by E. C. Land
“There’s nothing between Tombstone and me. We’re friends, nothing else,” I murmur, my heart thumping wildly in my chest.
“We’ll discuss this later,” Ike says through clenched teeth. His eyes flare, and I swear it’s almost like he’s keeping himself from touching me. “You better be here when I get back. Otherwise, when I find you, your ass is mine. And I’m telling you now, Ris, you don’t want that to happen. You got me?”
I nod quickly, unsure of what to say.
Ike isn’t the same boy I love. Instead, he’s a man that I know nothing about. The intensity in his eyes is harsh, but there’s a flicker of something else in there, and it scares the hell out of me.
I spend hours being in my mind wondering what Ike and our son are doing. What was I thinking about letting Ike go with his dad without talking to him first?
Oh, that’s right, I wasn’t. Ike does something to me, and it screws with my head. Shoot, being back here in Louisiana is screwing with my head.
With my son not here, I decide to forgo fixing dinner and order Chinese to be delivered. Normally I try to make sure to make my son dinner six times a week and the two of us go out one night. Back in Palestine, after what happened to me, it took a long time to even feel safe to go anywhere but the clubhouse and the members of the club, Tombstone and Daemon’s brothers, they made it a point to make me feel safe there.
I still have nightmares of that night. Of Yvonne’s moans of pleasure. Of the way my body felt. Of the knife being held at my throat.
I’m so far in my head and seeing it all over again that I don’t see or hear Ike come in. I don’t see him step up in front of me and pull me into his arms.
“Ris, you’re okay. Breathe,” Ike states calmly.
Breathe?
How do I do that?
“Come on, focus, breathe in and hold. Then let it out,” he commands.
Tears are spilling down my cheeks as I do what he says.
Blinking, I inhale and exhale.
Finally, I get it under control and meet Ike’s gaze.
His eyes are on me, and I can’t help it. I make the stupidest, most irrational decision of my life. I reach up on my toes and press my mouth to Ike’s, kissing him. He doesn’t move or push me away. When I slip my tongue out to lick at his lips, one of his hands comes up and curls into my hair while he deepens our kiss. His mouth is powerful in the way he’s demonstrating his dominance, with the way his tongue thrusts into my mouth to dance with mine.
Ike releases my hair, his hands move to my waist, lifts the hem of my summer dress, and lifts me to set me on the edge of the counter.
My mind goes blank to all other thoughts when the next thing I know, he’s filling me with his cock.
I gasp into his mouth as he plows into me with an unapologetic thrust. He doesn’t relent, not once and keeping my mouth locked with his while his fingers dig into my waist, and he pounds into me. Before long, he has me screaming into the kiss as I come harder than I can ever remember coming in my life. Ike rips his mouth from mine and snarls his release.
Breathing heavily, I slowly lift my gaze to meet his once heated one.
Ike releases me slowly and pulls away from me. My body feels abandoned by his abrupt loss.
“That shouldn’t have fuckin’ happened,” he snarls.
Unable to speak, I cast my gaze to the floor rather than look at him. I can’t handle this right now.
“Look at me, Rissa,” he commands.
I shake my head, unable to do so.
“I said look at me,” he yells loudly.
Again, I shake my head in denial.
The sound of something breaking causes me to jump, and I have no choice but to look at him.
“You left me. You kept my kid from me and now you’re back here, after me not seeing you for ten fuckin’ years. Things have changed, but I’m telling you now, woman, you may be back in this state, and I may have fucked you. It doesn’t mean a damn fuckin’ thing. You betrayed me by what you did. The way you left. I won’t put up with you keeping shit from me again. In fact, I won’t be putting up with you, period, except for seeing Ike. You’re nothing to me.”
Tears of anguish spill down my cheeks and I lower my gaze, only to whisper, “I left because I had to.”
“Bullshit, I don’t want to hear your excuses,” he snaps.
“They buried me alive,” I utter quietly and turn away from him while I take a deep breath. I turn back to him and scream the words loudly this time. “They buried me alive. They beat me nearly to death and threw me into my grave.”
Chapter Seven
Tyres
Staring at Rissa, my chest clenches. I not only just fucked her for the first time in ten years against the kitchen counter, I told her she’d betrayed me. Which she did but fuck if her words don’t feel like a sucker punch to the gut.
“They buried me alive. They beat me nearly to death and threw me into my grave.”
“What do you mean they buried you alive?” I demand, gruffly.
“It doesn’t matter. Remember, you just said it. I’m nothing to you. So go ahead and leave. You’ve said everything you needed to say,” she snaps and turns away from me again but not before I see the anguish in her eyes.
Maybe I should go for now.
I just fucked her after coming over here to fuckin’ talk to her.
No, I’m not leaving here. Not until I have my motherfuckin’ answers.
Rissa just told me she was buried alive and nearly beaten to death. I need my answers now on what happened and why she didn’t tell me this shit ten years ago.
I take a step forward, grab Rissa’s upper arms and hold her firmly in place. “Tell me,” I grind out through clenched teeth.
“It’s none of your business.”
“Tell me,” I command again.
“No.”
