Daddy Protector: MC Romance (Pythons MC)

by Sadie Savage

  The detective pursed his lips. “You know that for sure? How?”

  Julia gave him a long and level look. “He’s my brother,” she said softly. “That’s how.”

  Chapter 15

  Three weeks had passed since the shootout. Julia stood in the bathroom of Ace’s apartment, staring at the stick she held. The test was positive. She was pregnant!

  Her eyes widened and she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She didn’t know how she felt. Part of her was ecstatic but the other part was very scared. Ace had always been careful not to have kids. He had told her, not so long ago, that he had never wanted them because his own childhood had been a mess.

  His father had bene in prison for most of Ace’s life, and still was. His mother had not wanted to care for her kids and her sister had been equally careless with margo. Ace had said he was afraid he would mess a kid up, and now they were going to have one.

  Julia left the bathroom and headed through the apartment. The house was quiet. Now that Walker was in jail waiting for trial and with all the complaints the Son’s had toned down their business a lot. They had had to. The cops that were on their payroll were scant protection right now. They’d managed to withdraw from the dope trade for the moment, which suited Ace to a T. They still had a whle lot fo other things going on and the legit businesses were doing well, well enough that money was nto an issue.

  Julia had told the cops where to find the guns and a few more things, trading secrets for the lives of Ace and his crew. She did nto have to testify and other than a few people nobody knew just how deep her betrayal of Walker went. She knew and there were times when that weighed heavily on her. Blood was supposed ot be blood but the only blood she felt tied to was the blood that bound her to the Son’s, and the love that kept her tied to Ace.

  She stepped into the living room. Ace sat at a small desk, a computer program was up and running on the desk top in front of him. He looked up at her as she entered and stood there.

  He said, “I meant to ask you how class went today.”

  “Great. I learned a few things.” Her hands twisted together and she bit her lips. “I need to talk to you.”

  “Shoot.”

  She gnawed at her lips. “You remember that first night we were together? And the next day?”

  “Yeah why?”

  “I wasn’t on birth control. I’m still not and when you found that out you started using condos”

  He frowned. “So?”

  “So we didn’t use condoms that first night or that next day either.”

  Ace’s eyed held a puzzled expression. Then that expression cleared and shock took its place. Julia’s heart sank. He asked, “Are you saying…are you saying that you are pregnant?”

  Tears stung her eyes. Her teeth chewed at her lip. “Yes.” She held her breath, hoping he would say something but silence spun out between them. Her legs squeezed together and her heart beat sped up, moving faster and making her slightly dizzy.

  Ace stood up. His chair banaged a little as it settled. He walked to the windows and stared out, not speaking. Julia felt wetness roll down her cheeks. He was angry then. This was not what he wanted and she had known it would not be. He had been clear that being a father was not for him that he would screw it up and that the last thing he wanted to do was ruin some poor kid’s life by being a bad father.

  She could not think of a single thing to say to him just then. She wanted to reassure him that he was a good man and that he was be a good father but she was afraid to speak.

  Finally he did. He said, in a heavy voice. “I’m in my forties Julia.”

  “I know that.” She swallowed hard. “I’m not even twenty and yet we have made that work. I mean I know it’s not easy…I…” She fell silent.

  Ace’s shoulders went tight with tension. “My dad never did a goddamn thing for me. I never had a father. I don’t even know how to be a father. I mean, what do you to be a dad? I don’t know.”

  “I don’t really know what to say.” It was true. She didn’t. he didn’t want this child growing inside her. She could feel that and it hurt. She did. She wanted that baby. She had never considered being a mother but now that she knew that she was going to be, she wanted it. There was a lot to think about. She had to figure out how to stay in her classes and make her dreams of being a clothing designer come true. She had to figure out how to be a mother and to not let the bad things in their lives touch her child. She had to figure out a way to make Ace accept that having a baby was not such a horrible thing and it was the last part that had her the most stumped.

  Ace turned to face her. His face was pale. He said, “What if I fuck this kid up?”

  “You won’t.” It was all she had to offer.

  Ave looked away form her face then back. One hand ran through his thick hair. He said, “I’ll be sixty when it gets out fo high school. Oh my God, what if it is a girl! I don’t know anything about girls!”

  “I don’t know anything about boys.” Relief had begun to trickle through her. She was scared and so was he but he was nto saying she had to get an abortion or arguing that maybe the baby was not his, all the things men sometimes did when the subject came up.

  Ace let out a shaky laugh. “I guess…I guess we will have to figure out how to get a crib up those damn stairs, huh?”

  She blinked. Had he just said what she thought he had? She whispered, “Are you sure?”

  He asked, “Are you?”

  She took a long and steadying breath. “I am. I’m scared as hell too though. I mean, I’m so young and…and I don’t know much about raising a child with its father. All I ever really remember was being the daughter of a single mom. So I don’t know what to do wither. I don’t know…like what happens when I get fat? Will you still want to be with me?’

  He blinked. Then he burst into laughter. “Did you ask me if I would still want you if you get fat?”

  “Yeah,” her arms crossed over her chest in a defensive gesture. “I mean women gain weight when they get pregnant you know.”

