Dawn trembled, her heels digging into his back. The wounds had healed and he felt no pain. He slowed his pace, overwhelmed by how perfectly her needs met his, how beautifully she responded to his gentle commands.
“Come for me, babe.” He stroked her with a slow, insistent rhythm that brought her to a powerful, rippling climax. Her deep-throated groan sent him over the edge and he pounded into her until his balls lifted and his cock stiffened. His climax came hard and fast, a frenzied burst of pleasure.
“You are mine,” he whispered. “Mine to hold. Mine to protect. Mine to love.” And then he slid one finger over her clit and stroked until she came again.
TWENTY-SEVEN
I will live my life with no regrets.
SINNER’S TRIBE CREED
“Mommy!”
Maia and Tia waved to Dawn from the road outside the school. They were wearing new pink-and-purple outfits, all ready for the housewarming barbecue Dawn had organized for later that afternoon.
The steady rush of an autumn breeze chilled her skin, pulling a few curls free from her ponytail. Dawn pulled her cut tight around her and pushed back the wayward strands just as Cade pulled up on his bike beside her.
“Did I make it?”
“They just got out.” She looked up just as Maia and Tia clasped hands and stepped onto the road.
“Crosswalk.” Cade’s loud voice carried over the after-school chatter and the whistle of the wind; it carried across the street and into the ears of two little girls who knew very well that if they ran across the road, there would be hell to pay. And not just from their mom.
Dawn heard that voice at home and in the clubhouse, in restaurants and in bars. She heard it at school plays and picnics, but only once at a ballet recital because Cade didn’t like to see his girls “wearing next to nothing” on stage. That voice had coaxed her deepest, darkest fantasies from her lips and made her believe, after six happy months, maybe dreams really could come true.
“Christ,” Cade muttered as they made their way to the crosswalk. “Every fucking day. Why don’t they remember? I’m gonna stop coming here because one of these times I’ll have a goddamn heart attack. Even when I was on the road, I’d see a crosswalk and get worried all over again.”
Cade had never talked about his road trip with Dax, T-Rex, and Hacker before. But he didn’t have to. The morning after he returned, she found a framed photograph of her parents on his pillow when she woke up. And when she went to the kitchen and found him making pancakes with her girls, she had been too overwhelmed with emotion to ask. But she didn’t have to. He had promised to protect her and now there were two people who would never hurt her again.
“Language, honey.” Dawn’s gentle reminder was met with a string of cusswords that would have put the boys in the playground to shame.
“I’ll fucking swear all I want when they put themselves in fucking danger.” He scowled as the girls crossed the road, his face softening only when they reached the sidewalk and smiled at him. “Don’t know how Dax manages with five kids.”
“I heard it gets easier the more you have.
*
Two hours later, with the barbecue in full swing, Dawn sent the girls to play with Dax’s boys and grabbed a minute to chat with Arianne.
“Aren’t you worried your neighbors are going to call the police about all the bikes on the street and the bikers in your yard?” Arianne sipped her vodka cooler and sat beside Dawn on the back steps.
“Apparently they’re used to it. Dax lives down the street and he’s had lots of biker parties, both with and without the kids. From what I hear, our little barbecue is pretty tame. And now I don’t have to pretend Cade is just a bike enthusiast. Dax has never hidden who he is or what he does so he’s smoothed the way for us. No one at the girls’ new school seems to have an issue with him and Cade showing up for school functions wearing their cuts. It was one of the reasons we picked this house.”
She didn’t share with her new friends that she worked part-time for the Sinner’s Tribe MC, helping Cade with the finances. But they did know she was always on the go, juggling her new restaurant and college classes with school runs and kids’ activities.
“How’s that new bike working out for you?” Sparky joined them on the step, a beer in his hand. He and Arianne had fixed up an old Harley Sportster for Dawn after she had officially become an old lady in the club.
“I love it, but I haven’t told Cade about it yet. He’s still a bit overprotective. He gets agitated if I drive the SUV too fast. I can’t imagine what he’s going to say about the bike.”
Sparky waved a dismissive hand. “Once he sees you on that bike, he won’t be thinking about anything except chasing after you. Nothing hotter than a chick on a bike.”