Jonah walked over and enveloped her in a hug. “Thank you, sister cousin. You’ll call if anything changes?”
“Of course. Love you, brother Judge.”
“Love you, too, Harpy. River, you ready?”
“Yep, let’s roll,” I said and waved goodbye to the group as I followed Jonah to the elevator.
Chapter Sixteen
Judge
The next few days were a whirlwind of activity. Mom went from being on the breathing machine and completely unresponsive to awake and ready to get out of the hospital.
For some reason, I assumed she would just wake up all of a sudden and start acting like herself, but that’s not what happened. It was a slow, gradual process, and I was grateful to have River by my side to explain things to me. I felt bad about her spending her days off at the hospital, but she said she didn’t mind being there, so I didn’t argue with her because I needed her there with me.
After going back to my house so both of us could shower and change, I drove us back to the hospital in her car. I knew she had to work, but I hated to let her go, which I told her right before I kissed the hell out of her in front of the elevators.
“Jonah,” she breathed. “I work here.”
“Yeah, but you’re not on the clock just yet,” I said and gently tugged on her bottom lip with my teeth. I groaned and pressed my body against hers. “Knew I should’ve fucked you again before we left.”
She playfully slapped my chest and stepped back. “I really have to go. I’ll see you in the morning,” she said and winked at me before disappearing through the double doors that led to the Emergency Department.
I readjusted myself while I waited for the elevator to take me up to Mom’s floor. If all went well, she would be discharged the following morning.
“There’s my boy,” Mom said with a wide smile when I entered the room. “Where’s your girlfriend?”
“She’s not my girlfriend, Ma, and she had to work tonight,” I explained.
Mom rolled her eyes. “That shimmery lip gloss smeared across your lips says otherwise.”
Harper started laughing from her perch in the corner of the room. I immediately looked away and wiped my hand over my mouth. Damn River and her fucking lip gloss that tasted like cotton candy.
“You must be doing okay if you’re feeling well enough to give me shit the moment I walk into your room,” I grumbled.
Mom smiled brightly, “I am. I’ll be even better once I get home.”
Despite her insistence that I go home, I stayed the night with her again. I didn’t want to leave her by herself, and I liked being in the same building as River.
I did manage to slip out of the room without waking Mom and go downstairs to join River for her break. They seemed to be pretty busy, but she assured me she had plenty of time to eat.
“So, I’ll just plan on coming up to your mom’s room and hanging out until she is discharged, which will probably be around lunch time, give or take an hour or two,” she said around a mouthful of lettuce.
“Yeah, that’ll work,” I said and fidgeted with my hands.
“You okay?” she asked.
I chuckled nervously, “Yeah, I, uh, wanted to ask you if you would be willing to stay at my mom’s house for the next week or so. Not as her nurse or anything, but I’ll be staying there, and it would make me feel a lot better if you were there, too.”
She paused with her forkful of food in mid-air. “Does she have room for me?”
“She does. She lives in a farmhouse that has always been too big for our little family.” As it was told to me, when my parents were house hunting, Mom saw the house and fell in love with it, so Dad bought it for her. They had hoped to fill it full of children, but it wasn’t in the cards for them. Mom had a traumatic delivery with me, and though neither one of us lost our lives, she did lose the option of having more children.
River waved her fork in front of my face and pulled me from my thoughts. “Did you hear me?”
I shook my head, “No, sorry, what did you say?”
“I said it was fine with me as long as your mother doesn’t mind having a houseguest.”
“She won’t mind. She likes having people stay at her place. I’ve been trying to convince her to turn it into a bed-and-breakfast for years, but she won’t do it. She said she likes having friends and family stay with her, but she has no interest in opening up her home to strangers,” I explained.
River nodded in agreement. “Can’t say I blame her there. It’d be one thing if she was staying in a different place, but I wouldn’t be able to sleep if there were people I didn’t know staying in my house.”
“Yeah, that makes—” I was cut off by an electronic tone blaring through the room followed by a loud commotion in the hallway.
“Code Blue, Room Two. Code Blue, Room Two,” was announced overhead.
“Gotta go,” River said and placed a quick kiss on my lips before she ran out the door and into the fray.
***
River arrived in my mother’s room a little after eight o’clock in the morning looking like she was ready to drop.
“Busy night?” I asked.
She sighed and dramatically fell into the reclining chair in the corner of the room. “Yes,” she groaned. “I don’t know why, but stuff always happens in threes in the hospital. Without fail. It’s three car accidents, three broken bones, three strokes, three deaths. We had three respiratory arrests last night. One right after the other.”
She paused and slapped her hand over her mouth. “Mrs. Jackson, please forgive my rudeness. I blame it on exhaustion. How are you feeling?”
Mom grinned and waved her hand dismissively, “I’m fine, sweetheart. And more than ready to get out of here.”
“Has your doctor already been by to see you?”
Mom nodded. “You just missed him. He said I was good to go as soon as he finishes with the paperwork.”
River nodded and glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’ll be at least another hour or two, if not more.”
Mom sighed. “Yeah, that’s what he said, too.”
