Road to Redemption (21 page)

I’d barely managed to say hi to the men before Alex pulled his truck into the driveway. He looked worried as he stepped out of the truck and walked toward me, but when he caught my eye, he looked pissed. I forced myself not to roll my eyes as I closed the distance and met him halfway.

“You’re supposed to be inside,” he hissed.

“I was until about ten minutes ago. Lily’s dying to see her uncles, but I told her I wanted to check things out first.”

“Where’s your gun?”

“In my holster at my back,” I said.

“Is it loaded?”

I scoffed. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah.”

“Ohmigod, Hawk, this isn’t my first rodeo. Of
course
it’s loaded.”

He slipped his hand to my neck and thumbed my pulse. “You’re okay.”

I wrapped an arm around his waist. “Yes, honey, we’re both okay.”

His body finally relaxed and he leaned down to kiss me quickly. I smiled up at him. “That’s the most appropriate way to greet me, husband-to-be.”

Alex chuckled and kissed me again.

“Okay, we need to let Lily out,” I said. “She’s been really patient, but she’s missing you.”

Alex scanned the area and then nodded, so I waved to Bailey and the front door flew open just in time for the little flurry of blonde to make a mad dash for Alex. “Daddy!”

He bent at the waist and caught Lily, lifting her and hugging her tightly. “Hey, baby girl.”

“Owa pizza didn’t come.”

“I heard,” he said. “I’ll have a recruit pick another one up, yeah?”

“Okay, Daddy. Can I get down now?”

Alex lowered her to the ground and she made a beeline for Mack who lifted her the same way Alex had before hugging her and handing her off to Booker who swung her up in the air.

“Yo, Binky,” Alex called.

A young man who looked about twelve, but must have been at least eighteen, came jogging up to us. “Yeah, boss.”

“I need you to get pizzas. Two cheese, large combo, pepperoni.”

“No problem.”

I reached out my hand and smiled. “I’m Payton.”

He shook it, his grin wide. “Binky.”

“Nice to meet you.”

He gave me a chin lift and went off to find food.

“Mama, can Uncle Mack stay?” Lily patted my leg and smiled up at me, her hand firmly in Mack’s.

I giggled. “Of course he can.”

“Yay. Come on, Mack. Let’s watch Fwozen.” She tugged him away and he looked back at us helplessly.

“So, his appeal isn’t just to the adult female population,” I mused.

Alex raised an eyebrow. “What the fuck, Payton.”

I giggled. “Not my type, honey. Don’t worry.”

“Better.” He smiled and kissed me quickly before turning toward the crowd. “Booker. Inside.”

Booker gave him a salute, left the man he was standing with, and followed us inside.

“Should I send food out?” I asked.

“Nah, they’re splittin’ up shifts,” Alex said. “When the dust settles, we can go from there.”

“Okay. I should probably call my parents and warn them that there’s a biker gang in front of their house.”

“You do that. I’ll grab the beer from my truck and talk to my brothers real quick.”

I nodded and dialed my mom.

T
HE SATURDAY BEFORE school started up again, Alex was wound up tighter than a spring. He’d agreed to attend Dallas and Macey’s annual New Year’s party the week before, but I think it was partly because pretty much every man, and a few women, were armed and able to defend me should anything happen. Lily was with my parents, still being guarded by two agents, so he “allowed” the outing.

The threat had not been “eliminated,” so he hadn’t slept the night before, concerned about being split between me and Lily. We’d looked at a couple of houses that week, but nothing really fit, so Gordon had suggested building. Our plan was to look at a couple of model homes in the area on Sunday.

After dinner, we spent time with Lily and then put her to bed. This gave us some precious time alone and we took drinks into the game room and sat down to talk.

“Can you take time off?” Alex asked.

“No, honey. I just had two weeks. Not to mention the time I took when Kris was in the hospital.” I stroked his cheek. “I’m fine, Alex. I’ll have an escort to and from school. Brock’s also spoken with the principal, so he knows I’ll be armed. My gun and holster are small, so no one else will know. I’m covered.”

