Chapter Ten

Pops

Once back at the clubhouse, I hurried her back to our room where I locked us in. Then I explained what I'd learned from Taz. El Diablo. Whatever. She was understandably furious.

"If I found out you had anything whatsoever to do with this, Pops, I'll fuckin' kill the fuckin' fuck outta you." She was trembling with rage. Which was what she wanted me to see. What she likely wanted to keep to herself was the sheen of tears glistening in her eyes and on her eyelashes.

"I swear to you, Jo. I got played as much as you did. More, even."

"How could you possibly have gotten played more?" The look she gave me said she was not only calling bullshit, but she might carve out my liver, cover it in said bullshit, then shove it back inside me just to watch me die from gangrene, then celebrate my death with a gleeful smile. It made me want to grin at her. Which would have probably set her off. So, I did the only thing I knew to do. It might not be the best decision, but it was the only thing I could think of. Probably because it was the thing that was foremost on my mind.

"Because the meddling in our lives put me in a position to meet you. Then you made me fall in love with you. So no matter what happens to either of us from this moment forward, I'm never gonna be the fuckin' same."

Mama opened her mouth, probably to give me a piece of her mind, then blinked as if my confession was the last thing she'd expected. "I… what?"

"You heard me."

For the first time since I'd met her, Jo looked like a young, vulnerable woman. It didn't hold with the confident, powerful warrior I knew her to be, but it endeared her to me all the more. Because, I knew without a doubt, I was the only person in her world who'd ever seen that particular look on her lovely face. She gave that trust to me. No way in hell I was gonna let her take it back.

"You can't love me."

"No?" I stepped closer to her, reaching out to pull her into my arms. She didn't resist, but braced her hands on my chest so I couldn't get as close as I really wanted. "Why not?"

"I'm not a woman a man like you looks for, Mike. I'll never be the obedient wife who defers to her husband. I take charge of my own life and, occasionally, the lives of those around me."

"Fully aware of all that, Jo. You know I can be a take-charge kinda guy, but I'm more than willin' to let you be you. If that means I follow your lead, I got no problem doin' that. I think I've proven that over the last couple of years. I ain't gonna hold you back. I'm just gonna follow where you go and protect you with my fuckin' life."

There must have been a God somewhere smiling down on me, because that must have been the exact right thing to say. Mama threw herself into my arms, tightening her arms around my neck and clung to me, sobbing like I'd never known the woman was capable of. Again, I'd be willing to bet my life she'd never let anyone see this side of her. In fact, I had to wonder if the woman had ever let herself cry like this.

I held her as tight as I could. She seemed to need the support, and I was only too glad to be whatever she needed. I kind of expected her to get herself under control quickly, then brush me off, but she didn't. Jo let out everything she needed to right there in my arms. I felt fucking ten feet tall. No one else in the world could ever be in this position because Jo would never let anyone else this close to her. Which meant, even if she didn't acknowledge it out loud, she loved me.

When she was finally more under control, she pulled back only to pull me down by my beard to kiss her. I would gladly provide her with as many kisses as she wanted. Or anything else. She was my woman. I'd always be her man.

Things escalated quickly after that. It didn't take long for us to be naked and for me to have Mama on her back with her legs spread and my mouth buried between them. I took her up as high as I could without letting her fall. Over and over, she screamed my name.

I had to grin because she no longer called my first name during sex. It was always Pops. I rarely called her Jo, only when we were alone and it was important she listen to what I had to say. While she always took me seriously, I found that pulling her out of the persona she'd become since taking this club under our wing had become our signal for her to focus solely on me. In those times, she knew it was important for her to let me in and for us to make those decisions together. The longer we were together, the less and less it happened.

"Oh, God! Pops!"

"That's my name, baby." I chuckled. "Tell me what you want. I'll make it happen no matter what."

"You. I want you."

"Yeah?" I grinned up at her. I was sure the expression wasn't tame. "I'm right here, baby. What're you gonna do with me?"

"Fuck me, you bastard!" she screamed. "Put your fuckin' cock inside me and fuck the shit outta me!"

That was all I needed. I took action, guiding my cock inside her and moving in a hard, driving rhythm. Mama wrapped her legs around my waist and dug her heels into my ass. Urging me to move harder and faster, she took what she wanted. She gave me much, much more than she took. I'd had several women in my life. Usually only for a night or two. Never with any expectation either of us would be around in the morning. It was the way I liked my life. I didn't want a woman I had to worry about leaving when I went off to war or anywhere else. I took my pleasures, tried to give her as much as I took, and didn't worry about her beyond the moment.

