“How the hell do you know, Meg? Do you have the one person you love running every chance they got?”
Meg looked at me shocked, her mouth hanging open. Fuck, I just told Meg I loved Marley. I hadn’t even admitted to myself I loved Marley and now I just blurted it out.
“You love Marley?”
“I don’t know, I could,” I muttered.
“Holy shit, Troy. That’s huge for you. The only thing I’ve ever heard you say you love is beer and Bandit.”
“Yeah, well, I do like beer,” I smirked. “Wait, where’s Bandit?” Bandit was at the apartment with us and I hadn’t seen him yet.
“King had Remy go pick him up and took him back to my house. I figured he could hang out with Blue tonight and I’d bring him over tomorrow.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
“Can we get back to the fact that you love Marley?”
I didn’t know what to say. Did I love Marley? I sure as hell didn’t want her leaving and the idea of having her stay with me pleased me more than it annoyed me.
“Oh my god, you love her! Stop being an ass and go get her!” Meg and I both turned to the couch, surprised to hear Cyn awake.
“Dude, you were snoring like five minutes ago.”
“Yeah, well, with you and Troy yapping so loud, you woke me the hell up.” Cyn sat up, her head popping up over the back of the couch.
“Why the hell are you sleeping so early anyway?” Meg asked.
“It’s what people do when they are tired,” Cyn shot back.
“Dude, feisty much?”
“Would you stop saying, dude? You’re going to be thirty-seven in three months,” Cyn grumbled, laying back down on the couch.
“You’re so PMSing aren’t you?”
Cyn raised her hand up, flipping the bird. “Sit and spin, Meg.”
“You first, babe,” Meg laughed.
“You both suck. Go get Marley, Troy and, Meg shut the hell up. I’m freakin’ tired.” Cyn ordered.
“Gah, you better go. She’s grumpier than a hungry bear right now,” Meg whispered.
“I don’t have a car, remember, I did get kidnapped a couple of hours ago.”
“I think we can-” Meg started but was cut off when keys came flying at me, hitting the side of my head.
“Nice shot,” Meg laughed.
“Jesus Christ. Have you heard of maybe saying heads up when you throw something,” I barked at Cyn, bending down to pick up the keys.
“Have you heard of manning up and taking what you want? You want Marley, fucking take her,” Cyn snapped.
“Who the hell pissed you off, beautiful?” Rigid asked, walking into the common room, followed by the rest of the club.
“I think you need to take your woman home,” Meg advised Rigid.
“I think you might be right,” Rigid said, ducking a pillow that came sailing over the couch. Meg didn’t see it in time and got smacked on the side of the head.
“You bitch,” Meg spat out. She darted past Rigid and pounced over the back of the couch onto Cyn.
All Rigid and I could see was asses and elbows as Meg and Cyn wrestled each other.
“You really think they’re pissed at each other?” Rigid asked, unsure of what the hell was going on.
“Nah,” I said, hearing Meg laugh. “You might want to break it up soon before Slider gets out the cooking oil.” I nodded towards the kitchen where Slider was searching the cabinets and looked at Rigid and me with a big grin on his face.
“Oh fuck no,” Rigid called, moving over to Meg and Cyn. “King, get your woman off mine,” he called.
I watched as all the guys made their way over to the couch, trying to see what the hell was going on.
“You hurt her, I’ll kill you,” I heard growled behind me.
I turned around to see Gravel standing by the bar, his arm around Ethel. Not what I wanted to deal with right now.
“Gravel, would you take the stick out of your ass and just leave Troy alone?” Ethel scolded.
He grunted as she elbowed him in the gut. “Damn, woman.”
“I don’t ever plan on hurting Marley, Gravel. I know you don’t believe that, but I have no problem proving it to you every day you see the smile on Marley’s face I put there. Cuss me out and call me names, but just know I will die before I hurt Marley.”
