Halligan To My Axe (The Heroes of The Dixie Wardens MC Book 2) (18 page)

I sat on the bed, and wrapped myself up in the comforter on the bed like armor.

“Tell me everything.” I said softly.

His head hung.

“My baby was four weeks old when Rosalie’s boyfriend, at the time, found out the baby wasn’t his. The man fucking flipped, threw my baby across the room like a goddamn rag doll. S-she didn’t make it, but the guy continued to mutilate her little body. Then he beat the shit out of Rosalie. At first, they’d tried to pass it off like the baby never happened. It would’ve worked, too, if Rosalie hadn’t tried to act like the kid didn’t even exist to me. I called my mother, because I didn’t know anybody else to call. She went over to the house and didn’t see any sign of her grandkid. She was able to get to the police before my dad caught on, and they launched an investigation.” He said woodenly.

I shook my head. The things coming out of Kettle’s mouth seemed so surreal, as if it was a movie or something. Things like that only happened if they were made up for a movie line. That didn’t happen in real life!

“So what happened?” I asked sadly.

Kettle shrugged. “My dad had to act like the grieving grandfather. On my mother’s part, I feel like it was actually genuine. The detectives launched an investigation. Rosalie’s boyfriend buried our baby in the backyard and then started a compost pile on top of it, just in case.”

My heart hurt for him. I knew he could really use a hug right now, but we weren’t finished. We had a few more things to discuss before I even contemplated the possibility of being together again.

“Why isn’t this something you were willing to discuss with me?” I asked as I plucked an invisible piece of lint off the comforter.

His sigh was audible as he took a seat beside me. Not touching, but close enough I could reach out any touch him if I wanted.

“I thought it was the talk of the town, honestly. I thought you knew already. It happened right in the middle of Benton and everybody and their brother still looks at me as if I might break if they’re not careful about what they say in front of me. It’s not an enjoyable thing to talk about, and it makes me so goddamn mad that I can’t see straight. Always has and always will. I’m only talking about it now because you need to hear it.” He explained roughly.

I nodded. I could see that.

“Did you read the letter?” I looked at him.

He shook my head quickly. “I’m not going to, either. I don’t want to ever speak to her again.”

“Would you like me to tell you what she said?”

He thought about it for a couple seconds before shrugging. “I can’t promise that I’ll like what you have to tell me, but I’m willing to listen to you until I can’t handle it anymore.”

“There wasn’t really much to it. She got out of prison last month. She’s sorry for what she put you through. And she was diagnosed with terminal cancer a few months ago. Really, that was about it. She just wanted to apologize for what happened to your daughter.”

“So she didn’t say anything about what happened before that?”

“No, she talked about the man that did it, and how sorry she was for lying to you about it. She wished she could’ve told you the truth at the time, and wished for you to forgive her if you could.” I said softly.

At the shake of my head, he told me everything. Absolutely every single detail of what happened leading up to him joining the army, and what happened after that when he found out about his daughter’s death.

“Your dad sounds like a huge dick.” I said into the silence afterwards.

“Massive.” He said dryly.

“You haven’t spoken to either one of your parents since?” I asked, finally turning to him.

He looked sick. His eyes were haunted. His skin was pale and clammy. His fists were clinched so tightly that I was worried for the state of his knuckles if they got much tighter.

Going on instinct, I reached out from my comforter cocoon and touched first one, and then the other fist with one hand, which he relaxed immediately.

“My mom, one or two times around my birthday. My dad’s pretty opinionated though, so it’s rare if she breaks through his hold on her and works up the courage to call. I always talk to her though.” Kettle explained.

“So where does your sister fit into all of this? How did she get kicked out?” I questioned him.

“My sister’s really flighty. She’s a great girl, and I love her to death, but I don’t know. I guess she didn’t conform to my father’s wishes on not talking to me or something. He told her it was the trust fund or me. Of course, she was stupid enough to choose me. She’s one of the best people in the world, once you get to know her.”

