But Flame?
Flame was so many things that I couldn’t even describe how he made me feel. He made my heart pound, and that alpha bitch inside me rammed into him too, but I also wanted his protection. If anything, I found it easiest to submit to him.
Flame was probably the strongest of us all. He’d be Prez if he wasn’t certifiable. He wasn’t crazy like my dad who’d earned his name, but he was definitely cuckoo. I loved him all the more for that though. One of my biggest fears had been that, without me to ground him, he’d really go off the rails.
In his face, I saw lines of strain, of fatigue that came from trying to present himself as normal, but Flame would never be normal. He just hadn’t been born that way.
“You always did see me, didn’t you, sugar?” he rasped, and I wasn’t even surprised that he knew where my mind had wandered.
“Didn’t you always see me too?” I replied, my voice low and husky as my heart eventually calmed, my breathing returning to normal like he’d intended in the first place.
“Yeah, I did.” He reached down and pressed a kiss to my mouth. It was soft, gentle. Unlike him. He kissed me with a tenderness I’d never experienced before, with a love that I felt in my very marrow.
When his cock slid into me, he didn’t pump away or rut on me like a stallion in heat. And though I loved that, had needed Axe and Wolfe to fuck me that way to remind me who I was to them, I needed this now.
They’d destroyed me.
Razed me to the ground until I was nothing but ashes and ember.
Flame was going to build me up again.
The orgasm, when it came, was sweet and slow burn. It warmed me through, had an exquisite joy surging inside me as he told me, with his body, his kiss, and his cock, that he loved me.
Flame was bad with the words. Not as bad as Dagger, but almost. Today, though, he told me he loved me and there wasn’t a sweeter way for him to reveal that truth to me.
No sweeter way at all.
8
Wolfe
As the gates creaked open, I peered out the window to see who was coming in.
Not having heard the roar of motorcycle engines, I was surprised when a cage rattled down the drive.
It was a sleek import, and not something you often saw in these parts.
Rutherford was home to just under a thousand people. The income came from rearing cattle, so most of those thousand folks drove a truck or an SUV, not this fancy sedan that spoke of the city.
As I got to my feet, I saw the others’ attention switch to me and then over to the window.
“What is it?”
I jerked my chin at the window. “We have a visitor.”
When Axe whistled, I knew he was just as impressed by the caliber of vehicle. Then, when we saw the slicked-back head of the driver as he climbed out, I grunted.
“What the fuck is Ramon doing here?”
I wasn’t surprised when a few moments later, Jodie-May came barreling out of the clubhouse with a squeal. Ramon laughed as he hugged her close, then kissed her on the cheek. She didn’t let him get away with that though. Instead, she slipped him some tongue that had my brows rising as their kiss surged from freezing temps to boiling.
It was Dagger’s turn to whistle. “Always was a great kisser.”
I snorted out a laugh. “You’re the only one who’d dare go near her. Aaron’s fourteen and she still wants a daddy for him.”
He grunted, but I saw him hide his laugh. “Wonder what he’s doing here.”
“Haven’t seen him in years. That’s probably why she’s tongue-fucking him right this second,” Flame pointed out drily.
I hummed under my breath as I contemplated why the cartel foot soldier was here, and calculated very fucking quickly that it probably wouldn’t be for a good reason.
Ramon patted Jodie-May on the ass and she led him inside. I turned to the others and murmured, “What are the odds he just wants to fuck Jodie-May?”
“Slim to none?” Axe retorted with a laugh.
“Fuck,” I grumbled, and braced myself for the knock on the door.
When it came a few moments later, I trudged over and opened it myself.
Jodie-May had made herself scarce, and Ramon was standing there alone.
“Good to see you, bro,” I told him, and I meant it. Ramon had always been a cool fucker. He didn’t ride a bike, but he had the spirit of a biker. That didn’t take away from the fact he was mean as shit and had more blood on his hands than even Flame, and fuck, Flame could probably swim around in the blood he’d shed.
Ramon held out his hand for me to shake, then he hauled me in for a bro hug. As he slapped me on the back, he murmured, “Same here, muchacho.”
“How’s the family?” I asked, as I invited him in then took a seat behind the desk.
“All’s good. Same on this end?”
I smirked at him as he took a seat opposite me. He was a few inches shorter than me, but the guy had presence. Unlike me, who wore a pair of jeans, a wifebeater, and my cut, he wore a slick suit that he had to be miserable in in this hot weather. With his greased back hair and goatee, he looked like Lou Diamond Philips.
“Yeah, all’s great. Lots in the works.”
“Good to hear it. I always was sad that we broke ways.” He rubbed his chin. “I always could be assured a warm welcome.”
I snorted as I reached into my desk drawer and drew out a bottle of Scotch. Behind him, Dagger grabbed a few tumblers and he set them on the desk as he clapped Ramon on the back.
“Good to see you,” Dag told him too, with Flame and Axe echoing the sentiment.
As I poured us all some drinks, I said around a laugh, “We saw Jodie-May’s greeting. Warm ain’t the word.”
Ramon grinned and waggled his brow. “Hot as fuck that one.” He smacked his lips, but in his eyes, I saw something that put me on edge.
“Everything all right, man?” I queried carefully, pushing a Scotch his way.
“You’d been VP for how long before you became Prez?”
I blinked, surprised by the question. “Two years. I was Road Captain before that.”
“Got arrested too.”
Nodding, I told him, “Nothing too bad. They couldn’t pin shit on me for smuggling though. Got me on evading arrest.” I shrugged. “Had to try to get away from the pigs, didn’t I?”
“Shame it didn’t work,” he retorted drily. “I only ask because I wondered if you were in the know about why I’m here today.”
I shook my head. “No. In the dark. Was this an arrangement or something with Bomber?”
“No. Not exactly.” He sighed. “I was hoping it would end with Bomber, but Carlos is a mean bastard. His grudges don’t die, and when he heard that Lucie Steeler was back in Rutherford?” He clucked his tongue. “Shit hit the fan and heads rolled. Thankfully not mine, but it was a close call. Especially since I was the one he set to find her all those years ago.”
I gaped at him, while Dagger had the wherewithal to demand, “What the fuck?”
“I wouldn’t worry. I knew where she was all along, but Bomber and I had a deal.” His mouth tightened. “Her safety for Aaron’s. He might only be a bastard, but he’s mine and his mama gave me some good times. No need to waste a life when I wasn’t that interested in finding Lucie anyway.”