by A. M. Myers
“Oh, yeah… about that…”
“Are you for real right now? You’re going to marry me?” I ask as my heart stutters in my chest and my mouth goes dry.
She nods. “If you’ll still have me.”
“Fuck yes,” I growl, wrapping my arms around her and lifting her into the air as I press my lips against hers. She giggles, threading her fingers through my hair and it’s the sweetest damn sound I’ve ever heard in my life. She’s mine now. Forever.
“I love you,” I whisper against her lips and she smiles.
“Turns out, I love you, too. And I’m sorry that I’m so stubborn and unreasonable. I was so worried about you when you left and I realized that I don’t want to spend another minute of my life without you.”
“And you’ll never have to.”
She giggles again and pulls back as I gently set her back on her feet. “I can’t promise to make it easy for you.”
“You wouldn’t be the woman I’m madly in love with if you did,” I answer, holding the back of her head and pulling her lips to mine again. Rodriguez clears his throat behind us and we pull away as Tate blushes.
“Sorry. Got a little caught up,” I admit. He shakes his head.
“No worries and congrats to both of you. You’re good for each other.”
I grin, looking back at my girl. “We have to tell the guys.”
She nods and I scowl, remembering that I left Smith to watch over her.
“Wait. Where’s Smith?”
She purses her lips and looks away from me as Rodriguez starts laughing.
“Tate,” I prompt and she sighs.
“I kind of tased him.”
“Tate,” I growl, pinching the bridge of my nose as she cuddles under my arm and presses her hand to my stomach.
“I’m sorry but he wouldn’t let me leave. I had to get to you.”
I roll my eyes and stare down at her. “He was protecting you like I asked him to.”
“Yeah,” she muses, biting her lip. “We’re going to have to get him a really good present to make up for it.”
“How did I get roped into this?” I ask, laughing and she holds up her left hand, now adorned with my ring, as she reaches up on her tiptoes to press a kiss against my lips. “I didn’t realize my marriage proposal came with apologies to my friends.”
“Sorry to break up this love fest but you should see this,” Rodriguez says, grabbing a piece of paper off the dining room table. I take it from him and blow out a breath as I read it.
I want my daughter
Monday
Sunrise Diner
2 p.m.
“Ready to meet your old man?” I ask, handing the note to her and her hand trembles slightly as she nods.
“Let’s take it to the club and see what everyone else thinks.”
My brows shoot up in surprise and she glances over at me, rolling her eyes.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not going into this alone so I’ll need support from y’all if I decide to face him.”
I shake my head. “I don’t like it.”
“I don’t either but it may be our only option.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Tatum
“Lincoln,” I moan, stretching out next to him in bed as he presses his lips to the bare skin between my shoulder blades and I cuddle closer to him, craving the warmth of his embrace. He pulls the covers up over us and kisses my shoulder.
“Morning, Darlin’.”
I smile, peeking over my shoulder at him. “Good morning.”
“Have I ever told you how fucking hard it makes me when you moan my name?” he asks, accenting his point by pressing his rigid cock against my ass. I giggle and shake my hips, teasing him a little more and he growls as he grips my hip. “If you’re not careful, I’m going to take you again, wife.”
“I’m not your wife,” I point out as I turn away from him and wiggle my ass again. His fingers tighten on my hip as he leans forward and slowly kisses a path up my neck. My nipples pebble and I arch my back, pinning his cock between the two of us.
“Not yet but as soon as this day is over, we’re setting a date in the very near future.”
“Oh, really?” I ask, glancing back at him with a quirked brow and he nods.
“Don’t even think of fighting me on this. I’m not waiting a minute longer than I have to.”
I roll over to face him and palm his cheek. “You’re getting very bossy. Afraid I’m going to change my mind?”
“No, not anymore. You made your choice and now you’re stuck with me until the day I die. You’re just lucky I didn’t drag you to a courthouse the second you said yes.”
I push away from him and scoot back on the bed as I fight off a grin. “And what if I run from you?”
“I’ll chase you,” he growls, baring his teeth as he lunges at me and wraps his arms around my waist. I giggle, pretending to fight him. “I’ll never let you get away now.”
He rolls on top of me and slips a hand between my thighs. “Are you still wet for me, baby?”
I nod as his fingers sink into my pussy. This would be round three in as many hours and neither one of us can seem to get enough of each other but that’s been par for the course since I accepted his ring. He’s been insatiable and I might be even worse. Unless we’ve been at the club going over what to do about my father, we’ve been here in this bed making up for lost time.
“Fuck, Tate,” he groans as he starts fingering me and I moan, arching my hips off the bed as my eyes flutter closed. His hand wraps around my throat and my eyes spring open. “Eyes on me always, baby girl.”
“Lincoln,” I whimper, our gazes locked together as he brings me to the point of release with his fingers alone. Just when I think I’m going to topple over the edge, he stops and pulls out of me. “No!”
“Tell me what you want.”
