“I did. Twice. But I can tell by the smell of your apartment that you were rather… preoccupied.”
He flashed me a cheeky smile and I felt myself blush. I pulled out some plates for us while Maddox dug around for the silverware. I opened the fridge and pulled out a few things for us to drink, then the two of us sat down at my small kitchen table.
“Did you work today?” I asked.
“Actually, no. My dad didn’t need me for anything, so it was a quiet day. Did you?”
“Nope. I don’t work on the weekends. Monday through Friday only, unless it’s an emergency.”
“What constitutes an emergency in the world of editing?” he asked.
“If a book is about to be published and needs a last-minute overlook. But that’s about it. It’s happened maybe twice during my time there.”
“That’s good, then. It’s nice to have time off.”
“It is.”
“Do you plan on working through your pregnancy?”
I looked up at Maddox as I reached for the bowl of soup.
“I do. Does that bother you?”
“Not at all. But I will want your work number in case I need to get in touch with you. Or want to come check on you,” he said.
“You could call my cell,” I said.
“I would like to be able to call your desk. If you’re preoccupied, like you were earlier,” he said.
“It sucks when someone doesn’t pick up your call, doesn’t it?” I asked.
My eyes connected with Maddox’s before he sighed.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“That was uncalled for. I… can I be honest?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t want anything less.”
“I’m scared of doing this with you.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“I’m sort of getting excited about being a mother, but I’m afraid of doing it with you. I’m afraid we’ll go through all this and… I don’t know… you’ll love your child but I’ll just be… the woman you didn’t want to be stuck with but now are.”
I watched Maddox’s hand reach out before it wrapped around mine. I turned my palm up and took his hand, watching as his thumb stroked my skin. I hated being so emotional. I wasn’t used to it. I could usually keep a lid on things and put a strong foot forward, but lately I had been careening out of control. Crying for no reason and getting angry at the smallest things.
I didn’t like it, and I felt alone in it.
“I’m sorry for what I did. In my mind, I was protecting you,” Maddox said.
“From what?” I asked.
“From me. I’m not the man you think I am. I’m not as good and wholesome as I portray myself to be.”
“Good thing I never thought that about you.”
“What?” he asked.
“Wholesome men don’t fuck me the way you did the first night we met,” I said.
I watched his eyes darken as a grin slid across my cheeks.
“Do you have any hobbies?” I asked as I took a sip of my soup.
“Besides fucking you the way I want?” he asked.
I felt my cheeks flush as he pulled his hand away from mine.
“Not really. Reading is a favorite pastime of mine. I have books I’ve read dozens of times. My life’s been consumed with work for the most part, so I haven’t developed any that are steady. You?”
“Even though I edit for a living, I love reading a good book. I also swim. I really love swimming. For exercise and pleasure,” I said.
“Do you enjoy the ocean?”
“Love it. As a kid, whenever my family and I would go to the ocean, I would go out as far as I could and bodysurf back in.”
“Do you see your family often?” he asked.
“Not as often as I’d like to, but I get to them when I can. It’s usually only over the holidays, though.”
“Do you have siblings?”
“I do. Two younger brothers. One’s getting his Master’s in Education and the other is an accountant. He’s incredible with numbers.”
“Sounds like an asset for any company,” he said.
“What about your family? Do you have any siblings?”
“I’m an only child,” he said.
“Do you… have a good relationship with your parents?”
I watched Maddox tense as he took a bite of his steak.
“Sometimes,” he said. “I’m an only child, so they can have their moments.”
“I’m the oldest, so I know what you mean. I was the one who always had to set the example, so I was always made an example of.”
“Ah, those wonderful parenting moments,” he said with a grin. “I hated being an example. With my father running the business, I always had to fall in line.”
“Will you take his business over?” I asked.
“I don’t want to, no. What he does is pretty dangerous. It’s not the kind of life I want for myself. For us.”
“What does he do?” I asked.
I watched Maddox tense again before he took another bite of his food. He was beginning to worry me, and I didn’t like it.
“Maddox?” I asked.
“Let’s finish our dinner, and then we’ll talk about it,” he said.
The bowl of soup settled well on my stomach, but I didn’t feel like eating much more. The steak and the salad went into the fridge and Maddox helped me clean up the kitchen. The dishes got put into the dishwasher as I wiped down the table, and I took stock of the man in my kitchen. He was in jeans and t-shirt and his leather jacket was hanging on one of my chairs.
I scooted our chairs underneath the table and I tried to figure out what it was he wanted to tell me. He turned and looked at me as he dried off his hands. His eyes pulled me in as I stood there in the middle of my living room. Maddox tossed the rag onto the counter and walked towards me, his shoes clicking on my tiled kitchen floor.
Then his hand came up to rest on my cheek.
“I could never be stuck with you, Reagan.”
I felt my body shiver at his words as he closed the distance between our bodies.
“You are… an astounding woman. If anything, I’m sorry you’re stuck with a man like me.”
