I didn’t know what to say.
Though, even if I did know what to say, I wouldn’t know how to relay how good it felt for him to be where he was.
Everything in my broken universe aligned. Everything wrong was now right. Everything that felt uncertain now felt certain.
And I knew one thing for sure.
I loved the man that was holding me like I was everything to him.
I pulled back and looked into his eyes, my lips wet from the kiss that he’d just placed on them.
And it wasn’t a chaste one by any means. It was the kind that made me weak in the knees and set my heart to racing.
“You better get yourself off quick,” he growled as he looked at me. “Because you’re not the only one that’s been suffering these last few weeks. I’ve been wanting you more than I want to draw my next breath.”
I grabbed his face with each of my hands and then started to really ride him then as I stared straight into his eyes.
It didn’t take long.
I was so far gone already that all it took was him stretching me full to bursting, and I was close.
The moment that it hit me, he cursed.
He felt it along with me. And when he started to jerk against me, his cock twitching with his release inside of me, I knew that he succumbed, too.
When we both came down from our highs, I immediately started to feel guilty again.
“God, I’m sorry,” I breathed. “I’m sorry.”
He squeezed my hips and then pulled me even closer.
I pushed my face into his neck and wrapped my arms around his head, holding him to me tight.
“I love you, Swayze Marrin. I’ve loved you for a long time now. Twelve years. I fell in love with you the moment you walked into that bar,” he informed me.
I closed my eyes as the tears once again surfaced.
“I don’t know why,” I admitted. “I’ve done you more harm than good.”
He squeezed me tight, causing me to squeak in surprise at the fierceness of the hug.
“I’ve loved every second. I would go through every single day of my imprisonment all over again as long as I had you to come out to on the other side,” he told me. “You may have trouble following you, but I’ll always be there as your shield. And I promise to never let anything happen to you again.”
He still blamed himself for me getting hurt.
Both times.
“Neither of those times were your fault,” I affirmed. “And you can’t be with me a hundred percent of the time. Life just doesn’t work that way.”
He smoothed his calloused hand down my spine, and the roughness of his skin made tingles follow in his hand’s wake.
“I don’t want you to get hurt again,” he said, voice weak. “I don’t think I can handle that.”
I bit his collarbone.
Hard.
He yelped and pulled away, his hand going to the bite mark as he smoothed away the hurt.
“What the fuck was that?” he cried.
I rolled my eyes and pulled myself off of him.
I nearly moaned at the feeling of emptiness.
“Get dressed, loser. You need to go to work,” I told him. “It’s time to get out of this house like you planned. Go catch that bitch Ignacia and make her fucking pay for what she did to those women. And try not to get arrested when you do.”
He laughed as he shook his head.
I looked down at the jizz I’d just smeared all over the sheets and wrinkled my nose. “I, obviously, have laundry to do now.”
He snorted. “I’ll put it in the wash before I leave.”
I rolled my eyes and pointed at his jeans where his phone had been going off for the last five minutes. “Looks like you might not have time for that. Now, go before I decide to bite you again.”
He rolled backward and pulled his phone out of his pocket, silencing his alarm that said ‘leave’ so he’d get out of the apartment in time.
“I want to go look at houses,” he said softly, his eyes coming to me as he walked to the bathroom to clean himself up.
I stripped the bed while he was in there, because my bathroom was not conducive with two people being in there unless one of them was in the shower.
When he came back I said, “What for?”
He pulled his shoes on and then went for his keys that he’d left beside the kitchen counter yesterday when he’d come inside.
I followed him with my much slower gait, sheet in hand.
He scowled at me when he saw me walking without my crutches.
“They said I could!” I growled.
He rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
I tossed the sheets into the washer, turned it on, then loaded the little hopper with detergent before turning back to find him heading toward me.
I stopped when he wrapped his arms around me. “It’s not that I didn’t want to do that.” I slumped in his arms at his words. “It’s just that I’m terrified of hurting you. The doctor said we didn’t want a setback, so I kept my hands off of you.”
“He said he didn’t want a setback when I first came home. That’s why he told us to keep it under control. That was weeks ago, though. I’m okay,” I promised.
He pulled back and smoothed his hand over my head, brushing away a few stray locks of my hair before saying, “I love you, my stubborn girl.”
I melted even more for him. “And I love you, my overprotective butthead.”
He snorted before dropping a kiss onto my lips. “I’ll see you later.”
Then he was striding out the door and locking the deadbolt with his key before walking out of the building completely.
I waited, listening for the sound of his motorcycle starting up, and then looked over at the couch where his cut perched over the arm precariously.
Rolling my eyes, I walked toward it, picked it up, and then walked to the window that overlooked the alley.
He was swinging his leg over his bike, muttering to himself.
He’d just reached the heavy duty metal door when I called his name.
“Trick.”
He looked up, saw me holding his cut out the window, and then grinned.
He caught it the moment that I dropped it and then shrugged it on.
These boys.
