Slate (Rebel Wayfarers MC)

by MariaLisa deMora

  Opening the case, he pulled out the elegant but simple band, the red and white gemstones twinkling in the sunlight. “Rubies for your heart and heat, for my memories of you, for my love of you. My Ruby. My flame-haired beauty. Diamonds for our forever, protecting and holding our love. Baby, I love you. Marry me.” He slid the ring onto her finger, tugging her in close to him again, waiting for her response.

  “Yes, Andrew Jones, I will marry you,” she told him solemnly, and then giggled. “Slate, babe...I love you too.” Wrapping his arms around her again, he buried his face in her neck and hair, feeling complete for the first time in his life.

  ***

  Watching Ruby with Carmela, Slate shook his head, wondering how he had never put together that they were about the same age. When the women met yesterday, they’d bonded quickly; with each knowing the other’s story, there were no awkward explanations, simply a deep and mutual friendship.

  Hearing footsteps coming up the path behind him, he turned to see Estavez approaching. “My friend,” he said in greeting, and Estavez responded with a raised hand, eyes focused on the women sitting at a table nearby, who were laughing and talking.

  “Your Ruby is a priceless find, I think,” he said to Slate, turning to pin him to the chair with his eyes. “She is good for you.”

  Laughing, Slate agreed with him, “That she is. She keeps me in line, brother.”

  “My daughter is talking about coming to the wedding. Would I be welcome as well?” Estavez teased Slate.

  “Of course you’re invited, man; you’re my brother,” he responded. “Ruby wants it to be soon, so we have plenty of time before Peanut gets here.”

  Laughter sounded from behind him, and he saw Watcher stroll around to sit down next to him, “Peanut, man? That’s a sad name for a kid.”

  “Shithead, you know what I mean. I can’t keep calling it ‘it,’ so Ruby suggested Peanut. That’s way better than anything I came up with.” Slate chuckled. “Will you come to the wedding, Watch?” he asked, and was relieved when he got a quick nod in response.

  “Fuck yeah, man. A lot of the brothers have expressed an interest too. You need to plan on a big party, Slate,” he grinned, “all on your dime.”

  “No doubt,” he responded, laughing again, “and happy to, man. Simply tell me whatcha need. I got this.”

  Lying in bed that night with Ruby tucked in beside him, Slate couldn’t remember ever being so happy and content. He laughed when she reached up and traced her fingertips across his forehead. “What are you doing, baby?”

  “You haven’t frowned once since I got here, is all. I like this, being here with you and your friends,” she said quietly. “Most of the guys in Fort Wayne aren’t your friends; they are your responsibility, and it shows on your face there.” He started to speak, but she quieted him, “Shhhhh. I get that it’s your place, they are your brothers, and there are friends there...but I’ve never seen you like this, and I kinda like it.” She smoothed her hands down his face, plucking at his lips with her fingertips and giggling. “You are all loose and relaxed,” she told him, plucking at his lips again, “even your mouth.” She leaned in for a quick kiss.

  “Baby, not all of me is relaxed,” he whispered, pulling her hand down to his cock, hearing her soft intake of breath as she wrapped her fingers around the hardness she found there.

  Pulling her towards him as he raised up on one elbow, he angled himself over her upper body, sliding one hand up her side slowly, gathering the material of her shirt and tugging it off over her head. “I want you, baby,” he whispered. “I need you. I always need you. God, I need to be inside you.” Kissing her softly, he felt her hand work its way up his torso, pulling at his shoulder, her other hand slowly stroking him.

  Pushing his hand down her back and underneath her panties to caress the curve of her ass, he lifted her hips to him, trapping her hand between their bodies as he pressed her against him, feeling her grind into him with a roll of her hips. “Please, babe,” she murmured against his neck, licking her way along his skin.

  Shifting to slide her panties down her legs, he raised her up as he moved to kneel between her legs, draping her calves over his thighs. She was open to him as he stroked up the inside of her thighs with his thumbs, his hands meeting over her pussy. He spread her open gently, watching as he touched her and his fingertips slid along her folds. Pressing the pad of one thumb over her clit, rolling and stroking, he pulled a soft gasp from her.

