Page 37 of Brood

Chapter Thirty

“How did you get the scar on your side?” I’ve noticed that Brood has many scars on his body, though the one that stood out was the long jagged scar on his side. It’s also the one that seems to cause a flinch from him whenever I run my fingers along the raised edge. The night he gave me free rein of his body, I only got to explore so much. It’s been three days since then, and most of Brood’s time has been spent at the clubhouse. He still hasn’t told me what all is happening regarding Butch.

“My brother gave it to me,” he divulges after a pause. It brings back what Cammy said to me at the playground. Just like his brother.

“I'm guessing by the tone you don’t mean one of your club brothers?”

He shakes his head, shifting on the mattress until he is up in a sitting position, leaning against the headboard. It’s still early enough in the morning that Kasin hasn’t yet come in to wake us up and demand pancakes. “Jamie and I didn’t have a good upbringing. Our mother wasn’t much better than Kasin’s. We would only see her when she got clean and convinced the judge that she was fit enough to care for us. It was the year I turned thirteen that they split us up. Fuck, I was furious. I couldn’t do shit. The family that took Jamie wouldn’t let me see him. Thought that since he was a good five years younger than me, he was less impressionable to the life my mother had us living. Basically, I was a stain on my brother’s future according to them. I didn’t care. I snuck into his room one night. With every intention of taking him and running away. He seemed so happy though. So I left him there.

“I ran away that night. Found myself in some tiny ass town a few days later, breaking into a house I thought no one was living in just so I could get warm for the night. When I woke up in the morning I realized someone did live there. Iris and Eagle. Instead of turning me away, Eagle gave me a job working in the clubhouse’s shop. They took me in, and when I turned eighteen, I started prospecting for the club.”

“I didn’t realize your history with them went back so far.” I lean in a little, stroking his chest as he keeps going with his story.

“Yeah. I owe then everything, and then some.”

“Did you ever see your brother again?”

“Yep. Just one time. A few years after I made the patch, I set out to find him. It wasn’t hard, turns out that he didn’t leave the town we grew up in. Nor did he have the life I thought he was living. You see, that nice picture-perfect home he seemed to be so happy in was nothing but a damn lie. Jamie made sure to tell me all about it when I found him strung out on meth. I stayed there for weeks trying to get my brother out of the shit he was in. It didn’t help though, no matter how hard I tried. The night he gave me this.” Brood gestures to his side. “He was crazed. Like something in him just snapped. He had a relapse, managed to get it past me. He started yelling at me, saying that I stole something from him. I couldn’t figure out what the hell he was talking about. It didn’t matter. When he came at me, we slammed into a window. Glass went everywhere. He got himself a piece and sliced me here,” he pauses and points to the scar. “He didn’t stop after that, just kept on coming. As much as I didn’t want to hurt him, I knew I was going to have to do something, or he would end up killing us both. So, I shoved him away as hard as I could. He stumbled and fell backward, smacked his head on the edge of the cast-iron wood stove that was sitting in the living room. Killed him.”

“Jesus Brood. I… That’s–”

“Fucked up,” he finishes for me.

“Yeah. wow. I’m so sorry that happened. This world can be so cruel.”

“It was when I was arranging his funeral that I found out mom was the one who got him hooked on the shit. She was screwing a dealer in town and sold him a bad batch, which was why he went ape shit on me. I made sure her and the dealer both wouldn’t sell again.” This man has one horrible story after another. We sit there for a while before he shifts out from under me. “Enough of this depressing shit. I'm hungry. How about we go to the café this morning?”

As much as I don’t want to see Cammy, I decide that getting out of the house for an hour or two might be nice. “Yes. That sounds good.”

“Great. Get ready, and I will get Kasin up and going.” Brood gives me a lingering kiss before getting out of bed. I don’t force my gaze away when his toned butt comes into view. Nor do I look away when he turns to the side. I can see his length hanging heavy between his legs. “Don't look at me like that Jor. Kas is most likely to come storming in here any minute. Can’t have my dick buried inside you when he does,” Brood threatens me with a heated stare.

I clench my thighs. “Then you probably should start sleeping in shorts or something.”

“No. And when you’re ready, you won’t be sleeping with any on either. Keep that in mind.” With that, he winks and walks out the door, calling out Kasin’s name when he does.

I sit there for only a few moments more then get out of bed, grabbing some clothes before padding into the bathroom. Brood made sure to have all of the clothes Iris let me have brought over here, telling me that someday I was going to have to go shopping for my own. I knew what he meant by someday. Someday when Butch wasn’t searching for me.

Shaking off the thought of Butch, I flip on the shower and get in. Even though I insisted that Brood’s shampoo was fine, he brought home some of my own. They weren’t open, so I at least know they didn’t come from one of the women at the clubhouse. Or Cammy.

The soft click of the door closing pulls my attention and in walks Brood, a big smile on his face. “I need to hang out here more in the mornings.”

“Where is Kas?” I ask him when he slides open the shower door.

“Brook just stopped by. They are going to meet us at the café.” He shrugs off the shorts he pulled on before he left the room and steps inside the shower with me. “You are damn beautiful.” His palms come to my face, caressing me as he drags them along the path of my neck, shoulders then he pauses at my breasts. “It’s been way too long since I have been this close to you.”

“You have been working too hard.”

“Been trying to get as much surveillance around town as we can. The system keeps glitching out somewhere, and Wiz can’t find the spot.”

“Hmm,” I hum as his thumbs brush along my tender nipples, causing them to stiffen.

“You want me to stop at all, just say the word.” He levels me with his stare, telling me once again that this is all at my pace.

“Please don’t stop. Don’t ever stop, Brood.” He groans just a little before descending down onto my wet nipple, giving it enough attention before switching. “What’s your name? I can’t believe Brood is your real name.”

He lets out a soft chuckle. “Jacob.” He kisses my wet skin again. “Jacob Hannigan. Please don’t start calling me that.”

“Promise I won’t.”

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