by Laura Morgan
“Tobin,” I whispered, climbing to my feet with his help. I wasn’t sure what to say next, so peered up into his face, hoping to find answers there. His heated stare told me he’d enjoyed himself and I grinned.
“That wasn’t what I’d had in mind when I said I wanted to be inside you,” he told me, mirroring my smile. I shrugged and turned to walk back to the bike, figuring our stolen moment was over now that we’d both reached our climaxes. I was blissfully wrong. Tobin grabbed me and pulled me over to where a lonely picnic bench sat in the shadows. “Bend over,” he commanded, and I immediately obliged. I gripped the edge of the wood and said nothing as he pushed my jeans and knickers over my hips and down below my knees, but I was sure to arch my back seductively so he knew he was welcome to dive right in. The cool night air was nothing. I didn’t feel it, I only felt him. Tobin was inside of me in a second, pummelling me so hard I had to brace myself against the table or else I knew I’d fall over.
The wood was coarse against my palms, sharp splinters digging into my skin, however I refused to stop his deliciously rough lovemaking session. I came so hard my knees buckled, but Tobin held me up and continued on, eliciting one more orgasm from me before he too reached his high.
By the time he pulled away, I was jelly. My legs were shaking and my hands were tingling with fresh sores. I was panting so hard my throat hurt and when I’d pulled my jeans and underwear back up, I had to sit down and take a moment to regain my composure. I closed my eyes and leaned back into the table I’d just been fucked over, sucking in deep breaths. “You’re amazing, Dahl,” Tobin’s haughty voice pierced the silence and I opened my eyes, watching as he lit a cigarette and then took a deep drag.
“You’re pretty damn amazing yourself, you know?” I replied, grinning up at him. I swear he actually blushed. It was dark so I couldn’t tell for sure, but he definitely offered me a coy smile in return before taking another drag. I watched his hand fiddle with the smoke and wondered what it was like. I’d never tried them. It was always something the guys in my family did, so I had followed Dita’s lead and not smoked, but it wasn’t because I hadn’t felt tempted. I’d often felt like asking for a try, but knew my dad would kill me if I did.
I didn’t mind the strong scent of it on Tobin though. It was downright sexy as hell now that I got to smell it on my official boyfriend after he’d just fucked me raw.
Tobin flicked the butt to the ground and put out his hand to me, pulling me into his embrace the moment I took it. He held me for a moment, kissing me tenderly, before leading me back toward where his bike sat waiting for us.
“Back to reality, babe,” he muttered as we both mounted it, sounding a little disheartened at the thought of us heading back to the city. I wrapped my arms around his waist, holding him tight.
“As long as we’re together, reality is fine with me,” I answered, and meant it. I didn’t care where we were or what was going on. If we had each other, that was all that mattered.
Chapter Fourteen
We arrived back at my Dad’s house just over half an hour later and I winced as I climbed off the bike, reminding myself not to ride right after a session like that again. I was sore as hell but hid it as I straightened myself up and followed Tobin inside. Calvin was at the door, evidently waiting for us, and he immediately pulled Tobin to one side. I overheard Tobin asking his cousin what’d happened and wanted to hear more, but figured it wouldn’t look right if I were openly eavesdropping so I eventually walked away, heading towards where Bradley was chatting with one of the prospects.
“Hey, sis,” he said, greeting me with a kiss to the cheek. I was so glad he’d sorted out his attitude towards Tobin and me at last, and loved having my kind and gentle brother back, rather than the grumpy git he’d turned into back in those earlier days of our relationship. “Where’s Nico?” he then asked, looking behind me towards the door. My heart sunk.
“He left ages before us,” I replied, looking around the room. “We had… stuff to sort out so he went on ahead. Hasn’t he come back yet?” Brad shook his head no and I immediately reached into my pocket for my phone. I pulled up Nico’s number and hit the call button, my hand shaking as I lifted it to my ear. The call wasn’t answered, so I tried again and again. When someone finally answered, I began to tremble the moment I realised it wasn’t my brother. “Hello? Who is this?”
