“Lock, I wanted to tell you that I’m so happy for you, and I know Letty would want this for you. At first I was worried and thought maybe you were jumping into something because of all the shit that’s happened. But I can see how happy you are and how much you love her. That’s everything.” She sniffled a little, then gave me a big hug. I wrapped my arms around her.
“Thanks, babe. That means the world to me, especially knowing that Letty was one of your best friends growing up.” I spoke into her ear before I released her with a chaste kiss to her cheek.
Then I hooked an arm around my wife’s waist, pulling her close.
Hollywood and Becca were next.
“Damn, I’m so glad you left our chapter!” Hollywood smirked, and Becca gasped in shock as she backhanded his abs.
“That’s a shitty thing to say!” She looked embarrassed as hell, and her face matched her auburn hair.
“What? I was tired of competing with his pretty face. Now I’m the prettiest again.” White teeth flashed in a wolfish smile, and I laughed.
“Shit, you keep telling yourself that,” I teased, and it was his turn to laugh. Becca started to lose the deep red on her face when she caught on that we were fucking with each other.
Hacker and Kassi moved in next, followed by Joker and Sera.
“Oh my God, girl. I loved your dress and how you were able to take the skirt off!” Kassi said.
“Yeah, that was freaking badass, but the veil on the helmet was the best,” piped in Sera.
Hacker and Joker rolled their eyes at the women with their giggling and shit. We shook hands and hugged.
“We sure miss you, Lock.” Hacker was fairly somber, and Joker poked him.
“Aww don’t cry, cariño!” Joker teased.
“Fuck you. You’re such an asshole,” Hacker grumbled, but I could see the grin he suppressed.
“Nah, I’m kidding. Yeah, we do fucking miss you. And Gunny, since he’s still chilling down here with you.” Joker grinned good-naturedly in typical Joker fashion. He was a far cry from the guy I’d prospected with. Well, our prospect time overlapped and he was patched first, but we were low-man-on-totem-pole together for a while.
“Yeah, funny thing is, he hasn’t been to the house for breakfast for the last week. He wouldn’t move to the house with us either. He’s been staying here. Something’s up with him, but I don’t know what. I’ve had so much going on, it keeps slipping my mind to talk to him. Makes me feel like a pretty shitty brother.” I scratched my beard, then smoothed it.
“Want me to try to feel him out?” Hacker spoke up.
“Nah, leave it be. I don’t want him to think we’ve been gossiping about him like old women.” I laughed.
“Oh, you mean like you are?” Reaper leaned in, and his ice-blue eyes crinkled at the corners in humor.
“Ahh, fuck off,” Joker told Reaper as he gave him a teasing shove.
The women finally came and stole their men and went to get food. Raiven looped an arm through mine and leaned her head on my shoulder. “I like your friends.”
I snorted. “Friends? Those assholes are family.” My grin told her I loved each and every one of them.
Styx ran up to me and gave me a bear hug as he lifted me in the air. He gave a warrior’s roar as everyone laughed. Even me. He was a crazy motherfucker, but he’d become not only a trustworthy brother, but a close friend.
“Congratulations, bro. I’m so fucking happy for you guys.” He wrapped a big meaty paw around Raiven’s head and pulled her close to kiss the top.
“Thanks Styx. That means a lot.” Raiven beamed up at the man who rivaled my brother when it came to his Viking-like looks. A lesser man might be jealous, but I’d accepted that Raiven loved me and was loyal to me. I was one lucky bastard.
“Lock.” The gruff voice that came from over my shoulder had me standing tall. Next to my dad, Pops had my respect more than any man.
“Hey, Pops, thanks for coming back up.” He and Mama Jean had gone down along the coast and to the border with their RV for a while. They’d come back up when we’d told them what our plans were.
“You know you’re like a son to me, boy,” he grumbled, and I smirked at him calling me a boy. “But you better treat her right. That girl there is all the family Mama and I have left, and she’s been like a daughter to us her whole life.”
“Yes, sir. I can promise you, I’ll keep her happy,” I promised.
