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17

ATOM

“ Y ou’re going to get them, aren’t you?” Ember asks that night when we’re finally alone at her apartment and out of sight of the club. There are worry lines on her forehead, and I run my index finger over them to smooth them.

“You know I can’t talk about club business with you.” We’re sitting on the bed in the spare room, fully clothed.

Ember bats my hand away. “No. You and me, we don’t do the ‘club business’ bullshit. Especially when it involves me, and you might get hurt.”

“Can’t leave what they did unchecked or leave you unprotected.”

She huffs, her bottom lip out in a pout. “I don’t want you to go.”

I put my hand behind her neck and tug her close so her lips mold to mine. I’ve never really thought about dating and bases. Usually, my mind has been on the quickest path to fucking. Maybe that was because, in the past, it was the only thing I needed from the woman I was with. But with Ember, I feel like I want to make every moment count.

If I’m honest, I want into her pussy something fierce, but there’s also a different kind of special in having a woman you can just talk to.

“Doing nothing isn’t who I am, Em. And I’m gonna kill those fuckers for coming here and threatening you.”

She smiles softly. “I thought you weren’t meant to tell me club business.”

I kiss her again, only this time, I bite gently on her lower lip and run my hand up over her breast. She’s wearing a lacy lemon bra beneath her sundress that I catch sight of periodically when she moves.

It’s driving me to distraction.

But I can feel the peak of her nipple beneath the cotton and lace as I rub my thumb over it.

“It’s not club business. It’s a promise to you that I’ll always kill any fucker who thinks they can threaten you. No one will ever hurt you and live.”

“That shouldn’t be romantic,” she says. Her lips brush mine as she speaks. She wiggles across me until she is sitting astraddle my thighs. I revel in the fact I get to hold her lush curves as she does so. I slide my other hand up the hem of her dress, my rough palm stroking her silky-smooth thigh. “And I still wish you were staying home, safe with me.”

When I reach her panties, I allow my thumb to drift lightly over her mound. Her mouth opens slightly, and she sucks in a breath.

“Don’t let me drive off knowing you’re sulking. It’ll break my heart, and you’ll be really sad if I come back dead.”

She raises an eyebrow at that, even as her hips tilt back. I know what she’s seeking…pressure on her clit. “Don’t even joke about dying.”

I give her what she needs. Lowering my thumb, I can feel the hardened nub through the cotton.

She sighs. “It doesn’t feel right.”

I immediately stop my thumb. “Sorry.”

She reaches between us and grips my wrist, holding me where I was. “Not this. This felt good.”

The tight band around my chest eases. “Thank fuck. For a second, I thought I’d crossed a line. You’ll tell me if I do, right?”

She lets go of my wrist, and I take the opportunity to flip us both so she’s on her back and I’m settled between her legs. “Hudson, I’m serious. I feel like you’re crossing a line, handling my issue for me by you going out tonight. That’s what doesn’t feel right. If you died for me, I don’t know how I’d live with myself.”

“You’d live with yourself knowing I’d died being the kind of man I want to be.”

I wiggle down the bed a little and run my nose along the damp spot on her panties. Fuck, she smells so good. Musky and sweet. I suck the cotton into my mouth, tasting her essence, and her back arches off the bed.

“Stop distracting me,” she says, even as her hands slide into my hair.

A quick glance at the clock tells me I don’t have time tonight for all the things I want to do to her, but that doesn’t stop me wishing.

The grin comes unbidden as I climb back over her. “Sweetheart. It’s my job to take care of you. It’s my job to take care of this town. There is no version of our future wherein the event there’s a problem, I send you out to do my work for me. You wouldn’t like it if I went and ran your bar for you, would you?”

This time, she leans up and kisses me . “No.”

“Then let me go do what I’ve got to do.”

“If you’re doing what you need to do, then you need to let me go do what I need to. I need to run my business, be present tonight, and make sure my staff are safe. I’ll even let the prospects in with their cuts, if it makes you happy. I’ll wear a concealed carry and stay behind the bar. As long as you promise to not tell Dad, and we both agree it’s just this once.”

