by Jennifer Ann
Lips curling with a grin, he says, “Your surprise isn’t here yet. Should be another twenty minutes.”
“A lot can happen in twenty minutes,” I say, lifting my eyebrows.
Head dipping low, his beautiful eyes lock with mine. “You still hurtin’?”
“Shut up and kiss me,” I say, fisting his t-shirt and yanking him the rest of the way down. When he falls to his side, I nudge him onto his back, and quickly go to work in removing his jeans before stripping my own clothes.
Hot damn. Colt looks so damn breathtaking sprawled on the bed in all his naked glory. All for me. I straddle him naked, hair fanned over his chest as I lean down to run my lips and tongue across his tattooed arm. He strokes my head with one hand, my breast with the other. “God, you’re so fucking beautiful,” I pant between kisses and licks.
Growling when I rub my wet pussy over him, Colt yanks on my hair to bring my mouth up to his. Instead of kissing me, however, he stares into my eyes with an intensity that pieces my soul. It’s as if he can see all of me—inside and out—with just one look. I feel vulnerable yet beautiful and loved.
Hungry for his kisses, I run my fingers over the scruff on his face. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“When this is over—once Axel’s in jail and I’ve quit the ATF—I want you to have my last name. Maybe someday, my baby.” His eyes dance as his sexy lips bend with his most boyish of smiles. “Never thought I was the type to settle down until you came along. I don’t want to go through this life without havin’ you at my side. The accident reminded me there’s no promise of tomorrow. I want to lock this shit down as soon as humanly possible. I wanna marry you, darlin’.”
Holy shit. Nearly choking on a sharp breath, I touch his face. For someone who never believed in fairy tales, it’s crazy that I suddenly feel like I’m getting my happily ever after. I have no idea if I want children or not, but the idea of being this gorgeous man’s wife sends me to a new level of happy I didn’t think would be possible after the shit I’ve gone through.
“You forget I’m an ex con,” I remind him. “What if you don’t quit your job? What would they say? Think about it, Colt.”
Still grinning, he leans in to kiss me softly. “You really think I give a shit? I know the story, sweetheart. We’ll both have to figure out who we are and where we’re headin’ next, especially if the club doesn’t take me in after they learn the truth. Whatever happens, I want you at my side. We’ll have a fresh start together.”
My heart thuds when he traces the curve of my breast. “I don’t know if I want kids,” I confess among quickened breaths. “The world can be a cruel place.”
“I’ll take you either way, just s’long as you’re mine.”
“Jesus.” I shake my head in disbelief. “This is too surreal. We just fucking met. How can you be so sure this is what you want?”
Cradling my face in his hands, he laughs. “Is it what you want?”
I look into the beautiful pools of blue that remind me of the ocean and so easily claimed my heart from the beginning, and nod. “Yeah. It is.”
“Then don’t question it, just believe that we met for a reason. I’ve known couples who dated for five years before they married, and it ended in a quick divorce. My parents knew each other for a month before they decided to tie the knot. Time doesn’t matter when your heart knows it’s right. This thing between us is unstoppable. I say we stop fightin’ it and move ahead.”
Tears fill my eyes. “I fucking love you,” I whisper.
“I know,” he answers, chuckling. “And nothin’ could make me happier than to call you my wife.”
His wife. Am I really cut out for this?
All at once he hooks my body with his good arm and flips me around to my back in some kind of military move. My laughter is absorbed by his greedy mouth and tongue. I swear it’s the best kiss we’ve shared to date as I can feel how much he loves me in the way he’s tender, yet passionate.
When he breaks the kiss, we’re both panting for our breaths. He lowers down, delivering soft kisses to nearly every inch of my skin. I arch my back and grab the sheets in my fists when he moves between my legs, licking and stroking me in the expert way only Colt can. He’s the first man who seems to enjoy pleasuring me that way—like I’m his favorite flavor of ice cream. The idea that this could be the way things are for the rest of our lives adds to the delightful feeling of his tongue against my clit, hurrying the process along so I’m coming before long, yelling his name and shaking beneath him.
