Page 37 of Tick Tock, Boom!

And then Aiyana walked in.

She didn’t scream. Didn’t gasp.

Just stopped at the door, looked right at me with those knowing eyes, and gave the softest little smirk before walking the fuck out.

Did that stop me?

Hell no!

I kept going. I fuckingdevouredher pretty cunt I slid my tongue in deep, my fingers working her open while she trembled beneath me, her hips bucking against my mouth until she came so hard she nearly knocked the damn spice rack over. She shoved me out after, red-faced and panting, yelling something about me never being allowed in the kitchen again.

I still went back the next night. Couldn’t help myself.

That was the problem with Natalia. She made a man forget his goddamn limits.

After New Year’s, I finally closed on the house. A spot just outside the city limits, tucked far enough from the clubhouse to give me peace, but close enough that I could still raise hell if needed.

Didn’t hesitate bringing her with me.

Barrel didn’t even question it.

All I had to do was mention that Rancid had been eyeing her room like he was ready to crawl in and unzip his fly, and that was it. Barrel turned red, cussed for ten straight minutes, and gave me the green light to get her the hell out of there.

What he didn’t know, what hecouldn’tknow, was that his best friend had been balls-deep in his daughter since the moment he turned his back.

Either way, my mind was more at ease having her with me. So I moved my woman into that house so fast her feet barely touched the floor.

No more sneaking down dark hallways.

No more hiding behind locked doors.

She had a real bed now. A real home. And every inch of it had her name carved into it as far as I was concerned.

I hadn’t been around the clubhouse much lately. I was doing everything I could to avoid it. I only showed up for Church or to help Bulldog plan the runs. The club still needed money. We still had jobs. Guns that needed moving. Debt that needed collecting. Protection that needed enforcing. But I’d stayed away as much as I could. I had a woman to protect and a house that kept me sane. I didn’t need to breathe in the decay every damn day to know it was getting worse.

But coming back to the clubhouse that day was horrific. The smell hit me before I even walked in. It wasn’t the usual musk I’d grown used to over the years. That of sweat, engine grease, leather, blood.

This was different. This was a smell that was layered with desperation. Cheap cigars. Liquor that clung to the walls like mold. The kind of stink that told me something wasn’t right.

Something was rotting in the heart of the Royal Bastards.

Rancid had been busy the last few months, bringing in new faces. Greasy, twitchy little bastards who didn’t belong in our house. Some of them didn’t even ride. Just leery, hollow-eyed men with too many weapons and not enough loyalty. Mercs. Hired guns.

Notbrothers.

I walked past the bar and caught the eyes of two of them. They were new blood, no colors, standing in the corner like they were waiting for the signal to kill. They looked at me like they didn’t know who the fuck I was.

They would know my name by the end of this. I’d make sure of it.

“Church is in session,” Saddle muttered to me as his pace matched my own. “Founding members only.”

My stomach coiled, if Church was being called behind closed doors, shit was deeper than we thought.

I stepped into the back room and closed the door behind me. Every brother who mattered was already seated at the table. I looked over at Saddle, Powertrain sitting beside him, Virgil, Brimstone, Silencer, Guardian, and at the head, Bulldog. The man who’d built this empire with his own bare fists. Both founding members and new patches such as Knuckles and Spectre’s son, Macabre stood around us, we were looking at him expectantly.

He looked tired, older. His beard was a little grayer, his hands a little slower. Still carved from steel, but the weight on his shoulders had deepened. His jaw was tight, eyes tracking everyone who walked in like he didn’t trust a single soul anymore.

I wondered where Elrik was, but didn’t say anything. Just took my seat and let the silence stretch until it got heavy. Saddle was the first to speak. “Rancid’s bringing in strays.”

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