Page 23

Diamond

With her blue hair, patterned leggings, and the snow-white coat with its fur trim, it was hard to miss Joelle as he turned his bike into the apartment complex and saw her resting on his steps. But his body would have sensed her before his eyes because his heart sped up.

Immediately on alert, he parked, ignoring the prospect who came riding up behind him. He jumped down and crouched next to Joelle, who hadn’t moved. Her head rested on the wall, a hand cradling her cheek.

And she was fucking cold when he rubbed the back of his knuckles on her face.

“Baby?” he palmed her thigh, trying to rub warmth into her.

“Is there a dead chick on your doorstep, boss?”

Her little puffy breaths told him she was only asleep, but it didn’t stop Diamond from worrying. Why was she here? How long had she been sitting outside in the cold, for fuck’s sake?

“No, she’s sleeping.” He answered the probie, who was hovering behind Diamond. He rubbed Joelle’s thigh again, and she stirred. She’d fallen asleep a few times at his place, so he knew she slept deep. Only the smells of cooking sugar could ever get her alert in seconds. “Come on, baby, wake up.”

She stirred some more, and her eyes fluttered open.

The lazy smile she sent his way nearly broke his fucking heart. Had anyone ever been that pleased to see him?

“River.” She murmured his name. “Hi.”

He kept rubbing her outer thigh. The thin fabric was freezing. She never dressed appropriately for the weather. That had to change, he decided. He’d make sure of it.

“She has wicked blue hair,” chuckled the probie. That’s when Joelle shifted her gaze to the other man.

“Hi,” she smiled at him, the smile she gave everyone like they were already old friends. “Who are you?”

“I’m Price, ma’am.”

“Ma’am!” she chuckled, eyes twinkling, “such lovely manners. You need to take lessons from this one, Diamond.”

“I’m a good boy, ma’am.” The probie dared say, and Diamond swung a deadly stare over his shoulder.

“Thin fucking ice, probie. Get gone. I’ll come and check on the painting in a while.”

“Got it, boss.” He smirked and ambled off around to the storage shed. Diamond had roped in the probie to touch up some paintwork around the complex.

“What are you doing here, Bluebell?”

“I nodded off. I was only going to wait for thirty minutes.”

“Let’s get you inside. You’re fucking frozen.” He said it harsher than intended. Over the weeks, he’d become obsessive about ensuring Joelle was well cared for. She was cooking his baby, and he’d worried that she wasn’t eating the proper nutrients, getting enough water, or sleeping the correct number of hours for a pregnant woman. Because she stayed up all hours painting and ate whenever she got hungry, which could be hours between, he’d turned into a one-person health coach, checking on her several times a day.

She was unruly, he’d found. She always sent him pictures of her drinking from a gallon water bottle to prove she was hydrating. Then she’d update him on how many times she was peeing. Sassy baby.

He unlocked the door, turned off the alarm, and led her inside.

“Sit down,” he told her. “Or do you want to shower to warm up?”

She chuckled. “I don’t have a change of clothes, Diamond.” Her eyes sparkled like she thought he was an over-pandering papa bear. Taking care of Joelle was like trying to keep a stick insect alive. Most of the time, he had no idea if he was doing the right thing.

Though the heat was on in his apartment, he pulled the blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over her legs. Still frowning, he told her, “Get comfortable. I’ll make you a hot drink.”

“I’m fine, Diamond. I shouldn’t have taken that long blink.”

“You were asleep on the fucking doorstep, Joelle.” He scowled from the kitchen area. “What if I hadn’t come home yet?”

“Then I would have woken up from my power nap and headed home.”

“Why aren’t you at home already?”

It was her turn to scowl. Stirring shaved chocolate into a pan of simmering milk, he made her hot chocolate so sweet it made his teeth ache just looking at it.

“I told my parents about the baby.”

“And it didn’t go well?” he guessed. Fucking snob assholes.

“Not quite. He thought Trent was the father.”

Diamond’s head snapped back, and he glared. “Do you mind if I shoot your father?” he meant it, but she spluttered with laughter like she thought it was a joke. It was far from a joke. That boiled his blood. He was the dad, not that skinny piece of crap.

