by Lila Rose
Opening my eyes, the rest of sleep evaporated, and my mind wasn’t the only thing that woke. My dick gave a throb under the blankets at seeing Zion resting over me with an arm at each side of my head. “Mornin’ to you too.”
“Gotta go, lover, but your breakfast is beside the bed.”
My stomach fluttered. “You do know I can get my own.” It’d been a month since I got out of the hospital. I was almost healed, but it was my leg that still ached whenever I walked, well limped, around with a cane. I was told it might heal completely over time, or there was a possibility I would always walk with a limp. At first, the idea scared me, but Zion reminded me that I was alive and that was all that mattered.
He’d been right.
“Know that, but I wanted to.”
He wanted to do a lot of things for me. He’d slept at my side since coming home to Boom and Wendy’s. He’d held me close every night, didn’t push for anything sexual. He was just there, wanted to be here for me, and I couldn’t be giddier over it than I already was.
He was perfect.
He also didn’t want me at his house since that was where my attack happened, even when I kept telling him I was fine staying at his place. To me, it didn’t matter it was where Samantha died or where I’d been beaten. It was Zion’s home, was where he lived, and that was all that mattered. Yet, he refused, saying he was doing some redecorating and wanted me at Boom’s where I would be safe and warm. It helped that he stayed with me every night, or I would have fought harder to go where he was, where he lived.
I was falling hard for Zion Storey. So much so, I was fucking in love with him.
“Then thank you,” I told him, brushing a stray piece of hair from his eyes.
“Anythin’,” he said, his voice thicker than usual. He dipped and went to kiss me again, but I covered my mouth quickly.
“Morning breath,” I mumbled behind my hand.
He chuckled and pulled my hand away. “I don’t care.” He dipped again and pressed his mouth against mine. My stomach fluttered again, my cock throbbing, and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders when he deepened the kiss. I loved waking with him. I loved how he kissed me, how he cared for me, how he did sweet things like making me breakfast when he didn’t have to but wanted to.
I just loved him.
He broke the kiss with a final peck of my lips. “I have to go,” he said, but he didn’t make a move to leave.
I ran my hand over his stubble, one that I liked feeling whenever we did kiss since that was all we’d done in a long time. In fact, I was tired of not having him in ways I wanted him. He’d evaded every teasing touch I’d given when I tried to reach past his waistband with a chuckle and one word of “Soon.”
Soon had better be tonight because I was ready to feel all of him inside me.
Fuck me, I sounded like a horndog, but I couldn’t help it. I was so damn horny.
“Are you goin’?”
He grinned. “Yes.”
“It doesn’t look like it,” I teased.
“I will. You have West and Lucas dropping by today.”
“I know. I do remember things.”
His brows rose, and I flicked his nose. “I do, asshole.”
He snorted. “All right then.” With another quick peck, he straightened and walked toward the door. “Behave yourself.”
“I always do.”
“Not when you’re around West and Lucas.”
I laughed. “We’re talkin’ about the same West and Lucas, right?”
He turned and nodded. “We are. I’ve known Lucas all my life. The little shit was always up to somethin’. He might be quiet and shy, but he’s a mastermind underneath all that. West… I’m not too sure about. But if he’s friends with my brother, I need to be wary.”
Rolling my eyes, I flicked my hand his way, then slowly sat up. “We’ll be fine. Hell, I feel like a stay-at-home kept woman with her friends coming over for coffee while my man goes off to work.”
Chuckling to myself, I rested back against the headboard and glanced over to Zion when he hadn’t said anything. His eyes darkened, and he clipped, “Say it again.”
My brows dipped when confusion swept over me. “What?”
“That I’m your man.”
My heart skipped a beat and sped off with my pulse. “You’re my man.”
He stalked back over to the bed. I leaned forward eagerly, waiting for his mouth, only he grabbed the back of my hair and tilted my head back in a hard grip. “I am yours. It means you’re mine as well.”
