And with a quick motion he pulled Glory’s hips up until her bottom was totally exposed and sitting high in the air. Then he commanded in a voice thick with desire “Now open up for me, honey.”
A shiver of pleasured anticipation coursed through her as she obeyed his command.
Jules growled out his appreciation as he ran his hand up the inside of her thighs until he found the damp triangle. Then ever so slowly he parted her intimate lips and teased a finger along the slick folds.
Murmuring soft and low to her, Jules entered her in with gentle steady thrusts. Glory answered his need by arching her spine and pushing back against Jules’s erection. With strong hands he pulled on her hips and rocked her in rhythmic movements until Glory felt herself begin to build to a strong climax. Moaning, she dropped her head to the mattress and clutched the headboard while a shiver of pleasure rippled through her body. When he reached around and tweaked her swollen nipples, Glory clenched tight around his enormous erection and wrapped him in a silken grip. With a low moan, Jules’s hands tightened powerfully on Glory’s hips and he rode her hard. Jules pushed and pulled and twisted and turned her at his will until he released hot and hard inside of her.
Minutes later they were still lying side by side catching their breath and slowing the beat of their hearts.
“You and I are good at this,” she murmured thoughtfully.
“You and I are good at a lot of things together.” Jules pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. “Now get out of bed and let me show you how good we are at fucking in the shower.” Jules jumped out of bed and pulled a laughing, protesting Glory along to the bathroom.
About twenty minutes later a very satisfied, and wonderfully sore Glory stood in front of her closet trying to decide what to wear. A suitcase was packed and waiting on the bed. To Glory’s unending delight Crow had called last week and invited them to spend some time with he and his family in Havengate. Glory couldn’t wait to meet Crow’s wife and their boys. She had been looking forward to it all week and had spent hours deciding on little gifts for their sons, Jett and Raven.
She looked at her watch and bit down on her lip. Jules had been on his cell for a while now and Glory knew by the rough barks and the monosyllabic responses that the conversation involved club business.
Club business.
A phrase that she had heard often and felt sure must have been explicitly created for the sole purpose of stopping the Saints in their tracks.
No matter what. No matter where. No matter why.
No matter who.
Club business took precedence over everything. In the years since Glory’s involvement in the club, she had lost count of how many times she had watched the Saints women band together and carry on when their men were called away at a moment’s notice on Club business. Children’s birthday parties, club cookouts, family vacations, school graduations and even weddings were fair game.
That tie to the club and to each other was a strong one.
A sacred bond.
And one that would not be broken.
Glory ran her fingers absently along the silk sash of her short robe as she moved toward the dresser. Lost in thought she pulled open the top drawer and fumbled through the intimate garments until she settled on a white lace bra and panty set. After a quick glance out the window at the gray sky, Glory pulled a pair of jeans and T-shirt out of the closet and laid them on the bed. She was just about to get dressed when she heard the heavy pound of footsteps that signaled the end of Jules’s phone conversation
“I just have to throw my clothes on and I’m good to go.” Glory turned towards the bedroom threshold in happy anticipation.
“We’re gonna have to delay the trip, babe.” Jules swaggered into the room. He sported a wide grin as if he were delivering news of winning a grand prize instead of the delay of their plans.
“Oh? Well okay. I have a few things I can do around here. So do you think we can leave by lunch time?” Glory asked with hope.
“Pretty,” Jules commented absently as he picked up the soft lace panty with a strong finger. Then he looked at her and shook his head. “No, babe. We’re not going. Not today anyway.”
“Tomorrow?” she asked warily.
“No. Not tomorrow.” He shook his head. “Club business.”
And there it was.
Glory couldn’t keep the disappointed frustration from ringing out of her voice. “But I bought gifts for the kids, and a really cute bikini for the beach. Can’t whatever it is wait? I was really looking forward to this.”
When Jules shook his head with that self-satisfied grin still in place she regarded him with suspicion.
“What’s going on, Jules?”
“Babe, like I said Club business,” Jules said with emphasis. Then he grabbed his boots from the corner of the room, sat down on the bed and bent to pull them on.
When Glory stood with her hands on her hips and a look of exasperation on her face, Jules looked back at her and sighed.
“Babe, I’m sorry for the short notice, but the club has a thing and this thing is the first order of business I’ve been able to help out with since I caught that damn bullet. Now you know I can’t go into detail. I can just tell you that it feels damn good to be able to do my part again to help out my brothers.” Jules practically sang out the words.
Glory turned her back on him and began to unpack with fury. She pulled open the dresser drawers and slammed them shut again as she stuffed her clothes back inside the chest.
After the third hard slam, Jules called out behind her, “Hey, Glory. Stop acting so pissed-off. You know this kind of stuff can’t be helped. It is what it is.”
“Really? That’s the best you can come up with?” Glory swung around to him.
“Look, if you want to, you can leave the bag packed. I’ll put in a call to Crow and ask if next week works for them.” His tone was conciliatory.
Glory shook her head in frustration. “Women aren’t like men, Jules. We don’t recycle the same three tee-shirts and jeans. I am going to have to unpack. I need those clothes.”
