Lincoln

by S. Nelson

  “I don’t ever wanna stop,” I huffed, my muscles tightening, the familiar swirl of need cresting over me. “I love your pussy, baby.” I sucked her bottom lip into my mouth and bit down before plunging my tongue inside. The way she kissed me erased the memory of everyone who came before her. I couldn’t believe her lips had never touched another’s before me. She truly was a gift in every sense of the word.

  During the short time since Maddie had come into my life, my feelings had morphed from curiosity to protectiveness to love, the latter emotion scaring me. Not because I was a commitment-phobe or didn’t want to settle down, though. I feared losing her.

  Her breathing came short and fast. She was close. But instead of rushing to the finish line, I pulled out and turned her on her side, cradling her from behind, pushing her leg forward before reentering her quick and hard.

  She sucked in a lungful of air at the intrusion.

  “Did I hurt you?”

  “No. Do it again.” She reached back and grabbed a handful of my hair, turning her face so she could kiss me. “Do it,” she demanded, licking at my mouth.

  Withdrawing until only the tip remained, I slammed back into her in one motion. Her mouth dropped open before she pleaded with me to do it again.

  Circling her clit with my finger, I stole her mouth while I fucked her, swallowing her moans, which only intensified the closer she got.

  “Are you gonna—”

  “Yes!” she shouted. “Yes, keep… right there….” I applied more pressure, and she clenched around me, rocking back and forth as she claimed her orgasm. When she was on her way back down, I moved my hand to seize her waist, anchoring her in position.

  “I’m gonna come,” I grunted. The buildup was more intense than ever before, and the moment everything clicked, and I finally tipped over, it was pure bliss. Not that every orgasm wasn’t spectacular in its own right, but after owning my feelings and telling Maddie I loved her, and knowing she felt the same about me, my release had been so powerful I couldn’t breathe. I’d never cared this much about anyone before, and while I was still trying to sort my emotions, I tried not to overthink everything I felt. Sharing my feelings with her terrified me, but also made me feel invincible. I wanted to open up more, but I also didn’t want to overshare too much at the same time.

  “And… I’m spent.” I chuckled, kissing her once more before rolling onto my back, discarding the condom and pulling her close. “Are you happy?” She snuggled in closer but didn’t give me a verbal answer. “Babe?”

  She crawled up my body until her lips were an inch from mine. “I never thought I’d be able to say this again, but yes, I’m happy. So much so it kinda scares me.”

  “Me too,” I confessed, lazily running my fingers up and down her back, smiling when I’d hit the perfect spot which made her twitch. “I have another very important question to ask you.” My expression turned serious.

  “You hungry?”

  She sighed before playfully slapping my chest. “I’m starving.”

  “Okay, give me a few minutes, and I’ll scrounge up something for us to eat.” With my breathing starting to regulate, I worked up the courage to ask her something else I’d been contemplating.

  “I was thinkin’ about moving out of my parents’ house and into my own place. What do you think?”

  She rested her hands on my chest, propping up her chin as she looked at me. “I think if you want to move out, you should. It’d be nice to have your own space, right?”

  “Our own space,” I corrected, waiting for my response to hit its mark. I didn’t have to wait long, her beautiful eyes widening.

  “You want me to move in with you?”

  “Yes. I can’t very well leave you here.”

  Her mouth turned down. “So, it’s only because I can’t stay here that I’d be living with you?”

  “Well… yeah. It wouldn’t make any sense for me to have a place and for you to still be holed up in this room.” Maddie moved back until she was sitting beside me. I reached for her hand, but she pulled back. “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t want you to feel obligated. I can find a place of my own.”

  “Absolutely not. You’re not living by yourself. I need to know where you are at all times.”

  “You do?” Her brows pinched together, and I thought she’d never looked more beautiful, her confusion amusing me a little.

  “Until we can make sure no one is comin’ after you, you’ll be with me.”

  “And then what?”

