Chapter Nineteen
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Bonnie
“Why aren’t you freaking out?” I asked once I got through most of the basics of the situation.
“I get that you’re new to Navesink Bank,” Courtney said from her position on the chair. “But I’m a lifer here. And everyone from around here knows a few things. Like… the local bar is run by a loan shark family. The local fancy Italian place and a string of pizza joints are owned by the mafia. And this building with its cool-ass glass room on the roof? That belongs to the bikers.”
“But you knew what kind of bikers?”
“They don’t exactly hide their one-percenter status. They have a patch on their little vests.”
“Cuts,” I corrected automatically.
“Look at you with the lingo,” Courtney said, smiling. “I never imagined you with a biker. Let alone an outlaw biker. But now that I see you with Sully, it oddly fits.”
“He made a craft night for me,” I confessed.
“That’s adorable.”
“And he made me a bracelet,” I told her, holding up my wrist.
“That’s annoyingly cute. And how does he fuck?”
“Courtney!” I said, feeling the heat rise up in my cheeks.
“Oh, that good, huh? I’m so happy for you. I mean, bombs and shootings aside.”
“Thanks. I mean… it’s new. I don’t even know if this is more than just a, you know, casual—“
“Oh, please,” Courtney cut me off. “That man had you cradled to his chest, his hand slipping up and down your spine when I came in. Casual-only dudes don’t do stuff like that.”
“Maybe,” I agreed, having a lot less experience than she did, but also afraid to let myself believe her either. If for no other reason than to guard my heart.
Though, even as I thought that, I knew it was too late.
Whether it was smart or not, too soon or not, I’d already fallen for him.
Courtney did have a few more questions for me. Though, admittedly, most of them were about Sully as a person and lover instead of this insane situation we all found ourselves in.
I really didn’t technically have the authority to offer her a place to stay. But I was getting pretty familiar with these guys, and I was almost certain they were going to insist that Courtney stay at the clubhouse. Or have one or two of them come stay with her.
So I took a chance and said she could stay.
Her only concern was that someone would be able to pop by her place to pick up her dog. And some extra underwear.
“Or not,” she’d said. “Maybe I won’t want any underwear around these guys.”
I was kind of relieved when Zima scratched on the door, wanting to see me.
I wanted to check on Sully, make sure his injury was as tame as the men tried to make it sound.
He looked okay when we walked out. A little pale, maybe. But okay.
And when he’d made the comments about the tacos, I was pretty sure he really was going to be alright.
“How’d that go?”
“Surprisingly easily,” I admitted. “Courtney said she already knew a lot about you guys.”
“If she’s from the area, that makes sense. She probably even went to school with some of these guys.”
I hadn’t even considered that.
“So, she didn’t have any more information for you about this guy?” Sully asked as we went into his room.
“Not really, no. She had no idea what was going on until Valen filled her in.”
“What about how she lost her phone?”
“She has no idea. She said she went to the bar last night, though.”
“Which bar? Chaz’s, in town?” Sully asked, seeming hopeful.
“The one apparently owned by loan sharks? No.”
“Damn.” I must have had a blank look because he went on. “They’re allies of the club. If she’d been there and got her phone lifted, we could have asked them for the footage and seen it go down.”
“Oh. Yeah, no. She said she went to some bar with her friends. And she figured she must have left her phone on the table and someone snatched it.”
“But someone had followed her.”
My stomach twisted at that.
This was bigger than just me and Sully. This psychopath was willing to stalk and steal from an innocent woman loosely connected to me just to be able to lure me in.
“At least we do know one thing,” Sully said, digging around in the taco bag.
“What’s that?” I asked, finding the tray and putting it down on the bed so he could spread some of the cold food with the soggy taco shells out.
“He’s local. If he doesn’t live here, then he’s definitely got somewhere he’s staying. If he has the time to track Courtney, put up tree stands, lure you out. Fucker has no damn life,” he added, talking mostly to himself as he took a bite out of one of his steak tacos.
“Do you think we’re going to be able to figure out who he is?” I asked, reaching for one of the veggie tacos just to have something to do with my hands.
