I wanted to ask how Hammer had found me, but what did it matter? He’d found me. He wouldn’t hurt me in public. And we couldn’t be any more public than the city beach on a hot summer afternoon. “I don’t know where he lives. He’s very private.”
Hammer hooked his arm around my neck and pulled me close, his forehead touching mine, like we were lovers sharing a secret. “I find out you’re lying, that little girl’s gonna pay.” He pressed his lips to my hair. “When you see that trailer trash piece of shit, tell him he better return my calls.” He laid his free hand on my thigh, then slid under my skirt, his thumb stretching, threatening to breach my panties. “Oh. And if he is fucking you. That means you’re his property. That makes you Slayer property. That means, one of these days, I might get a crack at those sweet lips.”
He let me go, and I jumped to my feet, clutching my bag. Before I could scramble away, he grabbed my hand, a wicked smile cracking his weathered face. “What? No kiss goodbye?”
I swung. His head whipped back, dodging my strike, but my hand was free. Without looking back, I headed toward two of the city’s bicycle patrol officers near the parking lot, my pulse beating a painful rhythm.
A large engine roared to life. I slowed my pace, like I was making to talk to the men in uniform. Hammer rolled past on his chrome beast, waving goodbye, then merged into the lazy summer traffic.
My stomach heaved, and I lost my lunch to an innocent cluster of azalea bushes.
# # #
“You’re not eating,” Dane growled at me from across the table, the low rumble of his voice carrying a hint of frustration, but mostly concern.
“Feeling a little nauseous, that’s all.”
“Gotta get something down, gorgeous.”
Mim scraped the last of her fruit salad out of the bowl, slurped it off her spoon, then wiggled off her chair, and carried her dishes to the sink.
I’d never asked her to clear her own spot at the table, yet somewhere along the way, she’d learned. Maybe my sister hadn’t been too far gone. Maybe Mim had learned from Lettie. Either way, I was grateful, and in awe of that kid.
I couldn’t take my eyes off that sweet little angel, and Dane didn’t take his eyes off me. When Mim skipped to her bedroom, I acknowledged his questioning glare.
“I’m fine. Really.”
He stared, waiting for the truth.
“Okay. Okay. Jeez. I’m not fine. I’m… I’m…” What was I? Scared? Angry? I slumped in my chair, twirled my fork around my plate. “Let me ask you something.”
He shifted, wiped his mouth, then balled his napkin before dropping it on his plate, and giving me his full attention. “Anything.”
“In the club, do you pass around women?”
“Where the hell did that come from?” His phone buzzed. He ignored it, leaning back, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Just humor me.”
“Sure. It happens. ’Lotta women out there looking for the wrong kind of validation. Too many men take advantage of that vulnerability.”
“Okay. So, say one of you has a girlfriend. Or a wife. Do you share her? With your guys, I mean.”
A vein popped in his neck, his jaw working back and forth. “Moriah. What’s this about?”
“How are women treated?”
His phone buzzed again. His gaze never left mine, though he blinked, clearly irritated.
“You can check that. It’s fine.” I pushed from the table. “Actually. I insist. Check your phone. Might be important.” I stacked my full plate on top of his empty and headed for the sink.
After releasing a loud sigh, he asked. “What’s going on?”
I dropped the dishes in the basin, turned, gripped the counter behind me. “I bumped into your friend today on my lunch.”
“I don’t have friends.”
“That guy I met at the Truck Stop. Hammer.”
Dane turned sideways in his chair, elbows to knees, hands hanging loose. “What do you mean you bumped into him.”
“Well. He bumped into me, I guess. I was having lunch at the park, near the water. He made himself comfortable.”
“How comfortable?”
“Enough to get in my head, if I’m being honest.”
Two heartbeats and he stood before me, feet bracing mine, hands on my hips. “What the fuck did he do?”
I gave the dirty details of my scary exchange with his biker buddy, leaving out the part where I lost my lunch.
Eyes pinched, Dane drew three deep breaths through his nose before saying, “Don’t pay any mind to that shit he spewed. He’s gets off on messing with people.” His words came forced, an attempt to calm my nerves, the tremble in his voice only fueling my unease.
