Axel (Ride Series Book 3) (8 page)

“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.

“You gonna let me in?” he asked quietly and I knew he meant more than just physically.

I looked up at his gorgeous face. “You were never out,” I admitted. “I look at Mad every day and I see you. I see us. I was gone but I never left you. What if this one breaks too?” I whispered nervously.

“Then I guess we’re having another baby,” he replied without hesitation.

“I’ll get on birth control,” I replied quickly, shocked at how swiftly and without fear he’d responded.

“That’d be good,” he rasped. He made a noise in the back of his throat as he glided through to the hilt, both of us gasping slightly.

“Christ, baby, you feel so good,” he muttered, his tone nearly guttural.

I adjusted slightly, trying to accommodate to his size. Then he started to move.

This was so different from our first time, our only other time, where everything had felt like the promise of something hanging on the edge of a precipice. Back then, it had been as though we were afraid to speak. Neither of us made any promises; I hadn’t even told him it was my first time.

This time, I knew he was claiming me in a way he couldn’t the first time. His mouth was everywhere it could be, his large hands grasping my flesh. Our sweat intermingled as we nearly toppled off the bed. When he loomed over me and I looked into his eyes, I’d never felt so close to another person.

I watched in fascination as the muscles in his arms, his shoulders, and everywhere I could see worked to pleasure me. He put everything he had into loving me. He gave himself to me.

And I wasn’t ever giving him back.

When my orgasm began to build, I gripped his backside pulling him deeper, wanting him closer.

He waited until I was already toppling over the edge, pulling him close, before he let out a low groan of relief and completely enveloped me with his large body.

We lay in a sweaty, heaving heap as we came back to ourselves. He moved us so that I was on top of him as his hand stroked over my back. I didn’t want to get up, ever.

“Let’s get some sleep,” he suggested, moving us further into the bed and pulling the covers over our bodies.

“I can’t sleep naked,” I squeaked.

He chuckled. “Why the hell not?”

“I don’t know. I just can’t,” I stammered. “What if there’s a fire? What if Mad needs me in an hour?”

“Your clothes are five feet away. I want your skin under my hands,” he said in a tone that wasn’t to be trifled with.

His large hand swept over my breast down to my stomach before he cupped me intimately.

“Okay,” I agreed breathlessly.

“Okay.” He pulled my back to his front and we fell asleep with his hand between my legs.

I’d never felt so worshipped in my life.

Chapter 7

T
he next morning when Mad was babbling and cooing from his crib, Axel got up, threw on his boxers and brought him back into bed with us.

The three of us lay cuddled close and I didn’t think I’d ever felt more content.

“We gotta get to the club,” Axel announced when Maddox grew restless and clearly wanted food.

“So early?” I wrinkled my brow.

He scoffed, throwing on a t-shirt as I rose from the bed wearing his discarded t-shirt I’d thrown on earlier. “I would have been there at 3 a.m. if I thought I could’ve dragged you and Maddox with me.” He stepped closer, grasping my hip to pull me to him as Maddox lay cooing on the bed. “As it turned out, it was much better for me that we stayed here,” he told me, taking my mouth in a quick but consuming kiss.

“For me, too,” I agreed breathlessly.

“You wearin’ my t-shirt?” he asked as I scooped Mad up and headed for the kitchen.

“Yeah,” I shrugged.

“My dirty t-shirt,” he amended, his eyes sweeping my frame.

“It smells good,” I swallowed, trying to keep some semblance of sanity under his lust-inducing gaze.

“You smell good on me, too.” He gave me a crooked smile and ran his fingers under his nose.

Holy hell.

The doorbell chimed loudly then, surprising us both.

“Go get some clothes on,” Axel ordered, cocking his head toward the bedroom.

“Bossy,” I mumbled, taking Mad with me to throw on some clothes as Axel stalked to the door.

When I re-entered the living room, I was surprised to see an older suit-clad man standing by the front door. He looked slightly nervous as he looked up at Axel’s imposing figure as he stood guarding the man’s entry with arms crossed.

“Miss Foster?” he presumed, peeking his head around Axel’s large body and pushing his glasses further up his nose.

“Yes?” I answered, confused.

He sighed, looking relieved. “I’m so glad I tracked you down. I’m Frank Greenwood from JC Financials,” he explained, though that didn’t mean anything to me.

He must have seen the blank look on my face. “We manage your trust.”

My brows knit in confusion as to what he’d be doing tracking me down. “Come in,” I gestured, giving Axel a look to relax. He nodded once and moved further into the room gesturing that the man should have a seat.

“Coffee?” I offered.

“No, thank you,” he shook his head as I took a seat nearby. Axel placed Mad in his Pack ‘N Play with some toys and joined me.

“Miss Foster, your brother contacted us recently. He was concerned about statements you made that your parents had cut off your trust fund,” he began as he opened up a briefcase and removed some documents. “We were very concerned and immediately investigated. What we uncovered is quite disturbing,” he admitted with a sigh.

My mouth went dry as I waited for him to continue.

“It seems as though one or both of your parents have been intercepting your payments for the past year. Since we had no forwarding address for you and weren’t aware you had left NY, the checks continued to go to them. It is also worth noting that a significant sum was left for your brother upon your grandfather’s death that I’m just now able to provide to him.”

“Did they try to steal that, too?” I asked quietly, bracing for his response.

“It would seem so,” he admitted frankly.

“So they weren’t able to actually cut off my fund then?” I asked, needing clarity.

“No,” he shook his head. “Your grandfather left that money to you and was very explicit with the terms. This is why, despite the interception, your parents weren’t able to successfully acquire any of yours or your brother’s funds. I can’t prove it but it seems they did in fact try to. I’m here to deliver the back pay from the past year and to confirm payments moving forward.”

I looked over to Axel, needing him to center me in the whirlwind I’d suddenly been caught up in. He put his arm around me, pulling me into his warm body.

“Do her parents know you’re here?” Axel’s deep voice demanded, the rumble of his voice vibrating from his body.

“I’d imagine so,” Mr. Greenwood nodded.

“They want control of those funds. That’s what last night was about,” Axel growled.