I’d been waiting all afternoon for Luke to return. I was antsy, irritated, and damn near climbing the walls. It had been less than twenty-four hours and already, I had cabin fever from being stuck in their clubhouse.
Okay, sure, at home I might veg out in front of my fireplace with a good book for my entire weekend. The difference? I could leave if I wanted.
It took me three hundred and seventeen steps to make a lap of the building. Inside, that was, and in the areas I had access to. I’d walked the entire interior once before I started watching my steps on my watch. After having me call into work to tell them I had a family emergency back home, Luke had taken my phone. He’d essentially disassembled and destroyed it when I’d finished the call, so I couldn’t call him to see where he was.
Tash had gone to work, or I’d have asked to borrow hers.
“You’re making me nervous. Can’t you sit still for five minutes?” the gruff older man asked.
“Cash, is it?” I asked after looking at his patch. He nodded. “Perhaps you could call Luke—I mean, Snow?”
I’d really wanted to tell him to go fuck himself but decided that might not be a good idea. The saying my mother had always used came to mind about catching more flies with honey than vinegar. He appeared to be hesitantly considering my request, so I gave him what I hoped was a pleading smile.
He cleared his throat before replying with “Well, I can try, but he may not answer.”
“Thank you,” I said in my sweetest tone.
Except he’d barely put the phone to his ear when the sound of several motorcycles roared out front. He dropped it and stood. “Let me go make sure that’s them.”
He’d made it halfway to the door when it banged open and Luke stepped through followed by several of the other club members. My heart skittered wildly at the sight of him, and I inwardly groaned at myself.
Those dark blue eyes locked on me as he approached me without pause. When he wrapped his big hand around the back of my neck and pulled me into the hottest kiss of my life, I lost all sense of where we were.
My arms wrapped around him and under his cut. Like he was my lifeline, I dug my fingers tightly into the firm muscles of his back. If I could’ve, I’d have hopped up and gripped his hips with my legs.
He growled and did it for me. Without breaking our kiss, he carried me back to his room. After we entered, he kicked the door shut behind him and climbed on the bed with me.
“I need you,” he growled into my neck after he broke free and gasped for air. My back arched in need, all thoughts of what I needed to tell him simply gone.
“Yes,” I moaned as he nipped down my neck, shoved my shirt up, and sucked on the swell of my breast. I tugged at his hair—trying desperately to pull him closer.
When he suddenly reared back and raked his teeth over his bottom lip, I gasped. The heat in his gaze was smoldering. “Get naked.”
Usually, being told what to do would piss me off. Except with him, when we fucked, I loved his take-charge attitude. With everything that had happened lately, I needed to let go and have someone else make the decisions—at least for the moment.
In short order, I peeled my clothes off before I reached with greedy hands to help him get the rest of his removed. There would be time for talking afterward.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he whispered into my shoulder before he nipped the flesh and soothed it with his tongue. Soft moans escaped me as he followed an invisible map on my body.
With each touch and stroke of his fingers, I found myself wanting more. More of his touch, more of him, more than the arrangement we had. I began to panic at the thought. I’d sworn not to develop feelings, but I’d messed up. He’d become far too important to me. There was the very real possibility that he was going to be furious with me when I told him I was pregnant, so I decided to enjoy this last scrap of him I might have.
“I need you,” I whimpered.
Trailing my tongue along my lower lip, I raised my hands to the headboard and grasped it tightly. Fire burned in his gaze, molten and consuming. His knees nudged my legs further apart as he sheathed his length. For a second, maniacal laughter wanted to bubble up as I fought telling him there was no need.
Testing how ready I was, he dipped into my entrance several times, each stroke slightly deeper than the last until finally he was sheathed fully within me. The sensations he evoked were unparalleled. The slow, sensual movements as he held my gaze made my heart sing a foolish melody.
The sound of our ragged breaths and the wet slide of our connected bodies filled the room. Not once did his eyes leave mine. Wanting more, I wrapped my legs around his and urged him toward me.
With a growl, he pulled out, flipped me over until I rested on my hands and knees, and plunged deep again. I gasped and looked over my shoulder. Fingers splayed and digging into my ass and hips, he started to move. He watched his cock slip in and out of me with parted lips and soft grunts each time he bottomed out.
My head dropped as his thumb joined his shaft briefly, then circled the pucker of my ass. A whimper escaped me when he pushed past the tight ring, and I tensed.
“Relax,” he whispered before leaning forward to run kisses up my back to my shoulder. The featherlight touch of his lips and soft beard sent shivers skating across my skin. Each time he buried himself in my pussy, he slid his thumb in a little more. The forbidden aspect of it seemed to intensify everything I was experiencing.
There were no words to describe how I was feeling.
Unbidden, tears welled in my eyes before spilling over on the pillow below me. Not from pain, but from an overabundance of emotion. Steady and sure, he continued to stroke. His other hand reached around to circle my clit, and I groaned low and feral.
Before I knew it, the pressure of my pending orgasm burst, and nothing registered except the clenching of my core around his thick cock. White sparks exploded behind my clenched lids, and a mewled litany slipped from my lips.
“Yessss… there… uhhhhh!”
