Chapter 6 #2
“You fell in love with him?”
She looked away from me, and bit her lower lip. I knew she did that when she was trying not to say something. I sat up and pulled her lower lip from her teeth with my thumb.
“You never loved him, did you?”
She shook her head, and I saw the guilt behind her eyes. “I loved him as a friend, and as my saviour, but I could never fall in love with him. I just didn’t feel it with him.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said, smoothing her hair behind her ear. “You know what happened, that’s not on you. Dog made his choices, and you had to live with them.”
She smiled, but it didn’t meet her eyes. “I should have done more. He was so angry that I didn’t love him back. Maybe if I tried more, he wouldn’t have turned to the drugs.”
“Baby, that man was always going to get hooked. It was just his personality. He hung out with the wrong types of people in the club, and he did what he wanted. I saw the way he treated you. I fucking hated it. I knocked him out once for it, and I could have easily done it again and again. It’s not your fucking fault, and you need to stop living with the guilt of it. ”
I wiped at the tears falling down her cheeks, hating that she felt like this because of that fucking asshole.
“I feel guilty because I could never…you know like I do with you.”
I felt a swell of pride at that. “Good. I don’t want to hear about you and him like that, actually none of your others. I wouldn’t handle it well.”
She entwined her fingers with mine and kissed them. It did things to me that it probably shouldn’t have. A tender moment had me harder than fucking stone.
What the hell was happening to me?
“Why did you go back?”
“My sister.”
“Tell me about her.”
“Darby, she’s my half sister. When I left, she was only a few years old.
I always thought she would be safe because her mum was still around, but I found out a few weeks ago that her mum left.
Just up and left her in a den of men who rape and destroy women.
She reached out to me, and I knew from some of the stuff she said that my father was going to use her too, just like he had done with me. ”
“Why not just come to me and explain?”
“I was ashamed of who I was,” she said and I wanted to hurt every man who had ever made her feel so insecure. “The only person here, besides you now that knows about who I am, was Ace. He never made a big deal about it, and I knew my secret was safe. That I was safe here.”
“Yet, you went back to the enemy without telling anyone,” I said. “Why didn’t Ace stop you?”
“I didn’t exactly tell him what I was doing. I needed to get my sister, and I knew the club had a million things going on.”
“But you knew I would have helped you,” I replied. “I would have gone and gotten her out. For you. I would have done it because you needed me to, and I want to be needed by you. Fuck, I want to be wanted by you.”
She closed the distance between us and kissed me hard, her hand moving to the back of my neck and holding me there. I kissed her back just as hard.
“I do want you,” she said in a whisper against my lips. “I want you more than I can say, and it scares the ever loving fuck out of me.”
I kissed her again, pulling her on top of me as I laid down onto my back.
She straddled my waist and leaned down, kissing me, my hands running up and down her back.
I knew exactly what she meant. I would fucking die for this woman…
right fucking now. I’d never been able to say that about anyone before.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered against my lips, pressing her forehead to mine. “I didn’t want you to get hurt, or even be around him if I’m being honest.”
“Protecting me?” I asked, smirking. “I can handle my own, baby. I’ll never let anything or anyone come to hurt you.”
“Would you go savage on them?” she asked, smirking down at me.
“In a heartbeat,” I responded.
Her eyes widened and she sat up, looking down at me. Her chest was rising and falling hard, and I could see she was a little breathless.
“I would rip anyone apart if they dared even look at you the wrong way. I’m not like most men, Shona, I don’t put on a song and dance about how dangerous I can be. I am danger. I am what people are scared of in the dark.”
I saw the desire in her eyes as her irises flashed darker, and her breathing quickened. I moved my hand to her neck where I could feel her blood rushing through the veins. Sitting up, I held her to my chest.
“You like that…you like knowing what I could do to anyone who ever dared to come near you?”
“I shouldn’t,” she said, her voice soft and low. “But yes.”
“That’s what makes you so fucking perfect for me, Shona. You accept my darkness, and you fill me with the light to pull me back every damn time.”
I crushed my lips against hers. She moaned into my mouth, her arms twisting around my neck, pushing her body against mine. My cock was immediately hard. It always was for her.
The knock on my door was the only thing pulling me from taking her again.
