by Franca Storm
“Yeah?”
“Those are the words of a goddamn biker if I ever heard ‘em. So, yeah, I get where you’re coming from. That’s my mission statement too.”
“Speaking of biker missions statements,” I say, folding my arms across my chest. “I wanna talk about that whole claiming bullshit you pulled up at the clubhouse.”
He eyes me over his shoulder. “Yeah?”
“I don’t like it. You don’t own me. I’m not property.”
He growls, switches off the burner and slams down the spatula in his hand and stalks over to me. His expression is fierce, his eyes blazing, his jaw ticking menacingly.
He grips my shoulders and shoves me into the fridge.
He traces his finger over my lips. “These are mine.” He squeezes each of my boobs in turn. “These are also mine.” His hand slips between my legs and cups my pussy through my thin robe. “And this sure as shit is mine, woman.”
I break his hold on me and push him back. “Caveman,” I mutter. “I knew it. You’re all the same,” I say, walking away.
“Get back here!”
I stop and turn. “Why?”
“Cuz I’m tryin’ to explain shit to you! So, shut the fuck up for once and just listen cuz you obviously dunno shit ‘bout men! Probably cuz you spent your life hiding and closing yourself off to any guy who gets near you.”
“You haven’t known me long enough to make that kind of judgment, Neil!” How dare he?
He approaches me and says, “Ain’t ‘bout time. It’s ‘bout seeing what’s right in front of me. And I see you, Rox. I fucking see you, babe.”
I shake my head.
“Yeah, I do. We’re the same. Been through the same shit. Had the people we love ripped from our lives, had to bow down to assholes holding power over us. I’m still fucking doing it with Trig. And you’re tryin’ to fight it happening to you all over again cuz of all this shit with the Mavs. Ain’t blind. I see it. I see you struggling, fighting.”
“I…” Crap, I’ve got nothing. He’s stumped me. Why? Because he’s right on the money.
He takes my hands in his and his eyes lock intensely with mine. “You think me saying you’re mine is ‘bout something it ain’t. Don’t think you’re my property. But you’re my woman. And yeah, I’m gonna do shit like protecting you when you need it like I did last night, like I did with Grit getting in your face. And I don’t care if you don’t like it. Ain’t ‘bout control, Rox. We save that for the bedroom, which I know you like. No, it’s cuz I fucking care ‘bout you and I can’t stomach the idea of something happening to you, of you not being ‘round with me every second of the fucking day. I wanna touch you, look at you, hold you, have you in my bed. Cuz I want you. I’m fucking addicted to you. I can’t get enough of you.” He lets go of my hands and steps back. “So, that’s what it means when I say you’re mine.”
“I don’t want to be tamed, Neil.”
He scoffs. “If I wanted that, I’d take one of the club whores as my Old Lady.”
Oh my God. This thing between us is escalating too quickly. I step back and turn away. “This is getting too intense, Neil. You and me. Shit.”
“Stop running, Rox!”
I shake my head, walking away. “I can’t.”
“Well, you’re gonna have to cuz I fucking love you, woman!”
I stop in my tracks.
Before I can get a word out, he’s right in front of me. “Show me, Rox. Show me how you really feel.”
His lips crash down on mine.
My body betrays me and I moan into his mouth as his talented tongue tangles with mine. I sink into the kiss and reach up and tug on his hair, needing him closer. He cups my ass and lifts me and I wrap my legs around him. A moment later, he rips my robe open and I feel the tip of his dick at my entrance.
I gasp as he sinks into me suddenly.
He tugs gently on my hair, pulling my lips from his. “Look at me,” he urges me as he starts to pump his dick in and out of me in a slow, easy rhythm, making me feel every delicious stroke as his thick length stretches my walls.
I do look at him and it’s incredibly intense. Overwhelming. He strokes my cheek with his free hand and presses soft kisses all over my face, my neck, my shoulders.
