Eagle pulls up to the clubhouse and I’m a bit surprised that he isn’t taking me straight home, but I don’t question him. Especially since I kind of miss Pinkie and I want to see her.
Climbing off of Eagle’s bike, I take a step toward the front door, but I’m not able to take another. His fingers wrap around my bicep and he tugs me backward a bit. He turns me around to face him, forcing my body to collide with his.
My breath hitches as I lift my gaze up to meet his. “Eagle?” I ask. He shakes his head. “Santiago?” I correct, my lips twitching up into a small smile.
“You’re good?” he asks.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
He shrugs a shoulder. “Baby, me, all of this. You’re okay, yeah?”
“I’m okay,” I breathe.
Oh. My. God.
Who is this man?
When Jaguar asked me if I was good, it wasn’t really because he cared, he just wanted to make sure that I was toeing his line, that I was doing what he wanted. But this, this is completely different.
Taking a chance. One that I didn’t think I could, I lift my hand, wrapping my fingers around the side of his neck and I hold on to him.
Rising to my toes, I touch my lips to his in a soft kiss. He doesn’t deepen it, doesn’t take over, doesn’t do a damn thing but let me kiss him, the way that I want to. It’s such an odd feeling, to have any sort of control, to be in charge even if it is only for a moment.
“Della,” he rumbles against my mouth.
I can feel his hard length against my belly. My entire body lights up with desire. I want him, need that part of him to fill my body the way that he’s begun to fill my heart. He’s like no other man that I’ve ever encountered, he’s begun to fill a part of me that I assumed would always stay cold, dark, empty and locked forever.
I want more from him.
Maybe I want him to be more, because I’ve never had him, maybe it’s because this man is willing to take all of me, just the way that I am. He doesn’t want to lock me away, control me, and he wants this baby. Whatever it is, I want to discover it all, every part of him and us.
“I want you,” I chance, whispering against his lips.
He grunts, his mouth moving past mine to just below my ear. He kisses, licking beneath my earlobe as his hands slide up my back and apply pressure to pull me closer toward him. His hard length is pushed against my belly even more and I can’t help but let out a whimper.
“Won’t fuck you here, nena. Not fuckin’ you until I can take my goddamn time with that sweet, needy body of yours.”
I shiver in his arms, his words, they slide down my spine and it makes me want him even more. He knows what he’s doing, knows exactly how to make me need him, want him, crave him. He knows that sex is my downfall, the need for it, the need to come and feel that rush throughout my entire body.
“Santi,” I breathe.
“Fuck,” he hisses against my ear.
“What?”
“Just, fuck. Tomorrow, nena. Think about it.” He releases me, and without another word, just like he did in the doctor’s office, he breezes right past me. Except, this time he doesn’t stop to take my hand, he continues into the clubhouse.
I sink my teeth into my bottom lip and watch him go, enjoying every step that he takes away from me. Once he’s inside, my feet become unstuck and only then do I make my way toward the clubhouse. I have no clue why he’s here today, or why he brought me along, but I don’t ask.
Once I’m inside, my eyes haven’t even adjusted to the darkness in the room when I hear someone call out.
“There she is,” Pinkie’s voice cries.
Turning in her direction, I smile and squint, waiting for my eyes to adjust. When they do, I hurry toward her. I have the picture of my sonogram in my back pocket and without hesitation, I tug it out and push it toward her.
“Oh, what am I looking at?” she asks, turning it in three different directions.
Giggling, I shake my head. “No clue, but the doctor said it’s healthy and the size that it should be. I just need vitamins and to keep taking care of myself.”
“Notice you came in right after Eagle. Tell me everything about him because, girl, we all know nothin’.”
Smiling, I walk over to a small table and sink down in the chair. She calls out for the prospect behind the counter to bring over a couple of waters.
We don’t speak until he delivers our drinks, then she levels me with a look. I know that look, it’s the one where she expects me to spill all of my deep, dark, dirty secrets, or in this case, spill everything I know about Eagle.
