“Kay, Darf. I lub you.” She hiccuped.
I stole a quick look at the big man and watched his eyes and face soften as he took in the beauty that was this child.
“Back at ya, Squirt.”
“I lub you, too, Miss Char, lots and lots.”
My heart stopped. Literally. The declaration of love was my first in so many years that I couldn’t begin to remember how many. Not since my beloved grandmother had anyone told me that, and here, in the cab of a massive truck, sitting next to a ruggedly handsome but extremely scary biker, a little raven-haired girl just stole my heart. The tears that had abated started again, but I managed to sob out a response to Shiloh.
“Oh, sweet baby girl, I love you, tooooooooo,” I cried.
“Oh, for fuck sake,” Darth muttered.
I was sure picking me up from work was easily becoming his not so favourite pastime.
8
DECK
Deep in the recesses of my brain, I knew Charlie and Shiloh were okay. Darth, despite his appearance and lack of social skills, would never harm a hair on Charlie’s head. And I know without a doubt he wouldn’t hurt Shiloh. Darth had been there the minute Zoe went into labour, and he never left my side after she died only minutes after birthing our daughter. His devotion to my daughter was priceless.
Shiloh was born early, and that in itself had caused many small problems. One, she had colic. All of us had spent hours walking the tiny baby, rocking her, and sleeping virtually standing up against doors, walls, or anything that would keep us upright in our sleepless states. Darth had taken more than his fair share of turns. Shiloh’s presence in our lives seemed to give him a purpose. Their bond was definitely unique. In his room, he had a framed photograph of her at nine days old and in the palms of his hands, her tiny body fitting perfectly. It amazed me how perfect she fit with everybody.
I needed to move. The crying I’d heard over the phone put me back on edge. Shifting my weight, I rolled my shoulders, working out the kinks in my body after spending the last few hours as Creed’s punching bag.
Next time, I’ll think twice before letting that fucker take his aggression out on me. I watched Darth’s truck come into view and park in his space.
My first priority was my daughter, so I hauled open the back door and took in Shiloh’s face. The tears had dried up, and her nose a bit snotty, but she looked okay.
“Hey, Squirt, what ya watchin’?” I asked as I unbuckled her belt and helped her turn off the DVD player, leaving the disc inside so it would resume from that spot the next time she turned it on.
“I watchin’ Tour of Duty.”
“Ahh, of course, you are,” I replied drolly. I gave Darth a filthy look, which he, of course, ignored. Why he had to share his obsession with the nineties war show with my daughter was beyond me. Darth continued to snub me as he got out of the truck, and I knew he was going to help Charlie out. Our hello was coming, but I had to make sure Shiloh was all set first.
“You ready, baby? Wanna ride your Harley?” I asked softly. Taking a handkerchief from my pocket, I quickly cleaned up her face. One thing we learned early on when Shiloh was a baby was to have a handkerchief in your pocket at all times.
“Yes, pwease, Daddy.”
“That’s my girl,” I praised her gently. Shiloh was a sensitive little girl. Even though we lived in the compound with bikers and such, her feelings were always just below the surface. And anything emotional, especially involving Darth, could set off a tidal wave of tears.
Taking her out of the truck, I set her on her feet, holding my hand behind her until she had her balance.
Finally, I could turn my attention to my other girl. Looking around, I saw Darth lift Charlie down to the ground. The jealousy I felt all of a sudden at seeing him put his hands on her hit me full force. The desire to punch the fuck out of him must have been obvious to him because his hands quickly dropped from her waist. A low growl left my mouth.
“See, that’s why I’m not calling you Charlie, Charlotte,” Darth declared, then took Shiloh’s hand in his own and took off towards the building. “I’ll get Squirt sorted then hand her off to Vegas,” he called out, not bothering to stop.
I didn’t bother replying. Instead, I reached out and snagged Charlie around the waist. I needed not only to have her close but to remove any feeling of Darth from her body.
