《Bound In Secrets : A Death Kings Novel》


 Doomed Sleepover

    **Sawyer**


    Blood covers my boys. It''s all because of me.


    The look on Storm''s face tells me everything I need to know. There is a tick in his tight jaw.


    The boys who raped me are dead at their hands. This wasn''t what I wanted.


    "They are gone, baby girl. You will never have to worry about them hurting you or another girl again," Storm deadpans.


    "We should have been with you, sweetheart. Then, none of this would have happened," Jensen says with his fists tightly clenched at his side in anger. I shake my head, knowing that being at a college party instead of the high school football game is far from their fault.


    What those boys did to me..? No one could have helped me. I couldn''t even help myself, even though I fought as hard as possible. It''s how my boys found them quickly. I left scratch marks on their faces and bruises throughout their bodies. The three seventeen-year-old boys were unfairpetition for me, who was only sixteen and five-foot-three.


    Carter takes a step, reaching out for me, but I unconsciously take a step back. At that moment, thunder and lightning cracked across the sky. Carter''s face falls so much that I know I''ve wounded him without meaning to. "Please, little one, ... we would never hurt you."Copyright by N?v/elDrama.Org.


    I hug my arms close to myself. I know my boys would never hurt me, but I can''t bring myself to wee any touch after what happened tonight.


    My best friend Carmen found me with torn clothes in the girls'' locker room. Once I could finally get to my phone, I called her for help. She had already called Jensen to tell him I was in trouble before she arrived. I couldn''t move from the shower floor. Carmen wrapped me in a nket, holding me close when my boys arrived.


    Jensen saw me first, noticing the blood running down my thighs. I was a virgin. I guess I''m not now. The look on Jen''s face startled me. Then, when the others saw it, I was terrified, not for me, but for the boys who did this to me. Standing outside my house while the wind picks up and a storm rolls, I don''t feel bad that those boys who raped me are dead. I''m devastated at what that means for my boys, however.


    "Someone saw us, Sawyer. We don''t know what will happen now," JT states calmly.


    "But we will never leave you willingly, Bonnie," Storm affirms as lightning shes and thunder sounds. The sky opens up to a torrential downpour.


    I cannot avoid touch forever, so I gather my courage, taking Storm''s and Jensen''srge hands within my much smaller, shaking ones. "Come in and shower, guys. I''ll find you all some clothes to borrow." I led all four of my boys into my house. It is a small two-bedroom home. We have little, but it''s a warm shelter out of the thunderstorm.


    I need my boys tonight. I need them safe with me. We will worry about the future tomorrow.


    The boys make me have a hot shower first, so I don''t catch a cold from being in the storm. Carter is next while I dress in sweatpants and an oversized hoodie, which I stole from one of them once.


    I go to my father''s room to dig out clothes, finding pajama pants and t-shirts for my boys. When I exit, I have Carter and JT standing in nothing, but towels wrapped around their waists. They are both tall with lean muscles. JT is the closest to my height, stopping at five foot ten. He was the tallest, just not anymore.


    Damn, they have gotten hot! Both of them have a rough dusting of hairs on their faces. Carter''s brown hair is hanging in his face, while JT''s dark blonde hair is slicked back away from his. I gulp before I hand them the clothes. "You guys can dress in my room," I tell them with a red face and husky voice I don''t recognize. They are both watching me closely with their blue eyes. One set is a vibrant ocean blue, and the other is a set of soft baby blue.


    I lower my eyes and duck around them quickly. I wasn''t watching where I was going, bumping into a freshly showered Jensen. Jen''s towel falls to the floor, and I can''t help but trail down his body to his dick. There it is, and I hope that not all their dicks are as girthy as his. Wow! Not that I have seen any other dicks topare to his.


    I shut my eyes, blocking out earlier tonight. I do not want to look at those who assaulted me.


    Jensen''s mouth quirks up into a smirk. "Do you like what you see, Juliet?" He says this with amusement that doesn''t quite reach his green eyes. I''m positive my cheeks are an unnatural shade of red since Jen caught me gawping at his junk. I throw the clothes for him and Storm at his chest.


    I take off, fleeing into the kitchen to make us some coffee with trembling hands. That was embarrassing and horrifying all at once. My emotions at the moment are one part arousal, one part humiliation, and one part fear.


    "So, what are we doing tonight, Eurydice? Honestly, I don''t want to go back to the dorms tonight," Carter says, helping me sit all the hot coffee in mugs down on the coffee table in front of the couch. JT silently helps with what we weren''t able to carry.


    "I suggest we could all pile on the floor like we used to do when we were younger," I suggest.


    JT gives me a concerned look before asking, "Are you sure? That means us touching you, Doll."


    "I know that. I want to be close to all four of you. Someone saw you guys kill those three, so we don''t know what will happen tomorrow." I assure them both. So long as it is one of my boys touching me. I''ll be fine. I think.


    "I''ll grab the nkets and have Storm bring the pillows," Jensen says from the hallway, returning to my room.


    JT and Carter push the couch back and slide the coffee table against it. Jensenes out carrying myforters and quilts. Storm is behind him with all my pillows, including my body pillow with a sexy, partially clothed Ken Kaneki. I snatch him from Storm''s arms, quickly hugging Kaneki to my chest.


    Storm rumbles deeply, elbowing Jensen. "Pay up, Jen. You owe ten bucks. I told you she was going to im that pillow quickly," Storm says, chuckling in amusement.


    Jensen groans. "Fine, you win, bro. There is a ten in my wallet. Help yourselfter."


    My eyes dart between the two. "No one touches Kaneki. He is my man," I hiss, teasingly stroking my pillow.


    "It looks like you prefer an anime character to us," Storm mocks, his eyes shining joyfully and a giant grin stered.


    "Kaneki isn''t real, so he can''t break my heart or my body," I snap jestingly at Storm. The mood shifts from teasing to somber in an instant.


    "We''ll kill anyone else who fucking touches you. We won''t break your heart." Storm bites out, his graveyard eyes shining with so much rage. "Okay," is all I can squeak out.


    Jensen clears his throat, bringing our attention to him. "Let''s get these nkets spread out. I don''t know about all of you, but I''m exhausted. I haven''t sat down since... My brain is too foggy to remember," Jen says, setting the nkets on the couch before stretching myforter out on the carpet. JT grabs an end to help him. The boys all get to work making a nest on the floor for all of us to lie upon.


    For a while, we sit inpanionable silence, sipping coffee. That is until I let out a yawn.


    Carter picks up the coffee mugs, rinses them, and leaves them in the sink. JT gets up and washes them quickly for me, setting them beside the sink on a dish towel to dry. I love him for that. I''ll have to thank his grandmother for teaching him to wash his dishes when I see her again.


    When Carter and JT return, Carter lies beside me, and JT lies down on his other side. "It''s 2 a.m.," he groans, ncing at his watch.


    "Let''s try to get some sleep then," Storm suggests, lying on my other side.


    Jensen stretches his arms over his head, showing off a little strip of skin between his shirt and sweatpants. He meets my gaze and gives me a wink before lying down.


    Iy down on my stomach on top of my body pillow. I cannot sleep, so I search for the TV remote for my favorite anime. I have the whole manga series as well. I keep the volume down low, enjoying reading the subtitles.


    "So, this is what that guy on your body pillow is from," Stormments quietly.


    "Yep. I like it so much because the characters remind me of you guys," I reply. Storm grunts at my reply.


    "Could you read the subtitles to me?" I ask him. He arches an eyebrow at me in askance. "Your voice is soothing to me."


    He nods at me, lying on his side, reading. Iy down, snuggling myself into him. I shouldn''t want to be touched now, but I need to feel theforting rumble of Storm''s chest while he reads to me. His deep voice and his warmth are a necessity.

 Protective Father

    **Sawyer**


    I''m so warm when I wake up, and a steady heartbeat is underneath my ear. I''m lying on Storm''s chest with Jensen''s hand holding mine. Carter is lying close to Storm and me with his arm stretched across my back. JT''s legs are thrown over Carter''s, and his feet are touching my leg. This should be weird, but I could wake up in a tangle of my boys every single day of my life. I require them just as much as it is essential to breathe.


    "I should be a worried father, but it''s been a long time since I''ve seen these boys here like this. What happened?" My father asks me from the couch.


    I didn''t want to tell my father what happened, but I knew he would find another way. "They killed my three rapistsst night, Daddy," I say in a child-like voice.


    My father''s brown eyes turn ck in anger. "If they wouldn''t have, I will," my father says through clenched teeth.


    "Are you okay, Sawyer?" He asks in a softened voice after he lets out a breath.


    I shake my head at first, telling him no, but then I tell him what happenedst night. I''ve always had an honest rtionship with my father. I tell him everything. We have no secrets between the two of us. It''s always been just us since I was an infant.


    "Do you want me to take you to the doctor or call Carmen to go with you?" I shake my head no since it won''t make a difference now that all three are dead.


    "Okay. Where are the clothes fromst night, yours and the boys?" My father asks. Thirty years of being part of the bloodiest MCs in town, my father quickly takes over how to protect us.


    "In my bathroom," I tell him.


    He nods, standing up from his perch on the arm of the couch. "You stay with the boys. I''m going to the garage and burn the clothes in the trash barrel."


    My father needs something to do so he won''t kill anyone identally in anger over what happened to me. I love my daddy, Nathaniel Hughes, the bookkeeper for the Death Riders MC''s Louisiana Chapter called Death Angels.


    I try to move off Storm, but he bands his arms tighter around my waist, mumbling in his sleep. "Don''t leave me, Bonnie." There are deep wrinkles on his forehead that I reach up to smoothly with my hand that''s not wrapped in Jen''s.


    I shush Storm to get him back to sleep, but all that aplishes is his gray eyes snapping open. I smile at him. "Morning. I need you to let me up so I can pee." Also, I''m a little embarrassed because I feel his dick poking me in a ce I''m not ready to let anyone near.


    Storm understands me in ways I know myself. We are a lot alike, Storm and I.


    He peels Carter''s arm off me as I remove my hand from Jensen''s, whose green eyes sh open.


    I blush a little. "Sorry to wake you, Jen, but I have to pee," I tell him when our eyes meet. He releases my hand and then rubs his face.


    When I''m free, I make a quick dash to the bathroom. When I return, all my boys are awake, shuffling around, collecting the nkets and pillows, and putting the couch and coffee table back into ce. JT is missing, but I find he has made himself at home in the small kitchen, cooking all of us breakfast.


    JT grins at me when he catches me watching him. "I already asked the old man if it was all right if I cooked." He then winks at me.


    The boys have always had a causal rtionship with my father. It''s almost as if they were his kids, too. Which, with all the time we spent growing up with one another, makes sense.


    I nod at JT. While he cooks, I get the coffee pot started. Storm and Jensen sit around the table while Carter sets out tes and silverware. I could spend a lifetime of mornings just like this with my boys, caring for me and each other. I set out coffee mugs and pour them.


    When I return to sit down, Jensen pulls me into hisp. "I just need to hold you for a minute," Jen tells me when I stiffen.


    I do my best to rx, snuggling into him. I nuzzle his neck, inhaling the smell of burning cedarwood. I love how Jensen smells like a fire burning in a chimney. He rests his chin on top of my shoulder. I feel his tightly strung body rx with a long exhale of relief.


    My stomach rumbles when the smell of bacones wafting up to my nose from Carter setting a gigantic pile on the table. Jensen''s body vibrates with a chuckle. I sit up, looking into his eyes. "Do you feel better now? If so, I''m starving and want to devour the food my favorite guy cooked me this morning."


    I wink at JT, whoughs. "I swear your favorite guy changes multiple times daily, Doll Face. I''m notining, though," JT says with a spat in his hand, finishing up the scrambled eggs.


    "Jen," Stormmands. "Go holler at Nate that food is ready."


    I stand up to sit between Jen and Storm while Jen grumbles something about Storm being azy asshole as he walks toward the garage door.


    Storm pulls his shirt over his head with one hand, wadding it up and chunking it. He hits Jensen right on the back of the head. Storm shouts, "I heard that dick-weed!"T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    I can''t help it. I bust outughing.


    Jen turns, shrugging his shoulders. He snarks back, "I''m not wrong, and you know it, house cat!" Storm chuckles in reply.


    I''m about to fall out of my chair, clutching my stomach. I can''t breathe.


    Storm is far from a domestic house cat. He is more the animal who would bite the hand that feeds him like a bobcat, ocelot, or something.


    I take a while to collect myself, and when I do, I wipe the tears from my eyes to notice I am being stared at by all the men in my life I love.


    "Good to see youugh like that, honey," my father says, sitting across from me between Carter and JT. It''s just a simple little round table, but we make do. I''m simply happy it''srge enough to fit eight people squeezed in around it, which means the six of us have elbow room.


    "Now we need to talk about how to keep you, boys, from going to jail. Tell me everything that happened," my father demands.


    My father''s eyes go to me. "I''m sorry, honey, but I need you to start. Tell us every detail. I know it will be difficult, but we must understand why those boys had to die. Take your time."


    My father''s eyes are sharp, taking in every detail. My father is an excellent bookie for a reason. "First, we all need to eat, then we talk. No one leaves this table until I know everything that happenedst night."


    I swallow around the lump in my throat. We all eat our food silently since there is no sense in wasting JT''s delicious food. When we are done, I talk with Storm''s and Jensen''s hands slipping into mine. As the recount of my sexual assault progresses, I feel their hands tighten around mine. All the men I love have their jaws clenched and probably fists, too. All my guys, including my father, have murder in their eyes by the time I''m done.


    Storm tells my father all about them hunting those boys down and beating them to death. Storm even cut their throats for good measure. I knew Storm had so much anger inside of him to make him unbelievably dangerous, but I never imagined my boys ever killing someone. The horrible thing is that another kid saw everything. He may have filmed it, for all my boys know.


    My father curses. "This is unweed news, boys. Even if I have the kid hunted down, there is no telling who he has told by now. There might be nothing I can do to help. However, even if the kid squeals, he will die by sundown." Blood lust is in my father''s brown eyes, but I don''t me him, not after he just heard about his daughter''s sexual assault.


    I can tell he is an immensely proud parent of my boys. They did exactly what he would have done. "I burned your clothes and bleached the knife," he informs them.


    Storm nods at my father. "Thank you, sir."


    Storm''s eyes swing to me. "Keep the knife on you from now on. I''ll leave it with you to remember to gut the next boy or man who tries to touch you without your permission. Your body is your own." Tears prick my eyes at Storm''s words. This feels like he is telling me goodbye.


    "You boys should head home to your families, not the dorms, and spend some time with them. Sawyer can be with Carmen. She called me this morning worried sick about you and Jen," my father tells me. He is right. I should tell Carmen everything. "In the meantime, I''ll do what I can to keep you boys out of prison, but I make no guarantees."


    Storm replies for the boys again. "We appreciate it, sir. More than you know."


    My father nods. "Storm, I want to speak to you privately before you leave while Sawyer prepares for the day. Storm nods at my father, and then they exit, heading out to the garage. Carter smiles at me. "Go get sexy, Eurydice, while we clean up." He gives me a charismatic wink. I shake my head at him but go to my room.

 No Piglets

    **Sawyer**


    Jensen and I drive back to his house in his beat-up single-cab pickup truck. Carmen rushes out the door when she sees us, wrapping herself around me, tears streaming down her face.


    "I was so worried, Sawyer!" She blubbers.


    "I''m fine, babe," I whisper, stroking her hair.


    When she stops crying, her eyes narrow in on Jensen. "What did you do!?"


    It''s then, when she hisses those words at her older brother, that I see the police car. My stomach drops. No. The police are already here, which means the kid who saw themst night went to the police. Two police officers approach us. "Jensen Meyer," one of them says. Jen turns to them.


    Jensen turns back to me and Carmen. "Cary, go inside with my Juliet." He hugs his sister, then embraces me. He ces a soft kiss on my forehead. He turns back to the police officer after releasing me.


    I grab Jensen''s hand and rest my forehead on his back. "Don''t go, Romeo. You saved me. Please don''t leave me," I beg.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    He releases a sigh, his stiff body rxing. "It will work out fine, Juliet. Trust us. No matter what happens." He squeezes my hand tightly before releasing it, his whole body tensing simultaneously. "I''m Jensen Meyer."


    "Mr. Meyer, you''re under arrest for the murders of Leroy Johnson, Michael Wilson, and Francis Reynolds. Pleasee with us, son."


    Jensen walks away from me toward the police officer who spoke, who puts him in handcuffs and shoves him into the back of the ck and white SUV. Jen doesn''t fight them.


    I feel Carmen tugging on me. I should have walked away with her, but I can''t move. If this is happening to all my boys... I can''t move. All I can do is watch the police drive away with my heart. I don''t know if I will ever see him or any of them again.


    Tears are streaming down my face, but I feel nothing right now. I feel empty. How is everything supposed to be all right?


    I''m in Carmen''s room on her bed with her on my other side. I don''t even remember walking in here.


    "Well, at least now I know who raped you, Sawyer. I''m d those sorry excuses for humans are dead. I wish our boys wouldn''t have gotten caught. How did that happen?" Carmen''s voice breaks through my fog. "Someone saw them. Now that we know they went to the police, that person will die at my dad''s hands soon enough." I sound like some emotionless robot right now. Not all myself.


    "Good," Carmen snarls. "That person just cost me my older brother." I love this girl.


    "Come on, girl, we''ve been here for hours, and I''m starving. Let''s get something to eat and then go to your house."


    Since we grew up in the MC, things like the death of other people don''t bother us like they would others.


    The kid who videotaped my boys did the right thing by most people''s standards. Just not the Brigade, since my boys were sworn when they turned eighteen. The kid messed up since he ratted out MC members.


    I look at the digital clock on her nightstand, and it''s now three o''clock in the afternoon. I hadn''t realized that so much time had already passed.


    I turn my head to Carmen. "Let''s get some ice cream and raid your father''s liquor cab while we watch some anime," Carmen suggests, grabbing her favorite body pillow. She makes out with her Zero Kiryu body pillow. Carmen and I have the same taste in white-haired anime boys. I chuckle at my best friend.


    I sit up, whopping her in the head with another of her pillows. "Fine, but only because I have theplete series for us to binge-watch, and you don''t." I wink at her smiling face, and she peals away from her favorite body pillow. "Bring Kiryu. You can fondle him while I cuddle Kaneki."


    Sheughs her evil witch cackle. "Bitch, please. Don''t pretend you don''t fondle Haise like I do Zero." Iugh with her.


    ********


    Carmen and I are cuddled up on the couch watching anime with our Dakimakura body pillows and my quilts. We ate a whole gallon of mint chocte chip ice cream and drank a bottle of Bailey''s right along with it. It was a full bottle my dad gave me for myst birthday.


    I only drink here at home or with my boys for safety reasons, not that it did me any good.


    I hear keys in the door, knowing it could only be my father. I look up at him but say nothing, not wanting Carmen to see my father covered in blood.


    My father gives me a crooked smile. "No more piglets, baby girl." This means the kid who squealed to the cops about what my boys did was dead, along with whatever proof he had.


    "Okay, Daddy. Go shower. You smell like a pig. Oink. Oink." I wrinkle my nose at him before snorting like a pig myself. He chuckles at me, shaking his head.


    "I needed that, Sawyer. Thank you, kiddo." My father kisses the top of my head before making a hasty retreat to our shared bathroom before Carmen sees him.


    "Your father was quick to escape us," Carmen states.


    I shrug my shoulders at her. "You know how he gets after doing something for the MC. He is usually covered in blood and thinks you shouldn''t see him that way."


    Carmen cackles. "He has never seen Jen after a fight. Those boyse home all busted to hell. Lucky for them, Leo became an ER doctor."


    Leo, or Leopold, is Carmen and Jensen''s older half-brother from their mother''s previous marriage. Leo''s father was a soldier whose body was returned to her in a casket during a war twenty years ago.


    I wrap my arms around myself, picturing how my boys lookedst night, covered in blood, not their own, with haunting looks in their eyes. At that moment, they weren''t my boys, which terrified me.


    When my dad is clean, he orders us pizza while drinking a beer. A brief time after we''ve finished our food, there is a knock on the door. My father gets up to answer it from his armchair while Carmen and I watch our anime series. Dad calls to me, "Sawyer,e out here quickly." I slip my shoes on, and Carmen follows suit.


    There are my boys lined up beside a cked-out SUV. They all have puffy eyes, but their jaws and fists are clenched. My eyes run over all four of them, ending on Storm.


    "What''s going on, Storm? Why aren''t you guys in jail? Are you going to prison?" I gulp, afraid of what he might tell me.


    "We can''t do this, Sawyer," he says in a raspy voice.


    "Do what?" I ask, terrified of what wille out of his mouth next.


    "We are leaving," he says tersely through gritted teeth. "I''m sorry."


    "What do you mean you all are leaving? You guys can''t leave me. You all four promised you wouldn''t leave me."


    I look at JT and then Carter, whose eyes are cast down to the ground.


    My eyesnd on Jensen next. His moss-green eyes meet my golden gaze. "I wish we could tell you." It''s all he says before turning around and climbing into the back of the unmarked SUV. JT and Carter follow him.


    Storm stares at me. "Hate us. It will help," he deadpans and then turns on his heel to get in the passenger seat.


    No! They can''t leave me! They promised me they would never leave me. They can''t do this to me!


    The ck vehicle carrying my boys turns, getting on the street while I stand frozen.


    Next thing I know, I''m yelling while running down the road after that SUV my boys are in. "You assholes! You promised you wouldn''t leave me! I hate you all! You promised me!"


    Soon, the ck vehicle is out of sight, with no one looking back or the SUV stopping. I crumble to the ground in a heap. A heartbroken, soul-shattering scream erupts out of my throat, unbidden. I''ve lost the boys I love. I''m never going to see them again.

 The Club

    **Sawyer, ten yearster**


    There he is, right in the middle of my club. The man used to have a crush on him. My best friend''s older brother. A beautiful woman with hair the color of blood hangs off his arm.


    I''ve been in love with him since I first saw him when I was eight and he was eleven. He was handsome then, with chestnut hair that liked to flop in his face and eyes the color of moss in a rainforest.


    I haven''t seen him since he left. Wow, he grew! His simple navy V-neck stretches tight across his shoulders, well-defined his arms with muscle, and his jeans are tight over his hips and thighs. He has one arm covered in tattoos with four lip rings, two rings in each eyebrow, and his septum pierced. All the hardware is in navy, matching his shirt. If I thought he was hot before, my panties are soaking wet now just looking at him.


    I''m sitting on a couch, drunk, with my best friend, Carmen, clinging to me. We are curled up together. He doesn''t notice us until Jeremy, Carmen''s boyfriend, points at us. I hold my breath, closing my eyes, hoping he doesn''t bring the girl. "Hello, little sister," he addresses Carmen in this sultry velvet voice.


    "Oh look, Sawyer, it''s my asshole big brother who couldn''t bother to visit me on holidays but now conveniently lives across the hall from our apartment." She nudges me sarcastically. "Oh, goody." The vitriol oozing out of Carmen''s mouth does not surprise me.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDra/ma.O(r)g!


    She has been hurt and angry at being abandoned by her older brother for the past ten years. I get it. He left me, too.


    "Sawyer?" He asks, staring at me in disbelief.


    I guess he didn''t recognize me at first. I''ve changed a lot over the years. My breasts have gottenrge, and my slight body has filled out over the years. I no longer look like the toothpick of a girl.


    I meet his eyes. "Hey there, Jensen, it''s been a long time," I respond coolly, even though my heart is pounding thunderously.


    "Hey there, Jensen," he drawls. "Is that all I get, cher? Seriously, Juliet?" Jensen asks in a taunting voice.


    I shrug my shoulders at him, then uncurl from the couch, standing up. "What did you expect, Romeo? To be weed with open arms when you didn''t even bother to grace me with a phone call all this time you''ve been gone."


    I pat him on the shoulder, turning my head to wink at my bestie. "Holler if you need me, babe. I''m going to get us something else to drink." With all the calm and self-confidence I did not have, I walked away from my childhood friend and former crush.


    I stroll to the bar. "What will it be, bossdy?" Cruise, my ex-con bartender, and my right-hand man ask.


    "The usual," I tell him as he gets to work with a wink. The usual are two rum and cream sodas. It''s mine and Carmen''s go-to drink.


    I inherited this club from my father when he was imprisoned three years ago. Then, it was a biker bar, and my father was the bookie for the MC.


    My father raised me on his own when my mother left us when I was a baby. My father never remarried, and he didn''t bring women home. He is overly protective of me, and I love him dearly for it.


    "Aren''t you a sight for sore eyes? Damn, did you get hot, my Eurydice," says a purring voice next to me.


    I nce to find another man who left me when I was sixteen, one of Jensen''s best friends, Carter.


    Carson Moreau. He has gotten huge too, no longer the rail-thin boy he once was when I first met him when he had just turned fourteen. He is no longer the gaunt, hollow man he was when I dropped him off at a mental health facility years ago.


    I meet his baby blue eyes before taking him all in. His hair is styled sea green. He has on a leather jacket over a band tee and leather pants that fit his muscr thighs. I would love to see how well these pants cup his ass, considering they are doing the bulge in his pants justice.


    At least Carter didn''t entirely abandon me. He would call me at least once a month to catch up after two years had passed. On those nights, we would stay awake until the sun arose.


    I grin broadly when he holds his arms out to me. I jump into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist while he cups my ass.


    "What are you doing here, Orpheus?!" I''m so excited to see this man in the flesh, not the pictures he sent me.


    Carter nuzzles my neck, taking a deep inhale. He groans. "I missed the rose and leather scent of your skin, Sawyer. You smell better than I remember. You feel better than I remember, all soft curves and firm ass," he groans again. Iugh as he lowers me to the floor. I lightly punch Carter in the shoulder. "Answer the question."


    He tugs on his two lip rings with his top teeth before a mischievous grin stretches across his handsome face. "I thought I would surprise my favorite person in the world."


    I snort at thatment.


    Carter arches a single eyebrow at me before continuing. "I moved in with Jenson two weeks ago. Looks like we are neighbors now, baby girl."


    This time, I punched him hard in the peck, which was so solid I had to shake my hand out with a slight grimace. "You could have told me you were moving back, you idiot," I huff at him.


    He shrugs his massive shoulders and then runs a hand through his once-blonde hair. "I should have, but the four of us thought it would be more fun to surprise you and Carmen. We are all back to stay."


    "Four?" Cruise sets my drinks beside me on the bar tops with a questioning look.


    "I''ll exinter," I tell him with a head shake.


    Cruise is Carmen''s other boyfriend. The three of them are perfect for each other. They are my favorite throuple in the entire world. Well, the only one I know, anyway, so that makes them my favorite automatically. Those two men are so good to my best friend that I adore Cruise and Jeremy like brothers, not just employees.


    Behind mees another masculine voice from my past. "Doll Face?" I spin around on my heels to find Jonathan Thomas Brandt behind me in a three-piece pin-strip charcoal suit. His dirty blonde hair is gelled into ce with a fedora on. His ocean-blue eyes are fixed firmly on me. "It is you," he breathes.


    My eyes narrow at him, ring. I''m not thrilled with JT, just like I''m not too impressed with Jensen. I punch him in the nose, making it bleed. I didn''t break it, but I know it hurts.


    He didn''t bother to pick up the phone, either.


    JT smiles at me, but it''s a forced smile with hidden sorrow in his eyes. Or maybe regret? "I deserved that from you, Sawyer. If I wanted a response like the one Carter received, I should have called, huh?"


    "You think?" I ask sarcastically with my hands on the curve of my hips. "If you couldn''t be bothered to call me and keep in touch since the four of you abandoned Carmen and me, then I don''t feel the need to talk to you now, Capone." I grab our drinks, walking away from the boys of my childhood who have turned into men.


    Carmen''s face is red with anger while Jeremy rubs her back, telling her to breathe deeply. I guess her brother got to her. Asshat Jensen.


    Carmen notices me, holding her hand out for her drink. "Gimme that drink, stat, babe. I need it after dealing with Jen. He expects me to wee him like I''ve missed him so much. Well, screw that jazz!" I hand her the drink.


    "The other three are here, too. I''ve already punched both Carter and JT. Carter got punched for not telling me he moved, but I made JT bleed." I have a satisfied smirk on my face.


    "You should have punched Jen too," she signs after taking a drink.


    "I didn''t realize he was Jensen when I was pointing you,dies, out him," Jeremy says, then kisses Carmen''s temple. "I''m sorry, Cheri. If I''d known, I would have kicked him out," he tells her sincerely. Jeremy makes an excellent bouncer for me. The man is stacked and great at picking people up and tossing them out. Jeremy is also an ex-con that I''ve hired as well. I believe in giving them a chance. "It''s fine, honey. My brother and his friends must work extra hard to get into our graces again. If they can." Carmen wiggles her brows at me, then cackles like the wicked witch she is.


    I love this woman. I would have wife-ed her years ago if we were into women.


    I hum under my breath. "Carter will have a much easier time earning forgiveness than the other three."


    "Yeah, at least his quarter-bouncing derriere knows how to pick up a phone," Carmen proims, and I arch an eyebrow at her. "Don''t give me that look. You know you want to try it. He is here in the flesh."


    My best friend isn''t wrong. My Orpheus has a rear that I will enjoy testing that theory on. I bet he would let me, too, while I record it.


    I shrug my shoulders at that promation. "I cannot deny it. That thought has crossed my mind." I grin.


    Jeremy stands up. "Okay! With that line, I''m returning to work now." He gives Carmen the sweetest kiss on the forehead before addressing me. "Holler if you need me, boss." He stuffs his hands in his jeans pockets before sauntering off, barking orders at another bouncer in his headset.


    "We can head out and stop by for burritos, Cary. I know I could use some bean and cheese goodness," I suggest to Carmen now that we have both downed our drinks.


    "Yes, please, bitch. Go grab my man now that his shift is over so his fine, sober derriere can drive."


    I chuckle at her, do as she suggests, and head back into the employee''s only part of the club. It''s much quieter back here, so I don''t have to shout when I talk. I unlock my office door to grab my billfold from my locked drawer. Cruise is just walking by when I exit as I lock it up tight. "We want burritos, and you''re driving, ombre."


    I hand him the keys to my truck. Cruise rode with Jeremy tonight, so Jeremy will need the car with him since he is closing tonight.


    Cruise chuckles softly, "Yes, ma''am." He smirks, taking my keys from my hand.


    We grab Carmen and head for food, then home.

 Invisible Man

    **Storm**


    While smoking, I saw Carmen with a bald man and a woman with rainbow-colored hair. Only one girl would be with Carmen: Sawyer Lily Hughes. The sway of her hips in her leather pants and red heels almost made me drop my cigarette. She has gotten curvy in all the right ces and is no longer the beanpole we once were. I have to adjust my crotch at the sight of her. She doesn''t notice I''m here watching her.


    We never should have left her, but we had no choice. At neen, we had to choose between prison for murder or joining the Death Kings, a government-sanctioned group specializing in assassination and espionage.


    The Death Kings started as a criminal underground organization in Palomino Bay, Texas, known as the Cards Royalty. We were in training for three years with them and then were on assignments.


    Now we got toe home finally. Gr¨ºle, Louisiana, will be the base of operations for our team. Since the town''s name means thunderstorm, we are called Tempest.


    The Kings have many groups like ours scattered around. One of them has my friend/stepsister as a field medic. I wouldn''t say I liked CHOAS initially, but after seeing how much they spoil Carley, I grew to like them. I learned I could trust them with my best friend, a woman I grew to think of as a sister.


    My brothers exit the club just as Carmen and Sawyer climb into a big ck dually truck. Jensen has his arms crossed with a scowl on his face. Carter is grinning ear to ear. I have a feeling he got to touch and hold our girl. JT is mimicking Jen, only he appears more hurt than angry. I didn''t even let the woman we all love know I was in town, much less watching her.


    "Carmen is furious with me. She won''t let me exin anything. Sawyer didn''t even give me a chance to talk," Jensenments. What did he expect? We all gave her up.


    When Carter left his facility, he was careful to call Sawyer at night if we weren''t working, since he had been given her phone number. Once a month was all we could risk, using a burner phone. Carter would put the phone on speaker to hear Sawyer''s sultry voice.


    "At least she didn''t break your nose," JT grumbles. I nce down at his shirt, noticing the dried blood down the front of it.


    Interesting. I guess her growing up with us paid off for her, making her rigid and able to care for herself. However, we can''t take all the credit since she grew up in the MC.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDra/ma.O(r)g!


    "I don''t know what you two areining about," Carter shrugs with a smirk. "I got her legs wrapped around me while gripping that amazing rump. Seriously, she has the best ass I''ve ever felt." Carter smiles like a smug little prick. I shake my head at my brothers. "Well, I guess that''s better than being invisible," I say, crushing my cigarette under my boot.


    "Let''s head to the apartment. We must figure out how to return to those girls'' good graces. If we don''t, they could be unprotected targets for others. We need to keep them safe, which means we need to earn their trust back." I get nods in return.


    Jensen climbs in my passenger seat while I get in the driver''s seat. JT and Carter get into Carter''s orange 1970 Ford Torino Cobra.


    Sawyer, we will win you back. After all, you are the Bonnie to my Clyde. You belong with us for the rest of our lives. I just hope our obsession with her won''t get her killed.

 Night-Terrors

    **Sawyer**


    "Give me your hand, Bonnie girl. I''ll lift you."


    I reach my hand up to the handsome sixteen-year-old boy with long, inky hair. He pulls me up to sit behind him on a moving pump jack, tucking me close between him and my best friend''s older brother.


    Carmen wasn''t with us tonight because she got grounded. It''s unfair because it''s my 13th birthday, and I wanted to spend it with the ones I love. Since my father had church tonight at the clubhouse, the boys decided I couldn''t spend my birthday alone. So, I am riding a pump jack with three 16-year-old boys on an oil pad in a pasture.


    I feel myself sliding on the jack head as it tilts slowly, wrapping my arms tightly around Storm''s middle. Storm, who chuckles, is the leader of our misfit crew. I''m always with my boys. They are my best friends, protectors, and the boys I love; my entire world revolves around them and Carmen. Other than them and my father, I have no one.


    Jensen holds me tighter, keeping me from falling. "Rx, Juliet, your Romeo won''t let you fall," he utters with his breath tickling my ear.


    I feel his dick (I think it''s his dick) pressing into my back. What am I supposed to do with that? I just had my first period, so it''s probably his hormones. It makes me wonder if he has had sex with girls. Do I want to know the answer to that question? The thought of them kissing a girl who isn''t me enrages me. They are my boys.


    "This is so high up. I cannot believe I let you jerks talk me into this," I reply with a slight tremble.


    "We will make it up to you when we get back to Jen''s," Carter purrs from behind Jensen.


    "Say nothing else, C," Storm warns him with a rumble I can feel against his back.


    I loveying on or against Storm to listen to him talk. Their voices are deep now, but none more so than Storm''s. When he speaks, his entire chest vibrates.


    I''m suspicious this outing serves a secondary purpose. Carmen has been cagey all day, saying it just because she is grounded, but now I wonder if it''s because of this surprise.


    "Okay, we rode this thing up and down three times now. Can we please get off? Heights aren''t my favorite thing, you jerk." My eyes are squeezed shut, and I have yet to rx.


    *"We could jump in the pool at my house," JT suggests. "My grandma won''t mind so long as we clean up after ourselves."


    JT has lived with his grandmother since his parents disappeared about the same time his grandfather died. The police think that JT''s parents killed his grandfather, but no one knows for sure other than his grandmother. "We need to kill some more time, so that will work. Let''s go swim," Storm orders.


    The boys behind me slide off one by one as the pump tilts up. Storm and I had to ride it back down first because I did not start sliding off in time. It is much scarier without Jen behind me, keeping me steady.


    "I''ll catch you, Eurydice, just slide on down," Carter coaxes me as the jack goes back up. With my eyes closed, I slide into Carter''s powerful arms. Since I first met him two years ago, he is more robust than he looks now. He recently had a growth spurt, shooting up overnight. Here I am with just a barely budding chest, all spindly legs and arms.


    "Open your eyes now, little one; I got you. I will always catch you," Carter tells me as I look into his baby blue eyes and then look around at my boys. They are surrounding me.


    I meet Jensen''s moss-green eyes. "We all will. We will protect you for the rest of our lives, sweet girl."


    "We will defend you," JT utters when I meet his ocean blues.


    Finally, I look at the ebon eyes of Storm. "Always."


    My dream shifted to another memory two yearster:


    Carmen found me with torn clothes in the girls'' locker room when I finally got to my phone to call her for help. She had already called Jensen to tell him I was in trouble. I couldn''t move from the shower. Carmen wrapped me in a nket, holding me close when my boys arrived.


    Jensen saw me first, noticing the blood running down my thighs. I was a virgin. I guess I''m not now.


    The look on Jen''s face startled me. When the others see me, I am terrified, not for me, but for the boys who did this to me.


    "We should have been with you, Juliet. Then this wouldn''t have happened." Jensen''s fists are clenched tightly by his side.


    I shake my head, knowing that being at a college party instead of the high school football game is far from their fault.


    What those boys did to me, no one could have helped me. I couldn''t even help myself. I tried. I fought as hard as I could. The fight was uneven - three seventeen-year-old boys against me, a fifteen-year-old five-foot-five.


    Carter takes a step toward me, reaching out for me, but I unconsciously take a step back. At that moment, thunder and lightning crack across the sky. Carter''s face falls so much that I know I''ve wounded him without meaning to. "Please, little one,... we would never hurt you."


    I hug my arms close to myself. I know my boys would never hurt me, but I can''t bring myself to wee any touch after what happened tonight.*


    The dream shifts toter that night:


    *My boys are covered in blood because of me. The look on Storm''s face tells me everything I need to know. There is a tick in his tight jaw. The boys who sexually assaulted me are dead at their hands. "They are gone, baby girl. You will never have to worry about them hurting you or another girl again."Copyright by N?v/elDrama.Org.


    I''m standing outside my house while the wind picks up and a storm rolls in. I don''t feel bad that those boys are dead. I''m devastated at what that means for my boys now. They are killers, murderers. "Someone saw us, Sawyer. We don''t know what will happen now," JT states in a mncholy voice.


    "But we will never leave you willingly, Bonnie," Storms affirms as lightning shes and thunder sounds. The sky opens up to a torrential downpour.


    The shift happens again:


    I''m yelling while running down the road after a ck SUV that my boys are in. "You assholes! You promised you wouldn''t leave me! I hate you all! You promised me!"


    Soon, the vehicle is out of sight, with no one looking back or the SUV stopping. I crumble to the ground in a heap. A heartbroken, soul-shattering scream erupts out of my throat, unbidden. I''ve lost the boys I love. I''ll never see them again.* I jerk away, screaming, with tears running down my face. I haven''t had that dream in at least five years.


    "Woah, babe, are you okay? You almost hit me in the face."


    Ah crap, I forgot about his guy. What is he still doing here? I swear I only brought this guy home for an itch that needed scratching. Why hadn''t my one-night stand left when I was done with him? I guess it''s my fault for falling asleep and not kicking him out.


    The next thing I know, my door is being busted down by Storm Diesel Benson. His ck eyes lock on mine. I do not hide my naked breasts from him. His eyes narrow, but before I realize what is happening, he has Jack, Mike, Mick, whatever his name is, by the throat, pushed against my closet door. His face is turning purple. Meanwhile, Storm''s face portrays zero emotion.


    I hurtled out of bed, stark naked and livid, making a beeline for Storm. He will either pay to have both doors fixed, or he will damn well fix them himself. I ce both hands on my hips and sharply issue mymand. "Storm Diesel Benson, you will let my one-night stand to go this instant. He isn''t the problem here. You are," I growl thatst part.


    Storm releases the man to crumble to the floor, coughing hoarsely. Storm slowly turns around to face my fury. His eyes go from cold to smoldering within seconds. My body responds to his heat by sending liquid down to coat my bare thighs, and my nipples harden painfully. Storm is going to be the death of me if I let him. My traitorous body is way too willing for him to cause death by sex.


