by Brook Wilder
The anguish in Cora’s voice froze my blood and I quickly found her gripping her side, grimacing as she did so. “I think I’m shot.”
“Shit,” Ironsides said, tucking his gun in his waistband.
I gritted my teeth as I pulled her hand away, breathing a sigh of relief as I got a look at her wound. “It’s just a graze,” I said, lightheaded. She made a sound and I picked her up in my arms, striding out of the building with her worried sister in tow. “Like mine. We will have matching bullet wounds.”
She choked on her laughter, groaning as she held her side. “That’s not funny.”
“I would disagree,” Emily said as she caught up with us. “It was pretty funny, sis.”
Cora glared at her sister. “For someone who had a gun pressed to her head, you’ve gotten over it rather quickly.”
“I think he was more scared than I was,” Emily shrugged as I opened the door to the truck and placed Cora inside. “Besides, I knew you would make up with him and rescue me.”
I looked at her then, surprised. “You’re good with this?”
She gave me a real smile. “I am. You love her, she loves you. Amelia will have her father. All is good.”
Cora tugged on my arm, forcing my attention to her. Even though there was pain in her eyes, I could see the love in her depths. “I do love you, you know.”
I stripped off my shirt, pressing it to her side to stifle the blood. “I love you too. But next time, stay out of the line of fire, all right? You took ten years off my life in there.”
She pursed her lips. “I hope there isn’t a next time.”
Me neither.
Chapter 23
Cora
Three Weeks Later
I laid Amelia in her crib, tucking the pink blanket around her. “Sleep tight, sweet one,” I whispered, touching her soft hair before easing out of the room. Out of our little trio, she had adjusted better than the rest of us, not minding her new surroundings or the fact that we weren’t in Mexico anymore.
What a crazy three weeks it had been.
I left the door open to her room and made my way down the hall to the living room, where Emily and Clayton were locked in a battle of some car-driving game that he had on his gaming console. I was so happy to see that they were getting along, and surprised when Clayton had offered for Emily to stay with him until she could find an apartment of her own. He had even gone as far as to upgrade his current apartment to a three-bedroom to make room for us, soliciting help from the club to help everyone move and settle in.
I didn’t mind as much. I was so happy to be gone from Mexico and the aftermath of Red’s death, feeling as if I had been set free from his cruelty. That and I hoped, whatever Amy had been mixed up in, that his death had allowed her to rest in peace. Clayton had shown me the evidence Mama Bear had on her and though the truth was right there, I still couldn’t believe she had been entangled with the cartel.
She had given me no indication that she had been working for them. Whatever Red had on her had to have been something heavy, and I still mourned her loss every day.
“See? I told you if you just press the button twice, it gives you an extra boost,” my sister was saying, pointing at the screen, indicating she had won this round.
“Huh,” Clayton said, tossing the controller. “Well, I concede to your excellent driving skills then.”
Emily grinned. “I told you not to get me involved in games. I play to win.”
I fell next to Clayton, smiling as he curled his arm around my waist immediately. “I don’t think you can deal with both of us.”
“No, I can’t,” he said, grinning himself. “But I can suffer through it until she finds her own place.”
“And job,” Emily said, pushing out of her chair. “Which reminds me, I have an interview in the morning. I’m turning in early.”
“Good night,” I called out as she made her way to her bedroom.
“Night,” Clayton echoed before nuzzling my neck. “I’m so fucking glad she’s gone. She is beating me at everything.”
“That’s Em,” I said, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Have I told you how much I love you lately?”
“Hm,” he said, pressing a kiss to my collarbone. “Not in at least three hours or so.”
“Well, I do,” I answered, my heart constricting in my chest. “And I want to get a DNA test on Amelia.” I had been thinking about it ever since we came over to the States, wanting to give him the finality that he needed to ensure that Amelia was his daughter. He hadn’t pressed, but I knew it was still lingering between us.
Clayton pulled back; his gaze hard. “While I appreciate the sentiment, there’s no need, Cora.”
I was surprised. “But don’t you want to know? I mean after everything that was said.”
“She’s still mine,” he interrupted, his hands framing my face. “I know she’s mine. I can feel it in my bones. I don’t give a shit what anyone else thinks in the future.”
Tears crowded my vision. “Are you sure?”
“I’m fucking sure,” he said, brushing the tears away. “I love you. I love her. Hell, I even love your cheating sister. I don’t need a test to know I’m Amelia’s father.”
I fell against him, tears wetting his shirt. It was everything I could have wanted in a relationship, in Amelia’s father. Clayton was everything I needed. “Thank you.”
His lips pressed against my temple. “Is the peanut asleep?”
