Chapter Fifteen

"Please tell me your mother's not a vegetarian." Bear's question has Grinder's head whipping around looking to Bear then to Mackenzie and back again, eyes narrowed and mouth opened in shock before she even has time to answer.

"I have no idea, really. I mean, she's been medicated for years with constant IV drips. She's Pharmatarian." Now it's my turn to look at my girl who doesn't even laugh at her own joke because it's not funny. Not to her, not to me, and definitely not to her mother. But to Grinder? That fucker throws his head back and barks out a sincere howl of laughter quickly followed by a choking sound as Bear punches him in the gut.

The sound is so sudden it wakes Ninja from his nap in my hoodie. Running to my shoulder and sniffing out the level of danger in the vicinity, he then presses his little nose to my neck and goes back to sleep in the hood.

"Get back to work, asshole," I growl, pulling Mackenzie's back to my front, my arms crossed over her chest as I run my nose over the top of her head. Fucking cherries will be the death of me and I'm okay with that.

"Why aren't the prospects doing this? What's the point of having them if I'm doing all the grunt work?" All the while complaining, Grinder turns back to our most valuable possession besides our racing bikes, and starts banking the coals to one side of the grill big enough to feed every hungry member of our club, Boner mimicking his every move.

"They're helping Sabrina in the kitchen, piling up the pork shoulders for me." Bear is our official barbecue master. He's got generations of experience smoking North Carolina style barbecue for the club. As an implant from New York and Greece before that, this whole war happening between the two Carolinas has always been fascinating to me.

"So, are we doing North or South Carolina style?" I like fucking with them.

"Shut your whore mouth." Grinder doesn't even turn around, too busy lighting the coals.

"Low and slow, baby. Low and slow." At Mackenzie's words, I chuckle in the crook of her neck when she shows her North Carolina born-and-bred colors.

"I knew I liked her for a reason." Bear winks at my girl and I barely suppress a growl.

"Have you ever been to BBQ Camp?" I frown at her question.

"What's that?" It's my turn to get mocked by the whole crew.

"Fucking Yankee," Sledge calls out, carrying a huge cooler filled, I'm guessing, with ice and beer. A true barbecue is an all-day affair. "And a lazy one at that, mate. Make ya self useful, will ya? Being in love ain't no excuse for standing there doin' nuffin'." I flip him off, knowing damn well he's right but having zero desire to walk away from my girl.

"It's a two day camp held in Raleigh every year in late spring. Apparently, the Department of Food at NC State teaches them the art of perfecting a North Carolina style barbecue." Mackenzie answers my question with fire in her eyes and excitement in her voice. "Have you been, Bear?"

"Nah, I learned from the best: my mama and her mama before her and before her. It's a family affair and one day, I'll pass it on to my own kids." I don't know if Mackenzie hears the sudden melancholy in my best friend's voice but I certainly do. Anytime he talks about his mother, his mind goes to a dark place for a minute, then he's back to his normal self. Whatever that means.

"That's so cool. I once told my dad to go and bring me so I could learn with him but we quickly realized it's very much a boy's club so…" I feel her shrug below me and have the sudden urge to throat punch every one of those men for making my girl feel like she wouldn't belong.

"Speaking of family, you must be excited about your mom coming home." Bear's statement makes Mackenzie squeal a little and I can't help grinning along at her happiness. Her happiness makes her look younger than her age, and that's saying something.

"I can't wait. She deserves a little normalcy." For the last two weeks, we debated and discussed all the avenues possible for her mother's care. Getting her an apartment seemed too risky. We weren't quite sure of the trauma she'd suffered and even less about what kind of PTSD she might manifest. Living with us wasn't an option since my apartment is too small; one bedroom would cramp everyone's style. Mackenzie suggested she get a place for just the two of them and I shut that shit down with a kiss and a hard fuck against the wall.

After asking Prez and putting it up for a vote at church, we settled with having her in a suite on the compound. It's the best of both worlds. She'll have round-the-clock care with people always around, but also some much needed privacy. This means we'll be spending a lot more time here than in my downtown loft, which is fine. A small price to pay for seeing my girl so happy.

"I need all the hands available to set up the exterior," Vanessa calls out to everyone within hearing distance, and it's like she's kicked an ant hill. Suddenly, everyone is running around helping with chairs, tables, plates and cutlery… me and my girl included.

It's only ten in the morning but it takes eight good hours to smoke the pork shoulders to perfection, and while Bear regales us with his cooking prowess, we make sure everything else is perfect for Darlene's "welcome to your new home" party.

And yes, there's an actual banner being made by the Khunts and my old lady.

