“This is sort of unexpected,” Tessa said before adding, “It isn’t my birthday, you know that, right?” Buck was sitting on the edge of his side of the couch looking like he was sick to his stomach, making her a little concerned about what was in the box. It was thin and about shirt box size but she didn’t have any idea what it was. It certainly wasn’t jewelry.
“Open your gift,” Buck grunted, looking a little pale as he commanded her.
“Oookay.” She couldn’t help but drag the word out as she tried to shift so that she could set her cocoa on the table so it wouldn’t spill. Buck jumped up and reached out, grabbing it from her.
“Here.” He took it and muttered under his breath as he set it on the table, “Idiot, how’s she supposed to hold it while she opens it. Damn, I’m acting like a idiot.”
Tessa almost laughed at his low mutter but managed to hold it in while watching him grab the box and shove it at her, almost hitting her in the face with it. Buck hissed another idiot before he sat back down beside her almost wringing his hands. Tessa took the box from him and pulled on the bow, beginning to lift the lid when his hands stopped hers. She looked up into his eyes questioningly.
“Sorry, sorry. Just, um—damn. Okay, open it,” Buck muttered.
Tessa pulled the top off quickly because she was afraid if she didn’t he was going to end up having a heart attack from stress. Buck was strung tighter than a bow. She was shocked when she saw the leather vest nestled in the paper. She realized that the reason he was acting like he was proposing was because in a way he was. To him this would be as serious as asking her to marry him.
Tessa didn’t know how to react. She’d only known him a little over eleven months and only been dating him—well having sex with him—for a little over six months. Was that long enough to take this? Yes, they’d lived together for about four of those six months but she didn’t know if it was too fast for her or not.
She reached down touching the soft leather, her eyes slightly teary as she realized it didn’t matter. She was in love with the bastard and he was offering to stay with her for good.
“Well?” he demanded, still looking like a psychopath.
“Sure—okay,” she muttered “But this means no other women. I won’t be used as a fucking maid and sex when you feel the need. It’s got to mean something.”
“Duchess, when I moved in here that was kind of implied. I’m not a cheater,” Buck grumbled, looking angry and a little insulted.
“I mean it,” Tessa stated firmly. “This won’t stop me from leaving your ass if you cheat on me.”
“Okay, ‘cause I won’t,” Buck growled, his frown dark and his eyes narrowed. Tessa lifted the soft leather out and shook it. It unfolded and she almost laughed because the darned thing was going to be too big.
“You need to take this back though,” she told him.
“What? You just agreed to take it!” He looked angry but then he shook his head and stood up. Grabbing her, he jerked her up, tossing her over his shoulder. Tessa shrieked and grabbed his hips trying to stop her swaying. She watched the leather fall to the couch as he stormed off in the direction of the bedroom.
“Where are you taking me, you psycho?” Tessa asked, trying to figure out why he was carrying her into the bedroom.
“You agreed. It’s settled I’m not taking it back and I’m going to show you I mean business,” he growled and she couldn’t help the giggles as she realized he thought she meant she didn’t want it not, that it wouldn’t fit her and he needed to have it taken in a bit or it wouldn’t be wearable.
“Buck, I was just saying that—” That was as far as she got when she was done laughing her ass off because really, he was being an idiot. Buck had set her on her feet and grabbed her around the waist, his mouth slamming down on hers in a claiming kiss that took her breath away, stopping her explanation and stealing her brain cells until all she could do was cling to him.
She found her arms winding around his neck as her body pressed against him, her breasts aching as they encountered his hard pecs. Damn, would sex ever be anything but mind-blowing with this man? She didn’t know but she sure hoped not since he’d just asked her to be his wife—sort of. Tessa couldn’t control the moan that escaped her. It seemed to claw its way from her very soul as his tongue thrust into her mouth, his hand moving from her hip to her breast and cupping it, his thumb rubbing over her nipple through her shirt.
