“Well, that doesn’t surprise me. I’m pretty fucking amazing. I leave a big void when I’m not there.”
He laughed, giving me a gentle squeeze. “Yeah. I won’t let you out of my sight again.”
“Smart man.” I kissed his chest. “How did Maisie know you were here for me?”
“I’m guessin’ Willow.”
“Really?”
He filled me in on his conversation with her and I couldn’t stop the tears from forming again. “Oh my god, that’s so sweet.”
“Jesus, are you okay?”
“No,” I sniffed. “Hormones totally suck.”
“Jen was like th—” He stopped mid-sentence and shook his head.
I sat up so I could see his face. “Don’t hide, Lincoln. Don’t hide them.”
He met my eyes and nodded, taking a few deep breaths.
“Do you want to tell me about them?” I asked.
“Yes, but not tonight.”
“Okay, honey.” I kissed him. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Why?”
“Because you said her name and didn’t shut down.”
“That’s all you, Angel,” he said, stroking my cheek. “You calm me.”
“I already know something about her.”
“Oh yeah?”
I nodded. “She was a genius.”
“How do you figure?”
“She locked onto you and didn’t let go.” I kissed him again. “I plan to do the same.”
He rolled me onto my back and smiled. “I’m gonna make sure you never want to let go.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
Kissing me one more time, we got dressed and headed downstairs to join our family and friends.
We stepped into the great room and my stomach roiled. “Doom?”
“Yeah?”
I reached for his arm.
“Baby?”
“Sick.”
I had to give him credit. He had a plastic bag under my chin faster than I could turn back toward the stairs, and I puked as daintily as I could, considering I was in a building full of people.
While I kept the bag under my face, he wrapped an arm around my waist and guided me down the hall and into the bathroom, closing us in and taking the bag from me. I knelt in front of the toilet and he took care of the bag before washing his hands, then sweeping my hair back and tying it with a band he kept on his wrist for his own hair.
“Give me three seconds,” he said, and stepped out. I heard him bellow for my sister and then he was back with me and leaning against the sink. “I’m not gonna crowd you, baby, but you tell me what you need. I’ll be right here.”
I nodded and closed my eyes. I was exhausted all of a sudden.
A knock at the door brought my sister with saltines and pop, and once I felt like I could stand, I washed my hands and rinsed my mouth out, but I was still exhausted.
“Bed,” Doom ordered.
“I have nothing with me,” I countered.
“You don’t need anything,” he said. “I’ll run out and pick up whatever you need tomorrow. But for now, you’re gonna rest.”
His tone left no room for argument, and I was way too tired anyway, so I nodded and let him lead me back upstairs.
Harmony followed with the Sprite and crackers, then hugged me and closed me in with my man.
Lyric
DOOM’S BEARD TICKLED me as he kissed my shoulder, sliding his hand to my belly. “How are you feeling?”
“As long as I don’t move, I’m good,” I said. “I think. What time is it?”
“Ten.”
“Why am I so tired?” I complained.
I’d thrown up a few more times last night, but then I fell asleep and pretty much slept like the dead. I woke up a few minutes ago, which meant I’d had almost eleven hours of sleep, so the fact I still felt like I’d been hit by a truck was annoying as hell.
“Because you’re growing a life inside of you.” He kissed my shoulder again. “But today, you’re staying where you are.”
“Are you staying with me?”
I felt the bed dip as he climbed off the mattress. “Yeah, Angel. I’m gonna head downstairs and grab food, then I’ll be back up.”
I closed my eyes and snuggled into the pillow. “Okay.”
“Hey.”
I opened my eyes to find him leaning over me. “Hey.”
“Love you.”
I smiled. “Love you.”
He kissed my forehead, then left me to sleep.
* * *
Doom
I was pretty sure Lyric fell back to sleep before I’d even closed the door. I headed downstairs and found Hatch in the kitchen making coffee. “Mornin’,” he said.
“Hey.”
“How’s Lyric?”
I smiled. “Asleep.”
He grinned. “Maisie too.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I excused myself and walked into the great room. It was Alamo calling. “Hey, brother.”
“Hey. Garrett Smalls was arrested.”
“No shit?”
“He murdered a woman last night.”
“Jesus Christ,” I hissed. “What happened?”
“I don’t know the details. It was on the news this morning, so I called Dalton. Garrett was caught in the act, which guarantees there’s no way in hell he’ll get off on a technicality now. It’s good news for Lyric.”
I let out a deep breath of relief. “Fucked up for the woman’s poor family.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Our women will see if they can help. You get shit sorted with Lyric?”
I smiled. “She made me work for it, but yes.”
Alamo chuckled. “Good for her.”
“I’ll check in with Jaxon and we’ll figure out flights.”
“Sounds good. If you need a few days, the shop’s good on this end. Rabbit’s got it handled.”
“I appreciate that. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Thanks, brother.”
We hung up and I made my way back into the kitchen. Hatch was gone, so I made coffee and breakfast, finding a tray and loading it up.
Heading upstairs, I walked in and set everything on the bureau just as Lyric walked out of the bathroom. She’d found one of my T-shirts and covered her previously naked body while I was downstairs, which I wasn’t overly happy with.
