Resurrecting Ghosts (MC Romance) (Kings of Chaos Book 4) Read online

  “I’m fine,” she says.

  I follow behind Mean, pulling her with me.

  The crowd parts for the large brother like the red sea. Murmurs go up, giving off a low hum that sounds like the buzzing of bees.

  “Whoa. What the fuck is going on?” Shadow asks appearing beside me.

  “This brother thought it was okay to disrespect, man-handle, and insult my Old Lady, so I’m going to show him differently.”

  “Jesus, did you see the size of him?” Echo asks flanking us.

  “You think I’m going to get my ass kicked at my own party, boys?” I ask.

  “I think it’s about to get bloody,” Shadow says.

  Mean slips off his cut when he reaches the ring and I follow suit. “Hold this and stay here,” I say to Ruthie. I glance at Shadow and Echo. “Watch her?”

  “Of course.”

  Stone walks up to me. “What the fuck is going on?”

  “Mean pushed up on my girl and tried to tell me how to handle my household.”

  Stone snickers. “Only you would get into this shit at your own dammed celebration. Some days, I think we should’ve named your ass Trouble.”

  I tap my forehead with my fist. “No, I’m pretty sure Skull was dead on.”

  Stone chuckles as he climbs into the ring and looks at us both as he raises his voice, “You know the rules, no hitting below the belt and your beef stays in the ring when you leave.”

  I climb in through the ropes then roll my shoulders and neck, shaking out my arms to loosen up. I’m tense and too pissed to think strategically. I need to compartmentalize. Boxing as about timing and accuracy as much if not more than it is strength and endurance. I do footwork as I eye Mean. He cracks his knuckles and sends me the death stare I’m sure is the last thing many a person sees in their lifetime.

  He comes out of his corner like Andre the Giant, large, imposing, and slow. I dance around him. His swings and I dodge. We begin our dance. He lands a solid right hook. My head snaps back. The skin on my cheek opens. I absorb the blow and take the opening he leaves with a left right jab combo which I end with an upper cut.

  He spits out blood.

  Not the easy mark you thought, huh? He steps forward and it turns into a slugfest. Left, rights, and body shots are delivered in a furious blurry. I avoid what I can, landing at every opportunity. My sides protest, my left eye is swollen and my hands ache.

  Mean is looking black and blue, so I know I’m not the only one in pain.

  “That’s enough, brothers,” Shadow calls out.

  We lower our fists.

  Stone climbs back into the ring and gets between us. “Bump fists and leave whatever grievance you had here.”

  We bump fists and he gives me a reluctant nod. I see respect on his face. I go back to my corner and find Ruthie looking at me with lust darkened eyes. Blood thirsty?

  “You did that for me?”

  “Mine ain’t you? I take care of my shit.” She helps me slip into my cut. I peer down at her and she gives me a smile I can’t decipher.

  Gripping the edge of my cut, she molds her body to mine. “I never had a man who did that. Took up for me.”

  “Get used to that shit.”

  She slips her arms around my neck and bites my lower lip.

  I devour her mouth, ignoring the pain as I lift her in my arms. She wraps her legs around my waist and I cup her ass, enjoying the dig of her heels into my back. “I’m going to fuck you so good, little girl.”

  She shivers.

  “You frustrate the hell out of me. We’re going to continue to butt heads while we work shit out. But I promise you this, I’ll never let anyone hurt you or disrespect you, and you best believe I’m going to take out my agitation on that tight little pussy of yours.”

  She moans.

  I chuckle. “Never knew you liked it so rough, Ruthie.”

  “I don’t—I didn’t. It’s your spawn, already messing with me and we’re barley a month in,” she pouts.

  I can’t help but laugh at her face. Can pregnancy hormones be contagious? She’s got me running hot and cold. We reach my room and I massage the soft globes of her ass. “Why can’t you be sweet like this all the time? We’d have so many less problems.”

  “You’d be bored to death with a yes woman.”

  “Life might be easier, though. You got to watch how you talk to these guys. Especially, ones outside of our chapter. Some of them are old school. They don’t fuck around with mouthy bitches. Yeah I said bitches, because that’s how they see women.” Machismo to the fullest is a real living part of this life. Depending on the way the club rolls, it can be intense and fucked up.

  She glances away. “I’m trying to learn this. It’s a lot and I am who I am. Tempering that is going to take some time.”

  “Just keep at it. I damn near came in my pants when I saw you today. This looks good on you. But I can think of something that would look even better.” I bite her neck as I open the door and stumble in. “Next time you want to give someone lip, come to me and I’ll put these pretty lips to work.”

  She trails her nails down the back of my neck. “Is this how we’re going to solve our problems now? Fucking?”

  “This is how we’re going to keep from killing each other.” Her body stiffens and I know she’s thinking about my parents. Time for distraction, for both of us. “Get that ass you been teasing me with all night on the bed and get on all fours.”

  I watch her from beneath lowered lids as she walks across the room to my bed and sits on the edge. She moves to take off her heels.

  “Leave them on.”

