by Freya Barker
“Just tea,” I manage, a little shell-shocked.
“Cookie?”
“No thanks.”
“Baked them this afternoon.”
“In that case...” I reach over and politely take a cookie from the plate. It seems the safe thing to do. “For the record,” I confess. “Even if I probably should, I don’t think I’ll be able to walk away after all is said and done. I’m probably more than a little...ass over teakettle...myself.”
Ten minutes later, I walk into the clubhouse, feeling like I’ve just gone ten rounds with a grizzly bear and somehow came away unscathed. At some point, Ahiga must’ve come over here because he’s sitting on the couch playing on the game system, with an older boy. He throws me a cheeky grin.
Nosh is sitting at the bar, sipping a drink.
Kids, he tells me before I can ask the question. Same kid he had a beef with this afternoon. Name’s Shilah, been here for eight months. He lifts the bottle off the bar with an eyebrow raised.
No thanks, I’m about ready for bed. Where’s Ouray?
Office, probably. Unless he hit the sack already. He looks a little rough.
I smile my thanks and start heading toward the hallway in the back when I hear a bottle banging on the bar and I turn back. Nosh sets the bottle down and grins. Night. Glad to see my Lettie left you intact.
I bark out a laugh, but only the older boy on the couch lifts his head.
It was touch-and-go.
Nosh’s raspy chuckle follows me down the hall.
The office is empty but the door to the bedroom is open. Ouray is already in bed, his arm folded behind his head and his eyes barely open.
“You okay, honey?” Nosh is right, he does look rough. “When did you have your last painkiller?”
“Before we left the hospital. Don’t like ‘em.” His voice is scratchy and I sit down on the mattress beside him.
“Are you sure? You’re clearly in pain.” I stroke a hand through the beard he seems to have grown overnight.
He sighs deeply and flips open the cover. “I’ll feel better if you get naked and in bed.”
“Really? You can barely keep your eyes open.”
“Just wanna hold you, Sprite. Wasn’t sure I’d see you again after Momma got through with you.” He chuckles at his own joke but right away grabs at his head and curses under his breath. “Fucking hell.”
“She let me live—for now—provided I don’t walk out and hurt her boys.”
“Boys?”
I grin at him. “Yeah, Ahiga—and you.”
“That so? What did you tell her?”
“The truth,” I tease, dodging when he reaches for me.
“Luna,” he growls threateningly.
“I just gotta brush my teeth real quick.”
He glowers at me, but doesn’t try to stop me when I duck into the bathroom. I brush half-heartedly, and quickly shed my clothes, hanging them on the back of the door before I turn off the lights, and dart back into the bedroom—buck naked.
Ouray’s eyes shimmer in the dark room. He doesn’t miss a thing as I walk over to the bed and crawl under the cover he’s still holding open. I barely settle in before I find myself tucked with my back to his front. He may not be feeling well, but it’s clear his dick didn’t get that memo, I can feel it against my ass.
“Now tell me.” I don’t need an explanation: I know exactly what he wants to know.
“I told her I wouldn’t be able to walk away.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I’m head over teakettle for you too.”
The arm around my stomach gets tighter and I feel his lips brush my shoulder.
“Damn right you are.”
CHAPTER 23
OURAY
“Dylan just texted me.”
Luna walks into my office and shuts the door behind her.
I’ve been holed up in here since breakfast, trying to make sense of the events of the past month or so, and in the process giving myself a whopping headache. I left Luna in the kitchen earlier. She offered to help Momma prepare a welcome home meal for the boys, which she grudgingly accepted. An attempt to get back in her good graces, I’m sure. It would appear I’m still on the outs, earning only an angry glare from the club’s matriarch, as she slammed a plate of eggs in front of me this morning.
At least I got fed.
“And?” I pinch the bridge of my nose and squeeze my eyes shut, the sound of my own voice resulting in a hot stab to my brain. Jesus.