It’s really intimate. Raw and honest. There’s no hiding. It makes me feel completely exposed to him. I can’t get out of this one. It overwhelms me, all my emotions that I always hold at bay rushing to the surface in one unstoppable wave.
Tears fill my eyes. I move to wipe them away, but Neil grips my hand.
“It’s okay,” he says softly. “Stop hiding from me.”
He holds me against his chest as he continues to thrust in and out of me. I feel his fingers slide down between my pussy lips all of a sudden. I cry out into his chest as my orgasm hits. I hear him grunt a moment later as he finds his release. He sinks down onto one of the breakfast bar stools with me in his arms. He doesn’t say anything. He just holds me close.
“I do care about you, Neil,” I whisper, breathlessly.
He kisses my hair. “I know, beautiful girl. Just needed you to know it.”
Chapter 23
~Ax~
“Ah, yeah,” I sigh as I sink into Rox’s sunken Jacuzzi tub.
She laughs as she lowers that sexy naked body of hers in opposite me. Mmm. Yeah. I’m liking her wet and naked.
Wow. The bathroom’s like everything else in her mansion of a home: pure fucking luxury. The tub’s set off from the rest of the bathroom, separated by frosted glass walls. The room’s all black tiles and navy-blue walls. Ain’t really womanly—more on the masculine side, really. No surprise there. Rox’s definitely a tomboy. Ain’t a fan of frilly, pink girly shit.
“What?” she asks as I glance around.
“Nothing. Just looking. Your house is something else, babe.”
Her eyes light up. “I know. I designed all of the interior myself.”
“Yeah?”
“Yep,” she says proudly. “I went to school for Interior Design a little while back.”
“You did?”
She frowns. “Surprised? I do have a brain, Neil.” She sweeps her hand over her body. “I’m not just all boobs and ass, you know?”
“Oh, I get how smart you are, beautiful girl. I’m just surprised you’re doing what you do when you got qualifications to do other shit.”
She stretches her arms out over the sides of the tub and sighs as she leans her head back. “I was going to. But then Black Thorns came sniffing around my territory a little while ago. Ralph and my guys needed me, so I stayed here…doing this.”
That makes my blood boil. Fucking Trig. “Ralph couldn’t handle shit without you?”
“Who I am goes a long way in your world, Neil. As much as I hate being tied to my dad in any way, there’s an understanding there. Keeps biker crap off my turf. They usually know better than to mess with me and mine once they realize who I am. Well, until the Mavs decided they don’t care about the rules anymore.”
I nod slowly. “I get it.”
“Because the same thing happens to you as Skinner’s son, right?”
I can only grunt. I really don’t wanna get into that shit, or talk ‘bout him. It’ll just ruin my mood and rile me up. “You ever think ‘bout tryin’ again with the design stuff? Getting out?”
She shrugs. “Maybe. It depends how things play out, you know?”
“Yeah,” I sigh. “I do, babe. I do.”
I float over to her and take her right arm in my hand. “No matter how things play out…” I tell her, tracing my fingers over the scar there, “I ain’t never gonna let him touch you again.” I press my lips to it and she whimpers. “You hear me, beautiful girl?” I look up at her, still kissing the mark, and see tears there in her eyes.
She nods and chokes out in a broken whisper, “Yes.”
I press my lips to hers, kissing her softly. Her arms wrap around my neck, pulling me close.
She grinds against my alre
ady hard cock and moans quietly.
Rising up, sliding her wet body along mine, she impales herself on my cock. Her fingers tug at my hair as she starts to ride me in a way I ain’t never felt before from no woman. Slow. Sensual. Intense.
“I need you, Neil,” she whispers in my ear.
I brush her wet hair outta her face and her eyes sparkle at me. “Fuck, Rox. Been waiting to hear you say those words to me.” I wipe her tears away with the pads of my thumbs. “Cuz I need you too, beautiful girl.”
She buries her face in my neck and breathes me in as she continues to rock up and down, taking me slow and deep.
“Ain’t no one like you,” I whisper.
She murmurs happily and wraps her arms around me tightly.