In the blink of an eye, he’s back at my mouth, kissing me as I float back down to earth. I eagerly reach down for his hard cock and guide it inside of me, moaning with the friction against my twitching nerves.
“Oh, baby,” I mewl, dragging my fingernails against his back.
His body contracts above me in a beautiful blur of muscles and tattoos as he pushes in and out. “Tell me yes, darlin’. Tell me you’ll be mine.”
“Hell yes,” I answer, meeting his impassioned gaze. “I’m already yours.” Always and forever.
Our eyes don’t break contact as he quickens his thrusts, one hand on the back of my neck and the other set against my jaw. As I reach orgasm a second time, joy bursts through my heart. Colt roars my name with a heart-stopping look of intensity that I’ll remember until the day I die.
As crazy as it sounds, it feels as if he’s branded my heart with that look, and it something that can’t be undone. By the time he settles in the bed at my side, pulling me into the comfort of his hulking arms, I’m weeping tears of joy and disbelief against his chest.
A week ago, I had nothing. Now my heart overflows with love that outshines the sorrow of losing a loved one. How is it possible my life changed so quickly?
“Didn’t know I could ever be this happy,” Colt whispers between kisses to the top of my head. It feels like hours pass as we hold each other. Time stops and the world revolves solely around us as we let it sink in that we’ve declared to spend the rest of our lives together, however long that may be.
After a time, there’s a knock at the door. Colt contracts his arms around me before he tears out of bed, slipping into his jeans and shirt like there’s a fire. His serious gaze locks with mine. “Whatever happens, I need you to remember how much you trust me. I said I’d do anything for you, and I meant it.” When he’s fully dressed, he comes over to the bed and kisses me gently. “Hope you’re ready for this, darlin’.”
Curiosity peaked, I quickly dress after he leaves the room and finger comb my post-sex hairdo in the mirror. Stepping from the bedroom, I stop dead in my tracks, nearly tripping over my feet.
Standing at Colt’s side, staring back at me with impossibly wide eyes, is the lying bitch who had me sent to prison, someone I once considered to be my best friend.
35
Shawna has put on a few pounds since the last time I saw her sitting in the courtroom for my sentencing, though I suppose motherhood does that to every woman. White-blond hair that always made her look a little cheap and easy has been replaced by a shade of warm brown much closer to her natural eyebrow color. It’s fashionably styled in waves that spill across her shoulders. Even her usual harsh makeup has given way to a tasteful dusting of blush and light liner around her hazel eyes.
In a silk tank top and pencil skirt, expensive-looking heels, and large diamonds scattered across her fingers and ears that are nearly blinding when they catch the sunlight, it would seem she’s stumbled onto a shit-ton of money.
If it weren’t for the way she gapes at me, skin paled and eyes the size of coffee cups, I may think I’m only imagining Shawna instead of seeing her in real life. After a stunned moment of studying her, it sinks in that I’m finally looking at the person who single-handedly ruined my life. Blinding rage strikes my core as I race toward her.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I roar. “Why’d you do it?”
Terror seizing her petite features, Shawna shuffles backwards until she’s slamm
ed up against the door. Colt steps between us before I get a chance to wrap my hands around her neck and show her a glimmer of the pain I had to endure because of her lies.
“Hold on, darlin’,” Colt coos, taking me by the arms. “Take a minute to cool off. You’re gonna want to hear what she has to say.”
“May as well send her back to whatever hole you found her in!” Lips curled, I desperately try to glare at her over Colt’s thick shoulder. “I won’t believe a word that comes out of that lying bitch’s mouth!”
Gentle eyes do their best to comfort me before Colt leans in to whisper, “You have to. Her testimony could be the ticket to throwin’ your brother in jail.” Backing off a little, he dips his chin with a stern glare. “Promise me you’re gonna shut that beautiful mouth of yours and keep your hands to yourself while she explains.”