    "Go sit on the couch, Clyde. You owe me an exnation and an apology."


    "I''m not leaving you with him." Storm crosses his arms over his bare, muscr, tattooed chest.


    "I screamed, relieving a nightmare caused by you, Storm. I didn''t scream because of him. Get. Out. Of. My. Bedroom," I bite out. Storm nods, exiting.


    I go to ''what''s his name,'' helping him as Storm leaves. "No pussy is worth this shit. I''m leaving," he says hoarsely, quickly dressing and grabbing his clothes.


    "You should have left hours ago, right after sex, instead of falling asleep in my damn bed," I snarl at the worthless man. "Say hi to my friend on your way out, asshole."


    I snicker at his hasty retreat. Well, at least Storm kept me from dealing with a stage-five clinger.

 Morning B&E

    **Storm**


    I was getting ready to head to the gym when I heard a screaming directly across the hall from Sawyer''s apartment. It was a blood-curdling, gut-wrenching scream.


    Her front door was locked, so I kicked it open with no time to grab my lock-picking kit. There was only one bedroom door closed, and that one was locked too, so I kicked it in with my bare foot.


    Sawyer was crying while sitting with a dead man in her bed. I reacted on instinct, thinking someone hurt once again her. Here we were, just across the hall, and let it happen. I was terrified I was in the wrong ce at the wrong time once more. Just as I was about to kill the man I was holding against the wall; Sawyer''s irate voice snapped me out of my trance with a single firmmand. How did she do that?


    She is stark naked, tattooed, and gorgeous. The woman has be a goddess, with soft womanly curves in all the right ces. My dick hardens to a painful point in my mesh shorts.


    What keeps me from acting on my instincts to kill the man and worship at this goddess''s feet with my body is the fury in her voice as she speaks. Amand that I obey.


    She kicked me out of her room when I was only trying to do right by her, but her words resonated in my head repeatedly. I caused her nightmares. Her nightmare was about me. Damn it.


    I smile, sitting on the couch at the hasty retreat of the man I attacked, wiggling my fingers at him as he exits. This coward doesn''t have enough stones to be with my girl.


    I hear her shower running, so I move to her kitchen to make us some coffee. Carter said she has be a coffee addict, but so have all of us. We need a cup to function most mornings.


    When Sawyer exits her bedroom, she is in ripped jeans and a band tee with socks on her feet. Her mid-back rainbow hair is up in a ponytail that swishes as she moves. She is no longer mad, she just appears exhausted.


    I handed her a mug with one sugar and a little cream. She takes a sip and groans. "You made this just the way I like it. How did you know?" Her eyes narrowed at me standing in the kitchen in nothing but shorts.


    "Carter," I say sinctly. After a moment, I continued talking. "Sorry about the doors. I''ll have them fixed. When I heard you scream... Sawyer... I acted on autopilot. I was afraid that what happened in the past had happened again." She understands what I''m talking about when her eyes widen. She sighs my name. "I get it. You can''t just go destroying doors without really knowing what is going on."


    Sawyer''s eyes lower to the floor before she looks back at me. Heat is now in her eyes as she takes in the state of my undress. I''m only in low-slung mesh shorts that are currently being tented by my very interested dick.


    "I heard you scream, Bonnie girl. I reacted." I stalk toward her, but she doesn''t back away from me. I set my mug down so I can cup Sawyer''s face with both hands. "I''m supposed to protect my girl. I failed once. I will not fail again." I see anger re in Sawyer''s eyes. She puts her hands on my chest and shoves me back hard. I allow it, stepping back to give her some room to breathe.


    "I. Am. Not. Your. Girl," she grinds out between clenched teeth. "You abandoned me when I needed you most, Storm! Y''all lied to me," Sawyer snarls at me.


    We betrayed her. I get it.


    "If you think we left you on purpose, then you are wrong. We had no choice," I reply sinctly. I cross my arms over my bare chest, which draws her eyes back to my body and away from my face. Lust shes briefly in her golden eyes.


    "Exin it to me, Clyde. Why?" She demands of me, but I can''t tell her, not without bringing her into our world. I don''t know if I want to do that to her. Would she be strong enough to murder someone without remorse eating her alive?


    I can''t tell her the whole truth, but I can offer some semnce of it. "We had two choices the night we left. Go to prison for thirty years plus or work for someone else. One option left us spending over half our lives behind bars. The second at least offered us a chance at freedom at the cost of temporarily being away from the people we love."


    "Why didn''t you guys tell me? That happened because of me. You murdered them because of what they did to me," she deres in anger.


    "Yeah, and all four would do it all over again if given a chance. None of us regret what we did that night, not at all. Now I just wish I could have tortured them first to make them suffer a fate worse than a quick death," I say this without an ounce of emotion.


    I learned I excel at torture that expels all truths from my toys. I see Sawyer visibly shiver.


    "What happened to you? I don''t see that kind-hearted charismatic boy I knew." Her voice doesn''t sound using, but curious.


    Sawyer has a frown on her gorgeous face. I''m itching to walk to her, to touch her forehead and smooth away those creases. Instead, I stay stalked still with zero emotion showing on the outside. Inside, however, the fire there would burn her. "No, Bonnie girl, I''m not that boy anymore. The question is, do you want to get to know the man before you?" This query piques Sawyer''s curiosity to a new height.


    She arches a perplexed brow at me. "Are any of you the boys I knew?" I shake my head no.


    She walks over to me. "I don''t know if I can forgive you four so easily, but it helps to know it wasn''t your choice to leave us." I''m holding my breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop.


    "I can tell you are keeping secrets, Clyde." She shrugs her shoulders. "Then again, so am I," she says, which surprises me, but I doubt her secrets are as covered in blood as ours.


    She continues, ignoring my interestedly raised brow. "Earn my trust. I want to know all your secrets and you to know mine, but you have a lot of work ahead of you. Currently, Carter is my favorite guy. Let''s just face it, Carmen holds the top ce for my favorite person. If the boy you were is still in you somewhere, you might have a chance."


    I didn''t know what to say to Sawyer at all, so I just jerked a nod. I''m not that boy. I''m a trained killer.


    My heart is in my throat. I''ve never stopped loving this woman. I''ve loved her since I was fifteen, maybe even before then.


    Sawyer gets close to me. I rx my arms and take a deep inhale of her leather and rose scent.


    She ces her hands on my chest and pushes, moving me back. I know what she is doing, and I let her. She walks me back out the door of her apartment and into the hallway.


    "Fix my doors, Clyde, because I have to go to work. You left me with no way to lock up, so keep guard until my doors are fixed, will you?" Her voice is breathy, and she is inches from my lips.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    Just when I think I''m about to kiss her, she turns on her heels, walking back into her apartment. I''m left standing in the doorway to my apartment with a massive hard-on. Sawyer is going to be trouble.


    I go to my bathroom to take a cold shower, hoping to tame the fiery lust coursing through my body. I sp my cock with a groan, thinking of rainbow hair tickling my dick as Sawyer takes it into her moist hot mouth. I imagine feeling her thick strands of hair as I thrust in and out of her mouth, gazing into her golden eyes. My hands moved faster, and I stroke my cock until Ie with a groan, shooting out cum, coating my hand. Sawyer. My obsession. My reason for breathing.

 Grovel Boys

    **Sawyer**


    I''m at my club trying to go over the financials, but all I can concentrate on is Storm Diesel Benson. The way his gray mesh shorts barely cover the impressive length within. I made him hard. When I got out of the shower, he wore a navy three-piece suit. No bulge was in his cks as he was leaning against the door, guarding mine with his arm crossed over a muscr chest and one foot resting against the door. Storm''s ck hair was braided down his back. His thick, long ck eyshes make his eyes ck as night. His high cheekbones and square angr jaws are part of his Native American Heritage. He is gorgeous to behold.


    He had a tattoo on his right pectoral of a wolf howling. That continued down his upper arm to a forest scene, with a dark-haired woman kneeling amongst a ck wolf, two gray wolves, and a solid white wolf. The woman appeared familiar to me, but I didn''t get the best look. There was another tattoo below it that encased his forearm in a skull with an ornate feather headdress. There was a ck tribal bracelet tattooed around his wrist, and on the top of each finger were unique wooden arrows. Not one arrow was the same. On his other hand was a dream catcher with various feathers on his fingers.


    I wanted to fall on my knees in front of his warrior''s body this morning. He is way more muscr and fit than I remembered, all lean and chiseled to perfection with a broad chest. To lick, nibble, and kiss my way down his delectable body was really what I desired to do when I ced my hands on him. Instead, I pushed him out of my apartment.


    "Hey bossdy, you got some drool sliding down your chin. Who are you imagining, and can I see him too? He must be something to distract you from all that paperwork," I hear a sassy man say. I lift my head.


    Din is one of my bartenders that has been with me since the beginning. He rakes in top tips from various sexes. He is mostly interested in the men, but the women sure love to gawk at him without a shirt on. Din is attractive but isn''t an asshole, which is more of the type of man I''m drawn to.


    Asshole men that I thought wouldn''t leave me, but they did. Now they are back.


    I wipe the drool from my face with the back of my hand. "He is a damn Adonis, but I don''t have a picture."


    ¡°Well damn, cher. I''ll settle for a personal intro then. Men rarely catch your attention unless you bein'' a drunk thirsty bitch. Right now you ain''t drunk. No man or woman has even once sidetracked you from paperwork." I blush at Din''s words.


    He is correct. He has known me for the past three years. He knows I never daydreamed about anyone. Outside of work, Dillian is easily one of my best friends.


    "I don''t know, D. You might take him from me," I say jokingly, with a wink.


    Heughs. "Bitch, please. If you have your eyes on a man, there is no way I''m crossin'' your cray, cray rainbow ass. I don''t wanna get shanked," he teases, cocking a hip with a hand on it.


    Now it''s my turn tough at him. "Oh please hooker, you know you''re the only guy in my life worth keeping around." I blow him an air kiss and Din catches it, bringing it close to his heart. "Now, what do ya want?" I kicked my feet up on my desk, leaning back in my chair and crossing my arms over my chest.


    "There is this guy out front askin'' for ya. I would let him bend my ass all over the bar top. I mean, damn woman, he is one fine specimen I would give my balls to see naked." Din is fanning his cheeks as if he is all hot and bothered by this guy.


    I shrug my shoulders. "Bring him back then, D. Let''s see what fly got caught in your honey trap this time," I joke with Din.


    He leaves as if his ass is on fire and returns with the one guy who has had me hot and bothered all day.


    "Hey there, Bonnie. I got your doors fixed," Storm''s rumbling voice booms.


    "Holy shit, Clyde! Did you seriously track me down to tell me you fixed my doors that you busted down this mornin''?" I ask him.


    Dillian pops a questioning dark brow at me. I mouth ter'' to him. I will too. Dillian will hear theplete story of what happened this morning alongside Carmen.


    He shrugs his shoulders. "I don''t have your number, and Carmen told me where you were. I also wanted to see if you woulde to have lunch with me?"


    "If you don''t take him up on that offer, bitch, I will." Din is ogling the crap out of my Storm. Not mine! Not anymore.


    Din''s eyes lock onto mine, then widen with knowledge. "So, he the one that has you gettin'' that seat wet this mornin''? You should go."


    With that, Din blows me a kiss and exits with a flourish, but not before shouting, "I got things here! Get it bitch!"


    I cover my hands with my face when the door shuts. Storm isughing, and it is not helping the wetness between my thighs. My body wants Storm.


    When I''m finally able to look up, I lift my chin and re. "For the record, my chair isn''t wet. I was most defiantly not thinkin'' about your sexy half-naked ass all mornin''," I say, hiding my embarrassment from him.


    "So you''ve been thinking of me this mornin''?" Storm saunters toward me,ing around my desk and cing his hands on the armrests, caging me in. "What a coincidence, because you''ve consumed my thoughts this mornin'' as well."


    I can''t breathe. The scent of his cologne is invading my senses. If I could only touch him, but I know the moment I do, the wall I''ve erected around my heart to protect it will crumble. I can''t let him back in yet.


    "I s''pose lunch wouldn''t hurt and other than this mornin'', I haven''t seen you in years. Besides, my friend and employee will not let me live it down if I don''t go. He will burn my favorite chair to spite me. I love this here chair," I say, dead serious.


    It took me forever to find a chairfortable enough for me to sit in for hours on end.


    Storm chortles softly again, moving away from me. I feel bereft at the loss of his nearness. Why do I feel this way? I shouldn''t. I''ve been doing just fine all these years on my own.


    "Lead the way, Bonnie Girl," he purrs.


    I move toward him. I let my hand run down his tie. It''s so silky. "Well,e on then, Clyde," I purr right back at him, sliding the tie out of his vest to lead him out of my club. He follows me like a good boy out to the parking lot. Storm''s car is an ultra-rare piece of ssic muscle car beauty in canary yellow. How did he find such a car? It had to cost a fortune to rebuild or buy. How did he afford this? I know nothing about what my boys do for money now.


    I slide onto the leather upholstery, then he shuts the car door for me. When he starts the engine, the rumble has my pantiesbusting. I have to clench my thighs together tightly at how turned on the car is making me. Storm side-eyes me, chuckling under his breath. Jerk.


    He drives the car like it''s his second skin. It isn''t hard to tell that he loves this car.


    It doesn''t take long to reach the steakhouse. When Storm parks, I think I destroy my ripped skinny jeans along with my underwear.


    He parks beside a bright orange ssic Ford Torino Cobra, which looks to me like a 1970 model. It''s gorgeous. I''ve always had a thing for ssic cars. What I''m not expecting to see is the shiny blue Ford GT sitting right beside us and next to it is a metallic cherry red Porsche 918 Spyder. Those two are some of the world''s fastest cars. I''m gobsmacked.


    I hope I''m not meeting the rich men who own those. Of course, with the way Storm is dressed, it''s possible.


    Storm offers me his arm, which I don''t take until we enter the steakhouse to have every single eye on us, especially the females. I ce my hand in the crook of his elbow, smiling smugly because right now, Storm Benson is all mine. He ignores the fumbling hostess, spotting exactly who he is looking for. Around the table are all the boys who were once mine.


    Jensen smiles broadly, pulling out a seat beside him for me to sit. "Hello, my Juliet. You''re delectable as ever," he purrs at me. I mean, the man seriously purrs the words before cing a kiss on my cheek and sitting back down. "Romeo, Romeo. What am I s''pose do with your flirtatious derriere?" I cock an eyebrow at him while sitting down.


    His moss green eyes shine with mirth as he runs a hair through his chestnut hair. His piercings are silver rings today. He is wearing a dark blue silk shirt with the buttons undone down his chest to show off a silver chain with the locket I gave him when he was thirteen and I was ten. Inscribed on the inside are the words ''Romeo, thanks for saving me. Love Juliet''.


    Jensen chuckles softly while Storm pushes my seat in like a gentleman. Oh good, mine and Carmen''s training stuck with them.


    "You could break his nose too," JT grumbles under his breath. I wink at him and blow him an air kiss.


    "I''ll pretend I didn''t hear that, Capone." All I get is a grunt in return.


    JT''s nose is taped up and molten, which doesn''t diminish how gorgeous he is in the slightest. His blonde hair is gelled back again, and he is wearing a ck silk button shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the first few buttons are undone. A charcoal pinstriped vest is over his shirt to match his cks. He has a gold Rolex on one wrist and a ck leather vambrace on the other. He looks like a tan, golden god.


    "Stop being such a grump, JT. I''m only d Juliet talked to me after refusingst night." Jensen gives me a cheeky wink. I shake my head at him.


    I do a quick once-over of all my boys, who now appear as if they are loaded. They probably are if Storm''s car tells me anything.


    Storm is in his three-piece suit that is so tailored to perfection that it has to be a designer. He has a Rolex on his wrist, too.


    I look at Carter, who is grinning like a fool, watching us all interact. His sea-foam green hair is slicked back with gel. He has on a satin purple button-down with sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a rainbow tie, and ck cks.


    The server saunters up next to Carter, swinging her hips a little too much. Carter looks at her with fake relief. "Thank goodness you are here! I was worried you would not get a tip." I forgot how acerbic Carter''s tongue can be. "Now, if you would take our drink orders so we can decide what we want to eat, that would be great." He winks at her.


    Now the server is flustered as she takes our drink orders. Looks like we are all having liquor with our meal. I feel as though I''m going to need it to make it through eating lunch with them.


    "So, Eurydice, you own the club now, huh? Where''s the old man?" I haven''t told Carter what happened to Dad. I haven''t gone to tell Dad the boys are back either.


    Every time I visit just before I leave, he asks about them. It makes my heart hurt when he does.


    "He''s in prison. He got caught during a raid at a cage match three years ago. He asks about you guys. I got to tell him about my phone calls with you, Orpheus." Carter grimaces at my words. "Yeah, about those phone calls, Eurydice, there is something you should know..." Carter starts.


    Jensen interrupts him. "But first, sorry about Nate. We would all love to go visit with him if that''s okay with you?" I shrug my shoulders. Dad has always thought of my boys as his, too. "Sure. Dad would be ecstatic to see you guys."


    I re at each one of them. "Now. Tell me about the phone calls," I demand as the server sets down drinks and then jots down orders.


    The server is smiling and giddy when she takes the guys'' orders, but irritated when she takes mine. Good thing I now excel at resting bitch face. I send her scurrying when I stare at her until she leaves. If she writes her phone number for one guy, I''m lighting it on fire right in front of her.


    "Damn Juliet! I''ll tell you anything you want for handling the server so well," says Jensen with a wink. Crap. Bye, panties and jeans. I shift in my chair.


    "First, I want Orpheus to finish what he was saying. I will chew your ass outter, Romeo." Jensen feigns being shot in the heart. I snort. Dork.


    Storm jerks a nod to Carter. "Whenever I would call you, I had you on speaker for the others. We were always together. It calmed us all to hear your voice. It was like one night a month, the shit we had to deal with just disappeared," he says wistfully with his Texas ent much thicker than it used to be.


    "Why didn''t any of you say something? I wanted to talk to all of you, not just Carter."


    "We couldn''t risk it. It was problematic enough just letting Carter talk to you. If our enemies, or, hell, even the people we work for had found out about you before we could be here to protect you, they would have used you to get to us," Storm replies. He is still omitting so much, but the warning is there in his voice. I would have been hurt, killed, or worse, because of them.


    The food arrives, and the server is helped by two other women. One picks up our sses to get us more, making lusty eyes. The other blushes profusely while setting our food down. When they offer to get anything else, Storm flicks his wrist at them as if they annoy him.


    I just dive into my te because the guys aren''t giving any of the pretty young servers a second nce. When I let a moan slip, tasting the bloody rare steak, all four eyes are directly on me. Their gazes darkened with passion.


    I feel as though I can''t breathe for a moment. I shift my thighs together in my seat. I wouldn''t be surprised if my seat is wet now too. Only Storm has looked at me like this, but that was brief. To have all my boys with predatory gazes directed at me sends a delicious shiver down my spine.


    The girl bringing our drinks tries to speak, but no one is listening, so she leaves in a huff. I almost wish she would have distracted them, but what can I say? I am a smug bitch.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org.


    I slowly purposely take another bite and moan again. Four tongues dart out to lick their bottom lips. I''m the one that these four want to make a meal out of.


    I snort. I''m not that easy.


    "The steak is fantastic. You should eat." I wink at them before tucking right back into my food, this time with no moans. They all down their drinks while Iugh in my head. Grovel boys. Grovel.

 Greatest Loves

    **Sawyer**


    Lunch was great, but now it was time to run overst night''s finances and make sure all the staff wereing in tonight. I was just finishing up the calls when in bounds one of the greatest loves of my entire life. I didn''t think I would ever love anyone this much.


    In runs a tow-headed little girl with curls falling all around her little round face. She runs straight for me, jumping into my arms. "Hey, cherub! Did you have fun at Gram and Grumps''st night?" I squeeze the five-year-old tight in my arms. I missed her this morning.


    "Yes! I ate lots of ice cream!" She squeals excitedly.


    "Telling on old Grams again huh, Katie Pop." In walks Jensen and Carmen''s mom. They are the perfect grandparents to my kids and have helped me out so much, even though neither of us is rted to them.


    Katie shakes her head. "I love you, Grams!" Her speech is clear since we have talked to her as though she was an adult, never once baby-talking to her.


    Lteughs, rubbing her head. "She had a great nightst night. She yed outside and had ice cream after dinner. For breakfast, she had a pancake and some fruit. Lunch, we ate chicken nuggets." "That sounds way better than what Mommy had to eat." I tap her little nose.


    I look at Lte with her graying hair pulled back into a low ponytail. "Thank you so much for keeping them. Carmen and I neededst night."


    Lte chuckles. "You two are like a couple raising these two kids. It''s so funny. I cannot wait for her to have a few of her own, even if we won''t know which of the two guys will donate the DNA."


    I chuckle. "They both love her so much I doubt they will even care. No matter what, their kid will belong to all three."


    "You are right. It''s taken us a while toe to grips with their rtionship, but so long as Jeremy and Cruise make our baby girl happy, then we are happy," she replies sincerely.


    I stand, setting Katie in my chair, and then pull Lte into a hug. "Best parents ever," I tell her.


    Lte hugs me back. "Best adopted daughter ever," she replies, and then we pull back.


    "Speaking of, where is Darius?" I ask curiously about where my other love is.


    "He is helping Cruise organize the bar. Cruise is cutting the limes and lemons while he rearranges them," Lte says, telling me where my oldest son had run off to.


    When I found out I was pregnant with Darius nine years ago, Lte and Greg were as supportive as my father. They helped me finish high school while raising a child. I don''t know what I would have done without them and Carmen. Then I had Katie while in college.


    I was an idiot who fell for the wrong men. My ex-husband was a weak man who left after I got pregnant with Katie. He ran after meeting my aunt and uncles. That and Dad, along with the club run, didn''t help matters much. Nobody in my family cared much for Dane. That''s okay though. He had little backbone, and I ran over him like a bulldozer.


    I didn''t need Dane. Darius and Katie are my blessings. Without them, I wouldn''t have so much happiness in my life to live for.


    "How much longer do you have to work? I can take the kids for a little while longer if I need to," Lte suggests.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    "I''m already done, so we can head home. I appreciate you keeping them," I tell her sincerely.


    Lte and Greg Meyer don''t understand how much I love and appreciate them. Without them, I wouldn''t be where I am now. I for sure wouldn''t have fared well without their help and Carmen''s with raising my children. "Anytime, you know that." Lte goes to Katie, scooping her up in a hug. "Thank you for staying with us and helping make sure Grumps went to bedst night. I love you," she says to my little girl, squeezing her gently in a hug. "Grumps needs to go to bed when you tell him. I love you too, Grams." I chuckle because Katie''s job when they stay with the Meyers is to round up Greg and make him go to bed at a decent time. It''s hrious because the man is usually in bed by nine, anyway. Katie goes to bed at eight. It''s more of a game so that Katie will go to bed without having to fight with her.


    "I''ll tell him. I''ll see you after school on Monday." She kisses her head. "Have a fun day tomorrow."


    "We will. See you Monday," I chirp, waving her out of my office. I turn to my baby. "All right, little cherub, let me grab my stuff and we will head home."


    Just then, my phone rang, and I groaned since it was one of my new employees. I exined to them not showing up for their shift would cause a warning and the next one would get them fired.


    Now we can go home.


    On the way home in my blue T-top Firebird, Katie sings Baby Shark on repeat. She knows all the motions and the song word for word. Ask any parent what happens to them when their kid listens to that song. It''s stuck with you for days and you go to bed singing it in your head as you try to sleep.


    Darius was smart to bring his earbuds, to listen to music on my phone instead of listening to what his little sister had picked out. "Mommy, can I have a snack?" Katie asks. We haven''t even been home for five minutes. Kids are always hungry, it seems.


    "No, I''m going to make dinner. How does pizza toast sound?" Katie replies with an excited, yummy sound. I found a recipe a month ago using frozen garlic Texas toast, pizza sauce, pizza mix cheese, and pepperoni. It''s so easy to throw it on a baking sheet and cook it in the oven. I make a sd to go with it while it bakes.


    I love being a mom. I wouldn''t trade it for anything, even if conception wasn''t a joyous event. I don''t know who Darius''s sperm donor is. Frankly, I didn''t care to find out. Katie''s sperm donor, my ex-husband, ran off scared to death of my family, which suited me just fine. The only thing that man was good for was his giant dick.


    Just as we sit down, my door unlocks. Only one person has a key, so I know exactly who it is. "Cary!" Katie squeals, jumping up from her spot on the floor where she was coloring tounch herself at Carmen as she dishes up dinner. "Katie Pop! Did my girl have funst night with Grams and Grumps?" Carmen sets Katie down while she receives an excited yes. "Dinner smells wonderful. What are we having?"


    "You have eyes, Cary. Use them," Darius pops off to his aunt.


    Carmen cackles before putting Katie in her chair at the dining room table and then sits down. When Jeremy and Cruise have to work, she is here with us instead of alone in her apartment. We have identical three-bedroom apartments right next door to each other.


    Everything is normal during dinner, with no extra men barging into my life. They don''t know about my children since I never told Carter. I''m not sure I want them around them if it could put us in danger or if they won''t stick around for the long haul. I cannot risk my kids getting heartbroken if they be attached to any of my boys. Maybe I don''t want to be betrayed by them once again.


    Katie falls asleep on the couch between Carmen and me during our rated E movie, so have to pick her up and tuck her into bed. Thankfully, after dinner, Katie had her bath and put on her pajamas. Routines are marvelous things sometimes. Though I let Katie stay up longer on the weekends, she is still usually passed out by eight-thirty.


    Darius fell asleep on the floor, so Carmen woke him up and helped him get ready for bed while I tucked in Katie.


    Lte was correct because it was almost as though Carmen and I were raising my children together. She lived with the kids and me before she met Jeremy and Cruise about three years ago.


    I tell Carmen all about lunch with the guys while gingerly drinking rum and coke. I only ever have one drink after the children go to bed just in case of an emergency.


    "So they all work for a shadypany that could get them and all of us killed?!" I nod to Carmen.


    "Yep, and they only came back because now they are positive they can protect all of us."


    Carmen is shocked but disappointed, too. She loves her brother and his friends like brothers, even if she won''t admit to it as much.


    "You know, Jensen needs to go let Mom and Dad know he is back." Carmen rolls her eyes and says he''ll make conclusions when he sees the kids'' toys and their big yground.


    I chuckle because they spoil my children so much. Lte and Greg pick both children up daily at three and keep them until about six for me. If I have to go in for any reason, then Carmen or one of her boyfriends, if they aren''t working, wille over to stay with the children.


    "Jen will probably think the children are your kids," I tease my bestie. She rolls her eyes at me but smiles. She knows it''s the truth.


    "How do you think Jen and them will respond to Dare and Katie?" I shake my head at Carmen''s question because, honestly, I''m not sure.


    Carmen seems to read my mind. "Do you think they will leave again? Is it even worth them getting to know the kids?"


    "I''m scared," I whisper in reply. I''m terrified the guys will betray me again and they will betray my children.


    They will inevitably find out about my babies, eventually. The kids'' rooms are full of their stuff and my apartment has their school stuff all over the apartment normally.


    The only reason their stuff couldn''t be seen this morning by Storm is that I cleaned, knowing I''d bring someone home to have sex with. I didn''t want some one-night stand to know about the two most important people in my life. I tell Carmen all about my day.


    "Wow, I cannot believe he broke your door! It''s a good thing he fixed it like new. I ought to go bust down his door and see how he likes it. Maybe I''ll get lucky and rem his ass mid-coitus," Carmen says, then cackles at the mental image. Din said the same thing when I told him the story too after I came back from lunch.


    My jaw clenches at Carmen''s words. As funny as it would be to witness Carmen make sure he has blue-balls, just the thought of Storm with a woman makes me see red. I know it''s hypocritical of me since he caught me in bed with another man, but I''m all mixed up inside now that my guys are back. I''m confused about how I''m supposed to feel since my emotions are allplex.


    I give Carmen a fake chuckle and smile. "He would deserve that all right, but since he is across the hall, the noise might wake up Katie and we both know cranky that child can be." I give Carmen a yful wink and she replies about how correct I am. That one little girl would make sure we were all miserable with the fit she would throw.

 Coffee Chat

    **Sawyer**


    It''s after midnight by the time we head to bed, which is nothing new, considering I own a bar and sometimes get calls before closing. Luckily, it was smooth tonight with Jeremy and Cruise, both making sure it all ran smoothly. I have Jeremy in charge of security and Cruise is my manager who asionally works at the bar if we are short-staffed or be swamped.


    For the first time in the past five years, memories of what happened to me when I was fifteen areing back. My trauma came back to haunt me, even though I have dealt with it. These memories shouldn''t be resurfacing now that I''m thriving. Maybe the boys being back is making theme to the forefront.


    I wake up an hour before dawn screaming again, covered in sweat from my nightmare. There is no way I''m going back to sleep, so I check on the children to make sure I didn''t wake them. Just as I''m closing Darius''s bedroom, there is a loud knock on my door.


    I throw the door open with a growl. "What do you want this early in the morning? I swear if you woke..." I stop mid-sentence, realizing that it is once again Storm.


    "At least I didn''t break down the door this time," he smirks. He clears his throat, shifting on his bare feet. He is wearing a pair of ripped, washed-out blue jeans on his muscr legs. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I heard you scream again."


    I wonder how often I''ve woken up my other neighborstely with my screams. At least my daughters sleep through them. Honestly, they both could sleep through a tornado, so I don''t know why I worry.


    I sigh. "I''m fine. Do you want some coffee since I woke you?" I ask him, feeling a little guilty but mostly exhausted.


    I shouldn''t be letting Storm inside with the kids at home, but when he is near, I still feelpletely safe. After that nightmare, I could use hisfort so that I''m not tempted to wake one of my children by climbing into a twin bed with one of them to hold close. They are the light in my darkness.


    I open the door to admit Storm. He closes it for me while I move to the kitchen to make some coffee. I just have a single-serve coffee maker since it''s just me and I have no need for a big pot.


    Storm leans against the counter as I make coffee.


    I buy my coffee locally since it''s better than many brand names out there. I just prefer to shop locally. The town supports my business, so I might as well support the small businesses in town. It''s my little way of giving back to themunity I love living in.


    I hand Storm the first steaming mug. "I''m invading your privacytely. I''m sorry, it''s just your screams...trigger me." He sips the coffee as I stare at him. "It woke the others too, so they left for the gym while I offered to check on you." "Why would my screaming force you guys out of bed? It''s just nightmares," I say dismissively. I have my theories on why it might trigger him, but I''m going to wait him out to see if he will divulge it.


    "In our experience, those types of screams mean something other than a nightmare. It means someone is dying or dead by the time we arrive. We are all fucked up," Storm replies, sounding haunted. Storm''s eyes are dark as coal this morning. I wonder if what he has been through has caused him to no longer feel the burden of witnessing death. A shiver runs down my spine, but I cover it up by drinking my coffee. I will not prompt him to exin why they are messed up. Instead, I''m going to wait him out. He will tell me when he is ready.


    "Well,e sit with me on the couch," I suggest. He nods, following me. We both sit on opposite ends of my sectional.Copyright by N?v/elDrama.Org.


    "So, do you have a girlfriend?" I ask, steering the conversation to a safer topic.


    "No."


    "When did you move back?"


    "Last week."


    "How''s your mom?" "Fine."


    What is with his sinct sentences? I wish he would talk more. This is bing awkward. Storm isn''t asking me questions, but I''ve already told him about the bar and my father. He knows there is no man in my life. We sit in silence just drinking our coffee.


    When we are done, he rinses the mugs, cing them in the sink. I''m too busy drooling over his perfect physic to realize he has spoken to me. "Huh?"


    He chuckles. "I said thank you for the coffee. I''ve got to go meet the guys before you have us all in this apartment."


    I snap back to reality. "Sure. Yeah. Okay. You''re wee." That is all I can force out. Storm smiles at me, but it doesn''t reach his eyes.


    "Later, my Bonnie," he says, pausing at the door.


    I tilt my head to the side. My. I''m not his. Then again, I have been referring to him and the others as mine. What is wrong with us? None of us are together and I doubt we will be again. "Bye, Clyde," I breathe out and then he shuts my front door.


    If I hadn''t already sat down on the couch, I would have fallen to the floor. I''m not a weak woman, but in the wake of Storm Benson, I be one. I cannot let him do this to me. I have to harden my heart against him before it gets broken once again.


    "Who were you talking to?" Darius asks from the doorway of his room, rubbing tired eyes with the back of one hand and carrying his favorite fluffy anime nket in the other.


    "An old friend of Mommy''s stopped by to have coffee with her," I reply, scooping him up in myp.


    "Will your friend be my friend?" I''m unsure how to respond to Darius''s hopeful question.


    Storm will either not want to have anything to do with me when he learns of the children or work on getting to know them. If it''s thetter, I will hunt him down to castrate him if he dares to leave. Nobody hurts my babies and gets away with


    it.


    "I''m not sure, Hachiman. Anyone would be an idiot to not be friends with you. You''re so lovable." I assure him and then cause him to squeal as I rub my face against his. Hachiman is the Japanese Shinto god of war, archery, divination, and culture. He is the patron of a warrior n.


    My son earned that nickname from my uncle the moment he was born. He is a warrior who had to fight for his life being premature. He was born at 32 weeks with an underdeveloped heart and lungs. For two months he was in NICU. He is my powerful warrior.

 Whos Children

    **Jensen**


    I called my parents to tell them we''d moved back to town. I was biting on a bullet casing the entire time I was talking to my father. I know this wasn''t easy on our parents.


    We can''t exactly tell them we killed some high school boys, so it was getting trained to be professional killers or to go to prison for thirty years or longer.


    My parents were told we got a once-in-a-lifetime ssified job offer. We couldn''t say what exactly it was we would do for them. Luckily, Sawyer and Nate didn''t bother to correct the lie. They were the only ones who knew most of the truth. So, tonight is a family dinner that they have once a week on Friday nights. Dad demanded all four of us show up, no exceptions. I''m positive they missed the guys as much as they did me.


    Carter, probably more so. He is the favorite of the group.


    Carter was forever getting out of trouble as we were growing up, even though he was usually the one to suggest whatever would get us into trouble.


    Lucky jerk. He still has a knack for that, too. The rest of us end up bleeding while he won''t even have a scratch on him. Most of that is because he runs the IT part of our job.


    We arrive at the house. I rode with Storm while JT rode with Carter. My dad drooled over Storm''s ''69 AMC and Carter''s ''70 Torino. My mom must be cooking since Dad is the one who met us outside. That or he hasn''t started the grill yet. "I''m about to start the grill. Come on in boys, I''ve missed you." Dad gives us each a hug.


    He has silver hair at his temples that weren''t there before in his brown hair. He has more lines around his eyes and mouth.


    On our way through the kitchen to the backyard, Mom gives all bear hugs, cooing about how happy she is that her babies are finally home where they belong.


    I have a feeling we are going to receive the same treatment from JT''s grandmother.


    Storm''s mother lives in Texas with her wife. Carter won''t talk about his family. Which sucks because we are good friends with his twin sister Carley and her husbands.


    We head out to the back patio. I''m shocked at how different the backyard looks. There is a whole yground. It''splete with sand, a swing set, a merry-go-round, a seesaw, a jungle gym, and a big pirate ship yhouse with glittering fairies painted on it.


    WTF!


    Just when I''m about to ask Dad about it, I hear gigglinging from the ship and a curly-headed blonde girl pops out on top of the yhouse. She is adorable and looks so familiar, yet different. Carmen peers out from behind it with a giant smile on her face, followed by a blonde guy with tattoos all down his arms. He scoops up the little girl, causing her to squeal.


    Is this little girl my niece? Did Carmen have a kid with the guy?Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org.


    "Help! Mommy! Germ got me!" she giggles.


    Carmen wraps her arms around the man and girl. "I got you both now!" Sheughs.


    My heart clenches at the sight.


    "Grumps!" the little girl shouts.


    My dad chuckles. "Your mommy isn''ting to help you, Katie Pop. You tell your Uncle Germ and Aunt Cary to put you down." The little girl does as Dad says, which confuses me even more. "Do you want me to send Uncle Crew to put them in jail for mutiny?" Dad asks her, amused.


    "Crew put the scallywags in the brig!" Arge bald, ck-bearded, tattooed guy climbs up onto the ship with a foam sword pointed at Carmen and the guy called Germ. A boy with reddish brown hair is on his shoulders. Did Carmen have these kids? When?


    "Aye, aye, Captain Pop!" the boy shouts.


    "To the brig with you vermin," the bald guy says, pointing at them with his sword. I''m shocked to see a big guy like him ying pirates with children.


    Carmen and Germ put their arms up in surrender, smiling at the children as they do as they''re told, climbing down to the bottom of the ship.


    I''m confused because if Carmen is Aunt Cary, who are these children? I know my parents couldn''t have another kid, let alone two.


    I share a confused look with my brothers, who are frowning at the scene before them. I know they want to ask the same questions I do.


    But before I can ask Dad, Sawyeres out carrying a te of steaks to Dad. "Grams said to deliver you your meat now that I''m off the phone."


    Sawyer walks out wearing a navy skater dress with ck leggings underneath and brown t knee-high boots. Her rainbow hair is pulled up into a high ponytail. I feel my cock grow to life at the sight of her.


    Dad thanks Sawyer, taking the tray from her. She then bends down into the small fridge, extracting a local brewery beer from it. She pops the top.


    She looks at us staring at her. "Beer is in here. Help yourselves."


    I watch her throat work as she tips the beer back to drink. My cock twitches and my mouth feels dry.


    Sawyer must be even closer to my parents now.


    She walks towards the pirate ship, my eyes following her. "Ahoy, Captain Pop! Where be Cary and Germ?"


    "Ahoy, first mate Mommy! The crew put them in the brig for mutetany."


    Sawyer arches her brow. "Mutiny, huh?"


    "They tried to assassinate the captain, but I took care of it," the bald man says with a grin.


    Sawyer hugs him. "Good job, crewman Crew."


    That guy better not be her boyfriend.


    She then sets her sights on the auburn boy standing beside the guy. "Crew did us, proud Mom!" Sawyer bends down to eye level with the little boy, pulling him in for a hug whileughing.


    The children are calling Sawyer mommy and mom. Sawyer is a mother. Does that mean the bald guy is the father?


    I fall heavily into the nearest patio chair. I notice the others have done the same around the round patio table.


    "Did we just hear right? Those little children are Sawyer''s?" I whisper to the guys, but not quietly enough since Dad hears.


    "Yep. Those kiddos are Darius and Katie, our pride and joy. Katie is a miniature of when Sawyer was a little girl, minus the curls. I remember when you boys and Carmen first brought Sawyer home with you. She was between Darius''s and Katie''s ages. I think she was six?"


    "How old are the kids, Dad?" I croak out. It''s hard to talk with the lump in my throat.


    "Dare just turned ten a week ago. Sawyer found out she was pregnant and didn''t know who the father was. Nor does she care. She was miserable after you boys left until she found out about that life growing inside her. For a while there, we were afraid Sawyer wouldmit suicide, but Dare changed everything."


    The guys and I share looks of anger, relief, and sadness.


    "Sawyer finding out she was pregnant was heaven sent. She started working her butt off to make a life for that little boy. Then five yearster, here came Katie," Dad says proudly. I grunt a response.


    "Sawyer''s an excellent mother, and your mom and I are so thrilled about being those kids'' god-grandparents. Hopefully, soon your sister and her two husbands will settle down and give us more grandbabies to love," he says with far too much hope and faith. I snort.


    No hope for me, I guess. Thanks, Dad.


    "Wait, husbands?" Carter asks.


    Dad grunts and then points to the bald man first. "Yep, Cruise and the other one sword-fighting Sawyer is Jeremy. Those three have been together for five years now. They were handfasted on a Sunday, which I guess is akin to being married." Dad is so epting. Well, good for my little sister.


    "So does Sawyer have anyone?" I ask Dad, needing to know the answer.


