Axel yanked his heavy duty belt up, trying to adjust it more comfortably on his hips, as his father entered the empty patrol room.

“The captain wants you to take all the toys collected to Store-All Storage out off Route 23. The owner’s donating a large unit for everyone in the area who’s taking part in the toy drive.”

“And the captain couldn’t tell me that himself?” Axel asked, annoyed.

The same blue eyes that were in his own head stared back at him, only his father’s had narrowed. “Since I’m your Corporal, I’m passing on the order. You have a problem with that?”

Axel scrubbed a hand over his short hair. He was acting like a miserable bitch and he couldn’t help it. He not only got corralled against his wishes into this Toys for Tots thing, but he hadn’t had his cupcake fix in a week, and he couldn’t get the memory of Bella as she rode his cock out of his head. That played on a continuous loop almost twenty-four, seven.

And all of that made Axel a cranky boy.

What he needed was to climb on his bike and go for a long ride. However, unless he wanted to freeze his nads until they cracked off like a nuts-icle, that wasn’t going to happen.

He blew out a breath and began to pace the small room, ignoring his father planting hands on his hips and staring at him with his eyebrows furrowed.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I’m giving up sugar. It’s harder than you might think,” Axel growled.

“Right before the holidays?”

“Yes,” he hissed.

“Well, you’re acting like you’re on your period. So, knock it off and eat a damn cookie or something.”

“I need to go out on patrol.”

“Right. Check the donation boxes while doing so, say hello to the business owners, thank the citizens of Shadow Valley for donating toys, and do a little goddamn community policing while you’re at it.” Mitch stepped into his path. “And if you can’t resist stopping at Sophie’s and shoving a cupcake down your gullet while mooning over Bella, I’ll stop there later and check the box myself.”

Axel halted mid-stride before he plowed right into his father. “What box?”

“At the bakery.”

“I didn’t put one there.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because Bella did.”

Mitch’s bushy eyebrows shot up his forehead. “Why? Is she helping you with the drive?”

“No. The club’s doing one, too.”

“Are you shitting me?” Mitch growled.

At least now Axel wasn’t the only cranky male in the room. “No.”

“Was this Zak’s idea?”

Axel shrugged. “I don’t know, but I would assume so since he’s now back as president.”

“I was afraid of that.”

“I thought I told you.”

“No, you seemed to have forgotten.”

“Right. Well, they did a coup to oust Pierce and Z took back the head of the table.”

“Jesus.” Mitch dropped his head to stare at his patrol boots for a moment. “The prodigal son is definitely going places in life.”

“Pop.”

“Don’t start.” Mitch shook his head. “At least I have two other kids to be proud of.”

“Pop.”

“Once Jayde settles down and lands a decent job...”

“Pop,” Axel tried again.

His father frowned at him. “What?”

“You know Z wants what’s best for the club. And they’re getting back to helping out the community. Look how successful the Dogs & Hogs event was last summer.”

Mitch’s eyes widened, and he barked, “They only held it because Hawk got his ass thrown in jail for assault and he needed to do community service. Did you forget that?”

“No.”

“And have you forgotten what a cluster it all turned into when the Warriors rode through the fairgrounds wreaking havoc, beating up women and stealing the money?”

“No.” He couldn’t forget the day that Bella chased one of the Warriors through the grounds as he escaped with some of the donation money. She was on foot, the outlaw biker was on his sled and even though there was no possible way she’d catch him, she didn’t give up until Axel had caught up with her and snagged her ass to take her home. Though, she fought him the whole way. He actually thought he might lose an eye that day.

He didn’t, though he did end up with a couple bruises in the process since she was furious that he stopped her.

“And now my grandson or granddaughter will be born and raised in that mess. Your mother’s beside herself.”

No, Axel didn’t believe that. Not one bit. It was his father who was beside himself. His father who cared that Zak had patched into the club as soon as he turned eighteen. His father who lost it when Z became president of the club at an unheard of early age. And it was his father who went ballistic when Z got arrested, convicted, and thrown in prison for ten years.

