His Angel: The Wounded Souls Series

by Leah Sharelle

  “Don’t even think about it, Angel. I’m getting rid of everyone, and then we are getting in bed and going to sleep,” Creed whispered against my lips, their softness and warmth not helping my aroused state in the least—

  Wait. Did he say we? “Are you staying?” I asked, surprised. I presumed he would be needed back at the club to do whatever they had to do after one killed a person.

  “I’m not leaving your side, Memphis. You are my home, Angel, so where you are, is where I want to be,” Creed whispered to me, his words meaning more to me than he could ever know.

  My fingers made their way to my favourite place on Creed’s handsome face, his lips, which were spread in a big smile.

  “Hmmm, before we go to sleep, can we talk about baby names?” I asked as Creed helped me get my leg in a comfortable position on the bed, and then he snuggled in the small hospital bed with me. It was a little squishy, but there was no way I was going to complain about that. Our baby was safe, I was in my husband’s arms, and the club was free from danger. I felt guilty for feeling so elated so soon after losing Darth, who had been a big part of so many lives and would be desperately missed. Creed must have sensed where my mind went because he tightened his arms around me and pressed a lingering kiss to my lips.

  “Let’s not go there tonight, Angel, okay? Tonight, I just want to be thankful that I have my world in my arms.”

  My heart warmed again. Creed was right. Tomorrow would be soon enough to deal with the reality of the day’s events.

  “Okay, baby,” I agreed readily. “Now, how do you feel about naming our baby Apollo if we have a boy?”

  I felt Creed’s body move in silent laughter.

  “Not on your life, Angel.”

  Chapter 26

  CREED

  As I held Shiloh tighter to me, her head buried deeper into my chest, her tiny sobs broke me.

  Halfway through the service, Squirt climbed over my four brothers’ laps. She made her way through the club’s members, and now it was my turn. Who was comforting who was not clear. Next to me, Memphis sat with her leg propped up on a chair in front of her. Her small hand trembled in mine as we listened to the chaplain speak eloquently of my brother and friend.

  Finally, I had time to process the fact that Darth was gone. Four days had gone by since the worst day in the club’s history went down. After Booth got himself stitched up and Stella calmed down, Jason took him to the police station, the club’s solicitor by his side. For seventeen hours, Booth was questioned, all of us were, but it was Booth who copped most of the interrogation. Why Booth kept us in the dark about the plan that he and Jason hashed out finally made sense to me during the questioning. The man was my hero in more ways than one, and I would be eternally grateful to him for ending Rogue’s life. He had, essentially, put an end to the last part of my darkness, burying the reason for Lila’s death and giving me my life back.

  I turned my gaze from the large black coffin that held my brother and then looked at my wife. Fuck, she is so beautiful and mine. My thoughts seemed inappropriate, but I couldn’t help them. Every time I looked at her, my heart swelled. I came so close to not having this, and that thought alone nearly gutted me. I lifted her soft hand to my lips and pressed a kiss to her palm, then rested our joined hands on her flat belly where my child nestled safely. Another reason to be eternally grateful.

  “Unca Creed, Vinnie! It’s Vinnie’s turn to talk about Darf,” Shiloh whispered loudly.

  Muffled giggles around us made me smile. Damn, but I loved that kid.

  “You know, Unca Creed, you look like Mad Max when you smile.” Shiloh’s random comment had Memphis giggling and Deck grunting.

  I looked over at Deck and raised my middle finger at him. Smartarse.

  “Is that right, Squirt? I thought I looked like Maverick,” I teased her.

  “Youse do, but only when you wear your airplane glasses,” Shiloh told me, which I presumed meant my aviators.

  I held my finger up to my lips in a shushing motion. If she kept going, she was going to pull out some reference to that bloody show Tour of Duty.

  “Listen to Vinnie, sweetheart.”

  I adjusted her on my lap so she had a better vantage point to see Booth. My president stood at the podium, dressed in his army fatigues, looking very much the CO who led us into battle hundreds of times, and who, even to this day, I would follow with no questions asked.

