Chapter 26
Twenty-Six
Melissa
“Give me the damn cake.” Hella thrusts his palm toward me. He only just walked in on Garret and I decorating our current distraction. I didn’t see him after the whole hot shower sex, but I figured whatever Beast needed was important.
A laugh spills from my throat as my knife glides through the chocolate layers, the cake splitting open about as fast as my legs did when I first met Hella.
I slide the plate across the counter toward his waiting hand, then ease my weight against the kitchen table's edge.
Hella's fork hovers midway to his mouth, one eyebrow arching as he jabs it toward the remaining cake. “Are you not going to eat any?”
He pauses, fork suspended between plate and parted lips before the front door squeaks open and Jada's voice carries through.
“Sorry, I'm late!” Grocery bags rustle as she rounds the corner into the kitchen. “Oh, yum! Cake!” Her dark hair swings forward as she bends to press her lips against Garret's crown. “How was the kid?” she asks, shopping bags still dangling from her wrists.
“Which one? Hella or Garret?” I tease, and Hella's eyes narrow at me. I chuckle before turning to Jada. “He’s great. I don't mind watching him whenever you need.”
She places the bags on the counter. “It shouldn't happen again. A client waved fistfuls of cash demanding no one but me, so Sophie had no choice but to drag me in.”
Hella nudges his head. “I need you to start on my leg.”
Jada nods, pulling an apple from the bag. “When you're ready.”
Her gaze shifts to me, dark eyes scanning. “You have any ink? Aside from the doves on your hips?”
I shake my head.
Hella hooks his finger in mine, tugging me down onto his knee.
Garret flashes a cheesy grin my way while Jada continues unpacking groceries, unfazed.
One of Hella's hands settles around my upper thigh as he attacks his cake with the other. Being with him feels terrifyingly natural.
My fingers trace idle patterns on Hella's knee as I catch Jada's gaze. “No, none at all. But I've been thinking about getting one.” I straighten slightly. “Was planning to corner you about it, actually.”
She nods, the apple crunching between her teeth as she considers me. “What were you thinking?”
“One that goes up the side of my thigh?”
Her eyes sweep along my leg, lingering where Hella's fingers rest. “That'd be hot. Do you know what you want?”
I tilt my head, fingers still tracing circles on Hella's knee. “Not really.”
She brushes my comment away. “We can work all that out.”
Hella's hand splays against my belly, his fingertips pressing with gentle possession as Millie bounces down the stairs.
“It's ready?” she asks, eying the cake. She cuts a piece and takes a seat at the table, grinning like a twit at Hella.
I look around the room. “Is no one even slightly surprised where I'm sitting?”
They all answer, “No,” while keeping their eyes on whatever they're doing.
I scoff, shaking my head. What the fuck does he want now? Hella taps my leg. “Come on, I wanna run something past you.”
I stand, my pulse already picking up speed. “Run what?”
He takes my hand, his grip firm and possessive. “The fact that I'm not dealing well with having to keep my hands PG because of who's around.”
Jesus. The admission hits me square in the chest. Hella directs me up the stairs and into my bedroom, his fingers still wrapped around mine like he's afraid I'll bolt.
He takes a seat on my bed and runs his hands over his face, the gesture so uncharacteristically vulnerable it makes my stomach flip. “Fuck, I'm really not good at this.”
“Not good at what?” I ask, closing the door behind me. The click of the latch feels final.
“This,” he answers, gesturing between us with a frustrated wave.
I stand a few feet away from him and cross my arms, needing the barrier. “That makes two of us.”
It's true; we've woven each other into a messy web all based on the fact that we make each other horny. And now what? We're supposed to talk about feelings?
His eyes look up to mine and something shifts in my chest. Something I don't have a name for and don't want to examine.
“So what do you want to do?” I ask, searching his eyes for answers I'm not sure either of us has.
“Honestly?” he says, his eyes still locked on mine and his thumb caressing my palm. “Anything you want.” He yanks me down onto his lap as his arm curls beneath my leg, cradling me. I wrap one of my arms around his neck. “What do you want, Melissa?”
I swallow, nervous about how this could go. “Can we just… go with it?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, babe. I can do 'go with it' with about anyone else, except you.”
My brows draw together. “What's that supposed to mean?”
“It means I have no fucking idea what I'm doing or how to do it.” The admission scrapes against his throat. His hands tighten on my waist, fingers pressing through thin fabric. “But I'm willing to give it a shot with you and only you.”
My breath catches. “Are you asking me to be your old lady? Because...”
“No.” The word comes out too fast, too sharp. His jaw works as if he’s trying to force himself to slow down. “No, not that. Not yet, anyway. But I want you to be mine and only mine, and no one else's.”
