Page 12 of Ryker

“What do you care?It’s your fault she’s here to begin with.The way you turned on her, accused her of using you?That was fucked-up.”

I winced.Yeah, it hadn’t been one of my finer moments.“In my experience women fall into two categories.Easy, fun pussy.Or manipulative bitches.She wouldn’t have been the first woman to try to sleep her way into a high-ranking spot with my dad’s club.Women have been trying it since I turned sixteen.”

“How could you have spent any time with Laken and have thought she’d be like that?She was sweet, innocent… until you got your filthy hands on her.Laken is the kindest person I’ve ever known.”Flicker narrowed his eyes at me.“You should be damn thankful she even gave you the time of day.Instead of bitching about how she tried to trap you, you should have been kissing the ground she fucking walks on.”

I rubbed the back of my neck.“Look, I know I didn’t handle things well, and I’m sorry.But what would you think if you were in my position?If some woman you’d hooked up with a few times, one who had insisted you not use a condom, had said she was pregnant, wouldn’t you wonder if she’d done it on purpose?Not to mention she never, not once, mentioned that she was connected to the Dixie Reapers.I’d have backed the fuck off if she’d said something.”Well, maybe.She’d been so fucking hot, I might not have been able to resist even knowing her brother was an officer in the club I was checking out.

I could see some of the tension ease from Flicker and he sighed as he looked away.When his gaze swung back toward me, I could see that he understood exactly what I’d been thinking and feeling.

“Yeah, I guess I might have wondered,” Flicker said.“She really did that?”

“I shouldn’t have listened to her, but…” I shrugged.

I wasn’t going to tell him I couldn’t walk away from the temptation of his sister’s wet pussy.That wouldn’t go over well.He’d heard enough from my first day at the clubhouse, and now that I knew I’d been running my mouth not only about his sister, but the mother of my baby… I felt really damn small.Talking shit about women had never been a problem before, but this one wasn’t just some random fuck.Not that I’d realized that at the time.I should have, though.From the very beginning, Laken had been different from the others.Well, maybe not the very beginning, but once I realized I was her first… That had changed things.Maybe it had even changed me a little.

“Are you going to take my sister away?”Flicker asked.

Was I?I’d thought about taking her with me, but what if she didn’t want to go?She had family here.Not just Flicker, but all of the Dixie Reapers.Could I ask her to walk away from that?I didn’t owe my dad shit, so it wasn’t like I had to return to the Hades Abyss.Yeah, I’d done him this favor, but only because he’d seldom asked for one.I was patched in, but I hadn’t spent much time there over the last twenty years.Going Nomad wouldn’t really be an issue, not for me anyway.I didn’t think it would really matter if I ever returned.It wasn’t like my dad didn’t have a VP who could take over if the unstoppable Trent Storme ever decided to step down.Not fucking likely unless a bullet stopped him, but stranger things had happened.Like me being a fucking dad.I was still wrapping my head around that one.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.“I’d thought about it, but I don’t know what she wants.”

Flicker smiled a little.“As long as you’re thinking about her and not you, then we aren’t going to have any problems.I have to admit, you taking her back to Hades Abyss sucks, though.She’s been part of my life for so long now.I don’t want her to go anywhere.”

“I kind of figured that part out when she told me that her big brother chased everyone off.”

Flicker chuckled.“Yeah, I’d have kept her a virgin until she was thirty if I had my way.Guess I wasn’t ready for her to grow up.And my baby sister is having a baby.Not sure how I feel about that yet.”

I snorted.“You’ll be Uncle Flicker.If we stay here, I hope you plan to babysit at least once a week.”

“You treat my sister right, and I’ll make sure you have time to romance her.She deserves all that shit, you know?Flowers, nice dinners, all that crap women seem to like in the movies.”

“I can do that.”At least, I thought I could.I’d honestly never tried to romance a woman before.But Flicker was right.Laken deserved all that shit, and more.

“I won’t stop you from seeing my sister,” Flicker said.“But when visiting hours are over, maybe you need to go figure out a few things.She’ll want answers you may not have.I don’t want her stressed out more than she needs to be.”

He wasn’t wrong.I did need to figure some shit out.First, I’d check on Laken.Then I’d call my old man and see what he thought about all this.I had a feeling he was going to be thrilled about being a grandpa.The man turned into a teddy bear whenever a kid was nearby, and he’d probably figured I’d never claim a woman for more than a night.I had no doubt I’d first get a safe sex lecture, because even at thirty-eight there were times my dad thought I was some smartass teen, and then he’d grill me about Laken.

That wasn’t a call I was looking forward to.At all.

Chapter Six

Laken

Two weeks later

My eyes felt like they were weighed down by sandbags.I struggled to open them and wondered how long I’d been asleep.My fingers twitched, but the rest of my body wouldn’t respond.Everything ached, especially my head and my ribs.I tried to shift and wanted to scream at the agony that shot through me, but what came out sounded more like a moan.

“Laken?”

That voice.I knew that voice.Didn’t I?I struggled harder, trying to wake up, to move.Things slowly came to me.Like the scent of antiseptic and the hard bed underneath me.My fingers twitched again, and I fought harder to open my eyes.To do something.Anything.Why wouldn’t my body listen to me?Had something happened?Was I paralyzed?Panic filled me.

“Laken, sugar.Can you open your eyes for me?”

Sugar?I calmed a little.Only one person had ever called me that.I tried to smile and failed.Ryker.

“Come on, babe.Show me those pretty eyes.”

I felt his rough hand take mine, his thumb brushing over my fingers.As if I needed more encouragement to open my eyes than just knowing he was here.A warmth filled me, just hearing his voice, but there was something that didn’t feel right.A voice in the back of my mind was pushing me, trying to get me to remember something.But what?And where the hell was I?

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