Chapter 17

Silk

It was getting dark when we finally got back to the cabin and I still felt empty inside. I’d cuddled up behind Eagle for the ride, not even trying to get them to let me ride my own bike. I knew as well as they did I wasn’t up for riding. I wouldn’t be safe with the way my mind couldn’t focus.

I went to swing off the bike but Eagle gripped his palm around my thigh, holding me to him.

“Just wait for Mac and Taz to check first.”

“Oh, yeah. Of course.”

With a sigh, I closed my eyes and rested my head against Eagle’s back, rubbing my cheek against the soft leather of his cut. His palms caressed my knees as we waited for the men to give the all clear. Once Mac called out it was safe, Eagle released me and I got off. I stretched and walked up to the front door. On autopilot, I made my way to the bedroom and didn’t even bother stripping, I just let myself fall on the bed where I curled up on my side and stared out the window to the ocean outside.

I vaguely heard Eagle come in and go through to the bathroom. I just couldn’t seem to shake free of the thoughts in my head. Had Mom wanted me? Was I the result of her being raped? Did my father rape her? Was some other Iron Hammer my biological father? What would happen if that was the case and the club found out? Would they come for me, demanding I belonged to them, not the Charons? A shudder ran through me. I somehow doubted daughters of the Iron Hammers were taken care of in the same way as the Charons did theirs. And even if they did, the Charons were my family. I didn’t want to leave.

“C’mon, baby. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Eagle scooped me up from the bed and I snuggled into his bare chest as he strode across the room. His scent filled my head and the questions eased off a little. I nuzzled my face against his chest, and when he hissed, my lips twitched. A small burst of joy flared inside me.

He perched me on the counter next to the sink and I ran my gaze over his body. He’d already stripped, and I could see every one of his firm muscles, including his thick cock, that twitched under my gaze. With a growl, he made quick work of getting me naked, then I was back in his arms as he stepped into the bath that he’d already filled.

“I’ve never had a bath with someone else.”

“Can’t say I have either. Not a lot of bathtubs over in the Middle East, and even fewer people I’ve ever wanted to share one with.”

I chuckled as he lowered us both into the warm water. He settled back against the end of the large tub and easily placed me where he wanted me. I ended up with my back to his front, his thick erection nestled between my butt cheeks, and my head on his upper chest, just below his shoulder.

“Hmmmm.”

His hands began stroking my body, but stayed away from my breasts and pussy. His strokes were tender and gentle, especially with how the water made his skin glide against mine. I lifted one hand up to wrap around his neck, burying my fingers in his silky hair.

“I love how your hair feels. I could spend an entire day running my fingers through it and be happy.”

With each pass through the strands I could feel the tension leave my body. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

“I wish I could give you that. An entire day where nothing happens, so you could spend the time with your hands in my hair, or on my body, and be happy.”

My eyes stung with more stupid, fucking tears.

“It’s like a fucking leaky tap. Once you turn the bastard on, it’s nearly impossible to turn the damn thing off!”

“Um, babe. I’m sorry, but I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

Sitting up, I scooped up water in both my palms and splashed my face before I responded. “Fucking crying. It’s a waste of time. All it does is make your face red and splotchy. Then, the next morning you feel fucking hungover from being dehydrated. And does it help? No, it doesn’t bring the dead back, it doesn’t undo betrayal. Doesn’t change that my parents lied to me my whole life and now they’re gone so I can’t get any fucking answers!”

Eagle leaned against my back, wrapping his arms around me.

“Let it all out, Silk. Crying might not feel like it’s helping, but keeping it all bottled up is so much worse. It’ll eat away at you until you can’t take it anymore. And we’re in a bath, surrounded by water. Your skin is soaking in water and I’ll make sure you drink plenty so you don’t wake up sore in the morning. I’m here for you, Silk. Whatever you need, all you have to do is ask.”

I twisted around so I could look up into his face.