I jerk away from him and cross my arms. It’s going to take a small miracle to resist murdering her. “Fine,” I say, pressing my lips into a straight line.
Small smile set on his face, Colt takes my hand and nods at my old friend. “Come sit down. It’ll be okay. I’ll keep her in line.” He leads me to the modern leather couch and pulls me down to sit at his side as Shawna takes the matching winged chair across from us.
The prissy way she sits tall, crossing her legs at the ankle, and setting her hands in her lap, makes me want to vomit. She’s nothing like the wild, carefree friend I knew in college who grew up in a trailer park and loved tequila shots. Though her movements are precise and proper, like that of someone who went through boarding school, all color has been washed from her face as she stares back at me.
“Looks like you found yourself a rich husband,” I comment, glaring into her hazel eyes. “Did you con him into thinking you’re someone else too?”
“Harley, I’m sorry,” she says in a quiet, unwavering voice. “If there’s any way I could go back and do things differently—”
“There’s nothing you can do to take back the three years you stole from my life,” I hiss, squeezing Colt’s hand with a bolt of anger. “You have no clue what it’s like to lay in bed at night, listening to the sounds of women crying because of god knows what. You’ve never had to worry that you looked at a gang member the wrong way at lunch, and they’re waiting to come slit your throat in your sleep. Someone like you wouldn’t survive one hour of having to shit in front of a perverted cellmate, or shower beside two women as they’re having sex so violent that you pray they don’t decide to drag you into it. Your apology can’t do a thing to erase the scars that place gave me, so you can fucking save your pathetic breath.”
I’m pleased when tears fill Shawna’s eyes and her lips quiver slightly. I’d much rather throw her down to the floor and give her the same kind of greeting I received my first night in prison, even though it would land me a legit sentence that I couldn’t live with, and would tear me away from Colt.
Thumb methodically brushing over the back of my hand, Colt glares at her. The way he stiffened beside me as I told Shawna about prison life, I could feel his reluctance not to pull me into his arms. “Tell Harley everything you told me on the phone.”
“The set-up wasn’t my idea,” she confesses, looking down as her hands wrench a clutch purse that’s probably worth three times more than my Harley jacket. “Some girl approached me on campus a few weeks after you and I met. She knew about some of my family’s darkest secrets and threatened to contact the police if I didn’t do everything she asked. At first I thought she was going to play some kind of prank or something, so I agreed to help. I never thought it would be something that serious, and I couldn’t let her rat my mom out.”
“Because you’d rather send a friend down the river than your dear mother,” I sneer.
Meeting my gaze, Shawna shakes her head slowly. “I’ve never been a big fan of my mom’s, but after my brother left for the Army, she was the only thing that kept my little sister from getting the snot beat out of her by my mom’s alcoholic boyfriend. Mom would’ve killed the son of a bitch before she’d let him lay on hand on Desiree. I never would’ve left for college if I wasn’t a hundred percent sure of that.”
All at once, I feel the tiniest pang of sympathy. “Why didn’t your mom just take your little sister and leave?” I ask.
“I tried talking her into leaving him a million times, but she was on disability from a car accident when I was little, and didn’t have enough money to live on her own. She was always a little messed up in the head, thought she deserved getting hit like that. Once I tried arranging for her to get outside help through the school counselor, but Leroy found out, and broke my arm for telling our business to strangers.”
Hands pressed to her forehead, she inhales a sharp breath before looking up again. Hatred for her mom’s boyfriend burns through her gaze. “I stopped trying to understand her reasoning when she landed in the hospital with a bunch of broken ribs my senior year. He did it after discovering she was planning my graduation party. She’s one of those who could find an excuse for every time he hit her. She had it in her head they were soul mates even though everyone but her could see he was a useless piece of garbage.”
The woman sitting in front of me definitely doesn’t sound anything like the friend who was once afraid of her own “abusive” boyfriend. Shaking with anger, I ask, “Daryl didn’t really beat you, did he?”
