Chapter 34
Seek
Iwoke up as Hush pulled into the clubhouse parking lot. Rubbing my eyes, I tried to banish the groggy feeling from my mind. I rarely napped, but after everything that’d happened sleep hadn’t been avoidable.
The truck skidded to a stop and Hush jumped out. He let the dogs, Priest, and Caitlyn out of the back, then came around to my door. There was a look on his face that told me he’d been replaying what’d happened in the wash in his mind the whole drive home.
“Hush,” I pleaded. I hated that he was torturing himself. He’d saved my life. Caitlyn was safe. All the men were fine. The dogs were okay. Those were the only things that mattered.
He just shot me a look and I fell silent. He was allowed his feelings and I knew I’d be able to get him to talk to me once we were alone. He pulled me into his arms.
“Hush, I’m not hurt. I can walk.” That got me a grunt, but he insisted on carrying me, though I could see the exhaustion on his face.
We’d all had a rough day. Priest was holding Caitlyn’s hand and Jecht was sticking close by her—as though he realized she needed the emotional support—while Auron did the same to me.
His cold nose was pressed to the hand I left hanging down.
That meant he kept having to dance out of the way of Hush’s strides while he carried me—bride style—across the lot, toward the clubhouse.
“She alright?” Lockout asked, coming out of the front door to the clubhouse.
“Yeah,” Hush said, the word vibrating throughout my body.
“You alright?”
His low chuckle was sardonic and he shook his head. “Will be. Just need to get her upstairs.”
All the guys were behind us, following along as Hush rushed me inside. I wasn’t sure what he thought getting indoors was going to do for me, but I understood that he was more than a little worried. This was more for him than me.
“Thank you all,” I told the men who were behind us.
My gratitude was met with beaming smiles.
My heart tightened as I realized that I wanted to be a part of this.
These men and Hush were family and I wanted to belong to them as well.
I wanted to be with people who, without hesitation would rush to help you, no questions, no fear.
I want to give myself to the ones I loved in the same manner.
“We’re going to need to go back and figure out what to do with Sherry Holden’s body,” Riptide said, keeping his voice low so Caitlyn wouldn’t overhear him. Hush had mentioned after the girl fell asleep that they’d left her out there rather than bringing her back to the clubhouse.
No one needed to discover the missing woman’s corpse with the MC. I didn’t understand why whoever had taken the men’s bodies hadn’t taken hers as well, but she’d been left and now we had to think of something to do.
“Call Marty,” Lockout told him. “I’ll take some of the guys and go get her. Tell him we’ll be there in a couple hours.”
I didn’t get the chance to ask Hush who Marty was because someone stepped out from behind the bar and into Hush’s path. Pixie stood there, eyeing us silently for a moment. I could only imagine what we looked like. Still damp, muddy, and exhausted.
Determination lit her eyes and she met my gaze without flinching. “I’m sorry for how I acted before.” Her lips pursed together. Her apology sounded tinny and robotic and I knew she was only doing this to stay in the club’s good graces.
“You have shit timing, Cuz,” Hellfire told her with a shake of his head.
I placed a restraining hand on Hush’s chest. Searching her face for any sign of remorse, I sighed when I didn’t find it. “Apology accepted, Pixie.”
Shock overtook her expression. She knew, that I knew, that she wasn’t really sorry, but I wasn’t going to be the reason she got kicked out of the club events.
At least not this time. I was too tired to bother with giving her a warning.
I doubted she’d mess with me again. Both her eyes were blackened and her nose had a slight bend to it.
If she wanted another ass kicking, I’d be happy to give it to her in the future.
For now, I just wanted to lie down in Hush’s arms and block the world out for a while.
“That was nice of you,” Hush told me as he moved around Pixie and headed for the stairs.
I shrugged my shoulders and cuddled close to him. It felt good to be in his arms and I was suddenly grateful for his insistence on holding me. We both needed the contact.
Hush opened the door to his room, waiting while Auron came inside.
The dogs had split up and seemed to be taking shifts watching over us.
I was grateful that Jecht was sticking close to Caitlyn.
She was probably scared to death. Though she’d looked at Priest with trust shining in her eyes.
If she hadn’t seemed so comfortable with him, I’d have insisted on staying with her.
The men would take care of her. Their love of children was apparent the few times I’d seen them around kids.
Hush reached behind him and grabbed the back of his shirt, ripping it off over his head and giving me a show of straining muscles. When my hands went to the hem of my own shirt, he knocked them aside and took it off himself. He continued taking my clothes off and I let him.
His hands were warm where his fingers trailed over my skin. Before I knew it, I was standing naked in front of him. He finished stripping out of his own wet clothes. Anticipation fired my blood and I lifted my face for a kiss when he stepped in close to me.
He dropped a quick peck on my lips. I frowned, then let out a huff as he lifted me in his arms again, then situated us on his bed. His large, muscular body curled around me, his chest to my back.
“Um. Hush?”
“Hmmm.”
“What’re we doing?”
“Go back to sleep, Trouble.”
Thinking of how tired he must be, I tried. My racing mind wouldn’t let me drop back off into sleep, though. I could tell from his breathing that he was still awake. Shifting, until I was facing him, I searched his eyes. “Are you okay?”