  “Then you’ll still be with me, only I won’t have to worry as much.” Her slight resistance urged me to keep going. “I could stay at home and you here, but I don’t want that. I want us to have our own space. Privacy to do what we want, when we want.” I leaned up and pressed my lips to hers. “I want you to move in with me, babe.”

  “I like when you call me that.”

  “Good. So do I.”

  “But what about the times you’re gone, and I’m alone. Won’t you be worried about me?”

  “Of course, but wherever we go, we’ll have a state-of-the-art security system, and I’ll check in with you often. That or I’ll post Brick outside the place. No one is gonna mess with him.”

  “He’s better than a guard dog.” She laughed. “Let’s go with that option.”

  “You better not be gettin’ any ideas about him,” I teased, but a twinge of jealousy fired off inside me.

  “I only have eyes for you.” She fell onto her back, tugging me to come with her. With our chests flush together, she cradled my face in her hands. “I love you.”

  “I think I’ve heard something about that.” I pecked her lips, then moved to suck her neck, making her squirm because I’d hit another one of her ticklish spots. After several seconds of her trying to get away from me, she pushed at my shoulder.

  “Say it again.” Her voice was timid at first, but when I frowned, acting like I had no idea what she was talking about, she smacked me on the arm. “Please. Say it.”

  “Say what?”

  “You know.” Maddie dipped her head, stealing her eyes from me for a second too long.

  “That I love your pussy?” A beautiful pink flushed over her cheeks.

  “No.”

  “No? Hmm… let me think.” I made a clicking noise with my tongue before saying, “That I want you to move in with me?”

  “That’s not it either, although that one makes me happy, too.”

  “That I love your tits?”

  That one earned me another gentle slap. “No. Besides, you’ve never told me that.”

  “I didn’t? Because I do.” I kissed the tip of her nose. “Is it… I love you?”

  She nodded, biting her bottom lip. “Do you mean it?”

  “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.” I wasn’t sure if it was the conviction of my answer or that she didn’t want to push, but she didn’t argue. “Wanna go again?” My hand disappeared between her legs, and she hissed as soon as I made contact.

  “After we eat?”

  “Oh, sorry,” I laughed, hopping off the bed and throwing my jeans on. “I think we might have some eggs. Want an omelet?”

  “Please.” Maddie lounged on the bed, naked and satiated, a slow smile lifting the corners of her mouth while she watched me dress. I was gonna saunter out there with only my jeans on but then thought better of it. No one needed to know what was goin’ on between us anymore than they already did.

  I pulled my shirt over my head. “Be back soon.”

  Several minutes later and I was cracking eggs and whipping them in a bowl. The only other ingredients we had in the fridge were cheese and milk, which would do the trick for a nice thick omelet.

  “Hey, that smells good.” My ol’ man walked in, scratching the top of his head before stretching his arms in the air. “Got enough to make me one?”

  He leaned against the counter, wearing nothing but his jeans. The man kept himself in top shape, and covered in ink, he drew the attention
of plenty of females. I noticed the way women looked at my ol’ man, appreciative glances thrown his way whenever we were out together, and while he pretended not to notice, there was no way he was that blind. Right then, I was thankful Maddie had stayed in the room and hadn’t come in the kitchen with me. Not that she would hit on my dad, but I didn’t want her lookin’ at anyone’s body other than mine. Oh no! If this was me bein’ crazy over my ol’ man, how was I gonna feel when she was around other guys our age? She drank with Ace and Brick, but they were clothed at the time.

  Shaking my head, realizing I might be goin’ crazy, I flipped the omelet and moved it toward the back of the pan to make room for my dad’s breakfast.

  “Sure.” I wanted to hurry up and get back to Maddie, but he was goin’ through something with my mom, so the least I could do was help him out by making him somethin’ to eat. “You ever gonna go home?” I asked, cracking more eggs. “Where did you even sleep?”

  “In the back bedroom.”

  My hand froze mid whisk. “Where?”

