Property of the Bad Boy

by Vanessa Waltz

  “Maybe when my kid is born, he’ll change his mind.”

  We spend the rest of the time chatting, and then Johnny reenters the room with the baby snug in his arms when there’s a knock at the door. Maya answers.

  Jack stumbles into the house, and the first thing I notice is that there’s a bandage on his neck and a large tear in his suit.

  “What happened to you?”

  He gives a quick glance at John, suddenly looking terrified. “Let’s go. We’re going home.”

  Maya gives me a sad smile as Jack grabs my hand and pulls me out of the living room, but Johnny does nothing but give me a cool, appraising nod.

  He slams the door shut, cutting off Maya’s good-bye when we leave the house, and I wring my hand out of his. “What the fuck is your problem?”

  A vicious look snarls over Jack’s face. “You have no idea what just happened. Get in the car, Beatrice. I’m not messing around.”

  Fine.

  I slide into the passenger seat and Jack immediately starts the engine, peeling out of Johnny’s driveway and down the street. The sheer desperation in Jack’s eyes stops me from making a nasty remark.

  “What happened?”

  “I can’t think— I can’t. Everything’s just fucking out of control.”

  I’ve never seen him like this. Jesus, he looks scared. Fear’s not an emotion I like to see on my husband’s face.

  “Just let me think.”

  I don’t say a word until we get home, and the moment we step through the door Jack pulls me into his bone-cracking embrace. I flatten against his chest, hearing his heartbeat pound against my ear like a heavy drum. The floodgates open as a rush of emotion fills me. “Jack, I’m sorry for what I did—”

  “Don’t, it doesn’t matter anymore.” He pulls back and holds my face, his thumbs caressing my skin. Devastation slams into him—he looks like he’s experienced a hundred years of misery.

  “Beatrice, I love you.”

  The air disappears.

  “You make me happy, and now we have this blessing inside you. I thought that we had a chance, but we don’t.”

  My eyes sting with tears. “What? Are you—” Are you breaking up with me?

  “You have to go.”

  My feelings, soaring high, crash back down. “Go?”

  “It’s not safe for you here. We’re at war with the Devils again. I almost got killed today, and John wants you gone from my life.”

  “I’ll stay,” I choke out in tears. “I don’t care how dangerous it is.”

  “I care,” he says, tenderness creeping inside his voice.

  He loves me.

  “Beatrice, you’re all I have now. Everyone else is gone.”

  “But I don’t understand! Why does Johnny care about me?”

  “He doesn’t trust you. He thinks you’re going to rat me out now that the alliance is over.”

  “I would never do that!” I yell into his apartment. “Never!”

  A smile tugs at his mouth. “He’ll never believe us.”

  “What’s he going to do, kill me? I’m carrying your child.”

  Pity fills Jack’s gaze. “He doesn’t care about some knocked-up biker girl, even if you are my wife. He killed my brother, Beatrice.”

  The breath catches in my throat. “No, I don’t believe it!”

  I don’t want to believe it.

  “Baby, who else would’ve ordered a bunch of Italians to dress up in leather cuts and kill my brother? It had to come from him.”

  Tears spill over my lids as I look at him. My heart swells and I clutch at Jack’s chest. “What about our baby?”

  He flinches as if he was struck in the face.

  “Jack, I love you!”

  “I know.”

  He bends down and crushes his lips against mine, silencing my cries. A well of desire quickly ramps up as his hands slide down my body, stroking my curves as though he wants to imprint them in his brain. He grabs my arms, steering me backward toward our bedroom. Even when he’s vulnerable, he can’t help but push me around. It was in his nature to break me just as it was my nature to submit to him. I never craved anyone’s touch like his.

  My legs hit the back of the bed and I fall, landing softly on the mattress. Jack rips his jacket off and throws it in a corner, and then I see his ripped dress shirt and the bandage around his shoulder, already damp with blood. He ignores my gasp and his body climbs over mine, his lips feverish. He breaks away, his face flushed.

  “Fuck, I don’t have enough time to take you the way you were meant to be taken.”

  I just want this moment to last forever, while we’re still clinging to each other. Happy and whole.

