Chapter 53
Fifty-Three
Charlie
Six Weeks Later
“You should know better by now,” I teased Keith as he rolled his head back on his shoulders and sighed after Jo whooped his ass again. “She cheats. She denies it, but I have yet to win a game of poker when she plays.”
“I don’t cheat,” Jo said while rolling her eyes. “I’m just a better player than you guys.”
“I’ll have you know that I am a fantastic poker player,” Keith objected. “So I agree with Charlie—you cheat.”
“You would know if I cheated,” Jo countered.
“Would we?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her as Ashley bounced Molly on her chest to try to get her to burp. “Because I can’t imagine a cheater would make it obvious that they were cheating.”
“You’re just upset because you never win.” Jo stuck her tongue out at me as she gathered the cards from the table and shuffled the deck.
“Hey, I win when I play against Axel,” I said, smiling as he sat down beside me.
“That’s because we play strip poker and I let you win.”
My cheeks flushed with heat as I smacked his chest.
“You did not just say that,” I hissed. “And you don’t let me win! I win because I’m good.”
“Can’t we just say that we both win?” Axel suggested as he wiggled his eyebrows.
I shook my head, not able to argue with him when he looked so adorable.
“No one wants to hear about your sex life,” Jo muttered to Axel as she shuffled the cards one last time before dealing them.
“Then I guess we should take this party upstairs,” he replied, locking his hand with mine under the table. “We have plenty of people wanting some Molly cuddles today...”
“You cannot just advertise that we’re going to go have sex!” I whispered, trying to keep my voice as quiet as possible.
“I agree with her,” Jo said with a shake of her head. “But, in all fairness, it’s not like you guys have all the time in the world for adult time. So, I don’t know, if you guys needed to go work on laundry for an hour or so, I would be more than happy to watch my niece.”
“We’re actually all caught up on laun—” I started, but then stopped when I got it.
“Yes, we need to do laundry. I’m ready to put some starch in your—”
I pressed my fingers to his lips to stop him from talking.
“That’s enough out of you,” I said with a laugh. “But we do need to build the crib since little Miss Independent over there is already getting too strong to trust her in that bassinet.”
Axel nodded his head and then stood up at the same time I did.
“Safety always comes first,” he announced, pulling his chest back like Superman.
“Does that mean my new nickname is safety?” I teased quietly in his ear so only he could hear.
He didn’t say anything. He just slapped my ass and then tossed me over his shoulder and carried me upstairs before closing and locking the door.
Neither of us spoke as we began stripping off our clothes.
We made every opportunity we could to explore each other’s bodies, but it was hard to find the time with a baby constantly in the room with us.
Thankfully, we had a wonderful support system with friends who helped out and gave us some alone time so we could strengthen our connection to each other.
Axel crossed the room, stroking his cock as his eyes slowly trailed up and down my naked body.
I gave up on being self-conscious around him because even though I was still carrying some weight from the pregnancy and my body hadn’t bounced back the way I thought it would, Axel didn’t seem to mind at all.
The things I liked least about my body were the things he liked best.
I wrapped my arms around his neck the second he was close enough, bringing my lips over his. His hands dipped down my waist and grabbed my ass, giving it a nice, hard squeeze that sent an ache through me.
I was already wet and ready for him when he reached a hand between us and slid a finger along my seam, parting me. I gasped when he inserted two fingers in my pussy, fucking me with them as he guided me to the bed.
My body was alive with desire for him as I laid down and spread my legs, inviting him inside.
He climbed onto the bed and stopped at my pussy, taking the time to tease me with his tongue.
His hands gripped my thighs, holding them open as he sucked my clit.
The pleasure was so intense that I found myself coming on his mouth within a matter of minutes as he tortured me in the most satisfying way.
He pulled away and wiped his mouth, a playful smirk playing on his lips.
“How do you want it?” he asked, his voice low.
“I want you to take me from behind. I love how deep you get and when you hit that spot that drives me crazy.”
He licked his lips and nodded in agreement.
I got up and flipped myself over so I was on my knees with my ass up.
He spanked me, sending a thrill through me as I felt him line his cock up at my entrance and slowly push inside.
