that she'd been employing with me since we'd made it back to the motel hours ago. At first, I'd seen it as insulting and it'd pissed me off. But I'd started to see how uncharacteristically tense, brooding, and brash I'd been once the stakes of everything and the awful decision I needed to make had hit me. She was just trying to talk me down, to help. And I respected and appreciated that a hell of a lot.
"Yeah."
"Rosie's cute."
That had me smiling. "Yeah, yeah she is. I want to spend some more time with her."
"She's down for the night, but there will be lots of other opportunities now that Matt's brought you in on it. You can sit down with Christina and get to know her through her mom for tonight, though." She pulled out her phone, started scrolling, then showed me a vibrant website. "Christina runs a social media marketing business. From what I've seen so far, she's pretty damned good at it."
I grinned. "Wherever you are, you end up finding new business opportunities, huh?"
She shrugged. "You know me. I can't turn it off." Sidling up next to me, she stretched onto her tiptoes and slid her hands under my t-shirt, feeling up my chest. The soothing skin-to-skin contact had my body coming alive instantly, my cock stirring, and my breath catching. Whispering sexily in my ear, she said, "But I can turn it on later. In a big way."
She was perfect. She got how much I needed it in order to calm down and regain a clear head.
Sliding my hand into her hair and brushing her neck with a feather-light touch that had a little moan escaping her, I dropped my voice to an erotic growl as I told her, "You won't know what's hit you, my love."
Her pupils dilated, her breath quickening.
Her hands slid lower, playing with my belt.
As I felt her fingers attempting to slide underneath my waistband, I grasped her offending hand and held it between us. Leaning in close, I rumbled, "You're gonna need to take it down for now, because all I can think about is tying you spread-eagled to our motel bed and running my tongue along every inch of your sexy fucking body. And, right now, I need to call Iron Kings."
A choked gasp escaped her and she slowly broke away and stepped back.
"Good girl," I breathed.
Lust sparked in her eyes and she took another step back.
"Sorry." It had been automatic, but that phrase really worked her up and that was the opposite of my intentions right now. I didn't want to be talking business with a hard dick.
I pulled out my phone, ready to get down to it, when I noticed her lingering. Usually when I had to talk club business, she took off and left me to it, respecting the privacy of club matters. Did she think, because she was involved in this particular mission, that it didn't apply anymore?
"Sky?"
"Do you trust me now? I didn't succumb. I went another route."
"I always trust you. If I didn't, you wouldn't be here right now. I didn't take you off the mission because of a lack of trust. I did it to protect you."
"I don't need you to protect me. I'm a grown-ass, capable, powerful woman."
"Fucking right you are."
She started in surprise. "Then, why–"
Brushing her hair behind her ear, I told her, "It's not about me thinking you're incapable, weak, or anything like that. I love you. That means I'm gonna do whatever I can to protect you, no matter what. I'm always gonna be there for you. We all have our weaknesses, but we're here to help each other overcome them. You do that for me with my whole sex relief thing, and you came down here to have my back. I was just trying to do the same for you."
"Okay," she said, cracking a smile. "I hear you."
"Good. I leaned in and kissed the top of her head. "Let me call the club. There's a lot to talk about with this latest development."
She smiled, kissed my cheek, then left me to it.
Thank fuck that issue was finally settled with us.
24
~Skylar~
"SURE YOU WANT THIS?"
Deviant's sexy growled words and the erotic challenge in them rolled through me, setting my entire body on fire with heady need. He was right in my personal space, his alluring cologne and the heat from his body infusing my senses. I could hardly keep still.
He was being very careful not to touch me yet. He was working me up, teasing me.
Just the way I liked it.
"Abso-fucking-lutely," I assured him.
After tonight's revelations and all the stress of what had been happening lately, I knew he needed one hell of a release. And to be honest, so did I. So, I'd suggested he bring his hardest, no-holds-barred fucking to the table.
God, I wanted him to unleash all over me so badly.
I stretched onto my tiptoes and kissed his lips, long and lingeringly. "Besides, after being so bad lately, I want to show you what a good girl I can be."
He smirked slyly and I knew he was convinced I was with him. His eyes darkened, letting me know that he'd slipped into the mindset of a man prepared to dominate, devour, and own the woman before him. The woman who was gift wrapped in red lace, desperate for him to unwrap her and feast on her.
