Gideon: Ride With Me

Chapter Nine

Gideon

The clubhouse buzzed with energy throughout the day. Despite our reputation for holding our liquor well, we didn’t drink much in order to keep a clear head. It was only a matter of time before Coleman rallied for a second hit, and we didn’t want to be caught with our pants around our ankles when that happened.

Hot Shot managed to rope Liss into a game of pool, along with Spike and Tex. I begged off, choosing to rest my shoulder instead with an ice pack and some pain killers. Liss wiped the floor with them, sinking ball after ball into one pocket or another.

It was good to see Liss laugh, teasing and trash-talking Hot Shot without hesitation. I noticed the little flinches she did around me sometimes, as if bracing herself for the moment I would raise my hand to her in anger. I knew it was an instinct to protect herself, built after years of abuse from someone she should have been able to trust. But I hoped one day that fear would be a distant memory.

As the day wore into nightfall, exhaustion settled into my bones. My vigilance began to flag. Kingpin pushed away from the table where Gatling had an array of guns spread out, cleaning them, loading them. He ambled closer and gave my boot a friendly nudge.

“Get some rest, Big G,” he said. “Credence and Blackbeard are on watch. Vlad is getting some shut eye before he takes over with Crash in two or three hours. We’ll be ready when Coleman shows up.”

I glanced toward Liss. She was seated at the bar while Baby Doll cleaned up her haircut, evening out the choppy edges and giving it a softer, rounder shape.

“We’ll keep an eye on her,” Kingpin added.

I rubbed my sore shoulder, feeling my resolve begin to crumble. I was tempted to carry Liss off to bed with me so I had her by my side at all times. Then she closed her eyes like a contented cat as Baby Doll scratched lightly at her scalp. She looked relaxed and comfortable, finding her place within the club.

“Wake me at the slightest whiff of trouble,” I said.

Kingpin waved me off.

“Of course.”

I slipped away to one of the back rooms I shared with Liss. They were basic crash pads with a bed in one corner, a nightstand, a set of shelves, and a small table with a chair that wobbled on uneven legs. The clubhouse served as a sanctuary for anyone who needed it, whether we were sleeping off a hangover, or seeking shelter to cool off after a fight with a spouse.

Setting my Glock on the nightstand, I sank into the bed with a groan of relief. After a minute or two, the door opened. A thin stream of light filtered into the dim room. Liss tiptoed in and shut the door behind her.

“I thought you would be busy for a while,” I said.

Her agile hands crept up my chest and the faint warmth of her lips pressed against my cheek.

“Just wanted to check on you. Make sure you’re okay. You’ve been rubbing your shoulder for the past hour or so.”

I threaded my fingers up into her hair—soft, silky, and smelling like floral shampoo instead of my soap.

“I’m fine. Kingpin suggested I get some shut eye while I have the chance.”

Liss hummed as she gently climbed over me, straddling my hips. I skimmed my hand along her thigh, curving over her hip. My thoughts flew through a dozen dirty things all at once.

“I’ve been thinking,” Liss said.

“That’s dangerous,” I replied.

She wrinkled her nose and poked me in the ribs. I chuckled and caught her hand.

“What’s on your mind, baby?”

Liss hesitated, tracing the patches on my cut.

“Can I be honest with you?” she asked in a quiet voice.

“Always.”

She tried to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear and gave up, scratching at her earlobe instead while she deliberated.

“Is there…a future for us?”

“I hope so,” I replied. “If you’re looking for a white picket fence life in the suburbs though, I’m not the man for the job.”

She shook her head.

“I never wanted that.”

I waited for a moment, expecting her to continue. When she remained silent, I reached out and grasped her chin lightly. That gesture never failed to sharpen her focus, calm her scattered thoughts, and get her gaze to lock on me.

“Tell me what you want, Liss,” I said.

She considered for nearly a full minute before she sucked in a breath to speak.

“Would you…marry me someday?”

I raised my eyebrows.

Oh, sweetheart, I thought. If only you knew how ready I am to make you mine forever…

“I haven’t really—” Liss broke off and swallowed. “I never thought about that with anyone else. My parents hated being married. My dad ranted about how awful it was to be saddled with a family he didn’t even want.”

I frowned, squeezing Liss’s hip. I couldn’t imagine how terrifying it must be to open up the way she did now. To hope for happiness that she never witnessed in her family before.

“I think…” Liss continued. “I’d like to have a kid, too. Maybe. I haven’t decided yet. I always swore I wouldn’t bring a daughter into this world. She’d end up like me and I couldn’t live with myself if that happened.”

A tear glistened on her cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb.

“You’re a brave woman, Liss,” I said. “Strong, intelligent, gorgeous. You should be proud to have a daughter like you.”

She made a small strangled noise in the back of her throat.

“But what if I build a great life with you and then I lose it all and I end up right back where I started, under my brother’s thumb? I can breathe when I’m around you, Gideon. I had no idea that I’ve been drowning all this time until you hold me and kiss me. And then my lungs finally don’t hurt anymore.”

