“Can I give him a list? Tyler will need some of his toys.”
“Looks like he’ll be taking a truck.” I grin, and then my smile fades. The way she’s holding herself looks like she’s in pain. “I’ll go chase up Doc. He’s probably here by now.”
“Thank you. I’ll get him into bed.”
The ‘him’ she’s speaking about has his legs around my waist and his head on my shoulder. He’s already falling back to sleep. She pulls back the covers and I lay Tyler down, then I leave her as she starts getting her son undressed.
As I thought, Doc’s already here. He’s not a fully qualified doctor like Snake had on call, but his Army medic experience and my warning of what to expect means he’s come prepared with a bag of medical supplies. After I take him up to Wraith’s suite, I suggest he examines her in Slick’s. I don’t want Tyler waking and seeing what that bastard of a father of his had done to his mom. Then I leave them alone and go to my own room, collecting some of my clothes and essentials for the next day. By the time I return, Doc’s got Alex’s dressings changed.
“How’s she looking?” I ask.
“Stitches were pulled, but didn’t need to be redone. Healing looks like it’s going well otherwise. I’ve left some antibiotics just to be sure.” Doc’s eyes meet mine. He looks furious, but minds his tongue in front of Alex. He packs up his bag and walks to the door, inclining his head to show he wants me to accompany him. At the doorway he says softly, “Tell me the fucker’s dead.”
“Not yet. But he soon will be.”
My answer seems to satisfy him. With a lift of his chin he walks off down the track.
Alex looks done in, despite her long sleep on the journey. She’s sitting on the bed that tonight will be mine and popping a pill that Doc must have left. Damn it. She looks so right, right there. All I want to do is to hold her tonight, keep her close, know that she’s safe. How stupid I was to keep finding reasons why I should keep my distance. How beyond crazy I was to go with Eva to try to prove the nonsensical point that I didn’t want her. That didn’t work, and I lost the woman I do want in the process.
As I stare at her, I run my hands through my hair, pulling it loose from my bun, not missing the way her eyes sharpen with interest. Have I still got a chance? Fuck it, if I have, I’m not going to pass up on it.
Seeing my eyes fixed upon hers, she turns away a little awkwardly, and starts to get up.
“No, don’t go. Stay for a moment.” I’ve startled her. As she doesn’t seem to know what to say, I give her more. “Alex, look, I fucked things up, okay?”
I go to her and sit close, taking one of her hands. As she goes to talk, I stop her. “Shush, look, please. Let me talk? This last day, we’ve both been through hell, a hundred times worse for you after what your bastard ex did to you, I know, but today, the thought of Fang or Gator touching you made me realise I don’t want any fucker like that to get their hands on you. Hell, that’s wrong. I don’t even want any of my brothers near you, and that’s been the truth since the first day you danced at the club. It’s just not something I’ve ever felt before, and, doll, I swear I don’t know what to do with these feelings.” I glance up, checking she’s listening. She is. Intently. “I’d be wrong right here and now to promise you a forever, it’s too soon, for both of us I would think. But I do think there’s something between us, and I want a chance to explore where it might go.” I try to lay it all out on the line, hardly daring to hope my heartfelt words might have any success.
She’s quiet for a moment, then wrenches her hand out of my grasp. “It’s too little too late, Dart. If you’d asked me before, there’s nothing I would have wanted more than to start dating you. I’m attracted to you, but I need a man I can trust.” She breaks off and waves her hand in the rough direction of the clubhouse. “There are club girls here too, aren’t there? And you’ve probably fucked them all.”
I can’t deny that I have. My silence gives her the answer.
“Look, Dart, I’m all worn out. I don’t want to talk anymore tonight.”
I admit she looks tired and mentally exhausted. Now I might be a bastard, but after cocking everything up, maybe my best chance is to strike while her barriers are down and she’s got no fight left in her. “Doll, I won’t fuck any whores while we’re together. And that’s not what I want to do with you.”
I’ve caught her attention. Her forehead creases and worry lines appear as she asks, “What do you mean, you don’t want to fuck me? Huh, I suppose it’s because Ron fucked me up.”
