Hyde: Northern Grizzlies MC Next Generation Book 1, page 15
“Where’s your brother?” I ask him, rarely seeing one without the other.
“She took him with her. I, um, I knew Dad’s number so I called him from the office so he could let Flint know,” he replies, looking between the three of us until his dad pokes his shoulder. “Oh, um, she has Trinity, also. I don’t know what was wrong with her, but she was walking funny. Then after she left, the cleaning lady started screaming from Trinity’s room and a guy came running out carrying his clothes.”
“You’re telling me a girl that weighs, what, fifty pounds less than you two took both of your phones and kidnapped two people?” Flint asks him, not even trying to keep the smirk off of his face. “Was she armed?”
“Um, no? I don’t think so,” he mumbles, his face blazing red to the point that I feel bad for him. “I’m sorry.”
Royce and I happen to make eye contact and neither of us can hold it in another moment. We’re bent over laughing as he struggles trying to say something, just as his son pipes up again.
“Should I go look for them?” he asks Flint. Finn’s tone has changed from embarrassed to frustrated but I appreciate that he wants to make this right.
“You are so fucked,” Royce wheezes out as he catches his breath, and it takes me a split second to realize he’s talking to me and not to his son. “Your Ol’ Lady’s gonna make all the other ones look like Sunday school teachers.”
I pull out my phone to call Leslee, assuming she’ll pick up this time, when Flint lets out a whistle. Looking up, he’s pointing at her SUV as she’s turning into the parking lot. From where I’m standing, I can see Aiden in the backseat but there’s no sign of Trinity.
“Joe, you should be resting,” Leslee coos once she’s parked and sliding out of her vehicle.
“You’re not wrong, babe,” I quickly agree with her, trying not to grin when she crosses to give Finn his phone back. “But now I gotta wonder if I’m gonna have to dispose of a body today.”
“What do you mean?” The look she gives me is the picture of innocence.
“Leslee,” Flint growls out her name and she shifts her eyes to meet his glare without hesitation. I can’t help but think that Royce’s sons could learn a thing or two from her.
“Oh, I got her on the bus back to Indiana,” Leslee answers him as she gingerly wraps an arm around my waist. “Well, to Denver at least, from there we’ll just have to hope she keeps her word.”
Royce heavily exhales, like a weight has just been lifted off of him.
“Aiden?” Flint looks at him in question.
“Yes, sir. Leslee got her onto the bus, then we followed it to the town line and turned back.”
“And why did you need to practically carry Trinity to the SUV?” Flint asks him next.
“It seemed like she and her friend had been partying all night,” Leslee interjects and Aiden’s head swivels between her and Flint before he finally takes a deep breath.
“Yeah, she seemed to sober up a little bit on the ride over though. She walked to the bus on her own, but I bet she’ll sleep it off the whole way to Denver.” He seemingly decides that his salvation depends on following Leslee’s lead.
Sliding my hand down Leslee’s back, she tenses up when I feel something the shape of a small flashlight in her back pocket. Without thinking, I pull it out and keep it in the palm of my hand.
“Careful,” she whispers.
I lean down to kiss her temple then inconspicuously look down to see what it is that I’m holding. The minute I realize it’s a taser, my eyes shoot back over to Royce as his laughter and words replay in my mind.
Maybe it’s the pain meds I’m on, but he seems to read my face like an open book. At least, I think that’s what his wink and shit-eating grin is meant to convey.
*
“Baby?” I call out when she doesn’t turn away from the window. “Was everything alright with your appointment?”
“Yeah, sorry,” she says, throwing a grin over her shoulder and holding her hand over to me. “I mean the gyno was more invasive than I expected, but necessary.”
“Um, it was a woman, right?” I ask and see the flash of mischief in her eyes as I lean in to kiss her—it makes me change my aim from her forehead to her lips, so she won’t give me any shit.
“I’ll start the pill on Sunday,” she says when our lips part. “I also got a name of an architect from Amy.”
