If I back out now, you think he’d forget he saw me and chalk it up to being drunk? Dammit. This wasn’t the plan. I wasn’t supposed to run into him, yet. I’m not ready. Even if my body is. Even if my heart’s doing the goddamn tango in my chest. Who needs that bloody thing anyhow? My life would be much easier if I could cut the organ out. It belongs in the trash. It’s never done me any good before.
Kade rubs his growing bulge with the heel of his palm.
Sweet Jesus, he’s already turned on.
I shudder at the thought, goosebumps rising to the surface.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I take a step back, slowly, ready to make a run for it. Screw the paperwork. Bongo can hand deliver it.
“Don’t even fuckin’ think about it, woman,” Kade growls as he advances on me, his wide gait eating up the distance between us.
As helpless as the day I was born, my stomach ties in painful, sickly knots and my stupid feet refuse to move. I curse them under my breath and still they stay firmly planted in their traitorous place. Kade doesn’t seem to notice when he’s hellbent on shattering my world for the second time. Not asking permission, the dark and sinister prince grips the back of my neck to the point of pain and attacks my lips. It’s a brutal crash that lights my world aflame, much like our first, but so much more. Deep-seated feelings that I’ve been harboring arise and I’m somehow there with him, snared in the moment, my hands grasping at him, to touch anything, everything. The oxygen in my lungs is torn asunder as he ravishes my tongue, my lips, my soul. I’m falling. The world blanks to a low hum. Fire burns in my veins, scorching its way through every cell.
Wrapping a steel arm around my back, Kade lifts me with no effort. My feet dangle off the floor, breasts smashed to his rock-hard body. Where I end, he begins, and I’ve never felt anything so good. The demons in my brain quiet. In their deserted wake a beautiful peace lingers.
Too tired to fight, I submit to Kade’s temptation, and bask in suspended Eden.
Tongue duels tongue like Norse Gods fighting for power. Moans I’ve never heard before are drawn to the surface. At some point my ass ends up on the countertop. How I got here, I have no recollection. My fingers thread together behind Kade's neck as he cups my face like it’s made of porcelain. The warmth of his touch seeps in, the connection wanted… needed.
Our lips separate ever so slowly, like two magnets never wanting to part from their mate. Kade brushes his across mine and pecks me once more. Our breath mingles as we struggle to gather our bearings.
His forehead drops to mine. “I fuckin’ missed you, Swan.”
My heart shudders at the declaration.
I missed him, too. Too much. This is surreal. All of it.
When I don’t respond, Kade places a long, sensual kiss upon my lips. It lingers there, heat pressed to slick heat. Drawing back, but not going far, he whispers, “I said, I fuckin’ missed you, baby.”
“This is hard,” I rasp, fingers trailing down his chest.
He strokes the apples of my cheeks with his thumbs. “I know.”
“You should know, you’re not the reason I’m here.” Unable to keep my hands to myself, I trace the opening of his cut on either side, up and down, transfixed. This wasn’t on tonight’s manifest. Not the kiss, not the touch, and surely not a maelstrom of emotions.
“I know that, too,” he says.
My surprised gaze snaps to meet his. “You do?”
“When Bongo showed, I could’ve sworn you backed out.”
Huh?
“Backed outta what?” My eyebrows stitch together in confusion, lips thinning as I look to him for clarity. This doesn’t make a damn bit of sense.
Kade massages the crease in my brows, smoothing them out with the pad of his thumb. “Dropping the paperwork off,” he explains in a calm tenor. A tiny smile hooks at the corner of his perfect, kissable mouth that’s swollen and red—a stark reminder of what we did… and how much I wish we could do it again. I can’t believe I even want that. But I do.
“You know about the paperwork?” I press a finger against the knot of his Adam’s apple. It moves as Kade swallows, rolling under my touch.
“Yes, babe, I know about the paternity results.”
“Will you please explain what the hell is going on here?” Why did he know I was coming? Why did he know about the results? And more importantly, why do I feel like a naive puppet being played by a masterful puppeteer?
Slotting himself firmly between my thighs, Kade cups my jaw in his big mitts. Taking it a step further, he binds our souls with those devastating, blue eyes as they lock with mine. “Big and I came to an arrangement.”