Dane must have read my worry. He sighed. Scratched at his beard. “Hammer told me they’d be passing through town.”
“Well…he was upset you haven’t returned his calls.”
Dane tapped his cell. Thumbed the screen, studying the call records, I assumed.
His face reddened. My guts twisted.
I turned back to the sink. Water on. Rinse. Rinse. Stack.
Warm muscle pressed against my backside, strong arms coiling my waist. Dane scrubbed his beard against my neck sending ferocious tingles through my body.
His hands splayed across my abdomen. When he kissed the sensitive skin behind my ear, my knees buckled.
Holding me steady and upright, he whispered, “I’m sorry he scared you, gorgeous.”
“I know.”
“I need to take care of something.”
I studied the sink. The soapy dish sponge, the tiny dent in the steel, the sugar spoon tipped inside the drain. Blinking the moisture from my eyes, I mumbled, “Okay.”
“Thank you for dinner.”
He was leaving, and I wanted to beg him to stay. “Will you be back tonight?”
“Not sure.”
I arched my neck, accepting another kiss, then watched him say his goodbyes to Mim.
Although warm and fuzzy from his touch, ice cold shivers rocked my body at the sight of Dane retreating, his muscles taught to the verge of snapping.
He wasn’t happy.
Good.
Neither was I.
Clearly, whatever Hammer had done wrong, Dane was going to make right.
# # #
“Everything looks great.” Leticia snapped off her gloves and tossed them in the covered trash can. “Heartbeat is strong.” She handed me a towel, then scooted the ultrasound machine back into the corner. “I’d like to see the numbers on the scale going up, instead of down, though.”
“I’m eating,” I assured the doctor. “I am. It’s just that I’m throwing up more.”
Lettie nodded. Scribbled some notes on her pad. “I thought Dane would be here for your exam.”
“Me, too. Something must’ve come up.” I forced a smile, refusing to show my worry.
She turned and wrapped a stethoscope around Mim’s neck. “Want to hear the baby’s heartbeat?”
Mim’s eyes widened, her mouth dropping open, then curling into a smile while she nodded. She skipped to my side and waited for Leticia to slide a stool next to the exam table.
I laid back down and watched the two of them interact, mindful of the huge change in my niece from when I’d met her. She still hadn’t spoken a word to anyone other than Rocky. But she had started to talk in her sleep, mumbles mostly, and I’d heard my name more than once. She had a voice, and I knew, I just knew, when she was brave enough, speaking out loud to an adult would be her final hurdle to healing.
“I know it’s early,” Lettie said, smiling down at Mim. “But have you guys thought about names for the baby?”
“Mim should be the one to pick a name,” came a deep, gravelly proclamation from the doorway. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of Dane, wrapped in jeans, a faded blue tee, and a thousand layers of confident, muscular, absorbing man.
Mim gasped and hopped off the stool, diving into Dane’s arms, the baby forgotten.<
br />
Lettie laughed. “That sounds like a great idea.”
“But,” Dane continued, narrowing his gaze on Mim, “if you want to pick the baby’s name, you have to tell us, out loud, with your beautiful voice.”
Dane strode my way, Mim hanging from his neck. “Sorry I was late.” He dropped a kiss on my lips, then surprised me by dropping a peck on Lettie’s cheek.
Lettie blushed with motherly joy and patted his shoulder. “You’re here now. Anyone hungry? Mim, wanna help me make lunch?”
Dane dislodged Mim, set her on her feet, and tugged her pigtail. “Be good for Lettie.”
When Mim grabbed Lettie’s hand and dragged her out of the room, I released a sob. That little girl had come so far.
“You okay?”
“Perfect.”
“You’re crying.” He brushed a tear away, staring down at me.
I leaned into his warm palm. “How did I ever think taking her away from you, or Rocky, or Whisper Springs was a good idea?”
“Temporary bout of insanity?” He chuckled, a rare, beautiful sound.
“That was smart, telling Mim she could pick the baby’s name.”
He stepped between my knees, the rough pads of his fingers dragging a heated path up my thighs. “I can be smart, sometimes.”