“You’re my fucking ray of sunshine, Rox. You know that?”
She smiles and crushes her lips to mine, showing me that she gets it. She might not be able to say it yet out loud, but she’s still right here with me. Maybe one day I’ll actually hear the three words I wanna hear from her.
Maybe she’ll stop holding back.
Chapter 24
~Roxana~
The world whizzes by as Neil and I tear down the road on his Harley. We’re miles away from Brockford and all the bullshit there. For the last few days, our time together has been constantly interrupted by me dealing with the fallout from the Mavs situation. My remaining guys were anxious as hell—for good reason—and I’ve been working overtime to reassure them. I dealt with the shootout that happened at the motel—had to talk to the cops for hours to get it sorted out. Thankfully, I had a little help from the ones in my pocket. And I also have twenty-four-seven surveillance set up around the entire city now. Anyone either on a bike or matching Broker, Skinner, or Bulldozer’s description riding through will instantly be ID’d and my guys will send an alert directly to me.
It’s nice after dealing with all that crap to finally have some peace and quiet. Neil and I are spending the weekend together—no business talk or dealings allowed at all.
Neil makes a sharp left turn onto a quiet back road. I shift my weight behind him, getting ready to do what we’ve planned.
“Ready?” I call over the roar of the engine.
“Ready, babe!” he calls back.
I slide my hands from his waist, up his back. He trembles at my touch.
I laugh. “Keep your dick under control.”
“Trying, babe.”
Taking a deep breath and drawing on the courage I need for what I’m about to do, I grip his leather-clad shoulders tightly. He hasn’t been wearing his cut for the last few days. No club colors. Just his unmarked black leather jacket. He hasn’t said a word about it, but it’s clear there’s something going on with him and his club right now. Him not wearing his cut is a huge sign. But I know better than to push it—club business and all that.
“Go on,” he encourages me.
I muster my courage and slowly rise up behind him until my feet are on the saddle. Then I put my right knee onto his shoulder, followed slowly by my left. I shift my grip to his helmet. He slows down.
“No, don’t slow!”
“You sure?” he asks, worriedly.
“Yeah! I have great balance!”
He speeds up, the fields either side of us rushing by in a blur.
I shift my weight on his shoulders.
And then I let go of his helmet. I raise my hands out to the sides.
Oh my God. The feeling is incredible. I scream excitedly. Neil laughs.
I close my eyes and relish the wind whipping all around me.
I can’t believe it. I’m balancing on Neil’s shoulders as we hurtle down the road at ninety miles per hour on his bike. The rush of adrenaline, the thrill of it is unbelievable. It’s the most freeing feeling in the world. I can feel it through every part of me.
“Whoo!” I bellow. “Free! I’m free! Whoo!”
Neil laughs loudly and takes his left hand off the handlebar to reach up and hold my hand. He squeezes it gently.
“I love you!” I call to him.
He flinches. I feel it in his grip. It takes him a moment to respond and when he does I can hear the raw emotion in his voice. “I love you, beautiful girl!”
***
She pulls off the helmet I bought her a couple of days ago and hangs it off the left handlebar.
“I can’t believe I agreed to wear this,” she says, frowning at the neon pink thing that has flowers all over it. “I could have just worn my own one I use with my bike.” I knew she’d make a fuss when I purposely picked out the most girly one in the store. Fucking worth the look on her face though.
I pull off my own helmet and hang it on the other handlebar. “I told you: my bike, my rules, Rox. Besides, you look so damn cute wearing it.”
She rolls her eyes.
I grab her hand and jerk her into my chest. “Rolling your eyes at me is just asking for me to spank this sweet little ass,” I growl in her ear as I slide my hands down to squeeze it. “And it’s looking so damn fine in these tight-as-sin leather pants.”
“You like?” she asks, smiling up at me.
“Yeah, babe. You should wear ‘em more often.”
“They turn you on, huh?”
“Everything ‘bout you turns me on,” I tell her, grabbing her hand and pressing it to my rock hard dick.