My gaze drops to his cock and I reach forward, wrapping my hand around it as I stroke it back and forth. His eyes close for a second as he groans. When he opens them again, they are filled with fire and he leans down, sealing his lips over mine in a kiss so hot it could burn down this whole house as he pulls my hand away from his length. As he pulls back, he grabs my hips and flips me to my belly. He straddles my hips and grips my ass cheeks, spreading them apart as he presses the tip of his cock against my entrance. My entire body tenses in anticipation and I suck in a breath, holding it in my lungs as I wait for the sweet ache of him driving into me. He leans over me, his lips brushing against my ear and a shiver winds down my spine.
“You want my cock, baby?”
I nod, wiggling my ass against him. “Yes.”
“Can you say please like a good little girl?”
“No,” I hiss. He pulls away and I cry out at the loss as he laughs. “Okay, please.”
“Please what?” he asks, leaning over me again.
“Please give me your cock.”
He groans and slips inside me, giving me that delicious ache I’ve been craving. “With pleasure, Darlin’.”
I moan, gripping the sheets in front of me as he holds himself inside me and sucks in a ragged breath, his grip on my ass tightening.
“Jesus Christ. You feel incredible.”
He rocks his hips but I need more. “Lincoln, fuck me, please.”
“Tate,” he groans, leaning over me as one hand grips the back of my neck. “I fucking love those dirty words coming out of your pretty little mouth but what you and I do is not fucking. It never has been.”
“I need you to move,” I plead, my body aching and he growls in my ear as he pulls back and sinks into me again.
“Like that?”
I nod. “Yes, please.”
He keeps a firm hand on the back of my neck as he moves to his knees and sets a steady pace, rocking in and out of me with just enough speed to drive me out of my mind.
In…
Out…
In…
Out…
“Lincoln,” I gasp, ar
ching my back more and he slaps my ass before gripping it with a growl. The bite of his fingernails in my skin sends a shiver down my spine as my core clenches around him.
“Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you.”
“Harder.”
He pulls back and hits the perfect spot as a wave of pleasure washes over me. I cry out, dropping my head to the mattress as I moan, “More.”
He does it again and again, hitting that spot over and over as pressure slowly builds inside me and I claw at the sheets in front of me, needing more.
“Faster,” I command. The hand on the back of my neck moves to my hair and he fists some of it as he leans over me and kisses my neck.
“Greedy girl, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” I whisper, silently praying that he’ll give me what I want, what I need. My body aches, desperate for the release that is just out of my grasp and just when I think that he’s going to torture me some more, he picks up the pace, slamming into me repeatedly. Tension coils inside me again and I squeeze my eyes shut, gripping the sheets so hard that my hands ache.
“Don’t stop,” I breathe out and he ignores my request, pulling out of me as I cry out. He flips me to my back and hooks one leg over his shoulder as he lines himself up at my entrance and drives forward. I gasp, my hips arching off the bed as I grip his forearm.
“Eyes on me, Tate,” he whispers and I peel my eyes open, meeting his just before he leans down and seals his lips over mine. Using the same pace as before – hard, fast, and relentless – he quickly reignites the orgasm I was chasing and my fingernails dig into his skin as stars explode behind my eyes and I rip my lips away to scream his name.
“Fuck,” he groans, grabbing my face and slamming his lips back on mine as he continues thrusting, chasing his own release and wringing every last drop from mine in the process. Slipping my fingers into his hair, I give it a tug and he groans, tensing above me as his cock jerks.
“Lincoln,” I whisper and he lets out a long groan that sends a shiver straight to my toes before collapsing on top of me. His breath brushes over my clammy skin as he struggles to catch his breath and I close my eyes, a smile lighting up my face.
“Look how gorgeous you are,” he says and I peek up at him, unable to wipe the smile from my face.
“Thank you.”
He frowns. “For your orgasm?”
“No,” I say, laughing. “For being even more stubborn than I was.”
He smirks, brushing his thumb over my cheek. “Sweetheart, it’s easy to be stubborn when you know you’re right.”
I roll my eyes and scoff as I push him off me. He laughs, pulling me into his arms – the only place I want to be for the rest of my life.
* * * *
Sucking in a breath, I stop in front of the full length mirror and run my hands down my front, trying not to stare at the pistol on my ankle or the other one on my hip. I also have two knives and the Taser with me but my hands are still shaking something fierce. It’s not everyday a girl meets her dad for the first time. Not to mention the whole evil crime boss thing that I’m trying not to think about. All my life, my mother prepared me for this moment and I still feel woefully unqualified to take on the man who’s been silently haunting my life since the moment I took my first breath. Lincoln steps up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist as he meets my gaze in the mirror and presses his lips against my neck.
“You can still back out of this, baby. No one here would blame you.”
I glance out at my bedroom where most of the club hovers, each man looking nervous and irritated by the situation. When Lincoln and I took the note to the club five days ago, they were all adamant that I didn’t meet with Dominic but I knew then, as I still do now, that he won’t leave until he speaks to me. I could run and I could hide but eventually, he’d catch up to me. Alone with my thoughts for the past few days, I’ve wondered if this is exactly how my mother felt when she struck her deal with him all those years ago and I wish she was here to tell me what to do.
“You know I can’t,” I whisper and he scowls as he pulls me closer and shakes his head.
“Please, Tate. We’ll find another way.”
