Chapter 19

Ven

R age and I are grim as we work through the wee hours of the morning to help our club officers divide Rufus’ men into groups—essentially those who are cold-blooded killers and want us dead, and those who just wanted to make a quick buck. Luckily for us, most of the men fall into the latter category, surprisingly enough that seems to include his sons. We’re gonna have to delve into that deeper, so Talon and few of the other club brothers take Edmund, Big Joe, and Hal back to the clubhouse. Dan catches a ride with them because he’s not a member of the Savage Legion and therefore cannot be privy to how we handle this situation. I think he’s on our side, though it might just be he’s on Dan’s side which is fair enough, from what he’s told us already his brothers treated him as an outsider.

Siege and the club officers arbitrate each of the remaining men on a case-by-case basis. They’re required to pay restitution to cover the medical expenses and burials of those who were injured or killed in this conflict. Most were willing to agree to anything to get away from our club unscathed.

That leaves us with two. Boyd and Brock Sanderson turn out to be a special kind of stupid. These two were the ones who hunted down Amy and my mom and brought them back to the farmhouse. I’m not sure exactly where they fit into everything, but ultimately Brock is the one who killed Rufus Grayson.

I think they’re both under the delusion that Siege won’t call the police and are talking up a heap of shit. He surprises them by getting on his cell phone and calling our contact at Las Salinas PD. While we’re waiting for them to come, the sky opens, and rain begins pelting down upon us. Every brother stands firm while our enemies become even more uncomfortable. Brock needs to face the consequences of his actions, both for negligently shooting Rufus and for kidnapping the women in my life. I don’t give a fuck if it was on Rufus’ orders, they aren’t family, they owed the old coot no loyalty, and Brock fucking shot him. I say let the cops deal with the hired muscle and we’ll deal with Rufus’ sons. Finished with the whole sorry business, I jump in the van with Rage, Rider, and Tank and we head back to the clubhouse where I crawl into bed with Amy and collapse before my head even meets the pillow.

***

I wake up with Amy wriggling out from under my big arm. She rushes to the bathroom, and I can hear her throwing up. I jump up in the bed, wondering if it was something she ate. Throwing off the blanket, I head to the bathroom to see if she’s okay.

She comes out looking somewhat recovered and I can’t take my eyes off her. It’s like every time I see her naked, she’s more beautiful to my eyes. Amy is it for me. I feel it all the way down to my bones.

“Are you okay sweetheart?” I ask as I tilt her head up to look into her eyes.

She looks worried but simply replies, “Yeah, I had a bad dream, my mind must have gone over everything that happened last night. I thought I was okay about it, but then…”

Her words tail off. I take her hand and lead her back to the bed, “Want to talk about it? Seeing all that shit go down can’t have been fun. Especially seeing your grandfather get gunned down, even if you hated the bastard.”

She nods and looks thoughtful, “I think I’m okay about it. I’m more worried about my mom, what she’s gone through for the last eight months. We spoke yesterday and she seemed surprisingly upbeat about it, but I don’t know how much of that was her putting on an act.”

“Rigs is good at counseling people, so it might be an idea if you both talk to him. He knows some female counselors and therapists if your mom would prefer. Leave it with me and I’ll see what we can come up with,” I say with a smile. I give her a quick kiss, noticing that she tastes like my minty toothpaste. We settle back into bed, and I pull her close for a cuddle.

Just as we’re getting comfortable my phone beeps. Normally I’d ignore it but given the events of last night I need to see what’s happening.

After scrolling through my messages, I toss my phone aside with a smile. “Siege and Cleo are taking our mothers out to the patio for breakfast. He’s telling us to take as much time as we need to recover.”

“That’s really good of him. I feel like I could sleep for days.”

Something softens in her eyes as she lays back onto the bed and pulls me down on top of her. I came happily because I had spent all the hours since we were last together dreaming of having her under me again.

