by Sarah Peis
“Who’s in?” he asked.
Everyone murmured their assent, and he started dealing the cards.
Lucky for me, I wasn’t drunk enough that I couldn’t read the numbers on the cards anymore. Poker was also something my dad taught me when I was ten years old.
The guys were loud and boisterous while playing. Every time I beat them, they made such a ruckus that soon we were surrounded by a wall of bikers who watched in fascination as I wiped the floor with my new besties. I couldn’t lie if my life depended on it, my facial expressions always giving me away. But when it came to poker, I somehow managed to keep a straight face. Now if only I could transfer that skill.
“Are you cheating?” Talon asked for the third time.
“Maybe you’re just bad at this game,” I said, putting my full house down.
Gears shot up, throwing his cards on the table. “Where are you hiding the extra cards to pull this off?”
I didn’t get a chance to respond before he was on me. He pinned me under his arm and stuck his hands in my sweatpants pockets. I giggled, fighting him off with little success since he was about twice my size.
And that’s when all hell broke loose.
Gears was ripped off me, and I stumbled to my knees from the sudden loss of contact. When I looked up, I saw Sebastian, face contorted into a furious mask, throwing a punch at him.
Sebastian looked ready to kill Gears, who was already bleeding from a cut on his lip. He wasn’t defending himself, his face slack in shock. I jumped up and in between them before my brain had time to catch up with my terrible decision.
Sebastian released Gears and turned his crazy eyes my way.
“Are you insane stepping in front of me? You could have caught a fist to the face,” Sebastian yelled, his eyes spitting fire.
“Am I insane? I should be asking you that question. What is wrong with you?” I yelled right back, the alcohol giving me courage.
“Nobody touches you. They all know it. I’m not big on repeating myself,” Sebastian ground out. “He broke the rules. He has to pay.”
“You don’t own me,” I yelled. The music had shut off, and it looked like the whole room was waiting to see what would happen next. “And you definitely can’t ignore me one minute only to be a possessive caveman the next.”
I turned on my heel and sprinted to the staircase. Heavy footsteps followed, and I raced up the steps, hoping that for once my short legs wouldn’t fail me. Tears were brimming in my eyes, and one wrong blink would send them tumbling down my face. The last person I wanted to witness my humiliation was Sebastian.
That hope was dashed when I opened the door to his room and he pushed in behind me.
I whipped around, ready to shove him back out. But anyone who’d ever tried pushing a six-foot-three giant out the door would know it was impossible. He had about a foot on me and weighed twice as much as I did.
“If you wake up the kids, I’m going to chop off your balls and throw them over the balcony,” I hissed, glancing over my shoulder to make sure the kids were still sleeping.
Sebastian looked at the bed, then took my arm and pulled me back out, shutting the door behind him.
“Talon, keep an eye on the kids,” he called out over the railing.
“You got it,” Talon called back.
Good thing I left the baby monitor downstairs. Not such a good thing was Sebastian dragging me past the long row of rooms. He stopped halfway down the hall at a wooden door that had seen better days.
There was no lock, and he banged the door open and pulled me inside behind him. He turned us so he was between me and the door and shut it.
The room went pitch black once the light from the hallway was gone, and I let out an undignified squeak. “If you have to cut anything off, take my small toe. I figured I don’t really need it and it’s easier to hide a missing toe than, say, a finger.”
The light turned on, and I blinked the black spots in my vision away.
“I’m not cutting anything off. What is it with your fear of losing body parts? I told you we don’t do that. Especially not to women.”
“You dragged me into a dark room and closed the door. What else was I going to think?”
He seemed taken aback for a moment before roaring with laughter.
I watched the beautiful display and sighed. He was a work of art. And when he laughed and all the tight lines on his face softened, there was nobody who came even close to him.
“You really have no idea, do you?” he asked, taking a step forward, all rage drained out of him.
I took a step back and bumped into a shelf, knocking a bucket off. Guess we were in the cleaning closet. But better to do this here than in his room and risk waking up the kids.
“Idea about what?”
The shock of not only fighting with him but getting pushed into a dark room sobered me up a lot, but I still couldn’t make sense of what he was saying.
Turned out I didn’t have to, because while I was busy thinking of what was going on, he’d breached the distance between us.
Stunned, I looked up as his mouth took mine in a claiming kiss. He pulled me close, holding me against him. His hands roamed to my ass, and he lifted me. My legs went around his waist and my arms around his shoulders.
His kiss felt like a branding. Like he couldn’t go another moment without his lips on mine. Like he was breathing me in and fusing us together at the same time.
Our tongues clashed, and I whimpered. The sound must have snapped him out of whatever temporary insanity had overtaken him because he released me, making me stumble back onto the ground.
And I’d had enough. This was getting ridiculous. He kissed me; he pushed me away. He kissed me; he pushed me away. Rinse and repeat. My head was spinning—and not from the alcohol—and I was angry.
“Why do you keep kissing me?” I yelled, all the frustration that had been building over the last few days bubbling over.
“Because I can’t fucking stay away from you no matter how hard I try,” he roared, running a hand through his hair.
