Thunderclap (Steel Infidels MC) (Bad Boy Romance) (Steel Infidels Series Book 4)

by Burke, Dez

  I know differently.

  It’s going to take a long time to gain their trust.

  Maybe forever.

  I wouldn’t trust me either if the situation were reversed.

  Facing his brothers will be bad enough, but it’s Kendra and Trish I’m most worried about. From the first day I met them, they took me in and treated me like family, no questions asked. If Sam wanted me there, then it was good enough for them. They were both kind and accepting of me.

  And I betrayed them in the worst possible way.

  Now it’s time for me to face them all again.

  “Are you ready to go in?” Sam asks when we reach the door of his house.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” I answer. “If nothing else, I’m ready to get this over with. They’re going to hate me. I can’t blame them.”

  “It won’t be as bad as you think,” he says.

  Yeah, right. It will be worse.

  He opens the door and ushers me through in front of him.

  “Hey guys!” he says to the group sitting at the kitchen table. “What’s going on?”

  Jesse, Flint, and Toby all nod at us without saying a word. Kendra and Trish glance at each other across the table then at me. If looks could kill, I would be dead. I’ve never felt so uncomfortable and unwanted in my entire life.

  Trish is holding Missy in her lap while Josh is hanging on to Kendra’s legs under the table. All of the family is here.

  This is not going to be fun.

  Sam strolls to the refrigerator as if he doesn’t notice the icy chill in the room and pulls out a beer for him and a bottle of water for me. He hands me the water and drapes an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close against his side. His warm, solid strength comforts me.

  “I know Lila has a lot of explaining to do,” he says. “But first we want to make a big announcement.”

  Oh no!

  Why didn’t he warn me he was planning to tell them? If I make it out of here alive, I’m going to kill him.

  He takes a deep breath.

  “We’re getting married!”

  Their shocked faces stare at us.

  Kendra jumps up from the table and moves aggressively toward me, catching us all by surprise. “Oh hell no, you’re not,” she says.

  Josh totters and falls under the table then lets out an ear-splitting scream.

  Flint grabs at her arm. “Kendra, stop.”

  Is Kendra really going to try and beat my ass?

  I think she is.

  Wow! This situation escalated quickly.

  “What are you up to now, Lila?” she asks. “It’s not enough that you tried to destroy this family? Now you think you’re going to marry Sam?” She shrugs loose from Flint’s hand. “Let go of me, Flint. I’m not allowing this. We have to put a stop to it right now.”

  In typical Sam fashion, he bursts out laughing. I stare up at him in disbelief.

  What the hell?

  If this is a glimpse of my future, I’m in big trouble.

  “You’re fucking hilarious when you’re mad, Kendra,” Sam says. “Give Lila a chance. She put herself on the line trying to protect us all. You’re not giving her enough credit.”

  He grins and hugs me tighter.

  “We’re getting married and you can’t stop us. I’m not twelve and don’t need your permission. So will you please listen to what Lila has to say? For me? Give her ten minutes.”

  Kendra plops back down in an angry huff and crosses her arms. Flint pulls Josh out from under the table and puts him on his lap for safekeeping. I guess he doesn’t trust Kendra right now any more than I do.

  I’m watching Jesse out of the corner of my eye because I know that of everyone in the room, he is by far the most dangerous. He catches my eye and I quickly look away.

  Sam pulls out a chair for me and after I double-check the exit routes, I take a seat.

  “Okay,” I begin, taking a deep breath. “Here is what’s going on with the investigation.”

  ***

  After explaining everything in detail, I excuse myself from the table to give the group some privacy to discuss the situation. Plus, I need to escape for a minute. The stress is getting to me.

  I hurry inside the bathroom, shut the door, and lean back against it.

  Safe at last.

  I wish I didn’t have to go back out there.

  Kendra didn’t hide the fact that she was considering doing me bodily harm, and I know enough about Jesse’s past to be afraid of him too. On the bright side, at least Flint and Trish seem to be a little more calm and accepting of my relationship with Sam. I’ll try to soften them up first. Trish is sweet, so maybe she’ll eventually come around.

