Tyrant Chapter 11 #3
“No, we don’t. Didn’t you hear me? It was a mistake.
I lost my head for a minute. You’re a very desirable guy.
I don’t need to tell you that. I’m like countless others who undoubtedly have succumbed to your kisses, but there’s a difference.
I refuse to become one of them. As much as you turn me on, I’m not becoming one of the multitudes.
You have enough women acting as sluts around here.
You don’t need to add another. I don’t sleep with every man who wants me or with multiples. ”
Immediately, my anger triggered. I lifted my hands and gripped her head on either side. I didn’t squeeze but held her steady so she couldn’t turn away. I stared into her eyes.
“Did I say anything about you being a slut or that I was planning for you to be a cumslut and sleep with my brothers and me?” I snapped.
She shook her head as much as she could. “No, but I know the women around here. They clean, cook, and service you guys. I’m not made that way, Tyrant.”
“And I’m so fucking glad that you’re not, mon doux bébé. I don’t need another slut. I definitely don’t want to share you with my club brothers or any other man.”
“Then what is this? I’m confused.”
“There’s another type of woman commonly seen in a club. We just happen not to have any. The other is called an old lady. Do you know what that means?”
“An old lady? I’m not old!”
I chuckled, which earned me a growl. “It doesn’t mean your age.
It means that a biker claims you. You’re his, and he proclaims it to the world.
Anyone fucks with you, touches you, or does anything to harm you, and your man—your old man—will make that person pay.
You’re called property, but it isn’t about ownership.
An old lady is a biker’s wife, without the piece of paper. ”
Lakelyn was blinking at me, and her mouth was hanging slightly open. I had to resist kissing her again.
“Claimed? Property? Wife in name only?” she repeated.
“It’s serious, Lakelyn. For us, an old lady is more than a wife. Or at least she is in this club. And the wife part doesn’t have to be in name only. It can be made official through marriage if desired. And that claim goes both ways.”
“What about the sluts? Where do they fit into this?”
I heard the distaste in her tone.
“It depends on the club and possibly the couple. If the couple wants an open relationship, then they can. They make their own rules.”
Before I could finish, she interrupted. “Nope, that’s not happening. I won’t be a slut or an old lady in an open relationship. Let me up. We’re done.” She tried to get loose, but I yanked her against my chest, encircling her with my arms.
“Calm yourself. Did I say I wanted an open relationship?”
“No. Okay, why are you explaining this to me then? What do you want?”
“I want you. And I don’t want you for a month or two, then done.
I don’t want anyone else to touch you or place a claim on you.
This club doesn’t have old ladies because none of us has found a special one to claim.
Or we haven’t until you came into my life.
I’ve been trying to hold back and resist you, but I can’t. ”
“Tyrant, lust is temporary. You’ve known me for less than a month. You can’t know what you’ll want a year from now. I’m sure plenty of women have caused you to desire them. You didn’t make them your old lady.”
“I’ve desired plenty of women, but it was only for sex, and then I was finished. I like sex.”
“So I’m just the next one,” she said. I swore I heard hurt in her voice.
“No, you’re not the next one. I said I only wanted sex with them.
I want so much more from you. I didn’t think of them throughout my day and wanted to talk or see them.
Or wonder what they were doing. I didn’t dream of them every night when I went to bed.
I didn’t wake up so hard that I thought I’d break, and the only way to get some sleep was to jerk off to thoughts of them.
Or wanted to know if they wanted more than sex from me, would they be able to live with the man I am?
I’m a hard man, Lakelyn. But I’m loyal, and you make me feel so many emotions, even ones I would prefer not to.
I can’t imagine you not here. When you ran, I went crazy.
I’ve barely slept or eaten. I know what can happen out there on the streets.
All I wanted to do was find you, bring you back, and make sure you never left again. ”
She sat there, not saying anything for a while.
I let her think over what I said. It was all true, and this was too important to rush her.
Lakelyn let out a long sigh. I tensed in anticipation.
Her expression wasn’t giving me a clue. She desired me.
If that were all, I’d work to make it more.
I wasn’t sure what it would take, but I knew who to ask.
They’d been able to capture and keep a woman.
“Tyrant, I can’t deny that you’ve been on my mind a lot since we met.
And I’m more sexually attracted to you than I have ever been to a guy.
