Wolf
Finally. Everyone is gone and Pepper fell asleep on the couch before they all left. I check the deadbolt and then walk back over to where she's curled up. She's at peace and I hate to move her. If I don't, she'll wake up with some serious muscle aches. I know from experience.
When I unravel the blanket and see she's only wearing a t-shirt, I bite my fist. This woman—I've never met someone like her. I don't give a shit how many women I've fucked or how hot they were. None compare to Pepper.
Shit, why is she getting to me like this?
I'm hard as steel seeing her like this. It’s a damn good thing she had a blanket on blocking the other men's views earlier. I'd have killed them. Considering Bull made it first, I'm sure he’s seen her without it and I don't think I can let him live. That's for another time though.
Before the asshole broke into my room, I had every intention of coming upstairs and punishing Pepper in the best way possible for straddling Slick. Now all I want is to get her to bed and hold her tight. When I gather her in my arms, she burrows as close as she can against my chest.
That's not a feeling I think I'll get tired of. She mumbles in her sleep as I lay her on the bed. I can't tell everything she's saying, but I know I heard her mumble ‘hurry up’.
I like that she talks in her sleep, as long as she's dreaming of me. I strip down to my boxers and climb into bed with her, then I pull my Pepper against me. Wiggling, Pepper rubs against my aching hard-on. She's going to kill me.
No complaints. It's not a bad way to go.
When I wake, I'm not even sure when I actually fell asleep, my arms are empty and the rest of the bed is empty, too. I jump up in a panic. The bathroom is unoccupied when I look there, also the closet, and she's nowhere to be found.
From the day before, I figure she's an early riser, so I try to hold my panic down but it's not working. Then I see a note on the nightstand by the bed.
Wolf, I went down for breakfast. I didn't want to wake you.
After what just happened, I hate that she went on her own, but I've learned Pepper will do what she wants to do. My controlling personality isn't fond of it. Getting my clothes together, I go to take a quick shower. By the time I get to the kitchen, there's no one around. Wondering where the hell Pepper is, I pull my phone from my pocket and dial her.
She answers the call on the second ring. “Hello?”
“Hey baby, where are you?”
“I'm in the surveillance room with Ghost going over the footage from yesterday. So far we have not seen anyone that could be the guy from last night.”
“I thought you were going to wait and look at the footage with me.” It's what we talked about before she fell asleep on the couch.
“I'm sorry, but Ghost came into breakfast and told me Shooter wanted me to start looking at the tapes from last night. He said he had it ready whenever I was.” She pauses. "I really want to know who was in the room."
“Okay, on my way.”
Slamming my cell shut, I stomp off to the surveillance room. It pisses me off that nobody waited on me. I may also be a little pissed that all my men seem to have a thing for my woman. Right before going into the room, I try to calm down some. I can hear Ghost, Shooter, Slick, and Pepper all laughing at something before I enter. Doesn't take all of them to look at the tape, that's for damn sure.
Without knocking, I push the door open, making them all jump. Pepper's sitting right in front of the monitor with Ghost on one side and Shooter taking up space on the other. Slick is standing behind her chair, leaning down to look at the monitor.
Ghost stops the tape and turns to look at me. “Hey man, what’s up?”
“Seems like a lot of people in this room.” I know I'm starting to sound like I bark all the time when it comes to Pepper.
Pepper turns around. “Hey there, honey. We just started looking at the tapes. Do you want us to start over?”
“No sweetheart, you and Ghost can finish looking, but Slick and Shooter need to help me.” I know my tone sounds a little better because she called me honey in front of the others.
“Okay, I'll come and find you once we get through,” she replies.
I walk out the door with the other two following me to my office. “Have a seat, guys," I say once we enter.
Before the guys take a seat, Shooter shoots off questions. “Did you know what the guy meant when he mentioned the zip drive or better yet, where he’ll get a key from?”
I sit up in my chair and run my fingers through my hair. “I've thought about the key and the only thing I can come up with is Brenda. She used to clean my and Bull’s bedrooms when she lived here. She had access to my key, but she always put the spare back in my office. As far as the zip drive, it's what we keep our club information on. The only thing on it is bank information, the store sales, and a list of clients we do business with.”
“So, is it something that could hurt the club?” Slick glares at me.
“Man, you can fucking quit looking at me like that, and yes it could potentially hurt us. There are things that could be used against us. They could be after our money. The client list is very important. The stores’ information would probably not be of interest.”