He was so big that it took a few seconds for my body to adjust to his size.
I rotated my hips slowly, forcing him in deeper while he gripped my hips and held me steady.
“Fuck,” he groaned as I started bouncing my ass, sliding my pussy up and down his cock to tease him. “Your pussy feels so good, baby.”
“Then fuck it like we both want you to fuck it.”
He let out a chuckle, then gripped my hips tighter as he pulled out and slammed inside of me, over and over.
I positioned myself where I needed to so he could hit my G-spot, and didn’t care when I squirted a few minutes later.
Axel tightened behind me as he thrusted harder, bringing himself to climax a few minutes later.
Once we were done and cleaned up, we took a little time to start building the crib so we wouldn’t look like liars.
Besides, we really did need it sooner rather than later and didn’t want to risk Molly hurting herself in the bassinet.
It felt like she was growing and changing so quickly that I wanted to be months ahead instead of scrambling to get stuff done later.
I was done living my life in fear, so I needed to be proactive about getting things taken care of for her.
“Are you sure that goes there?” I asked, scrunching my nose as I looked from the instruction leaflet I was holding to the items he was holding in his hands.
“Honestly? I’m not sure,” he admitted, setting them down. “How can it be this hard to build a crib? The picture looks so simple.”
“I have no idea. Just think, we still have her closet to set up and bookshelves to build.”
“True, but thankfully, those can wait until we get settled in the new house. I’ll be happy not to have to lug big furniture back and forth.”
I chewed my lip nervously and studied him.
“I know that you wanted to wait to move in until we had all of the repairs done, but what if we just move in and work on them when we get to them? Most of them are in the rooms we’re not planning to use anyway.
Then you wouldn’t have to build the crib now and mess with getting it downstairs and to the new house. ”
He set the pieces down and looked at me.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I know we talked about waiting until everything in the new house was perfect, but nothing in life is ever going to be perfect. I’m tired of waiting to enjoy things with you.
I want to move in and have our own space.
I want Molly to have her own space. I want to make you dinner and then curl up on the couch while we eat it.
I want to soak in a bath...” I groaned, just the thought of soaking making me want to rush getting to the new house that much more.
“I think you just want to move in so you can have me anytime you want since we won’t be sharing a room with Molly,” he teased, shaking his finger at me.
“Maybe. But you can’t blame me... you’re pretty hot, and I really like your cock.”
“Alright. Grab your stuff and let’s go,” he said, getting up off the floor.
“What?” I laughed. “I didn’t mean right this second!”
“Why not?” He stood in front of me, his eyes searching mine as a smile played on his lips.
“I don’t know,” I stammered, throwing my hands in the air and letting the paper fall to the floor. “I mean, it would be great to get over there, but I don’t want you to feel rushed. I know how much this apartment means to you and don’t want you to feel like you have to give it up because of me.”
“Baby, this apartment isn’t going anywhere. I want to be wherever you are for the rest of my life. I can’t think of a better thing to do than to take you and Molly home to our new house.”
“Alright, but you have to break it to Jo that you’re taking her niece away,” I teased, knowing how heartbroken she would be to part with Molly.
“Jo will be just fine,” he assured me as he pressed a kiss to my forehead and slapped my ass.
“You say that, but you know how obsessed she is with her. She’s already asking when we’re going to have more babies.”
Axel grinned like a fool as he pulled me closer.
“I’m just waiting for you to be healed and ready.”
I smiled up at him, noting the love that shone in his eyes every time he talked about our family and how much he wanted more babies in the future.
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We put the crib pieces back in the box and cleaned up before heading downstairs to check on Molly.
It was quiet in the bar, which immediately made my body tense as I prepared for whatever danger was waiting for us.
Axel seemed to pick up on it as well because he slowed down and put himself in front of me as he walked into the bar.
“You need to get the fuck out of here,” Jo growled, standing in front of a man I hadn’t seen before.
“What the fuck is going on?” Axel demanded, letting go of my hand as he stalked over to where Jo was standing.
Keith stood on the other side of Jo, staring down the man as well. I glanced across the room to where Ashley was holding Molly against her chest, tucked into the corner behind the bar, while Lainy stood beside her with Axel’s baseball bat sitting on the bar in front of her.
