So, fuck that and fuck him if he thinks he’s taking this from me, from any of us. The Savage Beasts don’t play around, we have his sister and I have no qualms about cutting that cunt up to save Trista.
“Oh wonderful, you slept over,” a voice shouts.
Sitting straight up, I look ahead to see that Trista’s bitch of a roommate is standing at the end of the bed, dressed for the day, her arms crossed beneath her large chest and her pouty lips pressed together and focused on us.
The sheet doesn’t cover me and I grin when my gaze drops to my morning wood, then lifts to her. Her eyes follow mine and they widen when she lifts them back to meet mine.
“Helping me out this morning, babe?” I ask with a smirk.
To her credit, she doesn’t even blush. Instead, she lifts a brow. “You couldn’t afford me,” she snaps.
“Wouldn’t pay for it anyway. Not when you’d be beggin’ for it.”
“Trista is right there,” she hisses.
“You game?” I ask.
She shakes her head, taking a step back. “God, you’re a pig. No wonder she walked away and never looked back,” she bites out.
I hide the hit, knowing it’s a direct fucking hit too, the roommate smirks. I can’t even remember the bitch’s name, that’s how goddamn insignificant she is to me.
“Her father is here.”
The roommate turns around and starts to walk away, then stops, turning to look at me from over her shoulder.
“Trista doesn’t deserve a man like you, she deserves someone who would love and cherish her for the person that she is. She’s beautiful, inside and out. She deserves someone as faithful as she is.”
I open my mouth to ask her what she means by that when she shakes her head and slips out of the room, closing the door behind her. I try to brush off her words, but it doesn’t work. They burrow their way inside of me, settling in my gut with everything else that’s been thrown my way recently.
Shifting my gaze down to Trista, I watch as she rolls to her back, her eyes fluttering open. Her lips are curved up into a small smile and I grin at the sight of her. She licks her lips before she sinks her teeth down in her bottom lip.
“Morning,” she breathes.
Cocking my knees up, I grin. “Morning, beautiful. Your dad’s here.”
Her smile turns into a frown and she rolls to her side, throwing her legs over the edge of the bed before she sits up. “I don’t want to see him. In fact, I want both of you to leave.”
Shifting so that I’m behind her, I place my legs on either side of her hips and rest my chin against her shoulder, sliding my arms around her waist.
“I’m not going anywhere, Trista, not without you, so you can get that shit out of your head. Hawk is just as worried as I am about this.”
“Why would I go with you?” she whispers. “You didn’t give a shit about me until there was a threat. Now all of a sudden, you’re attempting to say all the right things. How come you didn’t come here six months ago, almost a year ago?”
She sounds hurt. I hate that. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt her, yet that’s all I seem to do. Gripping her waist, I pick her up and place her on my thigh. I don’t want to talk to her back, not right now anyway, maybe when I’m balls deep inside of her, but I’m not at the moment.
“You didn’t want me and I was trying to respect that. I’m too fucking old for you, Trista. Been too fuckin’ old for you, since we started. Thought you would move here, find someone better than me. I see you haven’t. I’m claimin’ you the only way I know how and we’re done talking about it. Take a shower, or don’t, I don’t give a fuck if you want to smell like sex, but pack your shit and we’re leaving.”
Her face turns red as she shakes her head. “I will not. Goddammit, why are you such a fucking dick?” she shouts.
Smirking, I shake my head once, then touch my mouth to hers. “Wouldn’t be much fun if I wasn’t, beautiful. I’m taking a shower. See you in a few, join me if you want to come again.”
Picking her up, I set her to the side and slide off of her bed. Without a word, I walk into her bathroom and start the hot water. Less than five minutes later, she joins me, and not long after that, we’re both coming, again.
This is what I need. This is what I want. I want her sass, her pushback. I need her submission and sweetness.
Trista is everything I never thought that I wanted, wrapped up in a sweet little too-young-for-me package. I don’t give much of a fuck about that, other than I know that she probably deserves someone her age, someone who can grow with her, then grow old with her. Not someone who has already lived a goddamn lifetime.
