by Bella J
Ink followed suit, and Dutch gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder before going the other way.
With everyone gone, it finally felt like I had space to breathe. My thoughts were a jumbled mess, and the pit of my stomach felt hollow. Tomorrow morning, I needed to look a widow and her kids in the eye while trying to explain to them why they’d be burying a husband. A father. A man who only did what he was told, simply escorting two girls in need of protection. Junkyard wasn’t even directly involved in this war, yet he was the one who took his last breath tonight.
“You okay?”
I turned and saw Tanit standing in the doorway to her room. Not even a bruised face could stop her from batting those thick eyelashes and pouting her thick fuck-me lips.
“I’m good.” It was a simple answer that really didn’t require any kind of response.
“You seem tense.”
“I’m fine. Get some rest.”
She crossed her arms and sashayed toward me. “You need a little comfort tonight, baby?”
“Jesus, Tanit. Stop.”
Her hands reached out, fingers slowly dragging down my chest. “I can help you get rid of some of that tension, you know.” Her chocolate brown eyes glanced down to my crotch then back up. “All you have to do is stand there and let me work my magic.”
“Tanit,” I pulled her hand away from my chest, “stop it. I told you, it’s over.”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
I stepped back. “Yeah. It does.”
She tilted her head to the side, eyes raking all over me. “You can fuck us both, you know.”
“Jesus Christ.” I let my head fall back, almost laughing at how fucking crazy everything was right now.
“I don’t mind sharing you with the PC’s daughter.”
I snapped my glare to her. “Stop. That’s enough. You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
“I know who she is, Granite. Her face has been plastered on every goddamn television channel ever since she’s gone missing.”
“Don’t,” I warned, feeling that prickle of warning cross the skin of my neck.
Tanit reached behind her head and pulled the band from her hair, letting the thick brown locks fall over her shoulders. “All I’m saying is there’s no reason for us to stop fucking simply because you carry a torch for the ballerina.” She reached out and cupped my cock in the palm of her hand. “Besides, it’ll be fun to sneak around again.”
I let her move right up to me, her eyes hooded with lust. I could practically smell her needy pussy while she kept her hand on my dick.
I grabbed her jaw between my fingers, forcing her mouth up as I leaned down. Her warm breath smelled like cherries, her mouth forming the perfect fucking “o,” already panting with the need for me to fill her greedy cunt.
I gripped her chin harder, digging my fingers into her skin as I leaned down, gently easing my lips up her jaw. “Do you like touching my cock?”
She rubbed her palm over my crotch. “You know I do.”
Rolling my hips, I pushed my dick harder against her palm, and she let out a whimper, her body already primed and ready for me to fuck.
My lips brushed against her ear, and I forced her head to the side. “Then you better cop a feel, sweetheart, because this is the last time you’ll ever get to touch my cock.” I pressed my lips against her ear. “I am never. Fucking you. Again.”
I let go of her, and she stumbled back, the expression on her face a mix of disbelief and humiliation.
“Fuck you, Granite.”
“I tried to be nice about it, but it didn’t seem like you understood very well.”
Her lips pulled in a straight line, eyebrows knotted together. “You’re an asshole.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Ugh!” She stomped to her bedroom and slammed the door. Poor girl. She just didn’t fucking get the fact that we were done. That our little fuck arrangement was over. Playing dirty was the only way to get her to grasp the concept that I would never fuck her again.
Letting out a long breath, I rolled my shoulders to get some relief from the tension. God, it had been a long fucking a day.
Walking to the door of Alyx’s bedroom, I softly turned the knob, easing it open. The bedside lamp was on, and when I saw her small silhouette under the sheets, the way her body slowly moved as she breathed, I took a moment to study her. I loved watching her sleep. All those nights I sat in the corner of her bedroom, watching her without her knowing, was the only time I could sort through my thoughts. It was like her presence calmed the chaos in my head, allowing me to think straight. The delicate little moans she made while she slept mixed with the soft sound of her body moving underneath those silk sheets was like a sonnet to me. It sang to my blood. It made me feel something other than this all-consuming anarchy that burned in my veins, never stopping. Only when I watched her.
Funny. For years, all I thought about was how fucking much I wanted her. How I would commit every mortal sin known to man in order to have her. And now, here she was, and I was suddenly wondering if I fucking deserved her, thinking about what her life would be without the madness of mine. All this time, I was this selfish bastard who didn’t give a fuck who I had to ruin in order to get close to her. My nights were filled with dreams and fantasies of her dancing for me every goddamn night, allowing me to watch her. And my days consisted of thoughts and plans on how I’d make it happen.
Now, here she was. I made it happen. My fucking dream was right here, and she told me she was mine. Confessed it with her own words, her voice, and now I couldn’t stop thinking about how her life would be without me after years of thinking about how my life would be with her.
Somehow, I couldn’t stop feeling like this was only temporary, like it wouldn’t last for very long. But fuck it. While it lasted, I would bask in it and soak it all up.
I closed the door and slipped my cut off, dropping it on the floor, followed by my shirt and jeans.
Hovering over her, glancing down, it seemed like the light touched her beautiful face. Even the fucking light was drawn to her, just like my darkness.
