He half dragged me out of the office, then down a hallway that led to the front door. In the distance, there was an opening that led to a room filled with couches. There were a lot of guys slouched on them, and a…
“Sweet fuck,” I whispered.
Link, frowning at me for braking, peered where I was gawking, and hauled me along even faster.
“Is he fucking her?” I squeaked. “Right in front of everyone?”
Link tugged at his collar. “Yeah, but don’t worry about it. It’s all consensual.”
I hadn’t even questioned that. Just the fact that dudes were drinking and shooting the shit while one of their buddies was boning some chick.
As Link towed me down the corridor, I tilted my head so I could swerve and maintain a visual on the weirdest thing I’d ever seen.
And I’d seen some weird shit in my time.
But it was just so…so normal. The guys weren’t even reacting to it. Weren’t even watching, for God’s sake. It was like they were bored at the sight!
When Link had dragged me out of the door, I scowled at him. “You’re hurting my arm.”
He instantly stopped, then rubbed my arm all the way up to my shoulder.
“It doesn’t hurt that bad,” I muttered, even as I was peeking into the window that led into the same room we’d just walked past.
He reached for me, clutching my chin with his thumb and forcing me to look up at him. “That room isn’t for you.”
My brows furrowed. “Huh?”
“You don’t want to go in there.”
“Why not?” I huffed, not liking his tone. “That lady was in there.”
He snorted. “JoJo is the opposite of a lady.”
My chin tipped up. “I guess that’s why you like her, huh?”
He cringed—it was minute, but I spotted it. Inside, mortification filled me.
He’d slept with her.
And I wasn’t talking about how he’d slept with me either. There’d probably been very little sleeping going down when he was with her.
Because she was normal.
Because she could have sex without shying from it.
My throat closed up, and I stopped trying to look into the window. Maybe it was weird that I wanted to watch, but it was like a circus act. I just wanted to know what was going down in the big top tent.
“Fuck,” he rasped, making me jolt in surprise at his dark tone. Then, his hand was at the back of my neck and he was hauling me against him. The move was so swift and so abrupt that I yelped before I collided into his chest. “Don’t look like that, Lily. You’ll break my fucking heart.”
I didn’t say anything. What was there to say?
I just carried on looking at him, and he looked at me. He released a breath, bowed his head until our foreheads were touching, then muttered, “I have a past.”
“So do I,” I whispered.
“Mine’s dirty. I’ve got a reputation.” He swallowed. “My entire past is written in those walls. People know stuff about me in there, stuff that might hurt you and I can’t protect you from it, because it happened. That was me.” When I tried to pull away, he gritted his teeth and firmed his hold on the back of my neck. “No. Dammit. Listen. That was me then. But this is me here. Now.”
“And what? I’m supposed to think you’ve changed?”
“Haven’t you changed?” he challenged, his voice husky. “Haven’t I changed you a little bit? Don’t you want my touch now? Where before you were nervous? Don’t you want me close?”
I licked my lips. “That isn’t fair to ask me that.”
“Isn’t it? I can’t be the only one feeling this way, sugar tits. I want your touch. I like you close. I want you at my side, riding bitch at my back.” He blew out a breath. “Never wanted that before. Never needed it. Until you.”
My throat felt overfull with emotion. “Link, I’m not right for you.”
“Why? Because I’m not good enough?”
His voice lowered at that, but I wasn’t sure if I’d hurt him or angered him. “I-I’m…I don’t want to say broken, because I’m not. But you say you’ve got a rep, well, how can I compete with that? There might be things I’ll never be able to do for you.” I nipped my bottom lip because the physical pain was better than the emotional pain spearing me.
I hadn’t anticipated this conversation, hadn’t thought we’d be discussing this after the day’s events, and yet here we were, having this talk outside a clubhouse where someone was having sex in a lounge just a few feet away.
“Do I make you feel safe, Lily?”
