Conquering (Vipers Creed MC#2)

by Ryan Michele

  “Yeah?”

  “All good, baby.” He leaned into my ear. “The only girl on my cock tonight is you.”

  My blood warmed—not from anger, but from lust. Hell yes, I would be.

  “Damn, man, don’t remember Gabby being so feisty,” Stiff stated, taking a pull from his beer, laughter in his voice.

  Xander squeezed my hand. “Some things have changed a bit.”

  Damn right. I wasn’t the awkward teen with two dead parents anymore. Well, I still had the dead parents, but after having Xander gone and needing to rely on myself to get things done, I’d grown up. I just hoped I hadn’t grown into a person Xander no longer wanted.

  I had to admit it was a huge fear of mine. He’d been gone a long damn time. What if we didn’t fit anymore? Sex, of course, was off the charts. He took me twice more during the night. It had always been explosive, but in life, I just hoped we would be able to make everything work. I loved him and would do anything to make it so.

  “Sounds like Gabby and my Trixie will get along just fine.” Spook, a very handsome man with dark hair and killer looks, sat next to Trixie. “My girl here has a fire. Gotta love the women with it.”

  Xander released my hand and draped his arm around my back, pulling me into his strong body. Just this simple little touch that many took for granted every day filled my heart with so much joy. I would never get tired of this. Ever.

  I leaned my head into him.

  “Let’s not let them get too close. They’re liable to start an uproar,” Stiff said as Xander squeezed me.

  Looking over at Trix, I saw a wide grin spread across her face. Involuntarily, I did the same.

  “So, little brother, whatcha gonna do now that you’re out?” Stiff asked, and I felt Xander stiffen.

  We hadn’t talked about this—the what to do after your back stuff. We were in such a frenzy with him shot, recovery, rehab, and him coming home that we hadn’t discussed it. Now it loomed over us.

  In a few days, I would go back to work, but what would Xander do? He wasn’t the type of man to sit around and do nothing. He’d always been an action man. Throughout school, he’d always had a job, always busy. I had no doubt he would do something, but what, I had no idea.

  “No clue, brother. Right now, I’m gonna spend time with my woman. That’s all that matters.” He kissed the top of my hair, and warmth flowed through me.

  Damn, I loved this man.

  “RIGHT THERE,” I GASPED out as Xander worked my overstimulated pussy with his lips, tongue, and fingers.

  He’d kept me on edge for what felt like hours, but maybe only thirty minutes. Xander’s stamina had come back in full force. With that, he’d decided to torture me every single time he got his hands on me over the last four days. And I loved every damn minute of it … except right now, when my body was ready to explode and he wouldn’t give me what I needed.

  I arched my back and wiggled my hips, trying to get his tongue just a little higher. A beefy arm came across my hips, and I felt Xander shake with laughter, which I didn’t find the least bit funny at the moment.

  “Dammit,” I growled, lifting my head to look down at him.

  He lifted his eyes to mine, the side of his lip tipped as he continued his assault on me.

  I lowered my hips to the soft bed, but the ache inside me grew.

  Suddenly, suction came to my clit as Xander rubbed his fingers on that magic spot inside my core. I closed my eyes as lights spasmodically sparked behind my lids, my body arched, and everything around me was silenced as the orgasm overtook me.

  Coming down, I wasn’t prepared for Xander to pick me up and fling me like I weighed nothing on top of him so I straddled his legs. He held my torso until I became steady.

  “Ride me, baby,” he ordered as I bit my lip.

  Damn, he looked so damn sexy lying on the bed, his eyes only for me, wanting me, craving me. I loved this man with everything I had inside of me.

  I did as I was told, placing him inside me and falling down to his hips. He filled me, stretching me deliciously.

  I had a vibrator I used while he was gone, but it was nothing like this. Nothing would ever be like this.

  While I moved up and down, using my knees, he held my hips, digging into my flesh.

  “Harder,” he called out.

  I let everything loose, rocking up and down as fast as I could, getting the friction we needed.

