by KB Winters
“No. Yes.” She froze and looked me. “Shit, yeah. Smoke.”
She didn’t breathe for a moment and then she was off me in a flash, giving no thought to the precarious position we’d just been in. “Why do I smell smoke?”
While she paced the room naked, I slipped on a pair of jeans from the floor and placed my hands on her shoulders to stop her pacing. I made sure she looked in my eyes until she was calm.
“Quiet. I’ll go check things out, stay here.”
“I’ll call 911.”
“Not this time, sweetheart.” I kissed her forehead and grabbed my piece. “I’ll let you know if I need the cops but maybe put some clothes on?”
“Bananas. Say bananas if you need help. I’ll call the cops and come get your six,” she said confidently.
My eyes went wide, and I smiled. “My six? How do you know about six?”
“I know it’s military for I got your back, cowboy. I know a lotta things you don’t know.”
“Good to know,” I told her and slipped out, on alert as the smell of smoke grew stronger. At the end of the hall I spotted the source of the smell, a burning potato chip bag in the ashtray on the coffee table. And on my sofa sat a big ass black man with a bald head. He was at least three hundred pounds and wider than my stainless still fridge.
He heard me coming and tossed some words over his shoulder. “Damn man, I was wondering how many of these fuckers I’d have to burn before you lovebirds smelled it.” The psychopath laughed like this was a normal everyday fucking occurrence and held up a paper bag filled with bags of potato chips.
“Big Boy.” The other goon I had decked in San Diego when he tried to strong arm Rocky. “You don’t write, you don’t call . . .”
He nodded, smiling up at me as he swiveled his head on that massive neck.
“You got one minute to tell me why you’re in my fucking house before I put a bullet in your mother fucking head.” I braced myself for him to try and fight me or take my gun.
Instead the fucker put his hands up and grinned. “Boss is willing to take Rochelle for a few weeks while she plans a job for him and then you can have her back.”
“That’s not gonna happen, and I think you know that.”
He shrugged as I came around the sofa to see his face and more importantly, his hands. He was as ugly in broad daylight as he’d been in the club.
“I figured as much but that was the message, a short exchange. But if that’s not agreeable to you, then it’s war and I know your crew ain’t going to war over no piece of ass. No matter how hot she is.”
Smug bastard flashed a smile like he’d been privy to club business.
“There are things you don’t know, Big Boy. Things your boss doesn’t know either.”
I didn’t want to tell more people than I needed to about Rocky’s pregnancy, but I needed this asshole to know how serious this was.
“Yeah, like what things?”
“Like the fact that Rocky and I have been seeing each other since we ran into you that night.”
“Bullshit. We’ve been down there since then and you haven’t been there and she hasn’t been here.”
“You know, Rocky is a stubborn woman. I should be thanking you guys for finally getting her to move in with me. I asked and asked but she said it was too soon until you goons scared her into my arms. Thanks for that by the way.”
Big Boy wasn’t so jovial anymore and that wide toothpaste smile was a little dimmer.
“She’s worth going to war over?”
“Fuck yeah, she is. So is our baby.”
He blinked as my words sank in. “Fuck, man. Boss is gonna flip his shit when he finds out. Fuck, fuck, fuck. This ain’t good, man.”
Well that answered my question. It would only make things worse. “Sorry about that, Big Boy.”
“Yeah, me too.” He moved to stand but I was lighter and faster, and at his side before he could get to his feet.
“Not yet.” The butt of my gun crashed down on his jaw and he was out cold. It would be at least an hour before he came to and by then he’d be somewhere where we could get some information out of him.
“Rocky, you dressed?”
The door opened a second later and the floor squeaked. “Is he dead?”
“No, he’s out, though. Bring my phone.”
“Phone, right,” she whispered, and I listened to the shuffle of her feet as she headed back into the bedroom. When she appeared, she was fully dressed but her hair was still rumpled like she just got fucked.
