Chapter 10

FORD

“Hey, Ford, can I talk to you a minute?” Deck asked from behind me.

Today, the club was chilling together. The women had put on a massive spread of food, and all of us had eaten ourselves silly. Now a game of pool was taking shape, and it had become very competitive, but with Mannix at the helm, there was really no choice. He was a pool shark from way back. Once, it was his way to deal with his trust issues with women. Thankfully, he and Rainn sorted their shit, and next week, they were finally getting married in a small ceremony here at the club, so now he used his playing time just for the sport of it and to show off.

The club was getting good at these wedding gigs. First, it was Deck and Teach, then Mia and Steel, and now another wedding. I saw a lot of work in my future, but I wasn’t upset. This was far better than trying to find killers or burying loved ones.

“Yeah, mate, just a sec,” I said to Deck before I turned and went to hand my cue off to Bryce. “Take this for me, babe. Deck wants a quick word.” After passing the cue to him, I was abruptly grabbed at the waist and pulled flush against his side.

“You don’t go off without kissing me, Ford,” Bryce reminded me in a low voice, not because he was ashamed or hiding—that was obviously not the case as he kissed me hard on the lips right there for everyone to see—no, it was because the man was always in full sexy mode. He made it his mission in life to turn me on all day, every day, and every day since we got together two weeks ago as a proper out-in-the-open couple, he accomplished that task. I loved it, and sometimes, I deliberately walked out of a room without kissing him just so he could chase me down and kiss the shit out of me.

“Love you,” I whispered against his mouth with a smile. I pressed another chaste kiss to his lips, ignoring the fake gagging coming from Mannix. I raised my middle finger at my enforcer.

“You just wish you could get kissed that good,” I said good-naturedly, then followed Deck from the room, leaving Bryce to deal with Mannix’s claims he was the best and his calls for Rainn to come help him prove his point.

“What’s up, brother?” I asked as soon as we got outside to the quadrangle. My SAA looked like he hadn’t slept for weeks, his usual cool and laid-back demeanour replaced with worry and stress.

“You have spent enough time with Shiloh over the years, so you know her just as well as the rest of us, as well as… Darth did,” Deck said, stumbling over his words when Darth’s name came out. We all struggled with the hole he left when he died.

I nodded my head in the affirmative. “Yeah, sure, I mean we all know her well—when she is hungry, how to get her to settle at night, how to handle her on the bike—”

“No, brother, not like that. I mean the way Darth knew her… Shit, I don’t know how to get this out.” Deck huffed in frustration, his fingers digging into his scalp and tugging at the short strands of his hair. Deck may have left the military, but his training still ran deep in places, his short back and sides being one of them. Me, not so much. My hair was scruffy and long, and my beard was just as scruffy. Bryce had forbidden me from shaving it completely off, only trims, apparently, according to him. I smiled inwardly at my dominant man and his demanding ways.

“Hey, Deck, it’s okay, mate. Just say it the way you can,” I encouraged him, sensing that what he had to say was difficult.

“Charlie and I took her to see a shrink of sorts. This chick helps kids after traumatic events, and she said that Shiloh has… she has PTSD. That she is overcompensating for Darth’s death. She thinks we should stop her from talking to Darth when we see her doing it. She says there is something wrong with my baby girl.” Deck looked gutted as he relayed what the stupid woman said to him and Teach. What a load of frog shit. There was nothing wrong with the club’s little girl, not a fucking thing.

“Are you shitting me? What she is doing is no different to what we all did when we got out of the service. We did what we had to do to cope with the shit we saw and did, and Shiloh is no different,” I argued vehemently. How could anyone tell a little girl that she was crazy?

“Yeah, I know, but we were all fucked up for a long time, Ford. I don’t want my daughter to go through hard times. She is only four, nearly five, and she shouldn’t need to go see a fucking shrink.”

“Then don’t take her anymore. Look, mate, Darth looked after her in life and gave his life for her, so there is no way if he is appearing to her that he would do it if it would harm her. No way. They had a bond that could never be broken and, it would seem, not even by death.”

I waited for Deck to take in what I was telling him. The wrinkles on his forehead smoothed out, and a small smile appeared.

“I see her a lot more than the rest of the club these days with all the babies the women have produced lately, so if I notice things are getting disturbing, I promise to let you know. Okay, brother?”

Deck sighed in relief. “Thanks, mate. I appreciate it. Charlie said more or less the same thing. She doesn’t want to take Shiloh back to the shrink, and we think Darth’s presence is helping Shiloh deal with the loss of him and Vegas.”

I nodded my head in agreement. “Totally agree and so does Booth. Maybe you should ask pres about the night Gabriel was born. Might help settle your mind,” I said knowingly. I reached out and patted Deck on the shoulder before turning to go back into the compound. My man had been out of my sight for a full ten minutes, which was simply not acceptable.

“Hey, Ford,” Deck called, and I stopped to look at him, my eyebrows raised. “Fucking happy for you and Lucky, brother. You look good together, happy.”

I gave him a chin lift. “Happiest I have ever been in my life, brother.”

 

***

 

My happy was not happy.

Somewhere between my talk with Deck a few hours ago my happy went away.

No, I knew when it went away. It was the phone call Bryce got from his ex-fiancée, telling him he had to attend some goddamn benefit his family was hosting for her family.

