ROMANCE: DBL Coverage (Bad Boy Sports Romance)(Alpha Male Football Romance) (Contemporary New Adult Womens Fiction Romance)

by Carly White

  “Who’s Casper?”

  She was sitting down with her back to me and several pieces of wood in her hands. She dropped them before she turned around. “Grady? What are you doing here?”

  I smiled at her smugly. “You are not an easy woman to get a hold of Laney. You realize that right?”

  I stopped when I got around to the other side of her and I saw the changes in her body. It was clear then that she didn’t have kids when I met her, but she looked like she had one on the way. My mind reeled, but I hadn’t put together the fact that it could have been my baby. I was waiting for Casper, the husband or boyfriend to come in and make that moment even more awkward.

  There was nothing to say, I couldn’t have said something if I would have wanted to. It was clear that I had waited too long to see her. It had taken too long for me to find her and now she was someone else’s. That is what I thought as I looked at her, but the next moment I still was there to take her back. I didn’t care if some schmuck loved her, she was mine and I hadn’t come all this way and waited all this time for my plans to change.

  I could see the box she was looking at was for a crib. It must have been for the baby room that I had passed on my way in. Laney couldn’t look me in the eyes and her hand went to her stomach like she was warding me away.

  “What are you doing here Grady?”

  Kneeling down, I moved to take her face in my grip. She pulled back for a minute and then Laney leaned in to touch my lips with her. It was just for a second before the door opened and closed in the front. The man that she had been expecting was there and I stood up, steeling myself for a fight. I would do what I had to do to get her back, even if I had to hurt a few people on the way.

  The man was just as surprised to see me there as Laney was. He wasn’t very big and I towered over him. I looked back at her, questioning if that was who she was with now.

  “Casper, can you give us a minute please?”

  The blonde headed man looked at me for a moment like he was trying to size me up. It was laughable and I flexed a little as he scurried off. “I always thought you had better taste than that Laney. So this is who you are with now, that scrawny guy?”

  “Who I am with is none of your concern Grady. What do you want? How did you find out where I was?”

  She was standing up and the curves that I loved so much were only exaggerated even more. Her tits were much larger and I dreamed of burying my face in her chest. Laney’s stomach was definitely bigger. The last time I had seen her, it was flat, but now it was clear she was pregnant. How far she was, I didn’t know. But still I didn’t think it was mine. I was already agreeing to take her pregnant and all. I didn’t care who’s it was, I just wanted Laney back.

  “It wasn’t easy to find you Laney. I will admit that. It wasn’t almost like you didn’t want to be found. Found out some things about you along the way, but I didn’t hear about you being pregnant.”

  “Well I am. That still doesn’t tell me what you are doing here.”

  “And you still haven’t told me who the hell that guy was.”

  “He’s my boyfriend. Now you.”

  “I am here to take you back with me.”

  Chapter 7: Laney

  I must have heard him wrong. It was the only explanation for such nonsense coming out of his mouth. What in the world was he talking about taking me back with him?

  “Didn’t you just hear that I had a boyfriend?”

  “I did, so what. He is not your type.”

  I tried to stand up, but struggled form my seated position. I was just starting to have trouble getting up and it was embarrassing in front of him, but I hated how he was standing over me. His hand came out and pulled me up. I thanked him, but moved away quickly. His touch was something that was hard to deny and I didn’t want to get dragged in again. I was not prepared to see him and I could already feel my body trembling with the memories.

  “You have no idea about my type Grady. He is a good man.”

  “Just because you got knocked up by someone, doesn’t mean that you have to be with them.”

  “I completely agree. Now I am sorry to tell you this, but I am not going anywhere with you. I am busy and in no condition to be fighting.”

  “After I came all this way, you are not even going to hear me out?”

  I could tell he was surprised by the way I was reacting. “I am busy Grady and we are from two very different worlds. It never would have worked out.”

  “Is it because you are pregnant?”

  “Yes Grady. I don’t want our child to grow up in your world. It’s too much, so I moved here. I will take good care of him. I promise.”

  I stopped with the look on his face. It occurred to me then that he had not known about him being the father. I guess I had just assumed he would figure it out. It was clear in that moment that he hadn’t. He just looked at me slack jawed, waiting for some kind of punch line.

  “It’s mine. He?”

  Closing my eyes, I could see Casper in the doorway. He was trying to see if I was okay, but he was more than likely terrified of Grady. He was looking very rugged that day, in his black leather jacket and sunglasses. His dark eyes glowered at me and then his face changed and he smiled. “Well this is good news!”

  I looked at him incredulously. Surely he could see how it was a catastrophe. It wasn’t good news, not in any way, shape or form.

  “Casper can you please give us a little while?”

  He was still looking at me and I hated to admit it, but he was aggravating me by how scared he looked. I bet if Grady had made any sudden movement towards him, he would assuredly have flinched. Closing my eyes to the pain in his, he asked me if it was what I really wanted. He wasn’t talking about just leaving for the moment. “You really want me to go?”

