Hammer's Pride

by E. C. Land

  Some of those pots don’t seem to like the way Adam and Aidan are running things. From what we can gather, those two idiots are pivoting between the Cintron Cartel and the Delivers.

  Over the past three years, they’ve been stepping into places down in Florida and trying to work their way up after what happened to the Diaz and Alcazar cartels. The leader of the Cintron Cartel stays away from the States, for the most part, preferring to be in Puerto Rico and leaving the rest to his men who work under him.

  Shit, the fact that Avery’s brothers would be stupid enough to not only go with one but to try and work with both makes them the dumbest fuckers around. A satanic cult and a Puerto Rican cartel. It’s hilarious if you think about it.

  Shaking my head, I go in search of Avery. Not finding her in the kitchen, I look to Tap, who’s handing beers out. “Where’s Avery?” I ask him.

  “She went to y’all’s room, Prez. Knuckles decided to go outside and watch over the gate since she went. I haven’t seen her come back out,” he responds.

  Nodding, I walk out of the main room and down the hall to my room. Not sure what type of mood she’ll be in when I step into the room, I brace for the argument. Hand on the doorknob, I twist it until the door opens. I don’t even have to step into the room to know she’s not in here.

  “What the fuck?” I sneer into the dark entrance to my room.

  Where the hell did she go?

  Stalking back to the main room, I storm over to Tap and slam my fist on the bar. “You wanna tell me where the fuck my ol’ lady is? ‘Cause she sure as fuck isn’t in our room like you said,” I snarl.

  “What? Prez, swear to fuck she was heading into your room last time I saw her,” Tap mutters, his gaze darkening.

  “Come on, Prez, let’s see if we can’t find her. There’s no way she’s left the clubhouse,” Bruiser grumbles, sliding off the barstool.

  Without another word, I turn on my heel and start looking for my damn woman. Swear to fuck, when I find her, I’m gonna tan her ass.

  Or so I thought until I find her sitting on the swing set looking to be deep in thought. I shouldn’t have yelled at her because she’s right I didn’t tell her she couldn’t be out here, but fuck, if it doesn’t scare the shit out of me that I could lose her. Telling her this is like ripping my heart out because of what those thoughts make me think of.

  The sob that escapes her lips after I tell her about my brother and sister-in-law is like a sucker punch to the gut. Then to top it off, I told her how much I care for her. I hadn’t intended to fuckin’ do that but not knowing where she’d been scared the hell out of me. When it comes to this woman, I need to be able to know where she’s at, at all times, for my own sanity.

  Everyone else can kiss my ass if they want to call me overbearing. You lose family, see their blood soaked into the carpet of their house, you earn the right to be the way I am when it comes to needing to protect those who I hold close.

  Lifting a hand, I pinch her chin between my thumb and pointer finger to raise her head to meet my gaze. With my other hand, I wipe the tears from her cheeks that spill over. “Don’t cry, Sunshine,” I murmur.

  “But . . . I can’t help it. I didn’t know. I’m sorry for arguing and upsetting you. Please don’t be mad at me,” Avery says, her tears spilling faster down her cheeks.

  I release her chin and pull her further into me, wrapping my arms tightly around her. The pain in her voice evident at the effect my words had on her. She’s been through so fuckin’ much. Then I went and dump my shit on her. I’m an ass, that’s for sure.

  I need to make it up to her. Show her she’s got nothing to apologize for.

  Not knowing if I could with words, I quickly make up my mind on how to do so. I run my hands down her spine, cup her ass, and lift her clear off the ground. Avery makes a squeaking sound as she wraps her arms and legs around me like she was a monkey.

  With my mindset on where to go, I stalk back into the clubhouse, straight to our room. I close the door and lock it without releasing her. I don’t let her go until I have her laid out on the bed with my body lying next to her. I use one arm to brace myself up to hover over Avery while I use the other one to cage her in.

  Lowering my head, I take Avery’s mouth, sliding my tongue in when she parts her lips on a sigh. I take full advantage of the way my woman’s body reacts to my own as I touch her.

