“Give me a sec,” he whispered, giving her a chaste kiss before levering himself off the bed.
She watched, a smirk on her face as he got rid of his motorcycle boots. Her eyes followed his fingers as they went to the button of his jeans, watching attentively when he shoved them down and stepped out of the denim.
*
Dalton felt as if he couldn’t breathe as he looked at the picture in front of him. Mandy lay on his bed, her legs spread, waving a finger at him in a “come hither” motion. What he’d done to deserve this, he had no idea. There was a part of him that thought maybe he’d wake up and this would be over. But what a way to go.
Using his upper body strength, he put his hands on the mattress and walked up her body, leaving a trail of kisses and wetness from his tongue. She scissored her legs, thrust her pussy, and moaned when he touched her in ways he knew she loved.
Grasping her thighs, he held them open, making room for his body in between them. Once he knew he had the space he needed, he supported himself by his forearms, gripping their hands together.
It wasn’t the desperate shove home he’d thought it would be. It was tender, slow, and enough to take his breath away. He thanked God his eyes were closed, because he knew if Mandy could see the emotion, he’d lose it.
“I love you,” she whispered as she locked her legs around his waist, digging her feet into his ass. Her hands gripped his tighter as she pushed up against him.
He dropped his head, letting their foreheads touch. “Love you too. So fuckin’ scared I was going to lose you,” he breathed out. As he thrust in and out, words came out of his mouth, words he’d never meant to say, but they made their way to the surface anyway.
“Not good enough for you. Not good enough for our baby. I’ll spend my whole life trying to be good enough. The rest of my life making up for what I’ve put you through the past few months. Didn’t know how to love before I met you. Please don’t ever leave me,” he begged, working his hips against hers.
“You’re stuck with me.” She lifted her head off the pillow, chasing his lips, stealing one kiss and then another before sliding her tongue into his mouth and straight up owning him.
She timed the sweep of her tongue with the thrust and withdraw of his cock. It was a turn-on he’d never felt before, a little trick that had him pushing faster into her warm heat.
Untangling their fingers, he pushed his down her back and grasped the globes of her ass, anchoring her to him.
As he picked up speed, she ripped their lips apart, panting. “Don’t stop, Dalton, please don’t stop!”
Someone would have to kill him to make him quit now. They would have to physically remove his body from hers, and that would never happen.
Even though he wasn’t sure he could, he picked up speed, groaning as she screamed, and pushing them both through one of the most earth-shattering climaxes he’d ever had.
As they lay together, both trying to regulate their breathing, he had to believe things would work out.
‡
Chapter Twenty-Six
They were still lying in each other’s arms, although semi-clothed, when a knock interrupted their quiet time.
“That’s gonna be the guys.” His soft voice was quiet in the room, interrupting the sleep Mandy had fallen into. “I need to go.” His tone was apologetic as he disentangled himself from her arms.
“Be safe, please,” she pleaded, reaching up to give him a goodbye kiss.
Dalton gifted her with a grin that almost stopped her heart. Reaching down, he put his hand over her stomach. “I’ve got more than one reason to come back now. No worries.”
But she did worry, was more worried than she wanted to admit to anyone. Her dad and the love of her life were putting themselves in danger, and she wanted to be right there with them, but she couldn’t. She had other things to think about. “I’ll be waiting on you to get back.”
He leaned down, giving her a soft kiss. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Dalton dressed in silence, not wanting her to realize just how nervous he was. There were a number of things that could happen or go wrong when this went down. For the first time he was scared. He’d never gone into a fight or anything he had to do for the club scared. Now, he had so much to live for, it made him cautious. However, he shoved all those thoughts in a box and put a lock on that fucker when he put on his cut, shrugging it over his shoulders.
This was his superhero cape, the one thing that would protect him. When the cut came on, he turned into the badass he liked to portray. He walked with swagger and dared anyone to cross his path wanting to start some shit.
