“Does she know...?”
“Fuck, yeah. She hated it. Can you imagine Oceane on the back of a bike? But she hung in there until I crashed and burned. Then she came to see me in the hospital and told me she was pregnant with Dax. I straightened my shit up fast. A movie producer had seen news footage of my crash and hired me for stunt work. I still got to ride my bike and got paid good money for it. After that, another producer thought I looked better on the camera than the six-figure actor he’d hired and used me. Then we had Adrienne, and when she was born, I left that other life behind. You’re not the only one who fell for her on sight.”
Dalton looked around the clubhouse briefly, his expression not one of a man who regretted what he had walked away from, but a man remembering his past. He nodded toward the bikers standing in a crowd at the bar before turning to leave.
“Ride easy, brothers.”
Chapter 28
Grace stirred the bubbling barbeque sauce then turned the burner down. It would have to simmer for a few hours before it was ready.
When she was upset, she cooked. Right now, she was trying to take her mind off her parents’ abrupt departure. She had thought they would stay for another week.
The silence of the house after they had left had grated on her nerves. She couldn’t mow her already mown yard yet again, so she had decided to keep busy by cooking. When it was done, she would divide it between CeCe and Jones.
The doorbell rang as she put the ribs into the oven, turning down the temperature to low before she went to answer the door.
Looking out her peephole, she leaned her head against the door, not opening it.
“Go away.”
“Open the door, Grace.”
“Go away, Ice. I don’t want to see you.”
Daisy came to her side, leaning against her and whining softly, feeling her heightened emotions.
“Grace—”
“I’m not going to open the door. Ice, please go away.”
As silence came from the other side of the door, she stood there, listening for the sound of his motorcycle to start. When she didn’t hear it, she looked out her peephole to see Ice still standing there, looking back with a determined expression.
Sighing, she keyed in the alarm code and opened her door a small crack.
“There’s nothing you have to say that I want to hear—” Grace broke off as she looked at him, seeing a small, brown nose peeking out of his vest.
“What’s that?” she asked curiously, watching a small head peek out. “He’s so cute.”
Grace opened the door wide, her hands going for his vest at the same time Ice released one of the buttons. The small, wiggling puppy landed in her hands at the same time Ice moved past her to go inside the house.
Distracted, Grace cuddled the small black dachshund wiggling in her hands. When she looked up, Ice was already sitting on her couch. Closing the door, she went to the couch and stared down at him.
“Where did you get him?”
“I went to the animal shelter. He was a rescue from a breeder who actually wanted to breed more of those things.”
Grace sank down on the couch, letting it chew on her finger. “What’s his name?”
“Whatever you want to name him.”
Grace sat the tiny puppy that was no bigger than the palm of her hand down on the floor. Daisy jumped down from the couch, sniffing the new puppy while it tottered off to investigate its new surroundings.
“Ice, I want you to leave. Thank you for the puppy, but I don’t have anything to say to you. My mother told me what she said to you, and I’m sorry about that, but ultimately, it was for the best. It showed me that you will always put the Predators first, and I can’t live with that.”
“I didn’t put them first. There wasn’t a choice to make. I don’t give a fuck if your mother tries to bring down my club. She hasn’t got enough money to accomplish that,” Ice stated coldly. “I stayed away while your family was here so there wouldn’t be any arguments between them and me. I didn’t want you having to deal with the friction between us and them right after Church and Yo-Yo had attacked you.”
“You could have called,” Grace said reproachfully.
“I couldn’t have stayed away if I heard your voice, Grace. I felt like shit already about Church and Yo-Yo.
“I’m going to tell you the truth. I’m not going to discuss the club business with you again, but this time, you deserve answers, and I’m going to give them to you. I was in prison because I had set it up to help Yo-Yo escape. My boss is Yo-Yo’s cousin. Me and the brothers took the job because we wanted the money to buy Gert’s house for her. She’s sick, and we weren’t going to watch her lose her home. Any other time, we would have had the money, but we had just bought the land the clubhouse is on, and one of the brothers had been in an accident, and we had paid off his medical bills. We don’t make an honest living, so we don’t exactly have insurance.
“Since then, we’ve gotten back on track, overseeing a few deals between buyers and sellers. We don’t sell the merchandise, but we make sure our boss gets his cut and that everyone comes out of it alive. It doesn’t affect you, and it never will.
“I screwed up when I became involved with you on a job. I sure as fuck should never have sought you out after the job was done, but I thought I’d get you out of my system and eventually move on. I should have let you go and not looked back. If I was a good man, I would have, but there’s nothing decent about me. You know that from Rita and Brandy.
“I fucked Brandy, thinking I could and it would have nothing to do with what was between us. I was wrong. You found out, and baby, I never want to come that close to losing you again. I’ll never fuck another woman. Those days are over for me.
“You’re going to have to learn to live with the club being a part of my life, like they’re going to have to learn that you’re a part of my life and have to come first. If they want to elect a new leader, that’s cool with me. But it’s never going to be a choice of you or them. It’s always going to be you.”