“Woman, you either tell me, or I put you over my knee and turn that beautiful ass of yours red until you do,” I warn.
“You wouldn’t dare,” she gasps.
“Try me.” I grin wickedly. I always get what I want, and right now, I want an answer.
Rissa juts her chin and glares at me defiantly. “Go away,” she mutters.
Done with the bullshit, I release one of her arms, pull her to one of the kitchen chairs off to the side, sit down, and throw her over my knee. Her dress flies up, exposing her bare ass.
“Ike,” she screams, calling me by my first name. A name that I don’t ever allow anyone to call me.
Not ever.
With one hand holding her in place, I lift my free hand and bring it down on one of her cheeks, making her squeal.
“Ike, stop, let me up,” she demands, kicking her legs.
“Tell me what you meant by them burying you alive. Who buried you alive?” I command, landing another smack to the opposite cheek, making her jump in reaction. I rub the cheek taking away the soreness.
“You bastard, let me go,” she screeches.
“And you’re a bitch for keeping my kid from me,” I counter. “Now fuckin’ answer,” I growl, smacking her on the first cheek again. Looking between her legs, I notice her pussy glistening.
Fuck.
I used to love eating that pretty little pussy. I could spend hours eating her out back then.
Smoothing my hand on her ass, I dip a hand down to toy with her pussy lips.
“Just answer me and tell me what I want to know and I’ll give you what you want,” I say.
“My parents, okay, they took me somewhere and watched as they allowed others to beat me. I had to do what they said, or they would have killed you,” she screams in frustration, and I still my hand.
They threatened to kill me? That’s why she left.
“Why didn’t you just tell me this back then?” I demand, going back to gliding my fingers through the juices coating her.
“I was protecting you,” she cries. Removing my hand from her pussy, I lift her off my lap and rearrange her until she’s straddlin
g me. Rissa’s pussy soaking my jeans over my cock.
“You were protecting me? Bullshit, Ris, you were running scared,” I mutter, not believing her.
“It’s the truth. I didn’t want them to come after you . . .”
“You should have fuckin’ told me. I could have protected you. It was my fuckin’ job to keep you safe. You were mine and you denied me the chance to even keep you safe,” I state harshly, interrupting her.
“I didn’t want anything to happen to you. I was eighteen and in love with the only person I ever wanted to be with. My parents told me I needed to pay for allowing you to soil my body and I needed to do what I was meant to do. I don’t know what that meant, but those men who were at the house, they took me to beat me, ripped up my clothes, and tossed me into a hole. I had to dig myself out, and then I had to find a way to get help for myself.
“By the time I did this, I feared them finding me. I’ve spent years moving from place to place, making sure they never found me. That I kept our son safe from any harm that could befall us. I also made sure; Ike knew who his daddy was. Look in his room, you’ll find pictures of you. Every year for his birthday, I’ve failed in giving him the one gift he truly asked for until this year. Ike has only ever wanted to come home where he could be with his dad.”
“Rissa,” I mutter, but she ignores me and keeps going.
“The past year, I found out through one of the members of the Satan’s Keepers MC that my parents died several months back, and I was relieved. Not because they were dead, but because I knew I could finally come home. Not for me. I wanted to come home for Ike. He deserves everything, and I’ve failed in that when I shouldn’t have.
“Bluebell, shut up.” Rissa keeps going, not listening to me.
“No. You wanted answers, so here’s the rest of it,” she says calmly, tears sliding down her cheeks. “A year ago, I experienced something even worse than what they did to me and I still live with the fear of those crazies finding me. I was raped by a woman who fucked me while a man wearing a ski mask held a knife pressed to my throat with the threat that if I make a sound or fought them, they would’ve killed our son. My best friend walked in on this happening. She knew I hadn’t had sex with anyone. I didn’t date or have relationships because I vowed to never let anyone take your place in my heart and body. Then that man and woman took one of those two things from me I’d vowed were yours.”
Fuck.
I’ll find them myself if need be and kill them.
“After that, I moved into Tombstone’s house. The club didn’t want Ike and me living alone anymore. We had their protection.”
Rissa pulls away from me and stands, slides the dress off her arms, and it falls to the floor. “They saw the scars,” she says, indicating the scars on her front that look like knife wounds. “They also saw my tattoo.” Rissa turns and shows me her back, and I see it.
Holy shit.
She’s got my branding on her. A branding she was going to go get the day I went to pick her up.
Oh fuck.
“They knew I was yours, but they also knew I couldn’t come back until I knew it was safe,” she whispers.
Standing from the chair, I move to her and pull her into my arms. “It’s safe now,” Rissa utters into my chest while I remain quiet.
What the fuck do I do now, knowing what I know now?
Can I keep her?
She once meant everything to me, and now I have my daughter to also think about.
Chapter Eight
Rissa
Standing here in Ike’s arms, having told him nearly everything that I’ve been through, feels completely overwhelming. I never wanted to tell him.
But he’s Ike.
No matter how much time we’ve spent apart, he has this hold over my body. I can’t help but react to his touch.
“Rissa,” Ike murmurs my name softly, and it makes the tears fall faster down my cheeks.
