Hyde: Northern Grizzlies MC Next Generation Book 1, page 8
“You haven’t stopped moving all day, I’d say it was your turn for a nap.”
“I’ll nap after our walk, when the lasagna is baking,” she responds, giving me a little grin when a moan escapes me. “In all your travels, you must have found a version to rival Mom’s?”
“Never. I gave up ordering it after the first year on the road,” I tell her, standing up and stretching before reaching a hand down to pull her out of her seat. The sooner we get moving, the sooner I’ll be eating lasagna.
Winding down one of the overgrown trails, I smile at how sure-footed she is in the woods and appreciate how she sometimes pauses to point out an animal watching us, or whatever catches her attention. And the woman doesn’t miss much.
“You ever change your mind about fishing?” I ask her, risking one of her glares. It’s impossible to keep the grin off of my face, remembering the trouble she’d get into because she thought fishing was too boring and gross.
“No, but if it means a boat ride, I just bring a book with me nowadays,” Leslee responds, her strawberry blonde hair falling over her shoulder when she turns to look back at me. “Is there a lake on the property?”
“Nah, just a couple of spots along the river that make for so-so fishing and decent swim holes this time of year,” I answer her and immediately want to kick myself.
Shit. It’s not like she would have packed a suit, so I close my eyes against the image of what she’d probably want to swim in.
“Crap,” I growl out when my boot hits a tree root.
“How was your trip?” she asks me, only hiding her smile when she sees me carefully pat my side. I shrug, letting her know I’ll live, but it’s honestly too painful to do anything except exhale. “Good. I’ll see you next fall.”
“Get your own material, brat,” I counter after I catch my breath, knowing damn well where she learned those lines. “Wait, if you take that trail up on the left, we’ll eventually end up back at the cabin.”
“I want to see the swimming holes, are they very far?”
“One was back on the right, the other is about a half mile up. I’m not really in the mood for swimming today though,” I warn her.
“No swimming today.” She crosses her finger over her breast. Shit, her heart. “But let’s turn back to see the one we passed, then I want to get dinner started.”
“Deal,” I answer with a nod. “Follow me.”
Thankfully, she keeps her word—and her clothes on, even though I can see how tempted she is when we break from the trees to the sight of the sun shining down on the water.
“Why doesn’t Alex live here? This place is incredible,” Leslee asks me, her vibrant eyes meeting mine.
“Besides being too far away from her husband’s job, her father was murdered here,” I inform her, leaving out the part about her mother being killed here also. Barely more than a handful of people know that last bit, and I only do because I overheard Jasper and Silver talking years ago.
“Oh.” She lets out the word on a sigh and nods her head more to herself, than me, in understanding.
Without another word, we head back to fulfill our afternoon plans.
After four years without eating Riley’s cooking, I think it might be the time and distance, but during my second piece of lasagna, I can’t help thinking that Leslee’s tastes better than what I remember. I compliment her profusely, even though I can’t bring myself to tell her that last part. It feels too disloyal.
I take the hint and handle the dishes when we’re finished eating, but I’m already thinking about having more lasagna as a midnight snack.
“What do you want to do now?” I ask her, lifting my bottle of beer up for a swig.
Which I promptly spit out when Leslee pats the seat cushion on the couch next to her and raises an eyebrow at me in invitation.
“No.” I firmly shut her down.
Letting out an overdramatic sigh, she tucks her feet in near her ass and glares at me. “Okay, if you don’t want to kiss me tonight, how about we go and check out the escape tunnel?”
“I have zero interest in walking bent over for a hundred yards after eating three pieces of lasagna,” I tell her, sitting in the chair across from her and patting my stomach, not even attempting to muffle my belch.
My refusal to rise to the first part of her statement has her narrowing her eyes at me and I grin to myself, wondering if I’d be safer with the Navaja.
“Fine. Let’s play twenty questions,” she retorts, and I shrug considering that to be her most harmless request. “You first.”
