by Debra Kayn
He dipped his head. She captured his swollen lips, trying to be gently but he wasn't having any of that. He kissed her hard, thrusting his tongue into her mouth. She groaned deeply as he slid his cock inside of her.
He swallowed her moan. She hooked her legs around him, poking the back of his calves with the heels of her shoes. He arched, breaking the kiss, and ground against her with a pleased hiss.
His hot, wild gaze, possessive and territorial, pinned her to the bed more than his weight on top of her. Her pussy spasmed, full and sensitive to every pulse, movement, and pressure.
"It's been forever." She panted, running her hands along his back. "I missed this. Missed you. Missed us."
He thrust harder, faster. She held on to his body, lifting, meeting his every stroke. Her insides coiled, tighter and tighter.
"Jesus," he muttered, plunging fitfully out of control.
Each time he ground against her clit, she gasped. She needed...Oh, God.
"Yeah, Ash." He grunted.
Holding on to his leather vest, she bowed underneath him and came hard. Her body pulsing, squeezing him.
He plunged and groaned his release. She trembled with more pleasure, absorbing his shudders and the security he gave her.
Olin came down on his elbows and hung his head, nestling his face in the crook of her neck. She stroked his hair behind his shoulders, gathering her breath. Unable to believe that they'd succeeded at coming back together, she hugged him tight.
"Love you, Ash," he whispered in her ear. "Let's get our boy and go home."
That was the most beautiful thing she'd heard in a long, long time.
Chapter Forty Five
Ashley plunged down on Olin. He held her hips, gazing up at her breasts, as he shot his load in her. He stuttered on an exhale, thoroughly fucked.
She laughed softly, satisfied.
"Wearing me out, Ash." He caressed her thighs. "I might have to rest a few after that one."
She moved off him, rolling over onto her back, and put her feet on the mattress, knees up. "We need to stop anyway. Trik will be up soon, and he's going to find me in your bed if I don't get dressed and ready for the day."
He rolled to his side and propped his head on his hand. They'd made love again after coming home from the clubhouse and putting their son to bed. And, twice more through the night.
"Don't get up yet," he said.
She stroked his beard. "What are you thinking?"
"There's something I need to know." He tried to swallow down what'd bothered him during her incarceration and couldn't stomach not knowing any longer.
"How'd you survive after you handed Trik to me to take home?" he said, barely above a whisper.
She looked down at her hand on his chest. "It's over with now. I'm home."
"Ash." He waited until she met his eyes. "Give that to me. I need to know."
Her throat muscles convulsed and she stared up at the ceiling. "I couldn't have him in there. Some of the women were okay raising their baby in prison, but I would never want any child, especially mine, in such a violent, ugly place."
"That's not what I'm asking about," he reminded her.
"You want to know how I survived, but I didn't." She moistened her lips. "I ended up falling apart, and they put me in Ad Seg on suicide watch."
He moved to sit up at the news, and she stopped him.
"They put me on medicine. I'm sure it was an antidepressant. It...dulled things for me but I was dealing with all my hormone levels changing after giving birth, my breasts full of milk, and grieving over giving my son—"
"To me." He gritted his teeth. "Damn, Ash..."
She turned her head. "It had to be done. There was no other option. I wasn't getting out of prison because I suddenly became a mom, and our son needed to be with you. Between breaking down and the pain of giving my son away, I couldn't see you. I couldn't face what I'd done. Somewhere in my heart, I knew I'd done the right thing, but it physically hurt me. I thought I was going to die. It hurt me beyond anything I could handle."
His chest pounded. "I wish—"
"You can't wish when you're trying to survive." She sighed. "So, when you ask how I survived, I didn't. I lost myself. I lost you. I lost my life here. I lost our son. But, you gave him back to me when you invited me into his life, and for that, I can never thank you enough. You've done a wonderful job raising him, Olin. But, that was something I always knew you could do. Because of you, I knew that all the pain and sadness, you would love our son enough for both of us and he wouldn't miss me."