  “My role as the president of this club has always been to protect and lead. There is no one here in this room I would not protect with my life. There is nothing I would ask someone to do that I would not do myself. Darth had those two qualities in spades.” Booth’s strong, deep voice carried through the room, and his words were never truer.

  “Vader Darth was a bloody good soldier, a fucking great friend, and a valued member of the Wounded Souls. But I think Darth’s best role started the day a little raven-haired newborn came to us. Most of you people here know how much that beautiful baby meant, not only to Deck but also to Mannix, Steel, Creed, and myself. What you might not know or understand is how much she meant to Darth.” Booth paused, his eyes falling on Shiloh. As a guy and a biker, even I could see the depth of emotion that was swirling around in my president.

  “Squirt, Darth loved you more than his own life. You were his whole world, baby girl, and because of his feelings for you, we still have you with us. There is no greater gift Darth could have given us, and your daddy and mummy.”

  Shiloh hiccuped through her tears. She was full-on crying now after hearing Booth say these things. Her little chin wobbled as she gave Booth a chin lift, making him smile sadly.

  “We all know how Darth struggled after losing Vegas. Shiloh was his only beacon of light.” Booth tilted his head back on his shoulders and raised his eyes skyward.

  “Thank you, brother. Thank you for protecting Shiloh and Memphis, for your unselfish act of bravery. Give Vegas a kiss from her flock. Be at peace, brother.”

  Memphis sobbed quietly at the mention of Darth’s ultimate sacrifice to keep her safe. She was doing pretty good considering what she went through. When I mentioned how well she was coping, she answered in typical Memphis fashion.

  “It helps that I couldn’t see anything, baby. When I close my eyes at night, I don’t see the man’s face, I don’t see the gun, and I don’t see Darth dying. What I do feel is your arms holding me close, your heart beating, and your warm breath on my face. Those things get me through it and help me cope by making the sounds and the memories of that day less frightening.”

  I was man enough to admit that when she told me that, I wept in her arms. I held her a little tighter in bed that night and would every night for the rest of my life.

  Booth moved from the temporary stage we’d set up—again—and walked to his wife, who had cried softly through the entire service, which was no different from the other women of the flock. Their love for Darth was no less important. He’d touched everyone who knew him. I watched my pres turn from the leader of the Souls to a loving husband as he gently lifted her into his arms and carried her back to the stage where a seat was waiting for her, and he deposited her with a gentleness only a man deeply in love could do. Seb made his way behind Booth, a chair and a guitar in each hand.

  “My wife was not going to let this day go without giving Darth the right send off. And despite my best efforts to forbid her not to exhaust herself, I lost the argument,” Booth said with a tender look at his woman. He then pressed a kiss to Stella’s lips before moving to stand behind her, resting his hand on the back of her neck, which Stella leaned into. He was her strength as much as she was his.

  Stella wiped the wetness from her cheeks and cleared her throat.

  “The song I chose for today is more from Darth to Vegas. Rather than saying goodbye to him, I thought it was more important to sing about their love and his feelings for the people he loved. Despite… what… what happened, all that mattered was how he lived and loved, and he wouldn’t have done it dif
ferently.”

  Stella took a deep breath and nodded to Seb, who started to play a haunting intro. Stella then began to sing a song of living and loving and loss. No matter how much that loss was unexpected and sad, it was the dance of life that made all the pain worth it. Booth stood behind Stella for the whole song, his hands constantly touching her, giving her silent courage.

  “Unca Creed, don’t blondie sound like an angel?”

  “She sure does, Squirt,” I agreed as I kissed Shiloh’s temple. I looked over at my own angel as Stella sang words of love, of a dance that one could never regret no matter how it ended. I danced through life with Lila for much of my life, and I’d loved it while I had it. Maybe I would have changed some things, but if I had, then this dance I was taking with Memphis may not have ever happened.

  I leaned over and put my lips close to her ear, then whispered, “I love you, Angel.”

  As shivers electrified her body, sea-green eyes turned to me, wet with tears and so goddamn beautiful I nearly forgot to breathe.