I nodded at him. “Your sister must be special to give up something like that. She must really care about you.”

“She does, and I care about her.” He nodded in agreement.

Moving out from under the comforter, I crawled to him until I was straddling his lap. My front plastered to his. It wasn’t sexual though. Not then.

Looking into his eyes, I framed his face with my hands before leaning in slowly and kissing him softly on the lips.

“Don’t shut me out again. Please,” I whispered against his mouth.

He shuddered. “I won’t. I love you.”

I smiled widely and hugged him a little harder. “I love you, too.”

“I need to tell you about your brother. It’s what I was doing after my father dropped off the letter.” He said hesitantly.

I sat back, putting some distance between us, but he didn’t like it and wrapped his arms around my lower back and pulled me back into his chest.

“Okay,” I said cautiously.

His huge hands rubbed my lower back soothingly as he started explaining. “It’s a major clusterfuck, but as far as we can figure...your brother’s right there in the middle of this whole fucking thing. The boys that were responsible for your apartment decided to play the blame game and tell the big boss that it was entirely your fault. He recognized your name immediately. Your brother owed him for some drug habit he couldn’t support fully, and his price was to be the go between with him and the makers. And you.”

“Me?” I reared back.

Kettle nodded. “Yeah. Gustavo Amadeus can’t let one of his employees get narked on and let it pass. He was set to make an example of you by putting every criminal in Northern Louisiana on your trail to bring you in, but then your brother’s debt fell in his lap, and he charged your brother with bringing you to him.”

“Jesus.”

Kettle nodded. “Your brother was supposed to meet Silas the next day but never showed. Silas is working magic on his end, but other than just starting to turn over rocks, we’re not real sure where to find him.”

My head collapsed on his chest, and I shivered in dread.

“You were right about the danger.” I rasped.

His arms went around my middle and pulled me in tight. “I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise. They’ll have to get through me, and the entire Dixie Warden MC to accomplish that, and that sure as hell won’t be happening.”

“Will you come home and spend Christmas with me and my family?” Kettle rumbled against my ear.

I didn’t know why I was trying to get out of going home. Maybe I was afraid that if I did, things might change.

“I already paid for the week here.” I tried. “It’s nonrefundable.”

He laughed softly, making me bounce lightly against his chest.

“I already took care of it. They only charged you for two nights. If you get out within the hour it’ll only be one.” He explained.

“I didn’t buy anybody any presents.” I tried again.

His mouth widened from a lip tilt to a grin. “I know damn well you did that
weeks
ago. You’ve been shopping on the internet for a while now.”

I scrunched my nose up at him. “They’re probably really mad at me.”

My laugh was audible now. “They actually think
I’m
the dumbass. None of them has any negative opinions about you, I promise.”

“I drove my car.” I said weakly.

My lips went from his ear, down his jaw, and settled on his lips.

“I drove my bike, but I think we won’t have a problem getting your car back, honey.” He said as he stood up, walked to the window that overlooked the driveway and the beach beyond, then pulled the blinds backward.

“Holy shit,” I breathed.

Every single one of the men that belonged to the Benton Chapter was on the beach.

The driveway was absolutely filled to the brim with bikes. Some even had to park in the sand. “How the hell are they going to get that bike out of the sand?” I asked worriedly as I saw one bike in particular buried midway up the wheels.

Kettle’s eyes flitted to that particular bike and shrugged. “It’ll happen... eventually. There’s enough manpower.”

Baylee was sitting on the tailgate of Sebastian’s pick-up feeding her daughter, and when she looked up and spotted me, she waved furiously.

I returned the wave and dropped the window treatment before turning back to Kettle. “Thank you, Kettle.”

He crowded me until my back was plastered up against the window and leaned forward. He was so close that I could see the striations in his beautiful blue eyes.

“So, will you come home with me?” He rasped.

At my nod, he smiled. “I love you, Addy.”

