The Light Beneath the Dark: Motorcycle Club MM romance (Dark River Stone Collective Book 1)

by JP Sayle

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Mason

  There was a myriad of emotions crossing Linc’s face and none of them gave me a good feeling. The last three days had been hell after he’d insisted I leave him to deal with the fallout. I’d gone home, albeit reluctantly, because I’d been furious at how he’d cut me out of what happened.

  I’d done something I’d never done before and called in sick for work, needing to get my head together. To figure out what I wanted. Three days and what had it got me? A pounding headache and all but no sleep as I’d tried to work out what Linc’s reasons were for nearly killing someone.

  The more I’d thought about it, one thing had become clear; he’d never risk losing River. So that meant whatever had happened to make him lose it spoke to how serious this whole situation was for him. Late last night I’d taken my head out of my ass and come to a decision. If Linc wasn’t going to reach out, then I needed to. Luis said I was the world’s biggest stewer, that I could stew in my own misery for weeks, if not months, if something got to me. He wasn’t wrong. I’d been doing that for years over not following in my father’s footsteps.

  One thing that had taught me was that I was the only one to suffer, so at two this morning, I’d hatched a plan. I needed to show Linc that the love I felt for him was real, and no matter what, I’d be there for him, until he got it through his thick skull.

  Yet, when he remained silent and looking more closed off than ever, I had to forcibly hold myself still to stop the nerves from showing. Then I spoiled it by begging unashamedly, “Please. Talk to me.”

  He blew out a breath, then left me in a world of hurt as he explained only some, I was sure, of what had happened. I swallowed repeatedly as bile burned my chest and throat, wishing for five minutes alone with Ned after hearing that he had wished River had died at birth.

  The anger in his voice was raw, and I could only imagine how he must have felt in that moment. To be betrayed because of a tiny defenseless child he’d chosen to stand up for and claim as his own.

  I’d no clue what the outcome had been for Ned, and though I didn’t wish him dead, a part of me wanted him to suffer for his misdeeds. It was wrong for Linc to take the law into his own hands, but I understood he wouldn’t have gotten justice in court for what Ned and the others had tried to do to him. The tiny part of me that worried I’d misjudged Linc disappeared, even as nerves sprang to life with new worry. What jail time would Linc do for such a crime?

  I didn’t have time to think about it any further as he wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his face in my neck. He sucked in greedy breaths as my hands rose and stroked up and down his back.

  “Did you kill him?” I whispered, the fear making it hard to speak. Please let him say no, please let him say no.

  “He should be dead for what he did, but no.” The deadly edge to his voice caused a shiver to race down my spine, and I was again reminded what this man could be capable of if someone he loved was threatened.

  I sagged against him, my hands holding him tightly to me, needing the reassurance that he was safe.

  Linc breathed out and our gazes met, and for the longest time we just started at each other. “I wanted to kill him. I wanted to wipe him off the face of the earth. Stamp him into the ground and piss on him. But there were two things stopping me. River…and you.” His eyes fired with something potent—love.

  It left me feeling giddy and light-headed as a hand moved to the nape of my neck and he claimed my mouth in a powerful kiss that was all about ownership. It was as if he were placing a searing brand into my skin as he claimed me.

  All rational thought fled as he held me captive, his mouth doing delicious things to mine. The scent of his aftershave clung to his clothes and wafted around me. The arm behind my back tightened and all but lifted me against his body to grind his hard length against mine. We groaned in unison and I held on tighter, never wanting to let go.

  Vaguely aware of a door opening, I tried to recall what I’d been about to suggest before Linc had kissed me.

  “Poppy, put Mason down,” River squealed in delight, and pulled me up short.

  I sucked in several shaky breaths after prying my mouth off Linc’s. I attempted to avoid looking at his flushed face and hooded eyes. Eyes that held promises of more to come later, if I wasn’t mistaken, that made my ass clench in anticipation. He clearly wasn’t reading my face, that said he needed to behave if he didn’t want to traumatize River any further.