“You fucking better,” he threatened before he wrapped his bear-like arms around me and squeezed. “I love you, son.”
“Thanks, Pops. I love you too.” We didn’t say it loud enough for everyone to hear, because a man has his pride. But every word was the truth.
After Mama said her piece to me as well, they moved on to visit with everyone.
Raiven leaned in to whisper in my ear, “How happy will you keep me?”
Her twinkling eyes were full of mischief, and I had half a mind to take her to one of the rooms and show her.
Instead, I pulled her close, pressing my hard-as-fuck dick against her soft middle. “How happy do you think I can keep you?”
At her seductive chuckle, I nipped her ear and her neck. “You keep that shit up and I’m going to fuck up that lipstick of yours.”
“As long as it’s around your cock, I’m okay with that.” She covertly slipped a hand between us and wrapped it around my shaft. I groaned at her boldness.
“Jesus fucking Martha, are you trying to kill me? Or are you trying to get me to take you to the back?”
“Maybe both?” The sexy-ass grin that she shot me had me growling as I grabbed her ass and hiked her legs up around my waist. The fact that my parents were there, Pops, Mama Jean, and all the brothers didn’t matter shit.
“Daddy? Why you kewwying my mommy?” I heard my daughter say from behind me.
“You just got very lucky,” I growled into her ear as she laughed.
“No, I’m hoping to get lucky later.”
Not long after that, we were in Smoke’s office with my back up against the door. She was on her knees in front of me, and I was quickly losing my shit as she sucked my cock deep down her throat. It was like a motherfucking vacuum, and my knees were on the verge of buckling.
“Goddamn, do you even have a gag reflex?” I asked in astonishment as I recovered from shooting my load down her beautiful, slender throat.
She chuckled softly. “Funny enough, I gag when I brush my back teeth with my toothbrush, but I can suck a dick like nobody’s business.”
“My,” I said, knowing my eyes were flashing angrily.
“Your what?”
“My cock. The thought of those lips around any cock but mine makes me want to hurt someone. These lips don’t go near another cock ever again. You feel me?”
Wide-eyed, she nodded. Then I got a good look at her face and my cock. Unable to help it, I laughed.
I’d fucked up her lipstick after all.
“Savior”—Rise Against
Shutting off the machine, I set it aside and wiped the piece off until it was clean, snapped a pic, prepped it, and covered it. Once I was done, I peeled off my gloves, washed my hands, and smiled. “Done. What do you think?”
“I think I just found my new tattoo artist. Sorry, Joker.” Lock was looking in the mirror at his thigh, where I’d finished a phoenix that he’d asked me to work up for him. It was the first of my pieces on him and it left a ridiculous satisfaction to know he wouldn’t have someone else’s hands on him. The thought of another person leaving their mark on him left me feeling very possessive.
“No you’re not.” I snorted.
He simply shrugged and grinned. “You’re right, I’m not sorry. Besides, he’d completely understand. If Sera could do ink, he’d probably be an inked-up motherfucker.”
“Speaking of which, that’s so weird. I’ve met him several times and I still can’t get over the fact that he’s a tattoo artist with only a handful of tattoos. Most of which he did himself.” As I
cleaned my station, I shook my head at the mystery of it. For me, my ink was an expression of who I was. Each and every tattoo had meaning. Also, they were addicting as hell. Which was why I had several. Okay, maybe more than several.
“At the reception he said he’d let you put something on him.” Lock chuckled.
“Uh, yeah. He was also shit-faced and promised Sera she could pick out what he got. I don’t think he’ll be sticking to that.” I laughed as I wiped down my counter and then leaned against it to look at the sexy-as-fuck man who had been my husband for almost a month.
My husband. I still had a hard time with the reality I was living.
“Are you picking up Presley or am I?” he asked as he carefully pulled his jeans back on over the covered piece. I’d enjoyed him sitting there in his underwear while I’d been doing his leg. He’d probably disagree, but he looked pretty much like when I’d first met him. Maybe a little leaner, but gorgeous nonetheless.
“I can get her. You were my last appointment.”