“What?” she asked.
“Like you better naked, Angel.”
She grinned. “Well, I was freezing. I’m not used to Portland and its bi-polar weather.”
“Southern to the core.”
“Damn straight.”
I grinned. “You hungry?”
“Starved.”
“Good. You eat while I fill you in on my news.”
“You have news?” She grabbed a piece of toast and took a bite.
“Garrett’s been arrested.”
“Really?”
“He killed another woman.”
“Oh my god, no.” She set her toast down and shook her head. “Why wasn’t he being watched?”
“I don’t know any details, Angel. Alamo just called to say it was safe to come home.”
“But it’s all just so…clean. Easy.”
“Not for the woman who got murdered.”
“That’s not what I mean.” She shook her head. “This isn’t how Garrett works. I need more information. Who was the woman who was killed? Was she random? Was she someone he’d been stalking? If it was random, he might have killed her to flush me out.”
“Which is why we’re gonna wait a tick to go back.”
“But what if he escalates and kills someone else?”
“He can’t when he’s behind bars.”
“He could hire someone,” she said. “Or his grandmother could.”
“I can’t worry about anyone but you right now.”
“Lincoln, I know you.” She settled her hands on her hips. “If someone else gets hurt and you had the power to stop it, but didn’t, it’ll eat you up.”<
br />
I pressed my palms to my eyes, trying to ward off a headache. “Jesus Christ.”
“We need to head back to Harmony’s.”
“I really wanted you off your feet.”
“And I will be. I’ll work from the sofa.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What about prenatal vitamins? Did you get those sorted?”
“Not yet.”
“Lyric.”
She sighed. “I promise, I’ll look for an OB as soon as we get home.”
“Get dressed,” I ordered, pulling my phone out of my pocket and calling Doc.
“Hey.”
“Hey. Lyric’s pregnant,” I said.
“No shit? Is that good news?”
“Yeah, brother, it’s great news. We’re stuck here for the moment, though, and I want her on prenatals and shit. Also, what can she take for morning sickness?”
“I can prescribe her prenatals until you guys get back. Send me the pharmacy information, and I’ll send you a list of safe over the counter anti-nausea medications she can take.”
“Thanks, brother.”
“No problem,” he said. “Happy for you, Doom.”
I smiled. “Thanks, Doc.”
I hung up and Lyric wrapped her arms around me. “My hero.”
I chuckled. “Don’t think I didn’t see you steal a pair of my underwear.”
“Like I said, my hero.”
Kissing her gently, we cleaned up our breakfast dishes, then headed to her sister’s.
* * *
Lyric
“Lyric,” Doom growled.
“I’m going,” I said, sitting back in the oversized chair in Harmony’s office.
He’d just gotten back from the Fred Meyer pharmacy and handed me a prenatal vitamin and a bottled water. I’d taken advantage of his absence to stand behind Harmony and scan what evidence against Garrett she could find in the FBI database. But he’d caught me.
I took the pill and he leaned down to kiss me, sliding his tongue inside my mouth. “Just checking.”
I couldn’t stop a shiver. It reminded me of his threat at the benefit dinner and how much I wanted him to kiss me then.
He smiled. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“Yeah, I bet you do.”
“You hungry?”
I wrinkled my nose and shook my head.
“You sick?”
“Just a little nausea. It’ll pass.”
“I’ll be right back,” he said.
“I cannot find anything else, LiLi,” Harmony said. “He did it in the parking lot of the dealership.”
“In front of the camera.”
“Yes,” Harmony confirmed.
“Damn it.” I sighed. “The only reason he got caught with me was because my detail made some critical mistakes. I think he’s trying to draw me out.”
Harmony frowned. “Which is why you’re staying here where he can’t find you. Safe and sound.”
I shook my head. “He’s planning something.”
“Probably.”
“From jail?” Doom asked, handing me saltines and a soda.
“Thanks, honey,” I said, taking them. “Yes. He has money, therefore, he has reach. And if he doesn’t, Granny does. We need to go home.”
“No,” Doom and Harmony said in stereo.
“This needs to be done, once and for all.”
Doom crossed his beefy arms and shook his head. “There’s no way in hell I’m putting you and our child in the path of some psycho, Lyric.”
“You’ll keep me safe.”
“I can’t guarantee that unless we’re at the compound. If you insist on going back to your house, there are too many variables. I can’t lock it down.”
I bit my lip. He had a point.
“Or, you can stay here where you’re safe,” Harmony stressed.
“He’ll keep killing unless I come back. He did it before and I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
“He’s locked up. He can’t touch anyone right now.”
“You of all people know there are prisoners who can do whatever the fuck they want from inside a cell,” I countered. “He might not be able to do it personally, but he can pay someone else to do it. And what if they let him out on bail?”
“After killing a woman?” Doom snapped.
“If he pulls a judge his granny can buy, then it’s possible.”
“Jesus Christ,” he hissed.
Harmony sighed. “I’m gonna have people on you, then.”
“Dalton’ll be able to put a team together,” Doom said. “He’s home for a while.”