No, his mother still loved Z as much as she did Axel and Jayde. His mother only followed his father’s bidding to keep Z out of their lives because she desperately wanted to keep the peace and keep her marriage on solid ground.

If anything, his mother was beside herself because she’d be forbidden from having anything to do with her future grandchildren.

He looked directly at the reason why. “Maybe once the baby’s born, she should go buy a cupcake every day.”

Mitch’s nostrils flared as he stared at his youngest son. His so-called pride and joy. Axel snorted at the thought.

“Pop, you might have escaped the DAMC, but you still act like one of them.”

“I don’t.”

“Yes, you do. You boss mom around like she’s your property and you’re overly protective of Jayde.”

“She’s my daughter.”

“She’s in her fucking twenties.” Not that he needed that reminder.

“So?”

Axel threw up his hands. “Do you want to lose her like you did Z?”

“What are you talking about?”

“She’s got an itch to be a part of the club.”

Mitch shook his head. “No. She’s college educated and sending out resumes. She’s going to have a good, solid, successful life.”

“Pop, she’s got that itch. That itch that runs through all of our blood.”

“No.”

“Yes! Why are you the president of the Blue Avengers? Why am I the VP? Why the hell did you name me after a bike part?”

“Because we like to ride—”

“No shit,” he cut off his father. “It’s in our blood. It’s coursing through our veins. You just think our club’s different because it’s made up of law enforcement.”

“It’s legit. It’s a family-based club, a social club.”

“Pop, you grew up in the DAMC. You know their MC’s more of a family than ours is.”

“It’s not the same.”

“Maybe not in the past. Especially after your father was killed and vengeance reigned back then. But now...” Axel shook his head. “Pierce is out, Zak’s in. Old school versus new school. Like I said, Z wants nothing but the best for the club. And now he’s ready to raise his children like you were raised before all the murder and mayhem broke out between the Angels and the Warriors.”

“That will never go away.”

“Maybe not,” Axel murmured.

“And the club will never be completely legit.”

“It can be.”

“Diesel...”

Axel sighed. Right. Diesel. The Enforcer. The go-to guy to clean up messes and to exact revenge. To provide protection by whatever means necessary.

“That crew of his...” Mitch added.

Right again. D’s In the Shadow Security business. His crew of questionable former special ops guys. His “Shadows.”

“They aren’t DAMC,” he reminded his father.

“Close enough.” Mitch narrowed his eyes at him. “Why are you defending all of them?”

“I don’t know.”

Jesus. He did. He knew exactly why.

Bella.

If he was ever going to have a shot at her, she needed to be accepted by his family and he needed to be accepted by hers. Or it would never work.

Somehow, he had to heal the break between them all while trying to help heal her.

“Leave her alone, boy. You’ll only court trouble. You know how protective D is of her. He’ll kill you and then I’ll have to do the same to him.”

“He’s not going to kill me.” He’d stated that one too many times recently, though he couldn’t be sure about anything the club’s Sergeant at Arms would do.

Mitch snorted. “No, maybe not him. But somehow one of his so-called crew could make you mysteriously disappear.”

Like that prospect Squirrel. Like the Warrior Black Jack. Just to name a couple.

Though, if anyone deserved to “disappear,” it was those two rapists and violent criminals.

At this point, he couldn’t care less if the investigation was ever closed on both of their disappearances and Diesel’s resulting gunshot wound.

“Gotta go,” Axel finally said, grabbing his patrol jacket from where it hung on the back of a chair.

Mitch only nodded his head and grunted in answer.

One side of Axel’s mouth curled up as he strode from the patrol room. That DAMC blood ran deeper than his father wanted to admit.

* * *

Ah, fuck.

After the owner handed Axel the keys, he pulled his patrol car up to the storage unit he was directed to. He had a trunk full of new, unwrapped toys that had been left in the boxes he’d dropped off at some area businesses. Though, when he had gone on his rounds, stopping to check the boxes, he’d found more than Shadow Valley PD’s there. Someone from DAMC had placed their boxes right next to his. And theirs always seemed to be overflowing with toys while the PD’s were only half full.

