Hot Set

by Ivy Blake

  That was why I’d have to go home and slowly start packing. Because come election morning, while my parents were out campaigning in the streets, I’d be leaving this place.

  And I wouldn’t be coming back.

  Chapter 6

  Cade

  I could hear the crew talking in my ear, but I had no idea what the fuck they were saying. I was in a daze. Harper… she was more beautiful than I had remembered. Her strawberry blonde hair reflected the light in a way that made her look almost angelic. And it was a bit longer, which called to my fingers in a way that hadn’t happened in months. The dress she had on framed her body nicely, especially that little dip in her waist. I could remember the feeling of her waist in my hands. How she jumped up into my body and wrapped those thick little legs around mine.

  But her stomach. It was rounder. Much rounder than the last time I’d seen her. She was pregnant, and as I stood there and did the math in my head, I felt my stomach drop to my toes. We met in early April, and now it was the middle of September. If I had gotten her pregnant, she would definitely be showing by this point. Especially with how toned her stomach had been.

  Holy fuck, was that child mine?

  I had to see her again. I had to talk with her. I had to know if she was all right. If she was being taken care of. Even if the child wasn’t mine, I still wanted to know how she was. If the pregnancy was being kind to her and what she was doing with her life. I felt a pull towards the stage as I slowly started walking towards it. But her eyes were scanning the crowd. I knew she’d seen me. Our eyes had connected like they did at the biker rally all those months ago.

  Was she intentionally avoiding my gaze?

  The crowd erupted into cheers, and I scanned the audience. It was an automatic reaction. One that came with years of doing protection details like this. I saw Harper’s mother begin to drag her off stage, and once again her eyes were on me. There was a small chance that child she was pregnant with wasn’t mine, especially if she had been with someone else at that rally. But even though I’d only spent one night with her, I knew.

  I knew in the pit of my gut that child was mine.

  I wanted to be angry with her about not telling me, but I had no box to stand on. I didn’t have her number and she sure as hell didn’t have mine. I never thought I’d see her again, and the look of shock in her eyes told me she thought the same. I watched as her mother finally got her off stage, disappearing behind the curtain.

  I couldn’t let her get away.

  I had to see her.

  “Doc?” I asked.

  “Go for Doc.”

  “The mother and the daughter, you see them backstage, right?” I asked.

  “Yep. Got the mom. The daughter just ran off to the bathroom. We’re posting someone outside of it.”

  “Don’t worry about that. I’m gonna make a perimeter run; then I’ll come stand by the bathroom. The crowd’s quiet and Blade can clock it from where he is,” I said.

  “On it,” Blade said. “Rifle set and scanning.”

  “Escorting the mother to the car. Daughter’s still in the bathroom. She’s probably sick or something,” Ink said.

  “Roger that,” I said.

  I pushed myself through the crowd and made my way to the outer rim of the audience. I walked quickly through the mass of people. There were police officers lining the entryway of the backstage. Standing in front of the fence that separated the crowd of people from the car that would take the family home. That death threat must’ve really spooked Ryan Thomas because having us here and the police here was overkill otherwise.

  The police officers were looking at me as if I had just grown a second head. I walked around the fence and held my hands up, telling them I was checking the car. I had to argue with a police officer for a second before I turned around and showed him my leather cut, showcasing my name and our logo. The police officers were still wary of letting me around the car, so I relented and made my way around the back.

  And I found my opening there.

  There was a police officer playing on his phone and eating a sandwich. He looked like the type of officer that never once passed the physical training portion of his placement exams. He was standing at the only back entrance into this entire place, and he was face-deep in his fucking cell phone. Part of me was irate with him. Jeopardizing the family’s safety just to play some bullshit game on his phone.

  But his downfall was my success, and I ran by him before he could get his head out of his phone.

  I ducked into the shadows and watched as he jogged by. His head was darting from left to right, trying to figure out where I’d gone. He said something into the walkie-talkie on his shoulder, and I watched as three other police officers rounded the corner. They drew their weapons and began scanning the perimeter of the area I was in, so I bobbed when they weaved.

  I knew I was out of place. Everyone backstage was in suits and clean-cut outfits. Every single one of The Black Angels was sorely out of place, but I didn’t care. The only thing I could think about was finding Harper. She had rushed into the bathroom and every minute she was in there alone was another minute where she thought she was alone.

  And she wasn’t.

  She wasn’t alone because I was here now.

  I bobbed while the police officers weaved, and eventually, they gave up. Grinning, I watched as they retreated out towards the back gate I’d run through, then I stepped from the shadows. People gave me odd looks at first, wondering why the fuck I was hiding in the darkness. Then they saw my leather cut and the intercom in my ear and paid me no attention.

  I looked around for the restroom, but I couldn’t find it. I was ten seconds away from asking someone where the fuck it was, and then I heard it.

  I heard a door slam open, and it caused me to whip around.

  Harper came slamming out of the bathroom as her dress fluttered around her legs. Her stomach was much larger up close than it had been on stage. There was no doubt in my mind that she was carrying my child. There was no doubt in my mind that I’d gotten her pregnant that weekend.