Chapter Seven
TRISTA
Walking out of my bedroom, freshly showered and fucked, again, I feel my face heat as soon as Avah and my father’s eyes meet mine. They heard us, heard more than either of them ever should. I’m mortified, but also, so satisfied that I’m not sure how much I care.
Chewing on my bottom lip, I head toward the kitchen for a cup of coffee, the biggest I can find, maybe a double. I have a feeling that I’m going to need it.
My father doesn’t stay seated, instead, he stomps into the kitchen behind me. I can feel his eyes on me, staring at me while I make my drink.
“You want to tell me why you came here and did all that shit to yourself, why you degraded yourself by becoming a whore?” he spits.
Spinning around, I can’t stop the anger from filling me up and the blood from rushing in my ears.
“You did not. You did not just say that to me,” I hiss.
He lifts a brow, then leans forward, his cold stare focused on me. He’s angry. Angry with me, but I don’t see how since I’m downright pissed off at him. He has no right, none. Lifting the coffee cup to my lips, I try really hard not to scream at this man.
“I said it. You might not like me, but I have never stopped loving you, Tristiana, and never did I imagine you’d be a whore.”
I snort, narrowing my gaze at him. “I don’t like you,” I state simply. “I don’t see how you would expect me to be anything more than I am, Hawk. Your wife spread her legs for any and everyone. She even gifted me to her men for drugs. So please, don’t be shocked by anything that I do because you left me to be raised a whore.”
He lifts his hand, I set the coffee cup down, waiting for that hand to strike across my face. Closing my eyes, I loosen my body, waiting. When the blow doesn’t come, I open my eyes to see Taz standing behind my father, his hand wrapped around my father’s wrist.
“Walk away, Hawk,” he growls as he releases his grip on Hawk’s wrist.
Hawk spins around and walks away, his shoulder checking Taz’s. “You gotta learn to curb that mouth, beautiful,” Taz mutters, his lips turned up into a grin, then as quickly as it came, his smile disappears. “I won’t always be around to stop someone from giving you an attitude adjustment.”
Narrowing my eyes on him, I spin around and give him my back. His words. I don’t like them, don’t like one thing about them. He’s right though, he won’t always be around to stop someone from putting me in my place, you know, since I’m just some inferior little woman.
Taz’s heat is suddenly against my back, his chest pressing against me while his lips touch the side of my neck. “You can’t be mad at me about giving you a warning, babe. You gotta swallow that sass sometimes. I can only protect you so much and you know that better than anyone else.”
Closing my eyes, I try to take a calming breath. I’m done crying. I’ve moved on and now I’m just plain pissed off. I’m angry. Not only at my father, but at Taz and all of the fucking Savage Beasts. They can all go fuck themselves.
“I am mad. I’m pissed off at all of you. My father thinks he has a say in how I live my life. You think that you do, too. The Beasts want me to come home and hide out, give up everything I’ve worked for. What happens in six months when you find out that all of this was for nothing?” I ask.
Taz’s lips skim the side of
my neck, one of his hands wraps around my waist, the other around my chest as he holds me tightly against his chest.
“Would it be so bad to be home with your family?” he asks on a whisper. “This isn’t you, babe. None of this. You’re not a whore, never have been. You are not Savannah, you’re sweet little Trista. You’ve always been sweet, soft, kind, and loyal.”
“You think I’m not loyal because I left?” I exhale.
He hums against my neck, his teeth nipping my skin lightly. “I think you’re lost.”
I want to tell him that he’s wrong. So very fucking wrong. But he’s not. I’ve been lost since he told me that he’d never want me for more than someone to fuck two years ago. I fell in love with him, and I never fell out. I never will either.
Taz is it for me, but he doesn’t want me for more than fun and as much as that hurts, I can’t accept that for my future. I deserve better.