  Ace kept right on laughing. Julia dropped her arms and stared at him. “What’s so funny?”

  “That you would think that I would nto want you. I have news for you, I want you all the time. I wouldn’t care how you looked either. In fact, I want you right now.”

  She went into his arms. His hands led her to the bedroom and she went gladly, her body already fired up with lust and joy.

  Ace’s hands went to her clothes. He stripped her neatly, leaving her shivering with every garment that dropped away. Her nipples pressed upward, the taut peaks so stiff that they almost stung.

  His tongue found them, his mouth surrounded them and the pressure combined with his clever tongue stroking across those pink points made her squirm with pleasure. He didn’t stop there. His tongue moved lower and she went down on the bed, the backs of her knees hitting the edge before she managed to get onto the narrow length of it.

  His mouth found her labia and then his tongue was moving inside of her, parting her soaked lips to find her clitoris. His tongue circled it while his fingers moved inside of her, adding friction to the sensations already coursing through her.

  Julia surrendered to the moment. His hands and mouth continued to move against her flesh, eliciting little gasps from her as he massaged the throbbing bud harder and faster while his fingers thrust deeper within her coral hued inner walls.

  Her legs spread wider, her breath came faster, and she could smell the raw and powerful aroma of her body, the rich scent of arousal coming from the fluids leaking down the cleft between her buttocks.

  His hair was under her fingers. She stroked it and let her fingers wander lower so that she could feel the muscles in his jaws working as he took her to an even greater height. Her heels dug into the thin mattress, her body arching as she neared a climax.

  “I love you,” the words spilled from her lips. “No matter what Ace, I will always love you.”

  The words surprised her but they a
lso made a coil of emotion she had never known loosen in her belly, adding even more sweetness to the moment. His breath blew against her wet flesh, warm and exciting. He said, “I will love you way beyond this life Julia,” and then his mouth went back to her vulva.

  Julia’s eyes closed as she strained to reach that height. Her limbs went rigid and her mouth hung open. She sucked in breath as his added a third finger to the two already inside of her filling her completely and taking her pleasure to an even greater level.

  Heat and liquid filled her center, and her hips raised and lowered. His tongue went back to her clit and circled it then rubbed across it. Julia’s teeth clenched together to keep a moan from bursting forth but little whimpers escaped her anyway.

  Ace moved up so that his body was between her spread legs. He balanced himself on his strong forearms while his mouth came down on hers, sealing in the little cry she had been uttering.

  The weight of his body on hers felt so good that she wrapped her arms and legs around him, wanting to hold him forever.

  His member found the slippery entrance between her thighs and he slid into her in one long smooth movement. Her body opened further to ease his passage into her depths. He filled her, hot and strong, and she buried her face in his shoulder, smelling the slight tang of sweat there.

  They moved together, the shadows shifting and cloaking their gleaming bodies. Her hands pressed into his shoulders. She allowed her mouth to touch his satiny neck, to linger at his ears, and then they were kissing again, furiously, as their bodies moved together faster.

  The climax came, sweeping them both under its powerful waves. Julia’s body hung suspended between his and the mattress below her back. Her inner walls pulsed and sent more fluids across his beating flesh. The aftershocks came, and went and still they did not disentangle themselves.

  Ace put a hand on her belly and rested his fingers there. He looked down at the flat and taut skin of her stomach and said, “It is hard to imagine that there is a baby in there.”

  She caught his hand. “I know. It sort of freaks me out just thinking about it. I mean, that is a whole human being and we are going to be responsible for it and our parents all made so many mistakes and kept so many secrets from us.”

  Ace’s fingers paused on her belly. “I have to tell you something.”

  She swallowed hard. “What is it?”

  “My dad.” He looked away. “You see he was in the same pen, on the same block that they put Walker ion.”

  Julia didn’t understand what he was getting at. “So?”

  Ace sighed again. “I guess my father, who is doing four life sentences anyway, decied to make sure that Walker didn’t get out.”

  Her heart plummeted into her chest. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean he killed Walker.”

  The words hit hard. Julia had not considered how she would feel if Walker died and now that she knew he was dead she wanted to mourn him but she didn’t know how.

  She said, “Oh. Are you okay with that?”

  Ace shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I mean I keep telling myself that of all the bad shit I ever did at least I can say I am not killer. I chose to put Walker in prison instead of killing him because, well because I just don’t want that kind of blood on my hands. I never wanted that.”

  “His blood is not on your hands. It is on your father’s hands and there is nothing you could have done to change what happened. Walker had to go down. He had to. Not just for my sake either. He brought nothing but destruction and crime to his hood. He destroyed his own family to get what he wanted. You know the crew you run, you guys do a lot of good things for the hood too. You make sure the homeless shelter has what it needs. You take care of the animal shelter. You do that toy drive. You do give back, and yes you take a lot too. But that’s balance, right? Walker was only about what he wanted in his life, not about anyone else.”

  Ace sighed. “You’re right. I know you are.”

  She snuggled down into his embrace. She was right. Walker had destroyed two of his sisters and he had tried to destroy her too. He had believed that the people around him existed for no other reason than to serve his needs and wants and he had demanded loyalty and respect while giving none of those things to anyone else. That was unsustainable and it was no shock that most of his crew had rolled on him, or that Ace’s father had killed Walker either.

