Axel (Ride Series Book 3) Read online

  “Really?” I gasped with surprise. I’d heard this in so many words from him, but somehow, hearing it from her made it really sink in.

  “Really. You want my advice? Give it a shot, Soph. You guys have a baby together. I think you owe it to yourselves and that little man over there.” She cocked her head toward Mad.

  “I hear you,” I agreed taking a sip of my drink.

  “I’m so glad you’re here. We all missed you,” she added quietly.

  “Me, too. I’m just hoping that giant shoe I feel every day doesn’t actually drop.” I winced, sharing the fear that kept me up every night.

  She squeezed my thigh briefly and empathized, “God, I know how that feels. But what was your other option? Raising Maddox alone forever? That’s no life for you or him.” She shook her head. “You can’t live off the grid forever. Now you’ve got all of us at your front and your back, and Mad can have his daddy.”

  “You’re right,” I agreed, feeling a weight I hadn’t known was there lift a little bit.

  “You can have his daddy, too,” she winked before she seemed to ponder something. “Will you tell me what happened between you two…before? I have to confess, I’m sort of dying of curiosity.”

  I blushed. “I’m sure you’re not the only one.”

  “True,” she laughed. “I’ll keep the details to myself if you’re willing to share,” she swore with wide, expectant eyes.

  I sighed and tipped my head back to the ceiling, searching for a place to start. The beginning was as good a place as any. “I was sitting out on my aunt’s front steps; it was my grandfather’s memorial service,” I began, deciding I might as well tell someone. I relived the memory in my head so many times. “I probably wasn’t supposed to even see him. Sal and Kat had left and my mother came out to berate me.” I winced. “Instead of letting me grieve, she was on my case about my outfit, about how I hadn’t introduced myself to one of my father’s colleagues. The criticism seemed to go on and on. It was awful. It had already been such an emotional day with my grandfather’s funeral and then seeing Sal and meeting Kat…” I trailed off, lost in thought. “Axel came up out of nowhere. My savior,” I laughed, though I meant every word. “He told my mother off, right there on the spot. Told her to go take that rod up her ass right back into the house and learn how to talk to her daughter.” I grinned, remembering the moment like it was yesterday. “He introduced himself as Sal’s buddy, said he’d been late to the service though I know now Sal wasn’t even supposed to know he was there at all. He asked me to go out for a drink.” I watched as Maddox squealed at Gracie. “Normally, I would have never done that – gone out with a complete stranger, but after the day I’d had, I wanted to do something that wasn’t me and he had been so protective and was gorgeous,” I sighed wistfully.

  “You were a goner,” Scarlet surmised.

  “Completely,” I agreed.

  “We had a few drinks. I’d never experienced chemistry like we had. Not before or after him.” I shook my head. “It was so powerful. I just got caught up in it.” I shrugged, playing with the fringes of their throw pillow. “I still can’t believe I went back to his hotel. I’ve never done anything like that. There was just something about him – about us together that I couldn’t deny. It was so not me,” I laughed.

  “Been there.” She nodded, confirming why she was the right person to share this with. Scarlet had a way of identifying with you on such a genuine basis.

  “When we started fooling around…” I trailed off, my cheeks heating. “He said once how we should stop since I was Sal’s little sister. He seemed to feel guilty.”

  I thought back to that moment where indecision had suddenly clouded his expression. I couldn’t explain the feeling, but despite being mere strangers, I’d needed him more than my next breath. For one night, I found my true self. He’d brought that out in me.

  I’d been fun.

  I’d been free.

  In the brief time we spent together, it was as though I broke out of a suffocating cocoon. I needed him to take me – to make me fly.

  “I convinced him there was no need to stop.”

  “You sly minx. You seduced him!” Scarlet hooted.

  Had I?

  “Maybe a bit,” I admitted with a smothered grin. “But, well, I hadn’t told him it was my first time.” I blushed crimson.

  “Oh, shit,” Scarlet exclaimed.