Cupping her delicate face in my hand I search for some evidence that she was really okay. The last thing I wanted was to put the moves on someone who wasn’t in the mood.

She must sense my reluctance because she offers me some reassurance. “I’m fine Ven. I promise.” When I don’t immediately respond, she adds, “You worry too much.”

“I don’t think it’s possible for a man to worry too much about the woman he loves.”

“Loves?” she says.

“Too early?” My voice is rough, for a moment I regret dropping the L-bomb, but then her lips curve into a smile.

“I love you Ven, I know we haven’t known each other for long, but I feel it in my bones. You’re my forever guy.”

“You sure about that?” I say. In response she parts her legs and wriggles so I’m exactly where I want to be. My thick cock gets harder now that it’s pressed against her tender flesh. I’m dying to take her up on the pleasure she’s offering.

A lot has happened since we were last together. My cock is rock hard, and my need is off the chain, but it feels wrong to jump on her after everything she’s been through. As if sensing my hesitation her hands slide down my chest and towards my cock, my balls tighten up in response. She wraps one hand around my shaft and the other reaches down to cup my balls. I realize that we’ve repositioned ourselves instinctively so she can reach me. I’m taller, so all I can do from this position is kiss her forehead. I bury my face in her hair and enjoy the clean, crisp scent coming off her. It’s not quite feminine, more like the cucumber of my shampoo.

I pull her hands away and slide down to give her a long lingering kiss. The more passionate the kiss gets, the more she claws at my chest with her nails. When she starts to rub her body against mine, I realize that I’m overthinking this situation, she clearly wants me.

All my doubt falls away in an instant and is replaced with a mingling of love and lust. I go crazy on her. Kissing and nipping my way down her neck to her breasts. I take turns squeezing them in my hands as I lick and suck her nipples.

I can tell her arousal is soaring because when I kiss her stomach, she guides me by gently pressing the top of my head. Pride surges in my chest when I realize she’s eager to have my tongue on her clit.

I take my time exploring her with my tongue. I tease and suck on her clit until she’s a quivering mess that finally comes apart in an explosive orgasm. God, the way she feels when she comes against my mouth is amazing. This woman of mine gets loud when she comes, always screaming my name for all the world to hear. There’s something so ego gratifying about making the woman you love come so hard she loses control. I want to do this every single day for the rest of my life. I make her come once more by sucking her clit and slipping my finger inside her, rubbing her g-spot, and working her into a frenzy as she shudders at my touch.

By the time I’m finished she’s about as desperate for my cock as I am to feel myself slide inside her tight, wet pussy. I ease into her body and lift her hips up off the bed so I can power into her at an angle that hits all the right places. She brings her hands up and clings to the headboard as I make her come all over my cock. Feeling her pussy clench down on me is a slice of heaven. I look down at her body and the way her breasts are bouncing with each thrust I make, and I end up losing control. I feel myself shooting my load long before I’m finished fucking her.

When I lower her hips back down onto the bed, she says breathlessly. “That was the most amazing sex of my life. I feel like I should I say thank you.”

I grin down at her. “Darlin’, you don’t ever have to thank me for fucking you senseless.”

She stretches, making my cock slip out of her sweet pussy. “I’ve been looking forward to that all day.”

I snort a laugh. “You act like we’re finished, sweetheart.”

She gazes up at me, her eyes slightly unfocused. “You’re already up for round two?”

“Absolutely. How about you? You’re not wimping out on me, are you?”

She laughs at my bawdy joke. “Of course not. How do you want me?”

“Hand and knees, darlin’, hands and fucking knees.” My voice sounds gruff and needy even to my own ears, but I can’t help it.

She quickly scrambles into position. I take a moment to admire the curves of her ass and the way her pussy is so inviting from this angle. My seed is dripping out of her and running down her thighs, and for some reason that makes my lust surge. I grab her hips and dive back inside, this position is giving me a little more space to work with. After a few hard, rough strokes, I bring my hand around and dive between her soft thighs to finger her clit. She looks over her shoulder, clearly surprised that I’m intent on giving her yet another orgasm. She ends up having two before she collapses onto the bed face first. I come down on top of her and ride her hard until I fill her up for a second time.

