by London Casey
“Yeah, Liv,” he groaned. “Right there, beautiful. Get ready...”
Two thrusts from my body later and Slade let go.
His hands grabbed my thighs and held me tight to his body.
I gasped each time he came, filling me. There was a sense of freedom, not needing to worry about anything since I was already pregnant.
When he finished, I collapsed down to his chest.
He was my warrior and I listened to his heart thumping like a drum. It was soothing.
“Liv, I love you,” he whispered.
His hands then touched my back. His callused fingertips gently touched my skin, moving up and down. My entire body shivered and tingled and my eyes shut.
It had been a long night.
It was going to be a long life, too.
But right then, with Slade, time and life didn’t matter.
It was just us.
The way it was always meant to be.
(SLADE)
She slept sound and hard. I was awake, got dressed, put on my leather cut, and Liv didn’t move an inch. She was face down, face toward me, her pretty hair scattered all over the place. I crept to the side of the bed and lifted the covers. She was still naked from last night. The way her back curved down and then her plump ass curved up and around, it made me grit my teeth. My dick pressed against my jeans.
I wanted to get back in bed with her.
But I had business to tend to. I had to approach Lael and get his blessing to walk away for a minute. Liv needed me. We needed to go back to Daystron together and face this shit. She needed to get the hell away from Walker and I needed to get Owen to respect me.
Christ, think about that...
The sister of a cop in the clubhouse.
If Lael found out, he’d put a bullet between Liv’s eyes and then a bullet between mine. Pregnant or not, you don’t fuck with the integrity of the MC. So that’s why I had to get her out there and then get myself away to figure things out. It was very touchy and I couldn’t risk Liv’s life. Or the baby.
I left the room without her knowing and went right for the bar.
Raven sat there, nursing a cup of black coffee and a shot of whiskey. That’s how he killed off hangovers.
“Hey, Daddy,” Raven said.
A second later, the clubhouse door opened and the entire table poured in.
Ace, Callum, Matteo, Major, Rab, and Lael last.
They all whistled and rushed to me to pat me on the back.
“Family,” Matteo said. “Motherfucking family. Congrats, brother.”
I nodded, forced a smile, and then Lael ordered a round of shots.
It was never too early to drink.
“We drink for our new brother,” Lael said. “And his new baby.”
“Damn, your girl is hot,” Ace said. “Just for the record. Well done hitting that and claiming it right.”
“We need a wedding,” Major said. “Break her into this family.”
“Easy now,” I said. “I just found out last night too. Cut me some slack.”
“She’s got baggage,” Raven said.
“No she doesn’t,” Rab said. “You’ve got us. We’ll take out any baggage she’s got.”
Everyone laughed.
For a second I thought about it though. What if I got the guys to help me get rid of Walker?
“Everyone drink,” Lael said. “To brotherhood. To family.”
We all threw our glasses back and had a drink. We put the shot glasses upside down on the bar and Lael ordered a hearty breakfast for everyone.
“Add an extra for the mother-to-be,” Lael said. “Fill up that plate. She needs it.”
“Thank you, Prez,” I said.
Lael nodded.
Everyone started to scatter, including Raven. Ace took his seat, which was exactly what I needed.
“You got a woman pregnant,” he said.
“Yeah, I did. I need your help.”
“That woman in there,” Ace said. “That’s the woman...”
“Yeah. We hooked up after my old man died and...”
“She’s got baggage, huh?”
“Hard to explain. Can I trust you?”
“Of course, brother.”
“I would do anything for this club,” I said. “I represent the cut. But I need to take the cut off for a minute, Ace. I need to help Liv get this shit sorted out. It’s not her baggage, it’s our baggage. I have to go back to my old hometown and settle up with her brother and the guy he’s been forcing her to date for years.”
“Sounds like a mess.”
I leaned in. “The rest I need to ditch the cut is because her brother is PD.”
Ace’s eyes went wide. “Motherfucker.”
“He’s a pain in the ass but he’s got nothing on me and we’re not on his radar. Christ, we’re not even his jurisdiction. But if I roll into town with a patch on my back...”
“I get it,” Ace said. “Christ, Lael would have a fit, brother.”
“I know. I had no idea Liv was coming up here. I swear. The guy she’s supposed to be with is a real fuck. She’s afraid of him. I want to break his neck.”
“Okay,” Ace said. “We’ll need to vote on it. Just me, Raven, and Lael. Just to know what’s going on and why. Make sure you’re not up to anything crazy.” Ace winked.
“You know me. I’m an open fucking book. My plan is to get into town and see what happens. Her brother wants me out of her life for good. So I’m sure he’ll arrest me on some bogus shit and I’ll get out of it. It’s his scare tactic, you know? Not anymore. Not with a baby in the picture. My baby.”
“Your baby,” Ace said. “Congrats, Slade. And Liv is beautiful. Good for you two. All that outside noise? It’ll shake free. I promise you. It’ll shake free. Let me go poke around with the VP and Prez, okay? Take care of your woman. I would get her out of here soon though. Just in case Lael gets grumpy about things.”