“Hey, Sweetness,” I greeted her softly with my lips close to hers.
“Hi, Deck,” she whispered back, her breath warm against my mouth.
“I’m going to kiss you now. I need your taste on my tongue.”
“Yes, please.”
And that was it. My lips landed on hers, the soft fullness and the warmth of her lips moving perfectly in sync with mine. Kissing this woman was a pure fucking pleasure, one pleasure I had never known before. I had never wanted to take the time to do this, to make out, but with Charlie, I didn’t want to stop.
Her hands found my hair and raked through it. The feel of her fingers against my scalp sent shivers down my body and straight to my dick.
Her moans were driving me crazy, but I loved them. I owned them. I wanted so many more of them.
Without my mouth leaving hers, I turned so her body was up against the car door. I wanted to get closer. I wanted her to feel me from the inside without being in her.
“Lord have mercy, Charlie. I’m so fucking hard.” I growled as I ground my hard as fuck cock into her belly.
This wasn’t me. I didn’t do slow, and I certainly didn’t make out against a truck in broad daylight. I fucked hard.
But this woman.
My woman.
I wanted to do things at her pace.
I could feel her mentally and physically pull back, so I put my mouth on her beautiful throat, not wanting this moment to stop. I also didn’t want to frighten Charlie away.
That was not going to be an option. So, I slowed.
“Deck.” Her voice was throaty and soft, almost embarrassed. That was not okay. No way did I want my woman to feel bad about halting this. My lips took one last hit from her sweet-tasting mouth, and our foreheads came together.
“Sweetness, listen to me, okay?” My hands clasped her heated cheeks, bringing her eyes to mine, but she closed them at the last minute.
“Look at me, please, Charlie,” I begged.
Seconds passed, but Charlie finally lifted her eyes to mine. They held so many emotions. One I could see for sure was desire. The desire for me. It fuelled me, reassuring me that I was on the right path with Charlie. The rest of it would come. It was definitely going to happen, but in its own time—in Charlie’s time.
“Deck, this is so new to me. I’ve never been with a man in any way at all.” Her soft voice and declaration nearly brought me to my knees.
“That is so fucking great, Charlie,” I breathed out. A dick move? Maybe, but I was powerless to stop it.
“What?” she said with a gasp.
“Charlie, I want to be that man. The man who gets to give you your firsts. First kiss, first touch, first orgasm, first time to make love. First time to fuck.” I couldn’t help myself I had to kiss her again. This kiss was totally different again. I opened my mouth more and took the kiss deeper, devouring her mouth.
My own words were working against me. I was supposed to go slow, and here I was dry humping her against Darth’s truck. Practically eating her mouth whole.
Oh, God, I needed to stop. The pressure behind my zipper was too painful. My dick was going to have a zip imprint on it soon.
Ending the kiss, I sucked in a breath of air. So did Charlie, her breathing erratic.
“Your pace, Charlie. We do what you want to do when you are comfortable doing it.”
The words were foreign coming from me, but I meant them. Charlie must have sensed I meant them, too, because her eyebrows rose into her hairline as a gentle scoff left her perfect mouth.
“That doesn’t seem like your style, Deck.”
“You’re right. It
’s not. But I have never had anyone do to me what you do, Charlie.”
It was important to me that she believed me and understood the level of attraction I felt for her.
“I want you, Charlie. Make no mistake about that. I want to bury myself so far inside you that we become one person. I want to hold you naked in my arms, eyes locked on each other as I drive my dick into your tight wet heat. I want to lose myself in your body and taste your pussy, and then hold your hair in my hands as I drive my dick into your mouth.”
I was panting now. And so was she.
Oh, yes, this was going to be our life soon. It had to be. There just wasn’t any other woman for me now. Just the thought of no Charlie scared the fuck out of me.
“Your pace, Charlie. You tell me when you are ready, and I will take care of the rest.”
I waited for her answer. She had to be all in—no maybe, no we’ll see—all in.