“They could have been misinformed about what is on the drive. What bothers me most is how someone knows about it,” Shooter says, glancing between us both.
“I've tried to figure that out, too. I made a list of all who know about the drive. There’s Gunner, Money, Tank, Bull and me. Now both of you and Ghost are on the list. The only ones of us who actually handle the data are Money, Tank, and me. This also leads me to think of Brenda. It is possible she could've heard us talking about it. The three of us take turns making sure the drive is put in the safe. She'd never have seen where we put it though. I bet she's used things she knows about the club against us.”
“Where is the drive now?” Slick asks.
“When Money handed it off to me yesterday, I went to put it in the safe. Before I could, Gunner knocked on the door. I stuck it in my pants pocket to put up when he left, but then the next thing I know, Slick is at the door to tell me about Dog. I forgot about the drive until this morning, and that’s when I finally put it in the safe.”
“Where was the drive last night?”
“It was still in the pocket of the jeans I had on yesterday. When Pepper and I got ready for the party last night, I left my clothes on the bathroom floor. So, the drive was in the room last night while the guy searched my room." A sickening feeling hits me. "He could've hurt her so easily. Oh my God, he would have hurt her if he had gone in the bathroom."
Not that I didn't realize that last night, but just the thought of the drive being in the same room where she was standing filled me with fear. Shit.
“Shit man, you really have it bad for her. Fuck, you look like you just seen a ghost,” Slick tells me.
I shake my head, agreeing with Slick. “Right now, I need to go to the surveillance room with her. We can talk about this more with the others but I want to keep this between us for now. I'll talk to Ghost and Bull, too.”
“Sure thing, man, let us know what we can do to help,” Shooter tells me.
“Go check on our visitors and see how they're acting.” I want to know everyone's behavior and anything out of the ordinary. This shit’s going to end now.
Both Shooter and Slick agree to do that and we leave the office, splitting directions. I head back to see my woman, needing to touch her again so I can remind myself she's okay.
As I'm walking back in the surveillance room, I hear Ghost tell Pepper, “This is about twenty minutes before you called Bull’s cell.” They turn my direction. Pepper smiles at me and touches the chair beside her for me to sit in. “Come sit with us, Wolf. You'll make me feel better while we watch the next segment.”
I walk over to the chair, already feeling better myself. I bend down, kissing her lips, and sit next to her.
Grabbing my hand in hers, she turns back to the monitor to watch some more footage. After about two minutes, she grasps my hand hard. “Stop the tape right there.” She points at a man on the screen. “He's the guy I saw in the bedroom."
Ghost and I both lean closer to the computer. I don't recognize the guy and Ghost isn't showing recognition in his expression. The guy looks like a linebacker. It looks like he's got a cut on like the guests from last night.
After jumping up from his seat, Ghost paces back and forth. “I don't remember seeing this guy. I'm going to go call Travis. He saw everyone who came in last night. He might be able to put a name with a face.”
I nod, agreeing with Ghost, and take a slow breath. “Okay, dude, we'll wait here until you get Travis. Hey Ghost, also I'd like to keep what the guy was looking for between us for now.”
“Okay man, your call.”
As soon as Ghost leaves the room, I reach for Pepper, pulling her into my lap. I hug her to me, while she slips her arms around my neck, hugging me back. She lifts her head up to look into my eyes and I know she can see my silent expression of desire. Her eyes zoom from my eyes to my lips and back, and she nibbles lightly on her lower lip. Cradling the back of her head in my hand, I gently pull her to me and give her the kiss she wants.
As I dominate her mouth, I find her as eager as I am. She pulls back to catch her breath and opens her eyes. Before she can even think of what's happening, I jerk her to me and cover her mouth again in an aggressive kiss. She opens her mouth to mine, moaning against my lips.
“Baby,” I growl between kisses, “I need you so bad.”
Before she can respond, in walks Ghost with Travis. They stop at the door when they realize they're interrupting us.
“We can come back in a few,” Ghost offers.
“No, you guys come on in. Let Travis have a look. We're going up to my room to go back over last night. Maybe Pepper can remember something else.” We will do that, but not until after I have her wrapped around my dick screaming my name.
I stand with Pepper in my arms, wanting to get to my room quick.
"Do you really think he thinks we do not know what they are going to do?” Ghost snickers.
“No, I believe he does. He's just trying to be sensitive,” I hear Travis answer as we're going out the door.