Chapter 30
Lark
After showing Anthony where I had stored the weapons in the tavern and the supper club, we walk back up to the house.
As we reach the porch stairs, Anthony turns me toward him and grasps my hips. He hesitates and I wait, not wanting to rush him.
“I didn’t push you too fast this morning, did I? It’s okay if you aren’t ready to come over.”
Stepping closer, I reach up and wrap my arms around his neck. He hums when my fingers start running through his short hair.
“No, I didn’t feel like you were pushing me. I want to spend time with you, meet Igor, see your house, the guys, Mama Astrid… and see the clubhouse.”
Over the past year and a half, I’ve gotten to know everyone in the club pretty well. Some more than others, obviously.
Well, I don’t know any of the bunnies I should say since I haven’t been to the clubhouse yet.
That reminder has a bit of wariness creeping in, and although I haven’t told him yet, I know I’m already in love with Anthony. If the bunnies start any shit, I’ll make sure to finish it. I will not let those women ruin my happiness.
He leans down, kissing me.
Pushing thoughts of the bunnies away for now, I sink into him, and groan internally when I hear the front door open. I pull back breaking the kiss, not wanting to get carried away in front of my family.
“Is there anything else you need to get besides Void?”
I nod in response to him. “I need to grab his things.”
“Got you covered on that front, Honey,” Ma says and I turn, leaning against Anthony who shifts slightly, but keeps one arm wrapped around my waist.
Ma’s carrying a couple of tote bags and Granny’s holding Void as well as his harness.
I frown.
I need a lot more than that.
Litter, litter box, cans of food as well as dried food, scratch tower, and some of his toys. I open my mouth to say just that, but Anthony puts a finger to my lips, silencing me.
He gives me a sheepish look and I swear he blushes slightly. “I kinda already got some stuff and food for Void, and don’t worry, it’s the same brand and type of food you already give him.”
My heart does a little flip at the knowledge that he’s already taken that step to make Void comfortable in his house, but then again, he knows how much Void means to me. Even though I got him with the intention that he’d be a family cat, Void primarily bonded with me.
Granny walks over to us and I take Void and his harness from her. Bending down, I slip it over his legs and properly secure it. At the same time, Anthony walks over to Ma to get the other bags. A moment later, I can hear him talking with both of them quietly.
As I connect Void’s leash to his harness, I nibble on my lip. It’s true that I don’t feel like he rushed me with wanting to stay over this weekend, but my mind is still reeling from something else he said this morning.
“I want you in my life which also means, when you’re ready, I’d like you to move in with me.”
If someone had asked me last year if I would ever move off our family’s property or out of our family’s house, I would have told them ‘hell no’. That I would live here until the day I died.
However, that’s been something I’ve been thinking a lot about ever since Kelly’s parting words that day last year when I caught Aiden and her together. At first, I still didn’t think I’d move out or build my own house.
But then the fire happened.
Then there was Anthony’s kiss and his words a month later when I saw the house and supper club for the first time after the fire.
That was a turning point for me and ever since then, I’ve been having second thoughts about my decision to stay here. Even more so since we started rebuilding. I mean, I still put the ‘Thompson stamp’ on the house as Pappy used to say, but my feelings have changed.
This will always be my home, but I don’t think it’s where I’m meant to be going forward.
For once in my life, I can actually see myself living elsewhere.
Hm… I wonder if this is how Uncle Mark felt when he first moved out to be with his girlfriend at the time?
Could I see myself living with Anthony?
Yes.
Could I see myself sharing my life with Anthony going forward? As his woman? His wife? His Old Lady?
Yes, yes, yes, and yes.
Heat runs through me at another thought.
Children.
I feel myself blushing at thoughts of being with Anthony intimately, and of course, he chooses to glance over at me as I think that, and I feel my blush deepening. I hate that I blush so easily.
His eyes heat, but then he breaks eye contact when Ma says something.
Void takes that moment to hop down off my lap and starts inspecting the grass around us. Contrary to most cats, Void actually likes going on walks outside and will happily trot alongside me as we walk the trails that were put in throughout our property years ago.
Standing, I look over at Anthony and feel my chest warm as I watch him still chatting with Ma and Granny.