“I like negotiating with you, Em.” I slide my hands beneath her ass, and she lifts her knees. “Fuck, I wish we were naked.”

Her arms loop over my neck. “Would you stay home if I said I wish we were naked too?”

“Shit. You put sex on the table every time we negotiate, I’m gonna capitulate more times than I should.”

She chuckles at that, the laughter lines reaching her eyes. “I’m going to remember that.”

With the worst possible timing, there’s the quiet roar of motorcycles as they pull into the lot outside. Charmer and Haynes are coming to keep an eye on the place overnight. Two more will switch out with them at four in the morning.

“My balls are never gonna forgive me,” I mutter.

Ember winces. “Sorry. But I promise to take care of them later.”

“Can’t wait. And you’re probably right. Might be safer for you to be surrounded by a lot of people, tonight. Go down to the bar, but tell your staff so they can be alert for you.”

Ember sighs. “I will.”

“Sorry I don’t have time to follow through on this.” I glance between us, watching my thumb slide over her panties, and see the damp spot has spread. I resist the urge to lean between us and suck on it again. If I do that, there’s no way it doesn’t turn into fucking, and I don’t want our first time to be a rushed and hurried affair.

“Then you’d better come home safe and in one piece so you can. Promise me that, and I promise I won’t take care of this myself while you are gone.” She strokes her fingers over her pussy and bites down on her lip.

The groan escapes unbidden. “That’s just what I need in my head while I ride. The idea of you taking one of my orgasms.”

She grins. “One of yours? You said that the day in the hallway when we…” Her cheeks blush adorably.

“When I made you come? Yeah. They all belong to me. You don’t get to give them to me; I fully intend to take them.”

I lift off her, kneeling on the bed to adjust my jeans. Unable to resist, I lower over her and kiss her one last time. My whole palm cups her pussy, and she pushes firmly against it before groaning.

“When I see you next, I’m gonna lick you out until you come. Who knows, I might even purr like the lion man in your books. And I’m gonna take my second one.”

The sound of her laughter does little to ease the discomfort in my jeans, but I need to get up and off her before the two prospects I’m expecting find more than they are bargaining for.

“I don’t like leaving you,” I say, running my knuckle down Ember’s cheek.

“I’ll be fine. Look at it this way: you’re taking care of business, so we’ll all be safe again. And despite my reservations for your safety, I’m proud that my man cares for me so much, he’ll do that for us.”

Pride swells in my chest that she sees it. “My man. I like the sound of that from those lush lips of yours. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to keep you safe.” I push off her and stand. “I’ll be coming home to you, eventually, sweetheart. Even if it’s not tonight. Just be where I left you when I get here.”

“There’s a spare key on the hook by the door. Take it so you can get in if it’s late.”

“After Dad made that big deal about me not being at the ranch this morning, Butcher arranged for two teams, an old timer and a prospect on each, to keep watch over you tonight. I tried to talk him out of it, but there was only so much I could say without him getting suspicious. Won’t be as simple as just walking in if they are doing their job properly. Questions will be asked as to why I’m here.”

I hate the disappointment in her eyes. “When we can, then?”

“Yeah, sweetheart. When we can. I’ll message you and let you know I got back okay, though, yeah?”

I kiss her one last time, and after a brief discussion with the prospects to let them know where to keep an eye on Ember, I set off and meet up with my brothers.

It’s another hour before I’ve ridden to the clubhouse and we’ve headed into Denver in the van. And we aren’t fucking around. With the increased intelligence Wraith has been gathering for us, we know there are a number of warehouses they use to transfer goods on the edge of Denver’s western limits, and a safe house that members of the Bratva have been seen entering and leaving.

We’d made plans to hit the warehouse, but Dice had ridden out ahead several hours ago to keep watch, and he’d said it looked as though the warehouse was being cleared out. Wraith had directed him to the safe house, and he’d seen a vehicle that matched the one the two thugs who had come for Ember had used.

And that had been enough for me to vote in favor of the last-minute switch in attack location.

