Riding Hard (Hell Ryders MC Book 4)

by J. L. Sheppard

  Her heart stopped. Jaw dropping, she pointed out, “But you’re still married.”

  “Won’t be for much longer. She can’t keep stalling. Judge is gonna get fed up.”

  Heart pounding, she whispered, “You’re serious?”

  “Talked to Cul this morning. He wants you with us. We want you with us, not just until you’re safe but always.” He pressed his forehead to hers so all she saw were his big, beautiful eyes. “It’s right. I know it. Cul, you, and me, we work. We’re a family. I’ll sell this house. We’ll move into yours. I’ll buy you a ring, pay for whatever kinda wedding you want.”

  Everything he said made it sound like he’d put thought into this, like he had it all planned out, but it was too soon. He could get tired of her in a month or a year.

  “Y-you’re…crazy.”

  “Then be crazy with us.”

  Simple as that.

  Us. Not just her and him, but Cullen too. She wouldn’t be just Dave Roth’s wife. She’d be Cullen’s stepmom. She wanted that, but she was terrified. It was soon, too soon. What if this blew up in their faces hurting not just her and him but Cullen too and arguably the most?

  “Okay.” The word slipped from her lips before she talked herself out of it.

  He grinned wide and beautiful. “That’s all I get? An ‘okay’?”

  Smirking, she shook her head. “I love you too.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Lex looked around her classroom. Freshly decorated corkboards, done. The stack of her students’ work, graded. Onto planning. The reason she loved teacher planning days: it wasn’t even noon and she’d gotten so much done.

  It’d been three weeks since Dodge proposed. They hadn’t told a soul. This partly since he was still married. The secret was easy to keep since she didn’t have a ring. It was an added cost they could avoid, so she didn’t want one and told Dodge so. They met with a realtor last week, put both their houses on the market, and started looking for a home of their own. This was something they decided together, feeling the best move was to start fresh in a new house. She’d miss her house, the one she’d remodeled to her taste, but she wanted their home to represent the three of them, not just her. Besides, her home wasn’t big enough since they wanted to add to their family. He made it clear he wanted more kids not just the day he’d proposed.

  Two weeks ago, they lay in bed, Dodge on his back, an arm around her shoulders. Her head nestled in the crook of his arm, her leg tangled in his.

  He cupped her cheek with his free hand and turned toward her, meeting her gaze. His arm around her drifted to her lower back then up to her hair. “How many kids does my wild woman want?”

  She shrugged. “I always wanted three, but—”

  He smirked. “But what?”

  “But we already have one.”

  He reared back. Eyes growing intense, he scanned her face. “I meant how many do you want of your own?”

  “Just because he didn’t grow inside me doesn’t mean he’s not mine.”

  His brows furrowed, eyes darkened. He drifted his hand from her hair to the back of her neck and squeezed. Face softening, he smiled. “Yeah, Lex, you’re right. He’s yours. He claimed you, and you claimed him.”

  He made love to her after that soft, slow, and sweet. It melted her.

  The following night, after an intensely long round of sex, they lay facing each other. One of his arms around her shoulders, another snaked around her waist. Both of her hands firm against his chest.

  Catching her breath, she smiled. “How many kids do you want?”

  “It’s not up to me.”

  Eyes widening, she reared back. “It is. I don’t want a child unless—”

  “Not what I meant.” He chuckled, and with the arm around her waist, he tugged her close, closing the small distance she’d forced. “I meant you’re the one who has to go through being pregnant and the labor. Raising a kid isn’t easy especially the first few years. It’s exhausting, but I like kids. I love Cul. I know I’ll love a baby that’s you and me too. I could go for two even three more, but it’s not something I’d push you for unless I was sure it’s what you wanted.”

  He kissed her softly. “I never had a brother or a sister. I would’ve liked to, so I’d like Cul to have one. Gotta admit I like the idea of him having someone after we’re gone. Think he’d like it too.”

  She fell asleep that night smiling.

  A few days later, they lay in bed sated, her twice, the reason she’d been half asleep already when he spoke.

