Shade

by Jamie Begley

  “Harder, Shade,” Lily moaned.

  He moved more forcefully inside of her while still restraining himself from pounding into her the way he wanted. It took all his restraint to keep their lovemaking subdued so as not to hurt her or the baby.

  Shade sensed as she was nearing her climax, taking off the nipple clamps.

  “Shade!” Lily screamed as she came.

  He thrust deep, giving in to his own climax as her thighs circled his hips, pressing him harder against her.

  He set the nipple clamps on the nightstand as Lily moved closer to his side.

  “I really liked my present.”

  “I thought you might.” He tweaked a red nipple, producing another shudder from her.

  “Are you ready for dinner now?” Lily yawned.

  “In a little while. Go to sleep.” He ran his hand down her smooth back, enjoying relaxing with her on the bed.

  He was content to just lie there and hold her. Each time he did, it replaced a memory of him lying alone without her. He wanted to savor every moment and wasn’t going to take any of them for granted.

  Chapter 86

  Shade and Razer were in the diner having coffee as Beth and Lily shopped for the twins when they saw Knox, Willa, and Rachel enter the sheriff’s office. A few minutes later, Cash pulled up in front and went inside.

  “Something’s up. Call Knox and find out.”

  Razer took his phone out, placing the call. When Knox didn’t answer, Razer left a short message to call him back before disconnecting. That was when Tate came running into the sheriff’s office.

  “Guess we’ll have to wait.”

  Knox didn’t return the call until after Rachel, Willa, and Tate were seen leaving.

  Razer’s face was grim when he finished the conversation with Knox, turning toward Shade. “Willa shot Lewis at her house. Brooke had asked Lily to pick some texts up for Bible study, and Rachel offered to go instead because Lily was going shopping with Beth. When Rachel arrived, Lewis was beating Willa with a belt. She tried to stop him, and he attacked her. Willa shot him when he was strangling Rachel.”

  “Damn, Willa shot Lewis?” Shade was shocked the meek woman had even had it in her to shoot anyone.

  Razer nodded.

  “How bad?”

  “He’s dead.”

  Not only had she found enough courage to shoot him, but she had killed the crazy-assed fucker.

  Razer looked down at his phone again. “The women are done shopping. We can load the packages in the SUV then follow them home.”

  Both men rose to their feet, going to the register to pay their bill with their minds on Lewis, Rachel, and Willa. Shade was sick to his stomach at how close Lily had come to being involved. If Rachel hadn’t gone, then…

  “Did Brooke know Rachel was going to Willa’s house instead of Lily?”

  “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Lil—what the fuck!”

  Razer and Shade both stared at the carnage which was the only thing left of their bikes. The motorcycles had been destroyed as if they had been hit repeatedly.

  “We’ll load the packages up and ride home with the women. Rider and Train can come pick up what’s left of our bikes.” Shade was trying to remain calm and collected, taking deep breaths through his nose.

  “How in the fuck did someone do this without anyone seeing?”

  “Because the fucking dumpster hid whoever did this.” Shade pointed to the dumpster in blame. “Whoever did it was mad as hell. They must have been waiting for an opportunity to strike out.”

  “You think it was deliberate?”

  “Yes. Whoever did this took their time. They wanted to hurt us. Tell Rider when he picks up the bikes to check the diner’s security camera. I don’t want the women to know about this. Lily will worry over who did it, and I don’t want this shit on her mind when the baby’s so close to coming.”

  “Do you think it was Brooke?”

  “I think it’s a hell of a coincidence, don’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Look on the bright side,” Shade said, smacking Razer on the back. “We can borrow a couple of Rider’s bikes until we buy new ones. Cash has been gloating about the new one he bought, so we’ll buy a couple that will make his look like a tricycle.”

  * * *

  “What are you reading?” Lily looked up from her reading device at his question.

  “Just a book I asked to borrow.” Shade saw the faint blush on her cheeks.

