Ryder
We pulled into the secluded clubhouse compound of our Laredo chapter, closing in on nine in the evening. After spending time with our women, we gathered with our brothers, everyone present and accounted for.
“So if any of you want to come back with us, we’d sure appreciate it,” Marek announced, sitting next to Salzar at the head of their meeting table. Jagger, Tripp, and Stone leaned against the nearest wall, next to me.
Salzar was one of the original members of this charter, a full head of white hair and a clean-shaven face making him look innocent. But anyone who knew the man knew the opposite was true. He was loyal as hell but as mean as they come, when driven to be so. He kind of reminded me of Cutter.
“I’ll go,” a man named Etch said, his long shaggy hair tied back into a low ponytail. He was older, probably mid-fifties. I’d known the guy for many years, and while he may be close to twenty years my senior, his reflexes were on point, especially with a blade.
“Count me in,” another said.
“Me too, Marek. Whatever you need.”
The last two were new to the charter, at least newer than two years, but I had no doubt Salzar wouldn’t have patched them in if they weren’t good men.
“I’m in as well,” Salzar offered, nodding toward Marek. “We’ve dealt with the Reapers here too, although this charter has nothing on Psych’s.
“Well, it’s a good thing we ain’t gotta deal with Psych anymore, isn’t it?” Stone asked, cocking his head to the side while a ghost of a smile lifted the corners of his mouth.
Marek grinned. It’d been a sweet victory for our president to finally end the life of the man who’d put his wife through hell her entire life. Every once in a while, when he’d mention a nightmare that Sully had—which weren’t as frequent anymore—or him not being able to completely push down his rage when he saw the scars that littered her skin, he said he wished that Psych was still tied up in our safe house’s basement so he could torture him all over again.
I was thankful the evil fucker was dead, though. Marek was being dragged down a dark path, and we all feared he was gonna lose it once and for all. The small splinter of sanity remaining would have surely unraveled if he hadn’t seen his way out of that hell.
“I’m gonna have to ask that you stay here and look after our families,” Marek said, turning toward Salzar. “I know you won’t let anything happen to them. They’ll be safe with you here, and I’ll be on my game not having to worry about them.”
“Whatever you want is good with me, brother.” Salzar was fierce, but the look he shared with Marek was laced with understanding, compassion and something else I couldn’t quite decipher.
When the room grew quiet, I felt as if I had to make a declaration, some new faces forcing me to speak my mind. I cleared my throat. “I just wanna throw out there that if one hair is touched on any one of our ol’ ladies’ heads, you’ll deal with us.” I waved my hand toward Marek, Stone, Jagger and Tripp. “And it won’t be pretty.” I looked at every man around the room but focused more on the unfamiliar guys.
Salzar chuckled, easing some of the building tension. “Don’t worry, Ryder. No one is gonna touch your women. Look at them? Now that’s a different story, my friend.” I whipped my head to glare at him. “Calm down.” He laughed harder. “I’m just fuckin’ with you. We’ll treat them like family. You have my word.”
A quick nod from me and the conversation was over. I trusted Salzar, and I had every faith he’d keep everyone in line . . . and our women, Riley, and Kaden safe.
After a few beers, I said my goodbyes and staggered back toward the room they’d given us. My exhaustion mixed with the alcohol flowing through me was enough to make me wanna pass out, but as soon as I opened the door and saw Braylen lying on top of the covers, naked and exposed, I quickly had other ideas. But I didn’t want to wake her. She’d been through a lot the past couple days—hell, since the day she’d met me—so if I could give her a few more hours of peace, I would do just that.
Adjusting my dick, trying to lessen the hard-on that had popped up as soon as my eyes landed on her, I proceeded to undress before pulling back the covers and climbing underneath.
Braylen didn’t budge, her breathing so slow I knew she wasn’t gonna wake up anytime soon. So I lay there, thinking about everything that had happened in my life since the day I met her strong-willed ass in the park, giving Jagger a hard time for something that didn’t even involve her.
I found out that day that Braylen Prescott was fierce, loyal and had a mouth I wanted to sometimes silence with my cock. She drew me in all while making me throw up stone walls to protect myself.
