At his side, a big dude called Jarvis slapped him on the back. “You’re a brave man taking on Jessie.”
Mundo snorted. “She’s just like her momma. Only a mate would have her.”
Christie shot him a glare, then primly stated, “It’s drugs. And guns.”
“What kind of drugs?”
She rolled her eyes. “Like I’d know? I’m a dentist, Mars,” she retorted. “Not a drug kingpin.”
The Prez stunned Spyder by snorting in amusement. Such disrespect wouldn’t have gone unpunished in most MCs, but Spyder was already seeing how things were different in The Nomads.
Truth was, if one of his Council’s women had called him out like that, he wasn’t altogether certain he’d be able to chuckle it off like Mars had.
Pride was everything, position and power too. Respect was a commodity that was earned and was given to those who were strongest.
It took a big man to take shit like that on the chin.
Either that or the man had to be secure in his position that he knew he was superglued in place.
It surprised him when he felt respect of his own for Mars flourish into place, but before he could question it, Christie continued, “I can kind of smell cocaine. But it’s not the same.”
“And how do you know what cocaine smells like, Ms. Angelic?” Mundo demanded with wide, amused eyes. Spyder knew he was pulling her leg.
“Because that’s what we used, once upon a time, to numb a patient’s mouth. Well, I was trained with it for a while, then we moved onto other drugs.”
Mars murmured, “So what you can smell is a derivative of cocaine?”
“No, it’s harder than that. I’m not sure how I know that. I just do.” She shrugged. “Can’t we just open the damn box?”
“Well, we can now,” Mars replied. “We needed to know what was in it and if we can turn it to our advantage, but let’s face it. That kind of contraband crossing a state line was only going to ever get the Feds breathing down our necks.” He pursed his lips. “Seems like it’s a good thing Spyder is mated to Jessie and we can nip this in the bud.”
He blinked at that, then grimaced. “Seems like it’s more my good fortune, Mars.”
“Damn straight,” Mundo added, glowering at his mate when she smacked him on the shoulder.
Mars studied him a second. “What would you have done if Jessie hadn’t been your mate?”
Wishing like hell he could run away from the question, Spyder shrugged. “I don’t know. Not one hundred per cent. I didn’t want to go to war with you, Mars. That was the last thing I needed with this Cartel dick at my back. But, it seems to me like it’s more fortunate for me that Jessie is my mate because at least it made you listen to me. My next steps weren’t as important as yours.”
Mars carried on studying him until Spyder felt sure every fucking detail of his face had been imprinted on the Prez’s memory banks. Then, when he started to wish he’d answered a little differently, Mars grinned. “Good answer. I like a man who can prevaricate. You’re a born diplomat.” He rubbed his hands together. “Okay, so change of plan. Now we know what’s in the box, we’re going to turn grass.”
Spyder’s eyes widened. “We are?”
“We are.” Mars directed to Jarvis. “You still know that cop over in the eighth precinct?”
Jarvis nodded. “Quite well.”
To his right, Major nudged him in the side. “You been boning her?”
Jarvis snorted. “A long time ago. Not anymore.”
“Shame, we could probably have used that to our advantage.”
Jarvis shook his head. “I doubt it. She was a fucking bunny boiler. At least now she’s just a friend.”
Mars snorted. “If you went to her with the truth of the story, what would her reaction be?”
“There’s no way to know for definite,” Jarvis immediately replied. “Like I said, she went batshit for me a time on ago.”
“Couldn’t get enough of your love stick,” Major hooted and had the Council bursting out laughing.
Christie folded her arms across her chest. “You’re all jerks. I hope you know that. If the poor girl knew you’re a Shifter, she was probably hoping you were mates and everything. It’s not her fault she had high hopes.”
Major sniggered. “Trust a woman to put that kind of spin on it.”
“Just wait until I tell Pip how much of a jerk you were today,” she retaliated.
Jarvis grunted. “She already knows how big a jerk he is. She doesn’t need us hammering it home.”
