Chapter Seventeen
He’s angry. I can tell by the way his motorcycle tears down my drive. I thought I was ready for his anger, but it scares me a little.
Not that I think that he could hurt me physically, but that doesn’t mean he can’t break my heart.
What if I pushed him too far?
He is through the door within minutes.
“Out,” he orders the prospect.
The guy gives me an apologetic look as he flees.
Coward.
Not really. He is trained to do as he is told from any patched members. Still, I don’t want to be alone with Bullet right now. Not when he has the power to wreck my entire world.
Standing, I face him.
“Don’t you dare come in here like that. Like I’m the one who made a mistake. You went out on a date with another woman after all but claiming me on the back of your bike. I don’t care what the reasons were. You don’t do that. There are some things that are sacred,” I scream at him.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Look around, Harlee.
Shit isn’t easy. It’s complicated as fuck.
We don’t get to decide to want to be together and then ride off into the sunset.
That’s not how this story goes. It is messy and chaotic, but that is how you know it’s fucking real.
I didn’t want to go out with Adalyn. You think I wanted to be sitting across from anyone but you?
You are fucking delusional. I did what I had to because shit is going down, and we need to get ahead instead of constantly playing catch-up. ”
“Danger? What danger? You keep me in the dark. All I know is what I have heard through the grapevine. So if I’m in danger, tell me.” I put my hands on my hips.
He growls. “You’re in danger. Of course you are.
Anyone associated with the club is. Do you realize that there is a man out there running for mayor who wants to see this club eliminated.
He would end not only the members’ lives, but also any bloodline tied to it.
I think he would even wipe out friends and family of friends to ensure the club never sees the light of day again.
He is hell-bent on revenge, and we can’t stop him. ”
My heart stops in my chest for a moment. Then it beats faster.
“Fine. Good. I’ll keep an eye out, but that doesn’t explain why you have to go out on a date with a woman who is way prettier than I am.”
He moves closer to me, making me step back until I hit the wall. Then he cages me against it.
“You are a million times prettier than Adalyn. The way the light reflects in your eyes. Or how when you pull your hair back in that messy bun that looks like it took no effort but makes me think about how beautiful you would look with that same messy hair in my bed after a night of fucking you. You don’t understand how thoroughly you are burrowed under my skin. It’s only you. I only see you.”
My mouth runs dry at his words. I can hardly believe them. They are what I want to hear, but at the same time I feel like I need to pinch myself.
It still doesn’t explain tonight.
“Why did you go out with her?”
“Because we need her DNA to confirm if she is actually William’s daughter. If she’s not, we can use that against him. If she is, well, I don’t know what we are going to do. We won’t hurt someone innocent, but something needs to give. She might be the key,” he tells me.
“Why did it have to be you?” I whisper, hating the insecurity in my tone.
He brushes his knuckles against my cheeks. “I’m the only one they thought could pull it off. I’m newer and more clean-cut than most of them. Add in my age, and well, they thought the girl would take to me. I protested, but was outvoted. You know how the club works.”
I do. I hate it, but I do.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I know the club runs on secrecy, but if you were to explain some things, maybe I wouldn’t get jealous and ruin everything.” My voice is small as I look down toward my feet.
He nudges my chin up. “I like that you were jealous. It means you care. Trust me, Angel. I get jealous too. Like when you danced with that boy the other night. I didn’t like it.”
“I’ll stay out of it from now on. You can do what you need to. I don’t like it, but I understand.”
He shakes his head. “She won’t see me anymore. Seems she is fond of you and girl code. She said she would rather be your friend than my girlfriend.”
I frown. “You didn’t get what you needed?”
He shakes his head.
“I could try then. We are friends, after all,” I tell him.
“I don’t want you involved,” he whispers, his forehead falling to mine.
I savor the feeling, “Let me help. It’s the least I can do. You can be there if you want.”
“Let me talk to the guys, and see what they want to do.”
“Okay,” I murmur, leaning into his touch.
“I can’t believe you were jealous,” he repeats.
“Me neither, but here we are.”
“I know this isn’t conventional, but I have feelings for you. There is a lot we will have to work through, but you don’t need to be jealous. You are all that I see.”
I smile up at him. “As are you.”
My heart skips a beat as he leans in, pressing his lips to mine.
I cannot believe he is kissing me right now. My mind is racing as I let my hands fall to his chest. I have been dreaming about this moment for so long that I cannot believe it is here.
The man who occupies all my mind is kissing me.
It doesn’t even seem real.
He pulls back slightly. “Is this okay?”