I curled my arms around his waist, buried my face in his massive chest. He smelled like fresh air and laundry soap. His hard planes, mixed with the thrum of his inhales and exhales, and the soft thump, thump, thump of his heart beat, made my insides warm, my breasts ache, the flesh between my legs swell and throb. I hooked my feet behind his thighs, needing him closer.
Warm hands cupped my cheeks, urging me to look up into mesmerizing, hungry eyes.
“Fuck, gorgeous. Look at you.” He bent, stealing my breath with a kiss, soft and full of promise, and so unlike any he’d given before. “Is that blush for me?”
Oh. God. “Yes,” I said, a breathy whisper, an exhale, a plea.
Dane stepped away, leaving me cold. He turned the lock on the door. Reclaimed his spot between my knees. Rubbing a thumb over my cheek, he rasped, “I missed this face last night. Missed you. Missed us.”
His next kiss was a warning, or maybe a promise, that he was going to give me reason to blush, and heat, and swell in his presence. Holding the back of my head with one hand, he worked the other between us, lifting my hospital gown, manipulating the button on his jeans and shoving them down. His cock sprang free. He gripped my hips. I fell back on the exam chair. Dane thrust inside me with a grunt. I arched in pleasure, a moan escaping my lips. I covered my mouth to stifle the sound while the beautiful man took me, fast, hard, unrelenting, over and over, pounding into me, our gazes locked, his fingers digging bruises into my hips, my breasts bouncing in painful waves. Heavy breaths, skin slapping, the table scratch-scratch-scratching on the tile floor. The rhythm was hypnotizing, intoxicating, filthy, and beautiful, and oh…my… Bright light blinded me, my body coiling tight, a toe-curling, unbearable orgasm ripping through me.
Dane rasped words I couldn’t understand, his body going rigid before he fell over me, his face in my chest, rapid breaths cooling my overheated skin.
Tangling my fingers in his hair, holding him against me, I prayed we’d always be that way, frenzied and insatiable and gone for each other.
Dane kissed my stomach, lingering, tracing a lazy circle below my navel. “Hard to believe my kid is growing in there.”
I could swear there were tears forming in those sad eyes of his.
“Know what I can’t believe?” My words came raspy and thick. “I can’t believe what we just did on Dr. Slade’s brand-new table.” I laughed, hoping to lighten the air, and pulled Dane’s head off my stomach. “She’ll never forgive us if she finds out.”
Dane guided me to my feet. Cleaned between my legs. Helped me dress. I wasn’t helpless. But there was something so intimate about the way he cared for me, and I savored every stoke of his fingers, every grunt, every selfless act he offered.
Hand in hand we made our way toward the kitchen. Halfway to our destination, I asked, “Where did you go last night?”
Dane stopped. Stared down at me, the light in the hallway enhancing the dark circles under his beautiful eyes. “I went to find Hammer.”
“Did you find him?”
“No.”
“Did you return his call?”
Dane dropped his head back. Sighed. Rubbed his eyes. “That’s the thing, gorgeous. He hasn’t called me. Not once.”
A shudder ripped through me, and I did the only thing that could ease my tension. I coiled my arms around my man, absorbing his strength, breathing his air, and laid my head on his unbendable shoulder.
Dane
Mim’s head lay on my shoulder, drool wetting my shirt, a soft snore filling the silent room. Heels propped on the coffee table, I held her against my chest and relaxed into the soft cushions. She’d grown heavier over the summer. The hollow in her cheeks…filled. Dark circles under her eyes…gone.
Dust from our earlier ride coated her hair. Dirt and sweaty kid. Fuck. Such a satisfying aroma. I pressed my nose closer to her head and just breathed, absorbing every beautiful detail, her scent, her weight, the soft rasp of her lungs. The girl owned half of my soul. Clutched the worthless bastard in her tiny little fist.
We’d spent the past week discovering new dirt trails around the mansion. The little shit didn’t want the beach, or the park, or a trip to the ice cream store. Hell no. She wanted to ride.
When we weren’t riding, she wanted to hang in the barn, and work on her Cobra, creating problems that didn’t exist, just so she could learn how to fix them.
