Chapter Seven
Sunny
Three hard knocks on the bathroom door startle the shit out of me and I break our kiss, shying away from the sound and deeper into the corner of the cubicle as Bones instinctively puts herself squarely between me and the door, using her own body to shield me from view in the blink of an eye.
“Maria, is that you in there?” Marcus’s voice sounds right outside the bathroom door, and he is not a happy man.
“Yeah, it’s fucking me!” she fires back. “Can’t I get a little privacy?”
“I don’t like being locked out of my own office without warning, hermana,” he answers evenly.
Bones rolls her eyes and I feel the tension leave my body. “I’ll be out in five,” she says, her voice raised and her tone one that nips any chance for argument in the bud.
“I’m not waiting on you, Maria. Find me in the shop when you’re done.”
I hear the office door close, and it seems we’re alone again. I breathe a sigh of relief. “Well, that was close.”
“Sorry about that,” says Bones, stepping back to give me more space. “So, where were we?”
I give the tall, dark, and gorgeous babe a playful poke square in the chest. “Um, we were racing against the clock to wash up, change, and get the fuck out of here,” I say. “Mr. Killjoy out there is not happy from the sounds of it...”
“Mr. Killjoy?” Bones bursts out laughing under the spray of the shower and she looks glorious.
Her long, almost pitch-black hair spills down her breasts to trail over her darkened nipples like a midnight waterfall.
“I fucking love that!” She reaches out to twirl a honeyed lock of my hair around her finger, teasing her lower lip with her teeth all the while.
“But seriously, fuck him,” she says nonchalantly.
“Five minutes ... ten minutes ... who’s counting? ”
“I am,” I say, pursing my lips as I give Bones my best ‘I mean it’ look.
“I only just ingratiated myself to your brother. I don’t want to give him a reason to distrust or dislike me.
My ex is a controlling jerk... I mean ..
. there’s still half a chance he might come after me.
He doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” The words are out before I even truly register what I’ve said, and a wave of fear washes over me.
Tears prickle at my eyes and fall, disappearing poetically down the drain.
“Hey, hey, hey,” says Bones, placing her hand to my cheek.
“It’s okay, sunshine. My brother has a temper and sometimes it bubbles over when he’s under pressure, but he is a good man and won’t take back his offer of protection.
And if your ex is dumb enough to try and track you down, he’ll have to deal with me—not to mention the rest of the club if necessary—and I hate that asshole already. ”
My heart gallops in my chest, memories of being trapped in a gilded cage smothering me with anxiety as they flood back. I nod into her cupped hand and close my eyes, hoping against hope that this freedom I’ve stumbled into really is forever. I’m no one’s slave or punching bag. Not anymore.
“I’m going to take care of you, just like I promised,” says Bones, breaking into my reverie.
“I’d do it even if you didn’t want me to.
I don’t trust easily, but when I get a gut instinct about someone, I trust it.
And I just know I’m meant to be in your life, Sunny.
” She wraps me up in her arms, our bodies skin to skin as she strokes my wet hair.
“Take a deep breath. Be calm, baby. The Sons of Sin have your back and from now on, you can consider me—if nothing else—your personal bodyguard from this moment forward,” she says against my ear. “You deserve to feel safe.”
I sigh, relaxing into her, my head against her chest. “Thank you, Maria,” I say, raising my face after a minute. “I can’t explain it, but being with you makes me feel safe.”
“It’s settled then. No more stress,” says Bones with a smile on her face. “Let’s clean ourselves up and see what my dumbass hermano wants. After that, what do you think of takeout and a night-in on the couch? I have A/C and a bottle of American Honey...”
My whole body shivers, a visceral response to the idea of a chill and safe night-in after the abuse I’ve suffered.
I gingerly reach up and touch my bruised eye in memory and flinch at just how tender it still is.
Bastard. Sucking in a deep breath, I suppress the darkness that threatens my peace from a distance with practiced ease and nod. “That sounds perfect.”
Bones lathers up a red washcloth and holds it between us, her dark gaze boring into mine. “Can I offer you a hand?” she asks, a smile quirking the corners of her lips. “I promise, I mean it totally innocently.”
Despite my wanting not to label anything yet, being so near to the Latina rider becomes more and more intoxicating with each passing moment.
There’s something magnetic about her, and it feels like so much more than natural charisma.
It’s something inherently her. As the water sprays over us, my breath catches in my throat, and I lick my lips as I make up my mind.
“Yes,” I gasp when I remember how to breathe again. “Please.”
Bones adjusts the shower so that it’s warmer, then reaches out tenderly to press the scarlet red flannel to my chest before her hand begins to move back and forth, cleansing the sweat, stress, and fear away from my flesh with each pass.
I stand as tall as my five-foot-two-inches allows, my chest heaving with every breath as the cloth and the fingers behind them descend to brush over one touch-tender nipple at a time. I whimper with desire as my pussy throbs, pulsing in my ears to the beat of my heart like a jet engine.
“Is that okay, sunshine?” Bones asks, her voice husky but strong.
I nod without thinking, unable to tear my eyes from the way her hands guide the cloth over my hot flesh.
Her tattooed fingers glide over my skin, her intentions seemingly pure.
But as they trace an eternity symbol over my chest—one breast to the other in a figure eight—my body reacts of its own accord and just like that, it doesn’t matter anymore.
Any of it. I’m going to live each day like it’s my last. No regrets.
“Fuck your five minutes,” I say as I close the final space between us in a single heartbeat.
I stretch up on the tips of my toes and steal a passionate kiss, giving into what I want simply because it feels right, because it’s what I want.
It feels liberating and terrifying all at once, but I’m done trying to fit the mold and I seize the opportunity.
Bones’s tongue tangles with mine and soon the washcloth is forgotten entirely. In the next instant the sexiest woman I’ve ever met pushes me against the cool bathroom tiles, her gaze afire with an unhidden and unapologetic need that matches my own.