by Parker, Ali
He caught on quickly and pulled me off him by the hair. He tilted my face up to him. “I know what you’re playing at, kitten. I can see right through you.”
I gave him a tight-lipped coy smile. “Can you?”
He pulled me up to my feet and pushed me down on the bed on my knees. He grabbed a condom from the nightstand as I turned over. “Don’t move,” he said.
“You said you were going to lie down and do nothing. Did you lie?”
Caleb winked. “I just want to fuck you from behind. Just for a bit. Come on, kitten. You know I like bending you over and seeing that ass.”
Again, saying no to him was impossible.
I went to my knees, arched my back, and put my ass on display for him as he rolled the condom on.
He rubbed my pussy and slipped two fingers inside me. He fucked me good and hard, making me come fast. Then, he rubbed my juices everywhere and eased his cock deep inside. “Fuck, yeah,” he groaned.
I looked back at him as he thrust in and out of me. I bit down on my bottom lip and gripped the sheets beneath me. Then, I started moving back and forth, trying to do more of the work so he would relax.
He did. He hung his head and closed his eyes, turning his face to the ceiling as I fucked him. I dropped down low and bounced my ass, riding his dick for all I was worth. I reached between my legs and rubbed my clit. I could see by the strain on his face that he was about to come.
A devilish feeling rose up in me, and I slowed down. He opened his eyes and looked at me and caught me smiling. “You can’t come yet, baby,” I cooed. “Not until I say so.”
Caleb smiled and grabbed my ass. He drove his cock deep inside me and held himself there. I gasped with pleasure as pressure built up inside me. “You’re making the rules now, kitten?”
I nodded.
Caleb smirked and ground his hips against me. I closed my eyes and sighed deeply as he pressed into all the right places. “Yes,” I moaned.
Then, I started rolling my hips, and the momentum we found was pure bliss. Both of us were out of breath and moaning within a minute, and my legs started to quiver. Caleb tightened his grip on my ass and then let his thumb press inside my tight little hole.
I came right away and screamed his name into the sheets.
I kept riding him until he came too. Then, we both fell apart, hot and sticky, and lay on our backs on his bed staring at the ceiling.
“Good call,” I said. “I feel a lot less nervous now.”
He propped himself up on his elbow. “Really?”
“No.” I laughed.
He laughed, too, and put his other hand on my stomach. “It’ll be fine. I promise. You won Ryder and the others over the minute they walked into the alley. I don’t think any of them had ever seen anything like it.”
I felt my cheeks start burning. “How do you mean?”
Caleb cocked his head to the side and rolled his eyes at me. “You were protecting me from some scary dudes, Lauryn. You were fearless.”
I shrugged. “I didn’t think about it. There was no other option for me.”
He kissed my nose and then my forehead. “There were plenty of options. You just chose not to see them. You were my hero.” He chuckled.
“You’re not a very pretty damsel,” I said as he rolled off the bed and got to his feet.
He pointed a finger at me. “Don’t you dare make any jokes like that tonight. I’ll never hear the end of it if the guys catch wind of you thinking you’re my knight in shining armor.”
“But I am your knight in shining armor,” I teased.
Caleb walked by me to collect his clothes and slapped my ass. “That joke is for the bedroom only. Now, come on. Get your sexy ass back in that dress. We have to go.”
I got dressed as he went to the bathroom and cleaned himself up. When he came back out, he got dressed, and I helped him put his sling back on. He was smiling smugly to himself the whole while. “What are you smiling about?” I asked as I finished tying the sling.
He shrugged and winced. This was a habit of his. He forgot he was injured and continued to do the things that hurt him. I resisted the urge to scold him. He handed me my leather jacket. “Things are just good for once. You know? Good things lay ahead for us. We couldn’t have found better timing to fall for each other.”
“Fall for each other?” I blinked.
He wrapped his good arm around me and pulled me close. His smile was devilish and sexy. “Come on, kitten. You can’t tell me you don’t love me. You used your body as a human shield to protect me.”
I bit my bottom lip and grinned up at him. “You’re right.”
He sealed his lips over mine with a kiss. He didn’t have to say anything. I knew he loved me just as fiercely as I loved him.
And that, without a doubt, was the best high I’d ever had in my life.
Chapter 29
Caleb
I hopped up onto Ryder’s back deck and went to the cooler beside the barbecue. I flipped it open and grabbed a beer for both me and Lauryn. When I turned around, Sabian was standing behind me with his arms crossed and a smirk playing on his mouth.
“Hey there, Casanova,” he said.
I drew up short and rolled my eyes at him. “What do you want?”
Sabian chuckled. “Just seeing how you were doing before we get this thing started. How’s the shoulder?”
“Fine.”
“And the ribs?”
“Also fine,” I said.
Then Derek popped up and draped an arm over Sabian’s shoulder. “Hey, hotshot, how’s your night going so far? Lauryn seems to be fitting in well.”
I looked around Ryder’s backyard. Lauryn was standing in a cluster with the other women. She must have said something funny, because Ellie, Holly, and Angela were all doubled over laughing. Evelyn was giggling too. She was much more reserved than the other women, so she covered her mouth when she laughed.
