Chapter Thirteen
Chloe
I didn’t like this. I didn’t like it at all.
It had been two days, and instead of worrying about big bad bikers coming to kill me and my daughter, I was thinking about a different biker, still big, bad on the outside, and sexy as hell. Now it wasn’t just fear that kept me awake for the past few nights, it was discomfort and arousal.
And now it was something else. I sat straight up in bed and looked around my room in the dark, making sure there were no boogeymen hiding in plain sight. Certain that my room was safe, I got out of bed and padded to Gemma’s room to make sure her room was also safe.
It was.
Thankfully.
I crept downstairs slowly. Carefully. I didn’t make a noise, not even on that fourth step that squeaked in the middle, before I made it to the bottom step.
I went straight to the window, looking for the source of the sound that made it impossible to get to sleep, not that I was close to falling asleep anyway.
There was nothing out there, of course, at least not anything I could see. There was no large man creeping in the dark, no glint of a weapon in the moonlight and no goosebumps alerting me to danger. There was nothing and no one out there.
Just my imagination.
And then there was the other thing occupying my mind. Pike. After he taught me self-defense, and feeling his body close to mine, I was finding it hard to keep my mind on staying safe and off kissing him.
But it was hard when he was so good with Gemma.
Pike had a wealth of patience for my curious little girl who asked too many questions and said whatever was on her mind.
He was nothing at all like Marcus. Or Victor.
Or Nate. Or any of the other wicked men who’d been brought into her life because I made the wrong choice.
He didn’t lose his patience or get offended. Instead, he laughed.
He answered her questions and asked some of his own.
And him being such a good guy, was seriously messing with my head.
A heavy masculine hand landed on my shoulder and my whole body tensed as my fight or flight response kicked in. Then a hand slid around my waist, hot and slightly calloused, making my breath catch. “It’s me, don’t freak out.”
His breath was hot, his words were a gentle whisper that vibrated through me. “Pike.”
“Yeah.” His grip didn’t loosen. “Couldn’t sleep?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it happens.”
His laughter was deep as it vibrated through me, and I felt my nipples tighten uncomfortably. “You need to sleep, Chloe.”
“Yeah, well tell that to my body.” My eyes slammed shut in embarrassment because yeah, I really just said that. “What are you doing up?”
He shrugged and released me. “I can’t sleep when I know you’re awake and obsessing.”
I spun to face him, regretting it instantly when I found him too close. And shirtless. “I’m not obsessing. I’m just cautious.”
“Overcautious,” he shot back with a smirk.
“Maybe,” I conceded and put some physical distance between us, at least temporarily because seconds later he joined me on the sofa. “I’ve been living this way for years now. It doesn’t ease up now because you’re here.”
He nodded. “That’s fair.”
“I don’t know. Living with Ashley was wonderful, it was like having a sister and a best friend all rolled into one. I was able to sleep when we all lived together because I knew she had my back.” I froze and my eyes went wide. “Not that I think you don’t, I just, I don’t know. It was different.”
His brows shot up, lowering slowly as he nodded. “We grew up alone. It was just me and Ash. I mean our parents were there but not really, not when the call of drugs and alcohol was louder than two needy kids.”
“She told me some, but she was vague and so was I when we talked about our old lives. She was the one who took care of us.” I laughed and shook my head.
“She said we ended up opposite sides of the same coin. Biker and artist. Cop and, well whatever I am.” I shrugged and looked away, feeling terrible for bringing up a painful topic. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he insisted but I knew he was just being kind.
“It’s not. I should probably let you sleep.” I pushed off the sofa to stand, but my legs shook under me.
Pike was right there, one hand around my waist and the other gripping my hand. “You need to sleep, woman.”
I smiled. His words were gruff but caring. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not,” he growled and set me back on the sofa beside him. “Lie down.” He stroked my hair softly. “You get some sleep and tonight I’ll watch the door.”
I wanted to argue, to tell him that I didn’t need him to watch the door. It was my duty. My responsibility, not his. But his touch was too tempting, too tantalizing to ignore and soon enough I found my lids fluttering shut and my breathing evening out.
Sleep came immediately and deeply.
But not peacefully.
Victor lunged forward, his face twisted in anger. “You dumb bitch, you killed my brother!”
I couldn’t deny it, not with the bloody knife sticking out of Marcus’ neck and my body towering over his lifeless form. “No!” I jumped back to put distance between us, but Victor was angry, no he wasn’t angry, he was in a rage.
“He called me to help discipline you. Guess I’ll get to do it by myself tonight.” He reached for me, and I ducked to get away from him. “I’ll teach you how a woman is supposed to act.” His words were menacing.
My heart raced as I tripped over Marcus’ body, giving Victor the perfect chance to stop my escape.
“Don’t worry, I don’t mind a bit of a fight,” he laughed and grabbed a handful of my hair, pulling me to my feet.
