Chapter 4 #3
“It’s time to party, girl,” one of the club girls said just as Viper wrapped his arm around her and led her over to where a stereo sat in the wall by the back door. Rebel stood by the back wall with Savage. I caught his glance, but he was back to being the serious Rebel from before.
Fuck.
Rebel
I said goodbye to the last of the club members and closed the door behind them, activating the front lock and moving back inside to find all the mess they’d made cleaned up. The kitchen was sparkling and the bins had been taken out.
At least they did something other than drink all the booze and eat all my snacks. I searched for Darby but couldn’t find her in her bedroom or bathroom. Panic set in and I started to think she might have escaped while no one was looking.
She wouldn’t have. She’d been comfortable with me here.
Before that damn kiss…after that we’d both been on edge.
It had been stupid, I knew that, but once her lips were on mine, I hadn’t been able to control it.
I’d wanted her in a way I could scarcely deny.
The way she moaned into me, god…my cock had been harder than fucking stone.
If they hadn't knocked, I would have taken her against the countertop.
I knew that for a fact. Why then was I so fucking angry they had interrupted?
Being with Darby would be a mistake. I knew that… and yet.
I moved out into the lounge area and saw her sitting on the back steps of the deck, overlooking the gardens and the woods. Moving out to join her, I could sense something was wrong. I needed to make it okay again. I needed to help her.
Whatever this was between us…it had only gotten stronger the longer we were here, and if we were going to be friends after this, I needed her to know I was here for her. No matter what.
“Are you okay?” I asked, coming to sit next to her on the top step. She looked over at me, tears shining in her eyes.
“Shona let slip what happened to Keefe,” she said, her voice uneven. I wanted so desperately to take that pain from her, protect her from the world she was born into. “Did you know?”
“Yes,” I told her, honestly.
“They told you not to tell me.”
Fuck, she didn’t seem that mad at me right now and that made me feel things I really had no business feeling. I needed her to know it wasn’t my choice.
“I wanted to defy them a million times over, but when Prez tells you something, you gotta follow it. I’m sorry.”
She shrugged her shoulders but I could tell it hurt her that I hadn’t told her. We’d built so much trust in the last few days, weeks even, and yet I’d been keeping everything from her.
“I guess that’s why he’s not here and you’re forced to babysit me,” she said, looking out into the woods again. “It makes sense.”
“I’m not forced to do anything,” I told her. “If I asked to be replaced, they would do it. I haven't, which means I'm here because I want to be.”
She looked back at me and I saw her eyes move to my lips, probably replaying that kiss in her head like I had been all night, and back up at my eyes. “Thank you.”
“Come inside…you’ll catch your death out here.”
She let me help her stand up and lead her inside where I locked the door. “I really miss Keefe. He’d been my protector when no one else would. He was even in the middle of securing a bike for me.”
“You ride?” I found myself asking, surprised. Most women in clubs never rode unless it was behind their man.
She nodded and smiled up at me. “You don’t think a girl can ride?”
“No,” I sighed. “I just…didn’t see you being someone who rode and now that I say it out loud that sounds worse.”
She chuckled and wiped at her watery eyes. “I get it, and to answer your question, yes I love riding. I love the freedom, being able to ride, the thrum between my legs from the engine, the sound, the wind in my hair…everything. It's liberating.”
Fuck, Kendrick, you’re in trouble…stop looking at her like that.
I still had the feel of her soft lips against mine implanted in my brain, the way her body melted against mine, the way she moaned into my mouth which had only had my cock pushing up painfully against my jeans.
Stop it.
“I’m going to get some sleep,” she said. “See you tomorrow?”
“You bet.”
I watched her walk through the house and down the hall toward her bedroom.
It took everything in me not to go after her and finish what we started in the kitchen.
I wanted to hear that kitten purr my name.
I wanted so much to bury myself in her, to take away her pain, her misery, and show her what a real man could do.
But I couldn’t.
I couldn’t be what she needed and that killed me.
No…it was best to steer clear until her brother was found and she could be free…
I awoke to the shrill sound of screaming. I knew it was Darby before I even woke up properly. Grabbing my gun, I ran down the hall and kicked in her door. She sat up, her eyes wide, and her body sweaty. She was panting as she looked over at me, wild-eyed, and tears streaming down her cheeks.
I knew instantly.
It was a nightmare. My phone would have gone off if it had been something else, or an intruder.
I immediately put my gun down on the bureau and came over to the side of the bed and pulled her into my arms. She clung to me like I was the only thing holding her from floating away.
My chest ached that she had to suffer through so much pain and I couldn’t do anything to help her.
I soothed her hair away from her face and just held her.
I knew she had a tough life but that scream… that had been terror.
Real, pure terror.
“Th-thank you,” she sobbed into my chest. She pulled back and wiped at her eyes.
“Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?”
She shook her head vehemently. “No, not really.”
“Okay, I’m just gonna sit at the end of your bed until you fall asleep again, okay?”
“You can sit on the other side. Talk to me…”
“I can do that,” I said and shifted over to the spare side of her bed. Sitting against the headboard, I crossed my ankles over and got comfortable. She laid down on her pillow again, and sighed deeply.
“Go wash your face,” I told her. “It will help you to fall asleep again.”
“Good idea,” she replied, before she got out of the bed and padded over to the bathroom ensuite.
Her ass cheeks were hanging out the bottom of her panties that came up halfway to her ass almost like a thong but…
not. My cock was hard pushing against my sweatpants I’d fallen asleep in.
Luckily for me, since I normally fell asleep buck ass naked, tonight had been relatively cool and I’d shoved them on.
I shifted my cock and thought of anything but her gorgeous derriere so I didn’t come off as a creep.
When she came back, she offered me a slight smile before she tucked herself back in. “I don’t get them that often.”
“What are they about?” I found myself asking.
“Usually situations I found myself in that I needed rescuing from…you know when I was younger.”
I grunted, hating that she needed to be rescued when it was her own father’s club.
She should have been off limits but I knew from Shona that that wasn’t how the Destructive Sons were with their women.
They were tools to be used when they were needed.
If I could revive him, I’d do it over and over again just so I could keep killing him.
The terror in her screams told me enough. I never wanted to hear her scream like that again.
“Did you have fun tonight?” I asked her, trying to lighten the mood.
“It was okay,” she said with a sigh. “I liked the cocktails more.”
“I have to admit those fruity concoctions were nice,” I laughed. “But lethal. I was drunker than I cared to admit.”
Her giggle was music to my ears, and I found myself smiling down at her. “They’re the best.”
She yawned and I could see her settling in, her eyes drifting closed.
I couldn’t get over how devastatingly beautiful she was.
Shona was beautiful, but Darby was next level compared to her and I wished I could give her what she so obviously wanted but it would be a mistake.
I didn’t want her to regret it after all this was over.
It may help to pass the time while we’re here together but she was young.
She’d get attached and I never wanted to be the one to break her heart.
I didn’t think I would be capable of being the one to make her cry. I’d kill whoever dared try to upset her again. That, I knew without a shadow of a doubt.
“I liked the cocktails because it was fun with you,” she said softly. “That kiss was the best present I’ve ever had, though.”
My chest ached at her admission. I had to admit it but that kiss was explosive. I never intended to lose control the way I did. If fate hadn’t intervened with a surprise party, I would have had her under me in mere minutes.
Then where would we be?
I couldn’t respond, and I didn’t need to. Her soft snores told me she’d fallen asleep. I didn’t want to wake her so I stayed in my spot, with every intention of leaving later and going back to my own bed.
But I made the critical error of lowering myself on the bed and falling asleep once my head hit the other pillow.