Then the most beautiful thing happened.
Charlie smiled and kissed me lightly on the lips.
“Okay, Deck. I want all those things, too, and so much more.”
Her lips found mine once more. This time, slow and sweet, soft and calm.
“My pace.” Her lips moved against mine.
“Yes, Sweetness, your pace.”
Please, don’t keep me waiting too long, Sweetness. I didn’t want to voice that thought aloud and put pressure on her to move faster than she was comfortable with.
I could wait.
If Charlie was the prize at the end of the day, I could wait.
9
CHARLOTTE
Holding onto Deck’s hand, I walked beside him into the compound. I wasn’t sure why they called it a compound. It looked more like the inside of one of those detention centres I had seen on 60 Minutes a few months ago. Although I had to say, it was incredibly clean despite ten or more grown men living there.
The other day, I was so nervous, I hadn’t taken too much notice, but now all I saw was a very clean and tidy room. A very large room.
“What’s going through your mind, Sweetness?”
Deck’s question brought me back to the moment. I could feel my cheeks heat, embarrassed to be caught checking things out.
“It’s so clean,” I admitted softly. To that, Deck threw his head back and laughed uproariously.
“Charlie, we are all former soldiers. Order and precision is part of our DNA, but we do have a girl who comes in and cleans and cooks for us,” he said, tugging me over to a plush leather chair where he sat down before pulling me into his lap.
Again, I felt my cheeks heat.
“What?” he asked, his voice a rumble in my ear. His hands were all over me. Everything about Deck consumed me. Personal space did not exist in his vocabulary, and I wasn’t sure I wanted it to be.
So I told him.
“I like this,” I whispered softly as his lips floated along my neck. Barely touching, but I could feel his breath. Biting my lip, I held back the moan threatening to escape. Hells bells, I couldn’t think when he did this to me.
“What do you like, Sweetness? Tell me,” he prompted, ghosting his lips along my jaw and closer to my mouth, but he didn’t go there. Dang it.
I turned in his lap a little, which, considering my tight skirt, wasn’t easy. When Deck realised what my intentions were, he used his strength to lift and situate me so my legs were still demurely arranged, and not open like a Britney Spears moment, but so we were sitting straight on, face-to-face.
He was so very handsome. His hair was shockingly short against his scalp, but what was there was soft. Not spiky. Just for a fleeting second, I wished his hair were a bit longer, to run my fingers through it would have been an amazing experience.
“Sweetness.” Deck grinned at me as if he knew where my head was lost. It wasn’t a cocky smile, but a man confident in his attraction for a woman.
Groaning slightly at being caught yet again, I ignored his grin and let my thoughts out. I may as well, right? If Deck wanted all in, then I should be, too.
“I like that you touch me all the time. Like you can’t go without touching me,” I admitted shyly. Unlike Deck, my confidence was close to zero, especially when dealing with a guy. However, when his grin dropped from his face and was replaced with a look of desire—his eyes, those perfectly beautiful sapphire blue eyes were now a deep, deep blue, almost black—I sucked in a breath, the intensity of the moment stealing my ability to breathe.
“It’s good you like it, Sweetness,” he said, his voice a deep rumble while his gaze demanded my attention. I couldn’t look away even if I’d wanted to. “It’s going to happen a lot more, Charlie. Enough said,” he declared, and then kissed me on my temple before settling us back more comfortably in the chair.
“Tell me about this place. Why did you and Booth start it?” I asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence, just enjoying being with each other, and learning about each other, becoming comfortable together—becoming something.
I could feel his apprehension, and I thought he was going to tell me to mind my own business. After all, I had already sort of insulted his lifestyle the day before when I’d brought Shiloh home in my car, not trusting Darth to bring her home on his bike—although it was illegal, so I’d had a valid point—but then Deck started to talk.
