“If you want my dick, get on your knees.”
Lily forced her shaking body to move as he un-cuffed her wrists. With the use of her hands returned, she was able to get onto her knees, her dark hair sliding forward, hiding her face from his sharp gaze.
She watched as he removed his jeans.
“Do you really believe I will cheat on you?” Shade’s face was stoic as he stared at her, but the look in his eyes was easily readable.
“No.” Lily released a deep breath, beginning to cry.
A tender look crossed his face, his hand reaching out to stroke her face. “Angel, I’m not Marshall. He made you think he was going to be a father to you and betrayed your trust. That’s why when you felt Beth had betrayed you, you took it so bad. Beth didn’t betray you, and I sure as fuck won’t.”
Shade moved to the bed, getting into position behind her. His cock brushed the opening of her pussy, just letting the tip of his cock enter her. His hand pulled her hair back, keeping it in a tight grip.
“You’re going to give me everything I need from a woman.” His cock slid through her tight channel then came to a stop.
Lily cried out. “Please, Shade. I can’t take anymore.”
“You are the woman I love. You’re my wife. I never put my ring on another woman. I never gave them my love. I never gave them me. Not once. Only to you, my wife, have I given myself to. Don’t you ever doubt that again.”
“I won’t,” Lily cried out as he buried his length to her belly, his cock hitting her high, causing a brief flare of pain before his strokes changed direction, rubbing against the inside of her. It brought a fission of sensation unlike any she had felt before.
His hand gripped her hip, bringing her butt higher while he stroked downward. His other hand tugged at her hair, forcing her head back.
“I’m sorry, Sir,” Lily moaned over and over again as his dick plunged inside of her with enough force that she heard each smack as his body hit hers.
The erotic sound with the music made her feel as if he surrounded her, that there was no escape from the control he had over the pleasure that was breaking her apart into tiny pieces. The orgasm struck with a climatic force.
Lily lost all control of her body as she fell, shaking, to the mattress with Shade following her down, pinning her under his weight as he continued to fuck her steadily. Lily’s nails tore at the sheets as he showed no mercy, forcing another orgasm out of her rippling pussy. His hands reached for her hand interweaving them together.
“My wife.” The relief and aching love in his voice and all it conveyed was shared with her in that moment of intimacy. Every minute and second he had waited had been torture for this man of hers.
Lily felt him shudder against her as his cock jerked his release deep within her. Lily lowered her head against the sheet, exhausted both mentally and physically.
Shade rolled to his side, pulling her to lay on his chest.
“Are you still mad at me?”
Shade twined a tendril of her hair through his fingers. “I don’t get mad at you, Lily. I’m a—”
Lily laughed. “A patient man. I know.”
“I didn’t want my jacket on her either, but I was trying to be a nice guy.” His words reminding her how often she had called him mean.
Lily lowered her head, ashamed. “I’m really sorry.”
Shade grinned. “You can show me that temper anytime.” His hand moved down to rub her bottom. “In private. I like to keep my business my own,” he clarified. “Are you sore?”
“No.” Lily shook her head, yawning.
Shade rose up with her, getting to his feet then carrying her to the bathroom. He sat her on her feet while he made a bath for her. She saw him pour something into the water.
“Rose and Lavender oils,” he told her.
Lily sank into the warm water when it was ready, leaning back against the tub as Shade went to the sink. She watched as he shaved, looking at his tattoo covered body. She didn’t know how she had gotten lucky enough to get Shade, just grateful she had.
“What are you thinking?” Shade asked his now familiar question. He liked control, that was for sure. He constantly wanted to know what she was thinking. She thought it was his own insecurity showing itself.
She caught his gaze in the mirror. “I was thinking, now would be a good time to tell you that I offered to throw Sex Piston’s baby shower tomorrow night.”
* * *
Shade stood in the kitchen with Razer, Viper and Stud, wondering how in the hell he had been put in this position. His eyes went to the other men and saw the same expression on their faces.
“I take it you’re having a boy,” Shade said.
Stud grinned proudly, the only man in the group not ashamed to admit he was pussy whipped. “Thank fuck. If it had been a girl, I had my escape plan in place.”
Shade watched Lily hand Sex Piston a blue stroller made of diapers that she had stayed up half the night to make. When he had asked why not just give her the fucking pack of diapers, she had looked like he had cracked his whip across her ass. After that, he had kept his mouth shut.
Shade heard Crazy Bitch question Lily about his tats. He reached in the cabinet by Viper’s head for his liquor bottle then grabbed enough glasses for the other men.
He was pouring himself a glass when he heard a sudden burst of laughter.
“Shade helped you make my gift?” Sex Piston’s disbelieving voice rose over the giggles.
“Yes, Shade brags all the time about how patient he is, but I never would have believed he would have helped like he did. He counted out the diapers, then made the wheels, and when I couldn’t thread the ribbon through the top, he did it for me.” His wife’s damning words had the men looking at him with amusement on their faces.
He added another two fingers of whiskey to his glass.
“Patient? She actually thinks you’re patient?” Viper almost choked on his drink.