I smiled at the nickname. Clayton had started calling her Peanut from the moment we moved in with him. I wasn’t going to lie. It had been difficult to relinquish some of the duties to him, such as rocking her to sleep or bath time, things I had done alone up until now. Amelia had taken to him quickly though, and now her toothless grin seemed to shine a bit brighter whenever he was around.
My grin did as well. Clayton had brought something into my life that I didn’t know I was missing, and not just in the physical sense. While our relationship had skyrocketed since coming to the States, I knew he was the man for me. Under his gruff exterior, there was a heart of gold. “Yes,” I finally said. “She’s asleep.”
“Good,” he answered, pushing at me. “Let’s go to bed before she wakes.”
I stood, my skin warming at the thought of what was to come. “I thought you had to go to the club?” To keep him out of harm’s way, Chains had delegated Clayton to watch the club at night, almost like an enforcer for the members rather than running the roads looking for bullets to hit him. While I was happy he had taken himself out of the danger, I knew it couldn’t last forever. Clayton was an action kind of guy and I would never want him to change his ways because of us.
I just hoped that he would be a little more cautious with his body when he did go back to official club business.
“I took the night off,” he stated, standing. “I told Chains I was due for a vacation day or two.” Clayton reached for my hand, threading our fingers together. “Besides, I want to spend some time with you and Amelia, show you around a little bit.”
I tugged on his hand. “You can start with the bedroom if you want.”
His eyes heated. “I want to. Very much so.”
Giving him a saucy smile, I led him to his master bedroom, shutting the door behind us. He pushed me against the door, framing my body with his hands on either side of my head, and my breath hitched as I saw the intensity in his eyes.
But there was also a tenderness there, the same tenderness he showed when he was holding his daughter, telling her stories that we were going to have to ban when she got older.
That was purely Clayton, though.
“What?” he asked.
“I’m just happy,” I answered, reaching up to cup his cheek. “So very happy here, with you.”
His expression was solemn. “Happy enough to marry me?”
I stared at him, shocked. “What?”
“You heard me,” he answered gruffly. “I don’t have a ring or anything, but I want to marry you. I
want Amelia to have my name. I want to give you more precious children that we can fucking spoil to our heart’s content.”
“Oh, Clayton,” I whispered, melting at his words. “Are you sure?”
“More than ever,” he said. “Marry me, Cora.”
“Yes,” I said. “I will marry you, Clayton.”
The grin was quick before his lips crashed onto mine, devouring me. I threw my arms around his shoulders, my fingers in his thick hair as his tongue slipped in my mouth, stroking me until I moaned.
He pulled back, breathing hard. “You’re everything to me.”
“And I will protect you with my life,” I whispered back. I was going to protect him from his demons, give him the life he craved, and pour all the love I could into his soul.
Clayton slid his hand down the door until it was playing with the hem of my T-shirt, his mouth pressing small kisses along my jaw. “I want to worship you,” he said in between the kisses, inching up my shirt. “I want to hear you scream my name.”
“Emily will complain again,” I joked as he pulled my shirt up over my breasts.
He chuckled. “Let’s not talk about your sister right now.”
I grinned and he pulled the shirt over my head, his eyes darkening as they settled on my breasts. I felt my nipples peak under his intense gaze, goose bumps scattering over my skin.
He could easily slay me with one heated look. Heck, I was already dripping wet with anticipation of what he might do to me. “You’re so fucking gorgeous,” he stated, his large hands cupping my breasts through my bra. “All mine, too.”
I would never be anyone else’s.
His hands slid down my stomach and started to work on my yoga pants, pulling them down in one swift move and exposing the lace of my panties I had put on earlier. Clayton cupped me possessively with one hand, growling as he felt my wetness. “Damn, Cora.”
“I can’t help it,” I whimpered as he pressed a thumb directly over my swollen clit. “You do that to me.”
“You’re damn right, I do,” he stated before dropping to one knee.
I bit back a loud groan as his tongue found my clit, teasing it through my panties. God, he knew exactly what to do to make me squirm.
His hands grasped my hips and I rested my head on the door, succumbing to his tongue until I was crying from the force of the orgasm he brought me to.
My knees weakened but Clayton was there in an instant, ripping my panties off my body and sliding into me roughly, his cock hard and demanding. “Shit,” he groaned, resting his forehead against my shoulder. “You’re killing me, Cora.”
I wrapped my legs around his waist, arching my body against the door. “Fuck me, Clayton.”
“Gladly.”
***
Somehow, in the aftermath, we ended up in the bed, both naked and wrapped in one another’s arms. “We are gonna have to install some handles or something on that door if you keep taking me against it,” I said lazily as Clayton drew slow circles on my back. “It’s getting harder to keep myself upright.”