Going to the closet, he loaded up on weapons he knew would be beneficial. He jammed a KA-BAR knife and a handgun in the waistband of his jeans after checking the safety on the gun.
Mandy’s voice was soft as he left the room. “We love you.”
Those words would bring him home.
*
Dalton, Liam, and Jagger met in the garage after they’d all gotten what they needed.
“I’m leaving everyone else here to keep things quiet,” Liam told them. “Normally I’d take Tyler, but I don’t like the way this has gone down,” he admitted to them.
“Do you know where Samuel is?” he asked Dalton as they stood in a circle, talking over the plan before they rode off.
He texted me to let me know he’s okay. “He’s with Layne. Layne has an Army buddy with a bunker. They’re keeping him underground until we can get this situated.”
Jagger nodded. “Good. That’s the best place for him to be. I checked before we came out here; everyone is accounted for except for Layne and Samuel…stands to reason they’re together.”
Liam hefted a duffel bag. “This is all the money. Let me do the talking when we get there. I know Calvert, not well, but I do know him. Maybe he’ll show us a little respect. It could go a long way.”
Something told Dalton Liam was giving the guy too much credit. Calvert didn’t want respect; he wanted Heaven Hill’s assets, if rumor was to be believed.
“Alright, are you ready?” Liam asked the two guys riding with him tonight.
They nodded, covering their faces with helmets as they each hopped on their bikes and followed Liam down the drive.
*
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Mandy looked up at the sound of her mom’s voice. Sitting in the main room of the clubhouse, she was trying to relax. She hadn’t wanted to be alone, but at the same time she didn’t want to answer a ton of questions either. Looked like her mom wasn’t going to let this go.
“I was embarrassed at first,” Mandy admitted, bringing her legs up underneath her on the couch. It was time to be real and honest.
“Embarrassed? Why?” Denise couldn’t begin to imagine where her daughter’s head had been.
“You’ve always preached to me. Be smart. Don’t put yourself in a bad situation. Be sure if you have a child, it’s the best situation for that child. Learn from your mistakes.”
Denise was quiet for long moments, and Mandy could tell she was grappling with her thoughts. “I never meant to make you feel embarrassed because this happened. I only wanted you to have a better situation than what I did,” she explained.
“At first it really wasn’t a good situation.” Mandy shook her head, admitting the truth for the first time to her mom. If things were going to move forward, maybe she had some things she had to admit to, too. “Up until a day ago, Dalton and I weren’t really even speaking to one another. Hell, when I got pregnant, we weren’t even really together. It was an ‘oops’ moment.”
“Life’s moments aren’t always planned, and maybe I should have been more flexible in my teaching of that than the whole not getting pregnant thing,” Denise admitted. “I’m proud of you. You’ve obviously been handling things by yourself for a while, and you haven’t broken down.”
“Oh, I’ve broken down plenty. There were many times when I almost called you and begged you t
o come make everything better.” Mandy smiled sadly. “It was a really hard time with Dalton, and I didn’t know what I’d done wrong. Recently I found out it wasn’t me. It was things he was going through, but I didn’t know that, and I didn’t understand it.”
Denise reached over, pushing Mandy’s long hair out of her face. “You have an open and forgiving heart. There’s no doubt in my mind that you and Dalton will make it through this. You’ll be stronger in the end for it.”
She blew out a deep breath. “God, Mom, I hope so. There’s only so much I can take, and I feel like for the last eight months he’s tested me.”
“And you’ve passed all of them with flying colors,” Denise praised. “Have you been very sick?”
Mandy nodded enthusiastically. “The first couple months, oh my God. But the past few weeks, I’ve been okay. Things seem to have leveled, or gotten a little better at least.”
“Same as me. If you can get through the first trimester, you should be good.”
“Only a couple more weeks to go.” Mandy showed crossed fingers. “Was it like that with Tatum too?”
