19 Ivy #2
Another patient? I turned my head, looking back into the room. Yeah, there wasn’t any one else in there. But then I noticed a couple of doors on the far side. I wondered who was in there. I hoped they weren’t hurt bad.
The Prospect pushed past me, and I didn’t give him another glance.
Strangely, we didn’t pass a single person as we crossed the huge dirt lot to the clubhouse.
I scanned the area as we walked, not that I could see much in the dark.
I had a feeling there was more to this compound than the club bar and the warehouse where all the bedrooms were, but I had no idea what was out there or how much land they owned.
I’d also figured out they had a similar warehouse where the club girls lived and had their own space.
Which I thought was kind of nice… well, as nice as it could get around here.
And now, I could add the med room—or building, really—to my list. I hadn’t had the courage to ask what else there was, too scared it might give something away, like how well I knew about clubhouses and compounds and MCs.
Viking didn’t stumble as we made our way to the warehouse, and I said a little prayer because there was no way I’d be able to catch his big ass if he tripped.
“I’ve missed you,” I said, taking a chance, as we stepped into the back door of the warehouse.
He stopped and turned to face me.
“Did Grip not take care of you?” he asked. This was a bit awkward because we were standing there out in the open, where anyone could walk by and witness this. It was good I didn’t see anyone around because I wasn’t sure how I was handling this whole thing.
“He did,” I assured him before the scowl on his face could deepen further.
“You know… he checked on me. Made sure I was fed and had clean water. All the basics.” The corners of my lips curled up as I looked at him.
Joking seemed to be the best thing in this situation, or so I thought.
Anything to avoid showing real emotions.
Viking’s mouth opened as if he wanted to say something, but a second later it closed and he blew out a breath through his nose that I could only describe as a Viking laugh. Then he shook his head and started walking again, gently pulling me along with him.
A few steps passed in silence.
“I—” He stopped as we reached the room. Nothing came out for ten thunderous beats of my heart.
It was like he’d suddenly choked on something.
He let out a huffed breath, and I scanned the area, still surprised there was no one around.
Either this was my lucky night, or it was some ominous sign.
I chose to think it was luck. “I missed you too.”
With as confused as he sounded, I should have laughed, but I didn’t. Instead of taking pleasure in his words or finding comfort because things were going the way I needed them to go, I felt sick.
I opened the door and pulled him inside. This moment was for us, and I didn’t want to share it with anyone else. Or rather, I didn’t want anyone coming up and ruining it.
“I’m a mess,” he said, sounding like he’d just now realized it.
He really was filthy. Now that I saw him under the harsh ceiling lights of the room, I realized it wasn’t just blood covering his arm and clothes.
His jeans looked like he’d been rolling around on the desert floor.
They were covered in that dry dirt that made you want to take a stick to them like you would do to clean out a rug.
Just the thought made my nose tingle with a sneeze.
His shirt was ripped a little at the collar.
And he had a few twigs in his hair, which I carefully reached up and tugged free once I noticed them.
He shrugged when I tossed them on the nightstand, as if to say it was a normal day.
He turned his back to me and started stripping out of his clothes.
Shocked, I couldn’t do anything but watch him.
Oh my, those thick, defined thighs caused lust to cloud my thoughts.
My brain and body didn’t care that now was not the best time.
And, Heaven help me. All rational idea flew out of my head because that ass was front and center as he bent over to take his boots and socks off.
“Shower,” I suggested, the high-pitched tone of my voice was noticeable.
“Too tired,” he grunted.
Fine then. I went to the bathroom to get a wet rag. I was at least going to clean the blood off his arm and the dirt off his face before I let him climb in bed.
When I came back out, he was naked as the day he came into this world, sprawled out on that tiny couch like he could make it a bed. I snorted as I walked over to him. His eyes were closed, and he was probably seconds from being asleep.
“I’m going to wipe you down,” I warned before I carefully started scrubbing at his skin, mindful of the stitches and the area around them.
Didn’t need to tear one and have to go through this all over again.
Not that I minded being his anchor and taking up space on his lap.
Just maybe next time it could be done without an injury.
“Come on, get in the bed,” I urged him when I was done. He was as clean as he was going to get for now.
He grumbled, but moved, thank god. He rolled off the couch before crawling onto the bed.
