by V. Theia
“Don’t…don’t let them see me fall apart, Tad.”
“Ah, baby. Come here.” He pulled her into his arms and then he lifted her into the air. She latched onto him; her face burrowed into his neck as he strode off. Fortunately, there was only a skeleton crew of boys around right then so not many saw Roux as she cried into his neck.
Kicking his door closed, he parked his ass on the edge of the twin bed and put her on his lap.
“You’re right,” he spoke into her hair. “I should’ve told you right away. But I won’t ever take risks with your safety. This is my hard fucking limit, yeah? I wanted to get you here first. You’re my whole life, baby. I’m fucking lost if something happens to you.”
She lifted her head and tears balanced on her lashes. He knew she didn’t like crying, didn’t like emoting at all and he loved that she felt safe enough to show him her reactions. He kissed the tip of her nose and brought her in closer. “Everything’s gonna be okay.”
“It’s my dad. My dad. He’s all I have. I can’t lose him.” her voice wobbled, and he felt his heart pinch in his chest.
She didn’t get it. She wasn’t alone, she’d never be alone again.
“You have me. You have my club.”
Looking up through her lashes he felt punched when she smiled sadly. “I want you, Tad. But no offense, I don’t want your club.”
He wasn’t offended and he chuckled. “I want you, but I don’t want your club either, baby. You see you’re not alone though, right? I’m always here for you, anything you need.”
“You should have told me.” She croaked.
“I know.”
“I need a relationship where you’re not shielding me from shit, Tad. That’s exactly what Axel does. Good or bad, I want to be in this relationship and trust you’ll always tell me the truth.”
A sigh rumbled out of his chest as he pressed their foreheads together knowing he’d fucked up royally.
“I fucked up,” he shared. “I wanted you out of harm’s way, and that means your own way when you go off half-cocked like I knew you would. But you’re right. I want that relationship too.”
She stroked the side of his face and smiled a little. “We’re learning as we go. I bet you’ll fuck up again. I bet I fuck up too. We love each other, Tad?”
“So, fucking much.” He rumbled and it gifted him with her smile.
“Yeah. So much. I’m predicting even when we fuck up, we’ll fix it too.”
Thank god.
“Give your dad a video call so you can see for yourself he’s okay.”
Roux stayed on his lap while she spoke to Axel and gave him both barrels too. She ended the call by telling him she loved him.
That was his woman. Tough as nails on the outside. Able to bust the balls of the toughest bikers but she was soft where it counted. Her sweet heart belonged to Butcher and he wasn’t letting anything hurt it.
Once the call dropped, she took her face back to the side of his neck with a slow exhale, using his body for comfort. Comfort he was happy to give. His hand held around the back of her neck. “Don’t get used to me being vulnerable,” she warned with a huff and Butcher squeezed her neck.
He let go of a quiet, happy noise. “Roux, you not realized yet, baby? I’d take you any way I can have you.”
The fucking truth right there.
Love was his motivator.
Roux was his everything.
Sweet and soft.
Tough and tart.
He loved her.
THIRTY
“Claiming a savage man.” – Roux
“It’s not funny.” Roux glowered, watching her friend laugh her tiny butt off. “It felt like three hundred years locked up with those bikers instead of three days.”
Poppy’s chuckling didn’t stop and Roux’s brows folded in. She saw the irony, of course. Poppy was in the same position not so long ago. Only it wasn’t her choice and she hadn’t known anyone in the MC holding her hostage.
She’d never apologized to her friend.
That was the kind of normal life Roux lived, so it hadn’t occurred to her to ever offer a word of regret that something bad had happened to Penelope.
Now she felt the pinch of guilt as she turned her body to her friend who was thankfully unscarred by the whole situation. She even got a gorgeous husband and two pets out of it, but still.
“Hey, what happened at my dad’s club, what he did by holding you. I’m sorry. That was a shitty thing to do. I should have spoken up. Being silent makes me just as guilty. I should have said sorry before now.”
Poppy blinked with surprise coloring her cheeks before she smiled. “Apology accepted, even if it wasn’t your fault. You made sure I was okay and unmolested by Chains or Ruin; you gave me kickass clothes too.”
“I still say your ass looked bomb in my skinny jeans.”
“Tait thought so too,” blushed Poppy. “Even if they cut off my circulation.”
The pair were hanging out now that Roux was deemed worthy of freedom. Though she had to text Tad when she wanted to go home, he was gonna swing by Poppy’s house to pick her up.
Only Roux knew how incredibly sweet she thought he was being. Unnecessarily protective, but somewhere deep inside she got a kick out of it.