Before I could question him, his lips were against mine. I drew in a deep breath, my hands creeping up his chest. His hands fell to the hem of my pants and began undoing the button on my jeans. I started unbuttoning his shirt, then pulled his tie from around his neck.
We stumbled into my room, leaving a trail of clothes behind us. His body throbbed against me as his lips dipped to my neck. I opened myself for him, wanting nothing more than to feel him fill me up again. I didn’t want the foreplay and I didn’t want the positions and I didn’t want the kissing.
I wanted Maddox.
And I wanted him badly.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and we tumbled to the bed. I rolled him over onto his back, my legs straddling his hips. I peppered his shoulder and neck with kisses as his cock grew between my legs. I could feel my pussy juices dripping onto him as I rocked against his girth.
“I need you,” I said breathlessly.
“You have me,” Maddox said.
I rolled my hips deeply and his cock slid into my body. My hands curled into his chest as his hands gripped my ass. I slid along his cock, my legs trembling and my lips parted with ecstasy. I felt my entire body heating with him as he moved me in all the ways he wanted.
He set a relentless pace, guiding my body as I panted on top of him. I curled my nails into his chest, feeling his cock throb against my walls. I dipped my lips to his, covering his grunts and groans and swallowing them down my throat. I sucked on his lower lip and raked my teeth across it, and the growl that fell from his lips set my toes on fire.
Then, he flipped me over and started to pound into my body.
His movements rendered me speechless. I was panting and gasping. Whimpering and groaning. His cock grew thicker and his hips began to stutter. My hand raked throu
gh his hair and grabbed onto the thick muscles of his back. I rose my hips to meet his as my clit was raked against his body. My toes began to curl as our lips collided, and I knew I was close.
I knew I was almost there.
My body exploded and I grabbed on to him tightly. I moaned Maddox’s name into his lips as I milked his cock for everything it had. He slid into me one last time, his hips burrowed into mine.
I could feel his threads of cum painting my walls as my body shook against mine.
He collapsed into me, no longer to contain himself. I felt him trembling. Shaking. His muscles twitching with fulfilled desire as I held him close. I buried my face into the crook of his neck as he pulled from between my legs, and I kissed him as I helped him roll off to the side.
His hand rose to cup my cheek as my vision slowly focused.
“Maddox,” I said breathlessly.
“Reagan,” he said. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Mmmm… anything,” I said.
“My family doesn’t come from good people,” he said.
I furrowed my brow at his statement as my leg slid between his.
“What do you mean?” I asked with a sigh.
“I need you to look at me, Reagan. I need to know you’re hearing me.”
I could hear the sternness in his voice and it sent a shiver down my spine. But it wasn’t a good shiver.
It was a worried one.
“Maddox, what’s going on?” I asked.
“I’m worried about you,” he said.
“Why?”
“Do you my leather jacket?” he asked.
I giggled at his question before I tried to rack my brain for the answer.
“Yeah, I’ve seen you wear it a lot,” I said.
“Have you see the patch on it?”
I thought for a moment, and that’s when I remember what Nova had told me. I felt my stomach drop to my toes as my eyes grew wide.
“You’re… not you’re not,” I said.
“I am,” he said.
“You can’t be.”
“I am.”
“You’re a part of a motorcycle club.”
“The Ghost Riders MC,” he said.
“They are not just a motorcycle club,” I stated flatly.
He nodded slowly and all of the sudden I knew everything I need to know.
I scrambled out of bed, holding the comforter up to my naked body. Maddox slowly sat up in bed as I pressed my back against the wall. Was he being serious? Was he trying to throw me for a loop? It wasn’t possible. There was no way in hell I was carrying the child of some outlaw.
Was it?
“Reagan, just listen.”
“Don’t come any closer,” I said.
“Okay. That’s fine,” he said.
“You’re part of the Ghost Riders MC.”
“I don’t want to be anymore,” he said.
“Is that supposed to make this better?”
“Please listen. My club, and my family aren’t good people.”
“No, I bet they aren’t,” I said flatly.
“And I stopped taking your calls because I knew we couldn’t be together. Not with my father wanting me to take over the club as president.”
I felt my lip trembling as my eyes began to water.
“A few months ago, at the shop you found me at, a body was dumped.”
“Excuse me?” I asked.
“A body showed up. It was one of our prospects. My father’s gotten himself into some trouble with a rival club. And they are fucking dangerous. But for some reason he doesn’t seem to care. I can’t do what we are doing anymore and I asked him to get out and he refused, so I’m having to take matters into my own hands.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I asked.
“It means that if we’re going to have this child, we have to get out of Seattle.”
I felt all the blood drain from my face.
“Are you insane!? I can’t leave Seattle. My entire life is here. My career. My friends. My social life. I’m not uprooting and leaving with a guy who just so happens to be next in line for president of a gangster motorcycle club!”
I was trembling as I gripped the comforter tighter in my hands.
