Never in my life had I felt so useless; my hands were tied, I couldn’t do anything but wait for the next update on my girl when I got back to the civilisation of the temporary base.
During the time the team and I were out of range, I kept myself busy with hours of recon missions, desperate to find our target, take care of business and get the hell back home.
Back to Oaklee.
Back to my light.
And now here I was, standing out the front of the business my Uncle Mannix and Aunt Rainn ran, about to go inside and finally be face to face with the woman I loved more than I ever thought it was possible to love another human being.
Watching my Temptress for the last two days had been an exercise in control. All I wanted to do was storm inside that alcohol and drug-infested house and carry her out of it.
I didn’t, though, first I had to get an idea of where she was mentally and health-wise before I went barging in and possibly making things worse for her.
The first time I laid eyes on her once I got back in the country just about killed me. Seeing how much weight she had dropped brought me to my fucking knees right there in my hiding spot across the road. A vacant house directly across the street became my vantage point to observe without being seen.
I sat my arse inside the front room, a sleeping bag and my gun scope my only companions. I didn’t budge until earlier this evening when Oaklee marched out of the house, walked a few hundred feet up the street, and got in Thayer’s car.
Booth had already asked Ford to run Thayer’s name through his database at VIC ROADS, so I knew whose car she was getting into.
Unfortunately for me, my bike broke down a kilometre into following them. I lost them because, for some fucking stupid reason, I let the prospect go earlier in the day to follow her father, wanting eyes on him too, just in case he decided to go to his parent’s property.
From what I learnt from Oaklee and the surveillance we had them under, Oaklee’s parents were real cunts. They had no morals, and it was crystal clear they didn’t care about their daughter. Not paying rent for months, making it necessary for Oaklee to sell her car, so she had money. Yeah, I knew it all, and I couldn’t find it in me to give two fucks at the length of digging I did into Oaklee’s personal business. They might not give a shit about her, but to me, Oaklee was my whole fucking world; making sure she was safe was why I was put on earth.
That much I knew.
What I didn’t know was why Oaklee was at a strip club on Girls’ Night.
Although that wasn’t totally true, Thayer was the one that picked Oaklee up, and wherever Thayer went, trouble was never far behind.
Nodding to Dave, the bouncer on the door, I bypassed the chick taking the entry fees and walked right inside, letting my eyes adjust to the strobe lighting and my ears to the god-awful techno crap blaring too loud from the speakers.
Fuck, I was too tired for this shit. Too many hours on planes, sitting on my arse and left alone to brood. Then two days sitting in one spot and sleeping on a floor that had seen better days, getting angry every time I watched Oaklee walk past a window or come outside and cry, then proudly watch as she pulled herself together and stomped back inside.
On top of that, my dad and I weren’t in the greatest of places right now with each other. I was still pissed at him for interfering for reasons he had no business getting into, as well as the Team FIVE issues. To say I was at my breaking point was a huge understatement.
Just one dick gets flashed at me and someone is going to taste my fist deep in their throat.
Scanning the room with a practiced eye, it didn’t take me more than a minute to find Thayer, or rather I first heard her. Zeroing in on her shrilled whistle, I stood there and watched as some barely dressed cockhead sauntered over to the table where Thayer sat facing in my direction. In her fingers was a fifty-dollar note, she was waving it back and forth, a drunken smirk on her face.
Trouble.
Following where Thayer was looking, I dropped my eyes from her to the chair on the other side of the table. From where I was standing, a crowd of people gathered in front of me, blocking my view of the person sitting there.
But I didn’t need to see to know it was Oaklee. My hopes that Thayer had dropped my girl off elsewhere before coming here were dashed when the hairs on the back of my neck pricked as I moved slowly around the group of screaming women.
It was my dick twitching in my pants that cemented in my mind that my girl was here. The closer I got, the harder he got. He knew she was near, fuck he could probably smell her. And shit, did he miss her.
A waterfall of long, black silk appeared in my vision, and that was all it took for my heart to calm and thump wildly all at the same time.