I cut the overhead light and climbed in beside him, deciding at the last second to turn the light on beside the bed. I stared at him. His face was still somehow mean when he was nearly asleep. It was like the weight of what he carried never fully left him, never let him have a break.
Viking was beautiful to me. The kind of beauty that most people couldn’t see. But I understood it. I saw it. I felt at home with his kind of beauty.
“I didn’t use my gun because I didn’t trust myself not to shoot that fucker the moment I laid eyes on him,” Vike said out of nowhere.
Oh, fuck. This wasn’t good.
“Viking, shut up,” I said sharply. It was out of character for the sweet, innocent me, but fuck it at this point. “Not another word. Sleep it off.”
He didn’t move, and I wasn’t sure if he’d even heard me.
“But he got me with my own knife. Bullshit,” he grumbled. I blinked at him.
He shouldn’t have told me anything. And while it wasn’t much of a confession, I knew this life too well to play dumb.
So, I kissed him.
What else was I supposed to do? I didn’t want to know this shit! I really didn’t.
One, I wasn’t supposed to know it. The more I knew, the closer to death I was, because if anyone found out, they’d surely kill me.
Two, I simply didn’t want to know. Life in the club was dangerous and risky.
I grew up with that constant feeling of always looking over your shoulder or waiting for the huge shoe to drop.
Cops. Other clubs. You name it, we learned to be afraid of it.
I had to trust that the club would take care of itself, and that included families, too. That included me.
Or it was supposed to.
But that wasn’t the point here.
I wanted to trust that Viking and Grip, and all the rest of them, were doing what they needed to in order to protect this club. Beyond that, I didn’t need to know, for my stress level and for their safety.
If I didn’t know anything, I couldn’t say anything.
There wasn’t even the option of someone trying to get it out of me because I’d be fucking clueless.
Shit! This really wasn’t good.
“Ivy,” he breathed against my lips once I figured it had been long enough to distract him.
His fingers tangled in my hair, and suddenly, he was kissing me. It was raw. It was needy. Saying my name told me he knew who he was kissing, and nearly bruising my lips told me that he craved this just as much as I did.
“Need you,” he said, sliding his hand under my shirt.
His rough fingertips left a trail of goosebumps in their wake.
I lost my shirt with little struggle. And my pants went next.
He buried his face in my neck and inhaled deeply.
My hand found the back of his head, and I held him to me when he began kissing up my neck.
“Need you so bad. Hurt seeing you in bed with him.”
“What?” I said, blinking away the daze he’d put me in.
His eyes were focused like I’d never seen them before. Holy shit, had he just sobered in a snap? That was… I didn’t have the words, but I did like that this wasn’t some drunken confession. He wanted me to know how he felt.
A huge breakthrough, but it was tainted by my lies. Still, I held on, hoping that one day I could fix it.
“It hurt,” he admitted.
It took a lot of wriggling, but I managed to extract myself from his hold.
“I don’t want to come between you two,” I stated, feeling like an asshole because I hadn’t thought of this before.
“No,” he assured me as he pulled me into his body again.
His very intense and open gaze was on me, sucking me into everything he had to say.
My hand landed on something hard, and when I looked down, I realized I was pressing the reaper into his chest, the chain long and I couldn’t believe I’d never noticed it before.
I didn’t know he wore his necklace. I found it a bit funny that he wore his but Grip didn’t, which left me wondering where Grip kept his.
I curled my fingers around it, and held on. This was a part of him, and I wanted him to know that I understood it, even if I couldn’t say the words.
“Not jealous,” he said. “I don’t hate him because he had you. I wanted to be there too.”
Ah. Okay. That was a lot better. Because I wouldn’t mind him being there with us.
Yes, fine! I was developing feelings for both men, and I didn’t give a fuck what anyone might have to say about it.
They were mine. That was how I felt, whether I’d fully let it in or not. It was there. I stupidly felt it in my soul.
“You’ll never come between us,” he promised me. It wasn’t a threat, and I actually liked the tone behind it.
“Good,” I told him. “I’d never want to.”
My answer must have surprised him because he looked like he wasn’t sure what to say.
“Never expected you,” he said before crashing his mouth into mine.
Yeah, Viking, never expected you or Grip either.