by Lila Rose
I’d take him home so he could think. I didn’t want to overwhelm him and I sensed I was with all these changes. He’d get used to it, but until then, I’d have to be patient.
I was having a second cup of coffee when Kylo walked from the bedroom.
“You ready?” I asked.
He opened his mouth, closed it, and stared at me for a moment before saying, “How about a movie, and then I’ll head back to Boom’s?”
My damn heart swelled inside my chest. I was sure even my chest expanded.
Playing it cool, though, I said, “Sounds good.” I smiled behind my coffee mug.
“You got one for me?” he asked, nodding toward my cup.
“Yeah, Kylo.” I winked. “Go get the movie app up on the TV. I’ll make it and bring it in.”
He nodded and turned while I watched him walk over to the couch, pick up the remote from the coffee table, then sit. He didn’t select a single chair. He took the couch, where he knew I’d be sitting next to him.
Fuck me.
Happiness had my gut going nuts like there was a circus in there. He’d wanted to stay longer. Wanted my time more. That right there was progress, and hell, it was good to see that he wasn’t running and getting lost in his mind.
I made him a coffee and took it into the living area. “Picked one?”
“You can,” he said, taking hold of the mug I held out to him.
“I picked last night, your turn,” I told him, then laid down on the couch with my head resting on his thigh. To start with, he’d tensed, but when I rolled to see the TV, he relaxed and went back to searching through the movies.
“Can’t go wrong with this. It’s a classic, but good one, right?”
“Fuck yeah. Bruce Willis kicks ass in Die Hard. You’ll have to come back to watch the rest of them with me now we’re startin’ this one.”
There was a beat of silence and then came softly “Yeah.”
My damn smile was big.
It wasn’t until halfway through that I felt a tentative hand slide to my hair, and Kylo brushed his fingers over my scalp, gently scratching. Hell, if I were a cat, I’d be purring.
A little after that, I was completely relaxed and lazily asked, “Favorite color?”
Kylo snorted, his fingers stilling for a second before he kept going. “Are you seriously askin’ this shit?”
“Yep,” I said, popping the p at the end.
“All right, I think.”
I nudged his knee with my hand. “Come on, play along. It’s get-to-know-you time.”
He sighed. “Fine. I don’t really have a favorite color.”
Groaning, I said, “Everyone has one. Mine’s dark blue. Yours?”
“Same.”
Rolling my eyes, I dropped that question. “Okay then, what’s your favorite flavored ice cream?”
“Chocolate.” I nudged him again. He sighed, then asked, “You?”
“Vanilla. What type of music do you like?”
I felt him shrug. “A bit of everything besides opera.”
I laughed. “Well, there goes my idea of taking you to a show.”
He chuckled. “Can you imagine? Us walkin’ into the theater together… everyone would think we’re in the wrong place.”
“I think it’d be kinda cute. We could both dress up and fall asleep durin’ it.” I grinned when he chuckled again. “Did you like sleepin’ beside me last night?” I threw in.
He stilled, even his fingers, but then they started back up before he whispered, “Yes.”
“What year did you go up to in school?” I asked to help him relax once more, and he did.
“I went all the way in high school. Just didn’t go to college because I wasn’t interested in it. I liked workin’ at the gym.”
“Was talkin’ to Boom the other day, he said you’re good at fixin’ things. Cars, bikes, and anythin’ like that. Why didn’t you look at gettin’ an apprenticeship?”
He shrugged again. “I tried a few places around here, but none of them were wantin’ one. I gave up and got busy anyway.”
Interesting. Maybe if he had a place to work on vehicles, it’d be something he’d want since Boom also said Kylo enjoyed doing it. It was something to think about. Could be another business opportunity.
“Tell me somethin’ I don’t know about you,” I asked.
He hummed under his breath, thinking of something. “You tell me somethin’ first while I think.”
“All right. I like to play the guitar.”
“For real?”