The room fell silent for several minutes until it was filled with River’s soft snores. Without thought, I raised the footrest on the chair and covered her with a blanket so she’d be more comfortable.
When I returned to my seat, Mom was watching me with a goofy smile on her face. “What?” I asked.
Her grin morphed into a broad smile. “You two are going to make me some beautiful grandbabies.”
I turned away from Mom. “Nope, not going there,” I stated causing her to snicker.
“Keep telling yourself that, Son.”
When we arrived at my mother’s house in River’s car, I helped Mom inside while she continuously tried to swat my hands away. “Mom,” I snapped, a bit harsher than I intended. “You’re lucky I’m not carrying you inside. Pay attention and let me help you.”
She grumbled something under her breath and moved closer to River, who she did let help her up the few stairs in front of the house. I held the door open for them while they made their way inside. Mom was moving slower than I’d expected, and I made a mental note to ask River about it.
We entered the living room to find Harper, Carbon, and Titan, as well as Duke, Reese, and their son James. Harper motioned with her hand, and they all whispered, “Welcome home.”
Mom’s brows furrowed and she looked back and forth between me and them. Harper stood and engulfed Mom in a hug. “We didn’t think it would be a good idea to startle someone who’d just had a heart attack,” she explained causing Mom to laugh.
“Well, I appreciate that. Now, let me sit down so I can hold that sweet boy,” she said referring to James. Reese and James had come up a few days ago, but Reese didn’t want to bring him to the hospital while the flu was still prevalent.
While Mom played with James, I showed River to the room she’d be staying in. “Go ahead and lay down,” I said and gestured to the bed. “When you wake up, I’
ll take you back to the house so you can get your clothes and whatever else you need before work tonight.”
“My car’s here, Jonah. I can just run by there on my way to work,” she countered.
“Yeah, but my bike’s not here, and I’m not driving Mom’s car if I need to go somewhere.”
“What’s wrong with your mom’s car?”
“It’s a bright red Mazda Miata. Even if I could fit in it, I wouldn’t because it’s a chick car,” I explained.
“A chick car?” she asked, sounding like she was gearing up to argue with me.
“I didn’t mean it like that. Mom has girly stickers and shit on it, not to mention all the crap hanging from the rearview mirror. The point is, I’m not driving it. If you don’t want to take me to get my bike, I’m sure Duke or Carbon will.”
“Sorry, my mind doesn’t work all that well when I haven’t had enough sleep. We can go when I get up. I usually set my alarm for three o’clock. Does that work for you?” she asked.
“Sounds great,” I said and softly kissed her lips. “Sweet dreams.”
Chapter Seventeen
River
I spent a week at Leigh’s house with Jonah before she convinced him she didn’t need anyone to stay with her. She was right, but Jonah wasn’t happy when I agreed with her.
He didn’t say a word the entire way back to his house and the vibes rolling off him were anything but pleasant.
He headed down the hallway to his bedroom while I went to mine. Before I closed my door, I stuck my head out into the hallway and said to his back, “Your aura is brown.”
I silently counted. One. Two. Three.
Jonah appeared in the doorway. “My what?”
“Your aura,” I said and waved my hand in his direction. “You know, your mood or attitude.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Is that so?”
“It is. You should cleanse it,” I suggested.
He pushed away from the door and slowly advanced on me. “And how exactly does one cleanse their aura?”
I shrugged. “Not sure, but I think you’re supposed to try to relax and find a way to release the tension from your body,” I said and reached for his belt. My fingers worked the leather through the buckle and popped the button on his jeans. “I might know a way to help you with that.”
I slid his zipper down while I sank to my knees. He sucked in a sharp breath when I pulled his boxer briefs down and freed his cock, but the groan he released when I took him into my mouth was music to my ears.
I knew what I was doing and I wasted no time in getting started. I used one hand to cover what wouldn’t fit into my mouth and started moving while I massaged his balls with my other hand.
He carefully laced his fingers through my hair and cupped the back of my head, but he made no attempt to control my movements, which told me he was holding back. While I appreciated the thought, it wasn’t what he needed.
Moving my hands to his ass, I pulled him closer as I took him deeper. When I flicked my eyes up, he was watching me intently with a look of utter awe on his face. Without breaking my rhythm, I kept my eyes locked with his and waited for the inevitable.
“Fucking hell, woman,” he groaned and tugged on my hair. I shook my head and increased my pace. “River,” he warned with a hint of panic. “River, I’m gonna come.”
With that, I inhaled through my nose, pushed forward, and swallowed, repeatedly. Jonah uttered a string of colorful expletives as he came down my throat.
When I was sure he was finished, I let him slip from my mouth and carefully tucked him back into his boxer briefs. He snorted and pulled me to my feet. “My turn.”
I shook my head. “No, that was just for you. But I wouldn’t say no if you wanted to climb into bed and take a nap with me.”
He grinned and pulled his shirt over his head. “I can do that.” I stripped off my shirt and pants while he shucked his jeans. As soon as we were snuggled together under the covers, he asked, “Is my aura still brown?”