The mattress dipped when I got in behind her, and she shifted, giving me more space next to her.
“You okay?” she asked, her voice soft and sleepy.
I placed a gentle kiss on her shoulder, inhaling deep, loving the way she smelled, the way she felt next to me. “I’m good.”
She lifted her head and scooted back, letting me put my arm beneath her head before she nestled back into the pillow. “Hmmm,” she purred. “This feels good.”
“You have no idea, ballerina girl.” I draped my arm around her waist and pulled her closer, as close as possible, the curve of her ass fitting perfectly against me. “Say it again,” I whispered into the back of her neck. “Tell me again that you’re mine.”
She weaved her fingers through mine, clutching my hand next to her face. “I’m yours. I’ve always been yours.”
I closed my eyes, swept away by the most perfect moment I had ever experienced. It amazed me how one petite creature like her could tame the beast that ruled my black heart.
As I lay there beside her, I felt the need to shoot a silent prayer to whoever the fuck was up there listening, asking—hoping that something good would come from this selfishly inflicted chaos I had brought to her life. That I wouldn’t end up destroying her, because I wasn’t letting her go. No matter what. I’d keep being selfish, keeping her, holding tight to the best fucking thing in my life right now. In such a short while, I had grown addicted to this beautiful change in my dark, hollow world. All because of the pretty ballerina girl sleeping in my arms tonight.
I nuzzled my nose in her hair, and by God, I prayed I’d be strong enough to keep her, not to let anyone take her away from me. This woman had somehow managed to break through every barrier I had ever built around me, and now I didn’t want to put those walls up again. The deeper she penetrated my soul, the farther I wanted to le
t her in. This thing we had between us started out as something dark and wicked. But slowly, the blackness was being chipped away, little by little, revealing something that had the potential to be fucking beautiful. And I’d be damned if I allowed anyone to take that away from us…away from me.
Chapter Fourteen
Alyx
When I woke up, he was gone. The last thing I remembered was him getting into bed, putting his arm around me like it was the most natural thing for him to do. And it felt right. For a man who seemed to be all about chaos, it was strange how him being so close to me was soothing. Calm. Right.
I didn’t even know how it happened, or when it happened. But the dynamic between us changed overnight, and my head was spinning. Yet my heart felt full. My mind no longer tried to dissect it, tried to understand how I could have had these feelings for him after what he had done to me. It no longer mattered, and now that I had accepted this attraction between us, I didn’t feel so conflicted all the time.
Now the only thing I struggled with was how it would be possible to make things right for Neon. No amount of justice or revenge would ever be able to erase what they had done to her. But it sure as hell would have made it a little easier.
I got out of bed when I saw an apple on the bedside table, a white note beneath it saying, ‘eat me.’ I smiled, appreciating his slight nudge to get me to eat something. The Granite I met a few weeks ago practically shoved a bowl of macaroni down my throat. At least now he was trying to be subtle about it.
I took a bath, got dressed in a clean pair of tights and a shirt before grabbing the apple and heading out the room. From what I could remember of last night, Granite mentioned something about going to see Junkyard’s family. And I wanted to go see Neon.
It was quiet as I walked down the hall, taking a bite from my apple. It tasted sweet as I bit into it, and I could feel it travel down, settling in my empty stomach.
I reached the end of the hall, about to turn to Neon’s door, when the woman I saw last night came walking from the other direction. Tanit, I believed was what Neon called her.
“Um…hi,” I greeted when she passed me.
She stopped and gave me a once-over. “You’re the PC’s daughter.”
“Alyx,” I replied. “My name is Alyx.”
Her dark lashes fanned her cheeks as she scrutinized me top to bottom. The bruise on her face had darkened some since last night.
A smile curved at the corners of her mouth as she extended a hand. “I’m Tanit. We haven’t been officially introduced.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes, and I wasn’t sure whether it was paranoia from Neon’s warning or a sixth sense—but I caught a slight hint of hostility in her stance and the way her eyes raked over me. I couldn’t quite place it.
I shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Tanit.”
“So,” she dropped her arms to her sides, “I saw you on the news. You’re supposed to be missing, or kidnapped, or whatever.”
I scratched my temple, not exactly sure how I was supposed to respond to that. “It’s a little complicated.”
“Yeah, I bet. Everything is complicated when the Kings are involved. Talking about Kings,” she glanced up and down the hall, “is Granite here?”
“No. Um, I think he left early this morning. Not sure where or when he’ll be back.” I lifted a brow. “I don’t really know much about what goes on around here.”
Tanit grinned. “Oh, neither do I. Women riding with motorcycle clubs usually don’t know shit. We’re here to look pretty and spread our legs when they want us to. That’s all.”
I choked on a piece of apple then coughed loudly. “Well,” I cleared my throat some more, “if being pretty is all it takes, you’re pulling that off just fine.”
It was easy to see the compliment inflated her ego, her hips moving as she rocked from one leg to the other.
She smiled. “Listen, I hope it’s not going to be weird between us now that you’re with Granite.”
“What do you mean?”