Her hands gripped the back of his neck. Buck pulled back, his mouth trailing down her neck nipping and sucking on her skin, making it impossible for her to catch her breath. Sliding his hand down her body to grab the hem of her shirt, he jerked it off over her head in one single swift motion. His eyes burned as he gazed at her breasts trapped in her lacy black bra.
“You aren’t taking it back. You said yes and I won’t take anything else as an answer now,” he said harshly, his voice almost a snarl.
Tessa knew there was something she should say but her wits were so lost in the desire his touch invoked that she was unable to string two words together. He flicked the clasp on her bra open, ripping it off her arms with another swift motion. She whimpered when his mouth covered her nipple just as rapidly as he had removed her clothing. Her mind a hazy pool of dark desires, she pressed into his mouth, her hand cupping the back of his head as her other hand gripped his hard bicep.
She needed more, more of his caresses, more of his kisses, just more. Tessa didn’t know when it had happened over the past six months but she’d fallen in love with him so deeply that she knew she’d never escape it or him. Her mind splintered as his teeth scraped her nipple and he growled, the vibration making shivers of need slide down her spine. Her hands moved to his cut trying to pull it off. He let out a harsh groan and jerked his cut off tossing it onto the dresser. His shirt followed hitting the floor as he lunged at her, tackling her to the bed.
“You’re mine now, duchess. Don’t care about any bullshit excuses.” He hovered over her, looking down with a possessive need shining in his eyes. Tessa felt her heart catch in her chest. “Mine, every fucking inch. Mine.”
She couldn’t find words to show him what she felt stir inside her at the hard, unyielding tone he’d used to tell her she was his or the heat she could see blistering in his eyes. Her hands reached for him gripping his shoulders, her nails digging in as she pulled him down for her kiss. She was the one plundering his mouth, her tongue thrusting against his in a needy display of lust that she needed him to know she felt.
He allowed her to rule him for a moment more before he left a scorching trail of kisses to her breasts pausing to caress each one until she was wilting beneath him, passion burning her alive. His teeth scraped across her left nipple before he trailed those nipping kisses lower, his mouth pausing at her navel, his tongue exploring the little hollow before moving on. His hands were already tugging at her jeans, removing them quickly to stare down at her with a hunger that seared her very soul. Tessa gripped his head when he pushed her legs apart, his face lowering towards her sex with clear intent.
Tessa reached out, her hands pulling at his ears to get his attention. She couldn’t handle him doing that for her tonight. She was already on the verge of coming and he’d barely begun. She needed him to be inside her; not his fingers or his tongue but his cock thrusting into her over and over until she couldn’t decide where he began and she ended. He looked up at her from between her legs, his eyes heavy-lidded with dark cravings she knew they’d only begun to explore together. He seemed to understand the silent communication of her needs because he leaned forward, kissing above her clit before he slipped up her body, making sure he rubbed his chest against her as he did, resting above her.
Buck didn’t bother to take his own pants off, he just jerked open the fly and allowed his freed cock to spring forward and slap against her tightened bud, eliciting a gasp. Her heart thundered in her ears and her hands ran over his skin feeling the hard smoothness of it—trying not to lose her mind as lust assaulted her.
It gripped her by the throat making her feel like she was going to explode into a thousand pieces at any moment.
She reached down guiding his thick hardness to her waiting pussy, needing him in her more than she’d ever needed anything in her life. Buck didn’t have to receive any more invitation than that and his first thrust into her was hard and demanding. She couldn’t help holding his ass in a demanding clench of her hands as he slammed in and out of her, every thrust pulling a moan from her lips.
His fingers slipped down flicking her clit as he grunted out, “Duchess, this is my pussy. Mine. It’s been mine for months, nobody touches it but me from now on, understand.”