Not so with Mama.

When she clawed at me, I bared my teeth. I didn't stop fucking her, but I snagged her wrists -- first one then the other -- holding them in one hand above her head.

"You don't get to dictate the pace, Mama. I'm in charge."

"Bastard," she hissed, showing her own teeth. "You said you'd give me what I wanted!"

I had to chuckle. She was just so darn cute when she got all demanding. Mainly because I knew the real her. Mama didn't beg. She took what she wanted. I loved that I could hold her off and she trusted me enough to know I'd eventually give her everything instead of exacting her will.

"I will. But I decide when. You get to lie back and enjoy."

After that, things got worse. By the time I let her come, Josephine Peyton was close to killing me. I think I even had bite marks on my shoulder where she punished me. A few times. When she came in my arms, with my dick deep inside her hot, wet pussy, I lost my Goddamned mind. She took my cum inside her with several ragged screams and a lot of scratching down my back. I'd be wearing those scratches for a couple of days at least. Which was a good thing because I wanted everyone in the Goddamned place to know who I belonged to. Marked her with more than one hickey to stake my claim, too.

If she had bruises on her hips where I gripped her during our hard ride, well, I caught her admiring them in the mirror with a satisfied smirk before she caught me looking. Her smirk turned into a scowl. Our loving was sometimes rough, but it was always satisfying.

"We need to disappear," I told her as I stroked her bare shoulder where she cuddled against me with her head on my chest.

"From the Brotherhood?" She rubbed her face over my skin where she rested. "Not sure that's possible."

"Taz was careful not to say our real names. He indicated we were probably being observed, but that they didn't know you were the woman they were looking for."

"I have no desire to be on that bunch's radar."

"Me neither."

We were silent for a while before she spoke again. "What're we gonna do?" She sounded sleepy. Sated. Made me grin.

"I've been thinkin' on that. I have an idea, but it means giving up everything. Family especially. Family is always the downfall of anyone who tries to hide from these fuckers."

"You sayin' we need to die?"

"That's exactly what I'm sayin'."

"What's the plan?"

"I know a man. He's an asshole, but I ain't ever met anyone as intelligent. I'd like to reach out to him. Meet up and see if he can help."

"OK. Where is he?"

"Rockwell, Illinois. He has a place in Oklahoma too. I thought it would be better to meet him there. Assuming he's agreeable."

"Why wouldn't he be?"

I couldn't help but smile, remembering exactly why Luca Romano was pissed at me. "Because, the last time we were together, I beat him at chess."

There was silence and Mama was completely still. Then she looked up at me. "You beat him at chess." It wasn't a question.

"Yep."

"I take it he's a sore loser?"

I chuckled then. "You could say that. He likes to think he's the smartest man in the room. Usually is. I got lucky, though I'll never admit it to him. Far as he's concerned, every move I made was on purpose."

Mama chuckled too. "Now we're thinkin' alike."

"Honey, I think we always do."

Her smile was so beautiful that if I hadn't already been in love with her, I was now. "You're so fuckin' beautiful, woman."

"I am not." She shoved back to sit up, a fierce scowl on her face. "Take it back." And, God help me, that little bite in her voice made me hard as a motherfucker when I'd already come my brains out.

I barked out a laugh. "I absolutely will not, Mama. You're beautiful like a hurricane. Breathtaking and destructive. A fuckin' force of nature. And all fuckin' mine ."

She looked appropriately put out but didn't deny she was mine. I called it a win. "You're mine," she said with a huff. "Don't you dare deny it."

"Never, honey. No matter what, I'll never deny I'm yours."

"Good. Because this is all your fault."

I shook my head, still chuckling. "Not saying it is, not saying it isn't, but what exactly are you referring to?"

"You knocked me up, Mike." There was that vulnerability again. For such a strong woman, she hid what she thought of as weakness very well. She must have been afraid I'd leave if I found out. Or that I wouldn't want her or the child. She couldn't be further off the mark.

"So, another hellion to add to a whole slew of them. Only this one's mine." I grinned. "I hope it's a girl who looks just like her beautiful mama."

I think I kind of expected Mama to frown at me or pretend to be angry at me for implying any child of hers would be beautiful. Or say she was having a boy just to be ornery. Instead, she gave me a soft smile. "She'll be a beautiful girl, and courageous like her father."

"I'll be spoilin' her terribly. And she's never dating."

"I'll teach her how to get around you. She'll give you a world of trouble."

I grinned. "Same as her mother."

"God, Pops. I love you so Goddamned much."

"I love you too, Mama. With all my heart."