“Yeah, I have one in my room in the back of the closet. Mom and Dad had me take lessons when I was young and in school. It stuck, and I liked it, so kept goin’.”
“Will you play a song for me?”
“One day.”
“And no one knows?”
“Nah, never had an opportunity to play it around anyone since I keep the guitar here.”
“You should bring it to the compound. The brothers would get a kick outta it.”
“Maybe I will. Now, about you?”
“I like to draw,” he admitted.
“Draw what?”
“Things.”
“Kylo, come on, what do you draw?”
“Characters. Like comics.”
“That’s cool.”
“Yeah, maybe.” He didn’t seem to believe it, though.
“Has anyone seen any?”
“No.”
“Then why do you sound like you’re not sure about your comics if no one has said anything bad about them?” His hand moved from my hair when I twisted to look up at him. “You don’t trust in what you draw?”
Kylo rested his hand on the top of my arm. He rolled his eyes. “I like it enough…. I just never shared it with anyone, and I’m not sure how people would take it.”
“You’ll show me one day?”
He gave me a small, soft smile. “Maybe when you play the guitar for me.”
“Deal.” I paused for a beat and then asked, “Can we talk about that dildo yet?”
His eyes widened. His cheeks shot to red, and he pushed me off the couch. I laughed and said, “I’ll take that as a no.” I got to my knees.
“That’s a hell no, and we’re never talkin’ about it again.”
“Bullshit. We will one day.” I winked. “For now, how about we make out before I take you home?”
The blush deepened. Fuck, he was too damn sweet. “Sure,” he said softly. In case he thought to take it back, I was up on the couch and pulling Kylo into my lap with a yelp before I tugged him close and claimed his mouth with mine.
Chapter Eleven
Kylo
There was a tiny fucking unicorn frolicking in my gut when I walked into work that night. It galloped around and caused my pulse to race from my heart jumping, knowing I was about to see Zion.
The day had blown my damn mind wide open, only to get stuffed full of everything Zion. His hands, his legs, his face, his body… all of him was cemented in my mind. I had to give myself a pat on the back, though, because, even though I’d been about to shit myself after Zion asked me to shower with him, I still managed to get undressed and in the bathroom without fainting from lack of oxygen.
I’d showered with Zion.
We’d been damn naked again in a room with a light on. Christ, he was hot. It was no wonder my dick hadn’t gone down that morning with what happened in the shower… seriously hot. He’d handled my body like a professional. Like he’d been with a guy a million times over and knew what to do and say to get us off.
Of course, it had freaked me the fuck out.
My goddamn feelings were coming out to play, and they wanted to keep Zion, for him to belong to them. I’d been ready to bolt, to get the fuck out of there and hide for the rest of my life.
However, I knew if I pussied out, I would regret it, which was how we ended up on the couch together, talking, watching a movie, and then kissing like we were teenagers.
It’d been fucking bril
liant.
“Hi, Jack,” Monique, the front desk girl, said with a wink. She knew my name wasn’t Jack, but we used our fake names in case any of our clients were present.
“Hey, Danni. How you doin’, beautiful?”
“Good.” She smiled. “Hope you have a great night.”
I did too. I sent her a two-finger wave and headed for Zion’s office door. I knocked, but before I got a response on the other side, I opened the door and stopped still.
The unicorn disappeared from my gut and was replaced with lead.
A woman was on her knees in front of Zion’s desk, and beside her was a man standing with a gun pointed at Zion.
“Kylo, leave,” Zion growled.
The gun aimed my way. “Get the fuck in here.”
“No!” Zion snarled. “This is between us. He goes.”
The guy still had the gun aimed my way, but he glanced back to Zion and then smiled. “I don’t think so. I seem to have all the power here. Things go my way.” With his free hand, he grabbed the hair of the woman and drew her head back harshly. She let out a cry. It was then I saw her face for the first time.
Heaven. A quiet and shy woman who worked here. I hadn’t seen much of her, but every time I did see her in passing, she looked away from me, which told me how shy she was.