  Don’t make me go.

  He rolls my shirt off my head and my skin prickles with desire as his starved gaze falls over my curves. “You are unbelievably sexy.”

  No one’s ever made me feel so amazing. I keep imagining myself alone in a lonely apartment, singing to a baby in a cradle. My eyes sting with tears and Jack blurs in my vision.

  He sinks down and palms my cheek, lowering himself to give me a kiss that makes my skin flame. “I’ll come back for you.”

  I can’t trust myself to say anything without bursting into tears, so I just nod.

  “I promise.”

  Another tender kiss falls on my lips, and I wrap my hand around his neck, pulling him down. He reaches behind my back and unclasps my bra. A tingle runs through my pussy as his hand envelops my breast. He swallows my gasp, deepening the kiss. Then I feel his hard cock digging into my leg, and a thrill hits my core.

  He breaks from the kiss, and I’m dizzy. “I want you.”

  He grins and thumbs my bottom lip. “Yeah, you’re always so hungry for cock.”

  I love him—love the dirty shit he says. “I wanted you the moment you told me to kiss you.”

  The sound of him ripping off his slacks makes my pussy throb with a sudden ache. I help him push them off, running my hands over his strong hips. A smile staggers over his face.

  “I know, baby. You were practically screaming for a man like me. Girl like that—sitting alone in a bar looking so lost. I couldn’t stay away.”

  He was so possessive, even when he wasn’t thrilled to marry me. I fell for him hard, but his was a slower build.

  Jack grabs the waistband of my skirt and tugs. The black skirt pulls to my knees and he pushes me to my side, spreading his hand over my ass.

  A chuckle escapes his throat. “I mean, look at this. Property of Jack. You really are a piece of work, sweetheart.”

  I grab his neck and pull him toward me. “It’s not a joke. Women in the MC get tattoos like this all the time.”

  His face spreads into a wide, handsome smile that takes my breath away. “I’m not laughing.” He seals his lips against mine, biting my lower lip. “But they probably don’t get them tattooed on their ass, do they?”

  “I thought you’d like to see it there.”

  He smacks my ass, making a loud cracking sound. “I love it.”

  He strokes the burn for a moment and then flips me to my back, parting my legs as his huge cock swings in front of me. A bead of pre-cum rolls down his cock and falls on my thigh. He runs his hands down my legs.

  “I’m sorry.” His face stretches into a primal grin. “I’m trying to be sweet for you, but I can’t fucking do it.”

  I sit upright as desire pulses through me. I bury my hand in his hair and scrape his scalp with my fingers. “I don’t want sweet. I want you.”

  His breath blows hot air over my lips for a moment. Then he buries his hand in my hair, pulling it until it hurts. His tongue hits my nipple like the cool edge of a knife. A surge rushes through my pussy as he closes his hot mouth, swirling around my nipple. Then he bites down hard, enough to make me try to twist out of him.

  “Fuck!”

  He laughs slightly as he pulls back from the deep-red mark, sweeping his thumb across it admiringly. “I’m going to leave you with marks all over yo
ur fucking body, so that every time you look at yourself you’ll see me, claiming you as mine. They’ll take weeks to fade.”

  Weeks without him?

  He tongues my breast, sucking me into his mouth until it burns. Another fucking mark. Then I feel a pressure between my legs and I see his veiny, thick cock sinking into me. Jesus. It’s like coming home after a long day. It just feels so fucking good.

  The pain bites through the pleasure as he gives me another mark with his teeth, bruising my flesh. At the same time his thickness spreads me open, gliding up my walls to anchor hard inside me.

  It fills me up completely, temporarily satisfying that ache burning inside me. A gasp trembles from my lips as his wet mouth slides across my skin. Another burst of pain makes me arch my back, but then his hips dig into me and electricity numbs out the pain.

  He pulls back, his dark hair hanging around his face as he surveys the marks all over my tits. A primal grin tugs at his lips and he makes a low growl in his throat, hammering my pussy hard.

  All the love is gone from his eyes, washed out by his instinct to claim me.

  “Does my cock feel good?”

  “Yes! Don’t stop!”

