***Sico***

It’s been a hard week filled with grief, and the funeral was just a few days ago. Casey had the whole thing tightly secured. Screwed up to have FBI protection during a funeral but fuck...Zack practically demanded it or we would have brought in every Areion Fury MC chapter in the surrounding states. Casey really didn’t have a choice. Not that he sits on his ass in all of this.

There was a note delivered the same day Brandlee was killed. It basically said ‘A brother for a brother’. Those fuckers took pride in killing Brandlee. We showed Casey the note, telling him they blamed us for killing their brother, who Casey knew was still missing. His eyes showed he knew damn well we killed that fucker and that he wasn’t missing at all, but he didn’t say shit.

Casey’s loyalty is with the FBI but there’s an underlying tone that leaves a little gray area between the black and white. So he didn’t speak about it, but instead raided all the houses of every gang member on his list. The only issue was the FBI was only able to arrest two of them. One they caught on tape throwing the grenade and the other one they found had a huge stash of drugs. But the main player? James? In the fucking wind.

The woman sitting across from me at the kitchen table is a shadow of the strong and feisty woman I’ve come to know. She’s been in a world of hurt ever since she heard what happened with her brother. Not only is there nothing left of her family, she also doesn’t have a place to work.

I contacted all the companies she placed orders with for items for the game room and had the deliveries postponed for three weeks. Shit is going to come later then she had planned but I don’t want her to worry about that right now. She needs to take the time to process this loss. We all do.

“Here. Eat.” Calix shoves a plate in front of her and sits down beside her while giving me a look.

I know damn well she needs to eat. She’s been neglecting herself for days and it’s starting to show. Dark smudges underneath her eyes from the lack of sleep. Dammit. I’m just thankful she lets me hold her at night to give her some comfort and a touch of humanity. But that’s it. She doesn’t do or say much other than an occasional grunt.

She still doesn’t touch her food. Calix raises his eyebrow and I know what he’s silently asking. We talked about it last night and I think it’s a bad fucking idea. Not to mention it’s morbid and so fucking wrong.

Calix slaps his flat hand on the table and mutters, “Fuck it.” Reaching down, he takes a newspaper out of his bag and smacks it in front of Simi.

Still she doesn’t respond. Well, other than shove her plate away and stand up, ready to sit in a damn chair like she’s been doing for the past few days. Okay, now I see where Calix is coming from. He wants her shocked and back to the land of the living. Fuck. Bad choice of words.

Standing up, I grab the newspaper and smack it on the table again. This causes her to look at me instead of the damn paper, so I tap my damn finger on the article I want her eyes to hit. Her gaze travels down and I can see the moment the headline registers.

Simi snatches up the paper and brings it close, rapidly reading the article that states how a wealthy businessman was arrested and is now locked up facing double murder charges. Yeah, we’ve been keeping that newspaper from her because I didn’t want it to hit her, bad fucking timing and I hoped she never knew about it.

Let the past be the damn past but for my conscience I needed it handled. Except now we’ve come to a point where this might actually give her a push to draw her out from the loss of her brother. The silence in the room is deafening until Simi’s head tips back as laughter rips from her throat.

She needs to fucking brace herself on the kitchen table to keep from laughing her ass off. What the actual fuck? Ransom, who’s sitting across from Calix, makes a damn twirling motion next to his head, as if my woman’s lost her damn head. Fucker. I growl and his hand drops. Smart move.

Simi notices my growl and puts the paper back on the table. The corner of her mouth twitches. “That’s the best damn news I’ve gotten in days.” She sighs and stalks out of the kitchen.

Following her up the stairs, she now heads for the bathroom. Looking over her shoulder she asks in a seductive tone, “Wanna join me for some shower action?”

Yeah. My cock is jumping in my damn jeans but no way am I going to do this. “I would join but I promise, no fucking.”

Her nose scrunches up. “Your loss. Then there’s no need to join me. Go on downstairs.”

What the fuck?

I want to snap ‘fine’ and head downstairs but instead I lean against the wall and watch her undress. I can see the annoyance flashing on her face. She’s highly aware that I rejected her invitation for sex and yet also disregarding being sent out of the room. If she thinks she can push me away, she’s sadly mistaken.

What’s a man to do? I stand there and openly appreciate her tits and ass which she’s now starting to soap up. Yeah. My cock sure likes to have a peek and is trying to wrestle with my damn zipper. Painful as shit but that’s just the way it is.

“Turning into a peeping Tom?” She’s got a full glare going on while she adds, “Why don’t you palm that cock and whack off?

“Don’t be brash, beautiful. I just like to enjoy looking at what’s mine. Wash those tits for me and be sure to knead them in the process. See? That’s how I’m enjoying this. I ain’t into the pity fuck business. I like to fuck my woman but all in good time.”

I just barely manage to dodge the shampoo bottle that hit the tiled wall behind me.

“That most certainly won’t get me in the mood, sweetheart.” I chuckle and now she’s actually growling at me.

She shuts off the water and grabs a towel. She tries to pass me and deliberately knocks against my shoulder.

Grabbing her arm, I twist her around and bury my fist in her hair. “Now that’s just plain rude,” I tell her before I crash my mouth against hers.

Simi melts against me and it’s like she hasn’t seen me in weeks. That’s how fierce she’s kissing me and fuck...it might be that she’s trying to drown in lust or she really missed being this intimate all these days.

