“Nothing happened, I promise,” Zander confessed. “I was confused, and believe it or not, I was scared - for the first time in my life,” he admitted. Amber was baffled…
“Wh... Why?” she stammered. “What scared you?”
“You,” he stated simply. “From the moment I saw you standing in Devin’s office, I was captivated by you. That one look was all it took and my heart no longer felt as empty. And it was all because of you. Then when we made love, I knew I was done for. There would never be another woman for me.” The words just kept pouring from his mouth and Amber sat in stunned silence.
“I was scared because you have no idea who I really am. What I do. I’m so afraid that once you see the real me, you’ll run. I was scared because the last woman I let into my life, shattered it by calling me a murderer, while I was laid up in a hospital bed recovering from almost getting my damn leg blown off in Afghanistan,” he confessed.
“Oh Zander...” she started, but he interrupted her.
“No, please. Just let me get this all out,” he asked, and Amber nodded her head. She would let him talk for now.
“Amber, you need a man that will be home every night. Who will sleep beside you every night, hold you in his arms every damn night. But I’m not that man,” he said, causing Amber’s heart to skip a beat. No, he can’t mean that.
She was about to speak up when Zander continued. “But I can’t let you go,” he whispers towards the floor.
Amber’s heart skipped another beat, but for a completely different reason. She didn’t want him to let her go.
“My job is dangerous. Sometimes I am gone for several days. I kill people. That’s what I do. I take care of the ugly parts in the world, the parts that the government can’t handle without looking bad or starting wars. We aren’t necessarily the good guys, but we aren’t bad either. We serve a brand of justice, our own justice, Henchmen justice - against those that have more money than they know what to do with. That have the means to pay off state and government officials so they are never held accountable for their actions. That’s what we do,” he stated, looking deep into her eyes, pleading for her to understand.
Amber slowly pulled herself into a seated position. She needed to get to Zander. To touch him.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Trying to get up,” she told him.
“No. Don’t do that,” he said coming to her aide.
Zander knelt beside her on the floor. It was as good as she was going to get at the moment. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, Amber buried her face in his neck. She did understand. To her, he was a hero. Seeking justice for victims that may never get it otherwise. A true hero.
“Zander, I already know what you do and who you are. And I still love you. It changes nothing,” Amber said quietly.
“You love me?” Reaper whispered, surprised.
“Yes,” she said with a smile, “Very much, you big doofus.”
Zander wrapped his arms around Amber and pulled her close. He buried his own face against her and breathed in her scent. Lavender with the perfect hint of honeysuckle. And his world felt so right.
“I love you too Amber, with everything I am. With everything I will ever be.” Zander kissed her like her lips were oxygen and he was a man dying for his next breath.
As he helped her to lay back on the bed, he just stared at her. She could read the emotions - love, pride, peace - and so many more reflecting back at her; and she hoped hers matched his. Zander quickly stripped off his boxers, and then removed Amber’s panties.
“I promise, I’ll go slow,” he groaned when she scraped her nails down his back.
“I don’t care about slow, Zander. I just want you,” she purred in his ear.
He kissed her deeply, moving his tongue against hers, as his other hand traveled farther down her body. He found her sensitive folds and slid one, then two fingers inside her. He let out a loud moan when he found her dripping wet.
“I love how your body responds to me,” he said, kissing over her jaw and down the column of her neck.
“Please Zander. I need you,” she pleaded. And who was he to deny his woman?
Zander carefully lifted her legs over his forearms and positioned himself at her entrance. In one smooth slide, he was buried completely inside her. Both moaned from the pleasure and pain of the intrusion.
Zander began to move, each stroke was a slow, powerful glide. Over and over again Zander and Amber became one. Joined not only in body, but on some level their souls seemed to come together, too. Their hearts constantly reaching out for the other. This was a moment Amber would never forget. A moment when everything finally fell into place, and the world seemed to brighten around her.
Out of nowhere, without warning, her orgasm hit. Arching her back off the bed, she screamed his name. Zander continued stroking through the aftershocks, drawing out Amber’s pleasure.
Another wave of pleasure crashed into her as Zander started moving faster. Each stroke more commanding than the last. Over and over until the room was filled with the sounds of their breathy moans and skin pounding against skin. The ache in Amber’s body had long been forgotten. The only thing that mattered was her and Zander.
“You’re mine Peaches. Today, tomorrow, and always - you belong to me!” Zander said, biting the lobe of her ear.
Just when Amber didn’t think she could take anymore, Zander sent her over the edge again and tensed above her. With a grunt, she felt him empty himself deep inside her, calling her name.