“Make it all better? Make it so my parents wanted and loved me?”

My voice came out a broken whisper, making me wince. I wasn’t this freakin’ weak fragile female! I shook my head and snuggled against him. “Ignore that. I’m just tired.”

Eagle held me against him, stroking my shoulder and hair randomly.

“I wish I could make it all better for you, babe. I can tell you, your father loved you. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have left those failsafe boxes for you. If he’d not loved you, he wouldn’t have cared that you could be potentially caught up in his web of shit. He left weapons, money and material for blackmail for you to save yourself with. That’s not something a person does for just anyone.

“As for your mother, I haven’t heard much about her at all. But at a guess, when she found out she was pregnant with you, she did anything she could to escape that club. It would have been scary for her. Hell, she moved clear across the country. Again, not something a person does lightly. I think I can safely assure you that your parents loved you very much. And before you start questioning your father’s DNA, it takes more than genetics to be a family.”

Such pain filled his voice. Lifting a fingertip I began to trace random patterns over his chest as I remembered what he’d told me about not knowing his parents. “Did you have good foster parents?”

His body tensed and his hand gripped my upper arm tightly, before he blew out a breath and loosened his hold.

“There were some good and some bad. None that ever bothered to bond with me, if that’s what you mean. No, the only family I ever had was in the Marines, and now the MC. Taz and Mac? They’re my brothers. I don’t have any blood relations, but I couldn’t imagine having a closer bond that what the three of us have. It’s that bond I see between the club brothers. It’s why the three of us were drawn to the MC in the first place. We were sick of dodging bullets, so we retired, but we missed the comradery of being in the Marines. The Charons have a similar feel to it.”

I frowned at that. “Why the Charons? I mean, there’s probably thousands of MCs across the US, and Texas isn’t your home state. Why Bridgewater?”

He shrugged, tensing slightly. If she hadn’t been lying on him, she would have missed it. “Not real sure, baby. We were kind of aimlessly riding around the country when we heard about the poker run. Figured we’d go and see what it was all about.”

Nodding against his shoulder, I kept trailing my fingers over his skin. He was hiding something, but I didn’t have the energy to dig deeper into it. And really–what did it matter how he found his way to Bridgewater, Texas? The important thing was that he had made it here and planned to stay.

Eagle

When Silk started to fall asleep, I rose from the bath and stepped out with her still in my arms. I set her on the counter, and the poor girl was so out of it, she just sat there docilely, while I dried her off, then quickly wiped myself down. I lifted her in my arms again and smiled when she nuzzled against me like a sleepy kitten. I didn’t like how quiet she was. It wasn’t like her, but she’d had one hell of a bomb dropped on her earlier, so I wasn’t surprised. I did like how she sought me out for comfort. I tucked her into bed and climbed in behind to spoon up against her. I didn’t make any moves to take her–she didn’t need that tonight. She needed gentle caresses and a good night’s sleep.

I stroked her hair and down her side, steering clear of her oh-so-tempting tits with her pierced nipples, until she went to sleep. I stayed there a few minutes more, watching my woman sleep as my mind spun. I wanted to protect her, to prevent any more shit from coming down on her head. But how?

With a sigh, I rose and chucked on a pair of jeans before I padded out to the kitchen. Mac and Taz were both there, nursing beers. I grabbed one from the fridge before I sat at the table with them.

“The area all clear?”

Mac nodded. “None of our alarms have been activated. We’re solid.”

“Great.”

It might be all clear now, but we all knew how quickly things could turn to shit. It was for that reason I knew, like me, the other two wouldn’t have more than one beer tonight. No matter how much we all wanted more.

“How’s Silk handling it all?”

I shrugged at Mac’s quiet question. “She’s gone real quiet. She’s gotta be hurting. Feeling betrayed and questioning her whole world. Finding out her mother was a club whore, having been forced into it by the looks of things, is rough enough on its own. But she’s also now questioning if her dad was actually her biological father. It’s a fucking messed up situation, and with both of them dead, there’s not much we can do to prove anything.”

