by Stacey Lynn
I knew exactly what she was thinking.
Hadn’t we wasted enough time? I had already asked her that, and she’d agreed before, but something about this moment… this night… it sunk in.
And I wanted nothing more than finish the night by sinking into Faith.
I reached her; the dozens of steps felt like thousands as I closed the space and set my empty bottle of beer on the table next to her. I didn’t say anything, I just nodded my agreement.
We’d wasted enough time. Now was the time to celebrate and enjoy the moment because we never knew when it was going to end. Not in this life. Not in this world.
Without talking, I reached out, hooked my hands under Faith’s arms, lifted her, and gave her no other option but to wrap her legs around my waist.
She did and one of my hands dropped to her ass to hold her against me.
I leaned in and whispered, “Say goodnight to Jules.”
She turned her head and looked down. Jules was quietly laughing and watching us. She simply raised a hand.
“Good night, Jules,” Faith said, but she choked and tripped over her words as my tongue darted out and licked and sucked on her jaw.
Jules hopped off the table, Sophie in her arms. “I think that’s my cue to head home. See y’all later.”
I didn’t give Faith a chance to say anything. I didn’t give her a chance to go and congratulate Liv and Daemon. We’d do it later.
Tonight had become about enjoying us.
I didn’t care there were dozens of people in our new backyard. Someone would clean up. Someone would lock up. Hell, by morning there’d probably be dozens of people camped out all over the house and the yard.
I didn’t give a shit.
“Our room,” I growled into Faith’s ear as we hit the inside of the house. She simply nodded against me.
When we hit the room, I wasted no time in lowering her to bed and climbing on top of her.
With my elbows braced by her shoulders, I held her face in my hands. “What were you thinking of out there?” I asked as my lips brushed against hers. I felt the quick intake of her breathe against my skin and rocked against her, letting her know how much I wanted her.
“You,” she breathed out on an exhale. She lifted her head to kiss me back, but I smirked and moved out of her reach.
“What about me?”
She dropped her head and a moan of frustration escaped her lips. My smirk grew.
“Tell me, Faith,” I said and moved my hands to her hair. I didn’t know what it was about her hair, but I had to touch it. Constantly.
“What Daemon said,” she whispered. I nodded. “It’s true. We never know what’s going to happen…”
Her voice trailed off as I leaned down and began pressing my lips against the column of her neck. “Go on,” I murmured against her skin, moving down to where her neck met her collarbone. When she mewled, I teasingly bit her skin. “Tell me.”
She cleared her throat and shifted under me. Her hands went to my lower back and then her fingertips were lifting my shirt. Her hands drifted to below my waistband as her fingers pulled me against her.
“That we’d wasted enough time.”
“Haven’t I already told you that?” I asked and rocked into her again. Her pleasured response had my dick hard and pressing against my zipper.
She nodded. “Yes… but tonight I got it.”
“You got it?”
She nodded again. I leaned back on one elbow and trailed my other hand down the length of her body. She was so beautiful. Her soft, olive skin was perfectly tanned and toned. I wanted to see all of it. I pressed my hand under her shirt, lifting it slightly, as I moved my hand over her stomach.
“Ryker,” she moaned. “I need you.”
I leaned down and licked her lips, smiling. “You have me.” My hand reached her breast. Through her bra, I could feel her already hardened nipples. “Always,” I said, staring directly into her eyes.
All she could do was nod as I pulled down the cup of her bra, rolling her nipple between my thumb and finger. I pinched it lightly and smoothed it.
God she was beautiful. And despite the life I knew she’d led but never wanted to think about again, when she went soft in my arms, an innocent and light look appeared in her eyes.
I was her first. In so many ways, I was her only. And truthfully, she was my only, too.
It was that thought that had me moving. I dropped my lips to hers, tasting her, but not waiting another second to begin removing her clothes as our lips tangled against one another.
Her hands pulled on my hair and held me close to her before moving back to my jeans. I shifted off Faith long enough to kick off my boots, my jeans, and the rest of my clothes.
Naked, standing over her at the edge of the bed—our bed—I looked down at her still fully clothed.
“You’re awfully overdressed,” I stated.
Faith grinned and looked at me through half-closed eyes. Her voice was soft and silky—seductive—as she said, “Then you better fix that.”
I would. Slowly. As much as my body screamed take her now! I wanted to treasure it. Treasure this moment that I knew was Faith fully giving herself to me all over again. It wasn’t the first time we had sex. It wasn’t even the first time we’d made love. I’d done that last night when I dragged her up here. But tonight… tonight was a night for pleasure.
My hands went to her thighs. I slowly brushed my palms and my fingers across her skin as I undid the button on her denim shorts and pulled them slowly down her legs along with her underwear.
My dick twitched with every gasp of breath she made. I would kill to be inside her, to ravage her like I wanted to do with my baser instincts. But first, I needed to taste her.
With my hands on her thighs, I pulled her to me so her sweet ass was at the edge of the bed. Dropping to my knees in front of her, I spread her legs and smiled.
“So wet for me,” I purred against her skin and held her tighter as she shifted.
