CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Eyes wide, Sofia watched the road in front of her. As the man drove, he whistled off tune to a popular song on the car’s audio system.

How the hell did she end up alone with Trick? The man gave her the creeps. She caught him twice staring at her breasts. If only she’d had a vote on who guarded her. Of course, Wolf felt the same way.

Two of the Brothers had to hold him back as Easy threatened Wolf back at the club house.

“If you don’t fucking settle down, I won’t bother fining you. Instead, you’ll find your ass out bad. So which is it?”

After taking a deep breath, Wolf had nodded. Worry darkened his eyes as he looked her way.

“Trick, you better protect her or I’ll kill you myself,” he said with a growl in his voice.

“I’ll take real good care of her, nephew. Don’t you fret.”

When his uncle pulled her out of the room, she had to fight her terror from showing. No matter how he felt about it, Wolf needed to concentrate on whatever his president had planned for him to do. And the last thing she wanted to do was to cause Wolf to be kicked out of the club he loved.

“Don't be afraid, little girl. I like to look, but I won’t touch my nephew’s property.” He glanced over as if to gauge her reaction.

What had he hoped for her to say or do? Shout that she wasn’t anybody’s property. She wasn’t, but she understood the mentality of men like Wolf, Easy, and Hector. They had to lay claim to what they believed to be theirs. While Trick wasn’t part of the Mayhem Brothers, he’d supported their efforts often enough.

She turned to look at him. As he returned his gaze to the road, she caught his pensive expression.

“You’re thinking about what I said back there. I just like yanking my nephew’s chain. Nothing will happen to you.”

“You love him,” she said.

The older man’s forehead wrinkled. “Who said I didn’t?”

“You act all tough and crazy, but you worry about him.” Then she added, “You worry about both of them.”

Sending another quick glance her way, he nodded as if he had come to a conclusion.

“Yeah. They are all that’s left of my little brother. Bryan was a dumb ass for loving the bottle more than his family. He had the best wife in the world, and he didn’t take care of her. He was a fucking fool. That woman was pure Southern kindness and could outshine the stars at night.” His voice cracked at the end.

Who knew that Trick had a poetic side? And it was clear Trick had loved Wolf’s mom.

Her anxiety eased. She wanted to know more about Wolf’s family but held back from touching on that obvious wound.

“Where are you taking me?”

“My house. You’ll be safe there.” His gaze darted to hers and returned to the road as he laughed. “Like I said, I won’t touch you. Besides, Jennifer will be there. You met her the other day. She’s my old lady. Young, but willing to put up with an old pervert like me.” He snorted, chuckling to himself.

His delight in her uneasiness around him brought an odd ache to her. She’d seen Hector act the same way around a nervous stranger. She forced the corner of her lips to lift. Then Wolf’s words the other day came back to her.

“He’d never harm you. I’ve told him you’re under my and the club’s protection.”

If that was true, then why did Wolf look panicked and struggle to reach her?

She felt sick to her stomach. Things never looked as they seemed.

––––––––

Wolf quietly stepped into his uncle’s home and closed the door. Every bone in his body ached. Easy had insisted they go for a ride. Though the weather had warmed up before the coming rains, the night chill bit into Wolf’s nose and cheeks through the bandanna covering his face. During the whole trip, Wolf wondered when Easy planned to shoot him.

Cutter and Twofer remained as close as possible without Easy becoming suspicious with their hovering. He owed those two men a beer and his life.

Easy had acted all cool when they stopped next to what the locals called the Big Bridge that spanned over Smith Lake. By then it was nearly midnight and the road deserted. Most God-fearing folks were in bed, getting their rest for the regular work day in the morning.

The Mayhem Brothers’ president had leaned against the cement guardrails. “They say the water is so deep that bodies disappear and never show back up until years later. When Alabama Power built the dam and the rains filled it up, they left trees, houses, barns, and fences standing. Lots of crap to catch a shirt or limb and hold on tight.” Easy’s cigarette glowed as he inhaled. “A dangerous place for an asshole to fall in.” He flicked the stub. It arced and fell a good distance before hissing in the water. The sound carried to where they stood in the quiet, still night.

In the moonlight, Easy’s eyes glittered as if delighting in the thought of Wolf’s body hitting the cold, dark water.

