***Pokey***

 

It’s eight at night and I’m standing in the doorway of Orianna’s bedroom. I’ve put Austin to bed. It took me half an hour and in that time, she crashed on her bed. And crashed is the correct word instead of fell asleep. She’s lying across her bed, on top of the covers, arms alongside her body, and her head is turned to the left.

My cat is curled up beside her. I still can’t believe Fuzzbutt adopted this as her home, and the people in it. Her crazy ass doesn’t like anything except me and here she goes, taking in two people at the same time. Opening her heart while mine closed shut. Pain rushes through my chest when I look at Orianna’s sleeping face.

Earlier she fell asleep on the couch next to me. I’m so fucking lost. All this time I’ve wanted her, would have done anything for her, proved to the ol’ladies of Areion Fury, to everyone including myself…that I was worthy of her.

Meanwhile, all these months, it seemed like she didn’t find me worthy of letting me know we made a life together. My brain can’t wrap around that fact. Well, the getting her pregnant and having a son, that’s a given. I don’t regret any of it. Trusting the ol’ladies? The women that belong to the club, family? Yeah. Knife to the chest kinda thing.

The same with Orianna. She consumed me. Every cell in my body craved her. Lust and craving pumped through my body every second of every day. Jerking off to the sweet memory of those mere minutes we were together kept me going until we could finally be together. Only to find out she had been in town for months and pregnant all along with my kid…keeping everything from me.

A tiny voice in the back of my head keeps telling me she must have a solid reason for her actions. Yet I can’t believe one would have solid grounds to keep something like that from the person who’s just as much involved as she is. The father of her child.

Pushing off the wall, I decide to stop thinking for a second. My fucking emotions have been tight as a string and my shoulders are killing me. I swear I could crash in the rocking chair in the corner of Austin’s room or on the couch in the living room.

Turning, I hear Orianna mumble. I watch as her head starts to thrash and she curls into a ball. Fuzzbutt jumps off the bed and heads for a chair in the corner where she sits down and watches as Orianna jolts awake, covering her head with her arms.

“Noooo,” she whispers as she continues the chant. “no, please, no. Stop. Noooo.”

What. The. Fuck?

She pants rapidly and I step forward. The movement catches her gaze and she screams at the top of her lungs while she scrambles back on the bed.

“Fuck.” I hold my hands up and inch closer. “It’s me, Orianna. Look at me, it’s okay. You’re in your bedroom, no one is going to hurt you.”

Her gaze sweeps through the room and when it lands back on me, she gives a slight nod. “Sorry. Nightmare. Shouldn’t be watching The Walking Dead before bedtime, huh?” She dismisses the whole thing like it’s last week’s sandwich.

Yeah, that won’t be happening. “That was no nightmare, babe. I know repressed memories when I see ‘em. Give me the fucking truth for once.”

Her head rears back like I slapped her. And fuck, I realize I did by insinuating the fact that she withheld truth from me in the past. She’s rubbing her left shoulder. I’ve seen her wince while she’s using it a couple of times now.

Orianna’s got her gaze stuck on the bedspread, clearly trying to ignore the question. Okay, for now. I’ve got another one, though. “What’s wrong with your shoulder?”

“Nothing.” Her hand drops and she’s about to leave the bed when someone rings the doorbell.

Orianna dashes out of the room and heads downstairs.

I take my time because I know exactly who’s at the door. Trix. I texted Sico when I forgot the litterbox to have someone send it over.

Trix is the only one who comes into my room sometimes to feed Fuzzbutt in case I’m not around. She only does it because she works a few times a week at an animal shelter and knows how to handle…nah, she just dashes in and out with fingers crossed she won’t get attacked.

“Who are you?” I hear Orianna ask when I’m almost at the bottom of the stairs.

“I’m here because…oh, there you are.” Trix sidesteps Orianna but hits her against the shoulder with the litterbox.

The sharp inhale and the pain that flashes all over her face has me stepping forward and ready to take her into my arms, but I can’t. I’m suddenly holding Fuzzbutt’s litter box.

“Here you go, hotstuff. You need anything else, just holler.” She pats my cheek and turns on her heel.

Leaning in close to Orianna, she whispers, “Don’t take shit from grumpy, and the offer stands for you too, if you need anything...Trix is your bitch.”

I watch Orianna’s eyebrows hit the ceiling before Trix is out the door. I manage a quick, “Thanks, babe.”

Trix waves over her shoulder.

“Babe,” Orianna mutters and closes the door.

I stalk into the kitchen and place the litterbox in the corner.

“Are you going to make it a thing to let babes bring stuff over?” It’s not hard to miss the sneer in her voice.

I can’t help it when the left side of my mouth twitches. “Jealous there, babe?”

Yes. I stopped calling her Spiky and switched to my normal word I use for any woman. For a moment, I think she’s going to fire back some serious curses. I’m stunned when her head drops, as well as her shoulders, and she ever so slowly walks up the stairs.

“Can you lock up? There’s a guest room next to Austin’s bedroom. Looks like a closet but it’s not. There’s a bed. Use it if you like.” Then her voice drops to a whisper. “Or not and go out and have sex with a babe or two.”