I smiled. “Yeah, she is.”
“How sweet,” Sabian snickered.
“Will you fucking lay off?”
Sabian held up his hands innocently. “What? I’m just having a bit of fun. Poking the bear and all that shit. You just make it so easy, man.”
“You do make it easy.” Derek laughed.
“And here I thought I’d catch a break after almost dying last week,” I grumbled.
Sabian shook his head. “No such luck. Want me to open that beer for you?”
“Fuck off.”
I shouldered past them and heard them snickering to themselves as I crossed the yard and went to Lauryn. I handed her one of the beers, and we both popped the cans open. Evelyn gave me a shy smile. “Hi, Caleb. How are you feeling?”
“I’d be better if Derek would get off my ass,” I seethed.
Evelyn blinked. “Is he giving you a hard time?”
“Yes,” I sighed.
Lauryn chuckled and put her hand on my good shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, Evelyn. Caleb is just sour because he can’t fight back right now.” She ran her fingers through my hair to appease me. It kind of worked.
Evelyn looked over her shoulder at Derek. He’d been watching her, and she must have mouthed something to him because he straightened up and stopped giggling. I gave him the finger, and he barked with more laughter.
Lauryn pushed my hand down. “You’re just as big of a child as he is.”
“It’s endearing though, right?” I asked.
Lauryn ran her thumb along my jaw. “Sometimes. Other times, it’s annoying.”
I shrugged, winced, and cursed myself for forgetting my sore shoulder and ribs. It was a constant struggle trying to break habits like shrugging and cracking my back. Movements like that were still quite painful. “It’s all part of my charm.”
* * *
Everyone milled around the backyard in high spirits until the sun had set. Rhys and his boys showed up around nine o’clock. By then, almost the entire MC was packed into the yard. All of our members had shown up for the ini
tiation, and it was a sight I hadn’t seen in quite some time. With things being so tense, we’d all sort of drifted apart. It was intentional on Ryder’s part, I suspected, because he knew everyone was at risk with Isaac out on the loose.
Now that Isaac was dead, a night like this was more than in order.
We began the ritual at Ryder’s order. Everyone put their jackets on, and I caught Lauryn shrugging into hers out of the corner of my eye as I took up my spot at the top of the line. All the members were there now. We fell into our positions, creating neat rows of five men on each side with a path cut down our middle. Rhys, Aiden, Owen, and Liam all stood at the far end as Ryder and Axel stacked pallets and poured gasoline on them.
Ryder struck the match that lit the fire.
Once it was ablaze and crackling ten or fifteen feet in the air, the ritual began.
Derek stepped forward from where he stood beside me in the front line. He had four leather jackets with our emblem on the back. He stood beside Ryder as the new members made their way through our midst. Lost Breeds reached out and clapped their shoulders as they passed. This was all part of the welcome party.
When they reached the front, Ryder presented them with their jackets. They put them on and shook hands before tossing something that symbolized their old life into the fire.
Rhys threw his old jacket. I was surprised by this, but I guess the guy was desperate for a clean start. If my whole crew was killed and I was welcomed into a new one, I wondered if I’d have the nerve to burn my jacket. It symbolized a lot for us. Brotherhood. Loyalty. Respect.
Aiden tugged a chain off his neck. There was a pendant hanging from the silver chain, and he tossed the whole thing into the flames.
Owen gave a picture.
Liam threw in a small piece of fabric. I wondered if it belonged to someone he’d lost—perhaps to someone he’d loved.
I sought out Lauryn through the crowd as the men faced the rest of the MC to be presented as members of the Lost Breed.
She was watching me.
We locked eyes. She smiled softly.
I didn’t know what I would have done if I’d lost her in this whole mess. These men came from another life. There was no telling what they’d been through, what they’d lost, and who they used to be. For all I knew, they had women that they’d had to leave behind.
That hurt my soul to think about.
Lauryn was the best thing that had ever happened to me. She filled a piece of me that had been empty and cold for a long time. She brought sunlight to all my dark places. And she’d saved my life. To be so loved by someone was mind-boggling.
Ryder grabbed Rhys’s hand and lifted his arm in the air. The others followed suit, and the entire MC burst into cheers and applause. I clapped, but I never looked away from Lauryn.
As soon as it was acceptable to do so, I cut through the lines of men and went to her. She waited for me, hands clasped in front of her, as I wove and ducked out of the way as the men went to congratulate our new members.
“What are you—?” she started to ask, but I took her up in my arms and kissed her deeply.
She held onto me and kissed me back.
When we broke apart, she was breathless. “What was that for?”
“I just …” I paused and shook my head. “I love you. I realize I never said it before. But I do. I never want to lose you.”
She held my face in her hands. “You won’t ever lose me, Caleb. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. You’ll have me and Jayden until you don’t want us anymore.”
“Don’t be crazy. I’m always going to want you.”
“Where did all this come from?” she asked. Her eyes sparkled in the firelight. Her body was warm against mine. I could smell her floral shampoo and still taste her cherry Chapstick on my lips.