  “Yeah, he, uh…well, he kind of freaked. I should have told him.” I bit my lip.

  “Then what happened?” she prodded, her green eyes wide with curiosity.

  “I could tell he was freaked. It was so awkward,” I groaned. “It was pretty clear he regretted it, so I didn’t stay the night with him. I left.”

  “So let me get this straight; you basically coerced him into sleeping with you and then bailed on him?” she squeaked.

  I hadn’t really thought about it quite like that.

  “I guess,“ I muttered.

  “So when you came back to town, he didn’t know what the hell to do with you, girl.” She continued to grin as though our situation was the most entertaining news she’d heard in a long time – hell, maybe it was.

  I hung my head in my hands. “God, I really have no business being outside in the world,” I groaned.

  She reached over to me, squeezing my arm. “Seems like it’s all working out okay, honey.” She smiled warmly.

  “Yeah,” I agreed.

  I heard the rumble of Axel’s truck and turned my head toward the sound. I had to admit, I missed the sound of his bike. Since we had Maddox, most of the time the truck had become his main source of transportation.

  I’d ridden the bike a few times with him and it had been a thrill to wrap myself around him as the wind whipped through my hair.

  When he walked in, I felt that familiar flutter I always felt when it came to him. He was wearing his standard Levis and a black t-shirt under his cut. He swept his brown hair from his face as his expressive eyes met mine.

  “Hi,” I murmured with a shy smile.

  “Hi,” he replied, his gaze sweeping over my face, landing a beat longer on my lips. I could feel my face heat again and I licked them involuntarily, watching his eyes turn dark. He moved through the room to Maddox, lifting him up in his strong arms.

  The sound of a bike rumbling to a stop made Gracie’s face light up.

  “Daddy,” Scarlet grinned to her.

  Cole walked in a moment later to grins from both the ladies in his life. He delivered a kiss to his wife and scooped his squealing daughter up in his arms.

  I rose up off the couch, gathering the diaper bag and any stray toys we’d left lying around. “We’ll see you soon.” I hugged Scar in parting.

  “You’ll see me the day after tomorrow along with everyone else,” she informed me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “The club wanted to welcome you home, Soph,” Cole told me, his blue eyes warm on mine.

  Sal and Axel both assured me that the reasons why I’d left had been shared and were understood, respected even, by the Knights. It showed in the much warmer way Cole treated me since I’d returned to town.

  “Wow, okay,” I stuttered, beyond moved at the gesture. I looked to Axel with a question in my eyes. He hadn’t mentioned this.

  “Let’s get you two home,” he said by way of answer.

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked quietly as he backed out of their driveway and gunned the gas, headed for the highway.

  He shrugged. “I wanted it to come from Scar. Figured that way you wouldn’t say no,” he chuckled. “You seem to argue with me about everything.”

  “Good play,” I replied dryly and he laughed harder, reaching over and putting his large hand over mine. I turned it over, palm up and laced his fingers with mine.

  Electricity zinged down my spine as I felt his gaze on me. He was looking over at me with surprise as I turned to meet his gaze.

  He grinned. The man was beautiful on any occasi
on, but when he smiled, he was breathtaking. “She’s gettin' it,” he muttered to himself, his eyes turning back to the road.

  “Yeah,” I admitted. “She is.”

  I put Maddox to bed and Axel and I sat out on his large back deck eating a casual dinner and sipping beers.

  “It’s beautiful here,” I sighed, loving the smell of the pine trees, the orchestra of crickets and the occasional owl.

  “Yeah,” he agreed. “Scar offered to babysit.” His pose was casual as his boots rested on the railing, crossed at the ankle.

  “Oh?” I asked, my heart beating a little harder in my chest.

  “Yeah, I want to take you out to dinner.”

  “Like a date?” I asked incredulously. “Ax, we have a kid together. I think we’re past the first date.”

  “Well, it can be our second date then,” he replied easily.

  “All right, second date,” I clinked his bottle with mine.