Gravel just glared at me, knowing there was nothing he could do or say to keep me away from Marley. “Well, what the hell are you still doing here? You have about fifty years in front of you taking care of my daughter.”
I smiled at Ethel, both of us knowing I had finally said the right thing. Gravel was never going to like me, but I at least had his respect.
I walked out of the clubhouse unsure of what was going to happen in the next couple of hours but sure of whatever happened, I was doing the one thing I needed to.
I wanted Marley and I was going to take her.
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Chapter 30
Marley
It had been over an hour since I left the clubhouse and still no Troy. I was beginning to think he wasn’t coming.
After Gwen had dropped me at home, I started putting my plan into motion. I needed to know that Troy was there for me and not because he had to be.
I took a shower, making sure to use my expensive body wash I only used when I needed an extra pick me up. I blew out my hair and curled the ends then pulled half of it up letting tendrils cascade around my face.
I went into my closet and knew exactly what I was going to wear. I was going to have to sneak over to Troy’s and grab the little black dress but I knew what shoes I needed. I dug in the bottom of my closet and found my patent leather pumps and tossed them onto the bed.
There were three boxes piled in the corner of my room. I opened them all and quickly put most of it away I had room for and dumped the rest in the back of my closet. I needed to get all of the boxes out of my house. I could find a place for the things I had no idea where they went later.
I ran down to the den, bee lining for the five boxes I had there and made quick work putting everything where it belonged. I grabbed all eight empty boxes and ran them down to the curb, groaning as I was half way when I realized I was only in a towel. Thankfully it was late enough that no one drove by during my run to the curb in my towel.
I pulled on my dress and heels and almost chickened out ten times before I made it down the stairs. After I lit all the candles I had in my living room, I blew them out and then relit them. I was an indecisive mess.
I was now alternating sitting on the couch and pacing the living room waiting for Troy.
After turning on the radio, I put on the song I wanted Troy to hear and let him know I wasn’t going anywhere. I had listened to the song nine times and was ready to throw the stereo out the window if I had to listen to it again.
Just as I was about to turn the radio off, there was a knock on the door, and I froze in my tracks. Shit! He was here.
“Marley, open the door,” Troy called.
I still didn’t move. This is what I had been waiting for and now I didn’t know what the hell to do. He pounded on the door again, snapping me out of my stupor.
I reached for the handle and I knew it was now or never. Time to stop running and grab the thing I wanted.
Troy stood on the other side of the door looking as terrified as I felt. “You left.”
“Um, yeah, I had some things to do.” I opened the door wider and stepped out from behind it. Troy’s eyes scanned my body and I heard his intake of breath when he realized what I was wearing.
“Can I come in?” He asked, running his fingers through his hair. I was captivated by him, realizing how often he ran his fingers through his hair and what it did to my sanity. Although it seemed Troy breathing tampered with my sanity.
I stepped to the side, not saying a word and waited for him. He walked past me, his arm brushing against me. I closed the
door and leaned against it.
“So why did you have to leave?” he asked, turning around to face me.
“Um, I need to finish unpacking some things.”
“You couldn’t have waited for me?”
“No, it was something I needed to do on my own.”
Troy shook his head and walked into the living room, sitting on the edge of the recliner. “So that’s what the pile of boxes on the curb was?”
I pushed away from the door and stood in front of Troy. “Yes.”
“It’s like pulling teeth talking to you right now, Marley. I don’t know what’s going on with you right now. You ran from me again.”
“I didn’t run,” I pleaded.
“Then what the hell is going on?”
“I’m terrified. Absolutely scared.” I clasped my hands, wringing my hands together.
Troy reached for me, grabbing my hands. “You don’t need to be afraid of anything, Marley.”
“I know, it’s just that I’ve never done this before. I’ve never felt the way I do right now and it seriously makes me want to barf.”
Troy threw his head back and laughed. “So I make you feel like you’re going to barf?”
My face heated and I rolled my eyes. “Well, not really.”