“Yeah?”
Ace nodded. “Plus, if she’s gone already, it’s hard not to tell you not to chase her down.”
Ace winked again and walked away.
He was a good man. A good brother and friend. A man worth dying for if the time came to do so. That’s how everyone in the clubhouse treated each other.
Lael came over a few minutes later and had a plate of food with him. He plopped it down in front of me.
“Make sure the old lady eats,” he said. “Feed that baby.”
“Hey, Prez. Thank you. For understanding everything. I didn’t know she was coming here. We were on the outs...”
“I get it,” Lael said. “I don’t like baggage, Slade. But you can’t say no to family.” He grabbed my shoulder. “Take good care of her and the baby. I know the life we live doesn’t seem all that fair to a baby, but you know how we protect our own.”
I nodded and Lael walked away.
I grabbed the plate of food walked away from the bar.
Hey, Prez... how are you going to feel when you learn her brother’s a cop?
“You made me breakfast?” Liv asked as she sat up in bed.
She had a t-shirt on - one of mine - and assumed nothing else. I could see her nipples poking against the t-shirt. I wanted to throw the food to the floor and make her my second breakfast.
“From Lael,” I said. “He’s worried about the baby.”
I climbed into bed next to her.
Liv laughed and started to eat. “This is just...”
“As crazy as you showing up to Jack’s garage and seeing me?”
“Yeah,” Liv said. “We keep running into each other, Slade. That has to mean something.”
“Oh, come on now, don’t give me that fate bullshit. My father died and that’s why I was in town.”
“You lingered on purpose,” Liv said, calling my bluff. “You wanted to see me.”
“Okay. I fucking did.”
“You wanted me.”
I touched her chin as she had a fork full of eggs an inch from her mouth. She smelle
d of morning breath and it made my cock hard. Fuck, everything about Liv made my cock hard.
“I still want you,” I said.
“I know, Slade.”
Liv put the fork in her mouth and seductively pulled it out.
She made me happy. She made me want to smile.
“I have to ask... you’re sure about the baby?”
“Not a chance it can’t be yours,” she said.
“Walker think it’s his?”
“I haven’t seen Walker since the doctor’s appointment. I took off.”
“I’m sure that has Owen going nuts.”
“Yeah. He and I had a...” Liv shook her head.
“What?”
“I confronted him about what he did to you. Then he found the ultrasound picture in my pocket. He drives me crazy. It’s like he knows everything. And he still can’t handle Mom.”
“Damn,” I said. “I’m sorry. So sorry about her.”
Liv looked at me. “He pointed out the date on the picture.”
“Ah, shit.”
“Yeah. So I don’t know what he thinks. I’m just so hurt by it all. Not you, Slade. I’m mad at myself. Everything you said before was right.”
“No, beautiful, no. That wasn’t fair of me.” I ran a finger through Liv’s hair. “I was pissed off and jealous.”
“Jealous?”
“Fuck yeah, Liv. I knew we were going to split up that morning. It just... our story is just fucked up, isn’t it? And to think someone else would get you. Walker or someone else, it just fucking made me livid. That’s why I jumped into the MC here. I needed to burn off my anger.”
“I never wanted that to happen to you. Or to us.”
“I know, Liv. I’m not going to hide from being a father though. I can hide for years about my heart and love for you if it makes you happy and makes you feel safe. With a baby? Not a chance in hell.” I put my hand to her stomach. “He... or she...” - I grinned - “will never spend a second wondering about me. I will be there. I will care. Everyone in this goddamn world will know that I am that kid’s father.”
Liv’s eyes filled with tears. “I love you for that, Slade. I love you so much. I’ll make everything right. I don’t care. We’ll leave town together. I just need to make sure my mother is healthy and safe. And if Owen...”
“That’s the hard part,” I said. I stretched my jaw, hating the next part. “Cops and the MC don’t go together. If Lael finds out, I don’t know what he’ll do to us.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“What do you think it means?”
Liv shuddered. “No...”
“We have to do this carefully. If we take off and Owen tracks us here, it’ll start a war we won’t survive. So we have to move slow. Okay?”
“You’re making me nervous,” Liv said.
“Don’t be nervous, beautiful. You know your brother is going to want my ass in jail. And Walker is going to take it personally. Why not? Technically, I fucked his woman. That’s on me. I’ll face that music. I’m in the wrong here, Liv, but I’ve been running for years from the right.”
“Slade... why don’t you talk about what happened the night Danny died?”
I sucked in a breath. That was a story that hung over our heads and always would. It was the night our lives changed and brought us here today.
“I swear you’ll know the truth,” I said. “Just not right now. Focus. First thing I need you to do is get dressed and leave.”
“What? Why?”
“I can’t ride into Daystron with a leather cut on,” I said. “Think about it. Your brother would have a field day with that. And I can’t bring heat to the MC. So I need to leave the MC and go to town without my leather cut on. I can’t just do that though. I need to sit down with Raven and Lael and get approval. Respect for the MC.”