  Thank goodness Sam didn’t blurt out anything about the baby.

  I splash cold water on my face and take a deep breath.

  Finally feeling calmer, I open the bathroom door, and walk straight into Trish. She’s standing on the other side with Missy on one hip. She puts a hand on my arm and tugs me back into the bathroom before slamming the door behind us. Normally I wouldn’t allow anyone to push me around, but since there’s a baby hanging on her, I don’t put up any resistance.

  “I need to talk to you,” she says. Her brown eyes are flashing in anger.

  Terrific.

  So she hates me too. The day keeps getting worse.

  “I know what you probably think about me,” she says. “That I’m the nice, easy-going one in the family.”

  Actually, I did until just now.

  “Let me warn you.” She shifts Missy to her other hip and points a finger at me. “Do not mistake my kindness for weakness. If you hurt Sam or hurt this family, I personally will cut...”

  Missy lets out a big baby burp and spits up all over Trish’s blouse.

  “Oh no,” I say, horrified by the volume of puke and the smell.

  Is this what babies do?

  “Missy!” Trish cries in frustration. “This is a brand new shirt.”

  Trish looks over at me and after a split second’s hesitation holds out Missy for me to take.

  “Here, can you hold her a second so I can wipe this off?”

  I back up and slowly shake my head.

  The sour smell of the spit-up hits me and I run for the toilet where I throw up my lunch.

  Trish looks over at me in disgust.

  “For heaven’s sake!” she says. “What the hell is wrong with you? It’s only baby spit-up, not vomit.”

  Oh God! Why did she have to say that word?

  I bend over and throw up again.

  She watches me silently, then reaches for a washcloth from the shelf above the sink, runs it under cold water, and hands it to me.

  “Let me guess. You’re pregnant.”

  She makes the word ‘pregnant” sound like the worst thing in the world.

  I wipe my mouth with the cold cloth before answering.

  “Yes, I’m pregnant. What possibly gave it away?”

  She wets another cloth and tries to wipe off her shirt while jiggling Missy up and down at the same time.

  “Does Sam know?” she asks.

  “Of course he knows.”

  “And?”

  “And he’s thrilled.”

  Trish sighs. “Of course he would be. He’s always wanted a busload of kids. And you?”

  “You’re asking me this now while my head is in the toilet? I’m thrilled, too. Can’t you tell by my cheerful enthusiasm?”

  I scoot back on the cold tile floor until my back is against the wall and press the cloth to my face. Damn, I feel terrible. My morning sickness is turning into all day sickness that never eases up.

  Trish is standing there silently watching me. Why is she still here? She’s obviously waiting for something.

  “I love Sam and that’s all I can say, Trish. I’m in this for the long haul and I’m not going away. You and everyone else out there are just going to have to deal. I’m marrying Sam and we’re having this baby. In other words, I’m permane
nt. If it makes you feel better to throw threats at me, go ahead, but it’s not going to change anything. I don’t scare easily.”

  I lean back, close my eyes, and try to will the nausea to go away so I can grab Sam and leave.

  “Well,” she says after a long moment of silence. “As far as I’m concerned, this changes everything. I might even like you. A little bit.”

  She smiles and reaches over to pat me awkwardly on the shoulder.

  “Welcome to the family. The morning sickness will pass soon, I promise.”

  I pull my knees up and rest my head on them as she goes out the door. After a couple of minutes, I hear a timid knock on the door.

  “Lila,” Sam asks. “Are you okay? Can I come in?” He opens the door without waiting for me to answer. He steps inside and kneels down beside me with a worried look on his face. “Sick again?”

  I nod.

  “Let me help you up and I’ll take you home.”

  He lifts me to my feet and slides an arm around my waist.

  “Trish told you I was sick?” I ask.

  “Yeah, she was worried about you. Considering everything, I think things went pretty well with them, don’t you think?”