    "No, just the kiddos. Carmen and her guys help Sawyer raise them. So do your mom and me," Dad replies.


    My family is a tribe raising the next generation altogether. I''m so happy Sawyer wasn''t alone all these years while we fought to get stronger to keep her safe.

 Pirate Crew

    **Jensen**


    The children finally noticed my brothers and me. "Who are they, Cary?" The little girl asks my sister.


    My sister''s lips twist into a maniacal grin. Oh no, I know that look. "See the one that looks like me?" The little nods her head. "That''s your missing Uncle Jen, and the other three are in his crew. What''s say you, Captain Pop, should we attack them?"


    We are about to be beaten with foam swords. I can feel it.


    Sure enough, I''m correct. We are surrounded by foam swords held to our throats by Carmen, her husbands, Sawyer, Darius, and Captain Pop herself.


    The little boy looks at Dad, who is flipping the steaks. "Grumps? Do we have more swords? We can''t fight a crew with no swords."


    "Sorry, Hachiman. They are just going to be unarmed this time. I''ll have Grams pick up swords for them when she goes shopping for your uncles." The boy''s eyes widen and so does Sawyer''s, but she turns her head away from her son. "I have more uncles. They are my uncles, Mommy?" The girl Katie asks.


    Sawyer must face her questioning children now. She is chewing on her bottom lip. "Yes, and no. Remember how I exined Cary, Crew, and Germ aren''t blood-rted, but Mommy views them as the family?" The children nod and Sawyer blows out a breath. "Same with these guys. I guess."


    Ouch. That didn''t sound very convincing to me.


    "But Jen is my blood-rted brother and Grams and Grumps'' son," Carmen says, nodding to me.


    I cannot help but smile at the little girl holding a pink foam sword to my throat. Her eyes are wide with wonder.


    "Who are the rest?" Darius asks my sister.


    "I''m Jensen, but you can call me Jen." I point to the man beside me. "This is Storm. You can call him whatever you like."


    I wink at her, which earns me a giggle from the children, but a scoff from Storm.


    I go around the table, pointing at JT next. "This is Jonathan Thomas, but we call him JT. This other guy next to me is Carter." Carter winks at her, which causes Katie to squeal.


    "Car!" she shouts, pointing out to him with her opposite hand. Carter nods andughs, clearly happy about his new nickname. He also seemed a little depressed as well, but it was fleeting.


    Katie looks at Sawyer. "What do you call them, Mommy?" From the look on Sawyer''s face, this could go one of two ways with the nicknames she has given us.


    Sawyerughs. "I''m not telling you their curse names, so I''ll tell you what Mommy called them when we were kids." Katie nods like that is eptable to her.


    Sawyer''s sword is already pointed at Storm''s throat. "Clyde." She points at JT next. "Capone." Now Carter, "Orpheus." Finally, me.


    I gulp. Mine is the most embarrassing.


    "Romeo."


    "Orfus? Like that story, you read me. Orfus and Ridicy," Katie queries.


    Sawyer chuckles.


    "It''s Orpheus and Eurydice," Darius says with an eye roll.


    Does Sawyer seriously read these kids'' Greek tragedies as a bedtime story to her children?


    I thought she would read the kids'' manga instead. She was obsessed with them and anime as a teenager.


    Carter smiles at Katie, leaning into her like he is telling her a secret. "Did you know I call your mom Eurydice? We used to read that story to each other all the time." The children''s eyes light up. "You''re on my crew then!" Katie shouts.


    Seriously!? Carter and his damn good luck!


    Carter salutes her, standing in front of Carmen''s darker husband.


    "Captain Cary and first mate Germ, the other three are your new crew! First, mate Mommy and I will take Car."


    Sawyer cackles. "Avast crewman, Car. We have a ship to defend! Crewman Crew guard Captains Pop and Hachiman well." I watch as they run to climb on top of the pirate ship.


    "All right, Pop has spoken, so it looks like you three are on my crew. It''s usually just Jeremy and me, so we never win. The object of this game is to kidnap Captains Pop and Hachiman while defeating their crew." Storm and I grin at each other. Oh, we got this. Although Carter knows all our tricks, it might be slightly difficult, as we are used to working as a team.


    "Avast crewmen Jen, Storm, and JT! Let''s go capture us a pirate ship!" Carmen shouts. We join her in exmation for the fearsome fight ahead of us.Copyright by N?v/elDrama.Org.


    Dad ends our game when I scoop up Captain Pop in a football carry and run into the house for dinner.


    Storm captured Captain Hachiman, throwing him over one shoulder.


    I help Katie wash her hands as she stands on her purple fairy stool. "That was fun, Jen! I''ll take my ship back when we y again."


    I dry my hands and then ruffle her hair. "You can try Captain Pop, but crewman Storm and I are nning a mutiny to take over the crew from Captain Cary. She is a horrible captain," I say conspiratorially. Katieughs in agreement with me. Mom is smiling at us as we enter and kisses me on the cheek after I settle Katie in her seat. "It''s great to have you home, Jensen."


    It''s great to be home, I think.


    Even if things aren''t the way we left them with Darius and Katie in the mix. I already feel just as protective of them.


    Exining the fact, we are working for a private securitypany went better than I thought. Dad was afraid because of our cars that we were into something illegal.


    I found myself able to get along with both of my sister''s husbands. They both work for Sawyer, which I''m thankful for since that means she is safe with them there. They treat her as though she is their sister outside of work, from what I can tell. After dinner, the guys and I head to Storm''s apartment to drink.


    All of us are still in awe of the fact Sawyer is a mother.


    Our girl is a mom.


    "Why didn''t she say anything about the kids when we talked?" Carter asks.


    "Knowing Sawyer, it''s because she wanted to protect her children. If we''re never going to be around her, why would we need to know?" Storm points out.


    My parents could have told me about them, but they didn''t either. Then again, it wasn''t their business to inform me.


    "Sawyer having children changes nothing." JT is correct.


    We will willingly still protect those children, same as the rest of our loved ones.


    "We could have been helping Sawyer raise them. They could have been our kids if we would have stuck around," I say, still going over the what-ifs of never getting caught and staying in town.


    "Still can be, but it''s up to Sawyer if she wants us in her life again," Storm says solemnly, swallowing two pulls straight from his whiskey bottle.


    I''m not sure how well he will do with children. He has done a lot of things over the years, which makes him an exceptional leader.


    His emotions don''t get in his way. I''m worried that one of these days his emotions are going toe rushing back and cause him to have a mental break.


    "Those offspring are so much like Sawyer. It was like ying with her as kids again," JT says grinning ear to ear.


    Katie had fallen asleep in Carter''sp while we all sat around talking to my parents. When he tucked her into her car seat, I swear I saw his heart swell.


    However, being called ''Car'' once again simultaneously broke it. There is a lot of history for him with that nickname that alsoes with a truckload of regret attached.


    It is a big deal for Katie to give someone a nickname, ording to my mom, too. So, there''s that. Lucky jerk.


    Darius is a sturdy boy who stayed awake the whole time listening to stories of us as children. He didn''t want to get in the car, but we convinced him by getting into ours to go home.


    Storm''s burner phone rings, which can only mean one thing: we have a job tonight. Ugh, it was a nice Sunday night, too.


    "Tempest," he answers, putting it on speaker.


    "You have a job in a nearby town a few hours from you a quick one and done,¡± the man with the same Texas ent as Carter drawls.


    A job for us can mean multiple things, but one and done is code for assassination. "We are sending Gator with the information. He''ll find you. Thank you for getting this done promptly." Promptly means we have a week to gather info and get it done.


    "Yes sir, Fox. We will get it done," Storm affirms to the head of the Death Kings. Fox King is his code name. It used to be the White Fox, but over the years, it has morphed. Even though we know his real identity, we never refer to Doctor Ryder Fuchs-Jamison as anything other than Fox when we are called for a job.


    "Very good, Clyde." The phone goes dead with those sinct words.


    Clyde is Storm''s codename. We all have code names, that are the very nicknames that Sawyer gave us.


    Our lives still revolve around that woman and always will. We don''t know how Ryder knew them when he recruited us, saving us from prison. He is scarily good at information gathering.


    "Well, we should get some sleep. We have a date with the Gator King tomorrow," Storm says, drinking more whiskey.


    JT and I leave, while Carter hangs back with Storm.


    I''m excited to see Gator tomorrow. We haven''t seen him since our first joint job with C.H.A.O.S.

 Surprise Visit

    **Sawyer**


    "Sorry to ruin your night, boss, but I can''t get Dillian to stop blubbering so he can get back to work. He keeps saying I don''t understand his feelings because I''m not a woman." Cruise keeps his rubbing chin while pacing in front of the door to my office.


    My other bestie is not having a good night.


    I sigh, needing to first calm Cruise down so that I can deal with my emotional employee. I pull Cruise into a hug. "It''s alright, big guy. Dillian will be fine. You did what you needed to do."


    "My biggest concern right now is that Carmen and Jeremy are taking the kids for ice cream. It''s going to be difficult to put them to bed, but that''s on those two." I tease him, giving him a wink.


    This is effective in disarming him and lightening the mood. Cruise chuckles, pulling away from me. He is now much more rxed. "We love to spoil those kiddos of ours," he says proudly.


    A smile pulls at my lips. I adore they think of my spawn as much theirs as they are mine. Half the time, it''s as if Carmen and the guys birthed both my children instead of me.


    I love this family I have created for us. Now if I could focus on something other than how good the other guys were with my children.


    Poor Storm was so out of his element with them. It was as if he were afraid Katie and Darius were made of ss and he would break them. Little does he understand my demon spawn will soon have him wrapped around their tiny pinky fingers soon enough.


    I heard a heart-wrenching wailing from my office. I look at Cruise with concern. "If you''re feeling better, call someone in to take Dillian''s shift. I''ll tend to him and then send him home or more than likely to my house after we stop for ice cream and Bailey''s for him to drown his sorrow in," I tell him.


    "You think this is because of his boyfriend?" Cruise asks incredulously.


    I nod to him before entering my office while he goes to make some phone calls.


    "Okay. Dry those tears, D, and tell me all about it. You have practically made a waterfall off my desk," I joke lightly.


    Dillian rushes to me, wrapping his arms around me with tears falling to the shoulders of my ck v-neck shirt I''ve tied into a crop top. I paired it with high-waisted skinny jeans to disguise the mom pouch.


    "He is such an asshole," he gasps between words.


    "What happened?" Dillian sniffles at my question.


    His mascara is running down his face. "He broke up with me as soon as he dropped me off. He told me I was just someone to pass the time with. That he never cared for me the way I did for him. He has been fucking another guy behind my back! He told me he loved that guy. He has been cheating on me for over three months!" He sobs angrily.


    I rub my hand down Dillian''s back. Dillian was so happy with his boyfriend that I thought nothing was odd in their rtionship.


    "Oh, D. You want me to sh his tires and threaten him with castration for breaking your heart? You know I''ll make him bleed for hurting you," I assure him softly. I mean every word.


    Dillian releases a breathyugh. "Oh, hooker, I know you will. He isn''t worth it," he says and then takes a shaky breath.


    I smirk at him. Damn right, I will.


    "Although shing the tires of his Ferrari will make me feel better," he says mischievously and then winks at me with a grin.


    "Let''s do it then, on our way to pick up ice cream. I have a brand bottle of Irish cream liquor waiting for you," I taunt, winking back.


    Dillian groans stepping away from me. "Oh, yes, please, bitch. We can discuss all the things we hate about that man. You can then tell me about the sexy piece you went to lunch with," he says conspiratorially and wipes his face with his shirtsleeve.


    If Dillian were in the right mindset, he never would have wiped his nose on his shirtsleeve. He would be aghast at himself for ruining his glittery pink shirt.


    It''s interesting how he stopped sniffling at the mention of my love life.


    Wait. No. Not love. Sex. Yes, sex I can deal with.


    "Yeah, no. We aren''t discussing him, D. You can y dress up with Katie instead. I''ll even let you raid my closet," I say enticingly to get his focus on something other than Storm Diesel Benson.


    "That''s too good to pass up. You have some sexy clothes I''ve been dying to try on!" Iugh at him, moving to my desk and pulling out a package of baby wipes. It''s probably a good thing Dillian is thinner than me.


    "Come here and let me clean your face," I suggest, holding up a wipe. He does as I ask, so I remove the mascara from his cheeks. "There, that is much better. He doesn''t deserve to see you''ve been crying while we sh his tires," I proim, causing Dillian to chuckle again.


    When we leave, I pause, seeing a tall, broad tattooed man with purple hair in the crowd.


    I know that man.


    I turned to Dillian, handing him my car keys and some money. "You go get the ice cream and I''ll have Cruise bring me home. There is someone here I need to see. We''ll sh your ex''s tires another night when he least expects it," I suggest. "All right, hooker, but don''t do anything I wouldn''t do.¡± Dillian gives me a yful wink and smirk. There isn''t much that man wouldn''t do, so that leaves me open. Not that I would do any of those things with the man who I think I saw. I pushed my way through the crowd to get to him. The purple-haired man is sitting in a booth at the back of the club. He must be waiting for someone.


    One of my servers takes his order with a healthy dose of flirting that will get her nowhere with this man. He is hopelessly devoted to hismitted rtionship.


    I sauntered up to him. "What are doing in my town with no phone call to your favorite niece?"


    "Me cie! Is that you, Sawyer, ma petite cherub?" His gray eyes are wide at the sight of me. He looks the same as thest time I saw him, with a fewugh lines around his mouth. The dimples on his face showed in his smile. He stands, opening muscr tattooed arms out to me. "Come here, you."


    I ran to him with a squeal,unching myself into his powerful arms. I wrap my legs around his waist as he hugs me tightly. He sets me down on the floor. "What are you doing here, Uncle Tee?"


    "I not here to see you, me. Though now that I know you to be here, I might as well stay for a few days to catch up with you and Nate." His Cajun ent is not as pronounced as I remember it being when I was a child. Etienne "Tee" St. Juste is my step-uncle. My grandfather married Tee''s mom when he was eighteen. That was sixteen years ago when I was eight years old.


    My grandfather is about eight years older than Tee''s mom, but they are perfect together. I love my M¨¦mer¨¦ and P¨¨r¨¨r¨¨ dearly.


    I take Katie and Darius on a trip to visit them for a few weeks every year in the summer. asionally, Tee will be there while visiting with his husbands and wife. It''s been at least since Katie was an infant that I''ve seen any of them in person. "Do you have a ce to stay?" I ask him since I seemed to have changed his ns.


    "I was just going to get a hotel room for the night, but I''m sure I can extend my stay," Tee says, running a tattooed hand through his violet hair.


    "You could stay with me? The couch folds out into a bed." I suggest.


    I know Etienne has plenty of money, what with him being married to a millionaire and two of his other husbands being billionaires. That, and he is the current Light Heavyweight MMA world champion.


    "It''s been a while since slept on a couch, me. It sounds perfect. I miss the simplicity of not having a penny to my name," he says with a sigh.


    I smirked since I knew being rich was getting to him. He always cursed about those rich men he loved so much, saying they had more money than sense sometimes.Copyright by N?v/elDrama.Org.


    "Then it''s settled. You''re staying with me. The kids have grown so much. You won''t recognize them. Give me your phone," I say, not giving him a choice to say no. He hands me his phone while murmuring about how time flies by.


    Don''t I know it?


    "Call me when you get done here. By the way, you drink here for free since your family and I own this club. I''ll tell my employees you''re on my approved list." "Good for you, cher. I''m proud of you, me. Looks like you''re doing well despite your Pa being in the mmer," he says.


    I chirp "Yes, I am" while offering him a goodbye. On my way out, I tell Cruise about my uncle first.


    Before I walk to the back door, I see my boys gathering in the booth around Etienne. Tee takes a ck folder, sliding it to Storm. Storm nods and they all take the drinks Tee had ordered earlier. How do my boys know my uncle? As far as I remember, they never met him. Uncle Tee has an exnation to do tonight.

 Catching Up

    **Sawyer**


    I got Katie back to sleep. When Dillian left around midnight after the two of us ate a half gallon of ice cream and, along with a full bottle of Irish cream liquor, the door closing woke her up.


    It took me another half hour of reading Shakespeare''s Romeo and Juliet to get Katie back to sleep. She demands I read that story since she enjoyed ying with ''Romie'' so much two days ago. Darius came in while I was reading to Katie. He climbed into the bed at the opposite end of his sister''s and was back asleep within five minutes.


    Tee arrives at my doorstep ten minutes after Katie falls asleep. He texted me his arrival instead of knocking, thankfully. "I''m so d you texted instead of knocking. I just got the kids to sleep ten minutes ago."


    "I know how it is," he reminds me of the child his family is raising.


    Ali''s sister-in-love and her two husbands were murdered in front of their little boy, who is now a teenager. Kassius adorablybines his mother and father with golden hair and blue eyes.


    To make matters worse, whoever did that had also removed a set of twins from Remy''s womb. The family is still attempting to track them down.


    This was the night before I was kidnapped by Razor Grothman. I wish Carmen and I would have killed the slippery bastard. He just won''t die like some zombie he keeps popping back up every time we think he is dead. "Tabby had her third kiddost month." Tabitha and her four guys are close family friends of theirs.


    "That''s outstanding! Are they done having kids?" I ask curiously.


    "Tabby just wants one more, since they nned on one kid for each of the fathers. It''s beenical since blue balls happen often when they are trying for kids. It''s much better for them between trying for kids, ording to Lawson." Iugh, just imagining those four fussing about blue balls. Tabitha''s husbands are named Lawson, Quinn, Colton, and Erik. They are the Aftermath Crew, who cleans up the Death Kings'' crime scenes.


    I was always visiting them whenever Dad would send me to stay with Tee and his family during the summer. It was great because I would spend one entire month away from home, but it sucked because it meant I was also spending one full month away from my boys and Carmen. Tee would let me call them on his cell. The other two weeks of the month were spent with M¨¦mer¨¦ and P¨¨r¨¨r¨¨. Ryder, Tee''s husband, would send me a cell phone to use while there. I would leave it when I headed back home, since Dad didn''t allow me to have one until I was fifteen.


    I go to the fridge, grabbing a couple of beers for us. We sit close on the couch. "So, how is Ali handling everything? I know it''s difficult for her, since I''m sure she would love to have her own."


    ¡°We can''t change the past, but she sure loves the future. She spoils all those kiddos like a proper aunt. I wish we could visit you more often. We would all love to get to know Darius and Katie. I''m sure they would be in into all kinds of trouble, together with Kass."


    He is right. Darius and Kassius, or Kass, are the closest in age.


    "I have a great support system here. Carmen and her husbands are amazing, and her parents treat the kids as if they were their grandchildren," I remind him.


    "I''m happy to hear you say that, me. You stille to visit us. I get pictures from Maman every time you three visit during the summer," he says.


    I smirk at that. M¨¦mer¨¦ enjoys rubbing it in her son''s face about what he is missing out on when he doesn''te to see her.


    "Fine, we wille to stay with y''all for a week this summer. I can''t take too much time away from work. Cruise does his best to hold down the fort, but he needs help asionally, like tonight. That''s why I was there for a while instead of at home."


    "Good. Anytime you need help with the business, just call Rye. Phone, you." I handed him my phone. When he is done, I have all the numbers of his family, not just that of his wife and her husband, Ryder.


    "Why do I need Cal and Dom''s numbers?" I ask. He shrugs, telling me I never know when something might happen.


    Ugh, typical cryptic Tee.


    "Do you remember Cal trying to teach me to y guitar?" I ask him.


    I was horrible.Copyright by N?v/elDrama.Org.


    "Then he tried to teach me to sing." I shudder and Tee busts at the seams withughter.


    Cal said I sounded like a dying raven. Whatever that means.


    "I''ve never seen Cal give up on someone so quickly. Usually, Ma Brudder has more patience with his students." Tee says that, but I don''t believe him.


    Callum tried to teach me something new each summer, but being musical was not my cup of tea. He would be so frustrated with me that he would start cursing in French while throwing knives at a target.


    "Callum was pissed that you would rather dance with Jax. You were good at it, though. Wished you''d have be a dancer, me," he says with so much pride in his voice.


    My uncles and aunt have always been some of my greatest supporters. I love dancing. The music speaks to me that way. Etienne paid for dance sses to continue what Jaxson "Jax", Tee''s husband, was teaching me until I became pregnant with Darius.


    "I just couldn''t get back into it after Dare was born. I''m happy with my life now, Tee."


    Tee stares at me so intently that it causes me to shift in my seat. Instead of letting him see how much I wanted to continue dancing, I drained my beer.


    He knows I lied.


    Tee stands going to the fridge to grab us both another one. I thank him as he sits back down. "Jaxson wants to open a few studios all over the country for kids who want to dance but can''t afford it. We provide the children with everything they need. We pay the teachers for their time, but it doesn''te out of the kids'' parents'' pockets. We need dance teachers here, cher." I consider Etienne''s proposition.


    It''s nothing new for him and his husbands to do things like this. Callum already has music studios set up around three states to teach kids music, whether or not they have money. The studios provide the instruments that stay there. The teachers are paid by Death Kings Records.


    "You want me to run and teach one of these dance studios here?" Tee jerks a nod.


    "I found a building Jax might be interested in when I was wanderin'' around town today. He will be here in the mornin''." He drinks more of his beer, and I do the same.


    "Rye looked into da club and discovered that since you took over, the profits have quadrupled," hements.


    I roll my eyes. Of course, when I told him I owned the club, he consulted with his other husband.


    Ryder "Rye" is a genius with a head for numbers and strategy. He also has an incredible husky voice with a wide vocal range that made him the perfect lead singer for their band Kings of Death. The band was popr throughout their high school and college years.


    "I wouldn''t mind dancing again, and teaching could be fun. Especially since I''ll be working closely with my favorite uncle-inw." I wink at Etienne.


    He groans, running his hand down his face. "Please don''t tell him that. He''ll rub it in every chance he gets."


    Iugh because it''s so true. Uncle Jax is the goofball, legally married to Tee. This is interesting because I know Rye and Ali are both in a sexual rtionship with them. Dom and Cal are both only in a sexual rtionship with Ali, who Rye is legally married to. Sucks you can only legally marry one person on paper. But they are all handfasted and aremitted to one another.


    By the time we are ready to call it a night, we drink a twelve-pack while catching up about what has happened since thest time we were together.


    I even told Etienne about the nightmares I''ve been having resurfacing. He is the one who helped me work through themst time, so he knows all about what happened to me when was fifteen.


    He reminded me I''m stronger now and well-trained so that I will never be a victim again. I mean, Aunt Ali taught me all the diverse ways to castrate a man and how to peel a dick like a banana.


    I had my uncle in my bed next to me tonight, just in case I woke from another nightmare. This way it''s fresh in my mind so I can purge it quickly by talking to Tee immediately.


    I sleep soundly until...


    "Hold her down,¡± Leroy snarls at Michael and Francis, who are with him. They move to hold my hands while Leroy sits atop me with his hands around my throat.


    I can''t breathe. I need to breathe, but it won''t make it to my lungs with my airway being blocked.


    The only good thing I can think of as he moves is telling me to be a good little whore for him like I am for the college dick I hang with. My boys have never touched me like I''m being touched now.


    I have never felt so helpless in my life. The only good thing can take pride in is that I caused them physical harm by scratching, elbowing, kicking, and punching them.


    Reliving that is not the weird part. Their faces morph into that of Razor Grothman, my living nightmare.


    "Awe now, cher, I think you know where ma pet storm is and I want him back." He purrs in my ear.


    I spit in his face with a manic cackle. "After what you did to my friend, that ain''t happen, asshole." I snarl at him.


    "Oh, cher. Fraid dat was da wrong answer, you," Razor says as he lights a blow touch. "Dis gonna hurt."


    I scream as my skin blisters, and the acrid scent of burning flesh reaches my nose.


    It will be a long time before I can dance again, much less wear my favorite set of heeled boots. Well, once I buy new ones to rece the ones Ransom stole. I gotta say that man has great tastes in fashion. Sure enough, I wake up screaming, remembering the smell and feel of my flesh being peeled away. I check my feet to see the grafted skin on them.


    "Razor," Uncle Tee growls. I nod to him. "We will get him, Cher. He''ll slip up soon enough and once he does, he''ll stay dead this time, even if Dom lobs his head off like he did da Vaquero Muerte."


    I look at the clock-five o''clock a.m. I might as well get up. But, before I climb out of bed, there is a knock on my door. I sigh.


    I really should give Storm my phone number so he can text me instead. The thing is, I kind of like this little morning ritual we have going on.


    "I''ll go get the door and start the coffee, cher. Do what you need to," Tee says, stretching while sitting on the side of the bed in a pair of shorts.


    I thank my uncle as I change my clothes to get ready to start my day with workout clothes. I''ll probably take Tee to the gym with me this morning after I drop the kids off at school.


    When I walk out, I find Storm and Tee in a re-off.

 Oh Lawdy!

    **Sawyer**


    Tee and Storm have their arms crossed over their broad tattooed chests. I must admit, my uncle is hot for a thirty-four-year-old dude. He is just as ripped as Storm, but his muscles are slightlyrger. If these two were anything but human, smoke woulde out of their nostrils like dragons. One would be the color of amethyst, while the other is charcoal gray.


    "Why are you in my girl''s apartment, Gator?" Storm finally growls.


    I just lean back against the door frame, waiting to see how this ys out.


    Gator? I guess Storm knows Uncle Tee then if he knows part of his codename. Uncle Tee is the Gator King of the Death Kings, hired assassins.


    "Didn''t know you had a girl," Tee says with a resting asshole face, but his tone is taunting. He smirks at Storm.


    Ohwdy! Tee is going to let Storm believe I slept with him! Well, I mean we slept together, but in the literal sense not the sexual. That would just be way too gross since Tee is my uncle.


    "I don''t see how that''s any of your business, old man," Storm snarls. Tee scoffs at Storm''s words, rolling his eyes. "Shouldn''t you be in a swanky hotel room?"


    "Why should I sleep alone when I could have a pretty girl in my bed?" Tee questions with an arch of one eyebrow.


    Anyone who truly knows my uncle would take that sentence as the farce it is. He is utterly in love with Jaxson, Ryder, and Ali.


    Just like that, Stormunches himself at my uncle. Storm is an idiot because he fought a man on the ground who is used to wrestling and has a ck belt in Judo. Tee is also undefeated in MMA.


    I was right. Within a matter of minutes, my uncle has Storm''s body twisted up with his head locked into a figure four. This move is illegal, but Tee doesn''t fight fairly. He has shown me many ways to win a fight.


    I sigh, pushing off the doorjamb to stand above the men. "Uncle Tee, don''t kill the idiot," I growl. "I swear if you two wake up the kids, I''m leaving and you two can get the cranky children to school this morning." Tee releases Storm. "Come now, petite cherub. I know what happens when wake da littles. I wouldn''t do dat to ya," Tee pleads sincerely.


    I point at Storm. "You might not, Uncle Tee, but Storm does not know what happens when a child doesn''t get enough sleep."


    Storm is sitting on the floor with one knee bent ck-jawed. It looked like he was in the middle of standing up but fell back down onto his ass instead. "Uncle Tee?" Storm nces from me to Tee. "I stayed with my niecest night, me." Tee finally exins instead of leading Storm to believe we had had sex.


    Bleh!


    "Oh fuck! I thought you had sex with her!" Storm whispers and yells while I scoff, ignoring him in favor of making coffee.


    Yeah right! Just the thought of me fucking my uncle has me vomiting in my mouth a little. Yeah, all my uncles are stupid hot, but they are still the uncles that I''ve known since I was a little girl.


    Tee quietly chuckles, and I love him for that. "My mama started dating her grandfather when she was eight years old. I was sixteen. You also know that I''m married, Clyde. Did you think I would cheat on my loved ones?"


    "You know I as well do how much you never really know a person," Storm deadpans in response.


    "True dat! I like my cock and balls firmly attached where they are to even cheat on dose three. Dere would be no quick death in ma cards," Tee says,ughing, but it''s very true.


    They would castrate him and kill him slowly for cheating on them.


    "If he ever cheated, I would be the first one to help Uncle Jax and Aunt Ali. Uncle Rye still scares the pants off of me," Iment.


    "You no need to fear dat cuddle fox. He might seem cold to you, but trust me, petite cherub, he loves you like his own," Tee assures me.


    I smile, handing Tee the first cup of coffee and giving him a peck on the cheek. "Go sit on the couch. I love him too and you," I say. Tee does as I request.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    I watched Storm finally stand up to sit on the couch with my uncle. I hand Storm his cup and he grips my wrist. "I think you and I need to have a chat soon."


    "No. Not soon, Storm. We are going to have that chat this morning. Tell the other three toe over now. I''m not waiting. I need to know how you guys know my uncle." I snatch my arm back before collecting my coffee and sitting as close to Tee as I can get.


    Within minutes, Carter is making the other three coffees. They are all spread out, with Carter sitting between my legs on the floor. JT is next to me, and Jensen is on his other side.


    Tee''s phone buzzes before the conversation can begin. He showed me the text from Uncle Jax saying he was arriving after nine this morning. He sends a picture of himself stretched out on a couch in a private jet. I tell Tee we can go pick him up after we drop my demon spawn off at school.


    "So, does anyone care to exin how you guys know my uncle?" I ask. Carter choked on his coffee, and I pat his back to help him expel the hot liquid from his lungs.


    "What do you mean your uncle?" Jensen asks.


    "My father is Tee''s stepbrother," I reply sinctly.


    "My Ma married Nate''s Pa fifteen years ago. That makes Sawyer my niece," Tee informs the guys.

 A King?

    **Sawyer**


    "Just so all you understand, my little cherub here has all the same training you guys do. When we found out what happened to her from Nate, we decided she needed to learn self-defense. So, we came here to train her when we weren''t training you couyons."


    "Does that mean she is one of us?" Carter asks.


    "No, she is one of us. She is a Death King, only not connected to any of the teams we have working for us. Sawyer doesn''t work for us like you do," Tee replies.


    No wonder the guys came back loaded with expensive ssic cars. Tee and Arson no doubt rebuilt them, just like they rebuilt my ck ''69 Dodge D500 Crew Cab with a custom lift kit.


    I understand who my uncles and aunt are. They once ran a criminal empire and now work as government-sanctioned mercenaries. They specialize in intelligence, espionage, and assassination. This is all separate from their legal jobs. They have different teams spread out across the country. Many members of each team are wealthy. Meaning most of the money they garner goes right back into weaponry and fake identities.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    One of Ali''s brothers-in-love makes custom knives for everyone hired. You recognize one of Rangers because they have that Corpse Collector brand engraved on the hilt. He also makes custom knives for the public, but they are usually more generic and notced with poison.


    "I get it now. You guys are the reason that the boys didn''t go to prison. Instead, the Kings trained and hired them."


    Now I understand why they left me, but it still doesn''t take away the betrayal I felt then. They disappeared when I needed them the most, after promising they would never leave me.


    "That''s right, cher. Rye knew they were connected to you. Nate had called me, telling me what happened that night. Since they killed for you, to protect you, we couldn''t just let their potential waste away in prison. Didn''t want their reputations ruined or their faces put out in public. We needed ghosts. The moment they were taken into jail, Rye intercepted."


    Tee''s words make me love my uncles and aunt that much more. They are always looking out for me with my best interests at heart, then and now.


    "We weren''t even booked. We disappeared the moment we sold our lives to the Death Kings. We never wanted to break our promise to you, Sawyer, but we were going to either way," Jensen says, looking at me with so much regret in his moss eyes.


    "We faced either being sent to prison for the rest of our lives or going with the Death Kings to New Mexico, then Texas." Carter''s voice was hoarse with emotion.


    He couldn''t look me in the eye as he stroked my barefoot with his thumb. "They stated we coulde back when we were worthy."


    "We are sorry, Sawyer. We were young and reckless. We did not know what we were doing, fueled by rage and retribution. Those boys hurt you in the worst way. They had to die by our hands. We loved you," JT says then mutters under his breath that sounded vaguely like ''still do.''


    I look at Storm, waiting to hear from him. His jaw is tight, and his fists are clenched. Minutes go by with us just staring at one another. Waiting.


    I give up first. "So, what''s y''alls team name?" I ask, even though I already know the answer.


    I have known all along that my boys are Tempest Team and that they work for the Death Kings. Being a King gives me more privileges than the others in teams hired by my uncles. I wanted to hear the truth from their lips.


    Carter knows I know their secret, too. He just didn''t understand that I''m a King. The Viper King to be exact. I''m debating if I want to tell them or let them find out on their own. I think I''ll make them sweat and learn the hard way who I am. "Tempest," Storm finally speaks, forcing the words between his teeth.


    What is going on in my Clyde''s head right now? Is he angry or what?


    As if reading my mind, Tee leans down to whisper in my ear. "Give him a while. He is just now figuring out that his chivalrous notions were bullshit."


    Tee and I chuckle softly at the thought of my boysing back to protect me as men. I don''t need protection because I''m just as deadly as they are.


    Ouch! That must hurt Storm''s alpha asshole pride. No wonder he is enraged.


    "Fuck this!" Storm snarls, darting up and mming my front door.


    That motherclucker!


    "He''ll calm down ande apologize. I better go keep him from doing something stupid, though." Carter kisses my cheek, rushing out after Storm, and closing the door with a soft click. Just then, Katie shouts.


    Stupid Storm waking my child. I have half a mind to stomp after him to tear him a new one for waking my baby up an hour ahead of time. Bastard.


    Katie shouts again, and I sigh, defeated. I take a deep breath to let go of my anger so I can soothe my child. There is not enough life-giving coffee to get through the day at this point. "Mommy, what was that loud bang?" Katie rubbed her little eyes, sitting up and waking her older brother up.


    "It was the door." Then I got a marvelous idea, so I''m not the only one in trouble with a five-year-old. "Uncle Jen came to see us, but he mmed the door shut." Katie gasps, then gets this stern look on her face. "Bad!"


    I grin at my daughter. "You should go tell him how mad you are at him for waking you up," Katie huffs, throwing her covers off her small body in her purple fairy pjs. She stomps out standing before Jensen points a finger at him. "Bad Jen! I was sleeping!"


    I snort, trying my best to hide myughter. Darius just walks to his room to get ready for school. That boy is too quiet in the mornings.


    Jensen res at me usingly, but I just shrug my shoulders with a snicker. "I did not! It was Storm!" He protests.


    Katie ces her little hands on her hips, not believing a word. "He not here. It was you!" I adore that sassy child of mine when it''s not directed at me.


    Before he can say anything else, Katie squeals in delight,unching herself into Tee''sp. "Uncle Tee Tee, you came to see Katie!" Teeughs, squeezing her tight in his hug.


    Katie has never met Tee in person except for when she was an infant. We''ve had plenty of video chats with him and his family over the years, however.


    I''ve missed those hugs my daughter is receiving. There is just something about Tee''s hugs. It''s as though you are calmed instantly, and nothing can harm you. Just being in Tee''s presence is a soothing balm.


    JT sighs mumbling about being chopped liver. I feel slightly bad for him. I drape myself over the back of the couch, wrapping my arms around his neck. I kiss his cheek, whispering in his ear that all good thingse to those with patience. He thanks me, and then I go get myself more coffee.


    Darius makes him feel better by recruiting JT to help him hunt down his missing shoes. That boy never ces them where they can be found easily.


    Jensen cages me against the counter. "That was mean of you," he hisses in my ear.


    "I don''t know what you are talking about," I breathe, trying to ignore his extremely interested dick pressing against my lower back.


    "Yes, you do," Jensen growls. He nips my ear, causing me to jump.


    I press my rear against him to create space, but he lets out a deep groan.


    What the hell am I doing?! These men do not deserve to be back into my life so easily, much less my bed! My body would like to argue thatst point with me.


    I turn, shoving a hot coffee mug onto his chest. "Well, now you can either leave or help me get my spawn ready for school. Your choice." I shouldn''t be letting him spend more time with my offspring, but he is Carmen''s brother, so he is always going to be in their life.


    I find Tee brushing Katie''s blonde curls and pulling it back into a ponytail. "Did you know I used to fix your mama''s hair when she would visit me during the summer? Uncle Cal loved braiding her hair. He came to visit your momma around prom time just so he could fix her hair all up, and Uncle Rye did her makeup for it."


    I almost forgot about that. I didn''t have a date for the prom both years, so Rye and Cal both came bearing gifts of dresses, shoes, and tiaras. They then escorted me to prom both times in a limo and picked me up in one as well. I was the envy of everyone, and no one believed me when I told them that the scary guy in the hood and the white-haired one with a scarred face wearing a suit were my uncles.


    There were times growing up I wished we all lived closer so I could be treated as a princess all the time. If that would have happened, I would have turned into a spoiled brat instead of an independent woman. I wouldn''t trade my life now for anything.


    "Did Mommy look like a princess?" Tee chuckles, saying that yes, I did.


    Jensen and JT are both staring at me now. "It should have been us taking you and Carmen to prom," Jensen growls.


    Iugh. "Oh, get over it! Can''t change the past. Plus, Carmen always had a date. She was so popr it was ridiculous."


    I never minded hiding in the shadow of my bestie. It meant that I got left alone. I had the opposite effect on people. They would flock to Carmen, whereas all I had was re at them and send them scattering. I was feared. Still am,e to think of it.


    Jensen is still glowering at me. I roll my eyes, focusing on my children. "Katie, why don''t we get you dressed while JT makes us some pancakes? He makes the best pancakes."


    "Don''t let your Uncle Dom hear you say dat, cher. It would break his heart," Tee jokes with a wink.


    I gasp, feigning horror. "I would never! If I did, I would never have delicious cannoli for breakfast ever again." Uncle Dom makes the best authentic Italian food ever! Seriously, nothingpares to the big man''s cooking. "True dat!" Teeughs while the other two guys appear slightly ufortable.


    I''m almost positive they are afraid of my uncle. My son isn''t as he sits in Tee''sp with the remote in his hand.


    If the guys are afraid of my uncle, that only means they did something during training to incite Tee''s ire. If that''s the case, then I''m surprised any of them still have their heads attached.


    Tee isn''t called Gator for nothing. He has all the patience of a saint but the lethal anger of a territorial alligator who will drag you down for a death roll before you ever realize what is happening.


    I followed Katie to her room, leaving my son with my uncle. Once Katie is ready, the smell of pancakes wafting through the apartment makes my stomach rumble.


    I didn''t even know I missed the smell of JT''s cooking so much.


    I walked up behind him. "Have you been to the home to see your grandmother yet?" I ask JT, causing him to touch the hot pan with a curse.


    I grabbed his hand, pulling it to the kitchen sink under running icy water immediately. Jensen moves to flip the pancake before it burns.


    JT sighs with relief. "No, I haven''t. After we get this next job done, I''m nning on it."


    That must have been the real reason Uncle Tee was here, to give them assignment info.


    Tee must have thought I moved out of town after high school, which is why he didn''t even think to call me. I attended the local college, getting a business degree. Being a single parent while attending school was difficult for me, but well worth it. I had support, so I never felt the need to move.


    JT returns to cooking while Jensen sets the table. I move around JT in the kitchen, busying myself with making my kids'' lunches while they and Tee are on the floor coloring.


    I heard Katie tell Tee multiple times that he was coloring all wrong. I remember coloring with him when I was younger, and he is awful about staying in the lines. He is much better with a wrench in grease-covered hands. His artistic talent lies in making old cars brand new again.


    By the time I gather the kids'' bags and put lunches in them, breakfast is served. We eat while listening to both children tell the guys all about their school, teachers, and friends. Jensen was the one to ask about it.


    It''s not long before it''s time for me to kick the guys out so Tee and I can drop my children off and head to the airport to pick up Uncle Jax.


    This should be an interesting day.

 Fairy Uncle

    **Sawyer**


    "Mo cherub!" My Uncle Jax shouts, running to me. He lifts me and spins me around while Iugh happily.