“And I think you should quit being stubborn and at least take some ibuprofen to try and cut through the pain. You go in to see the doc like this on Wednesday, your chances he’ll give you an all-clear are slim to none.”
Without waiting for an answer, she marches past me into the bedroom and appears a few seconds later with a glass of water and a handful of pills.
“Fuck, but you can be bossy,” I grumble, accepting the meds and water all the same.
“Only when you need it.”
Little smartass. If I wasn’t feeling weak like a goddamn kitten, I’d drag her into the bedroom and show her who’s in charge.
Who the fuck am I kidding? I’ve turned to putty in her hands. Lovesick bastard. Never thought I’d catch that particular disease, but here I am, gaining on fifty and drinking the Kool-aid, so to speak.
“What did he have to say?” I finally ask after obediently downing the pills.
Luna sits on the edge of my desk, smiling. “He’s on his way back—with Paco.”
“He got him off?”
She winces a little. “Sort of. It’s more of a transfer of jurisdiction. Technically the aggravated robbery resulting in death that took place here in Durango trumps the aggravated robberies and assault in New Mexico, so Paco’s being transported back to Durango as a prime suspect—in Dylan’s custody.”
“That’s not gonna make him happy,” I observe.
“No. But it is gonna keep him safe. He’ll be handed off to Keith Blackfoot and taken straight to jail. Having whoever is behind this think they’ve succeeded casting the blame in the direction of Arrow’s Edge, will buy us time.”
It’s true, but it brings me to another issue I’ve been racking my brain on. “But what about me? My guys’ll be back sometime this afternoon, and we haven’t exactly flown in under the radar. Other than the select few, everyone else thinks I’m still holed up in a cell in Ruidoso.”
“For now,” she answers. “Momma and Nosh will keep quiet about you being back, I’m sure, but we have to assume the boys will let something slip. We just need to buy enough time for a quick powwow with my team, Kaga, Nosh, and whoever else of your brothers you feel you can trust completely.”
I snort. “I don’t fucking know anymore. It makes me sick.” It does. As much as I was relieved to find out Paco was only guilty of bad judgement but not betrayal—it doesn’t change the likelihood there is still someone within this club playing for the other side.
“All the more reason to push forward and force their hand. The sooner we can solve this, the sooner your life can get back to normal. This is why I need you to take the damn pills, so you can stay sharp. You’re gonna need it, because my guess is the moment they find out you’ve been released, there’ll be a target on your back.” She runs an impatient hand through hair that seems intent on escaping the elastic she wrapped around it. “I suggest we head over to your place, have Kaga and my team meet us there tonight.”
“We could bring Ahiga,” I suggest. “Reduce the chance something gets slipped before we want it to. Leave Momma to worry about the other boys.”
“That’s a great idea. I’m pretty sure he’d like that.”
I sit back and take in the blush high on Luna’s cheeks. She lives for this—the job, the case. The only other time I’ve seen her eyes this bright and her blood this hot, is right before she climaxes around me.
My headache almost forgotten, I reach out, pull her toward me, and guide her to straddle my lap, her legs
fitting nicely under the arm rests.
“Got any idea how sexy you are? Confident and bossy—all fired up, all cylinders running?”
Her face shows a hint of calculation when she slowly grinds herself down on me, right before sliding off my lap onto her knees. My legs automatically make room for her. She holds my eyes, slides her hands up my thighs, and kneads my straining cock through my jeans. I grind my teeth and have to grab onto the chair to stay seated.
One by one she flips open the buttons on my fly, prolonging the torture. When she finally frees me, both hands on my dick, I hiss sharply.
She’s not been this bold before, and when she opens her mouth over my crown, I make a mental note to compliment her more often, if only to remind her of her strength and the power she holds. There isn’t a better reward than the sight of her hungry eyes as her plump lips stretch to accommodate me.
Any other time she’s tried to go down on me, the gesture’s been tentative—even a touch uncomfortable. My instinct was to interrupt her and take over, but not this time.