I looked up to see Faith propped on her elbows. Her hair fell over her breasts, hiding them from me, but I didn’t care. As much as I wanted to see every inch of her skin, I loved the way she could hide herself from me so demurely, but it only took one look at her eyes to see her lust and desire.
I didn’t take my eyes off hers as I pressed my lips against her inner thighs, teasing and sucking and licking and biting, while she tried in vain to shift against my touch. I rubbed the scruff of my jaw against her sensitive flesh and grinned as her head fell back. Another groan of pleasure, or frustration at my teasing, escaped her swollen lips.
I couldn’t wait anymore. Lowering my mouth to her clit, I sucked and licked around it, still teasing her while I watched her. I couldn’t help it. I wanted—needed—to see her fall apart for me. To know that I was the one giving her this pleasure completely selflessly.
Or maybe selfishly because she tasted so damn good. I couldn’t get enough as I licked and sucked and tasted her. I drove my tongue inside of her and hummed my approval as she began grinding herself against my mouth.
I fucked her with my tongue, moved my hand off her thigh to play with her clit at the same time, and loved it as she rocked and shifted harder against me. I felt her body pulse and spasm on my tongue. She tasted amazing. By the shocked gasps and moans leaving her mouth, the way her eyes widened in shock, and the way she licked her dry lips, it was clear that no one had done this for her before.
The knowledge rose up an insane amount of caveman instincts as my testosterone pulsed through my body. I wanted to beat my chest and scream from the rooftops that she was now mine.
Instead, I focused on her pleasure as her thighs began to quiver and her pussy tightened around my tongue.
So close. She was so close. I watched her as I pulled my tongue from her, pressed two fingers inside, and bit and sucked on her clit.
She shattered beneath me. Her thighs clamped around my ears as her entire body shook while I continued pleasing her through
her orgasm. Her screams shook the windows and rocked my whole fucking world.
When she calmed, I climbed over her and adjusted our bodies so I was holding her back to my chest. My dick throbbed against her ass, but I didn’t care as I moved the covers and shifted us under them.
She pushed back against me, feeling my thick erection. “Ryker,” she moaned.
I shook my head and pressed my lips to her shoulder. “Tonight was for you, honey. All for you.”
She rocked back against me and I bit off my groan. Fuck that felt good. I wanted more of her, but I wanted to give Faith this moment. The first time any man took the time to only care for her instead of himself, at least since we were together before. She needed it. She might not have said it, but I knew she needed this night to simply feel my love for her without expecting anything in return.
“You’re sure?” she asked through a hitched breath.
“Tomorrow, you can do whatever you want to me,” I assured her. “And only what you want.”
She was silent for a moment, and I felt her pulse increase against my chest.
Finally, as my eyes drifted close and I pulled her close, she whispered, “Thanks.”
I clasped Daemon at the shoulder and shook him. “Wipe the damn grin off your face, man.”
He shook his head. “No fuckin’ way. It took me five years to get Liv where I wanted her. I’m a happy man today.”
I didn’t blame him. After having Faith last night and again this morning, I knew it was only a matter of time—a short time frame—until I was standing right where Daemon was.
“Who would have thought, huh, brother?” he asked, one eyebrow raised. “That after all this time we’d have the women.”
He wasn’t kidding. All I wanted now was a smooth sailing ride, which I knew wouldn’t come, but a man could hope. “You’re turning into a pussy.”
“No,” he winked. “But I had a taste—”
I threw my hands up. “Don’t, Brother. Don’t fucking go there.”
Daemon threw his head back and laughed. I joined him. Damn it felt good to do nothing but laugh and be with my little brother again.
He shoved me out of the chapel room at the clubhouse where we’d just gotten done talking about Sporelli and how in the hell to get us out of the mess with them. It would take time because they were apparently not only psychic, but psychotic as well.
After filling Daemon in about what the Chief of Police had told me the day before, he let us know that he’d already been told that Liv’s ex-boyfriend, Travis, had been working with Sporelli to clean out both Black Death and Nordic Lords from Jasper Bay. Unfortunately, when Black Death found out he was working for them, they had threatened Liv’s life. Hence the bomb through the window at Gunner’s old shop a few months back, which had been the catalyst for Liv and Daemon getting back together.
It had been a warning to Travis. I didn’t know how Daemon had learned that, and I didn’t ask if he’d told Liv the truth behind it. If he was like me, I figured it’d be best to let it go at this point. Liv was healing from not only her miscarriage, but Travis’s death. No sense rocking the boat there.
But we had to be careful with the Sporelli family. They were the largest underworld family in Chicago, and somehow, they seemed to know what we were doing before we ever did it. It explained how they had been able to find Faith before we did a few weeks ago.
At the time, I hadn’t bothered to ask, and today wasn’t the day either. She was in my bed, for now, where she belonged.
We’d figure the rest out and figure out how to take care of having to run drugs for the Sporelli family in time.
Until then, half the men were leaving soon for another run. Another drop was being done at the ports. But this time, I was sticking close to the club and getting back into the groove of working in the garage and the salvage yard that the club ran for their legitimate profits.
“Hey,” I said to Daemon, pulling him back from the rest of the men as we streamed into the clubhouse living room. “Whatever happened to Cain?”