  “You can’t hear so well in the morning? The back bedroom?”

  “O… oh.” I fumbled over my next question. “Are these walls thin?”

  “I dunno.” He peered over my shoulder. “You makin’ something for Maddie?”

  “Yeah.” I really didn’t know what to do or say. If he’d just come out of his room, which was right next to the one Maddie and I were in, there was no way he didn’t hear everything. My ol’ man was a light sleeper. It was how I’d always gotten caught breaking curfew in high school.

  “Why you so tense?” he asked, slapping me on the back.

  “No reason.”

  “Are you wonderin’ if I heard you two havin’ sex?”

  My lungs deflated, and I hung my head. “You heard that?”

  “Hey, at least one of us is gettin’ it.” He chuckled.

  “Ew. Don’t make me think about you and Mom.”

  “How do you think you, Riley, and Zander got here?”

  “You guys only had sex three times. That’s it.” We shared a laugh, but I seriously didn’t want to think about him and my mom together, so I switched the subject. “How long are you gonna hide out here before goin’ home?”

  “That’s up to your mother.”

  “No. That’s up to you,” I reminded him, pointing the spatula at him. “You gotta let this thing go with Ry and Kaden.”

  “Don’t talk to me about them,” he growled. “He’s lucky I haven’t killed him yet.” I tilted my head and raised my brows. “What? He is.”

  I never called him Dad while at the club or while dealing with club business, but I needed him to hear me. “Dad. Kaden is a good guy. You once loved him like he was your own son.”

  “Not anymore. He went behind my back for years like he wasn’t….” Rubbing his hand down his face, he grabbed his beard and tugged. “What he did was unforgivable.”

  “You could look at it like he saved her from dating assholes who might’ve taken advantage of her, or broke her heart, or one of a hundred other things.”

  “You can look at it any way you want. But the only thing that’s gonna happen is me punching that fucker again the first chance I get.”

  “Don’t be surprised if he hits you back this time.” He shrugged, not a care for the thought that he might get into a brawl with his best friend’s son. My ol’ man took stubbornness to a whole other level for sure. “You’re never goin’ home, are ya?”

  He didn’t answer, instead grabbing a plate from the cupboard and handing it to me. After I gave him his omelet, he thanked me and turned to leave, and that’s the exact moment when Kaden walked into the kitchen.

  40

  I grumbled under my breath, tending to Maddie’s food and distracting myself because the tension between these two was thick. More so my father’s anger toward Kaden than the other way around, although with each verbal assault and threat of another fight, Kaden was close to boiling over as well.

  “Marek said not here,” I reminded him. He didn’t say a word before walking past Kaden, knocking into his shoulder before he left.

  Kaden crossed the small space until he was next to me. “Stone is lucky I have respect for my elders, because I would’ve put him on his ass the first time he hit me.”

  “You could’ve tried.”

  He scoffed. “You don’t think I can take him?”

  “I dunno. He wants to rip your head off, so he’s got rage on his side.”

  “Yeah, but I got youth.”

  “How about both of you keep your hands to yourself.”

  “Tell him. It doesn’t matter anyway. Even if I could take him, it’s not like I’d hurt him. Lucky bastard.” Kaden moved around me, opened the fridge and groaned. “Did you eat the last of the eggs?” he asked, easily switching from one subject to another as he turned and looked at the omelet in my hands. “I’ll give you twenty bucks to split that with me. I didn’t grab anything, and I don’t work the best on an empty stomach. I got two trucks and a bike to fix before I can even think about grabbing lunch.” He reached for the plate, but I pulled it back at the last second.

  “No can do. This is for Maddie. Call Riley and ask her to bring you something. Or better yet, take your lazy ass to the restaurant. I’m sure Kena will whip somethin’ up for you.” Jagger’s wife ran her family’s restaurant, and since it was only a few miles away, it was the perfect solution for him, given there was no more food left.