“Phone,” she said and handed it to me, flashing a quick look at big boy on the sofa.
I sped dialed the number I needed; it answered in a beat. “My house. Bring the guys.”
I shoved the phone in my back pocket, Rocky standing two feet away, shaking like a leaf and nibbling that bottom lip.
“Hey, Rocky. Look at me. Look at me.” Her green eyes locked on mine. “Calm down, it’s okay. Big Boy is fine, he’ll have a massive headache but otherwise he’ll be all right.” Maybe.
“I don’t care about Big Boy,” she said when she came back down to earth. “It’s just, this shit just got super real. Your boys are coming to get him and then what?”
“Are we doing this, Rocky? Complete and total honesty?”
She paused a breath and then nodded. “Yes. Yep.”
“They’ll take him someplace and keep him there for a while, see what kind of information they can get out of him.”
“Why not kill him?”
“Do you want him dead?”
“No, I was just curious.”
Time for honesty. “I told him you were pregnant, and I hoped it would change his mind, but he made it clear that it wouldn’t. If we don’t have to off the motherfucker, we won’t. But only time will tell.”
She nodded and tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear. Something was on her mind but I didn’t make a big deal about it even though we just agreed no more secrets. “You’re right, Lasso. Let’s do this. Let’s get married.”
I opened my mouth to say something and froze. “What?”
“You’re right. Let’s get married.”
She was saying what I wanted to hear but it was off. “Cut the shit, Rocky. What’s going on?”
“If something happens to me, anything at all, you can speak for me. If it comes down to it, save the baby first. They won’t listen to anyone but family, so we should do it soon.” I didn’t know how she was being so calm about this, about these kinds of choices. Serious fucking choices.
“Okay?”
I blinked, and her face came back in focus. “I knew you wanted to marry me.” I winked and she laughed, smacking my chest as she pushed me away.
“Don’t think this means I’m going to be cooking dinner and sucking you off on demand.”
She was hot when she was feisty, all fired up and ready to tell me how things would be in our marriage.
“On request is good enough, sweetheart.” She smacked my belly again, but her hand slid down my abs and my hand went to her belly and my lips went to hers. The kiss was sweet at first, like new lovers but it quickly heated up and hands began to roam as our passion grew. The heat swirled between us and threatened to spiral out of control.
A knock sounded at the door. “Fuck off!” I yelled at the door and Rocky laughed.
Chapter 15
Rocky
There were at least a dozen bikers in Lasso’s living room and I was hiding out in the kitchen, brewing coffee. Like the good little fucking lady. It pissed me off how easily I fell into that role. Fuck that nonsense, I should be out there. It was my life they were discussing and I knew more about Genesis than any of them. But, my dad raised me right even if he did leave me with questionable life skills, so I pulled out some beers and chips and set them on the table while the coffee brewed.
“We have to be sure.”
I didn’t know who the guy was who said it, but now wasn’t the time for niceties.
“Sure, abo
ut what?” I asked.
I had a sneaking suspicion I knew what they needed to know. If I had a snowball’s chance in hell of surviving this mess with Genesis I’d have to trust these men and that meant we had to be open.
“You want to be sure this baby is Lasso’s before you can decide to help me?”
Lasso jumped up, ready to defend my honor but I held up a hand to stop him. Another man with dark hair and dimples stood beside him, Cross, I assumed. “We don’t mean no disrespect, Rocky.”
And I didn’t need his fucking explanation. “I don’t care what you did or didn’t mean. What I need to know is if the paternity of this child is the deciding factor in getting your help?”
There was no point plotting and planning if they needed hard proof and I looked around at each of the men, some I knew, most I didn’t.
“Can you blame us?” Savior, the one who really didn’t like me asked the question with such venom, I thought I’d be safer on my own.
“No, I don’t. I’m not interested in blame, I just need someone to answer my fucking question.”
Their silence said it all.
I was on my own.
“Okay, good to know. I’m not taking any tests until after the baby is born so thanks for your offer, but I’m good on my own.”