I’m glad that you think you want more than a casual fuck buddy situation.
I’m not a woman to be in one of those. I have to feel more than that for a man to give myself to him.
God, I wish we could know that you won’t change your mind,” she muttered.
“I won’t. What about you? You could change yours,” I threw out.
She shook her head emphatically. “No, I don’t believe I will. That’s even scarier for me. I feel so much already. You could tear out my heart, and I don’t think I’d survive it intact. The possibility of it happening terrifies me. And that’s without considering all the other obstacles in our way.”
I knew she was telling the truth about how she felt about me. I wanted to yell my relief, but first, I had to find out what obstacles she meant.
“Bébé, what obstacles?”
“Lord, when you speak French to me, it melts me.”
“Good. It’s from living close to Louisiana as a kid. I grew up hearing it almost as much as I did English. Sorry, go on. You were about to tell me the obstacles.”
“Well, the biggest one being the Jacquots and the threat they pose, even if they’re not trying to eliminate you. And then there’s my life back home. Finally, I can’t forget River. He might be almost eighteen, but he still needs me.”
“Let me address those in reverse. First, when it comes to your brother, I don’t expect you to kick him to the curb.
He’s family, and I agree. Guidance is always better.
He’s a part of our club family, so no problem.
As for your life back home, I need to know where that is, but you said you don’t own a home.
I think it would be possible to be a substance abuse counselor here.
And we can move your things here. Lastly, as for the Jacquots, I’m ninety-five percent sure they did set us up, and we have to remove them as a threat, but even if they didn’t, what they did to your dad and caused you and River to do out of fear isn’t acceptable.
Add to it if they’re selling people one way or the other, it’s a deal breaker. We’ll take care of them.”
“But what if you can’t deal with them? I don’t mean to insult you or your men, but the Jacquots have a lot of contacts and people, if not in their organization, at least who rely on or owe them. I’d die if I caused you or your brothers to be hurt or killed because of us.”
“They do have all those, but so do we, and I can guarantee you, with all the Kings of Anarchy chapters we have, they don’t come close. What about the other two things? Did I reassure you about those?”
“You did, though I’d have to find a job before I can move, assuming I have anything left to move. I ran without telling my landlord anything. My rent is behind. He’s probably sold, given, or thrown away everything we had.” She wasn’t happy at the thought, not that I blamed her.
“Tomorrow, we’ll call him and find out. If he did, we’ll deal with it. You can move whether you have a job or not,” I told her.
“No, I need that before I can find a place to rent. Most places won’t rent to you if you have a black mark on your record or haven’t been in your job for at least a year.
I’ve got to get River set up for college.
I don’t want him to wait. He already has financial aid and scholarships to pay for it.
We’d have to find him a school here to attend. ”
“The school thing, Crypto, or even Smuggler can help with. He’s our treasurer. Whether you have a job doesn’t matter on the home front. Hell, if you don’t want to work, you don’t have to.”
“And how would we survive? I’d rather not stay on the streets,” she snarked back.
I slapped her ass, and she jumped. It wasn’t hard, but I saw the spark it caused. Lakelyn wiggled her bottom, making my cock, which had half-deflated, begin to perk up again.
“No, sassy, I don’t mean for you to live on the streets.
No one deserves that hell. I mean that you and River can live here with me.
He has the choice of staying with us, having a room at the clubhouse, or whatever.
Or when the other townhomes are built, and the guys move into them, they may want a roommate. It’s doable, whatever the decision is.”
“You want me to live with you?” she asked slowly.
“That’s not negotiable, Lakelyn. If you’re my old lady, you’re my wife. We live together.”
“But wouldn’t you want to wait and make sure?”
“No. I know this is a lot to absorb and think over. And as much as I want to push for your answer right now, I won’t.
You need to know that’s not typical for me.
I need you to be sure, which is why I’m saying we need to go to bed.
It’s late. I have to work tomorrow. I’d like your answer, though, by the time I return from work. Can you do that?”
“I can do that. But can I ask one thing before we go to our beds?”
“Sure can.”
“Can I have another kiss, or is that asking too much?”
It would test my control to the limits, but there was no way I’d say no. I nodded. She was the one to initiate this kiss, and I was drowning the second our lips touched. God, help me survive.