    Jaxson has always been the most fun-loving of my uncles. He sets me down, making me giggle when he rubs his freckled nose against mine. Fairy kisses, he calls them. From the very first time he met me, he has greeted me this way. He makes me feel like a little girl again. "That''s enough of dat, you," Uncle Tee scolds him with his arms crossed over his chest.


    Jax looks at him with a knowing smirk, sauntering toward my uncle. "What''s the matter, mo pheata? Are you mad I didn''te to kiss you first?" Tee scoffs at him, but when Jax puts his arms around his neck, Tee''s face softens, and he holds his husband close. "Did you miss me, ma doudou?"


    I snicker at the sound of Tee''s pet name for Jax. ''Pheata'' trantes to pet and ''Doudou'' loosely trantes to pookie or security item like a nket.


    Jax''s reply is to kiss Tee in such an obscene manner that embarrassment creeps up my neck watching them. They are adorable together.


    I wish I had someone that I could be that open with, practically making out in public.


    When the kiss breaks, Tee lets out a soft chortle, "I''ll take that as yes." Jax rolls his eyes, stepping out of Tee''s embrace.


    "Well, show me this ce that would make a good dance studio, Pet," Jax suggests, cing his bag in the backseat of my truck.


    Jax turns to me. "Oh, Sawyer, we can test it out. You will teach dance lessons for me, won''t you?" He sing-songs.


    I ce both hands on my hips, cocking one to the side. "I haven''t danced in ten years, Uncle Jax. Are you sure you want me teaching?" I scrunched up my nose at the thought.


    About two years ago, I could wear heels again after what happened six years ago at the hands of Razor Grothman. My feet haven''t been the same since. Then again, I haven''t pushed to get back to dancing. Jaxughs. "Of course, I do! You were my best student, mo cherub beag."


    I swore to my uncles when I was ten that I would always be their little cherub. My children are now their cherubs as well.


    I must admit, the idea of dancing again sounds tempting. I would need to work to get back into shape.


    I''m sure I could run the dance studio, but that would also mean letting Cruise run my club more often. Cruise is very capable. He just doesn''t know how to deal with other people''s emotions.


    "I''ll think about Uncle Jax," I say. The entire car ride to the honest-to-goodness warehouse Tee found in town, Jax begs me relentlessly until I finally agree to be a dance instructor for him. The man is annoyingly persistent.


    "Fine, but I''m going to need help. Can youe here to dance with me so I can get back into the swing of movements and routines?" I ask.


    Tee and Jax shared a loaded look. "What? What was that look for?"


    "You don''t know, do you?" Tee asks.


    "Know what?" I snap, frustrated at being left in the dark.


    "Do you know who owns that new strip club in town?" Jax asks.


    I frown. "No, it was bought out from underneath me, but I''ve heard rumors. It''s amazing. The sets and choreography are phenomenal. Why?"


    "The owner is a student of mine and I think you know him," Jax hints.


    I look at Tee, who is not being helpful at all. "He came to your apartment this morning, cher."


    "You mean, one of Tempest is a stripper?!" I shout,pletely bbergasted.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org.


    "Oh Seraphim, it''s more than that. You aren''t the only major yer in Gr¨ºle anymore. You havepetition," Jax says just before the real-estate agent pulls up in her little car.


    I''m not that worried about my boys being mypetition to own the town. If they are the same boys I grew up with, they will hand over everything to me. All I have to do is ask.


    Though having Tempest buy up bits and pieces, I don''t already own will work to my benefit. Teaming with them will keep the gangs out of Gr¨ºle. Well, all but C.H.A.O.S. and my team, the Death Angels, that is.


    I still need to share the town with the Louisiana Chapter of the Death Riders MC, the Death Angels, but P¨¨r¨¨r¨¨ is the current president.


    Aunt Ali''s father started the original Death Riders MC in Texas. Her older brother, Grimm, is strict with the bws. The MCs are forbidden to run skin, drugs, or guns.


    Almost everything they do and own is legal. Well, I mean the Death Angel''s chop shop isn''t, but the wrecking yard doubles as one, so it all ends up well. Plus, it gives some kids a job to flex their boosting muscles.


    I was one of those kids, not that my boys even knew that I had been boosting cars to make money since I was ten.


    "Hello, I''m Annie. Nice to meet you, Mr. St. Juste." The brte woman in sensible heels and a navy pants-suit says, first offering her hand to Tee.


    "Nice to meet you person, too. Please call me Tee," my uncle says, shaking her hand.


    "It''s O''Dwyer," Uncle Jax growls under his breath beside me.


    I roll my eyes at this age-old point of contention between my uncles. Uncle Jax thinks that Tee should have taken hisst name when they got married. Uncle Tee refused, and Jax has yet to get over that fact. It changes nothing, so I don''t understand the hangup.


    Uncle Tee''s head snaps to his husband. "Don''t start dat, you," he warns in a low voice that promises severe punishment.


    Uncle Tee then turns back to thedy with a friendly smile on his face. "With me is ma husband, Jax, and my niece, Sawyer. Sawyer lives here."


    He turns so that the real estate agent can introduce herself. She shakes Uncle Jax''s hand.


    She halts when she sees me. "Hiya, Annie girl. How''s your girlfriend?"


    "Leanne is doing just fine, Ms. Seraphim! I haven''t seen you in coon''s age. How''s the little angels?" Annie asks me, giving me a much more enthusiastic handshake than the polite ones she gave my uncles.


    Annie is one of my people, a Seraphim Serpent. I helped her get her business started and introduced her to her girlfriend. She has been loyal to me ever since.


    Like I said, I''m not worried about Tempest attempting to take over. This is MY town.


    "The kiddos are growin'' like weeds. They were excited to see my Uncle Tee this mornin'' when they woke up."


    "Your uncle?" She asks and I nod.


    "Tee is Nate''s stepbrother. I''ve known him since I was eight. He''s my uncle. So that makes Jax my uncle, too. Treat them well, Annie girl."


    "You got it, boss, ma''am. Deys family. I''ll make sure they get a good deal," she assures me, and Iugh.


    "You don''t have to make a deal on this warehouse if they want it. They are loaded, so money doesn''t mean much to them. I just ask for transparency and honesty. If there is somethin'' wrong with the building or it needs work, let us know." Annie beams. "Well, in that case, I can do that. How about we look and discuss as we go, hmm?"


    I nod with a smile, gesturing for Annie to lead the way. She is the one with the key to the chain on the doors of this ce.

 Anger & Gator

    **Storm**


    "What do I do?"


    "Can you be more specific? Like I don''t know, give me a hint or something, Storm?"


    "Carley. She is Gator''s niece," I growl at my best friend and stepsister.


    "Are you talking about Sawyer?" She questions me.


    "Who else would I be talking about?" I say frustratingly.


    "Okay. I know Sawyer is a Death King. So am I. Why is this such a big deal to you?" She questions and I halt my running.


    I was so angry that I went for a run and called Carley to get her advice. Maybe I should have called Jase or Weston instead.


    "She doesn''t need our protection," I ground between clenched teeth.


    "Why is that a problem?" She asks me.


    "Because he was under the notion that they needed to return to protect her," I hear Jasement.


    Over the past three years, we have grown close to the members of C.H.A.O.S. once we put aside our dick-measuring contest for Carley''s attention. Sure, we wanted her on our team to be our medic, but I also couldn''t deny the fact of how much Carley loves them. They are equally in love with her. She is their greatest obsession, and they will always protect her.


    In my head, I thought Sawyer would be more like Carley, needing to be protected.


    "Sawyer isn''t like you," Iment, feeling defeated.


    "Not at all. Sawyer is a lot more like Ali than me. I don''t like to kill, but she doesn''t mind it at all. Sawyer is vicious and powerful. She is a King not just by marriage or blood. She has earned her title," Carley tells me.


    "I''m such an idiot!" I shout, punching the nearest tree. I hear the crunch of a knuckle fracturing.


    "She is not a woman who needs anyone to protect her. Have you not heard the rumors surrounding Seraphim?" Jase questions.


    I realize I''m on speakerphone. "Seraphim? Is that Sawyer?" I ask.


    "Yes, it is!" Carley chirps.


    "Ask around, Clyde," Jase suggests.


    I wish he would just tell me, but I understand he wants me to learn things on my own. This is a growing experience. I want to hate his wisdom, but I know it''s the best way for me to learn. "Fine," I sigh, cradling my hand.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    To make my life more interesting, I hear a hiss that has me freezing his ce. I grew up in Louisiana. I know what makes that sound. I slowly turned around to find arge alligator.


    "What was that sound?" Jase asks curiously. I''m d I have my headphones in to have my hands free.


    "That would be the giant ass gator warning me away. He is right in front of me." I say to him, backing away from it.


    "Oh wow! That''s crazy!" Carley says in surprise.


    "Nah. That''s Louisiana. Gators are everywhere around here, Cactus," I reply to her, keeping my eye on the territorial alligator as I back away slowly.


    "Easy dere. I''m leaving," I tell it in a low voice.


    I''m not about to run. Gators can move surprisingly fast for their size. They can reach up to 35 miles per hour onnd. If it doesn''t catch me quickly, I can outrun it distance-wise since they tire quickly, even so, I am not about to press my luck. "I don''t hear any screaming, so I''m going to assume you made it safely away from the giant reptile I don''t want anywhere near," I hear Jase say.


    I''m now far enough away that I can continue my jog. "Yeah, I''m good. Thanks for the concern, Alpha," I respond to him and then snort.


    "No problem, Clyde. You still enjoying being home?" Jase questions.


    "I am. What''s your issue with gators?" I ask curiously.


    Jase scoffs. "Tee, of course. If those creatures are anything like that man, I don''t want to be on the bad side of one."


    I hummed low in my throat at him. "You have a point. Especially after seeing him and Demon snap necks like they were toothpicks." I respond, thinking back to the fight we were caught in the middle of between the Damned Forsaken and the Ravagers to rescue the man I''m talking to now. Those two men are monsters.


    "We are doing fine. We''ve been buying up what we can of the town, but between the Seraphim Serpents and the Death Angels MC is proving to be difficult. I think we might have run the Serpents out of Gr¨ºle," Iment with my answer to his previous question.


    I hear Jase chuckle with the sound of Carley retching in the background. "That''s going to be tough, brother. Before you ask, you''ll figure out why on your own," he says, as if he could read my mind.


    I grumble at him about his being cryptic. "Did you guys knock Carley up again?" I ask, curious about why she is puking her guts up so early in the morning.


    "Yes, and this time we have no clue which one of us got the job done this time. With Brennan, it''s obvious he is mine, but this one... we have no clue. We know for sure it isn''t Ransom''s since he''s sterile." "It''s a good thing the psychopath of ya''lls group is sterile. Can''t psychopathy be hereditary?"


    "I don''t share the same sentiment. I wanted a Carley/Ransom blend. Regardless, to answer your question, yes, psychopathy can be hereditary," Jase replies. I think he is insane for wanting Ransom to procreate.


    "To avoid bing like Ransom and Camden, individuals need a stable upbringing and firm foundation. They can be valuable members of society. They are very good at excelling in the business world, especially as executives." Jase informs me.


    "Do read the same books Weston has to study for fun or what?"


    Jase chuckles again. "I do. I often help Weston with his papers and coursework, so I need to understand the material to help him to the best of my capabilities."


    I scoff. "You are such a nerd," I joke.


    "One should never stop learning. It''s better to have a growth mindset than a stagnate fixed mindset," Jasements with amusement in his voice.


    I roll my eyes. Jase is wise. I''ll give him that. He is also an overconfident genius that I might be slightly off. Okay, I''mpletely jealous. The guy is good-looking, intimidating, brilliant, wise, with a close-knit family. The type I always wanted. However, because of the things Carter went through and what he has done, I''m missing that. Our trust in him was shattered and now he is a liability I''m not sure I want. To top it off, Sawyer is not who we thought she would be. I''m at a loss. "Ransom is calling. He is working with the Furies who are currently in Japan, so I need to answer this. Talk to youter." With those words, he hangs up before I can say anything else.


    I turn on my music app to listen to some rock music while I run.

 Rehearsal Talk

    **JT**T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    "No. You need to roll your hips like this," Iment, showing the youngest member of my troupe how to move. The kid has some unrefined talent that needs to be polished. Currently, his movements are too stiff, however, once he bes more fluid, he might be more popr than me.


    "No. You need to roll your hips like this," Iment, showing the youngest member of my troupe how to do more. The kid has some unrefined talent that needs to be polished. Currently, his movement is too stiff, however, once he bes more fluid he might make more doing shows than me.


    Ugh, I have a headache. This isn''t working. Maybe he is more of a calisthenics learner like my friend Kage. Jaxson had used his body against Kage so he could feel the movement.


    I move so that I''m behind Dustin. I press my body against his. "Rx into me and move with me. Let me control your body at first." I pressed my hips him into so I could gyrate his hips in perfect synchronization with mine. I spend a few minutes loosening him until his movements are more rxed and fluid. "There. This is what I want." I breathe into his ear... "Rx into me and move with me. Let me control your body at first." I pressed my hips him into so I could gyrate his hips in perfect synchronization with mine. I spend a few minutes loosening him up until his movements are more rxed and fluid. "There. This is what I want." I breathe into his ear. "I''m going to step away so I can see this improve as you move by yourself."


    I return to the front of the stage. Finally, that looks much more fluid. "Good job, Sugar Baby." I praise him and he blushes. The kid is adorable, but not at all my type. I''m still in the with one that got away. "Let''s take it from the top," I order, signaling Carter to start the music over.


    Carter doesn''t leave our sights anymore. One of them always has physical eyes on him. I know Doc Fox said he is good now, but it''s only been six months since he was discharged from the psychiatric facility he was ced in. He had been screwing us over for over half a decade. We don''t trust him anymore.


    We do the routine four more times until satisfied tonight''s performance will be amazing. "Good work everyone. You can go. I''ll see you back here an hour before opening." Showing up early gives me enough time to rece the staff if someone doesn''t show up or at least call to say if they are going to bete. This system hase in handy already when a server decides not to show. It gave her recement time to get here without feeling rushed.


    "I heard Oberon Sidhe is going to show up tonight. Is that why you''re nervous, jefe?" I look at the Latino who is around my age. I recruited them from a club in New Mexico. They are a talented dancer.


    I return to the front of the stage. Finally, that looks much more fluid. "Good job, Sugar Baby." I praise him and he blushes. The kids are adorable, but not at all my type. I''m still in the with one that got away. "Let''s take it from the top," I order, signaling Carter to start the music over.


    Carter does not leave our sights anymore. One of them always has physical eyes on him. I know Doc Fox said he is good now, but it''s only been a few since he was discharged from the psychiatric facility where he was ced. He had been screwing us over for over half a decade. We don''t trust him anymore.


    We do the routine four more times until satisfied tonight''s performance will be amazing. "Good work everyone. You can go. I''ll see you back here an hour before opening." Showing up gives me enough time to rece the staff if someone doesn''t show up or at least call to say if they are going to bete or at night. This system hase in handy already when a server decided not to show. It gave her recement time to get here without feeling rushed.


    "I heard Oberon Sidhe is going to show up tonight. Is that why you''re nervous, jefe?" I look at the Latino who is around my age. I recruited them from a club in New Mexico. They are a talented dancer. "Sidhe is the guy who taught me, so I probably am a little bit. He is a legend, and I''m not sure I''ll be able to live up to him."


    "Jefe, I''ve seen what you can do. I''m not worried. Tonight''s show will be one for the books. Lo tienes." Andres says, squeezing my shoulder reassuringly before they walk away with a wink. I shake my head at them. Lo tienes." Andres says, squeezing my shoulder reassuringly before they walk away with a wink. I shake my head at them.


    Andres knows I''m not interested in them, but they get a kick out of flirting with me. I honestly don''t mind. Most people think we are dating due to how they are with me. I think they do it so they can avoid unwanted attention directed at them. That''s fine. I don''t mind being their shield or buffer or protector. They are my friend.


    I hope Andres is correct. Performing in front of Sidhe, instead of beside him, is nerve-wracking. I need to have confidence in my skills.

 Capones Strip-Club

    **JT**


    The spotlight and stage light illuminate my troupe as we stand ready for the music. I''m in the middle. The music starts as we grind to the beat. As the tempo picks up, gymnastic leaps and flips are executed in front of me. I nod to Dustin and Andres beside me as we synchronize, gyrating our hips with fluidity as our hands remove our shirts. We the beat drops we slide underneath the legs of three other dancers toward the front.


    That''s when I see my Dollface. Sawyer was sitting beside Sidhe, was wolf-whistling and catcalling me. cat-calling me. Gator is sitting on the other side of Sidhe, whispering something in his ear that has him calm down. I wasn''t expecting her to be here with her uncles.


    I can feel my dick stirring to life. I know who I''m pulling up on stage because there is only one person I want to feel the erection she caused.


    Andres, Dustin, and I stand up from crouching in unison. We cause the audience to cheer wildly as we rip off our pants. I nod to the two men, and we move off stage. Andres goes stage right, while Dustin goes stage left, and I move to flip off the apron or forestage.


    "Come y with me, Dollface," I offer my hand out to Sawyer.


    A smirk tilts her ruby lips. "Make me, Capone," she challenges.


    "I was hoping you would say that," I say, giving her a toothy smile.


    I lean down and hoist her over my shoulder.


    Andres, Dustin, and I stand up from crouching in unison. We rip off our pants, causing the audience to wildly cheer. I nod to the two men and we move off stage. Andres goes stage right, while Dustin goes stage left, and I move to flip off the upstage ledge.


    "Come y with me, Dollface," I offer my hand out to her.


    A smirk tilts her ruby lips. "Make me, Capone," she challenges.


    "I was hoping you would say that," I say, giving her a toothy smile.


    I lean down and hoist her over my shoulder.


    "Put me down before I stab you in the glut," she hisses loudly, and I can feel the point of something sharp against my bare skin.


    "I can''t hear you!" I shout, smacking her leather-d derriere hand with my palm. I shout, smacking her leather-d rear hand with my palm.


    She gasps at the assault, and then I feel the paper-cut sting of her drawing blood. Jokes on her. This only makes me want to see how much more I can tease her. The oxytocin goes through my brain, making my dick twitch.


    I moan beforeying her out on the floor with me above her. I lean to speak into her ear as my hips move to the beat. I lick the shell of her ear.


    "You can make me bleed all you desire, doll. You could bleed me out and I''d die happy because you caused the beautiful carnage to my body," I growl.


    I grind my hips toward her center as her dark eyes widen. She cuts the outside of my arm, but I groan. I involuntarily thrust against her. She moans my name. I involuntarily thrust against her. She moans my name. When the beat changes, I''m brought back to my senses. I crawl back away from her, only to quickly twist and slide so that my legs are underneath hers. I twist her so that she is on top of me, sitting on my thighs. Her knife glides from my vicle down my sternum and between the valley of abdominal muscles to the edge of my banana hammock. Blood slowly leaks up to the surface.


    "Lick it," Imand and to my utter shock, sheplies.


    "I hate you, Capone. But fuck me, do I wish I could ride your cock." Her husky voice in my ear has me stuttering offbeat. offbeat.


    That''s when the music stops and the lights go out. I stand above her, reaching a hand out to help her up.


    "Let''s cheer our exceptional volunteers," Carter''s voice booms over the speakers.


    I don''t want to let her go away from me. I want to keep her, but I know that''s possible. Now right, at least.


    "You have some amazingly nice moves, Capone. It''s no wonder this ce is always packed. I should have known from the name this ce is yours." She saunters away from me, and I frown.Copyright by N?v/elDrama.Org.


    "Tierra al jefe. We got more set to do," Andres snaps in the face, causing me to look at him drolly. We got more set to do," Andres snaps in my face, causing me to look at him drolly.


    I huff. "I know. I get to do all my dances work this," I grumble, gesturing to my painfully hard member attempting to peek out of its spandex.


    "We could get someone to take care of that for you..." He suggests seductively.


    "No one else is her," I grumble.


    I huff. "I know. I get to do all my dances work this," I grumble, gesturing to my painfully hard member attempting to peek out of its spandex. "We could get someone to take of that for you..." He suggests seductively.


    "No one else is her," I grumble.


    "Aye, que l¨¢stame!" Andres groans. "Have you not fucked since Carley ended your throuple when she moved?" Andres asks, disbelieving. "Nope. I''ve had no desire. My hand works just fine."


    "Then use Senor Mano quickly. That crowd will not wait for you," hements, as I watched two men work the crowd on a smaller stage to the left of the room.


    I find Sawyer with her uncles at a table, not paying any attention to the other dancers. I hummed under my breath and then agreed with Andres, exiting the door to the right of the stage.


    I will win you back, Sawyer. I will let you carve yourself into my skin. I''ll bleed for you if that''s what you want. Cut me to pieces. I''ll bleed for you if that''s what you want. Go ahead, slice me up, Dollface.

 Shoot Me

    **JT**


    Sawyer along with her uncles, which still seems weird to me, are still in the club even when I was done with my dances for the night. I am exhausted. My duties as a boss could wait until the morning, but my private shower in my office was calling my name.


    I didn''t make it to my office because I saw a man pinning Sawyer up against the wall with her uncles nowhere to be found.This content ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    I mentally growled, or maybe it was out loud because one of my serving girls jumped out of her skin as I walked by. She dumped the drinks she had on the floor, breaking several sses.


    "I''m sorry about that, Shea. Let me help you clean up," I tell her, squatting down to pick up the ss. "Go get the broom and mop. I got the ss."


    "But, boss..." she starts to protest, but I cut her off with a disapproving re. She gulps and then rushes away.


    The good thing about this is that Sawyer, the guy, had broken apart, and she was now squatting down to help me out. "Thanks," I grunt.


    "Why were you mean muggin'' me, Capone?" I deny her im, but she stops me. "No excuses," she snaps.


    Shea saves me from answering by arriving with the broom and dustpan. "Here is the broom and dustpan, Mr. Brandt. I''ll get it cleaned up," she rushes. Several of the other girls hurry over to help as well.


    "Come on, Boss. Let''s get you in the shower. You have a dor still stuck," Cherry reaches for my crotch, removing a dor bill stuck on my inner thigh, so close to my dick. I''ll get you off while we are there," Cherry says, giving me a wink. I look to see Sawyer''s response, but she is gone. I look back at Cherry, unamused.


    "Cherry, I have told you many times that I appreciate the offer, but I''m good, cher," I inform her standing. "Now, in which direction did the woman who was helping me go?" "Um, she left with Tony," Cherry replies nervously.


    "Tony. The regr. Orders gin and tonic. That Tony? The one with a tattoo on his neck?" I question her.


    She nods at me emphatically. "Which direction?" I unintentionally snarl at her. She points, and that''s the way I storm off in nothing but a G-string and robe.


    Tony has a Damned Forsaken tattoo on his neck. He is one of Razor Grothman''s boys. Is Grothman after her for her connection to us? Is he going to use her against us?


    When I arrive at the door that leads out back, I spot rainbow hair exiting. There are too many people I cannot get to her quickly. No sooner I was out the door than I heard a suppressed gunshot further down the alley.


    I shout her name, sprinting to find... Sawyer stood over a body and held her gun. She has her back to me, but I would recognize that sultry voice anywhere. She has her phone to her ear talking to someone. She gives the location of the club. "Yeah, I''ll make sure no onees this way. Just send them toe clean up this trash." Herughter sounds condescending. "Like I have ever had a problem. The idiot thought he was going to kill me for Grothman by stabbing me." Herugh turns caustic.


    She turns, noticing me. "I''ll talk to youter. Just send them to get this cleaned up. Love ya too!" She looks at me, concealing her gun. "Hey, Capone." She gives me a saucy smile.


    "You are a Death King. You are just as lethal as they are," Iment with my arms crossed over my chest and a frown on my face.


    "Well, I didn''t have you guys to protect me anymore. Plus, I wanted to make sure I could protect myself and then some. What a matter, Capone? Were you hoping I''d remain a damsel in distress?" She asks me, crossing her arms to mimic me. She is unconcerned with blood sttered across her clothing and face.


    I drop my arms and saunter toward her with a purpose. I reach out, gripping her chin in my hand. She sucks in a sharp breath, and I cannot help but feel smug as her eyes be hooded with lust.


    "On the contrary, Doll. I''m not Storm with a white knightplex. I like the fact my woman can take of herself. It means you''ll have no problem putting a bullet in one of us who crosses the lines you draw." I nip her bottom lip with my teeth. I feel her gun press on rock solid cock. I bark out a sinctugh. I release her and hold my hands up in surrender while I back up a few steps, grinning like a fool. She quirks a dark brow at her.


    "Shoot me, Dollface. Make me bleed. So long you''re the one doing the bloodletting I''ll you do whatever you want to my body." Her eyes blow wide at my words.


    My ck silk robe falls open and her gaze travels down my body. I don''t hide my scars with tattoos like many of my friends do. I''m proud to show them off, but I feel as though Sawyer is attempting to catalog them while guessing what caused them. Sure, I have a few scars I''m not proud of on the inside of my thighs, but I haven''t cut them in years. Not since I started talking to Weston Chancler.


    "You would give that much power over you, JT?"


    "Oh, Doll, I''d give you all the power over me you want, so long I get the same amount of power from you. Equal exchange is what I want, Sawyer. If you want submissive, then that would be Carter. I''ll be a submissive but only if I can switch to being a dominate. I''m a moody bastard," I warn her.


    She hums under her breath and then puts her gun away just as Sheaes running up behind. "Boss! We need you! Fight. Someone touched. Help," she says breathlessly.


    Sawyer moves beside me so that we can use our bodies to block Cherry from the sight of Tony with a bullet in his head and blood around him.


    When I say nothing to Cherry, Sawyer nudges my knee with hers. "Go take care of your club. I got this."


    I look down at her. "I know you do, Dollface. Or should I say, Seraphim the Viper King?" She looks at me in shock. "Yeah, I know. Storm and Jensen are still in the dark. I''ll let them use their brains."


    She asks me how I found out. "Strippers like to gossip, Doll," I reply with a wink. "You''re well respected and feared. I leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Let me know when you''re ready to be degraded and dirtied by my hands. You know where to find me." I nip the sensitive patch of flesh just behind her earlobe and then give a soothing lick.


    I moved away from her, standing to my full height. "Let''s go eject and ban someone from my club," I tell Cherry.


    "Let me know who it is, and I''ll ban them from my establishment," Sawyer says as I walk away.


    I don''t look back, just hold up a hand to her in acknowledgment as I walk away. "Will do. Later, Dollface."


    "Did you seriously just call Ms. Seraphim, Dollface? Do you have a death wish?" Cherry hisses at me disapprovingly.


    I chuckled at her, not worried about Sawyer retaliating against me for clear disrespect. I smirk. "She was my dollface before she ever became the leader of the Seraphim Serpents. That woman is mine. She just doesn''t know it yet." I give Cherry a wink, who is looking at me, aghast. I shake my head at her, opening the back door for her to enter through first.


    I''m foremost a Southern gentleman. I open the door for women and older adults. I was raised with manners by my grandmother. If I didn''t use them, I''m certain she would still be able to ear me down, just like did to me as a kid. I adore my grandmother. I''ll be visiting her tomorrow.


    But first, I got a job to do which started by cutting the music and turning on the lights. I spot my bouncer struggling to keep two men away from each other, little doe-eyed Shea in the middle, beingforted by a few other girls. Shea is a server, not a dancer, so shouldn''t have been touched at all.


    I see blood painted on the walls and dead bodies on my floor. Mentally, anyway. Thest thing I need is for anyone to find out that I''m a hired assassin. I take a deep breath and demand to know what happened in a booming voice.

 Ruined Plans

    **Sawyer**


    Jonathan Thomas Brandt is more than just a pretty face with a lithe, chiseled tattooed body. He just might be the gossip king and I''m finding that highly interesting. He differs from the boy I knew, and I''m not entirely sure if I''m satisfied with that or not.


    One thing I know is if I give him the slightest amount of power over me, I will temporarily give up being Seraphim in an instant to be the Sawyer who will bend to this man. I will let him happily ruin my body. That may not be a bad thing to do in the bedroom, but with himes three other men who differ vastly from my Capone.


    Capone. Nicknamed after Al Capone, an American mobster from the early 1900s. JT was fascinated by this man and mobster/gangster movies, especially the one based on Al Capone''s story. Since he was around twelve, he would be dressed as a 1900s mobster/gangster in a pinstriped suit with a fedora on his slicked-back blonde hair. He was obsessed. When he took to calling me Doll or Dollface, that''s when I jokingly called him Capone. It stuck.


    Now my Capone is all grown up. He went from being an awkward nerdy kid inrge stic frame sses to a walking masterpiece of male perfection. It''s no wonder people want this man and pay good money to see him dance. Those moves of his... the way he rotates his hips...Copyright by N?v/elDrama.Org.


    I inwardly groan. I want him. I used to view him as just a friend, but now... I want him to do all kinds of sexual things to my body. I don''t want to be just friends with JT, no I want him to dominate me while I fight him every step of the way. I don''t want him to be gentle; I want him to make it hurt. Pleasure-pain, that''s what I''m craving from him now.


    I don''t need him or the other Tempest boys to protect me. I''m capable of that on my own. Razor Grothman is missing a hand because he kidnapped the wrong woman in an attempt to cripple the Death Kings further than what he already had. He should have sent hired killers toe after me like he did with Lucifer Malkin and his family.


    Lucifer''s pregnant wife, Remy, and his metamour, Owen, were killed in front of him. It looked like he was trying to reach them in hisst moments of life when Ali and Callum found them hours after their death.


    Remy, Ali''s sister-inw, was on the verge of giving birth to twins, which were removed from her womb. My family still hasn''t located them. Whoever took the babies was careful to cover their tracks, but eventually, the Death Kings would find them. They wille home.


    Little Kassius, their son, has undergone extensive therapy. He will need continuous support because of the trauma of witnessing his parents'' death and his newborn siblings being kidnapped. He was only eight. They found him hiding in a crawl space beneath floorboards under his parent''s lifeless bodies. Even in death, they protected their son.


    He is now a teenager, having been adopted by the Death Kings. Not only do they have Kassius, but recently another child around his age named Alister Cain Nyx, or AC for short. Those two are dangerous together. They are lovingly referred to as the Murder Twins.


    Their kills are messy, and the Aftermath Crew curses them. It got so bad that Ryder now has them help the Aftermath Crew clean. This way they can learn to either not make a mess when he sends them to kill somebody, or to clean up after themselves. With these two, it will be thetter.


    Speaking of the little demonic heathens, here they are to clean up my mess. "I didn''t know you two were in two were in town. What did you two do to give Ryder a headache this time?" I tease them.


    "Dad sent us to this All-Boys boarding school in bama," Kassius replies, rolling his eyes.


    "That bad, huh?" I ask, fighting to hold back myughter. I was spoiled by the Kings when I was a child. These two are always in trouble.


    "We are to be your flunkies since we are closer to you. Warning, curfew will be at ten," AC snarks.


    "We got to the hotel room to have sex," Jaxson booms as he walks with Tee beside him. "In the middle of me getting pounded by my husband, the Murder Twins show up at the door while Ryder blows up my phone." "Since we are here. We will be droppin'' da kids off on Sunday ta da boarding school Rye an'' Dom be fundin''. Dese two can''t behave none," Tee grumbles, pointing at the kids.


    "So, they are a pain in boss Daddy''s side, so he sends them to insane Daddy. That makes no sense," Carmenments.


    I sigh her name. "Ryder sent them to Tee, not to Jax. They are on their best behavior for Tee. Just unlike Uncle Jax is. The boys seem to only respect Tee and Dom as parental figures. Dom is in Italy with his uncle."


    "So, they send the shithead gowls to Tee," Jaxson snarls. "Feckin'' ruined my fun," Jaxson grouses with a pout.


    "Who cares, Da? You all fuck like rabbits, anyway. I swear someone in the house is always having sex," Kassius mouths off.


    Oh shit! I forgot how disrespectful these two are and it''s all the Death Kings'' fault they were raised to be like this.


    "Don''t be talkin'' ta your Da dat way, you," Tee warns in a low voice. Kassius lowers vibrant blue eyes, shifting on his feet before he looks back up with a quiet ''yes sir''.


    AC snorts at his brother, which earns him a re from Tee. The dark-headed kid clears his throat and then collects himself before apologizing to my uncle.


    "Now dere ma, Doudou. It does no good ta be whinin''. Dey got on Chouchou''sst nerve an'' you know how Ryder gets when dat happens. It''ll take Ali and Cal days ta get him to be stable again. Da best tang we can do is keep our kids for dem."


    Jaxson huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. He rolls his eyes and stomps a foot, clearly not happy.


    I look at Carmen, who nods, reading my mind. We need to get the kids busy while those two deal with Jaxson''s tantrum. My uncle Jax might be the most renowned assassin in the world known as Sidhe, but one of his personalities is a petnt, unreasonable child.


    "Kass and AC, get the supplies out the back of the van Carmen arrived in. We have Damned Forsaken that needs to be delivered back to its owner." The boys nod, following my order.


    "My dear uncles, leave," Imand, which has their eyes snapping to mine. "I have the Murder Twins. You two go back to the hotel. Nothin'' gets aplished when Uncle Jax is sullen and horny."


    Tee scratches the short dark stubble on his face. "You sure, Cherub?"


    "Yes. Bye-," I drawl in a high pitch.


    "Okay, but if dey is any trouble..."


    "I''ll call you. Go," I assure him. He nods, grabbing a pouty Jaxson by the back of his neck and directing him back to my sports car Uncle Tee rebuilt for me.


    "I look at Carmen. Well, there went my idea of taking JT up on his offer," I mumble to myself, but Carmen overhears.


    "What offer? Spill the tea!" Carmen says excitedly. I told her about the conversation between JT and me while we stood over this body. While we talk, the twins set to work dismembering the body to make it more portable so it will easily fit in the lined stic storage box.


    Hopefully, after this, I can find out what they did that forced the Ice King to ship them off to an all-boys boarding school. The only school I can think of near here is Venin Federation Academy. One designed for children like them raised by heads of highly respected mafia and mob leaders, or by mercenaries and assassins. It''s only a six-hour drive from here to there.

 Returned To Sender

    **Razor**


    I made myself at home in a secluded trailer park surrounded by my crew. And unfortunately, my Momma. Being one-handed isn''t easy and thankfully I have a caring woman to help me. Also, by her being with me, the Death Kings can''t try to use her against me again.This content ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    The Kings used my momma to trade for their niece years ago when I took her just after my hired assassins killed three members of their family. I don''t know what''s wrong with women who are involved with the Kings. They are little sluts with multiple lovers. It just isn''t natural. I like a proper monogamous rtionship between one man and one woman.


    Now, I must admit I didn''t think Gator''s little niece would be skilled enough to get the drop on me to sever my hand when I kidnapped her. It was so easy to do because she was the one who didn''t have a team of men surrounding her like the others.


    But, oh, that fucking little Viper Bitch was smarter than I thought. Because of her, I was chased out of Louisiana. Which is where Tempest is now living. I need to get to them both.


    Those Serpents of hers make it impossible for me to leave the safety of the muddy river haven this state provides me. Sure, I send my men, but they have disappeared too. I don''t know whether it''s Tempest doing or if it''s the Viper Bitch and her Serpents.


    "Derek, we got a package!" My momma hollers. "It''s heavy. Come help me with your strong arm." That''s what she calls the arm that the hand wasn''t removed by a buzz saw. In hindsight, I probably shouldn''t have that left plugged in, but I was looking forward to using it to maim the curvaceous, yet toned woman.


    I still remember that day, clear as a bell.


    *I sent four bodies to Doctor Shaw, who sent a soldier to kill the smallest family rted to the Death Kings. They killed the people known as the Death Princess (for her rtionship with the leaders of the Death Riders MC), Hellfire (the arsonist), and Fae (Sidhe''s younger brother). I was impressed with the photos they sent as proof.


    Initially, I nned to release my pet storm and bring him back home. However, when I saw the woman who had confined him leaving the facility, I couldn''t resist. I remember him saying something about this brte bombshell being the Gator King''s niece.


    She was on the phone but that didn''t stop little old me. I pulled out my gun and walked behind her. With my gun pressed to her temple, I whisper in her ear, "Awe. Did youe here to see my little pet storm? How sweet of you." "You motherfucker!" She drops her phone to pull out her gun, but it''s a littlete since mine is already pointed at her head.


    "Now. Now. I wouldn''t be trying to get a gun right now," I whisper. "Instead, how about a little nap?" I ask, pulling my chloroform soak rag out of my pocket. But as I do so, the heel of her foot connects with my family jewels. I was shocked momentarily enough for her to get away. I fire my gun at the bitch, not caring if I kill her or not know. She dives behind a car, and I do the same, so she won''t shoot me.


    I''m not alone. I signaled to my crew members. Tempest''s obsession does not know he is creeping up behind her as I distract her with gunfire. He ces the chloroform fabric against her mouth and her nose. Out she goes.


    I picked up the phone to see my Pixie''s round, adorable face. "Well. Well. If it ain''t ma little Pixie. I''ming for you, darling, so just wait for me. I have more Death Kings to kill before I can. First, I''ll be ridding myself of storms and snakes before I''m in the mood for some chaos," I tell her. My n will take time, but it will be worth it.


    "Derek. We know where you are. You won''t have time toe for me. Are you the one who killed Remy and her husbands?" she questions. Oh, so that''s the MC princess''s name.


    ¡°See, I knew you were smart, but here''s the thing, Pixie. I outsourced that one. Fae''s old man sure had some powerful enemies, and so did Hellfire. Their woman was coteral," I say, attempting to sound vague. I can''t give my entire n now, can I? That would ruin my fun.


    "The babies?" She gasps, looking at me with disbelief and sorrow. I like this look on her. I wonder what type she would make when I kill her lovers?


    "Sold separately. You see, the family only wanted a boy. They need a spare in case the heir doesn''t live up to expectations. The girl, well, there isn''t much use for pussy. Maybe she''ll be raised as a dutiful servant. I don''t really know, nor do I care, so long as the Death Kings suffer looking for them," I reply proudly.


    That''s the best part. I thought ahead. I had a buyer lined up looking for an infant that would match his family. They needed a redheaded baby boy. That''s what I found when I learned Fae was these babies'' biological father. Fae looks just like his ginger older brother, so I knew the family genes were strong. I couldn''t ount for one being a girl, so I only got half my money from that, but that''s okay. She was dropped on the doorstep of an orphanage.


    "I owe you for my eye, Grothman. I''ll be collecting my payment from your corpse soon," Ransom threatens in a deadpan tone.


    I look down at the phone to see him with his missing eye covered by a patch covered in glittering rhinestones. "Ah, purdy eye. How I''ve missed you. I keep your eye on me wherever I go. It''s my most prized possession, just like Pixie will be. I''m going to have fun breaking this Viper I found." I pan the phone to my man carrying her unconscious body away and then back to me. "She reminds me a lot of a certain former leader of Les Mangemorts. I believe they called him the Cajun Gator King."


    See, I know Tempest''s obsession is the niece to Gator, who leads a newly formed crew called Seraphim''s Serpent. She is known as the Viper King, Seraphim.


    "Tempest is going to destroy you and that''s if the Serpent''s Witch doesn''t get to you first," my Pixie hisses at me beside Purdy Eyes.


    "Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock. Your head will POP! The clock strikes none. Your time is done. Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock. The Death Kings will stop your clock," the Evil Sidhe King taunts from somewhere near my Pixie.


    His manicughter and threat do nothing more than make me furious and more determined to see the Death Kings rotting in the ground while dissolving in lye.


    "We''ll be seeing you soon, Razor," Jasey Boy warns. I doubt that. Alpha won''t find me. I''m a phantom.


    "The whole family will be. You better run," my Purdy Eye threatens. I''m done with this, so I hung up.


    We took the Viper to a building in the process of repairs. In the room she is kept is the buzz saw I''m looking forward to torturing her with. She is a beautiful girl, but I think I might have a finger to keep so that I can remember our time together. I don''t want her eyes because they are shit brown, so boring.


    I started up the saw because first, souvenir. I don''t know how she got untied, but the Viper Bitch tackled me into the saw table. The next thing I know, the buzz saw ising down my wrist.


