AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We’d just made love. I was feeling the effects of post-orgasmic let down, yet he was expertly building me up again with little effort.
“Don’t hurt me, Rocket,” I blurted out. A small sob escaped before I could stop it. “Please.”
“Hush, baby.” He whispered his command as he caught my mouth in a hungry kiss. As the emotional turmoil between us raged like a tempest, he whispered, “You’re safe with me,” and I believed it was the truth. I just wasn’t sure he was ready to hear what I had to say. If he rejected my observations, if he refused to see how wrong things were that his club could leave him to fend for himself even knowing he was wounded, I wasn’t sure what I’d do.
Then he reached between us and found my clit with his thumb, and I let the pleasure he created in his wake have me. My head fell back on my shoulders and Rocket found my skin with his lips. He sucked gently, leaving little stinging kisses in his wake. The slight pain in such a sensitive area tipped me over the edge.
With a shuddering cry, I came in his arms. Rocket moved inside me in short snaps, his breathing as ragged as mine. It wasn’t long before he came inside me again. Part of me rejoiced while another part, once again, reminded me how in over my head I was.
He rested his forehead against mine as we both caught our breath. I was gratified to realize he was sweating with exertion as hard as I was.
Rocket kissed me again, this time, with tender feeling, coaxing me to take comfort. It was a kiss to heal, not to arouse. It felt like a new beginning. Like everything I’d experienced with this man had been leading to this point. Most of my life, I’d used my snarky personality to keep everyone in my life off-balance. The snark now deserted me. All I had was my belief in Rocket and hope that I could get him to understand the truth as I saw it. And how dangerous it was for everyone.
Again, Rocket cleaned us both before lifting me and taking me back into the bedroom. He tossed me a shirt, and he slung on a pair of jeans, then indicated I should sit at a table in the corner of the room. It was big enough for two people with chairs on either side so that we faced each other. I laced my fingers and twisted them nervously as I rested my forearms on the smooth surface.
Rocket reached out and covered my hands with his bigger ones and smiled at me. “Don’t look so nervous, honey. I’m here to listen to you. We’re going to listen to each other. So I’m going to start so you understand how and why Grim Road is different from Iron Tzars or any other MC you’ve been around. When I’m done, I’m going to listen to your concerns.” Rocket looked as serious as the situation called for. It was a little unnerving when I was still reeling from my first sexual encounter. But this was the life I’d signed up for. I could do this. In a way, I’d been training most of my life for this.
I took a breath and squared my shoulders, meeting Rocket’s gaze with a steady one of my own. Rocket nodded slowly before giving me a small smile.
“Good. I knew you were up for this.” He squeezed my hands once before sitting back and scrubbing a hand over his face. When he looked at me again, it was as an equal. I knew in my heart what he was about to tell me would change my outlook on everything in my life I wanted to build here. I only hoped I could handle it because I had no intention of leaving Rocket without a fierce fight.
Then he began. “Grim Road was created to be a safe place for soldiers who” -- he seemed to search for the right words -- “aren’t supposed to still be alive. Or at the very best need to stay hidden. Sure, we go out in the community when we have to, but we try to be as self-sufficient as we can. This whole place is over six hundred acres of government land in the middle of a designated wildlife reserve.”
I frowned, doing my best to concentrate on what he was about to tell me when I was starting to feel the effects of the day. My face and ribs hurt, but instead of wanting a pain pill or an ice pack, I embraced the pain, using it to keep me in the here and now. The last thing I needed to do was get lost in the memory of what we’d just shared. This was too important. “If it’s a wildlife reserve, how can you build structures and live here?”
“That’s a bit more complicated.” He smiled, but it was self-deprecating. “When Grim Road was first formed several decades ago, our president, who was a high-ranking military official, negotiated this land off Riviera Beach for us. It’s cordoned off with fences and barbed wire in places. No one is allowed in the area ten miles square around us. While we have a house in town we keep manned at all times and use to do business, this is our home. We keep to ourselves and are as self-sufficient as we can be. We have greenhouses, gardens, and animals we raise for food.”
“Still seems like it would be hard to keep secret from locals.”
“It is. But anyone living around the reserve thinks we’re some kind of doomsday cult or something. They leave us alone because they think we’re crazy, and we stay out of everyone’s way and keep a low profile.”
“OK. I’ll buy that.” I narrowed my gaze at him. “Why?” It was a demand more than it was a question, and I saw the way Rocket’s lips twitched. Like he wanted like hell to smile but didn’t dare. Which was good because I’d have hated to have to punch him in the taint.
“Because every single man in this MC is or has been Black Ops. There are men here who’d have a price on their head if the current administration knew they were alive, what they’d done, and what they knew. No one here knows everything about everyone here.” He shrugged. “Except maybe Crush, but he’s more close-lipped than Byte -- and that’s saying something.”
“Black Ops. As in soldiers who run missions not sanctioned by the government?”
“Eh, sometimes. Sometimes it’s a faction within the government, usually the executive branch, when they don’t want the American people to know anything about it. Sometimes it’s CIA or FBI. Most of us here did our bit in the service. A few still take on jobs as part of paramilitary operations, but we all work alone or in very small groups, and we never talk about it with anyone.”
I was silent for a moment, absorbing what he’d said. “So, by telling me, you’re breaking some kind of unspoken code?”
“Somewhat. But I also happen to believe that partners shouldn’t keep secrets from each other. That trust extended to me and Claw because he was vice president of Grim. He chose to keep his secrets buried deep and to lie to me when he sent Scarlet away. I’m trusting you with this because I expect you to trust me with your secrets.” He shook his head. “I’m not a hypocrite. Also, I want you to understand why my club acted like they did yesterday. Why they would sacrifice me if they didn’t think they could get us all away clean.”
Everything inside me rebelled at the thought of the fucking club “sacrificing” Rocket to preserve themselves. It was exactly opposite of what I’d learned since Danica had taken up with Wylde. Instead of saying anything, though, I took a breath and let it out. Then another. Rocket nodded his head slowly and gave me a small smile, as if he realized I understood what he was saying and disagreed strongly, but was waiting for him to continue.
I shook my head slightly. “What to address first,” I muttered.
Rocket chuckled and reached for my hands again. “Take your time, Lemon. We’re in no hurry now. The only thing we have to interrupt us is Effie if she wakes up too soon. If she does, I’ll get Gina or Byte to come entertain her until we’re done.”
“Aaaaand you had to go and bring up another situation.” I lowered my head to the table and thumped it a couple of times.
“Welcome to the inner workings of an MC, honey. This the life you want?”
I snapped my head up and glared at him. “No. I want a life where we fuck like mad and ride motorcycles, then get high as balls and all the other things you read about and see on TV and shit!”
That got a belly laugh from Rocket. It should have irritated me, but instead it steadied me. He stroked my hands with his thumbs and squeezed gently. “Honey, we can do that all you want too. But you had specific goals in mind when you came to me. Now we’re working through them. I’m just tellin’ you why it might be a challenge.”
“If you’re trying to discourage me, it’s not going to work.”