Whatever.

He knew who that someone was. He was staring right at her ass as she was bent over, digging out toys from the trunk of her car.

Since she was parked blocking the opening to the storage unit, he pulled up behind her and sat in his car, his eyes glued to her ass cheeks as they flexed while she shifted and gathered.

Fuck him.

She wore thin, tight black pants that looked like some sort of leggings similar to what his sister wore, knee-high black leather boots with a small heel, and from what he could see, no panties. Nope, that fabric was stretched tight over that luscious ass without a line or crease marring it. Well, except for the crease that ran north to south that he’d like to get more familiar with.

Axel pressed the heels of his palms into his eye sockets and ground them hard. What the fuck was he doing, eyeballing her like one of her red velvet cupcakes.

When she straightened, he could see she wore a black leather jacket that was fitted to emphasize her narrow waist but didn’t in any way hide her curvy hips.

He closed his eyes as he once again pictured her rising and falling on his cock in the cab of his truck.

Fuck!

Dropping his hand to his lap, he adjusted his now raging erection to a more comfortable angle.

He took one last look at the ass that wet dreams were made of before she turned around, her arms full of packages. Her eyes widened when she spotted him, then they narrowed before she stomped into the open unit.

With a sigh, he turned off the ignition, grabbed his portable radio, and climbed out of the car. He hooked the radio onto his duty belt and the mic onto his shoulder, not bothering to pull on his jacket.

Before closing the door, he popped the trunk latch since she wasn’t the only one with a trunk full of toys.

Instead of heading to the back of his cruiser, he went to her car and gathered up an armful of “loot” before striding through the open garage door. The storage unit was one of the biggest ones on the property and it was sectioned off by group. It appeared as though DAMC had the back section of the cavernous concrete block unit and their area was already filling up.

Jesus. That didn’t look good for the SVPD. Shaking his head, he walked to the rear of the unit and stood behind Bella as she now bent over sorting the toys into large cardboard boxes by age and sex.

“Fuck me,” he said under his breath before he could contain it.

She popped up and turned to face him, her long dark hair falling loosely around her shoulders. Hair he wanted to fist tightly while he was fucking her up against a wall.

“Why’s that?” she asked. “Because the club is out-collecting the PD? Do you think it’s a competition?”

Hell no, that’s not why those words slipped from his mouth, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. “You want to show the community how much the club is on the straight and narrow, get all in their good graces, then you knock yourself out doing so. I got nothing against it. You ‘out-collecting’ us isn’t going to make me lose any sleep, Bella. It all goes to the kids just the same.”

Her head tilted and her dark brown eyes studied him for a second before traveling down his body and landing on the hard-on that was pressing against his zipper.

Fuck.

“Sure hope you don’t have that because of being around kids’ toys.” Then she pressed her lips together as her eyes crinkled deeply at the corners.

What the fuck.

“There’s only one thing giving me that.”

She reached out and snagged a couple of the packages from his arms, checking the age ranges listed on the toys and placing them in their appropriate box.

“Should I ask what?”

“Doubt you need to.”

She nodded, avoiding his eyes, taking a couple more packages from him. “Doubt I need to remind you that we agreed that it was once and done.”

“I don’t remember agreeing.”

She turned to take the last two packages from him and moved away. “Thank you for staying away from the bakery.”

Axel didn’t answer. He couldn’t. It took every fiber of his being to stay away from the bakery. And not because he loved the cupcakes.

“Thank you for not following me home anymore,” she continued.

That had been even harder for him than staying away from Sophie’s Sweet Treats.

He swallowed hard. “I worry about you, Bella.”

She lifted a leather covered shoulder. “Don’t.”

“Easier said than done.”

She went to move past him, to head back out to her car, but stopped barely a foot away from him and stared up into his face. His nostrils flared as he captured her scent. Sweet, like her delicious cream cheese icing.

“What are you doing here, Axel?” she whispered.

“Same thing as you.”

She nodded slightly. “Why now, though, while I’m here?”

“I didn’t know you were here until I drove up.”

“Would you have waited if you knew?”