Seeing the bickering about to follow, Spyder cleared his throat. “What good will ratting to the cops do?”
“Gets this box out of our hands that’s for damn certain. Who the hell knows where Martinez has eyes. He might already know you’re working with us in a way that doesn’t suit his end goal.”
“What if he has someone in the precinct on his payroll? He’s already bankrolled the Assistant District Attorney into doing what he wants, why not the cops?”
“Kid has a point,” Kiko, the MC’s VP, said gruffly. He’d been quiet up to now, but he placed his elbows on the table, and quietly said, “I think the best option is to dump that shit. Last thing we need is that on our home turf.”
Mars nodded. “Agreed. Jarvis, the drugs... I want them destroyed. The guns are another matter entirely.”
Jarvis pulled a face. “I might have a solution.”
“We’re all ears.”
“Local homeless shelter’s holding an amnesty.”
“What kind of amnesty?”
“A box. You can put whatever shit you want in there, no worries about the repercussions, and all the contents will head back to the cops.”
Mars frowned. “How the fuck did they manage that?”
“It’s a homeless shelter in a very bad neighborhood. Think the cops were just trying to get some of the weapons out of the area. Plus, if what’s dumped is hot, they then have insight into potential weapons used at crime scenes.” Jarvis shrugged. “Does the why matter? We can just take advantage of it, can’t we?”
Mars nodded. “Yeah. Do it. I have no doubt they’re hot. That’s why Martinez wanted them crossing state lines.” He grunted. “Son of a bitch.”
“How’s Ava getting on with her plan?” Spyder asked, knowing from experiences that the Council would harp on like old women about their old nemesis if another subject wasn’t thrown into the mix.
Mars scratched his nose. “It’s underway.”
“What does that mean?” He focused on the Prez, trying to force the man to realize he wanted an answer. “My brother’s life is on the line here, Mars.”
“You think any of us has forgotten that?” Mars rolled his eyes. “Calm down, kid. It’s all in good hands. Mundo managed to get to one of the guards in his lock up. Sammy’s in solitary.”
“Man, I never thought that would be the best alternative.” He shook his head. “The kid’s going to be beyond fucked up when we get him out of there.”
Jarvis smacked him on the back. “Fucked up, but alive.”
That was the only consolation.
To his mate’s father, he murmured, “Thanks, Mundo. I appreciate you looking out for Sammy.”
“Whether I like it or not, the kid’s family. You gotta look out for family.” His gruff tone was confirmation that he hadn’t wanted to act, but had felt compelled to. His mate, still perched on his lap, shot beaming smiles between Spyder and Mundo—proof enough that she’d had a hand in this.
He sent her one by way of return, hoping she saw his relief and gratitude. When eyes like Jessie’s softened in reaction, he knew his message had been received.
The meeting broke up shortly after, and by that point, Spyder was chomping at the bit. Mundo gave him the nod, letting him off the leash, and he rushed off, ignoring the hoots and catcalls at his back.
He knew for a fact most of the bastards in that room were closer to his great granddaddy’s age than anything, but that didn’t stop them fro
m heckling him like they were jocks at a high school football game.
Unable to contain the snicker at the thought, he headed for the nearest staircase and went up to the next floor where he knew Jessie’s bedroom was.
Not that he was supposed to know, but hell, Annette had told him last week. Probably pre-empting this particular meeting.
The corridor was empty, but unlike the rest of the clubhouse, there was less reason for footfall to be here.
The corridor housed all the Council’s kids. As a result, it was probably the quietest part of the building.
Heading for Jessie’s door, he knocked once.
“Come in.”
She sounded despondent. Down.
Who could blame her?
That was how he was feeling. A bit lost. A bit confused. A lot alone.
He sucked it up because the last thing she needed was to see him down too, and opened the door.
She was on her side, staring out of the window from the bed. She didn’t bother turning around to look at him, but when he whispered her name, she reared into action.