  “Please, just for a while. I know this is awkward and I can’t ask you to stay.”

  Casper wasn’t sure, but he left. “Wow, he’s a winner. Where did you find him?”

  “I work with him.”

  “Ah yes, you are a cop as well. So I have to know, were you investigating me. Is that why you left with me to the hotel and then were gone in the morning?”

  I became aware then that he was studying my body differently. After he had seen I was pregnant, his eyes had looked at me as if I was ready to pop the child out right then and there. Now he was looking at my chest and licking his lips like I was to be his next meal. It was alarming to say the least, but I was no less turned on. As he moved towards me, I took a step back.

  “I didn’t know who you were until later. I thought about going to the dark side again, but you are a criminal and I knew I couldn’t be seen with you. I am a cop and you are in a gang, it could never work. I never figured I would see you again Grady. I know what a girl like me, means to a man like you.”

  “And what is that?”

  He was walking towards me and I had nowhere else to go, the couch blocking my retreat. “Nothing.”

  “What about our son?” His hands were soft on my stomach. I felt the baby kick inside of me, like he knew that it was his father’s hands and voice.

  His words, our, hit me hard. I had stop thinking about him in any other term but my son. I didn’t want to share and even though I was shaking because he was close, I knew that I had to stand my ground. I couldn’t, we couldn’t. It was just not possible.

  “Grady, you probably have plenty running around that you aren’t worried about, why worry about mine?”

  It seemed logical, a man like that had many children with many women, but by the way he looked almost shocked that I would say it may me wonder. “I don’t have any children. I always use protection.”

  “Not always.”

  “With you it was different, I lost my head.”

  “You don’t have to make it like it was more than that. We had a great night, but that was a long time ago. Things change.”

  “It doesn’t change anything for me. Now I just have more of a reason to take you with
me.”

  “And where will we live? Above the bar? While I wait at home for you to do your drug runs? It’s impossible and you know it. You know what I am and I know what you are, it can never be.”

  I turned away and waited for him to leave. The writing was on the wall and there was no way that it was going to change. “Can you please leave?”

  “You can’t mean that Laney.”

  I didn’t, that was why I couldn’t look at him. I needed to keep my distance so he didn’t touch me and I needed to keep my eyes from meeting his.

  His hand went to my jaw, tilting my face up to look at him. “Is that really what you want?”

  The dark brown in his eyes was almost taken over completely with the black. I felt like he was going to engulf me right there. I didn’t know if I could speak and he didn’t let me. Grady’s lips moved down to mind and I sighed against him. For all the fighting that was done, my heart wanted it to be him. My mind could think of all the what-ifs, but my heart had yearned for him since the first time he had touched me.

  Chapter 8: Grady

  I knew once I heard the soft moan against my lips, that she was mine. There was something in the surrender, as before, it was complete. She had brought up good points, ones that we would have to talk about later, but for now, I was happy to just feel her against me again. It was almost surreal. The amount of time that I had been yearning for her was too long to seem real.

  Her lips were soft and her body molded against mine. It was different, not the way I remembered it, but she was so much more to me now. She was going to have my son and the thought of them anywhere else but with me, did not sit well. I had to have her.

  The thought made me pull her tighter and then release her as she whimpered against me. My grip was too tight and I released her, afraid that I would hurt her and the baby. “I’m sorry Laney. It’s just that I finally have you in my arms, I don’t want to let you go.”

  She looked down and then smiled back up at me. “I have been thinking about you and our night together for a long time. I don’t think I could ever stop thinking about you, Grady. You have done something to me, but I figured I would never see you again.”

  “I’ve been looking for you and now you are here. I didn’t know about the baby, but I couldn’t be happier that it is with you. It’s meant to be.”

  “But your record and my job. How can it work?”

  I didn’t know. I couldn’t give up the gang. They were like family to me. I certainly couldn’t be with a cop. It wouldn’t be safe for her. One of us was going to have to give up what we did for a living. “I can’ leave the Black Angels. No one ever leaves. You are in it for life.”

  She pulled away and sighed. “I know Grady. That is why it is impossible. My uncle was killed by a motorcycle gang. He got caught in the crossfire. That’s why if I would have known, I never would have looked at you again. I can’t be around that, my son is not going to be raised to think killing and drugs are normal.”

  I could see she was working herself up. There was a knock at the front door and then the man from before was back. “Casper if you don’t get the fuck out right now…”

  Casper shut the door and left Laney looking at me. “See.”

  I didn’t see her point. The little punk was on my nerves and the last thing I needed to think about was if the two of them had been together. I didn’t even want to think about someone else’s hands on her. It drove me crazy to even consider such a thing.

  “He is nobody and you know it. I am the one who’s child you are carrying. What does he matter?”

  I could tell he mattered as much to her as he did to me. “So what do we do Laney? What do I have to do to make you come back with me?”

  “I am not going back anywhere with you Grady. Our son is safer without you around.”

