by Lilly Atlas
“You’re gonna be good for something too,” she said.
That had him laughing full-out. Funny, sexy, sweet, giving, she was the perfect woman. Copper climbed back on the bed and settled on his knees between her spread legs.
Creamy skin, full tits, round hips, she was his every fantasy come to life.
“W-what are you doing?” Shell asked when he didn’t move to touch her.
“I’ve waited for this a long fucking time as well. Gonna take my time gawking at the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
An adorable flush bloomed on her skin along with a shy smile. “Thank you.”
He looked his fill, trying to imprint every hill and valley, every slope and curve to memory. He absolutely loved the small swell of her stomach. Proof that she’d given life. It was so feminine, so sexy, so—
Copper frowned. “What’s this?” he asked tracing a horizontal pink line just a few inches above her bare mound. His heart dropped to the floor. Shell had a scar? Since when. Was she injured? Sick? Did she have surgery? Why the hell hadn’t he known?
Straightening, he stared into her guilty expression.
“Shell? What the fuck happened to you?”
CHAPTER TEN
A FERAL ANIMAL. That’s what Copper resembled, staring at her scar like he’d never seen one before. Shell grabbed his hand and squeezed. Hopefully, her touch would prevent the pressure from building to an explosion.
“Copper, it’s nothing. Just a c-section scar.”
His face screwed up as though in pain. “What? Beth was born by C-section? I had no idea.”
She gave him a half smile. “No one here knows. Only my mother.”
He tensed, running his thick finger over the raised line where her daughter had been quickly pulled out to save her life.
“I’ll tell you the whole story another time.”
“Were you alone?” Concern bled through his voice.
“I had friends.”
This clearly bothered him. Really and truly upset him. That caring made warmth spread through her stomach. All she’d ever wanted her entire life was Copper. In her bed, in her mind, in her heart.
Him discovering that scar brought the harsh realities back into focus. It could never happen. She didn’t want to talk about this now. For now, she wanted to pretend she could keep him. Imagine what it would be like if this night extended for the rest of her life.
“Were you scared?” He was so focused on the four-year-old incision she wasn’t sure he’d even grasp the story if she told it.
“Please, can we talk about this later?”
He lifted his head and the depth of emotion shining back at her made her gasp. “Just answer that one question. I need to know.”
Nodding, she whispered, “I was terrified.”
His serious gaze bore into hers. She held her breath, afraid to shatter the connection they’d formed at that moment.
“You keep secrets,” he said.
Her heart squeezed with familiar pain and fear. Keeping information from Copper was one thing. Flat out lying was another. “Yes.”
He nodded. “I want them all. Someday. When you’re ready. For now, I’m just so fucking glad both my girls are here and well today.”
There wasn’t anything in the world that Copper could ever do or say to top that moment. It would be stamped into her mind forever sure as the Handlers logo was branded on his arm. And she’d take it with her when she left. Because she had to go. And soon.
“Kiss me, Copper,” she said, still whispering.
He did. Soft and slow, yet so deep she felt it in her soul. He slid his large body over hers, careful not to put too much weight on her. Dwarfed by him, surrounded by all his muscle, power, and authority, she felt safe and protected from anything the outside world could throw at her.
It was an illusion, of course, but for the time being, she’d exist in the delicious fantasy of being loved by Copper.
They kept the pace slow and languid. Hands coasted over skin, learning each other’s bodies and pleasure points. When Copper left her mouth and kissed his way across her jaw and down her neck, she shivered in response. Between her legs, she was so wet, she could feel the arousal trickling down her ass. “Copper,” she breathed. “I need to feel you now.”
“Right here, baby,” he said. “You’re so fucking small. I’ll try to be gentle.”
“You won’t hurt me, Copper. It’s not possible. I was made for you.” Later, when the afterglow wore off, and sense returned, she’d regret sharing such emotional intimacy. But for now, in the sheltered bubble they’d created for themselves, sharing her heart was natural.