  “How soon do you want to start?”

  She slipped her hand from his stomach to his side and moved closer. “Hmm?”

  “How soon do you want to start trying?”

  “Trying?”

  “Yeah, to make a baby.”

  Her eyes shot open. She shifted, lifting her head away from his chest to peer at him. “I’d like to be married first.”

  She wasn’t overly religious or old-fashioned, but she believed certain things were meant to be done in order. To her, it was important their child was conceived after they made vows and committed their lives to one another.

  “So when do you want to get married?”

  The more she thought about it, and she’d thought about it a lot, the more she thought they should wait at least a year. After all, they hadn’t known each other long.

  “We have to wait until your divorce is—”

  “Told you that’s gonna happen soon, babe. Don’t let that stop us from planning.”

  “Still, I think we should wait a while.”

  “Like a couple of months?”

  She shook her head. “No, like a year.”

  Eyes widening, he lifted his head from the pillow. “A year?” After a moment, he relaxed. “Guess that’s what it takes to plan a wedding anyway, right?”

  Her sister’s took a year, but Meg had a big, lavish wedding. Lex didn’t want that.

  She shrugged. “I want a small wedding.”

  His hand moved through her hair. “So you want to wait ’cause of something else?”

  “I think it’s the smart thing to do for all of us. I mean Cul—”

  “Loves you and wants you in his life, Lex. Talked to him about this.”

  “And if it doesn’t work? I’ll lose you and him.”

  “It’s up to me, you’re never losing me. You change your mind about me and want out, I pray you’ll always be a part of Cul’s life.” His eyes darkened. “I fucking mean that, Lex. He loves you. I want my kid happy and him happy is you being a part of his life.”

  Her eyes watered. Lifting herself, she pressed a kiss to his lips. “I love you so much.” She settled beside him and fell asleep.

  They hadn’t talked about babies or marriage since. Knowing Dodge, he was giving her time to think.

  Her alarm sounded. Ten to noon. Since she had the habit of losing track of time while planning, she set her alarm to remind her Dodge would be over to bring lunch and eat. She organized her desk, grabbed her purse, and headed to the restroom to freshen up. Gaze on her phone, deleting emails, she strode inside.

  A flash of movement. She lifted her head. Pain exploded on the side of her face. She stumbled and fell, landing on the floor with a thump.

  Then everything faded away.

  ****

  Dodge walked into her classroom with a bag of takeout in hand.

  Empty.

  Placing the food on her desk, he checked his watch. Ten minutes late, she knew he’d bring them lunch. He couldn’t explain it, but that instant, that fast a sense of dread settled in the pit of his stomach.

  Nope. No fucking way. Nothing to worry about. There hadn’t been a call for a week.

  It wasn’t easy to shrug off the concern. He worried about her a lot. Sometimes, he couldn’t get ahold of her and panicked. He needed to stop, but he couldn’t, not until they found whoever was messing with her.

  Tugging his phone out of his pocket, he dialed Hash, who he’d passed on his w
ay into the school.

  “Brother.”

  “Lex. She leave?”

  “Been out here all morning. Besides when she walked in, haven’t seen her. Her car’s still here too.”

  His chest tightened. “She isn’t here.”

  Maybe he was overreacting. Maybe he wasn’t. Until he found her, he wouldn’t know for sure, and he wasn’t taking any chances, so he gave the order.

  “Search the school.”

  “I’ll call the brothers on my way in.”

  Dodge dashed out of Lex’s classroom and into the room directly across from hers. Finding a woman around Lex’s height with dark curly hair in it, he asked her for Lex. She said she hadn’t seen Lex all morning. He mumbled his thanks then continued.

  With each classroom he searched, with each step he took, and each minute that drifted, the anxiety strengthened until tension lined every muscle in his body.

  Reaching the end of the hall, he came across the restrooms. Going into the men’s first, he didn’t think she’d be there but checked anyway and found it empty. On a sprint, he crossed the hall to the women’s. The moment he entered at the far end, he spotted her, not the her he was looking for.