“I am lost. I’m so lost that I know I’ll never be found, but I like my life here. I get to get dressed up, the men that take me out don’t usually expect much and they’re pretty nice. I can choose who I want to be with, and who I don’t. It’s a win-win.”
His muscles tighten as he pulls me closer against his chest, taking the wind from my body as he lets out a growl.
“You’re not theirs. You’re mine and I’m not listening to another word of your bullshit for another minute.”
“You need to let me go,” I wheeze.
He grunts. “Not happening. You want me to brand you? Fuck it, I’m branding you as soon as we get to the clubhouse. I’m not fucking around anymore, Trista. You’re not their whore.”
Spinning around in his arms, I tilt my head back to look up into his eyes. “That’s right. I can’t be their whore, only yours?”
His lips twitch as he lifts a shoulder. “Yeah. Be a lot easier if you’d just pack your shit so we could go home.”
“Then what?”
“Branding you, fucking you, planting my babies in you, not in that order.” He chuckles as if this is some big fucking joke.
My heart doesn’t think it’s funny though. It’s hammering against my chest at his words. They are everything I’ve ever wanted, but I don’t buy them. He is selling me my dream, but the price is too high. He only wants me to go with him, he may brand me, give me his babies, but he’ll never be faithful, he’ll never be committed to me.
Deciding that they won’t leave unless I go with them, I inhale a deep breath. “I’ll go with you. I don’t want to be branded. As soon as this threat is done, I’m coming back here.”
His lips widen into a full-fledged smile, he dips his chin and touches his mouth to mine. His lips hover, barely touching my own before he speaks. “You’ll change your mind, beautiful. I’ll change your mind.”
I don’t tell him that there is no way I’m changing my mind, because I can’t speak. His tongue fills my mouth, his arms wrap around me and he crushes me against his chest. He owns me. He knows that he does and I weaken like I always have.
TAZ
Walking out on the small balcony, I take a smoke out of my pocket and light it. Hawk is already out here, cigarette in hand, puffing on it out of habit and nerves more than anything else.
“Why’d you come here? You knew I’d get her and bring her to you,” I say breaking the silence.
“She’s my daughter. I’m fucking worried,” he states.
“Are you? Or are you feeling guilty?”
“Does it matter?”
Lifting my shoulder in a shrug, I look out at the city. The air is dirty, you can fucking see it in front of you and I wonder why anyone would want to breathe this shit every single day. The skies are a dreary gray and it’s not because there is a storm coming, they’re just always this way. Too many fucking people here.
“She’s coming back with us, begrudgingly, but that’s better than her not coming at all. The club will keep her safe.”
Hawk shifts his gaze over to me, turning his head slightly as his eyes narrow. “My daughter is a whore, she’s this way because I abandoned her.”
Nodding my head, I lift my cigarette to my lips and take a pull. “Yeah. That’s life, brother. You can’t change your past, all you can do is work on your future.”
“Yeah? How? She fucking hates me and she has every right. I killed her bitch of a mother and now she sleeps with businessmen for money. Fucking hell, I did this.”
“She doesn’t sleep with anyone but me from now on, so you can just stop feeling so fucking guilty for that shit.”
He laughs, but it’s not with humor. “Yeah, I guess I should feel really fucking great that my twenty-two-year-old daughter is fucking someone old enough to be her father. That’s really fucking great, she’s not damaged at all.”
Turning toward him, I stand tall, squaring my shoulders and look down into his eyes. “Shut the fuck up with that shit. What me and Trista have is ours. It’s not for you or anyone else to even fucking think about, let alone talk about. I won’t have it,” I snap.
His lips stay in a smile and he snorts. “Yeah? Yours, huh? You suddenly going to turn into some respectable man? Not using my daughter because she has a young, tight, little body? Don’t feed me any bullshit, Taz. I’m you, man. Cut from the same goddamn cloth. You can’t bullshit a bullshitter.”
