Own the Wind

Chapter Fourteen

Make Her Happy

Shy’s mouth worked between my legs, my back left the bed, my heels dug into his lats, I ground my hips into his face, and I came hard.

Still coming, I found myself on my stomach, my hips were jerked up, and Shy’s cock drove inside me.

“Again, Tabby, hand between your legs,” he growled, his hands at my hips, yanking me back as he thrust forward and took me.

I was still coming but I managed to get my hand between my legs. I moaned into the pillows at my touch and his strokes.

Oh God, this was brilliant.

“Push up, baby, want your tits,” he ordered.

I pushed up, he kept driving deep even as his mouth hit my neck and his hands covered my breasts. Then his fingers did things to my nipples that made me gasp and my entire body jerk.

“Wait for me,” he grunted.

“Shy, no way,” I panted.

He drove up and ground in, rumbling against my neck as his fingers twisted my nipples, “Wait. For. Me.”

“Oh God,” I moaned, grinding down. “Hurry.”

He started thrusting.

Oh God.

“Are you close?” I breathed.

“Gettin’ there,” he muttered.

He kept thrusting, his fingers working my breasts.

“Honey, are you close?” I begged.

“Fuck,” he groaned into my neck. “Give it to me, Tabby.”

Thank God.

I let go and gave it to him, my head flying back, slamming into his shoulder as his mouth closed over the skin of my neck and I felt him sucking deep.

That would leave a mark.

I came down and I felt his breath against my skin as he did too.

Then I lifted my hands to his that were now just holding me, curled around my breasts.

“That was awesome,” I breathed.

“It’s always awesome,” he murmured.

He was right, and I was glad to know he felt the same way.

My hands moved with his hands as one of them slid up to wrap around my chest and the other one slid down to cup me between my legs where he was still buried deep.

“Love you, Shy Cage,” I whispered.

“Love you too, baby,” he whispered back.

After the day before, I didn’t know what that day was going to bring.

I just knew however it carried on, it started great.

Shy and I were shuffling around in the kitchen, me in my scrubs, Shy in his jeans. We were sipping coffee, sucking back bowls of cereal, chatting, touching, kissing, our usual routine, when my phone rang.

I’d turned my cell off and the ringer to my house phone the night before. Shy needed my concentration so I gave it to hm.

I’d turned my phone on that morning and found I had seventeen missed calls and nearly as many voice-mail messages. Five were from Tyra, three from Dad, two from Rush, one from Big Petey, and the rest were from various brothers or their old ladies. All of them were asking me to call them.

I knew the day was going to go downhill from there.

Luckily, it started at a way-high point. The problem with that, the higher you are, the farther there is to fall.

I looked at my phone at the counter, saw the screen said, “Tyra Calling” and heard Shy say, “Pick it up, babe.”

I looked to Shy to see he had his eyes to the phone.

“I don’t know if I’m ready.”

His eyes came to me. “She wasn’t ready for you to lay into her yesterday either. You took your time to talk, give her hers.”

He was right.

Crap.

I grabbed the phone quickly before it went to voice-mail and put it to my ear.

“Tyra,” I greeted.

“Tabby,” she whispered, and my heart squeezed.

She sounded relieved and something else that didn’t sound great.

Learning from what I lost with Shy, I didn’t delay and extended the olive branch.

“Listen, I know we have a lot to talk about but I’m getting ready for work. Can we set time to talk after work? I’ll meet you someplace and I promise, I’ll come prepared not to be a bitch.”

“Honey, I’m so sorry to have to tell you this, but your grandmother died.”

My middle shifted back as my breath left me in an audible whoosh.

My phone slid out of my hand, and I heard Shy growl, “You got Shy. Whatever else you gotta say, you’re gonna say it to me.”

My eyes lifted to his, I saw he mistook my reaction when his angry eyes that were riveted to my face changed. They went soft, his hand came up and curled around the side of my neck, and he pulled me close.

“Right,” he said into the phone, his voice no longer a growl but a soothing rumble. “Okay,” he went on. “I’ll tell her. She’s bein’ careful at work ’cause of what went down. I’ll talk with her, see how she wants to play this. One of us will call you back.” Pause then, quietly, his eye still on me, “Later, Cherry.”

He didn’t take his gaze from mine when he took the phone from his ear, touched the screen with his thumb, and whispered, “Your mom’s mom. Massive stroke. Your mom told Rush, he told your dad. They’ve been callin’ but didn’t approach ’cause things were not good.”

I nodded.

“You tight with her?” he asked.

“She hated my mom, acted mean to her, but although she could do stupid crap, she was usually great with Rush and me.”

His hand slid to the back of my neck, he pulled me into his chest and his other arm slid around me.

It was then I started crying.

Shy held me, gave me time, and only spoke again when I was pulling myself together.

