Chapter 11
KEVLAR
For the first time in longer than I could remember, I wasn’t waking to adrenaline, tension, or the kind of hyper-alert readiness that never really left me. Not even years after the military. I was warm, grounded…anchored. Because Maren was in my arms.
She was curled against my chest, her breath steady and lips parted slightly as she slept.
Her skin was warm and flushed, and her legs tangled with mine beneath the sheets.
My arm was wrapped around her waist, and my palm was splayed over her belly like it belonged there. As if protecting what was mine—Maren.
Shit. I hadn’t used a condom any of the times I’d taken her through the night. I waited for panic to take over, but instead, I felt hope. I realized I wanted my seed to take root. To see Maren round and swollen with our baby.
I knew I’d need to talk to her about the fact that I’d come inside her without protection, but I wasn’t ready. So I didn’t move because I didn’t want to, but also because I didn’t want to wake her and risk breaking whatever this was.
However, I knew that when reality intruded, she would still belong to me. Hell, she’d been a virgin last night and let me claim every inch of her. She’d given me everything without hesitation or fear. It had undone something in me.
The sun filtered in through the blinds, casting soft stripes across her back. Her hair spilled over the pillow, and my fingers found a loose curl to twirl absently as I stared at the ceiling and breathed her in.
She sighed then, shifting slightly against me. Her thigh brushed my hip, and one of her hands drifted against my chest, dragging fingernails lightly through the hair there.
My body reacted instantly.
I clenched my jaw and breathed through it.
I’d taken her more than once last night—hadn't been able to stop myself. Each time, she’d met me with those wide eyes and soft gasps, like I was giving her something she didn’t know she’d needed until she had it.
I'd made her come with my mouth, my fingers, and finally my cock, over and over, until she’d gone limp in my arms and passed out with my come still dripping from her pussy.
I’d barely slept, but I felt more rested than I had in years.
Her eyes fluttered open slowly, unfocused for a second before they landed on me. Then she smiled. A sleepy, content little curve of her lips that punched through my ribs like a fucking round straight to the heart.
“Morning,” she whispered.
“Morning, baby.”
She shifted again, and I caught the way her brow twitched. It was small and subtle, but I noticed.
My palm slid down to her thigh, squeezing gently. “You sore?”
Her nose scrunched, and she nodded once. “A little.” Then her lips quirked. “But in a good way. Like my body finally did something worth being sore over.”
I huffed out a quiet laugh and ducked in to press a kiss to her forehead. “You let me know if it gets to be too much.”
“It won’t.”
I kissed her again. Slower this time. Letting myself savor the feel of her lips beneath mine. She sighed into it and shifted closer, one hand sliding down my chest, her fingers slipping lower.
My cock hardened instantly, and I caught her wrist before she got too far. “No.”
She blinked up at me, surprised.
“Not yet.” I brushed my thumb over her skin. “You need to give your tight little pussy a break, baby. I wasn’t gentle last night. Not even the first time.”
“Did you hear me complaining?” Her voice was sassy, but a pretty pink blush bloomed on her cheeks.
“No, but I wasn’t careful.” I shook my head and muttered, “If I buried myself inside you the way I’m dying to, you wouldn’t walk for a week.”
Her breath caught, and I felt a shiver ripple down her spine. “Okay.”
Fuck, I loved that she didn’t try to argue. She was clearly turned on but willing to do what I asked. I groaned. “When you’re such a good girl, it makes it hard as fuck not to be bad.”
She giggled, and I kissed her once more, then pulled back and climbed out of bed. The second the sheets shifted off my skin, she let out a soft sound of protest, but I just leaned down and scooped her into my arms.
Laughing, she looped her arms around my neck as I carried her toward the bathroom. I kicked the door open and stepped inside, going straight to the shower and flipping on the water.
“I can’t fuck you,” I murmured against her ear as the steam began to rise around us, “but I can still make you come. If you’re a good girl and do exactly what I say, I’ll show you all the other ways I plan to ruin you.”
Her sharp intake of breath was the only answer I needed.
By the time we stepped out of the shower, both of us were clean but still humming from what I’d done to her under the water.
Her cheeks were flushed, and her legs were a little unsteady.
I handed her a towel and watched her wrap it around that perfect, curvy body like it wasn’t driving me crazy to cover her up.
She dressed in some borrowed clothes from Stella while I pulled on clean jeans and a long-sleeve black thermal, shoving the sleeves up my forearms as I moved across the room.
Maren was barefoot, standing near the edge of the bed, wearing black leggings and a soft blue hoodie. Her damp hair was combed through but still dripping a little down her back, curling at the ends.
I crossed the room, grabbed my extra cut from the chair, and slipped it onto her shoulders before she could argue. It was too big. The shoulder seams were too wide, and it hung down below her curvy hips. But the second the leather settled over her, something primal inside me eased.
Maren’s mouth parted slightly, her fingers gripping the front edges of the vest like someone might try to take it from her. That was so far from the truth. Eventually, I’d explain to her that wearing it meant she was claimed, protected, and untouchable.
I led her downstairs without another word and sat her at the kitchen island while I pulled out eggs, bacon, and a skillet.
