Chapter 20
Control
“Unlock me, asshole, I need to pee.” Jagger wasn’t joking when he said I was sleeping with him tonight and about the locking-me-up part.
The jerk handcuffed me to him just in case I got any ideas about trying to run away in the middle of the night.
When I tried to fight him on it, he pulled the “you told me if I kept you safe, I could do what I wanted” line.
And after the night we had with his brothers, I was too exhausted to fight him on it. I just wanted to sleep.
He pulls me a little tighter to his chest, my ass brushing against his morning wood. “Morning, sweetheart,” he grumbles, his voice all sleepy.
“Morning. Now set me free or I’m going to have to drag you with me before I wet the bed.” I bring my elbow back and into his ribs, not hard but enough to show him I’m not kidding around.
He takes me with him as he rolls toward the bedside table. Popping open the drawer, he pulls out a key and turns it in the lock, releasing me.
“Thank the Lord,” I murmur as I spring out of bed and make a run for the bathroom.
“Door open,” he grumbles from behind me.
Like hell I’m keeping it open. I slam the door and flick the lock, my heart racing a little knowing I’m disobeying a direct order from the boss. But he’s the one who makes up rules that are impossible to follow.
I do my business then wash my hands, giving myself a second to breathe as I stare at my reflection.
I’m a mess, my hair all bird-nesty, my thick eyeliner smudged.
And the bite marks on my neck, what the heck!
I run a finger over them, a tingle running through me as I remember Jagger’s teeth sinking into my flesh.
Last night was hot. Hot and a little messed up, and I’m not sure how I can look the three of them in the eye this morning without going the color of a beet.
The bathroom door lock clicks, and it slides open to reveal a cranky-looking tattooed biker boss man.
I sigh heavily and roll my eyes to myself in the mirror. Of course he has a key to let himself in. Did he really think I was going to try escaping out the window?
He comes up behind me. “I thought after last night you would have learned a lesson or two.” His eyes meet mine in the mirror, a challenge in them.
I lift a shoulder. “Maybe you made it too much fun.”
His eyes narrow, clearly not feeling as playful as I am this morning. “You’re walking a dangerous line, flower.”
I have more to say, so much more, but instead of running my mouth, my teeth sink into my bottom lip, stopping myself before I get into more trouble than I can handle. Jagger looks like he’s woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, and I don’t want to anger the beast.
“Don’t be cute. I’m too tired for this shit.” He exhales heavily and runs a hand through his bed hair, making it even more tousled than it was.
He might be a grumpy bastard, but there’s just something about him that gets me all hot and bothered. I slip under his arm and move toward the shower, not wanting to get swept up in everything Jagger when I’m still pissed with him. “Why are you so tired?” I ask as I turn on the shower.
“Because it’s impossible to sleep attached to you. Has anyone ever told you how much you wriggle around in your sleep? I had to pin you to my body so you would stop.”
I can’t help but smirk back at him. “Sounds like you’re regretting your overbearing decision to lock me up. Kind of serves you right.” I turn away from him and pull his shirt that I slept in over my head, tossing it on the floor before stepping into the shower.
When I glance back at him, I find him watching me.
I soap up my hands and rub them up and over my stomach and breasts. “What? Am I not allowed to be showering, is that the look?” I ask, wondering why he’s staring at me.
He takes a few steps closer to me, the shower spray spitting at him. “No one else would get away with talking to me the way you do.”
“Lucky me,” I sass, turning away from him so I can rinse off.
The next thing I know it, he’s in the shower with me. His hands on my wet skin, he pulls me into his muscular body. “What the fuck are you doing to me?” He holds me close, his hands sliding over my skin, cupping my breasts roughly as his legs knock mine out wide.
My breath catches as I grip hold of the tile wall in front of me for support. He has so much control over my body it’s scary.
His lips find my neck, and he sucks just below my ear. His hand slips down my body to cup my pussy, and when he finds how wet I am for him, he groans. “On your knees, flower.”
“I’m trying to shower,” I whimper, all breathy and needy.
“I won’t ask you again.” He slaps my ass, stepping back from me just enough that I can turn around to face him and drop down on my knees, staring up at him as water runs over my face.