“Cool. I’m going to swing by HEB to pick up some milk and cereal for Presley. You need anything?”
“You’re on the bike?”
“Yeah. But I can get my truck from the house. That’s what I was going to do if I needed to get her. I don’t mind.” He walked to the front, and I followed after shutting off my lights and closing my door.
“No, it’s okay. I don’t really need it anyway.”
“What did you want?” He gave me a quizzical smile.
“Cheesecake.” I grinned, showing my teeth and batting my eyes.
He laughed.
We’d stepped out into the late summer heat, and I nearly melted. “Holy shit, it’s hot out here. What the hell were we thinking, moving here?”
“You have auto-start on your truck. Why don’t you use it, and it would be cooled off by the time you get in?”
My cheeks flushed. “Maybe because I’m barely used to having a vehicle, let alone having damn auto-start on it.” Shrugging as sweat ran down my butt crack, I ran into his back because he’d stopped in his tracks unexpectedly.
“Ooof! Oh shit! Sorry! What’s wrong?” I stepped around him to see what he was looking at. There was a man walking away, but other than that, I didn’t see anything of interest.
Tense, he clenched and unclenched his hands. “Nothing. Thought I saw someone I know. I think I’ll follow you to the clubhouse. I need to talk to Smoke and Straight about something anyway. I’ll swing by the store later.” He seemed preoccupied as he pulled on his helmet. I tried not to be disappointed that he hadn’t kissed me first.
“Okay.” Confused, I climbed in my new badass truck and started it up. Wincing as the air blew hot initially, I rolled the windows down to disperse the heat. I’d loved Lock’s truck so much, I bought myself a white one just like it.
Intense blue eyes watched me while he waited for me to pull out of the lot.
The whole way to the clubhouse, he was constantly checking his mirrors and looking around. He was trying to be subtle about it, but I noticed.
I made a mental note to ask him, but it slipped my mind when we pulled up and saw Presley on the wooden swing set. The guys had all built it under a huge oak tree when Mattie started babysitting Presley at the clubhouse.
My heart swelled at her obvious happiness.
It nearly exploded when I heard her yell, “Mommy!” as soon as she saw me getting closer.
Lock was on my heels, and she gave us both a big hug. Then she ran back to show us how she’d learned to jump out of the swing.
“Fuck, she’s going to give me a damn heart attack.” Watching her jump out of the moving swing sent my heart rate into overdrive.
He snorted. “You?”
I’d taken a single step toward Presley when he stopped me and spun me around. The fingers of both hands threaded through the hair on the sides of my head. Stars exploded when his lips touched mine, and my hands wrapped around his wrists.
“Mmm, that was nice. What was that for?” I gave him a contented smile because I’d finally gotten my kiss I’d been missing.
“I have to have a reason to kiss my wife?” He smirked.
“Absolutely not, but is everything okay? You’re being very… intense.” He kissed me again, and I completely forgot my question.
“I’ll be out in a bit. Wait for me?” he asked.
“Sure, but you can meet us at home if you want. I can take Presley and get dinner started.”
“No. Wait for me.” His somber insistence was unusual.
“Okay, sure.” A last brief brush of his lips, and he turned on his heel to enter the clubhouse.
Shaking my head at his weird behavior, I braced myself for the pint-sized whirlwind heading my way again. Though she plowed into my legs, she was careful of my growing baby bump.
Now that I was about fifteen weeks, give or take, we’d told Presley she was going to be a big sister. I’d been worried she may be jealous or wouldn’t understand. I’d worried needlessly, because she’d been ecstatic.
“Hi, baby bruver!” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed my belly. We hadn’t had another ultrasound to find out the sex yet, but she was insistent it was a boy.
It was cooler in the shade and there was breeze blowing, but it was still hot out. “You wanna go inside, Presley?”
“No, I pway on the swide wiff Mattie. Hers my fwiend.” Mattie gave a shy smile at Presley’s announcement of their friendship.
“Mattie, are you okay with that?”
