“Fucker’s got to report to his parole officer first thing tomorrow, but he’s out!” Diesel bellowed as the back door whipped open so hard that it slammed the wall. A bunch of stomping, hooting and hollering followed that announcement.

Sophie spun on the bar stool where she sat with Bella, Jag, Crash, and Hawk, then jumped to her feet.

He had been released? She breathed with relief.

Once Diesel’s large body veered off, she couldn’t miss Zak coming in behind him, a grin on his face. He raised his hands and shrugged like there had been no doubt he’d be set free.

Right. Cocky.

She hadn’t been the only one worried that he’d end up back behind bars. Everyone else who sat with her for the past few hours had worried about that, too.

Diesel made his way over to Pierce, who was shooting pool in the far corner, and bumped shoulders with him, dipping his head and talking low. Pierce nodded his head, whacked Diesel on the back and then took his shot, sending one of the balls careening across the table into the corner pocket.

Sophie wondered what that was about. Maybe she didn’t want to know.

Her eyes shot back to Zak who had stopped in the middle of the large room, just standing there staring at her.

What was he waiting for?

“Waitin’ on you, babe,” he yelled, his grin getting bigger, his arms open in invitation.

Oh.

Hawk chuckled next to her. “Your man’s waitin’ on you. Go.”

Oh!

What started as a fast walk turned into a fast jog and she didn’t stop until her body hit his and he wrapped his arms around her, grabbing her ass and lifting her off her feet before shoving his face into her hair, breathing her in. “Fuck,” he murmured near her ear.

He felt good in her arms, solid, safe. She swiped at her cheeks. “I was scared.”

“Yeah,” he whispered against her lips before kissing her. She slid back to her feet, but neither wanted to let go. “You don’t go anywhere without me, without one of the prospects, or one of D’s guys. At least until we find out what’s goin’ down. Got me?”

“Yeah,” she said softly. “The bakery?”

“There, too. For now. Need to find out what the fuck’s goin’ on.”

She nodded. She didn’t like it but she realized it was for the best.

And she’d allow it. For now.

But she wasn’t going to live like this forever, constantly worrying that someone was out to get her or Zak.

He hung his arm around her shoulders and guided her back to the bar where he clasped arms and bumped shoulders with Hawk, Crash, and his cousin, Jag.

Murmurs of “Good to see you out, brother,” “Good job kickin’ that fucker’s ass,” and more, rose around them and Bella poured him a draft, sliding the pint glass in front of him.

Their eyes met, and Bella murmured, “Sorry.”

Zak shook his head. “You did right.”

“Got you in a jam.”

“Got out of it, thanks to your statement…” He squeezed Sophie’s shoulders. “And Sophie’s.”

“Axel help?” Bella asked.

The corner of Zak’s mouth twitched. “He did what he could.”

“Meaning nothing.”

Zak took a sip of his beer, then sighed. “Let it go.”

Bella nodded her head, her eyes troubled, and said softly, “Love you, Zakary.”

“Love you, too, Isabella.”

She nodded again, managing a small but sad smile. Sophie knew she felt guilty and wished she could ensure her that it wasn’t her fault.

Sophie snaked her arm under Zak’s cut and around his waist, giving him a squeeze. His eyes dropped to her.

“Sorry for all the shit, babe.”

She didn’t know what to say to that. She couldn’t answer, “It’s okay,” because it wasn’t. None of it was okay.

But when she finally made the decision a few weeks ago to be with him, really with him, she knew she might be stepping into some of the club’s shit. Zak had never hidden that possibility.

“Can we go home now?”

“My bike here?” Zak asked Hawk.

“Rig flat-bedded it back,” Crash said from two stools down. “Lucky that asshole’s sled didn’t take yours out.”

“Yeah,” Zak murmured, rubbing the back of his neck.

Sophie’s eyes followed his movement, and she gasped. “Let me see your wrist.”

Zak stilled, but Sophie reached up and snagged his arm, pulling it down so she could take a good look at the marks left behind from the cuffs. They had tightened them to the point of rubbing the skin raw.

“Ain’t nothin’, babe.”

“That isn’t nothing! They hurt you.” She flipped his hand over and looked at his bruised, swollen knuckles that still had dried blood stuck to them in spots. She swallowed hard. “Damn it.”

