The Cut by Carol Lynne: Kings of Bedlam MC Series, Book One (24 page)

As he sipped his coffee, he wandered down the aisles, amazed at how much shit a person could buy at a truck stop. The sight of a miniature Harley Davidson T-shirt immediately caught his attention. He hadn’t allowed himself to think about the baby. Anger and the eight-hour ride had made his mind cloudy enough without adding thoughts of a child to it. He still didn’t know what he was going to say to Santana, but as he lifted the small shirt off the shelf and held it in his hands, the situation took front and center. It appeared he had no choice in the matter because he wouldn’t live a day without Santana.

He carried the coffee and the shirt to the register, knowing he had an hour to get used to the idea of becoming a father. How the fuck could he be a father when he hadn’t had one of his own?

After tossing the dregs of his coffee into the trashcan, he carefully hid the shirt away in his saddlebag. An hour. Within the hour, if he pushed it, he’d be able to set things right. Gypsy had told him she was broken, but Stake refused to believe a simple phone call could break someone who’d survived the shit she had.

He roared out of the truck stop, intent on being there when Santana woke up. Although he appreciated Gypsy taking care of her, it was his face he wanted her to see when she opened her eyes, his arms that wanted to hold her while he told her the truth about Rachel, and his heart he wanted her to still need.

He rode into Fayetteville at seven-thirty, praying he’d made it in time. He texted Gypsy and asked for her room number as he paced back and forth in front of the motel.

A door opened, and Gypsy stepped out. He shut the door quietly before motioning for Stake to come over. “She’s still out of it, but it doesn’t surprise me.”

“I need to see her,” Stake said, trying to get around Gypsy.

“I told her the truth when she woke up crying earlier, but I don’t think she believed me.” Gypsy ran his hands over his short hair. “I don’t know, man, I’ve never seen someone shut down like that. My guess is that everything’s finally caught up to her. I couldn’t understand most of what she mumbled about, but I clearly heard Gordon’s name.” He met Stake’s gaze. “And Smash’s.”

Fuck.
Guilt settled heavily on his chest. He should have known she’d bounced back from the attack and her mother’s death too quickly. He’d gone on and on about how strong she was, and all the while, she’d simply buried it. If he hadn’t hated himself before, he sure as hell did now. Fighting back tears, he nodded at Gypsy.

“I’ll be at your place if you need me for anything,” Gypsy said as he walked toward his bike.

Stake stared after his friend. While he’d cleaned up his shit in Texas, it had been Gypsy who’d taken his place with Santana. He wasn’t sure whether to hate him or love him for it.

When he reached for the doorknob, his gaze landed on the splintered wood on the jamb. Between one breath and the next he was thrust back to the night of Santana’s attack, back to the best and worst night of his life. He’d been so grateful to her for allowing him to take care of her that he’d willingly believed her when she’d claimed to be ready for the next step. He’d taken her to bed and had kept her there while she should have been dealing with everything that had happened.

Remembering the shirt in his saddlebag, he strode back to his bike and retrieved it. He didn’t have the ability to go back in time to fix his fuckups, but he could learn from his mistakes and give her the life she deserved.

He opened the door and stepped inside, unsure of what he’d find. Santana was on her side, curled into a protective ball similar to the one he’d found her in the night of the attack. He was bone-tired from the hard ride, so he sat on the edge of the bed and took off his boots and vest. The Broken Ridge patches had already been stripped from his cut, but it still meant as much to him as it ever had.

Without bothering to remove his clothes, he slipped under the covers and pressed himself against Santana, molding himself around her frail body. He had no intentions of waking her, but he knew the moment she felt him.

Santana’s body stiffened momentarily before relaxing and hugging his arms against her chest. “Thank you for being here,” she whispered.

It was Stake’s turn to go rigid, knowing she believed him to be Gypsy. The realization felt like a hot knife plunging into his heart. “Gypsy left,” he whispered. “I rode all night to get to you.”