“What?” I barked out. Shona chuckled as she leaned back, away from my lips.
“Church, brother.”
It was Viper.
Fuck.
He wouldn’t have interrupted unless it was urgent.
“Go,” she said, getting off my lap. “I need to call my brother and check in. I’ll be here when you get back…I promise.”
I got off the bed and pulled her to me, wrapping an arm around her waist and biting down on her neck. She cried out, but I heard the desire in her cry. She loved it. She loved when I marked her, just like I loved it when she scratched the shit out of my back.
“You better be.”
With that, I grabbed a shirt and headed out of the room and into the chapel.
“What news do we have?” Ace asked once we were all sat down at the table.
“Alasdair is willing, but we may have a bigger problem,” Viper said, shooting me a look that said I should be the one telling him.
“You know who he is so I think you know what the problem may be, Prez.”
Ace sighed. “That’s where she went?”
I nodded. “She’s back now, and sees the error of her ways. The only problem is…he’s a ratbag. He needs to see inside of a body bag.”
“Three weeks,” Ace said. “We need his help for three weeks before Eamon can secure the exclusive trade in Belfast. Can you hold off on whatever needs to be done that long?”
I looked at Viper. He knew exactly how dire it had been, but he had no idea about the shit that Shona had just admitted to me.
“I want Shona to come tell you what the deal is.”
Ace sat back in his chair. “Invite her in.”
“Church is sacred, Prez,” Blaze shot out of his little mouth, and I was about to knock my fist into his jaw for the insult to my woman.
“Shona has been part of this club since before half of you,” Ace said, firmly. “She is one of us, our family, and she has information we need. Information that won’t be easy to talk about. If she wants, she comes in here.”
Blaze sat back, pouting like the little bitch he is.
“I’ll get her.”
I stood up, and headed to my room. She was lying on the bed, her phone in her hand. When I came in, she frowned. “That was fast.”
“We need you to come and talk about the Destructive Sons,” I said. “It’s the only way.”
“Oh…I just assumed you would tell them.”
“It’s not my story to tell, babe.”
Her features softened as she understood what I was saying. She put her phone down before I grabbed a pair of her denim shorts she’d left in my room once and secretly had been keeping them so she would have to come and claim them for herself.
“How did you get these?”
“I may have forgotten to tell you that you left them behind once.”
She smirked at me. “Of course you did.”
Quickly, she pulled them over her legs and hid that ass I liked to smack so much from view. She tucked the corner of my shirt into the top of the denim so it didn’t look like she had no pants on and took my hand as I led her out of my room and into the chapel.
She pulled back. “I’m not allowed.”
“Yeah, baby, you are. Come on.”
I opened the door and ushered her inside. She was nervous, I could feel it coming off her in spades as everyone looked up at her when she entered.
“Come and take a seat, Shona,” Ace offered. “You’re more than welcome in here.”
I pulled her down onto my lap, and she relaxed a little.
I caught Viper’s smirk. By doing this I was claiming her as mine, even if she wasn’t aware of it yet.
He’d been at me for years to lock her down, and I could tell he was getting his told you so speech ready.
I didn’t care. He could say it was all him all he likes.
This thing between me and Shona had been long, had more ups and downs than driving in a four wheel drive over rugged landscape, but ultimately, she’d always been mine since that first kiss.
As Shona recounted what they needed to know about her father and his club, I could see the tension rise in Viper’s shoulders.
He wouldn’t say anything to alarm Shona while she was in here, but I could tell there was something he needed to raise with me.
It was a silent language we’d both had since we were in the orphanage.
A way to communicate without being beaten and locked in the attic for two days.
“Thank you, Shona. I know that’s not exactly fun to repeat. It goes without saying that you are safe here and one of us, no need to fear him.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
I ran my hand up under her shirt and moved my hand in slow circles on her back.
She relaxed into my hold immediately. I hated that she had such a shit life, like I did.
I wanted to kill every fucking person who ever made her cry or hurt her.
I would rip their heads off with my bare hands and feed it to their dogs.
She stood up and left us in the room, closing the door behind her. Ace’s eyes were on me, and although I know he knew about us, the obvious act of affection was new to my brothers. He didn’t say anything about it. We had bigger fish to fry than to talk about my current dating status.