  Holy fuck, pregnancy looked good on her.

  Striding over to her, I reached my hand out for her arm. The moment my hand touched her skin electricity shot through my veins. The same electricity that set a fire in my gut that night at the rally. That wonderful night in South Dakota that forever imprinted this woman into my memory.

  “Harper,” I said.

  She ripped her arm out of my hand before she turned around, and I watched her eyes take me in before they widened in shock. Her lips parted to speak, but as I waited for her to say something, it was only silence that loomed between us. So, I asked her one of the two questions I wanted genuine answers to.

  “How are you doing?”

  Chapter 7

  Harper

  I collected myself in the bathroom and decided to take my makeup off. It looked terrible on me anyway and was only used to disguise things my mother saw as imperfections. My freckles, for one. She hated them. She had never told me she hated them, but every time she got the chance she covered them up. The foundation was heavy and caked on, and it took a great deal of soap and scrubbing to get it off. My eyes were lined with eyeliner to try and make my eyes pop, but I thought I looked like a raccoon. I couldn’t stand the stuff, but every time my mother found an excuse for it she was sitting me in front of her vanity.

  I dried my face off and looked at myself in the mirror. I didn’t even recognize myself anymore. My eyes were heavy, and my cheeks were sunken in. My stomach was protruding unnaturally, and my tits were growing at an exponential rate. I was getting stretch marks on the side of my body, and my thighs were growing steadily every day. My feet were beginning to spread and I had gone up an entire fucking size in shoes.

  I was falling apart, and I didn’t want to be in the public eye any longer.

  I stalked out of the restroom and took in a deep breath of air. It wasn’t fresh. In fact, it was stale with the lies my father was
spewing on stage. But he had people eating out of his hand and every single time he spoke publicly, his poll numbers rose.

  He would win this election, and I was hoping he would. Because if he did, that meant I could sneak away for good and try my hands at a life I built for myself.

  I started for the car, but I felt something warm wrap around my arm. I whipped around and gasped, throwing my arm instinctively over my stomach. I didn’t know who the hell was grabbing me or why they felt like they could, but I was ready to scream out for help if it was necessary.

  But I found myself looking up into Cade’s eyes, and I froze.

  I stared at him for a long time. I took in his green eyes as they danced around my body. I yanked my arm from his grasp and tried to conceal my stomach, but I knew it was no use. He was taking me in, up close and personal. Like he had that night we spent together.

  Only this time, I could’ve sworn I saw disgust rolling across his face.

  “How are you doing?” he asked.

  His voice startled me. It was exactly as I remembered. Rough. Gravelly. Filled with a huskiness that sent electricity surging up my legs. I felt my knees growing weak and tears of relief springing to my eyes. I had thought about this in my dreams for weeks. I had pictured him riding into town on his bike, banging down my parent’s door, and whisking me away. Taking me and a small bag of my clothes with him as we rode off into the sunset. I thought about him appearing and saving me from the hellhole I’d found myself in. Professing some sort of undying want to raise our child together.

  But reality would always set in and I would always wake up. I would remember that he was a biker, not a father. That he was an outlaw, not a career man. His life wasn’t set up to raise a child. To have a family. To take care of a wife and nurture a mounting relationship.

  Yet here he was, asking me how I was doing.

  “Um… I’m fine,” I said.

  I took a step back, trying my best to cover my stomach. Cade met me step by step, approaching me as I backtracked from him. I could feel his eyes on me, scanning my body and taking me in. My eyes were burning a hole in his chest as I smoothed my hands down my shirt.

  And then my hands rippled over my stomach, and my baby boy kicked.

  Our baby boy kicked.

  I gasped and stopped my movements as my hands splayed across my stomach. Just for a moment, I was ripped into another world. The life within my stomach was kicking out at me. I could feel my little boy’s feet tap dancing against my hands. I felt tears well in my eyes as I pictured what he might look like. He’d have my freckles but Cade’s strong eyes. He’d have my hair, but he would have Cade’s height.

  He was going to be a beautiful boy, and I couldn’t wait to raise him.

  “Is it mine?”

  Cade’s voice ripped me back to reality, his hand slowly approached my stomach. I shrunk back away from him, watching as his hand gravitated towards my stomach.

  He pulled it away quickly, but his eyes had me hooked.

  “Are you pregnant with my child?” he asked.

  I wasn’t prepared to answer this question. I wasn’t ready to do this now. My eyes darted around as police officers began to stare. Then one of them started to move. Cade’s eyes flickered over to the officer approaching him, and I saw a sort of desperation cross his stare, so I took the window I saw.

  I turned on my heels and ran away from the man I’d dreamt about for months.

  I tried to get away from the father of my child.

  Chapter 8

  Cade

  The baby was mine. I knew it. The fear in her eyes when I asked the question. The way she rushed away from me. She wasn’t ready to talk about it, and I understood that. But she was doing this alone, and that wasn’t okay with me. That didn’t sit right with me, and I wasn’t going to let her get away.

  Not this time.

