CHAPTER 14
SCARLETT
I’m relieved that today is Valentine’s Day. The bakery has been slammed and with things moving so fast in regards to the boys, I feel like I’ve been going a million miles an hour. I’m glad things will slow down a little after today.
The next big baking holiday will be Mother’s Day and by then I’ll have some new springtime goodies to share with my customers. I can’t wait to go into the kitchen and start trying some new things.
Amber has been amazing and I’m so glad I didn’t wait any longer to hire her. She’s made my workload so much more manageable and has done an amazing job with my recipes. I know I was hesitant to hire anyone for so long because I wanted to know the success of Crescent Sugar was because of me.
Now, I see that I also need to learn how to delegate and trust. I’ll only see good things because of it.
When I walk out of the kitchen, I’m glad to see that there aren’t any customers at the moment. All the custom orders have already been picked up and the display cases are almost empty. My heart soars because we baked a lot of goodies today, almost doubling what I normally bake since I had Amber working with me.
“Phew,” Valerie dramatically wipes her brow and winks at me, “it was a madhouse out here, but no one seemed to mind waiting and only had glowing reviews.”
I grin at her before closing the distance between us and giving her a hug. “Thank you,” I whisper.
“Always,” she promises.
When we pull back, there’s a beat of silence between us before we both start giggling. I couldn’t have done this without her. She’s been steering the ship that is the front of the house since we opened and without her it probably would have fallen apart.
“How are things with the boys? Do you know when they’ll be joining you?”
I breathe out while my heart yearns for the boys to be home. They are my brothers, but I never really doubted that. The DCFS investigation didn’t take long. My father made it all too easy for them to prove the abuse he rained down on my brothers. I’m sure having the urging of the DSMC helped matters as well.
Dean asked me if I wanted to meet my father, but I have no interest in doing that. At this point, I don’t trust myself to meet him. How could he beat and scar two children? How could he abuse them mentally and psychologically?
Some of the reports I’ve gotten about the boys and what they endured make me sick. He tortured them with words and action. He made them feel useless and alone. They only had each other and he would even threaten that.
No, I don’t want to meet my father. He can rot in hell for all I care. Knowing the DSMC, I’m sure they plan to make sure that happens sooner rather than later and I’m not going to try to stop it.
“It shouldn’t be too long. Things are moving quickly, much faster than they would in normal circumstances. Having the DNA test prove that I’m their sister has helped a lot.”
“You would have fought for them either way,” Valerie asserts, and I nod.
“I fell in love with them the moment I saw them. They might have been filled with anger, but I could see the pain underneath it.”
My chest aches as I remember the look in their eyes that morning. It tore through me and then to find out that they’re my brothers and I was being used to make them feel that pain? It was almost too much to deal with.
Amber walks out of the back right then while wiping her hands and grinning. “The last of the dough is in the fridge and ready to be scooped out tomorrow.” A look passes between Valerie and Amber, one I can’t place. “How about you let me open tomorrow and you take the day off?”
I open my mouth, about to protest, but that’s when the door chimes and Dean walks in. He looks damn good today, but something is different. He’s wearing his jeans, but today he’s in a button up shirt and his cut. Don’t get me wrong, he’s always looking like sex on a stick, but in a button up with rolled up sleeves? There’s a real possibility of swooning.
“Did you convince her to take tomorrow off yet?”
Amber chuckles and I look between the three of them. “Not yet, I had just started,” Amber huffs with annoyance.
Dean grins and then locks eyes with me even though he’s talking to Amber, “Don’t worry, I’ll convince her. I have my ways,” he teases with a smirk.
Valerie and Amber giggle, and I feel my cheeks heating. I’m not embarrassed though, not even a little bit. I’m turned on.
I put my hands on my hips and sass him, “You think so?”
He winks at me and closes the distance between us. “I know so, Sugar.”
There’s no reason to fight him on it, or anything really. I trust Dean. With my life, my body, my heart.
I melt against him and eagerly kiss him back when he presses his lips to mine. A throat clearing is the only reason I pull back. With a sheepish smile, I tell my employees, “I think it’s time to close up. No one’s here and we’ve worked hard.”
“Sure,” Valerie teases, “that’s why.”
I roll my eyes and stick out my tongue at her, but then we all work together to get everything cleaned up and shut down, including Dean.
When Dean helps me onto his bike so we can head home, I take a deep breath and just feel. I feel everything. The way all the destruction had me on edge, the surprise of Dean walking into my life, the welcome warmth of finding a family amongst the DSMC, the turmoil of meeting my brothers, and the fierce desire to protect them and show them what family truly means.