“No.”
I bit my lip. I knew I’d scared the hell out of him. I’d scared the hell out of myself, honestly. “I did it for a good reason.”
“Of course you did, baby,” he said with a sigh. “I wouldn’t have expected you to let her run off and not try to find her. It’s what you do. You saved her life.”
“And you saved mine,” I told him with a smile. Lifting my hand, I brushed my fingers over his beard. “Thank you for that.”
“Don’t thank me, I had help,” he rumbled. “But if you do that again, I’ll throttle you.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant by help, the far off look he held told me I might not ever know. Changing the subject, I said, “Noted. Who’s Marty?”
He sighed. “You’re not goin’ to go back to sleep, are you?”
I shook my head, pasting an innocent look on my face.
“He’s a friend of the club. Owns a mortuary here in Tucson.”
“A mortuary?” I asked in confusion. “We can’t bring Sherry’s body there. The police will find out.”
“Not when he cremates her, they won’t.”
I inhaled hard as their plan for her body became apparent. “What will you do then?”
“We have to find a way to get a hold of her sister. We’ll return the ashes and Caitlyn to her. Somethin’ is wrong out there. Gettin’ the police involved would be a dead end. Worse, it could drag us in. We need them out of the way so we can get to the bottom of this.”
The only people who knew who Caitlyn’s aunt was were the police and the little girl.
“Hopefully she’ll feel safe enough to talk to us soon.
” If not, I was going to have to see if there was a way I could get the information from Tommy without arousing his suspicions.
That wouldn’t be easy. Caitlyn was a better choice at this point.
Hush’s lips brushed over my forehead and I let my eyes flutter closed. “I love you, Jamie.”
My eyes popped right back open as I stared at him in shock. Not because he’d used my actual name, but because of his words. My heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest and do the snoopy dance, I was so happy. “I love you too, Davis,” I teased.
He chuckled and tightened his arms to the point where I was wheezing within his hold. “Do me a favor?” he asked when he finally loosened the hug. He rolled over partially and started digging around in his nightstand.
“Okay. What kind of favor?” I asked, leaning up on my elbow and watching him. What could he be looking for?
His fist closed over something and he faced me again, a solemn look on his face. “Marry me?”
My jaw dropped and I looked down in his hand where he was holding a box with a diamond ring in it. “What-” I broke off, unsure of what to ask first. “When did you get that?”
His smile was beautiful. “This mornin’.”
“My mom didn’t scare you off?” I asked with a weak chuckle.
“Naw. I went and saw her after I bought the ring.”
“What?”
“You must’ve already been out looking for Sherry and Caitlyn. I asked her for her blessin’.”
My wide eyes left the ring and settled on his face. “What did she say?” I was sort of dreading his response.
He barked out a laugh as he responded. “She told me that you were in love with me and if I hurt you in any way she’d make sure they never found my body.”
I cringed, but the love I felt for my mother was overwhelming. Only she would threaten a man as dangerous as Hush and she’d only do it for one of her daughters.
“You goin’ to answer my question, Seek?”
Tears pricked at my eyes and I sat up, folding my legs under me. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? I know it’s been hard for you, losing Daphne.”
He sat up, across from me and took my hand in his empty one.
“I loved Daphne. More than I’ll ever be able to express, but she’s gone.
We’re here and you helped me feel again.
After I lost her, I was numb, except for the pain and anger.
The day I met you out at Picacho Peak was the first time I’d really felt somethin’ again.
I didn’t want it, but each time we ran into each other I couldn’t seem to help myself.
I wanted you.” His blue eyes were bright and honest and I felt myself slipping further into love with him.
“I need you in my life. I’ll love no other woman until the day I die… ”
“Yes,” I whispered. “I’ll marry you, Hush.”
The weight of the ring, as he slid it on my finger, was soothing. Almost like I’d been missing it, missing him, for my entire life. His hand wrapped around the back of my neck and he pulled me in for a kiss that had my body tingling. “Besides, I’m pretty sure Daphne gave us her blessin’.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, or how to respond.
I settled for, “I was drawn to you, too,” I told him once our lips parted.
“I thought I was going to go crazy for wanting you, but not understanding why you kept pulling away.” I crawled forward and straddled his lap.
“I’m okay with sharing your love with Daphne,” I told him.
“She deserves to have her piece of your heart all to herself.” I tossed my hair in a dramatic way.
“But I’ll take you up on being the last woman you ever love. ”
He chuckled and pulled me in for a kiss again. I melted around him. I planned on keeping him happy and knew he’d do the same for me. Pulling back, I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’d better want some kids,” I told him. “Mom will kill us both if we don’t give her grandbabies… And I want them, too.”
My huge biker grinned up at me and nodded. “Yeah. I want babies with you.” A mischievous light appeared in his eyes. “Why don’t we start now?”
I squealed when he wrapped an arm around me and flipped me until I was beneath him on the bed.
His weight above me made me feel safe and I couldn’t believe I was getting everything I wanted.
I was the luckiest girl in the world. Hush swept me away on a wave of pleasure and I knew he’d make good on his promise to love me forever.