Chapter 16
TAMSIN
Icouldn’t believe he’d gotten himself so badly hurt and tried to downplay his injury as just a scratch. The only reason I wasn’t yelling at him right now was that he was letting me drag him to his room so I could take care of the cut on his shoulder.
When we reached his door, he unlocked it so we could get inside. Then I pointed at the edge of his bed. “Sit.”
He did as I asked without a smile or complaining, and that was how I knew he was actually hurting.
“Please tell me you have a first-aid kit somewhere in here so I don’t have to go right back downstairs for supplies.”
He tilted his head toward the en suite bathroom. “Under the sink.”
“Stay put.”
I hurried over and grabbed the kit, only pausing to dampen a clean washcloth. When I set the kit on the bed next to him, he reached for it. Shaking my head with a deep sigh, I moved it away from his hand.
The corner of his mouth kicked up. “Bossy.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“Still attractive.”
I huffed because it was true, which just irritated me more. “Take off your cut and hold still.”
He slowly shrugged the leather vest off his shoulders, and my concentration lasted about two seconds before my gaze drifted over his bare chest.
He caught me looking and grinned. “Need a closer inspection?”
“I need you to stop talking,” I gritted out.
“Didn’t answer my question.”
My lips pressed into a firm line when I got a better look at the stitches and bruises spreading over his side. All humor gone, I made myself focus on cleaning the cut on his shoulder.
I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that somebody had known the route he’d taken. That he’d actually been ambushed. “I knew you were hurt as soon as I heard your voice on the phone.”
“You’re getting too good at reading me,” he murmured with a glimmer of his real smile.
“You’re staying with me.” I spread ointment over the cut that didn’t look quite as bad now that it was clean. “I’ve been studying you.”
His hands went to my hips to pull me between his knees. “Planning to continue, so you’ll get plenty of closer looks.”
He kept hold of me while I gently laid a square of gauze over his tanned skin, and he seemed amused by my shaky movements. But beneath it all, I could tell he was worn out. “I kind of want to take care of you and shake you in equal measure.”
“I know.”
“I’m sure you do,” I murmured as I grabbed the tape to put over the gauze.
He watched me smooth the final piece over the dressing. “I love you, pretty girl.”
My hands froze as I gaped down at him. “That’s a terrible attempt to distract me.”
“Wasn’t trying to.”
The grin was still on his handsome face, but nothing in his dark eyes said he was playing. “I love you, Tamsin.”
With every outrageous thing he had decided since we met, I shouldn’t have been surprised that he chose this moment to share those three little words with me. I finally understood that his certainty had never merely been part of the danger surrounding us.
My eyes stung, but my smile broke through before the emotion became too heavy. “I love you, too.”
His hands tightened at my waist.
“You look way too pleased for a man with a fresh bandage.”
He shrugged. “You love me.”
“I do.”
He grinned up at me. “Knew you were smart and pretty.”
I swallowed a laugh and kissed him before that smile got any worse. He quickly took it over, locking a hand at the back of my neck while the other dragged me across his thighs until I straddled him. What I had meant as a way to shut him up turned hungry enough that I forgot why we had come in here.
My fingers gripped his shoulders as his hand slid under my shirt, spanning the bare skin at my waist. His thumb brushed higher, and a whimper slipped out of me. I rocked against the thick ridge behind his jeans, and he gripped my hips to pull me down harder.
The roughness of his movements sent heat through me because it made me feel claimed. And the softness that he only gave me was still in the gentleness he used while cupping the back of my head.
Then he stood with me wrapped around him, and my legs locked low on his hips. He turned and brought us down to the mattress, being careful not to crush me, his teeth scraping the sensitive skin at my throat.
I was too consumed by what his mouth and hands were doing to remind him to be careful of his injuries. But then a fist hit the door hard enough to rattle it.
“Ghost. Stryker wants you in his office. ASAP.”
Gavin’s mouth stayed on my throat. “He can fucking wait.”
The brother outside sounded way too happy about his job as he added, “Reaper says if you bust your stitches with whatever you’re doing in there with your woman, you can sew yourself back up.”
“Worth it,” he mumbled against my skin.
“Prez is still waiting.”
I buried my burning face in Gavin’s neck and tried not to laugh.
“Don’t encourage him,” he murmured as he lifted his head and looked at me.
I batted my lashes innocently. “I haven’t said anything.”
“You’re laughing.”
“Quietly.”
He stared at me like he was seriously considering ignoring Stryker’s order.
I touched the edge of the bandage I had just put on. “You should go.”
“Should is doing a lot of work in that sentence.”
He kissed me before straightening my shirt. “This isn’t finished.”
“I gathered that.”
His smile came back with a sexy edge. “How’d I get so fucking lucky?”
After he left for Stryker’s office, I stayed on the edge of the bed long enough to fix my curls so they weren’t quite so wild.
My lips still felt a little swollen, but there wasn’t much I could do about that.
But if I stayed in his room, I’d just keep replaying how he’d gotten hurt, so I got up and headed out to the lounge area again.
Now that I’d seen Gavin for myself, I didn’t need to pace to stop myself from screaming. So when I saw that Jacqueline and Bex were still on one of the couches facing the televisions on the wall, I headed in their direction.
“Come sit.” Jacqueline patted the cushion between them. “Drink?”
“I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
They shared a look before Bex murmured, “Club soda.”
Jacqueline got up to walk over to the long bar along one side of the room and asked the guy behind it for my drink. As she returned, I noticed the slight curve of her stomach and wondered if Bex was pregnant too.
Jacqueline handed me the glass, and Bex shifted to make more room on the couch for us all to sit together. They treated me like I belonged, which helped me to feel more comfortable in the heart of the Black Crowns’ domain.
Now that we were all settled, Bex’s gaze drifted over my hair and my mouth. “You’d think a locked door meant something in a clubhouse.”
I laughed and blushed hard enough to confirm everything she hadn’t said. After that, our conversation was easy because Jacqueline and Bex treated me like someone joining their circle rather than a nervous guest who needed to be handled carefully.
When Gavin came back down the hall, Jacqueline let out a low whistle. “Dang, he looks like he’s ready to get back to whatever you two were doing before the interruption.”
“He sure does,” Bex agreed.
The women stood and flashed Gavin quick smiles before giving us some privacy. He sat beside me with a sigh and filled me in on what he could share.
“The key and the burner from the road point at an isolated storage property. We think the outside crew may be sitting on stolen Bellamy stock there. Brothers are already watching the roads and property from a distance. We’ll confirm who uses the site, how many men, and whether anything’s moving.”
“When do you go in?” I asked, hating the possibility that he could get hurt again but appreciating that this whole ordeal may soon come to an end.
“When we know what’s waiting.”
I knew him well enough now to spot the cold intent under his relaxed expression. “You want to go after them now.”
“Yeah.” His hand closed over my knee. “But I can’t be careless because I plan to be here when you wake up every day for the rest of your life.”
His answer gave me the reassurance I needed.
He squeezed my knee. “Which is why we’re staying here tonight.”
I wasn’t going to argue about the change in plans when he’d already gotten injured tonight. “Fine. But I didn’t pack a bag.”
“Got extra shirts.” He stood with a grin and pressed his palm against the small of my back. “You’ve already proven you look better in mine.”
I winked. “But I look the best out of them.”
“That you do,” he agreed, the unfinished heat from earlier starting to rise again.
Once the door shut, he finished what he’d started before we were interrupted. I didn’t last long after two mind-blowing orgasms, quickly falling asleep with his arm around me and his breath hot against my hair.