Zak tugged his hand from her and grumbled, “Ain’t nothin’. Stop fussin’,” then took another sip of beer.

Stop fussing? Sophie’s brows rose then dropped as her eyes narrowed. Oh, no. He did not just say that. “We going?’

“Might be better if we crash here tonight.”

“I’m not staying here. You want to stay here, you stay. I’m heading home. You want to come, fine. You want to send someone else with me, fine. They can sleep on the couch.”

Now Zak’s eyes narrowed. “No other man’s sleepin’ on your couch, woman.”

Woman? “Then say your goodbyes and let’s go,” she said firmly.

Hawk snorted, Crash chuckled, and Jag blew out a loud breath in an attempt not to laugh.

“Sounds just like an ol’ lady, brother,” Pierce said coming up behind Zak and slapping him on the back. “Got your balls in a grip already.”

His comment made her realize that she just cut Zak off at the knees in front of his brothers. Which was not good. He had talked to her many a night about how he wanted to take the president’s spot back, and her emasculating him in front of the other members would not help his cause.

She bit her bottom lip recognizing her error. Shit.

Not putting up with his misogynist bullshit behind closed doors was one thing. Doing it in front of everyone else was another. She needed to back pedal and fast.

She forced her body to relax and her expression to soften. “Sorry, baby, I’m a little uptight about you getting arrested. Can we go home now?”

Zak’s head swung back to her and his eyebrows lowered, clearly wondering about the sudden change in attitude.

She slid a hand up his chest and leaned into his hip. “I need some loving.”

His eyebrows suddenly shot to the moon.

Pierce laughed and pounded him on the back again. “Go. Take care of your woman’s needs. Meeting tomorrow right after you meet with your PO. Be here. I’ll send Abe over in the morning so someone’s with Bella and her.”

Zak nodded, grabbed her arm firmly and tugged her toward the door. “Let’s go.”

When they got outside, he loosened his grip, pulled her into his arms, dropped his mouth to hers and said, “Someone’s getting’ a fuckin’ spankin’. Guaranteed.”

Sophie smiled. “Can’t wait.”

Zak laughed, intertwining his fingers with hers as they walked to her car. “Me, neither.”

* * *

Zak dug his fingers into her hips as Sophie rose and fell on him. He was splayed out on his back and she straddled him, her pussy that he swore was lined with hot silk squeezed him tight.

He couldn’t help but watch her face as she rode him, her mouth slightly open as little mews escaped, her eyes unfocused, her hair swinging, her full tits bouncing. Her dusky nipples hard as diamonds under his thumbs.

Fucking heaven.

Suddenly, she grabbed his wrists and slammed them to the mattress over his head and ground her hips in circles. She dropped her head, snagging one of his nipples between her teeth and he jerked in surprise.

“My fuckin’ woman’s wild,” he said between gritted teeth, his balls tight, his brain about to explode from the torturous pleasure she was putting him through.

She circled her hips again, throwing her head back, jamming those luscious tits toward his face, but not close enough where he could pull one into his mouth. Damn, so close.

Then he felt it. That telltale ripple that meant she was about to come all over his cock. This woman could get slicker than shit, wetter than a slip-n-slide. But he was not complaining. No way. He loved it. Feeling that always drove him to the point where he couldn’t hold back and had to bust a nut deep inside her.

Now that she was on the pill, he could do just that. Nothing between them anymore. Just her hot, pulsating flesh surrounding his dick.

He slammed his head back into the pillow and jerked his hips up as she smashed her hot flesh down on him again.

“Fuck, babe,” he grunted.

“You like that?” she asked, breathless.

“Oh… fuck… yeah.”

She ground her hips against him again. “And that?”

“Fuck,” he groaned.

She nipped his other nipple.

“Fuck!” he shouted.

“Yeah, baby… those are mine,” she said before sinking her teeth into his neck.

Damn, his woman had been getting bossy in bed lately. Good thing he liked it or she would need a little attitude adjustment. Like last night when he spanked both her ass until it was red and her pussy until it was dripping. He had to admit his endurance had been tried after that. It didn’t take them long to both come and then collapse into each other’s arms.

He brought his attention back to the here and now. Which was Sophie doing the bump and grind on top of him.