  “I will dance with you forever, Creed Stephens. I never want to change a thing,” she said softly, stealing a few lines of the song.

  Yeah, this was the dance I wanted. For the rest of my life.

  ———

  “It’s strange standing here watching Shiloh play with her dogs and not be on alert for anything other than her falling over and hurting herself,” Steel said as we did just that.

  We had no idea how the recent events were going to affect the little girl—she had seen so much and experienced more than any child of four should ever see. She had cried for Darth when we, as a team and as a club, carried our brother out to the hearse. His grandmother decided the best resting place for her grandson was beside the only woman he’d loved. Tomorrow, we would all travel to Vegas’s hometown and bury our fallen mate.

  “Can’t believe it’s over, that our women and children are safe,” Deck added, his eyes not leaving his daughter as he spoke. Old habit and all, I supposed.

  Not that I blamed him because I had one eye on Memphis, too. She was sitting over at the picnic tables with Stella, Mia, and Charlotte. Rainn had gone to bed not long after the service ended. She was closing in on her due date, and Mannix was in crazy mode now. My enforcer was enforcing all kinds of laws on his woman, and it was entertaining to watch.

  Booth moved and stood in front of us, a beer in his hand.

  “Today, we go back to living. We don’t let Darth’s death be one in vain. We all lived in darkness at one time or another, some longer than others.” Booth looked at me, a smile gracing his face. “Then we found our lights. We are husbands and fathers now, and I, for one, can’t fucking wait for what is coming next.”

  Steel snorted a laugh, and then taunted his twin, “Well, most of us are husbands. Mannix can’t seem to enforce that one on Rainn yet.”

  Mannix flipped up his middle finger and waved it at his brother.

  “Fuck you, Steel. She is caving, I can tell. It’s only a matter of time before she says yes. She can’t resist me,” Mannix replied in typical cocky Mannix style, making us all laugh.

  “Hey, what the hell is going on there?” Deck pointed to the far end of the playground.

  Ford and Lucky stood by the slide and looked to be arguing. I had witnessed something similar between my two brothers the day before I brought Memphis to the club as my wife. I hadn’t wanted to know then, and I didn’t want to know now.

  “I don’t want to know,” I voiced my thoughts, “but whatever it is, it’s gonna be interesting.”

  “Oh, shit a brick, here we go again.” Steel laughed as he opened another beer.

  “Is this going to be like it was at the FOB?” Mannix asked as he too grabbed another bottle from the cooler beside him and twisted the top off.

  “Jesus H Christ, if I have to break up any more fights between them…” Booth left the rest of his statement unsaid.

  There was no need to say it since all of us, at one time or another had got in between a Lucky and Ford punch-on. They were both great fighters, and I, for one, had copped a flying back kick to the gut on more than one occasion while trying to break them up.

  “This is one time we could use Darth’s skills. Remember the time when he knocked their heads together? Picked them up in each hand like they weighed nothing? Fucking good times,” Deck said with his head back and looking up to the sky. My bet he was trying to hide his wet eyes. Darth and Deck had been close, basically raising Shiloh as a unit. The big prick was irreplaceable.

  “Still lots of good times to come, Deck, you can count on that,” Booth promised. “Now if you will excuse me, bothers, I think my wife needs to lie down in our bed with me as her blanket.” Booth drained the bottle and tossed it into the oil drum. “Life is about second chances, so let’s take ours and fucking hold on tight.”

  Booth’s poignant words held a double meaning. He took a life, which was something he’d vowed never to do again once he took the uniform off. As our leader, he broke that vow and by doing so saved his family and club. No man who stood there would condemn him for that. Instead of drowning with the guilt of that choice, the love of a certain blonde cook helped him push through it and leave it where it belonged.

  Slowly, one by one, we finished our drinks, tossed the empties, and walked over to the tables. Deck called for Shiloh as he went, and the little girl whistled expertly for her dogs, a skill the big man had taught her. I smiled thinking that no matter what, Darth would always be with her, and that was a good thing, an excellent thing.