  “Why would I put Mason down, Spirit? He likes to be lifted up as much as you.”

  A wave of fierce heat spread up my neck, regardless of the heat pooling in my groin. “Fu…stop that.”

  Linc chuckled while River giggled.

  “Good save, Mase,” Linc stated as he finally let go, so I could step away from temptation.

  I glanced down and noted my T-shirt was hanging over the front of my shorts, concealing my problem. The fucker in front of me had the audacity to give me a flirty wink before he crouched and concealed his own issue.

  He flicked at River’s ponytail. “So, is someone gonna tell me what the plan is for this evening? I’m pretty sure I heard mention of a picnic.”

  “We’re going to have a picnic and watch a movie at the same time. Aren’t we, Mason?”

  “Absolutely, and we might even invite your Poppy. What do you think, River?” I gave her a not so subtle wink that made her giggle.

  “I’s had to put up with grumpy pants for days and days missin’ ya, so I say let him come.”

  Linc coughed, and I laughed at the discomfort on his face at River’s bluntness. “Is that right? We can’t be havin’ your Poppy grumpy now, can we?”

  He attempted to give me a menacing scowl that fell way short with the humor glinting in his eyes. “I’ll give you grumpy Poppy,” he muttered, but he stood, and we followed an excited River upstairs so Linc could get changed.

  We got to the drive-in early enough to get a spot near the front of the large screen, so River had a clear view from Linc’s truck. She came and sat in the front while we ate from the picnic basket. It was only then that Linc asked what movie it was that we’d come to see.

  River gave him the cutest grin, one I’d come to recognize when she’d maybe done something Linc might not be happy with, and my stomach dropped. Oh fuck! I’d been conned by a five-year-old. She’d assured me that Linc had promised her he was going to take her to see the old movie, Grease, from the late seventies.

  She kept her big eyes on Linc. “It’s Grease, Poppy.”

  My lips twitched at the resignation that crossed Linc’s face before he glowered at me.

  “Hey, don’t look at me, she’s your daughter.” As I said it, a flicker of grief appeared before he could shield it.

  I reached out and took hold of his hand, stroking it and letting him know I was there for him. His gaze softened and his fingers intertwined with mine.

  “Yes, she is.” There was a wealth of love in his words. “And she could be yours, too, if you’ll have us?” This time his voice was barely more than a whisper, but the words rang loudly inside me as River shifted her attention to me.

  Her expression was nearly identical to Linc’s, full of nerves and expectation. A lump formed in my throat and my eyes ached with what they were both offering me.

  I reached out the hand not gripping Linc’s fingers painfully tight, to River and clasped her tiny one in mine, linking the three of us. I swallowed twice to unglue my tongue from the roof of my mouth.

  “I’d no idea how taking your case would change my world. How it would teach me that even in the darkest place, light can be found if you look for it. That love can be more profound and unexpected in the best possible way. You both mean everything to me.” I met Linc’s gaze, so he understood what I was saying. “There is nothing I wouldn’t do to protect my family, nothing.”

  A silent tear rolled down his cheek and my heart swelled as he took our joined hands and removed the tear.

  “
I know.”

  Those two words may not have been a declaration of love, but they were no less significant to a man who didn’t trust, who’d been betrayed by those closest to him.

  The screen in front of us lit up and broke the spell in the cab. I shifted River onto my lap, letting her snuggle into my body while I lay my head on Linc’s broad shoulder.

  “Let’s watch the movie.”

  Epilogue

  Six Months Later

  Lincoln

  The lovely dream I was having had me groaning in approval while I attempted to shove up into the wet heat surrounding my dick. There was a choked chuckle, and my eyes drifted open.

  Not a dream.

  Mason. When had he gotten here? He’d been away at some lawyer conference for the last three days and I hadn’t expected to see him until tonight. My heart fluttered as it always did when he surprised me by returning home early, like he couldn’t bear to be away from us.

