Texas Tornado (Freebirds Book 5) (32 page)

I didn’t waste time in staring at him though. I wielded my two-foot dick like The Rock in Walking Tall, and started beating the absolute shit out of him. I stayed with his face until I was sure he passed out, and then started on the rest of him. The sound of the dick hitting his flesh sounded about like one would think. Skin hitting skin.

Each thwack of the dildo striking his body sent a surge of exhilaration through me. A sense of justice. “Take that, mother fucker. Remember all those times you did the same thing to me? Yeah, well payback’s a bitch!”

James amused voice flowed over me like a caress in the night. “You can stop now, June. The man’s down. And his pride will forever be broken.”

“Oh, yeah it will. I got that shit on video. We’re going to send this to YouTube.” Ember drawled.

I looked up to find Gabe’s lifted Chevy angled sideways through the parking spots, half her body hanging out the window as she wielded her iPhone in her hand, no doubt recording it just as she’d said she’d been doing.

My mouth twisted into a smile.

“That’s Zander. My ex.” I said, pointing with the dick to the dick laying on the ground.

“We figured that when you started saying that you were going to show him what a thorough fucking felt like. You’d make it last more than thirty seconds though.” James drawled.

My face blushed, and I suppressed a manic giggle that threatened to spill from my mouth. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, sweet cheeks. Let’s get these boys loaded into Gabe’s truck, we’ll take them to the shop and see what they have to say.” James instructed as he walked towards the truck.

It was then that I saw the three other men, besides Zander, knocked out on the ground, looking in much worse shape than Zander was. I’d seen quite a few broken bones in my day, mostly on myself, but these men had
visibly
broken bones. Which made me cringe.

“Hand me the duct tape, my lady.” James teased, as he walked to Ember’s window with an extended hand.

She handed over a brand new roll, and James went back to each man, effortlessly wrapping it around each man’s legs, arms, and mouth with quick expert movements. Then he tossed them like a sack of potatoes into the back of the truck, stacking them like wood, two wide.

“Alright, let me get my bike, and I’ll follow directly behind you to Free.” He said.

After a quick phone call to tell Sam what had happened, we pulled into Free a few minutes later to find Gabe, Max, Sam, Sebastian, my father, Elliott, and Jack waiting with their arms across their chests in front of the garage, bay doors open. When Ember pulled up, she yelled out the open window.

“Want me to back it in?” She yelled over the rumble of the motor.

“No!” Was chorused by not only everyone in front of her, but everyone in the truck with her.

That gave a sort of relief of the tension that was slowly amounting, and we all exited the trucks. Gabe backed his truck into the garage, and Sam closed the doors behind him.

The sound of the doors closing were like the sound of a closing a casket. Final.

***

Later that night

“Shiloh, do you want to try to have a baby?” James voice came to me in the dark.

He’d come into our room a few minutes ago, and promptly headed to the bathroom to shower the ingrained smell of margarita off his skin. I’d listened, half asleep, as he stripped. Clothes hitting the floor. Boots. Gun being placed on the counter. Extra magazines being placed directly next to the gun. Keys, loose change, and his phone in a bowl next to the sink.

He had a system when he dressed and undressed, and did exactly the same thing every time.

He took a shower in the dark, knowing his way around without needing the light to guide his way. I’d assumed he thought I was sleeping when he came in, that was why he didn’t invite me to join him, nor turn on the lights.

Now, though, he was asking me this question knowing I was awake to hear it. Which meant that I didn’t mishear him. He was honestly asking me if I wanted a baby.

“Uhhh,” I answered intelligently.

“I want another baby. I didn’t think I did, but I do. Not right now, but eventually.” He hastily explained.

Something panged in my heart. Sadness filled me when I thought about my ability to have children. I wasn’t sure if I could, and if this was something James truly wanted, he wouldn’t be able to get it from me.

“James,” I whispered. “I would love to have a baby with you, but you have to know that the chances of having them with me are slim. Not to mention nearly impossible with you having a vasectomy and me having issues.”