  They were sitting in their living room, watching television before they went to bed. He was leaning over to see what she was reading when her cell phone rang, and she dropped it on her lap to pick the phone up.

  “Hello.”

  Shade’s attention went back to the television until Lily stiffened next to him. Then he began listening to her end of the conversation.

  “He didn’t.” Her lips thinned into a tight line, her violet eyes sparkling with angry fire.

  “I’ll call you back.” Lily dropped her phone on the coffee table as she struggled to rise from the couch.

  “Where are you going?” he asked curiously, wondering what had made her so angry. Lily didn’t become angry often, and he hadn’t seen her that mad unless he was the one provoking her temper.

  “I’m going to have a talk with Cash, and you’re not going to stop me,” she snapped, going out the door.

  Shade rose to his feet, walking out behind her and shutting the door she had left open. He watched her heavily pregnant body stomp toward the clubhouse. She went in the back door, going through the kitchen while ignoring the curious looks of the members.

  Cash was sitting at the bar with a drink in front of him and Bliss leaning against him, running her tongue over Cash’s bottom lip. She was wearing a lace vest which left nothing to the imagination; you could see her daisy-chain tat on her bared breast. Her hands were curled into his T-shirt, trying to pull him closer. Cash had his head tilted to the side, not giving her his mouth.

  Lily stormed up to him, ignoring Bliss.

  “Beth told me you were over here when she came home. I can’t believe you took Rachel out then came back here to get … get…”

  “Laid?” Shade said helpfully.

  His wife threw him a quelling look, which he responded to with a raised brow. Lily took a step away from Shade, giving him her back.

  “After everything she did for you, I thought you were smarter.” Lily suddenly lost her fury, turning melancholy. “Beth and I owe a debt of gratitude to you, Cash. If you hadn’t sent Shade’s father here to Treepoint, then we may never have met Razer and Shade. You showed compassion and concern for Beth when you saw she was being mistreated at church. I just don’t understand how the same man could treat Rachel the way you have.”

  “Lily, I wasn’t—” Cash began.

  “She sat beside your bedside from the moment she heard you were hurt. Did you even know that?”

  “No.” Cash rose from the bar stool.

  “Well, she did,” Lily said empathically. “The doctors didn’t think you were going to make it. She had already tried to help you the way she does her clients, but it hadn’t worked. She told Shade her gift wasn’t powerful enough to help you. I think whatever she does comes from inside her. I can’t explain it. The times she helped me, it’s like a part of her went inside of me to give me strength. When she touches you, you feel the strength of her love and caring. I think, when you and her brothers hurt her at the party, it damaged that part of her. After the doctor told us all that you weren’t going to make it, I went back to your room to talk to her because I could tell she was upset by what the doctor had told us.”

  Lily paused, taking a shuddering breath. “She didn’t even know I was in the room. God, I don’t even know what I witnessed, Cash. What I saw was a man dying, but then she touched you. When she started touching your body, I could feel a presence in the room. I saw you gradually begin to move, and then she passed out.

  “I ran to get a nurse and w
hen we came back, she was sitting in the chair, and you were coming to. The nurse started helping you while I took her to Mag’s house. She was in bad shape; she was shaking and freezing. I stayed with her and saw what she suffered through for helping your ungrateful ass!”

  Lily waved her hand at Bliss. “She certainly doesn’t deserve for you to be two-timing her. She was so nervous about going out with you tonight. She does everything for everyone and doesn’t ask for anything in return.”

  “Why didn’t anyone tell me she had been in my hospital room?” Cash asked hoarsely.

  “Rachel asked us not to; that was her price for helping you,” Shade answered, pulling Lily back against his chest.

  “Do you know where she was when she disappeared?”

  Lily remained mutinously silent.

  “I wasn’t going to touch Bliss or any of the other women. I was pissed off, but I cooled down before I got here.”

  “I promised I wouldn’t tell.” Her bravado was wavering at his explanation.