The man was smart. He wouldn’t kill Wolf for only one reason: he wanted to reach Thorn, Wolf’s brother. If Easy could bring down the man who nearly destroyed the club, he would ensure a victory during the elections.

When Easy ordered everyone to return to the club house, Wolf started planning ways to reach Sofia and escape to the mountains of Tennessee. He didn’t have his brother’s phone number. They’d never been the type to chat each other up. So calling to warn Thorn about the danger he, his sister-in-law, and their two kids were in wasn’t an option. Time was running out. Chances were Easy would be moving against his brother soon.

Leaning his head against the wall next to the door, he sighed. His shoulders sagged from the weight of so many lives depending on him to take the right step. Times like this, he wished he was a kid again, only worrying about what his uncle would do to embarrass the hell out of him, and tagging along after his big brother.

As always, his thoughts turned toward Sofia. He wished he’d known her then. Had she worn her hair in pigtails? He bet she’d been cute with her little button nose and big brown eyes. If only he had—

He stopped that train of thought. Thumping his forehead on the sheetrock, he remembered an old phrase. “Woulda, shoulda, coulda.” None of that mattered. There was no looking back in his life. He would lose his mind for sure then.

“I thought I heard someone banging their head down here.”

He turned.

Sofia stood watching him. She wore an oversized tee shirt and what appeared to be a pair of his old gym shorts. Damn, she looked good and so fucking young. Her hair was parted in the middle and brushed back. Did she? Oh, yeah, she did. He hardened. She wore pigtails. His imagination sparked with ideas of what he wanted to do with them.

“Sorry about waking you.” After the fucked-up night he’d had, she was a bright ray of sunlight. Remembering her panicked look when they pulled her away at the clubhouse, he stepped nearer. He’d allowed her fear to spark his own. It had taken two of the Mayhem Brothers to hold him back for that split second. “Trick treat you right?”

A small grin lifted her lips. Probably from his play of words.

“Yes. Except for making the occasional creepy remark and staring at my boobs, he’s really not a bad guy. I can tell he cares about you.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. But don’t let him fool you. He’d do you in a heartbeat, if you say the right thing.”

Her eyes widened. “What would be the right thing?”

“Fuck me.”

“Thank goodness, I’ve only said that to you.”

He saw the mischief in her eyes as his body responded immediately to the unexpected answer.

“Only me?”

“Yes. You’re the only one I’ve begged.”

He scooped her up in his arms and took the steps two at a time. “Let me see if I can get you to beg me pretty this time.”

She softly giggled, and he picked up speed.

Oh, yeah, those pigtails would be great wrapped around my fist.

––––––––

Taking a deep breath, she sighed. After the rough bout of sex—man, oh, man, Wolf could do it right—she rested her cheek on his heaving chest. She’d almost blacked out when she came. Her scalp would be sore tomorrow, but so worth it. No surprise that he had a kinky side. Who knew that she did too?

She’d never thought she would love doing the things she did with him. Especially after her experience with Ramon. The pain and humiliation had been enough to turn her off sex for a lifetime. That was probably the reason she fell so hard and fast for Wolf. He’d been kind and gentle. The few heated kisses he’d given her had stoked the fire. Even the touch of his fingers brought goosebumps to her skin and tightened her nipples. No one had ever done that with such a simple touch.

Touching him was something totally new. Ramon had only wanted her hands on his cock and nothing else. Then during the whole time, he would tell her how clumsy and stupid she was for not knowing how to suck a man’s cock. Like every woman was born knowing. He was the stupid one.

She smiled. Wolf praised her, no matter how much she messed up.

Wolf’s breathing slowed. She opened her eyes and was greeted with a straight-on view of a semi-hard cock. It was beautiful. The perfect length and width to feel so good sliding into her.

Her hand slid down the narrow trail of hair. She stopped before touching.

His cock stretched.

“Well, hello,” she whispered.

“He’s showing off for you.” Wolf chuckled. “The fucker likes your attention.”

“Fucker?” She laughed softly. “Is that what you named him?”

His fingers caressed her hair. “No, baby. He’s just a penis.”

“There you’re wrong. He’s more. I’ll call him Fucker.”

The chest beneath her cheek rose and fell with his laughter. “You can call him anything you want, just as long you look at him like that.”

“How do you know how I’m looking at him?” Her head had to be blocking his view.