“Spyder?” she asked rhetorically, looking at him with tears in her eyes.
He nodded, closed the door behind him—locked it, then headed for the bed. Her arms were open, and as he knelt on the side, she rushed him. He almost fell over, but she was so frigging slight, her weight was nothing.
“You haven’t been eating,” he chided the minute she was tucked in his arms, and he’d arranged them so they were laying down on the bed.
She froze in his embrace. “That wasn’t a criticism, more of a concern, Jessie,” he told her softly. As he did, he wondered how fucking weird it was to feel like he’d known her all his life, and yet, in essence, had known her barely any time at all.
It was weird, but then so was everything in this fucking MC.
“I’m not hungry,” she told him, burying her face into his throat.
“Tough,” he replied. “I need you strong, Jessie. Not underweight—that leads to one thing and one thing only, you getting sick. You think either of us need that? Once things are back on track, nothing is going to stop us from being together. You have to be strong for me, baby. I need you at my side.”
She stiffened in his arms at his first words, then relaxed into him. “You want me at your side... you promise?”
He nodded, and his chin brushed her forehead at the move. Her silky hair tickled his jaw and the scent of her filled his senses. Dear universe, she smelled perfect. Like fresh laundry, sex-filled nights, and the wind as it whipped against his face on a long drive down the coast.
The mixture would undoubtedly confuse anyone else, but it was one that was almost hardwired into his senses.
“Of course I mean it, baby. I’m Prez. You’ll be my First Lady.”
She sucked in a breath, then pulled away from his throat to peer at him. “I’ve never had any responsibility before, Spyder. I don’t know how to do anything like what Annette does.”
Spyder shrugged. “You’ll learn. We all have to start somewhere. I doubt, even as formidable as she is, Annette popped out of the womb ready and raring to rule a MC at her mate’s side. And let’s face it, this place is even more than just an MC. It’s twice as complicated thanks to all the crap boundaries and laws you have as a Clan.” He blew out a breath. “I wish you were at my side already, explaining all this shit to me.”
“I wish I was, too.”
They fell quiet at that, and just laid there tucked in each other’s arms.
After a while, she lifted her leg and pressed it onto his thighs. The move tilted her pelvis into him, and though she thought she was being sneaky, he’d written the play book a long time ago.
He moved his hand to the arch of her knee and tucked her tighter against him. “Behave,” he warned.
“I don’t want to,” she retorted, and he loved the pout in her voice.
“I have no idea when or if your dad is going to pop up. I have permission to be here.”
“Goddess save me,” she grumbled. “I can’t believe we have to be like this.”
He was kind of stunned too. What freaked him the hell out was he’d always been a rebel. Had always been a pain in his daddy’s ass. And yet, here he was. Complying with rules that made no sense to him, and all for a woman who got to him in ways he hadn’t known were weak spots.
“If you Claim me now, then they can’t do anything,” she said softly.
Oh my did he liked the sound of that. At the same time, he winced because he didn’t want to get on her father’s or the Council’s wrong side, not when they were doing what they were for Sammy, but at the same time, the part of him that knew she was his as he was hers was chafing at the separation between them.
“You want the truth?” she asked quietly, her hand coming up to press against his heart.
“Always. I only want the truth between us, Jessie.” It came out a bit harsher than he’d have liked, but his parents’ relationship had gone tits up thanks to his mother’s alley cat lies.
Last thing he wanted was to have a relationship like that with this woman.
“I don’t know.”
He blinked at that, wondering if he’d misheard because thoughts of his mom always had his mind trailing down a well-trod and unhappy path.
“Huh?”
“I don’t know how the Claiming works.” She bit her lip and peered up at him. “Not with a human, anyway.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I mean, I know what happens when the male’s a Shifter and the female’s a human, but the other way around?” She shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“Is there nobody to ask?”
