For Her Honor (28 page)

~~~***~~~

Wedding
nights were overrated, especially if you’ve been having atomic sex for months. But something about coming back to their little rental as a married couple felt….different to Taz. They were both different. They were now bound to each other by law. His woman. His old lady. His wife.

How the hell
had this all happened so fast?

They made it inside and
he got her straight to the bedroom, getting his hands in the crunchy fur of that jacket she was wearing. “As damn, fuckin’ gorgeous as you look in this, I can’t wait to get it off.”

He slid the jacket off while she raised her arms to untie the bow at th
e back of her neck which held up her dress. When she did, the material fell forward. She wasn’t wearing a bra. “Holy shit, sweetheart.” Two perfectly plump nipples stood erect and waiting for his mouth. He wasted no time taking her around the waist, hoisting her up until her tits were level with his face.

“Ah.
Taz. Yeah.”

He loved the sounds she made while he suckled her
, but when he flicked the stud over the tip of her nipple she squirmed in his arms. “Taz! Shit, that’s…..oh my God that feels so fucking good!”

She rarely swore and when she did he knew she meant business.
With both hands on his shoulders she pushed away and out of his arms, leaving him puzzled. “Kar?”

She pulled the rest of her clothes off.
“I don’t have time for foreplay bullshit.” In nothing but a pair of panties – also blush colored – she dug her fingers inside the waist of his pants and began to unbutton and unzip.

“Who
am I to deny my wife?” Wow, that sounded strange, but….nice. Together they both stripped, and Karen pulled him to the bed, down on top of her. He leered over her. “Missionary? Classic.”

“Call me old
-fashioned,” she mused. “I want to see your face, to see how you look when you’re inside me. Nothing between us.”

His eyes na
rrowed and darkened. “No wrap?”

She shook her head.
“We’re married. We’re doing it right. So let’s do it right.”

Fuck
, he loved her.

He brought his mouth down upon her, crushing his lips to hers as he pushed inside.
The feeling of being bare naked inside her wet snugness caused a groan to escape from his chest. “Jesus, Karen. Fuck, sweetheart you feel fantastic.”

Something inside made him cease his frantic pace and alleviate the pressure on her lips.
Instead, he eased back, moving in and out of her with slow, measured thrusts while he sensually kissed her lips. It killed him not to go fast and furious, as the anticipation, the build-up, the pleasurable sounds coming from the back of her throat challenged his control. He wanted this to last as long as possible. Pulling back, he did what she asked and gazed into those gorgeous eyes of hers before they began to roll back with desire. She was so very beautiful and giving. And his. All his. That look on her face alone, if not the anticipation, would do him in.

And eventually, it
did. He didn’t want it to end, but with the day being as long as it was, as gorgeous and feminine she looked in that dress, as much as the liquor buzzed his brain – he knew he wouldn’t last. He’d have the rest of the night for that.

“Shit!
Shit! Karen!”

“Taz,
yeah. That’s it. Oh my God, that’s it. Yes. Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.” Her arms clamped around his neck as her warm breath flooded his ear. “I love you. I love you so much.”

That completely unraveled him
, and he released himself deep and hot inside of her, the feeling that accompanied it was like no other he’d ever felt in his life. And then it quickly dawned upon him why. He hadn’t just fucked his ol’ lady.

He
had just made love to his wife.

~~~***~~~

Some say your first child comes early. Others say late. Ben and Eva Lawson’s first child decided to come right on the due date.

And
Daddy was MIA.

Karen had stopped by Eva’s hou
se in the afternoon to bring some paperwork and found her in the bathroom, a puddle of water on the black and white checked tile floor. Her wide blue eyes looked up at Karen after calling her upstairs. “Oh shit,” Eva exclaimed. “Now?
Now?
It couldn’t be two days ago or two days from now when Ben’s home? Shit!”

She rarely heard her boss swear like this, but considering the circumstances, she was justified.
Ben, Taz and Aero had left yesterday afternoon for the Ohio charter. Seemed the brotherly love from the Halloween run hadn’t lasted too long. Already, there was a bit of dissension in the ranks. Nothing critical, but enough that the mother charter – yes, Tippitt was now a mother charter – needed to make an appearance and play referee. Vic was content to stay behind and let his V.P. handle the bullshit. He’d be taking the gavel one day and would need to learn to sort this shit out. Ben was asked to come as a formidable presence. Taz accompanied for levity.

Both women were without their men
, and Karen let instinct take over by taking charge. “Let’s get you downstairs and to Weirton. We’ll call Ben on the way. Taz said they’d be back by five.”

Eva allowed her to carefully walk her down the curved staircase of the pretty little Victorian home, her hand cupped under the bottom of her swollen belly.
“It’s three o’clock. This little sprout better hold out.”

“You have a bag packed?” Karen asked.

“Oh…yeah.” Eva looked to be lost in confusion. “In our room. On the chair.”

“I’ll get it.”
Karen dashed up the stairs, grabbed the canvas duffel Eva had pre-packed and went back down. “You want to go in your Jeep?”

Eva nodded.
“Yeah. More room for me to spread out.” She held her stomach. “Shit, Ben! Fucking douchebag! You’re supposed to be here, dammit!”

Her boss’
s colorful choice of words made Karen bite back a smile. “Usually it’s ‘
you’re never touching me again’
.”

“Well.”
Eva looked sheepish as they headed out the back slider, pausing to make sure it was locked. “That’s never gonna happen.”