“Why’s he grinning like that?” Butcher asks as Catfish navigates his way through the dark streets on the edge of the city.

I look over to Caleb, who is smiling so hard he might break his own jaw. As one of the prospects closest to becoming a brother, we asked him to join us.

“I’m thinking he’s happy for the invite,” I say. I respect the kid. He’s balls to the wall fearless, and willing to do whatever needs doing. Some guys want to join the club with the aspiration of being president one day. Some join it for the brotherhood and are happy just to be a good fucking soldier.

Caleb is the latter.

Catfish glances into the rearview mirror. “Aww. He’s like the cute little brother who gets to go out with his older siblings for the first time.”

Caleb tries to quell his grin but fails miserably. “Fine. I’m stoked I get to ride with you guys tonight. It’s a big deal.”

Butcher squeezes his shoulder. “It is. Just don’t fuck it up.”

“No, sir,” Caleb says.

Wraith shakes his head. “For fuck’s sake, don’t be calling him Sir. He’ll be expecting us all to do it.”

Butcher shrugs. “Does have a nice ring to it.”

“Will be good to not be the new guy anymore,” Taco says.

Grudge throws his balled-up gum wrapper at him, hitting him squarely on the forehead. “You’ll always be the new guy.”

Taco flips the bird at Grudge, and it’s good to see him settling into the camaraderie of the brotherhood. For the first few weeks after he got his cut, he didn’t do anything without instructions because he didn’t want to put a foot wrong. Like he couldn’t believe he’d made it and was scared of getting his patch taken back off him.

“We’re getting close,” Wraith says eventually.

I look out of the front windscreen. The sky has turned the darkest midnight blue, with only the tiniest pinpricks for stars. We pull over on the deserted road, everyone on high alert.

Grudge looks out of the rear window. “Couple of lights on inside, no obvious security patrols, but there are cameras.”

“Catfish can take them out,” Butcher instructs.

Our best sniper climbs out of the van, and while I can’t see him from my position in the back of the van, I see the lights near the building go out a second after I hear the pop of Catfish’s rifle.

“Seems like the truck we’re looking for is parked on the lot,” Grudge says while we wait.

“Yeah?” I stand as best I can and crane my neck to look out of the side window without lowering it. Sure enough, same color, same make.

I want to claim the two guys who threatened and hurt Ember as mine. It should be my right to give them what they deserve. But if I do that, Butcher will want to know why.

Instead, I’m gonna lean into my role as enforcer, the one who handles conflict by resorting to violence. Let my title put them at my feet.

“Groups of three,” Wraith says as we climb out of the van. “Leave no man behind. They’ve come for our town. They threatened Quinn and Ember and Margie. Only assholes go for the women.”

I head around back to the rear of the building with Taco and Caleb. It’s a weird structure with lots of extensions that look like handmade death traps.

“It’s like a rabbit warren,” Caleb whispers. “Need eyes all around us.”

“Yeah, slow and steady,” I agree.

“Going in now,” Wraith says in my earpiece. He has Catfish and Grudge with him.

“Same,” I say.

“Us too,” Butcher says, taking Dice, our mechanic, and Wynn, another prospect, with him. “We’re taking the side entrance.”

A thin seam of light flickers beneath a closed door down the hallway, but other than that, the property is dark. It smells of damp, and is cool inside.

I turn a small flashlight on and hold it beneath the muzzle of my Glock. We’re in an unused kitchen. The fridge door hangs open and flies hover around the dripping tap.

Slowly, we make our way toward the closed door. There’s the murmured sound of cheering and clapping. Like someone is watching a sports game, likely on a phone or something. It’s too tinny to be a television, and fuck knows this place doesn’t look like it’s been set up for living accommodation.

Steady!

My heart is racing, and I need the reminder.

Short, stacatto bursts of gunfire suddenly erupt from the direction of the front of the house, which suggests Wraith has found trouble, but I resist every instinct to run and help him.

“Grudge is shot,” I hear when Wraith opens comms. He’s breathless, running, maybe.

“How bad?” Butcher asks.

