Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
MILLIE
Axton’s back is to me when I walk into the living room. I’m carrying my now-empty coffee cup and head straight for the kitchen. I’m not sure how I’m going to play this. He thinks he’s the one in control here, just like he always does, but he’s not.
I’m going to shift this around to me. I just don’t know how I’m going to do that yet. Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I worry the skin there as I make another cup. I watch the water drip while my brain works overtime.
“Is it that much more interesting than me?” Axton asks.
Turning my head, I look over at him, and I wish I hadn’t. He’s beautiful. Sliding my tongue along my bottom lip, I let out a heavy sigh.
“I was thinking,” I say.
“Yeah?”
“I was thinking that you’re an asshole,” I state.
My words make him smile. Which only pisses me off more. But I don’t say that. Being mad doesn’t save my ass. It doesn’t help any part of my situation. “Why do you want to claim me?” I ask.
Axton’s brows snap together as his focus stays directly on me. He doesn’t speak immediately, but when he does, I’m not sure I like what he has to say. He doesn’t answer me. Instead, he asks me another question.
“Why does it matter now?” he asks. “Are we really going to rehash this?”
I don’t respond to him. Instead, I arch my brow as I stare at him. I don’t have to dignify that question with an answer. So I don’t. Tilting my head to the side, I bite the inside of my cheek and watch him in silence.
“We are,” he murmurs. “It was inevitable.”
Inevitable.
I’m sure it was.
But at the same time, maybe not. I start to say that, but bite back my words and rethink them. If I say that, it’s going to start an even bigger fight, and there’s no need to do that. Not when I’m trying to make up…
If that’s what I’m trying to do. I hope it is, or maybe I don’t. I’m not sure. My brain feels like it’s all jumbled and mixed up and going in a million different directions. I don’t know what to do… what to say.
“It was inevitable, Mill. You and me, we were always meant to be. I claimed you in an effort to protect you, but I was always, always going to claim you.”
He closes the distance between us, then I feel his fingers curl around my hip. They flex before he tugs me against him. I place my palm on the center of his chest, arching my back before my chest presses against his.
Axton tilts his head to the side as he lowers his head, and then his lips touch mine. I feel his tongue slide along the seam of my lips, and as much as I want to deny him access, I can’t, and I don’t.
Parting my lips, I allow him to taste me. He does. Fully and wholly. I missed this. Even if I wasn’t without it for too long, I still missed it. I especially missed it because I thought I would never have it again. So maybe I missed the idea. I’m not quite sure how to express how I’m feeling.
But what I do know is that I will always want him—always.
He nibbles on my bottom lip before breaking the kiss, and my whole body jerks before I open my eyes. “Axton,” I exhale. “I hate you for taking that choice away from me, for not asking me first.”
He doesn’t shift away from me. His mouth is still close to mine. His lips slowly curve up into a small smile before he lets out a chuckle. “I know you do, Mill. I knew you would when I did it.”
“But you did it anyway.”
He lets out a snort. “I would do just about anything to protect you, Millie.”
That’s a good answer. A really good answer. Like, too good an answer. He shifts forward, touching his mouth to mine again, but this time he doesn’t deepen the kiss. Instead, he shifts back slightly, his eyes searching mine.
“Anything,” he repeats. “Claim, kill, maim. Whatever the fuck it takes, I would do it to keep you safe, sound, and mine.”
“I’m afraid of that,” I exhale.
“Afraid?”
I hum, sliding my hand up the center of his chest, curling my fingers around the side of his neck.
My thumb slides across his bottom lip as I stare into his eyes, wishing I could know his every thought, although I don’t think it would be a good idea.
I’m sure I’d want to slap him every minute of the day if I knew what he was thinking.
“Afraid of what you might do to keep me,” I whisper.
He smirks. “Anything, Millie. Any fucking thing.”
He kisses me again, and this time, it’s as if it seals the deal. Whatever the deal is. I’m not even sure, but it’s sealed.
PIGGY
I don’t get to fuck Millie and secure our relationship, confirming the conversation and agreement between us. Not with Heidi in the next room. I personally wouldn’t care if she walked in and saw me balls deep inside her, but I know Millie would.
Taking a step back, I release my grip on her hip, lift my hand, and run my fingers through my hair, tugging on the strands to keep myself from tearing her little shorts down and fucking her into oblivion right here and now.
“You want something to eat?” I ask in an attempt to distract myself.
