by Jani Kay
A feral cat darted across the road, and every hair on the back of my neck stood up. I was so close yet so far from being and feeling safe. I quickened my pace as my heart rate sped up, cursing at myself inwardly that I’d ignored the rules.
All my senses heightened as I waited for the gate to open, as if everything was in slow motion and I was the only person awake in the universe.
Once inside the compound, the clink of heavy metal sounded behind me as the gate closed again, and I relaxed a little. I sucked air into my lungs and let it out slowly through my mouth. I shot a quick text to Hammer to let him know I was back after I parked my bike, and then I eagerly made my way back to the room. To Jade.
I’d been gone for fifteen minutes but it had felt like hours.
The risk I’d just taken was worth every second when I walked into the room and found Jade cuddling my pillow, a smile brightening her beautiful face the moment she laid eyes on me.
“You’re back,” she said, her voice filled with a mixture of relief and joy as she held out her arms to me.
The small things. They were what counted the most. Knowing I was adored and cherished. That someone gave a fuck whether I came back safely.
I wanted to apologize for letting her sweat it out while I’d gone on the ice cream run, but instead I just pulled her into my arms and kissed the shit out of her. She seemed to need it as much as I did because she relaxed against me and let my tongue ravish her mouth rather than chastising me for being so stupid. The ice cream in the bag was forgotten for a while as I lost myself in her.
She broke the kiss, and I pulled away slightly to stare into her adoring eyes.
“Get back into bed,” she said with an inviting tone.
I didn’t need to be told twice. I stripped off my clothes, eliciting a throaty laugh from Jade as my cock sprang to attention the moment it was freed.
“Don’t tell me you’ve been hard all the time . . .”
“Sure as fuck was.” It was true. Even while I’d berated myself and had my mind overtaken with other thoughts, my need for my woman hadn’t subsided. Jade was the one constant in my life I could count on. If only she understood how much my entire world revolved around making her happy.
She licked her lips and made big eyes at me. “And did you get the ice cream?”
“Sure as fuck did.” I waggled my eyebrows and showed off my stash proudly.
Jade chuckled. “Two large tubs. My, somebody is optimistic,” she teased.
“I wasn’t taking any chances of running out. You know what a huge appetite you have for my cock.”
Jade took a tub from me and opened it. The ice cream had gone soft around the edges. I watched as she stuck a finger into the creamy chocolate mixture and licked it off suggestively while closing her eyes and moaning softly.
I let out a groan as my cock twitched. “Fuck, Princess, you’re killing me.”
Next, she used two fingers to scoop the ice cream. Her eyes fluttered open as she met my gaze. Lust shone from her baby blues, and she bit into her lip as she smeared a circle of dark decadence around each of her pale pink nipples, causing them to pucker up and goosebumps to form on her skin.
“Want some?” Her voice was low and raspy as she offered her tits to me.
I wanted to pounce on her like a starving man. What she did to me wasn’t fair, but fuck, I wasn’t complaining. I crawled over her and sucked a nipple into my mouth, first the one then the other, licking and biting and eager for more.
Her next scoop was larger. She deposited some onto her navel, and I was mesmerized by the trail of chocolate creaminess as it formed a line to my favorite place in the world. She shivered as she opened her legs and dripped ice cream over her naked, smooth mound.
I couldn’t wait any longer. I seized her hand and pinned it to her side sucking my way from her bellybutton to her pussy with noisy slurps.
Grabbing hold of the tub, I dug two fingers in and made sure to get to the part in the middle that was still frozen hard. Jade’s eyes closed, and she let out a whimper as I inserted those fingers inside her pussy, depositing the delectable dessert there before positioning myself to eat it out of her again.
She arched her back and lifted her ass right off the mattress while offering herself up to me. I dove right in, my mouth and tongue devouring her sweet pussy.
Fucking worth every moment of worry while I was away. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Yeah, I was definitely thinking with my cock again. Slathering her skin with ice cream and then cleaning her up with my mouth was fast becoming my favorite way of eating dessert.