“Hello, my name’s Sarah and I’m a nurse at the Royal Hospital. Who’s calling please?” a woman’s voice chimed through the speaker.
This couldn’t be happening. My throat was dry and I had to swallow a huge lump that’d formed in my throat as I tried to answer her. Brad was staring at me, clearly having realised the situation wasn’t what he might’ve initially thought. Nico hadn’t stopped for a drink or to grab a bite to eat. He was somehow in hospital.
“I’m Dahlia, Nico’s sister. Is he hurt?” I eventually managed to ask the nurse.
“I’m afraid I can’t give you any details over the phone, but if you could come here with some identification we can give you an update.”
“Is my brother alive, surely you can at least tell me that?” I bellowed, making every head in the room turn towards us.
“He is alive, Miss Procter, but he’s in a bad way. Please come to the hospital and we can give you a proper update here,” she answered before dropping the call. I then stood there staring at my phone for a second or two as the information sunk in.
“Where’s Dad?” I eventually asked, turning towards Brad. I was suddenly in robot mode. Nothing was more important than getting the news to our father and going to see what’d happened to Nico. No one was moving nearly fast enough and I was growing impatient. We should be out the door already. “Get Thomas,” I commanded.
Brad nodded in the direction of the club’s meeting room which doubled as Dad’s office. Of course he was in there, and for the first time in years, and I headed straight over and walked in without knocking or being escorted. I wasn’t a club member so had been told I wasn’t allowed in there from a young age, but it didn’t matter now. All that mattered was our family, and one of them was in a bad way. Inside, Hadley was on her knees in front of my dad, sucking his cock like her life depended on it. She was the same tramp who had tried to get away with giving me a mouthful that night and Dad had told me to beat the shit out of her the next time, so I was surprised to find him indulging in some of the few skills she had to offer. He was a red-blooded man after all though, so I couldn’t be angry. In fact, I didn’t feel anything. I wasn’t disgusted or shocked. I just wanted Hadley out of there so I could talk with my father and brothers alone.
“Get outta here,” Dad told her, zipping up. She grumbled and groaned but did as she was told and I waited until the room was clear before I finally crumbled. I slumped into Nico’s chair to the left of my father and held my head in my hands. “What is it, Dahlia?” he asked me sincerely, reminding me of the man I’d grown up with and had been so close with before he’d passed that torch to Tobin.
“Nico. He… he didn’t come back. He’s been in an accident.”
“What?” Dad cried, standing so fast his chair scatted away behind him. The door then opened and my brothers joined us, but not for long. “Get Tobin in here now!” they were ordered before they could get comfortable.
When the three of them were inside, I relayed the message the nurse had given me about Nico having been in an accident. It didn’t feel real. Surely it was an elaborate hoax or some sick joke? Nico had to be fine. There wasn’t a world I could live in without him there with me. Not after Dita.
Tobin came over and grabbed me, pulling me to him in a bid to calm and soothe me. I appreciated the gesture, but still felt numb. I couldn’t cry or scream or wail. I had to be strong for Nico. I had to get us on our way to him so he’d know he was loved and that we’d be by his side when he woke up.
“I’ll go get Jodie and meet you at the hospital,” Thomas informed us, climbing to his feet, car keys at the ready. Dad jumped to attent
ion at my brother’s words and started directing the rest of us to one of the larger cars we owned, insisting we travel there together. Tobin was the most with it of us all and he took the wheel while I climbed into the passenger seat beside him.
I felt awful. There we were, fucking and enjoying ourselves while my brother had evidently been in an accident and then hauled off to the hospital without anyone having realised. Why hadn’t we seen it on the journey home? Had Nico taken another route? Questions were whizzing around in my head and I barely registered the drive there. It was only when we arrived and Tobin took my hand in his that I finally started to crumble. The walls of my icy resolve were melting and he could see it, but he held me close and let me do things in my own way and, most importantly, my own time. I’d barely said a word to him but he seemed to know what I needed and I loved that about him.