“Did you tell them it was mine?”

The way she colored told Diamond the answer, and he grimaced. When ready, he poured the mixture into a white mug. He brought it to her and sat in the leather chair. Pinning Joelle with a stare.

“You don’t want me to tell my family or friends. You haven’t told your folks about me. I’m not liking what I’m thinking, Bluebell.”

She frowned and buried her mouth in the cup, moaning when she sipped. He loved it when she moaned. He needed those sounds pushed down his throat while she clawed him up.

“I needed time to process it, Diamond. You know that. People assume they’re entitled to an opinion.”

“No fucker’s opinion matters but yours and mine. Let me deal with people, and I’ll put them in their place.” He let her drink until he was appeased she wouldn’t get hypothermia. “You’re ashamed a trash biker made you pregnant?” It needed to be asked so he could figure how to strategize her deeper into his life. He wasn’t giving her up now, not when life itself had put her in his path. As far as Diamond was concerned, possession was nine-tenths of the law. And being a trash biker, he’d break all the rules for her. Joelle belonged to him.

That got her attention, and he watched Joelle’s head crank up. She pinned him with a feminine stare, her pink lips pursed.

“Don’t be obtuse, Diamond. Take this cup off me so I can punch you in the eye!”

Her threat made him smirk, and the tightness around his chest gave way until he inhaled and kicked back in the chair, legs spread in front of him. He didn’t miss how she checked him out with interest and lust right in the open for him to enjoy.

“It’s nothing like that. You’re not a trash biker; don’t repeat it. You’re a foul-mouthed biker, an unfiltered biker, and a biker with no manners.”

“Thanks, baby.” He sent her a grin.

“You’re welcome.” She scowled, and the hot chocolate stole her focus.

They didn’t speak again until she’d finished.

“I know about the Irish mob.” She announced, stunning the fuck out of him.

“How?”

“That doesn’t matter. So my question to you, mister biker, is, if my father is messed up in people like that, what can he do to you if he knows you’re the father of our baby? Tell me honestly. I don’t want you to protect me from the answer because I know you will have thought about this.”

“He’s only a Judge, Bluebell. He isn’t a god. Sure, he has contacts who could cause issues for my MC or me, but that’s not unusual; we always have some sector of the law working to put us behind bars. But unless he’s into planting evidence, he can only throw his power around so much. As I keep trying to tell you, I’m not without power, too.”

She sighed and nodded. “That’s what I thought. Now, do you understand my reluctance to tell him? It’s nothing about being ashamed. I am far from ashamed of you, Diamond. You’ve been wonderful this whole time. No woman could ask for a better co-parent. Bubba isn’t even here, and I already feel supported by you.”

His chest burned.

He was in prime shape for a man his age, but it felt like a heart attack or something equally daunting, his heart swelling with pride.

No, it was the dreamy way she was looking at him. Like if they were a couple, she’d be crawling into his lap and showing her appreciation.

Fuck him. He wanted her to do that. He’d shape her hips with his hands until she moaned because he’d squeeze a little too hard, but she’d get off on him handling her roughly, beg for it, even.

Diamond continued to ignore the pounding through the top half of his body.

“Do something for me.”

“What’s that?” she asked cautiously. Diamond smiled.

“You only worry about cooking our baby, and I’ll take on the worry of everything else. Deal?”

“That doesn’t seem equal.”

“There is no equal in this, Bluebell,” he explained and watched her frowning. He went on. “You have the most important job, yeah? That’s something only you can do. So you let me do the rest. You and me are in this bubble, Joelle. If outside disruptions stress you out, therefore stressing out your pregnancy, I’m gonna be pissed. You get what I’m saying?”

“Yes,” she replied softly, a sereneness and acceptance in her eyes.

“You don’t need to tell your folks anything else,” He stated. But then added, “I’ll do it.”

“What?” she yelped. With eyes wide open, she was unbelievably arousing.

“I’ll deal with your father.”

“Oh, great. So, what you’re saying is hunker down for World War Three?”

Diamond only smirked at her adorable dramatics. She didn’t know he’d faced tougher opponents than Snow and survived to recount the story.

