Jackal turned the motorcycle Rider had let him borrow six months ago. Wearily, he stared at the new Predators’ clubhouse that Ice had built while he had been gone.

He was tired, and every bone in his body hurt. He had ridden the last leg of the journey home alone, leaving Hennessy in Colt, Arkansas. And Fade, he was gone.

Jackal went to the door, expecting the room to be half-empty, but all the brothers were waiting for him. Their cheers and yells were a hollow comfort due to the brother he had left behind.

Ice slapped him on his shoulder, shaking his hand. Max gathered him in his bear hug, lifting him off his feet. Stump handed him a bottle of beer. One after another, the brothers greeted him while the women all tearfully kissed him.

Jackal went to the bar, speaking to each of them as he passed until he reached the women lining the bar, the ones who hadn’t been waiting to kiss him hello.

“Hey, Grace, Vida, Casey.”

“Jackal, we’re glad you’re home.” Grace hugged him.

Casey and Vida each waited their turn. He expected recriminations for his treatment of Penni. Instead, they went to their husbands.

“We’ll see you guys later. We’re meeting Sawyer and going shopping.” Grace kissed her husband good-bye.

Casey held her hand out to Max, who grumbled, getting out his wallet to hand her a couple of twenties. When she didn’t move away, he gave her the rest of his cash, showing her it was now empty.

Vida laughed at Colton, who just handed her his credit card.

“You make us look bad for making our husbands give us shopping money,” Casey complained.

“I made Ice fork over some, too. I asked for his credit card this morning before he left. He’s in a better mood before I get him out of bed,” Grace confided.

“I’ll have to try that. Max holds onto his wallet like it will save him from drowning.”

“Grace, wait,” Jackal cut in.

Grace and the other two women turned back to Jackal.

“Where is Penni? I rode by her condo, but she wasn’t there. I called Shade, but he thought she was at her condo. He even checked her cell phone, and it showed she was at home. When I broke into her apartment, though, it was empty. Ice said he didn’t know where she was, either. So, where is she?”

Jackal ran a hand through his long hair. He hadn’t wanted to call, too afraid she would hang up on him. His plan to show up at her door and beg his way back into her life had failed.

“Penni made us promised not to tell you,” Grace told him. “She said, if you want to see her, you know where to find her.”

Frustrated, Jackal stared at her. “If I knew where she was, I wouldn’t have driven to her condo or to her office. I even checked to make sure she wasn’t feeding the ducks before I came here. So, where is she?”

“We can’t tell you,” Vida said, giving him a sympathetic glance.

“Is she with a man? Is that why you won’t tell—”

“Penni said you would know how to find her,” Grace cut him off. “Get some rest. Ice told us you haven’t had time to sleep since you killed Raul. When you get some sleep and are thinking more clearly, you’ll know how to find her.”

Jackal wanted to throw a bar stool at the wall. Ice must have known he was at his breaking point, because he blocked the women from his view.

They left, laughing as they walked away.

Jackal pressed his fingers against his tired eyes. “They think I deserve to suffer.”

“Brother, go to bed. I saved the end of the hall for you. It has a brand new bed. It’ll feel good after sleeping in all those hotel rooms.”

Jackal had to admit to himself he was too tired to ride anywhere until he got some sleep.

“I’ll get a couple hours sleep, but if I can’t figure out where Penni is, your wife will be my next stop, and I won’t be taking no for an answer the next time.”

Ice nodded. “I’ll warn her. Go to sleep.”

Jackal nodded, passing Ice who stopped him, holding out his hand.

“I’m glad you’re back, brother. It hasn’t been the same without you.”

“Thanks, Ice. I won’t let you down ever again.”

“You’ve never let me down, Jackal, not once.”

The two men leaned into each other, slapping each other on their backs before stepping back.

Jackal finally made his way down the hallway, seeing Ice had added more rooms to the new clubhouse. He was too tired to appreciate the changes, though. Right now, all he had on his mind was getting enough sleep to figure out where Penni was.

He had googled her tour schedule. Mouth2Mouth’s next concert was a month away. If he couldn’t find her by then, he would drive there, even if it took him all night.