Both collapsed to the bed in total exhaustion. Zander moved to her side so he wouldn’t squish her under his weight and slowly pulled her against his chest. He rubbed his fingers across her cheek, and kissed her nose. Amber closed her eyes and fell into a contented sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Reaper
It had been two weeks since Amber had been taken and Reaper still wasn’t over it entirely. He still couldn’t believe how lucky he was. Staring down at the woman asleep in his arms, he can still remember how scared he was that he wouldn’t get there in time.
He would have never been able to forgive himself if something would have happened to Amber. He carried guilt over not being there to protect her in the first place and guilt over Diesel getting shot. But both his girl and his friend were going to be just fine. So, he was learning to let it go. He was trying.
Reaper laid in bed staring at Amber for a long time. Contemplating the future, he made a mental note to head to the jewelry store. He had every intention of making this woman his wife. Of building a family with her.
Since returning to the clubhouse two weeks ago, they had never used protection. Amber hadn’t said anything, and neither had he. If he was honest with himself, he would love to see her pregnant with his child. She made him a better man and for that, he would give her the world.
There was a soft knock at the door. Reaper grumbled, hating to leave Amber’s side. This better be important. Climbing out of the bed, he slipped on his boxers and pulled open the door.
“Sorry to interrupt, but we have an issue,” Sledge said.
“Okay, your job is to solve issues. Mine is to eliminate them. So unless someone needs a bullet to the head, or some kickass interrogating, I’m going back to bed.” Reaper was about to close the door, when Sledge’s hand halted his movement.
“Come on Devin, I just got home from a three-day assignment. All I want to do is snuggle up with my woman,” Reaper pleaded.
He knew he sounded like a bitch, but he really didn’t care. He missed Amber while he was away and wanted nothing more than to wrap himself around her and stay there until the sun came up. One day, Sledge would find his own woman, and he would finally understand.
“Rebecca is here,” Sledge stated flatly.
Reaper just looked at him. Before Amber, that name would have sent him off the deep end. It would have shredded his insides. But now, it meant nothing. Amber helped to heal his broken pieces. She chased away his de
mons.
“Rebecca? As in my ex, Rebecca?” Reaper asked.
“Same one,” Sledge replied.
Raising an eyebrow, Reaper said the honest truth. “I don’t care. My life is in this room, man. Send her on her way.”
“Zander, you at least need to go see what she wants,” Reaper heard from behind him.
Amber was sitting up in the bed with the sheet pulled around her to hide all her lovely lady bits. Reaper was getting hard just looking at her. She always managed to take his breath away.
“Peaches, I have no reason to see her. I don’t care what she wants,” he told her.
“Zander, she may need your help,” Amber tried to tell him.
Turning back to Sledge, he said, “Unless she or someone else needs to be killed, send her on her way.” Sledge nodded his head and walked away.
There was no way he was even getting near that woman again. If she needed something, someone else could help her. Reaper wasn’t interested in anything that had to do with her. He was done. He had everything he wanted, everything he needed, everything he had once dreamed of - right in his bed.
“Now,” he said, shutting the door and locking it behind him. “What are you doing awake, my heart?” he asked, as he slowly walked towards the bed, stalking Amber as if she were prey.
“You woke me up when you climbed out of bed,” she said with a pout.
Reaper eased forward, sucking her bottom lip between his teeth, nipping it, then letting it pop from his mouth. He loved the taste of her. Pure heaven.
“I am so sorry baby. I’ll make it up to you. I promise,” Reaper said, trailing small kisses and nips down her throat and into the valley between her breasts.
Pulling one nipple into his mouth, he ran the flat of his tongue across her, hearing a breathy moan escape her lips. Using his other hand, he tweaked her nipple causing her to suck in a breath. Damn! Her noises drove him crazy!
Reaper moved his way down her body, kissing a path down her stomach and across her hips. Watching goosebumps covered her flesh. The scent of her arousal heavy in the air.
Reaper kept moving south, her tender flesh was his destination. Reaching the small bundle of nerves, he sucked it into his mouth. Working it with his tongue as he slid two fingers through her wetness.
Amber’s moans were getting louder. It was all music to Reaper’s ears. He loved his woman like this. He worked her over with his mouth and fingers until she finally broke apart under him. Only when Amber pulled his hair did he finally ease away.
“Do you have any idea what your moans do to me?” he asked as he slowly moved up her body.
“Oh, I have a good idea,” she said, reaching out and taking his cock in her hand.
Reaper hissed through his teeth. “Baby, I need to be inside of you,” he said.
Amber guided him to her. Entering her tightness, Reaper knew this was where he was always meant to be. With this woman, he felt complete. And Reaper would make sure he spent every day of the rest of his life ensuring his woman knew exactly what she meant to him.