He hesitated, then spoke the truth. “No.”

“If I’d known you would be here, I would’ve brought you a cupcake.”

“It was never about the cupcakes, Bella.”

She nodded again, then walked away. He followed her back out to her car in silence and let her load the last of the toys from her car into his arms. She slammed the trunk closed, and they went back inside the unit. One by one she picked a toy from his arms and stacked it neatly into the appropriate box. When his arms were empty, he continued to stand there watching her move, double checking everything one last time.

“Thanks,” she finally murmured, then bit her bottom lip which made his cock twitch in his pants.

He thought his erection was finally subsiding but when she sank her teeth into that plump lip of hers, it decided differently.

“Can you lock the unit up when you’re done?” she said softly, her voice a bit breathy, color tinging her cheeks.

“Yeah,” he grunted. Their gazes locked, and he was unable to break away from her spell.

Then his feet were moving, and he was pulling on the chain to the overhead garage door, closing them inside.

“Axel.”

He ignored her and turned the latch to secure it. He spun on his heel and strode back to her, where she stood frozen in place, her eyes wide, her body solid, her hands fisted against her thighs.

Going toe to toe with her, he stared down into her face and when she dipped her head to avoid his gaze, he snagged her chin and lifted it back up.

“You’re like a fucking addiction, baby. I can’t get you out of my head.”

He reached down and grabbed her wrists, pulling her hands away from her thighs. She was stiff and tried to jerk away.

“No,” she moaned, blinking up at him, something moving behind those dark brown eyes of hers. “Once and done, Axel.”

“No,” he echoed her. “Never.”

He raised her wrists and held them to his chest, drawing her even closer, until he could feel her warm breath beating against his throat over the collar of his uniform.

“I don’t want this.”

His eyes raked over her face. “Liar,” he whispered.

She shook her head, not breaking their locked gaze. “We can’t do this.”

“The only reason we shouldn’t do this is because I’m in uniform and my shift isn’t over.”

“That’s not the only reason.”

“Fuck the rest of them.”

“It’ll make life messy.”

“When has it ever been neat?”

Her eyelids slowly lowered, and he took advantage of it by dropping his head and sliding his lips across hers. Then he did it once more, pressing harder, taking more. She kept her mouth closed until he captured her bottom lip with his teeth and tugged. When she gasped, he went for it, sliding his tongue inside. She tasted as sweet as she smelled. A mix of chocolate, icing and cinnamon. A groan escaped from the back of her throat as he took the kiss deeper, tangling his tongue with hers.

He released her wrists when he felt her fists flatten against his chest, when she stopped pulling away and leaned closer, her tongue sweeping over his lips and entering his mouth as she took control of the kiss.

And he let her.

Grabbing one of her hands, he placed it over his erection, holding it there. He pulled his mouth away just enough to tell her again, “It was never about cupcakes, baby.”

He released her hand, but it remained as she traced his length through his pants with her fingertips.

If she kept touching him like that...

He blew out a breath and stepped back, needing some space.

Slowly, he unclipped the mic from the shoulder loop on his uniform and removed his portable radio, turning the volume low before setting it aside. Then with a slight tremor to his fingers, he unsnapped his belt keepers, unfastened his duty belt and carefully laid it on the concrete floor next to the radio. After releasing the Velcro on his trouser belt, he slipped it through the loops, dropping it at his feet.

In the quiet of the storage unit, he heard her unmistakable shaky inhale. Then she breathed out his name.

Suddenly she was on him, tearing at the fasteners of his trousers, ripping his zipper down, her hand diving into his boxer briefs.

“Fuck,” he muttered as she wrapped her fingers around his cock and squeezed. “Jesus Christ.” All the breath in his lungs escaped him as she freed him from his pants and fell to her knees at his feet.

He tried to say her name but nothing came out except a groan as she took him into her mouth. Her warm, wet tongue swept over the crown of his cock and he threw his head back and dug his fingers into her long hair.

“Jesus... Bella... Fuck...”

