Tease: A Kings of Korruption MC Novel (31 page)

When my cries stop and my body relaxes, Travis stands and takes my mouth in a hard, hungry kiss.
 
Molding my body to his, I allow his kiss to sweep me away to a place where there is only him and me – forever.
 
Love for him swells in my heart as my tongue tangles with his.

He pulls away and whisks what’s left of my panties down my legs.
 
As I lift my foot to remove my shoes, he grabs my wrist and growls.
 
“Keep ‘em on.”

Arching an eyebrow, I smirk and follow him to the bed where he’s leading me by the hand.
 
“Yes, sir.”

Positioning my body where he wants it, he places his hand between my shoulder blades and pushes my upper body down on the bed, my ass up high in the air.
 
Moaning, he trails his finger down my back and over my ass until he sweeps it through my wetness to circle my sensitive clit.
 
I scream out, heat building once more as he gives it a tight pinch.
 
“This isn’t the time for you to be a smartass, Laynie.”

Panting, I roll my hips, desperate for him to touch me again.
 
“It’s all I know how to be.”

My breath catches in my throat and my skin stings in my new favorite way as his hand comes down with a sharp slap on the globe of my ass.
 
“Let’s see if we can’t teach you to be a little nicer.”

“I ain’t nice,” I whisper, echoing his words from long ago.

I hear a soft chuckle and then another slap lands, causing my pussy to clench tight in anticipation.
 
“No.
 
You’re not.
 
You’re a smartass.”
 
His fingers find my clit once more, and I close my eyes, moaning as he circles them around it, bringing another orgasm close to the surface.
 

Just as I’m about to cum, he pulls them away.
 
Whimpering, I lift my head to turn and beg him when he enters me from behind, driving himself all the way to the hilt.
 
Our mutual groans of pleasure echo through the room.

Travis continues to drive into me, our heavy breaths and the sound of our skin slapping together the only sounds I can hear.
 
He feels so good inside of me.
 
So right.
 
As his hand comes down on me once more, my pussy clamps around him, holding him in place.
 

“Jesus, babe,” he says through gritted teeth.
 
“Seein’ my pink handprint on your ass drives me fuckin’ crazy.”

Reaching down and back between us, I gently cup his balls and roll them in my hand, earning me a sharp gasp.
 
“Shut up and fuck me, Travis.”

He doesn’t even bother with a reply.
 
Flipping me to my back, he settles himself between my legs and claims my mouth at the same time that he pushes himself inside of me.
 
Rolling my hips along with his, I cry out once more as my release takes over my body.
 
Feeling his cock swell and hearing his groan, I squeeze my pussy tight as Travis cums with me.
   

When the pleasure fades and our bodies stop trembling, our kisses slow from frantic to sweet.
 
Travis pulls away and pushes my hair back from my sweaty brow.
 
“Love you, babe.”

Smiling brightly, I whisper back, “Love you too.”
 
Resting my head on his shoulder, I give him a squeeze and close my eyes.
 
Just as sleep begins to take over, his quiet voice brings me back to the present.

“My life is so different with you.”
 
He places a kiss on top of my head.
 
“It’s almost perfect.”

“Almost?”

He nods against the top of my head.
 
“Can you come somewhere with me?”

“Anywhere.”

Pulling up to the cemetery, I park my bike along the narrow road and swing my leg off.
 
Reaching out, I grasp Laynie’s hand and help her to the ground.
 
I watch as she shakes out her hair after taking off the helmet, a lump forming in my throat.
 
My mind races for any excuse to not do this.
 
I don’t
want
to fucking do this, but Laynie’s right: if I ever have any chance to live a happy life, I need to get rid of the poison in my soul.

She reaches out and places a hand on my cheek.
 
“Hey.
 
You can do this, honey.
 
Tell her what you need to say.”

I look away, unable to deal with the love shining in her sightless eyes.
 
“This is fuckin’ useless.
 
The bitch is dead.”

She presses on my cheek, turning me to face her again.
 
“It’s not.
 
She’s dead, Travis, but you’re not.
 
You’re the one left living with the hate and the anger.”
 