    I scream in pain. My men rushed in, but the woman grabbed my gun, shooting them both in the head. I made a grievous mistake. I underestimated the Death Kings'' training. The Kings are legends for a reason.


    The Viper Bitch got away from me. All I got as a reward was a


    severed hand that she took so I couldn''t get it reattached. *


    I help my momma push the knee-high giant cardboard box into our little RV. When my momma cut open the box, I knew what was inside from the rancid stench of death. I tried to stop my momma, but she opened it, letting an ear-piercing screech at the sight of the dismembered body inside before she passed out.


    Thank goodness. I love that woman, but screaming is a waste of breath. My pixie didn''t scream, and neither did the Viper. No, they were both confident in their skills.


    No matter, I''ll be hiring the same team that killed part of the Death Kings'' Family, to kill that Viper bitch alongside the traitorous Tempest. As soon as I can get the payment to them, that is. I wonder if a dismembered body would work. I called and asked.


    "Shaw,"es the sinct answer.


    "Can you use a dismembered body?"


    "So long as the heart and brain are still in this body, I don''t see why not."


    I dig around the box. "Intestines are there. Here is the liver, I say, holding it up. I found the stomach." I pull the head out from amongst the intestines. "Looks like the brain is still the head." I admire the Serpents'' work. This box isn''t leaking at all. I continued to dig around, finally feeling the upper torso at the bottom of the giant box. I feel up in finding the heart within the chest cavity. "Heart''s still here, doc."


    The man hums under his breath. "Send it to me. Do you have any others?"


    "Not yet."


    "The deal was ten bodies for the death of ten people whose bodies we cannot take. Until then, no death. Nine more to go, Derek." The line goes dead.


    I don''t know why they want the bodies, but if that''s what it takes to see my enemies dead so I can have my Pixie back, then that''s what I''m going to do.


    I steal the box back up to call my guys to deliver this to the drop-off point where Doctor Shaw will take this body off my hands.


    In the meantime, I call someone toe help me tuck my momma into bed. Bless that woman, but she has no stomach for the work I do.

 Long Day

    **Sawyer**


    "I''m sorry to have called you in and ruined whatever you had going with these two," Din says with a wink of their sparkling neon pink eye.


    "D, sweetie, I love you, but I will not go to jail for fucking children. These two are minors. They are fifteen. To top it off, they''re family."


    "Well, they look legal," Din says with a wave of their well-manicured hand, sporting a set of neon marble coffin nails.


    "Thank you for thepliment, gorgeous," AC purrs at them.


    Dillian makes a show of themselves as if they are hot bothered by this teenage flirt. "Oooo, baby. I wanna keep you." They croon, giving the kid a wink.


    Kassius watches the exchange with a smirk, and I roll my eyes at them. "The boys are here to work D, not have fun. They got into major trouble with their father and mother, so they are now going to be attending Venin Federation Academy and working for me."


    "Let me just put it this way, babe. We lovingly refer to them as the Murder Twins for a reason. So, it''s best to not involve yourself with the little psychopaths."


    "Says the woman who likely has psychopathy," Din teases.


    I grin at them. "No baby, I just canpartmentalize where it doesn''t bother me to kill someone. I feel emotions like everyone else."


    "She''s a soldier, just like we are," Kassius states.


    He isn''t wrong either. That''s how the Death Kings operate: a family of soldiers andmanders. "The difference is, I may have started as a soldier, but I''m amander now," I remind him, so he understands I have the authority they don''t possess yet.


    "Look at you, D! You are looking on fleek, hooker," Carmen says and whistles at Din when she walks through my office door.Copyright by N?v/elDrama.Org.


    I yawn heavily. I had a restless night and a hectic day looking after the kids and running errands. I''m not sure that I''ve eaten at all today as it rumbles.


    Cruz walks with a thunderous face. He is livid.


    Carmen gives him an enormous hug and rubs the creases on his forehead. He lets out a sigh and his features soften at his wife''s touch. I''m so jealous. I want someone who defuses me like that.


    He bends down to give her a sweet, brief kiss and thanks her for the hug he needs. He then turns Carmen in his arms so that her back is leaning against the hard nes of his muscr body.


    "Sorry to call you in, boss, but it''s been a shit show tonight. We had to toss and ban a group of drunk frat boys for harassing the servers and bartenders. Jeremy ended up in a fistfight with several of them. He is in the restroom getting cleaned up."


    "I''ll go check on him," Carmen assures me and then leaves without another word.


    "Three of the girls didn''t show up for their shifts," he says with a sigh.


    "So, we are short-staffed?" He nods at me.


    I look at the Murder Twins. They can''t legally serve alcohol, but they can help Jeremy by being bouncers. These boys can take down grown men three times their size without breaking a sweat.


    "Kass and AC can help Jeremy. Where are the three girls, no-call no-shows?" I question. Cruz nods this bald head yes. "They are to be terminated effectively immediately," I state. "For tonight, I guess you, Carmen, and I will fill in. How bad is he?"


    "ck eye and bleeding knuckles, as far as I know. He will be bruised and sore tomorrow, for sure. I couldn''t get to him and help, but a guy dressed like a 1940s gangster helped him." My attention perks at this tidbit of information. "Is the guy still here?"


    "Yeah. I got him set in a VIP booth with unlimited free drinks. Why?"


    "Because I need to personallye to the aid of my employee," I tell him and he nods to me in understanding.


    "Take the boys, get them set up with earpieces," I tell Cruz, who eyes the boys as if he thinks they won''t be much help.


    "Trust me, Cruz. I''ve seen these boys fight. They''ll do well tonight as bouncers. They are minors, so can''t have them serving alcohol."


    "Okay. If you say so, Sawyer. I know better than to doubt you."


    I give him a wink. "Damn right, you do. Now you take the boys while I go talk to a customer who will drink for free from tonight on."


    "What about me?" Din asks. I forgot they were there.


    "Just go do your job. Why are you here, anyway?" I question them.


    They bit their lower lip, shifting their tform-booted feet. They are nervous, but why?


    "I hate to ask this of you, but I''m going to need a few weeks off." I''mpletely taken about. Din has never asked me for a day off, much less a few weeks. Something is wrong. "When do you need them off?" I question.


    "I know we sort three people and I hate to put you in this position, but it''s important," they rush out.


    "I usually have to force you to take days off, so I''m just surprised. It has to be vital for you even to ask. What''s going on, D?"


    "I''m going to Texas to get seen by a cancer specialist," they say in a strained voice. Tears are gathering in their eyes. "I''ll have to do lots of testing. I will leave next week. They wanted me to be seen as soon as possible. I didn''t even know men could get breast cancer." Their voice cracks on thest word.


    The damn breaks and Din cries. Heaven help me, I embrace them with tears falling down my face for the battle one of my best friends is going to have to go through. We take the time to fall apart before fixing each other''s makeup so that we are presentable.


    "Whatever you need. You got it. You know that, right? I''ll even support you if you can''t work," I say tofort them.


    "I know your cray-cray rainbow ass will. You''re a damn unicorn with snakeskin." They say while applying powder to their face to cover up the streak marks.


    I chuckle at the mental image they conjured for me. That would be an interesting creature. "Okay. Think you can go back to work?"


    They give me a wink. "You know it, bitch," they say with hip cock and snap of the fingers.


    "Love ya, D," I blow them a kiss and they give me a wide smile, telling me they love me back before walking out the door.


    Now to hunt down Jonathan Thomas Brandt. Because who else would dress like a 1940s gangster for going out but my Capone?

 Unknown & Nate

    **Unknown**


    I don''t understand why I was sent on the bullshit assignment for Prez Viper. Why couldn''t he just call his granddaughter to pick up her old man from the pen? I have nothing against Nate. I like the man. He is a good man who raised his daughter on his own. Couldn''t have been easy being the treasure for his old man''s MC and taking care of a little girl. Not that I understood it much.


    I was eighteen when I joined the club and Nate''s little girl was ten; I think? I''ve had to work my way up the rankings and now I''m the Sargent-At-Arms. I scoff at that thought. I''m more like a glorified executioner. Not that I''mining. I''m good at my job and enjoy the bloodshed. I''m off my rocker, but what can say? I was made this way. Being locked in a closet because you have the devil in you is bound to screw you up. Screw me up, as the case may be. Guess my mother was right. I must have the devil in me to enjoy my life.


    However, I do not enjoy waiting for Nathanial Hughes to be released in my battered single-cab 1970s model truck. I don''t care about spending too much time with myself. I don''t like myself on good with thoughts that dwell in my head. Nate must have some high connections for the charges to be dropped against him. Charges like assault, battery, and attempted murder of a police officer. I might need those connections in the future, so maybe I should attempt to get to know the old man.


    "Who d''ya piss off, kid, to be sent here to pick me up?" Nate asks, strolling out with a silver beard and gray at the temples of his brown hair.Copyright by N?v/elDrama.Org.


    "Who d''ya think? El Presidente of course. I might have gotten carried away and identally killed someone I was supposed to scare into singing like a canary." I reply to him with a grin, letting the smoke from my cigarette travel in the wind as I speak.


    "Give me one of those. I haven''t smoked since I went in," Nate says. I hand him the pack and a lighter.


    "You quit these cancer sticks, so why have one?" I ask curiously. I don''t give a shit. It''s his body he''s poisoning.


    "Too old to want to change now, kid," he replies.


    I hum under my breath to him. We smoke in silence in the parking lot.


    When we are done, we get my truck. "So why not have your little girle pick you up?"


    "I want to surprise her. Plus, I have a stop to make, which is why I requested you. The moment I get back, I''m getting voted in as president. First, I have a loose end to tie up."


    I chuckle. "You are an old dog who can''t change. The cop who tried to put you away?" I can put the pieces together where we are headed first.


    "He is crooked and depraved as theye, kid. I need to finish what I started before the Death Kings interfere."


    "The Death Kings? Why would they care?" As far as I know, other than President Viper being married to Gator King''s mother, there was no other connection to the Death Kings.


    "Family," is his sinct reply. That doesn''t tell me jack-shit. I''m going to go with him on this adventure regardless, but only because I am jonesing for mayhem tonight.


    The guy we are visiting lives alone. His wife left with kids almost four years ago, from what Nate told me.


    Nate has some solid gold cojones for knocking on the door of his user. I''ll give him that. What makes me go on high alert is the man is sweaty, pulling up his shorts as if we interrupted him in the middle of sex.


    Nate pushes the door wide, and I see a kid on the couch naked and curled up in the fetal position with cum dripping down out of his hole. I doubt he was over eighteen, and it was obvious he was on drugs. Bile creeps up my throat at what I can recognize is happening.


    I hear nothing other than blood thrumming in my ears. I kneel, looking at the kid with his fiery red hair stered to his face. He flinches at the sound of my voice as I speak in a hushed tone. "Hey. It''s okay. I will not touch you. All I want to know is, were you consenting? Did you want what happened to you? Do you know where you are?"


    "I-I-I j-just w-want t-to leave," he stutters, with tears flowing down his cheeks. "I-I-It h-hurts," he sniffles and then chokes on a sob. "I-I-didn''t w-want t-this m-my u-uncle f-forces m-me to d-do t-this. I-I-have t-t-to or h-he m-might r-rape m- my b-brother l-like h-he d-does m-me."


    This kid''s stutter is horrible and made worse by his trembling body and chattering teeth. His pupils are so wide it''s difficult to tell what color his eyes are. He would be a pretty kid if I were to barely legal boys. "What''s your name?" I ask him.


    "A-Ash," he answers.


    "Well Ash, how about you go get that truck outside," I suggest, pulling off my t-shirt and handing it to him. "Put this one so you''re covered. We will take you where you need to go. Okay?"


    He wipes his eyes and nods. He sits up to pull the shirt over his head, which swallows his lean body. "How old are you?"


    "Sixteen," he croaks in a trembling voice, but it''s clearer, a bit more fortified.


    I nod but don''t say a word. I''m barely in control of my fury. "My friend Nate, I will be right out. He is going to die for this, Ash. This and whatever other sins he hasmitted."


    I can see relief in the kid''s eyes. I will teach this kid how to defend himself and how to kill the next person to touch him without his consent.


    As soon as the kid closes the door, I rip the fat sweaty fucker''s dick off with my knife. As he screams, Nateughs. I knew I liked the guy. I think we will be friends from here on out.

 Oh Boo!

    **Sawyer**


    "Capone. Heard you saved my bouncer tonight. Whatcha doin'' here?" I ask sitting in the booth across from JT.


    He looks delectable in his gray three-piece pinstripe suit with his blonde gelled back on top of his head. His fedora and zery beside him on the seat, and the white sleeves of his button-down were rolled up to his elbows. His silver and dark gray striped tie is loose enough that the top button is undone. There is a slight pink to his cheek and ears that tells me he is drunk or close to it.


    "Needed a few drinks where I wouldn''t be bothered about work stuff. Also, I knew I would see, eventually," he says with the grin of a cat who got his cream.


    "You were right about seeing me at my club. So, did you juste here to drink, or is there something else you need?" I ask with a purr as I stroke his forearm with my fingers.


    I could use a quick fuck before I have to be busy working. My body feels like a live wire and it''s all his fault. The other night he just had to incite my fantasies of what it would feel like making him fight for control for me to relinquish mine to him like I want to do.


    He hums. "As much as want to take you up on that offer, I''m drunk. Before you say anything else with that smart mouth of yours, Dollface, I want to be sober when I have you gagging on my cock, begging me to fuck that tight little pussy of yours."


    I choke on spite for a moment. "Where did you learn to talk like that? Dirty boy. That makes me want to fuck you even more." I state.


    A low rumble leaves his lips. "Good to know you''re just as dirty as I am. Sawyer, we need..." Before he canplete the sentence, his phone rings. He stares at it with a frown for a moment before answering.


    "What," he snaps. "Storm did what? What the fuck is he thinking?" He lets a causticugh. "Of course, Jen joined him, why wouldn''t he?" The lines on his forehead be deep along with the crow''s feet at the corners of his eyes. "Fine, I''ll go get them. Yes, Carter, I''m angry. No, Carter, you don''t need to be driving with those psych meds and pain meds coursing through your system." He releases a long-suffering sigh. "It''s fine. I''ll be home with you soon. Go to bed." He hangs up and looks at me. "I gotta go get Storm and Jen from the Gator''s Den. They''ve been fighting and are drunk enough to call Carter to tell him how they feel, which has beentely for him. His remorse is eating at him." "Okay. I''ll call Carter tomorrow. Maybe I can get him out of the house for a bit," I tell him.


    "If you could take would be great. He could use a friend who doesn''t feel betrayed by him. He leans in and gives my lips a brief peck. I''ll see youter, Doll." He stands and leaves while I''m left staring at his back he walks off. Oh, boo! There went my ns to get him in my bed tonight. I was looking forward to waking him up with my mouth around his arousal. It wasn''t meant to be.


    What is Storm''s issue? Since he found out about Tee, being my uncle, he has been acting out like a teenager, begging for attention from everyone else but me. I''m the person he needs toe talk to, but avoidance seems to be his healthy coping mechanism.


    I have plenty of my own. I''m almost positive I''m a sex addict at this point. I need to getid tonight, even if it''s a one-night stand.


    I walk over to the bar and see my father, Nathaniel Hughes, talking to Cruz. There''s another man in a light pink t-shirt standing next to them with a robust physique. His long dark hair is pulled up into a messy bun and his beard is a little long and scraggly for my liking, but something is drawing me to the gruff man.


    This could just be my libido talking, but... Oh, please don''t let his shaggy man be gay.


    "Dad!" I exim to get his attention.


    He turns to me with a giant smile and his arms held out wide to wee me into his embrace. I rush to my father to hold him tight. His brown graying hair is damp from a shower.


    "Baby girl, it''s great to hug you again," hements, kissing the top of my head.


    "I would have gotten you if you told me you were getting out today," I tell him, stepping away and signaling to Cruz to get me a drink.


    "I wanted to surprise you. Is the club always this packed?" He questions, and I shrug my shoulders.


    "Pretty much. It''s only quiet and empty when we are closed," I say loudly to be heard over the music.


    I turn around to take my drink. My eyes meet the gold gaze of the man who was standing next to my father with a beer in his hand.


    "Who are you?"


    "A friend of your father''s. I''m also his enforcer. You must be his little girl?" Scruffy says with a gravelly baritone rasp. My thighs automatically clench.


    I wonder if he would fuck me in the bathroom or against the wall in a dark corner, or maybe in a booth? I wanna ride him.


    My father slings an arm around his shoulder. "This is Sawyer, my little girl," Nate tells him. Dang it, Dad. I wanted his name before I told him mine.


    "Well, hello there again, Sawyer. You''re not the little twelve-year-old girl I first remember when I joined the Death Angels. You''re all grown up into a buxom woman," hements and wets his full bottom lip.Published by N?v''elD/rama.Org.


    I''m going to need to fuck him right out of my system, and soon. His voice alone has me wanting to rub all over him like I''m in heat. Down, girl.


    "Obviously. I''m afraid I don''t remember you. And I, uh, won''t be forgetting you now," I say, biting my lip and looking down at therge bulge in his jeans.


    "Oh, I know you won''t. Good thing Pops got distracted by the bartender. They seem chummy."


    "Cruz is one of the top guys in my crew and he is my manager. He helps me run the ce. Do know anything about serving drinks?" I question him. If he will help tonight, I just might reward him.


    "I do. Used to be a server when I was a teenager and a prospect, but what will I get out of it? Other than cash, that is?" This guy is clever. I like that.


    I lean in close so he can hear me clearly, with no one else overhearing. "If you do a good job, I just might let you throw me up against a wall and fuck me. Assuming you know how to work that anaconda in your pants properly. I like for it to hurt."

 Perfect Trifecta

    **Unknown**


    Sawyer is all woman. She knows what she wants when she wants it. I respect that. I will give this vixen my dick on a te if she wants. I''m that enthralled by her. I thought I was twisted, but this woman... I just met my match.


    I like her father, I still think my future president and I will get along well as friends. After seeing this man slice up that crooked pedophile of an ex-cop, I have high respect for Nate. I''m not sure whether he''ll shoot me dipping my stick in his daughter. There is only one way to find out.


    "I''ll fuck you now and still do my job so well that you''ll reward me with your pussy again before we say goodnight," I reply.


    Her blue lips curl into a grin. "I need the help tonight, so I dare you to prove it."


    Ah, shit. I am in trouble with this one. I know one taste of the venomous rainbow beauty will never be enough. That''s okay. I''ll let her sink her fangs into me so often that''ll be immune to her bite.


    I down my beer, then pull her into me. "Where to then? Lead the way, Viper."


    She pauses in taking my hand when I call her by the nickname she wears like a mantel. I smirk at her. "I know who you are, madame Seraphim the Viper King. There isn''t an Angel who doesn''t since your father and grandfather are so proud of you and our alliance with the Seraphim Serpents."


    Her eyes narrow on me, but she drags me off into the crowd before shoving my ass into a booth. She climbs onto me, straddling my waist. Her arms glide down my shoulders before wrapping around my neck. She squeezes, which causes a guttural moan to leave my lips.


    "You seem to know a lot about me. I know nothing about you other than you''re a Death Angel and you know my father. I didn''t even get your name," she hisses before her lips are on mine.


    Her tongue fights with mine as our teeth scrape together. With my hands on her hips, I encourage her body to move against mine as her tight leather-looking skirt rids up over her hips.


    We are done with talking. My hands grip a handle of bare ass. Firm and overflowing, myrge, tattooed hands don''t cover her lush cheeks.


    She breaks the kiss and her hands travel down the front of my t-shirt to my waistband. I watch her undo my pants, reaching in with her soft tiny hands to find my long thick member ready for her. "Commando?" She rasps and then grins. She takes my hand and brings it to her center. What do we have here? Great minds think alike. "Me too," she gasps as my finger circles her clit.


    "Only naughty girls gomando. Or is it good girls that love to be fucked that go without panties? I forgot. Which one are you, Viper?" I ask as I watch her shudder with an orgasm. I know the answer to my question.


    She lifts, positioning my dick so that lines up with her center. She takes a moment to adjust to the width, but she takes the length like a pro. We groan together as she does what most girls cannot do, sink to the hilt. Who would have thought someone so tiny could do that?


    She gyrates her hips, using my dick to get herself off. "You''re a good girl, aren''t you?" She nods and I secure her mouth to mine.


    I break the kiss with a hand around her throat. "Then choke me out and ride me like a good girl. Take your pleasure," I growl into her throat before I bite it and then use my tongue to ease the sting.


    Her hands wrap around my throat. I use my hands on her hips to m her down against me on the upward thrust. I''ve never had a woman try to suffocate me like she is doing.


    ck spots line my vision as moan like the whore I am. Our bodies are pping together with force. A hazy, euphoric feeling descends just before I''m ejacted into the warm wet tightness of her as her walls clinch around me with her orgasm.


    When she releases my throat, I force myself to take in air in small increments instead of a deep inhale like my body wants me to do. I learned to prevent coughing after choking and this works better.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org.


    "You''re used to being choked," shements, out of breath.


    I hum. "I enjoy breath y. You?"


    She nods in affirmation. "If you work like you fuck, I might have to permanently hire you."


    I chuckle. "That doesn''t sound like a half-bad idea. I could take care of the boss and all her needs at work. I could use a little extra money if I''m honest. If you want me bartending, I''ll have to renew my license. Other than that, I''m at your disposal."


    She climbs off of me with a chuckle, fixing her clothes. I do the same. "Slow your roll there, Cowboy. I can''t hire you to be my sex toy. Let''s see how you wait and bust tables first." Cowboy, that''s ironic. I mean, I ride a steel horse regrly, just not tonight with an old man and kid in my truck.


    Speaking of the kid, we left him at the old man''s apartment. I hope he is doing okay. The old man told the kid to help himself and get some rest. I told him I would drive him back home in the morning. What we weren''t expecting were two boys slightly younger than Ash to be sitting on the couch ying video games. The old man knew the kids.


    Sawyer lives next door and her best friend lives on the other side of her and her two husbands. Serpents only live in the building. So the kids have adults to check in on them.


    With the kids there, Nate asked to crash at my pad for the night. I agreed so long he bought me drinks, for which we ended up drinking for free with the family discount. He could stay forever, so long as I get to y around with his daughter. That woman already had me caught in her honey trap that I leaped right into headfirst, willingly, without the lure.


    "Give me an apron, pad, pen, and table map. I''ll earn pinning you to the wall of your office, or on your desk. Lady''s choice." I grin at her.


    She is about to walk off with my cum dripping down those toned tattooed thighs. "Follow me to the employee locker room, then."


    Ah, those curves are mesmerizing while she walks. Her short high-heeled boots click along the tile in the sexiest power walk I''ve ever seen. I''ve only seen one person move like that and he was a dude on a date with his professional fighter husband.


    Tonight is turning out to be the most fun I''ve had in a long time. Death, sex, and a paycheck. My perfect trifecta.

 A Prude

    **Storm**


    Drunk, sitting on a bar stool at Gator''s Den, was not how I was expecting this night to end. But I am grieving for the perceived woman I thought Sawyer would be. I wanted toe home to have her stake her im on us, as Carley did to C.H.A.O.S. I wanted to be needed by her just as much as she needed us, again like Carley and C.H.A.O.S. I don''t know why I expected Sawyer to be Carley. I guess I''m envious of her rtionship with C.H.A.O.S.?


    I''ll admit had romantic notions when, at first, JT, Jensen, and I were dating her. Then my mother and her mother hooked up. Carley and I had sex, and it felt wrong. She has be my friend and not a friend with benefits like Carley, JT, and Jensen. Just friends, almost as if she was an older sister instead. Someone I could idolize.


    It''s difficult not to love Carley. She is easy to love with her caring heart, smiling blue eyes, and soft nature. She is the adorable fairy you want to keep in your pocket so you can always be surrounded by shine. I miss her.


    I stupidly drunk-dialed her, only for Arson to shred me with his acidic tongue. He pointed out how pathetic I truly am at this moment. Fucking venomous basilisk. I hate him sometimes. He is right, though, which is why I hate him. I need to get my pity party over with so that I can learn who Sawyer is now.


    "You know, the payout is good when we win our fights, but not near as good as our job," Jensen slurs, leaning into me. He is just as wasted as I am.


    Jensen''s reasoning for getting drunk is not the same as mine. While I''m drinking over a non-existent Sawyer, he is drinking because his little sister won''t talk to him.


    They had always been close as kids. Jensen was Carmen''s protector and confidant. Now he is a stranger to her. It''s always like this. For the first week, they fight and bicker, but then they get along as if they had never been separated. I don''t know why he is so worried about it this time, other than remorse over missing her handfasting/wedding.


    We were in the middle of a job helping Fury Corps limate to life here from being overseas for so long. They are the Death Kings'' first team. They are nomads who took the jobs overseas so the other teams could stay in the States. I don''t know who is going to rece them, but I''m sure the Death Kings have a n.


    That job resulted in all sorts of weirdness. I swear these rabid people had to be on some new drug with how violent they behaved. But Ryder said Fury would oversee what was going on in Colorado while we were back home.


    Griffen and I keep in contact, letting each other know we are both still alive. I heardst week that one team member was killed. I like Finley. He was a fun guy to be around. He and Jen would carry on conversations in Spanish that the rest of us didn''t understand because they spoke too fast for us to process tranting.


    Thinking of the devil... Griffen is calling me now. I tell Jen I''m stepping outside to take this call. It''s loud in the Den between the music and shouting.


    I answer with my codename.


    "Just checking in to see if you were still alive, Clyde."


    "Was the Demon Commander worried about me?" I question with a slur, trying to sound sultry but failing.


    He chuckles. "Are you drunk, kid?"


    I pout. "I''m only, what? Five years younger than you?"


    "Give or take, but you are in your mid-twenties and I''m almost mid-thirties. You''re still younger." He reminds me.


    I feel nauseous shortly before throwing up all over some giant''s boots. I mean giant; the guy is tall and four times my size in width and covered in leather. Oops.


    The guy hoists me up by my blood shirt cor. "You owe me a new pair of boots. I''ll be collecting my payment by putting you in the ICU," he rumbles.


    "You can try, but I doubt that''ll happen. I''ll give you the money for the boots." I tell him before bringing my phone back to my ear.


    "Sounds like you''re busy. Send me a pic so I know who to send the ambnce toe to pick up. I''ll get the local phone number from Preston. Later."


    I thanked him before calling JT toe pick up Jen and me. The problem with that is it wasn''t him I dialed but Carter on ident.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    "What''s going on?" Carter asks.


    "Have you had your meds yet?" I ask him, still dangling.


    "Yeah. Why?"


    Several guys who look like they know the giante out. Behind them tumbles out Jensen, kicking the knees of one biker with augh while the guy falls face first.


    "Call JT toe get us. Jen and I are in a fight. These guys will need medical attention, but Griff is calling the emergency number for the ambnce," I tell him and then hang up.


    My eyes never left the face of the giant, who was only getting redder and angrier looking.


    "You''re the one who is going to need an ambnce," the big man growls, his meaty fist flying at my face.


    I curl my legs up and kick him in the round belly. He lets go of me to double over. Ind in a squat, then use one leg, and sweep his feet while he is distracted.


    Hends with an audible thud. Ouch, that must hurt, since the saying the bigger they are, the harder they fall, is true in the giant''s case.


    Another guyes after me, but I duck and then use his moment to flip him onto his back by shouldering into him and then straightening up. When hended, I heard a snap, and the man screamed in pain.


    I just broke his back. My bad. This is why I don''t fight when I''m drunk.


    Beside me, I hear the crunch of a joint breaking. I look to find Jensen releasing the muscr tattooed arm of another screaming man. The arm is now twisted down in an unnatural position.


    The giant wraps his arms and lifts me to squeeze me. I''m not above ying dirty, and he put my feet in the worst ce possible for himself. My heel connects with my groin, and then he grunts in pain. His hold loosened around me enough to push his arms up so I could slip out. I slide feet underneath him and then do a spinning, jumping back kick to his wide rear.


    He falls head-first into the concrete. Blood is underneath him and he is not moving with his ass still in the air. It''s not pleasant because the giant has the no-ass-at-all syndrome, which has his pasty white ass mooning me. His leather pants aren''t covering anything currently. Grody.


    "I''m blind!" Jensen shouts, covering his eyes and facing the giant, and I snort augh at him.


    "Shut up and knock the screaming ninnies out already, Romeo!" I shout at him, fed up with the noise that was causing my headache to worsen.


    I make sure the giant is still alive and that he didn''t crack his head wide open on the concert while Jensen applies his fist between the screaming men''s eyes to quiet them.


    "Is the blinding moon still alive?" Jensen asks with his back turned to me, so he doesn''t have the white lump of flesh in the air.


    I snicker. "Yes, he is still alive." I see JT pull up in his car. "Let''s go, you prude! Our ride is here." I chuckle to myself at my jab.


    If looks could y the skin from someone, I''d be nothing but a musculoskeletal man. No one enjoys being called a prude, and Jensen is no exception. Let''s just hope he doesn''t remember this in the morning. Paybacks can hurt.

 Thelma & Louise

    **Sawyer**


    I''m sitting in my office after closing, waiting for the man who managed to surprise me tonight. I wasn''t expecting my father toe in with the handsome biker, who seemed to know exactly what I needed. He worked hard and I''m not ashamed to say he more than earned his right to bend me over this desk. I even cleaned it off while twiddling my thumbs.


    I need that man to hurry and walk through that door I''m staring at while holding an envelope of cash for him. I''m paying him under the table tonight for the help and I''m going to hire him tomorrow. I told Cruz to send him to me as soon as they were done cleaning.


    Come on tall, dark, and... fiddlesticks! I twirled the envelope right off the front of my desk. With a sigh of disgust at myself for being so distracted by a man that I just met, I stand moving around to pick up the envelope. As I rose, I came face to face with a bulge in dirty denim. A hand fists my hair. I lick my lips, thoroughly enticed.


    "While you''re down there, Viper, wrap those venomous red lips around my cock. Because the moment I walked in to see you bent over, I was rock hard for you. Mmm -that ass," the throaty voice of the man I wanted groans. It''s a heady feeling to know I already have this much control over this mystery man. However, as much as love to feel the weight of him on my tongue, I''m not that easy. Let''s see if he can withstand a little teasing, shall we? I look up at him with my beste-fuck-me-eyes. "I''d love to," I purr with my hands, undoing his belt buckle once again as he watches me. "But I don''t know your name, Louise."


    Then both armse up between us a moment before they m into his elbows and then I sweep his legs out from underneath him. Hends on his rear and I pounce so that I have his arms trapped against him while straddling his waist with my thighs. He doesn''t move, justughs.


    I look at him quizzically. Please tell me I didn''t just break him! I internally groan.


    "It''s been a long time since someone got the drop on me. I didn''t be the Sargent-at-arms at such a young by luck. Or I guess, soon-to-be VP to your old man," He exins.


    "Just how old are you?" I ask him, staring into his ck eyes.


    At first, I thought they were ck, but I was mistaken because of the darkness of the club. In the bright lighting of my office, I noticed his eyes were a beautiful shade of bitter dark chocte. I love dark chocte. It''s my favorite treat I crave monthly.


    "You were twelve when I first met you and I had turned twenty-one," he says, deflecting, so I do the math.


    "You''re nine years older than me, so that would make you thirty-five," I state. I slid my hands underneath his shirt to feel the hard nes of his chiseled body. Drool.


    "y with me all you want. I''ll lie here and be a good boy while you treat me like your toy," he rasps with a grin. Cheeky fucker.


    But that''s not what I want. I want him to take my control away forcibly.


    As if my thoughts are written on my face, he says, "That''s not what you want. You want me to do this..."


    His leg swung up and around, wrapping around me and knocking me off him. With the motion, he throws me over his shoulder, pping my ass when I try to fight him.


    I moan, falling still. He stands and wriggles. He ps the other cheek. The sting made me moan again. Even through my skirt, the force was enough to acknowledge my cheeks were cherry red.N?velDrama.Org owns this text.


    He chuckles. "Somebody likes her ass yed with." He rubs my cheeks and then delivers another assault, causing me to jolt and then moan. "Good girl. What do you want?"


    "Fuck me over my desk," I gasp out when his hand cracks across the rear when I take too long to tell him.


    He drops us to my feet in front of my desk. With hisrge hand on the back of my neck with gentle pressure, he shoves me, so my face is pressed against the desk. He licks the side of my face, and I can feel the metal ball inbination with the warm wetness of his tongue.


    I push back into the imprint of his dick. He clicks his tongue and then blows against my wet cheek, producing goosebumps against my skin and a pleasurable shiver tracked down my spine to my pussy.


    He licks the shell of my ear before growling, "I want you to scream my name as I''m pounding you against your desk, Viper."


    He rises, making me miss his wait already. His hand glides against my skin left bare from the open back halter top I''m wearing. It travels over my rear and then I hear a rip and feel the cool air of my office against my bare skin. My head snaps up and I re at him. "Fuckhead," I hiss at him. "You owe me another skirt."


    He ms into me, and the sudden intrusion of his dick entering my wet pussy makes me gasp and then moan at the stretch as I amodate his tremendous size. His monster cock is perfect so long as he destroys me with it. I''vee across too many big-dicked guys who didn''t want to hurt me during sex. Those dumbasses got kicked out and then I finished myself out with my trusty instant-oh-blue-rose. I need it with a man, though.


    He pulls out before thrusting inside again with his hands gripping my hips. One hand deftly grips my chin. Before he kisses while buried to the hilt. His tongue tangles with mine until grabs the bottom balls of his vertical double tongue rings and tugs gently.


    He moans and then releases them. He kissed my lips with no tongue this time. "Scream for me, Viper." He says, thrusting into me. He kisses between my shoulder des. "Scream. My. Name." Each word was punctuated by his thrust and kiss pattern. Then I feel his lips on my bare ass.


    He kisses one cheek and then growls, "Riggs," just between his bites into the soft flesh and ps the other cheek. His hand rubs one side soothingly while his tongue eases the other.


    He stands straight, his hands gripping my hips before pulling all the way out and trusting inside me. He drives into me repeatedly with skin pping skin until I''m yelling his name while my inner walls clench and unclench around his member until he is pulling out to cum on my ass cheeks. He groans my name as ribbons of his hot sticky seed cover them.


    Then I hear a knock on the door just before Dillian squealed, "Oh my God, you thirsty bitch! Save some hotties for me, why don''t you?!" I groan, hiding my face in my arm against the desk.


    Riggs kisses my spine while he tucks away his dick. He sweeps his shirt off his body and then hands it to me. He backs up just enough so I can turn.


    "Put it on. I ruined your skirt." He takes out a pocket- knife and removes the rest of it. He uses the remnants to clean me off while I put his shirt on over my head.


    When he is satisfied my pussy isn''t on show, he turns around. "Din, right?"


    "Yes," Din drawls. "And you are?" I wish I could see Din''s face, but I''m thankful I''m hidden right now.


    "This is Riggs. He saved our asses tonight by helping," I say from behind the biker. He steps aside when I tap the outside of his hip.


    "Well, Riggs, thanks for the help. You sure saved our bacon. Thought we were going to be fried up alive when those girls didn''t show." Din states. "By the way, Boss Bitch, daddykins is lookin'' for ya."


    I nod at Din. "Thanks, D," I say, blowing them a kiss.


    "Love ya! I''m out!" He returns the kiss with one hand on their hip. They wink at Riggs. "Hope I see more of you. I haven''t ever seen that satisfied look on Sawyer''s face before and I''ve seen her afterglow plenty." They sashay out the door.


    Riggs looks at me with an arched brow. "What, Louise?" I snap at him, irritated with Din for telling this stranger that. Though I''m hoping he won''t be a stranger for long. Wait, no, stuff that bitch back down in her box where she belongs. Hope is futile in my world, and this is just sex. Keep telling yourself that, Sawyer.


    He holds his tattooed hands up in surrender. "I said nothing yet, Thelma."


    "Well, don''t start thinking you''re special," I warned him.


    He smiles. "I wouldn''t dream of it." Something about the way he said that has made me suspicious. "Let''s go get the old man in a bed. I got him. So, you can get home to your kids." He makes a sweeping gesture toward the door. I thank him. Mulling over his name. Riggs. It sounds so familiar to me, yet not. I wonder why that is? I mentally shrug at myself. I''ll figure it outter when I''m not so exhausted and basking in an afterglow.

 Hangover + Memories

    **Jensen**


    My mouth is dry, and my head is pounding. I vaguely remember falling asleep in the car while JT chewed our asses out for drinking and fighting. The bikers started it. Storm and I finished it, is all. Were we supposed to let them beat us bloody? I like to fight, but I''m not a masochist. I don''t enjoy pain, but it helps to clear the brain. When I fight I can focus on it with nk uncluttered mine. I can''t meditate on shit, so the only way I can achieve mindfulness is while fighting. Or maybe I''m just hyper-focusing? I was diagnosed with ADHA while I was a kid.


    There is a knock on my bedroom door. "Hey, Jen. I brought you some painkillers, water, and hair of the dog."


    "Thank you, wifey," I say, sitting up in bed and blowing a kiss at Carter.


    I feel for him since Storm won''t let him out of the apartment unless one of us can be with him. I get it. Carter screwed us and C.H.A.O.S. over royally five years ago. He betrayed us to Razor Grothman, the leader of the Damned Forsaken. Razor Grothman was reportedly dead, but just after Carley gave birth to Brennan, he kidnapped Sawyer. After that, he went underground. He has made no moves since Sawyer removed his hand. Sidhe embalmed his hand for her. At least, that is what he told me. With having kids, I''m sure she keeps it well hidden.


    "I need to go pick up Ajax from the airport. Ryder is sending him over with new software. I''m getting arger setup." He says with an excited grin. "Christmas came early, huh?" I ask him, swallowing the pills and then the whole ss of water.


    "I guess you could say that. Ajax is scarier than Ransom, Sidhe, and Ryderbined, but he is a genius with a keyboard."


    I understand what he saying. Ajax is a killer, in and simple. He doesn''t like shiny things like Ransom, nor does he have multiple personalities like Jaxson. He can''t flip the switch on his emotions like Ryder. The man enjoys killing. Hecks any attachments. He would kill the whole team and not blink if Griffen ordered him to do so. He follows Griffen because he respects the man''s skill.


    Griffen isn''t called the Demon Commander in jest. He earned that title when they massacred an entire criminal organization and not just once, but several times over. They wait until officials are gathered and in one fell swoop, obliterate them all. Each member of Fury Corp has a codename of a god of death. These men are even deadlier than the Death Kingsbined, and that''s saying something since they still take their orders from the Kings. "Do you need me to go with you?" I ask Carter, wondering if that''s why he was telling me about Ajax.


    "Yeah. JT was at his club going over paperwork, and Storm was still passed out. I''m not waking him," Carter exins.


    I sip my coffee mix with whiskey. I groan at the taste. It''s just what I needed to function. "What time does his ne arrive?"


    "In thirty minutes."


    "Give me fifteen?" I ask him and he nods.


    "I made breakfast and managed not to burn anything if you''re hungry," he says with pride. He has been learning how to cooktely to help stave off his boredom. He cleans the house too. "Awe, such a sweet wife. Thank you, Toot toot," I tease.


    He bats his blondeshes at me, shoving at my chest yfully. "Oh, stop that. You''re makin'' me blush," he drawls in a mixed ent. It''s a cross between a Texas drawl and Louisianan twang.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    I chuckle, but then winch at the stabbing pain in my head it causes. Carter shakes his head at me. "I''ll let you get dressed."


    He leaves so that I''m once again alone with my thoughts. Of the past.


    *"What''s this, Romeo?" Sawyer asks, with her legs dangling off the dock. I am bothered by the alligator swimming below in the murky bayou water. She has her long brte tresses his a ponytail. She is wearing mesh shorts and a form-fitting tank top that reveals her breasts. She just turned fifteen today.


    I gave her a present. It''s her birthday and I''m the first one to arrive at our meeting ce.