“No, but mine will be if you don’t let me sleep.”
“One more thing and then you can sleep,” he said and paused. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you are really fucking good at, uh, cleansing auras.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his choice of words. “Yeah, I know.”
“You know?”
“Yes,” I repeated. “When I was in college, one of my friends asked me to give her pointers because she’d never gone down on a guy and wanted to give it a try with her boyfriend. Anyway, I’d never done it either, so we watched some porn videos and practiced on zucchinis.” When Jonah remained silent, I rolled over so I could see his face. “What?”
“You’re serious? Zucchinis?”
I shrugged. “We didn’t have any other phallic shaped produce handy.”
He threw his head back and laughed before kissing me on the forehead. “That is the best fucking thing I’ve heard in a long time.”
“Ha ha ha. Can we sleep now?”
“Yeah, baby,” he said and tightened his arms around me. Within minutes, I was fast asleep.
***
Jonah and I seemed to wake at the same time. He smiled softly but made no move to get up. I had no desire to get out of bed either, but I’d thought of something I wanted to ask him just as I was drifting off to sleep.
“Have you heard anything about my rental house? I know you said you didn’t mind, but I don’t want to overstay my welcome. If it’s going to be much longer, I can always check into a hotel,” I said.
I wasn’t sure about it at first, but I sort of liked staying with Jonah. Even still, I felt compelled to let him know that I didn’t expect him to let me continue to stay there just because we had started sleeping together.
He scoffed. “How’d that work out for you last time?”
I slapped his bare chest. “Don’t be an asshole.”
He sighed. “I haven’t heard anything about the rental house, but I’ll give Copper a call and see what’s going on. As for you staying here, will you agree to not bring it up again if I promise to tell you if I want you to move out? Though I really don’t see that happening before my house is finished or your contract is up, whichever comes first.”
I thought about it for a few minutes before agreeing with him. “Yeah, okay. I guess I didn’t realize I only have a few weeks left on my contract. Time is definitely going by faster than I thought it would.”
He grinned and rolled over on top of me. “That happens when you’re having a good time.”
He brought his lips to mine in a gentle kiss that would have turned into more if we weren’t interrupted by a ringing phone. Jonah snatched his cell off the nightstand and answered with a clipped, “What?”
“Shit. Sorry, Prez. I’ll be right there,” he said, already on his feet and reaching for his shirt.
“I have to go. I have a meeting at the clubhouse that I was supposed to be at ten minutes ago.” He paused to shove his feet into his boots and then met my eyes. “Come with me.”
“What?”
“Come with me to the clubhouse. There’s usually a party after Church. You can meet the rest of the brothers. And I’m pretty sure Batta said he was bringing Kennedy.”
Kennedy had been after me to hang out with her again, and I did want to; I just didn’t want to do it at a bar or somewhere I could potentially run into ex-boyfriends, relatives, or any of the other scum of Devil Springs. “Okay, but I need a shower first. Text me the address and I’ll head over once I’m ready.”
“Will do,” he said and kissed me. He released me and pushed me toward the bathroom with a light slap to my ass. “Don’t be too long.”
After hemming and hawing about what to wear, I finally decided simple was best. I chose a long-sleeved black shirt paired with ripped jeans and high-heeled ankle boots. After adding a few pieces of jewelry and lightly applying my makeup, I got into my car and followed the GPS directions until I came to a locked gate.
I loo
ked around for a button or something to either open the gate or call someone who could. When I didn’t see anything, I began to wonder if I was in the right place. I grabbed my phone and sent a text to Jonah.
River: Is your clubhouse behind a locked gate?
Jonah: Yes. Prospect will let you in.
River: What?
Jonah: Give your name to the prospect.
River: Is that a person?
Jonah: Yes. The guy at the gate.
River: There’s no guy at the gate.
Jonah: I’ll be right there.
A few seconds later, the gate magically parted allowing me to enter what looked like a compound of sorts. There was one large building with a bunch of motorcycles parked out front. I could also see several smaller buildings scattered around the property. I parked my car beside the handful of other cars in the lot and walked toward the big building’s doors.
The music inside the building got louder and louder with each step I took. Suddenly, I was unsure about walking inside by myself. I was standing right outside the doors trying to gather my courage, when one of the doors flew open and narrowly missed me.
Jonah looked at me in surprise. “What are you doing out here?”
“I was on my way inside,” I said.
He shook his head. “No, you were standing out here looking like you were about to run back to your car and get the hell out of here,” he said slowly and pointed to the security camera mounted over the door.
“Can you blame me? It’s not that easy to just walk into a biker clubhouse all alone,” I blurted.
“River, you’ve already met most, if not all, of the brothers. You know there’s no reason to be scared,” he reassured me.
“Whatever. Can we go inside now?”
“Follow me,” he said and led the way.
The inside was not what I expected. I’m not sure what that was, but a clean, smoke-free room filled with tables and chairs was not it. There was also a bar along the back wall of the room and a few pool tables off to one side.
Judge (Blackwings MC - Devil Springs Book 2) Page 8