“Your girl's a slave. I'm a submissive, an old lady. That makes her answerable to me,” Amber replied. “But I don't play without my man around. He loves to watch, especially with your girl here.”
“Wow.”
“Sounds like we've missed a hell of a party.” Chief's voice startled a scream from us all.
He smiled, lazy and smug. How long had the bastard listened? Wait. I hadn't said anything embarrassing or sentimentally warm or anything, right? Fuck if I remembered or cared.
I wobbled over to him and sighed when he wrapped arms around me. “I think I'm drunk.”
“Thinking you're all blitzed,” Dawg commented. “We'll crash here tonight.”
“I'll drop Jolie off,” Chief said.
“No, I want to see the dungeon,” she whispered, eyes wide. “I can sleep in the cell.”
Chief's eyebrows rose as he looked down at me. Whoops. I guess I over shared more than I remembered.
Jolie stood and stumbled over. I caught her and we did an awkward seesaw imitation as we laughed. Amber joined in and the men stood watching.
“Jesus,” Chief muttered.
“I forgot to call you,” I whispered to him.
“It's okay. Ray let me know what happened.” He focused on Jolie. “Your uncle did good. Rangers are clearing out in the morning. They were hoping to rattle Harmony. They went off book for this. One of them had a partner killed by one of the men from that night. He wanted answers he's not getting now.”
“It was personal,” Jolie said.
“Very,” Chief replied as he looped an arm around me and dragged me out of the girl pile. “Come on, we'll get home and settled before you both puke your guts out.”
“OMG!” Jolie grabbed my hand and tugged. “He said home. That's so hot. I bet he's great in bed.”
“He can hear you,” I whisper shouted. “But he's not great in bed. He's a god.”
I leaned in and shared my whole Clark Kent, Superman, Thor breakdown. The girls laughed. Dawg chuckled. The MC gossip mill had new fodder now thanks to my tequila-soaked mouth and brain. Whoops.
“Just so you know, I think it's hot that you were my girl's first girl,” Jolie commented to Amber. “If I ever go there, you're my number one choice.”
“Awww, that's sweet.” Amber hugged Jolie.
Jolie and I wandered toward Chief's truck. She leaned into me and stage whispered, “You'll show me the cross, right?”
“Jesus,” Chief muttered. “This is gonna be a long ride home.”
We had a slumber party in the dungeon. Chief locked us in with three bottles of water each and strict instructions to drink them all before we passed out. Jolie found it sweet. I found it hysterical. We giggled ourselves sick—literally—then puked in the cell's toilet.
Now we were sprawled out on the floor with more sleeping bags under us than a camping supply store. I lined the six empty bottles up on one of the cell door's horizontal bars so Master could see we were good. I ignored the fact the entry wasn't sealed shut. He'd left it open a couple inches in case one of us sobered the hell up and realized we didn't want to be locked up.
“I want to see the slave cot,” Jolie whispered as she petted my collar. “You're so happy. I swear you light up when he enters the room. And your entire body relaxed against him when he put this on you.”
“This is all so new, but it feels righter than anything ever has before.” I squeezed her hand. “He accepts everything about me. More importantly, he pushes my dark, controls it. I'm not alone with it anymore. It's his.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. Wow is pretty much what Master Chief Tony is.” We giggled over Jolie's name for him. “I think I'm in love and it terrifies me.”
“With him?”
“Yeah, but also with Ray. Max. Fist. Dawg. Amber.”
“They've had your back. They care about you. Skippy Squirrel and the bathroom dude were both there, you know. If we hadn't gotten there, they would've hauled you out. Bathroom dude was charging in. I had to waylay him.”
Bathroom dude. I doubted Clutch would enjoy the new nickname, but I freaking loved my BFF. I hugged her close and waited until she settled. “Love you, Jolie.”
“Love you more,” she whispered. “I'm sorry I spazzed out and hurt you. The guys terrified me and when I thought about what they might be doing, taking advantage of you, and I added in the dark I didn't understand and...things got bad real quick in the pretend world where I know everything.”