They were still learning to be a ‘motorcycle club’ or ‘MC.’ I’d never, not ever, seen a bunch of bikers so forgetful when it came to their cuts. Hell, more often than not one of them would forget that they were supposed to have it on.
It was getting quite comical at this point, seeing who was going to make the worst ‘biker’ that day.
So far, it wasn’t Trick at least.
That honor belonged to Hunt since he so rarely left his house.
When he did leave, it was to have to make a return trip for the cut.
Let’s just say that Hunt was not confrontational like the other guys. He was not a loner by nature, and more importantly, despite how sexy and badass he looked, even with the glasses on, he was not a fighter.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t fight, that I was sure, it was that he didn’t want to have to punch someone or hurt them physically in any way. He just wasn’t that type of guy.
But if you pissed him off?
Yeah, I’d seen him wipe out a man’s bank account last week while sitting on the bed beside me. All because someone had made one of those grocery baggers at the supermarket feel inferior.
Sure, Hunt had given it back a couple of days later with a reminder to always be humble, but still. It was the thought that counted.
Snagging clean clothes out of the laundry room after I left the window, I walked back to the bedroom and stepped into the shower, loving that my new cast was waterproof and allowed me to shower normally for the most part. Something that I’d longed to do for a few long weeks now.
After making sure everything was squeaky clean and making sure that Trick’s man juice was no longer leaking out of me, I got dressed, dried my hair, and even applie
d a light smattering of makeup.
I eyed myself critically in the bathroom mirror.
Though I no longer had the bruises, I still had a slightly crooked nose. Not bad, and definitely not noticeable by anyone that hadn’t stared at this face for the last twenty-nine years.
I was just about to head down to the office, and in fact was gathering my keys and a power drink, when I was interrupted.
There was a knock on the door, and without waiting for an answer, it popped open and two women walked in.
“Ummm,” I hesitated. “Hello.”
They both beamed.
“You realize that you just walked into someone’s house without knocking?” I felt it prudent to point out.
The shorter of the two, the one with bright orange hair, grinned. “Trick told us to. Though, he also made it sound like you were an invalid. He said that you couldn’t get out of bed.”
I rolled my eyes. Hard.
“I can get out of bed, when he lets me,” I grumbled. “He’s just severely overprotective. And he won’t let me breathe. I was just going down to the office, because this is the first time he’s left the apartment in weeks without making sure someone was here to keep me in bed.”
First it was his sister here keeping me company. Then all the boys, even Zach who was still mad at me for lying to Trick for a whole thirty seconds.
The two women had been there as well.
Beckham, Trouper’s wife, was the curly-haired blonde one. Trouper had told me everything he could about her and his son, Hiro, during his babysitting duty.
Six was Lynn’s woman, and a spitfire.
Though, in the weeks since I’d been convalescing, they’d stayed away. Though I’d seen photos of them.
Well, not photos exactly. Surveillance videos.
Hunt had surveillance everywhere now. At every single house that each man owned, and at every place of business, also. Even my office.
The women had stayed away out of an overabundance of caution on the men’s part.
Technically, with Ignacia still out there, they’d wanted to make sure that their vulnerable weren’t all in one place, making it easier for Ignacia to make her move.
Something in which she hadn’t done. Not that we knew of, anyway.
“We got tired of staying away,” Beckham said. “It was getting exhausting. I feel like we need solidarity at a time like this, and they don’t control us.”
“They don’t know we’re here,” Six agreed. “We were hoping to steal you away for lunch.”
I made an O face as I thought about how awesome it would be to get the hell out of here.
Just thinking about going to an actual restaurant made me want to jump for joy.
“Could we?” I breathed. “I was going to go get some work done in the office for once instead of my bed, but going out to an actual restaurant actually sounds amazing.”
“I’m honestly surprised that you haven’t broken out before now,” Beckham whispered, eyeing my clothes critically. “You got a place to conceal carry under that?”
I looked down at my yoga pants and t-shirt.
“No,” I admitted. “Not unless I change my pants, which I can’t just yet. I still haven’t been able to fit anything over my cast but stretchy things.”
“When do you get it off?” Beckham queried as she reached into her purse for something and handed it to me. It was black and had a stretchy band material to it.
“Umm.” I took it and looked at it.
“Goes over your pants, under your shirt,” she answered. “It’s a holster for the gun I know that Trick made you practice with.”
Trick had made me learn to shoot better. As in, he made me practice until it was second nature. He’d actually taught me how to handle stressful situations by taking me to the land that he told me belonged to Lynn.
He’d taught me how to shoot from my wheelchair.
Then told me to always have it on me until the ‘crazy bitch was found.’ I was assuming that ‘crazy bitch’ was Ignacia. But there were probably multiple crazy bitches in the world.
“Oh,” I said as I lifted my shirt and slipped it on.
“Perfect,” Beckham said, eyeing my clothes critically. “You need to keep that on you at all times now. Our men aren’t in a good line of business, and this is a good practice to keep.”
“She made me start carrying, too,” Six grumbled as she pointed to her boobs. “But she said I’m allowed to carry in my boobs.”