My eyes widened at his question, because hadn’t I just been thinking of that? Hadn’t I just been thinking about how safe I felt around him?
“You don’t have to answer that, because I know it’s true. I know I make you feel safe.”
“You do,” I admitted, “and that’s something I need, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be able to give you what you need.”
He bent down, then stunned me by nipping my bottom lip exactly where I’d been gnawing on it. “That’s mine to bite,” he grumbled.
“It belongs to me,” I retorted, amused despite myself.
“Me too.” He huffed. “People think I’m a soft touch—”
“They do?” I interrupted, stunned by the notion because Link was the opposite of soft in my opinion.
“My name…it means good stuff, but it also has a bad connotation.”
“Why?”
His fingers rubbed the back of my neck where he was still holding me tight. “Before I became a Sinner, I fell for a girl. She told me she loved me and I believed her. I let her in, let her come around.”
“Did you love her?”
He shrugged. “Thought I did.” His lips twitched. “You don’t need to be upset, babe. I just…I felt something for her, and I wasn’t ashamed about that. Turned out she was an undercover cop.” He grunted. “Never heard the end of it ever since.”
“Did she get you in trouble?” I inquired, my eyes wide with surprise at the turn the conversation had taken.
“Yeah. You could say that,” he rumbled, but there was a trace of amusement that gave me some relief. “My point is, my brothers don’t trust me around women anymore, even though they can. They think because I’m friends with the clubwhores and the Old Ladies that I’m a pushover. But I’m not.” He blew out a breath then, with his spare hand, reached up and tapped my bottom lip. “With you, there’s danger.”
“What do you mean?” I whispered, my mouth dropping open at his words.
“I mean…you could break me.” He cleared his throat. “Please. Don’t.”
For a second, I could do nothing more than blink at him as I stared up into those beautiful eyes of his, eyes that I felt could see into my very soul. They knew me somehow, even though we’d only been close for a short while.
His plea was heartfelt, poignant, and I could do nothing less than whisper, “I promise I won’t.”
He dropped his chin. “Thank you.” Another breath escaped him. “Now, as for the other stuff, your father and brother messed you up, and I get that. I’m patient an—”
“No one is that patient, Link.”
He shook his head, making our brows rub together. “You’d be surprised. I’ve got nothing but time on my hands. I can give you time so long as you give me you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I will always stop when you ask me to. I will never take things too far. But I want you. I want to feel you. I want to touch you. I want to taste you. Give me you, and I won’t ever take advantage of that gift.”
I wasn’t entirely sure what he meant, and my mouth worked uncertainly for a second as I thought about what his request might entail.
But then I thought about the fact that he was right—he made me feel safe. I was safe around him. And I wanted to give him everything he’d asked for. Him and only him.
“O-Okay, Link.”
He sighed, and I knew my ears weren’t deceiving me, becaus
e I heard relief in that sigh.
“Thank you.”
He meant that.
I smiled at him. “You’re welcome.”
“Come on, let me show you your new place.” His lips twitched. “You ain’t gonna like it, but it’s only until your dad’s no longer a threat, okay?”
I had a feeling he’d always be a threat, but I didn’t say that. I’d stay here for as long as I could be close to Link. When things changed, I’d move on. Fingers crossed, life would be a bit more resolved then, and until that time, I’d enjoy Link and the pleasure he could give me. And, hopefully, learn to give him that in return.
Link
The tiniest of moans woke me.
It wasn’t a good moan which, in my defense, was the kind of moan I was used to hearing. It was a bad moan.
It was Lily.
Who was sleeping at my side.
In the too small bed in the bunkhouse that was really meant for one person and not two, but somehow, we were making it work. She was half on, half off me, her body angled off mine to the side. My hands were on her ass, and her thighs clasped one of mine, meaning her pussy brushed my skin.
We were close in a way I’d never really experienced before with another woman, and I wasn’t sure why.