I rear back. “It’s nothing to do with your scars. And that’s not what I meant, doll.” I run my hands through my hair as I dig for the right words, then lean forward and clasp my hands between my knees. “I’ve kissed you, darlin’. Never do that with whores. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I actually kissed a girl. Probably not since I joined the club. Easy pussy is just that, babe. Easy. There to give some relief.”
“Eva seemed satisfied.”
I should have expected I’ve not heard the last of that. I give a half-smile. “Hope she was, darlin’. I’m not a bastard that just takes.” Undoing my hands, I risk touching her face, and fuck me if she doesn’t lean into my hand. Ignoring that she’s probably too tired to hold her own head up at this point, I’ll take whatever she’ll let me have. “This isn’t what I do with the whores, darlin’. I don’t hang around talking like this. I just want to get in there and once I’m done, I’m finished and out. I’ve never held a woman and discussed feelings and the like.”
She turns and looks into my eyes. “Is that what we’re doing here?” She pauses and bites her lip, then continues in a tentative voice as though she’s almost afraid to ask. “What are these feelings, Dart?”
“Fuck me, doll. I can’t explain them. But I tell you, I’m feeling things I’ve never felt before.” I shake my head as I think how to describe it. “I don’t give a damn who’s in Eva’s bed now or who was in there before.” Now my smile becomes complete. “I know I’d want to kill any other man who was in yours.”
Now I raise my other hand so I’m cupping her face between both palms. “I don’t kiss bitches—women—doll. You must be a witch, babe. Every time I’ve had your lips, you’ve entranced me. You scare me so much, I vowed to keep away.”
“We’ve only kissed twice.”
“Something we can rectify straight away, doll.”
And fuck me, she nods. Encouraging her face up, I lean down. Her lips are as soft as I remember and immediately, I’m lost. When she opens her mouth and grants me entrance, my tongue sweeps inside, and that taste goes straight to my groin. I force myself to think of her injuries, and before I act on my desire to take this further, pull away, then lean my forehead against hers.
She’s quiet, and once again those teeth are worrying at her lip. After a few seconds she says, “Dart. You’ve caught me with my defences down. I must be out of my mind.” She’s going to give me a chance. I feel like jumping out and shouting, but force myself to stay in place and listen to what else she has to say. “How do we do this? What do you want from me, Dart? I want to understand what you’re asking. I can’t… not yet.”
I wouldn’t push her until she’s healed. “Babe, the last few days have been hell for me as well as you. When you disappeared, I was frantic. When I found you injured so badly, I didn’t know how to cope. And today, fuck, I wasn’t scared for myself, but for you and Tyler. I want, no need you close. Just give me this, doll. Stay with me tonight. I know you’re hurting, so I’m not proposing anything other than keeping each other company.” If I can get her to sleep in my bed, it will at least give us a good place to start.
“Tyler.”
Oh yeah, I knew she was going to come up with that. “He’s asleep, darlin’, and we’ll keep the door open and hear him if he stirs. You sleep beside him and he might roll on you and hurt you.”
“What’s stopping you from rolling on me?”
I smirk. “I can keep my hands to myself as long
as you can.”
She forms a fist and punches my arm, but her lips have curved up. It looks like she’s decided to stay.
Not wanting to give her time to rethink it, I move to the practicalities. “Come on, let’s get you settled.” I rummage in the pile of clothes I brought up with me from my room. “Wear one of my shirts.” My cock twitches at the thought of her wearing something of mine.
She hesitates, and then gives in, but the truth is she’s so worn out she’s too tired to protest, but right now I’ll be a bastard and take anything I can. She gets up, takes the shirt, and goes into the bathroom. As she walks, hunched over like an old woman, I bite back a curse and promise that now she’s under my protection on my home ground, no one’s ever getting near enough to harm her again. While she’s gone, I strip down to boxers and pull back the sheet. I’m just about to slide inside when there’s a knock at the door. I open it to find Allie standing there.