Taz cleared his throat. “Is it wise to even try? What if he wasn’t? What if some bastard Iron Hammer is her dad and he finds out when she starts digging? They could come for her. I’m not sure if they’d treat her any better than they did her mother. Is it worth the risk?”

I looked my brother in the eye. “No. It’s fucking not. I told her straight up that family is more than genetics. Clearly, her dad adored her. From everything I’ve heard, that man doted on her and he left all these boxes for her just in case she got caught up his web of shit. I don’t want her anywhere near that other fucking club.”

I took a long draw on my beer.

“I’ve sent the copy of the L.A. mob ledger tonight. Mr. Smith was rather excited over it. I think we’re now his favorites.”

I was glad Taz had taken on the role of liaison with our FBI contact. I couldn’t stand the man. Nor did I get the need for bullshit fake names, but it seemed as though to be in the FBI you had to like bland, boring as shit, fake names.

“Hopefully they can do some serious damage with the information and Sabella won’t have the time or manpower to come after Silk for the money she has.”

“Or he could realize the only place the information used against them could come from was that book, and he’ll come gunning for her.”

Mac’s voice was low and quiet, but it hit me in the chest like a sledge hammer.

“Yeah, well. If he does, we’ll be waiting for him this time. And we’ll take care of that bastard permanently.”

Taz sighed. “I thought we left the Marines because we were sick of killing? What the fuck, man?”

I shrugged again. “I don’t want to ever take another life, but I won’t let anyone hurt Silk. She’s it for me. I know it in my soul. I won’t allow a threat to her life to exist if I can help it. I don’t expect anyone but me to pull the fucking trigger.”

Mac wrapped his hand around my forearm. “We’re brothers, Eagle. We always, always, have each other’s backs. None of us wants to ever take another human life again, but that doesn’t mean we won’t, if we have to. All three of us have the skills and knowledge to do what needs to be done to make sure your girl stays protected.”

Well, fuck. Emotion put a lump in my throat. I truly loved these men. My family. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever feel about the men in the club like I did about Taz and Mac, but that was fine. So long as I had these two by my side and Silk in my arms, I’d be a happy man.

With a nod, I lifted my bottle to drain the last of the liquid.

“Well, I’m going to go crash. See you two in the morning.” I paused a moment. “Thanks. For everything.”

Before they could respond, I pushed the chair back and hightailed it out of there. That had been the first time I’d put into words exactly how much Silk meant to me and I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about it. On one hand, I’d never been happier. Silk was like a missing piece of me. We simply fit together.

But I wasn’t sure how to handle the fact my world now revolved around one sexy blonde tattooist. I mean, how the fuck had that happened? In my entire life, I’d never needed anyone. Sure, my Marine brothers were fucking great and I didn’t want to be without Taz and Mac. It would crush me to lose them. But if I lost Silk? The bottom would fall out of my world. Even the thought of it had me breaking out in a sweat.

This was heavy shit, and I wasn’t even sure if Silk felt the same way about me. I stood in the doorway a moment and drank in the sight of her. She’d rolled onto her side, her hand thrown out to where I should have been. An ache started behind my sternum and I raised my fist to rub over it.

Silk was such a strong woman, both in body and spirit, yet while she slept, she looked fragile. With a quiet sigh, I entered, shut the door carefully and stripped. I eased into the bed, lifting her hand and placing it over my heart. With a soft moan, she wriggled in against me, throwing a leg over mine and grinding her pussy against my hip. I groaned when my cock sprung to life with its own demands, but I didn’t move to take her.

I had to grit my teeth to stop from rolling her over and mounting her when she nuzzled her face against my chest with a moan. She was asleep and needed the rest desperately. I kept repeating that in my mind as I fought my impulse to take her. Dammit, was being a gentleman always so fucking hard and painful?