Chapter 8 - Knuckles #2
I laugh despite myself. "Yeah, that was about as bad as first impressions get."
"Think he likes me?"
"Honestly? Yeah. He wouldn't have agreed to protect you if he didn't think you were worth it. Pope's got good instincts about people."
"And you? Does he think you're being stupid?"
"Absolutely. And he's probably right."
"Are you?" She reaches for my hand. "Being stupid?"
I look at her. Hair a mess, no makeup, bruise still visible on her jaw, wearing nothing but my sheet, and I know the answer.
"Probably. But I don't care."
She pulls me down for a kiss. It's soft, gentle, different from the desperate kisses we shared last night.
"I should shower," she says when we break apart. "And get dressed. Meet your brothers properly instead of naked in your bed."
"They've seen worse, trust me."
"Still. I want to make a better impression."
She gets up, completely unselfconscious about her nudity, and heads for the bathroom. I watch her go, admiring the curve of her ass, the marks I left on her hips, the slight limp from her injured feet.
Mine. She's mine now.
The shower turns on and I hear her make a small sound of pleasure as the hot water hits her. I'm tempted to join her, to fuck her against the tile until she's screaming again, but we probably need to actually get dressed and deal with reality.
My phone buzzes on the nightstand. A text from Ghost.
**Ghost: Pope's pissed but he'll get over it. Just don't make him regret this.**
**Me: I won't.**
**Ghost: And for what it's worth, she seems like good people. Better than the usual club bunnies.**
**Me: She's not a club bunny.**
**Ghost: I know. That's why Pope's letting it slide. But be careful, brother. You're in deep fast.**
**Me: I know.**
And I do know. I'm in way deeper than I should be after one night. But something about Savannah just fits. Like she's the missing piece I didn't know I was looking for.
Another text comes through, this time from Havoc.
**Havoc: Bones wants to meet her. Says any woman who can get Knuckles to break the rules must be special.**
I groan, but I'm smiling. The brothers want to meet her. That's a good sign. Means they're accepting her, accepting us.
The shower turns off and Savannah emerges a few minutes later wrapped in a towel, her hair wet and hanging down her back.
"My brothers want to meet you," I tell her. "Tonight at the clubhouse."
"All of them?"
"Most of them, probably."
She looks nervous for the first time since Pope left. "Will they be like Pope? Testing me?"
"Some of them might be. Most of them will just be curious. We don't usually bring women into club business." I stand and cross to her, cupping her face. "But you don't have to worry. They're good men. And if anyone gives you shit, they'll answer to me."
"I'm not scared. Just... nervous. I want them to like me."
"They will." I kiss her forehead. "Trust me."
She nods and starts getting dressed in the clothes Ghost brought last night. Jeans that fit her perfectly, a simple black t-shirt, the sneakers that are slightly too big.
She looks beautiful. Natural. Real.
And she's mine.
"So, what do we do until tonight?" she asks, pulling her hair into a ponytail.
"Whatever you want. We could get you more clothes, get some real food, just hang out here. Your call."
"Can we just... stay here for a while?" She sits on the edge of the bed. "I'm not ready to face the outside world yet. Is that okay?"
"Yeah. Of course." I sit next to her and pull her against my side. She fits perfectly there, her head on my shoulder. "We've got all the time in the world."
"Thank you," she whispers. "For everything. For saving me. For protecting me. For wanting me."
"You don't have to thank me for any of that."
"Yes, I do. Because nobody else did. Nobody else cared enough to help." Her voice cracks slightly. "You barely know me and you've already done more for me than my own family ever did."
I tighten my arm around her. "They don't deserve you. Never did."
"I'm starting to realize that." She looks up at me. "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
"What happens next? After tonight, after I meet the club. What's the plan?"
"The plan is we keep you safe. We make sure Derek can't find you. And we figure out the rest as we go."
"That's not much of a plan."
"No. But it's honest." I turn to face her fully. "I don't know what happens next, Savannah. I don't know if this thing between us is gonna last a week or a year or forever. But I know I want to find out. And I know I'm not letting you go back to that life. Not ever."
"I don't want to go back. I want..." She trails off, like she's afraid to say it.
"What do you want?"
"This. You. A chance to figure out who I am when I'm not being hurt or controlled or told I'm not good enough." She takes a breath. "Is that too much to ask?"
"No. It's exactly the right amount." I kiss her, slow and deep. "And I'm going to make sure you get it."
We spend the rest of the day in bed. Not fucking, just being together. Talking. Learning each other. She tells me about her childhood, about dreams she gave up when Derek came into her life. I tell her more about the club, about my brothers, about the life I've built here.
Around three in the afternoon, I order room service. We eat in bed, feeding each other fries and laughing when she gets ketchup on her chin.
It's domestic. Simple. Perfect.
Everything I never knew I wanted.
"I could get used to this," she says, curling into my side after we finish eating.
"Yeah? Being waited on hand and foot by a biker who can't keep his hands off you?"
"Exactly that." She laughs. "Is this real? Or am I going to wake up and find out I'm still standing in that bridal suite?"
"It's real. I promise." I pull her closer. "You're safe. You're here. And you're mine now. That's as real as it gets."
She kisses me then, soft and sweet, and I feel something shift in my chest. Something I haven't felt in... ever, maybe.
Hope. That's what it is. Hope that maybe I can have this. That maybe I deserve someone who looks at me like I hung the moon. That maybe I'm not too broken, too damaged, too much of a disaster to build something good.
"Ryan?" she murmurs against my lips.
"Yeah?"
"I think I'm falling for you."
The words should scare me. Should send me running like they always do. But instead, they settle warm in my chest like they belong there.
"Good," I say. "Because I'm already gone for you."
We stay like that until evening falls and it's time to face the club. Time to introduce her to my family and hope they see what I see, a woman worth fighting for.
But right now, in this moment, it's just us. Safe and warm and together.
And for the first time in my life, that feels like enough.