by Jayne Blue
“Thea,” he said, and it broke me.
“Don’t,” I said, choking back the tears that seemed to always want to come when King and I got close. This time, King didn’t pull away when he saw it. Instead, he came to me. I didn’t know I even needed it, but he wrapped those strong arms around me. My fingers traced the snaking lines of the tattoos on his arms.
“Thea,” he said again, whispering it against the top of my head. I looked up at him.
“King, please. I just need…”
“What? Baby, what?”
I gave him the only answer I could. “You.”
His whole body stiffened. He looked at me with such intensity, a spark went through me. Ever since I’d met him, I had the sense he could read every secret I kept just by looking in my eyes. Now, I felt the same way about him. Except he didn’t leave anything unspoken.
“I’m not doing this halfway,” he said. “And I won’t let you run.”
I swallowed past a lump in my throat. He would take me. He would give me what I needed and craved, but he wouldn’t walk away. All of my old fears roared to the surface, but as I stared into King’s eyes, I couldn’t walk away either.
King cupped my face, running a thumb along my jawline. There was just that second in time as we locked eyes and I knew it was the point of no return. This wasn’t just physical. This wasn’t a quick lay or a one-night stand. Maybe it’s what we both started out wanting, but something shifted beneath us.
Finally, I couldn’t resist the pull any longer. I went up on my tiptoes and found King’s lips again. This time, there was no hesitation for either of us. As soon as we touched, a dam burst inside of me. Hunger like I’d never known rose up and overpowered me. I wanted him. I needed him. I felt like I’d die if he ever stopped touching me.
King lifted me with quick strength. I straddled my legs around his waist as he brought me over to the bed. He laid me down gently and hovered over me. His eyes filled with both tenderness and naked lust. A flare of heat went straight through the middle of me, settling right between my legs. God, how could he make me rise to him with just one look?
King stood at the end of the bed and slid off his cut. It fell with a heavy thud to the floor. He peeled off his t-shirt and I went up on my elbows to watch him. He had a brutal beauty about him. The tattoos that covered his rippled torso were true art. I wanted to take my time exploring each swirling line and understand the story they told. He loosened his belt and let his jeans slip down.
I gasped as I saw him in his naked magnificence. His cock swung free, huge, hard, and all for me. I let out an audible gulp as I took it all in. King curled his fist around the length of it, stroking himself. A tiny bead of precum formed at the tip and I leaned forward. I sat on the edge of the bed and kept my eyes locked with him. As he stood before me, looking at me with dark eyes fierce with lust, I opened my mouth and took him in. King’s eyelids fluttered, but he kept my gaze as he let me suck him.
He tasted so good. His cock was steel wrapped in velvet and I loved the way he jerked and shuddered as I sucked him. I wanted to make him mine. God. How had I not realized that’s all I wanted since the moment I saw him? He was everything. Strong and powerful with an edge of danger, but somehow noble and good. He threaded his fingers through my hair as I worked my mouth on him. As I slid my tongue up and down his shaft, my own heat grew. I paused only to slide my shirt over my head. Reaching back, I unhooked my bra. King’s fingers found my nipples and he gently tugged, making me groan with pleasure.
King grew even harder as I sucked him. He finally broke my gaze and threw his head back. With low, wicked laughter, he gently pulled me off of him and coaxed me back on the bed. I wriggled out of my jeans, dragging my underwear with them.
I was fully exposed now. King reached down and spread my knees far apart. I gasped as he settled himself between my legs and gave me a taste of my own medicine. I arched my back as he fastened his lips around my sensitive little bud. He sucked me with just the right amount of pressure, drawing me out and making me fly.
It had been so long. So, so long. I almost felt like some virgin, unable to control my own urges and the building pleasure between my legs. But, I wanted this to last. I wanted to savor every second. My body betrayed me as I bucked and writhed beneath him. King’s wicked laughter sent fresh heat searing through me. He lifted his head and smiled at me, hooking two fingers and sliding them deep inside of me, he found my g-spot and made me gasp again.