I don’t respond with words, instead pressing my lips to his once more.
Yeah, this is more than okay.
I could have never imagined how good it feels to kiss Harlee.
Sure, she has starred in many of my X-rated fantasies lately, but the way she makes my heart fill with joy from a single kiss is beyond anything I can even comprehend.
I don’t want to stop kissing her, even though I know I should. Still, I press into her more.
She responds by wrapping her arms around my neck. I slip my tongue against her lips until she opens up to me. Her back arches against me as she lets out a little moan. It takes everything I have not to strip her bare.
Instead, I grab her thighs and hike her up onto my hips.
Her legs wrap around me as if it is the most natural thing in the world to do.
It feels right having her in my arms. I know I should pull away.
Put some distance between us and remind both of us what will happen if her father finds out before I get the chance to tell him, but I don’t.
Instead, I bask in this moment for a little while longer.
My cock grows hard in my pants as she grinds against me. I grab her hips, kissing her deeper as I try to stop her. I don’t want to take advantage of her, especially after she was so angry with me.
She has other plans, though.
“Jacob, please. I want this. Don’t stop me,” she begs.
It’s as if something breaks inside of me. My hand loosens, and instead of stopping her, it helps her find a rhythm against me.
“Take what you need, Angel,” I whisper against her lips before I kiss a path down to her neck.
She moans as I suck and bite her neck. I know she will have a mark tomorrow, and that only turns me on more. I like knowing that there will be something left behind that tells everyone who looks at her that she is owned by another.
“Jacob, fuck. I’m so close,” she calls out.
I smile against her skin, thrusting into her harder. When her body tenses against me and she lets out a loud moan, I know she’s found her pleasure. It makes me feel good to know that I did that for her.
I continue to kiss her, moving to her cheeks, then her eyes, before settling on her lips. She opens her eyes, looking at me with a dazed look.
“Can we do that again?” she asks.
I laugh. “We will, but not now. I shouldn’t have let it go that far.”
She frowns. “Don’t regret it. I don’t.”
I press a kiss to her nose as I pull her from the wall and start walking down the hall.
“I don’t regret it. I could never. I want to take this slow, though. Do right by you,” I tell her.
“Doing right is overrated. That felt right. Are you saying you won’t let me take care of you?” she asks, squeezing her thighs around my hips as I carry her into her bedroom.
“Not tonight. I only wanted to prove to you that I’m devoted to you. We haven’t even been on an official date. Let’s start there and see how things progress,” I tell her.
She sighs as I lie her on her back. She pulls me down on top of her.
“Will you at least stay a while?” she asks.
“Of course,” I tell her, kissing her lightly.
Then I settle next to her, pulling her into my arms.
“The girls said I should get to know you a bit more,” she tells me.
“Yeah? What do you want to know?” I ask.
“Well, I know you have two siblings. Do you ever see them?” she asks.
“Not really. I talk to them sometimes, but their life is so different from mine. It’s hard to relate. I love them and would do anything for them, but I’m not in the same place they are anymore.”
“I wish I had siblings. I always thought I liked being an only child, but now it feels so lonely.”
I kiss the top of her head. “You are never truly alone. You have me and the girls and all the brothers. I know it’s not the same, but in a way, you do have siblings. In all of them, at least. I hope you don’t view me like a brother,” I joke.
“Ew. Yeah, no. You are not my brother, that’s for sure.” She laughs.
“Thank God, because that was about to be awkward otherwise.”
She turns in my arms, looking me in the eye. “My dad gets the final say on us, doesn’t he?”
I give her a solemn nod. “He does and he never wanted you part of this life. Probably even more so now.”
“How are we going to convince him?” she asks.
“Don’t you worry about that. It’s my job to show him that I’m the right one for you,” I promise her.
“What if you don’t convince him?”
“Then we run away together,” I lie.
I would want to run away with her, but I would never take her away from the last bit of family she has. No matter how much I love her and it would kill me to be without her, I wouldn’t be able to do it.
Still, I let her live in the fantasy.
“We could go to Tahiti,” she whispers.
“Bermuda. I hear people get lost there.” I match her tone.
She giggles. “Imagine having our own private beach. We could sunbathe naked.”
“We could frolic in the sea,” I add.
“There would be nothing stopping us,” she murmurs, her tone growing sleepy.
“We would be together forever without a care in the world,” I whisper against her hair, pressing a kiss into her hair.
“I want that,” she says as she drifts off to sleep.
“I do too, Angel.”
Now I need to figure out how to get it.