That was until the stripper moved away from Thayer and planted himself in a straddled position on my girl’s lap.
“Oh, fuck no, he did not!” My bellow catching the attention of patrons and bouncers, and Mannix, who was standing behind the bar, a deep scowl on his face.
Why he was letting this shit go on was a mystery. He would never let the male patrons be let loose on the female dancers, and hell Mannix had a no-touch policy. No touching the dancers and absolutely no touching your dick. So why was some fuckwit, sitting on my girlfriend with nothing more than a scrap of silver shit wrapping his cock?
Making a slashing motion with my hand, I signalled Mannix of my intentions. His reaction was exactly what I expected it would be. Reaching for his phone, he put it to his ear, giving me a clipped chin lift. I knew who he was calling, and that was just fine with me. Get my father here, he’ll get the whole fucking Club here, the more the merrier.
Time for the whole world to know that Oaklee was mine … well past time.
Stalking forward, I made it to the table to hear the arsehole suggesting to my girl he could do her.
Like fucking hell.
“No! She means to get the fuck off her lap, right fucking now, or I will drag you out the back and beat the living shit out of you for even daring to put your grubby hands on my girlfriend,” I growled, so fucking pissed at seeing another man so close and touching what was mine, and her touching him. Oaklee had her hands on his chest in an effort to push him off, but the stupid prick was so oiled up, she wasn’t getting the traction needed. Instead, all she was accomplishing was slipping all over his pecs, and that was ramping up my desire to kill him.
Oaklee’s shoulders tensed the second she heard my voice, her hands stilling, her fingers clawing into his skin. I watched as her neck fell back, and a tiny gasped moan left her lips.
Yeah, baby, I’m here. And fuck have I missed you.
“Temptress, how about you take your hands off the fucker, so I don’t have to look at you touching another man. As it is, seeing him sitting on your lap practically naked is going to take a lifetime to get out of my head.”
Now, look at me, baby, and give me those greens, heal me with one of your smiles. The ones that belong to me and me only.
Unable to wait for either of them to get over their shock, I grabbed him under the armpit and hauled him to his feet, grimacing at the oil now on my hand.
“Get the fuck away now, and I suggest you run before I find you and kill you,” I threatened menacingly. The idiot hesitated, stumbling to get his footing, and I was about to do something about his stupidity when the music suddenly cut off.
“Harrison, do as Cole says. Quickly,” Mannix bellowed, coming up to stand beside me, his arms crossed over his chest, his tone menacing, just like mine.
Satisfied that Mannix had the stripper in hand, I switched my focus back to my girl. She was yet to look at me, but her body, every sexy inch of it, was vibrating. And going by the way Thayer’s mouth was hanging open, her eyes wide with shock, I got the impression neither woman was expecting to see me here tonight.
Wrong assumption.
If Oaklee had some asinine idea that we were done, then she was in for one hell of a shock. Not only was I going to take Oaklee home
with me, I fully intended on putting my ring on her finger and ending this nightmare I have been in over the past weeks.
No more fucking around, no more secrets, and no more darkness.
Turning to face Oaklee, I dropped to my knees in front of her.
“Baby,” I whisper growled, seeing up close what I couldn’t see from the window in my hide-out. Her beautiful … so beautiful face was gaunt and hollowed in at her cheeks. Her eyes had dark circles under them, and her eyes were so sad. Making a quick swept of her, I noted the protruding collar bones, her skinnier shoulders, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from crying. Resting one hand on her knee, I cupped her face with my other hand. Touching her again after so long eased the dark beast inside me, even in this simple way.
“Oaklee?”
“Wha—what are you doing here?” she stammered, her eyes moving all over me, unconsciously moving further into my palm.
“Really? That is what you ask me first after weeks of being apart?”
“Your mum, didn’t she tell you that I—”
“Quit? Yeah, she told me, she told me a lot of things, and I told her a lot of things too.” Keeping my voice gentle, I leaned in and pressed my forehead to hers, inhaling the sweet scent that was uniquely Oaklee and ignoring the offensive smell of scented body oil.
