Chapter 27
Ace
Fucking hell! I could tell the instant that I looked up and saw Emerson staring at me that this was going to end up badly. I had to give her credit though for keeping control, standing there as if she weren’t bothered by seeing Candy naked and with her hands on me. I knew the truth, though. It had been there in her eyes. She couldn't hide the hurt. Reading her thoughts, I'd called her name out in a warning that I'd hoped she would stop and consider. I’d hoped it would bring her to a different conclusion than the one that was putting that fucking pain in her eyes.
"Get the fuck out," I snarled at Candy once I made it to my bed. I sank down onto it, not caring that I was still wet in places. I kept the towel firmly around my waist. She'd already grabbed my dick once as if she fucking owned it.
The woman was like a fucking octopus, and she had a one-track mind. She'd come over under the guise of helping me, but I knew better. Under different circumstances I might have taken her up on her offer to fuck her, but all the brothers knew she was gunning for a coveted old lady's spot with the remaining Sentinels. What she didn't know was that we'd never settle for a woman who'd been with our other brothers.
"That's not very nice," she whined, standing back with an unflattering pout on her heavily made-up face, moving in a way that made her large tits bounce.
"I didn't ask you to come," I snapped, settling back against the pillows. It was the truth. Like the other two had, she'd just showed up to play fucking nurse. What the hell had Tanner been thinking when he’d sent his strippers over to take care of me? I'd only relented about accepting help but I hadn't thought that he'd actually go through with it, he knew how I felt.
"Tanner said—"
"I don't give a fuck what he said! I didn't ask for any of you to come here." I didn't have women in my house, and my brothers knew it. Candy stood there, indecision on her face, her tits rising and falling with her breaths. The sight didn't even make my dick jerk. "And put some fucking clothes on!"
It fucking pissed me off that I now had a situation to take care of with Emerson.
"I only took them off to so I could help you shower." She reached for her thong at the foot of my bed and slipped it on. "I don't know why you're being so mean."
"This is how I am," I growled, thinking about Emerson in the kitchen and wondering what was going through her mind.
"Not when we're fucking," Candy said, shooting me a wink as she snapped on her lacey bra. "Maybe that's what you need, Ace. If you don't want to fuck I can always relieve some of your tension with a blowjob." She hesitated, staring at me expectantly, all but licking her lips.
I glared at her. Why wasn’t she getting the message that I wanted her gone? Did she need me to spell it out for her? "I'm not interested in fucking you again. Now get out of my house." I laid back and closed my eyes, praying that when I opened them again she would be gone.
I hoped that Emerson didn't go with her.
I'd specifically told my brothers that I didn't want Emerson there after they'd suggested that she be called. I didn't need anyone. I hated being laid up, and I knew that I'd be a terrible patient. Emerson didn't need me snapping at her and revealing what a really uncaring bastard I could be. I was better off alone. But their solution had been to send some of the strippers to take care of me.
Hell, I didn't need taking care of. Sure, I was fucking weak and in constant fucking pain, but I could get by on my own. I'd fucking done it before. But if I had to have a woman there, I wanted it to be Emerson. One time with her, and the woman had ruined me for anyone else. Her hands were the only hands that I wanted on me. I'd told her that I’d claimed her, and I'd meant it.
I should have made myself clearer to my brothers. Now the whole thing was a fucking mess.
I listened as Candy continued dressing, and then to the sound of her heels clicking against my hardwood floors as she walked away. By the sound of the rapid tap she was pissed, but I didn't give a fuck. She could take it up with Tanner if she wanted to, but I knew that she wouldn't. She wouldn't find sympathy with him, or with any of my brothers, for that matter. The girls at his bar knew that if they got involved with any of us, it was about the sex and that was all.
I had to deal with Emerson. I got up from the bed and made my way to the kitchen. As I grew near, the aroma of something good reached me. Other than Mrs. Bearden, I couldn't recall the last time a woman had been in my kitchen. When I rounded the corner and saw Emerson, I paused to admire her movements. To say that she was pissed was putting it mildly. She was muttering beneath her breath, slamming things around. Her back was to me, and I couldn't stop my eyes from falling to take in the way that her cute little ass jiggled with her angry movements.
I'd just had a naked woman pressed against me, and yet it was the sight of Emerson's ass shaking in her short shorts that got me hard as fuck. The woman was dangerous. I waited until she noticed me before I went any further into the room.
"You shouldn't be out of bed," she said, whipping back to the stove.
"I'm good," I grumbled, going to the dining room table and pulling out a chair to sit down.
"Candy left." She grabbed a spatula and removed a sandwich of some kind out of a skillet. She plopped it down onto a plate and turned back to me. "I hope you like grilled cheese and tomato."
Ignoring the sandwich that she set down in front of me, I met her eyes. Fuck. She'd been crying. "I didn't want any of them here," I said. "I didn't want you here." Her eyes flared at that. "Not because I don't want you, Emerson, but because I don't need anyone." I grasped her hand and pulled her forcefully down onto my lap. I felt her resistance, but I easily overpowered it. "But never doubt that I want you, baby girl."