“You still want to start with her on Monday?” I check with her. Last night I went over my financial information with her and ordered her both debit and credit cards from my bank. I’m in good enough shape that she can continue to just work with her dad if she wants to, or even go to school full-time without working. I don’t want her to think she’s giving anything up by being with me.
“Yes, I’m actually really excited about it,” she reassures me, tracing the hard lines of my face as she studies me. “How about you? Have Jasper and Flint laid out their nefarious plans for your future?”
“Not yet, but they’re sending me on a run with Heat next week—which I take to mean that they want us to spend more time together.”
“Just as long as he understands that you’re taken,” Leslee teases me, sitting up to straddle my lap.
She sighs when I pull on the string that holds together the front of the deep V-neck shirt she’s wearing, until there’s enough of a gap for me to lower her bra and pop her tits out.
With the lightest swipe of my thumbs over her nipples, they have hardened into pebbles that I roll between my fingers before licking and sucking them in turn.
“I can promise you, I’m not his type,” I say, enjoying the slightly dazed look in her eyes as she tries to make sense of my words.
Taking a look around, I realize that the condoms are in the nightstand on the far end of the bed from me, which wouldn’t be a huge problem except how fucking lazy I am right now.
Placing Leslee down beside me, I ignore all the parts of me that still ache as I kneel on the floor next to the loveseat and slide her shorts down.
“Let me see you play with those titties,” I whisper before I give her a chaste kiss on top of her neatly shaved pussy.
She spreads her legs for me, impossibly bending one knee to place her foot on the edge of the loveseat to give me the best possible angle. I love how she watches me, her eyes barely open, but smoldering none-the-less.
It’s not long before Leslee starts to work her hips, almost making a sobbing sound when my tongue teases her clit, so I give her the hard licks I know she loves, just before I start sucking on her little button.
Bringing her to her first orgasm isn’t enough for me though, so I slide a finger inside of her pussy, curling it up against her G-spot. Thrusting them in repeatedly, hard and fast, I’m determined to wring a second release as she’s riding the wave of the first one.
“Please! Harder, please.” She sits up, tugging at my hair as she begs for what she needs.
“I love seeing you this way,” I tell her when I feel her body soften. “You’re never getting rid of me, baby.”
“So that’s the way it’s gonna be, huh?” she asks with a coy little grin, perfectly highlighting her satisfaction.
“That’s the way it is,” I confirm, like I haven’t fallen completely into her trap.
Chapter 16
Gunner
Jasper shoots his arm out, stopping me from crossing the crowded room to reach down and rip Hyde’s tongue out of his throat.
The very tongue that’s inside my daughter’s mouth right now.
I look away when she jumps up to wrap her legs around his hips, getting a round of cheers and laughter from the friends surrounding them.
“Fuck! This will happen to you one day, and let’s see how you like it,” I growl, turning my ire on one of my oldest friends.
“She’s happy, Gunner,” Jasper says, in his normal, even keel voice. For once, it truly bothers me; no matter that his level-head has saved this club, time and again. “It was like she was melting away, these past few years. Maybe we’ll never understand how or why Leslee decided Hyde was all she wanted, but considering he let you beat him without once raising a defense…”
I grunt, not wanting to admit what we all know. That stubborn motherfucker stood there and let me swing on him, over and over again.
He just took it.
I kept telling myself to stop, but then it occurred to me that he was letting me hit him because of all the ways he had enjoyed Leslee; my mind flashing to when Riley and me first got together and she let me teach her everything I liked.
To say that my rage blinded me for a moment, is an understatement.
“Fuck, I need something stronger,” I moan as he helps her slip on his Property of Hyde cut. “Give me a minute.”
The far corner of the bar is the only space that isn’t overflowing with Grizzlies or townies and that’s because there’s a rope in place, holding a spot for Flint and Bree. Considering they aren’t here and the depth of my need right now, I unclip it so I can get close enough to place my order.