But he didn’t have to think about that long, because as soon as she grabbed her own tits, played with her own nipples, she arched her back and yelled that she was coming.

Thank fuck.

She squeezed his cock tight, pulsating around him until he blew his load deep inside her. After a few seconds she slowed and stopped, blowing out a breath, brushing her damp hair away from her face and she gave him a lazy smile, looking down at him with her sexy just-been-fucked eyes.

“Ready?” she asked, meaning was he ready for her dismount. Which he wasn’t. Which he couldn’t think of anything better than being connected to her.

Which made him think of the meeting at church earlier in the day. Which was the last thing he should be thinking about while his woman was sitting on his cock.

Which made him realize he needed to talk to her. Which totally fucking sucked.

But his answer regrettably was, “Yeah.”

She groaned as she rolled off him, and he groaned at the loss. He watched her naked hips swing as she went to the bathroom to clean up. Coming back a couple minutes later, she tossed a damp washcloth to him. He caught it, took care of business, tossed it to the floor—which she hated—then patted the bed for her to lay down next to him.

Not that there was any doubt that she’d climb into his arms afterward. She always did. His woman liked to cuddle.

And not that he’d admit this, even under the threat of death, he loved to snuggle with her, too.

Nothing like laying in the arms of a woman who loved him after she just drained his nuts dry.

Yeah, he knew she loved him. She hadn’t said it… yet. But he knew. That’s why he didn’t look forward to bringing up what he needed to bring up.

But until things were sorted with what was going down with the Warriors, she was at risk. And he didn’t like it. No, he fucking hated it. And it pissed him off to no end that she could be the target of some asshole who still felt as if he needed revenge for the four Warrior Nomads Rocky and Doc took out over thirty years ago. And they had this mistaken idea that DAMC would curl up like a ball and roll out of Shadow Valley, leaving it to them, if push came to shove. They needed to be corrected of that notion.

The Warriors could push all they wanted, DAMC would shove back harder.

Not the best plan since they were striving to remain legit. And the last thing any of them wanted was for more brothers to end up at Fayette. Or even Greene. But right now that was all they had.

They needed to take a stand.

“Baby?”

He turned his head at her whisper. “Yeah?”

“You have smoke coming out of your ears because you’re thinking so hard.”

He rolled to his side, cupping her cheek. “Sorry, babe, know you hate when I smoke.”

When a burst of laughter came out of her, it became infectious and he laughed with her, loving how her eyes sparkled when she was happy. Loved it when he’d catch her studying him and her eyes went soft and a small smile curved her lips. The first time he saw that, he knew.

He knew their lives would be entangled for a very long time. If not forever. As long as they could keep the Warriors—and the fucking cops—off their back.

Unfortunately, at today’s meeting, there was also mention of the Dark Knights making a play for more territory. They currently controlled area on the south side of the Burgh. But word was their club was outgrowing their area and wanted more. Which might mean they could want to spread closer to Shadow Valley. But they were currently at war with another club in that area, so for now, DAMC had to wait to see how that all played out. Though, Zak thought Pierce needed to keep a finger on the pulse of that mess, be proactive, the sitting president didn’t think it was something to worry about. Yet.

Zak didn’t think Hawk, the club’s VP, would let something like that roll over the club without warning. But he needed to pull Hawk aside and get a read on how he thought Pierce was handling it.

Zak was pretty sure Hawk wasn’t on board with just letting things “play out” with the Dark Knights and whatever move they might make to expand.

“Baby.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to start choking on all that smoke.”

He chuckled and pressed his lips briefly to her forehead. He couldn’t imagine anything happening to her. It would kill him.

So there was no time like the present to rip off that damn Band-Aid. He had to do it quick and keep the pain to a minimum. He sucked in a breath. “You sure you don’t want to go back home, babe? It’d be safer for you. You want, Bella can run the bakery for you until all this shit blows over.”

“I told you I’m not leaving. I’m not going to let them chase me away. And we don’t know how long it’s going to be until it all ‘blows over.’ It could be months.”

Zak didn’t want to tell her it might be years. Maybe even never. At least, not until the last Dirty Angel or Shadow Warrior was dead and buried.