I bent and yanked the knife from Marcus’ neck and when Victor spun me to face him, I plunged it deep in his chest. “No!” My heart pounded and my hand still gripped the wooden handle of the knife.
Victor stumbled backwards until he hit the wall, sliding down slowly with that same dead look Marcus wore in his eyes.
“No!” The word left my lips on a jagged cry as I shot straight up, a clear reminder of why sleep didn’t come easily these days.
A hand was there, not violent or aggressive, just calm and soothing. “It’s okay, Chloe.”
He stroked my hair with one hand, grounding me with his strong grip with the other.
“Want to talk about it?” Pike asked.
I shook my head. “It’s the same nightmare as usual. The night that changed everything.” I risked looking at him, risked his anger or disgust only to find his eyes swimming with sympathy. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t look at me like that. I don’t deserve it.” I looked away and swiped at the lone tear that slid down my cheek.
“You deserve more than you think Chloe.” One hand stroked my cheek and before I knew it, I was moving closer to him. Closer to his lips.
And then my lips were on his, chaste and clumsy at first. I hadn’t kissed anyone in years and initiated a kiss in far longer than that, but I pushed those thoughts out of my mind and focused on Pike.
The soft touch of his lips, softer than they looked.
He hadn’t shaved in a few days so there was a gentle scrape against my face and with every scratch, my arousal grew.
Arousal. It was something I thought I’d never experience again, and the fact that it was another biker making me feel this way? Total mindfuck.
But the way his lips felt against mine was different.
It was unlike anything I’d ever felt, before or after Marcus, and I was too eager, too curious to experience more.
My tongue slipped out tentatively, flicking against his lips again and again.
The seam of his lips parted slightly, letting my tongue slip inside to touch his.
I gasped and pulled back, watching his face to make sure this was okay.
His gaze was heavy and hooded. Wicked and gorgeous. “You good?”
I smiled, nodding slowly and then faster. “Really good. You?”
“Never better.” Those two words came out low and gritty, as if he’d been gargling rocks.
Never better. “Oh. Okay.” I kissed him again but this time I didn’t hesitate at all, I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my mouth to his with those words—never better—ringing in my ears.
Suddenly I was hungry for just this moment, this kiss, hot and intense.
I flicked my tongue against his top lip and then his bottom, shivering when he growled his pleasure.
Finally I reached the seam of his lips and slicked inside, groaning when our tongues touched again.
His arms banded around me and pulled me close, so I completely straddled his body, feeling the hard length of him pressed between my thighs. He growled and deepened the kiss, thrusting his tongue in and out in rhythm with the roll of his hips.
With his encouragement I began to move slowly but surely against his erection.
It was long and thick and while I was scared—I hadn’t been with a man other than Marcus in too many years—I was more excited than anything else.
I pressed down, grinding harder as I slid back and forth over him.
My breaths came in harsh, shallow thrusts as my desire, my need grew.
When he nibbled my bottom lip, a shiver overwhelmed me, and moisture flooded my panties. “Pike,” I whispered against his lips.
He froze, his hands cupping my ribs while his thumbs gently rubbed against the hard peaks of my nipples. “We should stop.”
His words made me hesitate. I stopped and pulled back just enough that his face came into focus. “You don’t want me?” I felt his need between my legs but then again, I was grinding against him like a wild woman, maybe it was just a physiological response.
His jaw clenched tight as his gaze pierced through me. “I want you. Fuck me, Chloe, but I really fucking want you. I shouldn’t and neither should you, but I do.”
I nodded because what else could I do? His words, every single syllable, was the absolute truth.
This was probably a bad idea and Lord knows I’ve had enough bad ideas to last several lifetimes, but there was one fact I couldn’t deny.
Pike made me feel things I had no right to feel, no right to demand from him.
But this feeling of being desired and craved, the naked want in his gaze made me want to throw caution to the wind.
I wasn’t asking for forever and even if I was, that was impossible with this man. I knew that much yet still I wanted him. I wanted this.
Just for tonight.
“Chloe.”
I nodded again, blinking until what I wanted to say solidified in front of my eyes. “I know,” I began slowly. “You’re right about everything. But I’ve never felt like this before. This wanted and needed. And I can’t,” my voice broke off, and I had to look away.
“Hey,” he said softly, taking one finger to my chin and turning my gaze back to him. “Talk to me.”
“I can’t let the last time I was with a man be the last time with a man.
” I stared at him so that he could see what I was asking of him, what I was saying without pushing the words past my lips.
“Please. I have no right to ask and if you say no, I’ll accept that without making it weird, but please give me a new memory to replace that one. ”
The skin between his brows crinkled. The lines around his lips were more pronounced.
He was angry. This ask was too much.
I swallowed the hurt and removed myself from his personal space when his hands gripped my hips tight enough to make me gasp. “You sure about this?”
Hell no. “Yes. Absolutely, yes.”
“Okay.” That was all he said, calm and cool while my entire body was doused in gasoline and set on fire.