by Jenika Snow
Violet licked her lips, and he knew she could read his thoughts by the expression on his face. “You’re insatiable, and others are looking,” she said but didn’t sound like she cared.
He grinned, leaned forward an inch, and rested his forearms on the table. The sight of her tongue moving along the swell of her bottom lip, licking at it like he imagined her doing to the head of his cock, had this low sound leaving him. He knew others close by had heard, knew by the fact they glanced his way and he spotted the action in his peripheral vision. Cain gripped the edge of the table, and flashed his teeth as he pictured just saying fuck it all and taking her home. Their faces were now only inches apart from each other.
“I’m not really the type of guy that gives a shit about what others think.”
She flashed a smile of her own. “I know, and I love you more because of it.”
Cain reached out and captured her hand in his. “I want to kiss you right now, even though people are probably watching.”
“You don’t care what others think, and neither do I.” Her voice was slightly breathy, but she stopped breathing all together when he lifted her hand to his mouth and ran his lips back and forth over her knuckles. He stared at her, and watched as her chest rose and fell with her increased respirations. Then he just went for it. He rose up slightly, grabbed the back of her neck, and planted his lips right on hers. He stroked her tongue with his, loved that she moaned softly, and finally he forced himself to pull away. The way she looked, lips parted, cheeks red, and eyes slightly glossy, told him he had put her in a good damn place.
But then the food came, and he was forced to be a gentleman. It wasn’t that hard, not when the woman he loved more than anything was animated across from him. He loved hearing her talk about her work, and about what she had done with her life since he had been locked up. He didn’t talk to her about his nine years inside the fucking hellhole that was his shackled home, didn’t want to bring himself or her to that place. He was content in just listening to her tell him about the life she’d led, despite everything that had gone down.
They were like that for another half hour, the scene fading around them as he was totally focused on his woman. The check came, but he wasn’t in a hurry, even if he was still fucking hard as rock for her. But then she grew quieter, looked down at her napkin, and he knew whatever she was going to say wasn’t something that would vibe well with their current atmosphere.
“I told Fallina about us, about how we’re together, and that I love you.”
He breathed out, thinking it would have been something bad. “I’m glad you told her. I spoke with her earlier today, and we talked about you, sweetheart.”
She looked up at him, and the smile she gave him twisted his fucking gut.
“I told her I didn’t know what in the hell I did to deserve a woman like you, because hell, I’m a damn asshole on the best of days, but that I’ll treat you like gold.”
Her smile widened.
“She’s worried about you being treated well, and I told her I’d rather slice my own hand off then hurt you.” He reached across the table and grabbed her hand. “And I also told her I’d kill anyone that thought to take something from you that you weren’t willingly offering.” He knew his voice dropped down to a deadly level, and saw her swallow as she picked up on it, too, but he couldn’t help himself. Talking about, hell, even thinking about, someone hurting Violet sent him into a blind rage.
“I told her you’d never hurt me, and she knew that,” Violet said, and tightened her hand in his.
“I’m glad you know that, baby girl, because it’s the honest fucking truth.”
He leaned back in his seat again, heard the loud cheer come from the group of men to their right, and glanced that way. The guys were hammered, and it was clear by the way they stumbled out of their chairs, raised their voices at the flat screen TV mounted on the wall. The manager came out of the back, told them to keep it down because they were disturbing customers, and when a bunch of them started swearing they were asked to leave. It would have been humorous on any other occasion, but right now it just annoyed Cain because he was trying to spend time with his woman. The men walked toward them since they had to in order to get to the exit. The five men laughed at something idiotic, and when the last one walked by their table Cain noticed how the asshole looked at Violet, grinned, and gave her a wink.
“How you doing tonight?” he asked Violet, and she glanced at Cain. He saw her in the corner of his vision, but had his focus on the asshole that thought it was cool to stop and talk that way to another man’s woman, especially in that pick-me-up tone.
“Move the fuck along,” Cain said his voice low, dangerous, and not hiding the annoyance he felt.
The guy stared at him for a few seconds, and this ruddy color covered his face briefly.
“There isn’t anything for you here,” Cain said in a sterner voice, seeing that he wasn’t moving along. Finally, with one more look at her, a wink, and a grin, the drunken fool staggered toward his friends. Cain leaned back in the booth and stared at Violet.
“He was drunk, and a fool.”
He grinned, but scrubbed a hand over his face, and knew that his jealousy and possessive attitude toward Violet would never change. In fact, he knew it would increase with each passing day, because it already had.
The waitress came by with their check, and once she left he winked at Violet, feeling all kinds of a dirty fucking bastard right now for her. He pulled out a few twenties, and set them on the table.
“I’m going to go to the bathroom, and I’ll meet you outside?” She smiled, and he couldn’t help himself. He leaned forward again and kissed her, that territorial feeling riding him hard, and making him want to claim her in front of everyone.
“I can wait for you, baby.”
