Before I’d fully recovered, he had me pulled out of the tub and onto the bathmat. He quickly pulled his T-shirt off and only pulled his pants and boxers below his gorgeous ass before he took me in one solid thrust.
Clearly, he couldn’t wait one second more.
He pulled out and thrust back to the hilt, our heavy breaths and soft groans intermingling as our bodies took over.
There was something utterly primal about having him partially dressed while entering my body as though he’d die if he couldn’t.
I felt the tingles start again, moving toward a warm hum which was about to completely take over. When his thrusts intensified indicating he was close as well, it was enough to push me over the edge into a freefall.
He soon followed, groaning with such relief it was as though it had been years since he’d been inside me.
“You’re all wet now,” I said with a laugh as he laid on top of me recovering.
He chuckled, his voice warm and deep in my ear. “Yeah, well, so are you,” he replied, the double entendre making me blush.
“Come on, baby, let’s get to bed,” he said, pulling me up with him and toweling me off first and then himself. We crawled into bed naked as he pulled me close.
“Sweet dreams, Birdie,” he murmured, nuzzling my ear as I laid with my back pressed to his front.
“You, too, Sal.” I sighed contentedly.
And despite the demons I’d faced that day, with my man wrapped around me and his heat pressed to my back, I’d never slept better.
Chapter 11
Sal made me come to the club the next morning after breakfast. Cole had called a meeting after Sal briefed him on the run-in with my mother. Most of the guys were there along with their women.
Ettie, Mack’s woman, was there along with Connie and Scarlet, who sat with baby Gracie on her knee. I smiled at my girlfriends and went to sit next to Scarlet to try to get some baby time.
We were all seated in the common space amongst the bar, pool table, and couches, which took up a majority of the large, open area.
Cole stood with his arms crossed over his chest as Wes and Sal flanked him. They made for a formidable, though incredibly sexy, looking trio.
Cole began to address the group with a firm tone that carried easily across the large room. “Most of you know Kat was attacked. We knew there was some connection between the loan and the attack, but it seems it was more premeditated than we’d realized. This fuckwad purposefully sought out Kat’s mother to offer her money knowing she wouldn’t be able to pay it back. We assume using Kat as collateral has something to do with the club. We just don’t know what,” his deep voice told the room.
I was really tired of my name and “collateral” being used in the same sentence.
I heard a few gasps around the room and winced at the reaction.
“I called you all here,” he continued, looking pointedly at the women, “to be vigilant. This threat was specific to our women and families. If anyone notices anything out of the ordinary, I want to know about it,” he ordered. “Anything at all.”
“Uh, babe, I have to tell you something,” Scar spoke up then. She looked contrite, which put me on edge.
Cole’s eyes shot up in surprise and then grew wary.
“I didn’t say anything because I thought it was nothing,” she defended. “And I knew you’d get upset,” she fretted. “But I’ve been feeling like I’m being followed lately. I can’t put my finger on why, but with all this news I think maybe there’s something to it,” she murmured.
I swore I thought Cole’s head was going to explode right then and there. The veins stuck out in his neck and his bright blue eyes grew dark with anger.
“Um, me too,” Connie spoke up hesitantly. Wes’ head snapped over to her so quickly it would have been almost comical if the situation wasn’t so serious.
“What?” he barked.
She shrugged, looking nervous.
“Motherfucker,” Cole seethed as he made eye contact with his father before turning his attention back to his fiancée. “You’re on lockdown,” he commanded.
“Fine,” she agreed with a sigh.
I shot her a sympathetic look. But I couldn’t say I disagreed with his mandate. The guys knew I’d been followed and we all knew how that had ended for me.
“Why is this fuck putting such an obvious target on his back?” Sal asked Cole as he thought out loud. “He’s not making a secret of it and I don’t fuckin’ get it. He’s either crazy as shit or there’s got to be somethin’ bigger that he’s aiming at. Either way, I don’t fuckin’ like it. Makes me cagey as shit,” he muttered.