“What are you going to study at college?” I ask, assuming that she plans to start in the fall. At least until she squeezes her eyes shut.
“Ugh. I’m going to get my real estate license and work with Amy for a while. I did promise Mom I would take some business courses though.”
I raise an eyebrow at that bit of news, always figuring she’d get some crazy advanced degree. The last I heard, Connal, Jake, and Charlie’s daughter was in pre-med and trying to decide between neurosurgery or something else extremely specialized.
“Where was your favorite place you visited?” she asks me, seemingly eager to change the subject.
“Alaska, hands down.” I don’t have to think about that answer. “How about you?”
“Italy. Not to live, but we went there a couple of years ago and it was just awe inspiring.” The little smile on her face, tells me she’s picturing it; at least until it turns and she looks somewhat sad. “What happened to the charm I gave you?”
“The chain broke during a fight,” I answer her, and see the disappointment flash across her face. “I know how important it is to you, so I stayed after they cleared the bar out and swept the floor until I found it.”
Leaning to my side, I pull my wallet out of my back pocket. Inside, I open a little pouch and I drop the charm out onto my palm.
The look on Leslee’s face makes my heart skip a beat. And try as I may to picture the adorable little waif she was, all I see is the woman in front of me.
“Do you want it back?” The words escape me before I realize that counts as my question.
“Not now. You can keep it safe for me. My question: how many times have you been in love?”
And here we go. I take my time putting her charm back into its rightful place. “I don’t know that I have been.”
“Not even Trinity?”
“Wait your turn,” I playfully reprimand her, eager to get a read on her personal life, but dreading the moment she asks about her postcards. “How many boyfriends have you had?”
She bursts out laughing and when she opens her mouth to answer, the only word that I’m able to make out is ‘Dad’.
Leslee finally stands up, crossing to the sink to get some water. “Dad said I couldn’t date, Mom said I could when I turned sixteen, but since Dad had basically threatened everyone’s life, no one’s manned up to ask me out.”
I grunt, knowing damn well she’s clever enough to sneak around if she had any interest in doing so.
“Not even Trinity?” she probes me about the last answer I gave her.
“At the time, I thought I was. Looking back, I know she was never honest with me about who she was or what she wanted. If you don’t truly know someone, you can’t possibly love them.”
“Only the idea of them,” she whispers and I look into her eyes, slowly nodding my head.
She tilts her head and I wonder if she’s considering what I just laid out for her. That it’s entirely possible she only loves the idea of me, one that she created as a child and has hung onto all of these years.
“I think I’m going to go check out the tunnel,” Leslee tells me, and I turn away from her to check how much light is left today.
“Let me get you a walkie talkie, and I’ll meet you at the far end,” I concede, happy she’s willing to stop this game and not opposed to getting to stretch my legs a bit.
I pop open the entrance to it and hit the light switch; hanging from a hook on the wall are some wind-up flashlights. I grab one for her, making sure it works before I turn to see she’s got her hiking boots back on, the walkie talkie clipped to her waistband, and her water bottle in one hand. She’s going to be severely disappointed with the length of the tunnel if she thinks she needs water, but that’s not worth bringing up.
“I want you to pop the panel back into place behind you, so you’ll know how to do it if need be. Any cave-ins or rumblings that make you nervous, you call me on that,” I instruct her, pointing to the radio. “Then make your way back here. Otherwise, I’ll try to get to the other side before you.”
“You know where it is?” she asks a very important question.
“It’s been a while, but I think I do. If I’m not there, just stay at the exit and call me, so we can walk back together.”
With that, she disappears into the tunnel.
I shake my head in amusement, her curiosity will always win out when it comes to things like a secret passageway. Christ, when she read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, she spent months checking out people’s closets. Granted, she was about eight at the time.
Leslee
I felt completely childish, asking to play twenty questions, but I knew he had been dodging some conversation topics during the day and I wanted to know more about his life. Just as much as I wanted to hear what parts of my life he was curious about.
