by Aria Cole
Her gentle, creamy curves made my mouth water.
I wanted to sink my teeth into those beautiful round ass cheeks and mark her with my brand.
From the moment I picked her up in my arms and carried her out of that truck, getting her hot food, a change of clothes, and settled in her new bedroom, I’d known she was mine. Her beauty was only enhanced by the way her eyes danced and sparkled when she was being smart, the curve in her lips when she knew she was getting under my skin. Something about Adelina de los Angeles intoxicated me. There was no other way to explain it.
I’d be the first to admit that I’d spent a lot of time with other women. But the truth was, I was a people person, blessed with a natural charm that drew people in. I had a genuine interest and concern for all people, and my business model fell perfectly in line with that. If there was something I could grow in my own backyard—a space I tended with a lot of care and focus on quality—I vowed to do what I could to help the people in my community who would otherwise be suffering.
Most of my clients were elderly, some with Parkinson’s, cancer, even arthritis, and they struggled with daily, debilitating pain. A delivery from one of my guys could go a long way toward making their day a little brighter. I’d sat with a lot of them, listened to them impart wisdom collected over their long lives. The lesson that family and love are all that matters at the end of life was a profound one.
I’d never given my heart to a woman.
Plain and simple, I hadn’t found one who was worthy of my undivided attention.
I’d had great conversations with a lot of women, shared drinks, pool games, even racy moves on the dance floor, but I’d never taken any of them to my bed.
At the age thirty-one, I still hadn’t found the right girl to share the darkest parts of my soul with.
As a consequence, I was still a virgin. With a capital fucking V.
The guys all assumed I was well-practiced, having watched me stumble drunk into plenty of rooms with strangers. But I had found the conversation more enticing than the thought of getting my dick sucked.
I couldn't explain it.
In high school, when my mom realized I had no interest in the female gender beyond friendship, one night, she’d cautiously asked if I liked boys.
I groaned at the memory, remembering the very moment I decided to use my charm and flirtatious side as a shield.
When my mom caught me the very next week, arm wrapped around my new “friend” Kat, she’d grinned and given me a ridiculous thumbs-up.
Mom never asked if I was gay again. I didn’t think there was a damn thing wrong with being gay. I had friends in school of all sexual orientations; some of the most loyal I’ve ever known. In truth, watching them get harassed over and over again was one of the things that had got me to where I was today, a founding member of the Sinister Knights, our sole purpose to protect and defend the rights of the innocent.
I was a moral motherfucker, even if I wore a cut with a skull and crossbones on my back.
I didn’t give a damn about society’s conventions or perceptions; I walked my own path, and for some reason, it led me right to Adelina.
I glanced across the room, her expressive eyes trained on a small carved button in her hand.
I’d seen her fingering the beads plenty of times, watching her pull them from her pocket when she was upset or anxious, words moving quickly from her lips as she breathed silent prayers.
She was beautiful when she prayed.
You couldn't always tell when she was doing it. If she were in another life, a businesswoman in the streets of Chicago, earbuds in her ear, she would look like she was just having an important conversation. And I guessed she was. With God.
I was never a man who thought much about those things. Sure, I tried to live a godly life because I was raised that way, but I think I lived morally because I watched injustices unfold around me. Including a broken system that failed my two brothers, Ryker and King, again and again.
Women like Adelina deserved a second chance at life because hell if she’d chosen the one she was given.
Maybe I had a bit of a God complex, but being attached to this women in one form or another had slowly evolved into my day’s only goal. We ate breakfast together, did morning rounds at the greenhouse, packed shipments in the service room, answered emails and phone calls. These last few weeks she’d hardly left my side, and damned if I hadn’t gotten used to the way she smiled up at me when I called her name.
Adelina.
“What’s on your mind over there, handsome?” She’d tucked the button back in her pocket.
“Want me to help you pack?” Her warm eyes snapped me from my thoughts. “We should get headed to Snow Lake in the next hour if we want to beat twilight.”
Adelina’s eyes hovered on mine, luscious bottom lip sucked between her teeth. “Thank you, Saint.”
She looked up me so soft and so sweet I nearly came in my jeans right there. “Wouldn’t have it any other way, mi vida.”
She smiled, fingertips dusting along the rough edge of my unshaven jaw.
My life.
Adelina had become my life the last few weeks. Somehow, I’d found every waking thought and most of my sleeping ones consumed with her.
“I’mma go pack my shit,” I growled softly. “Need a break for a minute before I lose all control.”
Adelina’s cheeks flushed, and I suddenly wondered what her nipples tasted like. I bet they were silky and warm, the perfect shade of cocoa.
“Meet you right back here,” I hummed at her ear.
A shudder cascaded down her neck as she nodded. “Yes, Saint.”
“You’re gonna be sayin’ that a lot in the future.” My eyes flicked up and down her delicate form. “Hope you’re ready.”
She sank her teeth into her lip again, the outline of her nipples sharp through the shirt she wore. “Sí.”
Standing there, watching her waiting, spread out on the bed all sexy and open nearly unhinged me. “Christ, Adelina, makin’ it hard for me to leave.” I ducked down, drawing her in for another, deeper kiss. “Good goddamn thing I won’t have to ever again, starting right now.”