    "You''re going to love it!" Carmen chirps, goosing me to the side so that I jump out of her way.


    Sawyer quickly stands so that they can hug. I''m d the girls are friends since that''s how I met Sawyer, but I wish I could have all of Sawyer''s attention. But ever since they met two years ago, I''m not the only person enthralled by this brown- haired, brown-eyed tomboy. My three best friends are as well.


    "Come on, open it!" Carmen encourages her after they hugged, looking at the package I handed her.


    Sawyer rips open the paper with a gasp when she sees the contents. It''s theplete box set of Vampire Knight in English trantion. With it, I attached a peach skin body pillow cover. Carmen said it would be perfect for her since it''s her favorite anime.


    "Oh my gosh, Carmen, thank you!" Sawyer hugs Carmen with so much joy on her face.


    Carmenughs. "I just bought the dakimakura. Jen bought you the manga."


    Sawyer looks at me, then down at her feet demurely. I frown because this is not how Sawyer normally reacts. The past few years, she has been different around my friends and me. I don''t know why; we are the same boys she has known for the past five years.


    Yeah, we will be in college once the school year starts, but that''s the only thing that''s changed. Okay, that''s not the only thing. We are trained murderers now, with a friend with benefits. We only get to see Carley in the summer when the Death Kings send us there to work in daylight and train at night.


    Sawyer cannot look at me like some shy girl. Nope, that''s not my firecracker, Juliet. So, I tackled her into the water.


    She curses me I, dunking me back under the water when Ie up for air. When I surface again, I''m almost run over by a small airboat before I sink back underneath the water away from it, cursing Carter in my head. The rich prick has more toys than sense, and his senator father spoils him with whatever he wants.


    Once the boat is parked at the dock, I jump onto it,tching onto Carter and pulling him with me into the gator-infested water. I rise to find Storm stripping his shirt off and JT helping a dripping Sawyer out of the water onto the dock. I swim to the dock. Storm reaches down to help me up. I grasped his arm, allowing him to hoist me up. He has gotten strongtely with all the fighting and gym workouts he does.


    "Well, that was fun," I say with a grin, which causes Sawyer tough.


    Sawyer stomps up to me, trying to be serious. "I was almost gator chow, you ass!" she exims, shoving my chest. I don''t budge.


    Iugh, pulling her into a hug. She is getting curvy. She won''t be our stick girl for much longer. "Now you know with us present we won''t let anything to you, Juliet."


    I flicked the locket around her neck that I gave her for Christmas. The guys were livid at me over that one, since I was more sentimental to our girl.


    Last year, an electrical fire set their house aze. Sawyer''s father, Nate, wasn''t home, but she was. I was driving homete after working on an assignment. I was exhausted and covered in blood, but I noticed mesing from the trailer park where Sawyer lived. I didn''t think twice; I drove in that direction with my heart in my throat while dialing the emergency hotline. My instincts were screaming at me that something was wrong. That the mes wereing from Sawyer''s house, so it was that address I gave. Turns out, I was right.


    I noticed Sawyer hadn''t evacuated the house, so I rushed into the ze, toward her room. She was still asleep, but I knew it was because of the smoke inhtion. I gathered into my arms, tucking her close to me. A beam fell right at the point of exit. So, I went around it.


    We were trapped with the mes licking all around us. We had to get out. I spotted the window and ran at it with my back turned to take the brunt of the ss and leaped through. Rock tore at my back as I skidded across the gravel away from the mes just as the fire department, police, and EMTs arrived. Thankfully, no one questioned my appearance as they saw me jump out the window with Sawyer in my arms.


    She wasn''t breathing as the EMTs took her from me. They had to resuscitate her while I panicked. Death doesn''t scare me. I killed people for money. But this. The thought of losing Sawyer did. There wouldn''t be a world worth living in without this girl. My little sister''s best friend. My Juliet.


    Thankfully, she came awake with a cough, her brown eyes locking onto mine. I rush to her, pushing her ash-covered locks away from her face. "Don''t scare me like that again. Juliet. I thought I was going to have to join you in death sooner than nned," I half-heartedly joked. It might havee across as a joke, but I''m also positive Shakespeare''s tragedy would have been made real. I would have walked into those mes without thinking it through. I''m that impulsive. She couldn''t talk, but I could read her lips. "Yes, Juliet. I saved you. I''ll always save you."


    That''s how we ended up with matching lockets. Sawyer stole a locket and had engraved it with the words. ''Romeo, thanks for saving me. Love, your Juliet.'' I bought her an identical locket that says, ''I''ll always save you, Juliet. Love, your Romeo.'' The lockets are corny and romantic andpletely us. *


    I''m brought out the memories as I towel dry my hair after stepping out of the shower. I''m still a hopeless romantic who will woo that woman until my dying breath. I love Sawyer. I have loved that girl since Carmen brought her home for the first time.


    Back then it wasn''t the same love as feel for her now. At first, I wanted to just protect her like I did Carmen, as an older brother. My feelings toward her changed when I turned fifteen. I noticed I wanted to touch and kiss her. It felt wrong to me. She was only twelve, not yet a teenager herself. I was mad and frustrated with myself, so I would oftensh out against authority.


    I swear the leader of the Death Kings wanted to kill me back then for all the arrests that were made when my temper got the best of me. Ryder had to use his connections to make sure I was never charged with anything. Or was it Tee''s connections? Tee was from the city of nche, which is only ten miles from the town of Gr¨ºle. It was probably he who kept my record clean or Carter''s father Thiboux.


    We found out five years ago that Thiboux was Callum''s father. Come to find out Thiboux had disowned and abandoned the Shadow King following the deaths of Thibou''s daughter and wife. Thiboux identally killed Cal''s schizophrenic mother to stop her from murdering Callum. After Cal healed, he ended his older sister''s sexual abuse by silently slitting her throat in the middle of the night.


    Learning about that was why I kept Sawyer at a distance as a teenager. I wanted to enjoy her childhood and not grow up too fast. Look at how well that turned out. Sawyer acts like we are strangers and not friends anymore. She had to grow up after being raped at sixteen. She married some coward after high school and had to raise two children as a single mother.


    I remember Ryder was furious when we killed the boys who had done that to our girl. We had to disappear or go to prison. So, we were set overseas to train with Fury Corp. Then it was back home to infiltrate a gang while working on the ranch full-time instead of just during the summer. When that blew up, we trained with C.H.A.O.S. Then it was back to Fury Corp to help them adjust to being home. Finally, we are back home in Gr¨ºle to bring Louisiana under the Death King''s rule. If Sawyer is who I think she is after finding out she is the Gator King''s niece, then the state is already under the Death Kings'' thumbs. We aren''t needed unless Ryder thinks she could use us. Knowing the Fox King likes to stay ten steps ahead of everyone, something bad is about to happen that we need to be here for.


    Now that I''m fully dressed, I open the door to the delicious smell of waffles. My stomach rumbles as I walk to the kitchen where Carter is sitting with an empty te sipping his coffee.


    I walk up behind Carter, kissing him on his temple, and then pet his sea-foam green hair. "Thanks, wifey. Breakfast smells and looks great." I joke.


    He shoves at me with a chuckle. "Get off me, goofball. Eat so we aren''tte picking up Ajax at the airport. I do not want to be on his bad side."


    "Me either. Please tell me Griffen sent somebody with him to keep him leashed?" I ask, taking a bite of syrup-drenched waffles.


    "He sent Booker," Carter replies. I choke on my pancake.


    "He is just as bad as Ajax," I gasp after expelling the food from my airway.


    Booker Kimble, codename: Veles. He is a taciturn weapons expert tactician with a blood kink. He reminds me of C.H.A.O.S.''s hellhound, Ransom. They both have adorable boyish faces with big blue eyes and thickshes, but they are deadly like slow loris. You want to cuddle them because they''re so cute, but they are poisonous and will kill you.


    Carter shrugs his shoulders. While I inwardly groan. Hopefully, I won''t end up needing stitches again by the time they leave.

 The Traitor

    **Carter **


    "Hello, Orpheus. I''m surprised you are alive, little traitor. If Ryder or Storm were Griffen, you''d be dead. Traitors end up disintegrating in a barrel until they be traitor soup. Isn''t that right, Book?" Ajax asks after we load the bed of the truck and climb in. He is sitting behind me with a de pressed against my cerebral vertebrae.


    Booker is in the backseat beside Ajax while Jensen starts the truck. I look up into the rearview mirror to see a curved knife against Ajax''s throat with blood trickling down it. "I warned you before. Don''t call me Book," he snarls at Ajax. I gulp. Sweat is sliding down my face. I''m about to die. I know it. Callum almost killed me and would have if it weren''t for Sawyer and Natalie the day Razor Grothman had me service, Julia Snipe. She could have raped Ransom that day, but there was no way I was going to let her do that. I was bad enough that Razor had scooped his eye out.


    Ransom was still my twin sister''s loyal guard dog. If it weren''t for him watching over her for me, so much bad could have happened to her over the years because I was a horrible protector of my twin sister. I should have been protective of her growing up, but I wasn''t. I was a resentful little shithead.


    "Leave Carter alone. He went deep undercover and got lost. It happens. Even to the best," Booker says as if he has personal knowledge of what I went through.


    Booker was thest man chosen to join the Fury Team. He is a master infiltrator and skilled in a variety of weaponry. It''s usible that in his past he has either known someone who got too involved in their undercover life or he has personal experience.


    "Not everyone can be a turncoat like you," Ajaxments.


    Instead of the knife going deeper into his throat, it''s removed and Book smacks him upside the head, grumbling that he is an idiot. He then threatens to tell Avery.


    "I''ll behave. Please don''t tell Avery. His cousin will remove my dick for threatening her nephew," Ajax begs, removing the knife from my neck.


    Finally, I can breathe. Why didn''t I think of threatening by using my aunt? She is the most terrifying woman I''ve ever met.


    "Exactly," Booker says sinctly before leaning his head back against the rest. His eyes close. He must be exhausted.


    Booker looks as though he is younger than us, but in actuality, he is the eldest of the Fury Team. I want to know why Ajax called him a turncoat, but I don''t dare ask Ajax and Booker is breathing heavily, already caught in the throes of slumber. "I hear this city of Gr¨ºle is now home base from Tempest. How''s that going with the Viper King around?" Ajax asks us.


    "It makes buying things difficult. The moment we catch a whiff of a business being for sale, Viper buys it out from underneath us," Jensen informs him. "We got lucky with the few businesses we do own, like JT''s strip club." "What do you do, Romeo?"


    "Forensics to keep us all from going to jail. I work for the Crime Scene Investigation unit."


    "Storm?"


    "You''re going to love this...funeral director," I tell him with amusement.


    "You''ve got to be shitting me!" Ajax exims. "I did not see that oneing!" Ajaxughs so hard he clutches his stomach.


    Jensen and I just shrug at one another. Owning and the funeral home is right up Storm''s alley. What most people don''t know about Storm is he is a Shaman. His parents raised him on the Chitimacha reservation. It''s important to him that souls. areid to rest properly.


    "What do you do, traitor?"


    "I''m a political consultant."


    "Following in your old man''s footsteps, huh?"


    "Not quite, but I''ll think about running for a political office. If we are in the public eye like the Kings, then we can better cover the whole killing for more thing we have going on."Published by N?v''elD/rama.Org.


    "You have a point. But that won''t ever be for the Fury Team. We operate in the shadows we always have. None of us were ever meant for the whole public eye thing." "Fury Team is the unique team in that retrospect that you guys kept in the dark and not brought into blinding poprity like the rest of us," Jensenments. "We prefer it that way. Especially now that Finley was killed," Ajaxments. "We owe it to Fin to see this job through."


    "We heard about that. Our condolences. Fin was a fun guy," Jensen tells him.


    "He got whatever when he would give those puppy dog eyes. No grown should have been as good at that as Fin was," I joke, attempting to lighten the somber mood.


    "He was like having a permanent puppy around," Ajax agrees. "Especially when he was drunk and pissed in Booker''s potted nts."


    Booker yawns. "I rubbed his nose in one when I caught him," he adds.


    When allugh, remembering the then man who left a hole in the lives of Fury and us. He was my favorite to train with and we connected. He made me feel more myself than anyone else since Sawyer. The rest of the car ride is silent until we make it to the apartment, that is.

 The Nephews

    **Sawyer**


    The rapping of knuckles on the door this morning is thest thing I want to hear. It''s not just an innocent morning wake-up. Oh no! This starts a chain of events that will lead to a day where no amount of coffee will cure to keep me from shooting someone. Starting with whoever is at my door.


    Someone better be dying.


    I retch the entrance open with my gun pointed at whoever is there. "Woah there, Auntie S! Don''t shoot me yet." Kassius.


    Katie screams for me and Darius walks blurry-eyed out of his room.


    I sigh, knowing well what this kid wants. Breakfast. Behind him is his counterpart, AC, and a red-headed boy who looks simr to my fairy uncle. The new kid seems like he hasn''t slept in days and is suffering from a drug-induced hangover. "Since you were so sweet and woke up my female spawn. You can go get her ready for school while apologizing for waking her up thirty minutes before the rm," I grumble at Kassius.


    He flinches and looks apologetic. "I''m sorry, Aunt S. I''ll go help her. But could you talk to Ash, or help him feel better?" He nces back at the red-headed boy. "He woke up crying. AC and I don''t know how to help him."


    I give my nephew a soft smile. "Yeah. I got him." He nods, walking toward a screaming Katie, who is now in full-blown panic mode since I hadn''t answered.


    "AC, why don''t you and ... Ash? Right?" The boy looks at me with red-rimmed green eyes. He nods in affirmation. "You two can help me by making the kids'' lunches. They won''t eat what will be served in the cafeteria today." "Sure thing, Aunt S," AC agrees. He ushers Ash into the kitchen. I tell him where everything is located while I start a full pot of coffee.


    I''m not Kassius and AC''s aunt by blood, but it makes things easier to be referred to as such with the giant interconnected family we have. Kassius and AC were both adopted by Uncle Tee and his family. Tee is rted to me by marriage. His mother had married my grandfather when I was about Darius''s age. That was almost twenty years ago.


    I watch this random boy my nephews brought over as I gather what I need to make breakfast for these kiddos. Ash doesn''t look much older than Kass and AC, which puts him at around fourteen or fifteen.


    Even with bags under his eyes, I can tell he is more than willing to help. He even pauses, packing what AC hands him to help Darius locate his shoes that are once again missing. Even if I set that child''s shoes out the night before, they will still be missinge morning, so I have just epted missing shoes as part of the morning routine.


    "Thank you for helping Dare with his shoes," I tell the boy who is stirring the pancake batter for me while I cook the sausage patties. "Ash, do you need to call someone? I''m sure your parents must be worried sick about you."


    "K-K-Kass l-let m-m-me b-barrow h-his p-phone lst n-n-night," he stutters. "I-I-I''m s-s-s-s-sorry," he says, looking at the floor instead of at my eyes.


    "It''s okay, kiddo. Take a deep breath. You''re not in trouble and you can take your time with your words. You have nothing to be ashamed of. How did you end up with the murder twins?"


    My reference to Kass and AC has the kidughing with a smile. "M-Murder Twins?" He questions.


    I shrug. "It''s what the family lovingly refers to them as. Kass and AC are hellions, but we love them." I grin.


    "The bikers who found me... um... th-th-they dropped me off with th-th-them. T-t-told I-I-I- w-would b-b-be s-s-s-safe," he stutters out nervously.


    I arch a questioning brow. AC fills in the gaps for me as he sets the table. "Papaw Nate and some big guy brought him to the apartment. They said he had a rough night and ordered us some pizza. We yed video games most of the night after he called his brother. We didn''t ask questions."


    Not asking questions when you can tell someone needs the space is a skill that has been instilled within them. With the family we have, you might get information you wish you didn''t know. Some of us will be triggered, but Weston works closely with teaching them how to be responsible enough to use healthy coping skills. Some of us just don''t like to use those unless we want to. Me. I''m some. Completely guilty of using alcohol or sex to cope with stress. "Do we need to adopt you?" I ask Ash. He looks at me in utter shock. "The family adopted AC. We have a habit." I joke.


    "Can you?" He asks without a second thought. Oh, I wasn''t expecting that. "I h-h-have a little b-b-brother about your s-s-s-son''s age. I p-p-protect f-f-from m-m-m-my uncle. If I d-do as m-m-my uncle w-w-won''t d-d-do..." as he talks, he bes more distressed, and tears streak down his face.


    "AC, you finish cooking," Imand, knowing he is more than capable of cooking, having been raised by Dominic Zti. That chef believes everyone should know how to cook. I got the best recipes from that uncle. "Come with me to talk," I tell Ash.


    Just as I''m about to walk into my bedroom, Kassius walks out carrying Katie. "Watch the kids for a moment and feed them when AC is done cooking."


    He looks at Ash with concern. "Yes, ma''am." He says, using the manners Uncle Ryder has instilled in him.N?velDrama.Org owns this text.


    When I shut the door, Ash breaks down with gut-wrenching sobs, copsing to the floor. My heart breaks for this kid. I do not know what he has gone through, but I know my family can help.


    "We you are ready; I''ll be here to listen. The family can help you. It doesn''t matter what it is or what you have through." I tell him with my hand on his shoulder. "When you are ready, let me know." Move around him to collect my outfit for the day, then go to my bathroom, shutting the door to take a shower and put on clothes.


    As I am putting on eyeliner, there is a soft knock. I yell that it''s open, and within moments, the door creaks open. "Feeling any better, kiddo?" I query.


    He releases a deep shutter sigh as if he has been holding his breath for ages. He appears more rxed, as though the tension he has been holding was expelled from his slender frame. He thanks me and I smile at him, then nod. "My parents died eight months ago. They were killed. It was a car ident, but I know better. My uncle didn''t think I was lucid enough to overhear him tell the man w-w-w-who..." he shakes his head to clear the cobwebs of his mind. "Anyway, he cut the brakes on their car. They couldn''t slow down or stop rolling downhill. So that they wouldn''t hit anyone else, Da turned off the road. They went off the cliff into the rocks of the bay at such high speed they died on impact." "I''m sorry to hear that," I tell him sincerely. "Thanks. My uncle wasn''t as bad as he is now. It was just him touching me. Since they died, he au-auctioned off m-m-my v-V-V-V-V..."


    "It''s okay, I think get it. You''ve been sexually abused and assaulted. I know what that feels like, only..." I reign in my anger over what at been done to this boy. "You are so strong, Ash. I know it doesn''t seem like it, but you are. You are a survivor. My family and I will help you thrive. We will teach you how to protect yourself."


    "I''m going to teach how to peel a dick a banana and how to castrate someone where they won''t bleed out. You prolong the fun that way," AC says, startling us both. He has a manic grin just picturing how to prolong torture. "Don''t worry, Ash. Not only will I teach you, but I''ll protect you."


    Here I was thinking AC couldn''t care about anyone other than Kassius. I was wrong. He already cares about this boy who is a stranger. I''m proud of him for having empathy for someone else.


    "I don''t know what you went through. I was just beaten so badly that I was in ICU, for I don''t remember how long. Kass can tell you, though. I was lucky to have a friend who spoke up about me to his parents. They got me out of that house and made sure I had the medical care needed to survive."


    Ash looks to me for confirmation that AC is telling him the truth. "It''s true. My family adopted him all while he was in aa. If you want, I can talk to my uncle, his father, about how to proceed. In the meantime, let us teach you to defend yourself so no one will touch you without your permission. Where do you attend school?"


    "Venin Federation Academy. I''m a first-year legacy."


    "What a coincidence. We start Monday," Kassius proims from my bedroom. "Papaw Nate and that guy are here. You good with them being here, Ash?" My heart warms at the problem children of the family taking an instant protectiveness to this boy. These boys are sweet. Spoiled little sociopaths who like to kill and torture people, but they are still good morally gray boys. I love my nephews.


    I top off my makeup with lipstick and I am ready. I wasn''t expecting the friend my father brought to be HIM.

 Mr. Wriggle

    **Sawyer**


    "Good morning, Seraph." My father says, kissing me on the forehead like I was a small girl again. I missed my father while he was serving time in prison for gun running. It was short-term because he has a rich, influential family member who made sure the time spent being caught was a brief stay.


    "Morning, Daddy. You should have told me you were getting out the other day. I would have picked up or sent Carmen."


    "I know, cherub, but I had something to do when I got out."


    "Something like the pedophile dirty ex-cop. I got him fired Daddy to where he wouldn''t be able to work again," I let out a frustrated sigh sitting at the table across from the dark god who left me sore yesterday. Thankfully, the Meyers had the kids since I had workedte, knowing I was going to need to sleep if I were to pick them up from school. They are lifesavers. I don''t know how I would run the club without their aid. "You would have killed him if you would have walked in on what we did. He was pulling strings for the Ciardha usurper."


    Ash pales and it all clicks together. I look at him. "Your uncle?"


    Ash stammers with me on repeat. "I came to pick the kid and take him..."


    "No," I hiss with a snarl. He quirks a dark brow at me, not taking offense at my outburst. This reaction normally puts people on the defensive, but not this man. He is too good to be true.


    "The kid isn''t going home again. In fact..." I look at Ash. "Where is your little brother?"


    "School. He goes to Venin Federation Lower Academy. He is six." Both schools are boarding, which means his uncle had removed this boy to service the former officer.


    I have nothing against police officers. Many in the police force take their oaths to protect and serve seriously. They have families and upstanding wonderful citizens. But, as with any profession, there are a few rotten apples.


    "Good. Can your uncle get to him?" Ash looks forlorn as he confirms his uncle could hurt his younger brother, only a year younger than my son. "Okay, we will need to act fast. I need to drop the kids off at school, and then I will call Ryder. We will make sure only you can take your younger brother out of school."


    Hope sparks in the kid''s eyes. "Why don''t Riggs and I drop the cherubs off at school for you?"


    I chew the pancake I''m eating thoughtfully. Before agreeing to let my father do so.


    I can help this heartbreaking teenage boy who is attempting to eat without throwing it back up. Ash looks like he is going to vomit at any moment now. I must help him. The kid doesn''t have anyone in his corner, but that stops now! I don''t care if I adopt him. I''m already keeping a close watch on the murder twins while they are in school in Venin. What''s a few more?


    "That look says she wants to keep the boy," my father mutters to the man beside him.


    "Don''t me her. I want to keep the kid. He needs someone," he rumbles.


    Who is this guy? His words and actions do not line up with his reputation as the Death Angel''s most feared Sergeant-at-arms. He is supposed this psychopathic killing machine, but I''m seeing it. I''m sure he has blood on his hands, and he is unstable. Then again, all the best people I know are mentally unhinged. I include myself alongside my family. He is a conundrum I want to solve and not just to satisfy my sexual needs.


    I squirm in my seat at his gaze along. He sips his coffee, and I watch as Adam''s Apple bobs in his throat. "You can have some pancakes," I offer, with my voiceing out a tad husky.


    "I would, but I''m highly intolerant of gluten," he says, eyeing the perfect pjacks. "I had some sausage and eggs, so I''m good. Thank you though, Viper."


    I didn''t think poor Ash could get any paler, as he whispered my nickname before rushing for the bathroom. I move to stand, but AC ces his hand on my shoulder. "I got him." I nibble on the inside of my lower lip before agreeing to allow him to help the new boy.


    "I see AC took a liking to the boy. It''s unusual for him to get along with anyone other than you and kass," my father mentions as my children sit in hisp, eating their breakfast.


    "Is he going to be okay?" Darius queries.


    I give him a reassuring smile. "I''m going to make sure Ash is okay today. How would you two like Papaw to take you to school today?"


    Darius agrees emphatically while Katie squeals in delight. "Can Wrigglee too?!"


    "Who''s Wriggle?" I question, and she points to the man beside my father.


    "How did you get a nickname from my daughter in such a short time?" I ask, aghast.


    Before he can answer, my father exins, "You must be special to earn a nickname from Katie Pop. She doesn''t offer them freely."


    "Well, then I''m honored to be Wriggle," Riggs says to Katie with his fist over his heart and offers her a mock bow of his head like some medieval knight or fairytale prince. This guy is too good to be true.


    Carter walks in, making a beeline for the coffee like he has been doing every morning while I get the kids ready for school. He doesn''t seem to notice the extra people this morning, and his ribs have apression bandage wrapped around them.


    Carter is Tempest''s IT guy, so he shouldn''t be so bruised and moving stiffly. With his mug in hand, he takes a sip with a sigh. "Best coffee ever. Way better than the ck sludge Storm, Ajax, and Booker call coffee." He takes another sip and then lifts his baby-blue eyes. "Hey, Nate''s out! Where''s the other little sociopath?"


    "He is in the bathroom with the new kid. Please tell me this is an instance of ''you should see the other guy''. You like you got run over by a truck, Uncle Car," Kassius teases, which causes Carter tough.


    "I wish! I''m out of practice fighting. I got my ass handed to me by two Furies. Thankfully, JT is dropping them back off at the airport this morning."


    "Awe man! I wanted to fight Ajax before he left!" Kassius whinges.


    "Uh. No. He did this to me. I''m just lucky he didn''t kill me like he wanted to. He didn''t want Ryder to kill him for offing his precious traitor of a nephew," Carter snarks with an eye-roll at the end. "Car, will you y with pirates with me after school?" Katie asks sweetly.


    "Sure thing, Captain Pop! Shall I bring that scallywag first-mate Jen with me?" Carter queries in his best pirate voice.


    "He can be my first mate!" Darius proims. He enjoys ying pirates with his sister. "Yay! Can Stoe and Cape y too?"


    "I don''t know, Dare, but I''ll ask them." Darius''s face falls slightly at Carter''s words.


    "What if we do a pizza party tonight?" Dad suggests.


    "I''ll call Lte. If it''s okay with her and Greg, we can," I reply to him.


    "We have a projector. When it gets dark, we can watch a movie,¡± Carter suggests.


    I thought about it for a moment. "It is Friday night, and the teenagers will leave for Venin on Sunday, so that sounds like a great idea."


    "The old man and I will bring the pizza," Riggs rumbles which has Carter finally acknowledging him.


    "Who are you?¡± Carter asks with narrowed eyes.


    "My VP," my father proims, which has me arching a brow.


    "I didn''t know you had VP," Iment.


    "Your P¨¨re said Riggs helped him keep the club runnin'' smoothly. We held church yesterday, and he was voted in as ma vice-president," my father exins.


    "Well now, it looks like the ck Mamba will no longer be the Sargent-at-arms," I chirp and snap off a piece of bacon.


    Riggs looks at me with a mixture of shock and curiosity in his gaze. "Come now, Mr. ck, you didn''t honestly think I didn''t realize who you were when I found out your name, did you?"


    He gives me toothy rictus. "Now there''s the Viper King."


    "We need to get the kids to school," my father interrupts whatever Riggs was going to say next. "Let''s go, Riggs."


    Riggs stands, helping Katie out of my father''sp. "I''ll see you tonight, madam Seraphim."


    "Yeah. Later, Mamba, or should I say Wriggle," I tease.


    Heughs. "I like the nickname Wriggle better anyway, cherub."


    "That''s what Papaw calls momma, Dare, and I!" Katie proims with her backpack looking up at Riggs.N?velDrama.Org owns this text.


    He kneels to her level and gives her a saucy wink. "I know. I heard him call your momma that. Ready to go, Cherub Pop?" Thebination nickname he gave her is adorable and has my heart melting.


    This guy is sting through my mental shields and barriers around my hardened heart. Damn him! If I let him in, then I''ll have to face how I feel about the members of Tempest. I felt betrayed for so long by them.


    I know the truth about why my boys left me. Death Kings or prison, they had the option of only two tough choices. I get it, I would have gone with the Death Kings too.


    The thing is, talking with Carley, I learned Storm wants Tempest to be like C.H.A.O.S. That will not happen, because Gr¨ºle is mine. If they are going to strive to be rulers, it''s going to have to be by my side. That''s the only option. If they fight me for control over this city, then I will have no choice but to end Tempest.


    I hugged my children and father goodbye as he and Riggs left. I''m trusting a stranger with my children, but they will also be with my father, whom I trust the most in this world. "Care to exin the biker who looked at you like you''re the meal he wanted to eat?" Carter asks.


    Oh, I guess he caught that!


    He then sighs and then mumbles something about having to share me with one more person. "Storm is going to hate him," hements, and I smirk.


    "I know. It''s going to be fun to watch them attempt to be on their best behavior when they meet tonight," I then cackle, while Carter shakes his head at me with a knowing smile.

 Pirates & Pizza

    **Storm**


    When JT and I arrived at the Meyers'' house, we found Jensen and Carter in the backyard ying pirates while Jen''s parents watched the game from the porch. It''s been since we were teenagers that I''ve seen such a carefree look on my friends'' faces. My heart seizes inside my chest with the pain of regret. I should have allowed for more breaks from work, instead of taking one job after another in an endless loop. If I had done that, then maybe Carter would be mentally whole. Carter has Katie sitting on one shoulder holding her sword, with his sword in the other. They are fighting Darius, who is on Jensen''s shoulder while Jen holds onto him, getting sliced by Carter. I find it funny that the most guarded of us in a fight is the one who leaves himself wide open to being attacked while bncing a child.


    "Stoe!" Katie shouts, having spotted me. "You''re on my crew. Hurry!"


    "Little help here, crewman Cap! I''m being yed alive!" Jensen bellows at JT jokingly.


    We ran to help our prospective crew mates. Finding a barrel full of foam swords, we arm ourselves. Mine looks more like a Katana and JT''s looks like a broad sword instead of a pirate''s cuss, but at least we have our weapons. The fact I know what these are is enough to make me groan.


    When we were sent to work with the Fury Team to get them limated to their new lives, we were taught sword fighting and drill on the various types. Who knew those lessons woulde in handy now, ying pirates with two children? As the battle rages, more men steadily join the fight. Jeremy and Cruise, along with Carmen and the man Sawyer brought with her. Let''s just say I''ve never seen a non-binary man with long nails and wearing sparkly pink clothing fence so well in stiletto-heeled ankle boots. Their form is perfect. Griffen would give them high marks while the rest of us got welts left from the end of his whip on the areas we needed to correct.


    I am "beheaded" by Dillian, Sawyer''s flirtatious bartender when Nathaniel Hughes arrives alongside another man carrying boxes of pizza. I can sense a spirit clinging to this man, but I currently can''t tell if it''s negative or positive. This puts me on edge because spiritual attachment can be widely unpredictable. Positive spirits may bring good luck and protection, whereas negative spirits can decline both the physical and mental health of the person they are attached to. With them are three teenage boys carrying a variety of 2-3 liter sodas. Two of them are the murder twins Kass and AC, but I don''t recognize the other boy. The redheaded kid is quiet and reserved, but what I find is the anti-social AC is sticking close to the new boy. When AC touches him, the teenage boy rxes. Fascinating.N?velDrama.Org owns this text.


    "More crew mates! Avast, me maties, yo-ho!" Darius shouts.


    Kassiusughs, running and front flipping up on the deck beside the barrels. That kid is just as agile as the Sidhe and Shadow Kings used to be. I can see he took to agility training.


    "Show off!" Ac yells at his counterpart. He then runs to the side of the ship. He jumps, kicking off with both legs, and twists up so that he can push off the top side of the boat with his arms and twirl down the mast pole tond beside Kassius. He is the show-off who had to one-up Kass.


    Both teens grab swords andunch into a battle between them, while Darius shouts AC is on his team. When the two separate, I watch the man with the spirit attached to his soul talk to the new teenager. I grin spreads across the kid''s face. Katie squeals, demanding to be released from Carter''s shoulders. She runs into the biker''s arms, calling him Wriggles. I snort at the nickname. Stoe is much better. Sawyer''s little one seems instantly drawn to him.


    The spirit attached to him is watching the child with the soft, loving face of a doting mother. There is no malice or ill intent, just warmth. I decide this is a positive spirit who watches over this man like a sentinel, bringing him luck. I''ll let this spirit be for now, as it might be a temporary traveler who needs his energetic field to heal. I hope that''s the case, at least. I''ll consult with Jerichoter.


    Jericho is a spirit leader who aided me with my shamanic abilities. My father''s Chitimacha ancestors were powerful shamans. My father was too, but his skills as a healer were forgotten and instead, he became a soldier. One who was killed overseas at a time of war. My mother was furious with him.


    She was alone for years until Amy Channing entered her life. I''ve never seen her so happy. Carley and I had no clue romance was happening in our home where Carley and Amy stayed. That was three months before we all moved to Palomino Bay, Texas. I could have stayed on the ranch, but with our new assignment working under C.H.A.O.S., the move panned out better.


    "Come now, hot stuff, I know I didn''t behead you. Let''s go eat," Dillian says, grabbing my bicep. My eyes meet theirs and they bat their long, glittering false eyshes at me.


    "Sorry, cher. My mind was elsewhere," I exin.


    "I could tell," they respond, giving me a wink.


    "Hurry and grab some pizza before the teenagers eat it all!" Nate shouts, standing beside a smiling Sawyer.


    As we walk, he says, "So many dreamboat men, and not one of them is looking my way," Dillian sighs dramatically.


    I chuckled at them. "Come now, cher. You jealous of Sawyer and Carmen?"


    He gives me a droll look. "Duh. Of course, I am. I just want one person to love the way Carmen and Sawyer are loved. To have some look at me the way you all do them..." They groan and fan themselves. "You will find the person or persons whoplete you," I reply to him.


    "I just want one, not multiple," Dillian says with a finger waggle.


    "I know someone you would get along with well. How do you feel about dancers?"


    "I''m not opposed," Dillian purrs suggestively.


    "I''ll arrange a meeting. He is JT''s manager and choreographer."


    "I like you the best," he whispers just before he releases my arm to get food.


    I chuckle and shake my head at his praise. If anyone is the favorite it''s Carter, or the biker pressed against Sawyer''s back. Jealousy courses through me.


    Who is this guy? Why does he get to make our girl blush like that? I don''t like him.

 Sword Fight

    **Riggs**


    There are four other men in my Viper''s life vying for her affection, but they aren''t as important as her father and her two children. Her children are precious and a lot like their mother. It makes me long for the family I lost. My oldest son would have been fifteen, like the three teenage boys present. Two of them ying while one watching with trepidation. Ash wants to join in the fun, but I don''t think knows how to invite himself. This kid needs a new family who will support him. I wanted to be that person from the moment I stepped in to see what was being done to him. I''m drawn to the kid, and it''s not that I have white knight syndrome. I can''t save Ash, but I can help him. I give him a safe space when he isn''t at school.


    "Let''s seek off so we can make these guys wish they were to give that just fucked glow," I whisper in the ear. I have her backside pulled flush against the front of my body so can feel how hard I am against her lower back.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    "That is so not happening!" A supermodel-esque woman says tugging Sawyer out of my arms. Her eyes narrowed on me. "No fucking my bestie in my house unless you''re my brother."


    I look at the other men and pick the one who looks the most like Meyer''s family. I need to get him good graces if that''s the so we can both have her. This way I won''t be injured by the Serpent''s Witch. She is the Viper''s second inmand. The only reason I know all of this is I''ve been an officer for Nate''s Club for about seven years now. The Death Angels are partnered with the Seraphim Serpents. We provide added protection to their businesses.


    I chuckle with my hands in the air while backing away from Sawyer. "I know better than to cross the Witch," I say with a grin and smirk.


    Her face splits into a sinister rictus before she cackles, drawing all eyes to us. I walk to Ash, gently knocking into his arm with mine. I understand all too well not wanting unwee touches.


    "Avast me matey, shall we go be scallywags an'' join the fray?" I say in my best pirate voice, which has the teenager smiling once again as he did earlier when I ask if he was andlubber or a man of the sea.


    "C-c-can we?" he asks tentatively. My heart aches for this kid. He iscking all confidence. That''s something I know all too well. Before I joined the MC, I was this kid. I know shocker! I''m a very self-assured danger noodle these days. "Aye. Let''s grab our cusses and be on our way," I suggest, gesturing to the barrel where two foam swords are left.


    "I don''t know how to use a s-s-sword," he stammers.


    "That''s okay. Me neither. I be an axe throwin'' kind o'' scallywag," I reply with a wink. "Let''s just go have fun before we lose our chance. We can learn together. Or have that fabulous twink teach us a thing or two?"


    In a sh of sparkle, we watch as the aforementioned Dillian slices his form sword across the blonde man dressed in light gray pinstriped pants and vest, with his emerald silk shirt rolled up to his elbows. This person is well versed in sword fighting, almost as if they have had decades'' worth of formal training.


    "Hey, gorgeous! You would you be a doll and teach us the way of the sword?" I shout at them.


    Their almond eyes look at us as we walk to the barrel to get our weapons. "Anything for you, Riggs," Dillian purrs and I grin. We both enjoy harmlessly flirting with one another. They know I''m with Sawyer. They caught us together that night I was helping them at the club. We''ve been shamelessly flirting ever since, much to the other staff''s annoyance.


    They sashay on their glittering stiletto boots toward us with their sword resting on their shoulder. They have one sparkling manicured hand resting on the hilt. They ooze grace, which Ick. They are gazelle while I''m a bull in a China shop. I have more bruises on my body from running into things than I do from fights.


    "Hello, little lion cub," Dillian says, reaching out a hand to Ash. The boy looks at Dillian with confusion.


    I take Dillian''s hand, bringing it to my lips for a soft kiss. "You wound me, gorgeous. Where''s my hello?" I feign being hurt by their actions.


    They give a daintyugh, lightly pping me on the shoulder with the other. "You are too much wanting all my attention." He cups my cheek with his hand I''m not holding to my chest. "You know I love ya, Boo," they assure me with a wink. I grin. Then look at the shock on Ash''s face. Dillian looks at the teenager as well and gasps. "Oh, cub. We are ying around. He has tasted the rainbow, so I know I don''t stand a chance of having that dick to myself. I''m one man person." I think Dillian''s exnation is only making it more difficult for the kid''s drug-addled brain to process. "Dillian and I are friends, kiddo."


    "You know my name now, so what''s yours, cub?" Dillian questions.


    "Asher," he responds. So, Ash is his nickname. I am proud of him for not stuttering.


    "Well, Asher the lion cub, do you want to learn kenjutsu?" Dillian asks him.


    Ash''s face lights up as he nods empathically. This kid makes me miss my son. No one will rece the child I lost, but that doesn''t mean I cannot open my heart to other children. Ash might not know it yet, but he has already affected my life deeply. It''s time for me to focus on the present and future instead of drowning in my past regrets.


    I follow along with Dillian''s instructions while sword fights continue all around us. I''m unsure if it''s Captain Pop''s crew who won or Captain Hachi''s when Mr. Meyer hollers at us toe and eat before the pizza gets any colder.

 Mamba King

    **Sawyer**


    "Dere be ma cherubs! Where are ma hugs?"


    "Uncle Tee, Tee!" Katie shouts around a mouthful of pizza. The partially eaten food falls from her lips as she jumps up from the chair at the round light green stic kids'' table, knocking her baby pink chair to the ground.


    Etienne catches Katie, holding her close and spinning around with a massive grin on his handsome, tan face. The fading light of the sun catches his dark hair, highlighting the rich violet hue.


    Meanwhile, Darius has spotted Jaxson. With a mischievous smirk, my son swallows his before standing. He runs with his head down, running full tilt as he rams his head into my ridiculous uncle''s gut. Jax gasps with a hyenaugh, picking up Dare with his head pointed to the ground and feet in the air.


    "Gimme that milk money, you gowl." He tells him just before he shakes my son by his feet, attempting to dislodge said ''milk money''. Darius isughing the entire time.


    Smiling, I sauntered over to my uncles to give them hugs alongside my father. "d you two could grace us with your presence. You guys might outta get some pizza before the teenagers eat it all."


    I give Uncle Etienne his hug first while he holds Katie perched on one thick arm. Uncle Tee gives the best hugs.


    "My turn!" Jaxson chirps, pulling me out of Tee''s arms and into his with my son hanging from his back like a ko to a tree. Uncle Jax gives solid hugs, but something is calming about Tee''s hugs. Jax''s are more jovial and filled with energy.


