by Jenika Snow
When her orgasm faded and she opened her eyes, it was to see Dakota’s look of pure pleasurable torture as he came. He stared at her, this feral look on his face as sweat poured down his chest and landed on her belly. His grunts and groans grew louder.
“Fuck, Tawny, it is never-ending,” he said, his head slightly thrown back, and his orgasm continuing to pour into her. He tightened his hold on her waist as he slammed into her like a man that had lost control of everything. His cum started to slip from her every time he pulled almost all the way out. And then after one more shudder from his big body, he collapsed on top of her, breathing heavily against her neck. Her pussy kept clenching around his cock, little tremors of pleasure from her own climax.
Dakota started to move off of her, but before she knew exactly what he had in mind he had her on top of him, his hand on the back of her head, pressing her to his chest and keeping her there. He grabbed the blanket and covered them, and although he was still buried inside of her, semi-hard, and her body sated, exhausted, and pleasantly sore, she started to fall asleep. She listened to the sound of his heart beating, lulling her further to sleep.
“Tawny?” he asked softly into the darkness.
“Hmm?” Her eyes were so heavy, her body sweaty, and the combined fluid of what they had done continued to slip out of her.
“Does it frighten you when I say that I’d kill any guy that touches you? That I won’t let any other man come close to you because you’re mine?”
She pulled back enough to look at him, searched his face with her gaze, and then smiled softly. “Dakota, have you already forgotten that I am from an extended family of over the top bear shifting alpha males?” She smiled broader. “They bring a whole new level to the word possessive.” Resting her head on his chest again, she listened to the sound of his heart beating. “As long as you don’t go certifiably psycho on me, I think I kind of like having my very own protector,” she teased.
“I love you, Tawny.”
She smiled as she heard him say that. “I love you, too, Dakota.” All she wanted to do was stay here like this with him.
“Spend the night with me, baby. Just let me hold you.”
That sounded like heaven, but the reality was she wasn’t living alone, and her parents expected her home. Pushing up, she looked at him again. “As much as I want to stay, my dad expects me home. Coming home late and smelling of some incredible sex probably won’t look very good on our first real date.”
He chuckled, pulled her close to his chest again, and just held her. “Yeah, I know, but at least let me hold you like this for a little bit longer.”
And she did just that, because the truth was it felt good and right to be in Dakota’s arms. Right now, with the silence and darkness around them, she didn’t have to worry about reality of the fact that being with Dakota in a relationship might not be a smooth path all the time. But she was ready for it, embraced it even, and being this happy had to mean that she was doing something right.
Chapter Ten
Drevin brought his beer to his mouth, took a long drink, and stared at the screen on the TV. There was a football game on, one that he didn’t really care about, but he had nothing else to focus on right now. He wanted a piece of ass, needed something to help distract him from the fact he had absolutely nothing in his life.
He was alone, aside from his club and his brothers, but even that couldn’t help this emptiness that worked its way deep inside of him. He set the now empty bottle on the counter and looked at Tawny. The young female was working the bar tonight, and he had to give Dallas credit for being okay with one of his little girls working at this place. The Grizzlies might own it, but that didn’t mean he would have let one of his female children—if he had any kids—work here. There were drunks, men that came off of freight trucks after working weeks straight through and looking for some ass. Although there were bouncers that Dallas had specifically hired to keep an eye on her, that didn’t mean some fucker wouldn’t start shit because he thought he had balls of steel.
“Another one please, sweetheart.”
Tawny grabbed the bottle and smiled. He watched her turn to grab another one, and was surprised to see that her bodyguard, Dakota, wasn’t here tonight. The Brother of Menace member might think he was being all stealthy, but the truth was this was Grizzly territory, and the club knew who came and went in their town. She set the beer down in front of him and leaned on the counter.
“You look in a funky mood, Drevin.” Her blonde hair was in a loose bun, little wisps of golden colored strands falling around her face. “You feeling okay?”