She glances around self-consciously.
“Ain’t no one for miles, Rox.”
“What about that house over there?” she asks, pointing to the cottage a few feet away. I parked the bike at the end of its driveway.
“Definitely no one home.”
“How do you know?”
“Cuz,” I say, playing with her hair. “It’s mine.”
She gazes at it, her eyes wide. “Wow,” she breathes. “Really?”
“Yeah, I know it ain’t much compared to your castle of a home, but—”
“I love it! Wow, Neil. It’s gorgeous.” She spins around with her arms out. “And in such a peaceful spot too. It’s perfection.”
I laugh.
Her gaze snaps to mine. “What?”
“Just never seen you so carefree and…happy. You high from the stunt on the bike?”
She smiles sheepishly. “Maybe a little. Not just the bike though.” She takes my hand. “You might also be a factor.” Her eyes sparkle up at me and she tells me, “I meant what I said on the bike: I love you, Neil.”
Christ, those words from her and the look on her face send a warmth right through my fucking bones. I squeeze her hand gently. “I love you, beautiful girl.”
Ever since I told her how it was in the kitchen and she finally stopped running, she’s been opening up more and more every day we spend together—stopped holding back. The only thing fucking with what we got is her work and the club. Several of the boys have been texting me ‘bout me shunning church and taking off without a word. After I left, Trig sat in church and told ‘em all we weren’t gonna go to war. And they were all pissed. They want me to step up and do something. But I already fucking tried and all I had to show for it was a black eye, a split lip and a bloodied cheek. Trig’s too stubborn. Nah, ain’t going there. Ain’t worth it. My priorities have shifted over this last week or so spent with Rox. Ain’t had the urge to go after Broker at all. It hit me, from being away from all that bullshit for a bit, that all there is down that path is darkness and death. It’s all I’d known…’til her. She brings the fucking sunshine into my life.
So, I’ll get my mission done: kill Skinner.
But that’s it. After that…well, I dunno no more.
My whole life, the club and all the down and dirty shit that comes with it is all I’ve ever known.
It was.
Now there’s her.
She’s shown me something more. Something different. Better. And I like it. A lot.
“Neil?” she calls to me.
I blink outta my thoughts to find her standing in front of me, holding my hands between us. “Yeah?�
�
“You were spacing out. Are you okay, baby?”
“Just thinking.”
“About the club?”
“Yeah.”
“You wanna talk about it?” She grins. “You know, the none-club business parts anyway.”
Funny. She’s teasing me ‘bout club secrecy and shit. I pinch the bridge of my nose and slump against my bike. “Life with the club and your life in Brockford, it’s…dark, Rox.”
“Yeah, it is,” she agrees. “And it’s just become darker recently with the Mavs’ threats.”
I shake my head to myself. “I dunno if I wanna be a part of it all no more. It ain’t what it used to be when I was younger.”
“Since your mom?”
“Yeah. I left the club for a couple of years after that.”
“And Trig brought you back in and you agreed cuz he was offering you the tools to kill your father.”
“Wow. Smart.”
“I just added up all the facts and came to that conclusion.”
“What ‘bout you?” I ask her.
She shifts her weight and says, “Ralph’s out. He warned me to do the same. Thinks the shit we’re involved in is getting old too. As we are. You’re in your thirties, right?”
“Thirty-five,” I tell her.
“Thirty-one,” she tells me.
“Seriously?” I ask, wondering why the hell we never bothered finding that out ‘bout one another already. Crazy. Guess it weren’t that important. Weren’t in Trig’s files on her either.
“Yeah. You’re surprised?”
“I figured you as early twenties. Shit.”
“Like them young, do you? Am I too old for you, old man?”
I raise my eyebrows and tease, “Well…”
She slaps my arm. “Neil!”
I hold up my hands. “I’m fucking with you.” I look her over. “You got the body of a twenty year old, that’s for damn sure.”
She winks. “I know. And your dick has the stamina of one.”
“What choice you giving me with your appetite, babe?”