His weight hit the bed, and I felt the covers shift as he maneuvered the comforter over his body, staying on his side of the bed. Which was normal. He wasn’t much of a cuddler. I wasn’t either so it worked out well. I wanted my own blanket. I didn’t want to fight over covers half the night. Which was why we also slept with two different blankets.

Although probably weird, it worked for us. Every once in a while, I’d sneak my toes over to his side of the bed and bury them under his thigh or back, but most of the time I stayed on my side.

“I’d get it reversed. But we’d probably need to both go see a doctor afterwards to make sure it was feasible to even contemplate. Would you do that?” He asked into the darkness.

“I’d do anything for you. Anything.” I answered vehemently.

He didn’t respond. We stayed silent for some time. Almost so long that I thought he’d fallen asleep. His breathing was steady, as if his body was in a deep sleep. I stayed on my side of the bed, watching the numbers on the clock change from eleven thirty, to twelve.

“I want to get married. This weekend.” James suddenly said.

“We can’t. You’re screwed. I want a big, beautiful wedding. I want a winter one. So you’re going to have to wait till next year, because big weddings like that take time to plan. I want to wear a big dress that has a train that flows ten feet behind me. I want my dad to walk me down the aisle. I want tons and tons of flowers. I want it all.” I described my dream wedding.

“Do I have to wear a tux?” He asked, sounding pained.

“Yes, because that would just look absolutely silly if you didn’t.” I told him.

“Fuck me,” he growled.

I smiled, and felt myself slip into sleep.

Chapter 23

If you think 7 years of bad luck is too much for breaking a mirror, try breaking a condom.

-E-card

James

“Is it possible?” I asked my sister.

“Well, not by this weekend, that’s for sure. She can’t make anything easy, can she?” She grumbled as she started sending texts on her phone.

“I don’t know who all she’d want to invite, but do your best. Maybe ask her brother? He’d know.” I instructed her.

She glared at me. “I’m perfectly capable of this. Did she say what kind of dress she would want?”

I nodded, and explained what Shiloh had told me last night about the train. “She didn’t say much else about that.”

“Okay, you’re free to go.” She said, flicking her hand in a shooing motion.

I did just that, leaving Cheyenne’s place, and following the sounds of kids playing towards the side of the garage. There, I found Gabe, Max, and Jack sitting on the benches while the kids played on the jungle gym we’d built during the summer.

Then I saw what Gabe was doing, and laughed. “Wh-what the hell are you doing?”

He smiled brightly at me, took a sip of his beer, and tugged on the length of the rope in his hand. The rope itself was about a hundred feet in length connected to a swing that had his son, Luca, sitting in it, hunched forward sleeping.

“Ember needed a nap, and Luca here wasn’t cooperating. Works every time.” He nodded at the swing.

“Why are you tugging on it with the rope?” I asked curiously.

“If I stop pushing him, he wakes back up. I was tired of standing.” He said simply.

I nodded in understanding. We’d all been there. Who was I to judge? Hell, I remembered when Janie was a tiny baby, all of three weeks old, and she’d wake up in the middle of the night for the fortieth time, I’d prop the bottle on my chest, and snuggle her in close, falling asleep while she ate as slow as a tortoise.

Max stood when Harleigh started to scream in the baby swing behind us and popped her pacifier back in before coming and sitting back down.

“Zander was a bucket of information last night. He’s currently in police custody. Luke loved the video, by the way.” Max grinned.

“Oh, yeah. It was something to see all right. I was scared shitless for her, then turn around to see her beating the man to death with that huge dildo. It was the highlight of my life. Aside from having Janie, that is.” I laughed.

“Where’d she get it?” Jack asked.

My eyes flicked to his, noting that he looked much more relaxed. Much more happy than I’d ever seen him. “Some chick threw it at Shiloh when she yanked my pants away from her. I was wondering why she’d kept it, but I’m glad she did.”

Silence. “So you really stripped?”

“It was a bet. You know I don’t go back on my word.”

“Sadly, we do. Just don’t let it happen again. I don’t want my wife seeing you in your tighty whities again.” Max murmured.

“Where’s Cat?” I asked Jack as I took a seat beside him.

