Megan didn’t get to live her life, and I felt bad for her. I wanted her to be happy, even if that meant she didn’t want to go with me. If Cutter was right, and this was her place, then I wanted her to stay.
But I wanted her to make the decision for herself. No more listening to what other people wanted her to do. Just the choice that would make her happy.
For her.
I looked over at Meg one last time before following the nurse out the door. “Think about what I said and make the decision that’s right for you.”
24
Megan
It was a restless night of staring at the ceiling. So many things had happened over the past forty-eight hours, I wasn’t sure what to make of any of it. I had done what I thought was best, going against what Trip had said to come back to Barstow.
And doing it had almost cost me my life.
But I couldn’t deny with each mile I passed on the bus coming home, that I felt my heart breaking a little bit more. Trip had shattered my heart with what he said to me that last night in the apartment, but there was a large part of me that didn’t believe what he said was true.
He didn’t want to encourage me to do anything that was going to hurt in the long run. He didn’t want there to be trouble for his town anymore, and he didn’t want any more trouble with the Souls.
He didn’t want me to have to give up my school or my kids, so he did what he thought was best. For me.
Cutter only ever did what he thought was best for himself. He never considered other people in his decisions. It was all about him and what he wanted. What he could get out of people and out of life. He didn’t care if he hurt anyone, he didn’t care if he broke anyone.
For all the apologizing he’d done in the school, I knew that his remorse only went so far. We’d survived the ordeal and he was back to being the same selfish prick he’d always been. So much for our big breakthrough. He didn’t care if I was happy or not. He just didn’t want Trip to have me. He knew how to work me in a way that would lead me to believe it was best for me to stay here, but that would be for him.
If he wanted me to be happy, he would have told me to do what made me happy.
Like Trip had done.
He no longer pushed me away, but he wasn’t pushing me to do anything, either. He just wanted me to be happy – to make the decision that was right for me. Regardless of what that meant for him or anyone else.
I sighed as I tossed and turned. It was going to be hard to get any kind of sleep knowing what I wanted and fearing reaching out and taking it. I closed my eyes, trying to get some sleep, but the thought kept running through my brain over and over again. I had to do what was best for me. What was best for me.
“Good morning!” the nurse startled me awake, and I looked at her with wide eyes.
“Sorry, I just thought you’d be ready to get out of here,” she said. “A friend of yours – she said her name was Kate – dropped off some clothes for you last night, but it was after visiting hours, so we kept it up front.”
Bless you, Kate.
“Thanks,” I said. She didn’t bother asking whether I wanted help getting dressed or not, and promptly started doing it herself. I wanted to argue I was fine, but after a few days of being in their care, I knew better than to try to get staff to let me do anything on my own. The nurse helped me out of the gown and into the shirt and jeans, then she tied my shoes.
She wheeled me to the front of the hospital and helped me through the discharge papers, then with a smile pointed me out the door. “Remember to take your medication as prescribed, and call if you need anything. Your follow up appointment with your doctor is on your discharge papers.”
“Thank you,” I said. I grabbed my purse and slowly made my way through the door, finding Cutter standing outside his truck. He walked quickly up to me.
“Let’s go,” he said. I looked around.
“Where’s Trip?” I asked.
“Probably heading back,” he said. “What’s it matter?”
“He didn’t say goodbye,” I replied.
“He tried this morning, but you weren’t awake, so he left,” Cutter said. My heart sank. I tried not to let myself feel anything, but it was hard not to. Trip had said that he loved me, so why would he leave? A black pickup pulled up the drive and stopped right in front of us. Trip opened the door and hopped out, a smile on his face as he saw me.
“Good morning beautiful,” he said, sauntering over.
“Good morning,” I said in return, as Cutter huffed and puffed next to me, trying to hustle me into his own truck.
“Meg, come on, I’ve got shit to do today,” he said. “And so do you.”
“No,” I said.
“What?” he looked at me as though I’d suddenly sprouted a second head.
“No, Cutter, I’m not going to with. I’m going with Trip,” I said.
“The fuck you are!” he snapped.
“You aren’t in charge of me!” I shot back. “I’m a grown-ass woman, and I’m free to make my own decisions! I’m going with Trip, whether you like it or not!”
He looked from one of us to the other, then Trip laughed. “I hope our agreement is still in place?”
“Fuck you,” Cutter spat. He got in the truck and closed the door, but he paused. “If you ever come to your senses, I’ll be here.”
“Love you too, big bro,” I said, shaking my head.
He nodded and drove off, leaving me standing with Trip in the parking lot. We watched him leave and exchanged a glance, then both burst out laughing.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go home.”
His shirt fell to the floor, then mine. My bra landed on the floor, then his jeans. My jeans almost made it to the bed, then both my panties and his boxers hit the ground at almost the same time.
Trip was kissing me the entire time we made our way from the door to his bedroom, and our clothes left a trail showing where we’d been. He had his hand around my back, helping me lie on the bed with my injured abdomen. He was being so gentle, but we were so full of need, we had to have each other, I didn’t care about the pain.