Malcolm’s working my end of the bar and immediately comes over to see what I need. He’s about to turn away when someone joins me, and his light blue eyes shift upwards to catch the next order.
“Shot of tequila,” Hyde answers his unspoken question before leaning closer to me. “Can we talk?”
I tilt my head to the left, indicating the empty barstool and brace myself for the conversation.
“You got cleared to drink, huh?”
“Le-Lee was tougher to convince than Tabby,” he chuckles, probably more because of the bottle that’s placed in front of me, than whatever my daughter has put him through.
“I wanted to make sure we’re good. Or if we aren’t, how we can get there,” Hyde starts and I open the bottle in front of me, pouring a healthy sized splash into the glass beside it. “I’ve looked up to you since the day Flint brought me in here and the friendship we had over the years is important to me.”
“If it’s so important to you, did keeping your hands off of my daughter ever cross your mind?”
“Repeatedly. Look Gunner, I know I won’t ever deserve to have her as my Ol’ Lady, but I am going to spend the rest of my life being worthy of Leslee’s love and loyalty.” Hyde maintains eye contact with me when he assures me of his intention.
And he’s completely sincere. I already know that, and he’s damn well never going to cheat on or abuse my baby girl. Even if I die, Xander knows it will fall to him to handle Hyde if he crosses those lines.
“I expected more restraint, Hyde. And if that wasn’t going to be possible, I had hoped you would talk to me first.” Words, voicing emotions I hadn’t consciously entertained, bubble out of me and behind them is the same anger I felt the day I beat the shit out of him.
And that’s just it.
More than being my brother, Hyde’s been my friend for a long time, and it occurs to me that I hate the thought of him betraying that almost more than the idea of him… fuck, I don’t want to think of him with my daughter.
“You’re right. I’m sorry, Gunner.” Although his apology is immediate, I see the pain in his eyes and know that he means it. “It wasn’t planned. I did everything I could to keep her at arm’s length—until I couldn’t.”
When I put my hand on his shoulder, I fight to keep from squeezing his collarbone too hard. It’s going to take me some time to get over this, but I need to clear up his one misconception.
“It was planned, Hyde,” I announce and his expression changes from remorseful to angry at the thought that I don’t believe him. “Flint has plans for all of us. Granted, no one could foresee the events that kicked this off, but I think Flint took the opportunity to make lemonade out of lemons with the Trinity situation and we all know how determined Leslee can be when she wants something.
“The thing is, I can’t let him slide and stay angry with you. That’s a little more hypocritical than the standards I hold myself too.”
“I’ve been chewing on how to ask him why he didn’t send one of Vector’s guys for Leslee, but at the end of the day, I keep thinking that I love her so much, is it worth pushing him on this point?” Hyde’s reply makes me grin, cause that kid has definitely learned a lot from Flint. I hope to be a fly on the wall the day that Hyde does push back against his adopted father. “But as far as you and me, I’m not going to sit here and make a dozen promises of how happy I’ll make her, Gunner. You’ve always said: ‘actions make the man’, so I’m going that route. If there’s anything you need from me, let me know.”
“Yeah, I need you to limit the PDA,” I snap back, drawing a laugh from him before he catches himself, shaking his head with a grin that tells me to fuck off.
“Weren’t you making out with Riley on the dance floor back when she was…” Hyde cuts off with a cough when I turn my glare up a few notches.
“Dad.” Leslee’s voice directly behind me startles both of us. “Are you being nice?”
She wraps an arm around me and puts her head against my shoulder, like she has a million times; the difference is, this time she isn’t looking up at me. Leslee’s sharing a smile with her Ol’ Man.
I tuck my head over hers and inhale the familiar, minty scent of her shampoo before kissing the top of her head.
“Never,” I reply, having problems pushing the word out. She looks at me as though slightly confused. “I’m not exactly known to be nice, sweet angel.”