“Fuck,” he said as he reached for his nightstand. Ten seconds of rummaging produced a condom.
Shell tried not to think about how many were in there. Or rather how many used to be in there before he used them up. Most especially, she tried not to wonder how many Honeys he’d had in this very bed.
“None,” he said.
“What?”
“It’s written all over your face. This is my space, away from club bullshit. No woman has been in here beside you. And I haven’t been with anyone since you moved back,” he said as he ripped the packet open then rolled the condom down that very impressive length.
What? Holy shit. What did that mean? Could he possibly feel the same way she did?
Bracing on one hand, he used the other to rub his dick through her slick folds. “That set your mind at ease?”
She nodded and gripped the sheets at her sides.
“This needy pussy ready for my cock?” he asked as he nudged the tip inside her.
Her back arched off the bed. “Yes. So ready. Please fuck me, Copper.”
“Fuck, that’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard.” He pushed in, inch by inch, swearing as more of him disappeared inside her. “You’re so fucking tight.”
He stretched her to just a step below the point of too much. Never before had she had such a sensation of fullness. From the inside out, he owned every cell in her being. She wanted to live like this, clasping him deep inside her, feeling him take her body to its limits.
“Shell,” he said on an exhale. He dropped to elbows and rested his forehead against hers, seated in her to the hilt. “Never felt anything so fucking good in my life.”
The way he said it like she was precious and he’d never let her go had her choking up. Salty tears filled the corners of her eyes.
Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
This was so out of her realm of experience. The intensity of the physical and emotional connection spiraled, binding down like threads of a rope. Joining together to create a force so strong, no amount of pressure could break it. But thanks to her, the center of the rope was frayed and wouldn’t last long before snapping under the heavy weight it held.
She swallowed. “If you like this, why don’t you try moving?” The sassy quip took every ounce of her strength.
He lifted his head and met her gaze. The man missed nothing, but he didn’t question the quake in her voice. He just drew out at a maddeningly slow pace. Inch by inch, her body lost him though her inner muscles tried their hardest to cling to him. As the head of his cock dragged across the walls of her pussy, her eyes fluttered closed from the pleasure.
“Open those gorgeous baby blues for me.”
She lifted her lids and encountered a straining Copper. Jaw tight, eyes fiery, muscles tense.
“Not sure how much longer I can go slow,” he said, voice like ground glass.
Shell smiled. “Good,” was all she said before he growled and let all that power loose.
Copper surged into her, going so deep, she had to brace her hands on the headboard to keep from shooting up the bed. Over and over, heavy thrusts pounded into her pussy, eliciting whimpers and moans each time he bottomed out.
The feeling of fullness never dissipated, even as her body softened to accommodate him further, she still felt stretched to the max.
Copper scooped an
arm under one of her legs and hoisted it high, completely changing the angle of penetration.
“Aiden,” she yelled as his cock stroked her G-spot at the same time his thumb strummed her clit.
“Fuck! Say it again.”
She moaned. “Aiden.”
“No one’s called me that in a decade. Sounds so good on your lips, babe.”
That’s why she’d done it. Something special no one else shared with him. Though it seemed impossible, he sped up and increased the strength of his thrusts. Copper was a mountain of a man and at that moment all the dominance and force he possessed was concentrated between her legs.
A coiling pressure wound low in her stomach while her fingers and toes began to tingle. “Aiden,” she said again. Her pussy clenched and released as she flew toward orgasm.
“That’s it, baby,” he said. His breath came in harsh pants, but it seemed nothing would throw him from his task. “All over my cock, gorgeous. Give it to me.”
His words combined with the rough pad of his thumb on her clit and this thick girth inside her were no match for her body. She trembled, clinging to his shoulders and screaming his given name as a hurricane rolled through her. It left her limp, weak, satisfied and wondering when she’d have the opportunity to experience it again.