“Then stop trying,” I yelled again, my breath coming out in heavy pants.
He was on me again in the next instant, his arms caging me against the shelf, his lips claiming me in the kiss to end all kisses.
I found myself wrapped around him, meeting his kisses with my own. We broke apart when he pulled my top over my head. Sebastian stilled, his eyes drinking me in. He looked like a man starved. I watched him swallow visibly, then lick his lips. My breathing became shallow, and I squirmed under his perusal.
He didn’t waste any more time and was on me in the next instant, his lips blazing a path down my neck, over my collarbone, stopping when they reached my breasts. He undid my bra, and it fluttered to the ground, forgotten.
His kisses made me act like a brazen hussy, thrusting my boobs in his face and panting like I was running a marathon.
I was overwhelmed with all I was feeling. His kisses lit up my body, the caress of his hands ensuring I was turning into an incoherent mess.
“Please,” I begged, wanting him so much in that moment that everything else faded in comparison.
He pushed my pants and panties down in one move, his mouth following his hands. He whispered more kisses on the insides of my legs and I shivered.
I plunged my hands in his hair and tugged, burning up with need for him.
He placed one last kiss on my thigh before standing up and lifting me onto something wobbly. I didn’t check what it was. The only thing I saw was Sebastian and his dilated eyes and jerky movements when he pulled his shirt over his head and pushed his pants down.
He somehow put a condom on while I was trying to catch my breath.
“You want this?” he asked, standing in front of me, studying my face. “And you’re not too drunk?”
“Ducks yes to the first, mother puffin no to the second,” I said, my voice coming out strangled.
There was nothing I wanted more in this moment than S
ebastian. I didn’t think it was healthy to feel such a desperate need for another person. But here I was, a quivering mess who took her clothes off in a cleaning closet and didn’t even care she was sitting on something wet.
His mouth tipped up in a half-smile. “Still not swearing, I see.”
I ran my hands over his chest, my eyes following the movement. “It’s second nature by now not to. And I’m bad at turning it on and off. Either I don’t swear at all or I go all out. I have no middle ground.”
He brushed a strand of hair out of my face, and I shivered when his finger traced the shell of my ear. “It’s just one of the things that makes you who you are.”
He didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t ask because I was done talking. I wanted him. Now. No more waiting, no more hesitation.
As if he knew what I was thinking, he pushed between my legs and our eyes locked. He never looked away, not when he entered me with aching slowness and not when he started to move.
He looked more relaxed than I’d ever seen him, the harsh lines on his face gone. If I didn’t know any better, he looked at peace. A soft expression I couldn’t read replaced the scowl I’d gotten used to.
Warmth spread through my chest, and I gave myself over to him. His hands roamed every inch of my body they could reach. All my nerve endings were on fire, my body a pliable mess in his arms.
The wave of heat slamming through me took me by surprise, as did my orgasm. I felt like I’d found a unicorn, never once having come so fast, the feeling building and building until it exploded into a crescendo of fireworks.
His movements became faster and deeper, causing another surge of pleasure to overtake my body. He planted himself deep and came with a loud groan, his face buried in my neck.
We stayed connected, breathing hard. I expected a quick exit on his part, but instead he peppered soft kisses all over my face. His lips caressed mine, the kiss more intimate than our lovemaking.
When we separated, the feeling of loss was immediate.
He chucked the condom in a bin near the door and pulled his clothes back on, his eyes on me the whole time. I jumped down from what I found out was a cleaning cart that had lost nearly all its contents and got dressed as well.
The wet thing I was sitting on turned out to be a sponge.
As soon as I was finished, he ushered us back outside. The noise smacked me in the face as soon as the door opened. It would have cost a fortune to soundproof all the rooms, but I was grateful they did.
I glanced at Sebastian when he walked me back to his room. His hand was at the bottom of my back, his fingers grazing my butt. If it hadn’t been for that touch, I would have thought nothing had happened between us.
If he was going to pretend he’d never shown me his banana and ignore anything had ever happened between us, I would show him what I could do when I was really angry.
“You can turn the monitor off,” Sebastian called down to Talon, who lifted his hand in acknowledgment. I was slightly mortified at the thought that everyone knew what we’d been doing. But maybe they thought we just needed a moment to talk. Maybe.
I relaxed slightly when he followed me inside his room and closed the door. I stood near the entry, unsure of how to proceed. Sebastian didn’t seem to have the same hang-up.
He pulled me close, brushing his lips against mine in a gentle caress. “Let’s sleep. It’s late.”
That sounded like a good idea. And the promise of a talk tomorrow and the fact that he was there with me with set my mind at ease.
“Okay,” I whispered and went to the bathroom to clean up. When I came back out, Sebastian was lying on the couch, shirtless. He’d found a pillow and extra blanket as well.
At least the couch was huge and he could stretch out.
I walked to the bed, moving Lena to the middle and crawling in behind her.
“Thanks for bringing me here,” I whispered, looking at the outline of his body in the dark. “The guys are awesome. And they’re going to show me how to ride a bike tomorrow.”
“Baby, if anyone is showing you how to ride a bike, it’ll be me,” he growled.