  My lips stay sealed to hers while I swiftly remove all of her clothes. The straps of Avery’s tank top are pulled down her shoulders then down the rest of her body. The last thing to go is her bra. Only then do I break my mouth from hers to trail kisses across her jaw and down her neck.

  “You know how beautiful you are, Sunshine?” I rasp out my question, lifting my head in time to catch the shake of her head. “Avery, baby, you’re the most exquisite woman I know.”

  Avery’s lips part, and her eyes close as if she were trying to suppress the words from getting in. Yeah, not gonna happen. Not when I’m trying to show her that she means everything to me. “Open your eyes, Avery,” I command.

  Immediately she does as I demand. I take in her glistening gaze and continue on my progress for what I intend to give her.

  Eyes locked on Avery’s; I continue my descent down her body. “Fuckin’ love everything about you, baby,” I murmur, pressing a kiss to her smooth skin between each word. I don’t miss the way Avery’s mouth parts as I take one of her nipples into my mouth and flick it with my tongue.

  Over the past month, yeah, I’ve fucked Avery many ways, taken my time with her body, but never have I done anything like this. Where I take the opportunity to relish every inch of her. From sucking her tits into my mouth and working my way down her body to take her essence into my very being. I can’t get enough of how she tastes on my tongue. By the time I finish with her, Avery won’t be able to deny how beautiful I think she is.

  She’s the beauty in my life that I’m proud to say is mine. Doesn’t matter if she thinks she can handle things on her own or not. That’s my responsibility, and I take that shit seriously.

  Pulling away, I stand to my feet and quickly remove my clothes, and fall onto the bed next to her.

  “What are . . .” I don’t give her a chance to finish that sentence as I reach out and pull her over top of me. Avery gasps as I have her straddle me.

  “Ride me, Sunshine. I wanna see you fuckin’ shine as you ride my cock,” I growl, my hands clench at her waist, nudging at her pussy’s entrance.

  “Tyler,” Avery moans, eyes hooded and mouth parted as she lowers herself onto my cock.

  “Right here, baby,” I mutter, tightening my grasp on her hips as she begins to move in a rotating motion. “Fuck yeah, Avery, take what’s yours,” I groan.

  She quickens her pace, hands cupping her tits, and fuck me if it’s not a sight I’ll never fuckin’ forget as she goes flying. Needing to take her harder, to pound into her pussy, I flip us until she’s on her back, and I’m slamming into her with ruthless thrusts.

  “Tyler,” Avery screams my name at the same time her pussy walls contract against my cock, tightening to the point it sucks the cum straight from my balls. I’m unable to stop myself as I still inside her and let myself relish the feel of coming inside my woman.

  Letting out a harsh breath, I groan as I pull out of her and fall to my side. I don’t waste a moment to pull her to me, wrapping her to me with my arms.

  “I love you, Tyler,” she murmurs sleepily.

  “I know you do, Sunshine. It’s how I know you put up with my shitty attitude,” I mutter and press a kiss to the top of her head. “Now sleep, baby. I wanna hold you for a while. Scared the shit out of me when I couldn’t find you. I just need to hold you for a bit.”

  “I’m right here, Tyler. Not going anywhere, I promise. I won’t let them take me from you,” she utters, and I swear to fuck it’s as if the words barely left her lips before she passes out.

  Avery’s words spin in my head. She’s right about them not taking he
r from me.

  Looking up to the ceiling, I sigh.

  “Wish you were here, brother. You’d be able to help me figure out what the hell I’m doing here,” I mutter quietly as to not wake Avery up. There’re times I swear my brother responds to me, but this time I feel like he’s showing me the way somehow when I feel my woman curl herself closer to me. Tightening my arms around her, I hold her close and finally allow myself to drift to sleep at least for a little while.

  I won’t rest for long, not when my woman is still in danger of her brothers trying to take her from me. And that’s never gonna happen.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Avery

  The sound of my phone going off on the counter draws my attention from the dough I’d been mixing for a cake I wanted to make for Hammer. I found out from Malice his birthday is today, and I intended to surprise him with dinner and dessert. Oh, and maybe something else to go along with it that involves whipped cream and his mouth on my body.