“Excuse me?” A… What?
The singe of betrayal burns like battery acid. How could Big, of all people, do that to me?
Kade continues, his tone calm, almost sweet. “We came to an arrangement. I needed my woman here. He obliged.” To hammer his explanation home, Kade drops a simple kiss to my forehead.
He obliged? Big… Obliged?
“Wait. What? I—”
“Don’t be mad,” he interjects before I can form a proper sentence. “You should’ve known I wasn’t gonna let you go. When I said you’re mine, I meant it.”
Meant. It.
So what, I’m not some object to be negotiated for a price.
I poke him in the pec, glaring at the bastard. He’s lucky I don’t do worse. “You guys fuckin’ played me,” I fume.
Kade’s handsome face morphs into one of confusion. “I didn’t do anything of the sort. You weren’t gonna come home of your own free will. And I might be a patient man, but I’ve been dyin’ here. You left me and wouldn’t return any of my messages.”
Balling my fists in my lap, I squeeze both eyes shut and inhale the deepest lungful of air imaginable. Then I hold it before I lose my mind and do something rash—like beat him to a bloody pulp. Why doesn’t he understand I did this for him? That this isn’t a game. That I left him because I had to.
On an exhale, air rushes out through my slightly parted lips. Then I look at Kade, really look at him. He’s staring at me expectantly. There’s a tightness to his jaw as if he’s nervous. His hands rest on my shoulders and slide down my arms to my fists. He covers them with his palms.
“It was… is for the best,” I explain. “I’m fucked up, Kade. Really fucked up. More fucked up than anyone understands. You deserve better.”
He scowls. “No. I don’t. You’re goddamn perfect. More perfect, if that’s even possible, now that I know everything.”
“What do you mean, you know everything?”
“About the girls.”
Oh. Shit.
“Big told you?”
“Yes.” He nods. “Big told me.”
That sonofabitch.
My nostrils flare. “I’m gonna kill him.”
Kade chuckles and squeezes my still clenched fists. “No. You’re not.”
Oh, yes, I am. So much for loyalty and respect. He fuckin’ outed me to the one person I didn’t want to know. If he told Kade about the girls, he knows about all the killing and the hunting. He knows everything. I can’t be angry at Kade for wanting to know. He’s always been forthright with what he wants. But Big… that’s not okay.
“I am,” I vow and mean it. “I am gonna cut off his balls and mail them to Bink. That giant bastard set this whole thing up. The paternity. The party tonight. All of it, to get me here.”
Kade smiles at me like I’m the cutest thing he’s ever seen and brushes a thumb over my bottom lip. “Yes and no,” he states, trailing that same thumb to my chin, spreading a path of shivery heat everywhere he touches. I suck in a noiseless breath, doing my best to appear unaffected. “Pops was adamant we have Ryker take care of some club business today. The party fell in line with that. Seemed like a good enough time to get you into town.”
“So, you knew I was coming.”
He shrugs one shoulder. “Not exactly. I’d hoped.”
I e
xtract the envelope from inside my jacket and show it to him. “They’re in here.”
“Then maybe we should handle that part first. We can talk after.”
“I wasn’t planning on staying.” Staying is a recipe for disaster.
“You have to. I have something I need to show you tomorrow.”
Intrigued, I arch a brow. “I have to?”
A devil-may-care smirk claims Kade’s face, lighting up those already naughty eyes.
“Yes. You have to. Don’t make me tie you to the bed.” He waggles those perfectly sculpted brows. “I will do it, woman. This isn’t a negotiation.”
Kade’s cute when he thinks he’s got the upper hand.
I tilt my head to the side, trying my hardest not to smile. “You do know I can kick your ass. We’ve already established this.”
“We might know that. But that doesn’t mean you’re gonna do it... One night.”
Fine. If he insists.
“One night,” I agree only because I’m curious. Though, you know what they say about curiosity and the cat.
“In my bed,” Kade adds.
My stomach dips and my nether region sings in excitement. I can’t believe I’m doing this. I must be crazy.