“Coming home from war is harder than most civilian people would think. In the army, we had a purpose, a reason for getting up every morning. Everything is regimented. Men work as a team, have each other’s backs.” When he stopped briefly, I could see he was lost somewhere back there. “Trust each other with our lives,” he finished. The pain in his voice was palpable, and I regretted asking him. I had no right to bring up painful parts of his past.
“Deck, I’m sorry, plea—” But he cut me off, obviously wanting to continue his story.
“We were lost. Not fitting in anymore. Not quite belonging. So Booth, who was my CO in the army, came up with the idea of our own club. We didn’t want to be part of the outlaw shit, but we wanted to continue the brotherhood we’d had in the army.”
I angled my head so I could see his face and felt relief when I saw his smile.
“So, Booth, Mannix, Creed, Steel, and I started the Wounded Souls MC. Mannix and Steel are the only two who are actually blood brothers.”
“And Darth?” I asked, encouraged by his smile to ask more questions.
“Darth was in our unit, but he didn’t rotate out when the four of us did, but as soon as his time was up, he got on his bike and joined us straightaway. And over time, along came Ford, our tech guy, and Squid, Dundee, and Seb. And also, Lucky, but he is our only still actively serving member.”
“So he is still in the army?”
“Yep, he is prospecting here over a few years. Normally, it’s just one year if we are happy with their fit in the club, but with Lucky still overseas, his time here is taking a bit longer. His focus must be on his duties in the service, not here.”
Nodding my head, I took in what he was saying, starting to understand how serious they take their commitment to anything they do.
“Why do only the four of you have different patches on your, um, cuts.” I remembered the term he’d used for their leather jackets.
“It’s like the army. It’s a rank, and all MCs have them. We aren’t dissimilar to the traditional MC there. It’s a brotherhood and family unit. Everything in the confines of these walls is protected with a fierceness no one else could ever understand. We just stay away from drugs and illegal gun dealing, that’s all.”
“And the women?” It was a question I needed to ask. Although I’d met Julie and found her to be quite friendly, I knew my insecurities would eventually get the better of me. “Should Shiloh be around this kind of environment?” I hated that I asked but wanted to know the answer.
Deck, however, didn’t even look ashamed or embarrassed at all by the question. In fact, he looked quite pissed.
Oh, poop!
10
DECK
>
I took a minute. Answering all of Charlie’s questions so far had been… cathartic.
I was proud of my club and what we had built together as a unit. Our businesses were successful, and for the most part, we were successful members of the community—apart from a few internal and external blips—but we were getting better.
But Charlie bringing up Shiloh and her wellbeing again was rubbing me the wrong way. She had to know that kid was my beginning and my end. I knew she did. So why was she pushing this shit?
Taking a cleansing breath, I faced the issue head on for the last fucking time. If she couldn’t let this line of questioning go, then I would let her go. The very fucking thought made my chest squeeze, but Shiloh was off limits as far as criticising went.
“Charlie, look around,” I commanded her. I watched as she looked around the main room and over towards the bar. She was seeing exactly what I was seeing.
I hoped.
“Now tell me, do you see any half-naked women riding men’s cocks? On their knees giving blow jobs to two men at once? Fist fighting going on, drug use?”
Charlie had the decency to blush. I could see the minute she realised what I was doing.
“No,” she whispered quietly.
I could see her shame, and the urge to ease it was fierce, but so was the need to show her she was wrong for thinking such things.
“Shiloh has wanted for nothing from the minute she was born. Her entry into this world was riddled with drama from the very start, born too early and losing her mother before she could even hold her or even name her.” Pausing, I took another deep breath, calming myself as I always did when I spoke of Zoe’s death. “She had wanted to see the baby before thinking of any names. So Shiloh was the name Darth and I came up with. He was there every single step of the way. He held her after me, falling head over heels in love the second he laid eyes on her. My brothers in arms were the ones to stand by Shiloh and me as we buried her mum. They were the ones who helped me raise that pink bundle of love, spoiling her, loving her, and protecting her.”
HIS SWEETNESS Page 6