She pushed.
I pulled.
She gave me shit.
I demanded things from her.
But when we came together, figuratively and literally, it was out of this world. I wasn’t saying our relationship was easy—it definitely wasn’t—but I knew I wanted to spend my life with her. I could only hope she reciprocated those feelings.
While Braylen was a challenge to deal with sometimes, I was even more difficult. I was man enough to admit it. I was severely protective, possessive of her time and jealous. It was exactly why I needed her to push when all I wanted was to pull her under. She showed me the error of my ways, and if I didn’t acknowledge them, she gave me the cold shoulder. Some days I welcomed the silence, but other days the quiet drove me borderline insane.
Braylen brought light into my world, and after everything I just described, I knew that made me sound crazy, but it sure as hell made perfect sense to me.
It wasn’t until she relentlessly pushed me to tell her that I finally divulged everything that happened to my mother. And I swore afterward, even though I was still a little angry that she made me talk about it, I felt lighter. Like I could finally relinquish the past and look forward to the future. Something a lot of the men in the club never did, mainly because we didn’t know if we’d be alive long enough to make any long-term plans.
Marek had taken care of those concerns a while back, though, first by breaking with Los Zappas cartel, then steering the club legit. Funny thing was, even though the Knights straddled the right side of the law, our hands were certainly not clean.
Sure, we didn’t deal in drugs any longer, but snatching people’s lives just happened to still be a necessary evil.
Braylen stirred, lazily rolling over on her side and throwing her arm and leg over me. The warmth from her skin had my dick coming back for a full salute in seconds. Moments passed in stillness, and then her hand slowly slid down my body until she cupped me. I was completely naked, the clubhouse on the warmer side, so when she realized she was touching my cock, she gripped me tighter before releasing a moan. She moved closer and rested her head in the crook of my neck, working her fingers up and down my hardened shaft, all without saying a word.
I’d planned on letting her sleep, but clearly she had a different idea. And who was I to deny her what she wanted? I wasn’t selfish, after all.
Shifting her so she was flat on her back, her hand slipping away from me, I spread her legs and thrust inside her. Her sleepy moans thickened my blood, the need to spill myself inside her more potent than ever before.
Because I had no idea what was gonna happen once we returned home, I reveled in the feel of her, imprinting the memory so I’d never forget.
Positioning her leg over my hip opened her up, and I took full advantage, driving home how much I’d miss her with every stroke of my body.
“Look at me,” I demanded, slowing my rhythm until she opened her beautiful brown eyes. Once her attention was on me, I took a deep breath, counted to five, and then released the air. “I love you.”
I wasn’t sure what I expected, but tears and her trying to push me off her were not it.
“Get off me,” she cried out, pushing against my hips to dislodge my body from hers.
“Stop it, Bray. What’s the matter?” I remained inside her, refusing to budge until she told me why my telling her I loved her made her so angry.
“You just told me you loved me,” she blubbered, tears falling down her cheeks while she desperately tried to catch her breath.
“So.” I’d never been so confused.
“Why would you tell me that now?”
“What do you mean? It’s how I feel.”
“But why now?” she repeated, whispering her question as if she didn’t fully understand her reaction either. Her fingers continued to dig into my hips, which was more annoying than anything. Leaning back on my haunches and pulling her with me, still careful not to slip from her body, I grabbed her hands in mine and pinned them to the bed.
“Tell me right now what’s wrong?” She stared at me, continued to cry, but didn’t say a damn word. “So help me God, woman,” I threatened. “If you don’t tell me why you’re so upset, I’m gonna. . . .” My words trailed off because I had no idea what the hell I was gonna do. I was stunned by her reaction, and as that feeling waned, I became angry.
Definitely not how I saw the scene playing out in my head.
“You’re only telling me you love me because you don’t think you’re comin’ back,” she finally confessed. “You know something bad is gonna happen and that’s . . . that’s why you said it.” More tears. More short and choppy breaths. More anguish shrouding her because I knew in my heart she loved me too.
But she was terrified that I wouldn’t make it back to her.