“My turn,” Jade murmured after she came down from her second orgasm. Her pupils were dilated and her lips swollen from when I’d given her a taste of herself mixed with the cookies and cream.
“Hell yeah,” I groaned. Jade gave as good as she received.
She pushed me back onto the pillows and straddled my hips, my raging erection throbbing against her stomach.
“I’ve always wondered what chocolate-flavored penis is like, and now I’m going to find out,” she said with a wicked grin. Who was I to stop her?
The chocolate ice cream had gone all soft, and I had to clamp down on my teeth to take the shock as Jade grabbed hold of my cock and pushed it head first into the tub.
“Fuck,” I roared, my balls instantly getting something like brain freeze. Who knew ball freeze was a thing?
Jade giggled before bending over and lapping all along my shaft with huge exaggerated gestures, moaning as she slurped her way to the tip.
“There’s only one thing I can imagine tasting better than this,” she told me as her tongue darted in and out while she cleaned the rim of my dick.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Next time I want sprinkles on top.” And then she deep-throated the whole thing, enveloping it in her warm mouth while swirling her cold tongue around the tip.
Fuck, I nearly choked. The contrast between the hot and cold, the way she sucked as if my dick were the most delicious thing she’d ever tasted, her hands squeezing and warming my balls—every sensation was better than the last, undoing me completely.
“I’m going to come in your mouth,” I told her as my balls contracted, and I unloaded a stream of cum down her throat.
“Hmmm,” she hummed as she swallowed every drop.
“Fuck, Princess, you make me so happy,” I groaned as I nibbled on her neck.
Being with Jade made me feel alive like nothing else. Not even the ride on my bike could compare. Everything paled into significance when I was deep inside her.
14 — Ryder
“Ryder, we need to talk,” Cobra said with labored breath, his eyelids half closed. All color had drained from his face.
A shiver ran through me. I hadn’t imagined I’d be back at the damn hospital that soon. I hated the fucking place, yet I seemed to return time and again.
Dark red stained the bandage wound around his head, and his skin was the same dull white as the fabric. A sheet covered his body, and I couldn’t see how the rest of his wounds were doing.
Why was it that certain people kept having similar things happen to them? Sometimes, I couldn’t fathom the way the universe worked. Hadn’t Cobra spent enough of his time in a fucking hospital already? Some things never changed though—the same sterile walls and endless corridors with the smell of death permeated the place. My spine tingled as I shifted in my seat, unfolding and refolding my arms in an attempt to hide my unease and failing miserably.
“No, just rest for now. There’s plenty of time to talk later. I just wanted to see if you were okay.”
Cobra gave me a small, wry smile. “I’m not so sure about that. I think my number is up.”
I swallowed hard. “Fuck, don’t talk like that. You’re going to pull through. You always have . . . You’re a fighter, and you’ll be back on your feet in no time.”
“Not this time. This time it’s different. So listen.”
I tried to mask the horror roiling insid
e me. Dread seeped into my bones. Cobra was always determined to stay alive, to be there for the boys and his family. My mouth was so dry that I couldn’t speak so I simply nodded and moved closer to listen.
“Promise me—” Cobra cleared his throat. “Promise me that you’ll take over as president of the Scorpio Stingers.” Eyes filled with a world of sadness stared up at me.
I opened my mouth to speak but Cobra held up his hand. I shut my mouth, fear ripping through me like a tornado. I’d never seen Cobra this serious about anything, and it scared the shit out of me.
Cobra rubbed his temples, his face contorted in pain. “I’m lucky that I’m able to breathe right now so that I can tell you what my hopes are for the future. I’m not a man of many words, you already know that, so when I ask you this, brother, it’s coming from my heart.” Silence fell between us for a beat. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. “I want to die in peace. I know I don’t deserve it after the way I’ve lived, but this is my final chance to get it right.”
Cobra closed his eyes. His chest heaved. I’d never imagined that talking could be so laborious.