  I slinked off to bed like I had since we’d been staying with him. I was still so nervous about taking things to a romantic level between us. I couldn’t place where the anxiety came from. Lack of experience? Fear of rejection? Whatever it was, I was like a freaking skittish cat when it came to being close to him.

  “Night, baby,” I heard him call. He knew I was running away from him. He’d allow me this for the time being, but I knew it wouldn’t last forever.

  When my phone rang with a call from Jill an hour later, I smiled, excited to catch up with her. I’d been reading in bed after having a hard time falling asleep.

  “Hi, there,” I greeted warmly.

  Her reply was full of concern. “Hi, Soph.”

  I sat up straighter in bed at hearing her worried tone, knowing immediately that something was wrong. “What happened?”

  “Some men were here looking for you,” she told me.

  “What?” I demanded.

  “They looked sort of like your friends…” She trailed off. “So at first I thought it was okay.”

  “What do you mean they looked like my friends?” I asked, confused.

  “They looked like bikers. At first I thought maybe they were the same guys who were here last week.”

  My blood chilled as I tried to understand what the hell was going on.

  “They didn’t bother you?” I asked, immediately concerned for her safety.

  “No – they went straight for your door. Do you know who they were?”

  “No idea. Did you see any names on any of them?”

  “The Black something or other? At least I think that’s what their jackets said.”

  I knew of the Black Riders through the Knights, but I didn’t have any idea why the hell they’d be looking for me.

  “Did they take anything?” I asked, my teeth biting at my lip nervously.

  “No, they were in and out really fast. I heard one guy say , ’she isn’t here’.”

  “Shit,” I whispered.

  “Are you safe?” she asked worriedly.

  “Clearly safer than if I had stayed,” I sighed. “I’m okay, Jill. Axel’s taking good care of us.”

  “I’m glad. You deserve it,” she replied quietly. “Keep me in the loop of what you find out and kiss that baby for me.”

  “Thanks, I will.” I hung up, trying to calm my raging nerves.

  I was suddenly frantic to check on Maddox. Though rationally, I knew he was sleeping soundly in his crib, I had to lay eyes on him.

  I stood over his crib for an indeterminable amount of time just watching his little chest rise and fall. My mind was racing thinking that we could have still been there and what that could have meant.

  When Axel’s warm hands gently gripped my upper arms from behind, I jumped about a mile in the air, letting out a squeak of alarm. I turned to him, my eyes wide, hand over my heart. “I didn’t hear you,” I whispered.

  “What are you doing in here? Is he okay?” he asked, his eyes shooting beyond me to the crib.

  “He’s fine,” I whispered, my voice hoarse and before I even thought about it, I was throwing my arms around him, burying my face in his neck. My body shook with emotion as I clung to him.

  He scooped me up without another word and carried me into his room, depositing me on the bed and crawling up over me, effectively caging me in. Instead of the posture scaring me, his weight and closeness soothed my raging nerves.

  “What is it?” His expression was tight as he peered down into my face.

  “Jill called,” I explained, looking off to the side.

  “Eyes on me,” he directed.

  I conceded, shifting my gaze to his. “Jill called and told me that men broke into my old place tonight.” I swallowed as his body grew noticeably tighter. “The thing is,” I continued, looking past his expression which had grown dark, “she thought it was you guys at first. She said they were bikers. I have no idea why another club would be looking for me or how they even found me in the first place. Do you think Henry told anyone else that he saw me?” I asked hesitantly. “I know he wouldn’t do anything to put me in harm’s way, but maybe he just didn’t know to keep that information to himself.”

  “I don’t know what the fuck is going on but I’m sure as hell gonna find out,” he growled.

  “She said she thought she saw Black something on their jackets. The Black Riders?” I asked my question aloud.

  I could feel his muscles go tighter still as he absorbed this information.

  “God, we could have still been there.” I closed my eyes trying to block out the images that had haunted me since Jill’s call. “What if they had taken Mad from me?” I croaked, my eyes filling with tears. “What if—”

  “You weren’t there,” his deep voice cut off my line of thinking as he swept my hair away from my face. “And I’ll never let anyone take our boy. I’ll never let anyone hurt you,” he soothed.