What. The. Fuck?

“Stop. Right now, young lady.” Young lady? “Ever since I pulled out of your tight pussy, I have not pumped my dick in anything other than my own fucking hand.”

“Don’t let me stop you.” She tries to sneer but it comes out on a sob before she dashes off.

Could we add more drama to the fucking pile? Holy mother of the Earth, this shit storm is going to stay active for a very long time before either one of us knows top from bottom. Taking the stairs two at a time, I get to her room just in time to have the door slammed shut in my face.

Now I could do a few things; knock on the door…start yelling…break it down…but all of those have a high risk in waking up our kid. Obviously not worth it. Ever since she had that nightmare, the weird shoulder thing and this outburst, the buildup of anger, frustration and a few other emotions I was having seem to have diminished.

Taking a deep breath, I steel my voice. “Orianna. I know you can hear me so listen closely. You and me are going to talk tomorrow, so get some rest, because you’re going to need it.”

“Go fuck your hand.” she screeches from behind the door and I just can’t help my head from falling back, roaring with laughter.

I end up sleeping in the rocking chair in the corner of Austin’s room. Turns out it was a good and a bad decision. Good because I got to stare at my son while he was sleeping. Bad because I fell asleep with my head at a weird angle and now it’s killing me.

Freshening up, I leave the bathroom and open every door on the top floor to find both Orianna and Austin aren’t in bed anymore. I hear some noise from downstairs. Making my way down, I see Austin is lying in a pack and play that’s in the corner of the living room.

The doorbell rings and Orianna walks past me to check the peephole before she opens it slightly.

“Morning, ma’am. I have a package for you,” a man’s voice states through the crack.

Orianna shakes her head. “I didn’t order anything, sorry.”

She’s about to close the door but I see the guy’s hand reach out and place it on the door to hold it open. A gang tattoo is visible on his wrist and I recognize the ink. It’s a monkey that has the tail wrapped around the wrist. Fuck. Could be harmless but I’m stalking toward them anyway.

The guy pushes the door open further. “You really don’t recognize me, do you?”

Orianna shakes her head again. “No, and you need to leave.” Her gaze falls on the guy’s arm, noticing the ink. She immediately starts to push the door closed in full panic mode, screaming.

Shoving the door open, the dude points a gun in her face, complete with a silencer on that piece of steel, like he was already counting on using it. Orianna steps back. No fucking way this is happening in front of my face without me doing anything.

In one smooth move, I slide forward and wrap my hand around his. Turning the gun back, it’s now pointing straight at him. I have no problem with a little squeeze of the trigger, making the back of his head explode. Blood and brain matter decorate Orianna’s curtains and the wall behind him. He drops to the floor.

“Fuck,” I grumble while I drag his legs inside and close the door.

Don’t need no neighbors for this shit. Glad the fucker had a silencer and made his way inside the house. Before I can turn, Orianna launches herself at me and hugs me tight.

“Thank you so much,” she mumbles against my chest as she starts to sob uncontrollably.

Patting her back, I move my hands to her arms and drag her away from my body. I know she just saw me kill a man and might need more time hugging, to comfort her, but it’s not something I can do right now.

I soften my voice. “You need to go sit down, Orianna, and let me handle this.”

She gives a tight nod and her eyes trail to the dead guy on the floor. Then her gaze goes up and her face turns to horror. “Oh, God…that’s going to stain. I’m going to need new curtains. And new wallpaper. That’s not gonna come off with a little cleaning or some new paint, right?”

I have to cover my mouth with my hand and rub it tightly so I don’t fucking laugh. Shit. This is all kinds of screwed up. The guy on the floor, her reaction, and the relief that’s sliding through my body. Whatever the fuck just happened, while not acceptable, it has also lightened my mood and the tension between us. Thank you dead guy for comin’ over. We needed that.

I reach in my pocket and grab my phone to call Zack. He picks up on the second ring.

I don’t wait, just start to spit out words. “I did some redecorating and there’s a guy that wants to go sightseeing in Nevada.”

“Please don’t tell me you ruined the sofa.” I hear Blue, my Prez’s ol’lady groan.

Shit. Why does he always give his phone to someone else when he’s busy? “Nah, just the curtains and part of a wall. Now put Zack on the phone.” 

There’s some rustling and then I hear my Prez’s voice. “Sorry, man. Calix was holding Sico by the throat and…”

“Again? Fucking Sico. Lemme guess…his ass was behind the bar again, messing his shit up.” I scrub a hand down my face. Sico has been a major pain in the ass these days.

“Yeah. But why did you call, man?”

“I have a guy that needs to go sightseeing. Preferably Nevada. Oh, and I did some redecorating and I need some help because I fucked it up a bit.”

“On it. Be there in fifteen.” Zack disconnects the call and I put my phone back in my front pocket.

Glancing over the messy wall and dead body, my gaze shifts to Orianna, hoping she’s not freaking out on me. Expecting something and getting the opposite is rather freaky. She looks angry as shit but I’m kinda glad she’s aiming it all at the dead guy.