I lean with my man as we head back to the clubhouse. At this point, I’ve practically moved into his house, our house. With Valentine’s craziness, I figured I’d finish up moving after today and let my place go. This is where I want to be.
The moment I step inside the house, I freeze.
There are rose petals everywhere, electric candles all over the place, and the scent of something delicious coming from the kitchen and my mouth waters. It’s simple and fucking perfect.
Dean’s strong arms wrap around me from behind and I lean back against his solid chest. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Sugar,” he rasps against the shell of my ear, and I shiver in his arms.
I turn around in his arms and blink up at my man. “You did all this for me?”
“Of course,” his voice drops an octave. “And I have something else to show you.”
My eyes widen and I wave a hand around the space, “This is more than enough.”
“Not even close,” he insists as he takes my hand and leads me upstairs.
We stop at a closed bedroom door, and I gasp when I see the simple bedframe and bed sitting in the middle of the room. I barely get to take it in before he leads me across the hall to show me the same set-up.
“It’s for the boys. I wanted to get started getting the house ready for them, but I also want them to be able to choose what they want in their space.”
I turn and wrap an arm around my man’s neck and pull him down to me. I kiss him with all the love I feel, all of the joy that he brings me, and all the hope I have for our future.
“I love you so much, Dean,” I whisper against his lips and feel his own curl into a smile.
“I love you. We’ll start with the expanding our family with the boys, but one day,” his hand slides down and rests over my tummy, “we’ll be growing it with babies.”
My heart starts pounding as warmth fills me. All I can do is nod.
“Let’s go enjoy an early dinner,” he murmurs, his voice like gravel, “and then an early night.”
I throw my head back and laugh but eagerly follow behind him as he takes me into the dining room. He refused to let me help serve dinner. This man takes such good care of me that I almost can’t believe it sometimes.
We talk about everything and nothing as we eat. The way he’s opened his heart and his home to me and now my brothers has me falling even deeper in love with this man. I know how lucky I am, and I’ll never squander the love I’ve been given.
When I walk into our bedroom after dinner, I’m met with another surprise. Not only is more of my stuff, which wasn’t there this morning in the room, but there’s a leather cut laying on the bed and surrounded by more rose petals.
Dean’s chest presses against my back and his warmth seeps into me. “My Sugar,” he rumbles, “I know you needed to get through this busy time at the bakery before we moved you in officially, but I didn’t want to wait another day. You’re all moved in and all my stuff from the clubhouse is here now as well. We’ll still have that room if we need it, but this is now, officially, our home.”
I spin around and look into his dark eyes to find love reflecting back at me. My voice wobbles with emotion, “Okay. And the cut?”
Dean grins and starts to undress me slowly. We stare at each other the entire time and it’s as if our souls mend and bind, becoming one in the space between us.
This man. He is my everything.
Once I’m naked, he walks me backward. With each step, he sheds his own clothes. Standing together, naked, this moment feels big, it feels big.
After this, there is no going back.
And I don’t want to.
He leans over and holds the cut up, showing me the ‘Property of Frenzy’ rockers on the back and the name patch on the front. Sugar.
“You’re already mine, Scarlett, but I hope you’ll do me the honor of wearing my cut.”
“Yes,” I whisper.
He slides the leather in place and then stands back to admire me in it. His cock jumps and he reaches down to stroke his length. I want to fall to my knees and taste him, but he doesn’t give me the chance.
I’m up and in his arms and then being laid out on the bed. I’m already dripping for him, my body on fire and in desperate need of satisfaction.
When he thrusts into me, burying his cock balls deep inside of me, I swear I see hearts raining down over us. Everything other than the pleasure he gives me fades away.
Our bodies move together, a dance that we’ve perfected, but still gets better and better somehow. My back arches as he starts to thrust faster and harder.
I can already feel the beginnings of an orgasm coiling inside of me. This is how it always is with Dean. He knows my body so well and I’m more than willing to give myself over to him.
He will never hurt me. He will always put me first.
“Dean,” I keen, “more, please.”
My hands slide up his back and my nails dig into his shoulders as I cling to him while he starts fucking me into the mattress. It feels so good; I desperately want to close my eyes and just feel, but I can’t.
I need to look into his eyes. I need the connection between us to be absolute.
The scent of the leather cut I’m wearing, proof is his claim on me, only heightens my pleasure.
We explode together, lights and colors dancing across my vision. The walls of my pussy milk him while I can feel every jet of his cum. It’s perfect.
He buries his face in my neck and kisses me softly. “I love you, my Sugar. My Scarlett. My Old Lady.”