Page 11 of Ryker

“You mean you fucked her and didn’t even ask?”Flicker asked.“What the fuck, man?”

“She told me to just pull out, but then…” I closed my mouth.No way I was going to tell her brother that her pussy had felt so damn good I’d lost my head.I’d already said too much before, not knowing she was related to a Dixie Reaper.Fuck, the way I’d gone on about her, I’m surprised Flicker hadn’t strung me up by my balls that first day.No guy wanted to hear about some guy fucking his sister.

“I’m going to go see my sister.And you,” Flicker said, pointing at me, “had better not fucking be here when I get back.”

“I’m not leaving,” I told him.“I need to talk to Laken.”

“No one’s talking to her thanks to you.Didn’t you hear the doctor?She’s in a coma.”Flicker turned on his booted heel and stormed off.

Isabella patted my arm.“Let him cool down, and he’ll eventually come around.Laken means a lot to him, and not just because she’s his sister.She came to live with him when she was a teenager because her mom died.Flicker took her in, and she’s lived with him ever since.No one’s allowed to touch her, she’s not allowed to work… I don’t think she’s been on a date since she came to stay with him.He’s a little obsessed with keeping her safe.”

Torch studied me with his arms folded over his chest.“You need to decide how you’re going to handle this.You have something of a reputation with the ladies, and it’s not a good one.When Flicker found out you’d slept with his sister, he nearly came unglued.I thought he was going to pound your ass into the pavement.”

“Why didn’t he?”I asked.

“Because I told him to get his shit together and cool the fuck off.Laken’s a grown-ass woman, but Flicker’s never going to see her that way.He’s twenty-one years older than Laken, and I sometimes think she’s more like a daughter to him than a sister.Not because of the age difference but because he raised her the last five years,” Torch said.“Other than the Dixie Reapers, she’s also the only family he has.They have a dad out there somewhere, and possibly more half-siblings, but no one has heard their old man in a long-ass time.”

“She’s carrying my kid,” I said.

Torch shrugged.“Is that all that matters to you?Because the kid will be taken care of.He or she is a Dixie Reaper, and Laken will have all the help she could ever need.We take care of our own.Any man in my club would lay down their lives for her and that kid.”

Was that all that mattered to me?No.I’d come here to check on her before I knew about the baby.Hell, before I’d thought she’d been screwing me over, I’d wanted to take her with me when I left this place.But I didn’t know if anyone here would listen or would care.I needed to see Laken, to talk to her and make her understand.If she really hadn’t set out to trap me… yeah, I was feeling like an asshole right now.Maybe the women I’d known had made me a little jaded, possibly a lot jaded.A lot of my military buddies had been screwed over by girlfriends, or women wanting to be their girlfriends.I’d seen too many trapped over the years.Or maybe if I hadn’t fucked Laken before I got to really know her, then all of this could have been avoided.Not that I’d planned on more than one night with her, not at first.That’s all I’d ever wanted from anyone… until now.Until her.

“I need to see her,” I said.“I won’t leave until that happens.”

Torch shrugged.“Suit yourself.I doubt they’ll let anyone but family see her until she’s awake.And father of her baby or not, you’re not family.If Flicker has anything to say about it, you never will be.”

I might not be family to Laken, but I was family to the baby in her belly.That might not mean shit to the men glaring at me right now, and maybe it didn’t mean shit to Laken either, but I’d be damned if anyone was going to keep me from seeing her.Flicker glared at me as I approached the nurse’s station, obviously not having any luck in getting back to see Laken, but I did my best to ignore him.The nurse looked up at me, her eyes lighting up as I gave her the smile guaranteed to drop panties.I leaned in a little closer and prepared to give her the sexy growl that made panties wet every damn time.

“May I help you?”she asked, a little breathless, and the pulse in her neck fluttering.Oh yeah, I had her.

“My pregnant girlfriend just came out of surgery.I was wondering when I might be able to see her,” I said, lying a teensy bit.Pregnant, yes.Girlfriend?Eh, it was a gray area.I hadn’t asked her to be mine, but now that I knew we were having a kid together, no way in hell I was walking away without her.

“Oh.”The nurse blinked up at me, some of her excitement fading.Maybe I shouldn’t have called Laken my girlfriend?“Name?”

“Her name’s Laken Beaumont,” I said.“The doctor was just out here, but I didn’t get a chance to ask when I could see her.”

The nurse tapped on her keyboard, then frowned.“She’s in a coma according to the doctor’s notes.I’m not sure when she’ll be awake.”

“But I can check on her?Maybe she can hear me, and I can at least let her know she isn’t alone,” I said.I turned my smile up a notch and leaned in a little closer.My muscles flexed, drawing her attention to my biceps.When she licked her lips, I knew she’d give me whatever I wanted, even a little consoling in the nearest bathroom if that was my wish.

“I’m sure a short visit can be arranged.She’s in recovery right now, but they’ll be placing her in ICU once a bed is available.The elevators are around the corner and at the end of the hall.Go to the fourth floor and follow the signs to ICU.They’ll have visiting hours posted.”

“Thank you,” I said, giving her a little wink that had her sighing.

I pushed away from the counter and made my way to the elevator.The stomp of boots behind me told me I wasn’t alone, and it was likely Flicker.I had no doubt he’d want to keep an eye on me, but fuck if I was leaving this place until I’d seen Laken.Even if she couldn’t talk to me, I needed to see that she was okay.

The elevator opened, and Flicker stepped inside with me.The glare he was giving me would have made a weaker man cower, but I just lifted my eyebrows and stared back.I was Trent Storme’s son.He didn’t really think I was going to crumble, did he?Even if I hadn’t had Storme blood in my veins, I was a motherfucking Marine.I’d faced insurgents, been tortured, had more bullet holes put in me than I’d like to admit… one pissy biker wasn’t going to keep me away from Laken, even if he was her brother.

We got off on the fourth floor, and I followed the signs to ICU.The hours were posted just like the nurse had said, and it looked like we had a while until they’d let us see her.If she even made it into a room by then.I knew hospitals could move really fucking slow unless someone was literally dying.And even then I didn’t have the utmost faith in them.Anyone who worked as many hours as medical staff, usually without much of a break or sleep, was bound to make a mistake here and there.It was just part of being human.We needed rest, and doctors and nurses didn’t seem to get a lot of it.

I claimed a seat in the ICU waiting area and watched the TV mounted in the corner of the room.Flicker sat beside me, his presence dark and menacing.Or at least, it was to anyone else in the room.My lips twitched in a smile as two people got up and moved quite a ways off from us.The leather cuts would have been enough to do it, but Flicker’s current scowl was sure to make people run.He looked rather ferocious, and I could almost picture him scaring off any men who had looked Laken’s way.No wonder she’d still been a damn virgin.I was grateful, though.It meant she was mine and mine alone.

Fuck.I ran a hand through my hair.Yeah, I was seriously thinking about keeping her.Even if there wasn’t a baby, I’d still want her.There was just something about her, something different.She was a wildcat in the bedroom, but there was an innocence to her, and a sweetness that I didn’t often experience.

“What the fuck are you doing?”Flicker asked.

“Waiting to see Laken.”

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