“Hey, Dart. You’re a hard man to find. Heard you were back, but you weren’t in your suite. Had to get Mouse to tell me where you were.”
“Allie…”
Her hand comes out and touches my bare chest and her fingers do a dance against my skin. “Thought you and me could get together, hmm? I’ve been dreaming about sucking your cock. Mmm mmm. Doubt those California whores could satisfy you the way I can. Let me in and I’ll show you just how.”
My cock isn’t up for any such action, not from her or any of the sweet butts. The woman I want is currently getting dressed in my shirt in the next room. Fuck it! When the thought of Alex so close by and naked lodges in my head, my cock starts to stir.
Pointedly, Allie looks down at my tenting boxers and then up at my face. She smirks. “Feeling it, aren’t ya? You want me to get Paige and Diva along too? Or Pussy and Jill? See who’s available?”
The thought of three overused whores going down on me helps me get my unruly cock under control. Before I met Alex, I’d have happily done one, two, or three of them, singly or all together at once, but now the thought turns me right off. As her hand on my chest starts to move lower, I grab it and stop her wandering fingers before they reach their target.
“No, Allie. Not tonight. Not ever.” Shit, I’m burning my bridges here, hearing words coming out of my mouth I never dreamed I’d be saying.
Her eyes flit to mine and her mouth purses. “You aren’t stepping into the old lady trap, are you? Not you as well. You’re not the type, Dart.”
I’m not. But if I was, a woman as brave as Alex is exactly what I’d be looking for. Someone so strong and so selfless. Unfortunately, I’m still holding Allie’s hand to prevent it exploring when her eyes widen as she sees something behind me.
Oh fuck. I drop her hand fast. “Get out of here, Allie, and tell the other girls I don’t want or need anything from them.”
“You’re with… that?” Allie’s look of contempt is more than I can take. “Club wouldn’t allow it, Dart. She’s black and she works for us.”
Suddenly, there’s a comforting hand on my back. “I don’t work for the club anymore,” Alex starts, but gives no explanation. “But yeah, he’s mine. So back off.” Then almost without a break she adds in a sultry voice, “You coming to bed now, Dart?”
I want to laugh. I want to fist pump the air. Apart from the whores who might fight about who gets my cock, no woman’s ever been possessive about me before. Her declaration of ownership shows we’re in a fucking good place to begin to explore this strange attraction between us.
Allie knows when to give up. With a huff, she makes an about-turn and leaves. I swing around, my arms rising to take my woman in my arms…
“Don’t get any ideas, Dart. I could have gone to my room and let you get on with it, but I didn’t want to hear screams of ecstasy from in here all night.”
Now my hands do land on her biceps as I can’t help but chuckle. “Screams of ecstasy, eh? At least you know what to expect, sweetheart.”
That wasn’t what she meant at all, and her eyes narrow to let me know it. Doesn’t stop me none though. “When you’re healed, I’ll be happy to give you a demonstration.”
She blushes, and then frowns. “Dart, I’m tired. I can’t do this tonight. I’ve got no fight left in me.”
“Don’t want to fight you, doll.” Letting go of her arms, I wipe my hands down my face. “I know I’ve got a long way to go to get you to trust me again. All you’ve got to decide is if you want to start on that journey. I didn’t ask Allie to come to me, and I sent her away. I’ll always send her and any club whore away.”
She’s quiet, thoughtful. Then her tired shoulders slump. “I’m just staying in the same bed, Dart.”
“I know.”
Letting go of her arms, I put my hand to her back and give her a little push toward the bed, noticing with a smile, that my shirt comes down to her knees. Touching her through the material, I can feel her breathing has quickened, showing she’s not immune to me at all, and the thought of me showing her just how loud I could make her scream makes my cock rock hard, despite knowing that her injuries make it impossible for now.
She pauses before getting onto the bed, but doesn’t turn to look at me. “Did you mean it, Dart? You won’t go with the whores?”
“Next and only woman I’m fuckin’ is gonna be you, sweetheart.”