I fell asleep with a smile on my face.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“We don’t lick people,” I said, crouching in front of Lena.
“Don’t we?” Sebastian asked, and winked at me before taking another bite of his eggs.
We were in the kitchen, eating the breakfast Sebastian had made. Lena had taken it upon herself to lick first my cheek, then Sebastian’s arm. Every time I told her off, she hid her face in Sebastian’s neck, giggling.
He wasn’t helping the situation when he chuckled along with her, holding her to him whenever she burrowed in. It took a while to separate them, but when I finally did, I sat her on her own chair and squatted down in front of her.
She put her hand on my head in response and rubbed my hair, something she’d seen Sebastian doing earlier. I brushed my hair out of my face and shot him another glare that he responded to with a wink.
“Do you want more bread, or are you finished?” I asked when it became clear she didn’t care that she wasn’t supposed to lick people. I hoped it was only a phase and that the licking was confined to her family.
“Finished,” she sang and jumped off the chair when she saw Talon walk into the kitchen.
He scooped her up as soon as she was in front of him, throwing her up into the air. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to seeing the tattooed bikers play with my kids. But to my surprise, most of them didn’t mind the children being in their space.
There were a few people in the kitchen, eating the eggs and bacon Sebastian had made for everyone earlier. Luca was sitting next to him, copying his every move. Sebastian took a sip of his coffee and Luca took a sip from his own cup filled with orange juice. When Sebastian leaned back in the booth, Luca dropped his cutlery and did the same. Seeing my kids so relaxed and having fun brought my emotions to the surface.
Sebastian had woken up with us this morning, helping me with the kids. Whenever we didn’t have little eyes watching, he’d pull me close and kiss me. He never missed an opportunity to tell me how much the night before meant to him.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt this happy and settled. What I thought would be a nightmare stay had so far turned into one of the best times I’d ever had.
“Whoa, buddy, no throwing that thing until I teach you how to,” Talon said, directing my attention from Sebastian to my son, who was currently wielding a knife in front of his body, narrowly missing Talon’s arm.
Lena had thankfully moved to sit on Grim’s lap a few minutes ago, keeping her far away from the lunatic throwing knives.
“Luca,” I called out, making my way over. “Knives are for cutting food, not people.”
Laughter rang out around the table, and I rolled my eyes. They better not tell my son that knives are handy for all sorts of things.
“And you’re not allowed to use knives yet,” I said and took the knife off him once I stood next to his chair.
“Sorry, Nora, my fault,” Talon chimed in. “I showed him how to throw up a knife and catch it by the handle.”
Of course he did. I mean, it was perfectly safe for a four-year old to learn how to throw knives. Not.
I put my hands on my hips and put on my best teacher’s voice. “He’s not old enough to even cut his own bread. For now, knife throwing is out of the question.”
“I’ll show him once he’s a few years older,” Talon said, winking at my son.
“I’ll be big next year,” Luca said, beaming at me.
My heart flipped in my chest at the thought that we’d be around long enough for him to be old enough to throw knives.
“That would still be a no to the knife throwing,” I said, raising a brow, waiting for another response that might encourage Luca.
His bottom lip curled outward, and he looked at me, his eyes pleading. “But, Mom, I’m a big boy,” he said, sticking out his leg from under the table
. “Look how long my legs are.”
“I know you are. But not big enough for knives.”
I left Luca to pout while hopefully finishing his breakfast and sat back down in my chair. Lena was still busy climbing all over Grim, and I seized the child-free moment to take a bite of my eggs.
Sebastian, who was sitting next to me, leaned forward, looking at Talon. “He won’t need to learn how to throw knives. Once he’s old enough, I’ll show him how to shoot a gun. Less messy.”
Talon saluted him, his face splitting into a big grin.
I stopped chewing, staring at Sebastian’s profile.
There would be no shooting guns. Or wielding knives. They were delusional if they thought my child needed to learn any of those skills.
And did he say what I think he just said? Would he be around long enough? I didn’t want my son to know how to throw a knife or shoot a gun, but the thought of Sebastian still being around in a few years filled me with warmth.
A familiar hand settled on my thigh, wrapping my body in a warm blanket. Sebastian kissed my head, then looked across the table.
“Hey, Grim, you mind watching the kids for an hour?” he asked.
“Of course not,” Grim said between pretending to bite Lena’s fingers.
“Why didn’t you ask me? I’m a great babysitter,” Talon said, sticking out his bottom lip much like Luca had earlier.
Sebastian raised his brows at him. “You tried teaching Luca how to throw knives.”
“And? I wouldn’t have just left him to it. I’d have been there the whole time.”
I giggled, causing Sebastian to lean in, his lips brushing my ear. “Don’t encourage him.”
“I would never,” I said, turning so our lips were only inches apart. “Are you sure the kids are okay? I don’t like leaving them with strangers.”
Sebastian put his hand on my cheek and I leaned in. “I know this situation is unusual. But these guys are my brothers. I’d lay down my life for them and they’d do the same for me. The kids will be safe with them.”
I took in the sincerity in his gaze and nodded. I trusted him. As crazy as it seemed after such a short amount of time.