Jackal went into the room Ice had told him was his. Turning on the light switch, he closed the door behind him. There was a large bed taking up half the room.

Jackal sat down on the end of the bed. It reminded him of the one Penni had picked out before the clubhouse had been destroyed.

Jackal ran his hand over the metal frame then dropped his hands into his lap. Penni’s face swam in front of him.

Jackal buried his face in his hands. “Where are you?” he groaned out.

Suddenly, he lifted his head. Jerking himself to his feet, he strode down the hall, coming to a stop in the clubroom. The men turned to stare at him.

“I know where she is,” Jackal said huskily.

Ice stood up from the new, blue La-Z-Boy rocker. “I knew you were a smart man and would figure it out. Grace left her car here. I’ll drive you because no way in hell are you driving yourself.”

“Where is she?” Max yelled out before they could get out the door.

“Fuck you, Max. You figure it out.”

* * *

Ice found a parking space, and Jackal opened the car door, beginning to get out.

“I’ll wait ten minutes to make sure she’s there. I was supposed to call Grace and tell her if you left the clubhouse so Penni would be there until you showed up.”

“Thanks, Ice.”

“No problem.”

Jackal went into the Purple Pussycat. He strode through the room and up the stairs to the large door where he keyed in the code for the bouncers that gave them access to each room of the club.

Jackal’s heart beat hard as he neared the door where Penni and he had stayed when they had made love the first time.

Henry was talking to one of the bartenders, but he turned to watch him cross the room.

Jackal keyed in his number, but the door didn’t turn. Henry had overridden the door’s commands.

“What are the numbers?”

Henry raised a brow at Jackal’s menacing tone.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about it.” Sherri’s, Henry’s girlfriend, gloating face showed she didn’t know she was risking her own life by thwarting his attempts to enter the room that Jackal was even more sure Penni was in. There was an easier way to find out without killing the woman, though.

Jackal went to the middle door where the bouncers could look into both rooms while the clients used their services. Jackal keyed in his number again, and this time, it worked.

Jackal gave Henry a killing look before going inside.

The mirror showed that the room on the left was empty. Jackal stepped to the right mirror, and his breath caught. Penni was sitting on the bed, facing the two-way mirror and staring down at the phone in her hand.

Jackal hadn’t cried since he was kid when his mother hadn’t come home, and his father had made fun of him for it. But he cried now, knowing no one could see him.

It had been six months since he had last seen her. Shade had offered to send pictures of her, but Jackal had told him no. Jackal had known that, if he had seen her, he would have broken and gone to her. However, he’d had an oath to keep, and he had been determined to keep it. Too many lives depended on him succeeding, and one of those lives was hers.

His blood still ran cold at the thought of her being there when the explosives had been detonated. If he hadn’t scheduled the meeting with Reefer to sell him a dime bag, they would have been in his bed at the clubhouse that Saturday morning. The only reason Ice had been up was because Ice had made it a rule that, when someone was out on a job, someone had to keep watch, and he had known the rest of the brothers wouldn’t want to get up so early.

He saw that Penni had lost weight. She had been a tiny thing before, but now she looked so fragile a gust of wind could blow her away.

He walked closer to the mirror, wanting to run from the room and into the one she was waiting in. Knowing Henry wouldn’t give him the number until she told him to was the only thing stopping him. He couldn’t even fucking call her since her cell phone was at her condo, and he didn’t know the number to the one she was holding.

Jackal was about to take his cell phone out of his pocket to call Ice and tell him to call Grace and beg her to call Penni to let her know he was here when Penni suddenly lifted her head, staring at the mirror. Then she dropped the cell phone onto the bed.

She rose unsteadily to her feet. The peach teddy she wore wasn’t seductive or playful like she usually liked to wear. It enticed. Tiny straps led to her satin covered breasts, and then her skin was exposed all the way to the small patch of satin that covered her pussy. It was an all-out assault on a man’s dick.

“I know you’re there.” Her soft voice filled the small room he was in. “I can feel you.” She placed her hand on the mirror, and Jackal lifted his to place it in the same spot.

“I’ve missed you so badly.”