  Dropping the spatula, I reach out and grab my phone. I frown at the number that pops up.

  Why is my security company calling me?

  Sliding my fingers across the screen, I put the phone to my ear. “Hello.”

  “Hello, is this Miss Lester?” a man asks.

  “Yes, it is,” I confirm as I leave the kitchen in search of Hammer. I don’t like the fact the security company is calling me today.

  It’s been two weeks since Hammer got angry at me and then the sex after he found me outside. Oh, how magnificent it was to feel him taking me the way he did. My heart still aches for realizing the depths of his loss for his brother. Since then, though, we’ve talked more. He’s told me stories about him and his brother. About his brother and sister-in-law. Even told me about the night they were killed and why. Although, he’d been reluctant to tell me at first.

  I’d told him about growing up with my horrible family, and I told him about Adam coming into the shop. To say he got pissed is an understatement. ‘You can’t keep shit like this from me, baby. When it comes to you, if something happens, I’ll fuckin’ go ballistic. Next time, Avery, you better come straight to me. Granted, that is a moot point since that shit is never, and I mean, never gonna happen again.’ He’d growled those words and punched his fist through the wall.

  That night he’d taken me in the same way after he’d been angry and found me outside. I’ve also come to realize something about him. He loves me. Hammer doesn’t have to say the words. He shows me. He lives by that code of actions speak louder than words, and I have to admit he’s right in this case. Plus, he’s told me I’m his world. No man would be as protective as he is unless he cherishes them the way he does me.

  Scanning the main room, I find my man at his table with a few of his brothers laughing. I start making my way across the room as the man on the phone starts speaking. “Miss Lester, I’m Mitchell calling about the alarm going off at Rise-N-Shine Coffee. We’ve put a call out to the police,” Mitchell says mechanically.

  “Um, thank you for letting me know. I’ll, um, I’ll just call them and find out what’s going on,” I say, ending the call as I get to Hammer’s table. He’d been looking at me as I closed the distance between us.

  “What’s wrong?” he demands. Reaching out, he pulls me into his lap and positions me the way he wants me. I don’t mind this because, to me, it’s comforting.

  I tell him what the security company says just as Cy runs into the room panting. “Prez, shit, there’s a fire at Avery’s coffee shop and house,” he states.

  If I hadn’t already been sitting on Hammer’s lap, I might have collapsed to the ground from losing the feeling in my legs due to the news Cy just broke to us.

  “Shit,” Malice snarls, slamming the chair back as he stands up.

  “You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me,” Gunner sneers, his fist landing on the table.

  “What’s happening?” Rogue demands, joining all of us along with several others, including Axe, who must have just gotten back in from a trip down to visit Simone. From what he’s told me, she’s coping with being there and getting the help that she needs. Evidently, what I said sank in somewhat, according to Axe.

  “Rise-N-Shine Coffee and Avery’s house have been set on fire, just heard the addresses on the scanners while I was working,” Cy mutters.

  “Let’s go,” Hammer growls, standing to his feet. “Avery, I know if I say for you to stay here, you’ll refuse and try to go out by yourself, so I’m tellin’ you now, if I let you come with us, you keep close to me, or one of the brothers. You don’t step away from any of us.” I nod in response because let’s be honest, my mind is running a mile a minute at the thought of the fact, I’ve lost everything.

  A thought dawns on me at this moment. The shop had been open still. Leanna opened this morning and got off at noon. Quinn went in around nine and got off at three to pick up her daughter. Willow, oh god, she’d been working this afternoon.

  “Willow,” I croak, my eyes widening as I climb on his bike behind him. “Hammer, Willow is at the coffee shop.”

  “Fuck,” Malice roars and takes off on his bike, having heard me tell Hammer about Willow.

  Hammer doesn’t say anything but rather starts his bike and guns it behind Malice. The rest of the guys follow. I close my eyes and keep myself pressed tight to Hammer’s back. He speeds down the road and only slows to come to a halt at the end of the road to the street. It’s blocked off by fire trucks and police officers.

