Chapter Nineteen
Copper
S tormy’s phone buzzes from the nightstand. It’s probably one of two people since so few have her new number. Hadley or her sister Calla. Since Thanksgiving a few days ago, Hadley blows up Stormy’s phone to the point it’s fucking annoying. But seeing how Stormy grins every time, I let it slide.
She’s not a prisoner anymore.
She may be mine, but she’s free to have friends and speak to people.
“Don’t you ever get tired of baby pictures?” I tease, brushing her hair from her face. “I swear that girl sends you a thousand texts a day.”
Stormy’s eyes flutter open and she smiles. “It’s your niece. Don’t act like you aren’t pleased each time you see pictures of that baby girl.”
I smirk at her, knowing she’s right. Caydence is so damn cute. Makes me miss the days when Blake was a baby. If I keep coming inside Stormy, it’ll be us next. The thought isn’t a bad one. I may be old and officially headed toward retirement, but the idea of knocking this hot as hell woman up is an idea I can’t shake off.
Her phone buzzes again.
“You going to answer or would you prefer to ride my dick, little storm?”
She sits up, her blond hair a wild mess, and straddles my waist. “Who says I can’t do both? You can be the first item on my to-do list.”
Fuck, retirement is the best.
I get to have sex all goddamn day with this woman.
She teases me by rubbing her slick pussy along my throbbing dick. I like when she’s on top so I can watch her pretty tits bounce. Gripping her hips in my rough hold, I urge her to sit on my dick and stop playing with me. Her sexy grin undoes me. She licks her lips and then wraps her hand around my cock, lifting it up and aligning it with her body. We both groan when she sinks down over my length.
“Are we a forever thing?” she asks, her blue eyes shiny with emotion.
I roll her onto her back, pausing to brush her hair from her face. “Yeah, baby, we are.”
Her throat bobs as she swallows. The slight quiver of her chin breaks my fucking heart. I don’t know where the sudden insecurity is coming from, but it only makes me want to prove it to her. I kiss her softly as I slowly thrust into her. We fuck wild all the time, but right now, I just want to hear every murmur and moan. To enjoy every second with her. Her fingers scrape along my scalp as she bores her intense stare into me.
Our eyes remain locked, neither of us speaking. All that can be heard is the sound of our panting and the occasional buzz of her phone. I roll my hips in a way that rubs against her clit, loving the way her lashes flutter each time. Her whimpers tell me she likes it and if I keep it up, she’ll be coming all over my dick. I continue my efforts, pleased as fuck when she cries out my name, her cunt clenching around me like a vise.
“You’re so pretty when you come,” I rumble, crushing my lips to hers.
We kiss in a hungry, frantic way as my hips move faster. One of my arms slides beneath her, the urge to pull her to me strong and consuming. I kiss her deeply, loving the feel of her gorgeous tits smashed against me.
“Fuck,” I choke out, my nuts tightening.
I’m fully aware I should pull out, but she’s not bitching at me to do it. So, I enjoy the moment and thrust into her as my cum jets out thick and hot. I love the squelching sound it makes. Once my dick stops throbbing, I don’t pull out. Instead, I bury my nose against her neck, inhaling her.
“Can we stay like this all day?” I murmur.
“If you want to get me pregnant,” she sasses back.
I pretend to snore, which makes her laugh.
“You really are a caveman,” she says, smacking my ass. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Gently, I pull out of her body, marveling over the way cum runs out of her onto the bed. “Nah, I’m just winging it.” I climb off the bed and grab her phone for her. “Oh shit. Not Hadley. Calla is blowing up your phone.” I toss it beside her before grabbing us a towel to clean up with. “What did she say?”
“Oh my God,” she screeches. “She’s here.”
“As in at my house?” I ask, running the towel between her thighs.
“I gave her your address in case she ever wanted to come visit. I just didn’t expect her to come now.”
“I don’t hear Hansel and Gretel,” I say as I start throwing clothes on. “Are you sure she’s at the right house?” I’d let them out earlier before I woke Stormy up and haven’t heard from them since.
“According to her text, she’s way down at the end of the drive. The dogs are barking at her car. She’s scared.”
“Get dressed,” I instruct. “I’ll ride my bike out there and make the dogs leave her alone.”
After brushing my teeth and shoving my feet into my boots, I rush out of the house to grab the Harley. We had a chilly Thanksgiving, but today is cold as fuck. I should have grabbed my leather jacket on the way out. Once I have the bike rumbling in the garage, I ride out along my long driveway. Sure enough, at the end of the road, my dogs are going nuts barking at a beat to hell Kia. A young woman who favors Stormy peers out of the windshield, her eyes wide with terror and her phone pressed to her ear. I give her an awkward wave before I holler at the dogs.
