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I didn’t expect her to come back here. Thought she’d never reach out. But I was wrong. I seem to be wrong a lot lately.

“Here.” I give her the box off the table. I was on my way out with it when Flint called me back. I set it there just to not have to lug it around. Didn’t expect to have it in the right place when I needed it. Especially since the thing Flint wanted me to see was that Billy and her sister were at the gate. I approved the entrance and then watched as they waited in the car. Our cameras have gotten better, not only because they’re top of the line but also the placement of the new ones. We saw them talking, and I might not have caught everything by reading their lips, but I caught enough to know they aren’t here to fuck us over.

Billy grabs it from me only to set it down again. Jack comes up, pulls a switchblade from her boot, and puts it in Billy’s waiting hand. The two of them are so in sync it almost makes me vomit, but I also want to smile at it. I like that they have that closeness. I want that for her—both of them.

“I was on my way out to ship it to you before you showed up. But I didn’t know where you were. Figured I’d just send it to the address that sent me my shit. Might as well save on postage.”

“What is it?” she asks as she opens it.

“Stuff that belongs to you.”

I can see parts of her sink when she pulls out the shirt. It’s hers—I gave it to her that first night at the sex club. No need for me to have it. Plus, her scent is gone.

I’m not sure if she can smell me on it. I might have rubbed it on my chest a few times before I packed it up. I wanted her to be as crazed every night as I’ve been. Smelling something and not being able to have it, it’s the worst torture. Not sure if she’s figuring out that I’m trying to give her a lifeline and not kicking her out of my life.

I’m watching her closely. So is the entire club. They know what else is in the box. They had to know; it was voted on.

When her eyes catch the black leather under the shirt, I hold my breath. She said the words, but this is different. At least it’s different for me. Love is easy to say, but to show it, to wear it on your sleeve—or in this case, on your back—that’s different. It goes deeper than words in my book.

Setting the shirt aside, she pulls out a jacket and reads it aloud in a whisper. “Casper’s old lady.”

She swallows hard, and I see the tears gather in her eyes, but they don’t break over the crest to slide down her cheeks. I look at Jack, wanting to see if she approves, and the girl is crying. Okay, a single tear, but she doesn’t swipe it away as she smiles tenderly and gives me an up nod. I’m taking that as her company’s backing, not that I give a fuck if they don’t like it. But I know Jack’s opinion means a lot to my girl, and I don’t want to deal with the hurdle of getting her sis to like me. Glad it’s one I don’t have to deal with.

Coughing to clear the emotion in my throat, I step forward and pull the jacket out of her hands. Billy looks up at me with the biggest eyes, and I can’t help but lean in and give her a quick peck. “Wanted you to know that you still belong to me.” I put one of her arms into a sleeve, then the other. “Even when you’re dealing with other shit, to include meetings with the Devils Damned.” Which I will always hate, but I’ll trust her to call me in if needed. “You’re mine, pet, just like I’m yours.”

“Well, look at that. A Hound with a pet.” Domino’s snicker earns the biggest glare from me as I feel the heat radiating off my girl from embarrassment.

Thankfully, Jack’s close and gives him a proper reprimand, ramming her elbow into his stomach so he’s doubled over.

“Serves you right. Hounds, hear me.” Not that anyone isn’t already paying attention to us, but I need them to know this shit is serious. “To you, this is Billy. Nothing else. Got it?”

I get a few vocal “Yeahs” while others just nod.

“And to you?” Her words pull me back to seeing only her as I wrap her in my arms.

“Pet.” I kiss her forehead. “Lover.” I kiss one eye. “Submissive.” I kiss the other. “Blue’s mom.” Her breath hitches as I kiss her neck on that spot right at her pulse point. Blue is a part of her, and I want her to know that he’ll be a part of me too. I’ll support her in any way she needs to deal with that. Whatever that means for us in the future with kids—or no kids, if that’s what she decides—she’ll always be Blue’s mom.