"Not to rat him out or anything, but it looks like Ninja wanted to help with the sign."

I pause in my tracks, carrying yet another fucking table from inside the clubhouse to the outside eating area and glance at the banner. Right there from one side straight through to the other, are little paw prints in orange, red, and yellow.

"How long have you been waiting to make that joke, dude?" I quirk a brow at my brother in arms, Hoops, and scowl. Although, it quickly morphs into a full grin.

"From day one, man. From day fucking one." Getting a chuckle out of me, I slap him on the shoulder and lean in.

"Don't ever do it again, it's like a dad joke on crack."

"Duly noted."

Six hours later, Mackenzie and I are driving down Highway 17 on our way to grab my mother-in-law and break her out of the loony bin because, clearly, there's nothing medically wrong with her. The only problem she had was a clinically psychotic son.

Beside me, Mackenzie's leg is bouncing up and down like she's about to meet her maker, and instead of stressing me out, all I see is bare flesh begging for my hands.

"Why are you so nervous, Cherry Pie? This is a good thing, right?" With one hand on the steering wheel and the other now clamping down on Mackenzie's smooth skin, I let my gaze sweep from one side of the road to the other. It's a two-lane road with multiple side roads going who the fuck knows where, and while Vanessa's truck is older than my parents, it's got great potential for a little late afternoon snack.

"This is huge, Aleko. Like, fucking gigantic."

I know she's not talking about my cock, but touching her, no matter how platonic it may be, gives me hard-cock brain. You know, when everything said or implied is immediately translated to my hard cock inside her sweet cherry pussy.

"What time are we meeting Spence at the clinic?" I know what time we're meeting but I'm buying myself some extra minutes before I pull over onto a side road and make a second turn onto a secluded dirt road that probably leads to someone's house. Right now though, I don't fucking care if we're parked on the goddamn president's pristine White House lawn.

"At five thir—what—where are we going?" Her leg stops bouncing up and down and her entire body tenses like she's expecting danger to jump out at her.

"We've got an extra fifteen minutes before we need to be there." I turn off the engine and face the love of my life. "Straddle me, Cherry baby. It's been way too long since my cock kissed your cunt." I grin when her cheeks pink up and her nipples instantly harden beneath her T-shirt. Fuck, she's a sight to see. And touch. And taste and fuck.

"You want to meet my mother smelling of sex and bad decisions?" Her voice drops an octave and I don't believe, for one fucking second, that she's going to resist me. In fact, as she tsks her delicious little tongue at me, she's lifting her ass and pulling down her jean shorts before kicking them completely off.

"May as well greet her with my true self. She'll soon learn her little girl is getting thoroughly fucked morning, noon, and night." Releasing my cock from the constraints of my own jeans, I wrap my fingers at the base and get comfortable just as she lifts one leg over my groin and pulls her panties to the side.

The head of my cock slides up and down her wet lips and we both groan at the perfection of it all.

"God, you feel so damn good." Her words are moaned out, filling the cabin with the sounds of her need for me.

"Show me how good, Cherry. Fuck my cock like you can't get enough of it." With my hands clamped on both of her thighs, I dig my fingers into her flesh and lean my head back on the seat. There's nothing more beautiful than this woman bouncing up and down on my dick. Every guttural sound she makes, every bounce of her tits so close to my mouth.

"That's it, baby. Take everything you want from me." From below, I meet her thrust for thrust as she uses my shoulders for leverage. "Give me your mouth."

In half a second, we're kissing. Our lips sliding and tongues dancing to the sound of slapping skin and chirping birds. The scent of her is all around us, making it so fucking hard not to come it's almost embarrassing, but that's all a testament to her, isn't it? She's so fucking sexy that I can barely control my dick and it sure as fuck can't control itself.

"I'm so close, baby. I love feeling you so deep inside me. Christ…" Her words are whispered over my mouth as we fight for control of our kiss. When she tries to pull away, I bite her lip and pull her right back to me.

"I said give me your mouth, Cherry. Give me your orgasm now, too."

"Yes, yes… fuck yes." Sliding my hands from her hips to beneath her panties and onto her ass cheeks, I press her as close to me as humanly possible as I grind my groin into her and almost lose my fucking mind at the feel of her hot little pussy squeezing my cock like it can't get enough of me.

Hot liquid drips down my shaft as I lose my fucking mind and shoot my cum deep inside her cunt.

Our shared groans feel like the last sentence in a perfect chapter. The end of a past life leaving room for the future.

Suddenly, the thought of our future filled with babies and hours and hours of making them flits through my mind. Only last year, the idea of me being a father would have scared the fuck out of me, but now? With Cherry riding my cock like a fucking queen? Well, in this very moment, the mere idea of her belly swollen with my kid inside is a picture I'm not willing to forget.