“Oh, I know. I like that he has your interest.”

She pressed a kiss to his flat stomach. Then she lifted and drew her tongue down his cock. The softness changed to hardness as she slowly traveled down to his balls. To reach that far down, she straddled his chest, not caring that he could see so much of her up close.

“Damn, I do like this view. Come here.” He grabbed her hips and pulled her thighs to bracket his face.

The touch of his warm tongue nudging her open brought a long, low groan from her and his cock hardened more with the vibration.

“Shit, that felt good.” He groaned. Then his mouth returned to sucking on her flesh. A swipe of his tongue brought a squeak from her, and she flicked at the tip of his cock, and he grunted, a male equivalent of a squeak.

A few more minutes of licking, sucking, devouring, and torturing by her and Wolf, and he finally broke.

“I can’t take it any longer!” Wolf picked her up and placed her on her hands and knees. “Woman, stay like that. I love looking at and holding your ass.”

Without giving her a chance to regain her breath, he plunged into her tender pussy. She arched, loving the fast pace as the bed shook from each thrust. On his knees behind her, holding her hip for balance, he leaned forward, cupping one swaying breast. His fingers pulled and twisted the nipple. She whimpered in sweet pain-pleasure need. Her arms trembled and then gave out, leaving her butt in the air, meeting every thrust.

Wolf squeezed an ass cheek and then his big hands cupped her breasts and tightened. She liked the feeling of him surrounding her, holding her to his body as he continued to pump. Never in her life had she felt so wrapped up by a man, adored to the point she felt part of him. She never wanted it to end.

When it did, his touch consumed every inch of her soul. Every nerve in her body stretched tight, preparing to let go and bam! She jerked and shook with each wave. His shout and then hard kiss behind her ear ended the moment perfectly.

“I love you,” she whispered.

––––––––

Had he finally heard her say it? His climax had wiped him out, and he wasn’t sure if his hearing had worked properly.

Wolf opened his mouth to ask, when a knock thundered on the bedroom door.

“Yo, nephew, hate to interfere with your fuck-fest, but you’re needed downstairs.” His uncle tested the doorknob. Shit, the man was such a sick perv. Thankfully, Wolf had remembered to lock it.

“I’ll be down in a minute!”

“I’m not leaving this spot until you open the fucking door.”

Wolf ignored his uncle and looked down into Sofia’s face.

“Do you mean it?” He wanted to clear up any misunderstanding. They’d just had sex. That was an emotional time for a woman. He had to admit with Sofia, he felt a powerful emotion too when he was inside her. Damn, just being near her. That was when he’d asked her to marry him.

“Yes. I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time, but I . . .” She shrugged as if she didn’t know how to explain. The sheepish look she gave caused him to grin big.

“I love you too.” He kissed her.

She met his tongue with hers as she hugged him, even squeezing his hips with her legs.

Oh, man! He was getting hard again. Not the time and that was emphasized when his uncle banged on the door again.

“Nephew! Time’s a-wasting!”

He slipped out of her, groaning with regret. The woman was soft all over.

“Babe, cover it. I’ve got to answer the door.” With a flick of his wrist he tossed her an end of the sheet as he stood and hauled his jeans up his legs, carefully zipping but leaving the snap undone.

He hated leaving her. After another quick kiss on her lips, he strode over to the door and looked back.

She struggled to sit up, yanking the linen above her breasts while trying to find her clothes. Her blush and tousled hair almost had him diving into the bed and telling his uncle to go to hell. On the other hand, Trick wouldn’t bother him unless it was important. It was a rule in the house, whenever they had a woman in their bedroom, no interruptions unless it involved bleeding from a vital organ or being raided by the authorities. He reached the knob at the same time his uncle banged on the door again.

“Damn, Trick, give me a few seconds.”

He swung open the door and stepped in front of his uncle.

“Cutter’s here.” Trick looked over Wolf’s shoulder. “Hey there, sweet britches, he wants to see you too.” His gaze darted up and down. Wolf glanced at Sofia. Luckily for Trick, he hadn’t seen anything as Sofia had on her tee shirt with the bedclothes firmly wrapped around her waist.

“Tell him I’ll be down in five.” Then he slammed the door in his uncle’s face. Trick’s craziness with women had never truly bothered him until now. Maybe because the woman in question was his, and he demanded respect from the people around her.

