Chapter 9 #2
“Shouldn’t you let me decide that?”
“What happened didn’t just involve you. I got a say, too.”
He was right. It took two to tango, and if he didn’t want to dance, then she needed to accept that. “Okay. Sorry to bother you. I just thought…”
She closed her eyes and did her best to tamp down the rising disappointment.
She’d gone to his apartment that morning to find out why he disappeared. But that wasn’t the only reason.
She also wanted to kiss him again and see where it led when there wasn’t a crowd of friends and family on the other side of the door.
When it was only the two of them.
Alone.
In private.
With an actual bed nearby.
He cocked a dark blond eyebrow. “No, that’s the problem, Lyric, you didn’t think. ‘Cause if you did, you’d know why hookin’ up with me would be a fuckin’ mistake.”
“You men are stubborn to a fault.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “Holy fuck. And you women ain’t?”
She pushed on. “I’ve known you my whole life, Ash. I trust you completely.”
“Trust you, too, baby. That’s why I let you touch my skin with all those goddamn needles.
And you know I fuckin’ hate needles. But that don’t mean we should—” His Adam’s apple bounced when he swallowed.
With a frown, he downed the rest of his spiked coffee.
“Respect your parents. Respect you. Don’t wanna fuck with that mutual respect. ”
With a shake of his head, he unplugged the coffee maker and balanced the empty mug on top of the mountain of dishes already piled in the sink.
She stepped closer, and when he turned to find her in his personal space, his head jerked back. “Lyric, you’re more than a fuckin’ hole to fill.”
Well, she guessed that was one positive.
She cupped his face. “I would hope so.”
His eyes softened and he rubbed his bristly cheek against her soft palm. “Like I said, ain’t smart, baby,” he whispered.
“Who’s going to know?”
“Me and you. Don’t wanna fuck up anythin’ between us.”
“I don’t, either. You don’t know that it will.”
“Don’t know that it won’t.”
She sighed.
“Anyway, you know the fuckin’ rules, Lyric. I’d need to approach Crow first. Since I ain’t lookin’ for an ol’ lady, he ain’t gonna give me the okay to bang his daughter when I ain’t lookin’ for y—” He caught himself and finished with, “Anyone to wear my cut.”
He was right about the first part, and as for the second? Damn it, that was most likely true, too.
Sex wasn’t something she wanted to discuss with her father, either, and never would if she had the choice. “I won’t tell a soul.”
He didn’t look convinced. “Even Avery?”
“Especially Avery. I simply thought…” She huffed out a breath. “You got hard when we kissed.” Heat rushed into her cheeks.
“Yeah, and?”
“And I thought…”
“Doin’ too much thinkin’, woman.”
That wasn’t anything new. “I figured since…we spend a lot of…you come into the shop a lot…”
Jesus, Lyric, get your shit together.
“No shit. We’re family.”
Family.
His explanation made her start to take a step back, but before she could create a gap between them, he grabbed her hip and kept her close.
Tipping his head down, he stared into her eyes and gently brushed his tattooed knuckles along her cheek. He then closed his eyes and groaned out a, “Fuck. Never said I didn’t want you. Just said it ain’t smart.”
“Look at me,” she whispered.
She lost her breath when his eyes opened. He appeared torn. Tortured. As if he wanted to make the right decision but was about to make a wrong one.
And she was the wrong one.
“Don’t wanna fuck shit up between us, baby. I don’t. Need you in my life and don’t wanna give you any reason not to be.”
That possibility made her heart ache. “I’m not going anywhere.”
A crease wrinkled his brow. “Kyra left.”
“She left because…” She left because Zeke had cheated on her. But Lyric wasn’t asking Ash to be exclusive. Truth be told, she didn’t know what she was asking for.
A chance, maybe. To see where this could go.
“She left because she had nothing to keep her here, Ash. I do.”
“She had her family.”
“But her family is nothing like ours. Nobody leaves ours.” That sounded more ominous than it should. It wasn’t like nobody could leave; prospects did all the time. The majority simply choose not to. Including the women.
It was a lifestyle they all knew and loved, despite the cons.
And one of those was dealing with stubborn bikers. Like their fathers, brothers, uncles, and grandfathers.
As well as the man standing before her.
“Can we…” She pulled in a breath to fortify herself. “Can we kiss again to make sure it wasn’t a fluke?”
Did she sound desperate? She had always had a crush on Ash, even as kids.
It was the way he carried himself and how he handled life.
Despite his occasional explosions, he never took his temper out on any of the women.
Even when they did stupid stuff. No matter how annoyed he could get, he still remained overly protective of them.
And that was also why he was the perfect manager for Heaven’s Angels. He might lose his patience with them sometimes, but he also knew how to handle the women without getting beaned in the head with a perfume bottle. On purpose, anyway.
“A fuckin’ fluke? That wasn’t a fuckin’ fluke. My hard-on wasn’t a fuckin’ fluke, Lyric. Goddamn!” He spun to face the sink, bracing his hands on the edge of the counter and dropping his head.
He took a few deep breaths, then went eerily still.
Had she pushed him too far? Was his anger about to erupt?
All she asked for was a kiss. “Ash, I didn’t mean to—”
He rounded on her so quickly, she automatically took a step back. “The fuck you didn’t,” he growled.
With a hold on her hip, he pulled her into him at the same time he grabbed her braid and yanked her head back. Her lips parted in a gasp only a fraction of a second before his mouth slammed down on hers.
Holy shit.
Bracing her hands on his bare pecs, his skin was hot under her fingers. She wanted to explore every inch of him. Not as a tattoo artist, but as a woman interested in being more than friends. And definitely not “family.”
He tasted of coffee with a hint of whiskey, but that godawful perfume seared her nostrils. It might be fine for a woman swinging around a pole a distance away from another human, but up close and personal, it was atrocious.
He took complete control of her mouth while maintaining a tight hold of her hair, then released her hip only to collar her throat instead.
His thumb pressed deeper into her neck at the point where her pulse pounded wildly.
His erection had returned, but it was definitely not morning wood this time. Solid proof he wanted her, too.
A groan slipped from between her lips when his grip tightened on her hair to the point that her scalp began to burn.
Without warning, he ripped his mouth free from hers. His voice was the deepest she’d ever heard when he growled, “This what you fuckin’ wanted?”
Oh yes. And he had no idea just how much.