“I’ve missed you, too.” Jackal replied, despite knowing she couldn’t hear him through the soundproof glass.

“Before I tell you the combination to the room, I want you to listen to what I have to say.”

Penni raised her other hand to the mirror, and Jackal mirrored her movements.

“I love you. I love you so much I don’t even care what you’ve done since you’ve been gone. I don’t care if you’ve fucked a hundred women. I don’t care who you killed. I don’t even care if you love me. I just want you.

“I don’t want to hear any excuses for why you wouldn’t see me, and I certainly don’t want to know who the women you fucked are. I don’t want any more oaths or promises, even if you plan to keep them. I just want you. I will always want … you.” She gave a shuddering breath, stepping away from the mirror.

Jackal waited for her to tell him the combination or to keep talking. When she did neither, he began to laugh. She had forgotten to give him the combination.

It took him a minute to get Ice to quit laughing before promising to call Grace, He waited breathlessly for her phone to ring.

When she went to answer her phone on the bed, he was already debating smashing through the mirror. However, her soft laughter had him calming long enough to hear her tell him the combination.

Jackal practically tore the door off its hinges as he left the viewing room, going to the locked door. He had to key in the numbers twice because of his bumbling fingers. Then he rushed inside, slamming the door by kicking it closed.

Penni was laughing so hard she fell back on the bed. “Do you know how long I rehearsed that speech?”

Jackal stood, staring down at her. “I take it you forgot to rehearse the number part of it.”

“Yes.” Her poignant eyes stared up at him. Penni raised herself back up, reaching her hand out to cup his cheek. “I’ve never seen you cry before.”

“I love you. And there haven’t been any women to tell you about. I didn’t want another woman. I’ll never want another woman but you.”

“I told you I don’t want to talk—”

“Too damn bad. You deserve to know that.”

Penni took his T-shirt, raising it to his chest so she could press a kiss on his abdomen. “Go ahead, then, but I’m not listening.” She snapped open his jeans, parting them then pulling his dick out.

“Uh … I guess we can talk later.”

“You took off the metal balls?” Penni angrily glared up at him.

“I was riding so long my dick was killing me.” Any other woman would cuss him out for leaving her, but the only thing Penni was pissed about was piercings?

“Can’t you put them back in?”

Jackal gaped down at her. “Right now?”

“Uh … yeah.” Penni laughed, rolling on the bed as he laid down beside her.

“Woman, I can’t put them in right now. Do you not remember how many I had? And I only had that many because I was drunk off my ass when Colton did it. We’ll have to go back to the clubhouse to put but them back in. I’ll have to be drunk to even put the Apadravya back in, and the nine balls in my dick, so no, I can’t do it right now.”

“All right, there’s no need to be grouchy about it. I’ll make you a pan of my brownies. It’ll work better than alcohol.”

“I’ll stick with my rum. I’m afraid, if I eat your brownies, I’ll end up with more of them.”

Penni propped herself over his chest. “Is it going to hurt?”

“Babe, it’s gonna hurt like a son of a bitch, but for you, I’ll do it.”

“That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“I have told you numerous times how much you mean to me—”

“But none that involve pain.”

“Babe, believe me; it involved a lot of pain to stay away from you. Sending Shade was hard on both of us, but neither of us wanted you to mourn me if Raul killed me.” He didn’t try to hide his anguished expression. The months he had been away from her wouldn’t be easily forgotten.

“When you have the piercings back in, we’ll call it even.” Penni flicked his nipple.

Jackal slid the teddy straps off her shoulders. “You’ve lost weight.”

“I’ll gain it back. Lily is coming for a visit. She’s a good cook.”

He hoisted her farther up the bed so he could get a better view in the mirror on the ceiling.

“Shade coming?”

Jackal groaned when she trailed her mouth down his abs to his dick that was so hard it was reaching toward his belly button.

“Mmm-hmm. So are my parents and most of The Last Riders.”

“What’s the occasion?” Jackal raised himself onto his elbows to look down at her sucking the head of his cock into her mouth.

She lifted her mouth off him to raise her head, staring into his eyes. “I thought we could get married.”

