Winter's Touch (The Last Riders Book 8) (18 page)

“I was the one who told you that I could have a baby. I knew you would make sure I survived after you swore never to touch another woman.” Winter smiled softly up at Viper’s gloating face. He hadn’t stopped beaming down at her since she had woken up in her room, telling her the baby was in neonatal care and getting stronger every day.

Her recovery had been long and hard, but she had been surrounded by helping hands, and Viper had been there every step of the way.

“That may have been an incentive.” Viper lovingly pushed her hair from her face as she gently rocked Aisha to sleep.

Winter stared down at the miracle she and Viper had created. She lifted her tiny hands to her mouth, placing a kiss on each of her palms.

“That one is from daddy, and that one is from mommy.” Winter reluctantly handed Aisha to her father, watching as he laid her down in her crib.

“You ready for bed?”

“Do I have to? I already miss having her in our bedroom.”

“We promised each other that when she outgrew the bassinet she would sleep in her room. The monitor is on, and if she wakes up, we’ll hear her.”

Winter pouted at Viper as he bent down to kiss his daughter before turning off the light then lifting Winter into his arms.

She crossed her arms over her chest, still irate that he refused to move the crib into their bedroom.

“If it was left up to you, she would still be sharing our room when she’s old enough to go to school.”

He sat her down on the bed, and she took off her robe as he took off his pajama bottoms, climbing into bed naked.

Winter had started to lie down next to him, when he said, “Lose the gown.”

She froze. She hadn’t slept naked next to him since she’d had the baby. She fiddled with the lace on her gown, thinking about how they hadn’t made love, either.

Viper leaned back against the headboard. “Need some help?”

“I’m tired tonight. I have a headache.”

“No, you don’t. You let me help shower you, so why don’t you want me to see you now?”

“Because you want to make love.”

“I want to fuck you until you see stars, but I’ll take it easy on you tonight. I’ll just give you a small orgasm until you learn how to do it again.”

Winter couldn’t help laughing. “A small orgasm? Make me see stars? Have you been reading my Kindle?”

“I had to do something to keep myself from making love to you. I promised never to fuck another woman.”

“I changed my mind. I think I can deal with you touching Sasha as long as you don’t get attached,” she lied, biting her lip.

Viper sighed. “I knew I shouldn’t have listened to Dr. Price about giving you time.” Viper scooted over to her, going to the hem of her gown. Winter trembled, letting him raise it over her head. “Lie down on the bed.”

Their eyes met in the mirror on the dresser. Slowly, as Viper moved back on his knees to give her room, she lay down, keeping her eyes glued to the ceiling, knowing the battlefield of scars he was seeing.

“Look at me,” he chastised.

Winter shook her head, tears welling up.

“Pretty girl, I want to see your eyes when I make love to you.” His face came into her view. “I don’t give a fuck about those scars. Each of them shows how much you love me and Aisha. Even if I live a million years, I couldn’t match the courage and strength you have shown.”

Viper lowered his head to trace the still red scar where she’d had her C-section, tracing it down to where she’d had her hip surgery, and then touching the two scars from the attack the deputy had inflicted on her. Those wavy lines left from his boots had become pale.

Winter lowered her gaze to see tears glimmering in his eyes.

“I couldn’t touch another woman because she wouldn’t be you. You’re the only one who healed the hole in my heart left behind when Gavin died. You healed it with your touch. The only mark I care about on your body is the one you put on it—the tattoo over your heart. Every time I see my name on you, I know you’re mine. Every single fucking time.”

“Be careful. I might begin to think you’re not such a badass if you keep being so sweet.”

“I’ll remind you of that when I beat the hell out of Aisha’s first boyfriend.”

“Nah, you won’t, because it would break her heart. Your daughter has you wrapped around her finger.”

“Try me.” Viper did a hand movement that looked like chopping.

Winter laughed hard as she relaxed on the bed. “Just promise me that I can help.”

“Nope. I’m not making any more promises to you. I promised you not to touch another woman and to be nice to Greer.” Viper shuddered. “That is a testament to how much I love you.”

“We owe him for our child’s life. He wouldn’t let me buy him dinner the other day.”

“He wouldn’t let me buy him a beer at Rosie’s, either. He said we imagined it. The son of a bitch would sell his own kidney for a profit, but he denies helping Aisha.”

“Rachel said he can’t benefit from his gift. It can only be used for love.”

“Greer doesn’t have a loving bone in his body. It was probably a hallucination. Dr. Price said it was the shot of adrenaline that he had administered that restarted her heart.”

“You men can explain it any way you want. Rachel believes her ancestors used Greer’s gift to heal Aisha. I’ll never forget what he did for us, and when he gets on your nerves, I’ll remind you.”

“I’ll remind you when we see him at Ema’s birthday party. He’s invited most of the town to irritate Cash.”

Winter’s face grew serious. “We are so lucky. When I think of Megan… Her parents moved out of town when Dr. Price had her committed. The townspeople blame them for turning their backs on her, while everyone feels sorry for Curt because his wife tried to commit suicide.”

