by Jenika Snow
Fuck, he was a possessive bastard when it came to her, and she had no clue about any of it.
3
Only a couple days had passed since Lizzy had shown up at the club. She hadn’t realized how exhausted she was until she’d woken up and realized half the day had already gone by. After that, she’d mainly stayed in the room, unless it was to get something to eat, because her mind had been pretty hectic, and staying away until it was clearer seemed like the best idea. But she couldn’t hide in here forever. If she was going to stay here, she wanted to at least help out—pay her way. Because the truth was she didn’t know how long she’d be here, didn’t know when she could get on her feet.
She got off the bed, pushed her suitcase aside, and stared at the clothes. The few things she’d brought with her were the only things she’d been able to fit in her car. Not only had she gotten kicked out of her place for not being able to pay rent, half the stuff in there hadn’t even been hers. At least she was thankful she had been able to get a shitty apartment that was equally furnished with shitty things.
One less thing to have to carry here with me.
No job.
No apartment.
Catching my lousy boyfriend cheating on me.
She exhaled and sat back down. The worst thing about all of this was the fact she wasn’t even all that upset her asshole of an ex had fucked some other woman. They’d only been dating a few months, and Lizzy knew not putting out had been what had him straying.
Good riddance.
Honestly, a part of her felt a little numb. Still, this shit had happened back-to-back, just slammed right into her, taking the breath from her lungs. And although she still felt like crap about it all, being back here, seeing her brother, Vain … God, she felt good.
Being back at the club feels like being home.
Staring at her bag again, Lizzy thought about what she was going to do now. Yeah, but now that she was in the MC again it felt right.
Maybe leaving wasn’t so right after all? Maybe I should have stayed with the only people that gave a shit about me?
She could have gone to school here, even been close to her brother and the man she’d always secretly loved.
The knock had her turning away from her bag and walking over to the door. The person on the other side certainly wasn’t who she expected.
Vain.
Even seeing him had her heart pounding, her palms sweating, and her mind racing. She swallowed roughly, her tongue feeling too thick to even say hello.
“Hey,” he said, his voice deep, slightly scratchy, and making her feel like a woman. Just looking at him made her feel that way, had always made her long for something else, something more.
“Hi,” she finally managed to say, her throat tight, her tongue still tied.
“I thought maybe you could use a little letting go.” He held up a bottle of beer in one hand, and in the other a bottle of whiskey. “Didn’t know what your poison was, or maybe it’s both.” He grinned, the corner of his mouth kicking up, his straight white teeth flashing. He had about a day’s worth of scruff on his square jaw, and although he was pretty hard-core, very protective of the club, she swore she saw this softer side underneath all of that.
“You know what?” she said, eyeing both bottles. “I think I could use a little something.” Spending time with the guys, as well as Vain, hell, that sounded like exactly what she needed to get her mind out of the confusion and conflict it was currently in.
A little liquid courage always made things better … right?
She was getting drunk, and although Vain could have told her to go easy, he knew Lizzy needed this. She needed to let go, to relax and get rid of her problems.
He was just glad it didn’t involve some fucker putting his hands on her, because then Vain would have had to find the asshole and beat the shit out of him. As it was he wanted to kick the hell out of the asshole anyway because he’d cheated on Lizzy.
But Vain could keep his shit together, especially since Ace had told him Lizzy wanted to just forget about it. If that was what she wanted, he’d give it to her.
He’d give her anything.
And now that she was back, Vain knew he couldn’t let her walk away, not without telling her how he felt.
She’d always been his, and it was time she knew it.
Lizzy was drunk, so drunk the room spun. Her body felt light, and she swore she was floating. Hell, this felt incredible. Nothing bothered her, and although she’d feel like shit in the morning, she wanted more. She wanted to pretend she could just be open, free. She glanced at Vain, who sat beside her speaking with Brack, the MC president.
“Another one, Dixon.” She glanced at the clubhouse mother, a smile on the older woman’s face. “Please,” Lizzy added, sounding pathetic.
“Honey, I don’t want to be the person to tell you you’ve had enough … but I think you’ve had enough.”
Yeah, Lizzy knew she probably had, but she wanted to be blackout drunk, pass out in her bed, and not worry about anything, especially what the man siting next to her would think if she told him how she felt. The sound of Delilah laughing had Lizzy glancing at the other woman. She sat on Torque’s lap, the other man so in love with his old lady the emotion was clear as day.
Lizzy went to stand, but instead she slipped off the bar stool and fell to her ass. The entire clubhouse started cheering and clapping, and Lizzy laughed. Good thing she was drunk or her ego would have been bruised.
“Come on, baby girl.” The sound of Vain’s voice so close to her had chills racing up her spine. She turned and looked at the man she loved.
God, she was too afraid of her own emotions to even admit that to him. Vain helped her stand, his big, muscular arm holding her up.
“I got her, man,” Vain said to someone, and she glanced up to see her brother looking at her.
“Lizzy, when was the last time you were this trashed?” He tried to look stern, like the big brother he was, but the truth was she saw the smirk on his face.