He rode out my climax until my arms collapsed and my face fell to the bed. Eyes closed, I sensed him leaning over me before the bed dipped on either side of me where his arms held him up. He nuzzled my hair to the side to reach the sensitive spot on my neck.
“I’ve missed the feel of this pussy squeezing my cock,” he breathlessly whispered. I wanted to cry at his words because they only emphasized the differences in where our heads were.
I’d missed more than the sex. I’d missed him.
His smile.
His deep laughter.
His ability to know my every need before I did.
The way his eyes crinkled in the corners when he grinned.
The way he absently stroked his beard when he was deep in thought.
“Baby?” he asked, pulling me from my musings. “You good?”
I nodded into the linens, and he lifted, leaving me chilled. His grip on me tightened, and he gave a quick snap of his hips. A surprised gasp was forced out of me at how good he was at what he did. Not allowing me any time to recuperate, he began thrusting at a rapid pace.
“Yes,” I murmured. “So good.”
Relentless, he fucked me until I was screaming his name. Then he wrapped my hair around his hand as he growled. He arched my back with a tug on my tresses as his rhythm faltered.
The clenching spasms between my legs hit at the same time as he sank his teeth into my shoulder. A guttural sound was followed by his animalistic roar as he released my flesh from his bite. He continued to pound into me as his cock pulsed, filling the condom.
Spent, he gently laid me down and curled his warm body around mine. Gentle kisses soothed where he’d left his mark. For a moment we quietly calmed our breathing. The absolute rightness of the way he remained sheathed in my core as he held me had me yearning for that something more again.
“Luke, I can’t do this anymore,” I finally whispered when I found my voice.
The instant tensing of his frame behind me p
receded the separation of our bodies. It left me desolate and aching.
Though I tried to fight him, he firmly turned me to my back. I closed my eyes tightly to avoid allowing him to read more than I wanted. His hand gently squeezed my jaw.
“Open your eyes and look at me.” The demand was growled, not spoken, but I was afraid.
Afraid he’d read my thoughts like a book if I let him actually see me.
“Hailey. What the fuck are you saying?”
Was that hurt I heard in the crack of his voice? Worry? Or was I hearing emotions that weren’t there because I wanted them to be.
“Goddamn it. Be a grown-up and look. At. Me.”
After gathering every scrap of strength I could, I slowly lifted my lids. His brows knit as he searched my face.
Telling myself I needed to stick to my guns and disengage before it was too late, I blinked rapidly. It was time to walk away before I completely lost my heart to a man who wouldn’t give me his in return.
The best I could, I hardened my emotions. Except his next words blew me away and sent my hackles up at the same time.
“Hailey, you’re mine. You feel me?”
Again, I blinked owlishly. Then I sputtered.
“What? You don’t own me, you know. I’m not a lump of meat that you can fight over or claim.” As I scowled, he barked out a laugh.
“A lump of meat?” He chuckled.
“It’s not funny.” I fumed as he continued to chuckle and nuzzled into my cleavage.
Though I tried to be firm, his beard tickled my chest, and I wiggled under him as I snickered softly. Of course, that only made him do it more.
When I couldn’t stand it any longer, I gripped his hair tightly and pulled him back. I was gasping for breath as he grinned with a twinkle in his eye.
“What exactly are you saying?” I breathlessly whispered.
“I’m saying that I did something I’ve never in my life done.”
“Which is?”
“Claimed a woman to my brothers.”
16
Snow
“First Time”—Finger Eleven
The expression on her face told me that she didn’t understand the significance of what I had said.
Realizing I needed to explain, I rolled out of the bed, disposed of the well-used condom, and strode back to the bed. The entire time, I could feel, then see her eyes following my every move.
Unashamed of my nudity, I sat next to her.
“So you’re saying you pissed on me? Metaphorically speaking?” she asked, eyes comically wide.
Her question made me laugh. “No. But they know you’re mine and they will do everything in their power to ensure your safety, just as I would do the same for one of their ol’ ladies or family members.”
At the term “ol’ ladies,” her nose wrinkled. I leaned down to kiss the tip of it as I grinned.
“Don’t call me old,” she grumbled.
“It’s actually a term of endearment,” I said, and she snorted in disbelief. “It’s true,” I argued. Her expression told me she still didn’t buy it, but I’d have Steph, Kassi, and Sera talk to her to explain it better than I could.
“Where did you go today?” She gave me a belligerent scowl. I sighed.
“Club business,” I evasively replied. There was no way I’d tell her we broke back into Chet’s house and returned the phone to where she’d described it being. He might know it had been messed with, but hopefully he hadn’t checked yet. We also thoroughly searched the house and planted a few listening devices.
If it was the last thing I did, I was going to nail his ass for the shit he’d been doing. After talking with Venom, I also found out he was one of the cops who’d given his ol’ lady, Loralei, a bunch of shit while she was here.
Fucking asshole.
“Hmpf!” she huffed.
“Look, I’m not trying to be a dick, but there are some things that are better you don’t know.” She appeared to be mulling over what I’d said as she picked at nonexistent lint on the covers she’d slipped under.
