“Food, Ward,” I mutter against his mouth.
He grunts. “Makes me hard when you say my name, Hayden.”
I glance down between his legs and sure enough, he’s hard. I make a yelping sound, which only causes him to chuckle. He moves his head so that his lips are almost touching mine. “Tonight, you’re riding me, baby,” he murmurs against my lips.
“I am?” I breathe.
He grins, his teeth sinking into his bottom lip and his eyes, I swear they ignite. “Oh yeah, baby. You’re going to give me a fucking show tonight. I can’t hardly fucking wait.”
A shiver races up my spine from his words. A show. Me? I’ve never done that, not really, and he wants me to. I feel nervous, but beyond that, I feel downright giddy and excited. I can’t hardly fucking wait either. It’s going to be a really long day.
CROONER
Once we’ve eaten and cleaned up, I tell Hayden to put some shoes on. She looks at me a little confused, but I don’t let on about my plans. She packs the diaper bag for Easton and together we walk out of the trailer.
While she was showering, I found some houses for rent nearby, so I thought we could check them out. I’m not fucking around with her. I meant it when I said this is happening between us. I’m in one hundred percent, something I should have done a year ago.
“Where are we going?” Hayden asks from my side.
We’re walking slow as fuck. Easton wants to walk, which is fine by me, I’m actually enjoying the slow pace.
I take Hayden’s hand in my own and give it a squeeze. “Just up the road here,” I shrug.
We’re on Gracie and Fish’s street. When I found a place for rent so close to them, I decided to jump on it. Not only will it be convenient for Easton, but she won’t be too far away from the bar either. My next mission is to get her driving. I know she doesn’t have any clue how to drive, but she needs to learn.
When we arrive at the house, I stop in front of the walkway.
“Crooner?” she asks.
Tipping my chin down, I look at her. She has her lips pressed together and I smirk. “We’re just here to look. If you like it, then we’ll talk more,” I shrug.
I don’t give her a chance to respond. I walk straight toward the front door. Trying the door, I find it unlocked and continue inside. The house is empty, but it’s clean. Easton tries to run past me, but I scoop him up quickly.
“Mr. Bouchard?” the real estate agent asks, walking into the living area from the kitchen.
The real estate agent starts to tell us about the property. The deposits and the rules. Inside pets aren’t allowed, but if we’d like an outdoor one we can pay a pet deposit. Keeping my gaze on Hayden, I watch as she realizes what’s happening. Then I watch as she lifts her hand to cover her mouth.
“How many bedrooms do we have here?” I ask, keeping my voice low and even.
The agent smiles. “This is a three bedroom. Is this your only child?” she asks, looking from Easton to me.
“So far,” I shrug, wrapping my fingers around Hayden’s hand and tugging her against my side.
“This is a great starter family home. I think the three of you will be really happy here,” she grins.
I tip my chin down to Hayden again, giving her arm a little shake. “You want it, baby?” I ask.
“I just, I don’t know what to think,” she whispers.
The real estate agent slowly slips away from us, and I’m grateful not to have her eyes focused on us, or her ears on our conversation. Hayden turns toward me and lifts her hand, placing it on my chest while her head tips back.
“This is happening so fast,” she breathes.
“Been almost two years in the making, babe. I think we’re done taking shit slow, at least I am,” I shrug.
“You really want this? A readymade family, like this, sharing a house?”
Lifting my hand, I cup her cheek. “Baby, I was never not ready for the family part. I just never wanted to put my shit on you, to take over your life when you were just given your freedom. You and Easton, that is the easiest decision I’ve ever made,” I admit.
Her eyes fill with tears and she nods. “Okay. Let’s do it then. Oh my God, we’re really moving in together,” she grins.
My lips twitch in a smile as I lean down and brush them across her own. “Yeah, baby. We’re really moving in together. You’re mine and soon the world will know it when you wear my ink,” I smirk.
Hayden takes a step back and her lips press together and roll. I think she’s going to say that she doesn’t want my ink, but then her hand wraps around her hip where I know Lucifer’s name is permanently branded into her skin.