  He smiles down at me just in time to keep me from slapping him.

  “I’m kidding. Don’t worry, they’ll come around.”

  I look up at Sam’s handsome face and it helps me to remember why I’m doing this. His family and the MC mean everything to him. I want to be a part of his life too, so if I have to crawl out of this hole I’ve dug on shards of broken glass, I’ll do it.

  Sam is worth it and I’m tough.

  We’ll get through this together.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Sam

  I can’t wait to see Lila. It’s been a week and I’m missing her like crazy. We can’t take any chances with the ATF finding out about us, so we’re sneaking around on the weekends to be together.

  I usually arrive at her house in Atlanta after dark and leave before daylight. It sucks, but it’s better than nothing. Knowing that we’ll be together soon keeps us going.

  When I’m five minutes away, I call her on my cell phone to tell her I’m almost there. By the time I pull up in front of her house, she’s already out the door and running toward me. I barely have time to take my helmet off before she’s wrapping her arms around my waist. I grab her up in a big bear hug.

  “Lila,” I say into her hair. “I’ve missed you so much.” I plant a long, slow kiss on her lips and hug her again. “Being away from you is torture.”

  “Tell me about it,” she says. “All night long I reach over for you and you’re not there. I have some good news though. Guess what?”

  Lila is bubbling with energy and absolutely glowing.

  “What?”

  “The morning sickness is finally gone and I feel terrific.”

  She reaches up and pulls my head down to kiss me hungrily again.

  “You must be feeling better,” I say with a laugh. “I’ve heard a rumor about pregnant women and hormones. I don’t know if it’s true.”

  “What’s the rumor?”

  “That once the morning sickness leaves, you’ll be horny all the time.”

  “It’s true, so it’s a good thing you’re here. Leaving a horny, pregnant woman all to her lonesome can be a very bad thing.”

  “I’m here now and I’m all yours, darling. To do with me as you will.”

  She laughs and takes my hand.

  I love seeing her relaxed and carefree. I knew all along the real Lila was deep down in there somewhere, just waiting to come out and let me love her.

  When we step inside the house, she leads me to the kitchen.

  “Are you hungry?” she asks. “I made lasagna.”

  “Hungry for you,” I say, caressing her ass with my hand. She’s already gaining weight and I love her new curves. “I need a shower first. I came straight from work.”

  She leans into me and buries her nose in my shirt.

  “You smell like a man, and I’m sure as hell not complaining. But if you insist, I’ll get you a clean towel.”

  I follow her into the bathroom where she hands me a thick yellow towel. Instead of stepping out, she stands there leaning against the door. She smiles when I reach around to tug the shirt over my head.

  “Do you have some kind of a kinky thing for shirts?” I ask curiously.

  “Maybe,” she says slowly. “I’m definitely developing a kinky thing since I met you. But it’s not about the shirt.”

  I don’t have a clue what she’s talking about. I drop the shirt on the floor and unfasten my belt. Grabbing the buckle end, I pull it out through the loops quickly and double it up in my hand. I start to toss it on the floor too when I look over and catch the hazy look in her eyes.

  Whoa!

  She’s turned on by something.

  The belt?

  I slap it hard against my other hand and she jumps.

  “Sam?” she asks hesitantly. “What are you thinking? Don’t you dare.”

  She starts backing out of the bathroom when I move toward her.

  “I saw something flicker in your eyes,” I say. “Come here, Lila. You’ve been a bad girl.”

  She looks at me wide-eyed and shakes her head. “Oh hell no, you don’t,” she says before she turns and runs. She makes a mad dash for the bedroom and reaches the far side of the bed. I lunge for her, and she jumps up on the bed and rolls over to the other side. The king-sized bed is between us now, but I’ve blocked her escape out of the room.

  “So this is the way you want to play it?” I say. “You can’t run now. Time for your punishment. I’ve got you cornered.”

  I slap the belt against my leg.