“Losing blood but flesh wound, I think. He’s on his feet.”

“Fuck. Need help?” I whisper.

“Yes,” Wraith replies.

“We’ve got it,” Butcher replies. “On our way.”

The door we’re approaching opens quickly, and a man steps outside, weapon raised. In the confusion and darkness of the hallway, he doesn’t see me until I’m practically on top of him, and it takes a solid blow to the side of the head to knock him down and kick his weapon away.

Only meant to knock him unconscious but can see from the pool of blood starting to form that I’ve killed him.

“Get Grudge to the van,” I say as Taco and Caleb charge into the room to my left.

A long line of what sound like Russian expletives fill the room as I step inside, leaving the body behind me. Taco has a second man face down on the ground as Caleb manages to disarm him.

“Well, if it isn’t one of the very men I wanted to see.”

He’s the driver.

The one I really want is the asshole who slapped Ember to the ground, but this guy will make a happy substitution.

“Fuck you,” he says, lifting his head up a little from the ground.

I put my boot on his cheek, forcing his face back down to the ground. “You’re going to die in the next five minutes.”

“Again. Fuck. You.” The words are muffled as my boot presses down harder on his cheek, then I shove hard. With Taco kneeling on his back and his hands tight in zip ties, there is nothing he can do to retaliate.

“Caleb, watch the door,” I say as I crouch down next to the man. “What do you want with my town?”

The man tries to look away, but I grab his jaw.

“You have no idea who we are,” he says.

“Because that isn’t remotely relevant. Because no one gets our town. So, who you are doesn’t matter to me at all.”

He spits blood onto the floor and laughs. “Your club, your town—all small.”

“Bit like your dick, I suppose. Roll him over,” I say to Taco.

Within seconds, he’s on his back, his tied hands beneath him, and I’m standing over him, my weapon pointed right at his genitals.

He scrambles, pushing his feet into the floor and slithering away like the fucking snake he is. “Yeah, it’s easy to be the bad guy in front of an unarmed woman, isn’t it? Bit tougher to be facing someone bigger than you, better armed than you.”

I let off a shot, aiming for his cock, but at the last minute, he moves, and the bullet goes straight through his upper thigh.

All attempts at bravado flee, and he screams in agony. Sweat prickles on his brow as his face morphs into a look of terror.

“Shit,” I say mockingly. “Bet that hit your femoral artery. So, you got a minute or two left. Why do you want my town?”

He licks his lips, trying to get some moisture in his mouth as he watches blood pump from the wound and pool by his leg.

“Please,” he says. “A tourniquet. Something.”

I shake my head. “Sorry. You didn’t think there would be consequences for threatening Butcher Deeks’s daughter?”

I see no harm in using his name. After all, they knew it already when they came for her.

He manages to shunt his way up the wall a little bit. “It’s business.”

I drop in front of him. “Not in my fucking town, it’s not!” The words come out on a roar. “Tell me why you want it.”

His face goes gray, his eyes shocked. “Whoever said…it was about the town?”

“There are two more men coming,” Caleb shouts.

I look to Taco. “Go, the two of you. Deal with them.”

He runs out of the door with Caleb, and I grab my knife. “If it’s not about the town, what is it about?”

“Fuck you,” he says. He tries to grin at me, but blood fills the gap between his teeth and bubbles over down his chin. His skin turns a musty gray pallor. “As I said. I’m a dead man, anyway. You can’t hurt me more than that.”

“No?” I say, placing my knife blade near his eye.

He tucks his chin and pushes his head as far back against the wall as it will go.

“You dared to look at my woman,” I whisper. “So, I’m going to send you to your maker without your eyes so you can’t look at anything you’re not meant to, ever again.”

“No. Fuck. No… I’m…dying, anyway.”

I grin as I pull his lower lash down. He shakes his head from left to right, trying to avoid me. Never done an evisceration before, but the satisfaction I feel when his eyeballs rest on his cheeks, and he sits in his own vomit and piss, says it was worth it.

And it sends a clear message to the man who hit Ember.

That I’m coming for him, and what he gets will be worse.