He gazed at her in wonder. She was confident and okay with the decisions she'd made. He was still unsettled. Things, basic things, weren't easy for him, and he'd let his frustration with the situation turn to anger. And, that anger had been directed at her. He'd failed Ashley.
"Was his birth easy?" He held the side of her face, strumming his thumb against her cheek.
She closed her eyes an extra beat. "He came fast. It seemed like I barely started having contractions, and I was pushing him out at the hospital."
"I wanted to be there," he confessed.
"I'm glad that you weren't," she whispered. "I went through it all with handcuffs holding me to the bed." She swallowed. "Here I was being handed my baby, and I had to be careful of the metal attached to my wrists. I knew then without a doubt that I loved our son too much to have him adapt to the situation for my sake when he could be home with you."
The muscles in his neck tightened. "They made you—"
"I was a prisoner. Having a baby never stopped them from treating me like an inmate."
He kissed her softly and whispered, "I guess we both owe each other the rest of our lives because you gave me our legacy, Ash. A part of us. I'm damn sorry that I couldn't do more to take care of you. That is something I'll regret until I die."
"Don't say that," she mouthed.
"I made a mistake, and it cost me you." He placed his forehead on hers. "It damn near lost my family."
"There was nothing you could've done." She sniffed. "It's in the past."
He lifted his head to see her better. "I could've told you what I suspected about Elissa and Willa a day earlier. Hell, a week earlier, and taken care of the problem before the Feds had time to do their raid."
She rolled to her side and kissed him. "Let's focus on the future. I need to go shower before our son finds me naked in bed."
"He'll get used to seeing you in my bed soon enough because that's the only place you're going to be every night. We have a lot of time to make up." He pushed out of bed. "I'll start the shower."
"Olin?"
He turned around. "Yeah?"
"I love you so much."
His gaze softened. "Love you, too, Ash. I always have."
She blinked slowly. "I think I knew that, especially at my lowest. My fear of losing you..."
"Let it go," he said.
"No, I have to tell you." She hesitated. "I should've moved in with you years ago. It was my own insecurities and fears that stopped us from having our family ten years ago. If I would've been braver, none of this would've hap—"
"We wouldn't have had Trik." He gazed into her eyes. "He's ours. He was meant to be. Maybe it's time to stop wondering why this shit happens to us and just look at Trik and know that we both made it, huh?"
She nodded, inhaling deeply. "You want another baby?"
"Yeah. I want to be there. I want you to be there. I want to do this right."
"You know, it wasn't easy for me to get pregnant with Trik. I'm even older now. It might not be possible to have another baby at forty-two years old." She blew out her cheeks and let the air out of her lips.
He returned to the bed, leaned down, and kissed her. "Whatever happens will happen, but it is not a hardship trying, Ash."
She melted and smiled at him. He went into the bathroom, showered quickly, and walked out into the bedroom to tell Ashley it was her turn and found their son snuggled up to his mom in bed, his eyes closed.
He stood at the foot of the bed. Rollo once said that the only way Brikken Motorcycle Club would survive is if the Stanton men had women they could trust to love them above all else.
Ashley had more love and strength for him and their son than even he could imagine.
"Isn't he the most wonderful little boy in the world?" whispered Ashley.
"You let him sleep any longer, and he'll be bouncing off the walls later tonight." He leaned over and tickled the bottom of Trik's barefoot. "Rise up, son."
Trik raised his head, opened his eyes, and then laid back on Ashley's chest. "Daddy?"
"Time to get up. Both of you." He pulled on his jeans. "Why don't you go pick out which cereal you want and let your mommy get dressed."
Olin kissed Ashley, making her smile even bigger before he escorted their son out of the room. He needed to be at the clubhouse and start his shift in a couple of hours. The sooner he got the day done, he could come home to his family.
Fifteen minutes later, he cleaned the table from where Trik had spilled his bowl of milk when Ashley strolled in wearing a pair of cutoffs and a female version of a football jersey. Suddenly, he wasn't in any hurry to get to the clubhouse.