Still not touching me, he dipped his head to meet my eyeline. His gaze burned into mine as he delivered his first command, "Bend over the dresser."
I grinned excitedly and sauntered across the room. I could feel his eyes on me as I swayed my hips exaggeratedly, giving him a delectable show.
I followed his command and he made his way over. "Lose the bra and press your tits against the wood."
Quickly, I unclasped the bra, tossed it, and adjusted myself across the dresser.
He came up behind me and ran his hand over my bare ass cheeks. "Good girl," he crooned.
Trailing his index finger along the pink lace in the seam of my ass, he leaned in and breathed in my ear, "You want to stop at any point, just say the word. And if your mouth is full at the time, thump your fist on the desk. Clear, my love?"
"Yes," I croaked out. "Yes, D."
I trembled with excitement as he peeled my thong down my legs. He tapped each of my feet in turn and I complied automatically, lifting them so he could pull off the thong with ease.
The heat from his naked chest burned deliciously into my back as he leaned into my ear, his deep, sexy masculine voice ordering, "Open that pretty little mouth wide."
A shudder ran down my spine.
I parted my lips and tasted lace a second later. He pushed further, stuffing my mouth full with my thong. I turned my head to see his eyes all over me. They were dark, hooded. I'd never had a man look at me in such a carnal way like he did.
He smirked, then walked back behind me. "Mmm," he murmured appreciatively. "You're a goddamn goddess."
I smiled to myself. Even when he was bringing dominating, controlling and dirty to the table, his sweet, loving side still broke through. It made me feel safe in his hands. I knew with every fiber of my being that he was always in absolute control when we played.
I jolted as a moist fingertip teased my asshole. It stroked soft, slow circles, making me squirm.
"No moving."
I fought against my instinct to react, to remain still and obey him. I gritted my teeth as he slid it further inside my ass. Oh God. Yes!
It was over all too soon, as he withdrew, murmuring, "Not yet."
A whimper escaped me.
He slapped my ass cheeks in quick succession, the sharp stings radiating right through to my needy clit. "Your pleasure is mine," he chastised me. "When I want to give it, what I want to give."
I nodded fervently.
"Good girl. Now grab your ass cheeks and spread them open."
Swallowing hard, I reached back and spread my cheeks apart.
A low growl of satisfaction came from him. "Hold position. I want you to keep presenting yourself to me."
/> Oh God. I groaned into my makeshift gag.
"Feels dirty, doesn't it, sugar?"
I nodded.
"Good, because you've been a very bad girl with your reckless behavior lately."
He had me shuddering, muffled moans escaping me as he ran the back of his hand through my exposed pussy. He spread my wetness all over, saturating my clit. The sensation was amazing, sweet pleasure building quickly.
And then he abruptly stopped.
It was all I could do to hold it together and not react by pushing back for more or making a sound of needy protest.
Without warning, he thrust two fingers deep into my pussy, the shock of it almost making me buck up off the dresser.
He held them still inside me. The stillness was torture. And trying not to force it was even worse. Everything in my body urged me to move, to take what he was denying me.
But he was in control. He ruled my body and my pleasure alike. And knowing that was a huge turn on. Being at his mercy was exhilarating, freeing in a way I couldn't put into words. Not knowing what was coming was beyond exciting, the anticipation intense.
Time seemed to stretch on and on, the wait painful and making me more desperate and needy the longer it continued. I suspected that was his intention.
"Rock forward," he spoke all of a sudden.
I did, easing off to the tips of his fingers.
"Now, back," he ordered. "Real slow, all the way until your tight little pussy swallows my fingers."
I squeezed my eyes shut, struggling to move so slowly when I needed so much more. I felt every inch, felt the girth of his two fingers stretching me open as I pushed back, inch by inch. It was intense, the feel of him the only thing I was aware of, my only focus.
His free hand smoothed over my ass, up my bare back and down again. The sensuality in his strokes just served to amp me up more, making everything seem all the more sensitized.
"You know bad girls have to work for their pleasure. They don't get it given freely," he breathed hauntingly in my ear. "Now, ride my fingers and grind your pussy into the dresser while you're at it. You're gonna make yourself come."