She nodded towards her little sister, who sat on a couch with Remy. She was turned with her whole body facing him, while Remy sat stiff as a board, facing forward. He didn’t look at her face even though she made it almost impossible for him not to.
“Yes, especially her.” Denise chuckled. “That poor guy isn’t going to know what hit him when she turns eighteen.”
Mandy laughed along with her. “I kinda feel sorry for him.”
“There is no kinda too it. He’s in a no-win spot. At least with you, we all knew Dalton, and you weren’t the baby.”
Mandy had to agree. Remy was going to have to be a strong man, because she wasn’t sure anyone could resist Tornado Tatum when she put her mind to something, but no one wanted to cross her dad either.
‡
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Dalton parked his bike along with Liam and Jagger. He would be lying if he said it didn’t scare him to be where they were. In recent years, Heaven Hill had gone way more legitimate than it’d ever been, and he didn’t have a lot of the same experience the rest of them did, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t throw down when needed.
“I see you brought your saviors.” Calvert nodded towards Liam and Jagger.
Liam hitched his chin up at the other man, his eyes flashing with irritation. “You wanna talk to somebody, you talk to me, motherfucker. I’m the one who’s giving you the money. We’ll deal together. You shouldn’t have ever brought Heaven Hill into this, and you know it.”
Calvert sized up Liam. He had cockiness in his eyes, they all could see it. He seemed to think he had the club right where he wanted them. “You need me to do you a favor, Walker, not the other way around.”
“There is no favor; I’m paying this debt in full. I’m here to give you the money owed to you. In turn, you slither back into whatever hole you crawled out of and leave the world alone. Simple as that.” Liam threw the dufflebag down at his feet.
“I have to admit, I like having the all-powerful Liam Walker at my disposal,” the other man said as he bent down and opened the duffel bag, doing a cursory check of what was inside.
Liam backed up so that he stood even with Dalton and Jagger. There was strength in numbers, and he knew if anything happened these two had his back, his front, and everything in between. “That’s where you’re wrong. I’m not at your beck and call. Neither is Samuel, Dalton, or anyone else you think you can get your hands on.”
Calvert looked up, a sadistic smile on his face. “Big words for a club pres whose club has lost their edge.”
Jagger took exception to that. Times were different now more than they ever had been. They were evolving as a club and trying to do what was best for their families at the same time. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me, pretty boy. You expect people to take you seriously when women throw panties at you?”
Dalton was sick of this. Sick of the whole situation, and he didn’t know what to say, because he didn’t want to make it any worse. He just wanted to go home and lie back down with his girl and his child, forget this situation had ever happened.
“You worry about your business, we’ll worry about ours,” Liam threatened. “Leave the Barnett boys alone, leave my daughter alone, and don’t let the name Heaven Hill come out of your mouth again. You’ve got what you want, what you said you were owed.”
Warning flashed in Calvert’s eyes. “This ain’t over yet, Liam.”
“Yeah it is.” He gestured to his two guys. “Let’s go.”
Dalton wasn’t sure if they had made things better or worse, but whatever it was, it was done.
*
As Dalton pulled up to a remote farmhouse in the country, he spotted Layne’s bike and the other man leaning against it. He flashed his headlight twice to let him know he was friend and not foe. Parking, he hopped off and walked over to the other man.
“Things quiet here?”
Layne nodded, giving Dalton a cigarette lit from the one he smoked. “Haven’t heard a peep all night. Kind of surprised to be honest with you, but thankful at the same time.”
Dalton took a deep inhale of the nicotine, letting it wash through his system and calm the nerves that had been on high alert for so long. He didn’t think for a minute that this was completely over, but he hoped at least they could live their lives somewhat peacefully in the meantime. “Is it good if I go get him?”
“Yeah.” Layne opened the palm of his hand. “Here’s the code, and if you guys are cool, I’m gonna head out. His truck is parked behind the barn, so he’s got a way home.”
