Page 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

C ompass grabbed the keys along with his wallet and slid on his cut. It had been late when the ceremony to give Dex and Halligan the first-place prize, War and Scoop the second-place prize, and Ellie and Elijah the third-place prize took place. By the time they’d gotten back to their room and showered the sweat off, he’d been glad they’d had their time in Dodge City.

Maureen had fallen asleep on the bed while he finished trimming his beard before bed. He didn’t have the heart to wake her, though his cock had been ready and willing to show his wife how much he wanted her.

He and Maureen had offered to take care of some of the kids today since, between the wedding and their extended poker fun, they hadn’t really done their fair share for the weekend.

They were picking up Clara along with Cannon and Jesse’s kids. Then they were grabbing donuts and watching the kids during the ceremony.

Maureen walked out of the bathroom and toward him. Her hand on his chest warmed his heart, and he had to have a taste of her.

He shivered at the touch of her lips and wondered if they had time for a quickie. Now that he’d had her, it was almost all he thought about. He had the stamina and recovery time of a younger man, and he was going to enjoy it.

Maureen pulled back from him. “We need to get going. The kids and Clara will be waiting.”

He nodded because she was right, but now he needed to get his dick to go down before they picked them up. He helped Maureen on with her cut and then slid his hand to her waist as they left the room.

He waved to Dex and Speedy as they passed by the clubhouse and hit the gate remote. He paused, then drove through and headed over to Jesse and Cannon’s. He hadn’t really thought through that they’d need car seats for the kids until he pulled through the gate to the bail bonds area of the compound and the houses Locks had built for the sisters. Although now it was a mishmash of who lived in the houses since Remi and War, along with Winnie and Bear, were in the newer houses behind the clubhouse, farm, and garage.

He pulled in front of Cannon and Jesse’s house. They’d stayed in her original house because it was close to her job at the garage. He parked and then walked around to help Maureen out. Her smile when he lifted her down out of the SUV brought a smirk to his face. He wondered what she’d think if he lifted her and had her against the wall. He was considering things that he thought had been over in his life.

“What’s that smirk for?” Maureen asked.

“I was thinking that since I lifted you out of the truck, maybe you’d enjoy it if I lifted you against a wall and had my way with you,” Compass said, his deep voice sending a shiver through her.

She loved him, but him making her aching and wet before they spent the morning with the kids and Clara wasn’t fair.

“You know, I’m thinking since you decided to say that and make me ache, that I’m going to wait until we’re somewhere you can’t have me and then get you rock hard,” Maureen said softly.

His chuckle had her wanting to punch his arm, but they were at Cannon and Jesse’s door. The screen door was closed, but the inside door was open, so they just walked in.

“We’re here,” Maureen called.

“Come in the kitchen,” Clara called.

Maureen paused at the sight in the kitchen. Powdered sugar was all over the counter and on the floor. Clara was using a small hand vacuum to get it off the counter.

“Well, this looks interesting,” Maureen commented.

Hank walked back in, eyes twinkling but his mouth pursed. “I’m sorry.”

Clara turned and held out her arms. “It’s okay. It was very sweet of you to try to make frosting by yourself since Mommy and Daddy were taking care of the twins. Accidents happen,” she said, holding Hank in her arms and dropping a kiss on his head.

“I changed clothes.”

“Probably a good idea. You might have sneezed all morning if you wore that shirt,” Clara said.

“Compass and Maureen are here to take us to the ceremony, and they’re going to help us with Rissa and Ginny. Aunt Winnie said they’d sit by us so you could play with David and Grant.”

“I’ll go get my boots,” Hank called, running out of the room.

“I thought the kids were staying with War, Remi, Sarah, and Scoop,” Compass said.

Clara nodded. “They were, but Hank still has some times he doesn’t want to sleep away from Mom and Dad, so he came home at two a.m.”

Hank ran back in the room, skidding on the floor in his socks. “Will you help me?” he asked.

Maureen loved seeing Compass’ face light up and nod his head. He and Hank sat down in a chair while Compass helped him.

“Anything I can do to help?” Maureen asked. She almost hoped the girls needed cuddling all morning. Maureen couldn’t think of anything she’d love more than cuddling the girls. But at nine months old, she was guessing they might want to be on a blanket playing with toys or crawling around instead of just snuggling with her. Still, she knew it would be a fun time.

Jesse came out carrying one of the twins, and Cannon walked out behind her with the other.

“Thank you so much for doing this. Did you want to take our vehicle with the car seats and then we’ll drive it back? I finished the restoration on the 1970 Harley Davidson Ironhead Sportster that Sarah and Scoop brought back from their trip. So I’ll be riding that to give to Scoop. It’s his push present for Sarah. Cannon is driving the pickup truck with the metal sculpture the guys made for the park,” Jesse said.

“I thought the push present was like when the baby was born,” Compass said.

“Do I want to know how you know that?” Maureen asked.

“Scoop and War were whining in the clubhouse a couple of days ago about them. Scoop and War both acted like they had no idea what to do,” Compass said.

Cannon chuckled. “Yeah, Scoop didn’t want War outdoing him, so he swore Jesse and me to keep the bike a secret. She’s had to hide it every night just in case War came by.”

“Well, give me one of those sweeties and let’s get over to the ceremony,” Maureen said, reaching for Ginny. The girls looked identical. At least, they were dressed in different colored outfits, and their little cuts had their names on them.