Chapter 11 #2
"Just memorizing this. You, here, mine."
"I'm not going anywhere."
"Good." I push her onto the bed and follow her down, settling between her legs. "Because I'm not done with you yet."
My mouth finds her breast, sucking and biting until she's gasping my name. I move lower, kissing down her stomach, her hip, the inside of her thigh. When I finally taste her, she arches off the bed with a cry that probably carries through the entire clubhouse.
I don't care. Let them hear. Let everyone know exactly who she belongs to.
I work her with my tongue and fingers until she's trembling, right on the edge, and then I pull back. She makes a frustrated sound that makes me smile.
"Mason, don't you dare stop."
"Not stopping, just making it last." I move back up her body, positioning myself at her entrance. "Look at me."
She does, her eyes dark with need and something deeper. Love, maybe. Trust definitely.
I push inside slowly, feeling her body adjust to take me. She's tight and perfect, and the way she clenches around me makes me see stars. When I'm fully seated, I pause, savoring the moment.
"Move," she demands, her nails digging into my shoulders. "Please, Mason. I need you to move."
I do, setting a rhythm that's hard and deep. Each thrust drives her into the mattress, and she meets me stroke for stroke, taking everything I give and demanding more. Her legs wrap around my waist, changing the angle, and I hit something inside her that makes her scream.
"There," she gasps. "Right there, don't stop."
I don't. I fuck her hard and relentless, chasing the pleasure building at the base of my spine. My hand slides between us, finding her clit, and she comes apart with a cry that's definitely too loud for discretion.
The feel of her pulsing around me sends me over the edge. I come hard, her name torn from my throat, and we collapse together in a tangle of sweaty limbs and racing hearts.
"Jesus," she breathes when she can speak again. "That was..."
"Overdue." I roll us so she's draped across my chest. "Been wanting to do that since you walked into the office this morning."
"You should want things more often. That was incredible."
"Incredible enough to make you forget about interview requests for a while?"
"Incredible enough to make me forget my own name." She traces patterns on my chest, her touch light. "I love you, Mason Vaughan. Even when you're bossy and overprotective."
"I love you too. Even when you're stubborn and reckless." I catch her hand, bringing it to my lips. "So what're you going to do about all these interview requests?"
"I think I'm going to do a few. The big ones, the ones that'll reach the most people.
I want to make sure this story gets the attention it deserves.
" She props herself up on her elbow. "But I'm also going to set boundaries.
No book deals right now, no reality shows, no turning this into something it's not. "
"What is it then?"
"It's justice for those twenty girls, for your sister, and for everyone who's ever been hurt by monsters like Castellano." Her expression is fierce. "And it's proof that sometimes the good guys win, even when they wear leather cuts and operate outside the law."
"We're not good guys, Ava. We're just less bad than the alternatives."
"I'll take it." She kisses me softly. "Now, you promised me a week in bed. I'm holding you to that."
"Already gave you a week while I was healing."
"That doesn't count, you were injured. I want a week where you're at full strength."
"Demanding."
"You love it."
"Yeah. I do." I flip us so she's beneath me again. "But if we're doing this, we're doing it right. No leaving this room except for food and bathroom breaks."
"What about the club? Your responsibilities?"
"Vulture has Falcon and they can handle things for a few days. Right now, my only responsibility is you." I kiss down her neck, feeling her pulse jump beneath my lips. "Think you can handle that?"
"I can try." But she's smiling, her body already responding to my touch. "Though I should warn you, I've got stamina. You might be the one who needs breaks."
"Is that a challenge?"
"It's a fact."
I prove her wrong over the next several hours, taking her apart with hands and mouth and cock until she's begging for mercy. We order food delivered to the room, eat naked in bed, and then go another round because neither of us can seem to get enough.
By the time we finally collapse in exhaustion, the sun's setting and I've lost track of how many times we've come together. All I know is that Ava's boneless and satisfied beside me, her skin flushed and her breathing deep.
"I changed my mind," she murmurs against my chest. "You definitely have the stamina advantage."
"Told you."
"Smug doesn't look good on you."
"Liar. Everything looks good on me."
She laughs, the sound tired but happy. "Your ego's showing."
"Can afford to be confident when I've got you in my bed, thoroughly satisfied and too tired to move."
"Fair point." She's quiet for a moment. "Mason, what happens after this? After the interviews and the publicity dies down and life goes back to normal?"
"I don't know. Never had normal before." I tighten my arms around her. "But I know I want you in whatever comes next. Want to wake up next to you every morning, want to come home to you every night. Want to build something that lasts."
"Even though I'm a journalist and you're an outlaw?"
"Especially because of that. We balance each other out." I press a kiss to her hair. "Unless you're having second thoughts?"
"No second thoughts. Just trying to figure out the logistics." She tilts her head to look at me. "I can't live here permanently. I need my own space, my own place to work, but I also don't want to be apart from you."
"So we figure it out. Maybe you get an apartment close by, somewhere you can work without brothers constantly interrupting. I'll stay there when I can, you'll stay here when you want. We make it work." I trace the line of her spine. "As long as we're together, the details don't matter."
"You make it sound so simple."
"It is simple. I love you. You love me. Everything else is just logistics."
She's quiet for so long I think she's fallen asleep. Then she says, "Okay. Let's do it. Let's figure out how to make this work."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." She lifts her head, meeting my eyes. "But I have conditions."
"Of course you do."
"I need honesty. If the club's doing something I should know about, something that could compromise my integrity, I need you to tell me. Give me the chance to decide if I can live with it."
"That's fair, but the same goes for you. If you're writing a story that could impact the club, I need a heads up. Not editorial control, just a warning."
"Deal." She extends her hand like we're sealing a business agreement. "Partners?"
I shake her hand, then pull her in for a kiss. "Partners in everything."
"Good." She settles back against me. "Now can we please sleep? I'm exhausted."
"Thought you had stamina."
"I lied. You destroyed me."
I laugh, pulling the blanket over both of us. "Sleep. We've got time to figure everything else out."
She's asleep within minutes, her breathing deep and even. I lie awake longer, staring at the ceiling and thinking about the future we're building. It's not conventional, probably not sustainable long-term, and definitely going to be complicated.
But it's ours. And that makes it worth fighting for.
My phone buzzes on the nightstand.
Vulture:
Media outside the gates asking for Ava. Told them to fuck off. Let me know if she wants to do a statement.
I type back quickly.
Me:
She'll handle it tomorrow. Tonight she's busy.
Vulture:
With you, I assume.
Me:
Where else would she be?
Vulture:
Fair point. Don't break her. We need her functional for those interviews.
Me:
I'll do my best.
I set the phone aside and pull Ava closer, feeling the weight of her against me. This woman crashed into my life like a hurricane, turned everything upside down, and somehow made me believe in things I'd written off years ago.
Love. Future. Something beyond the club and the violence.
She stirs in her sleep, murmuring my name, and my chest tightens with emotion I don't have words for. Whatever comes next, whatever challenges we face, we'll handle it together.
Because she's mine. And I protect what's mine.
Always.