Troy tugged on my hands and pulled me to him. He sat down in the chair, grasping my hands and guided me onto his lap, straddling his hips. “You don’t need to be scared or terrified, babe.”
“I know it’s irrational, but I can’t help the way I feel.” He placed his hands on my thighs and gently rubbed them.
“Start from the beginning, Sunshine. Start wherever it feels good to you.”
I closed my eyes and tried to figure out where to start. I took a deep breath and let it out. “I emptied all my boxes today. Even the one I had in the den filled with all the crap I only use once a year. They needed to be empty because everywhere I’ve lived there’s always been at least one box I don’t unpack. I moved around so much with my mom, that it only made sense to remove the things I needed and leave the rest in boxes.”
“What about when you lived with Mark?”
I shook my head and laughed. “Nope. I had two boxes in the back of our closet that drove Mark crazy. He always nagged me to unpack them, but I never did. Unpacking meant I was there to stay and, even though I told him I would marry him, I always felt the rug could be ripped out from underneath me, taking everything away.” I glanced away, the tears starting to fall. “And it did. Everything got taken away and I had nowhere to run but here. To my dad. And then to you.”
Troy wrapped his arms around my waist and turned my head to look at him. “So does you unpacking your boxes mean what I think it does?”
I reached up, feeling the days worth of stubble on his cheek and smiled. “My boxes unpacked mean that, even though I’m terrified out of my mind, I’m here to stay and nothing is going to make me run.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard more beautiful words, baby girl.” He tightened his arms around me and held me close.
“Do you hear that song?” I asked, ready for the next part of my plan.
Troy leaned his head back and listened. As Gwen and I were driving home, I had heard the perfect song on the radio. Lady Antebellum “I Run to You” was the song I was listening to in repeat for the last half an hour. Every word they sang rang true for what I felt for Troy.
“You running to me now, Sunshine?” Troy asked, a smile spreading on his lips.
“I’ve found there’s no better place to run to.” I climbed off Troy’s lap and held my hand out to him. I pulled him off the couch and he wrapped me up in his arms, swaying to the music.
I had never done something that felt so right before. Standing in my living room, wrapped up in Troy was the greatest moment of my life. The only thing that made it better was when Troy quietly started humming, and his baritone voice singing the chorus to me.
I wrapped my arms tight around his neck and held on to the man who was going to forever be the one I ran to and never leave. We both raised the white flag and there had never been a sweeter surrender.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Chapter 31
Troy
“I love this song, baby girl, but how many times are we going to listen to it?” I laughed, tightening my hold on Marley.
Marley’s body shook in my arms, and I leaned back to see if she was crying or laughing. “Thank God! I have had this song on repeat for the last forty-five minutes. I was ready to throw the stereo out the window before you got here,” Marley laughed as she pulled out of my arms and turned the song off.
“Now, we need to talk about that dress, darlin’,” I said, crooking my finger at her, beckoning her to me.
“Oh, you mean this old thing?” she laughed, twirling around, the dress floating around her.
“Here, now, Marley,” I growled, needing her back in my arms.
She glided over to me, stopping a foot away from me. “Too far away,” I whispered, grabbing her around her waist and pulling her to me. “I swore to myself the next time I saw you in this dress, I was never going to let you out of it.”
“Oh, really?” she murmured, trailing a finger down my chest.
“Yeah, except now all I want to do is rip it off and devour you.” My hand glided up her back, following the line of the zipper. My fingertips found the zipper pull and slowly unzipped it. With every inch of her back I exposed, the more she relaxed into my arms.
The only thing that was holding the dress up was her body pressed to mine. “I need to see you.” She stepped back, her hand grasping the front of the dress. “Let it go, baby girl,” I ordered.
Her eyes flared with lust and she took another step back. “I think you need to work for it, Troy.”
“I think we’ve both worked hard enough, don’t you think so?”