  When I reached Memphis, she was listening to something Mia was saying that made her laugh, and the beautiful sound healed my sorrow. As we made our way back to the compound’s main building, each man held his woman in his arms, and Shiloh was on Mannix’s shoulders. I grunted a laugh.

  “What’s so funny?” Memphis asked. Her face was buried in my neck, and her soft, warm breath tickled my skin.

  “If anyone were watching this, it would be an interesting sight to behold,” I joked.

  “Not if they knew the men of the Wounded Souls, baby,” Memphis quipped, her teeth nipping at my neck, sending a familiar tingle to my balls.

  “Oh, you wanna play do you, Memphis?”

  “Always and forever, baby.”

  “Every day, every hour,” I said, my lips dropping to hers. I moaned into her mouth when her wet tongue slid against mine.

  “Every minute, every second.” Memphis breathed into my mouth.

  Epilogue

  MEMPHIS

  I heard the heavy sounds of Creed’s boots hit each step as he made his way up to our room. He was back! I’d decided not to go with him to Darth’s burial, not that I wanted to show disrespect or anything because I missed Darth, but I explained to Creed that he needed to concentrate just on Darth and his brothers and not worry about me. He’d reluctantly agreed.

  Excitement and nervousness built up inside me. I had never done anything like this before. Maybe he wouldn’t like it. Maybe I should get up and put my clothes back on.

  Just as I was about to do that, the door to our room burst open.

  “Jesus fucking Christ. Angel, what— Uh, what are you— Oh, shit, sweetheart, you are so fucking beautiful,” he stammered, which made me smirk at him. Creed was normally so confident in the bedroom, but today, it seemed, I was.

  Deciding to keep playing out my plan, I trailed one hand down my body until I reached my bare pussy, already wet thanks to my naughty thoughts for the last hour. My plan consisted of seducing my husband, so lots of practice was needed. And, I also wanted to take his mind off the sadness of laying Darth to rest. The gentle giant’s loss was like a black cloud over the club, and I couldn’t help but feel partly responsible for his passing. He protected not only Shiloh but me as well. He willingly gave his life so we could live. Shaking off the sudden mournful mood, I smiled coyly in the direction of my husband’s voice.

  “Hmm, can you guess how wet I am, baby?” I said in a sultry voice
—well, at least I hoped it sounded sultry. Seduction was new to me because, since Creed wanted me all the time, there was never really an opportunity for me to hone my skills. He always took control and drove me wild with his hands and mouth. Today, it was my turn.

  “Memphis, what are you up to? Oh, my God, I can see how wet you are from here,” Creed said, and then groaned loudly when I swirled my finger inside my folds and found my throbbing clit.

  I could hear Creed’s heavy pants getting closer and closer, and then I felt the bed dip where my legs were raised and bent at the knees. Suddenly, my legs were pushed further apart, and his short hair tickled the soft skin of my inner thighs. All kinds of sensations streamed through me as his hot breath grew closer and closer to my soaked core.

  “Is this your way of telling me you want my mouth on your pussy, Angel?”

  I tried to answer him, I really did, but when his thick finger pushed inside me all the way to the knuckle, I lost the ability to speak.

  “Hmmm.” I moaned, my hips bucking and writhing as he hit the sweet spot deep in my core.

  “I will take that as a yes. Angel, if you want me to do something to you, all you have to do is ask. If you want it, then I want it, okay?”

  “I want your mouth on me now, Creed, taste me, lick me.” The words came out of nowhere as I nodded my head against the pillow, but I was desperate for this. Mia told me that her inner wanton sex goddess drove Steel crazy with need. I wanted Creed crazy for me. His mouth—

  Oh, dear God! All thoughts were cut off by Creed’s slick tongue licking through my folds, his fingers spreading them apart, opening me more to him.

  “Oh, Creed, yes there, there, more… oh, please more. Don’t stop,” I cried, my hips jerking off the bed as I tried to keep his mouth on me.

  Creed’s hand was on my belly, gently pushing me back down.

  “You keep making those noises, Angel, and this is going to end far sooner than you hoped,” Creed said against my opening, causing those sensations I was becoming very fond of to multiply.