“Any family?” the woman asked.
“His name’s Mick Carpenter. One of my friends knows him. He’s got a mother and a sister an hour outside of town,” I said.
“I’ll track them down. Thanks,” she said.
And then, I went back to my shift. The only thing I could do after the most insane first hour of work in my entire life.
Chapter 29
Rock
We all sat in the lodge, our eyes hooked at the wall as blood covered our bodies. Holy fuck, Mick was a terrible shot. I raked my hand through my hair and sighed, filling the lodge with the first sound any of us had made since leaving Mick in the fucking woods to bleed out.
And my mind kept replaying it over and over again.
Two gunshots rang out and my heart stopped in my chest. I felt the air of the bullet whiz by my arm as Diesel let out a raucous laughter. Holy fuck, Mick couldn’t shoot a damn target six feet in front of him. Then again, he couldn't fucking do it at Brewer’s place either. Mick ran behind a tree and continued popping off shots, one after another as we all ran for cover. With the sounds of the bullets, I knew we wouldn’t have much time before someone called the cops.
“Give it up, Mick!” I exclaimed from behind a tree. “You're caught! You’re done!”
“I’m not done with anything!” Mick yelled. “You fuckers think you’re so special. That Redding somehow worships the fucking ground you guys walk on. But they hate you around here!”
“Not as much as they hate The Black Saddles!” Knox called out.
Another gunshot tore through the air before Knox popped off a couple of rounds.
“You all had every bit of what you got coming to you,” Mick said. “A motorcycle gang? Cleaning up their act? You didn’t think that every fucking club within four states of this damn place wouldn't descend in and try to rid you of your turf the second the caught wind of it!? I just monetized it, because that’s what I fucking did for you guys. I made you profitable beyond your wildest damn dreams. And what do I get!?”
Another gunshot fired before Brewer moved trees and took aim at Mick. He shot off a round before ducking for cover, barely missing one of the few bullets Mick aimed well.
“Good job!” Diesel exclaimed. “Looks like you’re finally learning, asshole.”
“I made you all rich. Filthy fucking rich,” Mick said. “And then you want to go and clean up your act? Throw away all my hard fucking work I did for this damn club? Cut our profits in half just so you can fuck around with women and shove out babies you won’t give a damn about? Like Rock!?”
My eyes widened as ice hardened my veins.
Did that fucker just say what I think he did?
“Oh, yeah. That’s right. You didn’t think I knew, did you, Rock? About your precious little piece of ass and that kid of yours clamoring for your love after being absent in his life? After being a fucking nobody!?”
I stepped out from behind the tree and leveled my gun at the man’s head.
“Say it one more time,” I said.
“You didn’t think I’d tell every single one of those Saddle fucks about your fun little family on the other side of town? Hmm? Your dual fucking life, Rock!? You got on all these guys for dragging families into this shit, but you were the first fucking one to do it. And you didn’t even know it!”
I cocked my gun and took another step as Mick leveled his piece at my chest.
“I’ve been working with them for some time now,” Mick said. “But the families component garnered me more respect than I would’ve ever gotten with you assholes. The Black Saddles offered me bigger things. Better things. Pieces of Redding to do what I wanted with and money that would make me comfortable for the rest of my life. All we needed was for you family fuckers to flee into the hills with your defunct dicks and your bastard children to--”
My eyes flew open as the two gunshots echoed off the chambers of my mind.
“You okay, Rock?” Brewer asked.
I blinked my eyes and came to, with nothing but Mick’s dead body filling the crevices of my mind.
“Yep. I’m good,” I said.
“Killing’ a brother isn’t easy,” Knox said.
“He threatened our families,” I said as I panned my gaze over to him. “I didn’t kill a brother. I killed a threat to our loved ones.”
“Damn straight you did,” Diesel said.
