Chapter 14 #2
"I mean it." I set down my drink, turning to face her fully. "Six weeks ago, I was ready to burn everything down to keep you safe. I would have destroyed the club, sacrificed everything I built, just to make sure Varro couldn't touch you."
"I know."
"And now it's over. We won. And I get to have you, and the club, and a future I never thought I'd have." I reach out, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't know what I did to deserve this."
"You saved me." Her voice is quiet. Fierce. "You saw what Cain was doing, and you stopped it. You gave me a place to heal, a reason to hope, a chance to become someone new. That's what you did."
"Anyone would have—"
"No. They wouldn't." She takes my hand, pressing it to her cheek. "Most people look the other way. Most people don't want to get involved. You got involved. You fought for me when I couldn't fight for myself. That’s the most admirable and selfless thing anyone has ever done for me."
I don't have words. Don't have a response to the raw sincerity in her voice, the unwavering faith in her eyes. So I do the only thing I can think of.
I kiss her.
The party swirls around us—music and laughter and the clink of glasses—but I don't hear any of it. All I hear is her. The soft sound she makes when my lips meet hers. The catch of her breath when I pull her closer.
"Let's get out of here," I murmur against her mouth.
"Where?"
"Our room. I want you alone."
She pulls back just enough to meet my eyes. What I see there—heat, want, love—makes my blood run hot.
"Then take me."
I don't need to be told twice.
Our room is quiet after the chaos of the party.
I lock the door behind us, and suddenly we're alone. Truly alone.
The rest of the world falls away, and there's nothing left but her.
"Come here," I say.
She crosses to me, that red dress moving with her like a second skin. I catch her by the waist, pulling her against me, and her hands slide up my chest to link behind my neck.
"We won," she whispers.
"We did."
"Varro's finished. The club is safe. We're safe." She smiles, and it's radiant. "We actually did it."
"You did it. In that interrogation room, standing up to him—that was all you."
"It was both of us." She rises on her toes, pressing a soft kiss to my jaw. "We make a good team."
"The best."
I kiss her again, deeper this time. My hands roam her body, relearning curves I already know by heart.
She arches into me, making soft sounds of pleasure, and the last of my restraint crumbles.
"I need you," I growl against her throat. "Now."
"Then have me."
I spin her around, pressing her against the wall.
She gasps as her palms hit the cool surface, then moans when my body covers hers from behind.
"This okay?" I ask, my lips against her ear.
"More than okay." She pushes back against me, her ass grinding against my hardening cock. "I want you to claim me. To remind me who I belong to."
The words shoot straight to my core.
I've never been possessive before—never felt the need to mark, to claim, to own.
But with her, everything is different. Everything is more.
"You're mine," I say, my hands finding the zipper at the back of her dress. "Say it."
"I'm yours."
The zipper slides down, revealing the smooth expanse of her back.
I push the dress off her shoulders, letting it pool at her feet.
She's wearing nothing underneath but a scrap of black lace, and the sight of her makes my mouth go dry.
"Fucking beautiful," I breathe.
I spin her back around, lifting her effortlessly.
Her legs wrap around my waist, her arms around my neck, and I carry her to the bed.
She bounces when I lay her down, laughing, and the sound is so carefree—so different from the scared woman who showed up on my doorstep weeks ago—that something in my chest cracks wide open.
"I love you," I say.
Her laughter fades into something softer. "I love you too."
I slide off my cut and place it on my desk, then strip off my shirt, my jeans, everything that separates us.
Her eyes roam over my body—hungry, appreciative—and she reaches for me.
"Come here," she says.
I cover her body with mine, kissing her deep and slow.
Her hands explore my back, my shoulders, the scars I've accumulated over a lifetime of violence.
She traces each one like she's memorizing them, like they're a map to understanding who I am.
"I want to feel you," she whispers. "All of you. Nothing between us."
"Ripley—"
"I'm on birth control. And I trust you." Her eyes meet mine, steady and certain. "I want this, Levi. I want us."
The trust in her voice undoes me.
I capture her mouth in another kiss as I position myself at her entrance, feeling her heat, her wetness.
"Tell me if you need me to stop," I say.
"I won't."
I push inside her slowly, giving her time to adjust. She gasps, her nails digging into my shoulders, and the sensation—the tight, velvet heat of her—nearly overwhelms me.
"Okay?" I manage.
"God, yes." She rolls her hips, taking me deeper. "Move. Please."
I start slow, savoring every stroke, every sound she makes, but slow doesn't last long.
The need builds too quickly, the hunger too sharp.
Soon I'm driving into her with deep, powerful thrusts, and she's meeting each one, her body arching beneath mine.
"Harder," she gasps. "I can take it."
I give her what she asks for.
What we both need. The bed creaks beneath us, the headboard hitting the wall in a rhythm that matches my thrusts.
She's saying my name—over and over, like a prayer—and the sound spurs me on.
"You're mine," I growl against her throat. "Say it again."
"I'm yours." Her voice is ragged, breathless. "Only yours."
"And I'm yours." The words tear out of me, raw and true. "Everything I am. Everything I have. It's yours."
She cries out, her body clenching around me as she comes.
The sensation triggers my own release, and I bury myself deep, groaning her name as pleasure crashes through me in waves.
We collapse together, breathing hard, hearts pounding.
"That was..." She trails off, laughing weakly.
"Yeah." I roll to the side, pulling her with me, tucking her against my chest. "It was."
We lie there in the aftermath, tangled together, the sweat cooling on our skin.
Outside, I can still hear the distant sounds of the party—music and voices and the rumble of motorcycles.
But in here, there's only us.
"What happens now?" she asks quietly.
"Now?" I press a kiss to her hair. "Now we live. We build something together. You pursue your teaching certification. I run the club. And every night, we come home to each other."
"That simple?"
"Nothing about this is simple." I tilt her chin up, making her meet my eyes. "There will be problems. Challenges. Days when everything goes wrong. But we'll face them together. That's the only thing I know for certain."
She smiles—soft and content and utterly beautiful. "I like the sound of that."
"Good. Because you're stuck with me now." I pull her closer, wrapping myself around her like a shield. "For as long as you'll have me."
"How about forever?"
The word settles into my chest, warm and bright. Forever. I never thought I'd have a forever. Never thought I'd want one.
But with her, I want it all.
"Forever works," I say.
She kisses me—soft and sweet and full of promise. And for the first time in my life, I believe in the future.
Not just survival. Not just getting through the next day, the next crisis, the next war.
A real future. With love and hope and the possibility of happiness.
With her.
Later, much later, we lie awake in the darkness.
The party has finally wound down. The clubhouse is quiet. And Ripley is tracing patterns on my chest, her head resting over my heart.
"Levi?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For everything you’ve done for me." She lifts her head, her eyes finding mine in the dim light. "For saving me. For believing in me. For loving me when I didn't know how to love myself."
"You don't have to thank me for that."
"I know. But I want to." She presses a kiss to my chest, right over my heart. "You changed my life. You gave me a reason to keep fighting. And I'll spend the rest of my life making sure you know how grateful I am."
"The rest of your life?"
"If you'll have me."
I pull her up, settling her on top of me so I can see her face properly. "I'll have you," I say. "Every day. Every night. Every moment you're willing to give me."
"Then I guess we're stuck with each other."
"Guess so."
She laughs, and the sound is bright and free and everything I never knew I needed.
Tomorrow, there will be problems to solve. A club to run. A future to build. But tonight, there's only this.
Only her.
Only us.