“Are you ready for that, Saint?”
A low groan vibrated out of my chest as I wrapped my arms around her waist. “I was born ready for you.”
Chapter 3
Adelina
“Feel snug?” Saint asked, a rakish grin spreading across his beautiful face.
He was so flirty, everything he said laced with innuendo. “Perfect fit.”
His cocky grin deepened before he tapped the top of the helmet on my head and tossed a leg over his motorcycle.
I swallowed the bundle of nerves in my throat, adjusting the backpack before sliding behind him.
His big hands swallowed my knees, taking their time as they slowly traveled up the length of my thighs, thumbs tracing the inner seam of my leggings and landing at the top of my legs.
Jesus, I didn’t think I was going to be able to stand to be in the same room with him.
I’d listened to this man amble around the bedroom next to mine for weeks, wondering what he would do if I slipped under the blankets and cuddled up next to him. Had he heard my quiet sobs at night? I’d tried my best to keep the crying muffled, but some nights… Well, some nights the past refused to be ignored.
But, thankfully, I was here, on the back of Saint’s bike, under the protection of the most honest man I’d ever met.
The way my family back in Mexico had done business, I swear I hadn’t known an honest man existed. But I couldn't think about that or the tears would start again.
I sucked in a breath of the crisp fall air, snuggling closer into the leather cut that read Sinister Knights.
My knights.
I came to America not knowing a single person, and yet when I landed at Falcon’s Nest, I felt like I’d found a family.
“It’s gonna get cold as we climb up into the mountains. Let me know if we need to stop a
nd get some more clothes on you.”
“Take some off is more like it.” The words slipped out before I had a chance to catch them.
“What’s that?” Saint’s eyes swung to meet mine, twinkling with a look that told me he’d heard me perfectly fine.
“I’m hot right now, that’s all.” I fudged my recovery, warmth blooming up my cheeks and embarrassing me even more. I hoped he couldn’t see the flush under this stupid helmet. “I’m ready.”
Saint grinned, eyes refusing to unleash mine. “Been waitin’ to hear that.”
With that, he flipped the engine, making it rumble to life between my thighs.
“Oh my God.”
“All okay on the back end?” he called over his shoulder.
I squirmed against his hard body, thinking the last thing I was was okay with his body wedged between my thighs and the vibrations of the engine roaring their way through every nerve between my legs.
“Great back here.” I nearly gritted out, suddenly anxious to get this ride over so I could either drop to my knees and beg Saint to take me, or get some distance from the sexiest man I’d ever laid eyes on. I’d ridden on the back of Saint’s bike a few times in the weeks since I’d come here, and every mile, every single bump in the road had been intense. And knowing we were headed now to a cabin in the mountains, just the two of us, was more than my fragile mind could bear.
“Hold on tight, Adelina. Helluva ride ahead of us.”
And he wasn’t kidding.
A couple hours later and just as the sun was setting behind the horizon, we were finally pulling into what he’d been referring to as the Snow Lake cabin. While it’d been a warm sixty degrees at the ranch, by the time we arrived, we’d climbed more than seven thousand feet and dropped thirty degrees in temperature.
Saint had insisted on stopping every hour to walk around, buy a few provisions, and wrap me in more jackets.
I officially felt like the abominable snowman.
But I was enamored of every minute.
“It’s beautiful.” I stepped off the bike, removing the helmet and spinning as light snowflakes fell from the evening sky.
Saint’s eyes shot up. “This the first time you’ve seen snow?”
I nodded, fresh tears fighting their way behind my lids.
My first time in America.
My first time kissing a man.
My first snow.
My life had done a complete 180 in the last thirty days.
Saint caught me mid-twirl, smiling as he swiped a flake off my eyelash. “You’re the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen dancing in the snow, but I’m fucking freezing. Let’s get inside.”
I tracked behind him up the snowy steps, slipping in behind him once he’d unlocked the deadbolt and swung the door open.
“When you said cabin, I expected…”
“A shithole?” Saint dropped both of our backpacks on the floor and then dropped to his knees and began unlacing my boots.
“This is a lodge.”
“Six bedrooms, I think. Seven, maybe. Been a while since I’ve been here. Prez used to bring us a lot when we were young. Did a lot of fishing off the dock on Snow Lake.” Saint slipped off my boots, cradling each of my feet in his palms and thawing my toes with his warmth.
“I didn’t even see the lake,” I mused, only able to focus on his powerful hands bringing my limbs back to life.
Saint had been bringing a lot of me back to life lately.
In fact, the more time I spent with him, the less time I felt like hiding out under my pillow in a pool of my own tears.
I couldn't keep focusing on the past life I’d had; I could only live in this moment, make the best of my future.
“Dios mio,” I sighed, feeling a little closer to heaven.
“Saint, baby. Don’t go givin’ credit where it isn’t due.”
I clasped one hand over my mouth, cursing my ridiculous tendency to speak before I formed a thought. “It’s hard to think when your hands are on me. You have an unfair advantage.”