I walked up to Mick’s body as sirens sounded way off in the distance. Knox ran around, picking up fucking bullet casings while Brewer knocked dust and dirt over our footprints. I hovered over Mick’s bleeding form, gazing down at him as he sputtered blood from his lips and reached out for my ankle.
I watched slowly as life flickered in and out of his gaze.
“Anyone got a pen and a piece of paper?” I asked.
“What?” Brewer asked.
“A pen and a piece of paper,” I said.
“You gonna fuckin’ write him a love note?” Knox asked.
“Answer the damn question,” I said.
I felt someone tap me on the shoulder and I turned my head. Diesel stood there, his eyes glazed over and stoic. He handed me a crumpled piece of paper and a sharpie, so I took to writing a note. I wrote down Mick’s name and family before folding it up and putting it into the man’s back pocket, then I held my hand out for another piece of paper.
“I got one,” Grave said.
He held it out for me and I took it, scribbling the note I wanted the paramedics to see.
Redding General, Dr. Piper Jackson
“You think she got the note?” Grave asked.
I closed my eyes and rocked in the leather rocking chair as I drew in a deep breath.
“I do,” I said. “I think she got it.”
“What did you write on the note stuck in his back pocket?” Brewer asked.
I peeked one eye open before closing it again.
“His name and where his family lived,” I said. “They need to come claim his body before I torch it.”
“That’s not why you did it,” Diesel said.
“Can you turn off that fucking detector mind of your just once?” I asked.
“I can keep my mouth shut, if that’s what you’re asking,” Diesel said.
“Good. Because I’d really like some silence right now,” I said.
Piper was at work and Gavin was at school, which gave me a few hours to gather my head. To figure out what the fuck happened next. I still didn’t feel right about going after Rex. One death on our hands and thrust into the hands of a medical examiner was enough. Anything else could risk exposing the death of Mick and how it actually happened. I rocked in the chair as the guys settled out in the lodge, losing themselves in their own memories. I heard Knox talking in the corner, probably to Monroe or something. Grave was in the corner messaging who I assumed was Everly. Brewer picked up his phone and called who I guessed was Makenna, judging by the look on his face.
So, I closed my eyes and dreamt of Piper and Gavin while Diesel made his rounds and made sure we didn’t need anything. Back from the psychological torture and thrust back into the diplomatic way of doing things. Doting on us. Asking us questions. Probing us and making sure were all right before everyone left, one by one, to go be with their families.
Diesel needed to get himself a fucking girlfriend to take care of.
Chapter 30
Piper
I paced up and down the hallway, raking my hand through my hair. Gavin had been put down for bed hours ago and I had just cleaned up from my shift at work. And yet again, Rock had dropped off the face of the fucking planet. I was tired of this game. Tired of all the secrecy and the ignored phone calls. I couldn't do this life. I couldn't do this with him. Which meant I had to be strong when Rock did come calling. Or knocking. Or busting through my damn wall. Tears rushed my eyes as I thought back to my work shift. The man on the hospital bed. The note Rock left me.
Had Rock killed that man?
If he did, was it in self-defense?
Was he defending someone else’s life? What happened to my Rock? Everything inside me kicked up. My entire body seemed like it was rebelling. I knew I needed to cast Rock aside. I knew I needed to keep danger like that away from my son.
But every time I thought about how I would approach the topic, it made me sick to my stomach.
A knock came at my door and I stopped. My eyes leveled with the door and I held my breath. Had it been my imagination? Was I so eager to see Rock that I had imagined it? I slowly padded down the hallway, my hand reaching for the doorknob. It trembled with nervousness. What if danger was on the other side? What if it was a rival crew? What if it was someone coming to avenge that man’s death?
I paused my movements.
Until another knock sounded at the door.
I turned the doorknob and opened my front door only to be met face-to-face with a looming shadow. My eyes raked up the form, and the only thing I saw in the darkness of the Redding nighttime were those steely gray eyes. My heart stopped in my chest as Rock took a step towards me, coming into the dim illumination of my home. His eyes looked pained. His hair, disheveled.
