by Nina Levine
“How long have you been sitting in this tub thinking?”
The sound of King’s voice startled me. I’d been so lost in thought I didn’t hear him come home. I looked up, watching as he came and sat on the edge of the bath. Exhaustion lined his face.
One of the things that struck me about King was how he read people so well. In the grand scheme of life, we’d known each other for a blip of time, and yet he knew me better than anyone. He connected dots fast, and when we’d started seeing each other, he’d quickly connected my bath time with me sometimes losing my mind to the confusion that too much thinking could create. He knew that if I’d been in the bath too long, I could be a handful afterwards.
Needing contact, I placed my hand on his. “Long enough to have decided I’m out of my depth with us.”
He studied me for a long moment. Contemplative. “Why?”
This was the King I needed right now. His earlier mood had shifted, giving me the man who listened and reflected on what I said. “I love you too much. I’m not sure I can see things rationally when it comes to you and how we are together. You push buttons I didn’t even know I have, and I’m confused about my reactions to some things that happen between us.” I sat forward, coming closer to him. “The only thing I know for sure is that I can’t get enough of you, and while that’s exactly how I want to feel about the man I love, I need to have boundaries surrounding my love. I’ve already had one failed marriage with no boundaries. I don’t want a second.” It hurt my heart to even consider our relationship failing, but I had to be realistic and smart this time around.
His chest rose and fell as he took a long breath, thinking about what I’d said. I knew his tells as well as I knew my own. “Boundaries aren’t something I’m good at, Lily.”
I searched his eyes, finding honesty blaring from them. King had told me he wasn’t good at relationships; I believed the opposite. I believed he’d just had to find the right person. That was true for everyone. With the wrong person, we didn’t flourish. We descended into a hell of bad arguments that had no hope of going anywhere. We suffered from doubt, indecision, and days of feeling less worthy than we were. With the right person, we grew and thrived. We felt supported and encouraged to be all we could be. Arguments led to better places, doubt was short-lived, and while our days could be hard, love took the edge off.
I knew what it felt like to be with the wrong person.
And now I knew what it felt like to be with the right one.
King was all kinds of right for me.
And as much as he thought he wasn’t good at boundaries, I knew he was a man who could do anything he put his mind to.
“Neither of us are,” I said. “Yet.”
He took that in and sat with it for a moment. Finally, he leaned forward and cupped the back of my neck, pulling my mouth to his. Our kiss was slow to begin with, but just like always, it quickly turned urgent and frantic.
King pulled me out of the bath and carried me into our bedroom. Dropping me on the bed, he lifted his shirt over his head and stripped out of his jeans. He was naked underneath; King wasn’t big on underwear. He particularly wasn’t big on me wearing underwear, but because I had a preference for wearing it, he’d filled my drawers with his preferences. That mostly consisted of scraps of material that covered very little, but he made sure to get anything with bows on it that he could find. He told me the bows were for me, but I knew he’d taken a liking to them since meeting me.
“Stop thinking, Lily,” he ordered, taking hold of his dick, “And get on your knees.” The pulse of darkness in his tone thrummed in my veins.
I loved King’s crudeness in the bedroom.
His filthy desires.
He’d awakened my filthy desires.
I did as he said, keeping my eyes locked with his while I knelt. The approval I saw there hit my core and I slid his cock into my mouth on a moan.
Placing his palm to my head, he held me in place while I sucked his dick. I didn’t need any encouragement; this was one of my favourite things to do. I’d gotten my gag reflex under control since meeting King and embraced the hell out of his love for deep throating.
Placing my arms around him, I took hold of his ass and pressed him to my face while sucking and licking exactly how he liked it. The sharp dig of my fingernails into his skin caused him to hiss and tighten his hold on my head. Knowing my nails fuelled his hunger, I increased the pressure while sucking him as far back as I could. When he hit my throat, he growled so gutturally that it caused me to moan again.
“Fuck,” he rasped as the vibration of my moan hit him.
Needing a better position, I pulled away and turned around so my back was to him. I sat with my knees up, feet backed against my ass, hands flat to the floor behind me, and leaned my head right back. King stood over me, and I guided his cock into my mouth, taking him in deep. He fucked my mouth, allowing me to take control of the speed and depth, and allowing me to swap his cock for his balls every now and then.
I could deep throat him daily; I loved it that much. Especially because I knew how much he loved it. The exchange of power thrilled me, because while King could take over and force control of my mouth, he never did. This was one part of our sex life where he handed all that control to me.
Just when we’d found a good rhythm, he pulled out and headed in the direction of our wardrobe. He searched in the area where we kept our sex toys, grabbed what he wanted, and came back to me, jerking his chin at the bed. I did as he directed and spread my legs wide for him because I knew what he had planned by what he held in his hands. King could be one of the most unpredictable men I knew, but there were some things I could predict.
This was one of them.