  Slate bent forward at the waist, capturing one breast in his mouth and sucking deep. She made another soft noise, arching her back and pressing up into him, wrapping one arm around his head and cradling it to her chest. He released her nipple with a gentle kiss and shifted back to her mouth, unable to get enough of her body after being without her for so many nights.

  He maintained a slow stimulation on her clit as he slid his thick middle finger inside her, biting down on her bottom lip as he felt her walls clench around him. Ruby’s hands had moved to his back, and he felt the first sting of nails against his flesh, welcoming the proof of her passion. “Baby, you feel so good. I can’t wait to be inside you,” he murmured against her lips, adjusting his position to lift up on one arm.

  “Mine,” he whispered, letting his hard cock drag against her leg. Shifting, he settled between her hips, and as his tip grazed against her heat, he leaned on his elbows to raise both hands to cup her face. She reached between them, arching her head far back as she guided him to her entrance. She inhaled deeply when he rolled his hips, thrusting the head of his cock inside.

  “Mine,” he repeated, bringing her face back to his and kissing her fiercely. Pressing his forehead against hers, he pushed into her, tantalizing them both with the slow glide of his cock against her inner walls.

  Seated inside her, his balls resting against her ass, he shifted his hips, grinding against her clit with his pelvis. “Mine,” he muttered, feeling a sheen of sweat break across his back and shoulders. Holding himself still, he was waiting for the intake of breath that would tell him she was getting frustrated with the slow pace. His abdominal muscles were trembling with the strain of holding back, and he buried his head in her neck, biting her shoulder softly, and then trailing his tongue across it to take away the sting.

  “Slate,” she breathed, her voice scarcely loud enough to hear, “move with me, babe, please.” Her breath puffed across his neck.

  He smiled, knowing she wanted him as badly as he wanted her. Buried as deep as he could get inside her, it still wasn’t close enough, and he wanted to possess her, to feel her hands on him, have her mouth under his. “Love you, baby,” he hummed as he started to move.

  Moving slowly at first, he felt the subtle drag of his engorged head as he slid in and out of her with full, long strokes. He felt her fingers cupping his ass, pulling him deeper. Adjusting his position, he began the short, deep thrusts he knew were guaranteed to push her closer to her climax.

  Gasping for breath, she moved underneath him, her heels pushing restlessly at the mattress, lifting her hips up to meet him. “Slate,” she whispered, and he felt the heat of her mouth as she took his earlobe between her teeth gently. Her hands were grasping at his shoulders and back, sliding up from his ass so one could cup around the back of his neck. Slate felt the sting on his back again, and knew she’d marked him; he was used to the pain from those little wounds, loved using them to gauge where she was in her intimate response.

  “Come for me, baby,” he called to her, moving steadily between her thighs, the sounds of their lovemaking filling the room. Kissing her again, he gasped against her mouth. “Baby…God…Ruby, please, take me with you, baby. Come for me.” He increased the speed of his thrusts.

  Feeling the fluttering of her inner muscles around his cock, he thrust deep and held, letting her explode around him, clenching him tightly. Her legs tensed, heels digging into the mattress again as her arms tightened around him. Her breath hitched as she moaned deep in her throat, and he knew she was there with h
im as he started moving again, fast and deep, wanting to share this with her.

  His orgasm rode hard down on him, the tingling beginning at the base of his spine, crawling around and through his balls, drawing them up tight against his body as he came deep inside her. “Fuck, baby, now. God, I love you, Ruby. My Ruby. Mine. My wife, my life.” He shuddered and thrust hard, flexing on top of her with the powerful effects of coming apart inside her. “I love you,” he said as he slowly recovered from his climax, resting his head against hers again.

  Long minutes later, he lay down beside her, smiling as she made that disappointed noise when he slid out of her. Pulling her close, he kissed the side of her head and neck, then laid his head down on the pillow. He was nearly asleep when he felt her move; frowning, he tightened his arm around her. “Baby, where you goin’?”

  “Bathroom,” she whispered, so he released her. A few minutes later, he felt the sheet being pulled back, and rolled over to find her standing above him with a warm, wet washcloth in her hands. “Let me clean you up, babe,” she said softly, and gently attended to his cock, laughing quietly as he began stirring to hardness again at the ministering of her hands. She leaned over, stroking and kissing the head of his cock softly, then she spoke to it. “Not right now, mister. Mamma’s kinda tired.”