“I know we are,” he countered, grabbing a piece of steak and tossing it to Zima, who was attempting to act like she wasn’t watching our every move.
“Do you think anyone else could possibly get wrapped up in this?”
“Is there anyone else in your life?”
“No. I mean, I interact with dog parents. Or the people at the bookstore. But I don’t actually know anyone in Navesink Bank except Courtney and you guys.”
“Then I think the damage is going to be contained. But everyone is working their asses off on figuring out who this fuck is. We still have to take that little field trip to Hailstorm. But I think we are going to push that up. Maybe tomorrow.”
“But your shoulder…”
“Isn’t going to be any worse tomorrow. Besides, it’s not like we’d be running an obstacle course there. Though, actually, they have one. It’s part of the inspiration for the adult playground I want to do here.”
“You are not going on a playground in your condition.”
“Make me sound pregnant,” Sully teased, polishing off one taco and reaching for the next. “You okay?” he asked.
“I… yeah.”
“You don’t sound convinced.”
“I feel like I shouldn’t be as okay as I am,” I admitted.
“Knew someone in the service once who was anxious about everything. Until shit went down. Then he was almost scary calm. Maybe it’s something like that.”
“I mean, I was not doing the best in the car,” I admitted.
“You did amazing.”
“I blew through a stop sign.”
“Eh, it was pure decoration.” There was a pause. “You came out to try to save me.” There was a softness in his voice, an awe that had my heart clenching.
“I mean, I was just telling you to get inside because I knew it was him using Courtney’s phone.”
“Don’t play it down. You ran out there even though you were scared. You drove like a bat outta hell out of there. Scared. You were a badass today.”
Okay.
I liked that praise a heck of a lot more than I probably should have.
Enough so that the warmth in my chest quickly moved downward, becoming something even more heated.
Suddenly, I felt bolder than ever before.
Bold enough to move over toward him.
Something about the look in my eyes had him placing the taco back down on the tray, a wicked little smirk tugging at his lips.
“Gonna be real with you. I can’t get too acrobatic tonight, but I think I could…oh,” he said with a little exhale as I lowered myself down in front of him, my hands going for his button and zipper.
By the time I worked them down and reached inside, he was already thick and straining for me.
Heat pooled in my core as Sully gathered my hair while I lowered down, closing my lips around him and sucking him deep.
“Fuck,” he groaned, fingers tightening in my hair.
His reaction only spurred me on, making me work him faster, take him deeper, loving the way his breathing went quick and shallow, how little curses were escaping him as his taste filled my mouth.
I was content to stay just like that, to work him to completion.
But his fist twisted in my hair, yanking, making it impossible not to follow his silent command to lift my head.
“Get up here,” he demanded, voice rough, still pulling until I was on my feet.
Only then did he release me, reaching out to grab the waistband of my pants and panties and yanking them down.
“Your shoulder,” I reminded him, even as need coiled tighter between my thighs.
“Fuck my shoulder,” he said, reaching into the nightstand, then protecting us. “Climb up here,” he demanded when he was settled, his hand on my butt cheek, guiding me until I was on his lap, until I was poised over him.
His hand on my hip pulled until I lowered down, until I took him inside of me.
My moan and his curse mingled as he slid in to the base, as my walls tightened around him.
“Ride me, baby,” Sully demanded, voice rough.
I placed a hand on his good shoulder and did just that.
But slow.
Gentle.
Even if everything in my body was begging me to ride him hard and fast and take us right to that edge as quickly as possible.
Leaning in, I pressed my lips to his, kissing him long and deep as I moved, driving us both up slowly.
“Fuck, you feel good,” Sully groaned against my lips as my breathing went fast and shallow, as the tightening in my core became borderline painful. “Come for me, baby,” he demanded softly.
Then I did. It was a slow and deep pulsation that started where our bodies joined and spread outward until it seemed to overtake me completely.
“Fuck,” Sully groaned, his head hitting my shoulder as his body shuddered with his release.
I came back down slowly, happily staying enveloped in that post-orgasm haze.
Until, of course, I felt something wet against my shoulder. The one that was against Sully’s bad shoulder.