She wanted to argue with him just to show him he couldn’t dictate to her but her only response was her explosive orgasm as her eyes rolled back in her head and she came in a torrential gush of wetness that oiled his thrusting as he moved harder into her. The headboard was smacking against the wall in a loud banging that made her glad she didn’t have close neighbors or they’d be calling the police. He didn’t stop when she was finished, he just moved his hand down to rub the slick heat of her body over her clit stimulating it until she knew she was climbing to the summit again.
With her body betraying her pleasure, she needed to do something to make him stop looking so smug above her. Tessa reached under his ass, her hand finding his balls and she squeezed them in a gentle caress that tore a growling groan from Buck as he let go, fucking her wildly as they both roared into their orgasms like a freight train. His entire body froze as he came in a hard shudder that made satisfaction pour through her veins as he collapsed against her, panting like he’d run for miles.
“Holy fuck, duchess. I don’t think I’ve ever come that hard,” Buck growled, his eyes heavy-lidded as he lifted his head after a good five minutes of catching his breath.
“It’s only fair. You curled my toes permanently with that second orgasm,” she muttered, earning a light swat to her ass when she rolled to her side. “Hey,” she complained, rubbing the offended area.
“Want to take a shower then do it again?” he asked, wiggling his brows and making her laugh.
“No, I’m too tired. You need to get that manic need to fuck me under control.”
“Yeah, duchess, we both know that’ll never happen,” he replied before he pulled her into his side and proceeded to prove it by making her come four more times before he allowed her to slip into an exhausted slumber.
Chapter Nineteen
Buck didn’t like the way this run was going. It had been a shit storm from the beginning when his bike started acting up. He’d had to ride over to the clubhouse to get his other bike out of the museum—that’s what they called the place they kept their bikes they rarely rode—and take his Harley over to Mitch’s shop.
It didn’t help that Dice had been an asshole because he was tripping over some girl who hadn’t played for over three weeks after they’d fought over some bullshit or another. Dice was always bitchy when she wasn’t playing. It had happened four times over the past three years. She’d disappear and change her gamer tag as well as the information on the account according to Dice and he’d freak until she sent him the new information.
Dice was getting way too attached to this woman who refused to even meet him in person or tell him her real name. Dice wasn’t one to get attached to people. Hell, they were lucky he tolerated them because the man was beyond introverted most of the time. He didn’t do close well. With Dice being so damned bitchy Buck was sure that if he didn’t know they needed the payoff this job would get them he’d say fuck it and head back to his old lady.
Fuck, it was good to know he finally had a right to call Tessa his. She’d already been his but now nobody was going to say she wasn’t and they’d keep their fucking hands to themselves when he wasn’t around to smack their heads together because if they didn’t, his brothers would fuck their shit up for him. He liked knowing he didn’t have to worry about her while he was out on the road handling shit for the club.
Two weeks ago, he’d given her his patch and gotten the orders for this run. They were headed to a computer site where they were going to download some information they could sell for close to a million in cold hard cash. It meant his share was about fifty thousand and he wanted that payload. It would let him finish outfitting the house. Two of the three bathrooms needed work and they needed more furniture to make it feel like a real home. This job would let him take care of everything and be able to store some for when they started having kids. That was a trippy thought. If anyone had told him a year ago that he’d be thinking of kids, he would have laughed his ass off before he walked away but here he was.
He followed Dice off the road onto the dirt path that would lead them to the area they were going to so they could interface with the computer via a satellite connection. Why they needed to do this out here in the middle of the desert a day-long drive away was beyond him but he knew Dice knew what he was doing, even if he was hating it because it meant he wasn’t with Tessa.
He pulled up to the little shack Dice had set up for this task of stealing the files for the program they’d been paid to get after winning the bidding war with the Tricky Dicks to get the contract from the client. They’d taken a half million dollar pay cut to do it but it was worth it. They’d cut the Dicks out and that’s what mattered. The payoff was still going to be nice and leave the club pretty set for six months or so. Not that they’d be avoiding jobs, they could just be selective and slow down for a while.