She opens her mouth to speak, but I beat her to it. “And you’re getting that shit covered up. He doesn’t exist anymore, and he doesn’t exist between us,” I growl.
“Covered up?” she asks.
“You can pick the design, something colorful if you want, something pretty. But that shit is getting covered. You don’t need the reminder.”
She glances down to her feet before she brings her eyes back up to me. “It’s a reminder, but not just of the bad things. It’s also a reminder of how far I’ve come,” she admits.
I would like to say that I’m a big enough man to accept that response. I understand where she’s coming from, but I’m not big enough to look at that reminder every day. I freely admit that I am not a big enough man to accept another man’s brand on my woman’s body.
“You’re covering it up,” I state.
She blinks, and I think she’s going to argue with me, but she doesn’t. Instead, she gives me a smile. “Okay, Ward, I’ll cover it up,” she smiles.
“Good,” I grunt.
I should feel like shit for demanding it, especially after her explanation of the way she sees those letters marked into her hip. I don’t. I want him fucking erased. He’s dead and gone, and I want his name gone too.
He hurt her, and I wasn’t able to torture him, to cause him the pain he caused her. I want everything about him fucking erased, including the memories of what he did to her. Since I obviously can’t eradicate those, his name needs to be gone.
The real estate agent appears with a handful of papers. “Did you make a decision?” she asks.
“We’ll take it,” I bark.
Easton tugs on my beard and the agent’s eyes widen at my gruff tone. Hayden clears her throat.
“It’s perfect for us. Yes, we’ll definitely take it,” she says with a gentler, softer tone.
I spend the next fifteen minutes filling out the paperwork while Easton and Hayden walk around the house, checking everything out. Then I see them go outside in the backyard and I swear to fuck; my heart skips a goddamn beat.
Easton is running around, and I imagine some playground equipment back there for him, maybe some motorized toy for him to tear shit up on.
This is what I want for him, for us.
This is what a real family is. They haven’t had the easiest start at life, but I plan on giving both him and Hayden smooth sailing from now on.
CHAPTER TWELVE
HAYDEN
If I could dream up a perfect day, today would have been it. Not only did it start with one of the best orgasms I’ve ever had, although all of them with Ward seem to be better than the last, it included him signing paperwork to rent a house, then we went to the park and played with Easton. Tonight, it ended with dinner and we’ve just tucked Easton into bed.
I sigh, flopping down on the couch next to Ward. His arm automatically wraps around my shoulders and he tucks me into his side. Laying my head on his chest I sigh, again. “This was the perfect day,” I say, announcing my thoughts aloud.
He chuckles. “It’s going to end with you riding my dick, so I have to wholly agree.”
My face heats at his words, even though he can’t see it. I’m completely nervous about that part of the night, and I’d kind of hoped he’d forgotten.
My breaths start coming out in pants as I try to concentrate on the te
levision. I have no clue what’s even playing, all I can think about is being on top of him, giving him a show, and completely disappointing him. I don’t want to disappoint Ward, not after waiting for so long for him to finally be mine.
“Let’s go to bed, baby,” he rasps, his voice deep and husky.
I watch as he holds the remote control up and turns off the television. He stands and helps me to my feet. My legs feel like Jell-O with each step I take, following him into the bedroom.
Ward locks the door behind me and I expect him to walk over to the bed and wait for me, but he doesn’t. He turns around and backs me up so that I slam against the door. One of his hands slips around the side of my neck and I shiver as I look into his dark blue eyes.
He lowers his head, running his nose along my own. “Baby, you’re overthinking everything,” he sighs before his lips brush mine.
I feel his hand slide across the waist of my jeans, and then he pops the button before unzipping them and shoving them over my hips and ass. When his hand dives into my panties, I let out a gasp as his fingers brush over my clit.
“I’m going to make you come, then you can ride me,” he breathes against my lips.
I whimper, giving him a nod as his fingers slide through my center. My eyes slowly flutter closed and my head falls back against the door as he fills me with two fingers. He stretches me, curling them inside before he begins to pump in and out of my body.