Fuck. Had she brought this problem in, or did it follow her because of her looks?
I stepped into the room and closed the door. Zion’s jaw clenched. He didn’t want me in here, but what did he expect? That I’d run for safety when he was in here on his own? It wasn’t happening. I couldn’t leave him to deal with this fucker.
No matter what this was about, I would have his back.
Leaning against the door, I asked, “What’s goin’ on?”
“Get over here. Stand next to Saint.”
He still had a grip on Heaven’s hair, so I listened and walked over to lean back against the wall to the side of Zion’s office chair, where he sat.
“What do you want, Steve?” Zion demanded in a cold tone.
“More money,” he stated and gave Heaven another shake, causing her to whimper.
“What do you mean?” Zion asked.
“I know she makes more than she’s bringin’ home. She said you guys keep it. I want what’s owed.”
Anger filled me. I straightened, my hands at my sides fisted. His gaze swung to me when I said harshly, “You mean to say you’re her dad, and she’s workin’ here because you want her money?”
“Kylo,” Zion warned.
I ignored it and snarled, “Well?”
Zion turned enough to look up at me, but I didn’t take my eyes away from goddamn Steve.
He laughed. “What’s it to you?”
“You see, I got a problem with parents making their kids do shit they don’t want to do.”
He waved the gun around. “Seems like I got the upper hand here. I don’t need to say shit.”
“He’s my boyfriend,” Heaven whispered. Steve dropped his hold on her hair to backhand her. She cried out and dropped to the floor. I took a step their way until Zion’s hand shot out, stopping me. I ground my teeth together as fury slammed into me. Why the fuck was Zion allowing this shit to go on? This place was locked down like Fort Knox. How did this motherfucker get through in the first place?
And seriously, Heaven could do so much better than this fucker.
“Touch her again, and you’ll pay in more blood than you already owe us,” Zion snarled.
Steve threw his head back and laughed. “That right? I don’t see anyone running to the rescue. I fucking own this situation. I know you got a safe in here. Open it, give me the money owed, and I’ll be on my damn way.” He waved the gun between Zion and me.
“Just fuckin’ relax,” Zion barked.
Steve kept his gun on Zion and I didn’t like it at all. My feet twitched to move in front of him and my hands clenched to stop from grabbing Zion and pulling him behind me.
Christ, if anything happened…. I couldn’t even think of it.
“Move,” Steve yelled.
“You keep yellin’, you’ll alert people.”
Steve tapped his forehead with the tip of the gun and then moved it back to Zion when he said, “See, I don’t think you’re takin’ me serious.”
The gun fired. I dove for Zion and took him to the ground, while cursing over and over, “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
Then chaos erupted.
Doors opened. Heaven screamed. Steve yelled. Another shot fired before Death took him to the ground, and a heap of other brothers surrounded them to help.
“Zion, fuck. Zion?” I leaned back and saw crimson on his arm. “He shot you,” I whispered as I moved my gaze from his arm to his eyes.
Eyes that held humor.
What the fuck?
I ground my teeth together and snarled. “The cunt fuckin’ shot you. Made you bleed.” In the next second, I was on my feet. As I strode over, while Death stood with Steve, I spotted his gun on the ground. I picked it up, aimed, and the shot rang out around the room. Curses erupted, Steve cried out and hopped on one foot since the other one had a fucking hole in it.
I moved and got in his face. “You fuckin’ think you can come in here and shoot him? Think again, you motherfuckin’ cunt.” I jabbed my fist into his stomach. He bent forward as much as Death would allow him.
Turning, I handed the gun off to Tech and went back over to Zion, where he was leaning against the wall, his good arm cradling the other. I didn’t register how quiet the room had gone, until Death started barking orders.
The last part I heard, “—get Lucas here to stitch up his brother. We’ll take care of this fucker ourselves.”
I kneeled before Zion and glared at his smile. “You like me,” he muttered.