I pushed myself up into a sitting position, swinging my legs over the bed. Hooking an arm around Liss’s waist, I kept her body locked tight against me.

“I won’t let that happen, Liss,” I said. “I promise.”

She sniffed and swiped at her eyes with a shaky breath.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

Liss was spiraling. Losing herself in her own mind. Thinking too much. I grabbed her ass with both hands in a fierce squeeze that made her squeak in surprise.

“I mean it,” I replied. “I’m a tough old man, baby. I won’t die easily. And when I’m gone, the club will look after you as my wife. This family won’t let you down. You’re not going back to that shitshow with your brother, no matter what happens. I swear.”

She looped her arms around my shoulders, burying her face in my neck. I smoothed my hand down her back.

“Turn my brain off,” Liss murmured against my skin. “Please?

I tightened my grip on her. We’d been waiting around all day for her brother to show up again. Liss was valuable to him—for his drug dealing, for the only semblance of family he had left. We needed to stay alert, prepared.

She pulled back to look at me with her big brown eyes I couldn’t resist. I placed my hand against the column of her throat. Her pulse fluttered beneath my thumb.

“Are you nervous?” I asked.

Liss shook her head.

“Not when I’m with you.”

Kingpin had men on watch. Liss was here in my arms. I could give her what she needed now—safe and secure under my command.

“Strip for me, baby,” I said.

Liss rose to her feet and kicked off her boots. Her pants went next, followed by her long-sleeved shirt and the tank top underneath. Then she came to stand between my spread knees, guiding my hand to the waistband of her panties.

Grasping her hips, I turned her around, savoring her warm, soft skin beneath my palms. I brushed my lips down her spine in feather-light kisses that made her shiver. She looked so vulnerable in nothing but her underwear, while I remained fully clothed.

I retrieved a condom from the nightstand and unbuckled my belt. The gritty rasp of my zipper was the only sound in the room.

“Panties,” I growled. “Take them off.”

Liss shimmied out of them, flicking the scrap of fabric aside. My gaze took in her naked form, ready and waiting for me, while I put the condom on with a squeak of rubber. Then I tugged her into my lap, guiding my cock to her entrance.

“If you really want to be my wife, sweetheart,” I said, my lips against her ear. “You better get used to being stuffed with cock every morning when you wake up and every night before you fall asleep. I don’t give a damn if we’re fighting like cats and dogs. I’ll keep you so fucking full, baby. Can you handle that?”

Liss gasped as she sank down on my cock. I hadn’t prepped her, hadn’t stretched her open on my fingers. It might be too much for her to take. I let her move at her own pace, shifting her hips as she adjusted to my girth.

“What if I want a quick fuck in the middle of the day?” she replied lightly. “Do you think you can keep up with me, Big G?”

I smiled as I kissed the curve of her neck. My God, I loved this woman and the way she never backed down, never shied away from testing her attitude around me.

Liss started to move, gliding up and down my length. But I grabbed her hips and held her in place. She swore softly, her thighs trembling.

“Hold still,” I said.

She whimpered and bowed her head, fingernails digging into my jeans. I threaded my fingers through her hair and tugged her head back.

“Do you trust me?” I whispered.

“Yes,” she replied, faint and quiet but firm. “More than anyone I’ve ever met in my life.”

I slipped one hand between her thighs and pinched her clit. Liss squirmed.

“Are you being honest?” I asked.

“Yes, I am.”

Tugging Liss back against my chest, I hitched her knees over my legs. At this angle, she was fully exposed, on display. Judging by the way her pussy clenched around my cock, she seemed to like it. I caressed her thighs but didn’t touch her clit, and I didn’t let her move for the friction she desperately craved. All she could do was sit there on my cock, feeling full.

“I wish there was a mirror in here,” I murmured against her hair. “You could see how breath-taking you look like this, spread out for me.”

I trailed my hands up her body, cupping her breasts. Liss turned her head, nuzzling into the crook of my neck with a teasing pinch of her teeth. I gave a single, slow stroke to her clit.

“Fuck—Gideon,” she whined, trying to push into my touch.

I held her in place. Then I took her hand and guided it down to where we were joined—her pussy stretched around my throbbing cock.

“Feel that, baby?” I whispered. “You’re not thinking anymore, are you?”

Liss shook her head vigorously.

“God, Gideon, I need you to move so bad.”

I delivered a light swat to her ass, just enough to make it sting a little.

“Turn around. Let me see your face.”

Liss scrambled to climb off me and settled over me again. When I slipped inside her, she placed her hand on my chest and her eyes rolled back in her head with a sigh.

“That’s my girl,” I murmured.

I curled my fingers around the back of her neck and pulled her in for a messy kiss. Liss gasped against my mouth as she started to roll her hips. When I ducked my head and flicked my tongue over her nipple, she arched with desperation.

I braced an arm along her spine for support, cupping the nape of her neck. Gritting my teeth against the ache in my shoulder, I rutted up into Liss until she was shaking. If stress release was what she needed, I’d fuck every ounce of tension out of her body.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Liss babbled. “Right there—God, you’re so deep.”