“Your dad wants to see you,” he said gently, and I sucked in breath and nodded. “How you wanna play this, sugar?”

I pulled my face out of his chest and tipped my head back to look at him. “Unfortunately, I really do need to go to work. I’ll explain what’s going down, read the pulse, and then I’ll know. I’ll, uh… call dad on a break or something.”

He nodded.

“I knew this day would turn shit,” I whispered. “I knew with how great it started, there’d be farther to fall.”

His eyes flashed, his hands moved to cup my jaws, he tilted my head way back, and brought his face to mine.

“May feel like you’re fallin’, Tabby, but remember, I’m at the bottom ready to catch you.”

At these beautiful words, I burst into tears again.

Without hesitation, Shy yanked me back into his arms and held me.

There it was.

I’d reached bottom and I was crying, because I didn’t realize it at the time, but he’d already caught me.

And it felt beautiful.

Shy

Shy stood on the sidewalk and watched Tab pull out to drive to work. The minute she started rolling, turning to give him a wave, he jerked his chin up to her, waited for her attention to go back to the road, then his eyes moved to the man on the bike across the parking lot who he’d seen the minute he’d walked her down.

Luckily, she didn’t notice.

Shy stood where he was and crossed his arms on his chest as he watched Tack throw a leg over his bike and move his way.

It wasn’t until he stopped three feet away when Shy spoke. “This gonna get ugly, or can you contain your shit so we can do this in Tab’s apartment?”

Tack held his eyes then said quietly, “Not ugly, brother.”

Shy jerked up his chin, turned, and led the way up the stairs and into Tabby’s place.

He moved in five steps, turned to Tack, and watched him close the door.

“It would be cool,” he started the minute Tack turned to him, “if we can keep things good while Tab deals. You know more than me she isn’t tight with her grandma, but she’s still feelin’ this. I haven’t had the chance to talk to her about it, but she’s also feelin’ the fact that her mother showed to share this yesterday but instead she led into that by layin’ into Tabby. You also know she’s got other shit on her mind. You, me, the Club. One last favor I’ll ask of you is you don’t make her feel that until she’s done feelin’ this.”

He watched Tack’s mouth get tight before the man spoke.

“You don’t have to ask me that shit.”

“Wouldn’t think so until the shit you’ve been pullin’. Now I feel I gotta ask,” Shy replied.

Tack’s mouth got tight again.

“We good on that?” Shy prompted when Tack said nothing, and Tack jerked up his chin. “Good,” he finished on a mutter.

“That other shit, brother, we gotta have words,” Tack declared.

“You’ve said your words, Tack. You got other words, I’ll listen. But, mark me, I’ve heard every word you’ve said the last four days.”

“I think you get me,” Tack returned.

“Oh yeah, I get you,” Shy agreed.

Tack studied him. Then quietly, he stated, “She’s my only daughter, man.”

“And she’s the only woman I’ve ever loved, Tack,” Shy shot back instantly.

“I’m seein’ that,” Tack murmured, his lips twitching.

Shy didn’t find one fucking thing amusing so he clipped, “Well, brother, finally.”

“I was pissed as all fuck when I said that shit to you about not knowin’ what love is,” Tack explained.

“Know that,” Shy returned. “Also know four days have passed since you took it back.”

“Three days passed before you showed me you walked the walk, not just talked the talk,” Tack retorted.

Fuck, he had to give him that.

Shy said nothing.

“You know me. She knows me. You knew the way I’d react and that’s why you both hid that shit from me,” Tack continued.

“Yep,” Shy confirmed. “And you know me, brother, and, outta respect for you, you know I would never, not fuckin’ ever go there with Tabby unless it was real. I get your reaction. I just don’t get that days have gone by and you haven’t seemed to get why we would move to manage it.”

“Yesterday, Tyra explained some things to me,” Tack shared.

“Thrilled, brother,” Shy replied, and Tack’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re missin’ this,” he warned low, “but I’m wavin’ a white flag here, Shy.”

“I’m not missin’ shit,” Shy bit out. “It has not been lost on me, since I’ve been fuckin’ there watchin’ her girl Natalie lay into her about us and, seriously, man, that woman has got a mouth on her. It was not easy not tossin’ her ass out the way she talked to my woman, but Tabby felt it was time for a fuckin’ intervention so she wouldn’t fuckin’ let me. I’ve been there too, dealin’ with her worry that her girl has not returned one single call she’s made and, brother, she calls that bitch every day to smooth the waters and she’s got nothing. I was also there to overhear my brother givin’ her shit, testin’ her to see if she’s on the rebound from that guy and usin’ me.”

Tack’s eyes flashed but Shy was far from done.

