Girth (Marked Skulls MC Book 1)

by Savannah Rylan

  “So… yes to the date,” Rider said.

  “Get off the damn date,” I said with a grin. “Let’s get you better first.”

  I hugged my brother before I helped Rider to his feet. The entire club was sitting at the bar, their eyes trying to conceal the fact that they were watching us. Rider was in no shape to drive his bike home, so I slipped my hand into his pocket and pulled out his keys. I jiggled them in front of his face before I turned around, tossing them to Doc as he nodded his head.

  “Can you make sure that gets back to Rider’s place?” I asked. “I don’t think he’s in any condition to drive.”

  “You got it. But if his bike’s one of the ones that got damaged, I’m takin’ it to the shop first,” Doc said.

  “Whatever you need to do. Just wanna make sure he’s not driving,” I said.

  I turned back to Rider, and I found him smiling down at me. The numbing medication and the pain shot the doctor gave him were already making him loopy. The kindness in his eyes was intoxicating, and before I could think about it, I was slipping my arms around his naked waist. I leaned my cheek against the swell of his chest, taking in his warmth as his good arm wrapped around me tightly.

  “Thank you for saving my life,” I said in a whisper.

  “Your life is always protected with me,” Rider said. “Now come on, let’s get out of here. Everyone’s staring, and I need a shirt.”

  With my arm around his waist and his body leaning heavily against mine, I led us out of the bar. I piled us in my car and drove us to Rider’s place, relieved when we pulled up. I turned the car off and walked around to help him out, trying to be careful of his arm. He steadied himself on me as we walked up the walkway to his home, but when he went to reach for his keys, he started to laugh.

  “I don’t have my keys,” Rider said.

  “Hold on. I think I can help with that.”

  I felt around in my pockets, trying to find something sharp I could use. I found a few bobby pins in my back pocket, so I pulled out a couple as Rider leaned against his house. It took me a few tries to pick his lock, but when I heard the latch flip, I opened the door for him. He was grinning down at me, shaking his head as I stood underneath his good arm again.

  “Come on. Let’s get you sitting down with a glass of water,” I said.

  I kicked the door closed behind me as we made our way to the couch. I helped ease Rider down onto the cushions, being careful not to jostle his shoulder. I leaned my forehead against him, taking in the way his breath pulsed against my lips.

  Fuck, if this man weren’t so drugged up he would be in so much trouble.

  I lifted myself off the couch to head to the kitchen, but a hand came down around my wrist. I whipped my head around and looked, seeing Rider’s hand clamping down on my skin. My eyes scanned his body, taking in the healthy flush of his skin. But when I saw his pants tenting with his rising cock, I shook my head.

  “You’re in no condition for something like that right now,” I said. “You need some water so you can take your antibiotic.”

  “That can wait,” he said as he tugged at me.

  “No, it can’t, Rider. You can’t get an infection. Let me get you some-”

  He pulled me harshly to him and our lips collided. The heat of his tongue and the sweet taste of his lips dragged me into his gravitational pull. I felt myself growing weak for him. I felt my body rising to the occasion for him. My tits puckered to painful peaks behind my bra as I straddled Rider’s lap, grinding down on his growing cock.

  “You have no idea how beautiful you are to me,” he said.

  “And you have no idea how perfect you are to me,” I said breathlessly.

  I pulled my shirt over my head and quickly undid my bra. Rider watched as my tits swung free, his face falling forward into them. I wrapped my arms around his head, feeling him kissing and nipping and licking at my skin. His cock was pulsing painfully against his jeans as I grew wet in my panties, and soon I was up and wiggling my way out of the rest of my clothes.

  Soon, we were clad in nothing but our own skin. Rider’s dick was thick with need and dripping with want to be inside me. I straddled his lap, feeling his cock jumping at the ready as I grabbed him and seated him at my entrance.

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  He answered me with a thrust, impaling me on his cock as I moaned out into his home.