She shattered as I buried my cock inside her. The tight grip of her walls made me explode a second later, muffling my groan between her breasts.

Liss sagged against me, resting her cheek on top of my head. I shifted back on the bed, taking her with me. I didn’t pull out as I situated her in the curve of my body, enveloping her in my arms.

If anyone tried to get to her, they would have to go through me.

***

It seemed as if I’d barely closed my eyes when the acrid stench of smoke dragged me into consciousness again. I squinted in the dim light, bleary-eyed. The faint warmth of Liss’s breath fanned over the curve of my neck. My grip tightened on her reflexively.

Still here. Still mine.

The sound of shattering glass split the silence. A shout echoed.

“Fire!”

In an instant, I was on my feet. I swiped my Glock off the nightstand and shook Liss’s shoulder.

“Liss, baby, get dressed. Right now.”

The smoke was getting thicker by the second. I coughed as it stung my throat. Wrenching the door open, I stepped into the hallway. Credence bolted past me on his way to the bar.

“Coleman and a crew of junkies are outside,” he said. “They’re loaded with enough Molotov cocktails for a small army. We gotta move.”

I swore under my breath. Another crash, more breaking glass.

“Where are you, Big G?” Coleman called. “I just want to talk.”

“How did he get the jump on us?” I asked.

Credence shook his head, tugging the collar of his shirt up over his nose and mouth.

“I don’t have answers for you, brother. Vlad and Crash took over the watch for me an hour ago. I tried to get some shut eye. The next thing I knew, my room was lit up like the Fourth of July.”

Liss stumbled out of the bedroom, coughing as she tugged her boots on. I hooked an arm around her and tucked her into my side. Her brother was out there, waiting to grab her as soon as she showed her face. With the clubhouse burning down around us, we didn’t have a choice. Either we roasted alive in here like barbecue, or we escaped the clubhouse and walked right into Coleman’s trap.

I tightened my grip on my Glock.

“I’m waiting, Big G!” Coleman shouted. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

The building groaned. The ceiling crackled. Liss glanced up at me through the haze, her beautiful brown eyes rimmed with red, because of tears or smoke I couldn’t tell. As long as I had breath in my body, I would do everything I could to protect this woman.

“Lead the way, Credence,” I said.

Liss and I followed him through the clubhouse. As we made our way into the main bar area, I could make out figures among the smoke, beating back the flames, but it was a losing battle. I hugged Liss tight, attempting to shield her from the heat as fire slithered up the walls and blackened the ceiling.

“Everybody out!” I bellowed over the roar of the fire. “And stay sharp. We’ve got company.”

If we had any chance in hell of surviving this, we had to stick together. I did a headcount as everyone filed by on their way through the door—Baby Doll, Gatling, Tex, Hot Shot. Crash and Vlad were nowhere in sight, but they’d been on watch, so they probably weren’t in the building. In the back of my mind, I worried something had happened to them since they didn’t raise the alarm.

Kingpin wasn’t among the group either, and that nagged at me. We needed our President, our leader.

To my right, a ceiling beam crumpled and hit the floor in a shower of cinders and sparks.

There was no time to search for Kingpin. We had to get out or die trying.

I grasped Liss’s hand and pulled her out the door with me. Cool night air washed over us after the relentless heat of the fire. I gulped in a deep, clean breath.

“At last,” Coleman said. “The gang’s all here.”

In the wan glow of the street light, Kingpin knelt on the pavement with his hands behind his head. Coleman stood over him, aiming a pistol at Kingpin’s temple. Crash huddled on the floor a few feet away, clutching his head as blood streamed through his fingers.

The other Blackjacks formed a semi-circle around Coleman like wolves waiting to attack. A horde of junkies shifted restless behind him, some armed with Molotov cocktails. Others held an array of weapons—from baseball bats and crowbars, to pistols. Fifteen of them against our eleven.

In the diner, Coleman had been outnumbered, three to one.

Now we were the ones with the odds against us.

“Let him go, son,” Blackbeard growled. “This is a mistake you won’t be able to come back from.”

“Shut up,” Coleman snapped. He flicked his gaze toward me. “You have my sister. I want her back.”

Liss shivered. She was only wearing a tank top instead of her customary layers. Now that we were away from the fire’s heat, the chill of the night was more prominent. I rubbed her arm and squeezed her tighter.

“Liss isn’t going anywhere with you,” I said.

Coleman sucked his teeth in frustration.

“You don’t get it, dumbass. I will execute your motherfucking President if you don’t do as I say. You’re not the one holding all the cards here. I am. I have the power. Not you. Now, hand over my goddamn sister!”

My gaze settled on Kingpin. He gave the slightest shake of his head.

Don’t do it. Don’t cave to this bastard.

Easy for him to say. I was faced with an impossible choice.

Surrender my President and the leader of our club—our family.

Or surrender the woman I loved.