by Jamie Begley
Backing up several more steps, he started to slowly unbutton the black dress shirt he wore with his suit to T.A.’s wedding. He had only taken the time to change his pants before running out of his house when he got the text to meet her.
“Chasity couldn’t compare to you on her best day. There’s no contest where that’s concerned. You didn’t have to give me a lap dance to prove that. Not only does she not have your ass, but she’s not you either.”
His shirt unbuttoned, he laid it meticulously on the table next to Lily’s coat. Sitting down at the same table, he then removed his boots and socks. Standing, he took off his already loosened jeans to stand naked.
Walking back to her, he lifted his finger to a nipple, mercilessly twisting the nub between his fingertips. “Do you feel that?”
Her violet eyes went wide.
Watching her expression, he kept his own implacable.
“Yes.”
“Really? I must be doing something fucking wrong then for you to believe you’ve been dreaming our marriage.” He raised his other hand to her other nipple and started twisting it, too. “I’ve been too easy on you, Angel. When we walk out this door tonight, you’ll have no doubt this is no fucking dream.”
Without pity, he let a nipple go. Her gasp of relief was short-lived before his teeth were latching onto it, bringing another gasp to her lips.
Biting down, he exerted enough pressure, carefully gauging every nuance and sound to make sure he wasn’t carrying her past a threshold she couldn’t handle. He wanted to take her to a level she hadn’t been to before, but neither did he want her using the safe word that would call a halt to what he was trying to prove.
“If we live for the next fifty years or die tomorrow, we’ll do it together regardless. In a fucking dream or in real life, I can guarantee that. You can bank on it.”
“You can’t know that. You aren’t God.”
“I know I’m not God.” He gave her a mocking smile. “That’s not the first time you’ve accused me of thinking that. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we? God might not give a damn about me, but He’ll always want to make his favorite angel happy. Who will be there for you to fly with if I’m not there?”
Lily’s luminous eyes stared up at him. “I love you so much.”
Shade released her nipple, laving the protruding nub with a soothing stroke of his tongue. “Why do you think I love you any less than you love me? Do you compare me to other men?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “There’s no comparison between you and other men.”
“Evie, Bliss wouldn’t agree. There’s just no comparison in your eyes, and I feel the same toward women. Angel, that fucked-up world you had to live in when you grew up doesn’t exist anymore. That’s the part that’s not real anymore. I can stand here until I’m blue in the face and make love to you a million times, but until you know that deep in your heart, you’re never going to be completely free of that nightmare.”
Lily lowered her gaze, unwilling to meet his.
Trying to convince Lily when she preferred to hide her fears even from herself was an exercise in futility. That was how Harvey had gained the upper hand with her. She had been hurt so badly when she was growing up that she couldn’t stand to hurt anyone, even if they deserved it. Luckily, he didn’t have the same problem.
Coming to that realization, he knew what he had to do.
Backing up, he placed a small distance between them. “Angel, look at me. There is no other woman in the fucking world I have done this for, nor would I ever even with a gun pointed at my head.”
Making sure she was watching him, he went to his knees. Bending over, he then placed his forehead on the floor.
Ignoring her protests, he stretched out his arms and hands until he was prone like the perfect submissive.
“No, Shade! This isn’t what I want!”
“Then what do you want?” Shade rose back to a sitting position to look at her. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll do it. Anything, everything, and how you want it. I will do it to make you happy because, Angel, anything other than that doesn’t work for me.”
She stared at him enamored that the only thing he wanted was her happiness. It was humbling and so unexpectedly sweet coming from Shade, his words having the same effect as if he had written her a poem. “You’ve never done that before.” It wasn’t a question; it was a statement filled with awe.
It took every bit of his willpower not to go to her and wipe the tears that were sliding down her cheeks. “Never.”
Lily held out her arms to him. “Come here, please.”
“Don’t ask. Tell me.”
“Come here.”
Shade stepped forward, feeling her arms enclose him.
“What do you want me to do now?”
“I want you to kiss me.”
It was every fucking thing he could do not to fuck her.
Lily was watching him with a longing he recognized at gut level. She wanted him to take control, yet as much as he wanted to give her what she wanted, he couldn’t.
Her fears were real in her head, and instead of decreasing the longer they were married, they had become worse.
His hand at her side clenched into a fist. The hard part was knowing he was responsible in part for exacerbating her fears.
Viper and he come to the conclusion in the last year that the stalker targeting Ginny was smarter than they anticipated. Ginny was surrounded by Mouth2Mouth security, but she remained under The Last Riders’ protection, and they weren’t about to let anyone harm the woman. He and Rider were always by her side.
The toll on their marriage had gone on so long that now he could no longer deny the repercussions. Something was going to have to change regarding Ginny’s protection. Him spending time away from his wife and kids was over. He was loyal to The Last Riders, but if given the choice, Lily had to come first.
“How? Like this?” Shade placed a small kiss on her lips. “Or like this?” The second kiss he gave her wasn’t tender. It was hard, demanding, and anything but gentle.