"Along with every other woman," she said bitterly, a green fire of hurt glittering in her eyes. She settled on my lap, but her stiffness revealed that she didn't want to be there. "I can't compete with them, Ace. I don't want to. I've watched you take every stripper and most of the servers out to fuck them in the back alley. I've watched you with them inside the bar. I know what kind of man you are, and knowing that, I still became infatuated with you. I still let you fuck me. Now I've become another notch on your bedpost—" Suddenly she was choking up. "Coming here and seeing you with Candy opened my eyes."
Her unshed tears gutted me, because I was the reason for them. I wasn't used to having to explain myself to anyone, especially a woman, but I found myself saying, "Nothing happened, with any of them, baby. A misunderstanding with my brothers caused this fucking mess. They know I've claimed you—"
"What does that even mean?" she snapped, losing patience.
"It means you're my woman, Emerson." I was growing hard beneath her slight weight, but I ignored it. "Those other women mean nothing to me. I fucked them, yeah, and I'm not going to fucking apologize for that. Most of them aren't the kind of women you remember after the deed is done."
She stared at me long and hard, the wheels working behind those mesmerizing eyes. "And I’m different?"
I released a resigned breath. "Fuck yes, you're different. That's part of the reason I kept you at arm's length for so long. Something warned me that you were going to mean trouble for me, that if I gave in and fucked you like I wanted to there'd be no turning back." I tucked her hair behind her ear, holding her gaze. "A forty-seven-year-old man doesn't do infatuation, but trust me, it went both ways. Only I fought it."
She snorted, the first sign that her anger was dissolving. "You didn't fight the blowjobs very hard."
I grinned. "I'm not going to apologize for that, either, baby girl. You have a sweet--" I leaned in and said the words against her pillowy lips, "--talented little mouth on you." I closed my mouth over hers for a hard kiss. I kept it brief, even though I wanted to devour her sweetness, absorb it into my blood until I was a better man. A softer man. My dick throbbed beneath her ass. It didn't help when Emerson began to squirm. "As much as I want to fuck you right now, we need to finish this conversation."
She laughed. "You've always struck me as the quiet one."
"When it counts, I use my words," I admitted. Not much had counted until now. "I want this settled between us once and for all, and then they'll be no more talk about it. If there is, there will be trouble, Emerson. You understand that?"
She didn't back down. "Depends on what you have to say, biker man." She had the nerve to tilt that obstinate little chin.
My girl had a stubborn streak in her, and I couldn't deny that I liked it. "You think you can take me on, baby girl?" I kept my tone even.
I could tell that she was trying to determine if I was joking or serious. "Not physically, but there are many ways a woman can get even with her man."
Her reference to me as her man caused my dick to jerk strongly against her soft bottom. "I am your man, baby, and you're my woman. Never thought I'd have an old lady." I watched surprise and then pleasure flare in her eyes at that admission. "Never wanted one. Fought it fucking tooth and nail." I was beginning to lose my resolve not to touch her the way that I wanted to. "Just to make sure there's no more misunderstandings between us, we're exclusive, Emerson. That means any more situations like what just happened, we ask questions before jumping to conclusions, yeah?"
She smiled. "I'm so glad that you said ’we’." She ground her ass against my erection, causing me to groan. "Though I doubt you'll ever catch me and another man naked together."
I'd better fucking not, I thought, but did not say. "Do you trust me, Emerson?"
She didn't hesitate, which pleased me. "Yes."
"Know that I'll never hurt you. That I'll protect you with my life. Do you believe that?" She nodded. The truth in her eyes nearly undid me.
I'd never felt this strongly about any woman before. My brothers would be laughing at me if they could see me now. I was a man of action, not words, and yet I'd said more today to Emerson than I ever had to anyone else. She was special, more than just the sweet bartender. I'd known it for a fucking long time. And now she was mine.
She had no idea what that truly meant.
It went beyond claiming her.
It went beyond keeping her safe.
I fucking owned her.
The thoughts coursing through me had fired up my arousal for her. I wanted to fuck her, right there at the table. I wanted to seal the deal with my cum inside her body and my mark somewhere on her. My brothers knew how I felt about Emerson, they'd known before I had, and now I wanted the world to know that she belonged to me, that no other man would touch her.
"You should eat your sandwich." Her soft words brought me out of my musings.
"I'd rather eat you, baby girl," I grinned. "And what the fuck is all over you?" It wasn't the first time that I'd noticed the spatters of orange in her hair and on her face. "You been painting?"
She nodded. "I had just finished painting a wall in my living room when Mike showed up to bring me here."
That reminded me. "Yeah, I need to talk to Tanner. As much as I like having you around, we need to get you to the safe house in St. Augustine."
"What? No! I'm not leaving you like this."
"You don't get a choice," I said firmly. "We're dealing with shit from another club right now, and we need our women safe."
"You're in no position to deal with that other club right now, so I'm staying."