I gave him a teasing smile. “I thought we’d known this since I can’t seem to get rid of you.”
He shook his head, a smirk playing at his lips. “You’d never want to get rid of me.”
He was right. I wouldn’t.
With a wink, he leaned in, kissed my neck, and walked toward the door again. “See you later,” he called.
“Later.” I shot him a chin lift before he moved out and shut the door behind him. I probably had about half an hour to eat, shower, and get dressed before Wendy came in and fussed over me. I didn’t have it in me to tell her I didn’t need her assistance. She liked helping, and eventually, I wouldn’t be living under their roof where she could give it so freely. Plus, I did enjoy having a mother who cared enough to dote on me.
Still, the one thing I refused was help in the bathroom. I had to get my ass out of bed and get organized for the day.
“No one has heard anything?” West asked. Just after Lucas and West arrived, I took them into the dining room to sit around the kitchen table, since Wendy had cooked us some lunch.
I honestly did feel like a kept woman with friends over to gossip.
I shook my head. “Not a word. The cops haven’t gotten any information on his whereabouts either.” I wouldn’t lose hope though. One day Henry would slip up and we’d find the fucker. It would then be my chance to deal out the punishment he deserved. At first, I’d been reserved about telling the cops anything, but when Zion explained they had to be called in since Henry shot Samantha in the house, an ambulance had been called, and the other two motherfuckers who’d assisted Henry got taken into custody, I didn’t have much of a choice but to tell them everything. I’d been surprised they didn’t judge me for who I was and try and pin something on me. Shit like that had happened before to the brothers in the club. However, there was enough evidence to back everything up, but I also had to think the cops I had to deal with were some of the few good ones.
“Where could he have gone?” Lucas thought aloud.
I shrugged. “Anyway, I don’t want to think about that fucker. How are you two doin’? Only a couple of months before you guys graduate and go into med school. Lookin’ forward to it?”
“If I pass,” West grumbled.
Lucas slapped his arm. “You will.”
“Will the change in jobs help with study time or anythin’?” I asked. We’d both heard from Death just the other day saying he had a couple of openings coming up, and if we wanted the jobs, they were ours. Zion was happy for me, and I really didn’t want to go back to Polished. I didn’t want to go on pretend dates when I had Zion. I snapped up the job, and West told me he did the same. However, he was still working at Polished until he could start the new one.
“Maybe, I’ll have to see, but staying at Lucas’s has helped with the money situation.”
Lucas reached out and slapped West’s arm again. “I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me you’re on a scholarship and your parents weren’t helping you out with anything.”
Somehow, when I’d still been in the hospital, and they’d come to visit, West opened up to both of us about things he hadn’t shared before. His parents were religious. As such, they didn’t know West was gay because they saw it was wrong in God’s eyes. They refused to help West with living away from home because they had wanted him to stay with them while in college, but West felt he couldn’t be himself.
I didn’t blame him. It would have been suffocati
ng living with parents like that.
West rolled his eyes. “It’s not something I wanted people to know, but…” He glanced away toward the kitchen, where Wendy puttered around over our lunch. Yeah, I was spoilt. He looked back to us, and I caught the color rising in his cheeks. “I haven’t been close to anyone like I have you two.” He played with his drink, moving the glass around so the Coke would swish around the edges. “Not in school, not out of it, until meeting Lucas and then you, Kylo, through him.”
Lucas lunged and wrapped his arms around West, who rocked sideways on his seat. He grabbed the edge of the table to steady them both. West caught my gaze and rolled his eyes again. He was also softly smiling like I was.
Lucas pulled back, his face on fire, burning brighter than West’s was. “You both know I didn’t have any friends before you two either.” He pointed at me. “And I know you had your brothers in the club, but we’re different, and you can’t say you don’t love us.”
“You’re right.”
Lucas jerked his head back, shocked. “I am?”
