Chapter Thirteen

Annie

I wanted in this fight. Rage erupted inside me. Surprisingly, it was Lemon who kept me back. She was backing me and Apple away to relative safety where the other women were. I thought it odd Lemon didn’t jump in the fray, but figured she had her reasons. I was glad that yelling to Venus in Russian what they’d whispered to each other in Mandarin threw them off just enough to let Grim Road get a jump on them.

“Where’s Elena and Tito?” I thought Elena was close by, but Tito had been with Piston and Dom not long before the Divine One and his deacons arrived. The beach erupted into a cacophony of shouts and sounds of struggle. Dust and sand flew up as bodies collided. Venus was a blur of movement, her knife flashing in the sun as she engaged one of the Divine One’s guards. Spike and Bear had teamed up against two other men, their large forms towering over their opponents as they used brute force to subdue them. Dominic wasn’t trying to kill his enemy. They wanted these men alive. At least, for now.

Rocket and Leather cut off potential escape and Dominic fought by his president’s side. I looked for Lemon. Though Lemon was still urging everyone back down the beach to the clubhouse, I caught her glancing over her shoulder occasionally. Where before she’d been completely focused on getting everyone to safety, now that we were all moving in the direction she wanted, I could tell she wanted to be in the fight with her husband.

Tito hurried Elena to our group before kissing her briefly and heading back to the men. More of the Divine One’s men came down an embankment above the beach.

“There are more coming,” Elena gasped out, winded from the short run. “From the trees.”

Lemon immediately pulled out her phone and tapped out a message. “Reinforcements on the way,” she muttered to herself. “Now, Elena, will you please make sure everyone gets back to the clubhouse?”

“You should come too.” Elena gripped Lemon’s hand, pleading with the younger woman to come with her.

Lemon patted her hand kindly. “You know I have to keep Rocket out of trouble. Besides, my sister will want to get back to help her man and I can’t let her go alone.”

“I’m coming with you,” I said. “This is my fight.”

Lemon gave me an assessing look, then nodded. “Fine. But you do what I say. I’m not letting you get hurt just when Dom found you.”

By the time we got back to the fight, Grim Road had it mostly under control. The men coming in from the cliffs had tried to retreat but, when they reached the top, there were more men waiting on them. I didn’t recognize any of them, but it was clear by their body language, the Divine One’s men weren’t happy.

“We got a trailer?” Rocket had a phone to his ear talking with someone. “Good. Bring it to the beach. We’ve got some trash to take out and I’d rather make sure it stays gone.” Rocket stuck his phone in his back pocket. “You guys good, Lemon?”

“Yep. Everyone was headed up to the clubhouse when we came to check on you guys.” Lemon moved to Rocket’s side but didn’t touch him. “You finished without me.”

“Sorry, babe. Next time.” Rocket smiled down at Lemon fondly. It was clear the two loved each other very much. The thing was, I’d seen that same look on Dominic’s face when he looked at me.

I sucked in a breath. Yes. I’d definitely seen that look on his face. And it hit me. Maybe this wasn’t a dream, or wishful thinking. Maybe I was truly going to get the happy ever after.

Dom finished securing the prisoners. The Divine One was angry as hell. When his gaze landed on me, he tried to lunge, snapping at me.

“Fucking bitch! You would have been my greatest treasure. To think I wasted my time on one so unworthy.” He gave me a superior look even though he was the one tied and sitting in the sand on his ass. He still saw me as somehow less than him… because I was a woman who didn’t obey.

I’m not really sure what happened next. One second I was standing there contemplating how best to kill the vile, evil little man, the next I was covered in blood and Dom was pulling me off the Divine One, who lay in the sand with blood pooling around him. It looked like someone had stabbed him in the throat a few times. Judging by the blood covering my hands and arms, I was guessing that someone was me.

* * *

Dom

I saw it happening and wasn’t fast enough to prevent it. Annie snatched the knife from Lemon’s hip and threw herself at the man she’d named as her tormentor. After that, there wasn’t really much point in stopping her. Luckily, there was no way to see this stretch of beach from the road. You had to climb over the cliff-like embankment and around the base of the rocks to be able to see what was going on where we were. It was why we chose this place -- our private beach -- to meet with this fucking cult when Byte found them three days before the Divine finally approached us. We knew we were going to kill them, but no one had thought it would be Annie who’d do it.

The scream she let loose was bone chilling. I like to think the last thing that went through that bastard’s head was to know the devil was coming for him and had sent a banshee to send him to hell.

The other cult members blanched and whimpered. A couple tried to crawl away but the men surrounding them just tossed them back with their buddies. Ride with a dumbass, die with a dumbass.