“Okay.” Jules shrugged, stood up and stamped his foot into his boot. “Damn left foot is bigger. Does that happen to chicks too? The one foot bigger than the other thing?”
“I don’t know.” Glory waved her hand in annoyance. Because aside from the disappointment she felt at the cancelled trip, a familiar fear had started to grow in the pit of her stomach. She implored him, “Can you at least tell if what you are going to do is dangerous? Or illegal? Is it something that could get you hurt? Or arrested?”
Or killed?
“Stop being such a little worry wart.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head before releasing her.
“Can you just tell me one thing? Anything?” Glory pressed him.
“Come on, Babe. You know I can’t discuss this shit with you.” Jules lifted his Saints cut from the back of the chair, slipped the worn leather over his broad shoulders, and headed for the door.
“I’ll be in touch as soon as I can.” Jules turned to her before crossing the threshold.
“Oh no you won’t!” She huffed out at him in no uncertain terms. Then Glory turned her back on Jules, threw off her robe and began getting dressed. She pulled and buttoned and zipped with a vengeance while she heard him mutter angrily into his cell behind her. Only after she had pushed a last angry foot into her sneaker did she turn around to face him.
Jules shoved the cell in his pocket and gave her his full attention.
“We got five minutes to talk this through then I definitely have to go. But in that time we are going to get this settled, because I sure as fuck am not leaving until I find out what this is really about.” He stood against the doorway, effectively blocking her way out.
“Okay. So tell me what’s going on then? Where are you going?” Glory flung a hand on her hip. “And when will you be back?”
“Jesus.” Jules muttered and rubbed a hand over his jaw. “You know I can’t.
”
“Never mind then. Just go. Run off to do God knows what. God knows where. And with God knows who.” Glory’s body trembled in anger. Then she added with sarcasm, “No, wait that’s wrong, isn’t it? We do know all of that, don’t we? We know that you are heading out with a barely healed bullet wound in your leg to help out your brothers with something that for all I know might be as deadly and dangerous as what got you hurt in the first place.” Glory sounded out as fear-driven fury filled her. “Well, go right ahead, Jules. You can go put your life on the line again and again and again and again and I can’t stop you. I don’t have the right to stop you…”
“The right?” Jules eyes lit with sudden understanding as he walked towards her. “Jesus. Is that what this is about? Is this about you and me?”
Glory put her hand out to him in a stop motion. Her mouth was dry as dust when she said, “Like I said, I don’t have the right to stop you, but I do have the right not to sit at home and wait for it to happen.”
“Come on Glory, don’t be like that—” Jules stared at her in disbelief.
“Let me make myself clear. You can do whatever you want, Jules” Glory’s voice broke with emotion. “But I am warning you right now, I won’t be here to watch and wait for that next bullet to find you. I won’t do it. I can’t do it. Not anymore.”
“Glory, I know you’re upset but…” He shook his head at her.
“And one more thing.” She ranted on as if he hadn’t spoken. “I don’t know why my brother took off with Diego this morning but if you and your boys think you are going to drag him into your club you are crazy. Because I will not let that happen. I won’t watch my brother put his life on the line for a bunch of criminals who get shot at for a living!”
As Glory spat out those words she knew she had crossed a line, but she was just too far gone in fear and emotion to care. She wasn’t sure who she was angrier at—herself, or Jules, or the circumstances that brought them to this place.
Again.
“You done?” Jules asked in a voice filled with quiet menace.
When Glory responded with a small nod, Jules drew himself to his full height and loomed over her.
“So, you can’t stand by and watch that shit anymore, huh, Glory? Can’t stand by and watch me run off to— God knows where. Well, then the first piece of good news I have for you is that you can’t control that. I am a grown-ass man and nobody—nobody tells me how to live my life. I don’t fucking answer to you or anyone else. So you can let yourself off the hook with that hyper-vigilant crap. I am not a fucking kid, and maybe you think that hovering bull-shit shit works for you, but I am here to tell you that it’s no way to live. It is unnecessary, unhealthy and basically fucked up!!!” Jules’s angry voice sent out vibrations strong enough to bounce off the walls. “I know you think you have your reasons for saying and feeling the shit that you do, and I get it. So for this one time I am going to give you a pass and forget—forget that we even had this conversation.”
Jules circled around her in loud angry stomps. Then, in another burst of anger, he pounded his closed fist against the wall before he turned backed to her.
“And let’s be clear on one more damn thing—the club you just thumbed your nose at? The criminals that you don’t want Hal to contaminate his life with? Those men are my brothers. My brothers. And not too fucking long ago they had their home—their castle—blown to hell because of the trouble that you brought to our door. And it’s not the first time. Or the second time. Or the third damn time that me and my boys have had to put our lives on the line to help you the fuck out.” The volume in Jules’s voice continued to gain in intensity. “So that next time you even think—even think—about looking down your nose at the club that you owe your life to, you wanna think again. And you consider yourself lucky that when your brother needed a place to land, he landed here. And that goes for you too. Now stop being an ungrateful brat, start counting your blessings and shut the hell up about everything else!”