  I hop off the back and start toward the trucks, only to be jerked back. “Sunshine, gotta stay with me,” Hammer growls.

  “But Willow?” I can’t bear the thought of something happening to her. She’s become one of my friends, and I’ll blame myself for her pain.

  “I know, baby, stick to me. We’ll find out,” he says calmly. Almost too calmly.

  Nodding, I allow him to guide me over to where a police officer is standing.

  “Dexter,” Hammer mutters in greeting.

  “Hammer, might wanna get your VP in check,” the officer says, nodding in the direction where Malice is now yelling in a fireman’s face; Gunner and Axe both are holding him back.

  “Fuck. We’ll get him, but there was a woman in there,” Hammer states in a deathly tone.

  “Sorry, Prez, but if anyone were in that building when this went up, they wouldn’t have made it out. The fire was set in both the front and back entrances,” another man says, joining us, this one being a firefighter. One I seem to recognize, but with the soot on his face, I can’t make out who he is. However, him callin’ Hammer Prez tells me he’s a part of the club.

  “You sure about that?” Hammer asks, moving us away from Dexter and closer to where Axe and Gunner are holding Malice back.

  “Yeah, I’m sure, but I’m also sure no one was in the building. I went through it myself since I knew the inside,” the firefighter mutters.

  “And you didn’t find anything, Tap?” this comes from Malice.

  Wait a minute, Tap’s a firefighter? So that’s why he’s missing from the clubhouse several days at a time.

  “No. I’ve gotta get back in there and help salvage whatever we can, but the entire shop is gone,” Tap grumbles.

  Tears well in my eyes at his confirmation of what I can already see for myself.

  “Thanks, prospect,” Hammer says, then turns us to his brothers. “If Willow wasn’t in the shop, where could she be. In fact, where the fuck is Knuckles? He was supposed to be here.”

  “Ugh, Prez,” Brass calls out.

  “What?” Hammer snaps.

  “There’s something in the alley over there,” Brass grumbles low enough for those near to hear him.

  “Go check it out,” Hammer commands.

  Brass, Gunner, and Axe stalk off and head in the direction of the alley. Something pricks at the back of my neck, and I furrow my brows as I glance around the area. My breath catches in my chest, and I stiffen in Hammer’s arms as I stare at the car across on the opposite corner
to where all of the bikes are parked. Standing there is my brother, Adam, grinning maliciously at me, but what has me scared is who’s with him. Andrea, with her hand covering Willow’s mouth as she glares at me.

  “Hammer,” I say, needing his attention. He must sense something wrong because he turns in the direction I’m staring at and curses. He releases me and takes off at a dead run in their direction. I take off after him. This is all my fault.

  Adam and Andrea move quickly and start trying to shove Willow into the back of the car. She tries to fight them, but Andrea leans down and bites Willow. I know she’s biting her because that’s what she does. Bites someone to get them to comply.

  Willow screams, trying to fight more. Adam glances behind them, and I can hear him curse as she throws Willow to the ground. He jumps in the car with my sister, and they speed off. Leaving Willow behind, thankfully.

  Getting to her side, I fall to my knees and pull her to me. “I’m so, so, so sorry, Willow,” I cry.

  “Avery,” she cries and hugs me to her as well. “They’re horrible. Worse than what you told Quinn and me. Oh God, they did this as a message. To you and the club,” she says, breaking into a sob. “You—your brothers killed Knuckles and said that’s one down. I— if you don’t do, as they say, they’ll keep coming. Next time, it’ll be Quinn and her daughter they take, and when that happens, they won’t be so lucky as me. This was a warning; they wanted you to think they were taking me.”

  Tears run down my cheeks as I lift my gaze to look at the men now surrounding us. All of them look murderous, but it’s Hammer’s and Malice’s eyes that I see the burning rage in that causes me to shiver.

  “Come on, Sunshine, let’s get you and Willow home,” Hammer growls, holding his hand out to help me up. Malice moves and lifts Willow clear off the ground and cradles her to him. “When we get back to the clubhouse, brothers, we’re goin’ on lockdown, and I’m callin’ church,” he says as he guides me to his bike on the other end of the road.