by KB Winters
I couldn’t stop the groan at the memory of coming home to find big sheets of white paper laid out on the floor with body paint lined up beside it. “I’ll be your canvas anytime, Jana.”
She kissed me again, harder this time and with more tongue. So much more tongue I groaned and slid my hands under her skirt, slipping a finger inside sexy little panties until I touched her wet pussy and she moaned into me. She clenched around me and I lifted her into the air, ready to send a quick orgasm shooting through her. “Jana,” I moaned.
“Yes, Max. Now.”
A quiet knock sounded and then a familiar voice. “Mommy, Uncle Lasso stole my cape!” Charlie was on the verge of tears and we both groaned.
“I was so close,” she whispered and shimmied down my body with a bit more friction than was necessary.
“I know. I felt how close you were,” I told her and slipped my slick middle finger between my lips, making her gasp. “Later we’ll talk more about this Halloween for adults.”
She laughed and stepped back, smoothing down her hair and then her outfit and readjusting her glasses. “You, husband, have a one track mind.”
“And you, wife, turn me into a dirty old man.”
Jana’s smile softened and she did that sexy little head tilt thing that women did when they were impressed. Or turned on. “I like you dirty.” Without another word, Jana left and I stood in the middle of our makeshift room, because we were still on fucking lockdown, wearing a goddamn superhero costume with a fucking hardon.
Great.
Good thing I didn’t have to wear it for too long and the truth was, I didn’t give a damn what the guys said or thought about it. They’d give me a hard time but Charlie and Jameson would go nuts over it and that was all that mattered. Besides, I didn’t think my wife was the only one to have this bright idea. It felt a lot like a conspiracy from the women.
I stepped into the main clubhouse room, all decked out with carved pumpkins that held LED lights because we couldn’t have candles around all the kids, paper skeletons, ghosts and witches, it looked like Halloween had thrown up all over the place. The bar, the pool tables and even the Mayhem skull that hung above the bar had been done up to celebrate the holiday. “Holy shit.”
“Right?” Teddy stopped beside me and rested her forearm on my shoulder. “We made this place look like a Halloween heaven for the kiddies. You’d never be able to tell this was a place where badass bikers did very serious biker business.”
I cocked a brow at her, barely holding in my laugh. “You get weirder every year,” I told her seriously.
“Thanks, Max.” She pressed up on her toes and kissed my cheek with a laugh. “Jana is gonna eat you alive in that damn thing.”
I watched Teddy walk away before heading to the bar to join…the rest of the superheroes. “Glad to see I’m not the only sucker around.” Each and every one of the guys was dressed up like a superhero and I couldn’t help but laugh.
Golden Boy shrugged, as relaxed as I’d seen him in a long time. Being a family man had done wonders for him, but I knew Teddy was most responsible. “Haven’t you seen how Teddy gets whenever Thor comes on Netflix?”
Savior laughed and clapped Golden Boy’s back. “Shit doesn’t come on Netflix asshole. You have to put it on.”
My brother shrugged and took a long pull of his beer. “What do I know? I’m not the computer expert, that’s the Black Panther over there.” He nodded in Jag’s direction, who was dressed up like a more lethal version of the character with a sexy and equally crazy looking Harley Quinn at his side.
“Nice costume,” I told Jag with a wide grin.
“Thanks. Harley loves it.” He grinned and turned to Vivi, smacking a loud kiss on her lips.
Savior groaned, tugging on the collar of his Captain America uniform. “Why the fuck did I have to dress up? I don’t even have any kids.”
“Because the kids love the Captain,” Cross told him, looking pleased with himself in his Batman uniform. “Smile and look like you’re superheroes and not villains.”
The men all dispersed but I stayed at the bar and grabbed a shot and a beer. The place looked like a little kid’s Halloween party and even though it went against everything the Reckless Bastards were, I couldn’t find it in me to give a goddamn. Charlie was giggling up a storm as he stood next to Cross looking like his own little miniaturized version of his favorite superhero. And Jameson was dressed, of course, just like a bottle of Jana’s favorite Irish Whiskey. He was giggling so hard he shook in Jana’s arms while Rocky pretended to drink him.