By the time they dressed and reached the living room, Wolf’s stomach churned in worry. Had Easy found Thorn and his family? When he spotted Cutter’s expression, Wolf’s knees wobbled but he caught himself.

“What’s Easy done?” Wolf asked.

Cutter nodded to Trick.

The old man walked out of the room, shaking his head. “Club fucking business. Always kicking me out. Can’t even stay and listen in my own home,” he muttered.

Hands clasped his elbow and warmth started to seep into his side. For a second there, he’d forgotten Sofia. What was it that Cutter wanted her to hear?

“As soon as I heard, I came straight out here.” Cutter didn’t waste any more time, but he surprised Wolf when his gaze moved to Sofia. “Your cousin was shot last night.”

Sofia gasped. Wolf immediately grabbed her and pulled her to his chest.

“I need to get to the hospital. I need to see him.” She struggled against Wolf. His hold tightened.

“Shh, we’ll do what is needed but first, go find Jennifer and stay with her for a few minutes. Let me get the details from Cutter. Then I’ll take you to the hospital. You’re in no shape to drive. Your cousin doesn’t need to see you all upset. Won’t be good. I bet he’s fine. He’s mucho hombre. Si?” he said softly to her, stooping down a little to see eye-to-eye. Her watery grin at his poorly accented Spanish loosened the knot in his chest. He hated to see her so upset and worried.

She nodded, clutching his shirt, tears streaming down her face.

Wolf looked to Cutter over Sofia’s head. There was more but he didn’t want her to hear.

Five minutes later, Jennifer sat with Sofia in the kitchen drinking coffee as Wolf nodded toward Cutter.

“Let’s step into Trick’s playroom and finish this.” Wolf led the way.

The big man’s face became stony with anger.

No. Cutter wouldn’t be angry about Toro being shot. Wolf wasn’t all broken up about it either, but he hated knowing that Sofia was hurting. There had to be more.

Once they moved to one side of the room filled with a pool table, air hockey, foosball and several types of electronic pin ball games—the old man loved to play—Wolf waited for Cutter to start.

“When the news first came in that he was shot, we all thought Easy had decided to take the man out. He’d been bitching about how you and Toro were now best of pals.” Cutter’s voice remained low. Most likely Trick was trying to listen in.

“I doubt he said pals. More like butt-buddies,” Wolf said with a snarl.

Cutter nodded. “Anyway, he’d stalked out of the clubhouse not long after he returned, and we didn’t see him again until about thirty minutes before the news came in.”

“With a supposed warrant for Toro’s arrest floating around out there, do you really think he’d take a chance?” The man was a bastard, but not stupid.

“I’m not finished.”

“You and your building suspense. Get the fucking words out.”

A crooked grin came to the man’s stoic face. “Twofer has a friend that works in one of Toro’s shops.” Cutter shook his head. “Don’t ask. The man gets fucking around.”

That meant it was a woman.

“Toro’s gang has been having trouble with their goods disappearing. They thought it was us. We had raided his home, but we did that to get back at him for making us move last year.”

Wolf was seriously thinking about choking the shit out the man. “Would you hurry the fuck up?” he asked between gritted teeth.

“They believe Ramon blew Toro’s ass away.”

Whoa! That knocked him back.

“You’re shitting me. Toro’s dead?”

“Yeah.”

“Fuck.” Wolf closed his eyes for a moment. How in the hell was he going to tell Sofia that Toro had died? “Did they get Ramon?”

“He’s on the run. The Thirty-Second is looking for him. They plan to tear him apart.”

“Where did it happen? Did they say why he did it?”

“In front of his main shop. They said a masked shooter hollered Toro’s name as he walked up. Then he pulled out a handgun and shot Toro square-ass into the chest.”

“Then they aren’t sure it was Ramon. They’re only guessing. They could be preparing for war, thinking it’s us, and only blaming Ramon to throw us off, making us believe we’re safe.”

Before he could ask any more questions, Jennifer came running into the room.

“Wolf! I’m sorry. She said she wanted to go to the bathroom. She was gone so long, I went to check on her. That’s when I heard a car drive away. Trick’s gone looking for her. She stole his Jeep.” Face pale, she covered her mouth with trembling fingers.

Without asking who she was, he started toward the front door. He needed to stop Sofia before someone grabbed her. Someone named Ramon.