His bear scented her genuine need to see what was wrong, but he wasn’t going to talk about this with Dallas’s daughter. She might not be a little girl anymore, but he’d always see her as one. Hell, he’d see all of the Grizzly kids as just that … kids. He looked down at his beer, at the peeling label in the corner from the condensation, and how he had allowed his life to get where it was right now.
He wasn’t about to talk to Tawny about how for the first time in his life he yearned for a family of his own, for an old lady and children. Being in his fifties made him the youngest original Steel Corner Grizzly patched in member. The other members, Jagger, Diesel, Dallas, Brick, Court, and Stinger all had old ladies and children that were grown. Some even had grandchildren to hold and watch their legacy prosper. Drevin had no one, nothing. Not even a mother or father, or siblings that he could count on to keep him level headed. It wasn’t until this past year that he’d realized exactly how alone he truly was.
Drevin had never wanted a family of his own, and an old lady seemed like a complication. His life was fucked-up as it was, and the blood bond between the brotherhood of his club members was strong enough to keep him sane. But it was the violence and danger he chose to lead his life, and the fact that his upbringing had been less than loving. Hell, he couldn’t even guarantee he’d be a good male to a female. So, he had fucked the women that had offered themselves to him, not gotten attached to any of them, and put the club, and only the club at the top of his priorities. It was the way his world worked, and he was content with that … until recently.
Maybe it was the fact Grizzly grandchildren were being born, or the fact all of the Grizzly kids were finding their own males and females to be with that Drevin found himself in this box of solitude, blocked off from everyone but in plain sight? Yeah, he was a pussy-whipped sap for even wanting that kind of life at this point. But, his bear was itching for some female company, one that wasn’t all about the club he was in or the patch he wore. And he especially didn’t want a female that had been used by the members.
“I’m doing fine, sweetheart,” he said and brought the fresh beer to his mouth. After taking a long sip of it, he set it back down, heard the front door slam from the force of the frigid wind outside, but didn’t bother looking to see who it was. It was a Monday night. The bar was pretty dead except for a few regulars that seemed to live off of alcohol, and then of course him, the hired muscle that stayed by the door and made sure no underage asshole came in, and Tawny.
She lifted her head and stared over his shoulder at whoever had just walked in.
“What about you and Dakota?”
That had her snapping her gaze to his and her eyes widening slightly. He chuckled. “Sweetheart, you have to know that nothing, and I mean nothing, gets past a Grizzly, especially when you do it in a bar owned by one.” He smirked at her humiliation and brought his beer to his mouth. Her cheeks got red, and she leaned in close.
“God, please don’t tell me you and everyone else knows about what Dakota and I did in the backroom.”
He nearly spit out his beer at her words, and quickly wiped his mouth. “What? The backroom?” Okay, this was going into too much information territory. She pulled back slightly, knitted her brows as if confused, and then her mouth opened in a silent “O”.
“Oh, shit.” She covered her face. “You were talking about Dakota being at the bar, weren�
�t you?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, and I don’t want to know anything else.
She dropped her hands to her sides, breathed out, and leaned her elbows on the counter. “Good, because I don’t want to tell you anything else.” She smiled and looked over his shoulder again. “Dakota is actually coming over tomorrow night for dinner, so that should be a good ol’ time of my dad acting all alpha on his ass.”
That had Drevin laughing even harder. “Hey, your dad just loves you, and any man that thinks he is worthy of being with you needs to go up against your old man to see if he can cut it.” He shrugged. “If I had a daughter I would be like every other Grizzly that wants to keep her safe and protected from the horny bastards of the world.”
“Hi, I am looking for Tawny.”
The voice that came from behind Drevin had the conversation with Tawny ceasing. His bear instantly rose up, clawed under the surface of his skin, and wanted out. The female’s voice was soft and very feminine, but there was a distinct strength to it that his animal picked up on immediately. He slowly turned in his seat and stared at the small female that had on a knitted hat, a bulky as hell jacket, and a pair of snow boots that had seen better days. She was staring at Tawny, and lifted her hands to remove her gloves.