Using his body, he showed Amber all of his love and devotion, his loyalty and protection. With his body he gave her his heart and soul, over and over again, multiple times throughout the night.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Epilogue
Four Months Later...
Reaper looked across the house and his eyes landed on the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. His woman. Seventeen weeks pregnant and he couldn’t be happier. Not too long ago, he hated this place, now it was where all of his family, his Brothers, were gathered to honor him and his new bride. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked into the eyes of his brother-in-law.
“What’s up man?” he asked Sledge.
“Congratulations Brother! I’m proud of you. I just wanted you to know that,” Sledge told him.
Reaper smiled. “Thanks man,” he said, looking back at his wife. “She’s breathtaking. I have no idea how I got so lucky, but I will spend the rest of my life worshipping her.”
“I know Brother-in-law.” Sledge couldn’t be happier for them, and had said so many times.
Amber turned to see Zander smiling in her direction. What a difference a few months could make. They had spent many nights talking, building an unbreakable bond.
He told her of his life as a Navy SEAL, about the mission that was compromised by a leak in the US government, about the bullet that ripped through his leg in the ambush. He opened up to her in a way he never did with anyone else. And it felt right, safe. He knew that Amber was his no matter where life took them.
Reaper excused himself from his brother-in-law, and walked across the dance floor to his wife, their song was starting to play on the jukebox. He wrapped her in his arms, not caring that she was in the middle of a conversation, and carried her out to the dance floor. Setting her feet on the floor, he pulled her in close and started to grind against her.
Amber began to sway her hips, moving so her back was to his front. There in front of the Devil’s Henchmen, Reaper and his wife moved together like they were making love with their clothes on while Ride by Chase Rice blasted through the surround sound.
Later, he would play it again and make love to her until she was too tired to even lift a finger. This was his life now. His broken and damaged soul, mended by the beautiful, curvaceous woman in his arms. Life was definitely good! And the future was looking even better.
Sledge watched as the two danced, he really couldn’t be happier for them. His best bud and his sister. They made a perfect match.
“Hey Sledge, there’s some chic at the door for you,” Diesel said. Sledge was happy to see him back at the clubhouse after he was shot trying to protect Amber a few months back.
“For me?” Sledge asked. Who the hell would be asking for him, he wondered as he made his way through the house.
Pulling open the door, he came face to face with the last person he thought he would ever see again - Beth. The woman who took his heart and walked away from him eight years ago, without so much as an explanation.
“Beth?” he couldn’t believe it. “What are you doing here?” he demanded. He knew his voice sounded harsh, but he couldn’t help it. This woman destroyed him, and now she was standing on his doorstep!
His mind flashed back to the last day he saw her. She was beautiful then, but she was even more so now. Before she was lean but curvy. Now, she filled out in all the right places. Hips that were made for a man to grab ahold to, breasts that were heavier and more than a handful. Her heart-shaped face was still the same though. She still had the ability to take his breath away. Shaking his head, he cleared the images in his mind. That was the past. It would never be his future. Not again.
“Devin... I... I...” she stammered, “We need your help.”
“We?” he asked, and then noticed she wasn’t alone. Standing behind her was a young boy. A child who was Sledge’s exact image. Sledge felt the world tilt. He looked from the boy to Beth and then back to the boy. Could it be? Why didn’t she ever tell him?
******
Don’t miss the next book in the Devil’s Henchmen series - ‘The President’.
Devin “Sledge” Parks is the President of the Devil’s Henchmen MC. He’s led teams into enemy territories around the world. Battled demons most people know nothing about. Sledge fears nothing. Until he is face to face with the one woman he knows can destroy him. The one woman who stole his heart and walked away eight years ago, like it meant nothing.
Elizabeth (Beth) Andrews never thought she would see Devin again. But now she needs help. After witnessing a murder committed by a powerful man, she takes her son and flees. She knows Devin is the only thing that stands between her and death. But how will he react when he finds out the truth about her son?
Will he protect her? Or, will he slam the door in her face?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Samantha McCoy spends her days playing taxi driver and refereeing her last two remaining teenagers at home
. Both of which, she home schools. A mother of three; she stays fairly busy. Samantha lives in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, right off of Lake Buchanan. When she doesn’t have her nose buried in a book, either reading or creating; she can be found working long hours on Books and Babes Promotions. A company and blog she started after witnessing the struggles of many new writers and models in the Indie Industry.
If you would like to learn more about Samantha
and her upcoming releases,
check out her page on Facebook!
The Enforcer (Devil's Henchmen MC Book 1) Page 9