Fucking arsehole better run fast and far.
“I have been going crazy, baby, not knowing where the hell you were, not being able to contact you. Jesus, Oaklee.” Taking in a deep cleansing breath, I took a second to just appreciate being close to her again. “What were you thinking, sweetheart, going off the grid that way?”
“I was thinking of your relationship with your father; our being together is putting a wedge between you two, Cole,” Oaklee whispered. My name falling from her lips like a prayer.
“What about our relationship, Oaklee? What about us?”
Shaking her head, Oaklee smiled sadly, her teeth capturing her bottom lip, working it.
“Don’t do that, baby,” I scolded softly, using my thumb to pull it free.
“Cole, your mum made it perfectly clear that we weren’t a good idea. That I was making you lie to your father.”
“Shhh, baby.” I stopped her, not ready to hear again what the Flock and my mum said to Oaklee, what they accused her of. During one of the many phone calls to the compound, I spoke to my mother. She came clean about what happened when she, Rainn and Charlotte confronted Oaklee, only to have their plan blow up in their faces. When Mum detailed what their intention had been, to basically confront her, let her believe they knew everything, and Oaklee would confess to our relationship, and then the women would give her a little hell for the deception. Lesson learnt and interrogation over, or something stupid like that. What Mum and her Flock had not counted on was my girl didn’t like to be backed into a corner. They didn’t know about her parents or the hell they had put her through. They also didn’t count on Oaklee taking all the blame on herself, she would rather sacrifice herself than see my dad and me fall out.
They didn’t know just how perfect for me she was … is. I did, though, and I wasn’t going to let her fall on her sword.
“Oaklee, no, it isn’t your fault, none of this is baby, it’s—”
“Mine.” A booming voice echoed in the room from near the bar area. A voice I knew well. Whipping my head up, I looked up and found my father standing in the middle of a straight line of Wounded Souls. The original members. The first Team Five.
Oaklee, too was turned in her seat, looking at my dad with a mixture of fear and surprise. Not that I blamed her, it wasn’t often one heard the great, brooding Creed Stephens own fault.
“Son,” Dad nodded at me, “mind if I say a few things?”
Lowering my gaze back to Oaklee, I turned her face back to me. “Baby?” I asked, giving her the lead. Dad and I were still in the process of finding our way back, and I wasn’t overly concerned we wouldn’t. After all, family was the most important thing in my dad’s life. Oaklee, however, wasn’t used to the overbearing and overwhelming ways I was used to, so this was going to be her call.
With a wobbly smile, Oaklee nodded, then gently pushed on my chest so she could get up from her seat. Quickly jumping to my feet, I took her hand and helped her up, sighing happily when her fingers threaded through mine and held onto me as we turned and faced the intimidating line-up.
Behind the wall of muscled men, I saw my team and their wives standing with the Flock. Four of them looking particularly guilty and ashamed. That conversation would come later because the Flock meant well, it was their execution that needed some work.
“Hello, Creed,” Oaklee greeted my father politely, her voice was quiet but strong.
Good girl.
“Hello Oaklee, I’m glad my son found you. He has been in hell these past weeks, and honestly, so have I.” Breaking ranks, Dad moved forward until he was standing directly in front of us, his black eyes full of sorrow and regret.
“I owe you an apology, Oaklee, I made a judgement call from a handful of assumptions, and for that, I am not proud of myself. I misjudged you, made up my own mind without fully understanding the woman you are.” Dropping his head, Dad looked to be struggling, which was not something I was used to seeing.
“And to make matters worse,” Dad muttered, looking back up this time at me, “I didn’t trust my son. I forgot for a minute there just how much of an upstanding man he is, that he would never hurt a woman, never use her, never let his darkness touch her. I misjudged you both, allowed some old ghosts in, and did some fucking horrible assuming.”
