Hard Rider

The rest of the Devil’s Dragons were pleased to see me back, safe and sound. They were drinking and celebrating, but I needed time to process what happened before I could get back to business as usual.

Hunter made me a comfortable spot on our makeshift bed. We stayed there quietly for a few minutes, just basking in a little peaceful silence.

More accurately, the closest thing to silence you could get, with the club outside our doors carrying on.

Finally, I pierced the silence.

“Are you okay, Hunter?”

He gave a slight shrug. “Bullet grazed my shoulder. Sixteen stitches and some antibiotics. I’ll be fine.”

“You know that I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about your sister,” I said, my voice turning graver.

“I just… I should have seen it, Sarah. I should have seen her pulling the strings behind the scenes. Finding out Hannah was Soroka Sarkonov has thrown my whole life into question.

“How long has she been steering my life from the shadows? My life in this club, my alliances with the Outlaws – and you, coming back to me… How much of this was just my sister treating me like a fucking puppet?” Hunter asked, his confidence shaken.

“None of that matters, Hunter… You’re the president of your club, and a leader to your men. Those men didn’t follow Hannah into battle. They followed you,” I replied. “They’ll always follow you.”

Hunter gazed at my small belly bump and then glanced back up at me. When I nodded, he gave it a slight rub through my shirt.

“My money’s on a boy,” he said softly.

I blinked twice. “What makes you so sure?”

“Because he’s a badass. Kid’s made it through more shit over the last couple of days than most people see in a lifetime.”

“I don’t know. Last I checked, a girl made it through the same shit,” I replied with a grin.

Hunter met my grin with his own, shelving his darkness for a moment. “Well, boy or girl, I feel bad for anyone who ever stands in their way.”

“Good,” I said. “They’re going to need to be strong. The world is a dangerous place, full of dangerous people.”

Hunter paused, studying the lines on my face. “That’s what bothers me,” he finally conceded. “We stopped Hannah from doing something terrible, but I can’t help but feel like we opened the door for something even worse…”

“What could be worse than blowing up half a city?!?” I said angrily. “Your sister is fucking insane!”

Hunter spoke his piece quietly, choosing to not argue the point. “And she might spend her life in prison for it. But what about this ‘competitor’ she talked about? Hannah – I mean, Sarkonov – told us that she was doing this for the greater good. She said she was saving millions of lives…”

“And you believed her,” I replied, closing my eyes.

“Let’s just say that I’m going to be keeping my eyes wide open. What’s left of her organization isn’t going to just disappear in her absence, and if she was willing to go to these depths against an enemy...

“We might have something worth worrying about.”

He turned to face me with warmth in his eyes. “But always remember, Sarah. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. No matter what.”

“Noble words,” I replied, remembering our old argument over the phone – the one that threatened to destroy us forever. “Do you really feel that way?”

“I do,” he nodded. “If you’ll stay with me, I promise that I will never let anything happen to you and our child…” He quickly changed gears, crossing his arms. “So, what are you gonna do now? Solved your big case, even if a lot of the work was done for you…”

I punched him in the arm. “I still learned more from Talon than you did. And in case you didn’t notice, I saved your damn life!”

“Reminds me,” he noted, shrugging off my punch, “I need to call the crotchety old bastard and have a chat about trust and fucking responsibility…”

“You still thinking about trying to patch things up with Talon after everything that happened?” I asked.

“Some of the groundwork is already laid for that,” he replied. “It’s why I was able to find the two of you. But I’m thinking I might let someone else lead the way on that upcoming little shit-show…”

“Oh yeah?” I smirked.

“You were right about a lot of things, Sarah. Being unable to take care of my club at the end of the day. Moving from city to city. My leadership of the Outlaws being a danger to us. It’s all true.

“I did everything I could to set the Devil’s Dragons in a better direction. But it’s time to find a place to call home. Grizz had already found something out in New Orleans when he came back. I can only hope that he leads the club in a better direction now…”

“You can’t give up the Dragons,” I gasped.

“I’m willing to.”

His voice rang of conviction.

“That’s not what I want,” I answered with equal strength. “I want our child raised in a stable environment, but with a father in charge of a motorcycle club that takes down cartels and arms dealers, nobody will ever dream of fucking with him.”

“Him?” Hunter raised an eyebrow curiously. “So, now you’re on my side?”

“I want it to be a little boy,” I smiled. “Strong and noble, just like his daddy… kind, caring, and willing to stand up for those who lose their voice. I want him to be a man who never gives up.”

“And you want me to keep the club.”

“Absolutely,” I responded.

“Grizz will be happy to hear that. He wasn’t exactly thrilled when I quietly dangled that carrot.”

“I can see why he wouldn’t have been,” I smiled. “Grizz doesn’t exactly strike me as wanting the spotlight. He might have made a good leader, but he would have hated every moment of it…”

“Fair enough,” he replied.

My fingers trailed up his arm, to the nape of his neck. After everything we’d been through, and after everything that had happened in the last few weeks, I knew what I needed right now.

My lustful gaze matched his quiet glance.

He knew what I wanted, and he wanted it too.

Together, we slid backwards into the makeshift bed, falling into each other’s warm, loving embrace…

Sarah

Every kiss that Hunter pecked against my bare skin sent a scorching shock of passion to my core. My lover peppered a trail of kisses along my arm, our clothes a scattered mess on the floor of our private little chamber.

I bit my lip when he nipped my earlobe.

“They’re right there,” I gasped.

“They’re drinking, and they can’t hear us…”

The Devil

’s Dragons did sound preoccupied with their merriment, but I couldn’t help but wonder if any of them would hear us fucking in here. We’d gotten lucky the first time we’d tried this little stunt…

“Besides,” Hunter huskily whispered into my ear, “this reminds me of the times I used to sneak into your room, when we were kids… when your sheriff father was asleep just down the hall…”

It occurred to me that I hadn’t told Hunter that his sister had threatened to kill my father, even if she’d later retracted the looming danger.

Now didn’t seem like the right time…

He dove two rugged fingers into my mouth, pressing between my lips down to the first two knuckles. I gratefully took his hand in both of mine and suckled them, knowing what was to come.

Plucking the fingers from my wet lips, he dove them down into the slickened gap down below. Finding purchase there, Hunter rubbed my engorged clit with his thumb, pushing his fingers within my wet folds.

“That feels so good,” I murmured huskily.

The father of the baby in my womb rolled his wrist between my thighs, his motions tantalizing me further with every new height.

My fingernails dug into his shoulders and I arched my spine, enjoying how well he knew my body. In the dim lighting, I felt him hungrily kiss my throat.

It only served to stoke the fire within.

“I need you,” I whispered.

“I need you too,” he quietly replied back, guiding me to higher peaks with the movements of his fingers inside and his thumb on my clit.

“No, you don’t understand,” I gasped. “I need you inside me…”

“Too turned on, Princess,” he whispered. “Might not last too long in bed if I fuck you now. It’s probably best that I get you off beforehand…”

“Doesn’t matter… need you inside me now…”

“First things first,” he chuckled, pulling his hand free from between my thighs. As he shifted around in the semi-dark, I thought that he was going to mount me, pushing my legs apart to shove his hard girth deep into my wet, yearning core…

But no, he slipped down further into the bed, before–

Oh fuck, that feels good.