“First of all, nothing is going to happen to you or our baby.” He yanked me up until I was sprawled over his body. “And whatever happens to anyone who’s tried to hurt you is their fault and not yours.”
There was something off about his tone, and I narrowed my eyes as I stared down at him. “Why do I feel as though you’re not telling me something? Usually, me reminding you about the danger I’m in would’ve amped up your already out-of-control protective instincts, but you seem oddly chill right now.”
“Why do I have a feeling it’s going to be damn hard to get anything past you?” he grumbled, pressing the back of his head against the pillow to stare up at the ceiling while he heaved a deep sigh.
“Because you know me better than that.” I tugged on his chest hair until he met my gaze again. “Spill it, Nova.”
“You know Kevin Hines?”
His question threw me for a loop, considering what we were talking about, but I nodded. “Yeah, he’s a cop who lives near my old house.”
“We went to high school together, and he spotted me near your place when I came to get you.” The tension that started to seep into my muscles when I heard a witness could place me with Nova disappeared when he continued his explanation. “He called me a few days after we got here to let me know that when your mom reported you missing, he was assigned to the case. Since you’re eighteen and there was no sign of foul play, he told her there was nothing they could do.”
I collapsed against his chest, resting my ear over his heart so I could listen to the beat while I took in what he told me. “My mom went to the police?”
“Yeah, angel.” He pressed my cheek closer to his chest. “Even though Chad insisted you weren’t missing, your mom still filed a report.”
I gulped down the lump in my throat so I could ask, “What else did Kevin have to say?”
“Your stepdad wiped out their bank account and split town, but your mom didn’t bother to report him missing.”
“Oh.” I couldn’t wrap my head around why my mom made the decisions she did, but Nova’s motivation became much clearer. Pressing my forearms against his stomach, I raised my head and asked, “Is that why you’re suddenly okay with me going to the garage without you? Because you don’t think Chad is a danger to me anymore?”
A hard glint came and went in his dark eyes so quickly that I almost missed it. “That’s exactly why, angel. You don’t have to worry about your stepdad anymore. He’s never going to be able to hurt you again.”
My relief was almost overwhelming, but I wasn’t out of the woods yet. “What about the Ukrainians? Will they come after me if they’re not the reason my stepdad disappeared? I can’t imagine they’d be too happy about being out however much he owed them.”
“The mob won’t be a problem. One of Mac’s friends reached out, and they agreed to take what your stepdad owed them and forget all about you. I already sent them the money, so it’s done.”
“What? No,” I cried, shaking my head. “I don’t want you to lose all your money because of the dumb decisions Chad made. That’s not fair.”
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s more than a fair deal since I got you out of it.” He rolled until I was beneath him and stretched his arm out to pull open the top drawer of the bedside table. I gasped when I felt him slide a ring onto my finger. “What’s mine is yours, which makes it our money.”
I moved my hand closer and stared at the diamond, tears streaming down my cheeks. “We’re getting married?”
“Of course we are, angel.” He pushed back some haphazard curls that had fallen onto my face. “If you’re not pregnant yet, then you will be soon, and I want you to have my last name before that happens. How about you plan the wedding, and I’ll figure out where we’re gonna build a house big enough to hold all the babies I’m gonna give you?”
Between what he’d done to keep me safe and the size of the ring he’d put on my finger, I felt a little guilty. “I don’t need a fancy wedding or new house. We can wait for that stuff.”
“We’re not waiting to start our life together, Rylee,” he growled, a muscle jumping in his jaw.
I never wanted him to think that I had cold feet about marrying him, so I rushed to explain, “But you just sent the Ukrainians all the money Chad owed them. I don’t want us to be broke before we even begin, and that stuff really doesn’t matter as long as I have you.”
“Didn’t you notice how much I charge for my ink?” he asked with a grin. “Between the shop and what comes in from the club, I’m not hurting for money. I have more than enough for us to build our life together.”
Not having to worry about money would be a welcome change, but it made me think about what Chad had done before he left town. “My mom really messed up over the past year and a half, but I hate that she’s going to be left penniless. My dad worked so hard to make sure we never went without, even when he died. And it was all for nothing.”
“It’s gonna take a fuck of a lot of work for your mom to earn her place back in your life, as far as I’m concerned.” His eyes softened as he cupped my cheek. “But you’re going to get paid for your apprenticeship and can do whatever you want with that money. Send it to your mom. Put it in the bank for our kids. Spend it all on sexy lingerie that I can rip off your perfect body. I’m cool with whatever you decide.”
There he went again, showing how well he knew me and the lengths he’d go to make me happy. “I hate Chad for what he did, but I’m also thankful because that whole mess led me to you, and you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“I’ll be sure to pass on your gratitude if I ever see the motherfucker,” Nova promised before he kissed his way down my body to kick off our engagement celebration with the first of many orgasms.
Epilogue
Nova
I pulled up to the specified address and parked around the back of the large warehouse. The nondescript building got lost in the sea of other warehouses around it that looked exactly the same.
After pocketing my keys, I climbed off my hog and quietly let myself in through an old, rusted metal door. It took a couple of seconds for my eyes to adjust to the lack of lighting, but I knew instantly that I wasn’t alone.