He shook his head. “I don’t like you being up here without me.”

“Well, you can always stay here. I know it’s not the ideal situation, but Mom offered to watch Lily while we look for a preschool just in case you want to move sooner.”

“I don’t want to do that to your parents, babe.”

“Do you have a better plan?” I challenged.

“Fuck,” he whispered.

“Look, I get that you’re not used to taking help, but they’re offering. You’ve been around long enough to know that it’s not offered with strings. My parents do it because they love us. You too, honey. It’s unconditional.”

“I know.”

“So, let’s plan to hang up here for a while. Who knows? We could find a house tomorrow and then some real planning can happen and we’ll all feel more settled.” I sipped my wine. “Who’s with Kayla?”

“Buzz.”

I’d met Buzz at a club night… he had been one of Booker’s recruits but was now a full patch member.

“Well, she’s protected, I’m protected, Lily’s protected. We’re all covered and you don’t have to split yourself in two trying to juggle it all if you stay up here.”

He sipped his beer and stared at the wall.

“You have to let us love you, honey. We’re kind of rabid when people don’t.” One side of his mouth twitched up and I smiled.

“Salvation,” he whispered.

“Hmm?”

He faced me, sliding his hand to my pulse. “You’re my salvation, Payton.”

“Honey, don’t say that,” I said. “Only God can be anyone’s salvation.”

“You light my path, then.” Alex smiled. “Never in a million years did I ever think I’d find someone who could love me… not the way you love me. You humble me.”

“I feel the same way about you, honey. I have never felt love the way you give it.” I leaned into his hand. “I’m just glad you feel at least a little of what I feel for you.”

He rose to his feet and took my wine. “Come with me.”

I didn’t hesitate, following him back to my room. Once inside, Alex set our drinks on my bureau and closed the door, locking it behind us. He stepped into my closet and pulled a box down from the ledge, setting it on the bed.

“I bought something for you.” Lifting a chain out of the box, he smiled. “These are nipple clamps. We can tighten them as we go or loosen them if it doesn’t work.”

I shivered. “I love it when you…”

He chuckled. “I know you do. Sometimes I’m afraid I’ll hurt you though. This means you have the power.”

I grinned and pulled off my shirt, unclasped my bra, and let them both fall to the floor. “Show me.”

“Fuck me,” he breathed. “I love how much you love sex.”

“I love sex with you. There’s a difference.”

He kissed me and then rolled my nipples between his fingers before securing each clamp and tightening the little screw. “How’s that?”

“More,” I said, my body already on fire.

He tightened them more and I groaned, reaching for his jeans and undoing the fly. I slid my hand under his boxer briefs and wrapped my hand around his already hardening cock. “Fuck me.”

“Let’s make this last a little, huh?” He tugged gently on the chain between the clamps and I shook my head, pushing my jeans and panties from my hips.

“Screw that,” I said, grabbing his hand and guiding it between my legs. “Feel.”

“Beautiful,” he whispered, and kissed me.

Lifting me onto the bed, he laid his palm to my chest and held me where he wanted me, kneeling between my legs and covering my core with his mouth. I squirmed against his mouth and he raised his head with a frown. “If you can’t stay still, I’m gonna tie you to the bed.”

I licked my lips, my breath leaving my body. “Tie me.”

His eyes widened and then he grinned, stepping off the bed, and heading back into my closet. He returned with two of my robe sashes and ran the end of one across my belly. “Head on the pillows, baby.”

I shifted so my head was up by the headboard.

“Slide down a bit.”

I slid down and he took a nipple, clamp and all, in his mouth. He pressed the clamp tighter with his teeth and I felt the heat pool between my legs. He tied one hand to the post and then the other. I was suddenly glad I hadn’t swapped the guest room bed with the one I’d bought when I’d moved in with Macey. My designer headboard wasn’t conducive to kinky sex. Something I’d need to think about for the future.