“What’s up, ba…”

“Don’t you fucking dare babe me,” she snaps, pointing a finger at me.

I flash two palms up. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Spiky.”

Aw, fuck. I can’t help the nickname spilling from my lips. All because the visual of my perfect woman is back. Arms crossed underneath her tits, eyes rolling, one side of her hair is tucked behind her ear and there’s a strand of that short black hair that falls between her eyes.

Like I said…my perfect Spiky resemblance is back. My dick is straining against my zipper and I owe it all to the dead guy on the floor. Shit. I give my head a firm shake and step forward.

Grasping her chin in my hand, I say, “Start talking, Spiky.”

“Fine,” she snaps and walks over to the couch and plops down. “Sit. This will take a while.”

Stalking over, I take the chair across from the couch so I can watch the door and look her in the eye.

“I’m going to skip over some parts because it’s…well, you only need the highlights anyway and we’ll do a question round after it,” she states.

My mouth twitches. “What are we? Back in school, student teacher thing?”

“Shut up.” She waves a hand in front of her but seems to forget she’s using the one where her shoulder hurts, so she winces and brings it down, absently rubbing it.

“I went to Japan to get away from it all. Well…that lasted a few weeks until I found out I was pregnant.”

Inching forward, I lean my elbows on my thighs, bracing myself. Fuck. Am I ready to hear this?

Her shoulders slump and she releases a deep sigh. “Right after the bathroom incident, I thought I’d pull you into my mess. I used you. It wasn’t fair at all so I needed time to think…but you have to believe me when I say I was on the next plane back when I knew I was pregnant. You needed to know. Not that I would have forced you into anything, or that I would expect…”

“Get to the fucking point, Spiky, you mentioned you’d stick to the headlines dammit.” I growl, because all that rambling is something I don’t need right now. My brothers will be here any minute.

“Right…I got on the plane, landed safely and was getting down the stairs when…” She swallows and closes her eyes. “The only thing I remember is being pushed, roughly. They told me later someone kicked me in the back and I went flying down the concrete stairs. My left side, my shoulder and arm took the brunt of the impact. Then I saw boots appear in my vision and a hand came down to grab me by my arm. I saw a flash of his face before I looked at the arm gripping me…the tattoo…” She looks over her shoulder to the dead guy on the floor, then back at me.

She shutters. “It’s him, I know it. The other one standing behind him had the same ink…That guy,” her eyes flash to the body on the floor again, “punched me in the face and I was knocked out. Woke up in the hospital two days later. I called Blue and she came right away. She wanted to call you but I couldn’t let her do that…they weren’t sure if…I almost lost him a few times. I couldn’t do anything except lay in bed for weeks. They needed to fix my shoulder…”

“That isn’t fully healed yet,” I growl, because I’m almost losing my shit and understand where she’s coming from, but shit… “You should have contacted me. I would have…”

“What? Sat by my bed? See me, yet again, as a weak woman who needs your help?” The defeat and pain slicing through her voice is burning straight through my gut. I’m about to stand up and drag her into my arms when there’s a knock on the door.

Strolling over, I check the peephole and see Zack. Some of my brothers are standing behind him, so I open the door and let them in. He’s brought Dams, Sico, Calix and Tyler with him. I’m about to close the door when Blue steps in with Nerd and Ridley behind her.

“What the fuck?” I growl.

I mean come on, I’ve mentioned that there’s a dead guy that needs to be buried and a cleanup of the scene and they bring their ol’ladies along?

“Yeah.” Zack shrugs a hand through his hair. “With the growing new generation of ol’ladies…fuck man, seems we not only have a brotherhood but a fucking sisterhood as well.”

“Fucking sisterhood. A hood. The clit that hides underneath it. Fucking bundle of nerves I always steer clear from and I say it’s the same fucking thing here,” Sico mutters and all the female’s eyes are shooting daggers at him.

Suddenly he rears back when Orianna pokes him in the chest. “If it wasn’t for the sisterhood I would kick you in the nuts with the use of words only, because…”

“Orianna,” Blue snaps, the authority in her voice is like she’s the Prez of this female ol’ladies club and I now understand why Zack mentioned the sisterhood.

Orianna’s gaze goes to Zack’s ol’lady. “He’s…” She turns her attention back to Sico. “You…you…big…big…dick,” she seethes.

“Sweetheart…” Sico smirks. “That’s not an insult, that’s a compliment.”

I growl and lunge forward to wrap my hands around the asshole’s throat, but I’m held back by Dams and Zack.

“Focus on the tasks at hand, people. Fuck, why can’t anything go normal around here?” Zack grumbles.

Sico meets my eyes and gives a slight dip of his chin. He’s a huge sonofabitch with a lack of any emotion whatsoever. That tiny acknowledgement was his way of saying ‘I’m sorry. I stepped out of line’.

I throw my shoulders back and shrug Dams’ and Zack’s hands off. I’m fine for now, but next time Sico’s going to get a few punches in the face.