Diamond rolled over in the bed, kissing Knox’s shoulder before getting ready for work. He was lying on his stomach, naked among the rumpled covers while her lips traced the tat on the back of his shoulder. She could recall it from memory; he had the Navy Seal insignia of an anchor wrapped along its length by a snake with the head at the top of the tat, giving an unnerving stare. A variety of objects surrounded the insignia; two revolvers pointed at each other with a metal chain linking the two together, a hand of cards, a razor knife and brass knuckles. The whole tat had a dark overlay, giving it a shadowed appearance.
Her lips went over each one, counting the objects. She had already figured out it was the club tattoo and had guessed who most of the symbols belonged to. Razer was the easiest; the razor Knife. Knox and Rider were obviously the Revolvers; Knox kept his near at all times. The lawyer in her was concerned until he had opened his wallet showing the concealed-carry permit. Rider also made no attempt to hide that he carried. Diamond didn’t have to ask to see his; he had volunteered to show her. The chain, and playing cards were still mysteries to her. The snake was obviously Viper and the shading Shade. The Brass knuckles was the last one she had figured out when Cash had gotten in a fight with a drunk at Rosie’s when they had stopped for a beer.
“You want to fuck?” Knox asked sleepily.
“We just did twenty minutes ago.” Diamond laughed against his shoulder, rubbing her cheek against him.
“Keep doing that and you’ll be doing it again in five,” Knox mumbled into the pillow.
Diamond pulled away, laughing as she climbed reluctantly out of bed. “I can’t. I have to go to work. I’m already late. Holly needs to talk to me before court. I think she’s going to ask for a raise. I’m going to give it to her, she’s certainly worth it.”
Diamond showered and dressed, going back into her bedroom and smiling when she saw that Knox was sound asleep. Picking up her briefcase, she left, not wanting to wake him. Going down the short flight of steps, she pushed the unlock button on her new SUV. She still felt weird climbing into the expensive vehicle, but Knox had convinced her to spend the extra money to drive a safer vehicle.
*
Diamond smiled when she looked out her window and saw the buds on the trees; the pretty weather had tricked the trees into blooming early. Straightening up, she stretched, yawning. Holly had gone to lunch earlier. When she had opened her mouth to ask for the raise, Diamond had cut her off, giving her a nice raise and benefits, too. The surprised woman hadn’t known what to say, so Diamond had given her a hug and told her to go to lunch.
She heard her front office door open and then saw Knox walking into her office, coming to a stop when he saw her behind her desk. She could tell from his face that he was going to try to walk away again. He didn’t say anything, just stood there and stared at her. Diamonds eyes watered as she stood up from her desk, going to him. Sliding her hands tightly around his waist, she placed tiny kisses along his taut jaw.
“Please don’t, please don’t, please, baby, please...” Diamond pleaded.
“Dammit to hell!”
Diamond found herself backed across the room until her desk was at her back. Pressing her backwards onto her desk, her briefcase and cell phone fell to the floor as Knox swept them out of the way with his hand before going to her knee, bringing it up to his hip.
His fingers slid underneath her panties, finding her warm and ready for him. Tugging her skirt to her hips, he yanked at the material of her panties, tearing them apart. Diamond watched as he unzipped his jeans, bracing herself on the desk as he pulled out his cock.
“Knox?”
“What?” His disgruntled voice brought a tender smile to her lips.
“Could you close the blinds?”
*
Knox’s boots crunched on the late spring frost as he got off his bike, parking it near the old fireplace on Cash’s homestead property. He started the walk up the mountain path that had been made through generations of Cash’s relatives. The steep path was kept clear by either him or Cash.
At the top of the mountain, he paused a second, looking down at the huge trees, seeing Treepoint in the distant valley below. Taking a deep breath, he released it, seeing the vapor in the cold morning air. He was glad he had made Diamond put on her coat as she left the clubhouse to go to church with Beth, Winter and Evie. The sunny day was deceptively cold and she would have frozen her ass off before she would have been able to get inside the SUV.
Knox turned, walking forward into Cash’s family cemetery. The older tombstones mixed with the newer ones and told the amount of time the cemetery had been in existence. He stopped in front of a pink marble headstone, staring down.
Cash had offered a final resting place for his young wife. Like him, she had no family, so he had accepted Cash’s offer.
“Sunshine.” His aching voice filled the silence of the cemetery.
He dropped to his knees beside her grave, not feeling the coldness of the frozen grass through his clothes. Knox’s voice broke as he talked to her.