I raised a brow at her refusal to obey me. Now wasn't the time, and I needed her safe. "You're not safe here. If the other club gets their hands on you they'll use you against me and the club. That's why we sent the old ladies away. We can't deal with shit with a clear mind if we’re worrying over them."
"But what if I stay here with you? I'll be safe then, right?"
"You will be staying here with me." She calmed at that until I said, "Until I can make arrangements for you to leave." She opened her mouth and I swooped down and took it. Instant fire ignited between us.
I lifted my hips and thrust my aching dick into her softness, grunting at the pleasure and wishing her shorts were gone and it was her wet cunt I was sinking into. I sank my fingers into her messy bun and tugged on it until the pins hit the floor and her hair was loose and surrounding us. Fuck, her hair was like silk between my fingers, and I couldn't wait to feel it over my dick and balls. As her hands moved over me I flinched when she came in contact with the bandage covering my side.
She pulled away from me. "Oh, I'm sorry!" Her eyes darted down to my side. "Ace, you're bleeding through your bandage!"
I glanced down. So I was. "I'm fine, baby girl. The doctor said there would be a little seepage."
"Well, this isn't seepage. Let me take a look at it."
She carefully got off my lap and sank to her knees right between my legs. Fuck. Right where I wanted her. I smirked as I glanced down at the top of her head and her proximity to my hard-on. It wouldn't take much to fold the towel over and present my dick to her sweet mouth. My breath turned ragged with the thought.
She misread it and glanced up at me with concern. "Am I hurting you?"
She'd pulled one side of the bandage aside to inspect the wound, her face scrunched up with distaste, and then her eyes widened when she realized what she was looking at.
"This a bullet wound!" Her eyes snapped back to me in shock.
"I know that." I continued to stare at her, not about to go into the details.
After a few seconds of digesting the information, she pulled the whole bandage off. "This needs to be replaced. Did the doctor leave any supplies?"
"In my bathroom."
With a nod she rose to her feet, rushed off, and was back within seconds. "You're probably moving around too much." She spoke as she worked at replacing the bandage. “Eat your sandwich and then we'll get you back to bed."
"Emerson?"
"Maybe I should call the doctor to come and look at it. It doesn't look bad to me but what do I know about bullet wounds?"
"Emerson?"
She finally glanced up at me. "I'm not leaving," she insisted, thinking that that was on my mind.
I smirked. She was leaving, but right then I had something more important that I wanted her to take care of--my aching dick, which hurt a hell of a lot more than the fucking wound in my side. I wanted a blowjob. I wanted her long hair flowing over it. But more than all of that, I wanted--needed--to feel her wet heat around me.
"Baby." She blinked at me with a question in her eyes. "Get up here and sit on my dick." I arched slightly in the chair and moved the towel aside so she could see my cock. Without the hindrance of the towel it stood straight and tall, the knob-shaped head purple and leaking pre-cum.
Her eyes and mouth widened at the same time. "You'll hurt yourself…"
"Not if you do all the work."
She huffed, a sparkle filling the mischievous look in her eyes. "Well, I am here to help you." She rose to her feet again, licking her lips, her eyes on my throbbing dick.
I watched her wiggle her way out of her shorts and panties, sure that she was putting a little more bounce into the hip action to turn up the heat. My dick waved at her with impatience. I couldn't take my eyes off the enticing picture of her plump pussy and the evidence of her arousal. Jesus, fuck.
"Hurry up, baby girl. I feel like I could blow my load just looking at you."
The pleasure on her face revealed the effect that my filthy words had on her. As Emerson moved closer to me her bottom lip caught between her teeth. I grabbed her by the waist and jerked her to me impatiently. The muscles I used to lift her onto my dick hurt like a mother fucker, but it was worth the end result. We both sounded out our pleasure as her wet heat closed around me until I was buried to the fucking hilt.
"Don't let me hurt you," she said softly, placing her hands on my shoulders.
"You'll only hurt me in a good way," I growled, clenching my teeth to keep from coming too soon.
I sensed that Emerson was concerned about hurting me, so I grabbed her hips and took control of her movements. I knew that if it were up to her she would have controlled herself and ridden me slow and easy, but I wanted it rough. I wanted to feel it. I needed the rough passion that would send us up in flames. I started out in a rhythm that teased us into wanting more. Before long, Emerson had forgotten about the wound at my side as her claws dug into my shoulders and back as she rode me hard. We kissed and bit at each other's mouths before I moved on to the delicate arch of her throat.
She cried out, rocking against me, making sure her little clit received the action it needed to draw her own orgasm. I wasn't about to let my woman down either. I made sure to drag the length of my dick against the swollen button every time I penetrated her. My hands traveled to her butt, taking a cheek in each hand as I controlled the speed and rhythm. I groaned loudly as she bounced on my lap, jarring my balls in the most pleasant way. The intensity burning through me caught fire, and I erupted with a roar that took my breath away.
"Ace!" Emerson screamed at the same second.
I grunted and clamped my teeth into the side of her throat as I emptied my balls into her, filling her with my seed.
Hard.
Rough.
Explosive.
Just the way I liked it.