I waited, waited for him to tell me his wishes, refusing to believe that they were his last. I wanted to pull the hair out of my head. I wanted to rage and scream and punch somebody. I wanted to tell Cobra it was bullshit, and he’d be back at the helm in a short while.
But what I wanted didn’t always happen.
A million arguments raced through my mind. Arguments why Cobra should live. I bottled them up inside, waiting for Cobra’s next words. Words that killed me slowly.
“Mia and the kids.” He panted while screwing his eyes shut tighter. “Promise to take care of them for me.”
The last words were so faint I could hardly make them out. How could I object and tell him no because that was his job when he recovered?
When I didn’t answer immediately, because I had to take a few deep breaths to calm my voice, Cobra opened his eyes and stared at me with expectation so great it twisted my heart.
I grabbed his hand and squeezed. “Of course. You know I love them like my own family.”
A small smile twisted his lips for a few seconds before it dissolved and they pressed together tightly. “Thank you,” he murmured.
“Don’t talk. Keep your strength for breathing.”
His eyes fluttered closed, as if keeping them open was hard work.
Before Jade, I’d have traded places with Cobra in an instant. Taken a bullet for him so he could live. His family needed him. But now I was becoming a father too and selfishly, I wanted everything that entailed.
Guilt and anguish ripped through me. If only there was a way I could fix this. Hopeless and at a loss, I hung my head and closed my eyes, feverishly praying for my brother’s life.
Cobra’s breathing slowed. His skin was clammy under my palm. Cold even.
A shiver ran up my spine.
Silence.
I could cut it with a knife.
The next moment, the machines Cobra was hooked up to went crazy. The heart monitor sounded like a siren, and I watched in horror as the readout changed.
Fuck. Cobra is flat-lining.
Panic pushed into my throat as I hit the emergency button, but already nurses and doctors were running into the room.
“Get his wife,” the pretty brunette said to me with accusation in her eyes, as if I’d caused this. Or was it just my imagination? I couldn’t know because fear had taken hold of me, and I shook from head to toe as I grabbed my phone and left the room to call Mia.
“Mia, listen, sweetheart, you’ve got to get here as soon as possible,” I blurted out as soon as she answered. So much for me being strong and calm. I’d tried to be that all my life, but now I was falling apart slowly and I couldn’t stop shaking.
“God, Ryder, what are you saying?” Mia’s voice was shrill and filled with alarm.
Nice one, Ryder. Couldn’t even keep her calm. Maybe it was because my eye twitched violently and my insides were turned upside-down.
“I’m saying things aren’t looking great. Hurry, Mia.”
“Oh sweet Jesus,” she wailed. “Please don’t let him die.”
“I won’t.” Please God don’t make me a liar.
“I’m on my way.”
The line went silent.
What if Cobra was right? What if this was the end of the road for him?
I didn’t want to think about Cobra dying. It wasn’t an option. Yet it wasn’t in my control. All I could do was pray like a motherfucker.
Nothing. Else.
15 — Ryder
Medical staff ran in and out of the room, their faces like stone. I paced up and down the hallway, worry eating my guts.
It felt like forever before Mia came rushing toward me. Her eyes were wide and rimmed with red. Two steps behind her was Razor, his face like a thunderstorm.
“How is he?” Mia said, tears streaming down her cheeks.
I shrugged. The staff hadn’t stopped for a moment, and I wasn’t going to waste precious time asking questions. “They’re doing all they can, but I don’t know yet.”
Mia fell into my arms and I held the back of her head to my chest, letting her wash her sadness away. At least I was doing something useful.
“Fuck. This ain’t sounding good.” Razor hit the inside of his palm with his fist as if he wanted to explode. “If Cobra dies,” he said in a grave voice, “I’m finding and killing every one of those motherfuckers with my own two hands.” Hatred and rage spewed from him. “Slowly and painfully.”
I understood how he felt, but this wasn’t the time to plot revenge. Not yet.
