Chapter 12 #3
Once he finally pulled out, he watched as his release began dripping out of me. He stared transfixed, just like he always did.
Sometimes he’d use it as a way to mark me. Or he’d pull it out and let me lick it from his fingers. Once he just spread my legs and instantly hardened again, shoving himself back into me until he came again.
I didn’t care what he did as long as he continued to do it with me, but this time my mind was drawn to what he’d said.
We both needed to catch our breath as we came back down from the high. He helped me off the table and turned to find a rag for the mess I’d made when he’d made me squirt.
I watched as his back shifted with all that muscle, and then I just blurted.
“Did you mean it?”
He stopped mid wipe, slowly standing, still naked and sweaty. His longer hair fell across his forehead and my fingers shifted to push it back.
“Mean what?”
For some reason I was nervous saying it, but I swallowed and said, “Making me your wife.”
He stepped forward; his mouth parted right as a hard knock landed against the front door.
Instinctively, I covered my breasts with my arms, but I was in the kitchen, out of sight of anyone who would be on the porch.
Silas narrowed his focus on me, standing close enough to hold my hip.
“Go take your shower, baby. I’ll stay until you’re out and I know you’re safe.”
I knew better than to draw this out; he had to get back to the club.
With a dip of my head, I moved toward the hall, but before I’d entered the bathroom, Silas called at my back.
“I’ve wanted to make you my wife since I was seven years old. Whenever you’re ready to carry my last name, you’re welcome to have it.”
I paused, smiling back at him. The knock came again from the front door and before I could reply, he was turning around to pull on his clothes. I dipped into the bathroom and shut the door while hope blossomed in my chest.
Hours slipped by while I remained huddled in Sasha’s closet. It had the wardrobe she and Silas would hide in all those years ago. It was big enough for me to lie down in when I took out all her guns and ammo.
Half an hour after my shower, I heard the first signs that something might be off.
More members than normal were pulling in, drinking, yelling and getting worked up.
There were too many, and if any of them decided to check out who was in the house, there would be no hope for me.
So, I’d taken my phone, my sandwich and two bottles of water with me and pulled the wardrobe doors shut.
Sometime after that it sounded as though the entire sky had fallen on us as the rumble of even more engines rattled the windows and the very foundation of the house.
There were shouts and a few gun shots. I had no idea what was going on, but I knew it wasn’t good.
My fingers trembled as my nerves tangled into a ball of anxiety in the pit of my stomach.
I’d texted Silas, but he hadn’t even seen the message. Same with Sasha.
At some point I fell asleep and when I woke, it was still dark outside, but Silas had finally texted me.
Silas: Where are you?
I shot back a text explaining the wardrobe and within minutes he was knocking against the door.
Sliding out from behind the space, I let him pull me into his arms and carry me back to our room. Sasha was sitting at the kitchen table smoking a cigarette, which was something she never did unless she was scared.
“What happened?” I asked Silas quietly, as he shut and locked the door.
He moved to the windows and checked those too, then pulled all the bedding off the mattress and laid it on the floor. I watched him with a quirked brow.
“What’s going on?”
His voice was all gravel as worry threaded each word. “We’re sleeping down here tonight. Not risking gun fire.”
I lay down next to him, curling into his chest as he began stroking my hair.
“Dirk had someone kidnapped tonight. The daughter of Simon Stone.”
The word Stone caught my attention. “Stone Riders?”
He hummed a yes, still staring at the ceiling, so I waited for him to continue.
“Her father came to broker a deal for her, but before he showed up, her boyfriend snuck in and rescued her.”
It slowly registered then the seriousness of what had actually happened. Dirk had abducted someone…a girl.
“How old is she?” My voice was thick with emotion as fear began forming and taking a new shape in my chest. Of what Dirk was capable of.
“Eighteen, I think…close to our age…Mom and me, we helped get her out but Dirk found out we were involved.”
Dread was a solid block of cement in my gut as I began to process what this meant.
“He’ll punish her,” I mused nearly in shock.
If he wanted to punish Sasha then it meant she no longer stood favorably in his eyes. Which meant she could no longer protect me from him.
“I need to leave tomorrow morning. Dirk sent out a group of men to look for something, but I have a bad feeling he’s trying to find someone to traffic. I need to stop the raid and make sure no one gets hurt.”
Utter defiance and worry warred in my heart as I knew that was the right thing for him to do, but a feral desperation had me begging him to stay.
“Please don’t leave, Silas. If your mom might be in trouble then I think you need to stay.”
“She knows how to take care of herself. She’ll just lie low. If she goes anywhere, you need to go with her. I won’t be gone more than a few days.”
I sat up, glaring down at him as tremors worked their way into my fingers and hands.
I didn’t want to tell him about Dirk’s interest in me.
I knew Sasha would hate me if I did and I owed her too much.
She’d sacrificed herself and her own happiness to keep him occupied, so Dirk didn’t look at me.
I wouldn’t betray her by telling her son that I might be in danger.
Glancing away a stubborn tear welled in my eye, falling down the tip of my nose.
Silas wiped it with his thumb and pulled me back down.
“I’ll be back before you know it, I promise.”
I knew he would, he always came back, but this time I feared what might happen while he was gone and without Sasha there to protect me, what might unfold while he was away.
“Make me your wife before you leave again,” I said quickly.
Silas’s gaze snapped to mine, narrowing.
“What?”
“Make me your wife…you said you wanted to, if you’re leaving tomorrow then make me your wife tonight.”
He started shaking his head, but I stood and started looking for a sundress to pull on.
“Natty, it’s midnight, how are we supposed to—”
I turned back, my expression firm as I found a pair of boots, “Lance was ordained last summer for his mother’s wedding. He can do it.”
Silas was up, blocking me from the window. I guess in case there was random gunfire.
“Rings?”
I held up my palm. “Give me a tattoo.”
He was shaking his head, his jaw working back and forth, but I was determined. If he was leaving me here, and I knew Dirk would come for me, whatever happened to me would be done as Silas Silva’s wife.
“You’re only nineteen…”
I shrugged, pulling on a sweater. “You’re twenty.”
“We’re young, baby…we have our whole lives—”
I stepped up and cut him off with a kiss, pulling his hand to my chest, forcing his palm to cover my heart. “I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but whatever it is, I want to face it as your wife.”
His lips found mine and he laughed.
“We need a license and to apply for shit…it takes time. I’ll marry you, Caelum but let’s do it right.”
Grabbing his hand, I pulled him out of the room and toward the back door. “Tonight, Silas. Marry me tonight.”
Silas followed me into the starry night, and with my hand firmly in his, I knew I could face whatever was coming next simply because I’d face it as his wife.