Before we left home, he promised to worship me and he’s definitely keeping that promise. Under him, I squirm, trying to get our bodies as close as possible.

  “Eager this morning?” Rock teases.

  Before I spit out an answer, his phone goes off.

  “No,” I whine in frustration.

  Rock’s gaze darts between the phone and me. “It’s Z. He wouldn’t bother us if it wasn’t important.”

  “Get it.”

  He rolls off me, grabbing the phone. “What?” he snaps.

  I can’t complain. This is the first time the guys have interrupted us. Honestly, I expected a call much sooner. To give Rock some privacy, I duck into the bathroom. After taking my time, brushing my teeth, washing my face, combing my hair, I’m feeling less generous.

  “Are you fucking serious?” Rock snaps into the phone. He glances up when I emerge and flashes a tight smile.

  I stop to take him all in. My big, sexy, naked man, sitting on the edge of the bed. Frustrated and annoyed. Well, I can fix that.

  Up and off goes my T-shirt.

  Rock raises an eyebrow.

  Dropping down next to him, I let my thigh rub up against his. He places one hand on my leg, absently rubbing while he continues tearing Z a new ass.

  “No. It’s fine, we’re coming home tonight. Set it up for tomorrow. No. Tomorrow. I don’t care what he says.”

  My hand closes over his cock, stroking lightly. He gasps and gives me a stern head shake.

  Sliding to the floor, I wedge myself between his legs. His hand rests on my head, holding me back. It’s an odd little struggle we’re having. I stretch my tongue, wriggling until I make contact.

  He drops his hand. I win.

  The instant I wrap my lips around his hard length, he lets out a moan.

  “Fuck. I need to call you back.” I flick the underside of his cock with my tongue. “Shut up,” he hisses into the phone. The phone clatters on the nightstand and above me, Rock groans.

  “Naughty, Hope,” he whispers in a rough voice.

  I hum with laughter and swirl my tongue around his cock. He reaches down, gathering my hair in his hands, holding it back from my face. I flick my gaze up and the intense expression he’s wearing shoots heat through me. Opening wide, I wrap my lips around him, taking as much as I can, grasping him with my hand and working him with firm strokes of my mouth and fist.

  “Hope,” he groans. My name comes out garbled as if it hurts to concentrate on anything besides what I’m doing to him. I like having my big, tough man at my mercy this way and plan to do this a lot more often when we get home. The desire I’d felt earlier when he was pleasuring me comes roaring back like a wildfire. I pull back, teasing with long, soft licks. He shudders and his hands tighten in my hair, guiding me the way he wants. I gasp and try to keep up, but before I know it, he’s tugging back on my hair.

  “Up.”

  It takes a second for the word to sink in. With his hand holding my hair hostage, I’m forced to slide my body up his to get off the floor. “That’s it. Good girl,” he whispers, dragging me against him until we fall back on the bed. “Need you to ride me. Then I’m going to bend you over and spank your ass.”

  “The hell you are,” I say, as I throw a leg over him, lining us up and sinking down.

  He places his hands behind his head and gives me a smug smile. “Do a good job.”

  Bastard. I close my eyes and gasp as he pushes up, stretching me so perfect. His hand cupping my face makes me open my eyes. He pulls me down roughly for a kiss, covering my mouth. Nothing soft or gentle about it. His hands move down, grabbing at my hips and ass, then he turns, shoving me into the bed, grinding into me. A gasp leaves me and I clutch at his shoulders. His mouth is at my neck, kissing and licking his way over to my shoulder. The tension builds inside me fierce and fast as his hips swivel, pressing himself hard against my clit. For a second, I’m tight all over, then I just explode. White stars dance behind my eyelids. Rock only gives me a second to enjoy it, before ripping me off him, urging me to my knees in the center of the bed and filling me from behind. His hand slaps my ass. “Bad girl. You know Z figured out exactly what you were up to.”

  “Like you wouldn’t tell him anyway.”

  I get another spank for that one. He falls down over me, fucking me down to the mattress. His hands dig into my hips, holding me in place. “I never talk details about our sex life with any of them. You’re mine. Every bit of this, belongs to me,” he growls against my ear.