She shook her head no and took another step back. “I’ve got a whole new outlook on life. I think the best things in life are worth fighting for. I did, after all, just win the Battle of Troy,” she laughed.
“Oh yeah, the Battle of Troy, huh? So what exactly did you win?”
“You,” she whispered. Her hand dropped and the dress fell to her feet.
“Son of a bitch.”
“Are you going to take your reward, Troy? I think we both won,” she trailed her fingertips up her body and cupped her perfect breasts. “Except…” she trailed off, a playful smile on her lips.
“Except what?” I growled.
She giggled, the sound surrounding me, almost taunting me. “Except you have to catch me first.” She winked at me and took off, running up the stairs, her laughter ringing out. I watched her perfect body running away from me, only a pair of panties and heels on and I couldn’t move.
When she was half way up the stairs, she looked down at me and smiled. “You may have to chase me, Troy, but I can guarantee the prize is worth the chase.” She winked at me again and finished running up the stairs.
I didn’t need to be told more than twice. I toed my boots off, flipping them at the door and took off up the stairs, unbuttoning my jeans as I went. As I made it to the top of the stairs, I pulled my jeans off, tossing them behind me as I stumbled down the hall to her room. I pulled my shirt over my head and threw it on the floor. My socks came off last, balancing from one foot to the other. By the time, I made it to her bedroom all I had left on was my boxers.
I pushed open her door and my breath whooshed out. She had the lights dimmed, candlelight the only thing illuminating the room. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her legs crossed seductively, and waiting for me.
“Breath, Troy,” she whispered.
I sucked air back into my lungs and knew right then and there that I was the luckiest man in the world. Never had I seen a woman more perfect. A woman who was going to be mine forever.
I walked into the room, not stopping until I had pushed Marley onto the bed and crawled up her bo
dy. My lips found hers and I knew I was in heaven.
She sucked my bottom lip into her mouth and I felt my dick turn into steel. Never had I had a kiss that could make me two seconds from cumming. “Slow down, baby girl,” I murmured, pulling away.
“I don’t want slow, Troy. I want you now, anyway I can have you,” she whined, wrapping her arms around my neck and pulled me to her. Her lips devoured mine, taking everything I had. I grabbed her hands, clasping them above her head.
“Slow,” I growled against her lips. She whimpered, wanting more.
My hand snaked down her body, cupping her sweet pussy. “This is mine.” Her panties were wet with her need and my dick begged to feel her tight pussy. I grabbed both sides of her panties and tugged then down, tossing them on the floor.
“Troy,” she moaned as I parted her pussy, seeing her clit begging for attention.
“Always ready for me, aren’t you, baby girl?” I growled, leaning down, flicking her clit with my tongue. Her hips bucked, pressing her warm pussy into my mouth, begging for more. I grasped her hips, spreading her legs as far as they would go, giving me complete access to her sweet pussy. “I want you every way I can have you, Marley.”
“Yes,” she moaned as I flicked her clit.
“Flip over, baby girl. I don’t think you know what I mean. I’m going to show you.” I released her hips and leaned back, waiting.
“Hmm, no. Just keep doing what you were doing, please,” she begged, her hands traveling over her stomach and spread the moist lips of her pussy open for me.
“Do what I say, baby girl, I promise it’ll be good.”
She stuck her bottom lip out, pouting, but did what I asked. “Get on your hands and knees,” I ordered.
She slowly raised up, her ass wagging in my face. I ran my hand over the smooth globe of her ass and knew I was going to take her perfect ass. “You remember when I did you doggy style?” Marley nodded her head yes, tossing her head back, moaning at the memory. She kept her ass in the air, but dropped down on her forearms, knowing what I wanted her to do.
She spread her legs apart, revealing her wet pussy to me. I had access to her pussy just like before, but now I was going to take her to another level of ecstasy. “I’m not going to be able to do what I really want, baby because I don’t have any lube, but it’s still going to blow you away.”
Battling Troy: Devil's Knights Series Page 18