“Fine. In your bed. But—”
“I promise, no funny business.”
“Okay. But he doesn’t really understand what that means.” I gesture to his member straining against the fabric of his jeans.
“He has a brain of his own, as do I. This brain.” He thumps the side of his noggin. “It’s capable of thinkin’ straight. He…” Kade points to his dick. “I think we’ve already established he likes you a whole lot. He won’t listen. You gotta get used to the constant erection, for both our sakes. It’s not going away. Ever.”
And I don’t want it to…
Jesus. What’s wrong with me?
Tossing that repetitive thought to the side, I lick my lips. “Let’s take care of your brother’s stuff first.”
Obliging, Kade secures my hips and helps me to the floor. Before I can leave to find Ryker, Kade pinches my chin with his thumb and forefinger, tilts my head back, and lays another sweet kiss upon my lips.
“Thank you for staying,” he whispers there.
“Only for you.” Only for him.
Kade sighs as if I just handed him the universe and pecks the tip of my nose. “I love you.”
“I know.” And I do. Kade wouldn’t have gone to the lengths he has for anyone. Why he chose me, I’ll never understand. But he has, and that scares the life out of me.
Chapter Twenty
Kade
Seeking Ryker out in the living room where I saw him last, Rosie’s two steps ahead of me, on a mission to hand over the paternity results. My eyes are glued to the sway of her petite ass, clad in a pair of black skinny jeans as we pass whoever the fuck we pass. I don’t pay a lick of attention to them assholes. My woman’s home. Nobody else matters.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a flash of blonde half a second before shit hits the fan. Rosie goes into badass make-my-dick-harder mode as she snatches some handsy club whore off Ryker’s lap and throws her to the ground. Then she’s on my brother, defending Katrina’s honor. Her fist connects with his jaw in a blur and Ryker’s face snaps to the side. I cringe, knowing that must hurt like a motherfucker.
So she doesn’t actually kill him, I wrap my arms tightly around my woman’s middle and haul her sexy ass backward. The last thing we want is her knife ending up in his gut. There might not be any comin’ back from that. As much as I’m wonderin’ what the hell he was thinking letting some half-naked bitch on his lap, I know it’s not worth him dyin’ over. Let’s face it, he’s done worse.
Rosie fights against my restraints, spewing obscenities, but she’s not gonna win this one, not unless she wants to fight me. Then that’s a different story.
The blonde club whore scrambles away, tripping over her feet.
Coming to, Ryker blinks slowly as if disoriented and raises both hands in surrender. “I wasn’t doin’ anything bad, Rosie.” He moves his jaw from side to side working out the kinks.
Turned on to the max, I bury my nose in my woman’s hair, my body touching hers in every way possible as she unleashes on the dipshit. Can’t say I blame her. I’m gonna let her have her fun, as long as that doesn’t result in his heart stopping.
“The hell you weren’t! I was just at your place. Spendin’ time with your woman. And this is what she gets? You touchin’ somebody else!” Rosie bellows, her fist shaking at him with unspent rage. Oh yeah, my old lady wants to clean his clock, again. This shit is hot.
I adjust my boner, careful not to poke her backside with it.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” she adds.
“What you walked in on was me yankin’ that chick’s hair, so she’d get off me. I wasn’t about to fool around with her. I didn’t want her on my lap, she just wasn’t listenin’.”
Ryker’s explanation seems to pacify my Swan enough that she quits fighting against my hold. “You weren’t about to fuck around?”
Pointin’ to his limp dick, Ryker shakes his head. “Not in this lifetime. Even if I could stomach bein’ with somebody else, my cock knows who he belongs to. Some dogs only do tricks for their owners. Mine ain’t any different.”
See, I knew there was a reason. Not that he should’ve let anyone get close enough to give the wrong impression in the first place. I took a piss earlier and some club whore was trying to get up on my junk as soon as I exited the bathroom. You think I let it get far enough that anyone with two eyes would think I was up to no good? Hell no. I told her if she touched me again without my permission, I’d ban her from the clubhouse, and if that didn’t work, I’d wear her intestines as a necklace. Needless to say, I could work on my delivery. But she did quit pawin’ at my dick and scampered off. Bet she never tries to screw me again. Bet she also tells all her little club whore friends that I’m a psycho and to stay away from me. I hope that’s the case. Fewer issues to deal with later. Ryker really should take a page out of my book. He could learn a thing or two.