She held up her hands. “You know, with the history Granite and I have. It can’t be easy for you seeing me around here. I know I wouldn’t be comfortable with it if I were in your shoes.”
“I’m sorry,” I shook my head lightly, “I don’t think I know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh.” She placed her hand in front of her mouth, seemingly surprised. But her eyes told an entirely different story, chocolate swirls of sheer amusement. “You don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?”
“That Granite and I used to fuck.”
This time I dropped the apple, staggered and speechless.
“Um”—I picked up my apple and straightened—“thanks for telling me, I guess.” If uncomfortable moments were able to cause physical pain, I’d be hunched up and begging for death right about now.
She fiddled with one of her gold-hoop earrings. “I’m sorry. I only told you because if I were you, I would have liked to know.”
“Oh, yeah, sure. Thanks for telling me.” I wanted to take a bite from the apple when I remembered it was on the ground a few seconds earlier, so I nervously moved it from one hand to the other. “So, I, uh…guess I’ll see you around, then?”
“Yeah. I guess you will.” Her cherry red lips pulled up in a smirk. “Good talk.” She turned on her heel and walked off. I, on the other hand, stood there, shocked and dumbfounded, unable to move because my mind was trying to wrap around what the hell she just said. She blurted out those words like it was a normal conversation fit for the breakfast table.
“Odd,” I mumbled to myself before walking into Neon’s room. The conversation I had with Tanit clearly had my mind so frazzled that I completely forgot to knock.
I stepped inside the room just as the doctor removed a bandage from Neon’s back, placing it in a bowl with other bloody and oozy mesh. Ink looked up at me, and he had to have seen the horrified expression on my face.
“Don’t worry. Doc gave her something to sleep through it. She’s not feeling anything right now.”
I closed the door and hesitated. “How bad are the burns?”
The doctor grabbed some new bandages from the tray next to him. “She’s healing pretty quickly. I would have preferred to do some skin grafting, but with our limited resources, treating the burns is the best I can do. Luckily, Ink managed to get his hands on some advanced bandages that won’t require daily changing. So, hopefully, this will be the last time we need to change it, at least for a while.”
Ink stared down at Neon, watching the doctor work on her, and I could practically feel his heartbeat from across the room. Right now, he wasn’t a hardened criminal, but a man hurting for his woman—even if she wasn’t his woman…yet.
For a while, I stayed, watching the doctor work. At first, my stomach dropped when I saw the burnt flesh on her back displaying a grotesque S. The thought of the pain she had to have endured while they did that to her was enough to make me sick. But the doctor was gentle, and Ink stood there with his hand on her shoulder the entire time. He never took his eyes off her back, like he was trying to engrave the image into his mind, to make sure he never forgot how grotesque her injuries were. Every second that passed, his face hardened more and more until his irises were a slate gray of hate. It wouldn’t have taken a genius to figure out what was going on inside his head. He was killing Pythons one by one, watching them bleed through his mind’s eye.
“Uh…” I rubbed my palms together, “Ink, is there a kitchen somewhere down here?”
He stirred and looked up like I had somehow pulled him from another dimension. “Yeah. In the main house.”’
“Oh.” I chewed my lip. “Guess I can’t go up there to cook something.”
“You want to cook?”
“Yeah. Why? Does that seem strange?”
For the first time, he lifted his hand off Neon’s shoulder, crossing his arms. “You just don’t…look like the kind of woman who cooks.”
I puckered a brow. “Becau
se of my weight?”
“Well…yeah.”
I pursed my lips then snorted while placing a palm on my forehead. “Yeah, you’re right. I can’t cook. But I do know how to make pancakes.”
Ink snickered. “Even if I could allow you upstairs, I can guarantee you won’t find shit to make those pancakes with. It’s a house full of dirty bikers. All we have is beer and leftover pizza.”
Sucking my bottom lip into my mouth, I searched around the room, finding a piece of paper crinkled up and tossed in a bin in the corner.
“Doctor, you have a pen?”
He reached into his shirt pocket and held one out to me.
“Thanks.”
Grabbing the piece of paper from the bin, I flattened it against my chest to straighten it out a bit.
“What are you doing?” Ink asked.
“Writing a list.”
“Of what?”
I handed the piece of paper to him. “It’s a list of stuff I’ll need to make pancakes.”
Ink scowled as he read it. “This is super swell and everything, but there’s not a chance in hell Granite will let you outside this basement-slash-bunker. Whatever the fuck you wanna call it.”
With a smirk, I walked backward to the door. “You work on getting me those ingredients, and I’ll work on Granite.”
A mischievous look crossed his face. “And how exactly do you plan on doing that?”
I gave a half-shrug. “You don’t want to know.”
“Oh, I do. I really, really do.”
I laughed. “Just get those things on the list, would you?”
“Okay, but—”
I rushed out and slammed the door shut before he could finish his sentence.
Leaning back against the door, I grinned. Someone recently told me the only reason we were here was to look pretty and spread our legs. And that gave me a plan.
Chapter Fifteen
Alyx
I bit my thumbnail, and the courage I had earlier seemed to have left me. What the hell was I thinking? I didn’t have the confidence needed to do this. It was insane to think I could.