She traced the tip of her tongue up and down his hard length, then took him almost completely into her mouth. His hips shot forward, and she encircled the root with her fingers squeezing tight as she sucked him hard and fast. He dropped his head forward to watch her moving back and forth each time she sucked him deep then pulled away until only the tip was between her lips. Gripping her hair tighter, he thrust forward until he hit the back of her throat, then pulled back slightly as she hollowed her cheeks and sucked him hard.

Jesus fuck.

Holy Jesus motherfuck.

He forced out her name, “Bella.”

She continued sucking him, teasing him, licking him, squeezing the root, cupping his balls.

He couldn’t let this continue. Otherwise he was going to lose it.

“Isabella!”

She stopped, his cock still in her mouth. Her eyes tipped up to his. And then she smiled.

Fucking smiled. He shook his head to clear it. “On your feet.” He struggled to make his demand sound like one. He hooked her under her arms and helped her up. “To the wall. Face it. Palms flat against it. Legs spread.” Something he wasn’t sure of moved behind her eyes. Fear? Excitement?

Her husband had been a bastard, demanding, rough and violent. Axel didn’t want to be like that, didn’t want to evoke those memories, but even so, he needed to take control.

When she didn’t move, he said, “Now!”

Finally, she moved to an open space along the concrete block wall. Facing it, she did as she was told and raised her hands above her head, placing her palms flat on the wall, she cocked her hips back and spread her legs.

She had assumed the position.

Then he was there, kneeing her legs farther apart, sliding his erection against her ass, pressing his mouth to her ear. “I want to take you like this.”

She said nothing, but he could see her pulse pounding in her neck. He swept her long hair away and pressed his lips to it, feeling the rapid beat with his tongue. She ground her ass against him, a moan slipping from her lips.

Sliding his hands around her, he found the zipper to her leather jacket and slowly tugged it down. He let one hand fall to her mound to cup it. It was hot and he could feel the dampness at the apex of her thighs.

“Are you ready for me?”

“No.”

“Liar,” he said softly.

His other hand slid under her shirt and then her bra, his thumb brushing over the tight tip of her nipple. He pressed his face into her neck and nibbled along her skin.

“Next time you’re going to be naked against me. I want to feel your skin against mine.”

“No.”

He smiled. “You want me.”

“No.”

Releasing her mound, he pulled at the waistband of her stretchy pants and pushed his hand past the elastic and down. Just as he suspected. She had no panties on.

He lost his breath as he slipped a finger through her slick folds. “Liar,” he whispered against her ear.

Her head dropped forward and he could hear her panting as she ground her ass harder against his cock.

“You want me to fuck you.”

“No,” she groaned.

He slipped one finger, then a second inside of her, testing her wetness. “You’re such a fucking liar.”

Pinching and plucking at her nipple with one hand, he fucked her with the fingers of his other. A whimper escaped her as her hips followed his movements.

“Are you going to come?”

“No.”

He smiled again. “Do I need to prove you’re a liar?”

“Yes.”

“Come for me, Bella.”

“No,” she groaned again.

“Come for me,” he murmured directly against her ear. “I want to feel how wet you can get for me. I want to feel you climax from my fingers. Next time it’ll be my tongue and my mouth. I’m going to watch you come when I eat you. I want to hear you scream my name when you do it.”

“Noooo.”

“Yes. You want this.”

She shook her head.

“Tell me you don’t want this.”

She couldn’t. She didn’t. Because she wanted it. She wanted him.

And he wanted her like no other.

“Come for me, baby.” He twisted her nipple harder, and she arched against him and cried out.

Then he felt it, the rush of wetness, the waves of orgasm as her body clenched around his fingers and he didn’t stop, he kept moving, drawing them out of her, supporting her body with his, pinning her against the wall when her knees buckled. Then she became a rag doll. The only thing holding her up was his knee between her thighs, his chest against her back, his hand on her breast and his fingers inside her.

“Did you come?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

“No.”

“Pretty little liar. I’m going to make you come again when I fuck you.”

“No,” she moaned.

The only problem was he had no idea how to get her pants down far enough so he could do just that. Her legs were spread wide and even though her leggings, or whatever the hell she wore, were stretchy, there was no way they would stretch enough to roll them down her thighs.