“Thank you.”
“You’re mine,” I replied as I cracked an egg. “You don’t thank me for taking care of you.”
My movements were efficient. Familiar. I didn’t ask if she was hungry. I just cooked, plated the food, and set it in front of her with a glass of orange juice.
“Eat, baby.”
She picked up her fork, a smile playing around her lips and a twinkle in her eyes. “I’m only eating because I’m starving.”
I stepped in behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, dragging her back against my chest until my mouth brushed her ear. “You sure it has nothing to do with how good I am at rewarding you when you do what I want?”
Her fork froze halfway to her mouth.
Then she blushed.
Hard.
The apples of her cheeks bloomed bright pink, and the freckles across her nose and cheekbones stood out like a constellation. I groaned quietly against her skin. “Fuck, I love those freckles. Especially when you blush. Sexy as hell.”
Maren ducked her head and giggled softly before finally starting to eat, her appetite apparently back in full force.
I sat beside her, watching her while I picked at my own food.
She looked more relaxed this morning, grounded.
Even after everything that happened, she’d slept peacefully, curled against me like I was the safest place in the world.
But I knew it wouldn’t last. Not once she started asking questions. And that would happen eventually.
Sure enough, halfway through her second strip of bacon, she glanced over at me, her tone casual. “So about last night.”
I cut into my eggs, keeping my expression unreadable. “Told you, baby. Not gonna fuck you again until you’re not sore.”
Maren huffed. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
Sighing, I shrugged. “What about last night?”
She raised an eyebrow.
I kept eating.
Finally, she set her fork down and turned slightly in her seat to face me better.
“I’m clearly in danger. A guy tried to drag me into a van.
That prospect got shot. You showed up like something out of an action movie and took them both down without breaking a sweat.
And then brought me to a clinic built on the compound so no one will report gunshot wounds.
” She threw up her hands in exasperation.
“And you think I’m going to just forget about it all? ”
My jaw flexed, but I still didn’t answer.
She crossed her arms. “Lucas.”
“Look,” I muttered, “there are things you’re better off not knowing, baby.”
“Oh really?” she shot back, her voice rising slightly. “You don’t think I should know why the heck someone tried to kidnap me? Seems like knowing why I’m in danger might be a good idea for avoiding it in the future!”
Her voice had risen along with the pace of her breathing, making her tits bounce enticingly. That alone made me hard. But when she got sassy…fuck.
I let out a low, frustrated breath. “You’re too damn sassy for your own good.”
“And you like it,” she retorted smugly, with a glance at the growing bulge in my jeans.
I stabbed a bite of egg a little too hard with my fork and lifted it to my mouth. “Doesn’t mean you won’t get another spanking for arguing with me.”
She sighed overdramatically and picked up her juice. “Guess I’ll just have to risk it.”
I glanced sideways at her, frowning. “It’s hard to keep my punishments effective when they turn you on.”
She nearly choked on her drink. “You’ll just have to find other ways to punish me, then.”
I grinned. “Challenge accepted, baby.”
Her lips curved into a small smile, and we both went back to eating. I figured that was it. I’d dodged the bullet, and she was going to let it go.
But then she pushed her plate back and looked at me again. “You know that didn’t work, right?”
Fuck me.
I didn’t answer, just sat there in silence until I heard the soft creak of the door behind us and boots scuffing the floor.
King crossed to the fridge without a word, grabbed a bottle of water, and twisted the cap off. He met my eyes across the room for a beat.
Maren leaned closer and lowered her voice, but I knew he’d still hear her. “You aren’t getting out of this, Lucas. I want to know what’s going on and why this happened to me.”
King cleared his throat lightly, and I met his gaze again.
Then he nodded once.
He was giving me permission to tell Maren as much as I wanted. Trying to give her information without going into club business was fucking complicated, which was one of the reasons I’d avoided it. Besides not wanting the dark side of the world to tarnish my girl’s sunshine.
The look that followed was heavier. A silent order, wrapped in the weight of leadership and the bond of brotherhood.
Tell her.
As he turned away, I pushed back from the island, stood, and held out my hand to Maren. “Come on. You want answers? You’re gonna get ’em.”
I took her hand and led her down the hall, straight to my office.
It was smaller than King’s—bare bones and utilitarian—but it was mine.
I shut the door behind us, flipped the lock, and guided her to the leather chair across from my desk while I stayed standing, pacing once before I finally faced her.
Then I gave her the truth.
Not every gritty detail, but enough. About the man who chatted her up and the meeting she’d noticed her first night.
How her reaction—small, instinctive, but sharp as hell—put her on the radar of men who made their money in the shadows.
I told her who Dunbar was. What he’d done.
Why it was dangerous. How he’d slipped past military scrutiny years ago and vanished… until her.
I didn’t gloss over the part where she became a loose end. But I did leave out just how close I’d come to killing those men last night.
She just looked up at me with those steady blue eyes, full of trust so complete it damn near shattered me, and asked softly, “What happens now?”
I crossed the space between us, cupped her face in my hands, and answered her with steel in my voice. “Now you never leave my fucking side.”