Chapter 5
Chapter Five
River
I smiled at the sight of Adelaide leaning under the hood of a white Nissan as I stepped into the garage with Tristan at my side. “Now, I bet if you fucking start the car, it’ll run fine,” Adelaide snapped at my prospect, Joseph.
Sure enough, when he started the car, it ran fine.
My woman was one of many talents.
“The starter was fine,” Adelaide told him as she wiped her hands on a grease rag. “The spark plugs were shit, and the throttle body needed cleaning. I just saved the poor lady a couple of hundred dollars.”
God, she was so fucking feisty, and I loved it. Slowly, but surely, Adelaide was coming back to me—spitfire attitude and all. I couldn’t wait to have every bit of her fiery personality as mine. She just needed a man to love her right.
Joey and Tristan may not have ever been ready for the kind of woman she had always been, but I sure as fuck was.
“She’s pregnant. She doesn’t need to be working on cars,” Tristan grumbled in displeasure.
“Not your woman and not your kid,” I told him bluntly. He narrowed his eyes at me. I shrugged. Unlike Adelaide, I had no desire to spare his feelings. He ruined his fucking chance with her. I swept in at the first opportunity I got, and I gave her a taste of what it was like to truly be loved and cared about, a taste of what it was like to be put above all else. “And this is what I’m talking about,” I informed him. “The reins were too tight when you were with her. Adelaide needs freedom and independence, Grim. You wouldn’t give her that.”
“Why didn’t you put a bullet through that fucker’s head for what he did to her face?” Tristan demanded as he swiftly changed the topic, obviously not wanting to talk about what he did to her. Yet every time I turned around since he’d walked into my clubhouse, he’d been making my woman feel like shit for choosing me.
And that shit? It wasn’t settling right with me.
“I didn’t, but I made sure Vern did,” I told him. “I don’t drop bodies in or around my clubhouse and certainly not around women with sensitive stomachs,” I said, referring to Adelaide. She might have used to be able to handle bloodshed, but I’d seen her face when I’d been beating the shit out of Henry. I wouldn’t run the chance that watching me put a bullet through someone’s skull would make her sick. The baby had turned her stomach sensitive.
Tristan just watched Adelaide for a moment. I ignored the sadness in his eyes, not feeling the least bit sorry for him. He brought this upon himself. If he had treated her like a normal human being, he might have still had her. She had been broken and used. She was desperate for someone to just love her and take care of her. He hadn’t been capable of doing that.
Tristan sighed. “She’s happy,” he quietly said, watching her laugh at something stupid Joseph had probably said to her. Joseph was a jokester, but when it came down to it, I could rely on him. He’d make a damn good patched member once I finally decided to take him off of prospect status and give him a proper cut.
Done talking to Tristan any further, I strode toward Adelaide, watching as her eyes darkened the tiniest bit as she ran her eyes over me, a slow smile twisting her delicious lips. Fuck, she made me hard so fucking easily. I only hoped that it would be like this between us for the rest of our lives.
Her eyes locked onto a worktable almost exactly like the one the Sons of Death had, and her eyes glazed over a little as she remembered our first time together. My cock strained in my jeans, begging to be buried deep inside of her.
I wound my arms around her waist, drawing her against me as I lowered my head until my lips were at her ear. “Say the word, and we’ll christen that one, too,” I huskily whispered in her ear.
Her body shuddered against mine in response, and her beautiful, brown eyes met mine, mischief shining in their depths. She gripped my cut, pulling me harder against her. I growled softly as I lightly pressed my thigh between her legs. Her breath hitched in her throat, and I grinned wickedly. “Send them out,” she whispered. “We’re closed for business for the rest of the day.”
I sure as fuck didn’t have to be told twice.
I turned and looked at my crew. “Out!” I barked. “Shut the gates on your way out. We’re closed.”
With that, I gently pressed my lips to hers, being extra careful due to the bruises on her face.
But when I got her on that worktable, I fucked her so hard that I had no doubt that my club members could hear her screams all the way inside of the clubhouse.
She was mine, and I planned on making sure everyone knew it.
My gaze instantly locked on Adelaide as if drawn to her by an unseeable force. She was stepping out of the back hallway from my room, her hair damp from her shower. She was wearing a pair of my sweatpants and one of my shirts. My throat bobbed as I swallowed.
Fuck me, she looked even sexier in my clothes.