I wasn’t going to lie, hearing my father admit to his flaws was kind of satisfying. It showed me that even heroes weren’t always perfect, that they fucked up from time to time, just like us normal folk.
“I underestimated the love you have for each other and its healing quality. I won’t be doing that ever again,” Dad promised, his gaze holding mine for a few seconds, then softened when he swapped back to Oaklee.
“I’m not brittle, Creed, some tiny cracks may surface from time to time, but for the most part, I can hold my own. Cole going away on deployments or the role in his team, I promise you, I can handle.” Oaklee ran her thumb over mine; the gesture and the words and the meaning behind them made my heart pick up a beat and my cock twitch in my pants. Oaklee standing up to my mother and my old man gave me the reassurance she could indeed hold her own, but with my job and deployments?
Maybe she wasn’t going to have to in the future.
Forgetting that line of thought, for now, I let go of Oaklee’s hand only to replace our connection with my arm wrapped around her waist, letting out a low growl feeling how much slimmer she was under her bulky knitted jumper.
No more Temptress. No more heartache for you from now on. Only love and happiness. I vowed silently.
Holding out her hand to my dad, Oaklee waited for him to accept her peace offering before rocking my world.
“I know you and Memphis love your sons and daughter, Creed, but you have to know, Cole is the most important part of my life. He healed me without me even knowing it, and he gave me a purpose, the strength to face all my demons. He makes me feel like the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, and he treats me with such exquisite tenderness and loves me so deeply. How can anyone be all that and not be trustworthy with my health and heart?”
My legs threatened to give out; how the fuck this gorgeous creature chose me, a beat-up, lonely, brooding, dark bastard, was a miracle and not one I was ever going to take for granted.
“Baby,” I murmured, forgetting the room full of people gawking at us and pulled Oaklee flush against my chest, crowding her with my big body, melding us as one.
“I fucking love you so much, Oaklee Jane Banks. I love your kindness, your sass, and your compassion for others, even when they don’t treat you with the respect and love you deserve.” Laying my lips to hers, I breathed her in, taking much-needed seconds to assure myself she was h
ere, looking at me with those stunningly kind green eyes.
“You make me whole, baby, you make me want to shed the dark and only live in the light. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you, my beautiful girl, but …” pulling her deeper into me, I pushed my crotch into her belly, loving the gasp and the moan that left her lips and the cloud of desire that flashed across her face.
“If I ever see another man touching you, like I just witnessed, I will tie you to our bed and fuck you until that vision is gone. Understand me, Temptress? No one touches you except me.”
“T.. t.. tie me up?” Oaklee breathed, her tongue coming out to swipe at her plump bottom lip, leaving the most enticing trail of wetness, I had no choice but to taste it. Parting my lips, my mouth descended on hers, our eyes still holding each other, as I reacquainted myself with her taste. It had been far too long since I’d had this flavour on my tongue, and soon, very soon, I was going to familiarise myself with another taste that was uniquely Oaklee the moment I got her back to her place.
“Yeah, baby, but trust me, you are going to love it,” I grinned against her lips, chuckling at her wide-eyed and delighted response to my punishment.
“I do trust you, honey, that was never in doubt, and neither was how much I love you,” she whispered, a sassy smile forming on her lips.
“I better go talk to your mum, then maybe we should get Thayer out of here. This many bikers in one room can only mean trouble if you get my meaning.” Smirking, Oaklee nodded her head towards her friend. Slanting my face enough to look at Thayer, I choked out a laugh when I saw her staring at the men of the Wounded Souls with shocked, wide eyes and … drooling?
“Thay,” Oaklee muttered in warning, obviously seeing what I was.
“So many bikers, so much leather,” Thayer mumbled as if in a trance. “Are any of them single?”
“No!” Oaklee and I yelled at the same time, then both of us bursting into laughter.
Forgetting about Thayer and her appetite for men in leather, I kissed my girl once more, then tucked her head into my neck and sighed.
Cole: The Wounded Sons Page 20