Our skin was cleaved to each other, the heat and intensity overwhelming and overpowering and exactly everything I’d ever needed without knowing what it was that my body urged from me.
The orgasm took me by surprise. I hadn’t thought about coming, had just focused on him. But when I recognized that with each grinding of his hips, he was rubbing my clit—smart man—it all fit, and it let me break apart, shatter into a million pieces because I knew he’d be there, would always be there, ready and waiting to pick me back up again.
When his hips moved faster, rockier, his thrusts less measured and more imperfect, his roar of delight had me groaning with wonder as he came.
Inside me.
At long last.
He shuddered atop me, his entire being shaking as he fell down to Earth, but all the while, our foreheads had been smushed together. All the while, we’d been united as one.
And it was so fitting, so perfect, after he kissed me, and he whispered, “Thank you.”
I gulped. “You’re welcome.”
“The answer’s yes, by the way,” he rasped, pecking the corner of my mouth again, moving so close that the brush of his eyelashes against my cheek sent shivers down my spine.
“The answer?” I groaned, my mind elsewhere as I felt him and me, united and joined in this way.
His laugh was smoky. Pure Link—he was back in the building. My cocksure lover who loved me for all my flaws. “You forgotten your proposal already, sugar tits?” Then he smirked before he kissed me again. “You beat me to it. I was saving asking you for when I got inside you the first time.”
I blinked at that, then grinned at him, so fucking happy at that moment I wasn’t sure what felt better—the two orgasms I’d just had or this feeling. “Really? You’ll be my husband?”
“I’ll be anything and everything you want me to be, Lily,” he rasped, his voice turning serious and somber, but deep in his eyes, I saw the truth of it.
He meant it.
He’d be my anything, my everything.
Just like I’d always be for him too.
Link
“Where’s my ring, sugar tits?”
Nine
Indy
It had been a long, arduous week.
Stressful and tiring.
I figured it was fitting that things had ended with a funeral, even if I hadn’t had to go. I’d never liked Dog. I’d always thought he was a jerk who thought with his prick. Sarah, one of Lancaster’s victims, I felt bad for, but not enough to attend. Maybe I should have gone for Stone and Giulia’s sakes, but I preferred to get lost in work, and my clients had helped by clamoring at me for appointments.
If anything, it had been such a shitty seven days because I hadn’t had the chance to see much of Cruz in that time, and a little like a junkie needing their next fix, I knew he was what I needed.
I didn’t appreciate needing anyone, certainly not someone I couldn’t depend on, but either my heart was a goner or I was just a fool. For some reason, I’d taken to trusting Cruz, a man I barely knew, over someone like Stone who knew me better than anyone on God’s green earth.
Of course, she didn’t know everything.
But neither did Cruz.
Secrets, so many of them, shrouding me in their depths, covering me in shadows. Was it any wonder I slept like shit? Was it any wonder nightmares haunted me?
David had gone for the day, and while I had another client scheduled for ten PM, I’d canceled it the second Cruz had called me because, as much as it pained me to admit it, I needed tonight more than he could know.
More than I needed the five hundred bucks Grace was supposed to pay me after I finished up her tattoo, at any rate.
As I stared at the paper Giulia had given me, one that was dog-eared from her handling and now mine, I tried to transfer her crude drawings into reality. She’d said it was down to me to handle the design, but she’d still had some ideas.
The Satan’s Sinners’ MC logo was simple. A skull with a short set of flared wings. Brisk. Masculine. It was what it was—a sign. You got in their way, they’d send you to the devil with wings on your back and your brain blown to smithereens.
But the idea that Giulia had conceived surprised me because it had flowers on it. Flowers. On a skull. Not like a calavera or anything like that. If anything, the skull was harder. Meaner. The lines a tad fiercer, with the promise of death in the eye sockets. Somehow that made for a sweeter contrast with the wings that were spanned fully. Some sweeping down with a feminine line, other feathers bristling with flight. There were flowers dotted at the jaw, around the teeth, above the head like a fascinator of all things, but the promise was still the same.