“He’s going to get what’s coming to him. That’s one promise I don’t mind making.”

“I have a secret to confess.” She raised her leg up, bracing her foot on the mattress as Viper brushed her clit with his knuckles.

“Really? What is it?” Viper’s seductive smile was playing havoc with her body. She had missed making love to her husband.

“I’m horny.”

“You are?” He raised his eyebrows. “How horny are you?”

“Horny enough that if you don’t quit playing with my pussy, I’m going to bury you next to Gavin.” She raised herself up on her elbows to give him a mock threatening look.

Viper slid between her thighs, gently working his cock into her.

Winter fell back on the pillows. “I told you I was horny, not comatose.”

“Not enough?”

Winter moaned, “Harder.”

Viper began pumping. “Better?”

“Yes,” she moaned. “I almost forgot how good it feels to have you inside me.”

“How good does it feel?”

“I would give it a four,” she teased.

“That’s it.” Viper sped up, driving higher inside of her.

“Maybe a five. I like the nipple thing you just did.”

Viper sucked on her other nipple, pressing it to the roof of his mouth

“A definite five.”

“What do I have to do to earn a perfect ten?”

Winter stopped moving, cupping his face in her hands. “Make me see stars, Viper. Make me see stars. You already gave me the moon.”

“
P
lease
, Daddy, I don’t wanna go.” Aisha cupped Viper’s cheeks, turning his head so he would look at her face.

Winter shot her a firm look as she opened the door of the elementary school. “Aisha, we have talked about this. You have to go to school. Do you want Mommy and Daddy to go to jail? You have to go to school.”

“Uncle Knox won’t arrest you. Daddy told me so,” she said innocently.

“Really?” Winter gave her husband a retaliatory look while he mimicked his daughter’s innocent expression.

“Did your daddy tell you that if you don’t go to school you will grow up ignorant?”

“What’s ig… ig… iggornt?”

Winter sighed. “Do you want to grow up to be like Uncle Greer?”

“I looove Uncle Greer!”

Viper hid his laughter as he whispered something in Aisha’s ear.

“Really?” Aisha’s eyes brightened. “I guess I can go to school today.”

Viper set Aisha on her feet. She was adorable with her backpack on and her lunch bag in her hand. Her daughter was a mixture of both her parents. She had Viper’s long legs and Winter’s brown hair.

As they walked through the lobby, they each held one of her hands. A commotion had them turning around to see the three rambunctious boys running through the door while the principal warned them to slow down.

“I’m sorry. They took off without me,” Lily apologized. Her late stage pregnancy was apparently making it impossible to keep up with the cousins.

The boys’ youthful enthusiasm vanished, not at the principal’s reprimand, but at seeing Viper’s censoring gaze.

Hanging their heads, they walked behind Winter, Aisha, and Viper.

As they entered the long hallway that would lead them to the classrooms, Winter heard Lily tell the boys goodbye.

“Bye, Mom,” John said in a respectful voice.

“Later, Aunt Lily,” Chance and Noah chorused together.

Lily kissed her son goodbye despite his scrunched up face. Chance and Noah rolled their eyes, embarrassing him more.

“Have a great day, boys. You, too, Aisha,” Lily said softly, her gaze on the principal who was watching them.

“Can I go with you, Aunt Lily?” Aisha’s feet began slipping on the floor as she tried to pull away from them to reach Lily.

“Aisha…” Winter tugged fruitlessly on her stubborn daughter.

Viper was laughing so hard he was completely useless.

Seeing Viper was preoccupied, Chance and Noah took off down the hallway. Winter thought John would take off with his cousins. Instead, he held his hand out to Aisha.

“You can walk with me. You’re in Mrs. Jones’ classroom. It’s next to mine. I had Mrs. Jones two years ago; she’s cool. She lets you keep your teddy bear in your desk.” He took his eyes off Aisha to cast an embarrassed look up at Viper.

“Really?” she asked in awe. “I didn’t bring my teddy bear today. Mommy said I couldn’t. Daddy, can I bring it tomorrow?”

Winter raised her brow, waiting for Viper to answer. This time, his self-preservation kicked in.

“We’ll talk about it tonight.”

“Okay.” Aisha’s face dropped.

“We’re going to be late if you don’t come on. I don’t want to go to the principal’s office.” John was more afraid of the principal than he was of Viper.

“Okay. Bye, Mommy, Daddy.” Aisha blew them off, walking next to John. “Is the principal mean?” she asked conspiratorially.

“Yes, she was Noah and Chance’s teacher last year. They said she was the meanest teacher in the whole school. Mr. Long was the principal, but he retired last year. They said he was nice.”

Winter and Viper stared at Aisha as she walked toward her class without looking back. Winter tearfully took out her cell phone, snapping several pictures as they disappeared into their respective classrooms.

“I cried John’s first day of school, too,” Lily said sympathetically. “Beth did, too; except, hers were tears of joy.”

Winter and Viper laughed so loudly the principal moved closer to them.