    Upon releasing me, I removed my son from his back. "Go eat, you monkey," I order Darius with a yful swat to his rear. He smiles, returning to the kid''s table and his light blue stic chair.


    No sooner than I sent Darius off than Jaxson was tackled to the ground by his sons. I watch as they wrestle for a moment before rolling my eyes and walking back to the patio where Tee is setting Katie down.


    Tee gets his food and beer. He indulges Katie by sitting next to her at the tiny table. He sits on the concrete floor sideways with his muscr legs stretched out and crossed at his ankles. He is wearing an old, faded pair of blue jeans with the knees blown out and brown alligator-skin square-toe cowboy boots. He has this paired with an emerald and ck checkered pearl snap with the first half of the buttons undone and a ck ribbed tank underneath.


    As I''m eating, a shout of pain has me looking up to see that Jaxson has both boys by their ears. He is sitting between them with his legs over their necks. His arms are between his legs with an ear from each boy whose faces are pressed to the ground, unable to move for fear of an ear being ripped away.


    "Uncle Jax,e eat," Imand.


    With a rictus, he releases Kass and AC. They pout, rubbing their sore ears. I don''t feel bad for them. They started that battle. They should have known that the man who raised them would win.


    Jax stands, walking to me. He puts an arm around my head before kissing the top. "Have the boys been good?"


    I smile at him. "Of course, they have. They are always good for me."


    "They better be, mo cherub beag. We raised them to be good boys who mind their manners with everyone who isn''t their fathers and mother."


    "As it should be. Home is a safe space where they arefortable to act out. Kids are always better for someone who isn''t their parent," I remind him.


    "Aye," he mutters before getting food.


    Everyone grows quiet while eating. When everyone is just able done, I speak. "Before we disperse to get the movie set up, I have something that we need to address. First, I talked to Ryder this morning about Ash. On the way here, I got confirmation from him. His uncle has been barred from the academy list as guardian. The next step is to name a new guardian, but that should be Ash''s choice. Whoever you choose will be ced as your legal guardian until the age of eighteen. When you turn eighteen, you can then be your little brother''s guardian."


    "I want Riggs," he says with no hesitation or stutter. We all look at him in shock.


    "I...I...I..." Poor Ash stutters.


    "Riggs has been hanging out with us all day. We like the biker. Ash has a connection with him. They''ve had simr pasts. If anyone can help him, it''s Riggs.


    "No offense, Auntie Seraph, but you have your kids to raise. You don''t need a broken teenage boy to add to your already full te. You are already training us and watching out for us while we are at the academy," Kassius exins Ash''s quick decision.


    I look at Riggs. The ck Mamba has a look on his face as if his heart is about to break. There are no tears gathered in his eyes, but the way he is looking at Ash... Forlorn, that''s the expression on his chiseled bearded face.


    Now that I''m looking at him closely, I can see the faint tell of crow''s feet at the corner of his eyes. I''m sure if it weren''t for his beard, I would seeugh lines. The man is almost ten years older than me. He had a life outside of the MC and before it. I hope he shares his past with me.


    My memory hits me of a younger version of Riggs without a beard and fewer lines on his handsome face sitting on the bar stool beside him in the clubhouse. He was asking me what I did for my birthday while holding a toddler boy with dark curly hair. A gentle woman with spiraling dark hair and cognac eyes takes the baby from him, but not before he pulls her between his legs. The love between them was palpable and I remember thinking that in the future I hope to find a consuming love like theirs. I had just turned fourteen.


    "What happened to your family?" I ask him, seemingly out of the blue, with no thought.


    "They died almost a decade ago. My son would have been fifteen," Riggs informs me.


    The air is pregnant with sorrow.


    Riggs offers me aforting smile. "Don''t be sad, Viper. I can think of my wife and son fondly now. I miss them, but I''m fine without them. If that wouldn''t have happened, I wouldn''t be sitting here. I''m d Nate brought me." Damn. This. Man. He did it again! He obliterated the pikes standing guard the first night. Demolished the wall this morning. And now he cut the barbed wire protecting my heart. Damn him!


    "Ash, I will be your guardian. Will I get to meet your little brother too?"


    "A-as much as I want to p-protect him from the world. I can''t. We can''t go b-back t-to th-that p-p-ce." Riggs reminds Ash to take deep breaths to calm himself. He does. "He can''t go back to my uncle on breaks. I must keep him safe. You will protect him."


    "I will. I will protect Landon for you," Riggs assures the boy.


    Ash''s stiff shoulders sag in visible relief. Another weight has been removed from the boy.


    "I''ll let Ryder know the decision. However, you aren''t family," Jaxson says sternly.


    Etienne kicks his chair out from underneath him, causing Jax tond on his rear.


    "Ouch! Pheata... What did you do that for?" Jax whinges with a pout. His personality switches give me whish.


    "It don''t matter none whether he be family or not. He is who da kid chose. We respect dat, you," Uncle Tee chastises his husband.


    Etienne''s eyes narrow in on Riggs. "Dat bein'' said, we be needin'' your info. Better hope you don''t have skeletons in your closet. Cause if you do, dey will surface. If you hurt dose kids, da Death Kings wille a knockin'' at your door. From dat point on, you''ll be no more," he threatens, quoting the lyrics to a song Callum wrote.


    I haven''t heard that song in a very long time. I often forget that my uncles and aunt were once The Kings of Death rock band. They hide their identities behind makeup and fake names, wanting to be anonymous so they can do what they love without repercussions from their everyday lives. The band has since retired, seeing as how they are now in their forties.


    Riggs smirks, "I sort of figure you two might be Kings, seeing as how Sawyer is one. I just wasn''t aware of the family ties." "Etienne is my stepbrother. My father married his mother. That makes Sawyer the niece to the Gator King," Nate says.


    I look around for the Meyers, but they have gone inside with Darius and Katie to make popcorn. Thank goodness, because I did not want to exin what was being said. Carmen and I do our best to keep them out of our other world. "So, the feisty redhead must be the Sidhe King. Where''s the Fox? I''ve always heard that they are never apart," Riggsments.


    "Our foxy husband is a busy man. He is currently at some medical conference with the Shadow King, while our Bloody Angel King and Demon King hold down the fort at home," Uncle Jaxments with a shrug of his shoulders. "I heard something about a movie. Come with me, Tempest. Let''s get all set up," Jaxson suggests, transforming the subject. My boys snap to attention with thunderous "Yes Sir!", darting to their feet.


    I snicker internally. There is only one reason for that type of swift reaction to themands of my fairy uncle. They have disobeyed him before and don''t want to relive that experience.


    When they leave, Riggs asks, "What was up with that reaction? They''ve been mean mugging me all night, but their demeanor changed when he barked."


    "If youe over tomorrow, I''ll tell you the story my Chaos Uncles told me," Kassius says and then snorts at the image in his head.


    I wink at Riggs. "It''s a good one too. My friend Carley told me about it. Let''s just say my uncle Jaxson thoroughly enjoys Shibari."


    Etienne scoffs, "Dats an understatement."


    Riggs pulls out his wallet from his back pocket, handing it to Uncle Tee. "This has all my information. Just so you know, I was the MC''s Sergeant-at-arms for years. I also get hired to make people disappear."This content ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    I give my uncle a ruthless grin. "You know how Preston has been trying to track down the ck Mamba to recruit him to the family?" Tee nods his head in confirmation. "This is him."


    My uncle gapes at me in disbelief for a moment before an indolent smile takes over his face. "Ryder is going to like you. We been tryin'' to find you for years to add another skilled assassin to our organization. Here you be. Dis is fate at its finest."


    Riggs crosses his arms over his chest. "I''m not joining any team."


    "Yes, you are," I refute. "My team."


    "Gotta say, I like this idea. But I still need him as my VP," my father counters.


    "Okay, Dad," I concede.


    "Guess I''m not getting a choice," Riggs grumbles.


    "No choice." "You join." Kassius and AC inform him. "Or you die," they say in unison.


    "Out of the mouth of babes. We aren''t giving you a choice. I''m keeping you. You will be part of the family," I confirm.


    "Wee to the family, Mamba King," Uncle Tee drawls in his rich Cajun ident.

 Spirit Free

    **Riggs**


    "Wee to the family, Mamba King." I''m having a difficult time wrapping my head around those words-a Death King. I didn''t have to worry about finding work before and it looks like that will continue. To top it off, I was just imed as a Seraphim Serpent. Family. Another family outside of the brotherhood provided by the Death Angels.


    I''ve never once considered myself a lucky man. Cursed is more like it. At the same time that I was being fired from my job, my family was killed. I waste getting home because my truck had a blowout that took out both tires on one side. I had to creep to the nearest tire ce.


    When I finally arrived home after draining half our savings, the police were there wheeling out my family in body bags. The entire side of the house was riddled with bullet holes. Gang violence. It was an initiation by the Ravagers. They picked my neighborhood and began shooting up houses. My family wasn''t the only ones on the block being ced in ck bags that night.


    They were supposed to be home. We had nned on not being home that night. Instead, we were going to the movies, but because of the tires, we couldn''t go. If only we had gone to the movies, my family would still be here with me. "Are you okay?" Sawyer asks with concern.


    I open my eyes and lift my head from my hands. I had my elbows perched on my knee, but as bring my hands down, her hands reced my elbows and she was squatted on the ground, looking up at me. The twin buns in her rainbow hair make her look like an anime character. I can just picture her threatening to punish me in the name of the moon.


    "My family was murdered in our house. It was a gang initiation."


    "It was the year the Ravagers shot up a whole neighborhood block, wasn''t it?"


    "Yeah. It was. When you came into power, they were the first gang you kicked out of the state. You punished them, didn''t you, Sailor Viper?"


    She snorts at me. "I didn''t peg you for a Sailor Moon fan."


    "Oh yeah. The outer senshi are my favorite. My wife used to say I''d make a great Starlight. I told her I''d make a better Sailor Pluto. She couldn''t even argue."This content ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    Sawyerughs. Herughter is so bright that it draws the attention of the other men''s eyes like a ma. I understand their addiction. It''s only been a few days and I''m craving her like an addict, and she is my drug.


    My somber mood dissipates as I bring her to stand with me. Nate shouts for us toe sit on thewn with everyone since the movie is about to start.


    As we walk hand in hand, I ask, "Which Sailor Senshi would you be, and why?"


    "Oddly enough, Sailor Star Fighter resonated with me the most. I felt I was the most like Seiya."


    That''s the Sailor Starlight myte wife said I was most like. Wow, the universe is interesting in how it works. I''m okay with this. It''s as though I am destined to be here with these people.


    Suddenly, my spirit feels lighter. Freed. Why or how, I don''t know. The way Storm is looking at though, he just might. It''s that, or just he wants to fight.


    Once the smallest children are in bed, I''m all for an old-fashioned fight to work through our disparities. Whether or not they like me, I''m here to stay.

 Civilian Jobs

    **Storm**


    As Sawyer is walking us with the biker, his confident yellow aura shifts into a rainbow of colors. The feminine spirit that was attached to him is gone, which seems to have triggered a metamorphosis, as signified by his colorful aura. The Death Kings have been looking to recruit him, so he must be a killer with morals. The murder twins don''t like many people, so this is unusual for them. The Mamba King willing to take in take in a teenage boy and a six-year-old boy tells me he has morals.


    I like him, but I don''t want to. I want to rip his hand off for daring to touch my woman. She doesn''t belong to him. She belongs to Tempest. That''s what the cave dweller part is shouting, anyway. The enlightened portion of me knows she wasn''t mine to begin with. She is a person and belongs only to herself. She isn''t a possession, no matter how much I want to own her.


    "You look in thought. What''s on your mind, Clyde?" Sawyer asks, sitting next to me on the grass with Riggs next to her.


    "You as always, Bonnie girl," I reply smoothly, then take a drink of my beer.


    I can tell by the look on her face that she doesn''t believe me. "That''s not all you''re thinking about. You have the same look on your face that you had when Mark Tompson groped my ass in the locker room. You broke his arm and gave him a ck eye and while kill if touched me again."


    I shrug my shoulders. "It worked, didn''t it? He left you alone after that."


    I snort. "If by leave me alone, you mean avoiding me like the gue. I wanted to date his best friend, Anthony. But after your beating, he avoided me too."


    "Anthony would never date you, Bonnie. He didn''t have the stones. He was a coward and not worth your time."


    "You''re right. You guys made things difficult for me with dating until you graduated. It was easier to date then."


    I smirk before taking another swig. "Was it? I seem to remember that time when your prom date went running and left you on the doorstep the moment JT opened the front door."


    "He looked like a 1920s gangster and he had the scowl to back it. His gun also peeked from underneath his jacket. I didn''t me him. He ghosted me after that, though," Sawyer replies while Carter hands both her and Riggs beers.


    The movie is ying in the background now. Katie is sitting in Tee''sp and Darius is sitting beside the red-headed teenager. Carmen in thep of her bald husband Cruise, while petting the brown hair of her other husband Jermy. Mr. and Mrs. Meyers are sitting side by side in metal chairs holding hands while Nate is talking with them in his chair beside Jensen''s father.


    Jensen is seated on my other side in the grass and Carter plops down in front of Sawyer with his head in herp. Not seeming to mind having Rigg''s link hand on his chest with Sawyer''s as she strokes his sea foam green hair with the other hand. JT is lying on the ground beside Carter, using his stomach as a pillow. It''s not unusual, we have always beenfortable with each other.


    Jensen rests his head on my shoulder with a yawn. "I''m exhausted."


    "I know. Do you have work tomorrow?" I question.N?velDrama.Org owns this text.


    "Only if a crime scene gets called in. I''m hoping for a day off," Jensen replies.


    "You could use it."


    "Do you have any funerals?"


    "Nothing my director and his assistant can''t handle."


    "So you''re the one who bought the funeral home," Sawyerments.


    "Yes. The dead deserve better respect than what they were receiving from the previous owner."


    "You are not wrong there. I attended the funeral of a fallen brotherst year. It was a shit show," Riggs says. "His clothes were not put on correctly. He looked like a clown. His rings went missing. They dropped the coffin before burying him. His poor momma had a heart attack when her dead son came flopping out. Oh, when I got to the graveside to the service, they were digging the hole and hadn''t put the grave liner in yet."


    "Stories like that are why I bought the home. It''s going to take to build the reputation back up. Carter is doing the marketing for it and JT''s club to get them both out of the red. I had the home remolded. It now has its own crematorium. I''ve hired all new staff and I''m the mortician until I can hire someone to rece me," I exin.


    "Romeo mentioned something about a crime scene. What does he do?" Sawyer questions. I look at Jensen to find him asleep.


    "He works in the CSI department as the forensic manager. He has had just about every forensic job you can think of except for being a detective. Each department has work kept telling him the same thing. He has phenomenal management skills. So, when he applied for a career with Gr¨ºle CSI, they made him the manager because of his former employment rmendations."


    "How does that work? Being employed by the police and being a mercenary?" Riggs asks.


    "Jen is good at his job. We can leave a crime scene with a zero trace of being there and we have to put forth little effort to cover our tracks or stage a scene. We don''t have to call the Aftermath Crew to clean up behind us like the original Death Kings did. We don''t have to blow scenes up or set them on fire to cover up our presence like C.H.A.O.S."


    "Who taught you guys to kill, leaving no evidence?" Sawyer wonders.


    "The Fury Team. We got to train with them. They are masters of stealth. When they do a job, it''s in and out with no mess or fuss," JT answers.


    "Lucky. I always wanted to train under Griffen. But Tee wouldn''t let me because I flirt with Ajax too much."


    "Seriously?!¡± Carter sputters after choking on his spit. "Ajax is the most unstable out of that group and you flirt with him?! All those guys except Finley are old enough to be your father," Carter says indignantly.


    Sawyer rolls her eyes at his dramatics. "They are fifteen years older than me. If Fin were alive, he would be Riggs age, who is only five years older than you lot."


    "If Viper wants to call me Daddy, I''ll let her," Riggs replies with a scious wink directed at Sawyer, who blushes but recovers quickly by clearing her throat.


    "I think I''ll stick to calling you Mamba. It''s a fitting description," she purrs, biting her lower lip and looking down at his cock.


    I growl low in my throat. Either they didn''t hear or ignored it, but they continued with their conversation.


    "You know it, Viper. Tonight, I''ll have you choking on my one-eyed snake as I watch you finger yourself," he says, just quiet enough for only those around Sawyer to hear.


    Okay, I''ve had enough of this guy.


    He looks at me with a smirk. "What''s the matter, chief? You want to hit me?" he taunts.


    "Not here, ya couyons." Sawyer hisses with her hands on our chests, keeping us separated. "Tonight, you all can brawl in the gym while the kids are asleep for all I care. Carter will be with Dillian and me gossiping while we paint our nails." "I''m not painting my nails," Carter grumbles. The look on Sawyer''s face says he will do what she says, even if she has to tie him down to get it done.


    Riggs and I shake hands around Sawyer. Finally, I get to see what this thorn is made of.

 Cut Deep

    **Carter**


    Here I am, allowing Dillian to paint my nails. He at least painted them a green so dark they almost look ck. Green is my color ording to him, not that I''m going to argue because it is my favorite color. It goes with the sea foam green color of my hair. Sawyer didn''t want me in the middle of the brawl happening on the floor mats of the apartment building''s gym. Come to find out Sawyer owns the entire building and is leased out to members of both the Seraphim Serpents and the Death Angels. The reason she doesn''t want me fighting has to do with my broken ribs, courtesy of Ajax. I''m okay with that as I watch them from the sidelines.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024.


    Riggs didn''t have the training we did, but so far, he has held his own against Storm. Storm is our leader not only because of his leadership skills, but he is the best fighter. This new guy''s skills might not be as refined as us from training under the Death Kings for over fifteen years, but he is a talented brawler. The more I''m around him, the more I like him. He fits with Sawyer and with the Death Kings. No wonder they were looking for him. If the Death Kings honed his skills more, he would be even more deadly. The ck Mamba already has the reputation of being an executioner for the club. Members hold him with amounts of fear and respect. He is the local boogeyman, along with the Viper King.


    I don''t see how the rainbow beautyughing with her gay best friend is so terrifying to the criminals and gangs of Gr¨ºle. Maybe therein lies the problem. We know has a kindhearted girl with a love for silver-haired anime boys. We haven''t seen the warlord underneath the surface. The woman who eradicated and forced out gangs from all over the state would follow her rules or pay her operating fees. She is dangerous, more so than we are, but we also have seen the soft side, so it''s hard to adjust. Storm might want to figure out how we are going to work with her because there is no way we are going to be like C.H.A.O.S. Nope, this state belongs to our woman, so we better get with the program before she forces us beneath her. I like that mental image.


    "What you over there grinning about?" Sawyer asks me.


    "Being underneath you," I say with a wink and a grin. She moves from sitting beside me to straddle me. Watching Storm getting his ass kicked has now been forgotten as I look at this gorgeous creature in myp.


    She brushes my hair away from my eyes. "How are you, Orpheus?" Now there''s a loaded question.


    "The depression meds are working." She shakes her head at me. She shifts and I hiss in pain. Her brown eyes narrow on my blue ones.


    "Pants off," she snaps at me.


    "You gotta get me alone if you want me doing that, Eurydice," I joke, but she isn''tughing.


    "You''re cutting again," she uses.


    "So? What do you care?" I snarl, instantly regretting those words as her face hardens.


    "You''re not doing this. We are going to my apartment, and you are going to show me the cuts on the inside of your thighs. You aren''t pushing me away. I will not allow you to." She barks at the teenagers, who grin wickedly at hermands. The next thing I know, I''m tied up from neck to ankles by Kassius while JT holds me down. JT is carrying me slung over his shoulder. "When you asked me to join you in your bedroom, Dollface, this wasn''t what I had in mind," JT says as he throws onto Sawyer''s bed.


    "Sorry for the misunderstanding, Capone, but after I check his thigh, I''ll make it up to you," she purrs at him with her fingers dancing just above the waistband of his cks.


    "Why want his pants off so badly?" JT questions.


    "He''s cutting again," she states, and JT res at me with his arms crossed over his chest.


    "I thought you were past that?" JT queries.


    "He''s an addict. He needs that endorphin release," she exins. I want to argue, but there is no point. She is correct. With no longer having Razor to cut me, I found another outlet.


    JT''s hand wraps around my throat. "You''re a fucking idiot for hurting yourself. Next time, use ice instead of a de." "That won''t work," I dispute.


    JT''s eyebrow hikes up. Sawyer and JT share a knowing look. "I''ll untie him if you go get the ice, Doll." She nods, leaving.


    Once I''m untied, he removes my joggers before I can think or say anything to warn him I wasn''t wearing any underwear. He ignores my hard-on, undoing the bandage I ced around my thigh. "You need stitches. You cut too deep in a few ces." "The kit is under my bed," Sawyerments, carrying a metal cup. JT nods before getting on his hands and knees to dig out the medical kit.


    "When you hissed, I knew you cut too deep. Other ways won''t leave scars," she says before popping an ice cube in her mouth.


    "I''m going to stitch these up and then Sawyer and I are going to show you a safe way to get your oxytocin high," he says, injecting lidocaine around the areas of my thigh that need stitches. Within five minutes of silence, JT stitches. "You almost nicked the femoral artery. Do you have a death wish?" JT snarls.


    I''m shocked. "Of course not! I didn''t know," I mutter dejectedly.


    "You''re an idiot," he growls, continuing his work.


    "This right here is why we''re going to show you there are better ways. If you had been centimeters off, you would have bled to death by cutting your femoral artery," Sawyer says cing her forehead with my face in her hands. "You can be such a couyon, but damn it if I don''t love you."


    "You love me?" I question, perplexed.


    She scoffs. "Of course I do. I never stopped loving you, JT, Jensen, or Storm. Yes, I was angry at you guys for leaving me when you guys just promised you wouldn''t the night before. I get it. Tee exined everything to me the moment he trained me. I just need to hear the story from you four as well."


    "I''m sorry, Eurydice. I''m so sorry. We didn''t want to leave you, Sawyer, but we had little choice. Us being in prison wouldn''t have done anyone any good. At least this way we are somewhat free."


    "I know," she breathes. We stay locked like this in silence until JT is done.

 Melting Ice

    **Carter**


    When I was done, I felt the frigid chill of ice on my hip. Sawyer sits up, taking the ice from JT. She rubs my dick,ying erect between our bodies.


    "Hold this," JT orders cing arge cub in my hand. "Whenever you feel the need to cut, I want to remember this." He strips and then removes both my top and Sawyer''s, along with her redcy bra. He stands behind her, trailing a piece of ice from lips down between her breasts before he circles her nipples with it. "Holding ice releases those feel-good chemicals. When you can''t have sex, ice works."


    "My nipple is so cold," Sawyer moans before her dark eyes meet my sapphire ones. "Warm one up," shemands, and I follow all she continues with the cold caress of my member. JT continues to y with her other nipple using the ice. Then it drifts over to me. I snatch the ice with my mouth, letting melt while sucking on her breast and twirling her nipple with my tongue.Published by N?v''elD/rama.Org.


    I then feel him beside us. His hand reaches between our bodies, and he ys with her clit using more ice. He swirls it around her bud, rubbing it until she throws her head with a moan. "Good girl, Doll. How about a reward?" "Please," she begs, and then he inserts the ice into her dripping core.


    He smirks as she writhes against me. He takes the hand that she was using on my cock. The mostly melted ice cube falls between us. He grabs my dick. I gasp at the unfamiliar sensation of hisrge hands. "Come ride, this couyon, who thought ice wouldn''t work in ce of bloodletting."


    She raises her hips and uses my shoulders for bnce. As she impales herself on my dick, his hand disappears. "Your dick is so cold, it feels good warming up inside me," she groans once I''m sheathed fully inside her.


    My hands go to her hips as we move my hips, driving up and she ising down my shaft. We get into but are stopped while she is raised, and the tip is barely inside her. JT''s fingers slip inside, stretching her before he ces arge ice cube inside her. Then she forces herself down. The mixture of the melting ice and her heat is amazing. I close my eyes and moan. I open them again when I feel water dripping down my taint and JT''s finger pumping in and out, stroking my cock between the thinyer. He does this until hefortably has three fingers inside her puckered hole.


    "Just put it already, Capone," Sawyer snaps with frustration. I open my eyes. She is going to take us both? At the same time?


    Iy back, bringing her with me. I move us so that we are firmly on the bed without removing my dick from his new favorite ce.


    JT positions himself so that his legs are under mine. "Sit up," he orders us both. We do. "Hands on his shoulders and lift until you feel both of us at your entrances. She does and we both scoot closer together so that Sawyer is over us both. We have one on our cocks and the other on her hips to guide her.


    I''ve felt nothing like this before and she is lowered onto us. I can feel his dick against mine with only a thinyer of flesh separating us. I don''t know how much longer I canst. Once Sawyer is fully seated, she kisses me, cing one hand on her breast. She grins as I twist her nipple.


    JT grunts and she pulls his head to hers for a kiss, and ces one of his hands on her other breast. Then rises as we y with her nipples. She uses my shoulders for bnce. The three of us find the perfect rhythm, which steadily increases. JT dumps the remaining on us all. Soon we all three are cumming together as the ice melts all over us and the bed. Not that we care at this point. We sit there breathing harshly. When JT has caught his breath, he moves and returns with a towel. He wipes Sawyer''s backside before handing it to me. I roll Sawyer over so her back on the bed. I sit up between her legs and clean her off before I clean myself up.


    "You two go get in the shower. I''ll change the bed sheets. Where do you keep extras?" I ask Sawyer. I can''t get my fresh bandaging wet, so I might as well clean up. I''ll rub myself down with a soapy ragter.


    Sawyer tells me where to get sheets. I''m finishing up when she walks out of the bathroom wrapped in a fluffy ck towel. She has a wet rag in her hands. "Come in here and let me get you cleaning up.''


    I walk to her and allow her to pull me into her on-suit. JT is towels of his hair before he wraps his hips in it. He sits on the edge of the bathtub and watches as Sawyer begins with my feet and bathes me. Sitting on her knees, she cleans my middle. JT yawns. He walks to get another rag and walks to the sink. "This is taking too long. I''m tired." He washes the back of my neck first and then down my backside as Sawyer stands to clean my abs, chest, and neck. She hands me a clean rag for me to wash my face with. "There he is done," JT says with finality.


    Sawyer takes both hands and drags us to her bed. Wey down with Sawyer between us. We are on our side with her facing JT, and I''m curled around her backside. She yawns. "I haven''t had two men at the same as that before. We need to do it again in different positions."


    I chuckle, "Deal."


    "I''m never going to look at ice the same," I murmur.


    "Good," JT rumbles.


    "That was the point of this," Sawyer says drowsily.


    "Thank you both. I needed this," Iment.


    "Just me know when you need a reminder. I don''t care where we are, I''ll get you ice and remind you of this moment. No more cutting, Car," JT says, and my heart skips a beat.


    He called me by my childhood nickname he picked up from our time spent with C.H.A.O.S. I decide to screw it. Carson is a part of me and it''s past time that embraced him once again. "I will. I promise, Stripper Bear."


    JTughs and Sawyer huffs at being shaken awake. "I can''t wait to hear the nicknames youe up with for the others."


    "I''ll be thinking about it. I already started calling Katie Pop Bear and Darius is Dare Bear," I tell him. "Sawyer is Angel Bear. She has always been like a beautiful angel. Tee called her Cherub and now she is Seraphim, the Viper King." "It fits," JT says sleepily.


    I yawn. "Yeah, it does," I mutter dreamily. Then I''m off to sleep with thoughts of us as colorful bears, like in my favorite childhood TV show.

 Last Night

    **Sawyer**


    I wake up to my face, stered with drool on JT''s arm. That is not attractive. "Mornin'', Doll. You are gorgeous," JT says with a soft smile on his handsome face. He either has on rose-colored ss or the man has a few marbles loose in his head. I''m going to go with thetter since he is a Death King. They are not mentally well, including me.


    "I hope Riggs doesn''t view this as cheating," I groan, moving my yellow and green stands from my face.


    "Nah, cher. We all agreed to share, remember?" JT says before his lips brush mine.


    His phone pings. He turns over to remove it from the nightstand while climbing over him. "Storm says breakfast will be ready in thirty minutes," he hollers while I''m in the bathroom.


    I yell back. "Wake up, Carter, but be nice about it, yeah?"


    "I''ll be real nice ''bout it, Doll," JT shouts back with a purr that leaves me doubting his words.


    I continue with my morning routine of brushing my teeth and hair. While I put my lotion on, I hear Carter cursing JT. "Kass twa, you salop!" I snicker at him, telling JT to fuck off while calling him a whore. "I should change your name from Stripper Bear to Salop Bear," he rants stomping into the bathroom.


    "Damn, Capone! What did you do to him?" I question fighting myughter at them, acting like the boys I knew ten years ago.


    "I thought I could help with his morin'' wood," he exins with a smirk. "Not my problem he woke up thinkin'' I be you."


    "That doesn''t tell me what you did. Just leaves me with more questions," I tell him.


    "There is no such thing as a friendship blow job, you asshole!" Carter snaps, crossing his arm over his chest, and leans against the sink after washing his hands, ring at JT.


    "Sure is, mon amie," JT rebuts, leaning against the doorway.


    "You''re just like Kage! It''s why you both get along so well. You whore yourselves to glean information and then kill them when you''re done, since the dead tell no tales,¡± Carter snarls, and JT''s face darkens like thunder. "Yeah. I was a whore, me," JT deadpans. He just clicked off his emotions. I recognize that look all too well. Not only from my family but when I look in the mirror. He walks away.


    "You kass couyon! That was uncalled for and you know it. You''re just mad because you liked it. Sex is sex. It''s animal and primal. There are no gender boundaries with it. Just look at animals! They don''t even care about gender. I''ve seen a stud horse get excited over a gelding they found attractive, so don''t even attempt to contradict me on this." I take a deep sigh, shaking my head.


    "Think it over, but don''t take your self-loathing out on others. He said he was a whore, as in past tense. You might put yourself in his shoes. It should be easy enough for you to do. He could have spit words at you to hurt you and he just walked away. You might contemte that too," I say and walk into the bedroom to put clothes on.


    JT was fully dressed, sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. I mill around the room, putting my clothes on. Once dressed, I sit down beside him, pulling my hair up in a ponytail. "Wanna talk about it?"


    He looks at me with regret in his sapphire eyes. "He is right. I did that. I was a whore. It''s how I gained information. Tongues be loose when endorphins kick in."


    "You keep saying was. What changed?"


    "We finally got toe home. We get to nt our roots and not have to leave. No more assignments unless they''re local," JT says with a hint of joy.


    "This is not how I wanted to tell you what I did for my team," he grumbles and then releases a slow, deep, rattling sigh. All the tension is released from his body when I climb into hisp and hold him close.


    I grip his face in my hands, forcing his eyes on me. "That''s the past. I won''t allow you to go back to that life. I don''t mind you using seduction to get your way, but don''t use your body unless you are with me and the men I call mine." "Who''s that?" JT queries curiously.


    "You, Carter, Riggs, Storm, and Jensen. The five of you are mine. Four you have always been my boys. Ya''ll might wanna get to know Riggs. If haven''t gotten into my pants and my heart, I don''t think I would have let you guys back in. I was so furious and held onto it for so long."


    "And now?"


    "The walls came crumbling down like the city of Jericho did. I knew I had to let go of the anger to remember how to be in love."


    "I never stopped loving you, Doll. I''m yours. It was your face I''d see at night or when trying to escape what I was doing."


    "You are mine," I say and then kiss him.


    I break the kiss when I hear Carter open the bathroom door. I look back at him. "You are mine, too." I get off of JT so can lead a fully dressed Carter to sit on the bed beside his best friend.


    "I''m sorry. I shouldn''t have said that. Sawyer was right, as usual. I know better than the others what it''s like for my body to be used. Whatever Razor told me to do, I did. If that meant fucking someone, that''s what I did. I''m not used to having the freedom to be with people I care about most. To have sex with those of my choosing instead of who was chosen for me, but only if Razor allowed it," Carter expounds nervously.


    "I wouldn''t do anything to you that you don''t want. You didn''t tell me to stop, so how was I to know it would make you mad," JT exins sincerely.


    "It felt amazing. That thing you do with your tongue. I''m not sure I want to know where you learned. I enjoyed it and I always thought I was straight, so I was confused. I shouldn''t have taken my inner turmoil out on you."


    "Brah. You''re still straight. Just because you like a blow job doesn''t mean you''re down taking a cock up your ass or that you are in love with another man. It''s just sex and Sawyer told me to wake you up nicely. I''ve always enjoyed receiving head in the mornings, so I thought I would treat you." JT says with a shrug of his shoulders as if it''s no big deal to him.


    "If you do it again to anyone, I want to watch next time," I proim. "What did her do with his tongue?"


    "It''s difficult to describe," Carter hedges.


    JT winks at us both. "I''ll do it to you right now. My philosophy is everyone deserves orgasms in the mornings," he purrs.


    "Breakfast!" Storm rumbles from somewhere in my apartment. I guess I didn''t lock the doorst night, but I could have sworn I did when I went to get the ice. How did he get in?


    I dart up, stomping across the floor. When I open the door, I yell, "Storm Diesel Bensen, you better have not broken my door again!"


    I look around to find him and Riggs in mid-pause of a te being handed over. My eyes narrow at them and Storm continues to ce it on the bar top, while Riggs returns to cook bacon.


    "What happenedst night? You what beat the crap out of each other, and now your friends?" I query.


    Jensen wraps his arms from behind me and kisses the top of my head. "Good morning, Juliet. How did you sleep?" He questions knowingly.


    "Carter and JT fucked my brains outst night, so I slept like a rock," I tease to see how the others would respond.


    "La. La. La. Our virgin ears don''t need to hear this," Kassius sasses from the couch.


    "Virgin? Yeah right. I know better. We''ve had this discussion. Glove up, sons." The teenage boys groan at Riggs''s words while I''m swooning over the fact he called them sons.


    I walk over to the couch to find Katie in Ash''sp while he braids her hair. Darius sits between Kassius and AC, schooling them how to y his favorite dungeon version of this pixted block characters game. Something about crafting, mining, and killing things. I kiss the tops of all their heads.N?velDrama.Org owns this text.


    "Look, you guys are having a good morning. How good are they, Dare?"


    "AC follows my directions, so he is great. Kass sucks. He either gets blown up by Creepers or dies in theva when he isn''t killing by going wherever he wants to instead of staying with us," my eight-year-old son exins.


    "Wow, sounds like he is even worse than Jeremey," Iment, and Darius agrees.


    "Line up for food!" Storm thunders.


    Storm and Riggs set up the food on the bar top so everyone could fill their tes and then go sit down somewhere. I''m at a loss because the teenage boys took to making for my children as well as themselves. Tomorrow they will be off to Venin Federation Academy. I''ll miss the helpful monsters.


    As we sit down to eat, I ask again what happenedst night that made Storm and Riggs so chummy. They are even sitting beside one another eating. I''m so curious.

 He Can Stay

    **Jensen**


    Last night, the three teenagers, Din, and I watched as Riggs and Storm pummeled each other''s bodies in the ring. There was no clear winner, and that''s what scared me the most. They are equals as fighters and Riggs''s movements aren''t near as smooth as Storms. It was like watching a lion and a bear trying to rip each other to shreds. Storm is the lion and Riggs is the bear. They killed each other. Not really, they called a drawl because they were both equally exhausted as they both fell to the mats.


    "Yeah. We decided we''re equals, Bonnie," Storm exins.


    "We talkedst night. We are simr yet different, so it''ll work. We are friends now, Viper," Riggs expounds with a wink in her direction. "You are ours tonight."


    That hurts as she agrees.


    Does she not want me anymore?


    I feel like an odd man out and I''m not liking it.


    At least now I can empathize with Carter.


    With him working with Razor Grothman, he became the ck sheep of the group. It felt like a betrayal, him giving away locations and weakness, but it was all part of the Fox King''s ns. His treachery was sanctioned by the head of the Death Kings.


    We still don''t trust him. I don''t know that we ever will.


    Now there is a stranger in our mists and once again our leader blindly trusts someone.


    I don''t get it.


    What makes Riggs so special like Carter?


    Carter, I get. He is the Fox King''s nephew and Carley''s beloved twin brother. He is basically Storm''s step-brother at this point.


    Who is Riggs ck, the ck Mamba turned Mamba King?


    "What''s wrong," JT asks.


    "Everyone is getting to have sex with Sawyer, but me," I grouse bitterly.


    "You knowst night wasn''t nned. I don''t think neither she nor I realized that getting Carter to use ice instead of ying his skin open would lead to sex."


    "Who tops?" I question curiously.


    "Sawyer," he deadpans.


    "Bruh, that''s not what I meant. You or Carter, who tops?" I''m getting frustrated with him.


    "Neither. We didn''t fuck each other, just Sawyer. I gave him a friendly morning BJ, but he freaked out on me."


    "What friends do you have that a ''friendship blow job is normal''?"


    He looks at me as if I sprouted a second head.


    "You, Kage, Avery, and Finley when he was alive." I choke on my spit at his words.


    "You have a point. But not all our friends will be okay with one. Keep your ''friendship BJs'' to yourself unless you ask first."


    "It''s not just head though, I''m just great cunnilingus. I think everyone should have morning orgasms. It makes for a better day," JT exins.


    "That''s because sex is second nature to you. You enjoy it, but not everyone does. Take Ash, for example. That poor kid has been through so much sexual abuse, he might never be okay with it," I remind him.Published by N?v''elD/rama.Org.


    "You have a point. I''ll start double-checking with someone. Just because I think they will like it, doesn''t mean the other person will."


    "There you go. Now, how do I get her into my bed?" I question him and heughs in my face.


    I sigh frustrated. Thanks for that, brother.


    "Grovel. Apologize. Take charge. She doesn''t want to be in charge. She doesn''t want to think at all. She gives orders enough daily that she wants to be givenmands in the bedroom or while having sex," JT advises now that he is doneughing at me.


    "Well, that gives something to think about, at least," I mutter.


    "Get your food before kids get seconds," Riggs says, pushing my shoulders to the food lined up on the bar top.


    The breakfast food looks delicious. There are pancakes, syrup, eggs, sausage, bacon, and... Is that homemade bread with jelly and butter?


    I cannot remember thest time I had homemade bread. It has been a few years at least. I think it was thest time I visited C.H.A.O.S. Jase made some to have with the pot roast he made. That was the best pot roast I had ever had. It had a thick gravy, gold and sweet potatoes, carrots, diced tomatoes, and green chilis. I''m drooling just thinking about it.


    Maybe this year we won''t need them or ter feeding us for the holidays.


    I loaded my te, grateful to have a homemade meal that wasn''t half burnt.


    Storm tries his best, but he needs more practice. It''s gotten better since the time the biscuits were so burnt that Ransom''s Pitbull wouldn''t eat them. They made great hockey pucks to use that Christmas on the frozen pond at the Lazy N&D Ranch owned by Doctor Ryder Fuchs-Jamison''s family. Jase isn''t a patient teacher and banned Storm from his kitchen after that.


    The Furies were the ones to teach him.


    "You are in your head. Care to talk about it?" Riggs questions.


    "I was just thinking about how Storm''s cooking has improved. We used his biscuits as hockey pucks one Christmas," I muse and Riggs chuckles.


    "My grandmother taught me how to cook. She was the home-style type, so she only cooked from scratch. I miss that woman. She passed away six months after my son was born," Riggs exins.


    "I''m sorry to hear that. I didn''t know you had a son," I apologize for bringing up painful memories.


    He looks over at the kids, smiling wistfully. "Brent would have been about their age. Fifteen. I''d like to think he would have gotten along well with those three.


    "You don''t need to apologize. It''s been almost a decade since their deaths. I can talk about them with a smile. It doesn''t hurt so much anymore. Besides, talking about them keeps their memories alive. Gone but not forgotten. I think that''s the saying.


    "I''m going to take the kids to the movies. Maybe you could help Sawyer relieve some stress while we are gone?" He suggests.