  He laughed out loud. “Baby, you talking to my cock?” he asked, rolling his head across the pillow to look at her.

  “Maybe,” came her laughing response.

  “Well, if you don’t want ‘mister’ to be bothering you in a couple of minutes, you need to get your hands and mouth off him,” he told her, reaching up to pull her down beside him, holding her so her head was on his chest.

  He laughed again a few minutes later, the movement of his chest disturbing her until she asked sleepily, “What?”

  “Just telling you now, putting it out there…you talking to my cock is cute, baby, but I’m not having a conversation with your pussy. It’s going to be having my babies, and I don’t want to know what it has to say.” He cut his eyes down to her face, taking in her lips curving into a wide smile and her still closed eyes. “Love you, baby,” he whispered, his heart growing full when he heard her respond, “I love you too, Slate...and your Mr. Cock.”

  ***

  Annoyed, Slate took a drink of his coffee, looking out across the restaurant and away from her. “No,” he clipped to Ruby, still refusing to look at her.

  “Slate—” she started, but he cut her off.

  “I fucking said no, Ruby. Subject closed,” he growled at her, slapping the palm of one hand onto the table next to his cup, making it jump. “Where’s the fucking waitress?”

  She sat in the seat across from him, her chin tipped up stubbornly, green eyes flashing across the table. Standing, she quickly moved and sat next to him, determinedly pressing her hip and leg against his. “I don’t want to fight,” she got out fast. “I love you.”

  He snorted. “I love you too, baby, but this is a no-go for me.”

  “We’re nearly halfway there now,” she cajoled. “I’d like to meet your mother, Slate.”

  Rubbing his forehead with fingers and thumb, he then pointed to his face. “See that? I’m frowning again,” he told her, “and it’s your fault.”

  “Babe,” she scolded, “I know what you’ve told me. I know you don’t have a good relationship with your mom. I’m the last person to judge, and you know that—I’ve told you about my parents—but you also told me she’s sober now, and I want to meet her.”

  “Not happening, baby,” he said softly, resting one palm on her thigh.

  She sighed and said, “Okay, then I’ll simply have to invite her to the wedding,” and laughed as his head fell back and he groaned out loud.

  Five hours later, Slate pulled the bike up to the curb at the address he’d gotten from GeeMa. It was a tidy looking little house, freshly painted and well cared for, sitting on a small lot in a nice neighborhood. He felt Ruby’s arms loosen their hold on his waist, and turned to slip a hand around her neck, pulling her close for a quick kiss.

  “Hey, baby…” he started, and heard the front door open. Sighing, he turned to look at the house again, seeing a woman walk out to stand on the front porch. He knew he hadn’t seen her for more than a dozen years, but this woman didn’t resemble the one he’d left behind in Wyoming at all. She looked a lot more like the one he’d known years before that, when he was a child.

  Her hair was attractively styled, and her eyes were clear. There was no smile on her face, but he figured that was more to do with him dropping in on her like this than her normal personality, because she had soft smile lines next to her eyes and in her cheeks. Trim and fit, she was dressed casually in jeans, with a lightweight sweater over a t-shirt; she was barefoot, something he remembered as a thing with her when they had lived on the ranch before Daddy died.

  Without saying a word, Slate held out his hand for Ruby to help her dismount the bike. Once she was firmly on the ground, he tilted the bike over onto the kickstand and swung his leg over the seat, not taking his eyes off the woman on the porch. Her arms were wrapped around her torso, fingers digging in the fabric along her sides.

  He felt Ruby’s fingers wind themselves into the belt loops at the back of his pants, and he smiled softly. Seeing that change of expression on his face, the woman’s aspect lifted, not quite into a smile, but at least a softening of her features. “Andy,” she said, and covered her mouth with one hand.

  “Hey, Mom,” he responded, moving around the bike and up the walk towards her, Ruby in tow behind him. Reaching around for her hand, he pulled Ruby up beside him to go up the steps. “How you doin’?” he asked softly, reaching a hand out to his mother’s face; he pulled the hand away from her mouth and gripped it in his, her small hand enveloped in his much larger one. “Mom,” he said, turning to look down at the red curls beside him, “this is Ruby.”