He’s right when it comes to me betraying him. I kept our son from him. I said mean things to him years ago to make him hate me. I stayed away because I was scared and thought I could protect him from being hurt. In the end, I hurt him just like that witch of a mother of his.
Lifting my head, I pull out of his arms and look to the floor. “I hope one day you’ll forgive me for everything I’ve done to you.”
“Ris.”
The doorbell rings, stopping him from saying anything else. I kneel down, grab my dress and slip it back on, covering my naked body.
I lift my gaze to meet his then to the door. “You can go ahead and go back home. If you want, Ike can stay with you tonight, and I’ll come get him in the morning,” I say and start for the front door to get my food. I know I’ll never eat now. I feel more than sense Ike at my back while I grab my wallet and open the door.
“Hello,” I say, opening the door wide to find the delivery kid standing there.
The kid looks from me to Ike behind me then back again. He tells me the total for the food. I open my wallet to pay him, but before I can get the cash out, Ike reaches over me and hands the kid a twenty-dollar bill. “Keep the change,” he rumbles. The deep baritone of his voice sends shivers down my spine. The kid nods and holds the bag out to Ike. He takes it and pulls me back enough to close the door.
Setting the bag of food on the little entry table, Ike takes my wallet, sets it next to the food, and shocks the hell out of me by gripping my chin in between his fingers. “I forgive you,” he whispers.
I close my eyes and shake my head in denial. There’s no way he can forgive me that quickly.
“Rissa, I’m not saying what you did didn’t hurt like hell because it did. But hearing what you just said, the marks you bear. You also went through hell. I’m sorry you had to go through something so horrific. I’ll go tonight but come tomorrow, I want you at my house. You and me, we’re gonna talk. We’re gonna overcome this bullshit, and I swear to fuckin’ God if I ever find the bastards that raped you a year ago, I’ll kill them slowly,” he utters quietly.
“Ike,” I whisper.
“No, you spoke, now before I leave, I’m going to say what I want,” he proclaims and goes on to do just that. “For ten years, I’ve only ever allowed myself to think of you one time a year and that was your birthday. The rest of the time, I did everything to block any thoughts of you from my mind. Not knowing what the hell drove you away or for you to want me to hate you pissed me off. I’m not the same man as I used to be. I’ve changed and so have you. We share a son, but I also have a daughter I gotta think about in all of this. Where my heart at one time belonged to you, it now belongs to my little girl. A little girl I didn’t even know about until after she was born, and I got a call from the police that her mother died and they needed me to come get her.
“I didn’t want to believe it. I told myself I wasn’t gonna have kids. Ever. And now here I am with two kids. Not once did I get the chance to know of them beforehand.” Ike stops for a moment, releases my chin, and takes a step back.
“So yeah, I’ll let you have tonight, and I would like for Ike to stay with me as long as he’s cool with it. Tomorrow, I want us to spend some time together at my house so my daughter can be with me as well. I don’t like to leave her for long periods because, in the past two years, she’s gone through enough hell to last a lifetime. I also want to be in that pussy again because, Bluebell, I gotta say it’s great being in you again. Feeling you convulse around my cock while I’m deep inside you.”
I suck in a breath at the thought of him being inside me and I squeeze my legs together at the thought.
“Yeah, you like that idea too. Good, since we have a lotta years to make up for. You wear my mark on you and have for years, I’m sure of it. That means, Baby Doll, you’re mine, and I’m making damn sure I don’t lose you again, got me?”
Um.
“I . . .”
Is he serious right now?
“Yes or no, Rissa. You get what I’m saying?”
“Yes,” I whisp
er instantly.
“Good. Now eat, and I’ll see you tomorrow,” Ike murmurs and leans down, captures my mouth with his and kisses the daylights out of me in a kiss that leaves me wanting more but ends far too quickly.
Ike steps back and leaves, closing the door silently behind him. I stand there staring after him for God knows how long until finally snapping out of it. I take a deep breath, grab the bag of food, and going into the living room. I turn on the TV, pull up my movie selections, and pick Cry Baby. There’s nothing better than Wade Walker and his love for his family and the woman he loves most.
Chapter Nine
Tyres
Last night I made a spur of the moment decision in wanting to forgive Rissa. I knew it was something I had to do. Letting the past hurt go is something we both need to do.
What she did, she thought she was doing out of love for me, and though I hate to admit it, it means something to me that she would even try to protect me.
Was it the right thing for her to do?
Fuck no.
Rissa should have come to me. Let me be the one to protect her. Her and our son, Ike.
I still can’t believe I have a son and a daughter.
When I got home last night from Rissa’s, Ike was on the floor playing with his little sister like they’d been together for years. The moment I introduced the two of them together, Ike took a liking to Wren and immediately started playing with her.
Hell, the boy even laid on the floor next to her and watched fuckin’ Princess Sofia on the big screen before I put her to bed.
After he and I stayed up a while longer. Ike asked me a shit load of questions, but I was patient with him the entire time. I had my own questions for him as well. I felt a sense of pride when he told me he wanted a motorcycle of his own to ride, but he didn’t want a new one. He wanted to find one to restore like Brake and my cousins did with Ryder.