When she didn’t say anything, I joined her under the bed linens and gathered her close. Her head lay on my chest, leg twined with mine, and hand resting over my pounding heart. This was extremely difficult for me, and I was tempted to let it lie, but I couldn’t. What I’d admitted to her was huge.
As I spoke, I sifted her silken honey-colored hair through my fingers.
“You’ve told me you’re not old, you’ve griped about me marking my territory, and you’ve been pissed at me for being gone today, but you haven’t actually addressed what I told you. I know what I said when we started our arrangement, but somewhere along the line, things changed. The joke was definitely on me when we made that agreement, because I had no idea how easily you’d get under my skin. The thought of you being with anyone else makes my chest feel like my heart is rotting inside it. I’ll never force you to stay with me if you don’t feel the same, but I want you in more than my bed—I want you in my life. You mean something to me. I—You somehow found a way to make me love you,” I ended in an amazed whisper. I’d poured my heart out like a fucking pussy, but it needed to be said. With bated breath, I waited for her to say something.
She inhaled deeply and let out a shuddering exhale. Her fingers clutched me like she never wanted to let me go. Right when I thought she had chickened out or I was a fool, she dropped a bomb on me that changed everything.
“I’m pregnant,” she whispered.
If the world had split in two and I’d fallen through, I couldn’t have been more stunned.
And devastated.
Fighting to breathe, I moved her off me and sat on the edge of the bed. Betrayal ripped through me, and pain like nothing I’d experienced ravaged me.
“Luke?” she whispered, oblivious to the fact that she’d ruined us with her statement.
As stoically as I could when my rib cage was in a vise and I couldn’t expand my lungs to breathe, I stood. Leaving my back to her because I was afraid to look at her in case I weakened, I told her, “Nice try, honey, but it ain’t mine. I’ve had a vasectomy.”
Forcing one foot in front of the other, I went to the bathroom doorway.
“Luke!” Her strangled shout snapped through me like a bullet. I flinched when her hand curled around my bicep. She ducked under my arm, wrapped in the sheet, holding it by one hand.
“I’ll get you moved to the guest room. I won’t turn you out, but you can’t stay in here.” Through each word, I refused to meet her silver gaze. If I did, I might crack. I’d let her have such power over me that I was tempted to tell her it didn’t matter if she’d cheated or was lying to me.
“Goddamn it, Luke! Now who’s being childish? Look at me!” she demanded, but I stubbornly refused. “My name isn’t honey, and we also used condoms. Considering you’re the only motherfucker I’ve slept with in the last two years, we have a problem. Either your procedure didn’t work or it was the immaculate conception of the second coming, which I doubt. Regardless, it sure as hell is yours!”
Roughly, I dragged a hand through my hair and then down my face. My heart wanted to believe her so fucking bad. A small voice in the back of my head said that she wasn’t deceitful, but I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
I needed some time.
Gently, I moved her out of the way, then closed the bathroom door and locked it. She pounded on the other side as she yelled my name. I bowed my head and leaned it on the wood. Gutted didn’t begin to describe how I was feeling.
I hadn’t lied. I loved her. Heart and soul. But she’d sliced me open in one fell swoop, and I was reeling.
Silence fell as she quit beating on the door. Unable to stand the smell of her on me because it was making me want to crawl back out there and tell her it didn’t matter, I still loved her, I got in the shower. The water hadn’t heated yet, and I sucked in a startled breath as the cold hit me.
The water had gotten hot, then cold again before the pounding started onc
e more.
“Stop!” I roared.
While the pounding ended, I heard Reaper’s voice. “Prez, you need to come out here.”
Defeat heavy in my heart, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel low on my hips. When I swung the door open, Reaper’s worried gaze hit mine.
“What?” I demanded. His next words shouldn’t have had such a profound effect, but they further destroyed me.
“Hailey left.”
Goddamn it.
17
Hailey
“The Hunted”—Saint Asonia (feat. Sully Erna)
Disbelief initially held me frozen outside the locked bathroom door. I’d stood there staring at the marred wood feeling like my entire world was crumbling. I kept telling myself I was in a nightmare and willed myself to wake up.
When I heard the water start in the bathroom, I knew he was ignoring me.
After stumbling on the sheet that dragged behind me, I’d caught myself on the edge of the mattress. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and a sob broke loose.
I’d blindly pulled on clothes and shoved the few things Luke and I had packed the night before into my small tote.
Had it really only been twenty-four hours since I’d climbed in his truck? Twenty-four hours since I’d tried to play detective? Unreal.
“I’m not crazy,” I whispered to myself as I shoved shoes on my feet and wiped away my tears. “I haven’t been with anyone but him.”
Head bowed, I left the room without a backward glance. I’d made it down the hall and through the main area of the clubhouse before I’d seen anyone. When one of them had called out, I’d given a wave but essentially ignored them and kept moving.
I’d gotten lucky when I went outside. There was someone in a truck parked at the entrance to the clubhouse. The driver was laughing and talking with the guy manning the gate, allowing me to slip through the dark shadows of the building to where Luke had one of his guys park my vehicle.
Twisted Steel: An MC Anthology: Second Edition Page 11