I want to eat something, alright, but it’s not food. I don’t say the quiet part out loud.
“I’m good,” she whispers. “I didn’t sleep well.”
My lips twitch into a smirk. “Yeah, me either, Mill.”
Heidi makes a noise in the hallway, a way of announcing her presence and warning us, until she appears.
I turn my head and look at her. She’s still a beautiful woman, without makeup and in her pajamas.
I know without a doubt that I can’t take her down to the clubhouse. Those fucks will be all over her.
“Am I okay to come in?” she asks.
“Come on in. Coffee?” Millie asks.
“Sure,” she replies.
I stare at Millie for a moment as she moves around, starting a cup of coffee for Heidi. It’s probably uncomfortable for her to have me staring at her, but I can’t look away from her. Everything about her mesmerizes me.
Every fucking part of her is absolutely goddamn breathtaking. I just can’t figure out why I ever let her go. I know I was an idiot. I’m still an idiot, but does my pride really consume me so much that I’d watch this woman walk out of my life and let her stay that way for a decade?
I want to take her home and keep her there. Maybe fill her with a couple of babies, too. Strap her fucking ass down so she’ll never leave me.
“We good, Mill?” I ask.
I have to know that this is good. That we are good. I know we had that conversation, but still… And I gotta know for sure that shit was just shit. It wasn’t worth the fight. Wasn’t worth a second fucking thought, at least to me. But it was to her, so we had the discussion, and now it’s done.
Completely fucking done.
“For now, Axton,” she murmurs. “For now.”
“Okay,” Heidi calls out. “No more relationship stuff. Everyone is good. What’s the plan for the day and the future?”
I want to load both of them up and force them into my pickup, drive them to the clubhouse, and lock them up. I don’t say that, though. I have a feeling it would go over like a fucking lead balloon.
“I have to work tonight,” Millie announces.
“I have to head back to Thunder Rock and get some sleep. I have to work, too,” I say.
“But there will be someone watching the apartment while we’re sleeping tomorrow during the day?” Heidi asks.
“There will be,” I confirm.
A moment of silence passes between us. The heaviness in the air feels stifling. I know Heidi is worried about Dante, but it’s almost hard to breathe. I start to ask if everything is okay when there is a knock on the door.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention. I place my index finger on my lips, silently telling them to keep quiet. Thankfully, they both press their lips together in understanding.
Taking my gun out of the holster at my hip, I hold it loose but ready at my side as I approach the door. I doubt whoever is on the other side is going to be an issue, especially since they knocked, and I don’t know many men who plan on kidnapping and murdering who knock.
Once I reach the door, I lean forward and look through the peephole. I don’t even know who I expected, but it’s not the owner of the strip club, Bennet. Wrapping my fingers around the door, I turn the knob and tug it open, taking a step back when I do.
“Piggy,” Bennet calls out in what I can only describe as surprise.
My lips twitch into a smirk as I dip my chin. “Protection,” I say. It’s not a lie, but it’s also not the whole truth. He doesn’t need to know everything about me. “Help you?” I ask.
He leans slightly, looking around me, and jerks his chin. “Can I talk to the girls?”
“Come on in,” Millie calls out.
He walks past me, though I don’t put my gun away. I don’t trust him completely. He’s given me no reason not to, but also no reason to at the same time. So I’ll stay alert and ready at any given moment to eliminate any threat.
“I wanted to talk to you… both,” he murmurs as he approaches them.
“Both?” Millie asks.
His attention turns toward Heidi before he continues. “I know you’re only here for a short time, but I would love to discuss you possibly doing a few shows.”
“A few shows?” Heidi asks.
“With the buzz of the influencer thing going on, I thought it would be a good time to do something like that. If you were both open to it.”
Millie takes a step forward, then tilts her head to the side. “I’m good with it. Heidi is amazing. If she wants to, she can take a couple of my spots.”
Bennet’s smile widens, consuming his entire face. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen the man so happy. The excitement is contagious, and my own lips twitch into a smirk. Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I attempt to hold back my own excitement as I feed off Bennet.
“I’ll do it, but only if you don’t cut any of Millie’s shows. She’s better than me any day of the week.”
Bennet chuckles. “I’ll cut a girl here and there, not enough that it’ll hurt any tips. You give me three shows, and we’ll see how electric the place gets.”
“I like that,” Heidi says with a single nod.
The term “electric” scares the shit out of me, but I can’t deny that at the same time, it also excites me.