Death.
To anyone who fucked with a Sinner.
Which made it quite clear that Giulia believed she was one of them.
Which made her a fool. A fool I liked, but one nonetheless.
Women were good for a few things in the MC, and being a brother wasn’t one of them. Cock-sucking, cleaning, cooking—the three ‘C’s. None of them appealed to me, which made it all the more galling that Cruz had managed to get his hooks into me.
I grimaced at the thought, then as I lowered my head to the desk so I could make the tiniest of final strokes to the petals of the flowers decorating the skull, I decided that it was perfect.
For the moment.
I’d be seeing Giulia in the morning, so I could show her then. We’d work on the final design until she was pleased with it, and then I’d be tattooing her declaration on her skin—even if it was a silent declaration that no one on the council would ever sanction.
As my cell phone buzzed, I arched a brow when I saw who it was.
“Thought you’d be in an orgasm-induced coma by now.”
Stone snorted out a laugh. “I would be, instead I’m just in the afterglow.”
I made a gagging noise. “Stop being such a pussy.”
“Why? Steel loves it.”
“I’ll bet,” I said dryly. “Why you calling me if he’s all up in that puss-puss of yours?”
“Ewww.”
I grinned, well aware of what she’d think of that question. “Come on, spill. You’re calling for a reason. Is it the funeral? Did something happen?”
Stone released a breath. “You don’t want to know, and what I can tell you is that I shouldn’t say shit over the phone.”
Brows furrowing, I asked, “Is everything okay?”
“It’s fine. Now.” A note of glee entered her voice. “Guess who had to hit the road tonight.”
My mouth dropped open. “Someone left the Sinners?”
“Nope. They didn’t leave, they were pushed.”
“Who?” I demanded, dread filling me because…
Shit, this was why I didn’t like getting involved with people.
When you got involved, they started to matter to you.
Before, I couldn’t have given two shits about whether or not someone was tossed out of the clubhouse. But when it was a brother, they didn’t leave by choice. Usually it went down with a bullet between the eyes.
It wasn’t Cruz.
It couldn’t be—
“Tink.”
At that, my eyes flared. “No fucking way.”
“Yeah. Some shit went down after the service, and I was pissy at the wake. Steel went upstairs to his room, and I followed him. Only found the slut trying to wander into the bathroom, stripping off. We got into a fight. I let her win.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. You let her win. You’re still fucking injured, Stone. You couldn’t shove a butt plug up Link’s ass if he spread his cheeks for ya.”
“Ewwww. Why are you being so gross tonight? I don’t want to think about Link’s butthole.”
“Only Steel’s?” I mocked, chuckling when she grumbled.
“Shut the fuck up about my man’s ass.”
“Well, you can’t deny that it’s fine.”
“I don’t deny it, but you shouldn’t be thinking abo
ut it.”
“No, I guess not. Not if you’ll have me run out of town,” I said with a laugh. “What happened?”
“I’m not going to lie, I was weak, but I knew if the guys caught her beating the crap out of me, she’d be tossed out. Not very fair of me but—”
I huffed. “Fair? When she was beating the shit out of you after you’ve been so sick? Yeah, she was really worried about fair too.”
She hummed. “This is very true.”
“Don’t feel guilty. You know what they’re like.”
“Cunts?” she asked sweetly, making me laugh.
“Exactly.” I grunted. “So, we’re one skank down. What with you and Giulia making their lives miserable, they’ll be pouring out like flies soon enough.”
She giggled. “That’s the plan.”
Chuckling as well, I picked up my pen and added a few tweaks to the drawing. “It’s good to hear you laugh, Stone. I mean, I’m not saying you were a miserable bitch before, but…”
“You’re all heart.”
“I know,” I teased, but then curiosity hit me. “Aside from Tink, everything else go okay?”