Mel was currently holding Tristan’s attention, and I was thankful that Adelaide didn’t even give him a second glance as she strode toward me, meaning that I didn’t have to feel all of that fucking anger and jealousy. I hated it when she looked at him, and even more, I hated the guilt that flashed in her eyes every time she did.
I might have been a bit more understanding about the entire situation if he had at least tried to understand her, but he never tried. Fuck, even Joey eventually got the memo with her but not Tristan.
Adelaide was fragile. No matter how much of a strong front she put up, Adelaide was just a broken woman begging to be loved properly.
My hands landed on her hips when she got close enough to me, and I drew her between my legs as I settled my hands on her ass, squeezing lightly.
Fuck, I loved this ass of hers, and the more weight she gained, the bigger her perfect ass got.
“How’s your face feel?” I softly asked as I reached up to gently run my fingertips over her bruises.
She shrugged. “Kind of used to the pain by now, so I’m fine.”
I clenched my jaw at the reminder that she was so fucking used to physical pain that it didn’t even bother her anymore. It shouldn’t be like that. It should have never been like that.
Darlin, you’ll never have to worry about pain like that ever again , I silently promised her. I was here to protect her now. I’d never let another son of a bitch touch her again—not if I could help it.
“Mel!” Gregory shouted, making Mel jump in fright, snapping her eyes over to my sergeant at arms. I smoothed my hands up Adelaide’s back, calming her when she tensed in my arms in response to the sudden, loud noise. “Quit fucking around and serve drinks like you’re supposed to,” he snarled at her.
“Hey, watch how the fuck you talk to her,” Adelaide snapped at him, her eyes sparking fire. I gently squeezed her waist, hoping to calm her down some. Adelaide was naturally protective over other women, which was understandable. And I would always back her up. “Do you treat all fucking women like shit?” she demanded to know.
I ran my eyes over her face at her words. What the fuck had Gregory done that she hadn’t told me about? “Girly, I get that you’re River’s woman, but you don’t get to pop off at the mouth anytime you feel like it,” he snapped back at her.
Actually, she fucking did. And as long as she was being reasonable, I would always back her up in whatever the fuck she did or wanted. Old ladies were meant to support their old men, but good old men supported their old ladies, too.
“I knew there was a fucking reason I haven’t liked you since I stepped foot in this fucking clubhouse,” she sneered back at him.
I slid my hands down and gripped her ass, drawing those beautiful eyes of hers to me. “What the fuck did he do, darlin’?” I asked her, drawing her furious eyes to me.
“He’s just been warning me about my mouth since I stepped in here, and he seems to have a real fucking shitty view on women,” she snarled. I knew she wasn’t angry with me, but I squeezed her ass again as a quiet reminder that I wasn’t the one she was pissed at. Her eyes softened slightly, but her jaw was still clenched.
“She’s going to smart off at the wrong person one day, Prez,” Gregory stated, but it sounded more like a threat.
And that shit would get his ass killed.
I bristled and narrowed my eyes at him. “Was that a fucking threat?” I snarled as I stood up from my barstool, keeping Adelaide close to me.
Gregory put his hands up in a surrendering gesture, but I didn’t miss the heated glare he sent in Adelaide’s direction before he walked away, his steps quick and angry.
Clenching my jaw, I nodded once at Tristan when he turned to look at me. I needed to get Adelaide home. Today had been enough for her, and right then, I didn’t fucking trust Gregory. I wanted her far away from him.
“Sam will make sure you and your club get settled in for the night,” I informed Tristan. His eyes flickered to Adelaide, but I was sure to keep her attention focused on me. I hated it when she tore herself down, and every time she looked at him, that was exactly what she did. “Enjoy the drinks, and have fun with the women. I’m taking Adelaide home, and I probably won’t be back here at the clubhouse until sometime in the morning once she wakes up for the day.”
Tristan nodded in understanding, for once staying silent. I placed my hand on the small of Adelaide’s back, leading her out to my bike, not giving her a chance to look at Tristan. I brushed my lips to her temple when we stepped outside. Her body sagged, the weight of being in Tristan’s presence lifting from her shoulders.
“Live for me,” I whispered in her ear.
She turned to me and pressed her hand over my chest, looking up at me with those beautiful, brown eyes. “Stay with me,” she said in return, her voice just as quiet as mine.
I leaned down and brushed my lips with hers. “For as long as you’ll have me,” I promised.