Hyde: Northern Grizzlies MC Next Generation Book 1, page 12
“Give me a couple of minutes,” he says, standing up and heading back inside.
And I don’t know who he talked to or how he accomplished it, but that man delivered a miracle. It’s not ten minutes later when he comes back out and sweeps me into his arms without a word, then he seamlessly navigates the labyrinth of the building to deposit me next to a large tub filled with steaming hot water.
“You’re right, baby,” he says kissing me on my forehead. “You get settled in and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
I don’t have time to form any words as I feel my heart swell at this gesture. I’m still looking at the steam coming off the water when I hear the door close and I eagerly shed my clothes and sink into the tub.
Within a moment I’m saying the Lord’s Prayer. Not just because the tension in my muscles has started to ease, but because—no matter how I came to be here, Joe is everything I every dreamed he’d be with me.
A knock on the door startles me, until his voice calls out in warning and he enters with his hands full.
“We didn’t have lunch, so I raided the kitchen for food and wine. It’s crappy church wine, but we’ll eat, relax, and take a nap. How does that sound?” he asks me as he starts to separate out the items he rummaged.
“My answer depends on how much chocolate you found,” I respond, sighing as I enjoy the Epsom salts and hot water working their way through my muscles.
From the look on his face, I can tell that’s the only thing he doesn’t have. Still, I’m ridiculously happy with what he did provide.
*
The next morning, I feel human for the first time in days and decide that it’s my turn to treat Joe to a surprise.
Easier thought of than executed in the small bed, I finally manage to move halfway down the bed when I peek up to see Joe watching me from sleepy, half-hooded eyes.
“Move to the center,” I whisper, kneeling in between his legs as he shifts his core.
Kissing the light trail of hair on his navel, just above his boxers, I tug the waistband down so I can get to his cock. While it’s only slightly more awake than he is, I take it entirely into my mouth, massaging the silky underside with my tongue until it hardens and I have to slide back to the head before I gag.
With my hand slowly pumping the base of his dick, I lightly suck and lick his shaft as I bob my head up and down. The harsh rasping of his breath tells me how much he’s enjoying my efforts as he tries to keep silent, knowing how early the inhabitants of this place wake up.
“Harder,” he whispers, threading his fingers through my hair to hold my head.
I pause, looking up into his eyes to silently give him permission to take control.
“Oh, fuck, baby.” He lets out on a sigh before gently pushing my mouth down his length.
Joe maintains a steady pace, eventually betraying his urgency when his fingers fist in my hair—knowing he’s trying to stay gentle with me, I take over again, pumping my small hand faster up and down his cock as I keep the head in my mouth.
With a gasp from him as my only warning, the first stream of his release hits the roof of my mouth and I quickly try to swallow it all down.
“That was better than coffee,” Joe tells me, pulling me up along his body. “Feel free to wake me up like that anytime.”
“My goal in life is finally satisfied,” I tease him. “I’m better than coffee.”
“Don’t be bitter now,” he puns back to me. “Because, you know I like it with cream.”
And doesn’t he go down for his cream?
Chapter 12
Flint
“Are you alone?” I ask the moment Gunner picks up my call.
“Yeah, is Leslee alright?”
“No news since she spoke to Riley yesterday, which is good. Are things complete on your end?”
“They’re complete, but this whole thing stinks to hell and back. Out of the kindness of their hearts, the Navaja compensated us for Parks’ death. The guy who did all the talking said that the man who started firing, was over-eager and has been dealt with.” Gunner lets out a long exhale before continuing. “He goes by Jay. I don’t give a damn what he was saying, he knew damn well Trinity wasn’t associated with us. I think they were more interested in testing our response.”
“And how did Molly’s niece survive their hospitality?” I question.
“You’ll see when we get back.”
I can’t begin to guess what he means by that, but the feeling in the pit of my stomach tells me it ain’t good.
“Make it soon.” The demand in my voice is clear.
“Yeah, we’ll head back in the morning.”
“Alright, I’ll have Hyde hit the road then also.”
I’m stalling. I know I am and it pisses me off.
I’m fucking old, my body aches, and there’s still so much I want to experience. But there are days, it’s almost like I can hear that timer ticking down.
A few years after I married Bree, I realized that I was older than my dad was when he was killed. That freaked the hell out of me. I loved that man and modeled my actions on my memories of him.
To think that I was busy loving Bree, visiting with my grandkids, found a daughter I never knew existed and adopted a son – while still balancing the Northern Grizzlies and my investments, all without any sort of roadmap from him.
Gunner stays silent, patiently waiting for me to continue and I let out a curse. I’ve never been a coward and here I am acting like one. Just as I open my mouth, Gunner starts talking.
“You’ll want to make sure Bree isn’t around when I see Hyde,” he tells me. His voice is low with anger, but I also hear the resignation. “I’m telling you out of respect, I’m gonna break his nose and a couple of ribs. No lasting damage, but she’s half his goddamn age and is smart enough to have gone anywhere and been anything. If he hurts her, Flint, I will fucking end him.”