His body, tense.
I took his hand and guided him into my foyer. I shut my door and locked it, then rose my hand to cup his cheek. I stroked my thumb along his skin, feeling his heat warming my fingertips. His hand came up and cupped the back of mine, dwarfing my hand and shocking my stopped heart back to life.
“Rock,” I said with a whisper.
“It’s done,” he said.
“What have you done?” I asked.
“We’re safe,” he said. “We’re almost safe, Piper.”
Tears rushed my eyes and the small power of will I had stored inside of me snapped. My hand slid around to the back of his neck and cupped it, drawing his lips to mine. I pressed my body into his. Felt the heat of his muscles blanket my body while his hands fell to my hips. I knew the second he curled his fingertips into me that I was done. I was his, no matter what. Our tongues collided as my hands raked through his hair, pulling him closer to me as I stood on my tiptoes.
Then, his hands fisted my ass.
In an instant, I was off my feet. Rock groaned into my lips as he walked me up the stairs, taking me straight to my bedroom. I reached out and closed my door behind him, my lips swelling against his as our tongues did battle. His cock raged. His hands fisted my excess. And every part of me gave itself over to him.
To the man I’d never stopped loving.
He tore at my clothes, popping stitches and ripping lacy panties from my body. Clasps of my bra went flying across the room as I willingly bared my body to him. I slid his cut off his shoulders. Ripped his shirt over his head. I slid his pants down and fell to my knees, feeling his massive cock bounce against the tip of my nose. I nuzzled it. I licked my tongue from its base to the tip of his head. I wrapped my lips around his pulsing girth and took him all the way back until my throat closed around him and stopped my movements.
“Shit, Piper. Fuck.”
His hand twisted into the tendrils of my hair, guiding my lips along his dick. My hands wrapped around him, attaching to his chiseled ass cheeks. I dug my fingernails into him, rolling his hips deeper. I moaned around his cock as his precum dripped down my throat. He fucked my face, thrusting his hips into my cheeks while I held tightly onto him. I never got over the way his cock felt at the back of my throat. I never got over how much I wanted to feel him against my cheeks. He throbbed against my teeth, growing hotter by the second. His growls filled my room as spit dripped down my chin, running down my neck and finding its death upon my collarbone.
“Piper. Yes. Let me come down that throat. Oh, fuck.”
“Come for me,” I said around his cock. “Let me taste you.”
His legs flexed and his body shook as his hand dug into my scalp. I closed my eyes and took him all the way back, ignoring the watering of my eyes. I held onto him. Clung to him with my nails as his cock jumped against my throat. Pump after pump coated my warmth, sliding down into my stomach as I swallowed him whole.
I closed my eyes and took it all in, feeling this powerful man cave to the very warmth of my body.
“I love you, Piper. Holy shit, I love you.”
My eyes widened and they whipped up to him. He stood there, with sweat dripping down his chest, while his eyes looked down into mine. His shoulders collapsed as his cock finished its assault on my throat, filling me to the brim with him before he removed my lips. I gasped for air as he pulled me to my feet, his arm wrapping around my waist and drawing me nearer to his body.
“What did you say?” I asked with a whisper.
“I love you, Piper,” Rock said. “I always have.”
A tear trickled down my cheek as his lips captured mine.
“You asked me if Gavin was conceived out of love,” he said as he backed me to the bed.
I couldn't speak. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t process the moment that had just transpired.
“Well,” Rock said as he lowered my back to the bed, “I want you to know he was.”
I peered up from the bed as more tears rushed my skin.
“I want you to know that our son was conceived out of nothing but pure, fantastic, unadulterated love, Piper.”
His thumbs parted my pussy folds as his gaze held mine.
“There isn’t an inch of you I don’t adore. And there isn’t a second that goes by where I don’t think about you.”
He dipped his lips to my dripping folds and lapped up my slit.
“Oh shit,” I said with a whisper.