“You’re asking me to marry you while you’re giving me a blowjob?”

She gave him a trembling smile. “I thought it would be harder to say no.”

“God, I love you.”

She gave a shaky laugh. “Is that a yes?”

“It’s a big fucking hell yes.”

Penni straddled his legs then reached under her crotch to unsnap her teddy.

“I always wondered how bitches did that.”

Fascinated, he watched as Penni tugged it over her head, tossing it over her shoulder. Then he lost what mind he had left when she slipped her palm up his cock, taking it into her mouth.

“Every night I went to sleep, I imagined your mouth on me.” Unconsciously, Jackal’s hand went to his side, clenching the coverlet in his grip.

She took him to the back of her throat as she fondled his balls.

He wanted to jerk her down to the bed and thrust into her balls deep, but he sensed she wanted him in her control. She’d had no control when he had left her, so she needed to regain her power in their relationship, and Jackal let her have it. She deserved more for what he had put her through.

Her little nipples grew taut, flushing as her excitement grew. When she moaned, Jackal couldn’t take another second.

He rolled her back to the bed, sliding his legs between hers. Plastering his mouth to hers, he figured, if he was going to drown, she was going down with him.

He slid his cock into her weeping pussy an inch at a time. It was like taking one piece of her at a time.

At first, her pussy was tight, but then it loosened as he moved, relaxing as excitement built, as he touched each of her contracting muscles. She trusted him to give her what she needed, to take the ascent they were both trying to reach.

Thrusting deeper, he put his mouth to her ear. “If I never have another moment on this earth, I want to spend the last with you like this: with my dick in you, giving my soul to you. You’re the only reason my heart is still beating.

“I rode across most of the United States and Mexico, just so I could come home and breathe again. Fade was killed, and Raul turned his gun on me. I wasn’t even afraid of dying, because I knew we would be together again. It might have taken years and years, but you would be with me again in eternity. I knew you would find me when it was your time to pass. You would hear me calling to you until you could find me.”

He thruster harder until he was pounding her into the bed, grasping the mattress so they wouldn’t fall to the floor.

“Penni … Penni … You’re my own Penni from Heaven.” His raw emotions lit a passionate fire in her that had Penni curling her legs around his, slamming her pussy up to take what she needed from him.

Jackal … He heard her calling his name over and over without a sounding passing her lips. Their souls were claiming each other back, erasing the pain of the last six months and replacing it with a joy that would last through the lifetime that lay ahead of them.

When he could breathe again, he was able to focus on her face as they lay curled into each other, stroking the each other, unable to believe they were together again.

Jackal curled an arm over her shoulder, enjoying the serenity of the climax she had gave him and holding her close again.

He lifted one tired eyelid to see hers scrunched in worry. He hastily closed his eye, not wanting to know what was going through her mind.

Damn, he was tired … and Penni was obviously not.

When Jackal couldn’t ignore her jostling his shoulder anymore, he raised both of his eyelids to look at her.

“What?” he grumbled.

“We have to leave. Henry charges double on Friday nights.”

“I’ll pay for it. Go to sleep.” Jackal closed his eyes tightly, hoping she would take the hint.

“Uh … You promise you won’t be mad?”

Jackal opened his eyes.

“I had Ice place another bet for me, and I placed one for you, too. I thought it was a done deal. How could we lose?” She bit her bottom lip.

Any other time, he would give her something else besides her lip to nibble on. Right now, though, she had his undivided attention.

“I really thought it would take you longer to figure out where I was. Max won.”

“How much did you bet?”

“I only bet a hundred for myself,” she hastily told him.

“How much did you bet for me?”

“I knew you needed a new motorcycle, so I bet five hundred for you.”

Jackal sprang out of bed, shoving his head through the opening of his T-shirt. When he picked up his jeans, he quickly tossed Penni her clothes. “Get dressed.”

She climbed out of bed, clumsily getting dressed. “I’m so sorry. I mean, how could we lose?”

“You said that,” Jackal snapped, putting on his boots then helping Penni button her blouse.

“You’re mad,” she stated the obvious.