“We’re here because my son was brought in after an accident. Nico Procter,” Dad informed the Accident and Emergency receptionist, who looked him up on her system.
“Yes, he’s in surgery right now, but if you’d like to take a seat I’ll let the doctors know you’ve arrived,” was all she replied, giving nothing away. Part of me wanted to scream and beg her for more information, but I didn’t. I remained my usual calm self and followed my dad into the waiting area with Tobin and Bradley, where we all took a seat and stared off into the relatively empty room in silence.
It felt like forever until someone came over, clipboard in hand. The doctor seemed uneasy approaching us, eyeing my father’s cut warily. He then looked at the rest of us and I saw him do a double take as he realised the other guys were wearing club leathers as well.
“Mr Proctor?” he asked timidly, and then seemed surprised when my father stood and shook his hand courteously in introduction. Even in times of chaos, my father never forgot his sense of decorum, and I softened the part of my heart that’d hardened towards him. He had his ways, but overall he was a good man. He simply had to be. “We tried the emergency contact on your son’s phone but there was no answer. I apologise for the way you all found out, but one of the trauma nurses heard the phone ringing in your son’s jacket pocket so decided to answer it, hoping to find a relative on the other end.” He then fiddled with the clipboard, taking a quick look at the notes either he or someone else had made on it before staring back up in my father’s dark brown eyes. “We believe your son came off his bike at seventy miles an hour on a dual carriageway, before sliding into the centre and narrowly missing the traffic on the other side.”
“You believe so? What does that mean?” Dad asked him and I watched as the man squirmed.
“There were no witnesses and your son is yet to regain consciousness. Dispatch thinks the call to the emergency services was placed by a passer by as no one but your son was on the scene when we arrived. He’s lucky it was so late and that he was on a quiet stretch of the road.”
None of it felt right. I had one hundred questions I couldn’t bring myself to ask and could feel myself shaking, rocking back and forth slightly as the doctor’s words washed over me. Nico had been all alone there, lying in the street and almost dead, when Tobin and I should’ve been with him. The guilt made me want to vomit.
“What now?” Dad was being super calm, urging the doctor to carry on, while the rest of us sat in silence, letting him take the lead as always.
“He’s had surgery to repair internal bleeding in his abdomen caused by a blow to the gut we think was caused by him flying over the handlebars. His organs on the right side took the brunt of the damage but have stabilised and there are some extensive injuries to his right arm and leg where he skidded across the cement. His leathers saved him from anything too awful, but he’s still required stitches in places where they tore.” I gagged and Tobin rubbed my back gently, shushing me.
“He’ll be okay, Dahl,” he told me, but I wasn’t convinced. I peered up at the doctor, silently pleading with him to tell me some good news. He noticed and turned to me, his soft gaze making me want to cry.
“Are you Dahlia?” he asked, surprising us all. I nodded. “He was calling your name as they brought him in, pleading with the paramedic for you to find someone called Elle?” Everyone looked at me, hoping I would tell them who Elle was, but I couldn’t. I knew it was L. Not some fictitious woman. He wanted me to find Dita’s lover, and it seemed it’d been the one wish on his lips as he lay potentially dying in the back of an ambulance. Evidently L had more to tell me about my sister’s traumatic last few months of life. Whether Nico pulled through or not, I knew I had to honour his request. It was time I stopped being selfish and went in search of him.
I shook my head, feigning confusion, but couldn’t listen to any more. I stood and ran for the bathroom, where I threw up in such a violent way all I could do was cry into the toilet bowl.
“Baby, are you okay?” Tobin asked me when I finally emerged, his face bleak as he took me in. I shook my head no.
“I don’t know if it’s the shock or what, but I feel awful,” I replied, following him back to the chairs where I curled up and somehow managed to get comfortable lying in his lap.
I must’ve dozed off because the next thing I knew, Jodie was there with Thomas and she was sitting beside me. I sat up and gave her hand a squeeze, which then turned into a full blown hug when she turned towards me and threw herself into my arms. We cried together, our worry for Nico pouring out of us, and none of the men accompanying us brought attention to our typical feminine reaction to such times.
