26. Mack
26
MACK
“ Y ou give her her space, but you make sure she sees that you’re still there. That you ain’t goin’ anywhere. You do that long enough, she’ll figure out that you’re stickin’ around. She’ll stop bein’ afraid of the thing she wants, when she finally starts to figure out that she can actually have it.”
Fury’s words ring in my ears as I go to check on Gigi. I still can’t quite believe I didn’t have to get into a fistfight with him to settle this thing. But I guess after the shock of finding out I’m with his sister, he’s okay with it now that he knows this isn’t just a hookup. Gigi’s it for me. If she’ll have me, that is. Which ain’t a given. But according to Fury, I gotta show her that I ain’t going anywhere, but still give her her space.
Sounds like a fuckin’ tightrope walk, but I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna do whatever it takes to keep Gigi by my side.
When I get back to the apartment, Gigi’s not there. For a second, my adrenaline spikes, thinking she’s run away, but I know she couldn’t get very far. We have men guarding the gates to the compound and patrolling the perimeter until this shit with the Scorpions is dealt with. So she’s gotta be around here somewhere. I know she said she wanted to be left alone, but I gotta know where she is. Great start to giving her her space, fuckhead. I check all around the clubhouse, asking the men, Little Big Mama, and a couple of the club girls if they’ve seen her, but nobody has. Finally, I get an idea.
I head outside to the back of the compound — the side that’s hidden from the road. It’s where we’ve parked Gigi’s Body Bus until it can be moved to another location. Sure enough, when I approach, I see the door is open. Music wafts toward me from the inside. I approach and knock softly on the jamb.
“Hey,” she says, looking up at me with a half-smile.
“Hey. Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
I ascend the steps, not giving her a chance to second-guess herself. “What ya doin’?”
She glances around the bus. “I’m just taking some time to myself. Wondering when I’ll be able to go back to work. Or back to my place. I miss having my normal, boring life.”
“Yeah. I guess shit has been a far cry from normal lately.”
Gigi sobers. “Mack. Please. I’m begging you. This war between you and the Scorpions. I can’t have it on my conscience.”
I reach over and take her hand in mine. “I know, babe. I know how you feel. And I’ll do my best to stop it. I promise you that, okay? But I can’t guarantee anything. I’m not Magnus. I don’t decide.”
“I really should just leave,” she says on a sigh.
“Wouldn’t stop anything. If war’s coming, it’s coming no matter what.” I take a deep breath. “But if you leave, I’m leaving with you.”
“You’d do that?” Gigi whispers.
“I would. I will.” I draw her into my arms. “I love you, G. I’m sorry I got lost in the need to make Blaze and the Scorpions pay. The most important thing is you. If I make them pay but lose you in the process, it’s a Pyrrhic victory.”
Gigi blinks up at me, cocking her head. “A what?” she asks, her lips quirking.
“A Pyrrhic victory. It’s, like, a victory that comes at such a big cost, it’s basically a loss.”
Giggles bubble from her. “I know what it means. I just didn’t think you would.”
“Oh, I see. So you think I’m nothing but a pretty face. I got brains, too, you know.”
Gigi collapses into peals of laughter. The sound of it makes me feel fucking giddy. “You’re right,” she gasps when she finally starts to get control of herself. “How dare I objectify you like that! Oh, god, it’s been forever since I laughed that hard.”
“Glad I could be of service,” I say, smirking.
“I love you, Mack,” she says, eyes shining up at me.
“I love you, too, G.”
“I’ll stay here,” she says. “I’ll stick by you. I’m afraid of what’s about to happen. But I won’t leave. Just promise me something.”
I brush a lock of her fiery red hair off her forehead. “Anything.”
“Promise me you won’t die,” she whispers.
“You got it, babe.” My mouth comes down on hers, sealing the promise with a kiss. The fire that erupts between us is instant, flaring hot and insistent. I kiss her like she’s oxygen, like she’s life, because she is. This — what we have — this is the life I want.
Wrapping one arm around her, I lift her up against the wall of the bus. Her legs go around my waist. My hands go to her ass. She lets out a low moan and angles her hips against my already hard-as-a-bat cock. Jesus Christ, how does this woman turn me on so much that I’m ready to come in my goddamn jeans?
“You’re so fucking hot.” I rasp. “I need you now.”
Laughter burbles up from her throat. “Yes, please.”