Molding her mouth to his, he twisted his mouth over hers to delve deeper. Inhaling the exotic scent of her perfume was restoking the fire she just put out.
“Yes,” she whimpered.
“What do you want now?”
“Touch me.”
He had intentionally made sure that only his lips were touching hers.
Arousing his wife to show a more assertive side of her personality was arousing his own instincts to conquer. He started counting his drumming heartbeats to squash the desire to fulfill the need that was apparent in her expression.
“Here?” Shade laid a gentle hand on her breast. “Or here?” He moved his hand to the apex of her thighs, making the minimum contact before returning his hand to the bar by her side.
“There.”
A muffled sob had his tongue swirling against hers.
“Which one? On your tit or your pussy?” His voice became ruthless. “Tell me.”
“My pussy.”
“Tell me.”
Becoming frustrated, she dug her fingernails into his back. “Touch my pussy!”
Biting back laughter, he immediately brought his hand to her pussy. Rubbing the silken flesh, he felt her sudden inhale as she stopped breathing.
“Is this how you want me to touch you?”
“Harder.”
“I can’t hear you.”
“Do it harder!”
He made his fingers firmer, giving her the friction she was craving.
“Is that better?”
“God, yes!” she whimpered.
With practiced fingers, he had her ass writhing on the bar top. Fucking her mouth with his tongue, he let his fingers breach the opening of her pussy. Driving a lone finger through the creamy flesh without hesitation to finger fuck her into an unrelenting desire that was taking its own toll on him.
Removing his fingers from her pussy, he rested his slick hand on her thigh.
“Don
’t stop!”
He moved his hand back to her, increasing the pace of his fingers inside of her. He could feel from her shudders that she was close to coming.
Again, he stopped.
“Don’t do that!” she yelled at him, hitting him on the back with her small fist.
He went back to her pussy, only giving her three glides of his finger before stopping.
Grabbing his wrist, she put it back where she wanted it.
This time, she was only given one glide before he halted within her.
“Shade!”
It was hard to resist her pleas, but he did, wanting nothing more than to satisfy the desire that was tearing Lily apart into little fragments of need.
“Are you hurting, Angel?”
“Yes!” She grabbed his arm, trying to get him moving inside her again.
Shade ignored her efforts.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!” she screamed out.
“Is this fucking real enough for you?” he gritted out, nearly at his own breaking point.
Her face crumpled as she started to cry. “Yes!”
Satisfied, he pried her hand off his arm and removed his hand from her pussy to jerkily lift her off the bar. At the same time, he sat down on the barstool nearest to him.
Meeting her eyes, he held her poised over his cock before slamming her down on him. Her long, black hair tumbled around them, forming a cocoon around their faces.
He swiveled the barstool until his back was braced on the counter as he raised and lowered Lily over him as she held on tightly to his shoulders.
Shade released her waist, stretching his arms on the sides of the bar, showing her that she was strong enough to keep herself from falling.
Shaking her hair back, violet eyes gazed at him with such a wealth of love that he knew soul deep he would never be able to go back to the shadowed world he existed in before her.
“I love you. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t thank God for you. And Angel, you know I’m not a praying man.” His head fell back, trying to fight back the climax that was so close. He wanted to throw her on the counter and slam his dick into her so hard she would have no doubt it wasn’t a fucking illusion.
Her uninhibited movements had him restraining himself from gathering her closer to him. It was hard not to shield her in his protective arms to keep her from falling, but Lily needed to realize she had grown strong enough to fly, that she was no longer the little girl terrorized by her mother.
Her movements became wilder and faster. Her breasts heaved with her exertion as she bounced on his lap. It was only when she stopped shaking, then sank down on his chest limply did he move.
Holding her, he slid off the stool, carrying her to the closest table. Laying her on the top, he stepped between her thighs, driving his cock inside her pussy. His hips plunged his dick as high as he could go before pulling out and ramming inside of her again.
“Don’t you ever say this isn’t fucking real again.” He fiercely made love to his wife, driving her into another orgasm that had her legs wrapping around his waist, the tips of her heels stabbing him in the ass with each lunge.
“I won’t.”
Shade gripped her jaw in a firm hand. “The only crazy about you is that you love me.”
Twining his fingers through hers, he pinned them beside her head on the table as he pounded into her body, reaching the climax he had been holding back.
“Don’t think for one second that, when we get home, I’m not going to punish you for getting into my chest.”
His arms gave out as he came, crushing her with his weight. He let the sensations surge through him.
Catching her gaze, Shade didn’t hold anything back, letting her see how she affected him.
“There is no other woman that can compare to you. If I live a thousand different lives, not one of them would be worth living without you.”
Sitting her up, he gave her a stern glance to stay put as he went to the table to get her coat. Standing in front of her, he held it open for her to slip on. Once she did, he closed it and buttoned it for her, attentively pulling her hair out from under the collar.