How the hell things could be so normal when two of our brothers were missing? I had no fucking clue but I was eternally grateful to the women for keeping life as normal as possible for all the little ones we now had.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Vivi said, hip cocked against a stool as she stole my beer.
“Just thinkin’ about how good it is to see everyone laughing and smiling in the midst of all this bullshit.”
“No kidding. Kids bounce back easily when they’re young.” She said the words with the weight of someone who knew them personally. “Nice costume, by the way.”
“Yeah, thanks. The things we do for love.”
“And sex,” she added with a snort.
My phone buzzed inside the little pocket at my hip and I struggled to get the damn thing out. “Motherfucker!”
Vivi laugh beside me. “Need some help?”
“No, I got it!” I knew I was being an asshole but the damn thing was so fucking tight. I looked at the screen and groaned. “All that and it’s a wrong fucking number.”
I was about to reject the call up when Vivi snatched the phone from my hand. “Two missing dudes and a cartel nut remember?” She was right and I nodded.
“Hello?” Her brows furrowed as she listened and then her feet were moving, her fingers snapping in my direction for me to follow her. “It’s Vivi and I’m going to help so don’t be such a grumpy old asshole or I swear to God, I’ll fuckin’ leave you stranded.”
My shoulders relaxed, and a small smile touched my lips because there was only one person who could make someone that frustrated in under ten seconds.
Gunnar.
Vivi rolled her eyes and turned to me once we were both outside. “I’m going to the camper to help Mr. Grumpy Pants but if you want to gather your bros, they might want to know.”
“Bros?”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s what you are, right? Now go because I need to get this done before I accidentally put him on a watch list.”
She laughed at whatever Gunnar said in her ear and I took a step back and then another until I was damn near running back inside the clubhouse.
“Everything okay?” Jana mouthed when our eyes locked, but I only nodded, eager to get to Cross and the other Reckless Bastards.
“Whoa man, where’s the fire?” Savior stepped in front of me, Cross and Jag beside him instantly.
“It’s Gunnar. He’s on the phone with Vivi. In the camper.”
About a thousand questions were shouted at me all at once and I didn’t understand any of them. “What about Stitch?”
I shrugged. “I don’t fucking know! Vivi took the call and she just said to gather the bros.”
Jag snickered behind his hands and everyone else frowned at me like I’d lost my damn mind.
Cross smacked his hands together. “Jag and I will go to the camper and get the necessary intel. The rest of you, hang back and watch the families.” With those orders, they both strode off, leaving the rest of us to keep the party going.
Our brothers were alive, and that was reason enough to celebrate for me.
Chapter Eighteen - Cross
“You did a good thing, Cross. The kids had a blast and none of them even realized anything was wrong. Not even Maisie.” Moon’s strong slender fingers dug into my shoulders, slowly but surely removing every fucking knot in my neck and shoulders. “Relax.”
I let out a half-laugh and ha
lf-grunt. Moon’s ability to see the good side of any shitty situation was just one of the reasons I loved her. Her magic hands were another. “Babe I don’t think even three straight days locked in a bedroom with you could get me to relax.”
Her melodic laughter sounded in my ears just as her tits pressed up against my back. “Well I’d accept that challenge, but you don’t have three days to give me.”
There was a smile in her voice but I could also hear the underlying tension and worry there. “I hope to give you all the days when this mess is over.” Dealing with the cartel was a bigger mess than my club had ever found ourselves in and I had no fucking clue how we’d get to the other side.
Moon sighed as she dug her knuckles deep into my right shoulder and I could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke. “All the days sound nice but until then, I’d settle for an hour. Or two.” She punctuated her words with a gentle, whisper soft kiss behind my ear. On my jawline. “Only if we can get these knots straightened out.” Too soon her lips were too far away and her strong hands were back to work, getting me straight for the fight ahead.