“I can meet you outside. No need for you to wait for me,” she said and laughed. Yeah, he was controlling in some things, especially his woman, but he would always be that way. She walked away and looked over her shoulder, a smile on her face. He stared at her ass, her big, round, and fucking juicy ass, and knew they needed to get the hell out of here so he could bury his cock in her sweet body. Yeah, he was so far gone for Violet, and what a fucking incredible feeling it was.
****
Violet stepped outside, and a wind blew by. The scent of cigarette smoke was thick and suffocating. She glanced to her right when she heard the loud laughter of the men that had been at the bar just a few moments before. The man that had stopped by her table, almost started shit with Cain and got his ass handed to him, stepped forward. The neon lighting from the sign above them flashed across his face. His friends were busy hitting on a group of college-aged women, and weren’t paying attention to anything but getting laid.
The man took a step forward and flicked his cigarette away. “Hey you’re the pretty girl from inside.” His voice was slurred, his face red and sweaty from his drunkenness. “The one with the rude as hell biker friend that told me to fuck off.”
She turned her back toward him, looked around the parking lot for the Harley, and saw it just a few feet away. But she wasn’t a fool in trying to go to it, especially since it wasn’t like she could climb inside and lock the door. She knew Cain would be out any minute, so instead of having to deal with this asshole’s advances, she turned and was about to make her way back inside. All she had wanted was some fresh air, and of course shit had to get started with a drunken prick. But of course he’d moved closer, and was now right in front of her. The scent of his liquor-laced breath coated her face, and she clenched her jaw to stem off the nausea.
“You can’t speak or somethin’?” he asked.
“Dude, come on over here and leave her alone,” his friend called out.
“I would suggest you just turn around and head back to your friends, because once my boyfriend gets out here I can’t be responsible for what he does to you.” Violet felt so juvenile calling Cain her boyfriend, because in fact he was so much more
He snorted, and glanced over his shoulders at his friends, who weren’t watching anymore. When he looked back at her his smile faded, and he moved a step closer. “I’m not afraid of some guy wearing a leather vest or thinking he is tough shit.”
Just walk away now, asshole. Cain is not just a guy in a leather vest with an attitude problem or acting like he’s tough.
He leaned in another inch, inhaled deeply, and said in a disgustingly aroused voice, “You smell so good.”
Violet turned her head, and tried to push past him, but he countered her steps, blocking her from leaving. She sighed, exasperated that he was being annoying in his advances. “Listen, I know you’re drunk, and obviously don’t know that what you’re doing to get your ass kicked, but I am trying to help you out.” She shouldn’t care if he got his ass handed to him by Cain when he finally came out of the restaurant and saw that the guy was bothering her. But she didn’t want any more trouble, didn’t want the night being ruined by this guy that was drunk and obnoxious. She went to push him away, but her foot got caught on his shoe and she fell forward. Bracing her hands forward, her palms got scraped up when she landed on the pavement.
“Damn, girl. Walk much?” he said and started laughing. His friends happened to look over then, and they started laughing as well. Her anger and irritation grew, and when he reached down to wrap his hands around her waist she pushed him off. He came back again, his hands closer to her ass now, and she pushed herself up and stared at him, her face feeling hot with anger.
“Stop.”
He reached for her again, his laughter increasing when he glanced down at her torn knee in her leggings, and her scraped hands. “You got fucked, girl.” He lifted a hand, as if to push her hair off her shoulder, and she smacked him away.
“No. Don’t touch me.” The front door opened to the restaurant, and she saw Cain walk out, and search for her before finally spotting her. The anger that morphed his face as he took in her appearance was tangible. He let out this low growl when he saw the guy still standing in front of her. Cain charged forward. He grabbed the man that had been next to her, tossed him aside, and stared off at the other four men that were just a few feet from where they stood. The man that was on the ground staggered up, and moved forward, having balls of steel. Cain was enraged, though, and that was clear by his red face, and the way he roared out as he slammed his fist into the other man’s face. He was a monster as he moved forward again, and although she was so stunned by the violence coming from Cain, because she was now experiencing it firsthand again after so many years later, she couldn’t feel sympathy for the asshole that had been advancing on her. He kept coming after Cain, saying curses and insults, his drunken voice thick and slurred from the alcohol he’d ingested. He was a fool, not just because he was blitzed, but because he was stupid, too. The guy’s friends were off to the side, their expression stunned, wide-eyed, and their mouths open. No doubt they had never seen a man like Cain in their life.
“Pussy ass motherfucker,” the guy currently bleeding out of his nose said and chuckled.
“Dude, shut the hell up and just back off,” one of his friends said.
Her eyes widened fractionally as she watched the man swing out at Cain, but her biker grabbed the fist, twisted the man’s arm back until he cried out in pain, and then Cain slammed his fist into the guy’s face until he fell on his ass.
“When a woman says back off, you do just that, motherfucker,” Cain said and spit on the ground beside the groaning man on the pavement. Cain turned and faced the four friends, but they were smarter than their buddy, held up their hands in surrender, and moved over to the guy on the ground. They hauled his ass up, and she heard the distinct sound of sirens in the background.
“We need to go. Someone called the cops.”