“If he hurts her, Gunner, I’ll have Royce dig the grave,” I promise him, relieved Gunner didn’t make me break the news. “But I believe Hyde needs Leslee, more than he probably understands right now. We’ve been running on luck for a long time, and if the Northern Grizzlies are going to survive another generation or two—unscathed—he’ll need her guidance, and I trust that he’s smart enough to accept it.”
“I am beyond pissed at you, and I won’t even try to talk Riley down when I tell her, but between you and me?” He pauses, measuring his words until I take it as my turn to respond to his unspoken feelings.
“You don’t have to say goodbye to Leslee and hope she’s safe living somewhere else,” I complete his thoughts. “I had to, back when my kids were barely out of diapers. I understand, Gunner. I also understand that you wish I was twenty years younger so you could knock my teeth out.”
“Yeah, I’ll have to settle for hiding your dentures.”
“Fuck off, I still have my own teeth,” I growl back.
“Don’t tempt me, old man,” he responds before hanging up.
Well, that went better than expected. I mean, I don’t envy the beating that Hyde has coming. Nor the tongue lashing I’m in for with Riley.
Stacked up against having Hyde back home with us, and in place to take over for Jasper, I can live with it.
“Are you and Gunner alright?” Bree’s soft voice pulls me from my thoughts as she enters the room and wraps her arm around my shoulders.
She lets out a shriek when I pull her onto my lap and give her a kiss.
“We will be, once they’re settled in,” I tell her, trying to sound confident about my decision to send Leslee into Hyde’s care.
“That might just be your last get out of jail free card, y’know.” The look Bree gives me tells me she’s not just talking about Gunner.
While I’ve included her in many of my plans over the years, I knew this was a sensitive one—so I kept my council and didn’t give her a heads-up.
“I’m going to need you to give me one more, darlin’,” I say with a heavy sigh. “Gunner’s going to… sort things out with Hyde when they get back. And you and I are going to let him.”
The flash of pain in Bree’s eyes feels like someone’s reached an icy hand into my chest and squeezed my heart, more so because I’m responsible for it. I’m surprised that she doesn’t pull away, she just tucks her head into my neck, and I tighten my arms around her.
“No matter how much I love you, all of you guys. Sometimes I don’t like you very much,” she replies after a pause. “And I guess I’m no better than any of you, because if that’s the price that has to be paid to have my family together, then I agree.”
Chapter 13
Leslee
“Go ahead inside, angel,” Dad addresses me even though his eyes are glued to Joe’s face.
“Leslee?” Mom calls as she steps out of the clubhouse, stopping in her tracks to give Joe a look that matches the one on Dad’s face.
Threading my fingers through Joe’s, I spread my legs shoulder width apart, showing them that I’m determined to stand by my Ol’ Man’s side to hash this out.
“No. This is…” I start but am quickly interrupted.
“Babe, head inside with your mom,” Joe murmurs, lifting his hand up to his mouth to place a kiss on each of my fingers.
“Dad, Mom, let’s go inside and talk,” I offer a perfectly logical option.
“Xander.” Dad calmly says my brother’s name, then looking beyond me, he nods. I let out a scream seconds later when my little brother picks me up and carries me to where Mom is standing, holding the door to the clubhouse wide open.
“This is ridiculous!” I bellow, pissed at all of them as I try to grab onto the doorframe. “Dad, don’t you lay a hand on Joe…”
I stop screaming when Mom closes the door behind her, blocking us off from the front yard.
“Mom, you have to stop this! Dad will listen to you,” I demand, taking a step toward her.
“You’re right,” she replies, crossing her arms over her chest after she turns the deadbolt. “We’ve already discussed it.”
“I’m Joe’s Ol’ Lady now,” I tell her, fisting my hands and determined to get back outside.
“Then sit your ass down and act like it. You want to be treated like an adult? Let your Ol’ Man take his lumps for you, he crossed a line and he knows it.” Mom’s voice is as hard and determined as I’ve ever heard it.
“He would not have touched me without my permission, or let me be blunt,” I reply. Worried about Joe, I try to keep my voice level the more upset I get. “He would not have touched me if I hadn’t of sat on his lap and taken matters into my own hands.”
“No one needs any details, Le-Lee,” my brother crows from behind me. “Especially not me!”
“Fuck off!” I growl, turning my glare on him and the large audience beyond him comes into focus. “Joe saved my life! He does not deserve to be treated like this.”
“Does he deserve you?” my Aunt Charlie asks nonchalantly, entering the room with a bowl of popcorn.
“Yes!” I snap back, exasperated.
“Then let him prove it to your dad.” Through the roaring in my ears, I can barely make out Bree’s softly spoken words.
Looking around the room, I notice that none of my friends are present. It’s filled with my parents’ friends or those a decade or so older than me. Basically, everyone that Joe grew up around.
My eyes finally meet Bree’s just as her comment slowly worms its way into my heart. I know how these men are, but that doesn’t mean that Joe deserves a beat down for giving into what I have always wanted.
There’s no doubt in my mind that the testosterone poisoning taking place in the yard bothers her as much as it does me. Looking down at my mom I revel in the inches I have on her.
“So much for always having my back,” I say before spinning on my heel and striding past everyone. I’m suddenly desperate to leave the spectators behind before my tears of frustration overwhelm me.