“We need to set an example so the children learn how to compose themselves.” She didn’t try to hide her disapproval of Viper’s leather vest showing he was president of the Last Riders.

“Yes, ma’am.” Viper took Winter’s arm when she opened her mouth to explain she wanted to take pictures.

The principal’s stern gaze followed the parents after they apologized, escaping outside.

“I thought Chance and Noah were exaggerating, but they might be right.” Lily giggled.

“She reminds me of how I acted my first year as principal. I’m sure she’ll ease up once the school year goes on.” Winter was tempted to go back inside, but Viper wouldn’t let her.

“I hope so, or it’s going to be a long year for Beth and Razer. See you tonight.” Lily waved as they got in their cars.

Winter buckled her seatbelt then crossed her arms over her chest, giving Viper a stern look. “Exactly what did you promise Aisha if she went to school today?”

“Huh?”

“That look may be cute on a five-year-old, but not so much on a thirty-nine-year-old man.”

“I told her, if she didn’t like it, she didn’t have to go back tomorrow.”

Her mouth dropped open, getting ready to blast her husband since she was still fired up over the principal’s judgmental attitude.

“I’m just joking.” Viper held his hands up in defense. “I told her that, if she went to school, I would get Uncle Knox to drive her to school tomorrow.”

“Oh…” Damn, she hated it when Viper outsmarted her.

His self-satisfied smirk had her shaking her head at him. She should have thought of that herself. All the children were fascinated with Knox’s police car. They were constantly begging him to turn on his siren.

With their fingers entwined, he drove her to Riverview, where she was still principal. Viper pulled up to the side of the high school, and her hand went to the door handle, but she hesitated before opening it.

She leaned over the armrest, placing a kiss on his lips. “You in a hurry to get to work?”

“No. You want me to park behind the school so we can neck?”

She bit down on her lip, mad at herself for what she was going to ask her husband to do. He was never going to let her live it down.

“I was just wondering…” Changing her mind, she reached for the door handle again, leaving the sentence half-said.

“Winter… What do you need?”

She refused to look at her husband as she made her request. “Before going to work, do you mind going by the house, getting Aisha’s teddy bear, and taking it to her?”

“What did you say?” Viper asked through his laughter.

“Never mind.”

Viper grabbed her arm before she could open the door. “I put it in her backpack this morning when you two were eating breakfast.”

“I knew I married a smart man,” Winter praised, before kissing him goodbye. “Don’t be late, and don’t forget we promised Aisha she could get ice cream to celebrate her first day of school.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ve already warned Lily we’ll probably be late. You’re the one who has trouble getting out of the office on time.”

Winter hated it when her husband was right, and that afternoon was no exception. His told-you-so grin was already plastered on his face when she climbed in the car that afternoon.

“It was not my fault. Two cheerleaders got in a fight during sixth period,” Winter excused.

“Did they hit each other with their pom-poms?”

“No, their flutes. It was during band practice. I had to send one to the emergency room. I think she has a concussion.”

Viper laughed, but Winter didn’t find it funny. It had taken two teachers and a security guard to break up the catfight.

“Don’t worry. Beth texted me, saying the kids wanted to go to the church to play on the playground before going home.”

Winter relaxed back in her seat. “Willa’s bakery was probably more of a motivation than the swing set.” It had been a good call to add Beth to the pickup list.

She smiled as they walked into the gate of the church’s backyard, seeing the children happily playing. Their faces had traces of chocolate.

“I hope it’s okay,” Beth said when she greeted them, “that Willa gave her a chocolate cookie.”

“It’s fine. It looks like they’re playing it off,” Winter assured her.

Noah, Chance, John, and Aisha were chasing each other around the backyard, playing hide-and-seek.

When Aisha saw her and Viper, she came running. “Daddy! Mommy!”

Viper scooped his daughter up into his waiting arms. Winter felt a lump in her throat at the sight of them. One of his biceps was as big around as Aisha’s tiny body, yet he held her gently, as if she was the most precious thing on earth, and she was to them.

“I’m going to go steal—go ask Willa for one of those cookies, since you’ve eaten your treat for the day. I’ll be right back.” Viper set Aisha down, winking at her as Aisha’s face fell.

Aisha waited for her father to leave before tugging on Winter’s skirt. “We can’t get ice cream?”

“Maybe a small one.” Winter nodded, knowing Viper had been teasing her.

“Thank you, Mommy!” She tugged on her skirt again. “Swing me, Mommy!”

“Go ahead. I’m coming.”

Winter thanked Beth as she gathered up the boys to leave.

“No problem. Anytime.” She smiled as they left through the side gate.

“Look, Mommy! I can reach the sky!” Aisha kicked out her legs.

Winter moved behind her daughter, feeling her heart drop in fear as Aisha pointed her toes toward the sky. Viper nearly choked on the cookie he was eating as he came back outside. Winter shook her head then motioned for him to stand a few inches away in front of her, just in case her tiny sprite started to come down to earth. When he was in the right position, she gave Aisha a small push. It was time to let their daughter fly.