I hold my breath, but she doesn’t say no.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Alex…
Fang’s leading me out of the room. Dart’s hands are untied, but he’s doing nothing to help me, just standing, watching. Looking over my shoulder, frantically trying to beg for help but unable to get words to come out of my mouth. I see Gator walking around, shaking their hands, thanking them for bringing me along.
In a room with black walls, Fang drags me over to a cold metal table and starts stripping off my clothes. I’m struggling, trying to escape, but when Gator comes in to help I haven’t got a chance. They’re too strong and soon have me naked and are pushing me back onto the unyielding surface. Fang’s hands go to his fly and he starts to draw down the zip.
“Fuck, her pussy’s stitched up. Give me your knife, Fang, and I’ll cut them out.” What? Who stitched me back up?
“You’ll cut her with that.”
“Gonna bloody her up anyway. A bit more won’t matter.”
I feel the cold metal of the knife and start screaming.
“Alex. Alex. Wake up. You’re having a nightmare. Keep still, darlin’, you’ll pull your stitches.”
Slowly I realise I’m lying in a soft bed not on a cold table, and it’s not Fang or Gator’s voices I’m hearing. It couldn’t be, the two of them are dead. I saw that with my own eyes.
“Alex, doll. Oh, Alex. Don’t cry.”
I hadn’t realised tears are escaping. Forcing open my wet eyes, I see a bedside light has been turned on, and Dart’s looking down at me, his brow creased and his lips pursed. Reaching out my hand, I touch his cheek, as much to anchor me to the present than anything else.
“Oh, sweetheart. Come here. Let me hold ya.” He moves so slowly, as if he doesn’t want to frighten me, and gently wraps his arms around me, careful of the wounds on my chest. He pulls me to him and spoons around me.
My heart’s still racing from the terror of my dream, my skin covered in goosebumps from the cool air blowing from the air conditioning unit. His warmth surrounds me, and as he softly strokes his hand up and down my arm, I start to relax. Until I feel a hardness against me. I try to move away, but he holds me back.
“Can’t help it, darlin’. Just ignore it. Having a beautiful woman in my arms will do that.”
“Having any woman would probably work,” I snap.
I feel his mouth nuzzling the hair on the top of my head. “Not any woman, darlin’. Since I first saw you dance, I only get hard when I’m around you or thinking of you. And that’s the truth of it. Believe it or not, that’s down to you. It’s you that I want. Don’t know how you’ve done it, babe. I think you must have put some
kinda spell on me.” He chuckles softly, and I feel the sound vibrating over my scalp. My resultant shiver is not from the cold.
But how could he want me? He might have before I was badly scarred. How can he now that Ron’s left his mark on me? I hate that man who may well have taken my future away. Biting my lip, I try to stop more tears falling.
Dart must realise he’s lost me, as his arms tighten. “Whatcha thinking that’s got you so worried?”
“My scars. You couldn’t…”
“Fuck, woman. I can deal, give me some fuckin’ credit. You’re still the same woman you were before.” He lowers his voice and it becomes a gravelly growl. “You’ve still got the same tits and ass.” As though making the point, one of his hands fondles my backside. “Mmm. I love this, you know?” I should tell him to stop, but it feels so nice. Such a loving touch that I’ve never felt before.
We lie in silence for a minute, and then Dart speaks again. “What do you feel about tattoos?”
What? The sudden change of subject floors me. “What do you mean? You can get another one if you like. I like them.” I’ve already seen his colourful chest and the big Satan’s Devils tattoo on his back. More wouldn’t bother me.
“Not me, doll. Though I’m pleased you approve. But for you.” He pushes me over onto my back, and his hands move until they cover my breasts. I should stop him, but I don’t. Slowly his fingers circle the t-shirt material covering my mounds. “Daisy chains or something. They’d look great.” And hide the cigarette burns, I finish in my head. Couldn’t be more pain than the way I got my scars in the first place.
“And here,” his hand hovers over my chest, “you can think of a design to go here. A good tattoo artist will work around the scarring and make it disappear.”
“The scars will still be there. And you’ll feel them.” Any man would, I hastily correct myself. And be able to trace the ugly word Ron had carved into me.
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