My eyes filled with tears. “I love you, too, Tiago.”

He leaned forward, closing the last bit of distance between the two of us and gave me a scorching kiss I felt to the tips of my toes before pulling back abruptly.

His heat left me, and I stumbled forward with the loss of his body.

Following my movements, I watched as he walked quickly across the room and stopped beside a large box, picked it up, and returned to the window that I was leaning against.

“I had these made for you. I knew it had to be something different, since you can’t be seen walking into school with a huge ass ‘Property of Kettle’ patch across your back like all the other old ladies wear. Minnie spent a ton of time on these, and I really hope you like them.” He said as he took the lid off the box.

Inside was a killer set of boots.

“Oh, God,” I breathed. “Oh, my God. They’re beautiful.”

Black leather, with chrome colored steel accents and pointy heals that were painted blood red; they were the most bad ass looking boots I’d ever seen.

The top half of the boots were fairly plain except for a wraith like woman stitched into the leather with ‘
Kettle’s Property’
in bold white underneath.

Immediately, I started ripping at the sleep pants I was wearing, pushing them off my legs in a rush. Once off, I painstakingly undid buckles, unlaced the leather tie-ups on the inside and shoved my feet into each.

Hastily, I started re-lacing them and then buckling them before standing and dashing to the mirrored glass that framed the sliding glass patio doors.

“Oh, God. They’re so pretty!” I said lifting my shirt and turning so I could stare at the beauties from the back.

“I have a vest for you, too. But these you can wear to work. All you have to do is wear your pants over them and they look just like regular boots.” Kettle said softly.

I practically melted into a puddle of goo right then and there.

Not giving our fight another moment to ruin anything we had between us, I let it all go and launched myself at Kettle.

He caught me in midair, arms wrapping around my back with his hands settled on the globes of my ass.

“I’m sorry I ran away,” I said as I ran my fingers through his hair.

His eyes were focused on me, all-consuming and beautiful. “You’re the halligan to my axe. I’d never give up on you.”

What we did next wasn’t something we’d ever done before.

With no more will power left, Kettle walked forward until my ass and back was plastered up against the mirrored wall.

His lips sought my neck, and he sucked on the sensitive part underneath my ear, making my hips undulate in time to his motions.

“Don’t ever leave me again. I don’t think I could survive a second time if you left me.” He groaned before his mouth crashed down over my own.

The only time my legs left Kettle’s hips was when he removed my panties.

Almost immediately, though, they returned to their previous position.

The buckles from my boots connected with Kettle’s overheated skin, making him yelp with the difference in temperatures.

Then his mouth hit an extremely sensitive spot at the base of my throat, and my head fell back in defeat. No longer did I care about my boots against his skin. When his mouth was on mine, I experienced out of body experiences that sent my cognitive abilities on a flying leap.

Only one single thing became the sole focus at that moment.

“I want you inside of me,” I demanded.

Kettle ground his hips into my own, moving them back and forth, allowing the roughness of his denim covered cock to rasp over my distended clit. The motion elicited a moan to burst out of my mouth, and I squeezed my eyes shut as he went lower and lower, lifting my shirt up to around my neck before capturing one of my nipples with his mouth.

The suction of his mouth was powerful as he went from one nipple to the other with single-minded determination.

“Can you come with just my mouth on these pretty little tits and your pretty, wet, little pussy rubbing against my jeans?” He asked as he pulled back, letting my nipple pop free from his mouth.

Then he blew on it, making my nipple tighten and bunch until it was so tight it hurt.

“No,” I shook my head adamantly. “Please.”

He gave me a little nip on the nipple before reaching between us and undoing the zipper on my pants. With that one act, his pants fell; he lifted me up with the hand around my back, and sat me back down on his cock, filling me to capacity.

He growled low in his throat as he eased me back up slowly, and the let my weight work against me as I dropped back down, hard, onto his waiting length.

With each fall, our grunts and groans intermingled until you could barely tell whose was whose.