“Your women are all of your weaknesses,” Cal spoke up his, gravelly voice laced with controlled anger. “They’re your Achilles’ heel and whoever this is knows it. You can’t let them use it to their advantage,” he advised.
“What’s the plan?” Axel spoke up as they all stood thinking.
“Okay, women out,” Cole barked suddenly, and I saw Scarlet glare at him. “I’m not going to brainstorm how to keep my family safe with you all here,” he explained when she continued to look pissed. “I’m gonna tell you how it’s gonna happen. If you’re here, you’ll argue with me every step of the way.”
He was undoubtedly right about that. These men had chosen a fiery and opinionated bunch of women to share their lives with. Scarlet stood, and, in unspoken camaraderie, Connie, Ettie, and I stood with her. She shot a final glare at Cole over her shoulder as we strode out onto the back patio.
One thing was for sure, someone’s bed was going to be chilly tonight.
“I’m going to have to resurrect the house mouse argument,” Scarlet muttered as we situated ourselves in the shade. It was a known fact certain bikers would shack up with women who took care of them and their house without complaint. They cooked and cleaned, made sure everything was in order, and most importantly, they didn’t ask questions. There were no such women around this table, myself included.
“He knows you’re not a house mouse, babe,” Connie laughed. “It’s obvious to anyone, but, I hate to admit that he’s sort of right,” she shrugged. “We’re with the biggest alpha males on the planet. They can’t formulate their strategy while we’re in there arguing with them about it. And you know we would,” she said with a wink.
“Purposefully putting us at risk and making no secret of it is also a direct hit to their male egos,” Ettie put in. “You know how they all pride themselves on protecting us.”
Ettie was right about that. I swear there had been times with Sal, when all that shit was happening with Scarlet, where I’d thought he’d throw me over his shoulder and pound on his chest like a caveman when I was at risk. It was crazy, but I sort of loved it.
“How’s it going with Sal?” Connie asked as she raised her brows at me. “And can I just say I’m so fucking thrilled you two are back together?” Connie was always so cheerful. I loved that about her. She seemed to have a permanent smile on her face. When I’d first met her I thought it was fake, but I quickly realized it was completely genuine.
“Thanks,” I smiled back. “We’re working on it, but so far so good.”
“With the way that man looks at you, it was only a matter of time,” Ettie added.
It was another hour before the meeting broke up and the guys came out to collect us. By then we’d covered the details of Connie’s upcoming wedding and Ettie’s hope to have a ring on her finger sooner rather than later. She’d been with Mack for years, but they’d been in no rush. Now she seemed to have caught the bug, and I hoped for his sake he picked up on her mindset.
Gracie was now nursing under a blanket in the shade with her peaceful looking Mama. Motherhood had come so naturally to Scarlet. Despite her own mother passing away when she was young, she had an innate sense of what to do. She was perfectly at ease with the fragile, little being she’d brought into the world.
I watched Sal approach, his eyes focused solely on me. The sun glinted off his jet-
black hair, and his tattoos practically shone with vibrancy in the midday sun. He was wearing a fitted gray T-shirt and worn Levis with his ever-present motorcycle boots. My mouth practically watered as it always did when I saw him.
“Let’s go,” he ordered when he reached me.
I rolled my eyes at his bossiness but stood up. “Later, girls,” I called over my shoulder.
“Later!” I heard in unison behind me.
We roared off on his bike and headed back to his place. When we walked in the door, he took me by surprise by spinning me around and pulling me close, his hands diving into my hair. He kissed me with welcomed determination as he backed us toward the bed. Clearly, he was working through some emotions from the recent events and I was more than happy to have him work them out with me.
My hands moved inside his jacket, slipping it off his shoulders, and then slid greedily up his muscular arms to his neck. His adept fingers slid under my shirt, tracing the outline of my bra and making me shiver. He smiled against my mouth, pleased at my reaction to his touch. He pulled my shirt up and off, my jeans soon following. A deep rumble of pleasure rose from his chest as he took in my black lace bra and matching panties.