“I’m Tawny, and I assume you’re Allie Harper?”
The woman nodded. She was human, not looking much older than in her late twenties, but there was this vulnerably he saw in her right away. She tried to hide it, and she was doing a pretty good job of it, too, but he was a bear shifter, and could pick up on that shit as if there was a flashing neon sign right above her.
“Glad to see you survived the weather out there,” Tawny said and moved away from them. The woman glanced over at him, her eyes big and green, and her cheeks red from the cold weather. She smiled, clearly not having the same powerful pull as he had at this moment.
“If you can just fill this out, and then let me know when you’re done, I can go over everything.”
The woman named Allie smiled, took the application Tawny gave her, and then went over to one of the tables. He watched her, couldn’t take his eyes from her, and felt his bear become more restless at the sight of this female. He had no clue what it was about her, why he was so instantly drawn to her, and why for the first time in his life his bear and human side roared out “Mine”.
You want her. We want her. For the first time in your long fucking life, you want this woman like you have never wanted another female before. Take her, and show her that there isn’t another male for her.
The thoughts going on in his head were crazy, insane, ludicrous … all of those meaning the same thing, yet combined it was like this giant fucking monster inside of him.
“Who is that, Tawny?” he asked, not taking his eyes off of Allie. Of course he now knew her name, but that wasn’t what he was asking Tawny for. Allie removed her hat, and a tumble of deep red waves fell along her shoulders. She was staring down at the application in front of her as she took off her coat. She had big breasts that pressed against her light colored sweater, and her nipples poked through the material. She was thinner than he liked in a woman, and he could see the raised edge of her collarbones through her shirt, but she was gorgeous nonetheless. He curled his hand into the counter with so much force he felt the wood start to crack under his hold.
“She’s the new waitress. She’ll be working on the weekends and once during the week.”
He turned to see Tawny watching him with this apprehensive look on her face. She lowered her gaze to where he held onto the counter, and when he removed his hands he saw a crack in the wood from when he had applied pressure to it while he watched Allie.
“You okay?” she asked and glanced at Allie.
“I’m good,” he said and looked at Allie, too. “More than good actually.” The idea that Allie was his wouldn’t leave Drevin, and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to just walk away from her, not when she was the first woman to make his human and bear come alive.
****
The dining room was too quiet. Tawny looked at her sister, who stared at her with equal amounts of nervousness and discomfort. Lucas was sitting beside his wife, and her mother was holding little Lola.
“This silence is a bit awkward.” Tarren was the one to speak first.
Dakota sat beside Tawny, his hand on her thigh, and the tension and heat in the room stifling. She had just told her immediate family that she and Dakota were seeing each other. Although they hadn’t specifically set any label for themselves, they didn’t need to. She knew he loved her, and he knew she loved him. They could be called boyfriend and girlfriend, lovers, or that they were dating. The end result was still the same. They were together, and nothing would change that.
“I’m not sure what to say,” her father said in a deep voice. He leaned back in his seat, grabbed his glass of water, and took a long drink. “My daughter just told me she’s with a Brother of Menace.”
“Kind of brings back memories, huh, Dad?” Tarren said, smiling, obviously trying to ease the situation. The look their dad gave her had Tarren’s smile fading and had her adjusting her napkin in her lap.
“I love her, sir,” Dakota said, and tightened his hold on her thigh. “I’ve loved her for a very long time.”
Her father grunted once, set back down the glass he had been holding, and for what seemed like forever the silence stretched out in the room. The sound of the clock in the hallway ticking filled the room. Lola making little noises as she slept helped to break up the discomfort slightly, but still Tawny hadn’t expected silence to be her father’s reaction. Anger, yelling, his bear flashing across the surface, yes, all of those had seemed like Dallas Stoker reactions for his youngest daughter telling him she loved a Brothers of Menace member.