Our lips find each other again. My tongue plunders her mouth, and it’s frantic and hectic and desperate. She breaks the kiss to pull her shirt off over her head. “Thank fuck,” I breathe, reaching up with one hand to flick open her bra and then pulling it off her. I lower my face to her breasts, find one sensitive peak, and tease it to erection. Gigi throws back her head, letting out a loud moan. God damn, the things that does to me. My cock gets even harder, throbbing painfully as I continue to tease her. I already know she’s gonna be wet as hell for me. I can’t wait to taste her: sweet like honey, like Gigi, like home .
I pick her up and move her to the upholstered bench, laying her down on it. She looks up at me with hooded eyes, lips glistening and parted. I fucking love that I can do this to her, love seeing the desire, how much she wants it, needs it. She undoes the button on her shorts, and wriggles her hips as I pull them off her. The damp spot on her panties sends me into a fucking tailspin, but I tell my cock to back off and slide those off her, too, then kneel at the altar of her glorious pussy. Pushing her legs wide, I don’t waste any time taking what I need. I drink her in, too fucking turned on to draw this out because she needs it as much as I do. Gigi’s hands fist in my hair as I fuck her with my mouth, making her cry out, then go rigid and finally shudder, coming hard, her honey sweet on my tongue. Then seconds later, I’m inside her, her heat surrounding me and igniting a fire inside me that can only be quenched by her.
“Jesus Christ, how the fuck do you feel so good?” I hiss as I drive inside her. “Fuck, Gigi, this is… Fuck, fuck, fuck…” I’m fucking crazed, just seconds from losing control, and then oh fuck, Jesus, it’s here, I’m over the edge, and then I come so fucking hard I see stars. This woman is it for me, I think dizzily. Gigi is the one. I can never get enough of this. I can never get enough of her.
The thought should scare the shit out of me. And it sort of does.
But not nearly as much as the thought of ever losing her.
It’s only when I’m reaching for my pants to pull them on that I realize Gigi’s gone quiet. She’s folded her legs up against her chest, with her arms around them, and she’s staring at a spot on the opposite wall. A ball of dread starts to form in my stomach.
“G. You okay?” I slide on my jeans and go to sit next to her. “Shit, Gigi. Talk to me.”
“It’s…” She shakes her head violently, squeezing her eyes shut. “It’s nothing.”
“It absolutely is fucking not nothing.” Jesus, how did shit turn from good to bad so quickly? “Gigi, did I do something wrong?”
“No, I just…” She takes a few deep breaths to calm herself. I put an arm around her, worried she’ll pull away, but thank Christ she doesn’t. “It’s just, I had kind of a… flashback just now. From being at Dylan’s trailer.” Her wet eyes turn up to mine. “I don’t want to think about it,” she whispers, looking frantic. “But I couldn’t help it.”
Fucking Christ. Gigi’s been traumatized. Of course she has. She seems so fucking strong, I didn’t think about it. But of course she’d try to hide it. She’s tried to hide anything someone might read as weakness for as long as I’ve known her. She said Dylan didn’t rape her, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t do any damage.
“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry,” I croon, rocking her gently against me. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. It’s okay. Please don’t ever feel like you can’t tell me shit like that.”
Gigi sniffles. “I don’t want those thoughts in my head.”
“I know. We’ll get it taken care of, baby. You’re gonna be okay.”
Off in the distance, engines roar, distracting Gigi for a second. She blinks, then turns back to me. “You don’t think I’m… broken?”
“You’re the strongest person I know,” I tell her fiercely. “No way that piece of shit could ever break you.”
“I love you, Mack.”
“I fucking love you, Gigi. Don’t you forget it.”
I kiss her, putting everything I have into it. I need her to believe me. I need her to understand. She’s everything to me. Being with her matters more than anything. She kisses me back, just as passionately, but then she stops and pulls back for a moment, distracted.
“What’s up?”
“Sheesh, they’re just so loud,” Gigi murmurs breathlessly. “Sorry…”
It’s only when she says it that I realize she means the motorcycles. Not just one, more like a dozen. But that doesn’t make sense. I’d know if a dozen Royal Bastards were leaving on a run.
And if they were leaving, the roar would get softer. Not louder.
There’s a shout. And then another, louder shout. “Fuck!” I hiss.
“What? What is it?”
“Scorpions,” I say. “It’s gotta be.”
The Bloody Scorpions are here. And they’re attacking the compound.