Chapter 26 #2
A sharp knock interrupted the room. A tall man in a white coat leaned against the doorframe. “Quite the party. I’m Dr. Soos. Unfortunately, we can only have two people visiting at a time. Perhaps a few of you can come back later?”
“We’ll head out,” Merrick offered. “Glad you’re OK, brother, but you’re running out of lives. Maybe we should start calling you Kitty Cat.”
Hatchet grimaced. “I love pussy as much as the next man, but if you start calling me Kitty Cat at the club, I’ll remind you why they call me Hatchet.”
I hugged him carefully, mindful of the wires and his bruises. “Text me what you want tomorrow. Breakfast, lunch—whatever you need, I’ll bring it.”
Hatchet cursed. “Phone’s toast. Shattered in the crash.”
“I’ll have a prospect bring you a new one,” Reaper offered.
Merrick wrapped an arm around my waist, feathering light kisses across the side of my neck.
Hatchet groaned. “The fuck, brother? Get a room.”
Reaper snorted. “Don’t be jealous, Crash Cat.”
Eva clapped her hands together. “Oh, I love Crash Cat. Such a good road name for Mr. Nine Lives.”
Hatchet pointed a finger at them both. “Try it once at the clubhouse, and I’ll carve it into your foreheads. And if you start sending me cat memes when I get my new phone, I’ll make you regret it,” he said, looking pointedly at me.
“There’ll be no cat memes tonight. Don’t text us at all,” Merrick warned. “We’re busy.”
I glanced at Merrick, raising my brows.
He met my eyes, his smile tugging wider. “I’m taking you out on an official date.”
Hatchet groaned dramatically. “I see how it is. I survived a horrific accident and lost a beautiful girl, but sure. Go on a date.”
I glanced at him, my brows furrowed, and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the mischief in his eyes. Relief loosened my chest.
When Merrick guided me out of the building, I finally breathed. The hospital’s sterile air gave way to the sunny warmth of midday in May.
“I have to take care of some club business before I take you out tonight. Do you want me to drop you at your place so you can pack anything I missed?” he asked, pressing his hand to the small of my back.
I arched a brow. “Like my vibrator?”
That rare, wide smile I loved spread across his face. “Couldn’t miss that, sitting out in the open.”
A laugh bubbled out of me. “Drop me at my house and I’ll meet you at your place tonight. How should I dress for this date?”
“Jeans and a leather jacket, if you have one.”
“Are you taking me to the clubhouse? Because I hate to break it to you, that’s not a date.”
I jumped as a palm came down on my ass just hard enough to surprise me—and turn me on. Heat coiled low in my stomach.
“Smart-ass woman. I’m taking you somewhere on my bike. Get in the truck.”
I gazed up at him as he opened the door for me. I’d never get used to the juxtaposition of hardened biker and sweet, yet commanding gentleman.
A few hours later, the wind whipped through my hair as I pressed my body tight against Merrick’s back, enjoying the rumble of his Harley coursing through my body. The vibrations traveled up through my thighs and into my core.
I leaned with him around each curve as he drove deeper into the woods. He slowed as he turned down a narrow dirt road and stopped in what appeared to be an abandoned park lot.
“Did you bring me here to murder me? I listen to a lot of true crime podcasts, and this seems like a good place to kill someone. Remote. No one close enough to hear me scream.”
Merrick shook his head with a smile. “Murder isn’t a first-date topic. I won't discuss the ways to kill someone until at least the third.”
I raised a brow. “I’m not going to ask if you’re serious.”
His only answer was to lace his fingers through mine and tug me down a short path. The trees broke into a clearing overlooking a lake, glittering under the fading light. A small table was set up with two chairs and wildflowers in a glass jar. A picnic basket and cooler waited nearby.
My heart pounded in my chest. “You did this for me? Is this the club business you supposedly had to take care of?”
Merrick pulled a chair out with one hand and tapped the back of it. “Sit,” he said —more command than request. “One of the Mavericks owns the Onyx Taproom. I needed time to get him to put together a picnic for us.”
I watched him pull small bowls from the cooler. He set one in front of me before taking a seat and settling with his own. “He told me these are called caprese bites.”
I snickered as I popped a balsamic-drizzled tomato into my mouth. “So, where are we?”
“My property. I bought it years ago. This is my favorite spot. Someday I want to build a house here. Our house, if you’d like.”
I raised a brow. “We’ve been together for like, five minutes.”