Perhaps lacking technical skill, she seems to rely entirely on instinct—which apparently is dead on—and giving me by far the best blowjob I’ve ever had.
LUNA
I can feel my cheeks burning every time my eyes catch the smirk on Ouray’s face.
I’d been so caught up in the moment after making him come, I let him strip me out of my clothes and bend me over his desk, a hand between my shoulder blades to hold me down as he pistoned inside me. I was so wrapped up in the feel of him bare inside me—the first time since getting the all clear from the clinic on Friday—not even for a second had I considered the closed door was hardly an effective way to keep people out.
Mouth open, my hot cheek pressed to the cool surface of Ouray’s desk, I was trapped when the door opened and a clueless Nosh stuck his head inside and looked right at me. The surprise on his face quickly morphed into amusement as he backed out, throwing me a jaunty wink in the process.
Mortifying.
To me anyway, Ouray seemed of the same mind as Nosh, and considered it amusing, which is probably why he’s still wearing that damn smirk hours later.
“Are you good with that plan, Luna?”
Nothing like your boss’s voice to work as a cold shower on your thoughts. “Sorry. I missed that.” I try to ignore Ouray’s low chuckle, throwing him as deadly a glare as I can muster, which doesn’t do much to stem his mirth at my expense.
“You’ll cover Ouray, spending the nights here, at his house. With his recovery as an excuse, you can explain he’ll get more rest here than at the clubhouse. It’ll also give us a place to meet quietly. The rest of the story is that Kaga’s staying at the clubhouse until Ouray gets his feet back under him, and invited Dylan to stay with the club for a bit as well, in support of his sister. Between the two of them, they can keep an eye on everyone else,” Damian repeats.
“I want Ahiga to stay with us.” At the puzzled look on my boss’s face I quickly explain, “The boy you saw when you came in. His name is Cody Washburn, he’s the boy I’ve asked Jasper to look into. He’s hearing-impaired and I’d feel a whole lot better if he stayed close to us.”
Damian scratches his goatee, looking at me from under his heavy brows. “The boy means something to you?”
I nod and throw Ouray a grateful look when he adds, “To me as well. The boy stays.”
“Good. That’s settled then. Jas and I will coordinate with Blackfoot on the investigation and keep you updated on that front. Let’s flush these bastards out.”
When Ouray closes the door after the last person leaves, he walks straight to the stairs.
“I’m just going up to see how Ahiga is doing.”
“Why don’t you ask if he wants to come watch a movie with us? I can see what we have in the house and make some snacks.”
Instead of heading upstairs, he stalks over to where I’m leaning over the back of the couch. He tucks his knuckle under my chin and lifts my face, only to confuse me when he says, “You said we.”
“I said what?”
“You said ‘what we have in the house.’ I like it.”
“Okay...” I’m still a little foggy.
“How attached to that little shack you call home are you?” he asks with an intense look in his eyes.
“My house?” He grunts, confirming. “It’s been a good place to keep my things. A bed to sleep in. I don’t know, I usually don’t spend much time at home. I also move around a lot. I get restless when I stay somewhere long.”
“Mmm. I say you ditch the place, and move in here with me.”
That blush is creeping back up my cheeks, and I try to look away from his probing eyes, but his damn thumb keeps my chin trapped in place.
I’m literally stumped for words. Living here with him would be... I don’t really know what it would be like. Or maybe I do. I’ve spent most of the past almost four weeks almost plastered to his side. Still, not even quite a month, surely... “Isn’t that a little soon?” is what I finally manage to verbalize.
“That depends.” He shrugs with a smile. “How much notice does your landlord want on that place? Or do you have a lease?”
“I never sign anything longer than a six-month lease and go month-to-month after that.” I think for a minute. “I moved in the first of April, I believe.”
“Perfect, that means your lease runs out in a few days anyway, and you shouldn’t owe him more than a month’s rent after that. Call him tomorrow.”