Shawna looks down at her shoes, shaking her head. “That was all my mom’s boyfriend. It was part of the lie I was forced to tell.”
“Who was the girl blackmailing you?” Colt asks her.
“She told me to call her Judy, but she giggled when she said it like there was some kind of inside joke. I only saw her a couple of times in person. She was always wearing oversized sunglasses so I couldn’t get a good look at her face. She’d call me from random numbers, and would never talk for very long. She was so young that I often wondered if she was working for someone else. She knew too much to be doing it alone.”
Colt’s eyebrows furrow. “Any details about this girl you can remember that might’ve stood out? What kind of vehicle she drove, what she wore, anything unusual she might’ve said? Any mention of how she knew Harley or why she wanted to hurt her?”
“She never really said anything about Harley other than her name, but it was obvious how much she hated her.” Her eyes flash between me and Colt a few times as if quickly asking for his protection. “She couldn’t say Harley’s name without scowling. She mentioned the Inferno Glory motorcycle club more than once though. The way she’d talk about it was like she had some kind of obsession with either the place or the members. I couldn’t quite figure it out. I never saw her driving—she was always on foot. She wore what any high school girl around that time would wear, I guess. You know, torn jeans and tight fitting tops. Even though I got the feeling she might be a little slutty, I could tell she was really pretty without the glasses.”
“What’d she look like?” Colt asks.
“Her hair was usually tucked inside one of those ugly trucker hats, but I could see it was blond. She was tiny—not just skinny, but really short—but had giant breasts that were obviously fake. Like double Ds. It was almost a miracle she could stand upright without toppling over. She caught me staring at them one time and laughed, made the comment that her step-daddy paid for them. It was gross how she acted like it was so hilarious. That’s when I first realized she was really messed up in the head and I started to worry what she was planning to do to Harley.”
Pulling in a sharp breath, I clamp onto Colt’s thigh with my free hand. “Holy. Shit.”
At the same time, Colt and Shawna frown at me and ask, “What?”
Memories of the day Kandi and the other old ladies took me to the strip club to meet Logan flicker through my mind and suddenly it makes perfect sense. I turn to Colt, shaking my head. “Cheyenne told me the exact same thing about her tits. I remember thinking there must be a really twisted story behind why a step parent would do such a thing. Jesus, Colt! That must be wh
y she kissed you in the hospital! She’s trying to hurt me!”
“Thunder’s Cheyenne?” Jaw lagging, Colt’s confused blue eyes volley between mine. “Why? For what? How does she know you?”
“I have no clue,” I admit, wishing I knew the answer to any of his questions. “I’ve never met her before—not that I can remember anyway. I have no fucking clue what she’d have against me.”
As a raw, burning emotion crawls into my throat, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I should’ve known better when she pretended to be my friend before she went after Colt. I should’ve stuck with my instinct to hold everyone at arm’s length instead of letting them under my skin like some kind of naive idiot. A tsunami of rage clenches my rib cage. That fucking little bitch. I should have knocked her on her skinny ass when I had a chance.
Colt takes my face in his hands. A sudden fire lights behind his eyes, making it undeniably clear he’s capable of great darkness. “Don’t you worry, darlin’. I’m gonna do whatever it takes to find out.” His eyes narrow and his nostrils flair. “Then I’m gonna make sure she pays for what she did to you.”
Part V
Revenge & Love
36
HARLEY
Three years ago, when my friend Shawna sat on the stand in the small courtroom and told boldfaced lies to the jury, I would’ve done anything for a chance to confront her, and ask her why in the hell she betrayed me, destroying our friendship. Though she was too much of a coward to make eye contact with me, I’m pretty sure she could feel my hateful stare burning through her like flames filtering in hell the way she squirmed.
Now that I’ve had a chance to hear her side and learn the pathetic story of how she was only trying to protect her younger sister from being beaten by her mom’s creep of a boyfriend, I almost feel sorry for her. Even though she was a victim of sorts, however, she should’ve had the courage to stand up to the abusive bastard since her mom wouldn't.