  Sunlight poured through the open curtains, blinding me as I looked down the bed at him between my thighs. Then his slippery tongue circled the crown of my dick and my eyes drifted shut at the immense pleasure making it impossible to think.

  “Fuck…do that thing again with your tongue,” I rasped.

  Mason did as I asked while his hand crept up my chest toward my nipples. It took a second to register how close I was to coming when his fingers pinched hard and my balls ached with the need to come.

  “I don’t wanna come in your mouth, wanna come in your ass,” I cried out as the tip of his tongue speared my slit, the pressure unreal.

  When he showed no signs of giving up his prize, I bucked my hips. He coughed at the sharp jab to the back of his tonsils and released my dick. Only then did I lift one leg and roll fast to the other side of the bed. Twisting, I quickly grabbed for him and a second later, I had pinned him to the mattress.

  His eyes twinkled with mischief. “Morning, sweetheart.”

  “I’ll sweetheart you.” I peppered his puffy lips with several kisses. “When did you get back?”

  “About half an hour ago, I woke early and thought I could be doing something much better than lying in a cold hotel room, all alone.” His mouth pressed against mine. “You don’t mind that I decided to come home early, now do you?” He followed that up with a roll of his hips, causing his cock to rub against mine in a slow glide that left me panting.

  The last six months had been full of ups and downs as we’d learned to navigate our relationship. Then, three months earlier, I’d started to resent him not being in my bed with me all the time when I’d reach out for him, only to wake and find the bed empty.

  River had also been nagging over the prior months for me to ask Mason to move in permanently. Having never had a proper relationship before, or lived with someone I didn’t class as family, I had no way of knowing if it was too soon. Yet as the days had gone by and the yearning had increased, I’d found myself taking the plunge.

  I could still recall his face when I’d bumbled asking him.

  As I watched Mason saunter naked toward the bathroom to go shower before he left me to return to his own home, the love I didn’t often acknowledge crested so fast I thought I’d taken up surfing. “Move in with us,” I blurted out and a surge of warmth flooded my face. Fucksake! What did you say that for!

  He froze, his back toward me, making it impossible to see his reaction, although his body was doing a good job of saying I’d shocked him. It shuddered, and he swung around so fast, his cock whipped his leg. The look on his face was enough to get me up off the rumpled bed. He stood waiting as I walked to him and wrapped my arms around his sexy, warm skin. “You haven’t answered me.”

  “Oh, thank you, God. Yes. Yes. You can’t take it back,” he muttered in between planting wet, hungry kisses against my lips.

  Had he said yes?

  I groaned, the answer seemingly less important when his tongue got busy sliding against mine as he deepened the kiss. His whole body rubbed against mine as he shuddered and moaned, “I love you.”

  “Where did you go?” Mason asked as our cocks bumped together, bringing me back to the present to remind me of how lucky I was.

  I stared deeply into his eyes, seeing the love he offered so freely, and I dropped my forehead to his. “I was remembering asking you to move in with me,” I answered honestly.

  His eyes glowed and he slid his hands down to cup my ass cheeks. “Maybe we should re-enact what happened after I said yes. I think it involved you showing me whose bitch I was.” His warm breath touched my lips a second before he gave me a hungry kiss.

  I blindly reached for the drawer holding the lube. We’d been tested months ago and no longer used a condom. And fuck had that been an eye opener, and why I often struggled to let Mason top when I knew how fucking unbelievable it felt to be inside his body with nothing separating us.

  Lube dripped over the bed by the time he was begging to me to fuck him. Unable to resist his demands, I sunk into his willing body.

  “Fuck, how you can still be this tight?” I panted against his mouth, willing myself to keep still and give him time to adjust.

  “It’s ‘cause you got a giant co—”

  I tilted my pelvis and rocked my dick against his prostate, and he shut up abruptly. Then he moaned so loudly I had to put a hand over his mouth.

  I chuckled. “Shush, you’ll wake River again.”