“Really?”
“Yes, Liv. This is my home right now. These men are my brothers. I’ve been around this club for a long time. They wanted to patch me in a long time ago and I kept saying no to it. But now that I am, I have to respect the rules. If you leave first, it makes it easier. They can’t tell me not to chase down the mother of my unborn child.”
“Will they hurt me?” Liv asked.
“Never,” I said. “I just need to be able to take off my leather cut and chase you down.”
“Then what?”
I stared at her. A smile slowly climbed across my face.
The truth? I had nothing. No fucking idea what to do next.
Going back into Daystron was going back into the belly of the beast. It was going to get bad.
My hand spread across Liv’s belly again.
It was worth it... she was worth it.
(OLIVIA)
When I kissed Slade, I grabbed his leather cut and pulled at him, moving to my toes. I couldn’t stop kissing him. It felt free to do. We were far from being free, but I loved him and he loved me. Nothing else mattered.
Except that everything else did matter.
Slade finally pushed me away from him. “Liv, if we start up...”
“So what?”
“Go,” he said. “I’ll be there soon.”
We exchanged numbers and I had to drive away. It was the worst drive of my life. I kept looking into the mirror and watching as Slade stood there. The leather cut looked good on him. Really good. The scruff on his face and his messy hair all played into the image.
As sexy as he was it scared me. Because I knew the MC did bad things. They were just a bunch of guys that rode motorcycles and slept with women. There were people in the MC that did really bad things and were in jail. Some were dead. It made me wonder if Slade had done anything really bad.
Long after he was out of sight, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Had Slade killed someone... besides Danny?
I got to my apartment and entered with caution. I always expected to find Walker standing there, drunk or with a gun, demanding answers from me.
The place was empty and quiet, just like I left it.
I had a small sense of relief come over me as I went to the kitchen area and got a glass of water. The breakfast sat well in my stomach but I was starting to feel a little weird. That rumbling and flipping was starting. My mouth became dry and my tongue felt twice its size. That was my body’s response to being nauseous. Not to mention the heart racing fear of vomiting.
When I turned away from the kitchen sink, I noticed something in the living room, on the coffee table.
Roses.
As I approached I hoped it was a peace offering from Owen. Except Owen didn’t do peace offerings. And I’m not sure a brother sending his sister roses wouldn’t be considered weird. Then it got worse. As I got closer I realized the roses were positioned all around a box.
A little black box.
I shook my head.
“No,” I whispered. “Fuck no.”
I sat down on the couch and was already starting to shake.
It was a dozen of the reddest roses I’d ever seen. In the center was a black box, and that black box was on a yellow envelope.
I grabbed the envelope and opened it. Inside was a short letter:
Olivia -
Owen called to tell me. I’m not sure why you’re so afraid of our future. I’m not sure how all the dates work, but it doesn’t matter, does it? We’re a real family now. You should never fear talking to me, ever. I promised myself and told Owen to leave you be for the moment. I can’t imagine how you must feel. I’ll be in touch soon and then you can give me the answer in person.
Walker
“Give me the answer?” I asked.
Then my eyes moved to the black box.
I shook my head as I reached for the box as though I had some kind of magical power to make the black box disappear.
As I slowly opened the box, in my heart I already knew what was in it.
When I saw the massive diamond ring, I quickly shut the box.
I shut my eyes and pictured Sla
de naked in the shower. I thought about him touching me, making me feel alive.
All that did though was bring back guilt.
I opened my eyes and opened the box again.
And right there was the question Walker wanted me to answer.
Walker wanted to marry me.
(SLADE)
“Is there anything we can do?” Raven asked me.
It was me, Raven, and Lael. Even Ace wasn’t allowed at the table for this.
“No,” I said. “This is all personal.”
“Ace laid out a good argument for you,” Lael said. “I heard your old lady took off this morning.”
“Yeah. She’s in a tough spot. We go way back. Truth is we were going to take off a long time ago. But then her brother sent someone after me. That guy ended up dead. Everyone pointed the finger at me and it was easier to leave than drag Liv through the mess.”
“Shit, brother,” Raven said. “Did you...”
“No,” I said. “I went back to town after my father died.”
“I hope you pissed on his grave,” Lael said.
“I appreciate that, Prez. When I was back in town, I met up with Liv by accident. I always expected and hoped for her to have a better life. That didn’t happen. She was in pain and felt in danger. This guy she’s been forced to be with... he’s a powerful businessman. That’s part of the reason I want to go into town without my cut on. I don’t want this guy to see the Savage Viper’s logo and then come after all of us. That’s not fair to you.”
“That’s honorable,” Raven said. “We can still help you though, Slade.”
“I have to face this myself. Her mother. Her brother. The town. Everything. It has nothing to do with you guys. And it’s not going to get violent. I just need to show that I love Liv and that we’re having a baby. She should have been with me from years ago, but shit happened.”
“How long do you need?” Lael asked.