When he finished speaking, Grace sat, thinking. She had to decide if she wanted him in her life enough to accept the Predators as part of it. Even if they chose another leader, he wouldn’t leave them. Ice wasn’t capable of leaving something he loved.
As she walked toward the door, Ice stood up, his hands brushing down the sides of his jeans. Grace realized he was nervous.
“Please, don’t leave me… Please, Grace, don’t leave me.” His choked voice brought tears to her eyes.
He had sworn never to beg another person to stay, yet he was begging her not to leave him as every other person in his life he had cared about had.
Grace locked the door and set the alarm.
“I’m not going anywhere and neither are you.” She ran into his open arms, raising her mouth to meet him halfway. The kiss bridged the gap of the last weeks they had been separated, bringing the heat of desire neither could quench.
Ice sat down on the couch, pulling her down on his lap then jerking her top down. He lifted her breasts from her bra, sucking a nipple into his mouth. Then, suddenly, he lifted his head away.
“Ice...” Grace tried to jerk his head back down.
“What in the fuck is that?” he asked, staring across the room at a small basket in front of the television set.
Confused, Grace looked back at him. “That’s Bear.”
“But he’s dead,” Ice said, clearly not believing his eyes.
Grace giggled. “I thought he was, too, but his back was broken. Mom got him to the vet and they operated on him. He’s still not back to normal, but the vet thinks he will be in a few months.”
Ice stared at the little shit as it slowly climbed out of his bed, coming toward him. Ice didn’t know whether to be relieved or not.
Grace bent down to scratch the new puppy’s head as he plopped down in front of her.
“Don’t get attached; he’s going back.”
“No, he’s not.”
> “It’s going back today. There’s no way I’m getting stuck with two little shits. I’ll get you a Doberman.”
“Ice, if the dog goes, you do, too.”
He stayed silent, glaring at Bear, who was watching the puppy chew on his new boot.
“Ice…?” Grace frowned when he still didn’t say anything.
“I’m still thinking about it.”
Grace pushed him down on the couch, climbing up to straddle his hips. “I’ll make it up to you.”
“How?” Ice lifted a brow. “It better be good.”
She gave a mischievous grin. “I can guarantee it will be the best you ever had.”
A few minutes later, she was raising her head, staring down at his cock. “When did you?”
“While you were away. You were too busy to notice it last time.” Ice grinned, using her hair to tug her head back down. “Baby, you don’t have to be so gentle. I’ve told you…”Grace licked him teasingly, enjoying herself.
“Does the puppy stay?” she asked before taking him to the back of her throat and swallowing so her throat muscles would clench on the head of his cock.
Ice’s head fell back to the couch cushion. “Fuck! He can stay.”
Chapter 29
Ice slowed down his bike to make the turn into Stephenville when his cell phone vibrated for the third time.
“Fuck!”
After he had made the turn, Ice pulled over onto the shoulder of the road and took his cell phone from his pocket.
“What’s up?”
Snake’s voice yelled into the phone. “Ice, your old lady is driving me ape shit! I don’t know if I want to be in the Predators bad enough to put up with a load of—”
“What’s wrong?”
Snake watched Grace whenever he couldn’t be in town with her. With Raft gone, he was pulling the duty on his own. Jackal had found Raft’s body using the tracking system on his phone. Church had stabbed the recruit in his back while he was taking a piss.
“She wants me to go scare her neighbor’s grandson into letting her in the house to check on the old woman.”
“Hang on. Tell her I’ll be there in ten.” Ice disconnected the call while Snake was still telling him he was thinking about going back to Minnesota.
He pulled back onto the road, speeding up. If he got another ticket, he was going to spank her ass.
He turned down her street yet stopped when he saw Grace in the yard of the old woman from the night when Bear had run off.
Stopping the motorcycle, Ice hastily got off his bike and went to the front porch. He took Grace’s arm and yanked her away from the man getting ready to pound her to smithereens.
“What in the fuck is going on?” Ice yelled over the others’ raised voices.
Snake had positioned his much smaller body in front of the massive man whose huge bulk took up much of the porch.
“That fucking bitch needs to get off my property before I call the cops.”
“What’s your name?” Ice demanded.
“Doyle.”
“Doyle, if you call my old lady a bitch again, I’ll break your fucking hands, and you’ll have to call the police using your fucking toes.”
“Let him call the police. I’ll call them myself!” Grace spoke up from behind his back.
“Why?” Ice didn’t take he’s eyes off Doyle. He now understood what Grace thought was strange about him. He was a meth user, and there was something making him nervous.
“Get off the porch and go back to your house,” Ice ordered Grace. “I’ll deal with this.”
“I’m not leaving until I see Merry. Her mail hasn’t been touched all week, and she gets her mail every day. The mailman asked me if she was out of town, so I came to check on her. He says she’s sick, but he won’t let me see her,” Grace explained.
“Go to your house!”
“No!”
“Then go stand on the sidewalk.”
Once he heard her walking toward the sidewalk, and she was a safe distance away, he took out his phone and called 911.
“What are you doing?” Doyle asked suspiciously.
“Calling the cops for you.”