“What did I ever do to deserve you, Moon?” I didn’t think after Lauren that I deserved this kind of love again but Moon’s persistence, her straight talk and her ability to light my body on fire with a single glance, had proven me wrong.
“Maybe you’re just lucky.” She kissed my cheek again before turning her focus back to the hard knots in my muscles. “Or maybe, Cross, have you ever considered that I’m the lucky one?”
Hell no, I hadn’t. Moon was the bright shining star in my life and Beau was the second chance I never thought I’d get. And I wouldn’t get to fully explore it if we didn’t figure out this shit with the Salinas Cartel. “That’s crazy and you know it.”
She laughed and we both fell silent. I was lost in thought, thinking about the call from Gunnar that came in almost two days ago. The relief that I felt at hearing from Gunnar, even though he hadn’t stayed on the line long enough for me to talk to him, was so immense my knees nearly buckled. They were alive. Barely, according to Vivi who’d relayed their conversation word for word at my request. “Okay, Cross, am I going to have to peel these clothes off in order to get you to relax a little?”
I turned to look at her over my shoulder and smiled at the midnight blue dress she wore that showed off an impressive amount of cleavage even though her soft sweater covered up her incredible arms. Arms I enjoyed watching as they wrapped around me when we kissed, when we made love. Arms that created art as easily as they created meals for her boys or helped take away my stress. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
Her face lit up but the love shining in her light green eyes nearly brought me to my knees. “You’re pretty amazing too for a guy who’s trying to change the subject.” Tugging out of the arms of her sweater until her shoulders were bare, she tossed it on the dresser behind her. “Beau is playing with the kids and the door is locked,” she told me with a bright smile as one strap of her dress dropped off her slender shoulder. The other fell and seconds later the dress was on the floor, leaving Moon in nothing but a pair of blue lacy panties that did wonderful things for her ass. “Now remember, Cross. This is strictly therapeutic, not at all for your pleasure.”
I rose up from the stool I’d been sitting on and went to the bed, dropping down to kick off my boots and then my pants. The rest of my clothes vanished in an instant, firing up the green in her eyes until they were so light they damn near looked clear. “I’ll try my best not to enjoy it.”
She smiled and pushed at my chest until I was flat on my back, watching her long legs as she climbed on the bed. Straddled me. “Good because therapy is very, very important.” Her lips twitched and I swore, I fell even harder for her in that moment. Her ability to make me smile even when shit was as bad as it could possibly be was nothing short of miraculous, and I didn’t even believe in miracles.
“Very, ah!” She gripped my cock in her delicate yet capable hands as she slid her slick pussy down over me, enveloping me into her body the same way she’d folded me into her heart. I was lost at the feel of her. The taste of her. The way our scents mingled and swirled in the air to create an unforgettable aroma that fired me up and healed me.
“Cross!” She moaned my name, sobbed it out, roared it and whimpered with my name the only thing on her lips as she rode me. Hard and fast. Insatiable as she pushed us both closer and closer to the top.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her, not when just watching her take her pleasure from my body while giving it all back a hundred times over had all the tension seeping from my body. Gripping her hips as she increased the pressure, the intensity of her strokes, I was powerless to turn away from her. The woman who’d given me a thousand different reasons to keep going, to be a better man and a better leader. This woman.
My woman.
“Cross.” When she moaned my name the final time, all the tension was gone, replaced by something darker, something hungrier. I flipped our positions so I was on top, wrapping her long legs around me. I thrust into her with so much force we moved the bed. Long, punishing strokes that she took greedily and asked for more. “Please,” she begged when I took a beautiful cherry pink nipple in my mouth and sucked hard while I fucked her even harder. “Yes. More! Now!”