He crawled onto the bed next to me, his mouth on my lips, my neck, my tits. He ran his tongue right to the tip of my bandage, then he made his way back to my nipple once more. I closed my eyes, running my hands through his hair, holding him against me.
I wanted him on top of me, to feel the comforting pressure of his weigh over me, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle it just yet. It had been nearly two weeks since my shooting and subsequent surgery and though the pain was lessening each day, it was still enough to restrict some of my movements.
But I wanted to feel my man inside me, so I would find a way.
Trip was mine, and I was his. I basked in the knowledge of it and let myself revel in every touch, every kiss.
He ran his hand over my pussy, sending chills up my spine. I put my arms out, looping my fingers together behind his neck, looking into his eyes as he pleasured me.
“I need you inside me,” I whispered.
“Are you sure?” he asked, his eyes dark with need but still full of concern.
“I’m sure Trip. I need you. It’s been too long.”
He nodded his head and rolled onto his back, pulling me will him so I could straddle him. In that position, I could be in control of our pleasure without risking any harm to my still-healing stomach. I raised up over him as he kneaded my breasts, pulling my nipples to taut peaks with his fingers.
Reaching between us, I grabbed his thick cock and centered it at my slit. Taking a breath, I slid down over him, taking his entire length inside me at once. I sat for a moment, allowing his girth to stretch me open fully before I started rocking back and forth in a slow but steady rhythm.
“Fuck you feel so good,” he growled.
“God Trip, I’ve missed this,” I purred in return.
“Slade,” he said through gritted teeth as he held onto my hips and thrust up into me.
&nbs
p; “What?” I asked, confusion in my voice.
“It’s my name. Slade. I want to hear you scream it when you come,” he grunted.
“Slade,” I let the sound draw out on my tongue like a sigh. There was something about having that little piece of him that was a huge turn on.
My insides tightened and I carefully increased the speed of my hips. Looking down at where he ended and I began filled me will a heat I never knew possible.
“Good God, baby, I can’t hold out much longer,” he said, his jaw clenched in concentration.
I smiled down at him and reached down to rub my clit in slow circles. His eyes narrowed as he slapped my hand away and took over with this thumb.
“That’s my job,” he ground out.
“Mmmmm, and you’re very good at it,” I sighed as my orgasm started to build.
Trip was straining, lifting his hips and thrusting as deeply as he could as I rode him. His pressure on my clit increased and suddenly my vision went blurry as I came harder than I ever had before in my life.
“Oh God, Slade!” I cried out as the waves rolled over me again and again.
“Fuck!” he cursed as his dick twitched, spilling his seed deep into my womb.
I shuddered on top of him as he filled me and another orgasm ripped through me at the sensation. My head dropped forward, and I braced myself with my hands against his sculpted chest to keep from falling over.
Trip looked up at me, still inside my body. He lifted his head and kissed me tenderly, carefully. Lovingly.
“Tell me you love me,” I said suddenly.
He looked up at me with raised eyebrows. “I love you.”
“I want to hear you say it again,” I said. “Please. I’ll never get tired of hearing it.”
“Megan Ward, I love you,” he said with a grin. “And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Before I met you, my life was empty. I thought I had everything I wanted but I was so very wrong. Then I met you, and you changed all that.”
I smiled. “Do you mean it?”
“I mean every word, and so much more,” he replied. “I never want you to leave; never.”
“Then I won’t,” I said as I leaned down and pressed my lips to his. “Because I love you more than life itself.”
“And I love you.”
“You promise?” I asked, looking at him with all seriousness in my eyes. “Cross your heart?”
It was a phrase the kids often used in school, and it probably sounded silly coming from an adult, but to me, it was the purest expression of a promise.
Trip smiled up at me and made the sign over his chest. “I cross my heart,” he said.
Epilogue
Trip - Eight Months Later
“Looks good to me. Let’s get it out the door and work on the Charger, then we’ll call it a night,” I said.
“You guys both coming to the bar later?” Brutus asked. “We’ve not gotten to see a lot of Megan lately.”
“We’re both coming. I think Meg’s going to bring a couple of her friends from Barstow, too,” I told him.
“Anyone hot?” Odie asked. “I’m sick of this being single shit.”
“You should be focused enough on the club you aren’t worried about whether or not you’re single,” Brutus said. “That’s the sort of shit you luck in to when the time is right.”
“And that’s why he’s still single,” Gunner said with a laugh, pointing at Brutus.
“Not seeing you with anyone hanging off your arm,” Brutus shot back.
“That’s because your mother doesn’t want to us be seen in public together yet,” Gunner said. Brutus started for him as Axle and Odie both laughed.
“You know if you just ignore them, they’ll stop, right?” I asked as the others started leaving.
Brutus just grunted and grabbed his stuff, getting ready to leave.
“Oh, don’t be that way you grumpy old fucker,” I said. “Maybe if you smiled once in a while, you’d find a good woman too.”