His finger slides under my chin. “Better. Now let’s put that smart mouth to better use.
” He grins like a psycho. “Since your mouth will be full and you can’t use your safe word, you can raise your hand if you want me to stop.
” He runs his finger over my lips almost absentmindedly. “Understood?”
“Yes.”
With a touch of his thumb, he gently pushes open my mouth, then slowly inserts it inside as if testing me.
I circle my tongue around it, then gently close my teeth, just to get a rise out of him.
His brow rises. “You’re going to regret that.”
My pussy throbs. I have no idea why my body lights up and begs for more when he gets all bossy with me, but I kind of love him like this.
He pulls his thumb free. “Hands behind your back.” He takes his cock in his fist and strokes himself back and forth. Pre-cum beads at the tip, making me itch to lick it off.
I run my tongue along my bottom lip, showing him how badly I want him.
“Look what I have turned you into. A naughty, greedy little girl. You ready to drink me down?”
I nod. “Do your worst, Jagger.” I open my mouth, waiting for him to fill it.
He pushes forward, pressing the tip inside.
I swirl my tongue over him, moaning when I taste the salty pre-cum. I shouldn’t like this so much, but I do. Sucking his cock is heaven because he’s letting me get close to him, allowing me to touch a part of him.
He runs his hand into my short hair, gripping it tightly so he can tilt my head, angling me just the way he wants me, thrusting in and out of my mouth at his own pace.
His other hand wipes the water from my eyes and runs lightly over the scar on my forehead.
He shudders as if it hurts him to remember what happened to me.
“If you won’t learn to follow my orders, you’ll get hurt again. ”
I gag as he pushes in deeper, testing my limits.
“You can take me, flower. Try harder.” He pulls almost all the way out then shoves back in. “Stop overthinking everything and just listen to me.”
This time I take him without gagging, even though my eyes water. I don’t have time to think, all I can do is focus on him and try to anticipate his next move.
“Good girl, that’s it. You’re taking me so perfectly, letting me fill your pretty little smart mouth.” He picks up the pace.
Saliva dribbles down my face, and I’m not sure how much more I can handle, but I want to prove to him I can do it.
“I’m going to cum, and you’re going to swallow every last drop of it like the greedy little girl you are for me.”
He jerks forward and thick spurts of cum slide down my throat. I swallow it all down, licking my lips when he pulls out of me.
“See how easy it is to follow instructions?”
I purse my lips. “You’re an asshole.”
“You love it.” His stupid smirk only grows wider as he holds out a hand for me, helping me up to standing before pressing my back into the cold tile wall.
My hand instinctively moves to his chest to force a little space between us.
He sucks in a sharp breath, and I know he’s doing everything he can not to flinch away from me.
My fingers glide over taut muscle and ink; not only that, though.
Scars, a lot of scars. Like burn marks that cover his chest, they’re hidden under dark markings that disguise their severity, but this close, I can feel every detail.
I want to ask him what happened to him, but this is as close as he’s let me get to him, and I don’t want to ruin the moment.
I bend just a little so I can kiss his chest. His heart is racing like crazy under my lips.
He steps away from me. “Finish up, I’ll wait for you in my room.
” Then he’s gone, leaving me with a gaping hole in my heart.
An emptiness I never expected when I shouldn’t want to be getting close to him.
But I do, I want to know everything about him.
Who fucking hurt him so bad he won’t let me get close?
I shut off the shower and grab a towel, drying myself off.
When I move back into his room, I find one of my dresses already on his bed, alongside some panties and a bra.
Jagger is also fully dressed in a dark gray T-shirt and black jeans.
The room smells of his cologne, and I can’t help but inhale.
His scent has become so comforting to me.
Last night all I wanted to do was run to protect them, but in the light of day, I know I can’t walk away from any of them.
I don’t want to. They’ve gotten under my skin, and I know I can’t live without them; it wouldn’t be living.
An ache forms in my chest. I have no idea what to do.
My eyes meet Jagger’s. “I won’t run. I promise you. I don’t want to.”
“Good.”