Chuckling, I nodded. “Yeah, not to get all mushy, but I’m closer to you guys than anyone. Well, except Zion.”
Lucas snorted. “Another thing I still can’t believe, you taming my brother, the man whore.”
“I got skills,” I said with a grin.
“And I don’t need to know about those skills,” Lucas said.
“He’s very smitten,” West commented. “Actually, you all are, and it kind of makes me ill.”
I raised a brow. “Heard anythin’ from your mystery guy?”
West had also told Lucas why he needed to leave Polished, besides the problem of it getting out when he was a full-fledged doctor.
West shook his head. “Nope.”
“He’ll come around,” Lucas said.
West laughed, but there wasn’t any trace of humor in it. “I was just company for him. I don’t need the hassle of a relationship at the moment anyway. Not with final exams coming up. Besides, he wasn’t in it for a relationship. Like I’d told Kylo, I wasn’t even sure he was gay or bi.”
“He’d have to be or else he wouldn’t have set anything up in the first place,” Lucas said.
“I agree,” I added in.
West shook his head. “It doesn’t matter anyway.” When Wendy walked into the dining room, I heard West mutter, “Good timing.”
“Lunchtime,” Wendy sang.
“Thanks, Wendy,” I said, smiling up at her as she set a tray of burritos down on the table.
She straightened and rested her hand on my shoulder. “You’re welcome, honey. Do you guys need anything else? Another drink?”
“I think we’re good. Why don’t you join us for lunch?” I asked.
“I’d love to, but Lucy is calling shortly. We’re going to go over some recipes.” She ruffled my hair and went back into the kitchen. Lucy, Lucas and Zion’s mom, and Wendy had met in the hospital when they’d both been to visit and bonded over, well, being mothers, I guessed. They became fast friends, much as I had with Lucas and West. It was good to see as Wendy had a few brothers’ old ladies as friends, but she could always do with more, and Lucy was just as kickass as Wendy was.
“They’ll be on the phone for hours,” Lucas said.
I snorted. “I heard Boom the other day askin’ Wendy if she loved Lucy more than him. Let’s just say it was a little tense for a moment when she didn’t answer.” They both chuckled.
“I think it’s great they’re getting along so well,” Lucas said.
“It’s good to see,” I agreed. Something else that was good was how all the brothers had accepted Zion and me as a… well, couple. Zion said he’d gotten a few questions, ones like whose pussy was it that got him to switch teams—so they knew to steer clear—and some strange looks, but other than that, no one had said anything bad. What helped was Wreck getting in with Lucas and Lucas being Zion’s brother.
Even if they hadn’t taken it well, it didn’t matter.
Zion made me happy.
Fucking ecstatic.
Yeah, it still surprised me when I really thought about it—that Zion was mine. Yet, with every day that passed, it felt normal. Like we were supposed to happen.
I still had a feeling, even though Zion denied it, that it was my blow job skills that had him stalking after me.
“We’ve lost him,” West commented.
“What?” I asked, pushing my plate away, seeing they’d been eating their own burritos while my mind drifted.
They both laughed. Lucas shook his head and asked West, “I wasn’t that bad, right?”
West snorted. “You’re still that bad.”
“What the fuck you two talkin’ about?” I barked.
“Getting that lost, soft look on your face when you think of Zion,” Lucas said.
“Not that I do, but West is right. You still get a dopey look on your face when you think of Wreck.”
“I never said dopey,” West put in.
Lucas glared. “Shut up. I do not.”
West sighed. “Both of you get stupid over your other, cough, better half. It’s cute. Don’t stress over it.”
“Fuck off, I’m not like that,” I said, just as my cell rang. I pulled it close and saw Zion’s name on the screen. I couldn’t stop the smile from forming.
“See, that right there.” Lucas pointed.
I gave him the finger and then answered the call, “Miss me already?”
“Always,” he replied straightaway. “I have news.”
I stilled. Both Lucas and West straightened when they noticed. “What?”