A tall, well-built man in a black T-shirt and jeans stepped out of the shadows.
“Merrick?”
He nodded. “This way,” he said in a low, raspy tone.
I followed him down a hallway barely lit by the few working industrial sconces high on the walls. Eventually, he stopped and pushed open a door, then gestured for me to enter first.
The room was a little brighter than the rest of the place, but it was dull due to the heavy black fabric hung on all the walls.
“Noise-reducing curtains. There’s no one around to hear anything, but I take every precaution,” Merrick explained, seeming to read my thoughts. Which was creepy as fuck.
I forgot all about how spooky the hired killer was when I spotted the sorry excuse for a man standing in the center of the room, his arms suspended in the air by chains attached to the ceiling. His body and clothes were as dirty and greasy as his soul. At the sound of Merrick’s voice, Chad’s head lifted, and I smiled at the look of complete terror on his face.
Then his eyes swung to me, and he studied me, probably trying to decide if I was there to save him or assist Merrick. Finally, he asked, “Who are you?”
“Let’s just say, I bought your debt from the Ukrainians.”
“I don’t have any money,” he whined pathetically.
“Oh, I know,” I assured him as I took off my cut and handed it to Merrick. I’d ditch my clothes after this, but I didn’t want to deal with cleaning blood off the leather. “I’m gonna take it out of your body. Piece by piece.”
Chad whimpered like a little bitch and began to beg for mercy.
“Would you have shown Rylee any mercy if she’d begged you not to sell her to the mob? Before you answer, lying will put your tongue at the top of the repayment plan.”
“Rylee?” he whispered.
“Gotta say, though, I’m grateful you’re a fucking piece of shit because it brought Rylee to me.” I held out my hand, and Merrick placed a wicked sharp blade in my palm. “Unfortunately for you, it’s the piece of shit I’m focusing on and not the gratitude. Guess I’m just not the forgiving type.”
I walked forward and—
“Nova! Did you hear me?”
Patriot’s voice snapped me out of my memories, and my reflexes kicked in to catch the package he threw at me before it hit me in the face.
“Nice catch,” he jibed with a ridiculous grin.
“We’ll try catching your face with my fist next time,” I growled.
My phone was still in my hand, and I quickly wiped the text from Merrick that had caused my reminiscence. All it said was, “Done.” The rest of the worry that had been weighing me down disappeared with that one word. I’d rid myself of most of it once I’d spent thirty minutes with Chad. But now that was behind us, and Rylee and I could move on completely.
I glanced at the return address and grinned. Perfect timing. “Be back in ten!” I shouted to Patriot as I jogged to the door. Thinking about what was in my hands, though, I popped my head back in and yelled, “Make it an hour!”
Then I hustled my ass to the garage where Rylee was helping Dom pull the engine on a 1950s era Bel Air.
“Stealing my girl for an hour,” I told Dom before scooping Rylee into my arms and heading to the clubhouse.
“Nova!” she protested. “I’m working.”
“Lunchtime,” I grunted as I took the stairs two at a time.
“It’s three in the afternoon,” she muttered dryly. She knew exactly what was happening, and by now, she’d learned there’d be no changing my mind.
“I have a present for you.”
Rylee lit up and grinned, her green eyes dancing merrily. “A present?”
My girl loved surprises and presents. It was cute as hell.
Once we were in our room, I set her on her feet and began tearing off her clothes. When she was naked, except for her ring, she turned to crawl on the bed, but I stopped her with a hand on her hip. “Stay, angel.”
I opened the package and withdrew the brand new leather vest I’d ordered the day after I brought Rylee to the compound. I flipped it around to show her the back, and she gasped in delight.
Stitched on the top was “Property of,” then the Silver Saints MC logo, and “Nova” underneath. “Turn around,” I commanded in a gruff voice. I’d been dreaming of this from the moment I first saw Rylee’s picture, and now that this moment was here, I was fighting hard for control.
She pivoted obediently, and I slipped the cut up her arms and settled it on her shoulders before guiding her back to face me.
“Fuck,” I breathed. “Been dying to see you in nothing but my ring and property patch.”
“Well?” she asked as she held the vest together and struck a pinup pose.
“Get on the bed, angel,” I gritted out. “I’m gonna fuck you just like this. Then I’m gonna flip you over and fuck you while I stare at my brand.”
Rylee didn’t hesitate, and I licked my lips as I watched her big tits bounce under the cut as she moved to the center of the bed on her knees. My eyes dropped to her soft belly, and my already hard cock swelled to the point of pain, knowing our baby was growing in there.
“Well?” she said impatiently, her heated eyes dragging up my body.
I didn’t make her wait any longer.
“I don’t know how I’m going to finish this,” I groaned as my eyes once again strayed to my wife’s plump, glistening folds.
“It was your idea,” she responded breathlessly.
The sound of her rapid breathing drew my eyes up to her tits, peeking out between the gap in her vest. They’d grown bigger during her pregnancy, and now that she was breastfeeding, they were even more tempting.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to refocus on my task and dabbed at the ink on her skin before turning my tattoo pen back on. I was almost done. Almost done.