“I don’t know much,” I admit.
Pinkie arches a brow and waits. “You don’t?”
Shaking my head, I lift the glass of water to my lips and take a sip. “He asked me to marry him tomorrow,” I whisper.
“Fuck,” she hisses, leaning forward. “Have you…”
My head moves quickly from side-to-side. “No, not yet…”
“But you want to.”
Shrugging a shoulder, I nod my head. “I do. But I don’t know if it’s desire or curiosity.”
“Desire is always there though, right? No matter the man?”
My gaze flicks down to the table. Pinkie reaches out and wraps her hands around mine. “I’m here for stability. But that wasn’t the sole reason you stayed and you enjoyed being here. I know you’re addicted to that high, babe. I get it, boy, do I get it. But your life is changing, do you think that you can accept being with only one man, with him?”
Turning my head, I look over my shoulder toward Dragon’s office where I assume Eagle has gone. I think about Pinkie’s words as I shift my gaze back to her. “I don’t know. I wanted to try with Jaguar, but he was always so angry.”
She snorts. “He’s a douche. Don’t you even give him a second thought. Came back from getting you, all pissed off and started fucking that bitch. Didn’t stop when he had you in his bed and at his mercy either, just kept being spiteful.”
“We did it to each other, hurt each other, a lot,” I admit.
“That kid his?” she asks, dipping her chin to my belly.
I shrug a shoulder. “Maybe.”
“Truthfully?”
Snorting, I meet her smirk with my own. “Maybe. I wouldn’t lie about that, not ever.”
“Think you have to be with him because of that?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head.
“Eagle is offering you security, a ring, and a family… right?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s hot as hell, too.”
Smiling, I can’t hold back, I laugh softly. “He is,” I agree. “He says he’s possessive, but in a different way than the other men, is it bad that I want to know what that means? He’s admitted that he doesn’t share, so I’m really intrigued.”
“He’s always been a mystery, which only ups his appeal. Would being his Old Lady truly be a hardship? You know about club life, he knows who you are and where you come from. He wants the whole package. Kinda sounds like a no-brainer to me.”
“Jag offered all of that to me too…” I remind her.
She barks out a loud laugh. “No. He dangled a carrot in front of your face. Then he paraded his whore in front of you at the same time. He wanted to control you the only way that he knew how, sex and low self-esteem. He doesn’t want a relationship with you, babe, he wants to own you and that shit isn’t healthy, not for either of you.”
I nod my head, agreeing with her. I think about the fact that I don’t really know what Eagle’s endgame is. With Jaguar, I knew my evil. I knew what my life would be like. I would be tethered to him. He would do what he wanted then instruct me on who and what I could do.
It didn’t seem like the life that I would have ever chosen for myself, but it was one that I was willing to try. For him, for me, for this baby.
When it comes to Eagle, he doesn’t come right out and say exactly what he wants from me, or what our life would look like. All he sa
ys is that he wants to get married, that he wants me to be his, that I already am.
Desire stirs in my belly just thinking about him. I crave his touch, need him to slide inside of me and fill this ache. But is it really him that I need and crave, or is it any male attention?
“Don’t do it,” Pinkie warns.
“Do what?” I ask.
“I can see the look in your eyes. Go and talk to him, don’t be like Jaguar.”
Pinkie’s warning dumps cold water throughout my entire body. She’s right. That’s exactly what I was going to do. I could feel myself thinking about who it was going to be. Mountain is here, I could have him if I want. Pinching my eyes closed, I try not to cry. What the fuck is wrong with me? What the absolute fuck?
“Della, ready to go home?” Eagle’s deep voice rumbles.
Turning toward him, I open my eyes and tip my head back to look into his handsome face. Thoughts of other men completely melt away at the sight of him looking down at me. He smiles, lifting his hand and touching the tip of my nose.
“Yeah,” I breathe.
“Good girl,” he murmurs.
Warmth fills me from his words, his affirmation. Good. I’ve never been good, never been told that I was good unless it was that I’m a good lay.