“You’re so gorgeous,” his deep voice rumbled.
My hands slipped up under his shirt, finding the skin beneath warm and smooth. My fingers traced over the ridges and bumps of his muscles while he moved to my neck, biting the flesh just enough to elicit slight pain.
I broke away panting, tearing his shirt over his head and moved with greedy fingers to his belt.
His hands moved to cover mine, stopping my movements. Sal liked control, in all places, but especially in the bedroom.
“On the bed,” he ordered quietly.
I fought the urge to jump up and down and clap gleefully.
“On your back,” he specified, his eyes sweeping my frame hungrily as I complied.
I looked up at his gorgeous brown torso, ripped with muscle and painted in beautiful color as he licked his full lips. I wouldn’t ever get used to how breathtaking he was. Not in a million years.
“Please,” I pleaded quietly. I needed him to touch me in the worst way.
“What do you want, baby?” he asked quietly.
“You, always you,” I panted, feeling desperate.
He crawled up over my body, his large frame hovering over mine, and pressed himself in-between my legs. Even that small gesture could have sent me over the edge I was so worked up. He thrust against my core a few times; his lips traveling over my mouth, my neck, and finally my bra-covered breast.
He seemed to lose some control then because he sat up on his haunches, pulling my panties off in a swift tug and pulling my bra down to expose my breasts. His pants and boxers soon followed and my eyes took in his naked frame hungrily.
“Flip over,” he commanded, his tone sending a shiver of delicious anticipation through me.
I obeyed, rolling to my hands and knees, eyeing him over my shoulder.
“That’s a damn good view,” he growled appreciatively, eyeing my ass in the air.
He swept a hand through my gathering wetness. I was so damned turned on, and he’d barely even done anything.
“You ready for me already?” he asked, although he knew the answer.
“Holy hell, yes,” I practically groaned.
His large hands took my hips, pulling my entire body back toward the end of the bed and from his standing position he lined up and slammed inside me.
I fought the urge to scream. It felt so good, so overwhelming.
“That’s right, take me,” he grunted, pulling out and slamming back into me again. His hands kept my hips in his grip as he pulled me back into him with ferocity.
I felt it build almost immediately.
“Get there. I’m close,” he told me through panting breaths.
“I’m there,” I cried out as my orgasm swept through me with a roaring force, nearly knocking me flat to my stomach.
He groaned seconds later, collapsing on top of my back. I let myself sink into the mattress. I loved the feeling of his weight on top of me.
He rolled off me far too soon, taking me with him so we were a tangle of limbs and heat. His hand swept through my hair in a reverent caress.
“Okay?” he asked. He always did when he was a little rough.
“Great,” I nodded, my fingers tracing patterns over his skin.
“I got some slow and sweet in me, too,” his deep voice murmured.
I looked up at him with a grin. “Slow and sweet, huh?” I cocked a brow, my skin already heating at the thought.
“Yeah,” he nodded, his hand sweeping the curve of my hip and grabbing my ass in a tight squeeze. “Gonna take you again, baby,” he declared.
“I think I can handle that,” I agreed with a slow smile.
It was late afternoon by the time we came up for air. “I gotta get ready for work,” I said quietly. We were lying side by side, facing each other. His hair was wonderfully tousled from my fingers and a day’s worth of whiskers stood out on his chin. There was nothing I wanted more than to stay tangled up with Sal, cozy in bed all night. He reached over and tucked my hair behind my shoulder, his eyes peaceful and warm as they regarded me.
“Hank’ll post up at the bar. Come back here after your shift, okay?” he asked, his thumb moving to briefly touch my lower lip.
I thought about that, and as much as I wanted to do exactly that, I didn’t want us to fall back into our old pattern. We’d spent nearly every night together right off the bat before, and clearly it hadn’t worked out so well. Despite the current situation with the club, I still wanted to handle us with caution.