"Oh, you've got the coffee already made." She patted his ass and hurried into the kitchen. "It's going to be another warm day, Trik. Do you want to help me pick dandelions?"
"Wish!" Trik bounced into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her leg.
She poured her coffee, then picked up her son, putting him on her hip. "Yes, you can make wishes, but the weeds are going in the garbage sack." Ashley looked at Olin. "Do you have any sunscreen? I don't want him to get sunburned."
"There's some in his bag, hanging on his closet door." Olin tossed the dirty dishrag in the sink.
She kissed her son's cheek and set him back on the floor. "I've meant to ask you who bulldozed the abandoned house down?"
He took a drink of his coffee. "I did."
"What?" She laughed. "Are you serious?"
"I bought the property. Trik is going to need a bigger yard when he's older. He'll need room to ride a dirt bike, and there's that big ol' tree at the back of the property that will be good to build a fort in a couple of years."
He wouldn't tell her that he bought the property out of anger when he believed she'd walked out of her son's life or how his big plan was to let the damn dandelions multiply, just to piss her off. He also wouldn't tell her how he'd quickly come to his senses and realized that if the property was taken over by dandelions, he believed Ashley would have a purpose for staying close and in his sight. He knew she wouldn't be able to leave the weeds there.
She stepped up in front of him and wrapped her arms around his waist, gazing up at him. "As soon as I'm done clearing the dandelions out, let's put a fence up around the whole property and let our son run wild."
"Sounds good to me." He kissed her nose. "The truck is yours to use today if you want to take Trik anywhere later. I'll be riding my Harley."
"I'll call you if we decide to do anything, but we'll probably stay here. Maybe I'll invite Lindsay over for lunch."
"Mommy?" yelled Trik from the other room.
She kissed Olin quickly and walked out of the kitchen to help their son. He watched her ass in those short-shorts until she was out of view, then turned to the window. The sun shined on the field, and the remaining dandelion heads were in full bloom, casting a yellow blanket on the area.
He drained the rest of the coffee, ready to put in a day's worth of work to support his family so that he could provide the kind of life Ashley and Trik deserved.
Epilogue
One year later –
"Mommy look." Trik held up the Tonka toy he'd unwrapped. "It's yellow."
Ashley beamed a smile down on Trik. Olin stood off to the side of the room in the clubhouse, observing his woman and son. The women of Brikken had come together and decided to throw a surprise baby shower for Ashley who was due in one week.
Because she'd missed her party when she was pregnant with Trik, the women were also celebrating his boy by giving him gifts. His son was making a haul.
Ashley held up a pink, frilly dress she'd pulled out of the gift bag. The woman ah'd.
Olin's chest tightened. The stress of finding out they were having a daughter when Ashley was three months along, hit him deeper the closer they got to the due date.
He had no idea how to be a father to a girl. How the hell was he supposed to pack around a daughter in one hand, carry her doll in the other, and ride his Harley?
A girl.
Soon, their family would be complete. Their daughter would be the last child for them. Because of Ashley's age, they counted themselves lucky to be having two, healthy kids.
"Have you picked out a name yet?" asked Deana.
Ashley's gaze met his, and she smiled before addressing Deana. "Linnea Ann Stanton."
Olin's chest warmed. He'd been a part of every step of her pregnancy, fascinated over all the changes happening to her body and witnessing Ashley's love that was apparent, not only for Trik but for their daughter.
Their daughter.
All he knew going forward was that no man was going to come within twenty feet of her. Ever.
"Olin," called Ashley, holding up another gift.
He dipped his chin, acknowledging the pink and purple car seat she'd revealed. Hell, he couldn't remember his little sisters having such girly things or his niece's being dressed up like some sweet candy.
Thorn and Jett walked up to him and flanked his sides. His oldest brother chuckled. Olin looked at Jett. "What?"
"You look like you're facing a firing squad," said Jett.