“I was there, watchin’ her take her brother’s shit when he fuckin’ called and laid into her. I was there, watchin’ her worry ’cause you and your woman would not speak to her. And I saw her pissed off and in pain yesterday when she saw what you were doin’ to me and she was stuck, torn between her man and her family. Honestly? I do not give one fuck what you or any member decides to do to me. What I give a fuck about is that you’re puttin’ my woman through the fuckin’ ringer a year after she went through the fuckin’ ringer and, brother, I am not down with that. So wave your goddamned white flag, but if Tab isn’t feelin’ you, I won’t feel you.”

Tack’s eyes were intense but his lips were twitching again when he muttered, “She’ll feel me.”

“I suspect she will,” Shy agreed. “You’re a hard act to follow. Luckily, when I got my shot at beauty, I had a blood father who showed me the way with the way he treated my mom and a brother of the cut who showed me the way with the way he treated his family and his old lady. Until recently,” Shy stated, and saw Tack’s jaw get hard so he knew the man didn’t miss his meaning. “Then I had to wing it,” he finished.

Tack unclenched his jaw to share, “Your point is made, brother.”

“Good.”

“You don’t have a family, a daughter. When you do, you’ll get it,” Tack went on.

“I hope to fuck I will,” Shy told him and watched Tack’s head jerk with surprise, and he didn’t quite hide his look of fatherly pain. The thought of his girl as a woman was clearly something he had not quite processed, even if she had once been engaged.

So Shy lowered his voice and reminded him, “She’s not your little girl anymore, not like that. She may always be your little girl in some ways, brother, but not like that. You gave me the chance, I would have told you, this is solid. We started out and it was friends. That wasn’t what I wanted, it was what she needed, so I gave it to her. We built on that. The foundation is laid and it’s the kind that holds fast. This is it, brother. We’re livin’ together. Soon’s we can do it, we’re movin’ to a better fuckin’ place so I can provide her a decent home. I’m puttin’ my ring on her finger, I’m givin’ her babies, and when she’s laid to rest, that ring I give her will still be on her finger. I see you’re accepting this now, so you need it all and there it is. I was a part of an us and I was happy. Some motherfucker killed my parents and took that from me, so life forced me to become nothin’ but a me. Now I’m an us again, and that’s what I’ll be with my woman and the family we make until the day I fucking die.”

“Christ, Shy,” Tack whispered.

“I think now you totally fuckin’ feel me.”

Tack’s head tipped to the side. “The Club doesn’t factor into that?”

“You know you’re my family, Tack, but don’t bullshit me. You know exactly what I’m talkin’ about and you also know, you find her, you’ll give up anything to keep her. You walked through bullets to do just that and when you walked through that hail of gunfire, brother, you were not thinkin’ of Tab or Rush or the Chaos MC. The only thing on your mind was Cherry. So I also know you understand what the Club means and, when it comes to Tabby, you get me.”

Tack held Shy’s eyes.

Then he said quietly, “I wanted that for her. That other guy was a good man but I couldn’t know, way he was raised, if he would give that to her, and I wanted just that for her.”

“Then lucky you, that’s what she eventually found,” Shy replied instantly.

Tack again held Shy’s eyes. Then he jerked up his chin and stated, “Guess we’ll see if Tabby feels me, then you and me can mend fences, brother.”

“Yep,” Shy replied, and Tack’s lips twitched again.

He turned to the door, opened it, then turned back to Shy and shared, “Givin’ you honesty, thought that business with Tab over the Club was bluff. The way you bore down on her mom, I knew.”

“Rush or you speak to that bitch again, I’d advise reiterating my message, because I was not fuckin’ joking.”

Another lip twitch, then, “I think she got that, brother. Not sure anyone missed that.”

“That’s good, ’cause Tab isn’t real hip on her mom, but I don’t think she’d like what I have planned.”

“Probably not,” Tack muttered then his eyes locked on Shy’s. “Gotta say it, my duty, gettin’ you know it without me speakin’ the words but, you have a girl, you’ll understand.”

“Say it,” Shy invited.

Tack’s eyes stayed locked on Shy’s two beats then he said quietly, “Make her happy.”

Shy held his gaze as, for the first time in fucking months, he began to breathe easy.

There it was. Tack just gave it.

His blessing.

Shy took it by jerking up his chin.

It was then, Tack straight out smiled a half a second before he disappeared behind the door.

Shy sucked in a breath.

He let it out, muttering, “Jesus.”

Then he pulled out his phone to call his brother.

“I’m good, Lan, thanks. It’s cool you’re willing to come up, but I’ll be okay,” Shy listened to Tab, who was curled in the couch beside him, her head in his gut and talking on the phone to his brother. “Though, you wanna come up, Shy would love to see you and I promise, I won’t cook. Restaurants and takeout the whole time.”

Shy grinned.

There it was.

She was good.