He tosses his smoke over the railing before he turns and walks into the house, not allowing me to respond to his words. I don’t know what I would say anyway. He’s not wrong. We’re the fucking same and looking at him, that’s my future.
If I have kids with Trista, I know they won’t even know who I am. I’m not a man who is going to be home every night for dinner. I’m not going to be there when they wake up, take them to their school shit. Not because I don’t care, but because I’m just not that guy. Which is why I’m forty-four and never had any of my own, or considered it until now.
“You’re taking her from me,” a voice calls out.
I don’t bother turning my head, I know who it is. It’s her bitch. Avah, I guess she’s called. She slides up beside me, but doesn’t touch me. I’m still thinking about kids and too focused on possibly ruining more lives with my selfish behavior to be concerned with the woman beside me.
“You know she doesn’t sleep with them. I mean she makes considerably less because of this, but she still goes on as many dates as she wants because men pay just to have her at their side. She’s beautiful, charming, sweet, and kind. You of all men should understand why someone would pay to have that on their arm, even for just a few hours.”
Licking my lips, I bring my smoke to my lips again and nod. “I do,” I agree. “She’s not theirs to have,” I grunt.
“Isn’t she, though? I know she’s definitely not yours to keep. You’re going to destroy her and leave her with nothing left of herself. At least here, she may not find love, but she won’t have the heartache you’re so quick to deliver.”
Turning my head to the side, I look over at the girl. She’s gorgeous, one of the most beautiful, yet untouchable women I’ve ever seen. She’s high maintenance, she’s fake, but underneath it all, she’s insecure.
“You know from experience?” I ask.
Her plump lips turn up into a small smile, but she doesn’t look anywhere but straight ahead. “I do, but Trista isn’t like me. She never will be either. She loves you and she’s willing to put herself through emotional torture in order to protect me. Don’t think that she’s going with you to give you peace of mind.”
Chuckling, I take one last drag before I toss my smoke off the balcony. “I have no illusions, Avah. Trista fought me too hard for me to have any. She needs to go to protect herself and you, but mostly herself. I know Trista better than you think I do. Why do you think I let her go when I wanted to lock her away in my room?”
Avah licks her lips, her eyes sparkling with something devious and unreadable. “I have no idea why you don’t keep her. If I were a man, that’s the kind of soft I would want in my bed,” she exhales. “I w
ould think a man like you, would let her go thinking you’ve done some grand gesture, you can sleep at night thinking you’ve done her some kind of service.”
“I haven’t?” I ask, arching a brow.
Avah shakes her head. “You rough and rugged men are all the same. I’m not going to tell you how to fix this, how to live your life. I will tell you that you’re being selfish as all hell. You aren’t thinking of her, you never have.
“All you’ve ever done is protect yourself, to think of her, to take her feelings and her desires into consideration means you’ll have to open your own self up to be vulnerable and I know you’re the kind of man who will be damned if he does anything like that, so in the end, you’re going to destroy her at the same time destroying yourself as well. Her room will be waiting for her.
“I can float the rent without an issue and I’ll talk with our employer, Layne. He won’t fire her, not for this. But he’ll expect more out of her when she returns, and that more, I think you can guess. Don’t ruin her.”
I watch as she turns away from me and slips back into the apartment. Her words rattle around in my head. I want to tell her that she’s full of shit, but the thing is, she isn’t.
Trista means more to me than any other woman ever has in my life. I let her go to save myself, because if there was a woman I wanted to keep for the rest of my miserable days, it would be her. Just her.
Chapter Eight
TRISTA
Walking away from Avah, I glance back at her. “Call me, don’t hesitate,” I say.
She smiles, dipping her chin, though her eyes flick over to my father and I don’t miss as something unreadable flickers over her face.
Climbing on the back of Taz’s bike, I pull the straps of my backpack so that it’s high on my back. I can’t believe I’m doing this. Not only am I traveling back to Arizona, I’m doing it on the back of Taz’s bike, and we’re riding next to my father.
UnTouch Me (Savage Beast MC Book 5) Page 7