  Her cheeks pinken and my chest swells with pride. My woman still blushes when I talk dirty. She’s a pure, clean, piece of possibility. Somewhere underneath the lies, paranoia, and stubbornness is a chance at happy ever after. “Pull that skirt up around your waist.” A black lace thong barely covers her round ass. I unbutton my pants and free myself. She glances over her shoulder and I stroke it faster just for her. She groans. “You like watching me stroke my cock, don’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  Her breathy tone makes me feel like I’m on top of the world. I walk over to the bed and tap my cock head on her ass. She squirms and I bend over and sink my teeth into her supple flesh. I can smell her arousal and feel the heat rolling off her skin.

  She bucks her hips. “Skull.”

  I release her skin and admire the impression I’ve left behind. I run my thumb over the sensitive bruise. She hisses and arches her back winding her hips. I lean down, hook my fingers into her underwear and pull them down her legs and over her heels, tossing them behind me. My tongue is tingling with the need to taste her, but I want to be inside her more. I trap her body beneath mine, placing all my weight on my arms on either side of her. I rub my dick between the slick lips of her pussy. “Damn you’re wet. Who made you that way?”

  “You.”

  I bump her clit with the tip of my cock. “I didn’t hear you.”

  “You.”

  “Damn straight. I give you what you need, don’t I?”

  “Yes.”

  I thrust into her with my fingers, torturing us both with the friction as she creams all over my digits. Her breath is shaky and her ass is grinding back against me. I continue to tap her clit. I want her to beg me for it.

  “Please, Skull.”

  “Please what?”

  “Make me come.”

  “You’ll come like this.”

  “No…” she wails.

  I chuckle. “Tell me what you want then.”

  “Inside me.”

  “My finger?”

  “No, your dick.”

  “Ah, there’s the dirty girl I knew was hiding in there.” I pull back and push just the tip in. Her pussy flexes and I grit my teeth. I rock back.


  “No. Fuck me, Skull. Please fuck me.”

  “You got it.” I drive home, circling my hips and bottoming out with every thrust.

  She tosses back what I’m giving her. “Yes, yes, yes. My god, don’t stop.”

  “Is it good?” I ask.

  “So, so good. Shit.”

  The expletives have me leaking pre-come. “Spread your legs wider. Yeah.” I go deeper, tapping her cervix. She screams and shatters, putting my dick on lock down. My spine tingles. I lean down and grip her shoulder with my teeth as I release inside her, reclaiming her as mine.

  Chapter Seven

  Ruthie

  I feel Skull before I see him. Setting my laptop aside, I stare at the doorway where he’s hovering. We’ve been on a truce since the party. He threw down for me, and showed the soft side I love. I saw the sense in what he was trying to do, though I don’t agree on the way he’s going about it. There’s a part of me that finds my attraction to submission disturbing. I like the way he manhandles and overwhelms me with his authoritative personality. I spend my entire day in charge of a large advertising department. I’ve taken care of my sister our entire lives, and walked on eggshells for my mother.

  When it’s done with respect instead of anger, letting go and allowing him to drive the car can be exhilarating. He has issues. I can understand why, given what I’ve learned, but I can’t help him if he remains in denial. He needs a serious education by a professional on mental illness. It’s not the dirty little secret or misunderstood condition it once was. Medicine, treatment, and doctors have come a long way. I’ve thought about bringing it up, but I don’t want to set him off.

  I’m not in the practice of being a hypocrite either. I have my own family issues to deal with. I haven’t spoken to my mother since we left her house, and not for lack of her trying. Every day, I have a dozen missed calls and voice messages from her. I haven’t listened. I know stress isn’t good for the baby, and I’m not ready to make nice or deal with her when she’s this hopped up. Rochelle has been our go between. Part of me hates to put her in this position, and the other half thinks it time for her to pay her dues.

  “What’s up?” I ask.

  “When were you going to tell me you were loaded?”

  “You know who my father is.”

  “Yeah, he made himself rich. I didn’t realize he passed that money on to you,” Skull says.

  “Only good thing he did do, other than encouraging me to take self-defense classes and learn to shoot. I guess he saw so much ugly, he thought I should have the best odds possible to survive. Does it matter?”

  “You know how stupid I felt when Stone made a crack about your millions?”

  I snort. “It’s not that much.”

  “No, but I saw the statements. Shit, Ruthie. What the hell are you doing with me?”

  “Having a baby,” I state in deadpan.

  He snickers. “I’m serious. I don’t get you.”

  “Why is anyone attracted to anyone? Just the way it worked. You’re straight forward, funny, protective, and sweet when you want to be. I thought we were on the track for greatness until we weren’t.”

  “Because I slipped up once?”

  I sigh. “It was never about her. I get they want to get a foothold in any way possible. I expect that shit from them. You were the one I trusted. I don’t do that with men. When I saw that picture, it re-affirmed for me, that men can’t be trusted.”

  “And now?” he asks.

  “The jury is still out,” I say not willing to make myself completely vulnerable to him yet.

  “You ever going to get over it?”

  I frown. “You’re asking me that like we aren’t always fighting.”

  “We fuck too,” he says.