In the past, neither one of them had a problem with bikers coming into the supper club, so it didn’t surprise me that they didn’t have a problem with Anthony’s club whenever they came in. However, after they stood up for me, Ma and Granny’s opinions of them skyrocketed, especially of Anthony.
I hear Granny telling him to lean down so they can give him a hug, and I smile again at seeing them together. He kisses both of their cheeks and I bite my lip to keep in my chuckle when they get a little flustered.
He straightens and turns toward me, picking up Void when he walks over to him.
“Ready, Darlin’?”
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
He pauses as he looks down at Void and scratches his chin. “Does this little guy have a carrier?”
Turning, I reach through the open window of my car and grab his carrier off the front seat. “Yup. While he will go in it without a fuss, he isn’t the biggest fan of it, so I always wait till the last minute to put him in before I take him anywhere.”
I unzip the opening and if he could, I swear Void would be sighing as he reluctantly crawls inside. Opening the front door, I set his carrier on the seat and then secure the carrier in place. Then I place the totes Anthony was carrying onto the floor.
Shutting my door, I turn and am about to say something when Anthony leans down, kissing me.
I moan and barely register the sound of our front screen door opening and closing.
His hands go to my waist and his thumb traces my hip.
A current of need zips through me straight to my clit.
I rub my thighs together, trying to get a little friction.
Unfortunately, Anthony pulls back a moment later and I can’t stop the whimper that escapes me.
His eyes darken at the sound and I bite my lip. My body wars with my mind, but I don’t want to take things further out here where Ma or Granny could see us.
“We best be heading out, Darlin’. Follow me. We’ll head straight to my house on the clubhouse grounds.”
He gives me an all too quick kiss before he pats my hip and turns, walking over to his bike that he’d brought up here after we were done at the tavern.
I do my best to tamp down my lust as I climb in behind my steering wheel, but then he throws his leg over his bike.
Fuck.
He looks so sexy on his bike.
A mental image of us together intimately on his bike suddenly comes to me and another whimper slips out before I can help it. What is this man doing to me? I’ve never gotten this aroused by someone before.
My mind flashes to the day after I caught Aiden and Kelly together and to Miracle’s toast.
“Here’s to Lark. May you always stay true to yourself, Babe, and never let anyone tell you that you aren’t worthy. This is just a speed bump. You are a strong, independent woman and I know you’ll find the right person to share your life with when the time is right.”
My chest warms as I watch Anthony get settled and start his bike.
This time… This time I think I’ve finally found someone who wants me for me. Who loves me for me. Resolve fills me at that and I make a promise to myself that I’ll tell Anthony how I feel later when we’re alone.
As if sensing my eyes on him, Anthony turns, and when he sees me staring at him, he gives me that sexy little smirk of his and I clamp my thighs together.
“Fuck, Void. If this is how I’m going to be around Anthony, I think I’m going to be living in a perpetual state of arousal.”
Anthony backs up and I start my car, following him down our lane.
As I watch his careful progress, I frown as the gravel crunches and moves under his tires. Looks like I need to have a conversation with Ma and Granny about possibly paving our driveway to make it safer for Anthony and any of his brothers that may come over.
Twenty minutes later, Anthony slows down as we near the gate to the clubhouse. Nerves swirl in my stomach as I get my first good look inside their compound.
The clubhouse is a two-story building with aged but cared-for wood siding. Surprisingly, there are quite a few windows in the front of the building. A deck wraps around the front, then down along one side of the building, and it looks as if it may even wrap around the back of the building as well.
As I follow Anthony further in, I realize there are four houses nestled back here as well as a few townhouses.
Anthony parks his bike in front of a two-story farm-style house that has white siding and black trim.
Internally I do a little happy dance when I see he has a wraparound deck.
I’ve always wanted one but had resisted putting one in on our family’s house because we wanted to rebuild it as close as possible to what Grandpa Raymond had built.
Parking next to him, I unclip Void’s carrier, grab the tote bags, and go to open my door, but Anthony beats me to it. He holds out his hand to help me, and for a moment, I flash back to when he did the same thing at my house after the fire.
Shaking off that memory, I smile up at him, take his hand, and step out, closing the door behind me. Already I can hear Igor barking madly from inside and I shake my head as my smile widens.