“Maybe I should go back to my place?” I asked as his hand froze from stroking my jaw.
“I want you here,” he returned forcefully.
“Sal,” I groaned with impatience as his eyes narrowed. “We just got back together like two seconds ago. I don’t want to fuck it up by doing exactly what we did last time,” I explained.
“Which was?” he asked with a raised brow.
“Which was doing everything backward,” I tried to explain. “We jumped right into bed and spent nearly every night after that together. We were spectacular physically, but we never worked much at the other parts. Not the way I wanted to anyway. And with everything that happened when you left, I always worried that you got cornered into watching out for me. Now, we’re right back there again, and I don’t want to worry that you’re obligated to me.”
I didn’t get further before he wrenched free of my grasp and hauled himself out of bed, aggressively shoving up his jeans.
“What just happened?” I asked in utter confusion.
“Fuck, Kat,” he stormed, pulling his shirt roughly over his head. “Is this how it’s gonna be? Reliving all the ways I fucked up before?” he demanded. “’Cause if that’s the case, why don’t we just call it a day?” he growled.
I reeled back from his words, especially given how we’d just spent the last several hours. “Call it a day?” I whispered incredulously. Anger burned in my cheeks as I regarded him in shock. “Jesus, Sal, how can you even say something like that to me? We’ve been naked in this bed together for three fucking hours!” I exclaimed angrily. “And that’s my whole fucking point!” I cried, pulling my hands through my hair in aggravation. “We never worked at it before, because we never let ourselves get to a vulnerable enough place for there to be anything to work on. And that’s on me, too. I’m not blaming you. I’m saying that there’s something here that’s precious enough to be careful with.”
I took a moment and blew out a controlled breath, trying hard to get a rein on my temper. “Look, I don’t want months to go by and all of a sudden we’re back exactly where we started. That didn’t work. And I want this to work, really fucking badly,” I admitted, and in doing so I felt like I’d extended a huge, vulnerable olive branch to him.
Please take it, Sal, please, I chanted in my head.
He
grabbed his keys and I felt bitterly disappointed. He was actually going to leave. “Sal,” I started, my tone a hoarse warning, “please think about what you’re doing by walking out the door right now.”
“I just need to cool off,” he said curtly over his shoulder as he opened the door.
“Well, you take all the time you need,” I returned coldly. Fuck if I was going to wait around for him to sort out his goddamn head.
He didn’t even turn back to look at me. Instead, he grabbed his jacket and walked out, closing the door behind him.
I stared at the door in shock for a long time. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. But I knew one thing was for sure: I was done having Salvatore fucking Armstrong turn me inside out. At least that’s what I told myself. My whole love ‘em and leave ‘em mentality I’d lived by before I’d met Sal was sounding pretty good right about now. Too bad I couldn’t even look at other men. God, I was so screwed. Rather than sulk, I got up, showered, and went to work without one single tear hitting my cheek.
Chapter 12
Jodie popped in to say hi later that night. She wasn’t on shift, but she lived in the neighborhood.
“You look like you need to throw a couple back and have some girl talk,” she surmised correctly with a raised brow.
“Is it that obvious?” I grumbled.
“Why don’t you come to my place? A couple of my friends are going to come by and hang out. You’ll like them.”
I had always liked most of Jodie’s friends, except perhaps her roommate Ryan, who had a bit of creep factor happening.
I glanced over at Hank who looked bored as hell sitting at the bar on guard duty. I knew he wouldn’t let me go, and even if he did, it would be awkward to drag him along. But, I wanted to go. I was in the mood to let my repressed wild child out for a few hours and forget about Sal and our fight.
I nodded to her. “I just need to ditch my guard for a bit. He’ll kill me, but whatever.” I shrugged, inwardly wincing at how pissed Hank would be. Not to mention, Sal. Part of me was feeling stifled by my constant watchdogs. Plus, I knew Hank would just force me back to Sal’s place. It enraged me that I didn’t have an option even though he’d walked out on me this afternoon.
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