Climbing off his bike, he grabbed his sawed off and the AK-47 off the back of his bike, grateful they’d avoided main roads and cops because explaining his current arsenal would have been difficult had they been stopped—not to mention the illegal nature of his weapons. After he set up the security and made sure no one was able to get inside the place, Dice got to work. Eight hours and three close calls later, they were packing it in and he was heading home to his old lady.
He didn’t take the drive to the clubhouse even though he was tasked with protecting the drive till they handed it off to the client in a week when things had cooled down from their cyber-attack. Instead he headed home to his woman, needing to feel her in his arms. He’d been up for almost three days by the time he pulled into the drive but he knew he’d never sleep till he made love to her. Entering the house, he dropped his bag near the door and grabbed Tessa as she came into the living room.
“Buck, I thought you weren’t supposed to be home till tomorrow?” Tessa asked, dallying way too long for his tired needy brain. Tossing her over his shoulder and grinning stupidly, he headed to the bedroom with her shrieking and smacking his ass in protest.
“Time for bed, woman!” he grunted and tossed her down on the bed before following her down.
Tessa woke listening hard, unsure why she felt like something was off. Sitting up, she looked over at Buck who’d been out for a little over three hours according to the little clock beside the bed. Tessa had gotten up earlier to lock up and turn off all the lights Buck had left on when he’d dragged her to the bedroom. He’d likely intended to get up and do it himself after he’d rocked her world but right after he’d come he’d fallen to the bed and was asleep in seconds. Buck was usually good about making sure she was safe before he went to bed.
She couldn’t help the little grin that touched her lips when she realized he was as ridiculous in his overprotective behavior as the men in her family were. Of course, Buck had never seen her in action like her family had so she’d give him a little leeway. Not that she’d had much call to use the skills she’d learned when she was barely past puberty. They’d run drills once a week simulating a real breech with paint guns and it had always pissed her uncles off when she was better than their kids because she wasn’t just muscle, she was also a thinker. Thinkers were much more dangerous, her father had always explained, laughing when she was the only one besides Hannah who didn’t have at least one ‘wound’ when they lined up after the drills.
Buck wou
ld likely flip his lid when he saw she’d also moved his bag from near the doorway to hide it behind the chair he’d bought her a few weeks ago. She was sure whatever he’d been up too with that AK-47 and that drive wasn’t strictly legal—which meant moving that bag so it wasn’t immediately visible if the police showed up at the door. She would have stowed it with her weapons if she hadn’t thought he’d have a hissy fit over it.
She heard a hissing sound from the living room and frowned, her spidey sense tingling something awful, and she knew it wasn’t a drill. Quietly she crawled from the bed, her eyes moving to where Buck was sleeping, wondering what he had on that drive he’d brought home and what type of men she’d be dealing with if this was about that. She went to the dresser to grab her knife, feeling her insides clench at the thought of using it on someone. She’d do it and then deal with the fallout just like her dad had taught her.
She slipped down the hall on silent feet, her legs bare because she’d only slipped on her panties and Buck’s shirt that hung to just below her ass. Buck would be mad that she hadn’t woken him but as tired as he was he’d likely make a mistake trying to handle whoever was in their house and she didn’t want things to get messy. As she neared the living room she could hear the two men talking.
“Where the fuck is the damned bag. I know he brought it here because he didn’t go anywhere once he showed up here and I saw him bring it inside. What the fuck?” a tall thin almost gangly man wearing a dusty leather cut and what looked in the dim light like dirty jeans demanded.
“How am I supposed to fucking know? I checked the kitchen. Did you check the other rooms? Maybe he has it in his room with the bitch. We’re going to have to look in there,” the chunky man with a grisly beard muttered, sounding a little put out that the bag might be in their room. Tessa felt a little relieved that they hadn’t looked behind her chair—although that told her she was dealing with two idiots, which made her happy. It meant they’d discount her as a threat. A dark grin split her face; that would work for her.
Owned (Grave Diggers MC Book 1) Page 17