Kneeling in front of me, he placed the bottle of warming lube and strap-on butterfly vibrator he’d grabbed on the floor. Then, taking hold of my legs, he bent his face to my pussy and licked me from one end to the other, starting near my ass and ending with my clit between his lips. Bringing my legs up and over his shoulders, he settled in, sliding his hands under my ass and eating me like he’d never tasted me.
He licked and sucked and tongued the hell out of me, driving me closer and closer to orgasm. I held his head with both hands, pulling his hair as the pleasure ran through me.
Just as I was about to come, he let me go and sat back. Eyes full of dark lust, he ordered, “Finish yourself off.”
King liked to watch me touch myself. Holding his gaze, I gave him what he wanted. He watched silently for a few moments, growls of satisfaction escaping his mouth, before joining in.
As my fingers worked faster, he gave me his tongue, licking and then sliding it inside me. When I started to remove my fingers, he held them in place, and together we chased my orgasm. My fingers, his tongue.
My release shattered through me, my cries gaining King’s approval. I’d barely finished when he stood, lifting me with him, and spread me out on the bed.
Kneeling on the mattress, he slammed his dick inside me on a hard thrust. “Fucking hell,” he roared, hand to my throat, eyes boring into mine. “I wanted to fuck your mouth again and come on your face, but I need your cunt.” He pounded into me, his thrusts growing rougher, faster, more demanding.
I knew this was a deviation from what he’d planned after bringing the vibrator back with him. And there was my unpredictable man. And my intense man who hunted down what he wanted with laser focus.
These were the moments I lived for.
The moments when King made me feel like the only woman in the world.
The moments when he showed me I was most definitely the only woman in the world for him.
Brilliant light crashed all around me as my eyes closed.
The pleasure was too intense.
Building and building.
I was bursting with it.
Tumbling down a cliff I wasn’t sure I’d ever survive.
It was too much.
King was too much.
My heart and brain
and core all collided as I came again.
My senses were in overdrive, aware only of King who was losing himself in me.
Thrusting, growling, grunting.
Trying like hell to find the release he needed.
But I knew it wouldn’t come yet.
It never did.
Not when he was worked up like this.
He would chase it for hours. He would fuck me until I was raw and barely able to take anymore. Until I knew both pleasure and pain inside out.
Exactly how I liked to be fucked.
Then, if I knew my man well, he would wake me tomorrow with the same level of need he had now, tonight’s sex barely touching his ferocious hunger. And this was how I always wanted it to be between us, because King never failed to give me what I needed even when I didn’t know I needed it.
3
King
“Any news yet?” I asked Nitro and Hyde when I arrived at the clubhouse early the next morning. “Have we got a location yet?”
“No news. No location. I just spoke with Axe and he said to stay close to the phone as he might have something soon,” Nitro said.
I rubbed my temple where a headache was forming. They’d become a daily occurrence again since having to deal with Clark fucking Kent. Not that we knew his real name. We’d named him based on his looks. With any fucking luck, we’d know his name, address, and whether he liked pain or not by the end of the day. The sooner we dealt with this motherfucker, the better, and not just for my head.
Lily was right to call me out on my extreme moods. Since Clark Kent had shown up on the scene two weeks ago, peddling coke sourced from someone other than Storm, I’d grown angrier with each passing day. I’d worked hard to re-establish Storm as king of this fucking city, and I wasn’t fucking backing down on my push to find Kent and deal with him in such a way that other assholes would think more than twice about fucking with my club. Taking my moods home had been unavoidable, and Lily had copped it worse than anyone. In the past, I wouldn’t have given a fuck about any of this, but these days I found myself contemplating shit more.
Hyde met my gaze. “I checked in with Bones last night. Word on the street isn’t good.”
“Fuck,” I muttered. “We need to shut this asshole down. Today.”
Hyde nodded. “Yeah.”
The longer Kent dealt coke not sourced from us, the more likely we were to lose our hold over the city. And that was a place we couldn’t afford to find ourselves in. Especially not now that Winter and I had established Storm’s dominance in Melbourne. One sniff of us losing any part of Sydney and they’d start coming at us down there too.
A text came through on my phone.
Lily: You left without waking me. Will you be out all day?
Me: Not sure.
I’d planned on spending all weekend with her while the kids were at Linc’s, but Axe had texted me just after 6:00 a.m. to let me know he was closing in on Kent, so I’d headed to the clubhouse to wait for news. I was hoping this wouldn’t take hours, because my preference was to spend those hours with her.
Lily: Did you eat?
Me: I’ll grab something soon.
Lily: I’ll bring you something.
Me: No. Go back to sleep.
Lily: I’m bringing you food. I doubt you ate last night. You need sustenance.
I called her. Texting back and forth did my head in. “Don’t bring me anything. I’m sending Kick out to get food.”
“I highly doubt that, King.” Frustration laced her voice.
“Fuck, Lily, I’ve got shit I need to focus on today. The last fucking thing I need is you here distracting me.”
“You won’t even see me. I’ll just put it in the kitchen for you and then leave.”
Another call came through on my phone, so I said, “I’ve gotta go. Don’t bring me anything.”