I feel the need to stake my claim and make her mine before any of the men in this club start getting stupid ideas about luring her away from me. I know a lot of the guys think she’s my old lady, but once the truth comes out, then they’re gonna be after her like moths to a flame. But I’ve already decided I’m gonna make this fake relationship real if it’s the last thing I do.

My rational mind tells me that we haven’t known each other well enough to start talking marriage but that’s exactly where my mind is going. This woman is going to be my forever, I can feel it in my bones.

It feels like we’re both on the same wavelength when she says, “Our moms were plotting about getting us married off, last night.”

I keep rubbing her back as I reply, “Well, we wouldn’t want to disappoint them, now, would we?”

She turns over and looks up at me. “Be serious.”

“I am being serious. I’ve had a thing for you since I first laid eyes on you running through that cornfield.”

The moment the words are out of my mouth, I regret bringing it up.

Shoving me off and sitting up she says, “You were there, and you didn’t do anything to help me?”

I move back to give her some personal space. “No. It wasn’t like that.”

She crosses her arms over her naked breasts and demands, “If that’s not how it was, tell me how you saw me running through the cornfield.”

“I was on an assignment for our club and caught sight of the whole thing on one of my drones. I saw you running from the dogs, and I was helpless to do anything, but then I saw you get away. I checked the local newspapers but there was nothing mentioned, so I figured I might have been mistaken about what I saw. Then when I met you at the coffee shop and you were okay, I didn’t want you to think I was stalking you or something.”

“So us meeting in the café, that wasn’t planned?” she asks warily.

“Nope. That was pure chance, I was still doing surveillance in the area and Rage suggested we meet there. Obviously, after seeing you worked there, I had plenty of reasons to visit,” I say with a shrug. I bring my hand up to stroke her face, “We good? I thought you were going to claw my eyes out there for a second.”

She has the decency to look embarrassed before apologizing. “I’m sorry about the outburst. If I’m being totally honest, I’m feeling all kinds of conflicted about my grandfather being killed.”

“I’ll bet you are,” I tell her firmly. “He was your grandfather, but he was also the man who kidnapped your mother and tried to turn her into a household servant against her will.”

When I pause to see how close I am, she picks up the conversation. “When we were held in the room at the farm, she told me what it was like for all those months she was held prisoner. My grandfather had totally lost the plot, he was convinced that she was his wife come back to life. He never did anything to her, and he treated her okay,” Amy pauses, and I see something flash across her face. “She actually said it was nice getting to know him again. How as a kid he’d hated her, but when he thought she was someone else he was kind and caring—”

“Stockholm syndrome,” I mutter. “You know where people start to empathize with their captors?”

She shrugs, “Maybe. She said that her brothers weren’t so bad, a bit rough around the edges, but other than have her cook, clean, and take care of the house, no one mistreated her.”

“Siege will let her decide what happens to them, we’ll give her a few days to decompress then we’ll have a debriefing. If she wants to get the cops involved then I’ll make sure that happens, whatever your mom wants. This is her choice,” I say. To be honest if it was me, I’d drag the bastards into the desert and get them to dig their own damn holes.

Amy heaves out a huge sigh, “About Rufus, grandfather or not, I don’t think I’m too worried about if he’s going to heaven or hell. You know what I mean?”

I take her hands in mine and glance up to catch her eyes. “I don’t blame you for that, sweetheart. That old man was living on borrowed time since the day he was born.” Giving her hands a squeeze, I tell her, “Maybe it’s time to work on forgiving yourself for not grieving too hard for the old buzzard.”

She glances down at our joined hands. “Thanks for being there when I needed you and for allowing me the opportunity to get to know you better. You really are one of the best men I’ve ever met.”