“Who’s Dalton?” I asked.
“Dalton Moore. He used to work for the FBI, now he consults,” Harmony said. “He splits his time between Savannah and Scotland. He and Jaxon work together on occasion.”
“He’s a friend to the club. I trust him,” Doom said.
I nodded and met his eyes. “So, we can go home?”
He took a deep breath. “Yeah, Angel, we can go home.”
“Give me two more days,” Harmony begged.
I chuckled. “Okay, sissy, I can do that. My man’s dragging his stuff here, though.”
“Of course he is. The kids need to get to know their new uncle.”
Doom kissed me quickly, then went to find a beer.
* * *
Doom left me at Harmony’s and transferred his bag from the compound to the house just in time for dinner. He’d stopped on the way back to pick up beer, wine, and treats for the kids, so he’d further cemented himself into the hearts of my family, and I couldn’t have loved him more for it. Well, I probably could have if he figured out a way to make wine safe to drink while pregnant, but since he wasn’t a god, I’d have to settle for him being perfect in every other way.
Laying in bed later that night, I snuggled close and ran my finger across one of the flames of his tattoo and kissed his chest. “How did you get involved with your club?”
“Dustin, my lieutenant, actually lit that fire. Pun intended,” he said. “Right after… ah… the accident, he decided to head back to Colorado. He’s from there and left for various reasons I won’t go into. He’s in a club out there, Primal Howlers, and was called back in.”
“Ooh, what’s his super cool club name?”
Doom chuckled. “Moses.”
“What do all of the patches on your vest mean?”
“Cut, baby.”
“What?”
“It’s called a cut. Not a vest. A vest is what Mr. Rogers wore.”
“Mr. Rogers wore a cardigan.”
He groaned. “Well, I don’t wear either, so please never call my cut a vest.”
I grinned. “Okay. Forget I asked. Go back to why you got into the club.”
“The Howlers and the Dogs have been friendly for a while and Moses had asked Doc to check in on me after all the shit that went down. He knew I’d isolate, especially after I quit, and since Doc’s like a fuckin’ dog with a bone, pun also intended, he dragged me into the club. Rabbit came with me and the rest is history, as they say. We did a big reorg a few months ago, so my patch is now that of VP, instead of Road Captain, but otherwise, nothing’s really changed.”
“That’s a promotion, right?”
“Yeah,” he said.
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
“So, who’s who now?”
“Dash is Secretary and Badger’s Treasurer. Doc’s still prez and Alamo’s still Sergeant, so that’s really all that’s changed. We’re patchin’ in a couple of the recruits next month.”
“Who?”
“Mouse and Rabbit.”
“Can I patch in?” I asked, throwing the covers back and straddling his hips.
“No chicks in the band, Angel. Sorry.” He gripped my waist, lifting me slightly and guiding me onto his already hard cock.
I leaned over him and ran my tongue along his pulse. “Maybe this’ll change your mind.”
“Hard and fast rule,
baby.” He thrust up when he said, “Hard.”
Kissing him again, I bit his lip. “How hard?”
He flipped me onto my back and dragged my hands above my head, pinning them to the mattress with one of his. “Hard.”
He buried himself deep, kissing me even deeper, then rocked gently until I wrapped my legs around his waist and arched against him.
“Show me hard, baby,” I begged, but instead of obliging, he pulled out of me and I growled in frustration.
“Shh, Angel, I’m gonna take care of you.”
He kissed his way down my body, then he ran his tongue over my clit and through my soaked folds. Slipping two fingers inside of me, he swept my walls and I whimpered with need.
“You want it hard, baby?”
“Yes,” I rasped.
“I want you on your knees, but I’m gonna keep my fingers right where they are. You think you can manage that?”
I nodded and we moved in tandem as I repositioned myself onto all-fours. He kissed my right butt cheek, his fingers moving inside of me again. “Good girl.”
Slipping his digits out of me, he ran one against my tight hole and I licked my lips as I moaned. “When we get home and you’re settled, I’m gonna play here. It’ll be something for us to look forward to.”
“Okay,” I whispered, my body shivering with the promise.
He guided his dick into me, squeezing my bottom. “Ready, Angel?”
“Yes,” I hissed.
“Brace.”
I braced and he slammed into me, harder and harder, over and over until I shoved my face in a pillow and screamed his name as I came. It took him a few more thrusts, and then we fell onto the mattress and he rolled us onto our sides in spoon fashion, kissing the nape of my neck gently. “I fucking love you, Lyric.”
I grinned. “I fucking love you too, Lincoln.”
His hand slid to my belly. “How’s our baby?”
“So far so good.” I closed my eyes, covering his hand with mine and linking our fingers. “Do you think he’ll be okay?”
“She’ll be perfect, Angel. I have no doubt we’ll have a healthy and happy little blip who’ll keep us up all night.” He slid out of me and kissed my shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”
* * *
Doom
I cleaned up in the bathroom and walked back into the bedroom to find Lyric crying softly. “Angel, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t know,” she said on a groan. “I’m just sad.”
Quieting the Biker's Rage Page 11
