7. Chapter 7 #2
“He usually drives himself.” Reese’s jaw tightens. “He thinks no one would dare touch him.”
“Then we take him on the road between the club and his house.” I’m already mapping it out in my head. “We’ll pick the right spot to box him in, and we’ll take him and his car. We’ll use a jammer and then bring his phone back to his house with us.”
“And we’re taking him to the warehouse?” Thorne looks up from his phone.
“Yes.” I tighten my arms around Reese as she nuzzles into my chest. “And we’ll keep him there until it’s done.”
“Baby,” Ivy says, focusing on Fox. My eyes widen at my hardass brother having a pet name. I notice Thorne’s do, too. “You promised I could be there.”
“I want to be there, too.” Reese tilts her head up to look at me. “I need to see it.” Her voice doesn’t waver. “I need to watch him die. I need to know he’s really gone and he can never fucking hurt me again.”
I want to say no. I want to protect her from this, from the blood and the violence.
She’s experienced enough already. And the things I’m going to do to her father before I let him die might give her a different kind of nightmare.
But I look into those gray eyes and I see the same need I saw when she demanded to come to the house.
And I can’t fucking tell this girl no, which is going to be a problem for the rest of my goddamn life.
“Anything you want, baby girl.” I cup her face in my hands, my thumbs stroking along her jaw. “But if any of this gets to be too much, you tell me, and I will get you out of there. Understood?”
“Understood.”
I press my forehead against hers. “I’m going to make him suffer for what he did to you. You need to be ready for that.”
“Good.” The word is barely a whisper.
Fuck. This woman is going to be the death of me.
“Goddamn, what happened to my fucking brothers?” Thorne crosses his arms, but his tone is more playfully mocking. “So we’re agreed. Tomorrow morning we will talk to Dad, get him to manage the Council. Then we grab Jenson after golf, get him to the warehouse, crack the safe, and end this.”
“And if the safe is empty?” Fox raises an eyebrow. “If nothing’s there?”
“Then we make him talk.” I hold my brother’s gaze. “He’ll tell us where to find the records. One way or another.”
“He will.” Reese’s voice is cold in a way I haven’t heard before. “He’s a coward. He pays other men to do his dirty work because he doesn’t have the stomach for it himself. The second you start hurting him, he’ll give you whatever you want.”
“Then it’s settled.” Fox stands, pulling Ivy up with him. “We should all get some sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”
“I’ll take my usual room.” Thorne stretches his arms over his head. “Unless someone else claimed it.”
“It’s yours.” I nod toward the hallway. “Try not to jerk off too loud—none of us want to hear that shit.”
“Fuck you.” But he’s grinning as he heads down the hall. “Night, assholes. Night, Ivy. Night, Reese.”
Ivy crosses to Reese and pulls her into a hug. I watch my girl stiffen for just a second before she relaxes into it, her arms coming up to hold Ivy back.
“Remember what I said.” Ivy says it quiet enough that I almost don’t catch it. “Now I’m even more convinced.”
I don’t know what the fuck that was about. Reese doesn’t say anything, but I see her grip tighten on Ivy’s back. When they pull apart, her eyes are wet.
Fox claps me on the shoulder as he passes. “Get some rest, brother. You’re going to need it.”
“I’ll be ready.”
He and Ivy disappear down the hallway, and then the house goes quiet. I can hear the rain still falling outside and I’m already thinking about what needs to be done tomorrow.
Reese is standing beside me with her arms wrapped around herself, staring at the floor. She looks smaller than she did when my brothers were here. Like she was holding herself together for them and now the exhaustion of the day is setting in.
I pull her back against my chest. She comes without resistance, her face pressing into my shirt, her hands fisting in the fabric at my back.
“Hey.” I stroke her hair. “Talk to me, baby girl.”
“I’m scared.” The words are muffled against my chest. “Not of him. Not of what’s going to happen tomorrow. I’m scared of what comes after.”
“After?”
She pulls back enough to look at me. “My whole life has been about surviving him and those men. Once they’re gone . . .” She swallows hard. “I don’t know who I am without that fear. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
I cup her face in my hands, my thumbs brushing away tears she probably doesn’t even realize have fallen.
“You’ll figure it out.” I hold her gaze and will her to believe me. “Day by day. And you won’t do it alone.”
“You say that now. But once he’s dead and you don’t have to protect me anymore—”
“Stop.” I grip her chin, forcing her to look at me. “You think I’m here because I have to be? You think this is about killing your father and walking away?”