“I was too defensive. I should've known you meant well, but there was too much going on for me to settle my focus on your worries. I had to cut you out to keep myself safe. They're good to me.”
“I see that now. I'm thinking Master Chief Tony never would've let me in this room if it didn't mean so much to you. And I got to play on the toys,” she whispered excitedly.
I laughed at her saucer-eyed expression. He'd secured her to the cross (clothed), then on the spanking bench (again, clothed). My Master was good with my BFF. He'd left us alone even though I knew he wanted me in his bedroom where I belonged.
I held onto Jolie as her grip on me loosened and her breathing evened out. A few moments later, I knew she was sleeping the sleep of a drunken night out. I padded out of the dungeon and down the hall to his bedroom. The door was cracked open.
Adorned in a pair of loose gray drawstring shorts, he stood near the bed, a smirk on his face. He motioned toward the wall and I froze as I saw the television broadcast my best friend sleeping in the cell.
“There's no sound,” he offered in a husky whisper.
Thank God. I'd done the whole drunken utterance I-love-him thing. I put my arms around him and basked in his warmth a few moments. Tingles sparked along my skin where he rubbed his hands on my back. I kissed his shoulder, scored my nails along his naked back.
“Not fucking you tonight, Harmony,” he mumbled in my hair. “Come on. I want to hold you tonight.”
Yay!
I crawled into his bed and took my position as the inner part of the spoon. Wrapped in his arms, I sighed my contentment. “I really like being in bed with you.”
“More than the cot?”
“It has its appeal, but I like it here more.”
“Then that's shelved for occasionally, not daily.” He ran fingers through my hair. “Anything else?”
“I wouldn't mind playing with the cell,” I admitted.
“Good. I have a few scenarios we can work with.”
“Scenarios?”
“Role plays. Like a very sexy movie.”
“Oooh. Like what?”
“Another time, when you're sober enough to remember.”
“I'm sorry I got drunk. I don't do it that often,” I whispered.
“You got your girl back. That's worth getting trashed for. Go to sleep.”
I closed my eyes and listened to his quiet breaths falling against my ear. Tears burned my eyes, but I blinked them away and willed my own breaths to remain flat, even. I needed the silent isolation the dark offered even though I was in Chief's arms.
“Jesus, you're crying. What the hell?” He squeezed me tighter. I hiccupped and sniffled as he shifted me until I faced him.
Head buried in the crook of his neck, I let the tears go. Master Chief Tony kept me grounded.
“It's okay, I've got you.” He rocked us gently as a fresh wave of tears struck. “You're okay.”
“I m-missed her so much. I-I a-a-almost lost her.”
“Jolie?” he asked.
“Y-y-yes.” I dug my nails into his shoulders and shook him. “I can't lose her again.”
“You won't.”
“I can't lose you.” I blurted the ugly root of the latest crying jag. I fucking loved this man so hard I couldn't imagine life without him.
“Look at me, Harmony.” He held me still and forced my gaze. “What the hell brought this on? No one's going anywhere.”
“I can't lose you.”
“You won't.”
“L
osing Mom hurt loads, but she was gone a long time ago. I never really had her, not fully. You know? But you.” I sniffled and buried my face in his shoulder. Looking at him made this so much harder.
He needed to know. Life was short. People died. He had to know. I wanted to share the thing he'd sprouted in me. Tears spilled from my eyes and landed on him. He stroked my hair, my back.
“She never said she loved me. I wasn't raised saying those words.”
He tightened. Muscles bunched beneath me. I kept rattling my thoughts, giving them a voice in the darkened room.
“The older I got, the more I craved them. I tried telling her, you know. When I thought she'd be okay hearing it. She'd laugh or tell me I was stupid, weak. Love's for idiots.”
“She loved you, Harmony. She had issues, you know that.”
“I told Jolie I loved her, just now.” I pulled away and peered into his intense gaze as he flicked the bedside lamp on. “She said it back.”
“Of course she did. That girl is closer than blood. She'll always have your back, even if she doesn't understand some of what you crave.” He ran a finger along my temple, then down to my lips.