He was everything. He was perfect. King rose above me and stroked himself again.
“Please,” I begged. Oh, God. Yes. I wanted that. I wanted to be shameless and wanton. I wanted to beg for his pleasure and submit to him.
“Fuck me,” I gasped. “Please.”
His lips found mine and he spread my legs even wider. I reached down and guided him to the slick cleft between my legs. His bulbous tip teased my lips and he took two fingers to spread me open. Then, he slid his dick inside of me as deep as he could go.
Mine. God. Yes. Mine. King was mine and I was his. I saw stars as King started to move in me. He was so big, so thick. I did feel like a virgin again as he molded me and claimed me for his own. I kissed his shoulder and gently clawed his back, trying to take even more of him in. King moved slowly at first with powerful thrusts that rattled my teeth. Then, as his own lust started to peak, he began to fuck me in earnest.
He pressed his forehead against the mattress and I raised my hips to meet him. He reared up and caught my bottom lip between his teeth, biting with quick pressure that made me gasp with pleasure. I wrapped my legs around his hips and urged him on.
“Please,” I said again. “Please. Baby.”
“Fuck,” he whispered. “Do you know how good you feel?”
“How good?”
He smiled at me. “You feel like home.”
God. Yes. I felt my orgasm start to rise and I squeezed my legs around him. King flipped me, taking my breath away. My hair fell down around us as I straddled him. He put a hand on either side of my hips to steady me as I rode him home. I bucked and thrusted, taking my pleasure to heights I’d never known. King took one hand and stroked my thigh, then my breasts, then he pushed my hair behind my ears.
I couldn’t see or hear or feel for an instant, then the wave of pleasure crashed over me, spreading from the core of my being outward. He was so good, so right.
“Baby,” he whispered, letting me take the pleasure I so desperately craved. He filled me and remade me. It was as if I’d come alive again.
As I reached the other side of my orgasm, King shifted beneath me. He flipped me again so he could drive into me. Smiling, he bit his bottom lip and started to fuck me hard. He’d been holding back since the moment I took him in my mouth. Now, he let go. His cock jerked inside of me and I found the strength to wrap my legs around him. His thrusts were smooth and deep as he came. I dug my fingers into his back, scoring him lightly. His eyes flashed with something wild as he spent himself inside of me.
He was mine and I was his. It was dangerous and perfect all at once. As we both floated down from the ecstasy we gave each other, I knew in the back of my mind there would have to be a reckoning. But for now, I just let him fold me in his arms as he kept the wolves at bay.
Chapter Nine
King
I loved watching Thea sleep. For as small as she was, she had me curled to the edge of the bed as she slept with her arms out and one leg crooked to the side. It gave me a full view of her beautiful pussy. It took everything in me not to mount her again. For now though, I was content to watch her dream. Her dark brows knit together as something disturbed her in her sleep. I leaned down and kissed her right between the eyes then watched her expression settle and soften.
Damn. It had happened so quick. I thought love at first sight was for idiots. Well, then I was some kind of idiot. Now that I’d had her, now that she’d let me into her world, there was no way I could tear myself away. I knew what was going to happen when she woke up. S
he’d be guarded again, trying to put those shields back in place she’d had the first time I met her. It wouldn’t work. Though it gutted me to think what had happened to her to need those kind of defenses, I wouldn’t turn my back on her.
Thea let me hold her. She groaned a little but didn’t wake as I traced small circles on her arm and kissed her shoulder. Her pink, pert nipples were too hard to resist. She stirred when I kissed one, then the other, loving the way they peaked for me. I’d fuck her again before we left the apartment. God, I’d fuck her every chance I got. I fit perfectly in her as if she’d been made for me. Maybe she had. For now, I couldn’t wait to get her on the back of my bike. She seemed to fit best there too.
Finally, as the sun poked through the slats in the cheap, white Venetian blinds, Thea’s eyes fluttered open. She was so fucking beautiful. She blinked her clear, blue eyes and yawned. Then, she turned to me and smiled.
“Good morning, gorgeous,” I said. I leaned down and kissed her.