“Ward, oh God,” I moan.
He chuckles, I feel his breath fan my face, but I don’t care. It feels too good to care what he’s laughing about. My hips lift and meet his fingers’ thrust when his thumb presses against my clit I cry out. He continues to fuck me with his fingers, and it’s one of the most amazing feelings ever. Although his mouth on me was the absolute best feeling in the world, and I find that I wouldn’t mind that again.
As if he can read my mind, my eyes pop open when he removes his fingers from my center. I watch as he drops to his knees. He spins me around, shoves my pants and panties all the way down to my ankles. Then he wraps his fingers around my hips and tugs me back. I feel his tongue touch my clit and I let out a sob.
It doesn’t take me long, maybe a few flicks with his tongue before I’m coming all over his mouth. I grind down against him, my shyness completely abandoned and taking a hike. Dropping my head back, I cry out as I come long and hard against him.
He stands almost immediately, and I feel the head of his cock against my ass. “I want to take you like this, Hayden.”
“Do it,” I dare.
He groans, leaning forward and slapping his hand against the door next to my head while his lips are at my ear. “If you weren’t my woman, it’d be the only way we’d fuck. But you’re mine, and I get your pussy, so I think I’ll have you ride me.”
I’m confused by his words, the declaration seems pretty important, but my mind is in a foggy lusty haze right now. I wrap my hand around his wrist and tug it off of the door, guiding it between my legs. He cups my pussy with a groan.
“I need more, Ward,” I exhale.
“Come to bed, baby,” he says, taking a step back from me.
I step out of my jeans before I follow behind him. Grasping the hem of my top, I pull it off, then unhook my bra, dropping it to the floor. Ward divests himself of his clothes before crawling into the bed. I watch as he props a couple of pillows up behind his head and holds out his hand for me.
Shakily, I place my hand in his and crawl onto the bed, straddling his hips with my thighs. I can feel his hard length against my center and I suck in a trembling breath. Ward wraps his hands around my hips and lifts me up a little higher on my knees.
He moves one of his hands from my waist, lifting a foil packet to his mouth and tears the top off. He releases my waist completely and quickly slides the condom on. Then he aligns his cock with my center. I can’t take my eyes off of his as I sink down his length until I’m completely full of him.
His hands return to my waist and he grips me tightly. I know I’ll be bruised later, but I don’t mind. I’m unable to move immediately, enjoying the feeling of his dick stretching me, too much. It burns a little, but it also feels good, right.
“Baby, you need to move,” Ward grunts.
I lean over slightly, placing my hand on his chest as I slowly lift off of him then sink back down. We simultaneously moan at the sensation. I do it again, gasping when my clit brushes against his pelvis. I roll my hips, grinding down a little harder the next time. It feels so amazing. My fingernails dig into Ward’s skin as I try to gain traction.
Whimpering, I move a little faster, and a little harder. I don’t know if I’m giving him the show he wanted, but I can’t think of that right now. His hands slide up my sides and cup my breasts. He squeezes, and I shift to sit up a little straighter. The angle is a little different, causing me to moan as my head drops back.
He pinches my nipples, tugging on them and my belly flips. Lifting my hands, I wrap them around his wrists and continue to roll my hips, feeling my body heat and climb higher with each movement.
“Goddamn, babe,” Ward growls.
I’m too lost in the feeling, too gone searching for my release. I can feel it as I inch toward the edge, and my eyes close as my head falls back. He tugs a little harder on my nipples and it’s exactly what I need. My thighs shake as I cry out and come all around him. I can feel my pussy clench, and my entire body freezes.
Ward’s hands move to my waist and I yelp when he flips me onto my back. He lifts up and then drives his cock deep inside of me. I moan, spreading my thighs for him as he slams his hips against mine. He fucks me hard and fast.
My fingers hold onto his shoulders as he takes me. His lips crash against my own as he slams down one last time. I swallow his growl down my throat as he comes, hard, his release filling the top of the condom.