“You love my daughter,” Dallas said without posing it as a question.
Tawny looked at Lucas, knew the other male had gone through the same hard-ass father interrogation as well, although for some reason her dad wasn’t as angry this time around, or he didn’t seem like it.
“I do,” Dakota said without hesitation, and she looked over at him and smiled.
Dallas didn’t speak for several seconds again, and she looked over at him. “Dad, you’re pretty quiet—”
“You’re happy, Tawny?” her father asked.
She nodded. “I am.”
He looked at her, his blue eyes and blond hair the same shade as hers and Tarren’s. And when he looked at Hope, their gazes staying locked for what she felt like was forever, and a ghost of a smile filtering across her father’s face, Tawny felt something in the air shift. There wasn’t this awkward tension anymore, but this easiness that had her relaxing against her seat.
“How much do you love her, son?” Dallas asked Dakota with this unwavering hard stare.
“I love her enough to lay my life down for her, to kill to protect her, and to make sure that she is always happy,” Dakota said.
Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of Dakota’s declaration. Maybe it would have seemed a bit odd for a guy to profess his love to her father by saying he’d cause bodily harm to anyone that hurt her, but this was the MC lifestyle, the world they had grown up in and loved, and it was all very normal for them. But hearing Dakota speak to Dallas like that, tell him about killing anyone that hurt her, and that dying for her was as easy as breathing, showed her that this male meant more to her than anyone else ever had. They had known each other their whole lives, and she had loved him harder and stronger than she had ever loved another human being in this world. She was in love with him, madly, desperately, undeniably.
Dakota looked over at her, smiled softly, and grabbed her hand to hold it in his much bigger one. “I love her enough that I won’t let her go, no matter what happens, or what anyone thinks,” Dakota looked at her father again. “Even you, Dallas, with all due respect.”
Her heart stopped, waiting for the explosion from her father. Lucas whistled low under his breath, and when she l
ooked over at him it was to see this smirk, almost as if he was proud of Dakota. Tarren elbowed her husband in the side, and his smile grew wider. He wrapped his arm around her, pulled her in close, and kissed her temple. Whatever he said in her ear then, too low for even Tawny’s bear senses to pick up, had this blush spreading over Tarren’s face.
“Well, I guess there isn’t much more to say,” Dallas said, his voice devoid of emotion, his body still relaxed against the chair, and his focus on Dakota. And then he leaned forward, braced his forearms on the table, and said in a low voice, “but I will say this,” he stared at Tawny and then at Tarren and Lucas before turning his attention back to Dakota. “The only males I want with my daughters are ones that love them enough to know that if it came down to it they would be able to lay their life down for them, and kill anyone that threatened to hurt them.”
Dakota let go of her hand and leaned forward as well. “And I am that male for Tawny,” he said in a determined voice.
As the seconds ticked by with Dakota and her father staring at each other, Tawny thought she’d pass out from this situation.
Her father broke out in a smile, reached across the table and clapped Dakota on the back. “Well, calm the hell down, everyone. I’m not about to toss his ass out.” He looked over at Lucas. “If I allow you to be with my daughter, I can’t deny Dakota from loving Tawny,” Dakota said, clearly teasing, and then everyone else started laughing.
Dakota pulled her close with an arm around her shoulders and kissed the crown of her head. Her dad watched them, a small smile on his face, and then looked over at Hope. The love she saw in her dad’s face when he looked at her mother was something that had always given her hope that there really was true love out there. And as she looked at Dakota, saw him staring at her with the same devotion and emotion, Tawny knew that she had finally found that love. They may have not been “together” for very long, but none of the mattered because what she felt was real, how Dakota made her feel was true, and she knew that no matter what, being with a Brothers of Menace male was where she was supposed to be in her life.