She yawned again and covered her mouth. “God. I’ve got to look like death warmed over.”
“You look like an angel.”
Thea turned, resting on her side. She put a hand flat against my chest and traced the outlines of the wolf tattoo I had emblazoned there. I brought her hand to my lips and kissed her knuckles. That clouded look came into her eyes, and I knew what she was thinking. Except this time, I wouldn’t let her. I wouldn’t give her the chance to doubt what had happened or try to pull away from me again.
“Thea,” I said. She flinched when I said it and it confirmed something I’d suspected about her all along.
“That’s not it, is it?” I asked. The name never fit her and she grew uncomfortable every time I said it.
Thea pulled back. She ran a hand through her hair and painted on a smile. No. I didn’t want that. I didn’t want the mask.
“I should get dressed,” she said. “I blew Pete off yesterday. It’s the weekend now. We’ll have foot traffic in the store. I have some pieces to finish he should be able to sell real quick.”
“Stop,” I said. I slid my arm around her waist and pulled her to me. Thea’s breath gave a little hitch and I knew bringing her this close to me made her pulse quicken like it did mine. There’d be time enough for more of what we both wanted later. Now, I needed some truth.
“Your name’s not really Thea, is it?”
She stiffened in my arms, but I wouldn’t let her wriggle away. “King, stop.”
“No. Not this time. I meant what I told you yesterday. I won’t let anyone hurt you. But I’m not going to let you lie to me either.”
I relaxed my grip and she sat up, hugging her knees in front of her. “Then don’t ask me questions I’m not ready to answer. Then I won’t have to lie.”
I considered that for a moment, then sat up next to her. “Fair enough. So let me tell you some things. I think I know you better than you think I do.”
She laughed. “You can’t. You just met me.”
“You hold everything you’re thinking, everything you’re feeling in your eyes. I think that’s what drew me to you in the first place. Well, that and a little bit of this.” I couldn’t help myself. I reached over and cupped her breast. Her face flushed and she smiled. I slid my hand under her hip and gave her ass a light pinch. “And this.”
She turned and kissed me. “You make me feel good, King. Can we let that be enough?”
“Yeah. For now. But I don’t think I’m in this for a quick fuck. I want to know you.”
“You just said you think you already do.” Her eyes glistened with tears she struggled to hold back. A knife twisted in my gut.
“Someone hurt you. In fact, I think someone kept on hurting you for a long time.”
She blinked wildly, then wiped her hand over her eyes. “Don’t,” she said.
Fine. She wasn’t ready. Maybe I wasn’t ready either. The thought of anyone hurting her made that old rage flare in me. I could be dangerous in ways she didn’t need to know about.
I slid out of bed and grabbed my jeans off the floor. Thea’s eyes followed me as I stabbed my legs into them. I buckled my belt then sat on the edge of the bed. Maybe I couldn’t force her to tell me everything. But, maybe I could start by telling her some of my secrets. I turned so she could see my back then lifted the hair off the back of my neck.
“I know what it’s like to get hurt,” I said. Thea gasped. She leaned toward me and reached for the jagged scar that ran from the nape of my neck down to my left shoulder blade.
“He tried to stab me in the back,” I said, swallowing hard. “I was fourteen.”
I turned back to her. One slow tear fell from Thea’s left eye. She wiped it away then hugged her knees to her chest again.
“I was faster than he was then,” I continued. Thea nodded. “That bike, the Knuck Pete’s working on? I got that when I tried to show it to one of my friends.” I held my left arm out, letting the sunlight hit it across my forearm.
“You can’t see them all that well anymore,” I said, tracing the letters that formed my mother’s name in ink. “When my mom died, I decided it was time to choose my own brand. But, if you put your fingers here, you can feel them.” I took Thea’s hand and guided her fingers into the deep divots on my arm.
“What...how? Your father did this to you?” she asked, her eyes widening and locking with mine.
“He liked to use a belt. I swear to God that buckle had teeth. That was the first time he left a scar. But, I was proud of it.”
