Chapter 55
Golden morning sun spilled high through the windows, cutting bright slants through the air and catching dust motes dancing like tiny stars. The duvet lay folded down at the foot of the bed, leaving us wrapped only in warm light and the soft, steady crackle of fire from down the hall.
I lay turned on my side, propped up on one elbow, drinking in the sight of the man beside me.
He watched me always – dark eyes tracking every move, ready to pull me into the shelter of his chest the second I needed him, that fierce steady guard never truly lowered.
But looking at his scars, his ink, the unyielding strength of him, something soft and powerful shifted right through my chest.
“Stay still,” I whispered, quiet but sure, and I saw his jaw tighten in surprise.
I shifted slow, crawling up over him until I straddled his hips. Sun caught my red hair spilling wild over my shoulders, bright against the dark breadth of him. It was the longest I had let my hair grow in many years.
Rage let out a low rough growl, hands lifting instinctively to grip my hips. “Danika…” he rumbled, voice thick with warning and heat both.
“I said stay still,” I murmured, a confident little smile tugging at my lips.
I reached down, curling my hands gentle but firm around his wrists, pressing them flat to the bed on either side of his head.
“If you move, I’ll start all over again.
If you try to take over, I’ll get right off this bed. Understood?”
He groaned deep in his throat. I could see the hunger rising fast in his gaze, the urge to flip us both over still warring with the curiosity, the trust, the soft surrender he only ever gave me.
“Good boy,” I whispered, leaning down so my hair fell like a curtain over us both, and pressed a slow sweet kiss right to the centre of his forehead. I felt the tension in his brow melt away instantly.
Then I began.
I trailed my lips down the bridge of his nose, brushed the corner of his mouth in a kiss that made him huff out a ragged sigh, but I wouldn’t let him pull me closer.
I traced the hard line of his jaw, the dark stubble scratching soft against my skin, then kissed the wild thrum of his pulse point, feeling his heart hammer fast and wild beneath my lips.
His head fell back into the pillows, a rough broken sound tearing from him, fingers flexing helpless against the sheets.
I moved to his shoulder, finding the jagged silver scar of an old knife fight, cutting right through the Iron Angels ink there. I kissed it slow and lingering and felt him shudder hard beneath me. “This one is mine now,” I whispered against his skin.
Further down, right over his ribs, was the pale round mark of an old bullet wound – the one he’d almost died from, left bleeding out in a ditch until Pres had dragged him free.
I traced the ragged edges with my tongue, kissed deep and reverent, pouring every bit of love I had into erasing the memory of the pain.
His whole body arched up beneath me, a ragged broken sob tearing from his throat as I mapped every part of the story he carried in his skin. Every mark his dad had left on him.
“Danika… sweetheart, you’re killing me,” he choked out, raw and wrecked, fighting the urge to reach for me.
But I wouldn’t stop. This was how I loved him back, how I gave him the same safety he’d given me. I kissed every scar, every mark, every line that told of fights he’d stood for his family, for his brothers, for us. Every rough patch of skin was a story of him protecting the world I belonged to.
I was working my way lower, his control fraying thin, when his patience finally snapped.
With a roar of unbridled hunger, he wrapped his arms tight around my waist, flipped us over in one smooth powerful move, and pressed me deep into the mattress, his dark eyes burning down into mine.
“My turn, old lady,” he growled, his voice dropping to something feral and possessive. “You can worship me later. But right now, you’re mine.”
He came down over me like a storm, claiming me with a hunger that had been building forever, every touch heavy with history and promise both. He loved me the way only he could – wild and tender, fierce and true – and I let him take every part I had to give.
Afterwards he held me pressed tight to his chest, his heart thudding steady beneath my cheek. I ran my finger soft over the Iron Angels tattoo on his shoulder, still marvelling.
“I still wonder,” I said quiet. “How did I get here? The girl who ran from her father’s house, who never thought she’d be safe… and I walk into a coffee shop and you just… saw me. How?”
He pressed a kiss to my temple, his hold tightening warm and sure.
“When I first see you through those windows, I didn’t see a runaway,” he rumbled low, his voice thick with memory.
“I saw fire. Bright, fierce, something that burned right through all the noise and darkness I carried. You captured my attention instantly—couldn’t look away, didn’t want to.
I knew I’d burn the whole world down before I let anyone near you. ”
He paused, his thumb brushing slow over my knuckles, a rare honesty in his tone.
“That’s why I ended up disobeying orders—sat there, lingered for weeks when I should’ve walked away.
I was scared, truth be told scared my anger, my rough edges, or the life I live would frighten you off before I even had a chance.
Thought it was better to just be near you, watch you, than to rush in and break something precious.
The days away were hard—harder than any job I’ve ever worked—but I had to put the club first, keep my loyalty solid even though Pres gave me the green light to come to you two days a week.
Still… I’d find any excuse to circle back, just for one more look.
It was better than not knowing you, better than never seeing you at all. ”
I breathed deep, his words sinking in, warming me deeper than the sun ever could.
It felt overwhelming, and perfect knowing he’d fought his own nature, risked his place, just to stay close. I wasn’t just a girl he’d found; I was something worth waiting for, worth protecting, worth bending rules for.
“You didn’t scare me,” I whispered, my voice thick with feeling. “Even then… I felt safe. Like you were the only thing steady in all the noise. I’m so glad you stayed.”