  ***

  It hadn’t been easy to convince Laney to leave with me and I didn’t get her back to the city like I had hoped. We both couldn’t change who we were, but I told her I would try. I had some money stashed away for a rainy day and this was the downpour that I had saved for. But leaving the Black Angels wasn’t an option without consequences.

  We had moved away from the city and further away from her home town. Renald knew about Laney and I didn’t want them to find us, so we had to completely disappear. It was not what she wanted, but after a little touching and tasting over a couple of days, she couldn’t think beyond the last orgasm and she finally agreed.

  Now it was almost time for our son to be born and I was putting the finishing touches on the baby room. The furniture was put together and everything was set. I heard a noise in the other room and I stopped for a second. It didn’t sound like Laney. She was large and loud at this point in her pregnancy and would usually call out to me when she was home.

  I hadn’t wanted her to go out alone, but she insisted. Laney was a hard woman to get along with, so used to doing things her own way. A touch could usually tame her. But it wasn’t her that was making soft noises as someone who didn’t want to be heard did.

  The hairs went up on the back of my neck and I moved to the side of the wall. I saw the gun before I saw the man and grabbed it out of response. He pulled a shot off and I hear the loud ringing in my ears from it being discharged so close. The bullet went into the wall behind to me because I ducked in time.

  I didn’t need to see the shooter to know who they were or at least, who had sent them. It didn’t matter how loyal I was, I knew once I left the gang, the boss would send people out looking for me. It was just too soon and I was racking my brain trying to figure out how they found me there. I moved back behind the wall and waited.

  “Come out Grady. Loch has decided to give you a slide this one time if you come back now.”

  Loch didn’t let anything slide, so I knew it wasn’t true. The fact that he had already squeezed off a shot was a good indication that what he said was a lie. Loch wanted me dead. I knew that.

  I would have waited him out if it wasn’t for the familiar sound of Laney in the hallway, coming up the stairs. I moved out in front of him, knocking the gun out of his hands and putting my hand over his mouth. The last thing I wanted was for Laney to walk in on it. I didn’t want her to always be looking over her shoulder. Ignorance was bliss in this scenario.

  Dragging the other man to the kitchen, his struggles were lessening and by the time she made it to the front door, he was out of sight. I didn’t know if he was dead, but he was out of the equation for the moment.

  “Grady? Why is the door open?”

  I put a smile on my face and shut the door on the incapacitated would-be attacker. “Sorry love. I was just about to check the mail when I had to use the restroom. How was your day? Did you get any shopping done?”

  She smiled back at me and waddled towards me. She looked ready to pop and there had never been anything more beautiful that I had seen in all of my life. Laney practically glowed. The kiss got heated quickly and I had to push her away before I forgot what was going on.

  “Is smells strange in here. Like something is burning.”

  “Oh, I just put a candle out. I know how you like the smell of the cookie one.”

  “Yes, it’s making me hungry and I have to pee.”

  “I steered her away from the bathroom. “Why don’t we go out? I know you don’t feel like cooking and it’s been a while since we went out just because.”

  Laney was happy with the surprise. “Sure that sounds good.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief as I ushered her out the door. She stopped and looked back for a minute at the wall in front of her and then walked towards the car. Laney waited for me to open the door and then got in. I closed it and went around to the driver’s side. “So are you really not going to tell me why there is a bullet in the wall or why there was a gun shot in the house?”

  I looked over at her stunned. How did she always know? “Laney, I…”

  “Was it Loch that sent him?”

  I nodded and started the ca
r. “So we have to move again?”

  I shook my head again and she sighed. “Well I really liked that place. How many times is he going to make us move? The baby is going to be here soon, we need to take care of it.”

  She was scary sometimes. There was no other way about it and I couldn’t help but think that she would have been someone I could have worked the business with. There was something sexy when she acted tough. I knew that I was part of the reason I had been drawn to her no-nonsense way and I loved what Laney had become. “I will take care of it. You don’t worry about anything.”

  Resting her head on my shoulder, I heard her sigh. “With you next to me, how can I worry about anything? I know you take care of what is yours.”

  Claimed

  A Motorcycle Club Romance

  By: Tia Parker

  Chapter 1

  He hadn’t seen the sun so bright in years and he had to squint as Chris walked out of the iron-wrought gates to freedom. It had been too long since he had been free and the air never smelled so sweet. Chris looked around for someone there to pick him up. He hadn’t been able to make a call in months because of solitary, but it almost didn’t matter if no one was there. Walking on the side of the road as a free man would have been okay with him.

  Then Chris heard his name being called and he looked back to his left. He saw James getting out of the small, black sedan with tinted windows. He sighed a little bit, happy to see his oldest friend. They had run together as kids, then grown up to run James’s father’s gang. Chris was his second, but he knew that some things had changed while he was gone. Five years is a long time.

  “Chris! Damn it is good to see you out of that place, out of those jumpsuits. How are you feeling?”

  He hugged him for a moment, smacking Chris on the back. Something passed between them, his gratitude showed for a moment before he was telling him to get in. “Where is my bike?”