“Under your boobs, Six.” Beckham grinned. “But yes, but, um, I’m sorry to say this Swayze, but your boobs aren’t quite bit enough for a holster there.”
I rolled my eyes.
“I can take honest criticism,” I told her. “And this works great for me, regardless.”
“I’d also like to tell you that I watched your trial live last week. The one that you defended that guy over Zoom. It was the best thing ever. I felt like I was watching a real crime drama while I was working in the office last week.”
I grinned.
Last week I’d defended a man from my bed.
I’d won, too.
“Thanks.” I smiled. “I’m ready as soon as I get my gun.”
They waited by the door for me as I retrieved it, placed it in the holster around my waist, and then headed back toward them.
“I can’t wait to drive,” I grumbled as we took the stairs.
Stairs that I could now take on my own, thank God.
For the last few weeks, on the off chance that Trick allowed me to leave the house, he would carry me up and down them and to my car.
It was sweet at first.
Now it was just annoying.
I wanted my life back.
My life that had been freakin’ sweet before all this mess had happened.
Though spending the last few weeks with Trick had made me feel even closer to him, I was getting stir crazy. I was most assuredly tired of this building, and since Trick’s place was even less handicap accessible than mine was, I couldn’t even go to his place for a change in scenery.
“What does it mean,” I said five minutes later when I had finished maneuvering myself into the smaller car they had driven, “when a man says ‘I want to look at houses’?”
Six’s brows raised, but it was Beckham who answered.
“It means that he wants to get married, plant some babies in you, and put those babies in a house that y’all pick out together.” Beckham grinned. “I would suggest finding a house that’s much bigger than you need. Just telling you from experience, moving while you also have a very small child is incredibly hard.”
Beckham would know. She’d done it quite a few times over the last couple of months. First her move from Montana to Souls Chapel. Then her move from a duplex to an actual house.
“After this we can run by a few,” Six suggested. “I know some that are for sale.”
“Me, too,” Beckham clapped. “There’s one place that Trouper and I looked at. It’s very nice, but the problem was they wanted way too much for it. Though since then, after realizing that their asking price was too steep, they’ve dropped it to a respectable price. I can take you by there if you want? After lunch?”
I was all but bursting at the seams.
That sounded so, so good.
I loved Trick and all. I mean, on a scale of one to I’d give up chocolate forever for him, he was at a seventy-two. That meant that I’d give up absolutely anything for him.
Not that he’d ever ask me to.
The man would give up the world for me. Just like he’d done once before already.
Regardless of how I felt for Trick, though, there was just something about getting out of the house without his overprotective self hanging over me, suffocating my joy, that made me want to scream.
“I’d love it,” I admitted. “I have to text Trick where I’m going, though. I planned to sneak downstairs to work. He would’ve been mad about that, so I can only imagine what his reaction would be to me not t
elling him that I was planning on leaving my ‘safe apartment’ altogether. It’s better to just tell him.”
“It’s better to ask forgiveness than permission,” Six disagreed.
Beckham’s lips twitched. “She’s right. There are times where I will play to Trouper’s need to protect me constantly, but this time is different. We’re with you. I’m fully trained to take care of you. And Six isn’t so bad herself. You stick with us, you’re golden.”
Six fist-pumped the air. “I’m scrappy. I’ll totally go for the ankles. Just take the nearest thing and smash them to pieces so they can’t follow us when we run.”
The imagery there…
“Okay,” I said. “But I’m totally blaming y’all when he finds out.”
They both gave thumbs up. “We’re okay with that. If he finds out at all.”
“Well,” I said. “About that. I was hoping you’d take me to a store. It’s owned by a trendy chick that has a lot of clothing in her store that I’ve been wanting to stop at. She also has lingerie and other things.”
“Other things,” Beckham said. “Are we talking about Harlequin Boutique?”
My lips formed into a smile. “I am.”
“I’ve wanted to go there, too.” She flushed. “I hear they have some really nice ‘other things’ as well.”
By ‘other things’ we meant sex toys. They were discreet, tasteful, and awesome.
Or so I’d heard.
“So Crockett’s for a burger, okay?” Six suggested as she pulled in front of Crockett’s place. “Because I’m craving the hell out of a burger. And Crockett makes the best in town.”
• • •
After my agreement they helped me get out of the car.
By the time that I was inside, I was winded but properly awed by the changes.
I looked around as I took in all the new redecorating that Crockett had done to the store.
“Wow,” I breathed. “This is very nice.”
Crockett sighed. “I had a water leak. The water leak trashed the front of the store. I had to hire an emergency contractor to come in and fix the water leak, but I’ve had other help making it nice.”
“Well, I hate to say that it’s great, but the results are stunning,” I said. “How’s your grandpa?”
“He has a new front porch that’s even shadier than the last and also comes with a new rocking chair due to a few mishaps with a board. He’s in hog heaven right now,” she explained as she walked toward her grill and went to work on our orders.
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