“I don’t know, but I should do it more often.”
Ace chuckled. “Lizzy, you’re slurring so badly I didn’t even understand that.”
Really? It had sounded clear as day to her.
Ace clapped Vain on the back. “Thanks, man.”
Vain grunted, and they started moving toward the back hallway where her room was. Once they were in the room and Lizzy saw the bed, she moved away from Vain and collapsed on it. A contented, pleasure-filled sigh left her when her body sank into the softness. “Thank you,” she murmured to Vain, wanting to say more, having a lot on her mind, but not trusting herself because she was drunk.
Knowing her, she’d say something embarrassing, something she couldn’t take back, and then where would she be? She hadn’t heard Vain say anything in response, but then again, maybe he’d left? Maybe he knew she was too wasted to even have a conversation right now.
And then she felt this gentle stroking motion along her back. “That feels so good,” she whispered into the sheets. “But I’m smart enough to know I shouldn’t have had so much to drink.” She started laughing after that, but the act caused her head to pound.
With a rough groan she forced herself onto her back, opened her eyes, and stared at the ceiling. The room started spinning, and she groaned again. “I might be sick. The world is tilting right now.”
Vain grabbed her leg, let it hang over the bed, and placed her foot on the floor. “Better?”
The room slowly stopped spinning.
“Surprisingly, yeah.” The sound of him chuckling had her turning her head and staring at him. “Sit next to me?” she found herself asking, knowing if she hadn’t been so drunk she would never have been bold enough to ask.
He stared at her for a second but then scrubbed a hand over his face, as if he were contemplating just bolting. He finally sat, the bed dipping from his impressive build.
“Everyone needs to let loose sometimes.”
The light beside the b
ed was on because she hadn’t bothered to turn it off before she left to get wasted. She pushed herself up enough to rest her back on the headboard.
For a second they just stared at each other, and as much as she knew she should keep her mouth shut, right now she just didn’t care.
Vain was just so big, so powerful, that he seemed to block out everything else, to consume every part of her.
“I wish I could say so much,” she whispered, not realizing she’d said anything until the words were out.
“You can say anything, Lizzy.”
“We don’t know each other, not really.” The heat from his body went right into her.
“I know you,” he said softly, his voice deep.
Hearing him say that did something to her, made this awareness, this tingling settle right in the center of her. He reached out and touched her knee, and although it was an innocent touch, she instantly got aroused.
For a long while there was nothing but silence. As the alcohol started to drag her down into the darkness, the sleepiness taking hold, she tried to fight it. Being here with Vain, even if they said nothing, felt like heaven.
“Get some sleep,” he said and helped her lie down. He tucked the blankets around her, but before he moved his hand away, she grabbed it. His palm was big and warm, with a few callouses, a testament to the hard work he did. “Get some rest, baby, because we have a lot to talk about tomorrow.”
She didn’t know what that meant, but the smile he gave her and the way he squeezed her hand gently had her resting fully against the pillow. And as that heaviness filled her, the last thing she saw and felt was Vain’s presence. It was a pretty nice way to drift off.
But tomorrow … tomorrow she was telling Vain how she felt, because waiting any longer seemed so fucking stupid.
4
Vain heard the shower running through the closed bedroom door. He’d slept beside Lizzy all fucking night, held her close, and listened to her gentle, even breathing. He’d gotten up early, showered, changed, and went to get her breakfast.
He wasn’t going to change his mind on speaking with her today, in finally admitting how he felt, what he wanted with her. His life seemed meaningless without Lizzy, and although he had his club, his family whether they were blood or not, having her back at the MC felt so fucking right.
He pushed the door open just as the shower cut off. Vain set the food on the bed, about to leave before she came out so that way she could dress in privacy, but before he could leave she was walking out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around her body.
They both froze. Droplets of water slid off the tips of her hair and onto her shoulders. His cock was starting to get hard, because just being in the same room with her, whether she wore nothing at all or a fucking snowsuit, did something intense to him.
“I’ll give you some privacy.” He turned and left before his cock was fully tenting his jeans, shut the door, and leaned back against it. He willed his shaft to calm the hell down. Vain closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly, but the sound of footsteps approaching had him straighten up and open them again.
Ace stopped in front of him, stared between Vain and the closed door, and lifted his eyebrows. Vain tensed, knowing if Ace thought shit was going down with Lizzy, things would get really ugly pretty fucking fast.
“What’s up?” Ace asked.
“It’s all good. I just want to talk to Lizzy, so I’m waiting out here until she’s done in there.” Damn, Vain felt uneasy as shit. He’d never felt so off balance before, especially not concerning a woman, and not with a brother. But even if he’d hidden his feelings for Lizzy, let her live her life and kept his distance, having her back had the possessive side of him rising.
Seeing her, feeling her close to him, smelling the sweetness of her and getting drunk from it, made him want to man up. If she hadn’t been too wasted last night, he would have told her then, but holding her, making sure she was safe, protected, hell, that had been heaven on earth.
Ace eyed him, the other Patch just as big as Vain, just as protective of Lizzy. But of course Ace didn’t know Vain was like that.