A man like me, with my lifestyle, with the pussy all around me, I was used to being with a woman in bed. But shit was different with Lily. Shit was better.
Fuck, shit wasn’t shit.
Which said a lot.
It surprised me that her tiny moan awoke me, but the second I realized where I was, everything fell into place.
Subconsciously, I wasn’t questioning who I was in bed with. I didn’t wonder, in my sleepy daze, who had made that noise.
I knew.
It was like something in my fucking soul knew who was with me, and as goddamn weird as that was, it also felt right.
“Babe,” I whispered, voice gruff from sleep because, yeah, I found that I slept better when I was being used as a prop for her too. “Wake up.”
She twisted her head to the side like she was trying to ignore my command, and I reached over, touched her shoulder, absorbed the hit when she flinched, and blew it out on a deep exhalation that was meant to cleanse me of my anger.
Her fucking father.
That bastard brother.
If I could slice their throats, I would. I’d have bathed in their fucking blood if that was a possibility.
Because she was still sleeping, I rubbed her shoulder, not disconnecting the touch, and murmured, “Sweetheart, it’s me. Link. Please, wake up.”
A drowsy sigh escaped her. “Link? What’s wrong?”
She was slurring too, and that kind of rammed home the intimacy between us. Weirdly enough, it was like a bridge of trust because Lily had been bred to be perfect. At all times. She’d been punished if she wasn’t. So to hear her like that, to see her less than perfect and sleeping in one of my Sinners tees? It was like a golden handshake.
“Nothing, sugar tits.” I reached down and patted her on the tush. “Go back to sleep.”
I was willing to go the extra mile for her, I was willing to do whatever I had to to keep her safe, but there was no way I could keep my hands off that perfect ass of hers.
Which, I knew, meant slow conditioning. Getting her used to my touch there, because fuck, I couldn’t not touch the perfection of that butt. It would be cruel to deny an ass man like me that beautiful behind so, slowly. Surely. I was touching it but with no other intent. All in the vain hope that I’d gentle her to being caressed there.
Though she tensed for a second when I squeezed, she immediately crumpled into me and began snoozing a second later.
I angled my head down and pressed a kiss to her temple, enjoying the way she snuggled into me.
What was this?
Really?
She was too good for me, and our lives in no way meshed, but I liked this. Liked her. I liked her in my arms, my bed. I wanted her hands on my body. I wanted mine on hers.
More, I wanted that virgin pussy around my dick. Christ, more than I probably wanted to play with that ass of hers.
Blowing out a breath as I tried to make sense out of my muddled thoughts, I muttered, “You’re playing with my head, Lily Lancaster.”
She hummed and rubbed her nose down the ball of my shoulder. “This isn’t a game, Link. Nothing about this is fun.”
I wasn’t sure whether to be insulted by that or not.
“You could hurt me too. Do you know that?” she whispered.
“I don’t want to.” I hadn’t expected this conversation. I thought she was asleep. Apparently, I’d been wrong.
“You might not want to, but that doesn’t mean you won’t.” She placed her hand on my hip and patted it softly. “Don’t worry about it.”
Don’t worry about not hurting her?
My brow puckered. “What do you want from me, Lily?” I asked cautiously.
“Things you won’t want to give me, and things you probably can’t.”
She sounded less and less drowsy, and while I hadn’t aimed for this chat, maybe it was for the best. Maybe we needed to get things straightened out.
All of this had been forged on a few conversations and dozens of texts. Then a couple of dates that had evolved into fumblings which, I had to admit, were hot as fuck.
Nothing about this had progressed in a way things like this did with me.
I was all about sex. I didn’t date. I didn’t want a virgin. I didn’t text bitches. My mind was on business and my brothers and keeping shit in line in my position as Road Captain and head mechanic and manager of the garage that was owned by the Sinners.
I didn’t make out on couches.
I didn’t sneak into bedrooms to sleep with country club princesses.