Without turning around, she tried to pry his hands away from her body. He wasn’t about to budge until he set things straight. “I was in church for hours last night. That’s where I was when you called. Rachel must’ve heard my phone ringing and picked it up.” He kissed her neck, praying he was getting through to her. “I would never touch another woman. I’ve had a lifetime of sluts like Rachel, and all of them together didn’t satisfy me half as much as one kiss from you.”

Her shoulders began to shake and he realized she was crying.

“Look at me, bug,” he pleaded.

When she didn’t make a move to roll over, he got up and went around to kneel next to her side of the bed. He rested his face on the mattress, willing her to open her eyes. “I love you. I wish I had the words to explain how deeply I need you, but I’m a fuckin’ biker, so I’m going to try and put my feelings in a way you’ll understand. The cut stands for my pride, my surrogate family, my self-worth, my career, my life. That piece of leather is everything I thought I ever needed, but I’d give it up right now if you asked me to, because I’ve realized that you’re my cut.”

Those gorgeous fucking eyes opened to gaze at him for the first time. “I’m pregnant.”

He nodded. “I know, and I’m sorry I made it so you were afraid to tell me, but I need you to understand that it was never a child I didn’t want.” He dragged his fingers through his dirty, windblown hair. He swallowed around the lump in his throat. “I’m afraid what’ll happen to me if you love a child more than me. I’m a selfish prick, and I know it. I’m ashamed of the way I’ve acted, but I can promise that I’ll love any and all children we have.”

Santana leaned across the distance and gave him a soft kiss on the lips before pulling back. “I don’t know that it would be possible to love anyone more than you.” She bit her lip. “Every time I think of having a piece of you inside of me, it fills me with a feeling I can’t explain. Just knowing that no matter what happens, I’ll always have that part of you in my life helps me not to be so afraid of losing you.”

“You’re not going to lose me.” He’d tried so many times to make her understand that their relationship was the real deal for him. “I’m here now, and I’m not going back to Texas unless there’s a damn good reason for it, and even then, I’ll take you with me if that’s what you want.”

“What about the club and the investigation?”

“Taken care of. Cecil set me free, and Jack told me lack of evidence has the investigation stalled. He gave me permission to move as long as I kept him updated on my current address. Before going into church last night, I asked Tiny if he’d help me move.”

“Tiny’s coming?”

“Yeah. Although I need to call him. I kinda lit out of the club in a hurry last night.” He wondered what Tiny’s reaction to Rachel was after he found out what the bitch had done. There was a very good possibility that Rachel was history at the club, which was a damn good thing. With all the Kings of Bedlam chapters meeting up several times a year, it would be best if he never set eyes on Rachel again.

“I bought something on the way here.” He stood and retrieved the T-shirt from the opposite side of the bed before crawling back under the covers with Santana. He held the shirt up. “It should work for a boy or girl, but I’m secretly hoping for a girl.”

“That’s surprising,” she said, rolling over to face him.

“Not surprising at all. Boys will be boys, and they tend to need a heavy hand at times. I’m not sure I have it in me to do that, but a girl that I can spoil and treat like a princess? Yeah,
tha
t I can do.”

* * * *

Santana stared at the outfit Stake had bought her the previous day for the Kings kickoff party for the Bikes, Blues and BBQ motorcycle rally in town. Was he kidding? She looked like one of the bitches from his motorcycle magazines. She pulled back the white bedroom curtain and bent over. “Ummm, Stake, can you come in here?” she called through the open window.

Stake was sitting under his favorite shade tree with Tiny, Gypsy and Gypsy’s friend Mojo. He glanced up and smiled. “Be right there.” He tilted back his beer and drained the bottle before heading for the back door.

She let the curtain fall back into place and waited. The dress made the one she’d worn to Mad Dog’s wedding look downright matronly in comparison. The expensive black leather dress was skintight with a zipper that ran from hemline, which was almost short enough to expose her pussy, to neckline, which plunged low to reveal half her tits. It was an incredibly sexy dress, but one she didn’t think was appropriate for her first big Kings’ party since moving to Arkansas. She’d met several of the brothers’ wives and girlfriends, but she didn’t know any of them well enough to wear such a slutty outfit in front of them.