Fuck.

Then she shoved him back a step with her butt, wiggled and shimmied her hips, pulling her pants down her legs. He stared at the pale globes of her ass as they were exposed and his dick kicked hard. She rolled them down to her knees, then planted her palms back on the wall and shoved her ass out.

She turned her head enough to glance over her shoulder at him. “Fuck me.”

She didn’t have to say it twice. Grabbing his cock, he shifted forward, slipped the head up and down her slick, plump folds to gather her natural lubrication, then pushed inside her.

He stilled, and neither said a word. Their breathing was loud, quick and hitched. Digging his fingers into the flesh of her hips, he began to thrust in and out of her soft, wet heat.

His eyes rolled back as she squeezed him tight, pushing back when he pushed forward, their bodies slamming together, the sounds of their fucking, their breathing, her soft mews the only thing surrounding them.

Her pussy felt like heaven.

But he wanted more from her. She was not a once and done for him. She was not a twice and done for him, either.

She made him lose his mind. Enough so, that he was in uniform, on duty, having sex in a storage unit surrounded by toys for needy children.

He wasn’t doing this anymore with her. Only pulling his pants down enough to get his cock out. Only getting her naked enough for her to ride him. This wasn’t how he wanted her. Not against a wall, not on the seat of his truck.

He wanted her spread out in his bed, so he could take his time, appreciate every inch of her, explore every nook and cranny. He wanted to savor her scent and her taste until he forgot every woman that ever came before her.

Because they no longer existed. They never existed.

It had only been Bella for him. Always been her.

He only bided his time with the others.

He watched from a distance when she became a biker’s ol’ lady, stepped back once again when she needed time to heal her physical wounds. Left her alone while she worked on the emotional ones.

But he was done with that. That all stopped here and now.

He reached around her to press a thumb to her clit, his fingers brushing against where they were connected, him unbearably hard, her unbelievably soft. His rhythm hiccupped for a split moment, then he drove harder, teasing her clit until she cried out and then he felt it...

Her tumbling around him, grabbing onto him, pulling him with her as he shoved his hips forward, until he couldn’t get any farther inside her and, when his balls tightened, he lost it. He couldn’t tell where his throbbing began, and hers ended.

He closed his eyes, his chest heaving as he sucked in oxygen, tried to slow his pulse. She released the wall and leaned back into him, keeping that connection between them. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her tight because he didn’t want to let her go.

Even though where they were wasn’t the most ideal place, he didn’t want the moment to end.

But it had to. In moments, reality would set in.

For her. For him.

She’d go back to keeping him at a distance. He’d go back to chasing her like the stupid fuck that he was.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“For what?” she whispered back.

He wished she was facing him, he wanted to see her face, kiss her. But he also wasn’t ready to break their connection.

“For this. For here.”

She shook her head, a thick strand of her silky dark hair sliding over his cheek.

He continued, “We’re not doing this anymore.”

Her body jerked against him. It wasn’t much, but it was enough that he felt it.

“That’s for the best,” she said softly, though she couldn’t keep the sadness from her voice.

His nostrils flared at her assumption. “No... No more quick fucks. Next time we’re doing it right.”

“No.”

“Yes, Bella, yes!”

“No.”

“Stop saying no to me, goddamnit. I fucking love you.”

She froze in his arms. He closed his eyes and cursed himself for being so fucking stupid. For revealing it in a storage unit when he wasn’t even facing her.

With a noise that sounded like a wounded animal, she pulled free of him, yanked up her pants and shoved him away, her hair hiding her face.

“Bella.”

“No, Axel!” she screamed as she ran to the garage door, unlatched it and pushed it open just enough for her to scoot underneath the large metal door. She slammed it shut while he still stood there, his pants wide open, hanging off his hips.

As he tucked his dick back into his pants and pulled them up, he heard her tires spinning on the gravel outside the storage unit.

He dropped his head back and screamed, “Fuck!”

Fortunately, no one heard him but a bunch of boxes and stuffed animals.