He shrugged. “I want you, Kenna,” he said, his gaze steady on me.
“I want to watch the sun set over this lake with you every night and wake up beside you every morning. I want you wearing a cut of your own at the clubhouse beside Eva and Rhetta. Hell, I already know I want to marry you. I want to get down on one knee with a big-ass diamond and let the guys give me shit about how whipped I am. Tell me you don’t want this yet, and I’ll back off.
I’ll slow down if you ask me to. But I know exactly what I want. ”
I swallowed a bite of the salad as I tried to process his words. “It’s not that I don’t want that. But shouldn’t we date for a while? Then move in together? And then do all the other big stuff, like get engaged and build a house together? Like normal people.”
“I’m not normal, and I don’t want to waste time following society’s rules.” He finished his last bite of the salad and watched me carefully, as if he expected me to run away.
But I was done running. “OK.”
His eyes lit up. “OK?”
I smiled nervously. “I’m in. Conditionally. We move in together while the house gets built. I’m not in a hurry to get engaged.”
Merrick cleared the table and handed me a plate with a pita filled with chicken salad. He sat before he spoke again. “I’ll have the prospects pack up your place this week.”
I bit into the pita and narrowed my eyes at him as I chewed. “Stop abusing your power. I’m packing my own shit. I don’t need them going through my things like you did.” I blushed. “I don’t need more men pawing through my panties or my toys.”
His eyes gleamed. “Got more stashed away?”
My face heated. “That’s none of your business.”
Merrick continued, undeterred. “I have a storage unit behind the clubhouse for whatever you don’t need to move into my place right now. Reaper might be able to have his crew get the house up in time for Christmas.”
I shook my head with a smile. “You’re insane. This is our first date. You should be asking me about my hobbies and favorite color, not moving in together.”
“Fine,” he said, his tone amused. “What’s your favorite color?”
Merrick peppered me with first-date questions as we finished our plates. From childhood memories to first concerts, we fell into comfortable conversation as the sun set across the shimmering lake.
When the plates were cleared, Merrick pulled out a blanket and spread it across the grass. He handed me a plastic cup and filled it with red wine before cracking a beer for himself. Vibrant oranges and pinks streaked across the sky as we settled in to finish watching the sun sink below the lake.
His mouth captured mine, and my breath caught as the rough pad of his thumb stroked my cheek. He broke away just enough to murmur against my lips, voice low. “I have one last question for tonight.” His hand curled in my hair. “Wear my patch. Be my old lady.”
I looked to the sky and responded in an exasperated tone. “First of all, that wasn’t a question. Second, what is it with you bikers? I don’t want to be called an old lady. I’m only thirty-one, for fuck’s sake.”
Merrick smirked as he listened to my tirade. “How about I just call you my lady? We’ll let you hit forty before we add the word ‘old’?”
“Forty isn’t old,” I shot back. “You’re forty.”
“Exactly.”
“Maybe fifty.” I huffed. “I’ll become an ‘old lady’ when I turn fifty.”
Merrick smirked. “Eva accepted her cut without a fight.”
I scoffed. “That’s because Reaper fucked her into submission.”
Merrick’s eyes darkened. “Is that what it’ll take?”
A wide grin spread across my face. “It’s worth a shot. You won’t know until you try.”
His growl vibrated through me before his mouth crashed to mine. He gripped my hip hard enough to bruise. His hungry, demanding kiss lit every nerve ending in my body.
A low moan slipped from me as his hand slid beneath my shirt, calloused fingers skimming my ribs until he tugged the fabric up and over my head.
The cool night air licked at my skin, and my nipples tightened under the thin lace of my bralette.
A shiver rippled across me in a way that had nothing to do with cold.
Merrick shoved the flimsy lace aside and sucked one puckered nipple between his teeth, biting sharp enough to sting before smoothing the sensation with his tongue. Heat coiled tight and low. I writhed under him, jeans already unbuttoned with one flick of his fingers.
As I wiggled them down, he leaned back on his heels, eyes blazing. The jingle of his belt filled the air before he yanked it free, looping it around my wrists in a smooth, practiced motion.
“Hands stay up here,” he ordered, pressing them above my head and tightening the leather. “You move, I stop. Understand?”
My pulse jumped. “Yes.”
“That’s it, Wildfire. Good girl.”
Excitement coursed through my body at his praise. I’d never understood the appeal of being bound, tied up at someone else’s mercy. Not until this moment. Surrendering to Merrick, trusting him completely, intoxicated me.