I didn’t know what the fuck I’d been thinking when I decided Rylee should be wearing nothing but her old lady vest while I put a tattoo just above her pussy.
The fact that she’d agreed to it in the first place had shocked me, but from that second on, all I could think about was the night I gave her the cut. Now, I was dying to see her wearing nothing but my ring and property patch on her back and her pussy. So, I figured I’d see it faster if that was all she wore while I inked my brand on her skin.
But it had been a fuck of a lot harder than I’d thought to concentrate on my art when my wife was laid out on my table like an offering. Just begging to be feasted on.
Finally, I was done. I breathed a huge sigh of relief as I shut off the equipment. Then I pushed to my feet and stood back to admire my handiwork.
“Never seen anything so fucking gorgeous,” I growled.
Before I did anything stupid, I quickly slathered the tattoo with Vaseline and covered it with a bandage. Clutching to my control, I grabbed Rylee’s loose sweatpants and turned to help her put them on.
I froze when I saw her propped up on her elbows, the sides of her vest pushed away, baring her sexy tits, and her legs wide open.
“I’m not sore yet. You should probably take advantage of me,” she said silkily, her green eyes ablaze and burning me everywhere they touched.
My control snapped.
Nine months later, I was convinced I’d knocked her up again right there in my chair where I’d just inked my name on her pussy.
Epilogue
Rylee
“This place was so worth the price,” I sighed as we trudged up the path to the cabin where we’d been staying for the past five days for our annual trip to Disney World.
I’d been thrilled when Nova had surprised me with a trip here shortly after we’d gotten back from our honeymoon ten years ago—and stunned to discover that it was his favorite place to vacation. I’d known that Arya went every year, but my sexy biker didn’t seem like the theme park type. I’d always assumed that she forced him to go with her. It had turned out that their annual vacation plan was as much his idea as it was hers, and I’d loved catching glimpses of the little boy he’d been the first time he’d come here as a kid.
But going to Disney when we were newly married and only helping out with our adorable nephew from time to time was very different from spending a week here with seven kids total—Dax and Arya’s three, plus our four. I wouldn’t trade our yearly trek here for anything, though. The memories we made with our children, nieces, and nephew were worth the exhaustion I felt when we made it back to the cabin each night.
Nova got the brunt of it since he was the one who pushed the two youngest around all day. Even though Gemma and Gillian had outgrown using a stroller at home, they never argued about it at the theme park since their little feet were always tired before the end of the first day of our trip.
He glanced over his shoulder with a cocky smirk on his handsome face. “Told you this was the perfect place to stay.”
I’d balked a little at the price tag—a habit Nova still hadn’t been able to get me past after all these years—but he’d insisted that it was perfect for our family. With two bedrooms, plus a pull-out couch and a twin sleeper chair in the living room, there was plenty of room for our crew. The boat transportation to our favorite park made getting there and back a breeze, and the full kitchen made it easy to keep the kids’ favorite snacks around. We also enjoyed the quiet atmosphere, fireplace, and lake views after our long days of running around. Dax and Arya were in the cabin next door, so the kids could run back and forth to see each other, too. But all of that paled in comparison to my favorite part of our accommodations.
As soon as we got into the cabin, Nova turned to me and suggested, “Go ahead and hop into the hot tub. I’ll get everyone settled before I join you in there.”
I probably should’ve felt guilty abo
ut leaving Nova to take care of four kids all by himself, but I wasn’t about to turn down that offer. Flashing him a grin, I brushed a quick kiss against his cheek before saying, “Behave for your daddy, kiddos.”
There was a chorus of “But Mommy” in four childish voices as I made a mad dash for the larger bedroom. By the time I came back out, after using the bathroom and changing into a hot pink bikini, Nova had already made the kids a snack and poured me a glass of wine. “Here you go, angel. I’ll see you out there as soon as I get everybody off to bed.”
“I wanna go in the hot tub, too,” Gillian whined.
Joshua, our second oldest, nodded. “Yeah.”
“C’mon, guys. Give Mom and Dad a break.” Our oldest, Seth, winked at me and grinned over his mug of hot chocolate. “They spent all day doing everything we wanted. Now they want time to smooch.”
Joshua made a gagging sound, which made the girls giggle. Seth bumped him with his shoulder, and Nova leveled a look at the group that made them all settle down. “You guys see me kiss your mom all the time. You should be used to it by now.”
That was definitely true. The chemistry between us hadn’t dimmed in all these years. We were lucky they hadn’t caught us doing a whole lot more than that, although there had been a few close calls when one of the kids came wandering into our room for one reason or another in the middle of the night and we’d forgotten to lock the door.
“I’ll show you some smooches.” I dropped a sloppy kiss on each of my baby’s heads, enjoying their exaggerated reactions as I walked past the table to head out to the covered patio. After pressing the button to turn on the jets, I set my glass of wine down next to the hot tub. Then I rolled up a towel, set it on the edge near my wine, and slipped out of my cover-up. I let out a low moan of relief when I stepped into the hot water, which felt great to my sore feet.
Nova: Silver Saints MC Page 7