  His good around wrapped around my waist, pulling me into him as his hips sent a relentless pace. He was pounding into me, the couch jostling with his movements as I clung to him. I raked my hands down his chiseled chest and felt his rippling thighs working for my pleasure. I placed sloppy kisses against his lips, moaning and gasping as his cock grew thicker and thicker. I could feel my pussy fluttering. I could feel my clit growing. I slid my fingertips between my folds and found that swollen little nub, flicking it and pressing it as my need for Rider grew.

  “Shit. You feel so good. I was so scared… so scared you were… you were…”

  “I’m not,” Rider said as he captured my lips. “I’m right here, Zoey. With you.”

  I dipped my face into the crook of his neck and allowed my tears of pleasure and fear to blend together. It was the truth. I had been petrified of Rider dying. A man I’d really known for a few days and a boy I’d known my entire life, and I thought I was going to watch him bleed out on the cement. I peppered his neck with kisses as I jolted in his lap. I could feel my climax coming as my juices spilled down his balls. I rolled my hips into his, my pussy swallowing his cock deep into my body.

  “Fuck, Zoey. So good. So great.”

  I pressed my hands into his chest as I came around his girth. I wrapped my arms around his waist, burying my moaning mouth into his neck. I bit down into his skin, clenching my eyes shut as he pressed his hand into the small of my back. I felt him release into me, coating my body with his hot cum as his legs trembled underneath my body.

  Our juices were dripping onto the couch as we both panted for air.

  Rider’s hand slid up my back and tangled in the red curls of my hair. Soft kisses were pressed into my shoulder as we sank deeper into the couch cushions. It felt so good to have him against me. To feel his heart pumping and his limbs shaking. It felt wonderful to feel his skin against mine and know that he was alive.

  I couldn’t let him get away. Not after the fear I experienced when I thought I was going to lose him.

  “Rider?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Can I tell you something?”

  “Of course you can,” he said sleepily.

  “When you were on that pavement-”

  I sighed, my jaw beginning to tremble as tears crested my eyes.

  “It’s okay,” he said into my ear. “I’m right here.”

  “When you were bleeding,” I said, “I thought I was going to watch you die. Right there, from your shoulder. Just… you wouldn’t open your eyes, and I didn’t know if you could hear me and-”

  Rider lifted my face to his and encompassed his lips with mine. I melted into him, my hands pressing into his hewed muscles. His cock slid from my pussy, allowing our intermingled juices to drip from my body as it soaked the couch beneath us. Our tongues collided and electricity shot through my body, raising goosebumps on my skin.

  Something no man’s kiss had ever done to me before.

  “I’m falling for you,” I said in a whisper.

  I felt Rider pull back as our eyes connected.

  “What did you say?” he asked.

  “I said… that I’m… falling for you. I’m falling for you, Rider.”

  I expected him to toss me off his lap. To tell me it was too short of a time and that I was crazy. I expected him to throw me out. To call Colt and have him come over and watch him for the next couple of days. But instead, he rose his good hand and cupped my cheek, allowing his thumb to stroke along my skin.

  “I’m falling for you too, Zoey,” he said.

  “Seriously?” I asked.

  �
��Yep.”

  “You’re not just pulling my leg?”

  “Nope.”

  “So… you don’t think I’m crazy?”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” he said with a grin.

  I playfully swatted at his chest before he wrapped his hand around my wrist. He brought my knuckles to his lips to kiss, his eyes never leaving mine. I blushed underneath his gaze as I laid my head back on his shoulder, his hand holding mine up against his heart.

  “You really need to take your antibiotic,” I said.

  “Let me hold you for just a few more minutes. You weren’t the only one who thought you were gonna lose someone today.”

  I pressed a kiss onto his shoulder, taking in all of him as we sat there on his couch. It had been a whirlwind of a day, and things weren’t going to get easier, but I knew we would be able to do it. Even though I had only really known Rider a few days, I felt like I had known him my entire life. I nuzzled deeply into him, taking great pains to make sure I didn’t jostle his bad arm. Then the two of us slipped off into a deep slumber as each of us cradled the other.