“Christ, I didn’t think you could squeeze me any tighter.” Copper slammed home and held himself deep inside her. With a roar everyone in the damn clubhouse must have heard, he came. Arms still around him, she felt every shudder, every flex and bunch of those impressive muscles as his body lost control to the pleasure.
Eventually, he collapsed next to her and drew her back tight against his chest. She was utterly lost inside him. Swallowed by his enormous form. And that feeling was almost as good as the orgasm he gave her.
“You good?” he said next to her ear.
“That’s not the word for it.”
The responding chuckle vibrated against her back. “That’s fucking true. Damn woman, that was fucking out of this world. Kinda wishing I wasn’t forty and could turn around and do that again in five minutes.”
“Ha, I’m twenty-four, and I need a nap. You’re not exactly dainty there.”
That got the laugh she’d been hoping for, but it died out quickly. She was too afraid to ask what he was thinking. Actually, she knew. He was regretting it. Nothing had changed. She was still young, still his president’s daughter, still like a sister to everyone in the club. Just because he hadn’t been able to say no when she got naked in front of him didn’t really mean he wanted her. She wasn’t stupid, she knew how these men worked.
They fell silent, lost in their respective worlds as Copper traced her scar. Eventually, he broke the quiet with what she knew was coming. “Tell me what happened.”
Shell sighed. Time to pay the piper. Turning in his arms, so they faced each other, she said. “Everything was fine. The pregnancy was actually a breeze as far as teenage pregnancies go. Or so I hear. I had a friend who was going to be my coach in the delivery room. I’d planned to get an epidural.”
“What about your mom? I thought she went to be with you.”
These memories were such a jumbled mix of fear, misery, and joy. The elation of bringing a new life, her beloved daughter, into the world combined with fear of Beth’s father, rejection from her family, and concern for Beth’s life. “You know things are strained between us.” Shell cleared her throat. “She hates the club and, uh,”—God, this was so embarrassing—“she’s convinced Beth is yours. Thinks we had some one-night stand back then. Anyway, she refused to come to the birth even though she tells everyone she was there.”
“Jesus, Shell, so you had no one?”
“No, I had a friend. I told you that.”
He snorted. “Some college friend? Another teenager? Was it a guy?”
Shell rolled her eyes. “No, it wasn’t a guy. Do you want to hear the story?”
All she got was a grunt of affirmation.
“Anyway, two days before I was due, I started bleeding. The pain was…intense.” She shuddered. Not a pleasant memory. It’d been the scariest moments of her life. Young, alone, pregnant and in very real danger of losing the baby. “My roommate called an ambulance, and I was rushed to the hospital. They took me straight to the operating room. Turns out my placenta had separated from the wall of my uterus early, which is not a good thing. I needed a few pints of blood, and spent some frightening hours worried about both my and Beth’s lives, but in the end, everything worked out.”
Copper’s arms tightened around her. “Why keep it a secret? You know I’d have been there in a heartbeat. Anyone from this club would have. We’re family, baby. What about the fucking father? I want to kill the shit who knocked you up and left you alone to experience that.”
Shell gasped. Not once had anyone in Townsend spoken of Beth’s father. They all seemed to understand without her informing them that the topic was painful and off limits. Leave it to Copper to push through those boundaries. She sniffed as the emotion became overwhelming. Why hadn’t she told anyone? What about the father? What loaded questions. Ones that caused her to wake in the night shaking and sweaty.
“I was fine. There was no point in talking about it. I had a problem, and it was handled by the doctors. You know I’m not exactly big on sharing my burdens or asking for help.”
“Yeah,” he grumbled. “That shit’s gonna change.”
“And please don’t ask me about the father. I don’t want to think about it much less talk about it. Please?”
He hesitated, and she knew he didn’t like the answer. He wanted to press. It wasn’t in his nature to let things lie. He plowed forward, solved problems, and fixed things.