“Fuck!” Stake growled from the doorway. His hand immediately went to the front of his jeans to palm himself. He walked slowly toward her. “That body is begging to get fucked.”

“No, it’s the dress that screams ‘fuck me I’m available’. Something I don’t think you really considered,” she argued as he began to lower her zipper.

“I like the fuck me part, but everyone there will know you’re not available to anyone but me.” He stopped when the zipper was halfway down and shook his head. “No bra.” He unclasped her black bra, baring her breasts to his hands. He led her toward the bed and sat down, pulling her to stand between his legs. “I wanna know I have access to you at all times.”

Her breath hitched when he sucked one of her nipples into his mouth. As he sucked, he lowered the zipper the rest of the way until the only thing holding up the dress was her shoulders. He shook his head, without releasing her breast, when his hands came into contact with her panties. Evidently, panties weren’t necessary either because he ripped them from her body with one tug.

She barely caught herself before she moaned when two of his fingers plunged inside her pussy. “The window,” she tried to remind him.

Releasing her nipple, he grinned up at her. “I’m pretty sure they have a good idea of why you called me in here.”

She braced her hands on his shoulders as his thumb began to rub against her clit while his fingers fucked in and out of her. “I called you in about the dress,” she panted, riding the edge of climax.

His fingers stilled and he removed his thumb from her clit.

“Don’t stop,” she urged, trying to fuck herself on his fingers.

“Wear the dress, and I’ll let you come.” His voice was rough, and she could tell he was as turned on as she was. “Change, and I’ll make you suffer all night before I get you off.”

She reached for his hand, needing him to move those damn fingers again.

“No,” he said, removing his fingers completely. “Choose.”

“You’re an asshole,” she said although there was no heat behind her words.

“Yes, a horny fucking asshole. What’ll it be? You want my fingers, my cock or my mouth?” He flicked his tongue out just to tease her.

With her mind befuddled, there was no way she could make that choice. “Just make me come,” she begged once again.

Unzipping his jeans, Stake pulled his heavy erection free. “Take it.”

She was like a junkie in dire need of her next fix. Straddling his lap, she waited for him to fit the tip of his cock to her pussy before impaling herself on his thick length. “Mmmm,” she moaned as the walls of her cunt stretched to accommodate him.

Grabbing a fistful of her hair, Stake devoured her mouth with a plundering kiss as she shrugged completely out of the dress. She opened and greedily took everything he offered. Never would she be able to get enough of him. Since moving into the farmhouse two weeks earlier, they’d made love so often they usually walked around without getting dressed. Stake hadn’t been kidding when he’d said he needed access to her pussy at all times.

Breaking the kiss, he released her hair and grabbed her ass as he fell back onto the bed. She planted her hands on his chest and rode him hard, giving them both what they needed as their combined moans and grunts filled the room. “Touch me,” she urged.

His thumb, that wonderfully calloused digit, rubbed against her clit as she continued to rock back and forth on top of him.

“You’re so fucking sexy,” he groaned, licking one of her bobbing tits as she moved. When he captured one of her nipples with his teeth and bit down gently, she gasped. Her orgasm rocketed through her body, stealing the breath from her lungs.

With a loud growl, he rolled them over and pounded his cock in and out of her pussy. Their couplings always turned into a primal mating that neither of them could control even when they tried to take things slow.

She felt another climax building as he drove into her. She knew he wouldn’t stop until she’d come again because he prided himself on giving her twice as much pleasure as he took for himself. It was the way he went about everything where she was concerned. The phone conversation with Rachel had been devastating to her, but somehow Stake had used the episode to make their relationship even stronger. She’d even started to believe she deserved the happiness he promised. She cried out as another orgasm wracked her body, sending it jerking with the intensity.