“Don’t pout those delectable lips at me, Ford Pellant. I am not going as Ava’s partner or anything else connected to her. I am doing this because I gave my word months ago, and this way, with my whole family there, I can tell them all at once that I am through with the family business and that I have a life with you here at the club.” Bryce’s words did nothing to calm me, not when he looked so handsome in the tux he was putting on.

Damn, I thought he looked good in army fatigues, but in a tux, my man was hot as hell. I moved closer to him and used my pouty lips on the back of his neck. He always kept his hair short and neat just like in the army. I couldn’t help noticing our differences—his clean and tidy to my rough and scruffy, perfect opposites.

“Hmmm, baby, you can’t do that now. I don’t have time to take this tux off and fuck you until you can’t walk. I’m late as it is,” he grumbled, but he still tilted his head further to the side so I had better access to his soft flesh.

“Well, I’m late leaving to get the DVDs the flock wants from the video store, so how about you leave the tux on and bend me over that chair over there. Then you can slide your dick deep inside me, fuck me hard, and then tuck yourself back into your pants still wet from being—” The rest of my sentence was cut off as Bryce’s mouth came down on mine in a brutal kiss at the same time that he pushed me towards said chair. Teeth clashed and bit, clothes were pushed aside, and then the sound of his zipper being tugged down before a finger was inserted roughly into my arse.

“There is nothing I would like more than to go to this shindig with your scent all over me, baby,” Bryce whispered lovingly in my ear right before he removed his finger, replacing it with his beautiful, thick cock.

My breath hitched at the sudden intrusion—the little amount of foreplay left me not as ready as usual, but it was no less amazing. With my jeans down around my calves, giving me little room to move, Bryce had all the control, and I loved it.

His hand reached around to grab my hard shaft, and I jumped a little as he pumped me in rhythm with his thrusts. I tried to concentrate on not toppling over, but Bryce had his other arm wrapped around the front of me, holding me stable.

“I love you, Ford, believe that, babe. I am not going to let my family take this away from me,” Bryce promised, still jerking me off, making me see stars and completely forgetting my jealousy. He was right, though. I had nothing to worry about. The last two weeks had proved that multiple times. Our first kiss in front of our brothers was a memory that would stay with me forever.

 

My mood was almost disgusting it was so happy. Here I was, on a lazy Saturday afternoon at the compound, sitting on the couch with my man while the rest of the brothers played pool, relaxing while watching their women and kids.

“Hey, Fordy, can youse take me an’ Bastian out to da swings?” A loud but very cute voice shouted at me, making both Bryce and me laugh.

Getting up from my position on the couch, I exaggerated a bow. “Of course, princess, anything you want, I will do,” I replied graciously.

“Hey, you forget something?” Bryce asked me, then grabbed my wrist and pulled me back down onto the couch.

The unexpectedness of Bryce’s action caused me to lose my balance, toppling me onto Bryce’s lap. I could hear Shiloh giggling at us, and I quickly looked around the room to see if anyone was watching us. I cringed when I saw Mannix, who was holding little Evie, and Steel, who had baby Meagan against his shoulder, looking at us, smirking.

Well, fuck!

“Ford, I said did you forget something,” Bryce repeated his prior question in a tone laced with humour.

My brain wasn’t working. Here I was, sitting on Bryce’s knee and people were watching us. Was Bryce ready for this? I knew I was, but I had been openly gay since I met the guys in the army. I never flaunted it, but they knew and didn’t give two shits. But Bryce, he hadn’t been out that long, and even then, only for me. Steel heard the phone call between Bryce and Ava, and according to Bryce, he was happy that Bryce was finally pulling his head out of his arse and manning up. But still, knowing and seeing were two completely different things.

I turned my attention back to Bryce, whose hands were firmly planted on my hips, keeping me pinned to his legs.

“Huh, what?”

“Always kiss me before you leave,” Bryce muttered, then his lips took mine in a possessive, hungry kiss, right there in the main room for everyone to see. Before I could get my brain cells to fire on all cylinders and kiss him back, Bryce ended the kiss with a low moan.

“We will finish this later,” Bryce promised, then gestured towards Shiloh. “Better get going, Uncle Fordy. Don’t want to keep the squirt waiting.”

My reply was cut off by Shiloh yelling again.

“I’m gettin’ old over here, dude,” she said, her foot tapping on the ground.

My God, the man who gets this girl is going to have to have the patience of a saint!

 

I moaned loudly when a hand started to massage my balls, bringing me back to the present. Bryce pummelled me with his dick at the same time his hand fondled my balls, both things at once nearly bringing me to my knees. Needing something more, I reached between my legs and touched where Bryce was joined to me and rubbed the base of his cock each time he pulled out, earning me a lust-filled moan from my man.

“Ohhh, Ford.” Bryce groaned against the back of my neck, his lips nipping at my skin, sending more shivers done my spine. I felt his cock grow impossibly bigger inside me. Then, with a great moan, he came, his cock pulsing against my finger as jets of hot liquid entered me. Seconds later, I gave a great groan of my own as I came, too, Bryce’s hand catching it.

Leaning my head back on Bryce’s shoulder, I tried to recover my breath.

“I love you, too, babe.” I panted, fully satisfied and totally in love.