“Too tight?” he asked.

I shook my head, and he pushed off his jeans and knelt between my legs again. This time, he lifted my hips and slid into me, falling over me and covering my mouth with his. I wrapped my legs around him, the only way I could touch him.

He broke the kiss with a grin, sliding out of me and then in again slowly. “Put your right leg higher around my waist, I’m going to roll you slightly.”

I did as he directed and he tilted me enough that my arm wasn’t hyper-extended, but it opened my upper body a bit more to him. As he rocked into me, he tugged on the chain between my clamps and I hissed with need. He was going far too slow. I lifted my left leg so I could control my lower body and arched against him.

He tugged on the chain again, sending a shot of desire between my legs again. “Greedy pussy.”

“God, yes,” I breathed. “Please, baby, don’t go slow.”

He cupped my bottom and squeezed. “You want it harder?”

“Yes,” I panted.

He smacked me and I threw my head back with a sigh. For the next several minutes, he tugged, slapped, and drove into me while I came apart in his arms. He rolled me onto my back again and slammed into me over and over again, his final thrust combined with pulling the chain down and I shattered.

Alex released me from my ties and I wrapped my arms around his neck and sobbed into his chest.

“Honey, did I hurt you?” he whispered, pulling me close.

“No. It was amazing,” I whispered, hiccupping as I spoke. “Oh, my
god
, it was amazing.”

He chuckled and held me tighter. “I love you, Payton.”

I dropped my head back to so I could meet his eyes. “I can tell.”

Alex thumbed my tears away and kissed me gently. “I can’t wait to make babies with you.”

I giggled. “Oh, yeah, babies. We haven’t had that conversation yet.”

He removed one clamp, sucking gently on my nipple, then did the same to the other. “How do they feel?”

“Like that’s going to be something regular.”

Alex laughed and climbed from the bed. “We’ll branch out to other toys later.”

“I want something spectacular for our honeymoon.”

“Done.” He put the clamps back in the box and secured them on the shelf again.

“How many kids do you want?” I asked.

“As many as you want to give me,” he said, and stretched out on the bed again.

I rolled onto his chest and kissed his neck. “Good answer.”

He grinned. “I think I’d like a couple more. I like the idea of doing it
with
someone this time around.”

“That all sounds good to me.”

Alex pulled the covers around us and settled his hand on my bottom. “Are you excited about tomorrow?”

“Possibly building a home less than five minutes from my parents? Yes. Does that make me weird?”

“No, that doesn’t make you weird… other things make you weird, but not that.”

I grinned up at him. “Bite me.”

“Again?” He pushed me onto my back. “Babe, you’re gonna wear me out.”

I giggled as he shimmied under the blankets and kissed my stomach. He kissed one breast and then the other before pulling me against him again. “We should probably talk about how you want to handle the house situation.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think you should buy it, then I think we should have a pre-nup that states we leave with whatever we came with.”

I pushed away from him and sat up on my knees. “Excuse me?”

“Don’t get upset, baby. I’m trying to protect you.”

“From
what
?”

“In case we don’t work out,” he said.

Out loud. He said the dumbest thing on the fucking planet out
loud.

I pointed to the door. “Get out.”

“Payton.”

“No, get out, Hawk. If you’re ready for this marriage to be over before it’s even started, then you better get used to sleeping on the sofa or guest room, or bathtub. I don’t care. Just get out.”

He let out a sigh. “Can we start over?”

“I don’t know, can you get your head out of your ass before we do?”

Alex grinned. “My reasoning is pure, baby, I promise.”

“I’m marrying you, Alex. You’re marrying me. What’s mine is yours and vice-versa. I don’t want or need a pre-nup.” I crossed my arms. “Besides, if divorce is something we discuss, I will be living off of your life insurance policy shortly after that conversation.”