“Those guys lost a lot, and they just committed to a new start with the Lost Breed. It got me thinking about how I’d handle something like that. Before, I could have done it. Now that you’re in the picture, I don’t think I could ever start over.”
“Me neither,” she whispered. She rested her hands on my chest. “Now, you’d better get back to your boys. They keep looking over here.”
I kissed her one more time. “You’re good?”
“Babe, I’m great,” she said.
I left her to talk with the rest of the women as I joined my brothers. They drew me in, and Ryder thumped me on the back. It hurt my shoulder, but I didn’t say a fucking word. I was right where I wanted to be.
Rhys held his hand out, and I shook it. “You’re a champ,” he called over the loud voices and laughter surrounding us.
“I could say the same for you. If not for your quick thinking, this night would be a lot different.”
Rhys grinned. “My moment was over in seconds. You stayed alive against Isaac Reed for fifteen minutes basically on your own. That’s some serious shit, man.”
I shrugged. Again. Damn it. “I wasn’t alone.”
“The security guys said they went down pretty fast.”
“Yeah, they were kind of useless.” I laughed. “But my woman kept me alive. I wouldn’t be here if not for her.”
Derek showed up and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. He was gentle enough, but the pressure and weight weren’t all that comfortable. He hugged me to him. I could tell he was a little drunk and enjoying himself. “Our boy Caleb isn’t to be fucked with. But that Lauryn. I’d rather fight you than her, man.”
I snorted. “Don’t let her hear you say that.”
“Why not?” Derek smirked.
“She’ll never forget it. Her ego is big enough.”
“I like her,” Derek nodded.
I smiled. “Yeah, so do I.”
Derek ruffled my hair. Sometimes, being the youngest member was a real pain in the ass. He let me go. “You think she’s the one for you?”
“There’s no doubt in my mind.”
Derek threw his head back with laughter. “You need another drink, come on. Let’s get more beers. You coming along, Rhys?” We went up onto Ryder’s deck and each grabbed a beer.
I collapsed in one of the patio chairs and cracked my beer. I took a few greedy gulps and wiped foam from my upper lip.
Rhys sighed contently beside me. “Feels good to be here.”
I looked over at him. “Do you miss Chicago?”
He shrugged. “No. Not anymore. All that’s back there are bad memories. It’s time to make New York City my home. Now that I have an MC, I’m finally heading in the right direction. Isaac Reed fucked my life up for a while. I’m ready to get back on track.”
“So are we,” I said.
Derek nodded. “It’s been a long battle. Having that bastard in the ground sure feels fucking good. We can finally move on and stop looking over our shoulders.”
Rhys stared out at the bonfire. He watched everyone mill around for a minute before he said, almost too quietly for me or Derek to hear, “As long as none of my skeletons creep out of the closet, everything will be fine.”
“What?” I asked.
He never looked at me. He continued staring out at the fire. “Sometimes, what’s buried doesn’t stay dead.”
Epilogue
Lauryn
Six Weeks Later
I turned off the shower and popped open the glass door to reach for my towel. It was hanging beside Caleb’s, which was still damp. I pulled it off the rack and dried myself off. Then, I wrapped my hair up in it and went about my morning routine.
I brushed my teeth, soaked my skin with moisturizer, put oil in my hair, blow dried it, and slapped on some mascara and Chapstick. I padded into our bedroom and sifted through the drawers of the dresser for my favorite jeans. I yanked them up my hips and did them up before grabbing an oversized white knit sweater. I put it on, rolled up the sleeves, and pulled my hair out of the collar. I tied a plaid scarf around my neck and headed out into the kitchen, where Caleb was pushing some scrambled eggs from a pan and onto the plate in front of Jayde
n.
Both of them looked up at me and smiled as I went straight for the coffee pot and poured myself a mug. “Good morning, boys.”
“Morning,” they said in unison.
“Your plate is here. You hungry?” Caleb asked.
I sipped my coffee and took my seat at one end of the table. Caleb spooned eggs onto my plate beside the bacon and hash browns he’d already dished out.
“This looks and smells fantastic,” I said appreciatively.
Caleb returned the pan to the stove and sat down across from me. “Well, with the day we have, I figured we should fuel up. You excited, sport?”
Jayden nodded eagerly.
We had plans to spend the entire day together. After breakfast, we were heading out to the park to meet up with another family that lived in Caleb’s apartment building. They had a little boy about Jayden’s age, and the two of them had taken a liking to each other. Then, we were heading to the skating rink so Jayden could practice with Caleb.
As it turned out, Caleb used to play hockey as a kid, and he was a spectacular skater. Jayden was falling a bit behind on the team, and when I’d told Caleb about it, he had immediately volunteered to step up and help. I was looking forward to seeing them on the ice together.
After that, we would be grabbing lunch and coming home to get ready for a dinner at Axel’s house. He had the biggest property by far, and everyone was going. It was a kid-friendly event, and nobody had met Jayden yet. I was a bit nervous about it, but everyone had assured me it would be fine. Especially Jamie, who promised Jayden would fit right in.
Jayden finished his breakfast in record time. Once he was done, I sent him off to brush his teeth and get dressed. I reminded him to dress warmly. He promised he would, and Caleb and I were left alone at the table together.