  “Maybe I’ll go the restaurant route. I don’t need any more shit from Stone this morning.” He leaned against the counter, almost in the exact spot my ol’ man had been in. “How’re things with Maddie?”

  I placed another plate on top of the one holding the food to keep it warm. “We’re movin’ in together as soon as I find a place.”

  “What the hell?”

  “I know. We haven’t known each other long at all, but I can’t keep her here much longer, and it’s about time I moved out into my own space. If Zander left the nest, as well as Riley, then so should I, right? Anyway, there’s nowhere else for her to go other than with me. Plus, I want her with me.” Kaden stood there, staring at me in shock. “You gonna say anything?”

  “How did you convince her to move in with you? I’ve been trying everything I can on your sister, and she won’t budge, even though she stays at my house five out of seven nights.”

  “You can’t convince Riley to do anything she doesn’t want to or isn’t ready for, so good luck. And besides, our situations are completely different.”

  Kaden scratched the side of his jaw, his beard looking a bit scruffier than usual. “I guess you’re right.” He eyed up my plate again. “You sure you can’t spare some of that.”

  “You wanna take food out of Maddie’s mouth?”

  “You’re right.” He groaned like a kid. “I’m just so hungry.”

  “Call Kena,” I yelled over my shoulder as I walked out, almost running right into Marek.

  “How are things?” He looked down at the plate, then back up at me. “Everything good?”

  “Couldn’t be better.” I swore if I smiled any bigger, my face would crack.

  Marek slapped my back. “Good man.”

  As I walked back down the hall, many thoughts plagued me, slowing every step I took even though I wanted to rush back to her.

  What was gonna happen with Tag when we went to the safe house?

  Whenever I did return to the ring, would the Reapers be there, waiting to exact revenge for having taken Maddie from them?

  Would I be able to fulfill my promise and keep her safe?

  While I didn’t know any of these answers, I did know one thing for sure.

  I’d do anything to protect the woman I loved, and while that knowledge gave me comfort, it also gave me pause because the probability of bloodshed in the very near future was high.

  Epilogue

  “What was that?” Maddie asked, pressing her finger to my lips. I’d been in the middle of reading h
er a description of the house I’d found that would be prefect for us when she interrupted me. “Shh….” I nipped her finger and made a move to tackle her on the bed, but she pressed back against me. “Seriously. I think something’s goin’ on.”

  I strained to listen but could only hear a faint noise, thinking it was possibly the television out by the bar, but then the noise suddenly erupted.

  Someone shouted my name, but I couldn’t tell who it was until they were closer to the room. Then came the incessant pounding. “Open up! Now!”

  I hopped off the bed and threw on my jeans in record time, making sure Maddie was decent before pulling open the door. Brick’s face stared back at me. “What’s goin’ on?” I asked, my pulse quickening in anticipation of bad news.

  “Fuckin’ Reaper, man. One of ’em is here, and he’s askin’ for you.”

  “Fuck!”

  “Yeah, you can say that again. Hawke’s got him on the ground with a gun to his head.”

  “Is he alone?”

  “Yep. He’s a prospect for them. Saw it on his cut before Hawke hit him.”

  I turned around to look at Maddie, and her eyes went wide. “Don’t even fuckin’ think about it. Stay here.”

  “But if it’s Pike….”

  “I don’t care. He deserves what he gets coming here.” My eyes locked on Brick’s. “Make sure she stays put. Don’t let her out of your sight.” I snatched my gun from the dresser, checked the clip, and held it at my side.

  “You got it.” Brick moved into the room as Maddie jumped off the bed. I didn’t have any time to check on her, trusting he’d keep her here as instructed and out of harm’s way.

  She shouted something after me, but I was too amped up to make out what it was, completely focused on why one of them would come here. I mean, I know why they would, but I never thought they’d have the balls to show up. Whoever Hawke had on the ground was as good as dead. I only prayed I wouldn’t have to be the one to pull the trigger. I heard that shit stays with a man, but I’d do whatever was necessary to protect Maddie.