Karen knew that.
In the short time she’d known these men who were the Mountain Skulls of Tippitt, West Virginia, the one solid truth was that they were fiercely protective of what was theirs. It was that manner which drew the female of the species towards them. Being on the opposite side of the civilian fence, Karen had been able to discern the difference between the world she’d left and the one she had entered. On the outside, these men would be viewed as chauvinistic Neanderthals. But up front, they were loyal, dedicated, hard-working and hard-loving men who’d go balls to the wall for their club and family. Having the women follow their men’s lead wasn’t about submissiveness, but trust. Karen had taken care of herself a good majority of her life. She’d packed up and moved away with next to nothing and had risen above it all on her own. The only wives she’d had as role models were her sister and mother, and neither were ones she’d use as a prototype.

Truth, Taz
had laid down the law in their home as far as his role and why she needed to follow his lead. It was almost liberating for Karen to give it over to him, to allow him to take the reins. He had continued to school her in the ways of the club and what was expected of her. Granted, it was no different from what Shelia did when orchestrating an outrageous dinner party to entertain Sam and his colleagues. The Skulls were just a different set of men who took the words sacrifice to a completely different level. Their word was their life, and to break it was a sin. These outlaws lived by a completely different set of rules and codes that you had to be on the inside to understand. And little by little, Karen had.

And right now, she understood her role as the newest old lady
was to get the wife of the club’s enforcer to the hospital - stat. “Let’s get you there.” She helped Eva into the passenger side of her maroon Jeep and took the keys from here. “We’ll hold him off as long as possible.”

Eva looked at her quizzically.
“I never told you it was a ‘him’.”

“No, you didn’t.”
Karen remembered the nursery Karen showed her once it was finished - done up in toast, cream and a hint of green and yellow. The crib, changing table, dresser and rocker were a grainy oak, and faint sheers covered the windows. Gender neutral – no blue or pink – yet it looked too masculine for a girl. “But the turret doesn’t exactly look like a girl’s room.”

Eva reclined in the seat and stretched her legs out.
Her hands never left her belly as she smiled. “Because it isn’t. It’s a boy. We’ve had a hard time keeping it quiet. Well, I have, at least.”

Karen pulled out of the driveway and headed towards the on-ramp to the interstate to take them south.
“Anything you need before we get there?”

All of a sudden, Eva broke out in tears.
Karen chalked it up to hormones, or the fact her husband may not make it for the blessed event, but she sensed something else. “Eva? What is it?”

She stopped her crying jag enough to calm herself.
“We won’t have time to stop, but…..there’s a cemetery on the way. Can we at least drive by it? So I can have my dad with me?”

Karen wouldn’t
have dreamt of denying her that.

~~~***~~~

If this was what childbirth was like, Karen was seriously taking notes. Two hours later, Eva had been dilated enough that they wheeled her into the delivery room. She thought most labors went on for hours, but Baby Lawson was anxious to make an appearance.

And Ben still wasn’t here.

“No, no, no.” Eva was beside herself. “Go check. See if he’s here. Please….
OW
!”

Karen left Eva in the throes of labor and went out into the waiting room.
All the other Skulls had made it. Vic walked over from where he was standing by the window. “Everything good in there?”

“Yeah.
Just checking to see if Ben made it back.”

“Just spoke to ‘im.
Twenty minutes out – tops.”

Karen took a calming breath.
“Let’s hope she can hold out.”

She went back to the delivery room where Eva insisted she remain.
Ben’s wife didn’t have any immediate family. Her father was dead and her mother was never spoken of, which Karen thought odd. Then again, she’d barely had a peep from her own mother since the wedding.

“Karen?”
Eva reached out and took her hand. “Are they back?”

She shook her head.
“Not yet. Soon. Vic and the rest of the guys are here. He said about twenty minutes. Can you hold on?”

Eva jerked her body up, obviously feeling a contracti
on wracking her body. “
AH
!”

A doctor was down at the launch site, ready and waiting.
“Eva, you’re almost nine centimeters dilated. You can’t hold back anymore. You’re going to need to push.”

Screwing up her face, Eva held back the urge as she squeezed Karen’s hand – hard.
“I can’t. He’s not here. My husband isn’t here yet. I have to…..I have to….
AHHHHH!”

~~~***~~~

“Go, brother.” Taz urged Ben to leave his bike and get into the medical center. “We’ll take care of it.”

After parking his own, Taz carefully maneuvered Ben’s bike into a spot then jogged across the lot where Aero waited for him. They were welcoming a new member to the family
for the first time since Tanner’s son, Louis, was born. And from the frantic phone calls earlier, his wife had been with Eva the entire time. Karen wouldn’t leave Eva to go through this alone with her old man on the road. Damn, he was proud of her.

“He in?” Taz asked as he met Aero at the entrance.

“Yep. Let’s go see what that big lug made.”

~~~***~~~

“Eva?” The doctor looked up as Karen stood behind Eva with a cool cloth and ice chips ready to be administered. “Do you want to try and push again?”

“No!”
The mother-to-be was still in denial, wanting to hold back until the father of this child showed his face. “He has to be here. He needs to be here. It’s been almost twenty minutes. I….I need to wait.”

“
I think we may have to.” The doctor stood up from between her legs. “Eva, the baby is big. We may have to do a cesarean.”

The room suddenly got smaller when a six
-foot-six biker swallowed up the room. Every eye gazed at the dark-blonde behemoth whose amber-colored eyes sought out his woman lying on the table, who met him with her own fiery blue gaze. “About time. Our son wants out. We’re waiting for you.”

Karen stood back and watched the madness unfold as the doctor pointed at the enormous man who entered.
“You need a gown.”

The nurse looked perplexed.
“I don’t think we have one that’ll fit.”

Eva’s flashed a deadly stare at the nurse.
“Then tie two together!”