Chapter 11
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
“ A re you sure about this?” Lyla asked Rock two hours later as they stood in his driveway.
Rock wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into his side. He’d just handed the keys to her rental to Storm, the club VP. Another member, Blade, had dropped Storm off at Rock’s house so he could return Lyla’s car.
“You don’t need a rental car, Baby girl,” Rock stated. “I have both a car and a bike. I can only drive one at a time. Besides—” He pulled her closer and faced her, “—you’re not going anywhere alone until that guy is caught. What would we do with three vehicles?”
She blew out a long breath and nodded.
He knew he was pushing her. He couldn’t stop himself. Part of him was simply being practical, but another part was feeling more possessive and controlling than he’d ever felt before.
Storm pulled away with her rental, and Blade followed him.
Lyla slumped against Rock. “You’re rushing me.”
“Mmm.” He cupped her face and kissed her. “Is my cock still in my pants?”
She rolled those pretty eyes.
“Now, we can take my car or my bike.”
“Bike,” she responded without hesitation.
“How many times have you been on a bike?”
“Twice.”
His brows shot up. “Baby girl, you were on my bike twice.”
“Yep.”
He set his forehead against hers.
“And I loved it. It was exhilarating. I want to do it again.”
“Are you sure you feel up to it? You’ll have to hold on to me tight. Your arms are bruised.”
“The bruises only hurt if you touch them. Don’t grab my biceps, and we’ll be fine.”
It was a gorgeous day out. Chilly, but not too chilly to ride the bike. “All right, but you’re wearing my cut. I don’t want you to get cold.”
“I can’t take your jacket. I have my own. I’ll go grab it.”
He shook his head and led her back into the house. “Baby girl, I have more than one.” He grabbed two off the hooks inside the kitchen and held one up to help her into it.
She tucked her nose under the front and inhaled deeply. “Smells like you.”
Fuck, she was sexy. Everything she did was sexy. Every movement. But right now, she was damn gorgeous wearing his cut. She’d never done that before.
“Got everything you need, Little Lyla?”
She grabbed her satchel. “Yep. Phone, ID, credit cards, sketchpad. I’m good.”
As badly as Rock wanted her behind him on his bike, he was certain his dick was going to be hard the entire time. His girl was going to flatten her chest to his back, wrap her arms around him, and hold on. There was no better feeling in the world.
Back outside, he grabbed a spare helmet from his saddlebag and secured it over her head, snapping it under her chin. “I’ll mount first, then you grab onto me and swing your leg over behind me.” He tucked her satchel in the saddlebag.
“Got it.”
Seconds later, his Little girl was plastered to his back, her arms tight around his chest. He could get used to this. Hopefully she would enjoy riding with him and want to do so often.
Too bad her parents’ house was only a few miles from his. He didn’t get to spend nearly as much time riding with her as he would like, but she needed to meet Ink and Breaker at the house and let them in.
“Holy shit,” Lyla muttered as he parked in her driveway and turned off the engine.
He twisted to look at her. “Language, Little girl.”
Ignoring his reprimand, she looked around. “Why are so many members of the MC here, Rock?”
“Safety, Baby girl.” He helped her dismount before doing the same.
“Don’t you think this is a bit overboard?”
“Nope. I think my Little girl was attacked inside this house last night. I’m not taking any chances with her safety.” He took her hand and led her to the front porch.
King stood by the door. He took Lyla’s keys from Rock and turned to unlock it. “I’ll check inside. Be right back.” King disappeared.
Rock tucked Lyla into his side and hugged her close. “You okay, Little Lyla?” he murmured into her ear.
“I think so. Just overwhelmed. I don’t know what I would do without your help today. There’s no way I could have returned to the house and picked up where I left off.”
“Well, you don’t have to. I’m here.”
King returned to the entrance. “It’s all clear.” He smiled and held out a hand to Lyla. “Nice to meet you. I’m King. You must be Lyla.”
“Yes, Sir,” she muttered. She lowered her gaze to the logo on his shirt. “Are you a firefighter?”
“Yep.” He rubbed his eyes. “A very tired one.”
Lyla’s eyes widened. “Oh. I’m sorry. Did you just get off a rotation?” It was adorable that she was so concerned about others.
King chuckled. “No, but I met and claimed a certain Little girl named Ella recently, so I haven’t been getting enough sleep between rotations.” He winked at Lyla and lowered his voice. “Not that I’m complaining.”