“Fuck off.”
He chuckled, wincing when it pulled at his arm. “You do. Like a lot.”
“Shut it,” I ordered, then glanced away from his dancing eyes. How could he be so calm about being shot? My gaze landed on Tech, helping Heaven to her feet as she sobbed. He led her out the room, and I saw Death had handed Steve off to someone else as the prick wasn’t in sight and Death was. The brother was looking down at Zion and me while he spoke with Quake.
“We had it under control,” Zion said, and I swung my narrowed gaze his way.
“Under control?” I clipped. “How the fuck was it under control? You got shot, that fucker manhandled Heaven, and he walked in here in the damn first place with a fuckin’ gun.”
He smirked. If he wasn’t injured, I would punch the dick. “As soon as the fucker entered, we were on him. I told Death I wanted to play it out. Death was in the bathroom over there with Quake and Tech, but you might not have seen them storm in since you were all over me.”
I opened my mouth, snapped it closed, and growled under my breath. Zion snorted, then winced. He reached out and ran a hand over my thigh. “Relax. I’m okay. Things worked out.”
I clenched my jaw and then bit out, “If they worked out, you wouldn’t be bleedin’.”
He waved it off. “It’s a flesh wound.”
My head suddenly felt like it was going to explode.
I wanted to throttle him, kiss him, punch him, hug him, and scream at him because there was a fuckload of blood for a flesh wound.
Instead, I got up and walked away before I did anything I would regret. I heard his chuckle before he called my name, but I ignored it and kept going. I would wait outside until Lucas showed. Maybe I’d be cooled enough to see Zion again.
Why the fuck he risked his life to let this shit play out I didn’t know, but I’d find out because I would stop him from doing it again. He didn’t risk his life over anyone’s. Not fucking now and not ever.
Heaven was a great woman, sweet as pie, but she wasn’t Zion, and he was mine, dammit.
Fuck.
Groaning, I scrubbed a hand over my face and leaned against the wall outside Zion’s office.
It dawned on me then
that I thought of Zion as mine.
He’d wormed his way in, showed me how it could be with him—with a man who hadn’t been with a man before. Yet he’d touched my fucking heart in the way where I’d claimed him subconsciously.
Now I knew, could I accept it?
Christ, I didn’t have a damn clue. All right, that wasn’t true. I wanted him. I wanted him as mine, but I was fucking chilled to the bone at the thought of this just being something Zion was testing out. I needed him to be sure, and one day maybe he’d voice he wasn’t playing, testing, but, if I had to guess, it wouldn’t be for a while.
Still, I wanted to enjoy what we had, except that was another worry because if I did, I’d be more invested in him. I’d want to keep him for-fucking-ever.
“How long you and Saint been messin’ around?” Death asked as he lit a smoke and leaned against the wall beside me. I jolted, lost in my own thoughts, so I hadn’t heard his approach.
“What you talkin’ about?” I tried but knew I was screwed when I caught Death smirking.
He flicked his lighter on and off. “Really?” he drew out.
“Go annoy someone else,” I grumbled.
He let out a bark of laughter. “You think, a prospect as you are, can talk to me that way?”
Shit.
“No disrespect, Death.”
“Know that, but you still ain’t givin’ me an answer.”
“Again, no disrespect, but steer your question to Saint.”
“Hmm, maybe I will.” He pocketed his lighter and clasped my shoulder. “Good job in there, prospect.”
“Prospect?” Country called as he made his way toward us. “Fuck, I heard what happened, and the next club meetin’, we’re patchin’ you in, Gun.”
“Gun?” I asked.
“Your club name. Tech was goin’ on about how you took the gun and handled it like you were born to. So, Gun it is.”
My chest expanded. I nodded, then shook the hand of our president when he held it out. “Great work,” Country said before walking into the room. “Well, fuck, Saint, that’s a lotta blood to get out.” I heard.
“Welcome to the club, brother,” Death said as Lucas raced into the building.