Saint’s eyebrows dipped wryly before he stood, swooping me in his massive arms and plopping me ass-first on the granite kitchen island. “I’ll take every advantage I can get with you.”
His hands swallowed my ass, yanking me closer to his hard body until his cock was nestled tightly at the seam of my leggings.
I almost lost it.
I could have groaned with pleasure right there.
“Hope you don’t mind my takin’ advantage of you, Adelina.” Saint’s warm lips danced across the skin at my neck, sending fireworks shooting through me and hardening my nipples to painful little peaks.
His hands skittered up the dips and curves of my torso before slipping under the sweater I wore. I sucked in a ragged breath, nerves burning up with the heat that scorched between us.
I would never be the same after Saint. I knew that instinctively, and I also knew there was already no going back for either of us.
The way his eyes scanned a room in search of mine, his protective palm at my back, my elbow, guiding me along beside him, always attached.
Saint was tied to my soul already, and he’d hardly done more than press his lips to mine.
But that was all about to change.
The hungry look in his eyes told me that his fight-or-flight instinct had taken over. This man would protect me until the day I died, every look conveying his intention of doing just that.
“Saint…” I breathed when his lips floated up my torso, bisecting my ribcage and sucking at the skin just beneath the curve of my breast.
“Sí, mi vida?”
“More,” I begged.
“Fuck yes.” He wasted no time pushing the sweater over my head and discarding it on the floor. “I need to see your nipples, or I’ll die an unfulfilled man.” His heavy palms cupped at my breasts, thumbs gliding across the hardened peaks before slipping inside the cup and pulling down.
He licked his lips when my nipples were revealed to him. My pussy was already soaked and seeping more arousal down my thighs. Being under his gaze, watching his eyes linger on the most intimate parts of my body had my stomach churning, my mind foggy with lust and love.
“Never thought I’d find you.” His head dropped, lips attaching at my nipple and kissing it reverently. I squirmed, sighed, aching for more of him on me.
“In a hurry, little one?” His cocky smile deepened before moving to my other nipple, tongue darting across the pebbled edge.
“You don’t know how long I’ve waited…”
A dark chuckle spilled past his lips, vibrating against my nipple and sending sparks ricocheting through my veins. “I’ve got a pretty good idea.”
“But you were my first kiss, the first man to hold my hand,” I breathed.
“And what if I said you’re the first woman I’ve had in my bed?”
My eyes widened in disbelief.
His laugh barreled through him and warmed my insides. “Why so surprised?”
“When I came here, you had girls everywhere.”
“Friends.” He shrugged. “Never anything more.”
My heart cracked then, love spilling out for him.
I didn’t know what it was about the way he was looking at me, so frank and honest, stripped bare. I believed him.
“You’re the only one who’s made me want to dig in, balls deep, fuck until I lose my head, and then go more.” He pinched my nipple, causing a squeal to erupt from my throat. “The only one who makes me so goddamn hard I think I’ll lose my mind if I don’t have you soon.” He sucked a nipple into his mouth, eyes still holding mine as he sucked, drawing the very soul out of me. “The only one I’d give my last name to if it meant keeping her.”
My heart thrummed erratically, his hands swallowing the soft flesh at my waist before pushing down the waistband of my leggings.
He was suddenly way too clothed, and my fingers tore at the cotton covering his shoulders. He read my mind and yanked the shirt over his head, using the
cotton to wrap around my wrists, sliding them over my head and pulling them tight together.
I groaned, squirming with the need to feel him pressed against me.
His hands worked at the zipper on his jeans, pulling the teeth slowly, grin curving his lips as his gaze roamed my body.
“Good enough to fucking eat, Adelina.” His throaty voice serrated every nerve I had.
I could feel the arousal seeping out of me, every stroke of his eyes like a fire singeing my skin.
Just like the tattoos decorating his body, inked reminders of moments in the past, this moment, and every moment with Saint, would be written on my flesh as his brand forever.
Chapter 4
Saint
Tenderness had replaced the rutting need to grind my cock inside her delicate pussy when she’d confessed she was a virgin. Of course, I’d already known it. A man didn’t study a woman as much as I had her in recent weeks and not sense the untouched virtue written in every delicate curve of her face.
But seeing the innocence etched in her irises stopped me from driving my cock into her lovely pussy. Some wall I hadn't even known I’d built around my heart came crumbling down, making way for something lovelier, purer, her.
“We’ve got to be careful, Adelina. I don’t want to be too rough your first time.”
“What about the second time?” Something in the way her eyes narrowed devilishly told me she wasn’t teasing.
What a beautiful little minx she was.
I was goddamned stunned by her.
I caged her beneath me, stroking my fingers along the silky underside of her elbows as my chest grated across the taut peaks. “The second time will be for me.”
I didn’t give her a chance to reply, covering her mouth and pushing my tongue past the seam of her lips, probing insistently.
Her hips pushed against my rock-hard cock, low, animalistic whimpers vibrating from her throat, making me all the fucking hotter for her.
“Adelina.” I whispered her name, moving a hand down to the soft mound covered in white cotton panties. “Soaking wet for me.”