Chapter 13
Natalie
As we move towards our suite, I feel pulled in two directions.
Mostly I feel relieved because there’s finally a plan.
But I also feel horrible because it’s making the man I love freak out.
I don’t like seeing Bear like this. Not at all.
If I wasn’t sure I could pull this off, I wouldn’t have agreed to do it.
The worst part is that Bear isn’t wrong to be worried.
Of course, there’s an element of danger involved with going back there.
My foster parents are going to be furious at losing all the foster kids they’ve had for years, and they will put all the blame on me.
And if what I’ve learned is true and my foster father and his brother had some plan to get the inheritance, then my life might be in actual danger if I return.
But I can’t let fear of that, and Bear’s worry decide my future. I have to do this.
We step into the guest suite together and he kicks the door shut with one booted foot.
My bag sits in the corner where I tossed it days ago.
He takes off his cut and slings it over the back of a chair.
I can’t stop staring at his big body when he lifts his arms above his head and stretches so far that his hands practically touch the ceiling.
He’s got muscles sitting on top of muscles and I can’t get enough of him.
Bear crosses the room, stopping near the window with his back to me.
His hands rest on his hips, and I can tell he’s still upset about me agreeing to go back to my old foster placement.
I don’t know what to say to make this right, so I walk over and slip my arms around his waist from behind.
When I lay my cheek against his back, I feel him relax a little. His hands drop from his hips as well.
The silence between us stretches until it starts to ache, and I finally decide I’m the one who has to break it.
“I’m sorry I can’t do what you want on this one,” I say, watching his reflection in the window instead of his face.
He still doesn’t turn around or respond. I think he’s too emotional to talk about it. So I do the talking for us.
“I saw how hard you fought to keep me safe during our meeting. It must have been hard to stand up to your club president and then have me decide to do it anyway.” My chest tightens as I continue, “I know why you’re scared.
I would be too if our roles were reversed.
But this isn’t something I’m doing because Siege asked me to. I’m doing it because I need to do it.”
Finally, he turns in my arms and cups my face with his hands. “I’m not stupid, Nat. I know there’s something else going on that you’re not telling us about.”
Glancing away, I say, “It’s not just about the inheritance. It’s about every kid who never had a way out, every kid who was turned into a paycheck instead of a person.” I think of that house, the quiet cruelty that lived inside its walls, and my resolve doubles.
“There’s something more. Why won’t you share that with me? Don’t you trust me?”
My arms drop away from his waist, and I take a step back. The expression on his face is so earnest that it breaks something in me. I take his hand and lead him over to the bed. “Sit down and I’ll tell you my secret.”
“You really have secrets?” he asks, sounding more bewildered than worried.
“Yeah, I don’t know if you would really call it a true secret, but it’s something I never told a living soul.”
Bear perks up. “You can trust me, Nat. You know that I’d do any fuckin’ thing in the world for you.”
I lean over and give him a quick kiss before explaining. “I’ve always had questions about how Granny Ellie died. She was doing fine one day and dead the next. They said it was a heart attack, but she didn’t have heart problems.”
He takes my hand, giving me an empathetic look. “You said she was old and bedridden. Those are the kinds of people who have heart attacks.”
“I know, but that wasn’t the only strange thing going on at the time.
Jeremiah was obsessed with renovating the basement of the church into a reception area, so they could rent it out for wedding receptions.
I heard him talking with his mother one night.
I was her caregiver, and I’d just left her room.
I heard raised voices, so I sneaked back upstairs.
He was trying to persuade her to release some funds, and she refused. ”
“That is weird, but it sounds par for the course with your fucked up foster family.”
“That’s not the weird part. The weird part is I overheard him and my foster father talking a few days later.
David said to go ahead and hire the construction crew, that she’d soon be gone, and the money would be theirs.
A few days later, she died and they finished his building project a month and a half later. ”
“Where do you think he got the money? Zen said she left everything to you, so if they killed her for the cash, they’d be disappointed.” Bear asks with a frown on his face.
“I didn’t know that at the time. I honestly think he either took money out of her bank account or charged it to her credit cards.”
“You’re not suggesting he has something to do with the old woman’s death, are you?”
I shrug. “Maybe. I’ve often wondered if he might have done something that caused her heart attack.”
Bear’s expression changes, his voice rough. “I keep seeing how this could go wrong, especially if you’re right about them killing her. My gut feeling is that you shouldn’t go.” He drags a hand down his face. “I don’t like the odds of something popping off before we can get to you.”
I climb face first into his lap.
“I hear you,” I say quietly. “And I’m not pretending the risk isn’t real. But there’s no other way. We have no proof of anything. I really feel like I need to do this, find out one way or another. I owe her that much.”
My hand comes up to cup the side of his face. His jaw tightens, then releases a notch when I rub my thumb over his cheek.
“I trust the club. I trust you to do whatever it takes to keep me safe,” I continue. “And I need you to trust me too.”
He studies me in silence, his breath uneven, eyes searching my face like he’s trying to memorize me. Then, slowly, something in his expression eases.
“Alright, darlin’, if this is what you want to do, I’ll back you up,” he states quietly.
“Thank you,” I tell him.
Both of us relax a little. I’ve been keeping my worries about Granny Ellie inside for so long.
But after learning what Bear’s club brothers found out, it made me all the more certain to get justice for her.
David and Jeremiah have to be stopped, and the only way that could happen was if someone found real evidence of their wrongdoing.
When I slide my arms around his neck, he pulls me closer into his lap.
When we’re chest to chest, I can feel the warmth of his big solid body against mine.
My fingers slide along the edge of his shirt, and I slowly lift it up and over his head.
Starting at his rugged tattoos, I trace one of them with my finger.