“As well as a funeral can go. I’m surprised they’re not angrier about Dog’s death. From what I can tell, they’re not even going after his kid and ex-wife.”
“That’s some funky shit right there. The Sinners have always been incestuous, but seriously? Banging your dad’s wife? How skeevy is that?”
“Verrrrry,” she drawled. “I get it though. You’ve seen North. Why would you fuck Dog when you could have North instead?”
A mock gasp escaped me. “My, my, and you so recently branded, Stone.”
She pshawed. “Not saying that I want to tap it, just that I get the reasoning behind it.” She heaved a sigh. “You were lucky to get out of the funeral.”
“Lucky? Ha. I ain’t a Sinner, sweetheart. You’re the one who’s neck deep in the MC again, not me. I can still do whatever the fuck I want.”
“You and I both know that kind of freedom is BS,” was her retort. “They’ll let you go so far before they start reeling you in.”
“Bear let me go to Louisiana,” I pointed out.
“And Rex hauled you back in again, so don’t pretend your ties are cut. Plus we both know the lengths you’ll go to for Caleb. You’ve already pulled some ninja moves for him and the MC, so you’re not as untouchable as you like to think.”
I blew a raspberry down the phone.
“Very adult, Indy, very mature,” she joked.
“That’s me. Known for my maturity.” I grunted. “Will I see you tomorrow?”
“I don’t know. I have my first full shift coming up. I’m already exhausted.”
I pursed my lips at that. “Pretty sure if Steel knew that he’d tie you to the bed or something.”
“I wouldn’t argue.”
“Kinky,” I said with a laugh, but it wasn’t like I could fucking judge, not with the shit Cruz did to me. I got the feeling that the rest of the brothers were pussycats in comparison to him. “Anyway, I’m not asking you to go for a goddamn hike with me, Stone. Just feel like binge-watching some Netflix together is all.”
“Oh, that sounds like fun. You come to mine though, right? So I can crash after? I get tired far quicker than I’d like, and even though it was totally worth it, Tink did pull some moves tonight that’ve made me sore.”
“Course. You bring the snacks though.”
She scoffed, “When don’t I? Your tiny ass is shit at bringing junk food.”
My lips twitched. “Yours is tiny now.”
“Seems there’s an advantage to almost dying. Insta-diet.”
“Yeah, well, don’t feel like you have to do it again. I’d prefer your ass to be the size of Lady Liberty’s but for you to be hanging around, yanking on my chain all the goddamn time.”
“Aww, Indy, I didn’t know you cared.”
“Shut up, bitch.”
She snickered. “Takes one to know one.”
I straightened up once I set my pencil down, then wriggling my shoulders where the strain of bad posture made them ache, I got to my feet.
A slight movement in the corner of my eye registered with me, and I whipped around, jerking in surprise when I saw David standing in the doorway. How he’d managed to open the damn door without me knowing set me on edge, and I scowled at him, before I said to Stone, “Honey, I gotta go.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, you pain in my ass.”
God, I loved this woman. She always remembered my anal-retentive farewell, and it was doubly important now, considering it had saved her butt when that psycho cunt had kidnapped her. I’d only known something was wrong because Stone had hung up the phone without our habitual farewell.
“Takes a stitch in my fucking side to know one,” I retorted with a smirk, but the second the line cut dead, I grumbled at David, “Thought you were on your way home.”
His narrow face puckered with nerves as he looked at me, he even started wringing his hands in his agitation.
“What’s wrong?” I asked with a sigh.
He swallowed. “He isn’t right for you.”
My brows surged at that. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” he rasped, but when he repeated himself, his voice was stronger, a tad more strident. “He isn’t right for you.”
“Who isn’t?” I snapped, not pleased with the direction this conversation had taken.
As far as I knew, he’d been making his way home. Why the hell he’d come back again, I’d never know…
Unless.
Had he tapped my phone again? Bugged it so he knew Cruz was on his way over?