She smiles a sad smile.
 
“Forgiveness is a choice.
 
It’s a choice you don’t have to make if you don’t want to, but I will tell you right now … forgiveness really is divine.
 
It will give you the power to finally let go of all that hurt, and bitterness, and anger that has been eating away at you for years.
 
Forgiveness is a way of taking back that power, so you can move on and finally live your life with true peace.”
 

I can’t take my eyes off of her while she speaks, the love I feel for her making my heart swell.
 
“How’d you get so smart?”

She grins.
 
“Oh, I’m the total package, baby.
 
Grace, brains and beauty.”
 
She winks.
 
“I’m really bendy too.”

Wrapping my arms around her, I burst out laughing.
 
This woman is everything to me.
 
I know I’ll never have the words to properly tell her just what she’s done for me, and how much she means to me, but I want to spend every moment making her feel it.
 
Hugging her close, I brush my lips against her temple and whisper, “Love you, babe.”

“I love you too, Travis,” she whispers back.

Pulling back slowly, I take her hand and move to toward the area I was told my mother was buried.
 
After doing a little digging, Reaper had managed to find out what had become of my mother and Rick.
 
My mother had died less than a year after I had run away.
 
She was found in a tub full of bloody water, with her wrists slit and bruises all over body.
 
Her arm was broken and there was a large gash on the side of her head.

Rick was sentenced to life in prison for her murder.
 
He’d tried to make it look like a suicide but the obvious injuries on her body left no question as to what had really fucking happened.
 
He spent six years in jail before another inmate shanked him with a homemade shiv.
 
I wish he was still alive so I could shank the fucker myself.

I am scanning the numbers on every plot when her name catches my eye.
 
“Deborah Hale.”
 
My heart constricts when I see that whoever had arranged her burial had buried her with my father’s name and not Rick’s.
 
That’s the way it should be.
 

I stop and let go of Laynie’s hand.
 
She stands back and waits quietly while I trace my fingers lightly over the letters of her name.
 
I think back to the memories I have from before my dad died.
 
My mother had been so beautiful and fun.
 
I remember her singing in the kitchen as she baked us chocolate chip cookies and dancing around the living room when her favorite song came on the radio.
 
I remember her wiping my forehead with a cool cloth when I had a fever and crawling into bed with me when I had a nightmare.

After my dad had died, she changed.
 
I remember the distant look on her face when Rick hit me, and the smell of stale alcohol that seemed to follow her everywhere she went.
 
I remember the nights I spent with belly cramps because they went to bed without making supper and the many days I had to wear dirty clothes because my mom had forgotten to do laundry.
 
But then I think about the other memories.
 
The fights she used to have with Rick, and the screams I’d hear as she pleaded with him to stop hitting her.
 
I remember the black eyes and the look of defeat she wore every day when she finally crawled out of bed.

And then I think back to that day in the police station.
 
She wouldn’t even look at me that day.
 
Crouched low in front of my mother’s headstone, I place my hand on top and squeeze my eyes closed.
 
My mother had finally done something to save me that day.
 
She had no way of knowing the shit I would go through in foster care.
 
She let me go because she knew I wasn’t safe in her house.

A tear slips from my eye and rolls slowly down my cheek as I remember the tears I’d seen her cry in that police interrogation room.
 
She’d been setting me free.
 
My mother had been just as afraid and just as trapped in that house as I was, but she had finally been able to help set me free.

Understanding flows through me, the love I had for my mother burning brighter than it had in over twenty years.
 
Turning, I take the small bouquet of flowers that Laynie’s holding and prop them up gently against her stone.
 
I reach up and run my fingers across her name once more and whisper through the gravel in my voice, “Thank you.”
 

I stare at her name for another moment, thinking about all those years I’d wasted, hating my mother before I finally stand and turn toward Laynie.
 
Stepping into her, I kiss her forehead and hold her close.
 
“And thank
you
,” I whisper.

Popping up on the tips of her toes, she places a gentle kiss on my cheek.
 
“How do you feel?”

Wrapping my arms around her, I pull her up off her feet and whisper into her ear.
 
“Free.”