I should pull away. I was going to but I’ve got a tongue down my throat, a bare ass cheek in my hand and one very hard cock. Her back hits the wall and I feel her tiny fingers ripping open my jeans and shoving them down so I can step out of them and kick them away. Fucking hell she’s squeezing my length in her tiny fingers with my next breath.

My head falls onto her shoulder where I bite down, taking a piece of skin into my mouth to suck on. Simi wraps her legs around me and wiggles her hips, grinding until I feel the head of my cock nudge her damn entrance.

She’s going to flip the fuck out anyway going straight back to angry fucking. Going nuts when I fuck her bare and now that I know the damn reason why she freaks out when we fuck without a condom? Yeah, I need to be the one with the functional brain here.

“Condom,” I croak.

“No,” her voice is fierce, “I want to feel you. All of you, Sico.”

Damn. Every time my bare cock is near her she’s called me stud, or moans shit...now? She’s right here with me, brain fully functioning and calling me by my damn name, wanting me, all of me.

“Anything for you, beautiful, anything.” My damn voice cracks and my heart spills over.

Surging forward I’m buried to the hilt. Her pussy ripples around me from the intrusion while she moans in pleasure. Where I’ve fucked her raw and hard against the wall every damn time in the past, I now choose to slide out with utter patience. Sliding back in with the same lazy effort heightens the moment.

It’s as if there’s a shift between us, foreheads resting against each other while our gaze is locked. It’s fucking intense. My cock is lodged deep inside her and it feels like our bodies are completely connected. This is what it must feel like to love someone. Because I damn well never experienced anything like this.

Her pussy starts to squeeze around my cock and the way her breathing is spinning out of control, I just fucking know she’s close. Her eyes are flaming and filled with so much emotion, I can clearly see what’s going on in her mind without her actually voicing shit.

That right there gives me the strength to reach for her heart within this moment because I need for her to know she’s my whole reason for living. “You, beautiful. It’s you who holds all the love I have to give. Sweet love, you’re fucking it.”

She tumbles straight into an orgasm where she screams my name and takes me right along with her. I’m trying like crazy to draw air into my lungs, multitasking here because I’m holding the person who means the most to me in my damn arms. And I’ve just told her so.

Holy. Fuck. I’ve told a woman, a person, my woman...that I love her.

Her head falls on my shoulder as she murmurs, “I love you too.”

Holy...fuck, again...holy, fuck. She loves me too.

Great. Instead of her freaking out, I’m freaking the hell out. But shit...she loves me even though I’m freaking the hell out.

“You’ve got to get your breathing under control or you’re going to pass out, stud. Seeing you’re still holding me up and me not liking the prospect of hitting the ground...you’d better listen to what I’m saying, okay?” She pats my fucking back while I’m still reeling.

“I heard what you said alright...I’ve said it too. You...me...” Shit, black spots enter my vision and I gently slide Simi down so I can brace myself on my knees.

Her adorable laughter rips me out of the dizziness that was hitting me, making me glance up while I’m swaying on my damn feet.

“Okay, tough guy. Time to man up or I’m going to call Calix in here and show him you’re being a pussy who can’t handle his feelings.” She smirks.

A growl rips from my chest and the turmoil of emotions that caused havoc inside my body falls away. She doesn’t expect my sudden attack when I put my shoulder against her belly and throw her over my shoulder before stalking across the room to throw her on the bed.

I watch as she bounces a few times before I cover her body with mine. Naked. Skin to skin, full contact. My cock is already thickening when it presses against her belly and yet the main urge that runs through me isn’t to take her again.

Cupping her face, I take my time to stare into her eyes. “So fucking beautiful. All mine now. You’d better say yes when I drag you to the altar somewhere in the next few months.”

Dammit. As soon as the words are voiced I regret them because...

“He gave you his blessing,” she croaks.

I swallow hard and only manage to nod.

“We’d better pick a date then, huh?” she says to me with a smile that’s tiny and yet it radiates the kind of brightness that could light up the planet.

“Guess so,” I mutter and feather a kiss against her lips.

Her stomach growls, making the both of us chuckle.

“Let’s go grab some food, okay?” I tell her and get to my feet, dragging her along with me.

Instead of grabbing my jeans off the floor, I grab a pair of sweats and tug them on. Simi choses to wear yoga pants and steals one of my shirts. I think she looks even more sexy wearing that than a tank top that would spill some of her amazing tits. I like seeing her dressed in my clothes. It might be the caveman inside me but with two of my brothers inside it’s damn awesome to have her parading around in my shit. Who the fuck knew I’d ever get to this point?

Making our way downstairs, we see Calix sitting on the sofa with a bunch of papers in his hands and some spread out next to him. He doesn’t even give us a glance but seems wrapped up in his own world. Ransom on the other hand is still sitting at the kitchen table while staring at his phone.

Simi strolls past him and her eyes narrow when she looks at his phone. “You know...it’s stalker level when you keep doing that, right?”

Ransom jumps into action and puts away his phone and stands up. “It’s my own goddamn house I’m checking,” he mutters and strolls out of the kitchen.

“That was damn weird,” I say to no one particular.

Simi snorts. “I think he’s got a thing for his neighbor.”

My eyes go wide. “For real?”

“Uh huh, he said something before while he was checking his security feed and he’s watching right now too. There was a girl zoomed in who was doing her flowers in the front lawn. No doubt he was watching her.” Simi reaches for something in the freezer and looks back at me. “You hungry too?”

“Starved. You wore me out,” I answer and shit...there’s that satisfying smile on her face again. One I hope to put on her face a lot more.