“Will you have time to help us?” she asks, and this time I look at Hyde confused.
“I haven’t asked him yet, babe,” he responds, threading his fingers through hers before he looks at me again. “We want to build a house on that land that Mrs. Riley left Leslee, but there are some details that we don’t want in the architectural plans. I was wondering if you knew a way around that.”
Turning back to the bottle of whiskey in front of me, I pour a healthy amount in the glass and down it in two swallows. Lifting my eyes up to the far end of the bar, I see Jasper looking at me in question and I shake my head before looking down at Leslee.
“You finally found someone who would build you a bunker, I guess?”
Try as I may, there’s no hiding my exasperation. The delight on my daughter’s face is undeniable, bringing back years of memories of her talking about ones she had seen in movies.
“And a tunnel like Alex has, in case we need to escape!” she responds, stretching up on the balls of her feet like she does when she gets excited.
I’ll be damned if I’ll admit it anytime soon, but it’s becoming crystal clear that she’s with the perfect man for her, because that’s possibly where I might have drawn a line with Riley.
Not that I wouldn’t have eventually given in, of course.
“Shoot me a text,” I tell Hyde, and this time when our eyes meet, neither of us are able to conceal our grins over this nonsense. “I’ll walk the land with you and get it worked out.”
When I grab the whiskey bottle to make my way back to my brothers, my baby girl gives me another hug before I turn, leaving her to hang out with her Ol’ Man and her friends.
Each step away from her is painful, but necessary.
Not that I’ll be too far away, not as long as there’s breath left in my body.
Epilogue
Hyde, later that fall
The skin on the back of my neck tingles when Anvil catches my eye from across the bar. After whispering an excuse into Le-Lee’s ear, I follow him out to the parking lot.
Heat and Lock are already waiting out there when I make my way through the crowd. A look among them tells me they don’t know what’s happening, but once I see Jasper coming around the side of the building, the knot in the pit of stomach expands.
“I just heard from Royce,” Jasper says, lighting a joint. “Trinity’s father’s house just burned down. They’ve recovered three bodies so far.”
“But not Trinity,” I interject when he pauses for a hit.
“That bitch has more lives than any cat that ever walked this planet,” Anvil growls out the words that I’m thinking.
“All things being equal, it’s a shame Le-Lee didn’t end her when she had the chance,” Lock contributes with a wry chuckle.
While the guys that grew up with Leslee love to give her shit about the escapades she was responsible for, I never consider getting in their way—God knows she gives it back as good as she gets it. Knowing my Ol’ Lady the way I do, I’m certain she wouldn’t have actually killed Trinity at any point.
At least, at any point in the past. If it comes down to Trinity versus anyone in our circle, my money is on Leslee. My woman loves hard.
“Royce finished his job in Chicago, he’s riding down to Indiana now and will let me know what he can find out,” Jasper tells us. A shift in the shadows at the corner of the building catches my attention, but I stay quiet. “If it doesn’t turn out to be faulty wiring, I’m going to assume that Trinity’s responsible, albeit indirectly. I’ve notified the other Chapters to keep their guard up.”
“What about the run that’s set up for tomorrow?” Heat questions him.
“I’m going to change the meeting place,” Jasper replies, and we all nod in agreement.
We all knew that once we registered on the Navaja’s radar, they wouldn’t simply walk away after their product was returned. As expected, all of our Chapters have experienced more tails and drones in their areas. They’ll eventually approach us about an alliance, but until they do, we’ll have to stay one step ahead of them.
Jasper quickly tells each of us what he expects from us before he heads back inside.
“Chris,” I call out to Jasper’s oldest as everyone starts to drift away. He lets out a loud breath, looking like he’s dreading whatever I’m going to say, not that that stops me. “Your dad doing alright?”
“It’s Mom,” he softly replies. “Her mammogram was concerning. Nothing to be done until the next round of tests take place.”