“For now,” he said. “Someday, though, that won’t be enough. Close your eyes. We have two hours until you need to pick up Beth. I want to hold you while you take a nap.”
Nodding, Shell burrowed into the comforting warmth of his body. She rested her cheek against his heart, soothed by the constant steady beat. His words didn’t send the fear through her they might have just a few weeks ago.
Someday.
It didn’t matter because it didn’t exist.
Someday wouldn’t come for them.
Someday she’d be gone.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“EARTH TO SHELL.”
The events of the previous day had played through Shell’s head so many times in the past twenty-four hours she was almost sick of them. Despite how mind-blowing every second of her time with Copper had been.
“Hello, Shell, are you in there?”
After an hour nap, she’d woken to Copper’s hand between her thighs and his mouth on her neck fifteen minutes before she had to leave to get Beth from preschool. Turned out, Copper could work some serious magic in just fifteen minutes. Two orgasms later she was sneaking out of the clubhouse to pick up her daughter. Sneaking because she’d die on the spot if any of the brothers saw her slap-happy, just-fucked glow.
“Michelle Ward, your daughter is across the room playing with knives.”
In the evening, she’d gone on to her second job while Mama V watched Beth in Shell’s home. The surprise of a lifetime had come when she returned home at nine fifteen to find Beth sleeping peacefully and Copper in her kitchen pouring her a glass of her favorite wine.
A girl could get used to that.
A girl could also keep her head on straight and remember the difference between reality and fantasy. Copper was her fantasy come to life, but that’s all it was. A short-term departure from life. A lovely, but fictional illusion.
“And a chainsaw. Holy shit, Shell! Beth is about to cut off Copper’s foot with a chainsaw. No, Beth! Don’t do it!” Toni cried in a panic that rivaled the drama of a slasher film actress.
“Huh?” Shell turned to her friend. “What the hell are you talking about? Beth is at school.”
“Jesus, woman, you’ve been drying that same juice glass and staring into space for the past six minutes. What g
ives?” Toni’s fisted hands rested on her cocked hips. As with all her female employees, she wore a teal fitted diner T-shirt and a denim skirt. Casual was the name of the game at the diner and thank God because Shell wasn’t much of one for getting dressed up. Unless it was in her favorite biker wear. She was down for that.
“So, you decided to tell me my daughter was playing with deadly weapons?” She put the glass down and glanced at the kitchen. Thankfully she hadn’t missed any orders.
With a chuckle, Toni shrugged. “Hey, it wasn’t my first course of action. I tried a few other things first, but you were totally zoned out.” Her grin grew sly. “Although, this is better than the other thing you’ve been doing all morning.”
Shell frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Excuse me, miss, could I get some more coffee?”
Shell glanced up at a slick businessman in a suit that probably cost more than three months’ rent. “Sure thing, sir.” She refilled his mug but didn’t bother to hand over any extra sugar packets. If she recalled correctly, which after working at the diner since she’d moved back she always did, then he’d preferred it black.
The man winked and grabbed her free hand after she’d poured coffee into his empty mug. “Thanks, sweetheart. Had I known this town had so much natural beauty, I’d have listened to my business partner’s advice and come here sooner.”
Seriously? Did that kind of line actually work? If she wasn’t in need of tips, the bigger, the better, she’d have told him just what he could do with his offensive pick-up line, but as she desperately wanted a whopper of a gratuity, she held back.
“Yeah, the mountains are really something,” she said as she extricated her hand and flicked a glance toward Copper seated across the diner with some of his brothers.
Oh boy.
Someone was not a fan of the attention the suit was bestowing on her. Shell bit her lower lip to keep from giggling at the glower on the big biker’s face.
“I’m gonna charge him if he snaps that fork in half.” Toni’s voice reminded Shell she was far from alone and gawking at the man she’d recently slept with. Probably drooling too. As discretely as possible, she ran her thumb along her chin.