Which meant, all in all, that Lily was different.
But I knew that already.
“What do you want from me?” I repeated, needing an answer.
“What can you give me?” she countered. “Know what I saw when I went to the bathroom earlier?”
My brow puckered. “When?”
“Before we went to sleep.” She yawned.
“What?” That yawn had felt relaxed, enough to make me lower my guard.
“Two guys fucking someone against the wall outside.”
My eyes widened. “Who?”
She snorted. “How would I know? They were twins, I think.”
That had me rolling my eyes. “Fucking Prospects. They ain’t supposed to be fucking anyone.”
She tensed. “Huh?”
Grumbling because this was going to take us off topic, I explained quickly, “Prospects are like trainees. They want to become full brothers. You can’t do that without becoming a Prospect and going through the ropes. Part of that means not having sex with the—”
She laughed. “Yeah. Good time to go speechless, Link.”
I winced. “It isn’t like you think.”
“Isn’t it? You have women to fuck and to, what, clean the place?”
It didn’t surprise me that she knew what a clubwhore was. Still, I wish she didn’t. Not that she wouldn’t have found out soon enough. Hell, she’d already seen North and Hawk fucking someone they shouldn’t around the back of the clubhouse.
God damn them.
With my free hand, the hand that wasn’t curved around her, I reached up and pinched the bridge of my nose. Then she surprised me by patting me on the hip again.
“Link, it’s okay.”
Was it?
Warily, I peered down at her, and the sadness on her face made me wonder what was going on in her head.
It didn’t help that I knew how the men in her family treated women, and knowing that she might draw parallels between us and them pissed me off. Royally.
But also, why wouldn’t she?
We did have women hanging around the place with free board and lodging, so long as they fucked whichever brother asked them to bend over. It wasn’t like I c
ould escape that fact.
“You told me about Storm and Keira, Link,” she reminded me softly. “I already figured out how it rolls.”
“If you figured that out, then why did you want to meet up with me, Lily? Why did you want me to fuck you?”
“Because I like you.”
“That’s it?” I arched a brow. “You like me, and so you thought it was only natural that I might be willing to fuck you?”
She tensed. “Don’t twist this around, Link. You don’t understand what I mean.” She twisted around, then jerked upright and hunched over in a sitting position before glaring at me. There was very little light coming in from the window at my back, but there was enough for me to see her scowl. “Do you know how many men I’ve liked in my life?”
I scowled at her. “No. Why the fuck would you ask me that?”
“Because, dumbass, I’ve liked one. You. That’s it. That’s why I wanted more from you. That’s why I—” She blew out a breath. “It was my birthday the night before Luke died.”
I stilled. “It was? Shit.” With a wince, I muttered, “Happy Birthday?”
She snorted. “Thanks. Know what my birthday present from my father was? Know what had me snooping around my brother’s office when he’d died?”
“No. What?”
“Father announced my future husband would be coming for dinner when he was out of jail.”
Whatever I’d expected her to say, it wasn’t that. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me right. My husband is currently in jail.”
“You’re not married yet,” I snapped, enraged at the thought of her belonging to someone else.
Fuck, I was even madder at the thought she’d withheld this from me. We’d talked about this, but she hadn’t mentioned shit about the fucker being in jail.
“I’m as good as married in my father’s eyes. Probably in Fieri’s eyes too.”
My mouth rounded because I knew that name… Famiglia. “Gianni Fieri is your fiancé?”
“Fiancé isn’t the right word, Link,” she retorted, folding her arms over her chest. “I told you, remember, that my pussy was for sale. Well, he’s the buyer.” She tipped her chin up. “I didn’t want him to be my first. That’s why I wanted you. Because you’re the first man I’ve seen who I’ve chosen, who, when I look at you, makes me warm inside. You make me laugh, and your eyes are calming, and when you—”
Forgotten & Found: A Dark & Dirty Sinners' MC Boxset Page 50