“I don’t know what this is.” Her voice cracks. “I’ve never had anyone—I don’t know how to—”
I kiss her. Not gentle, not sweet. I kiss her like I’m trying to crawl inside her and make her understand something I don’t have words for. I kiss her until she’s gasping, until her fingers are digging into my shoulders, until she stops trying to talk and just feels.
When I pull back, we’re both breathing hard.
“I don’t know what this is either.” I press my forehead against hers. “But I know that I’m not walking away from you when this is over. I know that the thought of you not being here makes me want to tear something apart. I know that you’re mine, Reese. Whatever the fuck that means, you’re mine.”
She stares at me with those gray eyes, and I watch her search mine, looking for any hint that I don’t mean what I say. She won’t find it.
“Show me. Don’t hold back and show me what it means to be owned by you.” Her voice is barely a whisper. “You say I’m not broken. Then fuck me like I’m not. I need you, Tate.”
I pick her up, and she wraps her legs around my waist and I kiss her again. I carry her down the hall to my bedroom, and I kick the door shut behind us.
I set her down on her feet beside the bed and grip the hem of the shirt she’s wearing.
“Arms up, baby girl.”
She raises her arms, and I pull the shirt over her head, tossing it aside. She’s not wearing a bra, and I take a moment to appreciate what’s mine. Her nipples are already hard. I drag my thumbs across them just to watch her shiver.
“You’re so fucking beautiful.” I hook my fingers in her sweats and panties and slide them down her legs. “Every inch of you belongs to me now. You understand that?”
“Yes.” Her voice is already breathless.
“Get on the bed. On your back.”
She climbs onto the mattress and lies back. Seeing her there, in my bed, waiting for me, giving me her complete trust makes my heart race.
I strip off my shirt and watch her eyes roam over my chest, my tattoos, the obvious bulge in my jeans. Her thighs press together, and I can see how wet she is already.
“Spread your legs for me.” I unbuckle my belt slowly, letting her hear the leather slide through the loops. “I want to see what’s mine.”
She lets her knees fall open, and the sight of her bare pussy makes my cock throb.
She’s glistening and desperate to be touched.
And I’m going to take my fucking time, because I need this as much as she does.
I need to memorize every sound she makes, every way her body responds to me.
I need to brand myself into her so deep she’ll never get me out.
The intensity of that thought should scare me. It doesn’t.
I pull my belt free and double it in my hand. Her eyes go wide, but not with fear. It’s anticipation. She trusts me. After everything she’s been through, after every man who’s used and hurt her, she trusts me to bind her wrists and not break her.
“Give me your wrists.”
She holds them out with no hesitation, and I wrap the leather around them, binding them together in front of her. I test the tightness to make sure it won’t hurt her, then lift her bound hands above her head.
“Keep them there.” I press a kiss to the inside of her wrist, right where her pulse is racing. “You don’t move them unless I tell you to. Understood?”
“Yes.”
“Good girl.” I drag my mouth down her arm, across her shoulder, along the curve of her neck. She arches into me, a soft moan escaping her lips. “I’m going to worship every inch of this body tonight. And then I’m going to fuck away every scary thought in your head.”
I mean it. I want to erase every hand that ever touched her. I want to replace every bad memory with the feel of my mouth, my hands, my cock. I will work at it for the rest of my life to be the only man she sees when she closes her eyes.
Fuck. I’m so fucking lost to this girl, and she doesn’t even realize it.
I kiss my way down her chest, stopping to pull one nipple into my mouth. She gasps and her bound hands twitch above her head, but she keeps them where I put them. I suck and lick until she’s squirming, then move to the other breast and give it the same attention.
“Tate,” she moans. Her hips are rocking, searching for friction.
“Such a needy girl. I know what you need.”
I kiss down her stomach, my lips brushing the soft skin below her belly button.
“Yes.” The word comes out over a moan. “Please, Tate.”
“Anything for my baby girl.” I settle between her spread thighs and look up at her. Her wrists are bound above her head, her chest is heaving, and she’s looking at me in a way that’s going to split me wide open. “This is mine.”
I lower my mouth to her and drag my tongue through her slit in one long, slow stroke. She cries out, her thighs tensing around my head. She tastes fucking incredible. I’m an asshole who rarely bothered to eat much pussy, but with Reese, my mouth is going to live between her thighs.
“You taste so good, baby girl.” I circle her clit with my tongue, then pull back to look at her. “This pretty little pussy is going to be my favorite meal. I’m going to eat you every fucking day.”