By the time she’d finished, she’d nearly hacked his head off. When I knew he was dead, I pulled Annie off him, careful to keep hold of the hand holding the knife so I didn’t get stabbed. Rocket grabbed the knife and I moved away from the carnage with Annie in my arms.

I took her straight to the water and went until the water lapped at my upper thighs. I didn’t want to get too far out or stay in the water too long in case any curious sharks were in the area, but I had to get the blood off her as best I could.

Her cries rang out all around us, the wind carrying the sound out to sea. I let her rage while I washed her. Once I was headed back to shore, I palmed the back of her head and pressed her face to my neck.

“Scream all you want now, baby. Scream into my skin and let me have it.”

She sobbed like her heart was breaking. And maybe it was. She had a lot to work through, but I was going to be there for her. All of us were. Because we were a family.

I carried her to the clubhouse and to the room I’d taken for us while we were in the city. We went straight to the shower where I adjusted the water, stripped her bare, then climbed in the stall with her.

I held her tightly for a long time. Hot water cascaded over us in a gentle flow. Annie continued to cry, but it wasn’t the heart-wrenching wailing that it had been on the beach. I had no idea what that bastard had done to her. She hadn’t told me specifics because she said she wasn’t ready to relive it. I now knew that whatever she’d experienced had been pretty fucking bad.

When the water started to cool and the storm of grief and horror had passed, I dried Annie carefully and took her to bed. She’d pulled me down to press her into the mattress and kissed me like she was starving for my touch.

“Dominic,” she whimpered as I kissed my way down her neck to lick a path down the center of her chest. “Oh, God! What are you doing?”

I continued until I got to her mound. Then I took a long, slow lick from her opening to her clit. Annie screamed, her body convulsing off the bed. I had to fight to hold onto her. She was always like this when I ate her out. Today seemed doubly so. She was wound so tight if she didn’t release all that emotion inside her, she’d shatter.

She wrapped her legs around my head to hold me to her. She shimmied over my mouth until she got friction where she needed it, then rode my face with quick snaps of her hips. Annie would never cease to amaze me how she embraced sex as easily as she had, especially given everything she’d gone through. I thought she used it as an outlet because of the pleasure the desperation brought her. It was something we’d have to work on, but we would do it together.

“Mmm…” I hummed against her clit before flicking it with my tongue over and over. Annie’s breathing came deep and fast and her body tensed around me.

Before she could come, I shoved her legs apart and crawled up her body. She sobbed in despair as she reached for me, pulling me to her once again.

“Please don’t leave me like this, Dom. Please.”

“You know I’d never do that, baby. I’ve got you.” I guided my cock to her entrance. She was wet and slick, her folds swollen and hot. I slid inside her with ease.

She closed her eyes tight and let out a long, shuddering breath. “Oh God,” she moaned. It was the tone of complete satisfaction. I was giving her what she wanted and she responded beautifully.

I kissed her, thrusting my tongue deep into her mouth. I moved in her, the delicious way her pussy tightened around me testing my control. She was tight and hot, clenching around me in a way that threatened to make me come before I was ready. I wanted to take it slow, give her the time she needed, but Annie had other ideas.

She immediately began to rock against me, meeting each of my thrusts with thrusts of her own. Soon enough, we were in perfect sync. The sounds of pleasure we both made became louder as my pace quickened. I was just as affected as she was, completely lost in the beautiful, courageous woman in my arms.

Annie cried out as she climaxed first, her body rigid beneath mine as she quivered and gasped for air. I waited until she’d ridden out the orgasm as far as she could and started to float back to earth before I followed her over the edge. I came inside her with a groan that rumbled through my chest.

Breathing hard, sweat beading over my skin, I collapsed on top of Annie, wrapping my arms tightly around her and rolling us to our sides. Sweat coated our bodies, cooling us as the warm, humid night air filtered through the open window to dry our skin as we recovered.

I held her close till she fell into a restless sleep. In the morning, we would deal with the aftermath of the fight. I’d check in with Rocket in a few minutes, but all I wanted was to hold my girl. Annie was mine. Forever. Mine . Rocket would let me know if there was anything that needed my immediate attention. He saw what happened and knew I’d need some time to take care of Annie. I had her with me, wrapped safely in my arms. Tomorrow, we’d head back home. Once I had her safely locked behind the walls of our compound, I’d breathe easier. I wanted Annie locked away and away from the reach of anyone or anything that meant her harm.

For now, though, we both needed rest. I had her with me. She was safe. In my arms, and that was all that mattered.