I licked them. My belly did a million somersaults as my heart banged against my chest so hard I swear it'd explode from the force. Shit, I can't do this. Tomorrow. Yeah, I'd wait. Maybe send it by text. Or manly flowers of some kind. They probably had an ammo bouquet or something, right?
The expression on his handsome face softened. His lips feathered across mine as I blinked away the tears burning my eyes. “Give me the words, Harmony. Never fear speaking your mind. You're safe here. My house. My bed. My arms. Always.”
He knew. Shit. Shit. Shit. He freaking knew.
I deepened the kiss. Carnal need woke in me, driven by the furious pounding of my chest. I needed him inside me when I whispered the words. I wanted us melded as one. I wanted under him. Around him.
Chief took command of the kiss and rolled me until I was pinned between man and mattress. A loud groan escaped me as he settled his weight between my legs and deepened the kiss. I followed his lead, stroking, squeezing and taunting his body wherever I could reach.
He kissed, licked, stroked, nibbled and teased my body. Neck to tits, then down to my pussy. He angled to settle his head between my legs and I growled. “No. In me. Now.”
He chuckled as his gaze settled on my face. He slid inside me and I could finally breathe easy. Pinned under him, my pussy clenched his cock as my arms locked around him. I settled into a comfortable, slow rhythm as his breath fell in my ear. I nibbled his ear lobe and dug my nails into the meaty muscle of his gorgeous ass.
“Tony,” I cried out.
“Always safe here,” he whispered. “You're mine.”
“I love you,” I blurted. I had no idea when it came about, how long. I'd had a crush a long time.
What we'd gone through was intense. Maybe my heart latched on quicker because life was too short and I'd wasted enough time. I didn't give a shit.
“I love you, too, Harmony,” he mumbled as he kissed me softly and thrust deep inside me. “You're mine.”
“Yes, always.”
We came together and collapsed into one another. Locked beneath him, I closed my eyes and surrendered to the exhaustion knowing I was his. He was mine.
I'd sort the rest tomorrow.
Chapter Seven
I woke alone in Chief's bed with the scent of frying bacon in my nose. Bleary eyed, I took the two pills he left on the bedside table and drank the glass of water. I chased the scent as my stomach growled.
I didn't suffer nausea when hungover. Actually, I rarely got hungover, a fact Jolie hated. I angled toward the kitchen as my BFF's voice echoed from the area.
“My girl went to you last night,” she commented.
“Yeah, she did.”
“It'd be easy to dismiss anything she said, what with her inhaling so much tequila, but you should know something.”
I froze, my stomach lurched. What the hell was Jolie doing? I peeked around the corner and watched Tony half-turn to face my BFF at the bar. A loose white T-shirt and gray shorts looked sexier than hell on him. Jolie wore a dark green t-shirt and shorts, both huge on her. My man made sure she was taken care of. My heart swelled.
“Someone lives life locked away, cut off from the shit normal kids get to have and enjoy, she latches on quick and hard. That doesn't make what she feels any less intense. It just means she recognizes it quicker than most would.” Jolie's voice lowered. “Don't hurt her.”
He turned a nob on the stove and settled the pan on a different burner. He faced Jolie fully. Hands on the counter between them, he stared at her with an intensity that curled my toes.
“You get this play once because you cut her deep and know better now. You're working hard to understand something so far from your comfort zone it terrifies you. I saw the fear you locked down for her last night. I saw you fighting it because you want to understand what she craves, needs more than the air she breathes.” Tony's strong, confident voice boomed. “You're right. She was locked away, cut off from normal. She won't ever find the zone you live in comfortable. It's not her. What she gets with me, the MC. That's the normal she needs. You get that now.”
“I do,” Jolie whispered. “Still, don't hurt her. I know she went to you last night. I know what she told me before she did.”
“What she says to me stays between her and me. My bed, this house, my arms. I'm her safe zone. Whatever she gives to me, I'll take. Make it safe for her, no matter what. She feels deeper and faster than most, and I'm okay with that. That's Harmony, and she's mine. Always.”
“You love her,” Jolie accused.
“I do, told her so last night.”