He chuckled. “Maybe we should fuck like normal people do then.”
I lifted my head, staring into his eyes. “We are far from normal, Clayton.”
“You got that right,” he answered, smoothing the hair off my sweaty forehead. “I meant what I said, Cora. I want to marry you.”
My heart softened. “And I want to marry you. We can do it tomorrow, on your day off.”
He arched a brow. “You don’t want a wedding?”
“I don’t need one,” I stated. I didn’t. I just wanted to be his wife in every sense of the word. “All I need is you.”
He hauled me up to his lips, kissing me hard. “You think Emily will be our witness?”
I thought about the conversations I’d had with Emily about Clayton and how she had said how happy she was for both of us. “I’m sure she will.”
“Then it’s settled,” he said gruffly, pressing me against his chest.
“It’s settled,” I said happily. It was amazing how much my life had turned around for the good over the last year or so, especially since I thought there was no magic light at the end of the tunnel. Little had I known that Clayton would come back in my life and be that light that I needed, that both Amelia and I needed.
And there would be no regrets. Everything that had happened in my life was to get me to this moment, to this sense of happiness that surrounded me.
Clayton was the cause of that happiness and I hoped I never had to live my life without him. “Go to sleep,” he mumbled, a protective arm around my waist. “We’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”
Yes, we did.
Epilogue
Widow Maker
Three Nights Later
I watched as the little girl slept in her pack-and-play, my hands itching to pick her up again. Amelia was the perfect child, not only because she rarely put up a fuss but also because she was just plain beautiful.
It was hard to believe that someone like Halftrack could have a perfect child like that, but I had never seen him happier. When Cora had asked me to babysit so they could have a night out to celebrate their marriage, I had readily accepted, for more reasons than I cared to admit. I was happy for them, glad that they both had found love and had made their little family official.
Sighing, I walked away from her, falling onto my couch. Since Rex and I had been home, he hadn’t spent a lot of time at home, working himself into exhaustion at the club, trying to figure out how to get one up on the cartel.
Frankly, I needed a break from the club and desperately wanted to ask him to do the same. Our first night back from Mexico had been the only time he had slept in our bed, otherwise choosing the couch so that he wouldn’t wake me up by coming in.
I didn’t care. I wanted my husband back in my damn bed. I missed his arms around me, the way he would hold me tightly like I was going to disappear on him at any moment. I wanted to feel his beard scratch my tender skin as he kissed his way across my body, causing me to sigh in contentment.
I wanted him to tell me he loved me.
A tear splashed on my cheek and I wiped it away hastily, feeling guilty for blaming it all on Rex. We both had allowed the club to suck us up again, and I didn’t know how to get us out of this wormhole we were circling.
A knock sounded at the door and I got up with a groan, reaching for my gun before I unlocked it. Though we were back on good ole Texas soil, I wasn’t taking any chances.
Tucking the gun at my side, I flipped the locks and pulled the door open. “It’s you.”
Mama Bear stood on the other side, eyeing the gun in my hand. “Can I come in and talk?”
I opened the door wider. “As long as you don’t wake the baby.”
She walked in, glancing at the sleeping princess. “That’s Halftrack’s kid.”
“I’m babysitting,” I answered, shutting the door behind her before placing the gun back on the table.
Mama Bear let out a laugh. “You? Babysitting? What the hell happened to the Widow Maker I knew?”
“She’s tired and bored,” I said, sitting on the couch. “Have a seat.”
She did so and I felt a pang of loneliness creep through me as I looked at my friend and former right hand. The day she had ripped off her patch and walked away had been one of the worst days of my life and while I had tucked away the hurt the best I could, I hadn’t completely gotten over it.
Then she showed up in Mexico like she owned the joint, causing me to worry about what her true plans were. Was she looking to do the same as Mac did and make her own club?
I couldn’t kill her. I wouldn’t kill her, not unless she was a threat to my husband’s life. That would be the only reason. “What’s up?”
“We’ve known each other a long time, Kris,” she started, leaning back in the chair. “I considered you family.”
“I did too,” I admitted, crossing my arms over my chest. “And you stepped away, not me.”
“Yeah, I know,�
� she answered. “But that don’t mean that I don’t still care. I would never step over my bounds. I wanted you to know I’m no threat to you. Not now, not ever.”
I wasn’t so sure I believed her one hundred percent. Power made people do things they wouldn’t normally do. I knew that firsthand.
“I love you and Rex both,” she continued, sadness and regret in her expression.
I opened my mouth to respond but there was another knock at the door, surprising us both. “What is this?” I muttered, rising once more and reaching for my gun. No one ever visited us at home.