“Shut the fuck up,” Shade threatened, pouring himself another drink. It was a sad day when his brethren had the courage to laugh at him. The men at least were smart enough to smother their laughter.
“He’s nothing like Train then.” Shade winced for Train as Killyama dissected their fuck session. His fellow brother did not come out well.
When the women moved on to asking Lily questions, his hand was shaking as he poured the men their refills. It was a good thing he had wanted to wait a couple of weeks before he used his favorite toy on his wife again or she would have been complaining over the pretty sunrise pattern he promised himself she would receive for putting him through this torture.
Lily came into the kitchen, pulling out the large pitcher of tea she had made, stopping briefly to brush a kiss on his cheek. His eyes followed the jiggle of her ass as she went back into the living room.
His president put his arm around his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Shade. It could be worse. You could be Train.”
Chapter 37
Friday
Lily walked down the pathway from her house, down to the parking lot. She still felt a thrill when she said my house, my husband. It had only been four days since their marriage, so she was sure it was going to feel that way for a while. She hoped it always did. She never wanted to take what she was feeling for granted.
Shade had to be at work two hours before she had to open the church store at nine. Curiously, she saw Shade, Razer, Rider and Train talking in the parking lot. It was unusual so early in the morning that all three were outside.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing. We came out here so we could talk without being overheard. Georgia has several friends in there.” Shade replied.
“What about Georgia?” Lily stiffened. Today was the first day back since the Christmas holidays. Both Shade and Razer had looked forward to firing the woman this morning, and she hadn’t argued this time. Georgia had gone too far. She felt bad for her kids, but ultimately Georgia had to face responsibility for her actions.
&nbs
p; “She quit. When she didn’t come in this morning, I called her. She told me she wasn’t coming in to give us the satisfaction of firing her. Then she told me what to do with the job, so I hung up on her.” Shade’s face showed how much he’d wanted to give the woman her filth back. She was proud he had handled it in a professional manner, despite it probably sticking in his gut.
“It doesn’t make any sense to me,” Lily said, blowing on her coffee.
“What doesn’t? That she’s a fucking bitch or that she quit?” Rider asked grimly.
“Both. Not a month ago, she was giving me heck because she thought I took her brother’s job; now suddenly, she’s calling one of her bosses’ wives bad names in front of a large group who will spread it all over town so she wouldn’t be able to deny it. It’s almost like she wanted to get fired,” Lily answered, blowing on her coffee again.
She reached up, giving her husband a quick kiss on his lips. “Later.” She grinned, walking away, not paying attention to the stunned looks on the men’s faces as she pulled out of the parking lot.
* * *
Lily unlocked the church store, going inside and then closing the door behind her.
“Morning, Mrs. Hunter,” Pastor Dean said, coming in from the church entrance. “How are you this sunny morning?”
“Good. And you?”
“Can’t complain, other than I’ve gained ten pounds over the holidays. I think if one more parishioner gives me one more casserole or cookie, I’m going to vomit.”
“That bad?”
“The problem was that it was too good,” Pastor Dean laughed. “I’m bursting at the seams.”
Lily pulled two bags of clothes out from under the counter and another that had been shoved into a darkened corner. When she tugged the bag loose, it jarred a metal box. Lily dropped to her knees, reaching back, and with her fingertips managed to snag the box by the handle, sliding it free. She pulled it out from under the counter and then stood up, lifting the heavy box with difficulty onto the counter.
“What’s that?” Pastor Dean asked, looking at the box curiously.
“Your guess is as good as mine. It looks like it’s been shoved under there for a while.” Lily pulled the two metal rings open then tried to open it. It was locked.
“It’s locked,” she said, stating the obvious.
“I have some tools in my office. I’ll take care of it.”
“Okay.” Lily slid it across the counter toward him.
A customer came in and she moved toward the woman entering the store.
“I’ll see you later, Lily.”
She waved as Pastor Dean left, asking the woman what she needed.
Lily wondered what was in the box. She would have to remind herself to ask before she went home.
* * *
Shade was standing next to Razer in his office when his cell phone rang. The caller ID showed Dean was calling.
“Yeah?”
“Thought I’d let you know that your new wife found a lock box in the basement this morning. Want to take a wild guess what was inside?”
“Lily’s adoption papers?”
“Yes.”
“Fake?”
“Yes. I’ll take them by Knox’s office when I go to lunch.”
“Thanks. Want to hear something interesting?”
“Hit me.”
“Georgia quit this morning. Beat me to firing her ass. Thing is, Lily came up with this idea. She seemed like she wanted to be fired, so we checked it out. Seems the bitch had a chunk of money put in her checking account the day after Halloween.”
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand. Not only that, another deposit of thirty was put in first thing this morning. This is the first day the banks have been open since Christmas.”
“Someone paid her not only to start the fire, but to start an argument at the church,” Shade concluded.
“Why start an argument at the church?”
“I think to try to rattle Lily into running out of the church. A month ago… hell, two weeks ago, it would have worked. Whoever wants her dead is getting desperate to try to get to her. We don’t leave her alone, so someone was trying to make their own opportunity.”