"Okay, big boy. Time to go." With one last kiss with her swollen lips, Mackenzie pulls me out of my reverie, but not before she notices the big, fat grin on my face. "Oh, you've got a great post-coital face." Another kiss and I don't correct her because telling her I want her pregnant soon and often might very well get me a kick to my balls and we can't have that, can we? I'm gonna need them in mint condition if I want my plan to work.

By the time we make it to her mother's current habitat, for lack of a better word, Spence is there waiting and tapping on his watch when we pull up. As soon as we're close enough, his face lights up like the northern skies during a solar storm and he winks over at Mackenzie. Again, it takes me a beat to remind myself he's her best friend and in no way making a move on her so I force myself to loosen gritted teeth.

"Down boy. I'm not into the girly parts. Also, you have great sex hair." Okay, so maybe he was winking at me.

"Quit flirting with my man."

"You're no fun." Spence rolls his eyes then taps on his watch again. "Let's go before they change their minds and we have to blow up the place to get her out." I frown at Spencer's words.

"You watch too many movies, man. It's all good." With one last kiss to Mackenzie's lips, Spence and I head inside and bust Darlene out of this fucking joint.

This place smells like fucking death. In fact, it's the exact same thing as that horrendous day I had walked into the morgue and saw Mackenzie lying there… dead. A shiver runs down my spine at the memory and I have to consciously remind myself that she's fine. We're fine. Every one is fucking fine.

"Good morning, Maggie. Looking stunning as always." I raise a brow at Spence as he puts on a whole fucking show for the nurse who's just come to get us.

"Oh, hush, you." She pats her heated cheeks with a bright grin plastered on her face and does a double take when her eyes land on me.

I do what I do best. Flashing her Mackenzie's favorite grin, I nod just as Spencer goes in for a hug.

"No ma'am, I will do no such thing. Compliments are like vitamin C, you need them every day to feel good." Fucking hell, this dude knows how to work a room. Although, I would argue the same thing for orgasms, but this is neither the place nor the right public to announce all the ways I want to give my girl her daily dose of vitamins.

"Come on, now. Let's go get Darlene, she's been very excited about leaving." Her words are whispered behind the back of her hand like she's an accomplice in a bank heist.

Now, I get that the look I've got going on isn't always to everyone's taste, but until now, I've never given a fuck what others could possibly think about me or my tattoos. We're in the twenty-first century, for fuck's sake. Yet, here I am, a little nervous as we're going down the hall and veering into the left wing. I'm suddenly aware that whatever Mackenzie's mom thinks about me is going to matter to my girl.

What if Darlene doesn't approve? What if she convinces my little Cherry to find someone more suitable?

I almost laugh at that. Right. Like I would ever let her go.

"Hey there, Darlene. I've got these two handsome boys here to take you home." Maggie's southern drawl is everything I love about North Carolina.

"Oh, my. I think I have everyth—" Oh fuck, here we go. Darlene's word ends on a cliffhanger and I'm suddenly feeling shy, my feet shuffling and my gaze everywhere except on her.

"Hey Momma Darlene! This is Aleko. Remember, I said I'd be here with him?" Spencer is trying to make things less awkward but is failing miserably because she's barely paying any attention to him at all. Her sole focus is on me and more specifically, the cross under my eye.

"Goodness, that's a lot of tattoos! And yet you are one handsome young man, aren't you?" The laugh that escapes me tastes like freedom. Like my lungs aren't frozen and my heart is no longer afraid of being rejected by my future mother-in-law.

"I guess beauty's in the eye of the beholder." What the fuck am I talking about? I'm Aleko fucking Kastellanos aka Psycho. I don't get fucking flustered like this. Christ.

"Hmm, I guess it is. Tell me…" she looks over at Spencer, a deep frown marring her otherwise flawless skin. The resemblance to Mackenzie is staggering, like seeing thirty years into the future through a crystal ball.

"Aleko. I know, Momma Darlene, it's kinda weird but, meh, it fits." Fucking Spencer.

"Tell me, Aleko. Do you make my daughter happy?" At her question, my spine stiffens, because no one is supposed to know she's still alive, but it's then I realize that Maggie has disappeared somewhere and it's only the three of us.

"Yes, ma'am, I'd like to think so." Ma'am? Holy shit, who am I right now?

"Well, then." Darlene steps right up to me and pats my face with the palm of her hand. It feels like approval and acceptance and everything I didn't know I needed. "That's all that matters. So, let's get out of this joint, shall we?"

Indeed, let's.