  “Please, Lily. I need to know.” Cash played on Lily’s soft heart.

  “I can’t break my promise, but if you figure it out for yourself, that’s not my fault, is it?”

  “No.” Cash’s lips twitched in amusement.

  “Rachel was in high school, but wasn’t in high school,” she hinted.

  “I don’t understand—” Cash began.

  “I do,” Winter broke in. She laid down the cards she had been playing in the game against Viper and Crash. “Rachel took accelerated courses in high school. By her sophomore year, she was taking college classes. She stayed at the high school because Tate had worked it out with me so she could still stay with her own age group.

  “By the time the students her age were graduating, she had a Bachelor’s in Biology. I believe, for the last four years, she’s gotten her Master’s and is now almost finished writing her thesis for her doctorate in Aquaculture. I’m willing to bet she was able to find housing in the dorms at the university.” She shrugged at Lily’s accusing look. “I didn’t promise her. I figured it out.”

  “So, both you and Lily knew where she was?” Viper carefully laid his own cards down on the table.

  “We talked about it. It wasn’t rocket science for anyone who knew her.” Winter’s snide tone had Viper, Cash, and Shade all turning red.

  “Then why didn’t Tate know?”

  “Because she didn’t tell him she was working on her doctorate. Seems that was why Greer had gotten busted selling weed to that undercover cop. They were trying to sell extra to pay for her tuition. She’d told them she had dropped out; she didn’t want them to go to jail to pay for her education,” Winter answered.

  “So, how’s she been paying for it?” Viper questioned.

  “Her parents left each of them a plot of land. She sold hers,” Diamond spoke up from Knox’s lap on the couch. “I handled the paperwork. After the clients left, she went to the restroom, and I heard her crying. She told me that property had been in her family for generations.”

  “It has. Who bought it?” Cash asked.

  “Drake Hall,” Diamond answered.

  “So, let me get this straight. While we were all looking for her and her brothers were worried sick, none of you told?” Viper glared at his wife then each of his men’s insubordinate wives.

  “It took us a while to figure it out. We didn’t think they deserved to know,” Winter explained cautiously, seeing the furious look Viper was sending her. The women began to sense the undercurrent of their husbands’ angers.

  “Do you have my tat on you?” Viper growled out through gritted teeth.

  “Yes, but women should stick together.” Winter tried to soothe her husband with her explanation, but she failed.

  “So should Last Riders,” Viper snapped. “Did Beth know, too?”

  Winter snapped her mouth shut.

  “I’ll take that as a yes. All four of you will be pulling from the punishment bag next week.” The women wisely remained silent, staring at their husbands in trepidation.

  “And I’ll deal with you upstairs.” Viper’s eyes on Winter were promising retribution.

  “Thanks, Lily.” Cash reached out to cup her cheek. “I sent Shade’s dad here not only because of Beth, but you, too. I lost every bit of faith I had because of Saul Cornett. He might have adopted you, but he was a sick son of a bitch. It was only a matter of time before he hurt you, and I couldn’t stomach watching Beth be hurt one more time.”

  Lily grasped his wrist. “You changed our lives. Thank you.”

  As Cash’s eyes met his over Lily’s shoulder, Shade gave him a small nod.

  “You’re welcome.” Bending down, he brushed his lips against her cheek. “Now, go on home. I promise Rachel won’t know you talked to me.”

  “Okay,” Lily said happily.

  “I’ll be there in a minute. Don’t go to sleep; we need to have a little chat before you do.” Shade’s deep voice wiped the smile from her face.

  “I’m tired. I have to get up early for church,” Lily said evasively.

  “You can go to the evening service,” Shade countered amicably.

  Lily flounced angrily out of the room.

  “Ten to one she’s calling Beth as soon as she gets home.” Cash grinned.

  Shade grinned back, taking his phone out of his pocket and quickly texting a message to Razer before putting the phone back.

  “Lily’s going to be furious at you for telling on Beth,” Cash warned.