  Yep. Everything was going to be okay.

  Even if things weren’t perfect.

  Epilogue

  Rider

  A Year Later

  “So, raise your beer for the newest member of The Fallen Reapers!” Colt said.

  “Here, here!” the guys said.

  “May he shoot more bullets than he takes,” Doc said.

  “Here, here!” the guys said.

  “May he subdue more men than he kills,” Bruiser said.

  “Here, here!” the guys said.

  “May he never piss off Colt’s sister, lest we lose him to his ignorance,” Fender said.

  “Here, here!” the guys said with chuckles on their lips.

  “Well, I think that’s about as official as it gets,” Jax said.

  “Welcome to the club, Rider. We sure as hell could use you,” Doc said.

  “After I healed from that bullet wound,” I said with a grin.

  “We aren’t talking about that,” Zoey said. “That didn’t happen.”

  “It’s not official yet. But once you slide this thing on, it will be.”

  Colt pulled out a sleek leather cut with the club’s logo embroidered on the back. I’d been walking around for the past year with a shitty leather cut with a patched up bullet hole in it. I had to dry clean that piece of shit four times to get all the blood out of it, and every time I slipped it on it made Zoey cringe. She hated the thing, and so did I. It was a stark reminder of the bullet that almost took my life.

  Especially after the infection I developed.

  Two weeks after I’d been shot, I had a fever. One hundred and four and soaring as Zoey rushed me to the hospital. We had no choice. The club fucking hated hospitals, but I needed to be treated by a doctor in a sterile facility. The guys couldn’t come visit me because of their own paranoia and jobs and shit, but Zoey was there. Holding my hand the entire time as the rounds of antibiotics got my body back on track.

  But for a while there, it was touch and go.

  “Want another soda?” I asked Zoey. “I’m gonna go get one for myself.”

  “Nah. You’re the guest of honor tonight,” Grave said. “I got you guys. Be right back.”

  “I’m actually good for now, Grave. But I could use some water,” Zoey said.

  “Pussy shit!” Grave said.

  “That’s my fucking sister,” Colt said.

  “And that’s the mother of my child. Watch your tongue,” I said.

  “The two of you are relentless,” Zoey said as she rolled her eyes.

  “You’re pregnant. Expect it,” I said with a grin.

  “Speaking of, how’s the mother-to-be feeling?” Doc asked.

  “Like a damn whale. I’ve hit a point where I can’t see my toes, my boobs are bigger than any of the bras I have, I’m growing out of my second round of maternity clothes, and I can’t fucking bend over to pick up anything,” she said.

  “Sounds fucking terrible. I could never go through that shit,” Grave said as he slid Zoey a glass of water.

  “That’s why I’m the woman, and you’re the man,” she said. “I’m stronger than all of you combined.

  “No one’s arguing that truth,” Jax said.

  I watched Zoey chug her water as beads of sweat gathered on her brow. This pregnancy had been beautiful, but this last trimester was hard on her. When we found out she was pregnant seven months ago, I was insistent that she move in with me. She was living in a dingy old apartment across town, and while my home wasn’t big, it had a room for us to convert into a nursery for the baby. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and fourteen hundred square feet of space to fill with things to make our family comfortable.

  And a fenced-in backyard for when the little guy started getting older.

  “You excited about having a boy?” Colt asked.

  “Depends. If he gets his personality from Rider, I’m gonna be up shit creek without a paddle,” Zoey said.

  “I’m not that bad,” I said.

  “You’re stubborn as hell and huge. If he takes after you, I’m gonna be shoving a two-year-old out of my vagina.”

  “That sounds terrible. It’s a shame pregnant women can’t drink. They need it more than we do,” Grave said.

  “Fucking right on the nose with that one,” Doc said.

  “You ever gonna make an honest woman out of my sister?” Colt asked.

  “All right, big brother. Get off it,” Zoey said.