“That’s Calla, brats,” I bark out. “Get back to the house if you want a treat.”
They go from vicious guard dogs to spoiled babies in three seconds, tearing back down the driveway in a race to get to the house. By the time we get back, Stormy is bundled up in my leather jacket looking hot as fuck as she waits for us. The dogs bolt into the house as Stormy makes her way down to her sister’s car.
Calla climbs out—a tiny version of her sister—and runs over to Stormy. Stormy hugs her tight, love shining bright on her face. But when Calla pulls away, Stormy’s face falls.
Something’s wrong.
I shut the bike off and rush over to them, concern washing over me in a wave. “What is it?” I demand.
Stormy’s blue eyes are wide and horrified. “Cove.”
Calla bursts into tears, burying her face in her hands.
“What happened to him?” I grind out. “Is he…” Dead?
“Missing,” Stormy chokes out.
“I’m sure he’s just with a chick or a buddy or something,” I try to assure the women.
Calla turns toward me, tears streaking down her cheeks. “He’s not.”
“Come on,” I growl. “It’s cold as fuck out here. Let’s get inside and talk about this.”
Stormy curls an arm around her sister and guides her into the house. I follow after them and close the door behind us. Once I’ve started the fire in the fireplace, I meet them in the kitchen where Stormy is fixing us all three a cup of coffee. Calla’s tears have dried some.
She seems so young.
Hardly a college student.
Maybe it’s because she’s so small. It makes me wonder if Cove is small too since they’re twins. Calla is several inches shorter than her older sister, doesn’t have tits to speak of, and skinny as a rail. The only reason you can tell they’re sisters is they have the same big blue eyes and wild blond hair.
“Why do you think he’s missing?” I ask, trying to keep a level head. Stormy sure as hell isn’t. Her eyes are blazing with worry.
“I don’t think it,” Calla snaps. “I know it.”
Stormy’s brow furrows. “Did he leave on his own or…?”
“Or.” Calla starts to sob again. “Brenda, they took him.”
Stormy and I both tense up.
“Who took him?” Stormy demands. “Spit it out, Calla.”
“I told him it was stupid. He’s too short to be a model,” Calla wails. “He didn’t listen. He just wanted someone to see him.”
My blood runs cold and Stormy’s face pales.
“Who?”
“These guys,” Calla shrieks. “We met them at a party last night. They were recruiting for a modeling agency. They said twins are really popular and they could make us stars. I’d walked away, annoyed at their scheme, but Cove fell for it. He left with them.”
“Oh my God,” Stormy chokes out. “Copper.”
“Then what happened?” I urge Calla. “Tell us.”
Her teary eyes find mine. “I got a knock on my door from one of the other girls this morning saying there was a guy looking for me and was waiting for me at the front desk of our building. They wouldn’t let him up because we’re not supposed to have guys in the dorm. It was the same guy from the night before. He gave me sketchy vibes. I called Cove and he didn’t answer. I just knew. They took him and they were back to take me. As fast as I could, I packed a bag and slipped out the back. I came straight here. You have to believe me!”
“What did he look like?” Both Stormy and I ask at the same time.
“Mexican guy. I don’t know. Fancy suit. Lots of jewelry. Definitely smarmy. I knew something was wrong with him.” She sobs. “Oh God, I should have forced Cove to leave with me!”
“Shh,” Stormy says, pulling her to her chest and hugging her. “It’s not your fault. We’re going to find him.”
Fuck.
Something about this feels too personal. Too calculated. Of all the college kids to go after, they chose Stormy’s damn siblings. I need to talk to my brother.
I excuse myself from the room and dial Dan first because this is too big for a bunch of bikers who haven’t been able to do shit thus far.
“Retirement already boring you?” he asks in greeting, amusement in his voice.
“Collins and Vidal. You found anything on them?” I demand, heading straight for my office to power up my computer.
“What? Uh, no, man. Not yet. What’s wrong?”
“This is complicated to explain…” I sigh heavily.
“Try,” Dan urges.
“So you know those missing person reports?” He grunts out a yes, so I continue. “One of the guys I know wasn’t on the list, but after some digging, I found out he also went missing around that time. I’ve come to believe he knows Vidal and Collins.”
“Bring him in so we can question him,” Dan says as if I hadn’t already thought of that fucking idea.