“How can you share her? Let Ray and Max and Fist and Dawg and Amber have a piece of her?” Jolie held up a hand. “I'm not judging, Tony. I need to understand. I get that she needs this, but I don't get why you are okay with it.”
“Because I see the beauty in the gift she offers me, and them. Her trust. She trusts I'll know what she needs and they'll give it to her. I'll ensure they do. The dark she talked about with you isn't a depraved need to get hurt or fuck men. It's about giving herself over to someone and letting go long enough to feel.”
“It scares me, Tony. I don't understand it all, but I see how much you care for her. Last night, the way you explained stuff to me and answered my questions. I know you didn't want me there. You gave me that because I needed it.”
“And you matter to Harmony.”
“Thank you,” Jolie said. “You're good for her. I've never seen her so relaxed, comfortable.”
I cleared my throat and headed inside. I'd eavesdropped enough. My man loved me. My heart swelled as I went to him. He drew me in and kissed my lips. Jolie smiled at us, a twinkle in her eye.
“Sit. We'll eat, then shower. I've got to go into town, have a chat with the Rangers before they pull stakes and head back to Austin.”
“So it's over? Just like that?”
“It never was an official investigation,” he replied. “Jolie's uncle phoned the Ranger headquarters, had a long chat with their supervisor. They're good men who made a bad decision.”
“So you're safe? Ray and the guys, too?”
“Blade will lay low a while, just in case. Tensions are high in town, so Ray's keeping the club activities under wraps a while, including back room events at Tops.” He smirked. “We had a long chat about a few things while you two were getting trashed.”
“Ugh. Don't even mention it.” Jolie rubbed her temples. “Did I really tell Amber I'd do her first if I ever wanted girl on girl?”
“Yep,” Chief replied with a grin. “Made Dawg's night.”
“God, I'm never drinking again,” she said.
“She says that a lot,” I offered. “We're meeting up with Amber in town, doing a girl’s day.”
“We are?” Jolie asked.
Yeah, we were. I gave my friend a side-eyed just-go-with-it
-stare. She nodded. Chief chuckled. Whatever. He fed me a piece of bacon, then turned to work on the mountain of egg batter he had made up. My stomach rumbled. My man could cook. I approved.
Breakfast kicked ass. Bacon crispy to the point of almost burned, scrambled eggs with peppers, cheese, onion and a hint of cilantro. Yum. Chief fixed buttered toast and pulled out a jar of orange marmalade. I almost teared up. How the hell did he know that was my fave?
“Please, the whole Grove knows you're why The Last Drip keeps it in stock,” Jolie explained.
Oh, yeah. The Grove gossip mill knows all. Plug in for an hour and you walk away with the entire town's life story. I smiled my gratitude anyway and slathered it onto my toast. As we finished the meal, I let my mind wander to the one concern I hadn't shared with Chief.
“I'm okay to see the guys now, right?”
“Yeah, with caution for a little while. Why?” He took a sip of coffee and studied me.
“I saw Ray and Max yesterday. And Dawg was with Amber, who I spent time with last night.” I ran my toast through the picante on my plate.
“You need a check-in with Fist,” he finished.
“Yeah.” I swallowed the embarrassment crawling through me as I looked at my best friend, then my man. “I can't explain it. He always takes a back seat, but he worries about me just as much and I don't want to go much longer without seeing him.”
Chief wrapped a hand around the back of my neck and drew me closer. “You don't need to explain why unless I ask. I get it, Harmony. You need a pulse check with him. You'll get it, okay?”
“Thank you.” Then I remembered what I wanted to do in town. “I'm not sure how long it'll take in the Grove.”
“I'll coordinate a plan with Fist.” The firm statement calmed me. “That's not yours to take on. I decide the schedule.”
I nodded, relieved.
“Clutch is keeping you company while you're in town, an escort. He requested the detail.”
Shit. Clutch. I'd been so worried about everyone else I forgot I hadn't seen him in a while.
“Bathroom boy?”
“Yeah.” Chief laughed. “You'll listen to him. Do whatever he says.”
Loved by the MC Page 6