  He was right. A lot of things had happened between his sister and I over the past year. We fell in love and fought for my life. She took care of me and kept my head in the game while I was recuperating and unable to help out with jobs. She kept me warm at night and always made sure I had food to eat in the house. She was carrying my child while still trying to look out for me. She had been strong for me in ways I never thought a woman would ever want to do for me. She had given me everything. Her life. Her future. Her body to enjoy and her motherly instincts to raise my child.

  I looked over at Zoey, her eyes filling with rage as her and her brother continued to argue.

  “What? It’s a fair question,” Colt said. “You’re living together. You’re pregnant. When’s he gonna pop the question? We all know you love one another.”

  “Marriage isn’t something you can force onto someone, Colt,” Zoey said. “And I’m not gonna have you intimidating him into doing something like that.”

  “So you want to marry him,” Colt said.

  “Get off the damn subject. I’m hot, I’m hungry, and I have to piss. Rider? Move.”

  I whipped my eyes up to her and could see beads of sweat dripping down her brow. I slid from the booth and helped her stand to her feet, holding onto her hands until her center of gravity was stable. Her hand pressed into her lower back as she waddled off to the bathroom, trying her best to get away from the scenario as I sighed.

  Even with her swollen ankles and her rounded stomach, she still tugged at me in a way that was indescribable.

  “You shouldn’t have done that,” I said as I looked at Colt.

  “Not my fault you’re dragging your feet. You bought that ring two months ago, man. When the hell are you gonna grow the balls?” he asked.

  I shoved my hand into my pocket and pulled out the diamond ring. I felt the room grow silent as everyone turned their heads toward me, taking in the canary diamond surrounded by rubies. Zoey’s two favorite colors, all wrapped up in the perfect ring that caught my eye in the jewelry store after one of her doctor’s appointments.

  I heard the bathroom door slam open as a smile crossed my cheeks.

  “No better time than now, I suppose,” I said with a grin.

  I sank to my knee as Zoey rounded the corner. The guys parted a path, connecting my body with hers. I watched the shock roll over her face as tears welled in her eyes, smiles peeling across all the guys’ faces in the bar. She slowly waddled toward
s me, her thick legs carrying the weight of our child as I smiled up at her.

  “Zoey, you have been the single most powerful force in my life for the past year. This club reminded me of what it meant to have a family, but you reminded me what it meant to be loved. To give love unconditionally and to feel equal to a whole person again. You took care of me when I was sick, and you nursed me back to health without so much as a complaint. You’ve turned my world upside down and helped me to see the fullness of life in a way I couldn’t see after I’d lost my leg. You made me a whole man again, Zoey, and I don’t ever want to let that go.”

  I watched as tears rumbled down her cheeks.

  “I love you, Zoey. And I can’t imagine ever spending my life with anyone else other than you and our child. Will you marry me?”

  Zoey reached down for my shirt and fisted it in her grasp. She ripped me off my knee, our lips colliding as our teeth clattered together. The entire bar erupted into applause and cheers as I smiled into her lips, feeling her nodding against my face as her stomach started to bounce against mine.

  “Guess our little boy’s happy about it, too,” she said with a grin.

  I smoothed my hand over her stomach, feeling our son kick against her body. I dipped back down to my knees, pressing kiss after kiss into her stomach as she plucked the ring from my finger. I looked up and watched her slide it onto her hand, the ring fitting her perfectly even with the swelling that had taken place in her hands.

  “I love you,” I said as I stood to my feet.

  “I love you, too,” Zoey said as she smiled up at me. “So much.”

  “Drinks for everyone!” Doc called out.

  “And keep ‘em coming!” Colt exclaimed.

  “You wanna get out of here?” I asked.

  I saw Zoey’s eyes darken as she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth.

  “Do I ever,” she said with a groan.

  I took her hand and led her from the bar as the crew continued to celebrate. I gripped her hand tightly as we took off for her car. I helped her into the passenger’s seat as she sat down, the car rocking with her weight as she rolled her eyes.

  I dipped down to kiss her lips, my tongue sliding into her warmth as she moaned.