“Fuck,” he hisses, ripping his lips from my own.
“Ward,” I breathe, my eyes looking directly into his.
He blinks once. “You get my ink tomorrow,” he announces. “You’re mine. All of you,” he rasps.
My mouth drops open slightly, surprised by his declaration. I don’t fight him though. “Okay,” I whisper, my lips twitching into a smile.
He runs his nose along my own and my eyes close at the sensation. I love the way this feels, it’s sexier than kissing, more intimate too, it seems. I giggle when his beard tickles my face and wrap my arms around him, holding him close.
“I love you, Ward,” I say.
He freezes above me, and I do the same. I shouldn’t have said it. My breathing becomes short and I pinch my eyes closed, at the same time I press my lips together. He gently pulls out of me and I think that he’s going to leave me, but he doesn’t. He places his palm flat against the center of my chest. He’s on his knees between my spread thighs, and his eyes search mine before he speaks.
“I’m fucked up in the head. I know you don’t see it all yet, but you will. My parents are dead, so I can’t offer you any real family other than the club, and whatever babies I put inside of you.”
I sit up, placing both of my hands around the sides of his neck. “I can only offer you myself, Easton, and whatever babies you give me, Ward. I’ve got my own baggage, and I’ve worked through a lot of it, but I’m going to have my moments, rest assured. Whatever happens, as long as we’re together, we’ll come out on top,” I smile.
He dips his chin and presses his lips to mine, in a chaste, soft kiss. “Okay, baby. We got this.”
We clean up and crawl into bed. Ward slides in behind me, wrapping his arm around me and shoving his thigh between my own. I feel his beard against my neck and his lips brush my skin.
“I love you too, Hayden,” he mutters, lifting his hand to wrap around my breast, and squeezing.
CROONER
I hear a knock on the trailer door and Hayden buzzes around me to answer it. Lea, Gracie’s teenage daughter bounds inside. She and Hayden start chatting a million miles a minute abou
t Easton. Today I’m taking Hayden for her ink, I wasn’t fucking around when I said she was getting marked. I already set up the tattoo artist with what I want on her chest. I can’t wait to see it come to fruition, it’s going to be fucking gorgeous.
“Ready, Crooner?” Hayden asks after a few minutes.
I lift my chin, unsure if I like it when she calls me Crooner at all. The way she says my given name, makes my cock ache, but when she says Crooner, it just feels kind of flat and empty. I bend down to ruffle Easton’s hair, reminding him to be a good boy, before we go.
Once we’re outside, I guide Hayden over to my bike. I straddle it first, holding my hand out for her to help her behind me. She shimmies close to me and I groan when I feel her warm center press against my back, along with her tits.
Without another word, I start the engine and we ride toward the tattoo shop. The parking lot is empty when we arrive, but I’m not surprised since they’re actually closed today. Tank is the only artist I would trust to touch Hayden’s body with permanent ink. He’s done all of the Old Ladies, and most of the guys in the club too.
I help her off of the bike and together we make our way into the shop. “Hey brother, lock up so we don’t get any stragglers,” Tank calls out from his chair. I flip the lock closed before we head toward him.
He’s all set up for the job, including artwork to show Hayden like I asked. He looks up at her and gives her a grin. “We painting you today, darlin’?” he asks.
Hayden nods, clearing her throat. “Yes,” she says.
Tank pats his chair and she sinks down, obviously nervous. “I have a coverup that I’d like to do on my hip and then Crooner says he has an idea for the other one?”
Tank nods, pulling out the transfer sheet. I can see all of the design work, and it’s prettier than I imagined. I can’t wait to see it against her skin. “Croon said he wanted to do your entire chest with henna art. Shirt off, darlin’.”
Hayden lets out a shaky breath and I watch as she tugs her shirt off. She’s sitting in the chair, in only her bra, and I grind my teeth together. When I chose this spot, I didn’t think about her having to be topless during the entire process, I only thought about what it would look like after it was complete.
Chased with Strength: Notorious Devils (Cash Bar Book 2) Page 10