“I wasn’t going to call the cops!”
“Too fucking bad!”
When a voice came over the line, Ice gave the address then hung up without an explanation.
Doyle barreled over him, trying to make a run for it; however, Ice punched him, knocking him backwards against the house.
“If that old lady is dead, you’re going to be joining her in the morgue,” Ice hissed as he used his forearm to pin him against the wall. He was tempted to pull his gun out and shoot the fucker, but then he heard the sirens coming closer.
Ice released Doyle as soon as the cops got out of their cars. Doyle took off running, and Ice didn’t try to stop him—the cops deserved to earn their money. He had already done them a solid for the day by calling them.
It took two officers to catch Doyle, finally stunning him with the Taser so they could handcuff him while Ice explained to another one why he had called. The officer immediately called for a fire and hazmat truck, an ambulance, and the DEA. Then Ice and Snake were told to move back.
Ice went to Grace, moving her across the street to watch with his arm over her shoulder.
“Why aren’t they going inside?” Grace asked.
“They have to wait for the hazmat unit, baby.”
They stood there until they arrived and watched two men suit up and go inside. They were gone for several minutes before they came out.
Grace cried out when she saw one of them packing Merry. She started to go to her, but Ice held her back.
“They need to get her to the hospital.”
Both of them stood as they loaded her into the ambulance.
“Let’s go back to your house before they tell us to leave. We’ll be lucky if they don’t evacuate the neighborhood.”
Grace was walking angrily toward her house. “I should have checked on her before. When that jerk wouldn’t let me in, I should have—”
“Done exactly what I did and called the police,” Ice snapped. “Snake, you can go back to the clubhouse. You’re done here. You don’t have to watch her anymore.”
“What does that mean?” Grace stopped, pivoting around to face him with her hands on her hips.
“It fucking means I’m tired of this bullshit. I’m tired of my ass being sore riding back and forth for three hours. I owe God knows how much in speeding tickets, and none of my brothers want to get stuck in this town, covering your ass, because they don’t know what you’re going to get into next.”
“You’re breaking up with me?” Grace’s lip trembled.
“No, I’m not fucking breaking up with you.” Ice sighed, pulling her into his arms. “You’re moving to Queen City. I have a place picked out for us that we can move into at the first of the month. It’s big, and it’s on a small farm right outside town. It’s a five-minute drive from the clubhouse. Your semester ends next week, so you can spend the rest of the month packing.”
“I can’t quit my job.”
“The house is paid for, so I really don’t give a shit if you work or not, but Queen City has schools and several colleges; I’m sure you can find a job.”
Grace was still undecided if Ice was ready to make the commitment of them living together. She was thrilled at the idea of having him with her every night, although she wasn’t sure if he really wanted to live with her all the time.
Ice’s hand curled around her neck, tugging her to him. “If you want all those babies you say you want, then I can’t ride all those hours on that bike. It’s probably killing all my sperm.” He grinned wickedly as he picked her up and carried her into the house. “You didn’t set your alarm?”
“I must have forgotten,” Grace mumbled, kissing his neck.
Ice carried her into the bedroom, shutting the door before the three dogs trailing them could get in. He set her down in the middle of the room.
&n
bsp; “Are you sure, Ice? Living with someone is a big step.”
“I don’t know.” He took his shirt off, dropping it on the floor and then toed off his boots. He unbuckled his belt and unzipped his jeans, yet he didn’t move to take them off. His face was an impassive mask, but his eyes were laughing at her. “Take off your top and show me your tits.”
Grace obeyed, dropping her top on the floor. Her fingers went to the front fastening of her bra, unclipping it then letting it slip free.
Ice licked his bottom lip as he reached out to squeeze her breast, plucking at the nipple until it stood out, begging to be sucked. Ice ignored her body’s invitation. His hands went to the snap of her jeans, unbuttoning and unzipping them, baring her belly.
“Are you wet?”
Grace nodded, taking a step forward so she could rub her sensitive breasts against his chest.
“Baby, I want to hear you say it.”
“I’m wet.” She stood on her toes when his hand slid into the vee of her jeans, searching to see if she was telling the truth. Her hands clutched his biceps when his thumb swirled in the wetness he had found.
Grace’s hand went inside his jeans, searching for his cock and pulling it out. She played with the metal balls, knowing he loved the pinch of pain when she did.
Ice tugged her jeans off her hips, lifting her out of them, and then let his own slide to the floor. He took her waist in his hands, backing up to the chair she had against her bedroom wall. Sitting down, he lifted her to his lap, placing her legs over each of the arms, spreading her pussy wide. He stared down at her while his fingers moved to spread her even wider, thrusting two deep inside her.
She tried to lean forward to grip his shoulders, but that pushed his fingers deeper inside her. The tight fullness had her leaning back as she struggled to take his fingers.
“You are as fucking tight as if you never had my dick in you,” he said, moving deeper inside her.
Grace gasped. Ice usually never pressed her past her limits. If she showed the slightest discomfort, he always stopped. Grace had to admit she was a baby where pain was concerned and often stopped him at the slightest discomfort.