“Leave. Now.” Jo pointed to the door, and I could feel the anger radiating off of her.
“I can’t do that,” the guy said with a shake of his head.
“Then I guess I’m going to have to make you,” Jo threatened. “You can tell Tray all about how you got your ass kicked by a woman when you go back to that little hellhole he calls his club.”
“Tray doesn’t know I’m here. He’s still looking for you, Jo. He has an army of men looking for you, and they’re getting close.”
Fuck. This was about her ex-husband. She had told me about him a few times, but never went into great detail about what she endured at his hands.
“Why are you telling me this?” Jo asked, her voice wavering slightly as Keith put a protective hand around her waist.
“Because he’s going to kill you, Jo. I can’t sit back and let that happen.”
“What’s in it for you?” Keith asked, stepping into the conversation.
“I care about her. I always have.”
“Then where were you when he tried to kill me?” Jo demanded. “Where were you when he put a gun in my mouth and played Russian Roulette each time he pulled the trigger? Where were you when he beat me until I was unconscious and then tried to rape me? Where the fuck were you, Dom?”
Jo shook as tears ran down her face, clenching her fists at her sides as Keith stood next to her.
“If you weren’t there for me then, then you sure as fuck don’t get to be here now. Tray can come for me. He can send as many men as he wants. I’ll enjoy killing every single one of them. Pass that message on to your best friend and get the fuck out of my town, you asshole.”
Dom lowered his head and nodded.
“I don’t talk to Tray anymore. I left a while ago.
I’ve been trying to find you for months and got lucky when I saw you at your uncle’s compound.
I followed you, knowing you were too caught up in what happened to notice me.
I gave it a few weeks because I knew you would react this way, but I’m not here to hurt you, Jo.
Maybe I should have come sooner, I don’t know.
The point is that I’m here now, and I want to help. ”
“Yeah, well, you’re a little too late,” Jo bit out. “Get the fuck out of here. I don’t want to ever see you again.”
Jo stepped away from Keith and started toward the kitchen when he spoke again.
“I fucked up not fighting for you before, Jo, but that won’t happen again.
I don’t care whether you want me here or not because I will fucking put my life on the line to save yours.
You can keep that attitude because we’re going to need it when they get here, but you better get used to having me around because I’m not going anywhere. ”
He folded his arms over his chest and leveled her with a look that made her stop.
“You better hope you’re not fucking playing me, Dom. I swear to God, if—”
“You have my word, Jo. I’m here to protect you the way I should have all those years ago. I fucked up, but I’m here to fix that.”
“What makes you think I need you to protect me? I’ve kept myself alive this long, so I would say I’m doing just fine.”
He took a few steps, crossing the space between them. He towered a few inches above her, lifting her chin with his finger so she would have to look at him.
“Tray isn’t the same guy you walked away from before, Jo.
You might be a tough-ass chick who can handle herself against most guys, but not him.
He is determined to find you so he can make you pay for leaving.
Do you really think you stand a chance against someone hell-bent on killing you?
He won’t stop until you’re dead, Jo. I don’t know how to make it any clearer that you’re in serious danger right now.
So, please, stop fighting me and let me help you. ”
“Jo doesn’t need your help,” Axel said firmly. “She has an entire town that will protect her.”
“I respect that,” Dom replied respectfully. “However, I have inside information on him and what he’s planning. I feel that I would be an asset in keeping her safe. I’m not trying to come in and undermine anyone in this town. I just want to keep Jo alive.”
“Then it looks like we’re working together,” Axel confirmed as Jo whipped her head to look at him.
“I won’t risk losing you, Jo,” Axel said to her. “I don’t have to trust him or like him. If he has information that can help us protect you, then I’m going to use it.”
“Same,” Keith said, turning to Jo. “Your life is at risk, so you can’t blame any of us for doing whatever we need to do to keep you safe.”
“So, that’s it? He comes in acting like he’s going to save the day, and you guys just accept him?” Jo threw her hands up in disbelief.
“I’m not trying to save anything but you,” he replied, locking eyes with her and holding her gaze. “Everything I do is going to be for you.”
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