I smiled around the plump tit in my mouth, pounding deeper in a frenzy even I couldn’t explain, and when she pulsed around me and froze, I knew true fucking bliss in that moment. She squeezed me. Milked me in a tantalizing rhythm that stole my breath. “Moon.” The grunt was torn from me the moment her hot wet juices slid between us, increasing the friction and yanking my orgasm right from me. “Ah fuck, Moon!” My entire body went still, then jerked as I spilled deep inside of her while she continued to pulse around me for several long minutes. “You’re fucking gorgeous when you come.”
Her delighted smile unraveled the last of my tension and when she pulled me down for a long, hot kiss, she drained me completely. “And you look so hot when you come that it makes me want to fuck you all over again.”
“I love you, Moon.”
Green eyes sparkled with affection. “Cross, I love you too. And I believe you’re going to get through this. I really do.”
She couldn’t have said anything more perfect. “Marry me, Moon.” She froze, a shocked look on her face and I cringed. “I take it back,” I said hastily.
She frowned, her brows crinkling with confusion. “You don’t want to marry me?”
“Don’t be stupid, of course I want to marry you. But you deserve a better proposal than that.” She deserved something far more romantic than I could ever come up with, but thanks to the rash of marriage and babies within the MC, I had plenty of sources to turn to.
Moon’s legs tightened around me and her pussy convulsed around me some more as one foot slid up and down the back of my leg making me shiver. “I don’t know, Cross. I can’t think of a more memorable way to do it.”
“Seriously?”
She nodded slowly but her face was certain. Determined. “Absolutely.”
“This will be the proposal just for us, then. Moon, my crazy sexy little hippie chick, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
“Cross, my big bad biker, I can’t think of anything I want to do more.” Her legs tightened just a little more around me until we were eye to eye, and then she devoured me, slayed me with her sweet, sexy kiss. It turned to something deeper, something hungrier and more intense as the kiss continued on. There was love and passion but there was also something more. Something I couldn’t yet describe but something that would sustain me until our lives could find some sense of normalcy.
The door rattled under the pressure of someone’s heavy-fisted knock. “Yo, Cross!” Savior’s voice was loud and urgent. “We need to talk.”
Moon groaned and let her legs fall to my sides. “The President has been summoned.” She pulled me down for one more scorching hot kiss before shoving me away. “Go on, big man, lead.”
“I fucking love the hell out of you, Moon.”
She sighed, wearing a big smile as she laid there in bed, naked and satisfied, looking more beautiful than she ever had. “I love the hell out you too, Cross.”
With those words ringing in my head, I got dressed, the smell of Moon still glued to my skin, and got down to fucking business.
The business of kicking ass, taking names, and getting my men back where they belonged.
Chapter Nineteen - Gunnar
Five goddamn days, that was how long Carlito had given us to get this truck filled with his product to Reno. What the fuck that product was, we still didn’t know for sure. “It’s gotta be drugs,” Stitch said for at least the ten thousandth time since we’d made it to El Paso, which was ten thousand times too fucking many. I never really understood that statement, familiarity breeds contempt, until I had to walk twenty miles to cross the border.
I was grateful that we’d finally met up with that fat fuck, Guapo. But too much time with Stitch was driving me fucking nuts. And we had another day or two of driving. “No point guessing right now, hopefully we’ll get the answers we need soon.” Speculating would just be a waste of time when we were headed straight for Mayhem. Hopefully Jag and Vivi would be able to work their geeky magic while the rest of us formed a plan to stop Carlito.
“Yeah, I know but what the hell else are we gonna do?” He was amped up, twitchy with adrenaline and though he wouldn’t admit it, Stitch was too worried to sleep. “The view is for shit and there’s only country music stations around here,” he grumbled again. “Who knew New Mexico and Arizona had so many fucking country music stations?”
That made me laugh because he wasn’t wrong and because he was so goddamn irritated by it. “These songs should be right up your alley since they’re all about losing your chick and your car, sleeping with somebody else’s woman and even getting’ your ass beat. Ouch,” I groaned when that fucker punched me in my arm. “Your jackoff hand is strong as fuck, man.”