Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 148238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 741(@200wpm)___ 593(@250wpm)___ 494(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 741(@200wpm)___ 593(@250wpm)___ 494(@300wpm)
Shuddering shock waves passed from his body to mine, our hearts thrumming out of control.
I froze.
He took me from behind.
What did that mean?
Don’t read into it.
I didn’t want to let the fact he’d flipped me onto my stomach be anything upsetting. Just habit probably, or he’d felt too much and needed some normalcy after a night of touching, loving, and togetherness.
He slid out slowly, flopping down spent beside me. His long hair obscured one eye and his chest still glittered with droplets in a mixture of shower and sweat.
Rolling closer to him, I brushed dark strands off his forehead. “For a novice, you were amazing.”
His eyes opened, glassy and lust-sated. He chuckled. “I plan on becoming an expert. Now that I’ve tasted you, I never want to stop.”
I’ve never had anyone’s lips around me. If that was true, he’d never had a blow job. And for the life of me I couldn’t remember if I’d ever given one to the brown-eyed boy I’d lost my virginity to.
I smiled gently. “Well, it seems as though I owe you a favor.”
He froze, then a satisfied grin spread his lips. “I agree. You do.” His eyes locked with mine and the sharpest, keenest love whipped between us.
I sucked in a breath. “Now?”
He sat up and kissed me, brushing my nose with his. “No. We’ve wasted too much time already. I have to get to the Club. I want answers.”
Disappointment settled in my heart, but then anticipation replaced it. I could wait to give him pleasure. After all, we had all the time in the world now. We’d found each other. Nothing could ruin that.
Nothing.
“Answers?” I stretched, my body feeling used and taken.
Arthur climbed off the bed, heading to the bathroom for a second shower. He turned by the door, saying, “Don’t you find it strange that it was you who were stolen?”
I sat up, a cold draft howling down my back. “I hadn’t thought about it.”
Yes, I do find it very strange.
Lighter Boy came to mind and all the questions I’d been avoiding swarmed with determination.
His emerald eyes darkened to moss. “It’s too much of a coincidence.”
I agree. “I’m sure it’s explainable.”
He bared his teeth. “That’s what I’m afraid of. I went eight years thinking you were dead. Then you just turn up because my Club stole you—against orders—to traffic you into slavery? It doesn’t make sense.”
I couldn’t stop the animosity replacing our postcoital glow. I’ve been thinking the same thing. “What are you saying?”
That someone knew who I was? Before I remembered? Before all of this?
He glared across the room. “I think there’s a lot more than we both know. And I mean to get answers.”
“But how? What if—”
His hands balled into fists. “I’ll make them talk by any means necessary, even if I have to spill blood to do it.”
The compound was quiet when we arrived.
Most of the men I’d met at the pizza lunch weren’t there. In fact, the whole place looked deserted.
“How many rooms are there here?” I asked, following obediently behind Arthur. My jeans and yellow T-shirt were a splash of color in the dark grey–and–wooden floor décor.
Arthur looked completely in control in his black jeans and T-shirt with his leather jacket. There wasn’t a hint of the soft, vulnerable man who’d had his tongue between my legs only hours before.
He’s my secret.
Kill the biker president had replaced my soul mate, Art. I just had to learn how to love both of them—despite what he’d done.
“There are ten bedrooms, three common areas, a few offices, and the garage. Why?”
“No reason. Just wondering. And you never stay here? Do the others?”
He chuckled. “I stayed when I first arrived. But that was before the renovation and cleanup—before the crew embraced what I could do for them and followed my rules.”
There was so much I didn’t know: What had he been up against? How had he been incarcerated? How had he found freedom?
So much to learn before we could reconcile completely. I loved a stranger. There would be nothing powerful enough to stop my love—time had tried and failed—everything else was inconsequential. Whatever existed between us was steadfast and immune, but it didn’t mean I would blindly follow him if he was doing things that were morally wrong.
“And you expect your men to stay here, but you don’t?”
Arthur stopped. “When did I ever say they lived here? This place belongs to everyone. At the same time it belongs to no one. It’s a place of sanctuary, brotherhood, and business. Before I took over, it was a requirement for each man, including the president, to live on home turf. To put their brothers over wives and kids, to put the Club before blood. It made for an unbalanced family.
“Men need the softness they get from women—they need to be reminded of their value and rules placed on them by loved ones. Living together, taking orders, never having something of their own that wasn’t already claimed by the Club made for anger, discord, and a fucking lot of fighting. Sure, they were loyal, but this way—my way—means they get the love of their blood and family, and their loyalty and regiment of their Club.”