Paxton walks through the door just as I lean over the bar to grab the bottle of water that a prospect hands me. His eyes connect to mine, and I see him glower before his eyes harden and a muscle in his cheek jumps.
Then, without a word, he stomps toward me, walking right past me and toward the bedrooms. I thank the prospect for my bottle of water and slide off of the stool, hurrying after my husband.
Walking into his room, I freeze when I watch him throw the rickety lamp that was sitting on his dresser across the room, gasping when it smashes against the wall. He then turns to me, and he looks cold, mean, and scary.
“You been hangin’ around flirting with all the men in the bar, or just that prospect?” he growls.
“Paxton, I wasn’t flirting with anyone. What is wrong with you?”
His eyes soften a touch and he shakes his head before he sits down on the bed and runs his fingers through his hair. He tugs on the strands before he runs his hands over his face. I walk over to him and sink down in front of him, placing my hands on his knees and giving them a squeeze. I haven’t seen him like this since the night he came home from the desert, all those years ago.
“Went to see my mother,” he rasps.
“You didn’t want me to go?” I ask, feeling hurt.
“Fuck no,” he shouts. I lean back at his anger.
He reaches down and puts his hands under my armpits, bringing me to my feet before he twists and practically throws me onto the bed. He crawls over the top of me, and his gaze, though still pretty pissed off looking, is equally as intense, but much less scary than it was a few moments ago. I cup his cheeks with my palms, and his clenched jaw relaxes slightly.
I feel his fingers at my shorts, and then my shorts and panties are gone and his bare cock is pressed against my entrance. I don’t know when his pants were unzipped, but I know they’re still on, because I can feel the rough denim against my legs.
“Paxton,” I whisper.
“Need this,” he grunts as he pushes inside of me.
I’m not ready, not even a little, but the look in his eyes, its heartbreaking. I can see that need in him. I nod my agreement and spread my legs wider as he pushes inside of me. I pinch my eyes closed at the pain, and then his lips touch mine, his tongue sliding inside of my mouth as he kisses me, consuming me, like only he can.
His hips start to move slowly, and I can feel myself getting wetter with each stroke of his cock, while his mouth devours mine. I move my hands to wrap around his shoulders, and then down to the hem of his shirt, dipping them beneath the fabric to feel his warm skin.
“Cleo,” he groans as he starts thrusting inside of me a bit harder, his teeth nibbling my lips.
“I love you,” I whisper against his mouth.
“Love you more than you could ever know,” he murmurs as he continues to glide in and out of me, moving a little harder and faster with each stroke.
His hand wraps around my throat, loosely at first. The harder he fucks me, the more his fingers tighten.
We don’t say another word. Our eyes connect and stay that way as we both climb toward our release, searching for it every time our bodies crash together. His hand moves from squeezing my throat to tangling in the back of my hair as he grinds hard against my clit. It causes my breath to hitch.
With a growl, he slams into me so hard it forces me to close my eyes, then I come with a whimper. He doesn’t slow down or stop when he knows I’ve come, too consumed in his own desire for relief. When he comes, he throws his head back, and I stare at the column of his handsome throat until he sags against me and shoves his face into my neck.
“Tell me what happened,” I urge. His body locks up, but he doesn’t move. He stays planted inside of me, his face in my neck, but his muscles are tight.
“Paxton,” I urge.
“She’s a bitch. A mean and nasty bitch,” he announces as he slides out of me. He lifts his jeans up his hips before he stands and walks over to the window.
“Tell me,” I repeat, turning to my side to watch him.
“She just spewed hateful shit, like she always does. I let it affect me, like I always do,” he rumbles.
I amble off of the bed, grabbing my panties before I pull them on. Ignoring his cum that’s leaking out of me, I walk over to him.
Wrapping my arms around his waist from behind and resting my cheek on the back of his cut. I pinch my eyes closed, trying to imagine the pain he must be feeling.