Or was that just me being paranoid?
David’s shoulders hunched at my annoyance, making me wonder what on earth it was about me that made him stalk me. I wasn’t someone who’d ever make him happy. Even if he was deranged, he had to know that.
We were like apples and oranges. Nothing about us fit. I’d never questioned things, never threatened the status quo though because being obsessed with someone didn’t have to make sense, did it? But I didn’t understand what it was about me that was like moths to a light.
I was independent, bossy, strident. Rude, most days. Angry all the time. I had a massive chip on my shoulder…
What about any of that would appeal to a mild-mannered man-boy?
But appeal to him I did.
He’d never confronted me like this before though, had always used underhanded methods of keeping an eye on me. Some of them had been creepy, and I’d gotten in his face over them, but this was different. Which meant he was either concerned or escalating and neither prospect put a smile on my face.
I didn’t need his concern.
As for escalation, the last time that had happened was when I’d moved from New Orleans to West Orange. At first, he hadn’t followed me. He’d just sliced his wrists open. Guilt had me visiting him in the hospital, and offering him a position at my new tattoo parlor—Indiana Ink.
He’d come with, and had been relatively normal ever since.
As normal as a stalker could be, at any rate.
Reaching up, I rubbed my eyes where exhaustion was hitting me hard. The last thing I needed was to get spanked tonight—more than anything, I just needed to sleep. Unfortunately for me, sleep came with a dose of orgasms.
Huh.
Maybe not so unfortunate, after all.
Trying not to smile at the thought, I heaved another sigh and grumbled, “David, don’t spoil things.”
“Spoil things?” he repeated, the pitch of his voice surging high at that. “I dedicate my days to you, Indy—”
“That’s your choice, David,” I retorted, trying to stay calm. “You want to be here. I don’t make you do anything you don’t want to.” When hurt creased his features, I told him, “I’m grateful for you, David. I’m grateful for all you do for me, and to help me, but you have no right to dictate to me. You’re not my brother, father, or lover.”
“You’re my friend.” I tried to temper that with a gentle smile, because I knew being a friend wasn’t what he wanted from me.
In all the years he’d been stuck to my side, I wasn’t sure what he wanted. He never seemed to look me up and down and strip me naked, never seemed to be sexually attracted to me. If anything, he looked at me with yearning. Like I was a favorite treat he wanted to savor but had been denied it by his mother.
I wasn’t sure what got his rocks off, and to be frank, I didn’t want to know.
I figured I’d been kind by letting him hang around me, but if he thought I was going to let him lay down the law, then he was wrong.
No one did that to me. Not even Cruz. He might think he did, but only because I let him. Only because I trusted him and let him inside.
In more ways than one.
And that only happened when we were upstairs. Outside of my quarters, I didn’t need someone taking charge of my life. I was a successful businesswoman, and I didn’t need a man for anything other than orgasms.
“I’m more than a friend,” he rasped. “I do more for you than anyone else around you.”
“You do,” I agreed. “And I’m grateful.”
“You never show me that,” was his petulant retort.
I narrowed my eyes at that, not appreciating his words or his tone. Hitching my hip against the desk, I folded my arms against my chest and decided to call his bluff. “How would you like me to show you that, David? Would you like me to sink to my knees and—”
A mixture of horror and disgust flashed over his face. “No!” He even backed up a step.
“Then what do you want from me?” I replied, trying to puzzle what on earth he got out of this arrangement if the thought of sex with me was that repugnant.
“I just want to love you. I want to look after you. Is that so wrong?” The step with which he’d retreated, he surged past, taking four more to get closer to the desk. The beseeching look did nothing for me, because I hadn’t asked for any of this.
Never had. Never would.
I hadn’t asked for Cruz’s attention either, even if, now, I was grateful to be in the epicenter of his focus.
Cruz : A Dark MC Romance (A Dark and Dirty Sinners’ MC Book 5) Page 15