“Oh,” I yelped, pulling back.
Looking down, sure enough, blood had seeped through the gauze and kissed my skin.
“Oh, no,” I said, climbing off of his lap.
“Honey, it’s fine,” Sully said, eyes still a bit heavy-lidded, tone light.
“You’re bleeding .”
“I was shot,” he agreed with a little smile as he glanced at the gauze.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” I declared, grabbing my shirt and whipping it on. “I’ll go get Callow,” I said, slipping into my pants and making my way to the door.
Only to find my wrist grabbed in Sully’s hand, pulling me to a stop, then moving in close behind me, pinning my front to the door.
“I don’t need Callow. I’m fine. It’s gonna bleed on and off for a bit. So long as it’s just red, we got no problems. And, yes, you absolutely should have done that.”
A snort escaped me at that. But then his head dipped, his lips pressed into my neck.
“Pain relief is a very important part of the recovery process,” he said. And, despite the seriousness of the situation, my lips curved up. “And when my cock is buried in that tight, wet pussy of yours, I am feeling no pain.”
Despite myself, my sex tightened at his words. And I must have made some sort of noise, because a sexy little chuckle escaped Sully.
“Greedy pussy, too,” he said. His hand shifted down from my waist.
“Sully, stop. You need to rest.”
“Seems like I need to give my girl another orgasm,” he countered, making my heart skip at his words.
My girl .
I wanted more than anything to be that, to believe he genuinely meant that.
“Whoops,” he said, his hand flattening against the triangle above my sex. “Lost you,” he said, picking up on something about the tension in my body. “Where’d you go?”
“I’m right here,” I said, shrugging.
“Nope. You got lost in that head of yours, huh?” he asked, pressing another kiss to my neck, then reaching for my hand, turning me, then pressing me back against the door again. He lifted our clasped hands, pressing both of them against my chest.
“I know I didn’t lose you with the sex appeal. I mean… look at me,” he said, using his other hand to gesture down at himself, that playful, boyish light in his eyes. “Was it what I said?” he asked, eyes going serious in a literal blink.
“Sully,” I said, gaze slipping down. “You need to be resting.”
“Nope,” he said, releasing my hand to grab my chin, forcing my head back up. “I need to figure out what about what I just said was a problem. Was it because you don’t want to be my girl?” he asked, making my belly flip. “Or because you got yourself convinced I don’t want that?”
Wow.
It was both refreshing and annoying how good he was at reading me.
I wanted to love it. It made it so I didn’t always have to fumble around to find a way to communicate my more complex or embarrassing feelings. But it also meant I had nowhere to hide, no secrets I could keep.
“I know you don’t take things with women, you know, seriously.”
“Hm,” he said, nodding. “I think there is a difference between casually having fun and not taking things seriously. But I get what you mean. I’ve been pretty open about my escapades in the past. That said, all parties involved knew exactly where we stood. And it’s my mistake for not being clearer with you sooner. This is not just hooking up. Unless that’s all you want.”
“No, I… I’m not really… a hook-up kind of person.”
“Right. Figured as much. And I get why, when you’re hooking up with a hook-up kind of person, that your instinct is to think I’m bullshitting you about wanting more. But I wouldn’t do that.” He leaned a little closer to me. “You believe me, that I wouldn’t lie?”
“Yes.” He’d been nothing but honest with me. And even if my mind was oftentimes an ugly place full of insecurity-driven dark thoughts, he’d given me no reason to doubt him.
“Good. So we’re on the same page. You’re mine. Which means you’ve got lots of fun ahead of you. And I’m gonna learn how to knit!”
It was so absurd that a silly little laugh bubbled up and burst out of me.
“What? You don’t think I could do it?” he asked, looking a little crushed.
“I think maybe we should start with crochet,” I said. “You could make a scarf.”
“Just in time for spring.”
“I think it might take you until next winter,” I teased.
“That’s true. The chances are pretty damn good that I’m gonna keep getting… distracted,” he said, his hand pressing unexpectedly between my thighs, dragging a little whimper out of me.
Then, yeah, he went ahead and got distracted for a while.
But I sure as hell wasn’t complaining.