“Krista, my love, my old lady. Just mine.” I say it with a breath between us before I seal our lips together.

I hear the crowd around us give a few whoops and hoots, but everything dims as I lift my girl and she wraps both legs around me. It feels so good to have her in my arms again. I don’t want to let her go. So I don’t.

Turning, I walk back to my office. I know it like the back of my hand, so I don’t need guidance, and I bet the boys are moving out of the way, not that I see. My eyes are closed, enjoying the moment thoroughly now that I’ve claimed my girl.

I push her through the door, as I don’t lock it. If someone fucks with my space, they’re out. It’s that simple. Even have Flint and Gator monitoring to make sure no brother or vamp thinks it’s a good idea to try shit. We’re doing a full investigation into everything, even our own, to make sure we’re all clean. With everything that went down in Michigan, I’m making sure we’re dealing with that shit head-on.

I kick the door shut once we’re inside and let my girl slide down me to stand on her own. Our lips never part, but our hands get busy unbuttoning and unzipping each other’s jeans.

As soon as I get hers pushed down, I’m spinning her, throwing a hand out to clear everything off my desk a second before I push her chest flat to the surface. Everything is replaceable in this room except Krista. And I need to get my dick inside her and claim the club’s newest president’s old lady.

I smack her ass once for me, then do it again because it makes her giggle. And again and again until the giggle turns into a moan. Only then do I slam my cock into her, and she says the sweetest thing imaginable.

My name.

“Ford.”

“Yeah, pet, that’s it. Now be a good girl and let your man fuck you good and proper. We can do sweet and soft later, but I need this right now.”

“So do I. And I’d rather you be you than something you think I want.”

Fuck if I didn’t already love this girl. I kiss the spot between her shoulder blades, right on the letter jacket she’s still wearing that claims her as mine, before I drive into her. The desk is too fucking sturdy to move, but we give it a good try with the way I push into her so damn hard. She’s going to have bruises tomorrow, and I can’t wait to see them. Thinking about it makes me grin, because I know it’ll just get me hard again seeing them on her. And when I get hard, I won’t have to go to my hand, just into her waiting arms.

“Close,” she says on a whimper as I pound into her, a punishment for talking, but I don’t want to punish too much. I want to enjoy this.

Lifting up with a hand on her stomach, I pull her back to lean on my chest as I continue to fuck her. I grab her chin and tilt her face to the side to claim those perfect lips.

My other hand wanders from her stomach to her clit, and I pinch it hard. She comes quickly, panting into my mouth, and I gobble each breath up before I go over the edge, too, her pussy pulling every last bit of seed from me.

Now that I have her as mine, the thought of her pregnant has my dick twitching, wanting to go again, but despite the desire, I still need time to recover. At least ten minutes.

“I love you, Ford.”

Fuck, five minutes max. I’m going to be ready to go at a moment’s notice if she keeps talking like that, because that makes this real. And she’s mine. And when I take something as mine, I never let them go. Ever.

“Love you, too, pet. Love you too.”

“You want what? And me? What?” Domino shakes his head like he didn’t hear me. But us being the only two in my office, I know he did.

“You heard me. I want you to go help Mickey out.”

“Seriously?” The guy looks more scared than skeptical. I would laugh if I didn’t want him to think I was joking.

“Yup. They’ve been up there enough time now. I want to make the play. Figured we would have gotten something by now, but there’s nothing from anyone. Mickey and his team have been digging in, but no one is talking, and you can smell shit ain’t right a mile away. We need to go full in, and that starts with replacing the president of that chapter.”

“You crazy? I haven’t even gone through the training for this shit. And I sniff out numbers not adding up, not something like this.”

I expected this pushback, which is why it’s only me and him here. If he really hates it, I can pull him. But after talking it over with a few brothers, and even with Billy, I know he’s the right man.