“I don’t want this life, Reagan. I never did. And I haven’t done some of the things you associate with my club. I lean on people to get shipments from overseas pushed through. Sometimes I do the muscle work. But I never had to kill anyone for it. Beat a few people up, sure. But that’s it. Nothing else.”
“How the hell am I supposed to believe you?” I asked.
“I don’t expect you to. Not now. But I have someone working on a way to get us out of here without anyone getting hurt. If my father won’t let me out, then I have to run.”
“Run? What do you mean ‘run’? This isn’t some kind of movie, Maddox. I have a life. Family in Oregon. What the hell am I supposed to tell them?” I asked.
“I’ll get you back for holidays, I promise. By the time they come around next year, I’ll have this sorted out. But you’re in danger because of me, and I’m sorry. I thought pushing you away would do the trick, but it never occurred to me that we would find ourselves in this situation.”
I felt a tear rush down my cheek as Maddox started walking around my bed.
“Stop,” I said breathlessly.
“It’s only me,” he said.
“Don’t come any closer.”
“You know I won’t hurt you. I’ve never hurt anyone and I don’t intend to start now.”
His naked body, chiseled with muscle and flexing with power, stood in front of me. His hand cupped my cheek and he tilted my gaze to meet his. My head was swirling with this information. With the shit Maddox had just dropped in my lap.
“I can’t just leave,” I said breathlessly.
“Do you want this child?” he asked.
I nodded my head as another tear slipped down my cheek.
“Then you have to trust me. It’s the only way we’ll get what we want.”
“And what do you want, Maddox?”
He dipped his lips to mine and I felt my knees quake. I was weak to him, whether I wanted to admit it or not. There was something about him. Something about his presence my body trusted even though my mind was still screaming at me.
“This family,” he said. “I want the family we’ve made.”
Chapter Twenty
Maddox
“What the hell are you doing, calling me at shop?” I asked.
“You’re always working,” Parker said.
“Because that’s my life. Do you have something for me?”
“The passports are nearly completed. I’m checking out our connections in Ireland, Frankfurt, and Sydney to see which would be the best fit,” he said.
“We still have connections in Ireland?” I asked. “Check there first. They haven’t been a player on the map in a long time.”
“Will do. Once I establish where you’ll be, I’ll find lodging with the account you handed over to me to make the arrangements.”
“Good. How long do you think it’ll take?”
“Two more weeks at the most. I’ve got packets with both of the new identities you requested. All that’s missing is the passport and driver’s license. Both of which will be established-”
“Once you find a place for us to go. I got it. Thanks.”
“No problem. I’ll keep in touch.”
I breathed a sigh of relief as I shoved my phone into my pocket. Damn Parker was good. I knew he was able to hack into things before, but he was really pulling everything together for this. My dad was working me harder and harder in order to prepare me to take over his seat as president.
Things were still heating up with the Steel Outlaws. There was a shootout with one of our smaller charters in Portland, and their president had mentioned that they left them with a warning. The warning was for my father specifically. The Steel Outlaws were coming for him. Which meant I needed
to get Reagan and I out of the country as fast as possible.
But Reagan still wasn’t talking about leaving.
No matter how often, I tried to bring it up she refused.
Things had been rough, but not impossible. I had managed to keep her a secret from everyone and we took precautions to make sure we kept it that way. Her pregnancy was getting the best of her, though. Gestational diabetes had set in and her blood pressure wasn’t doing well because of the stress at work. She had to drop down to part-time in order to hold onto her job while still taking care of her body.
And that meant she couldn’t afford her apartment.
With a lot of convincing, I got her to move in with me. It was hard, having her sleep across the hallway instead of with me. But I understood. She was still reeling from our conversation from weeks ago. And I couldn’t blame her. I had basically told her that she had to uproot her entire life because of me.
That wasn’t something that was easy to get over.
I keep up the ruse as long as I could. I went to work at the shop, did what was asked of me by my father, and played house with Reagan. I came home with dinners she didn’t have to cook and made sure to replace the flowers I bought her every week. I had eased her into a routine of relaxing against me on the couch with a milkshake after we got cleaned up for bed, and I cherished those moments with her.
But whenever I brought up leaving, she ignored me.
I was worried if she would ever run away with me. She was in danger here. If my father ever found out I had gotten her pregnant, he could use the life of our unborn child to leverage me into becoming the president of the club. And my father wasn’t below it, either. Anything he needed to do in order to push his own agenda was perfectly fine with him. In my younger days, I’d seen that man strangle someone with his bare hands to prove a point to a man who wasn’t paying him on time.
He was ruthless. And it would be no different with me.
I knew it was only a matter of time though before everything with the Steel Outlaws bubbled over. No matter how hard I had tried to convince my dad otherwise, he kept pushing forward with trying to take more of their territory. And the Steel Outlaws were taking our charters out, every chance they got. Within the last month, there are had been three shootouts and several of our guys in other charters were now dead because of it.
Baby and the Biker: The Ghost Riders MC Page 12