  They talked late into the night, long after Ruby had fallen asleep on the couch. His mother wanted to hear everything about his life, all the things she’d missed over the years, good and bad. He’d told her about the last time he’d seen her, and they’d both cried over what that had done to the Andy he was back then.

  The topic of Ben came up often; she’d seen him a couple years ago when the band was in Denver for a show, but he never knew she was in the audience. “I wasn’t sure what kind of reception I’d get, and I didn’t want to take away from his night,” she told Slate.

  “He’s kind of a prick most of the time.” He nodded at her. “It was probably a good idea to not ambush him in public. He’s different now, back with the band. His sober companion is working for now, and we recently extended the guy’s contract another six months. Benny’s afraid he’ll slip back to how he was.”

  “Andy,” she said, tears welling in her eyes as she reached out to cup his face with both hands, “I cannot change what I did to you. I wish I could—God, how I wish it—but I can’t. I don’t deserve forgiveness, but I have to take this opportunity to ask for it, or I’ll never know. I’m so sorry for what I did, for what you witnessed, and the things you had to do. I have no excuse, but I am so sorry.”

  She was crying by the time she finished speaking, but refused to hide her pain by looking away, and he was unexpectedly proud of her in that moment. Raising his hands to cover hers, he sighed. “Mom, I get it. I do. I can’t imagine your pain, not just at losing Daddy, but afterwards, when you realized the things you’d done. I’m amazed by your resilience and strength to come back after falling so far. Did it suck?” he asked rhetorically and nodded, pulling her hands to the table and covering them with his own. “Yeah, it sucked hard. It was a fucking hard life and changed us all, but I want you to listen to me, and hear me.

  “I am who I am today, because of who I’ve been in the past. If you hold onto the fear and the pain of what’s gone before, then you let that past rule you. We live with the experiences we choose to give weight and presence to in our lives, and they shape us in al
l the important ways. Read my fucking tattoos, Mom. It’s all here. Every bit of it. Every lesson.”

  He stood, stripping off his shirt and tossing it onto the chair. Pointing to his left shoulder where the angel stood sentinel, he explained, “This was for Benny, my shrimp. I love my brother, and will always be there for him. You taught me family should be everything way back when Benny and I were just kids. That’s stayed with me.” Twisting his arm so she could see the words, he pointed to the tribal on his left bicep. “If the past is practice, then the only lesson is to not repeat the shit we do that hurts people, yeah?” She smiled up at him through her tears, nodding.

  Showing her his left wrist and forearm, he read the words to her, “See this? ‘Never let your fear decide your fate’—for me, that means while we might be the sum of our experiences, we can move past our fear and take control. I think that’s what you did when you got sober. It had to be hard, here...by yourself, alone...but you did it.

  “This one on my ribs,” he pointed to his left side, “says ‘The journey is the reward.’ Not the destination, but the journey...because fuck, if we are traveling through life for the sake of getting where we’re going, then we’re stuck. We have to be constantly learning, changing, and growing…and moving forward, yeah?”

  Pointing to his right forearm, he said, “This one…this is the most intense statement I’ve ever heard. ‘We live with the scars we choose.’ It’s profound, because it doesn’t mean physical scars. This is talking about the hard shit, the demons inside us that’ll tear us apart if we let ‘em. What we have to do is not give them space to fucking breathe, and only keep the things that matter, the people we love and the lessons we’ve learned…the things that make us better.”

  He leaned down, cupping her cheeks in his hands like she’d done to him earlier. “I am so fucking proud of you, Mom. You didn’t let the past rule or define you. You made yourself better and stronger. I love you. I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner to see.”

  ***

  Rolling east out of Denver, Slate leaned back, tipping his heels on the pegs. He felt Ruby press against him, fingers tightly laced around his middle and her cheek against his back. He’d talked to his mom for hours, and then this morning, she and Ruby had gone shopping for a couple of hours, buying things for the baby, and his mom would mail them soon. She’d be coming to the wedding too, and he couldn’t wait to introduce her to his brothers and friends.