“Right,” she whispered. “Thanks, Lan. You wanna talk to Shy again?” Pause then, “Okay, I’ll tell him. Later.” She touched the screen, lifted her head, and looked at him. “Lan says he’ll call you later.”

“Cool,” Shy muttered.

She tossed the phone to the coffee table, settled with her head on his gut again, and aimed her eyes to the TV.

His girl took her fall this morning but, as was their way, Chaos as a whole cushioned the landing.

Not surprisingly, there would be no vote. Shy took call after call from brothers who wanted to mend fences. He didn’t make them work too hard. If it was just him, he’d be thinking on things. Even respect and loyalty to Tack and thus, in a twisted way, Tabby didn’t take away the fact not one single one of them took his back. Right now, he needed smooth for his girl. Time would pass and they’d again earn his trust.

Or not.

Tab had sorted things out with her dad, and when she called Shy to tell him she’d talked with Tack, it sounded like it lasted about five seconds before it was all good. He was not surprised about this. She loved her old man, and he’d led the conversation with sharing he’d wasted no time and flown the white flag with Shy. Shy had told Tack he was good if Tab was good. She was good because Shy was going to be.

She’d talked to her grandfather and explained that she couldn’t get off work. He, too, had been cool, asked her schedule, and told her he’d plan the funeral when she had two days off. Shy and Tab were going to fly down for the funeral and fly back up the next day.

She’d met Cherry for a drink after work and that was also good. Again, not a surprise. He knew Cherry didn’t have it in her to be a bitch, hold a grudge, or fuck with a good thing. And she and Tabby had a good thing.

The only person she had not patched things up with was with her brother Rush. He’d called repeatedly and she hadn’t taken his calls. This was a surprise.

“I’ll see him at the funeral and deal then,” she’d muttered.

It was time, Shy decided, to push her to deal with the situation with Rush.

“Babe, you gotta call your brother.”

She lifted her head from his gut, twisted her neck and looked up at him. “Shy—”

He cupped her cheek with his hand. “You lost family, both of you. Do not let this fester.”

She held his eyes a beat, two, then she whispered her admission, “He said things about you.”

“I don’t give a fuck. He repeats ’em and doesn’t get over shit like everyone else is doin’, you got a case to be pissed and hold a grudge. Now, you both lost your grandma. He doesn’t have a woman. He only has a sister. Honest to God, is my girl gonna take that away from him now?”

She licked her lip.

He hauled her up his chest to touch his mouth to hers.

When she lifted her head away, she was grinning a sexy little cat-got-her-cream grin.

“You pull that shit now deliberately, don’t you?” he muttered.

“Actually, no, but it’s a good idea,” she replied, still grinning.

He ignored her sexy grin and looked in her eyes. “Rush,” was all he said.

She held his gaze. Then she murmured, “Oh, all right.”

“Call him now,” he ordered.

She rolled her eyes and muttered, “Righty ho, boss.”

He grinned, then he rolled her to her back in his lap and took her mouth, leaving her clutching his shoulders and panting when he lifted his head.

His eyes went to the mark he put on her neck that morning then to her eyes.

“You get off the phone, you thought the day started good, I’ll give you an ending you won’t fuckin’ believe.”

“I foresee my forgiveness phone call to Rush lasting all of thirty seconds.”

Shy burst out laughing. When he quit, he saw she was smiling up at him.

And it hit him.

All of it.

Waking up to her. Going to bed with her. Making love to her. Eating with her. Laughing with her. Kissing her. Going shopping with her, and when she was in a store and wandered away, he saw her looking over the racks, looking for him, and when he came to her at her back, she’d turned to him, looking lost, and leaned into him the second he got there, suddenly found.

Jesus, he had it.

All of it.

“I never dreamed any fuckin’ dream,” he whispered, and the smile faded from her face as tears filled her eyes.

She understood him.

“Shy—”

“Didn’t dream it, saw it, waited my time, and then you gave it to me.”

“Shy,” her voice broke on his name.

He looked into her blue eyes swimming with tears, feeling her fingers digging into his shoulders, her weight in his lap, the smell of her hair, the taste of her still on his tongue.

Yes, he fucking had it.

When he was twelve he lost it.

Now he had it again.

All of it.

Everything.

“Call your brother,” he muttered. She pulled in a breath through her nose then nodded.

She then lifted up and touched her mouth to his, one of her hands sliding into his hair so when she pulled back, she held him at the side of his head.

“Love you, darlin’,” she whispered.

“Love you too, honey.”

She grinned a wobbly grin and broke from his arms as she rolled off his lap.

He listened to her patch things up with her brother.

When she was done, he turned off the TV, took her hand, guided her to the bedroom, and gave her what he promised. An end to the day that was exactly what he intended it to be.

Unbelievable.