There would sure as fuck be a fight concerning that. It would be the same thing as their prez Brack going after Torque for catching the Nomad fucking his daughter.
For long seconds Ace didn’t say anything, but he also didn’t keep it the fuck moving. He just stared at Vain, his gaze intense … knowing.
“You need to man up already.”
Vain straightened. “What?”
Ace tipped his chin toward Lizzy’s door. “You think I’m a fucking fool, man?” Ace took a step closer. “You think for all these years I haven’t seen the way you look at my sister, at the possessive side that comes from you whenever a fucking guy looks at her?”
Shock filled Vain, but he held his composure, not showing anything, not letting Ace know he was right. Sure, eventually he’d tell the other man what was going on, but he wanted to talk to Lizzy first.
“You don’t have to say anything, but I want you to know that I know what’s going down with you wanting my sister.”
Vain had his hands in tight fists at his sides. The fact that his VP had known all along that Vain wanted Lizzy was pretty fucking crazy.
Denying it might have been easy, but he’d been confronted, and since Ace already knew, hell, Vain needed to set some shit straight.
He stared into Ace’s eyes and knew telling the Patch what he was about to would surely get his ass beat. But it would be worth it. Lizzy was worth anything and everything, and Vain was tired of not doing something about how he felt. So he rolled his head on his neck, cracked his knuckles, and just started to fucking say what he needed to.
But before he got the first word out, the bedroom door opened. Lizzy stood there, now fully dressed, her hair damp and hanging over her shoulders. She looked between the two of them and took a deep breath.
“I’m tired of pretending. I’m done with running.” She was looking at Vain now. “For so long I’ve been in love with you, wanted you, but was too afraid to do anything but run away from the only family I ever had.” She looked at her brother then. “And that’s what I did, Ace. I ran, and it wasn’t until I was back here, surrounded by all the things I thought I didn’t want in my life, that I realized I should have never left.” She moved out of the bedroom to stand next to Vain.
His entire body was on fire. He wanted to pull her in close and make his claim on her. He’d fight for her, make it known she was his. Too long he’d backed off. He was done with that.
“I love Vain, and in the short time that I have been back here, it’s become clear that I can’t hide my feelings anymore.” She looked at Vain again. “I don’t want to. I planned on telling you all of this anyway, but I guess I’ve been scared of how things would turn out.”
He watched as her throat worked when she swallowed. God, she was nervous, and he hated that, fucking loathed that she was afraid of all of this.
“So, what exactly are you telling me here, Lizzy?” Ace crossed his thick, tattooed arms over his chest, looked between the two of them, and for a long second the air became tense.
Vain was ready to throw down if it came to that, although he didn’t want to fight a fellow brother. He just wanted to be with Lizzy, to tell her how he felt, to hold her, touch her, and make her feel so damn good.
“I’m saying I love him, Ace,” she said, her shoulders straight, her head held high. “And it means I don’t want any trouble. I don’t want any pissing contests because you think I shouldn’t be with Vain, because you don’t want me to be with a Patch.”
Everyone was silent for a second. Ace glanced at Vain, his eyes narrowed, his face stern. “And you? What does this mean to you?”
Vain was silent for a second, but he moved forward, placed Lizzy behind him, and said, “I love your sister.” He turned to Lizzy. “I love you but have been too much of a fucking coward to say it, to admit over the years how I felt.” Her breath caught, h
is heart raced, and for the first time in his life Vain felt fucking incredible. He looked at Ace again. “And even though I don’t want to get physical and fight for the right to have her, because you’re my family, my brother in arms, I will, Ace.” He turned and faced Ace fully. “I want Lizzy as mine.” His body was tense, ready for whatever Ace threw at him. But instead of aggression coming from the other man, Vain saw … acceptance.
Ace held his hands up, took a step back, and finally shook his head. “What do you think I am, a bastard to stand in the way of two people who love each other, especially when those two people are you?” He shook his head again. “I’m not in the business of beating ass like Brack and Torque did with each other. You should know that’s not my style.”
Yeah, Vain knew Ace was more of the laid-back kind of guy, the one concerned with making things smooth for the club, and getting his dick wet when the time called for it. But this was different, a hell of a lot different.
“Besides, you think I didn’t know you two had feelings for each other?” Ace scoffed. “I’m not fucking blind or a damn idiot.” Ace glanced between the two of them and shrugged. Ace had gone from lighthearted to serious in an instant. “But, Vain, brother, you better take care of my little sister and treat her right or there will be hell to pay, yeah?”
“You know me better than that,” Vain responded.
Ace nodded. “Yeah, I know, but this is my baby sister we’re talking about, so it had to be said.”
Vain grunted in agreement. Ace looked between the two of them again, and the grin that spread across his face lightened the air.
He turned and left them standing there, chuckling and murmuring under his breath how it was about time this shit went down.
Vain faced Lizzy. “Did all of that just seriously happen?”
She chuckled softly and stared off to where her brother had walked away. “Yeah.” Her smile faded slightly when she looked at him. “Can we go in the room and talk in private?”