  “And it’s great, but not enough to make a happy life together or a healthy environment for a child to live in.”

  “I’m trying. You get more than any bitch ever has from me,” he admits.

  “And I should feel honored? Should I thank you for not acting like an asshole to me?”

  “Don’t be a bitch, Ruthie.”

  I roll my eyes. “You seem to bring that out in me.”

  He sighs. “I thought we agreed no secrets.”

  “I didn’t realize my bank account number was something I needed to announce. You want me to whip my clit out now, so you can measure it against your penis? I promise you, you’ll win.”

  “That fucking mouth—”

  “Is one of the things you used to love about me until you got this chip on your shoulder. What happened? You went from being one of the most chill people I knew to a damn tyrant.”

  “I explained why—”

  “No, you’re hiding behind that. Yes, I have plenty to learn, but I’m not stupid. I learn fast and there are ways to tell me without forcing me to lay down on my belly like a she wolf to show you my submission.”

  “You like it when you submit.”

  “When it’s of my own volition and because I want to…yes,” I admit.

  “Look at Ms. Thesaurus using big words.” He sneers.

  “There he is. Asshole extraordinaire.” I wave my hand at him.

  “This is what’s going to keep you safe, girl. Don’t you understand that? You know damn well what the men in my family are capable of. You pushing my buttons. Nothing good is going to come of that.” He stalks over, sits on the side of my bed, and cups my face. “Don’t you understand I’m doing this for us? For me, you and the baby. We cannot end up like them. I won’t let that happen.”

  “You never worried about this before while we were together. I don’t understand.”

  “We were never a committed relationship or expecting a child,” he counters.

  “You’re not a werewolf. You won’t turn into some sort of monster because of the sins of your father.” I grip his wrists. “Why can’t you see that?”

  “I’ve spent my entire life struggling to not become my father. How can you expect me to stop that now, when I’m finally living the same life he did? It’s like a cancerous cell I have to keep a close eye on. I’m pre-disposed to it.”

  His words break me open and I begin to bleed out slowly. This beautiful man fully believes himself capable of atrocities. “No, your paranoia and irrationality is twisting you all up and screwing with your head. I want to help you, but baby, I don’t know how. I think you need to see someone. And I’m speaking from a place of knowledge. I had to see a shrink when I was in my teens. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was unworthy.”

  “Why would you ever think that?” he asks.

  “Because my dad bailed. He chose drugs, alcohol, cheap bitches and infamy over his family. What did that say about me? If the first man in my life couldn’t hang around. Why would anyone else want to?”

  “That’s bullshit. It was his loss.”

  “Exactly. Eventually, I came to accept that as truth. I’m still bitter as hell about the choices he made in life and the way they affected me.”

  “That’s understandable,” he says.

  His attempt to pacify me gives me the courage to continue. I know his parents are a touchy topic, but this is a necessary conversation. “As is your situation. That’s heavy shit for anyone to deal with. You’re not exempt because of who you are and the M.C. you belong to. If I didn’t think you were the one for me, I wouldn’t be here. We have rivers of crap to wade through before we can get there. I could pretty up the truth, but that’s not the way either of us operates.” I move my head forward and brush his lips. “Give us a real chance, heal these open wounds before they fester and poison us all.”

  “I don’t know how.”

  “See someone. If not for yourself, then for this little one in my belly.” I rest a hand on my stomach.

  He closes his eyes and rests his forehead against mine.

 
; I’m so close to a breakthrough with him. His phone rings.

  “Ignore it.”

  “I can’t, you know that.”

  I release a heavy sigh as I let go of his wrists and lean back against my pillows.

  “Hello. Yes. Alright man, I’m on my way in.” He hangs up. “I gotta go, babe.”

  I sigh. “Where?”

  “We had a no call no show at the Bar and Grill and Shadow has already worked two closings in a row.”

  I nod my head. “Go.”

  “We’ll talk about this more later, okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  He delivers a kiss that steals my breath away. “If I didn’t want this to work I wouldn’t be here. Don’t throw in the towel on me, girl.”

  “We have until the baby is born to get this right. Tick tock.”

  “Using my own words against me? You’re lucky I have to leave right now.”

  My body tingles with anticipation. I like the power play. Pushing his buttons yields results that cause fireworks. But the unhealthy back and forth needs to stop. I wink.

  “If you need anything call me or Shadow and Blue.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Smart ass,” he says as he heads out of my room for the door.

  I’m a hypocrite telling him to get help when I’m dodging my own mother. I have things to put right. When the front door closes and his bike rumbles to life, I grab my phone and bite the bullet.

  “Ruthie?”

  “Yeah, Mom.”

  “Oh, thank God. I was worried. I was giving you a few more days before I called the police. I thought maybe that that man had done something to you.”

  “Really, Mom? Please don’t bring trouble like that to my door.”

  “After the way you two left, can you blame me? This is how he treats his pregnant girlfriend?” Disgust drips from every world like honey from a honeycomb.

  “He had every right to be mad. I should’ve told him about Dad.”

  “You defend him? God, where did I go wrong with you? After all those people did to us, how can you procreate with them?”