She and I stayed in this room for a while, just talking, having a moment alone and doing what seems to come naturally to us—speaking about our issues in our post-sex glow. I was already aiming to do this with Domino, but knowing she agrees makes me want to jump on it now rather than waiting any longer. Domino’s the best man for the job. No one would expect it, and that’s what we need.

“Numbers don’t lie, and that’s what I want you to start with. Check the books after you rattle the cage.”

“Man.” He runs his hand through his hair as his knees bounce. If Mama Bear didn’t make him quit smoking, I know he’d be pulling a cigarette out right now and lighting it up. “I don’t know about this. Presidency isn’t even something on my radar. No one will believe it’s what I signed up for willingly.”

I lean in, resting my elbows on my desk and folding my hands together. Billy and I picked up most of the shit off the ground, but nothing’s in its original place. Thankfully, Domino is ignoring the mess like I am.

“It’s not an official takeover, just an interim presidency. And maybe that you haven’t done what we’ve deemed in the past as a presidential vetting is a good thing. We need someone there now, and I want it done ASAP. You have a head for numbers and a tendency to blow things up that don’t add up. Sounds like a winning combo for that powder keg up there.”

“You must have hit your head or something, boss. You’re talking crazy.” He shakes his head at me, but he also isn’t outright saying no.

“Nah.” I push off the chair and stand before coming around the desk. “Now listen up. I already gave Mickey the heads-up that you’re coming. The boys he pulled in are from the training facility in North Dakota, and right now they’re under the guise of nomads just looking for a place to crash. No one has really seen them in a while since we had them at OHH. They’ve been lying low and will continue to do so till you get there and get the lay of the land.”

He meets my height after a heavy sigh of resignation. “They know I’m coming, this sister chapter?”

“They know I’m sending someone to help facilitate while they find a new man to put in charge.”

“Fuck, you didn’t tell them.”

I chuckle at the way his shoulders hunch like a fucking kid told he has to come in from playing outside.

“No. As far as most of them knew, I was there just there to get my dick wet at a kink club that somehow blew up. We never told them how the others died, and with Bane up and running, even if it’s slow, he’s putting up the front that he’s just ready to step down. Or so he says. I want you and Mickey’s crew to find out what’s going on. I need to know how many are involved. If it’s just a few, we take them out.”

“And if it’s the entire chapter?”

I give him a hard stare. Need him to know he has my full backing on any decision he makes. I trust him completely in this. “Do what you do best, Domino. Knock them all down and then move on to the next.”

This has him pausing on his way out the door, surprise etched across his face. I only spoke briefly about a few of my suspicions. Didn’t want to cloud others’ judgment till we had facts. Like it or not, I agree with Psy. Till I have witnesses to the act, I can’t take shit at face value. Too much can be doctored these days.

“Think this is in more than one chapter?”

“Don’t know. Consider this my touring campaign, but after I got elected. I’m going to visit a lot of places, take a closer look behind doors, and may even leave a few of my own Hounds on their doorsteps. Never thought I’d see the day that we had enemies inside the club, but I won’t let it stand. This is my club now, and I’m going to clean it from the inside out if I have to.”

“And you won’t be alone in that, brother.”

“Never thought I was.” I pat him on the back in appreciation that I have him on my side. I expect nothing less. “Now start packing. Michigan is cold as fuck in the winter.”

“Yeah, nice Christmas gift, boss.”

I grin. “Never say I never gave you anything. Hell, call me Santa Claus.”

He scoffs. “Fucking Krampus is what you are.”

If he only knew how many spanks I gave to my pet for being naughty, Krampus might actually stick as my new nickname.

As I make my way back to the main area of the clubhouse, I see my old lady wearing her jacket, proud as can be, even though it’s over seventy-five degrees in here. Seeing my name on her is all I need to settle me down. I know the club is about to go into another battle, but with my girl beside me, I’ve got nothing to fear.

Even if that means I have to keep Jack around too. Fucking psycho, that one is.

Fits in well for sure.