And with that Jules slammed out the door.
*****
Jules had driven halfway to the compound before he got his breathing and then his anger under control. Glory had better get her head out of her ass fast. He knew she was confused, he knew she was worried, he knew she was scared out of her goddamn mind about what the future held.
But who the fuck wasn’t.
The ability of that woman to tie him up in knots should go down in history.
He knew that for too long now her first go-to response had been fear-driven impetuousness and she hadn’t meant her words to cut him like they had. She was always putting her foot in her mouth and saying shit to get herself in trouble.
Nothing new there.
And the fact of the matter was that Jules knew Glory better than she even knew herself. Because despite him spouting off to her about her ingratitude, Jules knew that Glory got it—she got it. She knew what she owed the club and what’s more, she was grateful. Grateful enough to put herself on the line with that Abiatti bastard instead of betraying the MC. So no matter what bullshit she had spouted about the brotherhood, Jules knew she loved the Hells Saints family. And the Hells Saints family loved her.
He loved her.
Enough of the bullshit and dicking around.
Jules loved Glory.
He couldn’t deny it any longer.
Not after the wave of full on terror that had coursed through him when the call had come in about her latest stunt. Jules had almost spun out on the road at full throttle more times than was safe or smart trying to get home to her. And the intimacy of the past few weeks that they had shared, both in and out of bed? He had never experienced anything like that before. And he never wanted to be without it again.
So yeah, he was absolutely positively certain that he was head over heels in damn love with Glory Thomas.
And what’s more?
She loved him back.
He was sure of it.
Jules was going to have to put an end to the doubt and the fear and the back and forth.
He was going to have tell her that he loved her and make her feel safe enough in that to see that she loved him too. It wouldn’t be easy and it might take some time, but Jules trusted that they would get there.
Together.
But first Jules needed to give himself some time to cool down.
And he needed to give Glory some time to cool down too.
It was probably a good thing then that he had at least 24 busy hours ahead of him. Club business had dictated that Jules spend the next few hours focusing his attentions on the complicated computer hack that Prosper had tasked him with. Later on Jules would attend a special executive board meeting. During this closed ceremony, Ghost would receive his three patch rockers, thus heralding him as a full member of the Hells Saints MC. Then as was expected of him, Jules would join the boys in the yard of the compound to raise a glass in the prospect’s honor. After that he planned to go back and get things settled between him and Glory once and for all.
But of course Jules should have known better.
Because in true MC form, one drink led to another—and to another—and as was typical of a Saints tribe gathering those few drinks of celebration turned into a couple of days of raising hell.
Being a prospect in the Hells Saints MC was a gigantic pain in the ass—a totally humiliating experience meant to weed out the weak and build loyalty in the strong. And even though each new member had to be personally recruited and sponsored by a full patch member, the boys didn’t make it easy. It was a long-ass process with ridiculous demands—like performing dangerous and illegal acts for any brother who asked. So when a man had the tenacity and balls to get through what amounted to MC boot-camp, that man’s dedication to the brotherhood deserved to be honored.
Besides, after the attack on the compound and the Saints victory over the Culebras, everyone felt entitled to party hard. Brothers poured in from all over the east coast and it was a good time with lots of booze, pot
and pussy. Jules put the problems with Glory aside for a minute and took advantage of everything but the pussy. He got drunk, got high, played a few games of cards, competed in a few target shoots and just had a damn good time. In his more sober moments he tried to call Glory but her number went straight to voice mail.
Oh fucking well.
She’d been pissed at him before, and no doubt she’d be pissed at him again. Maybe he had been a little harsh with her, but for the good of everyone concerned that shit needed to be said. He decided to give her the time she needed to stew.
On the third day, Jules woke up to a mouth so dry it felt like he had swallowed a highway full of road dust. He dragged himself over to the shower and turned the dial on to cold. Then he stood under the hard, freezing, needles until his dick shriveled and his teeth chattered. After he rummaged around for a good ten minutes looking for something clean to wear, he went out to the kitchen. Fighting down the rising nausea from the monstrous hangover, Jules slapped some eggs and bacon on the stove for any brother sober enough to hold some food down and then he made himself a pot of coffee.
Because his thigh still throbbed like a motherfucker whenever he shifted gears on the Harley, Jules grabbed the keys to his truck. Then he set out to get matters straight with Glory. But when he got to the lake house, the shades were pulled and the house was dark. Jules had to use the spare key to unlock the door.
The house was eerily quiet and suspiciously tidy.
The kitchen counter was clear of the herbs and spices that usually littered it.
The pots on the cook stove had all been put away and the dishes were stacked clean on their shelves.
Jules took a quick look through the rest of the downstairs to find the carpets freshly vacuumed and the furniture dusted.
He took the stairs two at a time up to Glory’s room.
The sheets had been stripped off the bed.
And her closet was empty.
Glory was gone.
Chapter 37
Saving Glory (Hells Saints Motorcycle Club Book 4) Page 23