Rock took her hand and led her inside.
Lyla leaned close to him and whispered, “Does everyone know who I am?”
“Yeah. I didn’t tell anyone except Atlas before I headed over here to see you last night, but I had to get the MC involved after your attack, Little one. None of them know our history yet. I’m sure they’re curious, but they’re too polite to the old guy to bombard me with questions.”
“You’re not old,” she quipped. “If you are, then so am I, and I refuse to be old, so stop saying that.”
He squeezed her hand and continued through to the kitchen, where he set her satchel on the counter. “I’ll do my best, but I gotta warn you, the guys will call me old man anyway. I can’t stop them.”
Lyla glanced at the cooler and winced. “Shoot. I meant to go to the store this morning and get more supplies. Lunch and drinks.”
Rock opened the fridge and laughed when Lyla gasped. “I sent a few guys to do that for you this morning.”
“But I wanted to pay for it!” she exclaimed.
Rock chuckled. “Baby girl, that’s not happening. It was kind of you to get Ink and Breaker lunch yesterday, but that was a one-time thing.”
She put her hands on her hips. “You can’t do that, Rock. I have to pay for the people working on my house.”
He closed the distance and stalked her until she backed up against the wall. He loved the way her breath hitched as he closed in on her. “Baby girl, people have work done on their house every day. They don’t buy the workers’ lunch.”
She pouted. “Well, they should. It’s kind.”
He cupped her face. “I love that you’re kind. Most people aren’t. I’ve got lunch, Little Lyla. You can pay for the home improvements. A bunch of the guys are going to pitch in and get the job done. I don’t like you hanging around this house any longer than necessary.”
“Okay,” she murmured as her hands came to his front and slid under his cut to press against his chest.
He tipped her head back farther and narrowed his gaze at her. “If you were planning to leave town the moment they were done, I’ll send them all away now and slow the process to a crawl.”
She grinned. “That had been my plan. I figured it would take a few weeks; then I could put the house on the market and leave. I don’t need to be here while it’s up for sale.”
He growled. “Lyla…”
She giggled. “I promise I won’t bolt immediately just because the job is done.” She slid her hands higher, wrapping her fingers around his shoulders. “I met this guy…”
He smirked. “I’ll cuff you to the bed at night and not let you leave my sight during the day if you’re planning on bolting, Little girl.” He knew this was mostly banter. She was teasing him. But he realized it was true that she had planned to leave. She hadn’t known he would even be in town or available when she arrived. Staying in Shadowridge hadn’t been on her bingo card.
He fully intended to change her mind.
“Mmm. I might like the idea of being cuffed to the bed, but you don’t have to do it all night. I’m not going to run.”
Rock sobered completely and pressed his body against hers. “You ran once. Took me nearly four decades to get you back. It will kill me if you do it again.”
She licked her lips. “Neither of us can be certain things will work out between us. It hasn’t been a full day. We might have conflicting views on something that would be a deal breaker.”
He shook his head. “We won’t.”
She rolled her eyes.
Rock slid his hands down to squeeze her bottom. “If I spanked you every time you rolled your eyes at me, you wouldn’t be able to sit for a week.”
She shivered delightfully.
He groaned. “My girl likes the idea of being spanked.”
“Maybe.”
“Seems like you’ve been living a very vanilla lifestyle. Has anyone spanked you, Little Lyla?”
“Yes. You did. I remember it well.”
His chest tightened. Fuck me . Part of him felt sad that she’d spent all these years ignoring her Little. Most of him was fist-pumping from the realization that all of her kinky experiences would be his. He would be the one to reintroduce her to a life she’d turned her back on. He was so anxious to do so that he wanted to drag her into one of the bedrooms, lock the door, take her over his knees, and spank her bottom until she writhed. He wanted to follow that up by finger-fucking her sweet pussy until she screamed.
Not here. Not now.
Lyla clenched her butt cheeks in his palms. “I should go talk to Ink and Breaker. See if they need anything.”
Rock gently kissed her lips because he couldn’t resist. “Okay, but this conversation isn’t over.”
She kissed him back. “None of our conversations are over, Rock.”
Damn straight .
“I need to talk to some of my brothers. You deal with the renovations.”
“Okay.”
When he eased back, she grabbed his hips and moved with him. “For the record, I’d rather be alone with you right now, and I suddenly feel like a teenager again.”
He cupped her bottom again. “Me, too, Little Lyla. Me, too.”