“So… you wanna date?” I smile, my voice kicking up.
Hella pauses. “Dating sounds too casual, too temporary. Like you could walk away.” His mouth curves up in a grin. “Like I'd let you.”
My mouth falls open. “So what is it?”
He shifts me on his lap, pulling us closer until there's no space. “You're mine, and that's it.” He squints playfully. “I think you get the picture.”
“On one condition,” I add, testing the waters.
He locks up, as if his muscles seize. “Yeah? And what's that?”
“You're mine, too. No one else's. And I'm dead serious, Hella,” I begin. “If you so much as tilt that cocky fucking smirk at any other woman, I won't kill her, I'll kill you.”
He laughs, his chest vibrating against mine. “Done. But for the record? I may not have done this before, this whole girlfriend thing,” he says, rolling his eyes, “but I'd never cheat on you, Melissa. Those were games, which you played as well, I'll add.”
“No more games,” I say sternly.
“Ehhhh….” His eyes narrow. “Just switch up the game boards.”
I laugh as he wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me further into him. I spread my legs on either side, straddling his body. The rock hard muscles under all his clothes tense with each movement.
I run my finger down his square jawline and over his tattoos. “Do these mean anything?”
He laughs. “What? You expecting me to be sentimental?” He sees the smile on my face and continues. “Aside from the fact I’m free enough to get them? No.”
I snort. “Why am I not surprised? So… none of them mean anything in particular?”
“Nah, babe. They all just mean that I wanted them, so I fucking got 'em.”
“Fair enough.”
He raises my shirt slightly, displaying my hip bones where my only tattoos lie. “These mean something? And watch what you say, babe, 'cause if they have anything to do with another man, I'll fucking kill him, and then get Jada to cover them up with my initials.”
I shake my head slowly with a small smile. “They just mean control. It was something I could control after… what happened.” His jaw clenches, his grip around my hips tightening. I bring my hand up to his cheek and run my thumb across it. “Hey.”
He moves his face out of my hand, picking me up and placing me back on my bed. “They need to pay for that. If you were my old lady, I'd rip them from this world and you wouldn't have shit to say about it.”
I pull my knees up to my chest. “I can't talk about this again.”
His eyes turn to stone before they soften slightly. “Back to why I brought you in here. You're staying with me from now on.”
“What?!” I crawl off the bed as he buries himself in the closet, pulling out my clothes. “I can't! I don't even know where you stay or who you live with or what your living situation is like.”
He drops my clothes onto the bed and sighs. “I live alone, Melissa, and I stay on the property, but toward the back by the stream that runs around the clubhouse. It's hidden away and no one really knows about it except the brothers.”
“What?” I gasp. “How big is the land here?”
“Fifteen-hundred acres,” he answers, picking up my clothes again. “Beast’s tribe owned this land back in the old days, and still own it today. Well, a board looks over it but Beast overseas all final decisions, as his old man did when he was alive.”
He continues when I don’t answer. “So, here's the deal. You stay at mine now, with your sister. You can swim in the stream and shit. It’s linked to the lake in town.
Beast's dad had the cabin built when Beast and I first arrived. He wanted us to have our own home away from the clubhouse. When he died, Beast purchased a house in town so I took over the cabin.”
My throat tightens. I know I should tell him everything, every single thing, but then what?
“O—kay? But, I need to sort out the bakery if I’m staying longer.”
He kisses my forehead. “That's being handled, don't worry your pretty little head about that. Soon, you'll be able to go back and our boys won't have to fight with Karian every time they follow her.”
I choke on a laugh. “She's fighting with them?”
“Yeah, pretty hard too,” he chuckles. “But they ain't bothered.”
“Sorry,” I wince. “I should have warned you, her kid's father was a biker. Fucked her up pretty good before ditching. She has a code of no bikers and all that.”
He shrugs. “So that's a yes? You're bringing your stubborn ass with me? I don't need to pull any caveman bullshit with you?”
I glare. “I'm coming.”
“Thank FUCK for that!” Overly dramatic but okay!
I hurl the pillow at his face but he snatches it mid-air, his eyes turning to slits. “Did you just...?” The mock outrage in his glare has my stomach flipping. He tosses the pillow across the room and launches himself at the bed.
Fuck, here we go.
His weight crashes into me, driving me back into the mattress. A squeal rips from my throat—embarrassing as hell, but I can't stop it.
“Come here!”
His mouth finds my neck and I'm yelling again as he blows raspberries against my skin like we're fucking twelve.
My hands shove at his shoulders but I'm laughing too hard to put any real force behind it.
The vibration against my throat sends stupid tingles down my spine, and just like that—our clothes disappear.