He dressed himself once he had her covered, then gathered the clothes she removed for his lap dance. He then meticulously straightened the stools and chairs and used a bleach bar rag to clean the counter before taking a wad of bills out of his wallet and putting it in Mick’s cash register.
“I told you I paid Mick and gave him a tip,” she reminded him as he came out from behind the counter.
Hooking an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her into the warmth of his body, bracing her for what he was about to tell her. “How long did you say you rented the bar for?”
“Two hours.”
“Don’t freak out, but the parking lot is full. Mick is out there trying to keep everyone out.”
“How long did I go over?”
“An hour.”
Lily buried her face against the side of his chest in embarrassment. “I can’t go out there in front of those people!” she wailed. “They’ll know what we’ve been doing!”
“Angel, don’t worry about it. Most of them are Last Riders. They know I fuck you all the time.”
CHAPTER 9
“Let me out of here! This is violating my constitutional rights!”
Shade heard the yells as he opened the metal door to the holding cells.
“Let me out!”
Closing the door behind him, Shade walked to the cell at the end to see the red-faced man who was trying to squeeze his face through the jail bars. His furious eyes glared hatefully at him when he caught sight of Shade.
“Motherfucker, I knew you were behind this. When I get out of here, I’ll own the fucking Last Riders.”
Shade gave him a mocking twist of his lips. “You think so?”
“I know so.” Harvey shook the jail door. “I’m going to sue you fuckers for every dime you own! You’ll have to use leaves to wipe your asses when I’m done with you. I’ve been stuck in here for two days. I haven’t even been given my phone call.”
“Your appointed lawyer hasn’t shown yet?” Shrugging, he studied the man who should be kissing the ground that he was still breathing.
“You know he hasn’t!”
“How am I supposed to know that? Knox is the sheriff, not me. I just stopped by to see him when he told me you were here. Knox isn’t even the one who arrested you. Greer Porter did. Knox is just doing his job. You’re the one who’s responsible for driving drunk and assaulting Greer.”
“Because he pulled me over for no reason.”
“You blew over 1.0. Not only that but you had an open container sitting next to you, and it’s what? Your third offense.” Clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, Shade gave him a grim smile. “You’re the one that fucked up. I didn’t pour those drinks down your throat.”
Harvey shook the bars. When that didn’t work, he reached out, trying to grab him. “You gave me that money—”
“I gave you money to buy a hamburger, not to get drunk,” Shade cut him off. “You could have bought yourself the burger and took the change and spent it on your kid or your woman. Don’t blame me because you’re a dick.”
Walking away, Harvey’s curses filled the holding cells. Instead of leaving like Harvey thought he was, though, Shade picked up a metal folding chair and carried it back to sit down in front of Harvey’s cell. Shade sat silently watching Harvey until the man ran out of steam.
“You finished?”
“Motherfucker!”
“You said that numerous times. Are you ready to shut the fuck up so I can talk? I don’t give a damn what you call me, or how many times you tell me how to fuck myself. Personally, I think you’re a stupid son of a bitch, but hey, if you want to sit here and trade insults all day, I can do that, or you can shut the fuck up and listen to me. Again, that’s your choice. Hopefully, you’ll make a wiser decision this time.”
The cursing stop
ped.
“Cool.” Shade leaned forward, watching for the reaction that he had bet Viper he was going to get.
“Who is it?”
Harvey’s mouth flapped open, then closed before he warily moved away from the cell door. “Who is what?”
“Really?” Shade was disappointed the stupid fucker was making it easy for him. “Is this how you want to play it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Sarcastically, Shade folded one leg over the other, casually leaning back as if he was indifferent about being lied to.
“I don’t!”
“Harvey, you’re either the stupidest son of bitch in the world or someone paid you to antagonize me. Now, we both know you’re stupid as fuck, which is how you almost fooled me for a second. But you’re smart enough to get a free ride ever since you were fired, so why would you bite the hand that fed you just to take a stab at smearing Lily’s good name just to blackmail me.”
“I—”
“Shut up. I’m talking.” Shade continued speaking coldly as if Harvey hadn’t interrupted him. “You worked with me at the factory. You knew I wasn’t going to pay. Like I said, you almost fooled me. You wouldn’t be the first one to file a bogus lawsuit against the company or try to extort money from one of us. You almost had me. The thing is, fuckwad, unlike you, I love my woman, but the one thing you forgot about is that son of yours. I remember how much you showed that picture around when he was born. That boy, you give a damn about.”
Shade gave him a satisfied smile when Harvey went pale.
“You wouldn’t hurt my baby.”
“No, I wouldn’t. You are right about that. It’s not the kid’s fault that you’re his father.” Shade reached into the pocket of his jacket and took out a cell phone. Sliding it through the bars, he gave it to Harvey.
“Call Nicole. There’re only two minutes on it. Make it short.”
Harvey took the cell phone into his shaking hand. They stared at each other as it rang.
“She’s not answering.”
“No, she’s not, and she’s not going to.”
“What did you do? If you hurt my—”
“I haven’t touched them. I just made it possible that they’ll never see your fucking worthless ass again.”