“We’ve got him.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yep. Boom brought him in. We got him in one of the cells below.” The compound had a secret basement below where we kept our armory when we needed to deal with anyone who wanted to fuck with the club. It also contained three cells where we dealt out punishments. Zion went on, “I’m on my way to grab you.”
“I’ll be ready.” As soon as Zion hung up, I looked to Lucas and West.
From overhearing the conversation, Lucas and West gave me a nod. They knew what I wanted when it came to Henry. They weren’t a fan of my choice but still respected it since it was the way of the brotherhood when it came to our payback.
“We’ll talk soon,” West said as he stood.
“Be careful,” Lucas added.
“I will.” I nodded. I walked them to the door and said goodbye, but not before Lucas gave me a quick hug. Then I went into the bedroom to change into clothes I wouldn’t mind getting dirty.
Chapter Twenty
Saint
It was understandable the drive to the compound was quiet. When we pulled in and got out, I met Kylo at the front of the car and tugged him to a stop with my hand in his.
“What do you want to happen in there?” I asked. I didn’t want to bring it up on the drive since it looked like Kylo needed his silence to process we had his father in lockup and was about to deliver some payback.
“I want him in pain. I want him to suffer, and I want both of us to deliver it.”
Nodding, I took his hand in mine, pulled it up, and kissed it. “Then we’ll make it happen.”
He tugged me into him, dropped my hand, and wound his arm around my waist. “Thank you for being you, for takin’ a chance on us, and for standin’ at my side.”
My chest compressed, then expanded. “Anythin’ for you.”
We both leaned in. Our lips pressed, opened, and tasted.
“It’s sweet and all, but let’s get this show on the road.” We broke apart to see Death approaching us.
“Don’t get jealous on me, Death. We’ll make out later,” I teased with a wink.
Death grinned. Kylo growled under his breath. “Like hell,” he clipped, causing Death and me to chuckle.
We made our way into the compound when Death said, “Don’t worry, Gun, he’s all yours. Blonds just don’t do it for me.”
Kylo grunt
ed. “Good.”
We stopped in the common room where other brothers were. They took us in, giving us a greeting in some way. Country, State, and Wreck approached us, but it was Country who said, “You gotta make a decision, Gun. In the end, do we turn him over or make sure the cops never find him?”
“He’s never to be found again,” Kylo stated.
It was what I would have picked. No one fucked with us. No one fucked with the Diamond MC, but more importantly, no one fucked with my man.
Squeezing his hand, I smiled and nodded my approval as Kylo met my gaze.
They parted, and we walked through, heading toward the basement area. I wasn’t sure what Kylo was feeling. I wished I could read his mind in case he needed something from me. But I wanted to end this so Kylo could breathe easy and move on with his life. There might be other hurdles, other challenges in life, but we’d deal with them together. We’d have the brothers at our backs, but we’d also have each other.
There wasn’t anything that would keep me away from Kylo.
Nothing.
I didn’t know if Kylo understood how deep I’d fallen, but I had.
Walking down the stairs, I stopped at the bottom when Kylo moved up to my side. Boom waited, leaning against the wall.
“Boom” was all Kylo said.
“Kid,” Boom replied. “I held back. Wasn’t sure what you’d pick.”
“Saint and I will go in there and finish this.”
Boom straightened as he looked at Kylo with pride and nodded once. He made it our way, dropped a hand to Kylo’s shoulder, and I caught the pressure he applied before he moved up the stairs.
“Let us know if you need anythin’,” Country said at our back.
State nodded in agreement. “We’ll wait around in case.” Wreck grunted, his way of saying he’d be there too.
“Thanks, brothers,” Kylo said before he went down the hall to where the cell was. Where his father waited. I followed silently behind him. He didn’t hesitate when we got to the cell. He took the key off the hook and unlocked the door. With a final touch from me, my hand to his back, he flung the door wide.