He grunted. "You've got my respect, brother. I don't know how you did it with that crew of yours."
With four kids, Jett and Sydney had spent the last two years adding on to their house while keeping Brikken strong. Olin looked at his brother. Jett's hair and beard had gone almost all gray, and now he understood why. Raising kids would do that to a man.
Hell, Olin was pushing fifty years old. By the time his daughter was old enough to date, he'd need two barrels doing the intimidation for him.
"I should thank both of you for taking the pressure off me to shackle myself to a family." Thorn crossed his arms. "You've more than exceeded Rollo's expectations for Brikken and left the door wide open for me to enjoy pussy for the rest of my life."
Olin scoffed. There were no shortages of women in Thorn's life. But, he'd seen the way his younger brother stayed in their little sisters' lives and remained an active uncle to his nephews and nieces. One of these days, the right woman would come along, and Thorn would forget all about pussies.
"Chief's here," said Jett.
Olin looked toward the door and found their father heading toward them, a rolled-up paper in his fisted hand.
"What's up with him?" he asked.
"Don't know." Jett looked at Thorn. "Do you know what's up?"
Thorn shook his head. Olin glanced over at his family. Johanna handed Ashley the last wrapped package while Lindsay tried to get Trik to open another present. His son wanted nothing to do with it because he was hooked on rolling new toy cars across the cement floor.
"This just came through." Chief handed the paper to Jett.
Jett's gazed down, reading. "God damnit," he muttered.
The brothers circled him. Jett looked up, his features set in stone. Olin, knowing bad news when he saw it, rubbed the scar on his chest.
"What is it?" Thorn tilted his head.
"The Feds picked up our last shipment. The bikes never made it to their destination." Jett rolled the paper back up.
"That can't be right. Four days ago, we followed the semi-truck. Nothing ever happens on the last leg." Olin gritted his teeth. His men had worked hard to double the shipment this time. With Brikken being the only one responsible for the long-haul, they put their trust in no one.
"Are you saying it was a member of Brikken who ratted us out?" a
sked Thorn.
"Looks that way." Jett stepped away. "I'm going to make a few phone calls and alert the others to keep their heads up. We can expect a raid once the Feds follow the trail."
"The garage is cleared." Olin, knowing the risks they all took for running a chop shop and delivering remanufactured stolen goods, ran a tight ship with his crew that put the bikes together.
Jett looked at Olin. "Cover your ass. You'll need to be here for Ashley."
Thorn widened his stance. "I always knew this fucking day would come."
Going to prison for the crimes Brikken participated in was almost a requirement for being a member. Olin exhaled loudly. He'd never done his time, while others had stepped forward and taken the hit on Brikken. Instead, Ashley had gone away for something else entirely.
Chief clamped his hand down on Olin's shoulder. "If Jett decides to take one for the club and go back into a cell, his family will need to be taken care of."
"Jett's not going. He needs to stay here." Thorn passed a look with Chief. "If it happens, I'll go. I have less to lose."
"I need to get my family home." Olin strode forward. He wanted his woman and son away from a raid if it happened.
Ashley, sensing something wrong, stood and reached for him. He held on to her and put his mouth on her ear. "We need to wrap this up. I'll have the guys outside load the truck. I need you and Trik at home."
"What's happening?" she whispered.
"Nothing if I get everyone home." He looked over at Trik. "I'll grab our son and talk with the guys to clear the women out of the clubhouse."
She nodded, holding on to her pregnant stomach. He left her side and picked up Trik, who fought him every step because he wanted his new toys with him.
"Hold your horses, son." He pushed out the door and whistled, drawing D-Con and Freddy's attention. After explaining the situation to them, he noticed Stassi walking between the garage and the clubhouse.
"Sis?" he yelled. "Go back home. Your mom will be there in a second."
"I need to talk to Chief." Stassi kept walking toward him.
Waiting until she drew closer, he held on tighter to Trik, keeping his squirming body still. "Where's Jackie?"