“And there isn’t anything I wouldn't do to make sure my family’s safe.”
My eyes locked onto his with that statement and it answered every single question I’d had since the beginning of my shift at the hospital. My Rock. My beautiful, hulking molten rock of a man, had killed to keep his family safe. My legs trembled as I sat up, watching his brow furrow in confusion. I reached down and fisted his hair, then wrenched him up my body as a grin crossed his lips.
I crashed our lips together and rolled us over, straddling his still-pulsing cock with my warm body.
“I love you,” I said breathlessly.
I rolled my pussy lips along his cock until my folds had encased him completely.
“I never stopped,” I said.
I rose up just enough to capture the tip of his dick before I sank down. My toes curled and my head fell back while his cock stretched every part of me. His hands sank to my hips and rolled my body the way he wanted. The way he always wanted. My hands pressed into his chest to steady myself while my tits hung in his face.
“Oh, hell yes,” Rock said into my skin.
He kissed and nipped at my breasts, wrapping his lips around my nipples. He sucked them hard, causing groans to fall from my lips. I loved it when he was rough. When his teeth raked against my skin and his fingernails curled into my excess. I bounced on his hips. Swiveled my pussy around on his cock. I dug into him as he rose to meet me, thrust for thrust. Our pants filled my bedroom as sweat appeared on my brow, and in an instant, I was on my back.
And my leg was tossed over Rock’s shoulder
“Oh shit,” I said with a whimper. “Oh fuck. Yes.”
“I love it when you open to me, Piper,” he said. “Take my cock.”
He slid his girth into me and my eyes bulged. Every single time, he raked against that beautiful spot. My back arched and my toes curled, shaking as electricity bombarded my body. Fire raged along my skin as Rock’s sweat dripped onto my glistening body. He captured my lips, over and over again. Until there was nothing on the tip of my tongue but his own. I curled my hands around his forearms. I felt every muscle of his body twitching to bring me pleasure. His cock grew against my walls as they rippled around him, urging him to take me anyway he wanted.
“Rock. I can’t… it’s…”
“You can, and you will,” he said. “Come around my cock, Piper. Let me feel the woman I love.”
His words were h
ot, and they seared me to my core. My back arched as his face fell to my tits, burying himself into me as my pussy exploded. My legs locked and my arms shook. My abs contracted and fire spread throughout the marrow of my bones. My eyes rolled so far into the back of my head I saw stars and gave myself a headache.
I couldn't breathe. The pleasure was too much.
“I-... love-...”
Rock pulled out and flipped me over, my body spent as he held my hips into the air. He slammed into my pussy, taking me at a furious pace as the bed rocked against the wall. I wrapped my hands into the sheets and pressed my face into a pillow. I moaned and I cried out. I dripped down his cock and soaked his balls with my juices. They slapped against my clit, spiraling me out of control as stars continued to burst in my vision.
“Rock! Yes! Don’t fucking stop!”
“You’re mine, sweet girl. All mine, forever. And I’ll never let you forget it.”
And I didn’t want to forget it.
Ever.
I didn’t want to go another second without him in my life. I didn’t want to go another second without him in Gavin’s life. I wanted to be a family. Come hell or high water, I wanted to be a part of his world. If he was willing to go to the lengths he had that night to protect my son and I, then I was willing to do whatever I had to do in order to make things work.
In order to make my family work.
“Rock! Yes! Don’t stop!”
The pillow muffled my cries of ecstasy, but I knew Rock loved it. His cock pulsed quickly against my walls as his balls smacked my clit repeatedly. My legs caved and his hands held me up, pulling me down onto his cock and fucking himself with my body. I droned into the pillow. Mindless sounds I no longer controlled. I jolted and quaked as he drove me up that mountain, pushing me further and further into the pleasurable darkness that was Rock.
That was the man I loved.
“I love you. I love you. I love you. Oh, shit. Rock!”
Rock (Dead Souls MC Book 4) Page 17