  “I’m counting on it,” Shade said with an anticipatory grin.

  * * *

  Shade was talking to Jewell and Bliss as they filled their orders to speed things up. If the women worked as hard filling orders as they did fucking, he would be a happy man.

  Cash came inside the factory, nodding toward the office, and waited.

  “What did you find out?” Shade asked as they went into the office and closed the door.

  Cash had been investigating whether there was a connection between Lewis and Brooke. It was too much of a coincidence that she had asked Lily to stop by Willa’s house then have Lewis show up in a murderous rage. Shade knew only one woman capable of arousing that emotion.

  “Nothing concrete. I talked to Jewell. She said Lewis received a phone call about twenty minutes before he got off work, and he finished his order and left. You talked to her?”

  “Yes, she told me the same thing.”

  “I checked his phone records; it came from a ‘pay as you go’ phone. I couldn’t find out who bought it,” Cash said grimly.

  “Find anything at his house?”

  “He was fucking someone. He had a bag filled with sex toys and condoms.”

  “Willa?”

  “I don’t know. If so, she wasn’t giving it to him; he was taking it. She hated him, but I don’t think it was her.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because he had an underwear set in the bag, and I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have fit Willa. I checked the local hotel then Jamestown’s. No one recognized his picture.”

  “Go farther. Start with the towns closest to the Virginia border. If you don’t get a hit, try the Tennessee border,” Shade ordered.

  “He wouldn’t be able to drive far. With the kids, he would’ve needed to stay close,” Cash reasoned.

  “Unless he had a sitter.”

  “Thought of that. Beth is going to ask around church to see if any of the women there were babysitting for him.”

  “That it?” Shade asked.

  “Pretty much. If I find out anything, you’ll be the first to know.” Cash went to open the door.

  “Cash, while you’re flashing around Lewis’s picture, show them one of Brooke. She may be the more memorable of the two.”

  “Will do.” Cash closed the door behind him.

  Shade sat down behind his desk. If anyone could find the information he needed, it was Cash. The sooner, the better. He wanted concrete proof that Brooke was trying to kill Lily, and onc
e he had it, Brooke was going to get what she wanted. Someone was going to die.

  Chapter 87

  “Can I ask you a personal question?” Lily asked as he was cutting a piece of steak.

  They were at King’s restaurant, enjoying lunch. He had surprised Lily by taking the afternoon off since she had been acting strangely the last few days. Whenever he had tried to probe about what was wrong, she had evaded his questions. Shade had begun to think it was nerves as her due date neared.

  Shade looked up from his plate. “Go ahead.” He took the bite of steak he had just cut.

  “Are you a Dom Dom or a Dom?”

  The bite of steak in his mouth went down the wrong way and he began choking, needing several seconds to clear his throat. Taking a drink of his beer, he blinked back the water in his eyes as he stared across the table at his wife.

  “Are you a Dom Dom or a Dom?”

  “I heard you the first time,” Shade said hoarsely. “Quit saying that. It sounds like a sucker.”

  Lily laughed, taking a bite of her own steak. “Are you embarrassed?”

  “No, but I think we should talk about this when we’re at home.”

  Lily looked at him from underneath her lashes, shrugging. “I want to talk about it now.”

  The restaurant was crowded with customers eating their own lunch. King was standing beside the door, greeting the customers and seating them. It dawned on Shade why she was asking him right then. It was a neutral environment where the subject could be changed or diverted if it became uncomfortable for her. She could find an excuse to leave the table to talk to King.

  He laid his fork on his plate. “What do you mean by a Dom Dom or a Dom?”

  His wife straightened in her seat, trying to appear collected; however, her trembling fingers played with her water glass, exhibiting how nervous she truly was about his answers.

  “I meant do you consider yourself a Master or someone who only does it occasionally?”

  Shade considered her question carefully. “I am a Dom all the time. Although some men only do it when they want—when they feel the need to release the Dominant side of themselves—it’s not something I switch on and off.”