The teenage girl shrugged. “It’s fine, Ms. Raiven. We have water in the cooler, so we’re staying hydrated.” She tipped her head toward a cooler at the base of the tree.
“Alright, well, I’ll be inside. I’m not built for these temps,” I groaned. Once they resumed playing, I entered the cool clubhouse, breathing a sigh of relief.
My relief was short-lived when I heard raised voices coming from the conference room where they usually held church. The door was closed, but I was curious so I stepped closer when I noticed no one was in the common area.
Pressing my ear to the door, I bit my lip, and my eyes darted around checking for anyone who may have come in that I missed. I shouldn’t be listening, but I wanted to know what was up. Because I knew something was bothering Lock when we left the shop.
“I’m not putting up with his shit!” I heard Lock yell.
“That’s not what I said!” Straight shouted back. Then there was a muffled response that sounded like Smoke, but I couldn’t make it out.
After that, everyone quit yelling, so I couldn’t hear what was said through the thick wooden door. Deciding it wouldn’t do to get caught eavesdropping, I tiptoed over to a booth and sat down.
Since my feet and legs were a little swollen, I slid until my back was against the wall and propped them up on the bench. I wasn’t there two minutes when Lock stormed out of the conference room.
“Lock!” Smoke shouted to him.
He spun in a fury. “What?”
“Don’t be going off half-cocked and do something stupid. He hasn’t done anything yet, and he’s had plenty of time. I think he’s just fucking with you.”
“Well, I’m tired of him fucking with me. If he comes near me or my family, he’s a dead man,” Lock ground out.
Smoke noticed me first, and his face became impassive as he nodded in my direction. Lock turned, and his gaze caught mine.
Both men walked toward me, followed by Straight. Once they all reached me, they had smiles on their faces, though Straight’s looked strained.
“Hey little mama, look at you. Pregnancy agrees with you,” Smoke observed.
My eyes narrowed. “Did you get your name because you blow smoke up people’s asses?”
Despite the earlier tension, they all laughed. I wasn’t kidding.
“Come on, babe, let’s head to the house.”
Smoke and Straight followed us outside. As I was buckling Presley in, I heard them talking by Lock’s bike.
“I
’m going to have Check find out if he’s staying around here somewhere or if there’s anything he can find out. Okay?” Smoke said.
“Sure” was Lock’s impassive answer.
Presley had been worn out after her day. She’d nearly dozed off in her plate, then in the bathtub, and finally fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Without even having her story read.
Lock and I were snuggled up in bed after a round of really exhausting, savage, sweaty sex. It never got old. Each time was like the first time, with each orgasm better than the last.
My head rested on his shoulder as I traced the tattoo on his chest.
“Is everything okay? You seemed very stressed after we left the shop today. Then you guys were yelling. I’m worried about you.”
He sighed.
“I don’t know. I’ve tried to tell myself I was being paranoid, but today I saw Viper outside your shop and he looked right at me. Even grinned and waved. It proved to me that I really have been seeing him. It hasn’t been my imagination. I don’t like that he was outside the shop.” He pulled away from me to sit on the edge of the bed. Fingers laced in his hair, he hunched over.
“Matlock. He’s obviously just trying to mess with your head. He hasn’t done anything, has he?” He’d told me who Viper was and some of what he’d done, though I wasn’t an idiot and I could tell he didn’t tell me everything. I was also trying to be positive and optimistic because it made me a little nervous to hear that the man was hanging around down in Texas when I’d learned his club was up in Omaha.
“Not this time.” The torment in his quiet reply hurt my heart.
His shouted words at the clubhouse made sense, and I worried about him. If he lost his shit and killed this Viper person, he’d likely go to jail. That would kill me. It would devastate Presley, his brother, his parents, and his club.
“Still, if he was going to do something, don’t you think he’d have done it be now?”
“If he fucks with you or Presley, he’s dead.” He spoke low, but I caught the dead tone of his voice. It scared me.
“You’re not a killer, Matlock.”
His spine stiffened at my words, and he slowly turned to look me in the eye.
Lock and Load: A Demented Sons MC Texas Novel Page 22