“Tell me how the hell we get out of this mess though, Jagger, because I have no clue, and I don’t want to lose you,” I say, being more honest than I probably should with him.
He closes the gap between us. “It’s very simple, flower. You trust me. If I give an order, you follow, just like you do when I’m fucking you.”
“I’ve been the only one looking out for me for so long, it’s hard to give up the control to someone I hardly know.”
His dark eyes lock with mine. “You can’t pretend like we’re strangers anymore. You know us just fine.”
“I’m not pretending anything. You know me, and yeah, I know Asher and Cruz, but I don’t really know you. You’re still hiding from me.” I reach up and touch the side of his face. “You’re hurting. Olivia was more than just an ex-lover, and you lost her yesterday.”
He drops his gaze away from me and steps out of my hold. “She was a mistake. That’s all.”
“What happened to you? Who scarred you so terribly?”
He turns away from me, and I think he’s going to take off, avoid my questions. But he doesn’t put his hand on the door and turn the handle. “When my ma was killed, he blamed me.”
“Who?”
“Fucking Syd. The man who ran The Raven’s Nest before Sloane.”
“Your father?” I ask, confused.
“He might have fucked my mother, but that man was never a father. He raised all us boys to be ready to take over the shitshow he built. Iron Strykers was started by my grandfather and had been a reputable motorcycle club until Syd took over and turned us into recruits for the Moretti organization. The shit they wouldn’t scrape off the bottom of their shoes, yet capable of doing their dirty work when needed.
I was twelve when he took me on my first job with him. ”
“Twelve,” I mutter, but I don’t have to ask if it’s really true. I saw my own brother sneaking off in the late hours of the night with my papa when he was much the same age. Heard the rumors of what it meant to be associated with the Morettis.
“When the Morettis turned on him and tortured and killed our ma, us boys were out working a job. It was no coincidence. It was a carefully constructed plan. One Syd didn’t see coming and neither did I.
By the time I got home, the club was in ruins, we couldn’t find Sloane, and ma was gone.
Syd needed someone to take his frustrations out on. ”
“Your own father was the one who burned you?”
“He wasn’t my father. Syd was the scum of the earth, and with no alliance to the Morettis anymore, he knew he and his club were fucked. Someone had to shield my brothers and sister from the monster he was becoming. Cruz and Sloane were only kids. I was a man and had to step up.”
I reach for him, lacing our fingers. “What did he do to you?”
“I suffered every fucking day, until I found a better solution and overturned his leadership, and the club forced him out of town. What you see was his parting gift to me.”
“I knew him. Not well, but he liked to hang at some of Valentine’s clubs. He was working for Emilio Moretti.”
“Yeah, working for him,” he mutters under his breath.
I pull back from him, my eyes narrowing.
“See, that is the stuff I’m talking about.
I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you, and you toss out a comment like that when you know I have no clue what it means.
I know you and the boys are involved with the Morettis somehow, you have known them a long time. It’s why I can’t trust you.”
He grimaces like he’s in pain. “I’m trying, Daisy, I really fucking am. But I can’t tell you my life history. There is shit in my past that has to stay under our code.”
“Your code. Come on, Jagger, because of you I’m about to be marrying into this family. Don’t you think I should be let in on all the secrets?”
His features grow more serious. “Absolutely not. You’re safe, you will always have our protection and our loyalty. We will kill for you and die for you, but there are truths you don’t need to know.”
“Like how you’re tangled up with the Morettis?”
He doesn’t respond, but the cold expression on his face tells me I already know the answer.
“And my family. You were working for my brother. Now you’re fighting with him?”
“We took a contract to watch over you until Dante was able to come and collect you. I was never working with him.” His eyes lock with mine. “That was the idea, until we all worked out he wasn’t the man he was pretending to be.”
“And you fell for me and decided not to give me back. Is that why you hit him? I saw you, that day at The Precinct when he came to get me, you punched him.”
He sighs heavily and runs his hand through his damp hair. “Time for breakfast.” He stands and heads for the door, leaving me staring at the back of his head. Damn him, it’s like one step forward two back, and I can’t do it anymore.