Dalton clapped him on the back as he mentally took note of the code. “I thank you for what you’ve done. See you back at the clubhouse.”
Walking down the steps to the bunker, he opened the door and saw Samuel sitting inside.
“Things go okay?” he asked as he hopped up from his seat on an old couch. Dalton could see the anxiousness and fear in his eyes.
“Things are good. It’s taken care of.” Dalton gave his uncle a smile.
The older man sagged back against the arm of the couch, his whole body seeming to deflate as he took in the words. “I don’t know what to do with myself. I’ve been living life with my head turned, watching my back, for what feels like forever.”
“You enjoy it,” Dalton spoke softly, crossing his arms over his chest. “You figure out what it is that makes you happy and stop using gambling to fill that void in your life. All it brings is sadness and heartache. For all intents and purposes, you and Liam are going to be my child’s grandfathers. I need you both here. There’s gonna be times I fuck up and I need someone to talk to. The person I’m going to want to go to is the one who took me in when no one else wanted me. You’ve gotta realize how much you mean to us, Samuel. Stop putting yourself in shitty situations.”
His eyes glistened as he raised them to look at his nephew. He remembered with clarity the small kid who’d come to live with him. He’d been malnourished, and it had looked as if five baths wouldn’t get him clean; he’d been scared of anyone’s touch, and he’d shied away from talking. To see the man he’d grown into was a testament to one of the things he’d managed to do right in his life. For nothing more than to watch Dalton continue to grow, he’d do his best to keep on the straight and narrow and ask for help when things got too rough. He couldn’t ever put any of them back in this same situation again.
“I promise if I ever feel the need to gamble again, I’ll let you know. This is an addiction I have to kick, but it doesn’t mean I can’t have help doing it. I’m sorry, more sorry than I can tell you, that I put us all in this damn predicament.”
Dalton waved his hand. “It’s done and over with for the time being, but I want you to realize I won’t be so forgiving next time. I spent most of my life trying to look past what my parents did to me and forgiving them even when I didn’t want to. I won’t do it with you, no matter
what I owe you. I’m asking you not to make me.”
“I won’t.” Samuel held his hand over his heart. “You have way more important things to worry about other than me now. I won’t make you chose, and I won’t make you put your family in danger. This has been a wakeup call for me. It’s one I should have had years ago, but better late than never, right?”
“Yeah, man.” Dalton couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped from his throat. “Let’s get the fuck outta here.”
*
As soon as Dalton got back to the clubhouse with Samuel, Liam pulled Dalton and Mandy aside.
“Look, I’m not sure what Calvert has up his sleeve—if anything—but I’d feel better if the two of you stuck close to here for a while. Just in case he decides to test us.” Liam held up his hand when Dalton opened his mouth. “Not that I don’t think you can protect what’s yours,” he told Dalton. “But there’s safety in numbers, and I think all of us would breathe a sigh of relief if you stayed here.”
“No, I get it, and I think you’re right. We should stay here until we know for sure what’s going on. Probably be better for everyone involved.”
Liam leaned down, dropping a kiss on Mandy’s cheek, and clapped his hand on Dalton’s shoulder. “I expect you at work tomorrow. You got your place back.”
Dalton knew better than anyone just how lucky he was. With everything that had gone on, he’d been planning on talking to Liam about getting his place back, but obviously the older man had already thought about it. Liam could have easily decided he had no place in the club again, but he’d done him a solid. One of many he’d never forget.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
He turned before walking out of the clubhouse, leveling Dalton with a glare. It was one of warning, telling him not to fuck up again, because next time he wouldn’t be so polite or forgiving. “Make sure that you don’t.”
‡
Chapter Twenty-Eight
For six weeks, the club had been waiting to see if Calvert and his men would retaliate, but it had been quiet. Some would say too quiet, but for others it was a welcome reprieve.
Shield My Heart (Heaven Hill Book 9) Page 12