Cain faced her, walked over to her in three fast steps, and wrapped his arms around her in a fierce hug. “You’re okay, sweetheart?”
She nodded against his chest, but didn’t want to speak or have a long conversation about this here. They needed to get going or Cain would be tossed in jail if the ones that called the cops identified him. The other five men were already leaving. Once Cain had her on the back of his bike, straddled the machine, and grabbed her arms to wrap around his waist, they were off. She closed her eyes and tightened her hands together, knowing that Cain was not a man that solved his problems by trying to talk things out. He handled things with his fists and with violence. Although Violet wasn’t the type of person that liked to watch violence play out, she loved Cain, knew he was like this, and would never change, and she was okay with that. He did what he did to protect the ones he loved, and how could she be upset because of that?
Chapter Thirteen
They had been riding for the last half hour, but were still in River Run. Cain was just riding round, taking his time in getting to the clubhouse where they were all gathering for a big dinner. Violet was nervous, scared about what the other members would say once they saw that she and Cain were actually together. She was his old lady, and she knew that nothing short of death could change that. Violet wasn’t going to think about anything but what her future held, because worrying about her past wouldn’t have anything moving forward. Violet felt free, and rested her hands behind her, holding onto the leather seat of his bike. She may not be holding onto Cain any further, but this small bit of freedom made her feel like the world wasn’t as grim as it had been in the past. With her eyes closed she tilted her head back and breathed in deeply. Being like this felt as if she were flying, as if nothing tethered her to the world and she could just float away without any worries, and have her man by her side. God, she loved him, and he loved her, and she didn’t think anything could bring her down.
“I feel so safe with you, so free and right,” she said the words softly, not knowing if he heard her, or if she wanted him to, but she knew he did when he grabbed her hands. He held them in a tight grasp in his much bigger one.
“You should, because I’ll always protect you, always keep you by my side.”
She’d always have a tarnished past that had shaped a part of her, and although she never let the rape hold her down, or create the person she was today, it was her strength and knowing that inside she was stronger than all of that, that she could rise above it, that made her get through it. Would she always hold that inner scar of what Carl had done to her? Yes, but it wasn’t who she was. Cain didn’t help create the phoenix inside of her that had risen from the ashes of her destruction, but he was the man that had helped her, undeniably, to see that she could have what she wanted, could be who she wanted.
They were ten minutes from the clubhouse, and when Cain pulled the Harley to a stop at a set of lights, waiting for them to turn green, the sounds of Harleys filled her head. She looked over his shoulder and saw a row of motorcycles turning off of Main Street. She knew the MC that was riding right in front of them, had met The Grizzly MC and their old ladies over the years. Jagger and Sonya were leading the row of bikers, the president of the club nodding toward Cain. Brick, the Sergeant at Arms, and his woman Darra were next, and Violet could see the nasty looking scar on the man’s face. Diesel and Maggie were next, Stinger and Molly after them, Court and Lilly, and the final couple, Dallas and Hope, rode behind everyone else. But the last bike to lead the MC train was Drevin’s, the only Grizzly MC member that didn’t have an old lady. The crew headed toward Steel Corner, their hometown and stomping grounds, and Cain started driving again. The ride was peaceful, and had content filling her. This was perfection, and she knew that although her life had been scarred, and Cain’s life wasn’t anything perfect, together they were whole.
****
The energy at the clubhouse was strong, and the positive emotions running through everyone and surrounding Cain made him feel whole, at least for right now. He had his woman by his side, a belly full of food, and people he loved all around him. They had finished eating an hour ago, and the fact that his brothers in arms had embraced them as a couple, and took in Violet as Cain’s old lady, cemented the bond everyone had.
The clubhouse was a safe haven, a retreat and bunker, and had been Cain’s home when he wasn’t with Fallina. This was where he had forged a blood bond with his brothers, patched up his wounds, and shared stories of death, destruction, and also of hopes. He stared around the long banquet style table that had been erected in the center of the main floor at the clubhouse. Tatum, a one-time club pussy who was now strictly a kind of den mother to everyone, had prepared yet another family style meal. This was the first time since he had been out of prison that he had been with everyone at the club, and shared a home cooked dinner. He felt good, really fucking good, and for once there was a bigger sliver of light coming through his darkness.
Cain looked at Tatum, who was sitting over by Pierce and Rook. She smiled at him when she saw him staring at her. She was older, but so fucking sweet and kind to them all, looking after them and cleaning up their messes. He leaned back in his seat, and put his arm around Violet. She leaned into him right away, and he inhaled deeply, loving that just the scent of her could calm him like nothing else. He looked at his woman, loved that she was relaxed, calm, and right at home. This was her family, too, had been since she’d been a teenager. He looked at Lucien and Callie, the president of their club and his old lady. Kink sat beside Callie, the older club member perfectly at ease with his daughter being with the man that ran their club with an iron fist. Cookie, Kink’s old lady, sat beside the biker, her smile wide as she spoke with Adrianna, who was sitting across from them. Tuck, Rook, Ruin, and even Pierce were all in easygoing moods, enjoying this one moment where shit wasn’t hitting the fan.
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