Hell, she was even content sitting on the dirty floor and passing tools to me while I worked on James’s old beater or the lawnmower. To fill the silence, I’d explain what I was doing, and what tools worked best for each job.
Some days, Lettie would drag Mim into the air-conditioned house, just to get her out of the heat. I’d find them in the kitchen whipping up a meal, or in Lettie’s office, Mim always surrounded by a pile of books.
Not sure how the kid had ever learned to read.
Which reminded me, school started in two weeks. Moriah, Lettie, and the shrink were convinced that Mim was ready. I didn’t agree, but I didn’t share my hesitation. My girls had enough obstacles to hurdle. I wasn’t about to add my aversion to the public school system to their list of worries. What I did share was that I wouldn’t take any “jobs” with Tucker and Tito until we knew for certain that Mim would be okay.
When I’d announced that I would drive Mim to and from school, Lettie and Moriah only laughed. Whatever. Any kid took a crack at my angel, they’d have my ugly mug to face after the school bell rang. Those two didn’t understand how the bully system worked. I did. And I had no problem scaring the piss out of any kid who dared give my girl grief.
The front door opened and then closed. Familiar footfalls came our way.
“Hey,” came Moriah’s soft voice. “Oh. She’s out cold.” She bent to give me a taste of her sweet mouth, those eyes shimmering with emotion I’d come to anticipate, but had yet to acknowledge. “What’d the two of you do today?”
“Whole lotta nothin’.”
“Nothing, huh?” Moriah dropped her handbag on the coffee table, then worked at the buttons on her blouse. “That’s why she smells like motor oil?”
I couldn’t help the grin that cracked my face.
Moriah headed for the bedroom, kicking off her shoes along the way. “Do you mind waking up your sleeping beauty? She’s having a sleepover with Rocky tonight. She’ll need a shower before we go.”
Her loose skirt swung back and forth across her ass as she sauntered down the hall. I hated knowing Mim would be away from us for the night, but the thought of having Moriah to myself hit me straight in the gut, making my blood pump too fast, and too damn hot.
I riled the girl in my arms. Reminded her that Rocky was waiting and marveled at her ability
to go from zero to sixty in the blink of an eye.
I headed to the kitchen and pulled the casserole Lettie had sent home out of the oven. My phone buzzed. I ignored the call. The only people I cared to talk with were currently down the hall. Minutes later, my cell buzzed again. I checked the screen, my gut dropped, and I walked to the deck, shutting myself outside before answering. “Prez. What’s up?”
“Need you, Trailer.”
“Fuck off,” nearly fell from my lips, but when I considered my ladies, I said, “I’m not leaving town, so whatever job you’ve got better involve Whisper Springs.”
I was sure he huffed a laugh. “You got a death wish, boy?”
I didn’t. Not anymore. With a deep breath, I reined in my anger. “What do you need?”
“Coupla brothers riding through town next week. Need the trailer on your dad’s property stocked.”
I swatted a bug away from my face. “My property,” I corrected the bastard. “That dilapidated piece of shit burned to the ground. Didn’t Hammer tell you?”
I’d expected Prez to read me the riot act, threaten my life maybe. Instead he growled a slew of profanities, then asked, “Hammer? You been in touch with him?”
Venomous snakes slithered through my gut. “You sent him. With my bike.”
“Fuck.” Heavy breaths. Muffled shouts. A door slam. “I never sent that shithead. You with him now?”
“No.” I gripped the deck railing, rage vibrating my arm. “What the fuck’s going on?”
“Hammer’s been AWOL for weeks.”
# # #
“You don’t have to be gentle,” Moriah whispered, her nails sinking into my shoulders as she rose high, then slammed back down, taking all of me inside her tight, hot core, doin’ a number on my sanity.
Fingers clamped into the soft flesh below her waist, I attempted to slow her pace. “I’ve got all night to make you scream, woman. This is just a warm-up.”
Moriah froze, her full weight landing in my lap, her hands moving to my face. Damn if the glare she shot didn’t make my dick twitch.
Fierce resolve flashed through those hazel beauties. “Give me hard. I need you out of control,” came her words, more a plea than the command she intended.
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