She shook her head. “Females are rare in any Clan. I could ask my aunty but she isn’t mated so she wouldn’t know. Ava’s mated to a male Shifter so she wouldn’t know either.”
“What happened with the other couples you know?”
“The males bites the females during sex.”
“When you say bite,” he cleared his throat, “you mean like a love bite, right? A hickey?”
She snorted. “No, babe. We’re Shifters.”
Oh yeah did he know that. He’d seen Ava shift. Had seen those fucking teeth of hers. He gulped at the prospect.
“You don’t have to, like, shift to bite me, do you?”
She leaned up to look at him, then as she did, a soft smile creased her lips. “You frightened of me?”
“I can tell the prospect amuses you,” he said, not too ashamed of the pout in his voice. Jesus H Christ, anyone would have been terrified if they’d seen Ava in her killing rage.
And killing rage was the only way to describe it, as, duh, she’d killed some of his men.
“Let’s put it this way, I prefer this side of you to the other.”
She grinned and patted his chest. “The Sow hardly ever comes out to play. Only in the most dire of situations. And I mean dire. Like, perilous. Death being near, and all that shit. Which is why you know because Ava felt that’s what you were going to do with her... kill her.”
“If she’d have just done as I’d asked, then there wouldn’t have been a problem.”
She grunted. “Like she knew that. All she knew was an MC had appeared out of nowhere and a bunch of bikers were threatening her and her mate.” She jerked a shoulder. “Put me in the same situation, babe, and I can guaran-damn-tee that I’d shift too.”
He grimaced. “Don’t get me wrong, I feel badly for putting her in that position.”
“Well, it’s not your fault, is it? It’s that Cartel leader’s fault. What can you do?” she forgave him with an ease that stunned him. “It’s not like you wanted to get involved with any of this shit.”
“True,” he said on a quick laugh. “Still, are you going to have to go furry on my ass to claim me, do you think?”
Jessie frowned and leaned up again, resting on her elbow to tell him, “I think that’s the only way we’ll be able to Claim each other. I don’t see w
hy it won’t work to be fair.” She reached over with her free hand and began to trace his throat. “I wish I could Claim you now.”
Because it was more than anything he’d wanted before in his life, he whispered, “Do it.”
“What about my father?”
“He’s not going to stop this from happening. It will happen one day, whether he likes it or not, and I don’t think I can be apart from you any longer.”
Tears flooded her eyes at that before she shielded her tears from him and whispered, “I feel the exact same way.”
He smiled, then reared up, not stopping until his mouth was hovering dangerously close to hers. Her breath washed over his lips, and he shuddered when she lowered her head and joined their mouths together.
She astonished him by immediately going on the aggressive. Her tongue tangled with his, entwining them together until he wasn’t altogether sure where he started and she ended. She thrust into his mouth, claiming him with her need, and as she did, she climbed atop him, straddling his hips until his hardness was pressed against her luxurious softness.
With a moan, she pulled her mouth from his and sat up. Before he could do more than complain, she began to ride the thick length shielded behind his jeans, and grabbing the hem of her shirt, she tugged it overhead.
His tongue just about cleaved to the roof of his mouth at the sight of her. Jesus, she was beautiful. Hell, she was more than just beautiful. She was an angel. With her coloring, and those gorgeous blue eyes of hers, she looked like she’d been sent from heaven to be his own personal savior.
Maybe she was.
Her breasts weren’t covered by a bra and his hands soared upward to cup the perky mounds. They fit into his palms perfectly, and he squeezed them, loving the tender rasp of her nipple against his palm.
Shivering, she held his hands to her breasts as she continued rocking her hips, pressing her sheath against his shaft.
The friction, the pressure, they were both intense. Enough to make him want to close his eyes, and he would have done if the sight of her wasn’t too pretty to ignore.
She began to pant, and he knew the situation was getting to her. A flush had overcome her chest, turning the pale golden skin a light wash of pink. Her cheeks were glowing too and her eyes were bright beads as she stared down at him.
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