Mia’s body shook uncontrollably, and she clung to my shirt with both hands. I rubbed up and down her back while shooting Razor a death stare. We all displayed our fear in different ways. Razor wouldn’t admit to his feelings, but scaring Mia wasn’t doing any good.
“Razor, calm the fuck down.”
“That’s my blood in there. My brother. The only family I have left.” Despair and anger flashed across his features.
That was true. If Cobra died, Razor would be the only Malone left besides Cobra and Mia’s children.
“Cobra’s not dying any time soon,” I said in an even voice, trying my best to stay calm for Mia’s sake.
Razor lifted his chin. “Yeah? And what if he does?”
My gaze met Razor’s over Mia’s head. “Don’t do this here. We’re all worried sick, but Cobra’s gotten through this kinda thing before. He’s as strong as a bull.”
Finally, after what felt like forever, a doctor came slowly toward us while removing the mask from his face. Small crinkles appeared around his eyes as he gave us a warm smile. All three of us stared at him. My heart pounded in my ears as I waited, holding my breath.
“We’ve managed to get his heart going again, but I’m going to be honest with you. You might want to say your goodbyes because next time he may not be as lucky. I’m sorry; there’s not much more we can do.”
“Can we go and see him?” I asked, my arm protectively around Mia’s shoulders. She leaned into me, holding onto my cut with both hands as if it were the only thing keeping her upright.
The doctor nodded. “Yes. I normally wouldn’t allow all three of you at the same time, but—”
Razor ran his fingers through his hair. “Fuck, Doc. You’re supposed to save his life. This is no good.”
The doctor looked kindly at Razor. “We’ve done everything we can. It’s up to the machines now. But we will keep monitoring him. Someone will be close by all the time.” He turned to Mia. “Mrs. Malone, the children—you can bring them, too.”
I sucked in a long, slow breath. This was serious.
“Come. Let’s go see the man.” I tried to keep my voice light, yet it faltered. I wasn’t nearly as brave as what I tried to sound. “I bet he’s wondering where we are.”
My arm slipped lower to support Mia’s body. We followed Razor into Cobra’s room.
Fuck, he w
as making a bad habit of hospital beds and being hooked up to machines. Maybe smoking wasn’t so bad a habit after all when compared to surviving bullets.
Mia gasped when she saw her husband. The bandage around his head had been changed, and somehow, he just melted into the whiteness of the sheets. It broke my fucking heart to see him like this.
As if he sensed that we were in the room he slowly opened his eyelids, his gaze falling on his woman. Intense love radiated from his eyes although they were filled with tears. I hadn’t seen Cobra cry since we were teenagers.
Mia had found an inner strength and left my embrace to rush to her husband’s side. She grabbed hold of his hand while leaning over slowly to kiss him.
“Baby,” Cobra murmured. I swallowed the lump in my throat at how much love was contained in that one word. Fuck me, I was getting soft and I really didn’t care.
“Cobra, you scared the shit out of me . . . out of all of us.” Mia’s voice was hardly above a whisper, and filled with anguish.
“Hey, Bro,” Razor said, his voice thick and filled with emotion as he shuffled closer to the bed. Cobra held up a hand to high-five him.
“Hey, Brother,” Cobra croaked.
We stood around for a while, the air so thick you could slice it with a blunt knife.
Cobra turned his head to me. “Ryder, I need to speak to you alone.”
I just nodded. Fuck. If our earlier conversation had been uncomfortable, this discussion was going to be worse.
“Don’t send me away. Whatever you have to say to Ryder, I want to hear it, too.” The determination in Mia’s voice didn’t invite argument. She wasn’t going anywhere.
Razor took the hint. “I’m going out for some fresh air.” He turned on his heels and left the room, closing the door softly behind him. That was new for Razor, who usually slammed doors wherever he went.
Cobra blinked fast and cleared his throat. “Don’t let me down, Ryder. As much as I love Razor, he can’t be Pres of the Scorpio Stingers. He doesn’t have the right temperament.”