  I’m gasping and panting with his heavy body fucking me into the mattress and so damn turned on I’m worried the flammable sheets might be a problem. He slides up and off me and the hot spurt of cum hits my back and ass.

  For a minute neither of us move as we try to catch our breath.

  His hand connects with my ass, but it’s more of a loving squeeze. “Time to clean up and head home, Baby Doll.”

  “We need to do this again soon,” I mumble into the comforter.

  “Oh, we will. As soon as we get home.”

  I roll over and catch the grin on his face. “That’s not what I meant.”

  He holds out a hand and pulls me up. “I know.”

  I have a strange feeling of unease as we ride home. Never felt that before. Maybe it’s because I had such an overwhelming sense of peace while reconnecting with Hope and I know there’s a lot of unpleasant matters waiting for me to deal with when I return.

  Or maybe it’s because she drained me dry before we left. I probably should have chugged a couple gallons of water to replace the fluids she stole from me. Somehow before we left, I’d come two more times. Both in the shower. The water was stone cold by the time we finished. The performances this woman coaxes out of me are unreal. Replaying every second, improves my mindset. Having Hope at my back and the wind in my face also helps.

  To ruin my good mood, as soon as we cross the New York border, a state trooper pulls us over. “Fuck me. I wasn’t even speeding,” I grumble as we pull over.

  While we wait for the officer to run my license, Hope dismounts and takes her helmet off. “I’m hot,” she says, reading the question on my face.

  “Miss? Are you okay?” The officer calls out.

  “I’m fine.”

  Even though the charges were dropped, obviously my recent stay at Slater County Jail for murder pops on my abstract, because the officer’s a lot less friendly when he returns.

  “Where you been, Mr. North?”

  “Returning from vacation.”

  “Sure leaving the state was a good idea?”

  “Is there a problem officer?” Hope asks, using her courtroom tone. I drop my head and stifle a laugh.

  “Something funny, sir?”

  “Nope.”

  The young trooper has his hand near his weapon. “Miss, if you need help, you can come with me.”

  Oh, boy.

  “Excuse me?” Hope snaps, walking closer.

  The trooper seems to reevaluate the situation. “Are you together?”

  “Yes. And if you don’t mind, my fiancé and I are expected somewhere, so can you hurry this along, please.”

  “Sure, as soon as I figure out why someone who was just incarcerated for murder was leaving the state.”

  I raise my gaze to the sky. We’re going to be here for a while. I’ll be lucky if we’re both not carted off to jail.

  “Since you’re so knowledgeable, officer, you should also be aware that those false charges were dropped. He’s free to go wherever he pleases.”

  “What are you, his lawyer?”

  Why does everyone ask her that?

  Her lips curl into a smirk. Fuck, she’s hot when she’s pissed off.

  “No. But I am an attorney. You have no right to detain us. You can’t use his recent release for a crime he didn’t commit as an excuse for probable cause. So just write whatever tickets you’re going to write and let us go.”

  He doesn’t seem to know what to do with all that. Finally
he stares at me. “Thought you MC thugs kept your women in line a little better. Gonna let her do all the talking for you, prez?”

  Jesus Christ.

  I give him a slow, country-boy grin. “Sure. Being a lawyer and all, she’s much better with the words.”

  He snorts in disgust and stomps back to his car. When he returns about twenty minutes later, Hope’s radiating all sort of pissed-off vibes, but she keeps quiet. He hands me a bunch of tickets, which I pass to her. She stuffs them in her pocket, slips her helmet on and gets behind me. We take off without any additional bullshit.

  I’m furious about the whole situation, but also amused as fuck at the way Hope handled it.

  We make it to the clubhouse without any further incidents. Unlike when I got out of jail and couldn’t wait to take off, now I don’t want to leave the property for at least a month. I’m extra-annoyed that Green Street Crew’s wannabe Kingpin, Loco, has demanded to meet with me.