“I’ll call Knox to come here and pick these papers up. I’m not going to leave the church from now on when Lily’s here,” Dean’s voice was grim over the phone line.
“I’ll call you if I find anything else out. Once Knox has the proof from the bank, he’s going to arrest Georgia. I took him her coffee cup, so if the DNA matches the evidence found from the fire, we have her ass, and we may be able to find out what the fuck is going on,” Shade’s anger carried through the phone line.
“All right, I’ll talk to you later, Shade.”
“Later, Dean.”
* * *
Lily locked the door to the church store, surprised to see Shade had picked her up from the store in Rider’s truck. He always picked her up on his bike unless the roads were slick with snow or it was pouring rain.
It had been a long week and she was looking forward to the weekend to get some chores finished. She and Beth needed to clean out their house so it could be put up for sale. Almost all of the furnishings were going to be donated to the church store. They were both going to keep the few items that held sentimental attachment to them, though.
“Why the truck?” Lily asked, climbing inside.
Her husband’s sunglasses stared back, hiding his expression. “I wanted to talk to you on the way home,” Shade said, making no effort to put the truck in gear.
“Is something wrong?” Lily questioned, becoming worried.
“Knox arrested Georgia this afternoon.”
“Why? What did she do?” Lily’s breath caught in surprise.
“She’s the one who set the basement on fire.”
“What? Why would she do something like that?” Lily asked. She knew the woman hated her, but she’d never dreamed it had been enough to kill her.
“Someone paid her fifty thousand dollars. The same person who probably tried to run you down on the street and attempted to break into your house.
“Who?” Lily tried to think of someone who could possibly want her dead.
“I don’t know. Knox is questioning her now. He’s going to be at the club tonight so we can find out more then.”
She sat in shock while Shade drove them home. She and Georgia had attended the same church for years. The whole community would know she had been arrested. That would be a hard bit of humiliation for Georgia to bear.
“You better tell Knox to keep an eye on her. When she was younger, she tried to kill herself twice. This is going to humiliate her, Shade,” Lily warned.
As soon as he parked the truck, Shade made the call to Knox. They went to their house to get changed before going over to eat dinner at the clubhouse. This was their first party since they had gotten married, and she wanted to look pretty for him.
Tonight she had dressed in one of her few short skirts. It came barely above her knees. Sex Piston had picked it out so it was tighter than she usually wore, as well. She had teamed it with a soft pink sweater that showed a faint hint of her breasts.
She had felt pretty and sexy until she walked into the clubhouse. Her sister was wearing a cute red skirt and a black vest.
“You look pretty tonight,” Lily complimented her.
“You do, too. I might have to borrow that sweater,” Beth said with envy.
“You can have it. It won’t quit sliding down my shoulders.” Lily pulled it back up in frustration.
“That’s what makes it so pretty,” Winter said, coming up behind her.
They ate dinner then decided to play cards, ignoring the men. Lily lost several games to Winter.
Sitting back in her chair, she watched as Winter picked up the huge pile of IOUs from the table. “I don’t understand it. When I first started to play, I was good. Now I can’t win a game.” Lily’s frustration with the cards had her throwing them down.
/> When the women burst out laughing, Lily looked at them suspiciously. “What’s so funny?”
“You played with Train,” Evie said. “He always cheats when he plays with women.”
Lily looked at Jewell. “I didn’t mind losing,” she said unrepentantly.
“So they set me up?”
“Like a duck during duck-hunting season,” Winter said shrewdly.
Lily looked at Winter at her comment. “You knew the guys set me up?” Lily’s eyes narrowed on Winter. She had been set up both times she’d played cards. She had SUCKER written all over her.
Lily watched Winter smooth out her slips of IOUs. “I couldn’t be sure.”
Lily was willing to bet Winter had known; she hadn’t played with anyone else since, and she was still gullible enough to believe she was good. The woman’s name was listed under devious in the dictionary—Winter and Shade’s.
She looked around the room to see the men were on a couch, talking quietly to themselves.
“I’m done for the night.” She stood up, ignoring their grins. She would deal with them later; she was going to give her husband heck first.
She went to the couch where Shade was sitting on the end with his feet on the coffee table while Viper sat at the other end. Razer was sprawled on the chair next to the couch.
She started to say something to Shade then noticed they were having a serious discussion. Having seen her approach, they had quit talking. She turned to leave, giving them the opportunity to finish their talk when Shade caught her hand, dragging her down to sit on his lap.
The men began talking about their clubhouse in Ohio and the new recruits they had.
“Got one wanting to go for the patch here,” Shade said, lacing his hand through hers. In that moment, she forgot she was mad over the cards, rubbing her thumb against his.
“Who?” Viper asked, his eyes going around the room.
“Dude against the left wall with the eight-ball tat,” Shade answered without turning his head. Lily started to turn her head, but Shade’s hand tightened on the hand he was holding so Lily remained still. This time it was his thumb rubbing hers.
“Name?” Viper didn’t take his eyes off the recruit.