“It shouldn’t even affect me at this point,” he shrugs, turning around in my arms and pressing his lips to the top of my hair.
“It’s your mother. Of course, it affects you,” I whisper. “If you want to talk more about it, I’m here.”
“Thank you, sweetheart,” he rasps as one of his hands slides beneath my panties and squeezes my bare ass. “I might take you up on that one day. Did I hurt you?”
“No,” I grin, shaking my head as I look up at him.
“I’m glad,” he smirks before he dips his head and presses his lips to mine.
“We leave tomorrow. I got another run in a couple days,” he informs.
“Two weeks, again?” I ask in surprise.
“Yeah,” he shrugs.
“Maybe you could give me more notice next time, you know? Instead of a couple days?”
“I’ll try to be better,” he mutters as his hand massages my ass and his lips gently caress mine.
“See that you do that,” I breathe, melting into him.
“Take care of him,” Kentlee whispers as she hugs me tightly. Well, as tightly as she can, since she’s pregnant.
“Always,” I grin.
“When MadDog comes back for visits, we want you guys tagging along,” Brentlee says with a wide smile.
“You know it,” Paxton grunts with a grin of his own aimed right at her.
We give everyone one last wave before we climb on Paxton’s bike. He starts it with a roar, and then we’re off. My ass already hurts in anticipation of what’s to come, especially since he informed me that this trip was only going to be two days, instead of the three we took when we drove here.
I close my eyes, feeling the air against my skin and hugging Paxton closer, loving the way he feels, his body hard but relaxed as he rides. He loves it, really loves it, and I can tell just in the way he maneuvers the bike on the road.
After six straight hours of riding, we finally stop for the night, and I can’t help but cheer as we pull into the hotel’s parking lot. Paxton chuckles and helps me take my helmet off before we check in. I’m thankful that I was able to wash my clothes at the clubhouse before we left, so I have all clean stuff to wear for the ride home.
“I’m going to shower,” I inform him as I head toward the bathroom.
“Yeah, I’ll get some food,” he grumbles, flashing me a smile before he leaves.
I don’t spend a lot of time in the shower. I’m sore and tired, and I just want to curl into bed and go to sleep. I could actually skip food and I’d be just fine. Once I’m finished cleaning the road dust and dirt off of me, I slip my cotton panties on and an oversized shirt of Paxton’s. I do exactly as I’ve been dreaming of, sliding beneath the sheets and curling into a ball, unable to keep my eyes open a second longer.
“Sweetheart,” his rich voice mutters, pulling me from my sleep. My eyes flutter open and I see him standing in front of me, a bag of fast foot dangling from his fingertips.
“I fell asleep,” I whisper. He grins and gives me a wink before he mutters an, I know, and holds out his hand to help me sit up.
We eat mostly in silence, and I can’t stop from glancing at my handsome husband, a question on the tip of my tongue, but a little scared to actually ask it.
“You gonna ask me or just stare at me?”
“Do you want to move back to Idaho? I want you to be happy, and I have Lis and Theo back home, but you looked so happy with all of your friends. I don’t want you to be miserable or regret being with me because I’m not there—but I don’t know if I can leave California,” I ramble.
“Calm down. Take a deep breath,” he smiles. “I love my club in Idaho. I love the brothers there, and its comfortable. My dad was a member and I grew up with almost everyone there.”
I suck in a breath and bite my bottom lip, looking down at my lap. Paxton wraps his hands around mine and gives them a gentle squeeze, which makes me lift my eyes to look at him.
“They’re my friends; and, yeah, to an extent, they’re my family. But, baby, you’re my wife. You’re my family. I go where you go, and your happiness lies in being close to your boys. You’re making girlfriends in the club, and that makes me happy as fuck. I’m not pulling you away from Lis and Theo. They’ve taken care of you for over a decade.”
“Your club’s taken care of you for your whole life,” I whisper.