  His gut soured then rolled. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

  Lilliam, standing just outside a stall, turned, phone in hand. His gaze snapped below. Visible under the stall, four feet.

  “I found them like this.”

  He moved so quickly, Lilliam barely had a chance to move out of the way. Reaching the stall, a man faced him. He grabbed him by the front of his shirt and dragged him out. Gaze glued to the inside of that stall, now, he saw what he couldn’t before—Lex.

  Lying against the toilet, the navy blue shirt she wore that morning torn down the middle, her bra hiked up to her chin, breasts in view. Her jeans unbuttoned, unzipped, and halfway down her thighs. Eyes closed, a bruise marred the top right side of her forehead, blood dripped from a wound.

  Now, everything became crystal clear.

  The calls and vandalism—Lilliam, her sick plan to fuck with him hurting her child in the process.

  He swallowed the bile rising in the back of his throat and fought the rage building inside.

  First thing, he took off his cut and draped it over Lex. Then he spun. He didn’t know who the man was, didn’t care. What he knew, Lex was near naked, and that man had been standing over her. Dodge knew who made it happen—Lilliam. Still, it didn’t change the fact that this man made this happen too.

  Dodge swung his fist into his nose. The punch connected. He heard a crack. When he lifted his arm, blood gushed out. The man fell to the ground. He pounced. He lost count how many times he landed a blow, couldn’t even say if the guy started to fight him because he went into a haze. Before he knew it, someone hauled him off the man. Some of the cloud lifted. The ass lay on the ground bleeding, groaning, and whining.

  He shoved away whoever held him.

  Then Trig got in his face. “She needs you. You gotta keep your head.”

  Yes. He had Lex. He had Cul, and they needed him. He brought this down on her. He had to fix it, had to make amends.

  Fisting his hands, feeling his knuckles burn, he took several deep breaths. Then he looked beyond Trig and spotted Hash, Army, Ripper, Strike, Mellow, Bud, Blaze… All of them—his club, his brothers—they filled the women’s restroom making the place feel tiny.

  His gaze stopped on Prez. “Both of them at the compound. Keep them until I deal with Lex.”

  He looked to Trig and Rip. “If one of your women can help with Lex while I deal with them, much appreciated.”

  They nodded and walked out of the restroom. He turned and headed for Lex.

  Cuss stood inside the stall, a hand under her head, the other by her neck, index and middle fingers pressed there. “Pulse is good. Steady breathing. She’s got a nasty bump and cut. You may wanna take her to the hospital to make sure she doesn’t got a concussion.”

  Thank fuck.

  He nodded. “I got her. You go.”

  Cuss nodded. “Wait for you outside.”

  He squatted next to Lex and slowly and carefully righted her clothes, setting her bra in place, pulling her jeans to her waist then zipping and buttoning them. He couldn’t do anything about her torn shirt, so again he draped his cut over her. Placing an arm around her back, one under her knees, he lifted and carried her out.

  In the hall, he looked to Blaze. “Grab her purse and phone. I spotted them on the bathroom floor.”

  Blaze nodded.

  Dodge strode out of the school and hopped into the back of Cuss’s SUV. Bud and Hash helped him load Lex, laying her stretched out in the back seat with her head on his lap. While Cuss drove to the hospital, he kept a hand under her head.

  “J-June.”

  He snapped his head down, gaze meeting hers. Her eyes parted half-mast; a smile played at her lips.

  He expelled a loaded breath and forced a smile. “What?”

  “I want to get married in June.”

  She wouldn’t want that after she knew all he brought down on her.

  “Lex, babe.” His throat clogged. “This shit… My fault.”

  Her brows creased.

  “Lilliam’s the one who attacked you. She’s the one who’s been scaring the shit out of you.”

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “June.”

  He swallowed. “Baby, did you hear me?”

  She parted her lids and met his stare. Eyes warm, she nodded. “June.”

  Fuck him.

  What he ever did to deserve her, he’d never know.

  He nodded. “Next year.”