  I picked up my pace as the police officer headed towards me. I rushed after Harper and ran around the corner she took. I was ready to corner her if I needed to. I needed to hear it from her. All she had to do was tell me, and my support would be hers. All she had to do was admit that the baby was mine, and I would do whatever I had to in order to keep her and that child safe from whatever threat was looming over their heads.

  But when I rounded the corner, I saw her talking to her father.

  The audience was beginning to disperse, and it was causing a ruckus. I turned around and locked eyes with the police officer before he put his hand to his ear. His eyes glanced over at me before he sighed, then he turned on his heels and made his way towards the crowd.

  “Cade. Where the fuck are you? This thing’s shutting down,” Doc said.

  “It’s taking a while to get the daughter to the car. I’m making sure she gets there safely,” I said.

  “Good. I’ve got the mom in the car,” Ink said. “Blade, you see anything?”

  “Nothing from up here. Cade. What’s going on with the daughter?”

  “She’s talking to her father right now. Hold on,” I said.

  She was murmuring lowly with her father before I saw both of their eyes turn towards me. Her father wrapped a protective arm around her and ushered her towards the car. His eyes stayed hooked on me before he broke his gaze just long enough to put her in the car.

  Then he locked eyes with me and nodded.

  There was a grateful little grin that crawled across his cheeks. One I didn’t expect to see. I figured Harper was telling her father who I was. Or that I was harassing her. But instead, as Ryan Thomas held his hand up to me in a thankful wave, I figured Harper hadn’t done anything like that.

  She must’ve told him I was helping her or something.

  “Cade. Figured you should know. The daughter’s in the car, and she was talking with her mom about a tall guy who helped her out of the bathroom. Good work,” Ink said.

  That’s what she’d said. She’d told her father she had been sick in the restroom and that I had helped.

  Well, at least she wasn’t throwing me under the bus.

  “Glad she’s safe,” I said. “Let’s wrap this shit up and go home.”

  “Here here,” Doc said. “I could use a drink to wash down the taste of bullshit that man spewed.”

  “Good thing I’m not the only one that thought it was,” Blade said. “What’d you think, Cade?”

  “He’s an asshole. I’m just not sure why yet,” I said.

  “Spoken like Cade. All right, everyone. Let’s go home,” Vex said.

  I headed back out to the rally and found my bike. I threw my leg over it to stabilize myself, but the memories were coming full-force. Seeing Harper had opened the floodgates, and getting onto my bike after seeing her pregnant with my child only made matters worse. I could see her in front of me, her beautiful blue eyes smiling back at me. I could remember the feeling of her nose as it crinkled underneath my fingertips. I kissed every single one of those beautiful freckles that night. They illuminated her skin and separated her from the pack. Her freckles made her look innocent, but the fury she was able to take from my punishments told me she was strong.

  I could still feel her ass jiggling underneath the palm of my hand as I sat on my bike.

  “You good, Cade?” Doc asked. “You’re just sitting there.”

  “I’m fucking hungry, man. Give me a second,” I said.

  “I got a protein bar in my cargo tin,” Blade said. “Want it?”

  “No, I don’t want your week-old chalk bar,” I said.

  “That’s what the taste like!” Vex said. “Chalk bars!”

  “Let’s not be so damn loud next time,” Ink said. “I almost lost an eardrum.”

  The blood was rushing through my ears. Harper was the only woman I’d ever stayed the night with. Usually, I flirted, fucked, and fled. But there was something about the way she curled into me that night. About the way, her body trembled against mine. How she clung to my skin and begged for me to stay. The way she came down from her high was breathlessly and intriguin
g. She wrapped her entire body around me that night as I stroked her hair, kissing her and telling her how beautiful she was to me.

  I woke up that morning with her naked body pressed against my muscles, and I could still remember how the sun looked in her hair. I could still smell her pussy underneath my nose, and I could still feel how her body begged for more as I marked her with my hands.

  With my teeth.

  With my tongue and my cock.

  I was so lost in her I didn’t even use a condom. And I was never that reckless. She was open to anything and everything I threw her way. Exploring her sensual side as I punished that ass of hers. I bit the insides of her thighs until bruises formed and pulled her hair until she cried out for mercy. I fucked her face until tears poured down her face, and still, she begged for more.

  I used her body for my own pleasure, expelling my own demons in her orifices.

  And still, she wanted to curl up next to me.

  How the fuck was I supposed to concentrate when all I could think about was her? How the hell was I supposed to sit through some dumbass debriefing meeting at the clubhouse when all I could think about was the fact that she was pregnant with my child? There was a woman on this planet walking around with my child in her body, and I wasn’t there to take care of her. To look after her and get her the shit she needed. I wasn’t there for the doctor’s appointments or to hold her hair back when she did get sick.

  What the fuck kind of man did that make me?

  I closed my eyes as people from the rally began to dissipate. I remembered the first time she begged for my punishment. She was strung up by her hands with her legs spread on the bed. I was teasing her body with hot wax, then flicking the dried wax off her skin with the blade of my knife. Her eyes had been wide with terror, but her nipples were puckered to painful peaks. Her body shook with fear, but her pussy spilled with want. I’d flick the wax off and catch her stare, her eyes wide as she took in the experience.