  “You know you’ve been bad. From now on, you have to call me Master.”

  “How about from now on you call me Master,” she throws back at me.

  An image of Lila handcuffing me to the bed floats through my brain.

  “Okay,” I say with a shrug. “Want to do that now? I’m game if you are.”

  Laughter spills out of her, and she tries to make a run for it.

  “You suck at this so bad, Sam.”

  I crawl over the bed and grab her. Wrapping both arms around her chest, I attempt to drag her back down onto the bed with me. She struggles wildly, using all of her strength to fight against me. I’m being careful not to hurt her.

  “Damn, woman! You’re strong. Like one of those giant Amazonian women or something.”

  She’s struggling with me and my cock is throbbing. We’re both breathing hard and it’s all I can do to keep a grip on her. Any moment now, I’m expecting her to pull some crazy martial art shit and knock me off my ass. I wouldn’t put it past her to be able to do it. Underestimating her is always a mistake.

  “Sam,” she gasps. “Let me go, right now.”

  I tighten my arms around her lush breasts. They’ve grown bigger in a week’s time if that’s possible. I want to nuzzle my face between them.

  “Nope. You’re a bad girl, Lila. Call me Master.”

  “No! Never!”

  I drag her across my lap so that her body is lying facedown and her head is hanging down.

  “I mean it!” she says, her arms flailing wildly. “Turn me loose. I didn’t know you were into BDSM.” She tries to swat me and misses.

  I chuckle and jerk her shorts down. Bright red lacy panties cover her beautiful ass.

  Fuck! How I love a woman in red.

  “I’m not into BDSM, sweetheart,” I say. “I don’t even know what it stands for, so why don’t you tell me.”

  “If you don’t know, I’m sure as hell not telling you,” she yells with her head hanging upside down off the edge of the bed.

  Is she really mad?

  I can’t tell for sure. Guess I’ll find out. I toss the belt onto the floor.

  “Whoops! I dropped the belt.”

  I would never touch her beautiful skin with a belt, even while playing. I’ve b
een on the bad side of belts too many times in my life. I rub my hand in a circular motion across the silky red panties covering her ass.

  “If you won’t tell me, I’ll make up my own version of BDSM then. And as much as I love these pretty panties, they’re coming off right this instant.”

  I hold her firmly with my left arm and pull her panties down to her knees.

  “Okay, now let’s get back to my poem.”

  “Sam, I’m warning you. Let me go.”

  After massaging both of her ass cheeks with my hand, I slap her lightly on one cheek and then the other. Not hard enough to hurt, only enough to tingle a little. Hell, it probably hurts my hand more than it hurts her.

  “B stands for bad, and we both know you’re a bad girl.”

  I’m transfixed by the color change on her ass where I popped her.

  Maybe I should do it again.

  “D stands for damn, I sure love looking at your ass. Have I told you lately what a beautiful ass you have? The perfect size for my hands.”

  She struggles and squirms against my cock, but not quite as forcefully as before.

  I change the position of my arm to grip her tighter.

  “Lila, I swear to God, if you don’t stop squirming around in my lap, I’m going to cum in my jeans,” I warn. “Be still.”

  “You can’t make me,” she challenges.

  “Oh no, you did not just say that. Yes, I can make you do whatever I want.”

  I notice her movements have changed and instead of struggling against me, now she’s rubbing on me. The blood roars in my ears. I’m losing my concentration.

  “Let’s see now,” I say. “Where were we? S. That’s an easy one. S is for Sam of course.”

  “Did you fail Creative Writing class?” she says. “That doesn’t make sense.”

  “You’re right, it doesn’t. S should be for smack.”

  I smack her ass harder this time.

  “You shouldn’t have made fun of my word choices,” I say. “It hurt my feelings, so I had to spank you. What’s the last letter?”

  “M,” she whispers.

  I slide my hand down the crack of her ass and push a finger inside her tight pussy. She is so fucking wet for me.

  “M is for melting. My God, you feel like hot, melted butter.”