Although, from what Joe had said earlier, it seems my guy friends have been in touch with him over the years and have updated him from time to time.
Brushing my shoulder against one of the dirt walls, I slightly tilt my head to make sure there aren’t any insects in the area ahead of me. Since there’s only an inch or so above my head, I understand that he would have been uncomfortable as hell walking through this tunnel. I still can’t get over the details that Alex considered when she rebuilt the cabin. Most of all, I love that she kept the outside the same as it was.
Now, what to do about Joe?
I’ve felt his eyes studying me when he thinks I’m not paying attention, but short of getting him drunk and jumping him, I don’t know how to get him to touch me. And I’ll be damned if I’ll squander this opportunity—it would be way too hard to seduce him once we’re back home.
Continuing through the tunnel, I occasionally see or hear little animals scurrying around and I’m happy that there’s a string of lights. Being solely dependent on the flashlight would have me running through here, terrified of some of the noises. I’ve lost track of time and suddenly hear my radio crackle.
“Le-Lee?” Joe’s voice sounds metallic as he checks in on me. “I’m here, are you close?”
“There’s a bend up ahead, so I don’t know,” I answer him.
“The hatch is right beyond that,” he tells me.
And in just a few minutes, I’m climbing out into the diminishing light.
“Was it everything you dreamed it would be?”
There’s the sarcastic beast I know and love.
“I hope I get to see Alex while I’m out here,” I tell him, earnestly. “It’s been a while since she’s been to Idaho and I’d love to pick her brain about things she would have done differently.”
“Why do I get the feeling that you’re building your own bunker in that crazy-ass mind of yours?”
“A girl’s gotta have a hobby,” I say, grinning at him with a shrug and turn to start back to the cabin.
“Where ya going?”
I look over my shoulder to see him still planted near the exit to the tunnel. Lifting a hand up, he simply points one finger in the opposite direction from where I was heading.
“Oops,” I more mouth the word, than put any real volume behind it.
Just then, Joe’s phone rings and I freeze, surprised at how foreign the sound is in this environment.
“It’s for you,” he announces, looking at the screen before handing it to me.
I smile, recognizing the area code.
“Hello?”
“Oh, thank God, Leslee,” Mom sounds breathless. “I’ve been so worried.”
“I’m alright, Mom. Hyde had impeccable timing,” I say, trying to keep things light with her.
“We don’t have much time to talk, so knock off the nonsense.” Mom’s voice is a fair imitation of Dad’s right now. “You do what Hyde and the others tell you—are you armed?”
“Not at this moment, but, Mom, it’s just me and Hyde. At least until the others think they aren’t being watched,” I tell her, not missing her sudden intake of breath.
“Your dad is signaling me. I love you. Be strong and careful, baby girl.”
“I love you, too.” I reply, more than a little relieved she doesn’t have time to question me about it just being the two of us.
I stay on the line, hating the thought of disconnecting. Just as I start to pull it away from my ear, I hear my dad’s voice. “I love you, sweet angel.”
The call ends before I can reply and just as I try to hit redial, Joe yanks it out of my hand.
“No! I have to tell Dad…”
“He knows, Le-Lee. And he damn well doesn’t want you taking the chance.”
I know Joe’s right, but it doesn’t help the fear and frustration I feel. Terrified that I’ll never get another opportunity to say it.
Without another word, Joe wraps his arm around my waist and we walk in step back to the cabin.
Chapter 8
Leslee
By the next morning, the weather has turned and the rain continues for the next couple of days, leaving us no choice but to play all the board games that have been tucked away, some seemingly for years.
With each roll of the dice, the tension between us builds.
Every time his hand brushes mine, I feel a tingle. And not just where our skin touches. Sometimes, I have to shift my arm, hoping he won’t notice how my nipples tighten or I shift in my seat, clenching my pelvic muscles together.