  Z and Murphy are outside working on one of the vehicles when we pull in. Sparky’s surprisingly out in the sunshine, overseeing their work. Murphy happily jogs over to greet us as I back my bike into its spot, Z and Sparky right behind him.

  I get a brisk embrace from each of them. Murphy turns to Hope with a raised eyebrow. “Well?”

  “Oh, I loved it, Murphy!” She grabs him in a big hug, then gives Z the same. Even Sparky accepts a brief embrace from her.

  Z pats her on the head. “We missed you around here.”

  “I doubt that. I’m sure you guys went wild.”

  Z shrugs and I’m not sure how to interpret that. “Where is everyone?”

  “Wrath and Trinity took off day after you two.”

  “Where?”

  Z shrugs. “Don’t know. Adirondacks I think.”

  Good. I’m actually happy to hear it.

  Teller appears from one of the trails leading into the woods, a small dark-haired girl at his back. Mariella, I assume. “Hey, prez!” he calls out. She follows him over but doesn’t look too happy.

  Hope takes my hand and wraps her other hand around my arm. “That’s Mariella.”

  “I figured.”

  She lets go long enough for me to give Teller a quick hug. “Welcome back, prez.”

  I raise an eyebrow at Teller and he pushes Mariella forward. “I don’t think you two were able to meet before you left,” he says as he introduces us.

  “Sorry about that.” She’s a skittish thing. Blinks a few times before answering.

  “It’s okay. I’m so sorry, Mr. North—”

  I hold up a hand to stop her. “First, call me Rock or prez. None of that Mr. North crap.” Her mouth twitches but she doesn’t answer. “Second, we’re fine. Third, are my guys taking good care of you?”

  “Oh yes,” she answers in a rush.

  “Good. You need anything, let Hope know.”

  “I will.”

  “I hear you’re planning to take over some of Trin’s household stuff? You really want to do that?”

  “Yes. I actually worked as a housekeeper for a large chain down in Miami before my brother brought me…here.”

  That’s news to me.

  “I managed my own team of four other girls, so this is a piece of cake,” she finishes.

  Everyone stares at her.

  “That’s great. We’re happy to have you then. Thank you.” She sort of fades away after that. Still standing with the group, but keeping to herself.

  Ravage and Stash burst out of the clubhouse to greet us, followed by Swan.

  After we all stand around bullshitting for a few minutes, I grab our stuff, and take Hope inside.

  “You okay?” I ask when we’re in our room.

  “Yeah, just a little tired.”

  I drop everything on the chest at the foot of the bed. “Well, I didn’t let you get much sleep.”

  Her mouth quirks up. “True.” She starts peeling off her clothes. “I am feeling all sweaty and gross. Care to join me in a shower, Mr. President?”

  “Fuck, yeah.”

  I’m not sorry to say she doesn’t get much sleep once we’re home either.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  After I have my way with Hope, again, I leave her sleeping in our room and head downstairs. It’s probably unhealthy, the amount of time I want to keep my dick in her. If I dig into some work stuff, it will be good for both of us.

  Z, Murphy, Teller, Ravage, Stash and Sparky are all at the war room table.

  “Surprised you can walk, old man,” Z says with a smirk when I drop into my chair. “We figured you were fucking for four days straight.”

  My fuck off stare works wonders, and Z snaps his mouth shut. “Where’s Dex and Bricks?”

  “On their way,” Teller answers. “And for the record, we,” he points at Murphy and himself, “didn’t speculate at all on what you two were up to. Z’s the resident perv. Just thought I’d clear that up.”

  “Fuck you,” Z laughs out.

  “Christ, I missed you assholes.” My grin sort of ruins the sarcasm I was aiming for. “Anyone call Wrath to let him know what was up?”

  “Yeah. They should be getting back soon, too,” Z answers.

  “Well, you dragged me down here, so give me some details while we wait.”

  “I think Loco’s feelings were hurt that you didn’t call him as soon as you got out.”

  “Jesus Christ.”

  “No, seriously. He says he’s got something big he wants to discuss with you.”

  “Every thought that pops in his pea brain is a ‘big deal.’ What now?”

  “I think he wants to exterminate some Vipers.”