“Fuck no, they haven’t,” he chuckles. My eyes widen. “Nobody’s taken care of me the way that you have. You’re my sweetheart, my wife, and my life. We’re stayin’ in Cali and that’s where we’re plantin’ down roots, baby,” he states with a nod.
“Really?” I breathe.
“Really, sweetheart,” he grins before he leans down and presses his lips to mine in a hard, closed mouth kiss. “Let’s get to bed. We have a long day tomorrow,” he murmurs.
“Okay,” I sigh.
I fall asleep the instant my head hits the pillow. Paxton’s arms are wrapped around me, and I’ve never felt more content in my entire life.
How did this happen?
How did I end up this damn happy?
I’m afraid to question it too hard, afraid that if I do, it may disappear.
I press my lips to the side of her head before I walk out of the hotel and close the door behind me, testing it to make sure that it’s locked. Then I head to my bike to grab Cleo and me some breakfast. I can’t help the grin that appears on my face as I recall our conversation from the evening before.
Cleo was so worried I was giving up the people I loved to be with her. She probably would have packed all her shit and moved to Idaho today had I said that’s what I wanted her to do. But I don’t. I’m happy in Cali, tucked away in the woods with my brothers and their families.
I have Cleo, she still has her friends close, and she’s opening up to the possibility of new friends, too. It’s important in this life to be friends with other Old Ladies. They can hold you up when you need it, and keep you together when shit goes down.
I shake my head, thinking about Genny and Soar. Had she stayed, the club would help her anyway she needed help—money and emotional support alike. She was done, though, and maybe that’s what she needed.
Fuck, god knows she doesn’t need to turn into the bitter and angry woman my mother turned into. I could see the writing on the wall with that, too.
Genny was already angry and bitter, but I could still see hurt and love in her eyes when she looked at Soar. She wasn’t gone yet, like my mother was.
Being in love and being happy is making me a goddamn woman. Like I should give a fuck about Genny and Soar’s happiness. I roll my eyes at my fucking pussy assed self as I pull into the shitty fast food place.
Once I have food for the both of us, I ride back to the hotel. I unlock the door and walk inside.
“Clee,” I call out, freezing at the sight that greets me.
The entire room is trashed. Every piece of furniture that isn’t nailed down is turned over or thrown across from where it originally was. Dropping the bags of food, I pull my gun out of my waistband, and I clear the room and bathroom. She’s gone. Her shit is still in the corner and her clothes are still inside, which means wherever she is, she’s without shoes and pants.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and contact MadDog.
“Cleo’s gone,” I say, my voice thick.
“What do you mean?” he asks.
“I went out to get breakfast. She’s gone. The room’s trashed but empty.”
“Where are you?” he barks as I hear rustling.
“Salem, Oregon,” I say, pinching my eyes closed, knowing it will take him at least six hours to get here. It would take Fury just as long.
Fuck.
Goddamn it.
Son of a bitch.
“On my way. Call Oliver, see what he can discover with his genius hacking abilities. Call Fury, too.”
The call ends and I walk over to the bed and sink down before I start making phone calls. Oliver tells me he’ll tap into the streets around us and their camera systems, and see if he can get a visual of her somewhere. Then he tells me to sit by my phone in case whoever took her tries to call me.
Fuck.
My eyes flutter open, my hands tied behind my back, and my ankles tied together. I loll my head to the side and take a good look at one of the men who broke into my hotel room. He chased me and threw me down, causing me to slam my head against the hard ground.
Then they tied me up and threw me in the backseat of the SUV, with no pants. I squirmed, which was the wrong thing to do, because I felt something sharp in my neck. I have a feeling it’s drugs, and the reason behind why I’m about two seconds from falling asleep.
“Who are you?” I slur.
“Your man’s club fucked with the wrong people,” he says before he grins. “You’re a pretty little, white redhead. They’ll all like you a whole hell of a lot. You’ll be a great addition to our stable,” he mutters before his blue eyes wink at me.
I open my mouth to ask him what he means, but it won’t move. No part of my body will move, and then the world fades to black around me before it takes me under.