“Proud? King…”
“He didn’t start with me,” I said. “They never do. You know I never heard her scream? Not once. All the times I used to wake up to the sound of furniture crashing to the floor, it was only his voice I heard. My mother said later she didn’t want to scare me. Can you believe that? She actually thought if she didn’t make a sound she could convince me that he wasn’t hurting her. He was smart about it though. He never hit her in the face. She worked as a bank teller and never missed a day. No one knew. No one asked.”
“King, please.” Thea held her hand up as if she needed to shield herself from my words. God, I didn’t want to cause her any kind of pain. But I felt it in my gut that I was right.
“I will never hurt you like that, Thea. I will never let anyone touch you like that again. If I’m wrong, then tell me that too. God, you’re strong and brave. But still, I see it behind your eyes. So tell me. Am I wrong?”
Her face was wet with tears and she trembled. “King, I can’t. I just can’t.”
“You don’t have to. I told you I wouldn’t hurt you. I won’t hurt you by making you talk about things that cause you pain either. I just want you to know I understand. I want you to know you can trust me.”
She barked out a bitter laugh. “You think I’m strong, but I’m not. Not the way I want to be.”
God, she was so wrong. Just being here, putting one foot in front of the other made her a goddamn warrior queen, just like my mother. She sniffled and wiped her eyes again. When she looked at me again, she’d painted on that sad smile that told me everything I needed to know about her in the first place.
“What happened to her, your mother?”
I raised my eyebrows and smiled. “You know, even after all of it, she never stopped loving that bastard. It’s the one thing I could never understand. The Great Wolves found me when I was seventeen. They saved my life and gave me a home when I wasn’t safe in the one I was born into. He tried to kill me when he found out I was hanging around the club. The fucker actually tried to shoot me. Luckily, he was too drunk to aim straight and just grazed me in the leg. You’d think that would have been enough to open my mother’s eyes for good. But, she wouldn’t leave him. After I patched into the G.W.M.C., we paid my old man a visit though. We made him see the light. He never touched my mother again. He took her out to El Paso to live near her sister like she always wanted. She died there ten years ago. It broke my father. That’s the thing I didn’t expect. He wandered for a long
time after that and I lost track of him. But, a year ago, he died. One day, a delivery truck showed up at the club. The only thing he had left was that fucking old Harley. They dropped it off with his ashes. That’s him in the coffee can against the wall.”
Thea gasped and looked where I pointed. Her tears dried up and she cracked a smile.
“What are you planning to do with him?”
“Well, that’s the bitch of it. Before she died, my mom made me promise that I’d bury him with her. It’s the only thing she ever asked me, so I was working my way to El Paso to do just that.”
Thea rested her hand on the side of her face and smiled. “Well, that’s a hell of a sad story, King Arthur Jackson.”
I laughed. “Yeah. My life’s a goddamn country western song.”
“At least. So, now I know all of your secrets.”
I dropped my eyes and stiffened my back. She knew enough, at least. “And I’m not telling you any of it so that you feel obligated. I just want you to know I understand the kind of pain that can make a person want to be somebody else. You don’t think you’re strong enough, but I know you are. I asked you a minute ago to at least tell me if I’m wrong.”
She sucked in a hard breath of air. Her eyes searched my face. When she finally exhaled, everything about her changed. It was as if a yoke had been lifted off of her shoulders. “No,” she said. “You’re not wrong. Someone did hurt me. Badly. But, it’s over now.”
I hooked a finger beneath her chin and tilted her face up to mine. I put a soft kiss on her lips and she melted beneath me. “You’re right. It’s over. You were strong enough to get out of it. My mother never could. She died loving that man because he made her believe she couldn’t do any of it without him.”
Thea let out a little hiccup and I thought she might start to cry. She didn’t though. Her face split into an ironic half-smile and she leaned forward to kiss me one more time. “Sometimes that’s the easiest thing to believe. Sometimes the noise in your head is so loud, it’s just easier to stop listening to your conscience. But you saved her, King. You were strong enough for the both of you.”