I spin in his arms and cup his cheek as I shake my head. “There is no other way. You and I have a life to start together and we can’t do that if we are on the run from Dominic King. We deserve more than that.”
“Maybe he’s right,” Nix says from the doorway of the safe room and I sigh.
“Guys, I appreciate the protectiveness but the longer he’s here, the more danger we’re all in. Especially you, Nix.”
He shakes his head. “Don’t worry about me.”
“Are we ready to go?” Rodriguez asks, sticking his head in the room and I nod as I suck in a breath.
“Yeah, let’s do this.”
I can feel Lincoln’s reluctance as he grabs my hand and we walk out to the van with the rest of the guys. Smith opens the back door for me and I offer him a smile that he doesn’t return. He’s still a little mad at me about tasing him and he was one of the loudest voices objecting to this plan. I just hope that after all this is over and everything turns out fine, he can forgive me because he’s become a really good friend over the last week and a half and I don’t want to lose him.
Rodriguez, Lincoln, Nix, and Smith file into the van and sit around me as we pull away from the curb and I clasp my hands together, hoping no one will see how badly they’re shaking. If Mom saw me right now, she’d be pissed that I was letting an opponent get in my head but meeting Dominic King feels a little bit like meeting the boogeyman.
“Okay, here’s the plan,” Rodriguez says, pulling everyone’s attention over to him. “Tate, I want you to sit in one of the middle tables along the wall, preferably by a window.”
I nod. “Okay.”
“I’m going to be seated in one corner and Fuzz,” he explains, pointing to Fuzz in the front seat, “will be in another corner. Everyone else will wait outside.”
“I don’t fucking think so,” Lincoln growls and Nix nods in agreement. Rodriguez sighs.
“You either go along with this plan or I send you back to the clubhouse with Blaze.”
Blaze also really wanted to be here today but we all knew it would be a terrible idea with his history with Dominic and we couldn’t risk Dominic learning about Nix.
“No fucking way,” Lincoln snaps, squeezing my hand tight. “I’m going in there with her.”
“Babe,” I whisper and he glances over at me. “If you go in there with me, it’s going to change the whole tone of this meeting and we won’t accomplish what needs to get done today.”
He blows out a breath, running his hand through his hair. “I don’t like it.”
“It’s the way it’s got to be,” Rodriguez tells him. “But I’ll keep your girl safe, okay?”
“He better not touch a single hair on her beautiful fucking head, you get me?” he asks, narrowing his eyes on Rodriguez, who simply nods in understanding. I’m just about to berate them for being cavemen when I notice the diner up ahead and suck in a breath.
“Show time.”
“Last chance, Tate,” Lincoln urges, holding my hand over his heart. “If you want to walk away, tell me now.”
I roll my eyes, pressing my palm flat against his racing heart. “Is this going to become a regular thing for you? If so, I’m gonna need to find someone else to be with me when I give birth to our babies.”
He grins, pulling me closer as the van pulls into the parking spot in the back of the lot. “How about this… march your sexy little ass in there and handle your shit, baby girl. But if you get even one scratch, I’m going to whoop your ass all over this fucking lot.”
“Better,” I whisper, a shiver skating down my spine as I lean forward and kiss him.
“Ugh,” Nix mumbles, turning away from us. “Some things I just don’t need to know.”
“Fucking please,” Smith whines, rolling his eyes. “You and Emma couldn’t keep your da
mn hands off each other. Still can’t.”
Rodriguez snaps his fingers in front of us. “Can we focus, please? Fuzz is already inside and posted up in one corner. I’m going now. Tate, you give it five and come in after us. Remember what I said.”
I nod and watch as he climbs out of the van, subtly scanning the lot before he walks toward the door and slips inside. He sits in the corner opposite of Fuzz and Mia bounces over to him, a wide smile on her face.
“Just be smart, okay?” Nix says and I nod, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze.
“I will. I promise.”
Lincoln sinks back into the seat and sighs. “I fucking hate this.”
“Just think, after today, you and I can have a normal relationship.”
He scoffs. “Does normal include you tasing me?”
“I don’t know. I guess it depends on how much you piss me off.”
He laughs, slipping his hand into my hair as he pulls me onto his lips. When he pulls back, he brushes his thumb over my bottom lip and smiles. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” I kiss him again before pointing a finger at Nix. “You both stay in this van, you hear? I can’t be worried about you and watching out for Dominic at the same time.”
They both roll their eyes.
“Yeah, we hear you.”
I nod and give Lincoln one last kiss before opening the door and stepping out into the Louisiana sunshine. My stomach rolls as I scan the parking lot and approach the front door, wondering if he’s here already. How stupid am I for not even looking at a picture of him? Truthfully, though, I didn’t want to know what he looked like. I didn’t want to put a face to the monster.
“Tate!” Mia squeals as soon as I walk in the door and I grin, bracing myself as she rushes toward me and hugs me.
“Hey.”
“What are you doing here? I thought you were on house arrest or something,” she says and I laugh. When the guys insisted that I have constant protection, I had to ask Roger to divvy up my shifts between the other waitresses and I told him I wasn’t sure if I was coming back.