Cross took a step forward and folded his arms over his chest. “No offense Rocky, but this isn’t really up to you.”
“Wrong. It’s my life and I’m the only one who gets a say in the matter. I don’t know any of you and I haven’t asked you for anything, which is fine since you don’t want to give it anyway.”
I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes and I cursed these fucking pregnancy hormones for making me so irrational. “I don’t need your help.” The bedroom was fourteen short steps away and I made my escape.
Fucking men. They were a useless lot in my experience and I should have known better than to expect more from this group. They were cut from the same cloth as Genesis, just a little less psycho. I fell to the bed as the twist of irony stabbed my gut. Tears streaked down my cheeks at the unfairness of it all, left for me to deal with my younger, dumber self. How sad was it that I was wishing for more time to wallow in self-pity?
I sat up and tried to clear my mind so I could think through my options. It would be easier to go without Lasso, but my odds were better with him by my side. Was it fair to use him like that? Probably not, but I’d given him every chance to back out so now we were stuck together.
The door opened and closed and I felt the bed sink under Lasso’s weight. “I’m sorry, Rocky. They don’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
“I get it, I really do. But if you say they’re just looking out for me one more fucking time I’ll rip this baby out of me and beat you with it!”
He froze and when I peeked up at him a slow smile spread across my face.
“I can’t believe you threatened that! Crazy woman.”
That pulled a laugh out of me. “I meant what I said. I’m not taking any damn test and I don’t blame them for not helping. And I won’t blame you if you’ve changed your mind.”
“Don’t fucking say that, not ever.” There was a steel in his voice I’d never heard before. “I’m in. All in. Tomorrow we’ll go get married. Jag’s working out the details for our honeymoon.”
“We don’t need a honeymoon.”
I knew this wasn’t a real marriage and I hoped he wouldn’t pretend otherwise under some false sense of nobility.
“Maybe, maybe not.” He shrugged like it was no big deal, but I could see the delight and mischief swimming in those sky-blue eyes. “But we do need to lie low for a little while, right?”
“Sure.”
“Okay. So Jag is working on someplace secure, and we’ll call it a honeymoon. And I need you to listen to me Rocky. You need to trust that I wasn’t born yesterday, and I know what the fuck I’m talking about.”
I laughed because he wouldn’t be the first man in my life to make that claim. “Fine, but that goes both ways. I’m not the little pregnant lady. I am a capable, independent being and your partner. Partner, got it?”
“You are little and you are a lady, but yeah I got it. Now come over here and seal this little deal of ours with a kiss.”
I happily rolled on top of him and pressed my mouth to his, licking his lips, his tongue before taking over his whole mouth. I couldn’t get enough of him. Maybe it was the hormones or maybe it was the man, but whenever he was close it was never close enough. I kissed him until I was breathless and my brow was damp with sweat as I ground against him, feeling him harden between my legs.
“Lasso. The things I dream of doing to that mouth.”
“I’m saving myself for marriage sweetheart so keep those dreams on ice until tomorrow, all right?”
I pouted and he laughed, smacking my ass.
“But after we say ‘I do’ all bets are off.”
I found that both intriguing and wildly satisfying.
***
“I now pronounce you man and wife, now go on and keep that hunk-a burnin’ love alive and kiss your bride.”
Yep, I totally went for the Elvis wedding because, why the hell not? I might never get married again but I’ll always have a photo of me in a wedding dress with Elvis at my side.
“My favorite part.” Lasso smiled wide as he pulled me in and kissed me like we hadn’t woken up in each other’s arms two and a half hours ago, lips and bodies locked tight. It was one hell of a kiss.
“Like my mama used to say, start as you intend to go on.” Just to prove his point he kissed me again. “Mrs. Cooper.”
“Mrs. Izzo-Cooper,” I corrected. We were married but it wasn’t for love so I wouldn’t lose my identity, not even temporarily. “If that kiss is a preview of this marriage, I approve.”