  “I’m gonna come,” I whispered as he joined his hips in the movements, sending me flying over the edge. Xander pumped four more times, seating himself inside me so damn far and then releasing into my body.

  I fell onto him, my head on his chest, the rise and fall of his breaths mimicking mine. This was what I’d missed: this connection, this time. Yes, the sex was unbelievable; it always had been. But this right here, his arms wrapped around my body, him still inside of me after screwing my brains out … This was what I loved about my man.

  GABBY WENT TO WORK today. I was so damn proud of her for going to school and getting her degree as a nurse. She worked at a local office and told me repeatedly that she loved it. I didn’t know how in the hell she survived me being gone, her by herself, but she had.

  Her parents died when she was in her teens, and she moved in with her grandmother. Her parents left her the money to go to school. She wanted to use the money for us to start our lives, but it was something I put my foot down on. She had always dreamed of becoming a nurse, and she had the means to do it. She was so damn smart and needed to use it. So, after several fights, I won. She went to school; I went off to the Marines.

  Now, as I sat here on the couch, flipping through the television, I had to figure out what in the hell I was going to do with my life. I’d spent the last four years killing bad people, avoiding bombs, and protecting my team. Everything had changed now, and I wasn’t sure what I should do.

  I had several options. I’d always been good with my hands. I could fix pretty much anything, and with my experience in the field, I was able to work on engines, as well. I could go to school when the semester started again, whenever the hell that was, but I had no idea what I wanted to do. Therefore, I sat and watched mindless television, none of which I remembered.

  On show four, I felt so damn antsy I had to get up. I looked out the window, seeing the green yard. I hadn’t mowed in so damn long, so I went out to the garage and took my time in the yard, mowing, weeding, and watering some of Gabby’s plants. Well, I guessed they were my plants now, too.

  Gabby had done a good job when picking this place out. The apartment we were in before was small, while this place had a huge yard and even felt like a home. She did the girly shit inside, but it wasn’t over the top; it was understated and relaxing.

  Too bad I wasn’t meant for relaxing.

  I’d only been out a week, but it seemed like longer. I had been riding the high of coming home, feeling the euphoria of having Gabby in my arms and seeing my brother. Today, everything crashed.

  With Gabby gone and me alone, memories were hitting me from all angles. It was so fucking strange how life could go on while I’d been gone. I didn’t want to resent it, but in a way, I felt it like a punch to the gut. While I fought and tried not to get killed, everything here went on like I was vapor. I fucking hated that.

  I knew Gabby would choose a safe neighborhood, yet I couldn’t help looking around every few seconds while outside, only turning my back during short periods when I had to. Earlier, when a car drove by and backfired, the sound had put me at attention and made me duck behind the house for cover. Simple things civilians wouldn’t see as issues, I couldn’t help seeing as the opposite.

  After realizing it was a car instead of a bomb or sniper, it took me a bit to cool my shit. I did, but I still didn’t like that feeling whatsoever.

  I hadn’t felt “safe” in years, always on guard, never sleeping with both eyes shut. Hell, this past week I’d slept better than I had in four years.

  Not having Gabby with me, I felt m
ore on edge.

  When Gabby pulled into the driveway, I felt relieved, almost like I could breathe again. She was here, and I could protect her.

  “How was your day?” she asked with a huge smile on her face as she wrapped her arms around me tight, giving me a kiss. It wasn’t enough, so I dove deeper. Damn, I loved kissing her. All the uncertainty I felt earlier washed away, and physically, I could feel myself relax.

  I pulled away slowly, giving her another nip before answering, “Worked outside.”

  She smiled wider. “I saw that. Thanks. It’s nice having someone to help out.”

  I knew in my gut she was teasing, but it hit me hard. I hadn’t been here for her for so damn long. She’d had to do everything on her own. I wanted to take all the burdens from her that she’d felt and make everything right.

  “I’ll do more of it.”