He flipped me off over his shoulder as he walked out of the shop and I couldn’t help but laugh. Though he acted like he didn’t care, I knew differently. Brutus wanted someone to love and to love him just like the rest of us did. It was human nature. And even as fucked up as some of us were, we were still human beings that needed love.
then, but I had a feeling that some of my brothers were just jealous. They liked Meg. Loved her, in fact, but they all wanted what we had.
She was still feisty as shit and gave me a run for my money on a daily basis. Hell, not even the fact that she was expecting our first child had changed that, either. She was still just as independent as always and hadn’t even let me tell the boys for the first three months of the pregnancy.
Now, she was just starting to show, and I couldn’t wait for her to be at the bar that night with the rest of the gang. Kate was coming up from Barstow, and in the back of my mind, I could almost see her getting with one of my brothers.
Though the months Meg and I had been together, I’d gotten to know Kate a little better. She was just as headstrong as Meg, but with an even wilder streak running through her veins. She didn’t have many inhibitions in life, and they only faded with wine.
It was going to be a good time with her there tonight, I was sure. Even if Cutter was going to be there as well.
The whole point of going to the bar that night was to celebrate the final treaty between the Avenging Angels and Satan’s Souls. Ever since Meg had come to live with me in Ridgecrest, she had worked her ass off to bring the two clubs together.
She thought the Angels could be a positive influence on the Souls, and though we still didn’t see eye to eye on many things, she had managed to make peace between the two of us. Hell, she had made more progress in a matter of months than I had made in over a year, and I was proud of her.
Sure, it probably helped that she was Cutter’s sister. Though I felt that fact had been what had hurt his and my relationship at first. But, with time, he had come around, and when he found out he was going to be an uncle, he had readily cooperated with our demands.
He wanted to be part of the kid’s life, and he knew if that was going to happen, he was going to have to clean up his act. While I still wasn’t entirely sure about the situation, Meg seemed to be comfortable with it, and I trusted her.
I’d seen her in action, she wasn’t going to let anyone hurt our family. If she wanted her brother to be part of our child’s life, and if he was willing to make compromises with us to make that happen, then I was willing to see how it went.
It wasn’t going to be easy, but that was part of the reason she wanted us to start getting to know each other on better terms – months before the baby was born.
“You know this is going to be a good thing in the long run,” she said. “When we need someone to watch the baby, we’re going to need options.”
“There are a million people I would pick before I’d pick your brother,” I replied.
She gave me a look and I shrugged. “Am I wrong?”
Laughing, she shook her head. “Fair enough, but I want you to at least try, okay?”
“Okay,” I promised. “I’ll try. For you.”
We set a meeting at the local tavern where Meg and I and the guys would often hang out. They kept a few tables reserved for us on the weekends, so we were always guaranteed a spot. “I’m going to head to the center and pick her up, then I’ll meet you guys down there in a couple hours,” I said to Brutus as I followed him out.
“I can’t promise we aren’t going to already be shitfaced when you get there,” Brutus replied as he got on his bike.
“As long as no one starts any shit with Meg and Kate there, you can get as shitfaced as you want,” I reminded him.
“You got it Boss” he said with a mock salute.
Even though he acted like my warning was an annoyance, I knew Brutus would make sure everyone behaved, especially if Megan was there.
She had been treated like she was m
ade of gold since everyone found out about the baby, and that was how I wanted it to stay. They had banded together to help us move into a small house, and more often than not, one of my men would help her with grocery shopping or anything else she needed.
She was barely even showing, and things were already this good, I couldn’t imagine what it was going to be like when the baby was actually born. That child was going to have more “uncles” than he or she knew what to do with, and I heartily approved.
Meg had changed her mind about the evils of the club, and she had grown used to the idea of being associated with us. In fact, she had taken her work in Barstow and combined it with what Amanda was doing at the shelter in Ridgecrest.
Together, they had joined forced and created a center that wasn’t only providing shelter and resources for battered women, but also reached out to women facing unwanted pregnancies, women who struggled with substance abuse, and teenagers who were coming from broken homes.
Her goal was to bring everyone together in a single place, making it possible for the two women to reach out to as many people as they could from one center. The idea had taken off with the community, and they now employed several other women who helped with the daily duties.
There were therapists, counselors, and even a couple medically trained nurses on site at all times. The place had become a beacon of hope not only in Ridgecrest, but in the entire surrounding area. They had women coming from hundreds of miles away for help, and no one was ever turned away for any reason.
But for tonight, I wanted Meg by my side. This was a big deal, even if it wasn’t her brother who would be on the other side of that treaty. I was proud of what the Avenging Angels had accomplished, and I was going to stand tall as we made our pact with each other.
We would join forces as brothers, setting aside differences of the past and focusing on what we could do to move forward in the future. No more drugs, no more guns. No more violence or breaking the law to get what we wanted. Instead, we would work together as allies, keeping the illegal activity off the streets and out of our towns.
Protecting Her: An Enemies to Lovers Romance Page 14