    I''m confused. "Are you giving me an opening to have sex with her?" He gives me a look as if I''m the dumbest person he has ever met. I look at him in shock. "You are."


    I almost drop my te but Riggs catches it. He takes my te along with his to the table the adults are crowded around.


    We were thest to get our food.


    "What are everyone''s ns for today? I''ll be on the reservation until nine," Storm proims.


    "I have practice this afternoon and then I''ll be at the club untilte doing paperwork untilte," JT states.


    "I''ll be on the phone with Razz today. He needs help to break through a firewall. We have a campaign to win tonight in our game. It''ll take all night,¡± Carter tells us with a smile.


    That means he will be in his room pulling an all-nighter, loaded up on energy drinks and junk food.


    "I have nothing going on until around six when I leave for the club. Din is out, so I''ll be covering his shifts until I can get another server hired. Riggs is now a bartender thanks to him renewing his license. He is going to drop the kids off with Jen''s parents and then leave the teenagers at the clubhouse with Nate," Sawyer exins.


    Now it''s my turn. "I don''t have any ns at all unless I get called in. Why don''t we hang out together today? I give the best foot massages and we can watch JJK."


    "How did you still know I enjoy anime?" She questions and I give a droll look.


    "Oh, I don''t know.... all the figures of all the white-haired anime guys, and then there is the wall of manga in your living room. You know you want to watch Gojo and Sukuna with me," I tease.


    I noticed she had several Sukuna figures alongside her plethora of Gojo ones.


    "I could use some rxing before work," Sawyer makes a show of thinking about my proposal. I know what she is going to say. "You have a deal, Romeo."


    I knew that was going to be her answer. I grin.


    I look at Riggs. I like him. He can stay.

 Romeo & Juliet

    **Sawyer**


    Jensen wasn''t kidding about his foot messaging skills. I''m moaning so loud and unabashedly that I should be ashamed of myself. I''m not.


    He made good on his promise of binging my favorite anime with me. He even broke out the ice cream and cream liquor.


    He must have spent a lot of time with Carley to know about our obsession that Ali got us hooked on when we trained under her with Carmen, ter, and Camden. Thetter two were trained in secret alongside us. None of the other teams knew who the members of the Angel Team were until about five years ago when we were called in to help C.H.A.O.S. and Tempest. Even then they only knew that Carley was on that team.


    "If I get to have these foot rubs for the rest of my life, I''ll marry you right now," I joke with him.


    He snorts. "I don''t care which of us you marry, as long we can all have you," hements seriously.


    "Oh Romeo, Romeo. Why for art thou a dumbass, Romeo?"


    "Hey now, Juliet! I resemble that remark!" He says, offendedly clutching his imaginary pearls.


    Then slow seductive smile curves his lips. His eyes be hooded. He stretches his body over mine, wing on top of me. He reaches for the side table and turns off the TV.Published by N?v''elD/rama.Org.


    I shoved at his solid chest. "I was watching that! Gojo was about to get out of the shower shirtless! That''s ying dirty!" I snap.


    Jensen chuckles, rolling his hips into mine.


    All thoughts of a half-naked Satoru Gojo flee at the feel of Jensen''s cock pressing into me throw our clothes. Suddenly, I feel like we are wearing way too many clothes for the asion. "What was that, Juliet?" He questions, his voice dripping with pure male satisfaction at making me forget.


    He undtes his hips again and I moan.


    "Tell me, my Juliet, do you still need me to save you?" He purrs in my ear.


    In a way I wish I did still need him to save me, but the reality is, I don''t. I don''t need him. I don''t need Storm. I don''t need Carter. I don''t need JT. I don''t need Riggs. I don''t need them for protection. I don''t need them for financial stability. I don''t need their help to raise my children. I don''t need them for support. I have a solid support system.


    I want them. I them in life because with them I don''t have to be the one in control. I don''t have to be the boss and leader everyone is counting. I don''t have to be the sole caregiver for my children. I can be cared for, for once in my life. I want to share my life with them. I want them in the lives of my children. I want them in my life so that I can let my walls down and be vulnerable.


    "I don''t need you, Romeo." His face falls at my whispered words. "I want you. I want you to save me sometimes, so I don''t have to save myself all the time." I stroke his cheek.


    "I don''t want to think. I just want you to fuck me," I beg huskily.


    He groans. He leans down to devour my mouth. His tongue worked us both into a frenzy of scraping teeth and roaming hands. His hands find the center of my lounge shorts and shove them aside. He releases his cock from the confines of his joggers, lines himself, and enters my heated core.


    "You''re already so wet," he moans.


    He pulls all the way out. My nails dig into his back and my heel presses into his glutes in protest. He ms back in. "Again," I rasp lovingly how that felt. He listens repeating the process over and over until he pinches my clitoris and I orgasm. He thrusts in several more times before he joins.


    He copses on top of me breathily rapidly. I can feel our heartbeats, pounding quick rhythms in our chests. I rub his back where my nails racked him back and made whelp. He surrounds my face with his hands. "I didn''t mean for this session to be so short, but it''s been years."


    "Years?" I question with a gasp. I cannot imagine going years without sex.


    Okay, I can because I wasn''t neen and married before I had sex after what happened to me when I was sixteen. The first time was filled with anxiety and I almost told my husband to stop because the shbacks were severe. I could breathe and tears were flowing freely down my face because I was that distraught. In hindsight, I should have exined what was going on in my head, but I let him believe I was crying because I didn''t know sex could be that good. The man thought he was so important at the time. I used him to get what I wanted, another child. Another person who would love me and I could love them unconditionally. A future ymate for my lonely son as well.


    "Carley was myst partner for pration sex, that is." He winces after he says those words.


    "So thest six years have been oral sex and hand jobs for you, then." He chuckles at my words but agrees.


    "When JT offers free fetio, you say yes. The things that man can do with his mouth and tongue are mind-blowing," he offers as if he were remembering the sensation.


    I don''t me him there, I have firsthand knowledge of how mesmerizing that man''s tongue is. Hands down he is the best I''ve had when Ie to cunnilingus. That''s saying something because Riggs is damn good too, especially with his tongue ring.


    Iugh and my curiosity is peaked at his words. "Has JT given all of Tempest blowjobs?"


    "Just me." Jensen grins. "Storm won''t let him anywhere near his dick, mouth, or ass. He scared Carter away this morning when he woke him up." He frowns at thest sentence.


    "Has he done that to any other men that you know of?"


    "Yeah. He told me this morning he also gave friendship BJs to two members of Fury and ourte friend Fin. Makes sense since JT and Kage are both pansexual, and Fin and I are bi-sexual." He shrugs as if it was not a big deal.


    I don''t know this about him. He was neen thest time I saw him and now he is twenty-nine.


    "Don''t tell Din, he might try to steal you from me," I joke bopping him on the end of his nose.


    He chuckles. "He can try but he won''t seed. I''m devoted to you and your harem."


    "I must be insane like my aunt and Carley to have a reverse harem like they do. Seriously what are the odds in this day and age for so many of us to be in love with multiple people."


    "I think us men are crazy to be willing to share and not our jealousy get the better of us. One of us should steal you and add to our horde like a dragon."


    "Has Carter been talking his game again?"


    "None stop," he groans, burying his face in my neck.


    I squeal and then moan as he gives me a hickey on my neck. His hips thrust and he slides in. He has me orgasming far too quicklybining his sucking with that long thick member of his. The snap of his hips quickens until he releases my neck with a groan. With three more aborted thrusts, he copses back on top of me.


    So far Jen is the biggest, however, Riggs isrger in circumference.


    "I think I''m addicted to your body already," hements.


    My phone disyed Riggs''s name with a ring. I pick it up off the side table behind me and answer. "I just dropped off the kids. Do you want me toe pick you up?"


    Jensen''s phone vibrates and lights up on the coffee table with a name I don''t recognize. He answers with hisst name and tells whoever it is he will be at the scene in thirty minutes.


    "I''ll meet you at the club, I still need to take a shower. I also want to ride my bike. I miss him."


    Riggs''s rich chuckle teases my eardrums. "Okay, Viper. Just remember you''re mine and the Shaman''s tonight." He ends the call at that.


    I look at Jensen who is sitting on my couch. Both of our bottoms are covered in cum.


    "Looks like it''s time to go work." I wink at him.


    A mischievous grin takes over his face. "First I''m going to get you more dirty before I get you clean," he winks back.


    Next thing I know I''m being carried over his shoulder to the bathroom in my bedroom.

 Voodoo Killer

    **Jensen**


    "Sorry to call you on short notice again Mr. Meyer, but I could use the help. I''m not from here and have never seen anything like this until these past three cases."


    "At this point detective, I think it''s safe to say we have a serial killer who is targeting voodoo practitioners."


    "That''s what all this is?" He questions gesturing to the altar with precious stonesid out on a grid, melted candles, and figures surrounding it. On the shelf beside are homemade dolls and bottles sealed with wax. On the other side is an aquarium set up for a snake.


    I move to get a closer look. I love snakes and wouldn''t mind having one now that I can care for one. There is no snake that I can see. I flip over the log and look through the foliage in the cage. Still no snake. "Um detective have you seen..." I see a yellow snake about three feet long coil around Detective Porter''s pants leg. He must not be able to feel it through his boots. "The snake is missing, but I just found him."


    The man''s eyes be asrge as saucers. "What?! Where?!" His Boston ent became more pronounced with his anxiety. "I cannot stand snakes!" He shouts.


    I ignore him, bending down in front of him. I''m quick to extract the beautiful dragonfly morph ball python, having it safely in my arms before he screams run away from me and the snake, and out the front door. "It''s just a ball python! They have sharp needle teeth, but they''re harmless." Iugh, careful not to touch anything surrounding the body until I can get my samples.


    "No. You can keep that devil creature far from me, buddy," Detective Porter exims.


    "I''ll take him or her to theb with me just in case the snake has any evidence. After I clear it, if the family members don''t want it, then I''ll keep it." I ce the snake around my neck to get warm. He hangs around while I move around the crime scene. "He won''t leave my body heat willingly. You''re safe, Detective."


    Hees back in, his dark eyes eying it warily. He nces back down at the victim on the floor whose dark skin now has a gray cast to it in death. "You southern boys are strange."


    "If think I''m strange for loving snakes then you are going to love this next bit of information... I''m friends with the corner who is also the mortician." I inform of this with a peculiar sense of satisfaction. "We are childhood best friends." "I stand by my statement, yeah buddy." The older man replies.


    "He isn''t even in my top ten of weird. I''ve seen some stuff, man. Enough to believe just about anything."


    "Ma''lob Ja''at kab kiin, Tyron." A man who dark skin that has a reddish undertone, long ck hair, and Aztec/Incan/Mayan-type tattoos greets carefully walking toward us.


    "Jericho. Good morning to you too. I appreciate youing here."


    "Interestingly enough when you called me yesterday about the case, I was already in town."


    "Jericho is a mystic I''ve worked with before he knows all about the ult stuff like this," Detective Porter exins.


    I reach a hand out to shake Jericho''s. "I''m Jensen. I''m the lead forensic investigator."


    "Jach ki''imak in wool in wilikech. In kaaba''e Jericho."


    "What?"


    "Sorry. I was back home for a spell. I said, ''It''s nice to meet you. My name is Jericho''," he says with a Spanish ent.


    "I''ve heard manynguages, but don''t recognize that one."


    "It''s Yucatec Maya."


    "Okay, now I know your tattoos are Mayan. I couldn''t tell if they were that, Aztec, or Incan."


    "I see you are a kaan lover," Jericho says pointing to the snake around my neck.


    "Yes, I do love snakes."Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024.


    "Jensen is just as creepy as you. I thought you two would get along," Detective Porter interrupts our conversation. "Now, can we please get this wrapped up so we can call the corner''s office to pick this victim up?" "There are many serpents in your life. You''ll be all the happier for it. Like Romeo and Juliet only without stupidity." I give a confused look. "Wilik in t¨²umben etail. You''ll see my new friend."


    With that, he begins to look around while I go back to taking my samples. He is an odd man, but I feel as though he is an important man to know. He knows things. He isn''t human. I''m not sure how I know that. Maybe it has something with growing with Storm or training with the Furies. I honestly don''t know, it''s a gut feeling.


    "Can join you at yourb?" Jericho asks me once we are done and have exited the crime scene.


    "Sure, but only if we pick some drinks on the way. Otherwise, I''m going to be thinking about all the fun my girl is having without me."


    "You''re Serpent King is absolutely having fun without you. But that''s not what I want to talk about. I want to pick your brain about Rory Beadu and Callix Lane." "How?"


    "I''ll exin when there aren''t extra ears." I nod and he rides with me in my car to myb.

 Supernatural Mumbo Jumbo

    **Jensen**


    "If know those you must be the Jericho Ryder knows. What is the clever fox up to this time?" I question.


    "Something he shouldn''t be messing in. He is creating super soldiers using the diluted blood of royal infernals and the corpses of the fallen."


    "What?!" I choke out having inhaled my beer instead of swallowing. Ugh, that burns. "This exins some questions he had on DNA a while back. I didn''t think anything of it," I drawl.


    "Lix. You can show yourself now." I almost jump out of my skin at the sight of my friend Callix appearing seemingly out of thin air.


    Callixughs. "I thought we were friends?" He questions between breathes attempting to sound offended.


    "Dead friends don''t pop out of thin air! Kaka sen!" I exim in shock. "Have you told him you''re in town?"


    "I fuck things up with JT. He''ll never forgive me."


    "Ou se yon fout s¨°t." I mutter he is a fucking idiot in Haitian Creole. Not that he understands me. "JT already forgave you. You never understood how big that man''s heart is. Anyway, why are you here?"


    "Don''t you love me?" He yawns sitting down at the nearest I narrow my eyes at him. He reminds me of azy house cat. He is always half asleep. So it seems anyway. Callix can hear everything. He is sharp and well aware of his surroundings, even if he is blind. He exined that sound waves give him sight, like Daredevil.


    I''ve had a feeling that he was something more than human, only now I know he isn''t. Whatever human part that overrode the infernal part has been pushed aside. "You''re different what happened?"


    "This is where Rory Beadues in. She changed him. Her father is working with Duncan Shaw."


    "Do you think it''s her blood they are using?"


    "I do. Her blood awakened Callix''s infernal half. Without it, he never would have known he was a demon."Published by N?v''elD/rama.Org.


    "What type is he?"


    Jericho kicks Callix''s foot, "Show him, le paalo''."


    Lix''s sea-green eyes look at me, the white of his eyes morphing to ck. His brown hair streaks with silver and white nd horns sprout from his head. His skin turns navy marbled with silver streaks and his navy feathered wings that drape the ground are tipped in silver. When yawns he has teeth that remind me of a dog''s with four long sharp canine teeth. His eyes droop as if he is bored while I''m freaking out. I had no idea things like this existed!


    "Is....is this what they are making?!"


    "No. Those are fake infernals. Lix is one of the seven demon princes of Hades. The Belphegor of sloth," Jericho exins.


    "I still don''t know what all that means," Lix says sitting back down. That''s when I see a long thin tail with shadows coilingzily around the tip as it flicks up and down in mild irritation just like who is being bothered when it is attempting to sleep.


    "Why tell me all this and show me what Callix is? You know as well as I Doctor Ryder Fuchs-Jamison listens to no one."


    "This killer of Voodoo practitioners this wasn''t his first kill. He is targeting them for their power. This is a Lich, someone who is as adept at cursed energy as infernals. Someone like me, who hasn''t made it to my level yet," Jerichoments drinking another beer. "Which is?" I prod.


    "King."


    "Oh great, another fucking king," I grumble.


    "I''ll be needing your help."


    "No, you need the Furies'' help. Keep us out of the supernatural mumbo jumbo. We are human, but the Furies...they are something else. I get the same feel from them as I did from Callix. I''ll keep you in the loop on my findings and you can do your magic stuff but other than I''m out. Call them. I''ll give you Griffen''s number. They live in the same city Rory doesn''t anyway so you can keep an eye on her."


    "Okay. Yaan teech jump''¨¦el k''axt''aan. You have a deal."


    I elbow Callix in the shoulder. He creaks an eye open to look at me to let me know he is listening. "Go talk to JT. He is at his club most nights. Don''t leave this shit between you two to continue to rot. It''s not healthy for either of you." Callix shifts back into his human form. He yawns. "I will," he assures me.


    "You better. I''ll know if you don''t. JT tells me everything," I remind him. This is his reminder that I know exactly what happened between the two men. He flinches in understanding. Yeah, motherfucker I know exactly what you did, I think. "Adi¨®s, Salvador ti'' le kaano''." That''s thest thing Jericho says before he and Callix disappear into the smoky shadows around their feet.


    Even with having the beers, I feel more stressed out than when this day started. I feel my snake friend move against my skin. I pick it up and get to work examining it and taking swabs before I do the same to the habitat. Work is what I need to clear my mind of the insanity of this evening that I want no part of. I''ll take a mundane human mortal existence fuck you very much.

 The Sightless Eyes

    **Storm**


    "Hello," Riggs rumbles. "Storm? Whatcha need?"


    "Can you leave?"


    "I''ll have to ask Viper for permission. I can think of several ways I can beg her," he sayssciviously.


    "I need help. I need you toe get me. Now," I order him, as though he is one of my men. But he isn''t, is he? He is Sawyer''s man and he follows her orders, not mine.


    "You don''t sound alright."


    "I''m not. Please, hurry." My voice cracks at my plea. The only person I have ever begged is Sawyer, and now him. "Do you know where the reservation is?"


    "Of course. I''ve lived here all my life, which is longer than you have," he teases.


    I can not believe this idiot is aging himself. He is as old as the Death Kings, which is thirty-eight. He is twelve years older than Sawyer and nine years older than me. I believe he and ter Zen are the same age. "I''ll be there. Just give me thirty minutes. Are you safe? Can you do that?"


    I scoff at his questions with derision. "I might be blind, but I''m not helpless."


    "What you mean your.... You know what? Never mind. We''ll address thatment when I get there, Shaman." He hangs up the phone and I breathe a sigh of relief.


    Shaman? I don''t guess I am one anymore. My connection to spirits has been shattered and with it, my sight has been removed. In a way I''m relieved, but also, being blind is going to have its disadvantages as well.


    This Jericho guy, whoever he is, is powerful. It rolls off him in waves and is tainted heavily with death. I''m thankful it was just him and I in the tent. The others had left upon his arrival.


    How do I know this? My hearing and sense of smell are both more acute than they used to be. I can hear the movement of those outside the tent around the fire. I can hear them talking, wondering who that man was who told them to not disturb me when he ushered them out upon his arrival.


    I''m grateful to him. I don''t want anyone to know I''m blind, at least not yet.


    It hits like a ton of bricks, this depressive feeling of understanding that I won''t be able to operate on bodies anymore. I can no longer be a mortician or medical examiner. Thankfully I own the funeral, so there is that at least. I do have a nice nest egg of money put away from our mercenary jobs. Other than purchasing my car and the funeral home outright, I have no expenses other than halving living expenses with Carter and gas.


    The next thing I ck out, falling against the fur nkets behind me.Published by N?v''elD/rama.Org.


    ***


    "Outside you cannot be here. It''s a night of prayer," I hear an elder hiss at someone as Ie awake.


    I cannot remember anything.


    I attempt to open my eyes, but all I can see is darkness. How did I go blind?! Panic threatens to consume but I push it aside as I hear, "I understand that, sir. But it''s urgent. Where''s Storm?" I hear Riggs. I shout for him.


    I can hear the quick movements of his feet as if he stomping on purpose to warn others he ising. The sound stops several feet away.


    "You okay?" I jump at the sound of his voice suddenly being inches away. "You can''t see me. Can you?" I feel the air on my face, picturing him waving his tattooed hand in front of me.


    "I see nothing but ck, and I don''t mean you," Iment, aware that his surname is ck.


    "How did this happen?"


    "I don''t know. I woke up and couldn''t see anything. I don''t remember what I hallucinated about. I can recall them, usually.


    "That isn''t good. You could''ve had a stroke, or it could be a brain tumor. We need to have you checked out," he says urgently. I''m not positive that any of those reasons are the cause of my sudden blindness.


    "You can help me call Doc Fox in the morning. I want to go home," I reply with a weariness I can feel in my bones.


    Something about my face of tone has him agreeing. "I''ll make sure you don''t walk into anything. It took a little longer getting here since I swung by my house to get my old truck."


    "I hadn''t noticed," I assure him as he grips my wrist and hoists me onto my feet.


    "It''s not like you can look at the time," he jokes, but his words areced with nervousness.


    "At least I know someone who is blind who can give advice. JT and Jensen will be mad about it."


    "Why would they be mad at you for contacting someone who can help?"


    "He is their ex, Callix Lane."


    "What?" His steps falter in a half halt, but he keeps going. A half halt is a brief pause.


    "You didn''t know? JT is pansexual, and Jensen is bi-sexual. They''ve been together for about eight years now. In the past, they''ve added people to their rtionships, like Callix and Rory Beadu. Rory is a registered nurse who works for the Death Kings privately. Thest I heard, she was ced with another team to aid them after leaving her job at the hospital. They dated Callix and Rory at the same time."


    "The other two were okay with these?" He questions, helping me into the vehicle.


    "Consensual non-monogamy rtionships are what they like. Carter and I ept it," I tell him. I hear the driver''s door open and shut.


    "Does Viper know?" The engine roars to life after his question.


    "If she doesn''t, my Bonny Girl will soon find out."


    "What about you?" His voice sounds genuinely curious.


    "I''m into CNM, but I''m heterosexual. I''m more than okay with sharing Sawyer. You?"


    "Same," he replies.


    The rest of the ride home is filled with the sound of Riggs crooning along to the early songs of Elvis Presley. I''m surprised he knows all these songs word for word. He must be a big fan of the King of Rock N'' Roll.

 The Strange Night

    **JT**


    There is a knock on my office door. I pause my paperwork,manding the person to enter. "Mr. Brandt a guy is looking for you. I left him at the bar because I didn''t know if you would wee being bothered, "Dustin says. Dustin is one of my dancers, however, he also works as a server on nights he isn''t dancing. The neen-year-old has shown he has a great work ethic. He is naive, quiet, and at first unconfident but he has gotten better about being more being more bold since he started working here about three months ago. I''m proud of how far the timid boy hase. It is obvious to me the boy needs someone who can take care of him. He seems more interested in men than women, so I think a Daddy Dom would be perfect for him.


    "Boss? Mr. Brandt, what would like for me to do?" His queries bring me out of my thoughts and back to the present.


    "What does this guy look like?"


    "He is wearing sunsses. It''s dark in here so I thought that was strange. He mumbled it was too noisy. Brown hair. Tall. Yawns a lot. Heid down in one of the booths of soon as I left." Based on Dustin''s brief description, I know exactly who is asking for me. After what that asshole did, I''m furious he is in my club.


    "Bring him to me!" I snap at Dustin. A look of shock mixed with watery eyes is what I see briefly before my employee scurries off. I feel guilty for being so harsh with the sensitive boy. In walks Callix Lane, alive and in excellent health. I grit my teeth.


    "Dustin. A word before you go," I say softening my voice and feature so that I don''t terrify the boy further. He gulps nervously but pauses to meet my gaze with one foot beyond the threshold, poised to leave in a sh. "You did good. I apologize for snapping at you. It''s not you I''m upset with."


    "It''s me," Callix yawns. Four of his teeth seem to be more pointed than they used to be.


    I nod and offer a reassuring smile to Dustin. He beams at the praise I gave him and at the news of not being the cause of my ire. The boy strives to please me at all times. I appreciate his submissiveness. "Thank you, sir! Do you need anything else?"


    "No, Dustin. But, thank you for asking." The boy''s smile bes impossibly wider before he is back out of the room and shuts the door to my soundproof office.


    It''s a good thing my office is soundproof because my voice bes deeper. louder, and biting as I address this man who is slumped in one of the leather oversized chairs facing my desk. "How dare you! Why are you here?!"


    He shushes me. "Keep it down, JT. I have a headache. Your club is way too loud, I can''t see a thing," he drawls through a yawn.


    This man is insufferable. I don''t understand why I loved him. It''s as thoughzy is the default setting. I know better. I''m fully aware of just how clever and dangerous he is.


    Callix takes a deep breath and sighs as he exhales. "I don''t like how things ended between the four of us. I should have just ended things with Rory only, but I didn''t because I was angry. And this is the reason..."


    "I''m sorry. I shouldn''t have fucked you and then ghosted. I panicked. There was so much blood. You were so pale. I thought I killed you, so I ran. I turned into this demon and killed one of the men I loved."


    "Love?! How can you say you love me when you left me to die!" I roar indigently. I clutch at my chest, thankful to have already been sitting down. He was correct when he called himself a demon, though I still don''t know how my neck was punctured deep enough to my carotid artery which caused me to bleed out. Now Callix is saying he did that...why?


    He winches as if in pain and then holds his head in his hand with his elbows resting on his knees. "I fucked up," he whispers. "I hurt you."


    I scoff at him. "Yeah, asshole. You did. If it weren''t for Carter being a universal donor and finding me when he did, I would have died. He brought me back. I might not trust him, but he has earned my respect for performing CPR. He could have let me die so he wouldn''t have one less team member to betray. He didn''t."


    "I know. Carter was feeding information on your team, C.H.A.O.S., and the Death Kings to Razor Grothman. Sawyer and Dr. Fuchs-Jamison got him the help he needed. I cannot imagine you guys still fully trusting him, even though it''s been five years since then. Your woman Sawyer is something else. She is a fearsome force. Are you and Jensen happy to finally be with her?"


    "We are the happiest we''ve been in a long time. Happier now than when we were with you and Rory. I''m d the rtionship ended. I just wish the words leaving your mouth while I died weren''t you breaking up with me. You shouted at me that you couldn''t love us anymore. That we were the reason you were turning into a self-proimed monster."


    "I''m not where I can forgive you, but I would like it if we could be friends again. Only friends. I have enough lovers," I tell him with a heavy sigh. He apologized, and now we can move on without these uncertain emotions between us. "Friends work. JT, if I could go back and redo the past, I would have done it differently. No drain-kill-ghost. I promise I would have stayed and gotten you help. I was horrified and frightened of myself." Drain? I somewhat want to question him on that as well as the puncture marks he ims to have made, but at the same time I just want to put the past to bed so we both can move forward.


    I wave in front of him to gesture then I''m done with this conversation. "Thank was the past. What''s done is done, Lix."


    He gives me a result nod. "I won''t see you again in this life. Goodbye, JT. Die well so you don''t haunt my ass." Iugh at our running joke to die without attachments to the physical n or have a traumatic death with unresolved feelings. We take a moment tough together. He yawns and then our gazes meet. "Goodbye, Lix." He nods, stands, and leaves. That''s the final time the final time I would see or hear from him.


    ***


    I''m finishing up paperwork when my phone rings. It''s two in the morning. Who would be calling now?Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024.


    "Capone is all alone while his friends are at home. Tell me JT why is that? I thought you ran in little cockroach packs."


    "Razor. What do you want Derek?"


    "What no high how are you? So mean," he drawls with a dramatic whine. When I don''t reply he sighs heavily. "You betrayed me, just like C.H.A.O.S. betrayed my older brother. I want Tempest, C.H.A.O.S., and the Death Kings dead. The survivors will suffer knowing they are the reason their team members are dead."


    "You killed innocent people and left child parentless! They had nothing to do with us or C.H.A.O.S."


    "But it hurt the Death Kings, which is what I wanted. Them-in pain."


    "Now I''m going to use you to weaken Tempest and hurt that little viper bitch who took my right hand. Lefty is not as good at getting me off like Righty was," he croons.


    I grab my twin pistols from their holsters, flicking off the safety and cocking them so that they are ready to be fired. His words have me on edge and I dislike what he insinuating.


    "JT get out of there! Run!" I hear Carley in the background. Carley shouldn''t be with Razor. Where the hell is the rest of C.H.A.O.S?! Those couyons should have protected her! She just had their third baby a month ago!


    Carley''s first child is a little miniature version of Jase. Their second child is a L clone. This one, there is no doubt it''s Weston''s with the same eye shape, nose, and darker skin tone only with Carley''s blonde hair. I''m curious if the baby''s eyes will turn brown or stay blue. I have a feeling if they decide to have a fourth child, it''ll be Arson''s turn to make one.


    "Carley! If you hurt her I''ll..."


    "Kill me?" He sings. "You''ll be dead soon, so good luck with that. I''m not going to hurt Carley, oh no. She is going to be mine again like she was meant to be. I''m also going to break that Viper bitch so that she begs me to fuck her too." "Sawyer is going to kill you if you try you sadistic fuck!" Carley yells at him.


    Heughs... no, not justughs. He cackles like the evil viin he is and hangs up the phone.


    This is a strange night. First Callix shows up apologizing and acting strange. Now Razor Grothman is talking with me on the phone and my friend is warning me to run from my club. Why did she tell me to run? Is there someone in the club with me? It''s quiet. I can''t hear a thing.


    I decide to exit my office to search the club. I''ve checked all the staff rooms, nothing seems out of ce. I check the stages, but still nothing. The main area is clear. I''m alone except for a ck duffle bag behind one of the bars. Someone must have left it, probably one of my staff.


    I pick the bag up and set it on the bar top. It''s heavy and there was a metallic ng as I lowered it. I open it so that I might be able to discover whom it belongs to. It''s a bomb! It''s counting down seconds. I''m not going to have enough time to escape the st.


    "I love you, Capone." "JT, mo linm twa bel gason (I love you handsome man.)." I hear Sawyer and Jensen''s words telling me that love me in two differentnguages. Jensen and Carmen''s father is Cajun, so they are both fluent in it. Growing up in the melting pot of Louisiana their many uniquenguages in the state you pick up.


    I need to survive for them. I run to the opposite bar, underneath is a cer that we use as a holding cell if we need to glean information for a job. If I can make it...


    I don''t. The bomb explodes, taking me and my club with it.

 Coming Up Razor

    **Razor**


    "You tried so hard to warn him, Carley. Capone blew up just like Jasey boy and his hellie hound." Tears track down my woman''s face. Her body is different from the teenage girl I knew, it''s rounder, more womanly, and full. "Now now, my love. No tears."


    Her face hardens at my words. "I''m not your love. I''ll never love you, Derek. You killed my husbands and kidnapped me!"


    I grin at her, gripping her chin tightly. "I''m going to kill your friends too. I will be the center of your world. You and the viper bitch will be being me to fuck you. You are both going to please me any way I see fit. I''m not going to let my men touch you. You are mine alone. The viper though, so is going to be a good little toy from my men. She and Carter both. I''ll get that boy back and he''ll be my little pet again. The way I broke him, I''m going to break her and your stripper." "Where do you have, Arson? Where''s my husband?" She demands with her pastel hair flying around her.


    That color has got to go. I release her moving to grab my sack of goodies. If you behave and let me fix that awful hair of yours I just might tell you," I offer handing her the box of color stripper. "Fine," she snatches the box from me.


    "Good girl," I praise. I snap my fingers gesturing for my minion to stand in front of the main door that guards my pixie and her stripper''s prisons. "Let Tony know in the morning when you are ready from the bathroom. He''ll be guarding you. It takes eight hours so by the time you wake up you can get rid of those slutty colors in your hair. I can''t have my woman looking like a slut. That will be Sierra, Carter, and the viper bitch''s jobs to be my good little sluts. I guess the proper words would be sex toys, right?" I gave her a wink before walking away.


    My n is finallying up Razor. I have my pixie and one of her men to ensure she stayspliant. In my opinion, all strippers all sluts, so that''s one I decided to keep. Sierra, or I guess, Arson, has always been a slut. He slept around with so many I''m surprised he didn''t get dick rot or an STI. Jase and his hound Ransom are dead. I had a bomb ced on it and watched it explode with them inside. It was only fitting to be rid of Tempest cockroach with a bomb blowing him up too. The other two men, L and Weston were shot while I extracted Carley. I shot pretty blonde Lockie Boy in the head, right between his eyes when he shielded her. No more C.H.A.O.S.


    Next up is the death of Tempest and after them, the Death Kings. First, though I wanted to see that their actions got two of their teams killed just like I killed their family members. I have two of the Death Kings in my cell. The musician and chef. I don''t expect either of them to live much longer. I enjoy torturing them too much.


    I whistle as make my way to my bed where a woman is waiting naked and ying with herself. "Keep ying with yourself while I shower. Would you like some ymates?" The writhing woman must be high on one of the new designer drugs on the market. This once makes ecstasy a thing of the past it''s called Angel Frost.


    "Please, Master. Give me some dicks to y with," she moans while rubbing her clit.N?velDrama.Org owns this text.


    "I''m not in the mood to y with you, but I''ll make sure you get your dicks," I chuckle sending a text to one of my men toe get her and make sure she has her fill of dicks. They''ll enjoy ying with that well-used pussy. I''m done with her anyway now that I have my pixie back.


    C.H.A.O.S. and Tempest might have used my pixie''s pussy but will belong only to me again, soon enough. I''m not into me, but when I break Arson I''m going to have him suck me off in front of her. Then I''m going to hand over to someone who wants to use his whole while I fuck Carley. Oh, the psychological torture that will do to them both...I moan stroking my dick up the shower spray as I think about it.


    By tomorrow night I''ll have everything I want and no one can stop me.

 The Worst Night

    **Sawyer**


    "What the hell Carmen?" I question my second as the door to my office ms open against the wall. She is out of breath, her clothing is disheveled, and it doesn''t look like she brushed her hair. She isn''t her normal put-together self, wearing Jeremy''s hideous clow lounge pants that are peeking out from underneath one of Cruise''s giant tank tops. At least she remembered shoes, even if she didn''t bother with a bra. One breast in attempting to escape out of the armhole. "You need to answer your phone," she hisses at me angrily. I looked at my phone, noticing it was dead. What if something had happened to the kids? Luckily, everyone knows they can find me in one of two ces, home or here at the club. "What''s wrong?" I''m immediately on alert at the sight of her and the fury in her voice.


    "One of our police officer friends called me. He found my brother in the forensicsb. He had been shot in the back multiple times. He is in critical care at the hospital." I jump to my feet, my leather chair tipping backward to the ground. Before I can say anything, she holds up her hand to silence me. "Capone''s blew up. JT was inside doing paperwork like you are doing now."


    I pale at words. Someone is killing us off one by one tonight, and this person isn''t done. "Do you know where the other three are?" She shakes her head no.


    "Let''s get to the hospital first. Have one of your husbands bring me a charger, I''ll charge my phone. Hopefully, nothing else happened." I am such an idiot for letting those words leave my lips, because of course the night was turning from good to bad to worse.


    ****


    "Sawyer, wake up. Please wake up before hees back." My head hurts and my vision is fuzzy. Why am I hearing Carley''s voice? She should be in Texas with her family.


    "Is my little Vipey Snipey awake?" That''s it! I''m in hell to be hearing that maniac''s voice.


    "Leave her alone, Derek! She needs medical attention!" Carley demands.


    "That''s why she is in there with her, Sugar." Razor retorts. At least I learned his real name is Derek. Razor is such a dumb name to go by.


    "I can only do so much. She needs to be seen by a doctor," Carley retorts.


    "That''s not gonna happen. So, you better do your best. Work your pixie magic on her. I''ll be needing her ready and raring for what I got nned." He informs her.


    He then grips my chin. His handsome fuzzyes into view. For a man so vile, his face shouldn''t look like that. The outside should match the sick, twisted insides of this man. "You are going to break so prettily for me Viper, just like I broke him. all those years ago."N?velDrama.Org owns this text.


    He twists my head so that I see Carter bound in the cage next to me. His sea-foam green hair is crusted over with blood, hiding his eyes. A thick ck cor is around his neck, attached by a bull snap to the cage. His ankles and wrists have the same thick leather and a chain wrapped around the bars, securing him to it. Why did my vision have to be clear now? He is naked and covered in weeping open wounds.


    "This happens when my pets forget who their master is. If you both behave, I''ll let you fuck one another in the future while I watch." I spit in his face. This earns me a pplete with a blood lip.


    "All your other toys are dead. Just like Ma Pixie''s. They all went boom and bang." He lets out this satisfiedugh while standing and walking away.


    I looked at Carley with tears streaming down her, knowing he was telling the truth. Her husbands are dead. In conclusion, so are my boyfriends. "What happened to C.H.A.O.S., Callisto?"


    Carley sniffles. "I left the house to go pick up the kids from my mom and Lydia''s. They wanted to babysit for a few hours, and I needed a nap. I got to the end of the block in my SUV when I heard a loud explosion behind me." She choked up, and the tears flowed freely down her cheeks. "I turned around quickly to see whose house it was. It was ours. Arson was with me since he can''t stand being cooped up for long anymore now that he can walk again." She wipes her eyes. I hug her close.


    "If Sierra was with you, where is he now?"


    "Here," Arson raspy from behind Carley. He is being suspended by a hook from the ceiling. "If you could get me off this damn thing, that would be great."


    "With Carley and I working together, we should be able to lift you high enough for you to free yourself. Don''t count on us catching your heavy ass as youe down, though. I''m not hurting myself." I inform him. He gives a strangled chuckle. He is in a lot of pain.


    "Fine by me. I don''t want Carley getting hurt, either."


    Carley helps me stand, even though I don''t need it. It''s just a headache. We both position ourselves underneath Arson''s feet and push up from a squat to give us more leverage.


    He unhooks his arms and falls toward his face. I would have leaned backward, but hey, I''m not him. He groans. When he lifts his head, I notice his nose discoloring and blood pouring from it.


    "Crap! I have nothing I can use as leverage to reset his nose. I''m not strong enough," Carleyments with worry.


    "I can reset it." Carley looks at me in shock. "Ryder taught me. Camden would m his nose into Jaxson and Tee''s fists during training. I was curious to learn. I fixed his and ter''s often." I shrug, smiling at the memory of the older men I trained with and consider my older brothers.


    Carley and I help Arson sit on the concrete floor. The husband and wife share a look before he nods. "Okay. Fix it," he says, spitting blood from his mouth into the bottom of his dirty gothic t-shirt.


    I use my hands and force the crooked bone to pop back into ce. He curses, which is not surprising. Once he is done, he looks at me. "What do you know so far?"


    I sigh, sitting in front of him and Carley, who he has pulled into hisp. Carter is unconscious and the blood steadily dripping from his body, but there is no way for us to reach him in the cage. She notices where I am looking. "I tried to doctor him, but the cage electrocuted me."


    I nod at her. Of course, she would attempt to doctor her twin brother. Their rtionship is strained, but Carter has slowly been making strides to repair his rtionship with her and her husbands. "What''s your assessment?"


    "Based on what I can see, it''s mostly open knife wounds. And contusions to the head," Carley tells me. "I''m positive he has broken ribs based on the quick coloring." "Has he said anything?"


    Tears well in her eyes. "He won''t even talk to me or Arson. He said no words at all. He just res or cries when he is conscious. It''s awful. This is much worse than the way he was when Derek kidnapped Ransom."


    "Okay, that helps me understand where he is, not only physically, but mentally. The others are going to owe him for this. They still treat him like he is a traitor. I get it. He betrayed them. They betrayed my trust too, but I still let them back into my life." I huff, tired of the other men, except Riggs, keeping Carter at arms-length. Riggs ys video games with him when neither of them can sleep. Riggs is horrible at most games, except fighting games because he presses random buttons like I do.


    "Let''s circle back to my question," Arson croaks.


    "Last I knew, something happened to Storm that Riggs had to go pick him up from the Res. JT''s club blew up with him inside. Jensen was shot in the fucking precinct. He is in critical condition. Carmen was with me when our car was hit. I don''t know what is going on and hate it!"


    "You have control issues like the rest of us," Arson says, giving me that pretty boy smile of his. Carley pops him on the chest with the back of her hand.


    I snort. "Well, duh. I am the Viper King. The state of Louisiana belongs to me. Just like half of Texas belongs to C.H.A.O.S. You know how that works, Sierra." "Need help to cull the precinct?"


    "If I know Carmen, she already had our people on it before she found me in my office." I smile at him confidently.


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