As the hours tick by, the less we say to each other.
“Damn it,” Joe growls when the dice he just rolled slide off of the table. I reach down to pick them up, lifting my eyes to his face when I hear him groan.
His brown eyes look darker than ever, glued as they are to where my V-neck shows off my cleavage.
“Fuck it,” I respond, leaving the dice where they lay and stand up.
Quickly skirting the table, I straddle his lap before he can figure out my intent. Sliding my hand up into his hair, I see his eyes widen in surprise just as I slam my lips down onto his.
Joe feels like granite under my touch. I might as well be kissing a statue and almost snicker when I crack one of my eyes open enough to see his hand suspended in mid-air.
Which means, he’s not pushing me away.
This man is mine and the sooner he acknowledges it, the better chance we’ll have of surviving the storm once we return home.
Assuming we live that long. And as of this moment, I’ve decided it’s my God-given right not to die a virgin.
I thrust my pelvis forward, grinding it down over the protrusion I feel through his jeans and nibble on his bottom lip.
Mom does it to Dad all the… Eww… Okay… La la la… Blocking them out of my mind.
That’s when a sigh escapes him, giving me the shivers as it hits the moisture on my lips. Continuing to rub the seam of my shorts against the hardness forming on the other side of his zipper, I press my breasts into his chest and dart my tongue past his lips to taste him for the first time.
Joe’s tongue slowly wraps around mine and I nearly cry in relief. Then he finally moves his arm, threading his fingers into my hair and taking control of our kiss.
Where he was granite a few moments ago, some switch has flipped and he’s all fire now. Joe’s other hand is massaging its way from my knee up my leg. Reaching down, I grab the bottom of my T-shirt and pull it up, breaking our kiss only long enough to rid myself of that garment.
I’m woefully unprepared for this make-out session, try as I may to focus on the dance of our tongues, interspersed with the gentle kisses he gives me which allow me to catch my breath.
When I reach up to release the clasp of my bra, he grabs my hand, holding it in place.
“Leslee,” he gasps out my name, shaking his head at the same time.
Terrified that he’ll deny me what I want most in this world, my eyes meet his and I’m ashamed the moment I feel the tears welling up.
“I need you, Joe.” I instantly decide that I despise the pleading tone in my voice more than the unshed tears in my eyes.
As we stare into each other’s eyes, neither one of us blink.
He’s nearly twice as old as me; literally older and wiser in every way possible, but I refuse to back down.
Just when I’m about to fight his grasp to unsnap my bra, I feel his dick throb. My eyes widen in surprise just as it happens again, and I can’t help the grin that pulls up the corner of my mouth.
“You flinched. I win,” I whisper, before gently sucking on his bottom lip.
With those words, Joe stands up—his hand securely holding my ass against his body as he crosses to the main bedroom.
“I ain’t no fucking prize, Le-Lee,” he bites out the words as I tighten my legs around his core.
His words were his final warning, but not one that I would ever heed.
Placing me on the king-sized bed, he quickly covers me with his body. His lips trail their way down my neck to the base, my body suddenly arching upward when they suck in a sensitive spot I never knew existed. He lifts his head just enough to smirk at me before sticking his tongue out to drive me out of my mind when he circles the area; as though marking it.
Furiously drawing in a deep breath, I realize that I’ve been rubbing my pussy against the hardness in his jeans, non-stop. And I try to focus on him, despite all of the sensations that threaten to overwhelm me.
The roughness of his denim isn’t unlike the calloused palms of his hands, and against my delicate skin, both send a series of shivers through my body, adding to the butterflies in my stomach and I’m surprised to realize I’m close to coming.
Joe must understand that, as he suddenly leans back, a hand on each of my shoulders as I try to follow him, desperately needing his touch. With a click of his tongue, my eyes fly up to meet his and after giving me a wink, his gaze slowly moves down along my face, briefly pausing on my neck before landing on my tits.