Glancing up at him, I tell him shyly, “In case I haven’t mentioned it before, I love your ink.”
A slow smile spreads across his face. “You’ve mentioned that before. I’ve got a big chest, room enough for a tattoo artist to go a little wild.”
Spreading my hand against his chest, I smile up at him. “Well, it suits you.”
I press closer and rest my forehead against his.
“I don’t want you wound tight all the time, constantly worrying about me,” I say softly. “I need you to bring it down a notch and trust that I can take care of myself. I know these people, I know what they’re capable of. You have to trust that I can keep myself safe.”
His big hands settle on my hips, warm and reassuring.
“I don’t need a wall between me and the world,” I murmur. “I need a partner who stands beside me when I choose my path.”
“Then I’m your man, darlin’,” he says before his lips meet mine. My body softens against him, because I truly trust and adore this man with my life.
My hands drift from his chest to his neck, my thumbs brushing along the strong line of his jaw. I trace the shape of his neck just because I like touching him. When our foreheads come together again, I close my eyes and breathe in his scent.
“I love you,” I whisper. “And nothing is ever going to change that.”
His grip tightens at my waist. “Love you too, sweetness,” he murmurs.
We linger there, close enough that we’re breathing the same air and our bodies are pressed together. His lips find mine again. His kisses are slower this time. His tongue delves deeper and I love every second of it. I let myself melt into his touch, knowing being with him will always be amazing.
The kisses continue, making my arousal spike. I can feel the hard bar of his cock pressing against his pants.
I lean back slightly as he busies himself removing my clothing. He has gentle hands for such a big guy but all I can think of is when he slaps my ass while he’s inside me. It makes me hot for him. Sex with Bear is nothing like what I always thought sex would be and all I want is more of it.
Bear runs his hands over my breasts, and we discover that the underside of my breasts is really sensitive. By the time he’s finished touching and sucking on my nipples I’m embarrassingly wet.
“That’s my pretty girl. I like you nice and wet for my thick cock,” he murmurs as he runs two fingers through my wet folds, stopping to circle around my clit.
I gasp, digging my nails into his inked chest. “Bear, please,” I beg.
Glancing up at me, he asks, “Please what? Do you want my mouth right here where my finger is or do you want to ride my thick cock?”
I let out a strangled laugh. “Do you realize you say thick every single time you refer to your cock.”
He gives me a sexy smirk. “Just reminding you of my best feature.”
“All your features are equally amazing but right now I want you inside me.”
“You go on top, so I don’t crush you, alright?”
I shake my head. “I want you on top, so I can look up at your handsome face.”
Bear goes still and his hand stops moving on my clit.
“You trust me not to hurt you?”
“Of course. Don’t suck all the fun out of this by letting your anxieties get to you.” Jerking my chin at him like the brothers do, I say, “Give your woman what she wants.”
A sexy smile jumps onto his face, and one hand settles at my lower back, as he guides me backwards, never taking his eyes off me. When my back hits the mattress, I wrap my legs around him and reach down to place his cock where I want it to be.
He pauses there, looking down at me handling what I’ll readily admit is a very oversized cock. “You sure about this?” he murmurs without taking his eyes off our bodies.
“Yes,” I breathe. “I want you more right now than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”
I relax back into the mattress with him following.
He slowly pushes himself inside my wet core.
His cock does feel too big, but there is something about the relentless forward pressure that feels amazing.
I look down to watch him slowly fill me, inch by glorious inch, and suddenly I want this to be the rest of my life.
He eventually bottoms out and I feel stuffed full of him.
Then he moves and it’s a completely new experience having him on top of me, pulling out and filling me again.
My body bows up off the bed because of the pleasure he gives.
We’re learning each other all over again in this new position and it’s something I will never get enough of.
I trail my lips along the line of his jaw, over the curve of his cheek, and back to his mouth, savoring the way his breath deepens, the way his hands tighten just slightly at my waist before easing again.
When he lowers his forehead to mine, I close my eyes and let the world shrink to the rhythm of us. His thumb traces a slow path around my clit, adding to the already intense pleasure. I’m caught up in this moment with him, unable to do or think about anything that’s not related to this moment.
I reach up and run my fingers through his hair, needing to touch him back. He exhales and turns his head to drop a kiss on the inside of my wrist. It’s about the sweetest thing this big biker can do in this moment.
“Faster,” I tell him. “I won’t break.”
“Alright. Stay still and let me do the work,” he says quietly. His voice is low, sexy and confident.
“I won’t move a muscle,” I promise. “You’re good at what you’re good at. I don’t want to throw you off your game.”
Bear is as good as his word. He braces himself on his arms and goes a little wild.
I just lie there and enjoy the sensation of him moving on me, hard and fast. This is very much becoming my thing.
I just bliss out as he rides me to two separate orgasms, one after another.
I can feel him come with me on the last one.
I open my eyes to find that he is still hovering over me, only his chest is heaving, and he’s staring down at me with such a dazed expression.
His gaze is dark and intense to the point of being an obsession.
I know I’m playing with fire because Bear already told me that he would be like a dog with a bone if he fell for me.
Now that the rough sex is over, there is also tenderness in his expression.
He carefully moves off me and to the side. I turn over to face him. “I love everything you did there, babe.”
He reaches out and hauls me into his arms again. After tucking my head under his chin, he murmurs, “You are a gift that keeps on giving, sweetness. I never thought I’d find a woman that I didn’t mind sharing feelings and shit with. You’re that person for me, Nat.”
Something about that sweet admission sinks into my brain right before I drift off into a restful sleep. I realize in this exhausted, sleepy moment that Bear is my one. I can’t let anything come between us, even my brother.