  “Hey.” She knit her brows as she focused on my eyes. “You have nothing to worry about. You were doing your job, just like I was here. Now we do it together.”

  I said nothing because what could I say? Instead, I kissed her, needing that comfort. She reciprocated, and I reveled in it.

  “Let me change, and then I’ll make some supper,” she said, pulling away.

  My cock had other ideas. After being buried inside of Gabby for a week, he was needing some attention.

  “Nope.”

  She gasped as I turned her around, pressing her stomach to the back of the couch.

  “Need to fuck you.”

  “I …” she started, but I didn’t let her finish.

  I pulled her scrubs down to her knees along with her underwear, undid my jeans, and found her heat. I groaned as she did. She couldn’t spread her legs very far, which only added to the tightness around my dick.

  Hard and fast, I took her with abandon. The couch moved with each thrust as I dug my fingertips into her hips over and over and over.

  She screamed out her release, and I followed suit, only groaning, instead.

  After coming down, I pulled out and pulled up her clothes, adjusting them, and then did mine. She rose, and I kissed her shoulder.

  “I needed that, baby.”

  She turned in my arms. “Me, too. Missed you today.”

  “You, too.” I kissed her again. “Now feed me.”

  She laughed, one of the most beautiful sounds I’d heard. I should tape that shit. Then I remembered I didn’t have to go back, so I could hear it whenever I wanted. Nice.

  Gabby cooked homemade chicken and noodles. Damn, this past week, she’d spoiled the shit out of me, cooking all my favorites, saying “It sucked just cooking for one.” She’d always had a knack for cooking and was damn good at it.

  The doorbell rang, and I bolted from the seat, the chair falling to the ground in a clatter. My heart raced as I turned toward the door. Everything inside me went on full alert. The sounds of the house came front and center: the sink faucet dripping, the air conditioning kicking on, the small taps outside the door like whomever was there was impatient.

  Gabby rose, and my head swung to her. “Stay.”

  Her eyes widened at my cold tone, but I didn’t have time to deal with it. I needed to figure out whom the threat was and not let them hurt my woman.

  I moved swiftly to the door, looking through the peephole. My mother stood on the other side.

  My alertness mixed with anger. I’d been home a fucking week with no phone call, nothing, and now she finally got off the dick she’d been on and came to see her son she hadn’t seen in years. Not to mention, she showed up unexpectedly. Fuck this.

  I swung the door open.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” I barked, and my mother’s eyes widened.

  MY HEART STOPPED at the abrupt tone in Xander’s words. Sure, his mother hadn’t been around much since I’d known him, but he’d never had this anger toward her. He’d let whatever was going on inside of him roll off his back when dealing with her. This man, though, wasn’t going to let anything roll.

  Cheryl tensed, her eyes shooting toward me, asking “What the hell?”

  I had no answer for her, so I shrugged.

  “Xander, I came to see you.” Her voice came out shaky.

  “I’ve been home for a fucking week, Mother. Now you come by, unannounced, and what? You want me to put on a happy face because you took the time to pry yourself off whatever poor schmuck you’re in bed with to come to see your kid? No.” Xander placed his arm on the doorframe, blocking the path inside.

  I moved, coming up behind him.

  “I told you to stay over there,” he barked, this time directed at me.

  My stomach fell to my knees. Why on earth was he talking to me like that? What had I done?

  I took a step back, unable to formulate words.

  Xander didn’t care for the silence and turned back toward his mother.

  “Last time I’ll ask, why the fuck are you here?”

  “I …” Cheryl started then stopped and pulled in a breath. “I wanted to see how you were, make sure you were okay.”

  “I’m alive; that’s all you need to know.”

  Cheryl crossed her arms over her body. “Xander, what’s gotten into you?”

  I wanted to yell at her to shut up. Didn’t she see that her boy was close to snapping? That, for some reason, she was triggering something inside of him just from being here? Couldn’t she see this was a really, really bad idea?