“Good because next is more foreplay.”
His smile was so playful it almost felt real, like we were just two impulsive people who decided to get up early as fuck and get married.
“Making out in the back of a limo?”
“No, food. Watching you eat always gets me hard.” He leaned into the crook of my neck, his voice vibrating as his tongue snaked out to taste me.
“There’s no limo though, our honeymoon is a bit more rustic than that.”
“Rustic?”
Lasso heard the squeak in my voice and laughed, forcing me to bug him all through our celebratory wedding breakfast and even as we got on the road. He’d almost distracted me completely, until we crossed into Idaho. And kept driving. “By the way, where did you get this car? Is it stolen?”
“It’s not stolen, Ro.”
“Don’t laugh at me.”
“I’m not,” he insisted, pretending to lock up his words and throw away the key. “You really think I’m dumb enough to go into hiding with a car people will actively be looking for? I’m hurt.”
“No, of course not. Sorry. But you won’t tell me anything.” It was childish to keep asking when I knew my safety was his only goal. “Tell me more about your family, Lasso. I know you’re from Rose Petal, Texas. I know all about running off to join the military to spite them. But you’re not telling me everything.”
Lasso let out a sigh like somebody’d just put the screws to him and he had to cave. “So, okay. What you need to understand is, my family is pretty big shit due to our big ol’ ranch and contribution to the steak and potatoes atmosphere around town. We own about half the town which makes my family think they can tell us all how to live.”
“Judgmental?”
He shrugged. “They just think they know best about everything. Including my life. That’s why I left.”
“And went to the military. Got that.” There were more layers to Lasso than I thought and that didn’t bode well for me. Pregnant, hormonal and on the run with a kind and handsome man who knew how to give me the best orgasms I ever had. What could possibly go wrong except everything?
“I joined because I always wanted to, and I planned to eve
r since Billy Macready’s father came to speak to our class in the fourth grade. Mama thought I’d grow out of it and Daddy just assumed that I wouldn’t dare defy him. They were both wrong.”
I looked at him, at the tightly coiled tension beneath his laidback outer shell. He didn’t like talking about his family, but he was doing it, for me. “How’d you get the nickname Lasso?”
“You don’t want to know,” he grumbled.
I pushed but he kept quiet, even when I put my hand high on his thigh, letting my pinky graze his sac. “If it’s not about cowboy stuff it must be because you’re such a big ol’ whore, right?”
“Whore?” He choked on the word but he couldn’t hide the amused smile on his face. “Did you just call me a big ol’ whore?”
“I did. So, which is it?”
“Neither, but now my feelings are hurt and I’m not inclined to tell you the real story.”
He was so full of shit and I proved it my nibbling on his ear as he turned down a mostly dirt road covered with thick, green trees.
“I call bullshit,” I said before he made another turn and a big ass cabin came into view but only once we were deep in the thick of the trees.
I swallowed at the big pine structure and fell against my seat. It was two stories with dark windows all around and a big wraparound porch. It looked like how rich people roughed it. “Is this yours?”
“It belongs to the club.” He said it so simply, like motorcycle clubs just owned mansions in the woods.
“Business must be good.” Because I never remember Dad having that kind of money after a score.
“You know the biggest outlaws do business legally, don’t you?”
“I do.” It made me happy to hear that the Reckless Bastards had legitimate businesses, but I wondered about something else. “Does your family know yet they’re about to gain another member?”
“No, but it’s not because of you. It’s because of them. I’ll tell them, I promise. Eventually. Does your dad know?”
“Nope. I don’t even know where he is and it’s probably safe that he doesn’t know.”
We were a pair. How could we be parents with such terrible role models? We were both good people, so I had hope for this baby growing in my belly. If he or she made it to term, it had a pretty good shot at becoming a decent human being. I hoped. “So, this is our honeymoon suite? I didn’t know you cared so much, husband.”