That’s not what this is though. I feel like a traitor to Jaguar, but right now, I want to say yes to this man. To allow Eagle to claim me, something about him just feels so damn right.
EAGLE
I watch her hug Pinkie goodbye, then she turns toward the door and makes her way out of the bar. Her hips sway from side-to-side. Her ass, fucking hell, that round ass should be illegal, it looks so damn good in her shorts.
Dragon calls out my name and I pause with a grunt before tearing my eyes from Della’s perfect ass.
Reluctantly, I make my way over to where he’s standing in the mouth of the hallway. Lifting my chin, I wait for him to speak, knowing that he has something more to say to me other than the meeting we just had. This must be personal and I doubt I’m going to like it much based on the look he’s giving me.
“You’re good to spend tomorrow night loading up the truck?” he asks.
“Mattresses coming in?”
“Yeah, with the guys being gone to Mexico, I need all hands on deck. Got some guns coming in to move, too.”
I nod a couple of times, wondering what else he has to say, because I have no doubt there is something to be said. Something that I have no desire to hear, but will anyway, because this man is my president and for that reason alone has my respect.
Dragon lifts his hand, wrapping his fingers around the back of his neck and squeezes. “You do this, with her, I want to make sure it’s for her best interest and nothing else.”
I don’t know if it’s because he’s had her, been inside of her more than once, or because he kept her as a bargaining chip, but no matter what, he really fucking cares what happens with Della.
Clearing my throat, I think about telling him to mind his own business, but she’s not mine yet and she is just that—his business. The honest truth is that I like that for her. I like that a hell of a lot, that she truly has people here who love her.
“I’ve always wanted her, Dragon. Watched her for a while, wanted to make sure she was worth it all.”
“Worth it all?”
Nodding my head, I lift my gaze to meet his. “Worth claiming. Someone who’s damaged by life, someone who obviously has more going on than someone who just enjoys being a clubwhore. She’s someone who obviously needed it. Wondered if she was worth going behind my brother’s back to make her mine.”
“Fuck,” he groans. “Is she? Is it?”
Leveling him with my gaze, I smirk. “Saw that baby on the ultrasound machine, knew in that second that it was all worth everything that’s about to come my way. That baby is mine, Della’s mine. There is no fuckin’ doubt in my mind now, if there ever was, it’s fucking vanished.”
“Nobody would think badly of you if this didn’t work out. You aren’t saving her from Jaguar, you ain’t a fuckin’ knight. I’ll take care of that if you don’t want to be part of this, if you don’t truly want her,” he explains.
Shaking my head, I lift my hand, clapping him on the shoulder with a firm squeeze. “Want her. Taking her. Claiming her. It doesn’t have anything to do with Jaguar, except the fact that I have to expedite it.”
Dragon nods, his eyes searching mine, then he jerks his chin and I drop my hand, letting it fall to my side. “Trusting you with her. Don’t know exactly why you’d want to claim her, bein’ pregnant with someone else’s kid, having Jaguar practically fucking mental in the background and obviously she’s got a sex addiction or some shit, so there’s that issue too. But, I ain’t gonna ask you anything else, except…”
“Yeah?” Puffing out my chest, I inhale, waiting for a fight.
My fist tightens in anticipation of what he’s going to say next. Knowing for whatever reason that I’m not going to like it. Ready for the fight that I’ll start if I don’t.
“You planning on gettin’ hitched tomorrow? Bellarosa, Silver, Presley and I will be there.”
My entire body deflates, except my back, which stays straight. My eyes widen and my mouth drops slightly.
“Yeah?”
He snorts. “Yeah. We’ll be there. Go to lunch or something afterward. Then you gotta get your ass to work, but maybe I’ll let you be a couple hours late so you can consummate that shit.” He chuckles.
“Fuck off,” I bark out, then laugh because I can’t hold that shit in at all.
Turning around, I take a step before I shift my gaze back to him from over my shoulder. He’s watching me, his lips twitching, but otherwise his face is expressionless as he waits for me to speak.