“He’s not exactly the talkative type.” After Dragon bursting out of Church a few weeks ago when I was sure he knew Collins and Vidal, and after I’d patched in, I told Koyn we needed to pry the information out of Dragon. No more bullshit. For once, my brother listened. Problem was, Dragon flipped his shit and told Koyn if there was something pertinent he needed knowing, he’d tell him, but he was not going to discuss how he knew them. It was weird as fuck. But, having been in my position for so long, I recognized it for what it was. Fear. “We can’t question him,” I utter. “But that’s not the point of this conversation. The point is, the tentacles of those bastards is far reaching. And it’s a web that’s connecting too much for my liking.”
“What do you mean?”
“What do you know of Brenda Gale?”
He taps on his computer for a second. “Hmmm. Looks to be an agent from Alabama put on administrative leave who then went rogue. You think they got her too?”
“I think they tried,” I say slowly. “She managed to evade them last year before she went into hiding.”
“This the same agent who gave you intel a while back?”
A heavy sigh. “Yeah.”
“Fuck, Jeremy. What have you gotten yourself involved in?”
“Something messy and somehow it ties to this case. The reason Agent Gale got put on administrative leave is because she was looking for her missing friend who’d been in contact with these guys. Came all the way from Montgomery, Alabama, to Tulsa sniffing out this lead.” I pause, wondering how much I should tell him. Dan is my boss, but he’s also been my friend for years. Fuck. “I…”
“Am a Royal Bastard?”
I nearly choke on my tongue. “W-What?”
“Give me some credit, man. I’m not where I’m at from being stupid. Ever since that anonymous call, I’ve been looking to see what the hell is going down. Between your pulling away and that call, I needed to see what you were involved in,” he grumbles. “A goddamn motorcycle gang. Most guys just take up golf in retirement.”
“You know I can’t handle that shit,” I growl. “I’ve spent a long time looking for the monsters who killed my brother’s family. Makes you jaded after a while. Golf isn’t for me. The open road is.” I pause and sigh. “I’m dirty.”
“Hell, Jeremy, most good guys are. The ones who get tired of letting the bad motherfuckers win all the time. Some of us only wish we had the balls to do what’s necessary. You think I got this job because I wanted to wade through red tape and watch criminals continue their bullshit with no recourse? The answer is, I wanted to get the bad guys. Just like you.”
Relief floods through me. I worried about telling Dan, but I’m reassured by his words. He’s a good friend.
“I think they’ve been hunting for the missing kid who won’t talk,” I explain with a huff. “Which is why they were looking into me and my brother because he’s one of us.”
“Get this kid to talk,” Dan commands. “If he can tell us where they’re at, we can bring their whole operation down.”
“I’m telling you, man, if he had something to tell, he’d do it. It’s a waste of time. Trust me. But listen. They took Agent Gale’s brother last night. Tried to get her sister too.”
“Fuck. You’re certain it was them?”
“She described Urbano Vidal to a T. It’s him.”
“Then we need to use her,” Dan says quickly. “I can send a team to her. Is she in Alabama?”
“No. Her siblings were in college. Calla and Cove Gale. University of Arkansas. She drove to my place this morning.”
“Your house?” He sighs. “Agent Gale is in hiding at your place?”
A beat of silence. “Yeah. Don’t fuck me over, man.”
“Fuck you, Jeremy. I’m your friend, dumbass.”
“Right. Sorry,” I rush out. “I have both Calla and Brenda here. We need a team sent to the University of Arkansas for questioning the other students there. See if we can’t get a make on the vehicles or if anyone knows anything.”
“You think they’ve followed the girl out here? Want me to send some men to your place?” he asks. “Extra security?”
As much as I don’t want my home crawling with Feds, I feel like it’s probably smart. “Send a couple of guys, yeah. Don’t tell them what’s going on, though. I’m taking a risk by telling you.”
“And I’m taking a risk helping you . Give a guy some credit.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Don’t thank me until we bring these bastards down.”
As soon as I hang up, I call my brother. After filling him in on the newest development, even the part where I called Dan, I end the call and go to find my girl. She’s curled up on the sofa beside her sister, trying to comfort the poor girl. Both dogs are tense and seated at their feet, clearly feeling the worry in the air.
“Koyn wants me there so we can put our heads together to find Cove,” I say to Stormy. “I would bring you with, but they already know where Koyn lives. It’s probably not the best idea. My house is safe and off the beaten path. I’ve got some guys coming to watch the house. As soon as they’re here, I’ll leave. If for some crazy reason you need to hide, the storm shelter closet is the safest place because it’s encased in steel with a bolt.”
“I want a gun.”
There’s my girl.
I slip from the room and return with a Glock. A piece this woman is more than familiar with using. After making sure it’s loaded and ready to go, I drop a kiss to her lips.
“We’re going to find him, baby,” I assure her.
“We have to, Copper. They’re my only family I’ve got left.”