Darkness flashed in Daemon’s eyes right before he nodded to Switch. Switch was a big man. One you didn’t want to mess with. He’d been best friends with our dad and Liv’s dad, Bull, back in the day. As if he sensed what we were talking about, he nodded once in our direction before turning back to Tripp and throwing back a shot of whiskey.
“He took care of Cain?” I asked, glancing at Daemon.
He shrugged, which gave me my answer. “We burned him afterward at the salvage yard. But he screamed like a pussy before that.”
“Jesus.” I scrubbed my hands down my face. “Don’t tell Faith.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. She doin’ okay?” Daemon started walking toward the bar.
“Better,” I said and left it at that. I helped myself to a beer, popping the top and flicking it into a nearby garbage can. Soon, the men were talking about the upcoming drop and run for Sporelli, tossing back drinks and smiling as if life was easy.
It wasn’t.
I didn’t think this life would ever be easy, but in the few weeks I’d been back, I finally understood why my dad loved the club and why he wanted nothing else except the club life for his sons. They weren’t men and friends and club members standing around, shooting the shit.
We were brothers. All of us.
Every day that passed as the next couple of weeks went by made me want to pinch myself to see if I was really, truly alive.
Things almost seemed too good to be true.
Not only had Ryker and I settled into our life together easier than I thought it’d be, but things had also been quiet on the club front. With Cain’s death—something I knew had happened but still didn’t want to know how—Penny’s closed down. Black Death had essentially been eradicated from town. The boards on the windows and the shutting off of the lights outside and inside effectively closed down a link to my past that I never wanted to revisit.
Occasionally, I would pass a client on the street. Surprisingly, given the small size of our town, it was infrequent, and when it did occur, the glances were minimal. No man wanted to admit to walking through Penny’s doors, and so it was with silence that my old life as a whore was beginning to fade into the background.
My body still bore the scars, and always would, but when we lay in bed together at night, Ryker would kiss and rub each scarred lash on my back, making me feel as if his hands and his lips contained healing powers I hadn’t known before.
Gone was the shame and remorse. Somehow, between Cain’s death, my mother’s death, and falling in love all over again with Ryker Knight, my regret and anger had dissipated into what could only be described as a dull, flashing memory; like a fading, blinking Christmas tree light. Occasionally, I would sense a glimmer of my past—a memory that flashed before my eyes when I daydreamed or got lost in my own thoughts—but it took a quick blink, a quick look around at my present surroundings, to remember who I was now and who I had the potential to become.
It was freeing.
More than that, with Ryker at my side and us living together and continuing to grow closer together—it was fantastic.
And more than just my relationship with Ryker, I was quickly re-forming friendships with Liv and Jules, two of the girls I had grown up with and then been separated from. I was quickly realizing they were more like sisters to me than I ever could have asked for.
Which is how we found ourselves at Bella Salon, the three of us getting pedicures and manicures for no other reason except we were girls and sometimes we liked that stuff.
The salon had opened over the summer and I had never been inside, but I instantly fell in love with the dark woodwork, the black leather chairs, and the lighting that was both elegant and relaxing. In the background, gentle, soothing music flowed through the speakers. I had felt stress seep from my pores as soon as I walked inside, heard the music, and inhaled a mild eucalyptus scent that seemed so prevalent in high-end salons.
Three, petite blonde
women who could have probably passed for triplets immediately whisked Olivia, Jules, and me into out pedicure chairs. They left us alone while they fetched Liv and I coffee and hot tea for Jules.
“Are you and Ryker still going to New Orleans this weekend?” Liv asked, her lips pressed against the edge of her deep red, large coffee mug.
My lip twitched nervously. “We are.” Ryker was taking me to meet Meg and Brayden, who was still having a difficult time with Ryker being gone. A part of me was looking forward to meeting them. I had nothing to fear.
I knew it. Yet the other part of me was nervous as hell at meeting the other woman Ryker had spent the last two years taking care of. He was practically the only father Brayden knew, and my stomach flipped every day wondering what would happen if Brayden didn’t like me.
I had never been around kids that young before with the exception of Sophie. Kids simply made me nervous.
“That’s a pretty big step,” Liv said as her own eyes glanced down at her sparkling diamond.
My eyes followed hers and I huffed. “We’re not there yet.”
“Why not?”
I shot a teasing glare at Jules. “Because we’re just now figuring everything out again. I don’t mind waiting.”
I didn’t, either. We had already screwed up one engagement. The last thing I wanted was for Ryker to feel pressured to propose again.
Not that I’d say no…
I shook the thought out of my head. Ryker and I had officially only been back together for like three weeks. It was way too soon to be imagining matching white dresses with Liv and a simultaneous wedding as we married the brothers we’d always loved.
Because I certainly wasn’t thinking it.
“What happened to your car?” I asked Jules, effectively changing the conversation. Two nights ago, her car had been towed into the Nordic Lords clubhouse, but she had never shown up to check on the work. Apparently Jaden had to go get her and her car when it died on the side of the road. I was dying inside to know how that confrontation happened. All I’d seen of them so far had been fireworks and bombs exploding when Jaden got too close to her.