Diamond climbed to his feet, and for a second, she looked like she was waiting for a kiss, with her head tipped back, watching him. His lips tingled before tossing her the remotes for the media wall. “Find something for us to watch. I’ll check on the probie and then make dinner.”

“What’s Price doing?”

“He’s looking at some maintenance around the complex.”

“Invite him in for dinner. He’s a cutie.”

“ Joelle .” He growled in warning and saw her eyes twinkling. Sassy, tempting thing. “Do you want me to go out there and break his arms? Because I will.”

“Big bear, you’re too much,” she giggled and curled up on the corner of his couch to watch TV. She looked so at home, like she’d always belonged there. Soon, she would.

Diamond inflated his lungs with cold, fresh air once outside. Plans percolating in his head. Once he’d gone all in with Joelle, he’d known it wouldn’t happen overnight. He’d need endurance, but he was coiled tight, his patience wearing thinner by the hour.

It took him a while to head back inside because the prospect needed help to move some outside furniture into the storage shed.

With his skin cold as ice, he shrugged out of the leather jacket, hung it up by the door, kicked off his boots, and discovered a cooking show on the TV. Joelle was fast asleep.

Quietly and carefully, he took the remote out of her hand, slipped both arms underneath her, lifted Joelle, and started for his bedroom. She came half-awake when he was almost there, and fingers clung to his shoulders.

“Are you carrying me? You’ll break your back, Diamond.”

“Hardly.” He answered. It had been a while—months since he’d been this up close and personal with her goddess body, and he reacted to her nearness by hardening in his jeans. It worsened when she dropped her head on his shoulder, nuzzling his neck.

So this was what agonized ecstasy felt like then.

Putting Joelle on the bed, he uncovered it and directed her to move into position. She was instantly cozy in his bed.

Another slash of heat went through him.

“You’re staying the night,” he told her firmly, ready for her to fight, but she only hummed and closed her eyes. “I’m gonna put you a toothbrush out in the bathroom.”

“Okay, River.” She replied sleepily.

She was fast asleep when he came out of the en suite. Smiling, he crouched on her side of the bed and brushed back a few strands of blue hair. He enjoyed this woman’s company, which had nothing to do with the project they were working on together. He liked her humor and her sass. She was never short of words, so their time together was seldom filled with uncomfortable silences.

“Mmm, nice.” He heard her murmur. Her eyes were closed, but her lips were turned up with a smile. And Diamond realized he’d palmed her belly. The only time he’d been this close to his baby was at the ultrasound, and they’d seen the small flickering blob. That was weeks ago, and she now had more of a prominent bump underneath his hand, and he was fucking mesmerized.

His kid was in there.

The kid he’d made with this blue-haired beauty with a smile to launch a thousand ships.

“Mm, River?”

He continued to roam over her covered belly. “Yeah, Bluebell?”

“Kiss me.”

He glanced up in a hurry.

Diamond had one of those ‘ fuck it’ moments and raised to his feet before he leaned over Joelle and pressed his mouth to hers.

Without hesitation, he took action.

As his tongue touched hers, she let out a surprised breath, her body shuddering in response. Even if she was asleep, she knew he was there because she opened her lips, and her tongue sought his. When she groaned, he groaned back, and he kissed her the way he’d been hungering to do for weeks and longer.

The warmth and sweetness of her lips only intensified his desire for more.

Need clenched his muscles as he lingered over Joelle, his arms bracketing her head. To rule over her fuck-hot body was his only screaming thought until she was so sopping wet, she’d beg him for an orgasm, and he’d deliver.

After drawing back from her siren’s mouth and swallowing his groan when her eyelids flickered, her mouth split into an enticing smile. “Am I dreaming?”

“Yeah, baby.”

It took herculean effort to tuck her in and leave the bedroom.

Sometimes, relationships defied logic for everyone else. It was a million intangible things.

Relationships didn’t always have to make sense to anyone else. They were about impalpable things that felt right.

Every time he looked at Joelle, he had the undeniable sense she was for him.

He didn’t live in a black-and-white world.

He was shades of gray.

But Joelle, he realized, was all color.

That meant he could make the rules.

And right now, he wanted to be painted with her rainbow.