I had about five minutes before I needed to leave, and I decided to take a load off. My body was exhausted. I’d had a tough two months, and it didn’t look like it was going to get any better anytime soon.

“My brother has her. He took her to the fire station for a show and tell.” Jack rumbled, sucking down another swallow of beer.

“What?” Was echoed by Gabe and myself.

“They got some new equipment for infants or some shit. Winter volunteered Cat to test the fit on a few of them.” Jack informed us.

“Oh, well why do they need to test them out beforehand?” I wondered.

“You don’t want to find out in the middle of restraining an infant after a car accident that your backboard doesn’t work on a two month old, or a one week old. Nor do you want to find out that a blood pressure cuff is too big, therefore not giving you reliable readings, making you not give a needed medication en route that could’ve saved a kid’s life.” Gabe explained.

I shuddered. It was hard to think about a two month old like Cat needing any sort of medical treatment for any reason. Just to think of Janie on a backboard gave me heart palpitations.

“Yeah, that’s about what Winter said.” Jack agreed.

“All right. Well I have a training exercise. I’ll catch you guys later.” I said shaking each of their hands.

The ride to the police station had me looking over my shoulder the entire way. I knew someone was following me. When I stopped at the only stop light in between Free and the training facility, I sent a quick message to Sam, who was watching over Shiloh today.

Sam and I had decided after the last incident, that it was best to have one of our own guys on Shiloh. It wasn’t that we didn’t have confidence in Sebastian’s MC; it was that when one of our own was in trouble, we made sure that we were the ones doing what was needed. When it came down to it, we knew each other well, and we knew that we’d protect with our lives. Each and every one of us had done nothing less for each other, time after time. We knew without a doubt that the same would be extended to our significant others and our children.

What I hadn’t thought, was that I would need that protection for myself. I’d been too arrogant, too sure of myself.

I never saw the shooter. Never saw the bullet.

When the bullet from a sniper’s gun slammed into my body, I was thrown from my bike. I looked down, at the hole in my t-shirt at my lower right chest, and knew I was screwed. I was going to die.

The blood welled from just a small round circle, to encapsulate the entire front of my t-shirt within moments, and I knew I was going to die. If not by the sniper that was likely to put another bullet in my head, then by the gunshot wound I’d sustained. It was becoming hard to breathe, and my vision started to go hazy at the edges.

Then, the last person on earth I’d suspected to see in the world, came up from behind me in a black sedan, and stopped with the passenger side door only inches from my prone body.

The door clicked open, and a frantic Jolie popped the door open, swinging it across my body. She reached down, with her tiny fucking hands, and unceremoniously hauled me into the car, grunting, crying, and cursing.

“Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.” She chanted repeatedly.

“Oh, fuck. I knew this was going to happen. Jesus.” She cried.

I tried to help the best I could, but only managed to use my feet right about the time she’d done the hard part. I pushed the last few inches until I was leaning back against the seat. She leaned over, yanked the lever, and I dropped flat, the weight of my upper body slamming the seat backwards until I hit the limit of the seat, and came to a jolting halt.

“Sorry, sorry.” She said frantically.

Then she leaned over me, pulled the door closed, threw it into gear, and slammed the gas down to the floorboard.

A ping in the back glass had her jumping, but not once did she slow down. She blew through stop signs and stoplights alike. Feeling my brain going fuzzy, I lifted my hand opposite my bullet wound, and plugged the hole that was steadily leaking blood. My finger sunk in, stanching the hole with one large finger. Even the jolt of pain wasn’t enough to stop the hazy feeling from taking over.

After the third near collision, I passed out, knowing that one thing was true.

I’d failed.

***

Shiloh

“What kind of cookies does your daddy like best?” I asked Janie.

We were waiting for Sam to get back from the store with the flour and sugar for our cookies. I’d managed to get James to purchase all the ingredients I’d need, however, I’d misjudged the amount of sugar and flour that we had.

Sam had been reluctant to go at first, but after Janie got in on the pleading action, he’d agreed, albeit reluctantly.

I was in the process of melting chocolate in the saucepan for the peanut butter balls while Janie scoured over the recipes, deciding which ones she wanted to do next.