“I can’t believe it,” Jodie groaned in my hold.
“He’ll be okay,” I replied, trying to give her strength even though I had no certainties as to my brother’s wellbeing.
“He has to be,” she answered, pulling back from my embrace and I watched as her hand reached down to her stomach and then rested there. I nodded, silently telling her I understood. They were expecting a child together. The first in the next generation of Proctor children, and even I was damned certain Nico sure as hell had better pull through and be there to raise his kid.
We all breathed a collective sigh when the doctor returned and told us he had come through his surgery and was going into recovery, where they were hopeful he’d be waking up not too long after. Jodie and my dad went with the doctor to wait by Nico’s side while he came around, the rest of us being forced to sit and wait for more news again. It was torture, but at least I had Tobin with me, which I knew was more than Jodie had. She was facing a future without the love of her life in it, and I didn’t envy her. Nico was going to make it. The doctor had said so himself. We were going to be back to normal in no time.
In the early hours of the next morning, Dad and Jodie returned, telling the small group how Nico was awake and wanted to see all of us. At the doctor’s insistence, only two at a time went in so after Thomas and Bradley had taken a few minutes to check in with him, it was mine and Tobin’s turn.
Nico looked like shit. The colour had drained from him and he was clearly in pain, but tried his best to talk normally, while we all knew he was in bad shape. He might as well have been bandaged from the neck down thanks to his various injuries, but I just kept thanking God for bringing him through it. I hadn’t put much stock in prayers before, especially since Dita had died, but couldn’t deny my prayers had been answered the night before.
“What’s this cryptic message you told the paramedic to give Dahlia?” Tobin asked once we’d gone over the details of how things had happened. All Nico could remember was that his bike had choked and he’d been thrown. The rest was apparently a blur. “Something about someone called Elle?”
Nico looked horrified. It seemed clear to me he hadn’t remembered saying those things to the medics seeing to him on the road, and he frowned as if it hurt his head trying to come up with a lie to tell his best friend.
“I dunno, mate,” he eventually said, and even I knew that wouldn’t be enough. If anything, his dismissive answer made him look even more suspicious. Nico gathered some strength and in
a sudden burst, grabbed Tobin by his shirt and pulled him to him so they were nose-to-nose. “You keep her safe, Tobin. You keep Dahlia protected and safe from harm. Do you hear me?”
“I hear you, Nico,” Tobin replied, and I watched as he stared back into my brother’s dark gaze in surprise. “What the fuck is going on, man?”
“You swear. Swear it to me here and now that you’ll protect her with your life. That no one will harm her under your care.” Nico wasn’t backing down, regardless of his waning strength, so Tobin nodded. He pressed his head to Nico’s and put his hand around the back of his neck, holding him there.
“I promise, Nico. I’ll protect her until my dying breath.” I guessed Tobin must’ve been thinking of how Dita’s life had ended. It seemed like he was promising not to let me down like he had her, while I was thinking of the days, weeks, and months before. The times when a monster had visited her room over and over again without anyone noticing or caring. The days she’d spent lying to everyone around her and hiding her pain. He hadn’t been able to protect her, but would he if he had known? I liked to think he would.
Tobin left the two of us alone then, and it was my turn to make a promise to my big brother. We didn’t need the swearing or the theatrics. We each knew how the other felt.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be here, Dahl. I don’t want you doing anything about the things we discussed the other night, do you hear me?” Nico said, and I nodded, fiddling with the white, starchy hospital duvet he was laying under. “No messing with him and no digging into Dita’s past.”
“So, I’m not to go and find L?” I demanded in a hushed tone. “Because it seemed as though that was your dying wish, Nico. Why?”
“I guess I thought it would bring you peace to find the man she loved. The man who you said would have made her blissfully happy. I thought if you found him, you wouldn’t go off on a mission for revenge all alone.”