“But we haven’t even...I mean it hasn’t even been a month.” This time I manage to slip my chin from his hold and turn my head to the front door, maybe looking for an escape, but then his hands cup my face and he drops his forehead to mine.
“You said yourself you get restless, move around a lot. Just call this your next stop. You were expecting to be here with me for the immediate future anyway.”
I look into his warm eyes and swallow. “But what if I get restless after a while?”
“That happens, Sprite, we’ll deal. But one thing I do know, worry about what-if too much will only paralyze you.” He rubs his nose along mine, and presses a soft kiss on my lips. “Trust me on this.”
“How can you be so sure?”
His eyes take in my face as he brushes a curl from my forehead. “Because, Sprite...I’ve always been clear on what I don’t want—so it doesn’t take a lot for me to know when what’s in front of me is exactly what I’ve been holding out for.”
CHAPTER 24
OURAY
“What the fuck?”
Yuma is just getting on his bike when we pull up in the rental. Of course with Luna behind the wheel, which still irks me. Since she won’t let me drive—yet—one of the guys will have to go with her to drop off the rental today.
The moment the car comes to a stop, Ahiga—who was up at the goddamn butt crack of dawn this morning—is out and running into the clubhouse. Probably straight into the kitchen. We’d better get some more food over at the house if he’s going to stay with us.
“Close your mouth, brother. Things could get lost in there,” I snap at Yuma, immediately wondering if I should read more into his obvious shock. I fucking hate this shit.
“The hell are you doing back here? How’d you get out?”
“Cops managed to get their heads outta their asses, that’s how.”
“Well shit, I was just heading over to River’s Edge. One of the tenants has some plumbing issues,” he smirks and I almost groan out loud. Probably sniffing around that new tenant. “But now I kinda want to stick around, see the looks when that bunch of cranky gravediggers in there sees you come in. Talk about low morale, brother. That was the worst fucking ride this club’s ever seen.”
A little more encouraged, I clap him on the shoulder. “In that case, get on the horn and round the brothers up. My office at noon.”
From what I can tell, the few brothers hanging around the bar are relieved to see me. Even Dylan, who apparently came strai
ght here after leaving my place last night, puts on a good show of clapping me on the back. He clearly missed his calling on the stage, because he has my guys treating him like one of their own. After refusing a proper drink for the third time in a row—sticking to the bottle of water Luna shoved in my hand earlier—I’ve had enough, and as I’d been instructed, I quickly withdraw to my office.
The plan is for me to pretend I’m not doing that great yet, still recovering, making me an easier target. Gomez seems to think it may force the assholes who have it out for me to move quickly. I’m not about to argue with that. As far as I’m concerned, the sooner I can look my brothers straight in the eye again, the better it is.
“Do you need anything from the store?” Luna sticks her head around the door. “I’m going to head out with Lea to pick up some last minute groceries for Momma, and I’ll grab a few things for us as well.” Since the boys got in late last night, Momma is putting on a welcome home meal tonight. Luna disappeared soon after we got here to help her and Leah in the kitchen.
“Where’s Cody?”
“You mean Ahiga?” She grins as she slips into the room. “You gave him that name and now he won’t answer to anything else, so the least you can do is use it.”
“You giving me a hard time?” I tilt my head to the side. “I may just have to come up with one for you.”
She shakes her head sharply. “No thanks, I like mine just fine. Anyway, he’s in the garage with Lea’s twins.” She grins, looking at me from under her lashes. “Has them practicing sac squeeze ’n twists on each other.”
I bark out a laugh. “Christ. Figures the kid would turn out to be a shit disturber.”
“He’ll fit right in.”
Her eyes are bright when she smiles at me, and I’m smiling right back. Jesus, I’m turning into a fucking pussy. I’d be raked over the coals if my guys could see me now.
“We’re gonna need a truckload of food for that boy, Sprite,” I tell her sternly, trying to find my balls as I pull out my wallet, and take out a stack of bills. “Stock up. I’ll get Rowtag and Wapi to follow you in the van. They can help you carry.”
