Page 30 of Bren

Bren wraps her arms around my neck, pulling my face back down to hers, “I’m the lucky one, Alec. Lucky that you gave me our daughter, lucky that you forgave me, lucky that I have you in my life when I never thought it would be possible.”

My chest tightens at her words. The words that I’ve been holding back ever since the night we’d made up tumble from my lips, “I love you, Bren,” repeating her words back to her with a slight change, I say, “I’m thankful that you gave me our daughter, thankful that you forgave me for being a complete and utter bellend, thankful that you let me back in your life, but most of all, I’m thankful that I get to love you for the rest of our days. And hopefully one of these days, you’ll be wearing my cut, showing everyone who you belong with.”

By the time I’m finished, Bren has tears running down her cheeks. I wipe them off with my thumbs as she replies, “I love you too. I always have, even when I was mad at you, I loved you. And I’d be happy to wear your name on my back.”

Pressing my lips to hers, I kiss her, sinking into it, savouring it like it’s our first kiss. My hands gather her nightdress, and I pull it up and over her head, throwing it towards the end of the bed. Then I wrap my arms around Bren and roll us, our mouths never leaving each other as we kiss until I need more. Caging her in my arms, I remove my mouth from hers and leave a trail of soft, biting kisses down her neck to her breasts. Running my tongue around her nipples until they peak, but I’m careful not to suck. Once I’ve loved on them, only then do I move down her body, pressing kisses to her ribs, then down her stomach that shows marks of having carried our baby. Making sure I don’t miss a single one, I pay homage, knowing each one is earned. After I’ve ensured that I’ve worshipped every single mark, only then do I move lower to her pussy. Bren’s breathy, soft sighs and gently rocking hips let me know she’s getting close. Spreading her thighs, I lower my head and groan out loud at the scent of a turned-on Bren.

“Alec,” she mutters hoarsely, her fingers tugging at my hair.

“Shh,” I whisper, pressing a kiss to the inside of her thigh. Sucking on a finger, making it nice and wet, I gently insert it into Bren, lowering my head as I run the tip of my tongue along her pussy until I get to her clit that’s just peeking out from her hood. Sucking it gently into my mouth, I move my hand, turning it slightly until I find the spot inside her that I’m looking for. Wrapping an arm around Bren’s thigh as she tilts her hips to get closer to me, rocking against my mouth and hand until she explodes, sobbing my name, pulling at my hair.

I continue to work her until she slowly comes down, only then do I move from between her thighs, kissing my way back up her body until I reach her lips. Taking them in a hard, passionate kiss, I thrust my cock deep within her welcoming body. Bren wraps her legs around my hips, urging me on, until she rips her lips from mine, back bowing when she throws her head back and comes again, this time taking me with her.

Wrapping my arms around her, I roll us again, this time with Bren on top. She presses a kiss to my chest, then lays her head down with a happy sigh.

Laying my lips to the crown of her head, I close my eyes. I know we have to clean up, but I’m not ready to leave her warm body just yet. I can’t believe I’d been so stupid. I’d been missing out on this for years. No more, though; I’d do everything in my power to ensure that we didn’t lose this. Because the thought of not going to sleep with Bren in my arms fills me with dread.

Chapter 16

BREN

After the night that I agreed to be Alec’s Old Lady, we went from strength to strength. Some days were harder than others to not let the bitterness of our pasts colour our new relationship, but I knew eventually we’d come out the other side stronger for it.

Although the process of getting to the other side was by no means a bed of roses; we were both stubborn, and I was prone to closing down if I felt threatened in any way. The positive to this was that we’d known each other for a long time and called each other out on our shit. I worked at not walking away from an argument, and Alec worked on his temper.

In bed, we didn’t have a problem; it was when we were out of bed that we tended to butt heads. After a long discussion, we’d decided to see a counsellor to help us lay the last of our childhood fears behind us. We were getting better at communicating with each other too. The one thing we both agreed on was that we didn’t go to bed angry with each other, and we didn’t. We worked things out, although I had a feeling that sometimes Alec pissed me off on purpose because make-up sex was awesome.

With our private life moving along, if not always smoothly, it was better than it had ever been. Ellie and my beauty business was growing in leaps and bounds and doing far better than we’d expected it to do. The small units we’d built as pop-up shopswere filled, and we had a waiting list of businesses that would like to rent one. It had proved so popular that we were looking around for some more land to put another one up, but so far, we’d not had any luck. Crow MC had bought the warehouse and land next to the factory, and we’d be hosting the first of the farmers markets in the Spring.

Sam’s Old Lady was going to take over running the administration on that. I’m so glad that I loved the woman he’d made his Old Lady; it turns out I didn’t have to break in a new sister as she’d already been one. I didn’t trust easily, so I was thankful that I didn’t have to build another relationship. While our private and work life was ticking along as smoothly as possible, we were still hyperaware of our safety, especially after what Dad had found out from his police contact a few weeks ago. Dad had reached out to Greg the day Ellie had told us her suspicions and had called Church the next day.

It had been a shock when we’d seen what the murdered women had looked like.

It made me feel sick to my stomach, and I had, in fact, been sick and shaking after seeing the photos Greg had given Dad. Oh, not the crime scene photos, thank God. I’m not sure I’d have been able to stomach them. It was bad enough knowing that the women who had been killed looked a lot like me and also Ellie to some degree.

The photos we had access to were the ones their families had given to the police when they’d registered them as missing persons.

Neither Ellie nor I went anywhere without at least two of the men with us. The dinner Alec had wanted to take me on had been postponed. None of us felt comfortable with us going out, and the logistics would be a nightmare, so we’d put it off for now.

It wasn’t feasible to keep on living like this, though. We all had jobs and with Ellie and I being constantly covered, it meant that someone else wasn’t able to do their jobs. Something had to give sooner or later.

Today, Sam’s Old Lady, Ellie, and I were working in Mum’s old office finalising the advert for the farmers market and finishing up confirming the list of vendors that had shown an interest and paid for their pitch. We’d been spending most of our workdays here because not only was Sam here, but the garage was also just down the road, and we could keep this door locked. Over the last few weeks, if we weren’t here, then we were with Beau at his office. If for some reason we had to go to the factory, we didn’t stay there long as it was too far away from the village for the brotherhood to get to us quickly if we needed them.

I preferred working from here and the garage, though, because it meant I could have Lexi with me.

The buzzer for the door went off, and I looked over at the monitor that showed the front door. Seeing that it was Dad and Alec, I pressed the button to release the door.

“Hi,” I greet them, standing up when they walked into the office. “What’s going on?”

Alec skirted around Dad and came straight for me, wrapping me up in his arms. He had a look on his face that had me wondering what was going on.

“Dad, what’s going on?” Ellie asks worriedly.

Dad hugs her to him and presses a kiss to her head, closing his eyes for a minute before turning towards me and Alec.

“Greg called; they picked up Christian Helmsworth and are charging him. There is a tonne of evidence, thank fuck. He won’t be getting out on bail. You girls are safe.”

The breath that I didn’t even realise I was holding whooshes out of me, and I sag against Alec as relief flows through me. Pressing my cheek to his chest, I breathe deeply.

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