  Prison was a hard place and Walker would have undoubtedly tried to run that block just like he had run the blocks of his borough. Only he had walked into a territory where he had no friends and no allies and he had suffered the consequences for his power mad arrogance

  That brought her to another consideration. At some point the child she carried would want to know about its absent grandparents and why it had no uncles or aunts. She felt a squeeze of grief at that thought. Naomi was in prison and Carla, who had cut a deal, was sitting in a filthy drug hole shooting her life away in the form of heroin laden needles.. Walker was dead. Her and Ace’s parents were dead or nobody worth talking about.

  She had no idea what she would say when that happened but she knew eventually that they would have to say something.

  She relaxed into his arms and he held her tightly. His eyes met hers and he gave her a smile. “This is going to be our brand new start.”

  She smiled back, her heart lightening yet again. “I like the sound of that.”

  “Me too.” Ace bent his head to hers and kissed her deeply and she kissed him back. This was where she belonged and she knew it. This was where she should have been all along and against all odds she had found her way home and into the arms of the strong man that she would love for the rest of their lives.

  OUTLAW HERO

  “Come on, come on, pick up,” Melanie Carr said under her breath, surprised that the payphone actually worked. She couldn’t remember the last time she had found a payphone, let alone one that still functioned. Stevie, her two-year-old son, was asleep in the carseat at her feet. She had driven all night from Dublin, Ohio to arrive in Washington DC the following morning. Melanie normally planned things better, but this time she had to act fast.

  Finally, there came the sound of someone answering her call for help. “Hello?” the muffled voice of her former best friend Casey asked.

  “Casey?” Melanie replied. “This is Melanie Carr from Ohio State, your sophomore roommate. We talked on Facebook recently about me visiting?”

  There was a slight sigh on the other end that Melanie suspected she was not intended to hear. “It got that bad?”

  She clutched the hard, metal, barely bendable phone cord and a sob came out as she spoke. “Yes,” she said. “It got that bad. I’m at a gas station outside 270. What’s your address again?”

  After packing her kid back into the car, she made her way to Casey’s house in the DC suburbs, somehow finding it through her tears and the fog of the early morning. She was relieved to see that she would not have to go through the awkward business of ringing the doorbell once there; Casey was already standing on the front porch, waiting for her.

  Melanie put the car into park and got out, keeping the back door of her small, white SUV open so she could retrieve her son and her luggage once the reintroductions were over. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her green rain jacket and walked up to greet her waiting friend. “I never intended to spring this up on you, but…”

  Casey looked at her college friend. Melanie looked remarkably the same even though they were now eight years older. She was still slender with long, curly golden brown hair, blue-green eyes and a cute dusting of freckles across her nose. But the purple bruise around her left eye… That was new.

  “Hush,” Casey said as soon as she noticed that. She opened her arms for Melanie, who gladly fell into them. Casey was several inches shorter than her friend, with short blonde hair and glasses, and she had always been the more nurturing of the two. Even now, even though Melanie had a toddler, Casey was more mothering. Melanie needed a friend like Casey back i
n her life.

  They unpacked the car together and took little sleepy Stevie up to one of the bedrooms so he could continue to sleep, oblivious to his mother’s problems. “Thank you,” Melanie said, pulling her long hair into a ponytail. She looked exhausted. “Jake hit me for the last time. He went to bed and I hit the road. I promise, it will only be for a few days. Once I can get a job, we’ll be out of your hair.”

  Casey waved that off, smiling at her friend. “You can stay as long as you need. I’ve got this house all to myself, and it’s so good to see you again.” She gently rubbed Melanie on her upper arm. “Get some sleep and you can start thinking about jobs and stuff later. You’ve got my number, right?”

  Melanie smiled back, appreciative. “I do. Thank you so much.”

  She went up to her bedroom that she would be sharing with Stevie for the time being. He was still fast asleep, wrapped up in the blankets. She did her best to get in beside him without waking him, and was soon asleep, too.

  When Melanie woke up, it was well into the middle of the afternoon. Stevie was playing quietly with some of his toys in the corner, but he was relieved when he saw that she was awake. “Mommy, where are we?”

  She rushed to his side as he sat on the floor. She had been unable to pack all of his toys up so quickly in their spontaneous move, but she managed to bring his favorites along with them. “We’re at my nice friend Casey’s house,” she told him. “We’re going to be living here for a while until we get a new house.”

  “Where are we?” he asked again, not understanding that they were far away from what they called home. “Where’s Daddy?”

  Melanie bit her lip. “We’ve moved away from Daddy,” she told him, trying to give him the news as gently as possible. “We are going to live in Washington DC now. You will love it here. This is where all of the presidents live!” She widened her eyes and her mouth as she told him that, so he would feel excited rather than concerned about his no-good father.

  Stevie gasped a little bit. “Even Taft??” The little boy had a strange fascination with President William Howard Taft ever since Melanie had shown him a picture of America’s heftiest president. Stevie liked him because ‘he looks like a walrus.’