  His eyes widened, and I could see he’d recalled the last time River had burst through the door with her tiny baseball bat, thinking someone was hurting her Daddy. It was a moment I’d never forget. Mainly because of how weepy Mason got at River defending him, but it was also the first time she’d called him Daddy.

  My throat thickened, and I lifted my hand from his mouth and replaced it with my lips. The emotions, that were as familiar to me as the tattoos on my chest, swelled inside me. “I love you,” I murmured.

  He moved, and one of his palms flattened against my chest, lying directly over my heart, his eyes sheening. “I know,” he whispered.

  Long moments I held his gaze as I slowly made love to the man who’d not only saved me, but who’d shown me there was more to life than just existing. Although it could be painful, the rewards meant I got to love this beautiful man, forever.

  If you enjoyed this book read and would like to try something else by the author, read on for the first chapter in The Elves and the Bondage Daddy!

  PROLOGUE

  The king sat on the throne in front of me, a formidable scowl on his usually stunning face. It was a face that resembled my own. It should have done. He was my father after all. His face was twisted with a raw anger that caused the room to vibrate and my skin to hum unpleasantly. Gwilym, or Gwil to me, had been my best friend since birth and my boredom had yet again got us both into hot water. There was so little to do in the Elvedom that we had to make our own fun in order to keep us entertained.

  “Why do I always have to repeat myself with you two? The last time you decided to have some fun, it took weeks to repair the damage to the palace, even with the use of collective magic.”

  The agitation in my father’s voice forced me to keep a straight face. I did my best not to look over at Gwil, who stood next to me with his head bowed as Father berated us both again.

  Why couldn’t he understand that it was boring without making up games to play?

  “Do you forget that as your father, I can read your thoughts, Benidic?” His silver brows merged into one straight line, his pale aqua eyes boring into mine. The strength of his magic made it impossible for me to move. “The games you play cause harm to others. You’ve become a thoughtless, spoiled brat and a nuisance to those who inhabit the palace.” His gaze shifted to Gwil with a look of disappointment before moving back to me again. He sighed loudly.

  The sound caused unease to unfurl in my stomach as he leaned back on his majestic throne. It glittered with the jewel colours of Elvedom. Our home was situated in a magical realm outside the earthly plane. A plac
e that the earth dwellers had long since forgotten existed. The Elves created magic to protect the fabric of the earthly realm. The protector Elves worked day and night to ensure that the otherworld and other magical creatures had the magic needed to sustain life.

  Those that dwelled in the magical realm never aged once they’d reached the age of maturity for Elves at three hundred earth years. I was still a long way off hitting maturity and those long eons stretched endlessly before me.

  I eyed the jewelled throne that would one day be mine once Father decided I was ready, as his father had done, and his father before him, stretching back over the millennia. As the thought filled me with dread, I worked to shield my mind.

  The Elvedom was filled with light and love. I, on the other hand, craved something more, something… a little darker. But with no experience beyond the realm, I had no idea what it was. So instead I created mayhem to fill the space inside me which felt empty and needy.

  Father tapped a long, pale finger against his lips as they pursed. The unease inside me increased as his eyes narrowed. “I think I need to teach you both a lesson. One that shows the other Elves that I’m not going soft when it comes to the pair of you.” He shifted forward, his long flowing robes of gold shimmering in the light. “Magic is a gift, and as such it should be treasured and not used for mischief. With that in mind,”—he lifted his hands, light shining from both palms as orbs floated above him—“from now on, your hands will only be able to create magic that assists others with no gain for either of you. I banish you to the earthly realm to fend for yourselves until you can prove that you are worthy to return.”

  My heart thumped against my ribs as Gwilym cried out, but it was already too late. The air moved around us, speeding so fast that my long silver tresses blew around my face. I reached for Gwil, gripping his hand as the world around us became a blur before simply disappearing. The reassuring sensation of Gwil’s palm against mine kept me from crying out as panic seized my chest.