“If this MC were the boy scouts, I’d get a badge for that, right?” Her face lights up at my gentle jibe.

“Badge? You deserve a freaking medal.” Her expression turns from playful to serious.

“If you and I are going to see where this leads, I need you to know that I’m only interested in dating for marriage.”

My hand stills on her hip because she’s saying the things I want to hear. I try and stop the smile I feel snaking across my lips.

“Before you toss me out on my ear, let me explain. I really like you Ven. Just because I think our relationship has legs and might be going somewhere, doesn’t mean you have to feel trapped or agree. I know I’ve brought you nothing but trouble but if you decide to give me a chance, I’ll prove to you that I’m the right woman for you.”

Rather than comment on all that, I kiss her. And then I just don’t stop, ‘cause I’m crazy about her. Eventually, she pushes me away and points out, “A kiss is not an answer. Are you interested in something real with me, or am just another club girl to you? I know you said you love me earlier, but what you say when you have a hard-on, might not be what you think after sex.”

I look down to see she’s poking one lovely finger into my chest with each word in order to drive her point home with me.

I grab that pretty finger, bring it up to my lips and kiss it before explaining, “I’m definitely on the same page. I’m ready to settle down. I didn’t think I ever wanted to get married and start a family until I met you. Then my whole life changed. I wanted nothing more than the opportunity to help you find your mother and get to know you better. I’m so glad I did. You’re so fucking smart, brave, and beautiful. I’d have to be mentally deficient not to do everything humanly possible to sweep you off your feet.”

She pats my chest lovingly, “Consider me well and truly swept. You did a bang-up job on both of those things, babe. And somehow made me fall in love at the same time. I can’t imagine loving anyone else but you, Ven.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty amazing,” I tease her.

“Even though that’s true, if we get engaged, I’d prefer a long engagement period to give us a time to get to know each other better and to find a new place to live.” She glances around the room. “You can’t raise a family at the Savage Legion clubhouse, and I lost my apartment and my photography studio when it caught on fire.”

“About that,” I tell her grimly. “One of the things Edmund told us when we interrogated him was that Big Joe set fire to your photography studio.”

Instead of losing her mind, Amy’s eyes narrow. “Let me guess. He thought if he destroyed my livelihood that I would be too broke to keep the search alive for my mother, right?”

I nod, giving her hips a gentle squeeze. “Yeah, that’s how they thought it would go, but they totally underestimated you. When you lost your primary means of earning, you got creative.”

“About that. Have you ever heard the old saying that necessity is the mother of invention? I was good at thinking outside the box, because I had to be.”

“Well, I’ll see about finding us a place to live, but first I want to see if we can find you another photography studio,” I say as I meet her gaze.

“Really?” she looks so excited I can’t help but grin, but then her expression darkens, “I don’t know how I’d make the rent though.”

“Don’t worry about that, my club has property throughout town, I’m sure Siege could find you a unit that would work for you. Some are lying empty, so rent’s not gonna be a problem. With club businesses, usually a percentage of the earnings are given over in lieu of rent, but you can have a chat with him, and Dutch, who’s our treasurer and work something out.”

She’s silent, and for a moment I think maybe she’s gonna get angry and think I’m trying to control her life. But then she pulls me in for a kiss, saying, “What did I do to deserve you?”

“I’m thinking the same thing, darlin’,” I answer.

There’s an ominous thump coming from outside my suite and Amy just about jumps out of her skin. “Oh my god. Did Edmund, Big Joe, and Hal escape the locked room?”

I pull her back down into my arms. “I guess we need to talk about those idiots as well.”

“Did they really escape?”

“No, of course not. In fact they’re going right to the secure unit they escaped from two years ago. Well, Big Joe and Hal are.”

Amy relaxes on my lap. “What do you mean by secure unit? Like a psychiatric hospital or a jail of some sort.”

Frowning, I tell her, “Maybe a little from column A and a little from column B. They were both convicted of a crime spree that included knocking over some convenience stores, wounding several of the employees and even managed to steal a car.”