  I believed him. He had my back from minute one, despite all the bombshells I dropped on him.

  “Come here, babe,” he rumbled, rolling us so he was on his side and I was pulled deep into his body. It was only then I was really aware he was nearly naked, clad only in boxers. Being pressed against his firm chest, smelling his natural woodsy scent was almost enough to bring me out of my state of fear entirely.

  I breathed him in, burrowing deeper. I would have crawled inside him if I could have.

  “What are we going to do? How is this going to end?” I whispered as his large hand stroked over the dip in my waist and up to the curve of my hip in a rhythmic gesture.

  “We aren’t going to do anything. “ He squeezed my hip for emphasis. “I’m going to take care of this and you’re going to trust me to do that.”

  I pulled away and looked him in the eye. “I do trust you and a year ago I would have turned a blind eye, but our son is involved. I want to know what’s going on.”

  He was silent for a few moments and I braced for his response. “All right, darlin’. But you may not like what I tell you,” he warned. “I’m not afraid to use whatever means necessary to get the information I want. Especially if it comes to keeping you and Maddox safe.”

  “Whatever means necessary?” I asked quietly.

  He nodded, his jaw tight. “Violence is a part of my world. You should understand that about me,” he explained gruffly. “That means anyone gets out of line, I put them back in it. That means anyone threatens you, I will not fucking hesitate to make them regret it. No one will take you from me. No one,” he growled.

  “We’re here now,” I assured him – comforting him as he had me so many times.

  “Are you here, Soph?” he demanded quietly. “You’re so damn quiet. I can never tell what you’re thinkin’. You don’t want to touch me except for right now. Is it…was I just too late? Did I lose you even though you’re here?” His voice was thick with emotion.

  My heart lurched, thinking of what I put him through. What we’d put each other through. Especially with so many unknowns of what was to come, it was never more poignant
to me to live in the moment. To let the past go.

  I knew words wouldn’t appease him.

  Actions would.

  I kissed his chest by way of answer. I heard his intake of breath and his grip tightened on my hip. “You sure?” he growled as I moved to his neck. “Cause if you go much further—”

  “I’m sure,” I cut him off, moving up over him and taking his lips. God, how I dreamed of those lips.

  He pulled me up so I straddled his muscular frame, his hands grasping my thighs as his mouth opened under mine.

  Our tongues tangled as heat flooded my entire body and my heart pounded. Kissing Axel was like nothing else on earth.

  His hands moved to the hair at the back of my neck, gripping me like his life depended on it. His erection, hot and insistent at my core pressed against me, and I ground down, unable to hold back, not that either of us wanted that in the first place.

  He flipped us suddenly, looming up over me as he pulled my tank top up and over my head, his lips finding my nipples with a laser-like focus.

  I sighed, my back arching into his mouth.

  I didn’t have time to worry about how my body had changed since having Maddox, or that it was only my second time ever. The dim light and the heat of the moment allowed for me to let any reservations go. I wanted to let my body lead well before my head.

  He pulled my panties off, moving lower to territory he hadn’t explored our first time.

  “You’re so gorgeous, Sophie. Christ,” he murmured in reverence as he swiped along the seam of my core.

  I threw my head back on the pillow, a sound I didn’t recognize escaping me.

  I loved the feeling of his tongue, of his hands gripping my thighs, thighs that quickly began to shake.

  “That’s right, baby,” he rasped in encouragement.

  He slipped one finger inside me and I was hurling over the edge, calling out his name, my thighs caging his head, keeping him there as I rode out my orgasm.

  After a moment, my legs slackened and I took a few last shuddering breaths. He rose from the bed, shedding the boxers he’d been wearing. I took in his amazing form in the dim light suddenly wishing it was broad daylight.

  “Condom,” he murmured, pulling it out of the nightstand before he was back between my legs. He kissed me again, poised at my entrance.