Heading down the hallway with the plan to head out the backdoor, I’m thwarted when Flint opens the door to Jasper’s office and blocks my path.
“We’d like a word with you,” he says, waving me inside. My jaw drops since I’ve never been in this office before. I look around it in awe until I sink into the chair that Jasper indicates.
“Once they’re finished,” Jasper says, briefly looking at a monitor that’s sitting off to his right. “I’ll approve Hyde’s request to take you as his Ol’ Lady—if that’s what you want?”
“Of course I do!” I instantly reply, then grimace at the tone of voice I used with him.
Flint clicks his tongue once, reminding me that my attitude might fly with my parents—on rare occasions—but not here.
“A few years back, Ruth referred to you as an ‘old soul’. Since I considered your mother to be one when she was your age, I never viewed you in any other light,” Jasper says, leveling me with the look he usually reserves for his children. “Now, we’re going to have to put that to the test.”
After delivering that, rather incomplete thought, he sits back in his chair. I have no idea what he’s trying to get at, or wants me to say, so I look at Flint, wondering if he’ll give me a hint.
“Put what to the test?” I ask after a moment of waiting for either of them to continue.
“We need you to keep your eyes and ears open,” Jasper finally continues. “Vector didn’t tell anyone you were being shipped out there. Neither did Flint, your parents, nor I. That leaves Parks telling someone where he was heading, and whoever it was, they decided to talk to the Navaja.”
“When he flies, doesn’t he have to tell someone where he’s going?” I ask him, figuring that the cartel hacked some system.
“Yes. And the flight plan that he filed had him arriving a couple hundred miles past where you did land. And their minions were waiting for you,” Flint answers my question this time. “We’re just asking that you pay attention to anyone with extra money, or who’s nosing around. If something seems off to you, let Hyde know and we’ll look into it.”
“I thought everything was alright now? That it was safe for me to come back?”
“We have an understanding with the Navaja, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t looking to expand into new territories. They promised us your safety in exchange for the bag you found. By the time the meeting took place, Trinity had already fessed up to lying about you so they didn’t really care about anything other than recovering as much as they could.”
With those few sentences, Jasper tells me more about club business than I have ever heard in my life. It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask why they’re sharing so much with me, but I don’t. They don’t seem to think my part in this is over.
I don’t know what exactly is going on, but Joe’s my Old Man now—I’ll discuss it with him.
“Is Trinity still alive?” I pause, trying to figure out how to ask a question they probably don’t want to answer.
“Yes, but we don’t have a clear answer about her connection to them,” Jasper says, while his eyes study me, cataloging my reaction to his words.
Without hesitation, I tilt my head to the side and blurt out my thoughts on the topic, “I love Molly. I really do, but isn’t there a modern-day version of Siberia that we can send Trinity to?”
“I think Siberia is still the ‘Siberian’ option. And, no,” Jasper replies with a smirk.
I can’t keep in the grunt that escapes me, but as Jasper’s eyes have floated back to the monitor I can’t see, I understand that our meeting is about over.
“Tabby should be arriving any moment and the front door will be unlocked,” Jasper tells me as Flint circles around the desk to look at screen. “So you don’t have to bother sneaking out of the back.”
Taking that as the dismissal it is, I stand up and reach for the door, eager to get back to Joe.
“And take it easy on your mom,” Flint calls out. “She’s always had your back.”
The words I so carelessly flung at my mom hit me hard. I nod once, not turning around as I race to get back to Joe.
Hyde
My brothers and I used to sit around, laughing and bullshitting about made-up scenarios regarding what would happen to any poor idiot who dared to ask Gunner’s daughter out; let alone sticking their hand in the cookie jar, so to speak. In short, I have no doubt about what’s about to happen.
Watching Xander carry his sister off, I can’t help but smile. I was almost right when I said he’d be taller than me the next time I saw him. Granted, I’ve still got an inch or so on him, but I’m sure he’ll be taller than me by the time he’s his sister’s age.
I turn from seeing the door close behind my Ol’ Lady and her family, to catch Gunner’s fist connecting with my cheek bone.
“How do you like sucker punches?” he growls at me.
The fact that I’m still on my feet tells me that he didn’t put his full force behind the blow. Rounding on him, I put my arms up, knowing how screwed I’ll be when he stops pulling punches.
“I love her,” I tell him, instantly realizing it’s the wrong thing to say.
With a feint to my left, his opposite fist connects with my head.
“You.”
Bam.
“Don’t.”
A slap across my jaw when I see stars.
“Know.”
His fist lands directly on my lips, narrowly missing my nose but inflecting damage nonetheless.
“What it means to love that girl,” he roars.
Shaking my head, I try to figure out how there are suddenly so many men surrounding us. There couldn’t have been more than a handful when this started a moment ago. Blinking my eyes repeatedly brings the world into clearer focus, along with the knowledge that Gunner has not softened with age.
At this point, Gunner shoves my shoulder and I fall on my ass.
“I do,” I say, stopping to spit out a mouthful of blood. “I’ll protect her.”
“I protect her. I always have!”