A confused expression settles on her lovely face. “To be honest, they don’t seem smart enough to do something like that all on their own.”

“Which is why their crime spree was short-lived and they wound up getting caught. The jury found them guilty on all charges. Unfortunately, their psychological exam showed they weren’t safe to be released in the community and they were also in need of intense psychological intervention to remain relatively stable. So they ended up in a psychiatric facility. Which was where they met their other brother.”

Amy’s expression clears. “What? Edmund was there too?”

I shake my head, “No, but he found them. I guess that’s when they started to cook up their plan.”

She looks thoughtful.

“We have a contact at the Las Salinas PD. Between arresting your grandfather’s killer and catching the two escapees who’ve been hiding out on your family’s ranch, he’s managed to earn himself a promotion,” I add.

“That’s a two birds, one stone situation if ever there was one,” she responds.

“I agree. That only leaves Edmund to deal with. He’s been kind of running the show and had his finger in every dirty little pie down at the ranch.”

“Well, unless I miss my guess, he’s probably the one my grandfather willed his ranch to. That means he’s going to be a very rich man,” Amy says.

I realize I never told her the whole reason this mess started, “Interesting you should mention that,” I tell her. “Our club attorney, Smoke, started looking for your grandfather’s will. Edmund was convinced that it had been changed in favor of your mother—that was the reason they kidnapped her. Long story short, they were hoping that they could convince the old man to change it to make them the heirs. Problem is, when our attorney looked into it, Rufus didn’t actually have a will, at least not one that had been filed or officially notarized.”

“So they abducted my mom for no reason?” she says.

I nod, “Yeah, that’s about the size of it.”

Amy looks thoughtful, I guess it’s a lot to take in. Then she says, “What does that mean in the context of my grandfather’s death?”

“In the state of California, if a man dies without a will, then all his assets are divided equally among his children. Smoke reckons that means that it will be divided equally between your mom and all four of Rufus’s sons, assuming there’s proof that they are his sons. Naturally, Big Joe and Hal’s share will go into a trust for them. If Edmund knows what’s good for him, then he’ll agree to forfeit his share in exchange for safe passage out of our territory and not being pursued by the Legion for his many crimes against your family and our club.”

“Oh, wow,” she responds, clearly shocked by this turn of events. “I was not expecting him to roll over quite that easily.”

I pull her in tight, “That leaves your mom, Dan, and the ingrates. A four-way split of seven thousand acres and the ranch, plus whatever other businesses Rufus had, is going to be life changing money for the four of them.”

Her face brightens, “I’m glad about how the situation was handled.”

“To be honest, I think Siege and Rigs just wanted to reach a solution, so they could go home and forget this ever happened.”

Her face flushes a light pink, “I can understand that. Maybe we should suggest Edmund’s share goes to your club for all their help? The clubhouse got damaged and that’s not gonna be cheap to repair.”

“I believe that was brought up, but our club officers refused.” Pulling a stray strand of hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear, I say, “I’m sorry grandchildren don’t have inheritance rights in California.”

She makes a dismissive gesture with one hand. “I don’t care about my grandfather’s money. I never did. I’m just happy my mom is inheriting enough to set her up for life. She deserves some peace and happiness after everything she’s been through.”

My phone beeps again and I pick it up. “It’s a message from Smoke, saying that he’s meeting with Dan and your mom about the funeral and estate. They’ve retained him to guide them through this process. Apparently, your grandfather had some oil and gas rights that need to be dealt with immediately upon his death or it might slow down the process of sorting out his estate. Your mom is requesting your presence to help her understand the situation better.” Looking up from my phone, I ask, “Are you good to go or do you need to rest some more?”

“No. I got a few hours of sleep. If my mom needs me, I’m good to go.”

I’m a bit sad that my dream of spending the day in bed with my woman has been spoiled, but the sooner we deal with this, then the sooner we can make a start on the rest of our lives.