  A soft smile spread across her lips. “This year.”

  He’d marry her that day if he could, and he didn’t want to make her rethink her decision, but it was only fair he point out the obvious.

  “That’s in two months. Is that enough time to plan?”

  “I want a small beach wedding, so yes.”

  He was still married, but he’d be divorced by then. He’d make sure of it because Lex wanted to get married in June, so they’d get married in June.

  He grinned and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Gotta get my wild woman a ring.”

  “I told you I don’t need a ring, honey, just you and Cul…my boys.”

  Her boys.

  Fuck.

  “Getting you a ring, Lex. You say you don’t want one, say you don’t need one. You can start bitching and complaining all you want, but it’s still gonna happen.”

  He’d make it happen.

  She burrowed herself against him and smiled. “Oh well, if you insist.”

  He couldn’t help himself and chuckled.

  The thing about his wild Lex—she could make everything, even the aftermath of dire situations, seem just perfect.

  Epilogue

  Lex sat with her family and friends around her at a stunningly decorated table: ivory tablecloth, gold table runner and embellishments, a towering bouquet of white roses in the center and candles spread throughout. She clutched her hands together and rested them on her lap against the most gorgeous ivory, lace wedding dress she’d ever laid eyes on.

  “It was beautiful,” Meg, her hand on her pregnant belly, said as tears gleamed in her eyes.

  Lex smiled, reached for her sister’s hand, and squeezed it. “Thanks.”

  Dodge and her wedding had been at the beach, but for the reception, they’d rented a picturesque, quaint hall with lots of charm: French windows and doors, a dome ceiling, and chandeliers.

  Em smiled. “Absolutely stunning.”

  Mia took a sip of champagne. “I have no idea how you planned this wedding in two months. Seriously, you should be a wedding planner.”

  She laughed.

  “You deserve this,” Lynn whispered.

  A lot had happened in the last half year. She made a big move, met the man she’d marry, fell for his handsome boy then fell for him. There was some bad in there too. She couldn’t f
orget their big fight, when she ended them. She couldn’t forget the calls and vandalism, or how much it terrified her. Despite trying her hardest, she couldn’t forget being assaulted at school.

  She dreamt about it repeatedly, woke up in a sweat at least once a week. She’d been seeing a therapist, and over the last month, she’d realized it had little to do with the attack and more to do with fear of what could’ve happened. She’d been knocked out, suffered a bump, bruise, and cut but hadn’t had a concussion.

  She couldn’t remember what happened in between the time she was knocked out and when she woke. Her shirt had been ripped, and she’d later found out Lilliam’s plan had been to take pictures of her naked with that man, post the pictures on the school bulletin board, and spread them throughout town. Lilliam wanted Dodge to think Lex had cheated on him, wanted her to lose her job, and have to move away since the other methods of tormenting her hadn’t worked.

  The man who took part in Lilliam’s plot, Alfred Baker, happened to work for Lex’s phone company and had access to private numbers, which explained how she kept receiving calls even after she’d changed her number. According to Dodge, Lilliam offered the man sexual favors in exchange for helping her.

  In the end, Dodge kept his word. He’d found who’d been tormenting her. He’d made them stop. He’d saved her. The club, his brothers, helped too. Because of them, Lex had pressed charges against Lilliam and Alfred and filed for restraining orders, which had been granted. Not two weeks after the attack, Dodge’s divorce was finalized. Lilliam had also given up her parental rights.

  The ordeal would take time to get over, but she wasn’t worried. She had a great family and wonderful friends supporting her and a new husband who’d do just about anything for her. She also had Cullen, her son. Last month, she’d adopted him.

  It’d been a normal school night. After she’d made dinner and they ate, she’d settled on the counter looking through a brochure with a series of centerpieces trying to decide what she wanted for their wedding. It took a half hour, but she’d narrowed it down to three. Noticing Cullen and Dodge come near, she lifted her head, gaze glued to Cul, and smiled.

  He handed her a folder.

  Brows quirking, she opened it and read the heading of the document: adoption papers.