  “Why now?”

  “Don’t know.”

  I know for a fact, Loco’s played both sides of our beef with the Vipers. I don’t fault him for it. I sure as fuck don’t stick my nose in his disputes with the 18th Street Boyz. Fuck, when they have the cash and we have the product, I’ll even sell to those little punks.

  A sniffing-tickling sensation at my ankles pulls me out of my thoughts. I duck my head under the table and find two pups wrestling with my bootlaces. “Hey, guys.” I snap my fingers a few times and they waddle closer, sniffing and licking my hand.

  “Looks like you forgot to mention something.”

  Z chuckles. “Yeah. Figured we could use some guard dogs up here.”

  They’re cute little shits and Z’s right. That’s one thing we’ve been missing at our compound. A short, sharp whistle from Z and the two pups hustle next to his chair and plop down, tails wagging. He flips a small piece of jerky to each of them.

  “Positive, motivational, training,” he explains.

  “All you, brother.”

  “Almost forgot to tell you, Jasper will be here on Monday with a crew to get going on your house.”

  “Thanks. Wrath tell you he wants dibs on him next?”

  “He mentioned it.”

  The man himself walks into the clubhouse next. He and Trinity stop in the doorway. “Hey, sorry. We got down here as fast—”

  “Just got here myself.”

  Trinity waves to everyone at the table with her free hand. Wrath doesn’t seem ready to release her just yet.

  “Is Hope upstairs?” she asks me.

  “Sleeping.”

  She snickers. “I assume she didn’t get much rest.”

  My chuckle annoys Z. “How come it’s funny when she says it, but you get all pissed off at me?”

  “‘Cause Trin ain’t picturing it and wishin’ it was her,” Ravage answers, getting a laugh from everyone.

  “Fuck you,” Z says, but he’s laughing as hard as everyone else.

  “Great. So glad I rushed back for this,” Wrath bitches, pulling Trinity into the living room.

  While they’re…doing whatever they’re doing, Dex and Bricks join us. We all catch up while we wait for Wrath.

  A few minutes later, he shuts the war room door and takes his seat at the table.

  I point to Z. “You’re on.”
r />
  Z sits up, all business now. “Like I said before, Loco called. Told him you took off with your ol’ lady and would be back in a few days. But he was real adamant he had to meet with you.”

  “Fine. You set it up?”

  “Yup. Tomorrow morning. Danny’s Diner out by the airport.”

  I just stare at him.

  “Aw, he wants to have brunch. That’s sweet, prez,” Ravage says with a snicker.

  Dex picks up where Ravage leaves off. “Now remember, even if he pays, you don’t have to put out.”

  While my asshole brothers laugh it up, I close my eyes, take a deep breath and try not to choke every one of them. “Why. The. Fuck. Are we meeting in the morning at a diner?”

  “He said it’s a safe meeting place.”

  I glance at Wrath who shrugs. “I’ll go check it out tonight. Murphy can ride with me.”

  Murphy glances up at the mention of his name. “Yeah. Okay.”

  “All right. Who’s opening CB tomorrow?”

  Dex raises his hand. My gaze roams over each of my brothers. “Rav, you go to CB with Dex.”

  He rubs his hands together like a creep. “No problem.”

  “Keep your hands to yourself, pussy wizard,” Z says. Ravage grins and throws up his middle finger.

  “Bricks, Sparky and Stash, stay here. I don’t want to scare Loco.”

  Anytime I’m not asking Sparky to leave the compound, he’s happy. “You got it, boss.”

  “The rest of you, and Hoot will come with me.” I glance at Wrath. “Unless you see something tonight that makes you think another approach would be better.”

  “Okay.”

  “So what are we doing with the Vipers?”

  “Kill ‘em all,” Z says. And he’s not joking.

  “We looking for Loco’s support on this? I hate teaming up with street punks on club matters.”

  Wrath shrugs. “He wants to do the heavy lifting, by all means, let him.”

  “Yeah, but what’s in it for him?”

  “He probably wants to get a foothold in Ironworks,” Murphy answers and he just holds back the duh in his answer.