  His arms wrap around me tight and my eyes roll as he rams his hips. Air knocks from my chest with his thrusts, leaving me gasping. Holy fuck.

  Another sharp pain hits my flesh, this time on my unmarked breast. He soothes it immediately, circling his tongue around my nipple and sucking hard—delivering a jolt of pleasure to my core.

  Panting, he moves himself away from me, his cock slipping out. Then his rough hands seize my hips and flip me over so that I’m on all fours. A vicious slap hits my right cheek right before his thighs press against mine and that delicious pressure spears through me.

  “You’re mine.”

  My screams reverberate through the apartment as he pulls me against him, cock hammering my tight cunt until I feel myself falling apart. His weight bears on me and I fall forward, catching myself by my elbows. He pounds me into the mattress, his hand sneaking underneath my body to cup my swollen breast. My screams punctuate the sounds of his groans and his balls slapping against my pussy.

  His body undulates like a wave, shoving me toward the wall. My palms flatten against it, my arms absorbing the shock of his thrusts. He kisses my neck, his frantic breathing billowing over my damp skin.

  “Come, baby. Come for me.”

  A violent tremor rocks through my body as I clench myself and push against his hips, feeling the gush of liquid as he jerks against me. His weight sags over me as his cock ruts me deep, filling my womb with his cum. My head turns with his finger and he kisses me long and hard, his tongue sweeping inside my mouth. Exhausted, my body melts into a pool as shocks of pleasure hit my heart.

  He takes me in his arms and rolls over. Smooth hands glide over my skin, pulling me close as I nestle my head right under his, inhaling his masculine scent.

  He won’t be a room away anymore. I won’t be able to fuck him, feel his heart thrumming against my ear like it is now. I’ll just be alone.

  * * *

  A blaring cacophony of honking horns doesn’t penetrate the solitude I’ve created in this car. Their high beams flash behind us, but Jack ignores them pointedly. His strong hand grips mine, his thumb caressing my skin.

  I don’t want to go.

  I don’t want to step outside this car and leave him, but my eyes refuse to make tears. I won’t make this harder on him.

  “How long do you think I’ll have to stay away?”

  “I don’t know.”

  What if he never calls for me? What if he has to miss the birth of his child?

  “I just know that I need to protect my family. This is the only way I know how.”

  A smoldering feeling burns at my grief. I stamp it under my feet. “I understand.”

  Then time freezes. Someone’s waiting for the other to say good-bye. Jack cracks first, leaning over to plant a kiss on my cheek. It’s so dry. Devoid of passion. But then he lingers there, stroking my cheek.

  “I love you.”

  I look away from the affection shining in his eyes. “I love you, too.”

  “This isn’t good-bye, Beatrice. I’ll see you soon.”

  “Okay.”

  I unbuckle my seatbelt and he springs out of his car to help get the luggage out of the trunk. With a great sigh I open the door and step out into the bright sunshine.

  People walk quickly to and from the metro station as rush hour casts its orange gaze over the streets. Jack lifts my suitcase out of the car. A white bandage still sticks on his neck, hiding his latest brush with death.

  A petrifying feeling slowly freezes my body. How the fuck can we do this? The MC is after him, and the mob is full of rats. How long before one of them gets him? The goal seems insurmountable—impossible. Maybe he could’ve handled one of the crises. But two at once?

  This might be the last time I see him alive.

  The roll of my suitcase cuts away my thoughts as Jack slides a comforting arm around my waist.

  “I guess this is good-bye for now.”

  I can’t take it.

  I curl into his arms and seize his waist, looking up at him but not finding the words. What am I supposed to say? Good luck? What I really want to do is beg him to come with me, to plead with him to stay alive. Stay the fuck alive.

  “Jack, I’m scared.”

  His hand tightens around my waist. “Just board a train and go. Get the hell out of here. You’ll be fine.”

  I’m not scared for myself.

  “What about you?”

  He lifts an eyebrow. “I can take care of myself. Don’t worry about me. You’re the one carrying something special.”

  His hand momentarily brushes over my stomach and I hold him there, thinking of the tiny life growing inside me. Fuck, I forgot I was pregnant on top of everything else.