Without waiting for her reply, I ended the call and answered the incoming one.
It was Axe. “Zane got a hit on a possible location for your guy. Liam is close to it, so he’s gone to check it out.”
Liam worked with Zane and Axe in Zane’s security business. The three of them had flown to Sydney three days ago to help me with this problem.
“Text me the address. I’ll get some of my guys over there too.”
“No, wait until Liam confirms it. There’s no need to waste manpower if it’s not needed.”
“We can’t afford to lose this asshole. Just text me the address.”
“Liam’s not going to lose the guy if he finds him.”
“Fucking hell, Axe, just send me the fucking address.”
He turned silent for a beat before saying, “Christ, you’re wound tight, Zac—”
“Yeah. The club’s got some shit coming its way if we don’t take care of this motherfucker. So send me the address and then we can all get the fuck on with sorting this mess out.”
He blew out a long breath. “You owe me for this, and I’ll be calling in the favour soon.”
I didn’t bother asking him what for. Axe kept shit close to his chest until he no longer needed to, so chances were high he wouldn’t share it with me yet. My gut instinct was that it had something to do with his ex. Axe left town a little while ago to get away from all their drama, but he’d returned almost as fast as he’d left. And they’d been arguing ever since.
We ended the call and a text came through soon after with an address that I forwarded to Nitro. “Take Kick and check this address out for our guy,” I said to him. “And if he’s there, don’t hurt him too bad. Save that for me.”
It had been a while since I’d had to get my hands dirty. A long fucking while. And that was half the problem between Lily and me at the moment. I needed to rid my body of the frustration I felt over someone gunning for my club. Getting some blood on my hands would help us a whole fucking lot.
4
Lily
“Lily, darling, slow down and listen to me. I really think you will regret it if you don’t get married in a church this time.”
My mother was killing me. Slowly. And daily. Marrying King was the thing I wanted most in the world right now, but with each day came a whole new round of my mother’s ideas for the wedding. Eloping was starting to feel like a much better option.
Placing the knife I held down—after considering stabbing her with it—I said, “I’m not getting married in a church, Mum. I’ve told you this already, so please don’t keep going on about it.”
She looked at me with exasperation and sighed. “Why must you insist on arguing with me over every little detail of this wedding?”
My eyes widened. “It’s my wedding. That’s why.” I need a smoke. I should never have given up.
She waved her hand in the air at me. “Well, I can see I’m not going to get anywhere with you this morning. When will King be home? Maybe I should come and talk to him about this.”
I placed the sausages I’d cooked for King’s breakfast into a container and said, “You know what? That sounds like the best idea you’ve had in a long time. I’ll call you when he gets home so you can come talk to him.”
Picking up her handbag, she shook her head at me like I was someone she couldn’t fathom and said, “Good. And I’m bringing my folder of ideas with me. The ones you’ve already pooh-poohed. He should at least get to take a look at them. Maybe he’ll see sense where you couldn’t. I mean, wanting to hold the reception in a marquee outside at this time of year is absolutely ridiculous. You’ll most likely get rained on and the whole thing will be ruined. Not to mention how cold it will be.”
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
The front door closed, signalling her exit from my house. I collapsed onto a chair at the dining table and screamed out, “Aaarghhh. I’m going to kill her!”
All the shitty memories of my first wedding came screeching back. We’d argued over a church wedding then, too. I’d been younger, though, with more energy,
and I’d found it a lot easier to just drown her out. With everything I had going on these days—work, the kids, King, and the wedding—my energy was too low for this. I’d be lucky to make it to the wedding in one piece the way we were going.
Okay, get your shit together and take King some food. Then you can go and have a massage or a pedicure or something that will take your mind off her.
I packed everything up, grabbed my car keys, and drove to the clubhouse. No way was I not taking him food. He could tell me to stay away, but this was one way I could help him. God knew he refused almost all my other efforts.
It was quiet when I arrived. There was a low hum of voices I could hear from the direction of King’s office, but that was it. Not unusual for a Saturday morning, and it meant I could get in, drop the food off for him, and leave without anyone stopping me for a chat.
I was slowly finding my way with the club, making an effort to get to know everyone and their families. Some of the women hadn’t been too welcoming. They’d made it clear they’d wait and see if I had the grit needed to be a president’s old lady before having anything to do with me. Apparently I wasn’t wild enough for them. Not edgy enough or some shit. They didn’t understand what a suburban mum, good girl like me wanted with an MC president. Whenever I saw them at the clubhouse, they didn’t hide their contempt. But I wasn’t about to let some bitches who had nothing better to do with their time than sit around talking shit about me get in my way. I may not have fit their idea of who King should be with, but when the time came for me to stand the fuck up, they’d see just what I was made of.
I’d just placed the container of food for King in the fridge when Devil entered the kitchen. His easy smile came my way when he saw me. “Mornin’, Lily. You’re here early.”
“Just dropping some breakfast off for King.”
His smile grew. “He’s a lucky fuckin’ bastard.”
