Chapter Eleven #2
The corner of his mouth curled, and he walked to the bed, dropping the phone to the table. He had to keep it close, but he wouldn’t be answering anyone else unless it was urgent.
“We’re gonna do this a lot.” Wraith got into bed next to her with his back against the headboard.
Cleo wiggled her way to a seated position while keeping the sheet covering her breasts. For all her eagerness, she was still shy around him. He’d change that, but it’d be at her pace. I got all the time in the world for you. He’d waited years for her, and now she was his. Mine.
There were a few revelations about being with Cleo for the first time.
One he didn’t see coming. Virgin. It was a discovery he found peace in.
For Wraith it wasn’t about ego in being the only man.
She’d been abused for years, and he knew some details but not all.
Confirmation that she hadn’t been violated in that capacity was a small saving grace for Cleo. But she didn’t escape it all.
“Do you always take women to hotels?”
The question caught him off guard. He had no intention of discussing his past while naked in bed with her. There’d be time if she wanted to know, but for now that subject was off limits. He didn’t need her doubting or comparing herself with others. For Wraith, she was the only woman.
“Do you always go to hotels with men?”
Her brows knitted. “You’re my first.”
Wraith lifted his brow, and she immediately shifted, tightening the sheet around her.
“I mean, the first man I’ve been to a hotel with.”
“Is that the only first?”
She licked her lips, stalling. Cleo could try to play it off, but there was no chance of masking the blush spreading across her cheeks. Or the reality. The second he was inside her, he knew.
“I had a boyfriend in high school.”
Oh, we’re playing this game. Wraith steeled his features, holding back his smile.
“Yeah?”
“We were” —she cleared her throat— “Intimate.”
“You fucked?”
Her smile fell. “Not that intimate.” She covered her face with her hand.
What the fuck?
“Hey,” he snapped, and she parted her fingers, peeking through the opening.
“Could you tell?”
There was no shame in being a virgin and therefore, no reason for him to lie. But he sensed her insecurity as if being her first time, she might not measure up to his past. The last thing he wanted her thinking about was not being good enough. This woman was everything to him.
He hesitated too long. Her shoulders sagged, and he saw where her mind was going. He hooked his arm around her waist, dragging her over his chest.
“No, I couldn’t tell.” He brushed her hair away from her eyes. “But I fucking like it.”
Her lips twitched and she peeked up through her lashes. “You like being my first?”
“And your only.” He pulled her down and kissed her.
Ever!
****
Wraith could’ve spent the next few days locked up in the shitty motel with her.
But he had to meet up with Ace. His president was in the yard when they pulled in the next morning.
Wraith had every intention of giving the whole club the breakdown of how things had changed.
They’d all seen it coming. According to Ace and Cross, they were waiting on it.
He parked the bike and waited for Cleo to get off first. He expected her to walk inside, but she waited in front of the bike. He walked toward her, and she leaned closer.
“Gotta talk to Ace.”
She gasped and spun around. Apparently, she hadn’t seen Ace when they pulled in. She stepped back and waved to him.
“Bye.” Cleo skittered off.
What the fuck? She was almost out of his reach, but he was able to grab the corner of her shirt. “Get back here.” He tugged lightly, and she shifted her gaze between him and Ace.
Wraith spread his hand just above her ass and cupped her jaw. “Relax, Cleo.”
She widened her eyes. “Ace can see us. Are you okay with that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know. We never talked about being together.” She shrugged and lowered her voice. “In front of everybody.”
Cleo didn’t get it. She was the last one in the whole clubhouse to realize that she was Wraith’s and had been since the minute she’d stepped foot in Killcreek.
That was on him. Wraith caressed his thumb over her cheek and kissed her.
Cleo was not at ease, and while she kissed him back, it was tense and unsure.
He broke from the kiss but kept her close.
“You’re with me. They know that. Nothing more to talk about.”
She flattened her lips, seemingly unhappy with his short declaration. Wraith wasn’t brushing off her concerns but they had no merit. No one would take issue with them being together. But? She didn’t know that and if reassurance was what she needed, then he’d give it to her.
“But if you want to talk then we will, okay?”
“Okay,” she blurted.
He pulled back, smirking. “You want to go inside?”
She quickly nodded.
Cleo would get used to being with him publicly in front of the club. But it would take some time. And he’d give her that.
“I’ll come find you when I’m done.”
She smiled and ducked her head, not even acknowledging Ace, who had started to walk over. She practically ran up the front stairs and into the house within seconds.
“Well.” Ace smirked. “What do the kids say? You just made it official?”
Wraith scoffed. “Ace, I’m thirty-five. I don’t fucking know what the kids say.”
Ace laughed. “I’d say it’s about fucking time. The brothers would agree.” Ace folded his arms and glanced over to the front door.
“How’s this gonna look, brother?”
Wraith knew what he was asking. Cleo at the clubhouse as Knox’s sister was an entirely different scenario than being with him.
It would change the dynamic. The club had lived by rules and made an exception for her.
But a couple living among the brothers was different.
For his part, Wraith wanted privacy with her and going to the motel was a temporary fix.
But long-term? He needed something more.
It wasn’t an original idea but a damn good one. There was plenty of space in Killcreek.
Wraith dragged his hand down his beard. “Pull some Ghosttown shit and build some houses?”
Ace snorted. “We could do that.”
Fucking Ghosttown paving the way. Who would’ve thought!