Free Soothing His Madness by Debra Kayn Page B

girl."
    She slapped his
chest, and when he only came closer, she planted both of her hands on him and
shoved. She stepped backward, because he only kept coming forward. "Don't
do that," she warned.
    He stepped closer,
tagged the front of her jeans, and pulled her up against him. "Or
what?"
    She moaned in
frustration over her body melting at the contact. She hated and loved the way
she reacted, but now was not the time. "I'm serious, honey. I need to
protect those kids and you, because I don't want to lose everyone."
    Slade's body
softened and he cupped her ass, holding her in place. "I paid him
off."
    "What?"
She arched back to look in his face. "Who?"
    "Ray. I used
every penny I had in savings, called a favor on a couple of the guys who owed
me money, and got enough dough together where I thought Ray would take the
deal. He did. The motherfucker couldn't care less about the kids and as long as
Jodie is settled and has money in her pocket, I figure I have about two months
before I have to worry about her showing up to see the kids." He leaned
down until she was breathing the same air. "They're out of our lives for
now. I took care of things."
    "But the court
ruled—"
    "I took care
of things." He kissed her softly. "Let me do my job of taking care of
my family."
    She relaxed and nodded.
"Okay, but this has got to stop. You can't do things behind my back when
what you do affects me."
    "I hear
you." He kissed her lightly. "Some things though, I'm going to do and
you're going to have to accept them because I'm not going to have my woman
treating me like pussy…when it concerns my kids, I deal with it. Can you
honestly tell me they're better off with Jodie and Ray?"
    "No," she
whispered.
    He nodded. "Do
they belong to me?"
    "Yeah, but you
also belong to me." She blinked extra-long and then looked up into his
eyes. "Just, please, let me be your old lady once in a while, huh?"
    He kissed her
again. "Yeah, I can do that."
    "Good." She
wiggled away from him.
    He pulled her back.
"Here's something else. I want you with me if you're not at work. I want
both of us covering the kids when they're not in school."
    "Because of Ray?"
she asked.
    "Yeah, and Los
Li will be arriving in Pitnam tomorrow." He smoothed her hair back from
her face. "Need you safe. Need my kids safe."
    "Los Li came
through years ago, when I first started working here." She shuddered.
"A couple of their guys came into the bar when Bantorus members were out
on a run. The riders who stayed behind didn't recognize them, but when one of
them started mouthing off, everything went crazy. They caused a lot of damage
and trouble."
    "They start
anything with you?" His gaze intensified.
    She shook her head.
"Not really, I hid in the office with Sugar once the fighting started. Do
you remember her?"
    "Yeah, she's
out of the club and doesn't have anything to do with bikers anymore." He
dropped his head. "Rain will have you protected here. I'm a phone call
away if they show up. I won't let anything happen."
    She shrugged off
his concern. "I know. I'm not worried about them."
    He kissed her hard.
"Let's get the kids home and settled. Then we'll talk more."
    "Talk?"
She laughed. "The only time we do that is when I fight with you."
    He looped his arm
over her shoulders. "Yeah, well, I like fighting."
    "No, you just
like to shut me up." She stopped walking and turned to him. "We need
a new bed. If your kids are living with us, there's no way we're using that
squeaky old mattress of yours."
    He pulled her
along. "We'll use the floor."
    She leaned against
his side, slipping her hand into his back pocket on his jeans. Confident she
won this last round of being included into his decisions and she got the honest
answers she was looking for, she relaxed. Later, she'd find out more in case
there was a threat against the boys that she'd have to watch out for. The Los
Li problem didn't concern her, but Slade's ex freaked her the way out. She
didn't trust the woman.

 
    Chapter Twelve
    Tension