“Good.” Satisfied with Ryker’s reasoning, Rosie twists out of my arms and drops on the couch beside him. Extracting a white envelope from the inside of her black jacket, she tosses it onto his lap. “That’s what I came to drop off. But you weren’t home, and Gunz said I had to hand deliver it.”
Gunz had her deliver it. I suppress a smirk. Big and I are some shady SOBs. Rosie knows it. At least she’s not mad at me for trying to get her home, where she belongs.
Pickin’ up the envelope, Ryker fingers the unsealed flap. “That why you’re here?” he asks.
Rosie nods. “I had a mark in Texas. Big gave me forty-eight hours to finish, and I was done in five. So, I told Gunz I’d do him a solid and deliver this.” She’s a damn good liar. I’d believe every word if I didn’t already know she was full of it.
“You wanted to check in on Kat,” Ryker comments like he has any idea what he’s talking about. He doesn’t.
“I did.” Rosie picks lint off her black t-shirt to give her hands something to do.
“I’m gonna take care of her,” my brother states as I stand back and watch two important people in my life interact.
“I know. If you don’t, you’ll be another mark.” Rosie’s threat is a thing of beauty, just like her.
Ryker side-eyes her, unimpressed. “Big wouldn’t sanction that.”
Rosie snickers and I sit down beside her, hips touching. “I don’t need Big to tell me who I can or can’t kill, Ryker. He’s not my keeper.”
Knowing what’s best for him, he changes the subject. “Heard you took out the rest of the club on your own.”
“I’m good at cleanin’ up Sacred Sinners messes. I heard you’re keepin’ a kid that should’ve been killed.”
Ryker’s eyes meet Rosie’s. “You better not end his life, either. Kade’s takin’ care of him. That’s his business. Not yours.”
I sit up a little straighter, ready to punch him for talkin’ to her like that. If I spoke to Kat that way, he’d put me in my place. Turnabout’s fair play.
She draws shapes on her knee with her pointer finger. “That’s your choice as a club. You do what you want. I don’t take pleasure in killin’ kids.”
Neither do I, babe. Neither do I.
Ryker removes a tri-folded piece of white paper from the envelope and shakes the document back and forth. “What’s this?”
“The truth,” Rosie explains.
“About what?”
“Why don’t you read it and find out?”
“’Cause I don’t like surprises.”
“Read it, Ryker,” Rosie emphasizes, taking no shit.
Sighing, he unfolds the document and I lay my hand on Rosie’s thigh, anxiously awaiting the results. If the kid’s his, that changes things. If he isn’t, that changes stuff, too. It’s a fifty/fifty shot.
It takes Ryker forever to read whatever’s on the paperwork before he makes his mouth work. “He.” My bro clears his throat. “He’s mine.”
Fuck.
Holy Fuck.
I was wrong.
The devious, two-faced slut did get knocked up by my brother.
Kat’s gonna have a hay day with this. Walker’s already her son. This solidifies that. She’s gonna be over the moon and rightfully so.
Letting the news sink that my brother is a father for the third, almost fourth time, I take in this moment with my old lady by my side, seated in my clubhouse, with my only brother. A rock lodges in my chest, full of emotions and mushy crap. I’ve got a nephew. Katrina’s got herself a son.
I look to Rosie and she glances back at me, a small smile splaying those pretty, tulip shaped lips. “Congrats, uncle.” She winks, and I love her all the more for it.
Not knowing what to say without ruining the moment, I get up and find my bro some alcohol, ‘cause I know he’s freaking out on the inside. The man’s fidgety and his eyes are shiny. Lord knows what’s goin’ on in that head of his. Shots are the best way to numb new life shit you aren't prepared to handle. So, I keep the bottle basement liquor flowing until he’s sufficiently smashed and can no longer keep his eyes open.
Wrecked & Reclaimed (Sacred Sinners MC - Texas Chapter Book 5) Page 17