“See you tomorrow morning, brother. Want to get it done early, first thing,” I say.
“We’ll be there. Hope I can trust you on this.”
“Have no doubt about it. Della will be taken care of, the baby will be loved, family is the most important thing and that’s what this is with us. Hopefully Jaguar can accept that this is the way it was meant to be.”
“Doubtful.”
I snort but don’t say anything else. Instead, I make my way outside and toward Della who is standing next to my bike.
The sun shines off of her blonde hair and my cock twitches at the sight of her. Fucking shit. This woman. No matter how, why, or the circumstances around it, she is mine—she was always meant to be mine.
Chapter Sixteen
DELLA
I’m not sure that I ever imagined my wedding day, but there is no way that this is the way I ever thought it would happen. The only dresses that I own are skin tight, even more so now, short, and not appropriate for the courthouse.
Frowning, I stare at the contents of the closet, wrapped only in a towel. My hair is styled, my makeup done, but the only thing that I have to wear that won’t show off my body inappropriately is my favorite cut-off shorts and a t-shirt.
“Della?” Eagle calls out.
Turning to the doorway, I look over at him. He’s standing with his shoulder leaning against the jamb, his eyes raking over my towel-covered body. When his gaze finally lifts to mine, his eyes darken at the sight of me.
Last night was hard. He slept on the couch and all I wanted to do was strip him naked and ride the hell out of him. I’ve never wanted a man as badly as I want him right now. I want it all. Him, marriage, a family.
I lick my lips, wishing that he would kiss me, touch me, anything. He doesn’t. Instead, he lifts his hand and only then do I break eye contact with him.
My eyes flick down to his hand and I blink. He’s holding out a bag. It has ribbon handles and looks like it’s from a department store, maybe even an upper-end boutique, it’s definitely not from Walmart.
“What’s that?” I ask.
He pushes off of the wall and takes a step forward. “Presley dropped it off. Guess Silver told her we were getting married today.
She took the day off, ran to town and grabbed this from some small boutique or some shit. I wasn’t really listening.”
He’s a liar. He knows way too much about this bag to not have listened to her. Reaching out, I slip it from his fingers and walk the bag over to the bed. It’s heavy, as if there are a pair of shoes possibly in the bottom as well as something else.
Reaching inside, I pull out something that’s wrapped in tissue paper. I faintly hear the bedroom door closing in the distance as I unwrap the item, the paper crinkles with each move that I make. Touching the neatly folded item, I bite the corner of my lip as I reach for the white fabric.
Picking it up, I gasp at the sight in front of me. It’s a short dress, very flowy without much structure, full-lace with a white slip beneath, it’s off the shoulder and long-sleeved. It looks comfortable, almost sweet, and absolutely perfect.
Dropping my towel, I walk over to the drawer and quickly grab my strapless bra, then pull the dress up my body, thankful for the flowy cut and wide neckline. Once my arms are in the sleeves, I adjust the neckline and turn around to look in the full-length mirror.
Turning to the side, then again to face the front I blink at the sight in front of me. I don’t look like the perfect version my mother required me to be, and I don’t look like the clubwhore that I’ve been dressing as for months. Though, that version is extremely comfortable.
I look and feel comfortable, but I also feel beautiful in this dress. In fact, the knee-length dress doesn’t show any of my curves off, and yet, I still feel sexy. Walking over to the bag, I reach inside and smile at the box of shoes as soon as I take the lid off.
Staring back at me from the white box is a pair of light blue high-heeled pumps. They’re absolutely perfect and they’re exactly what I would have chosen for myself had I gone shopping. Slipping them on, I look at myself in the mirror again and can’t hide my smile.
I feel beautiful.
I feel sexy.
I feel like a bride.
Walking back over to the bag, I fold the tissue paper and neatly put everything away when a note flutters out from the bottom of the plastic bag. Frowning, I reach for it and unfold it, opening it to find feminine scrawl.
UNLEASH ME: SAVAGE BEAST MC 4 Page 14