“It’s okay.” Jackal remembered the phone that had fallen to the floor, handing it to Penni. “You can make it up to me. I bet Max we would have more kids than him.”

Penni hurried across the room as Jackal opened the door. “Does the one I offered to be a surrogate for with Winter count?”

Jackal crashed into the doorjamb at her words. “No, it didn’t include …” He lowered his voice, seeing everyone in the room watching them. “We can talk about this later.”

“Okay, we’ll wait until you’re in a better mood.”

No matter how good of head she planned to give him, she was not going to convince him to let her have Viper’s baby.

“Jackal, I need to talk to you before you leave.” Henry said as he left the booth he and Sherri were sitting at.

“Can it wait?”

“You need to pay for the room. If I let you get away with it, then the other employees will expect it, too.”

“I already paid!” Penni exclaimed.

“Your card was declined.”

“I have another card.” She began to open her purse.

“The credit card company told me to cut it up. They said the cardholder had closed your account.”

Penny pouted. “Shade closed my account?”

Jackal ground his teeth. After reaching for his wallet and taking out a card, he gave it to Henry who walked away happily with it in his greedy hand.

“You’ve been using it every time we rent Henry’s rooms?” Jackal spoke out of the corner of his mouth to keep from yelling at her.

“He said it had to be an emergency when I used it.”

“Remind me why I want to marry you.” Jackal commented as they walked out of the club after he had put his card back in his wallet, the sunlight hitting his bloodshot eyes.

“That hurts.” Penni put her hand dramatically across her heart. She looked at the row of cars parked in front of the strip club. “Where’s Grace’s car?”

“Your car’s not here?”

“No, Grace dropped me off. My car’s in the shop.”

Jackal mumbled something under his breath.

“What did you say?” Penni tilted her head toward him.

“Nothing.”

Jackal called Ice, moving them into the shade so he could see.

“It won’t take him long to get here,” she soothed, patting his arm.

“You’re going to make this up to me … a lot.”

“Yes, Jackal,” she answered submissively. “You don’t happen to have a spare key to my condo, do you? I forgot to take it off my key ring when I dropped the key off this morning.”

Jackal was afraid to answer her question, seeing spots dancing in his vision.

The door to the Purple Pussycat opened, and a man his age came out, seeing Penni standing by his side.

“Didn’t I see you come out of there?” The drunk winked at her.

“Mind your own damn business,” she snapped.

“Bitch, I have a stick bigger than he has—”

The man’s head hit the brick wall.

“Do not call me a bitch!”

Jackal grabbed her around the waist.

“I’m calling the police.” The man whined, trying to find his cell phone.

“Here, take mine.” Jackal handed him his cell phone, listening as he called the police.

“Why did you do that? They’ll arrest me.” Penni looked around, trying to find a place to hide.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell them I did it. He’s so drunk they’ll believe anything I tell them. Call Henry and tell him to destroy the video of the front door.”

“I’m not going to let you go to jail for me,” Penni protested, but she did call Henry to destroy the tape. “Why are you doing this? We still have time to get away; Ice just pulled up.”

Jackal refused to budge, waving down the police car as it approached.

“Ice can bail me out in the morning after I get a good night’s sleep.”

“What happened?” Ice asked, getting out of the car. “You want me to handle …?”

When the cops got out of their cruiser, they pinned Jackal against the wall with Penni screeching at them to let him go.

“I’ll get his paperwork started while you find out what happened,” The officer that arrested him shouted as they led Jackal toward his cruiser.

Feeling grateful, he sank back into the leather seat, exhausted. He watched Ice try to pull Penni toward his car, but she refused to budge from where she was listening to the drunk tell his story to the other police officer.

Jackal was worried she was going to get herself arrested if she didn’t back off the drunk. When the officer trying to take his statement gave Penni a warning, she finally relented, going to Ice’s car. Then he saw Penni slip the drunk’s wallet into her purse before flicking the drunk off as she climbed inside.

Jackal began laughing so hard the cop in the front seat turned to stare at him over his shoulder.

“You better not vomit in my car!”

Jackal wiped his tears of laughter on the arms of his T-shirt. “I’m going to marry that woman.”