  “I’ll do everything I can to bring our family back together, but you have to promise me something.” He grabs both my shoulders and digs into my bones. “Don’t come back here. No matter what you might hear, you have to promise me you’ll stay away until I call you.”

  Never come back?

  A tremor creeps into my voice. “What if something happens to you?”

  “Not even then. Beatrice, promise me.”

  I can’t do it. The carefully constructed wall I built around me starts to topple. It’s too much.

  “I can’t do that!”

  The grip on my shoulders is painful. “You have to. For both our sakes.”

  I squeeze his middle, unable to bear the moment when I’ll have to tear myself away. “But—”

  “Promise me!”

  A glint of desperation fractures his eyes.

  “I—I promise.”

  “Good girl.”

  My body bumps his chest as he pulls me in, slowly squeezing air out of me.

  “I love you, baby. I’ll come back for you soon.”

  I don’t know what to tell him. The words won’t come. Nothing will dispel the torment raging inside, so I just let him hug me.

  “Go, Beatrice. We’ve been here too long.”

  “Okay.”

  We break away and he shoves his hands deep in his pockets.

  “Bye.”

  “Safe trip, Beatrice.”

  A crooked smile tugs at his lips as he gives me a wink, and I turn around, forcing my legs to walk. It’s as though they’re filled with lead, because this doesn’t feel right. Everything inside me screams to run back into Jack’s arms. I walk across the pavement to the pay stations. A glance over my shoulder. He’s still there, watching me with that sweet smile. I never thought he’d be gentle with me. I turn around.

  A loud crack makes me duck and a large spark explodes over the metal ticket dispenser. What the hell? Did it short-circuit? A man’s voice screams behind me, and I turn around violently. A sharp, intense pain slices my hip. I feel it like a searing-hot brand sizzling my skin, and then I see Ja
ck ducked behind his car door, his arm extended.

  CRACK. CRACK.

  The ground explodes a foot away from where I’m standing and Jack screams over the noise.

  “BEATRICE, RUN!”

  I get up and leave my suitcase behind, barreling past the ticket machines into the station. A wet feeling at my hip distracts me, and I look down.

  A wave of dizziness strikes my head and I brace my palm on the wall.

  Blood.

  Dark red spreads over my pink t-shirt. Then the pain starts to throb sharply. Oh God, I don’t want to look. My brain can’t process what’s happening. All of it is like the striking visuals of an action movie. Jack, firing his gun in the middle of broad daylight. The explosions and sparks at my feet. The blood spreading over my hip.

  Am I shot?

  “He’s got a gun!”

  I look up, heart racing, and I see Jack sprinting toward me. He bellows like a wounded animal when he sees the wound at my side.

  “Jack, what’s going on?”

  I’m surprised at the calm in my voice.

  He ignores my question and lifts my shirt. I feel the fabric unsticking from my wound. “You got grazed. You’ll be fine,” he says in a quick, hurried voice.

  He yanks me to my feet so quickly that I have vertigo. “We need to get the fuck out of here before the cops get here. Come on.”

  Numbly I follow Jack back outside, noticing the crowd of huddled people. There’s a body near Jack’s car. My horrified gasp catches Jack’s attention.

  “Come on!”

  He opens the car door and yanks me inside. I don’t feel like any of this is actually happening to me. It’s too bizarre—must be a dream. I hiss in pain when I try to sit up. Jack’s head snaps to me, anguish all over his face. Feelings return and I realize how fast I’m breathing. The sound is sharp in the car. Fear trickles in as he starts the car and guns the engine.

  “They shot me.”

  “THAT SON OF A BITCH!”

  I jump in my seat as he beats the dashboard with his fist. The radio screen smashes and pieces of plastic stick into his knuckles.

  “JOHNNY!” he screams, spittle flying from his mouth. “He sent those guys after us. He wants us fucking gone, so I’m going to fucking kill him.”

  It’s all confused. I can’t think straight as Jack drives like a maniac down the streets and flies through downtown Montreal. He screeches to a halt outside a bar, and then within seconds he’s dragging me out of the passenger seat.