Or they came to some sort of understanding. But, again, Zak didn’t think that would ever happen with Pierce at the gavel. And there were plenty of others in their midst who didn’t want a truce, either. Too much bad blood between the clubs over the years.

“What happened at the meeting?”

He dipped his chin. “Babe.”

“Don’t babe me. Talk to me. Anybody find out anything?”

With a sigh, he said, “Not much. Some chatter, nothing solid.”

“They targeting you in particular?”

“Dunno that, babe.”

“So, what do you know?”

“Nothing concrete.”

“Is this how it’s going to be? You hiding club business from me? Even if it may affect me or my bakery?”

“Tellin’ you what I can, Soph.”

“But not what you know.”

“Babe.”

Sophie sighed. She rolled over and went nose to nose with him. “Tell me this... You’re going to stay out of those steel bracelets, right? Not do anything stupid?”

“That’s my plan.”

“You going to fuck me whenever I want?”

“Not even a question.”

“You going to work on grabbing that gavel back so this club of yours stays above board?”

“Yeah.”

“You going to try to reconcile with your family?”

He had no idea where she was going with this line of questioning and he’d found it a bit amusing until the last question.

He frowned. “Can’t promise you that.”

“You going to love me for the rest of your life?”

His nostrils flared. He closed the slight gap between them, pressing his nose to hers. “You gonna wear my cut?”

There was no way Sophie would ever wear one of those “property of” vests. But she had talked at length with Bella about it. And Bella had given her a good idea. “No. But I might do something better.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “What?”

“Can’t tell you yet.” See? Two could play at that game.

“Really.”

“Really,” she confirmed. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Which one?”

“Zakary Jamison, are you going to love me ‘til death do we part?”

“Need more details than that.”

She pulled away from him and gave him a look. “Like what?”

“You askin’ for it to be legal?”

Yes. “Maybe.”

“Kids?”

Oh yes. “Possibly.” But first there would have to be a lengthy discussion about raising them around the club. She wasn’t sure if she wanted that yet, though they had plenty of time to decide. She wanted to make sure her bakery was well-established before having a baby hanging on her hip.

“Babe, no ‘maybe’ or ‘possibly’ about it. Just tellin’ you now.”

This man of hers not only wanted to marry her but wanted kids. This badass biker wanted to bounce a baby on his knee. She smiled at the image. “So… is that a yes?”

“To what?”

She shoved him and he landed on his back with her on top of him, staring down into his face. “Just so you know, I’m not going to stand behind you, I’m going to stand beside you.”

“We’ll see.” He pressed his lips together to keep from smiling. He was messing with her now. But not a second later, he got serious, “You wanna be my ol’ lady, huh?”

She wasn’t thrilled with that term, but… “Well, am I a house mouse?”

“No.”

“Am I a sweet butt?”

“Fuck no.”

“Then what other choice do I have?”

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, then slid his hands down her back to grab her ass tight. “Never had another choice.”

She rolled her eyes. “No shit.”

“Babe, the minute, no, the second I saw you I knew I wasn’t goin’ to let you say no.”

“Even if I was kicking and screaming.”

He grinned. “Yeah, I fucked up. Or so I thought. Turned out to be a blessin’ in disguise, though. Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she echoed softly.

“I gotta tell you somethin’, Sophie.”

Oh, boy, now what? “What?”

“Love you more than my freedom. And after losing it, that’s saying somethin’.”

It certainly was. Her lungs emptied with a whoosh and her heart swelled. But it was his next words that made her want to cry.

“You’re my breath, Sophie. My life’s blood. You’re my soul.”

How did this happen? How did any of this happen? Her life wasn’t supposed to go this direction, but it did.

At first, she thought she’d regret it.

Now, she knew she didn’t.

“So, you got me, babe?”

She swiped at her eyes and gave him a smile. “Got you.”

“Love me?”

“Love you,” she said with a nod. Her vision became blurry, and she tried to blink the tears away.

It was a losing battle.

“Now who’s talking in two-word sentences?”

She laughed through the tears. “You’re a bad influence, Zak Jamison.”

“That I am.”

“Will there be a problem with your brothers if I don’t wear your cut?”

“Only wear it if you want to, babe. But I think everyone knows you’re mine.”

“That they do.” She cupped his cheeks and pressed her forehead to his. “Love you, Zak.”

“Love you, babe.”