  “Into me?” he growled back, and the hair on the back of my neck rose from the determination and intent in his voice. “How many times did you write me while I was gone?” He didn’t wait for her to answer, just continued, “Call? Answer the fucking phone when I called?” He shook his head.

  “I—”

  “No, I took the fucking time to call you from halfway around the damn world, and you didn’t have the time to answer. I wrote you fucking letters that never got responded to.”

  I didn’t know any of this, but as he laid it all out, my stomach churned for my man.

  “Fuck, emails, Mother! Not one damn response. So, no! I don’t give a fuck that you’re here. I don’t give a fuck that you want to see me. I don’t give a fuck that you took time out of your life to drag your sorry ass here. I don’t give a flying fuck anymore.”

  The last part was so loud I was sure the neighbors heard, but I felt powerless to stop it. Instead, I stood there, watching the train wreck.

  “You do not talk to me like that, Xander Collins. I’m your mother!” Cheryl screamed in outrage, not wanting to be outdone by her son.

  “My mother? A mother gives a shit about her kids. You don’t. Leave,” he growled menacingly.

  “You don’t want to see me?” She looked almost hurt, but her words were more of shock.

  “No. You don’t need to come back, either.” Xander didn’t wait for his mother to respond before he slammed the door closed and prowled down the hall, waves of anger penetrating the air as he moved.

  When the door down the hallway slammed shut, shaking the pictures on the wall, I jumped.

  I felt the tears well up, but I pushed them down. I wouldn’t cry. He was home, something I’d wanted for so damn long. Him angry, I could handle. I would handle it.

  Coming unstuck from my spot, I moved to the kitchen and began cleaning. My mind raced, but keeping my hands busy helped.

  I HEARD HIM before I saw him. I sat on the couch, watching some mindless reality show, not catching a damn word anyone said. He’d been in the bathroom for a long time. The shower water had clicked on, and I’d heard nothing from him. Even when it clicked off, he hadn’t come out. Something inside me told me to let it be. Whatever happened to be going on in his head, he needed to work out. I couldn’t be there to fix it, even if I so desperately wanted to.

  Instead, I sat on the couch, waiting. Wondering. Worrying. Thinking. Hoping.

  He sat next to me, and I dug deep inside of me, kind of afraid of what I’d see next to me. When I turned to him, he was staring at the televisio
n. He must have felt my movements because he turned to me.

  His eyes held a sadness I wasn’t accustomed to seeing in him. It physically pained me to see him hurt, like a punch to the gut. He’d already endured so much in this life; he didn’t need more. I also couldn’t say it didn’t scare me. The anger—hell, full outrage he felt toward his mother and how he’d let it rip.

  He reached for my hand and kissed the top of it. “Sorry, babe.” He shook his head like he was trying to clear something from his brain. “I can’t be around her. She pisses me off to a point that I blow.”

  I bit my lip. I wanted to say, “You weren’t like that before,” but refrained. Instead, I just listened.

  “She hasn’t been there for Stiff and me since we were born. Now she doesn’t exist to me.”

  I shivered, unable to hide it.

  He squeezed my hand. “I bet you anything she needed money or a place to stay. There’s no way she came here out of the goodness of her heart. She doesn’t have that.”

  I couldn’t disagree with the statement. I’d seen it first hand when we’d started dating in high school and then every other time I’d seen her after that. She never had the interests of her kids before hers.

  “But I’m not sure why I blew up the way I did.” He pulled away from me and laid his head on the back of the couch, moving his hand to the top of his head. “I just don’t know why,” he said again.

  I had no answers for him but said, “We’ll figure it out.”

  He turned back to me. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. I do know where that came from.” He sat up then pulled me into his body so I sat on his lap, my head resting on his shoulder. “I had a whole team I was in charge of. I was their life or death. I protected them with everything I had.”

  I suddenly felt queasy because I knew he’d taken bullets for those men, almost leaving me.

  “Now I’m not in that world anymore, and it’s going to take me some time to get my head around that.”

  “Do you think you need to talk to someone?” I suggested hesitantly.