It had been strangely eye opening to say the least for the last three days of isolation. She’d seen how he interacted with his boys. It wasn’t far different from the Diablos. The Souls were a close-knit brotherhood. She’d seen Tad in action patching up a prospect when he’d torn the skin from his elbow playing hoops. Tad turned into something of a father figure lecturing the younger man. It was so cute.
He’d also been attentive to her, seeing as how Roux was moody as hell being locked up in a club that wasn’t hers. He sweet talked her, brought her favorite food from her favorite restaurants. They went for long walks holding hands around the compound at the base of the mountains. He’d taken her out over the Souls grounds on a quad bike for a picnic. She’d never had a picnic date before. Tad cut through her angry attitude with one romantic gesture after another. Roux didn’t hate it.
“I’m surprised you let Butcher live.”
Roux smiled and cast her eyes to Poppy. She was filterless, she didn’t know how else to be, when she shared. “Every time I threatened to kill him he used sex against me. I got my brains banged out so much I forgot I was angry.”
It was something else she didn’t hate.
Every little thing Tad did for her made her heart splutter like an old engine.
Now they were on the same page, their relationship became intense and tangible so fast. Roux was stuck on a man who couldn’t do enough for her. A man who put her first and cared about her safety. He’d slept in the twin bed, obviously too small for them both and he hadn’t complained once when she elbowed him in the ribs or caught an accidental arm in the face. He just pulled her over him or curled around her back and that’s how they slept.
Even when he dropped her off, he took a long ten minutes kissing her.
Poppy’s cat chose that moment to leap from the coffee table onto Roux’s lap. A quick ear stroke and the kitten was a purring machine.
“Is Axel okay?”
“Yeah, nothing much fazes him.”
“Did he get who set the house on fire?”
“He said he’s working on it. That’s Axel’s way of telling me to mind my own fucking business.” It didn’t mean she didn’t know stuff. She’d called Reno who said they were on it and nothing to worry about. Chains said much the same, but he also let slip that Ruin had gone to Vegas. If they dispatched Ruin, it usually meant he was on the scent of a kill.
She didn’t think the shit with Ruiz was going to go away so easily and Roux was not the type to hide away even if she had a boyfriend who wanted to keep her under lock and key.
Neither was she stupid and she wasn’t going to run into the forest to get slaughtered by a serial killer. The ditzy chicks always got it in horror movies. She was many thin
gs, but ditzy wasn’t one of them. But she refused to let a threat hanging over them ruin her life.
Minutes before Tad was due to collect her, she stood outside of Poppy’s building and put a video call through to Ruiz who greeted her with a smile. “Niña, I wondered how long it would be.”
“What do you want?”
“Straight to the point. I like it.”
Less than two minutes later she had her answer.
The woman was predictable, and it was as Roux had accused her of, she hated to lose. If she thought for a second Roux would become one of her puppets she was in for a rude awakening.
Tucker’s didn’t roll over for anyone.
A few minutes later the roar of Tad’s bike changed the pattern of her thoughts and she smiled at him. He came to a stop and swung his leg over the seat with a grace that contradicted his formidably lanky frame. He was so goddamn sexy. Which made it easy to passively wait while he strode over, catching her face in his hands, and he tipped it up for a kiss hot enough to melt the earth beneath her feet.
“Missed you, Cookie.”
“I only saw you two hours ago.” She replied breathless, holding onto the lapels of his leather jacket.
“Missed you.” He repeated and she grinned sappily.
“Am I allowed to go home today or back to that illicit dungeon and its small bed?”
The grin split his face. “We can go home, baby.”
“Good, I was about ready to kill you.”
“Liar. Unless you mean fucking me to death.”
Her hormones were a riot and Roux was glad they were on the street or she might have scaled him like a mountain and planted her vagina on his face. “That can be arranged.”
The growl was heat and need and he kissed her again. “C’mon, let’s get home, you’re wearing too many clothes and I need you on my face.”
Ah, yeah. He was a good mind reader.
Roux climbed on his bike, held on tight and willed the minutes away.
She didn’t think about what Ruiz wanted or the trouble her dad was in.
Not right now.
Later she would, when Tad had fucked her into a sated coma, and she lay in their bed sprawled naked and happy on his chest.
When she felt this contentment fizzling through her bloodstream it was easy to compartmentalize and rank what was most important.
That answer was Tad.
Always him.
They ate dinner, cleaned up the kitchen and then had sex again in the lazy boy chair.
She couldn’t get enough of him.
He couldn’t get enough of her.
But when exhaustion seeped into her bones and his hand covered half of her butt, his lips skimming her forehead, she remembered an earlier conversation where she told him she wanted honesty. It would have been easy to let Tad carry her to bed, to indulge in more of his magnificent body and then sleep in his arms.
She might have waited around, her heart pining for one man for years, but Roux wasn’t one to wait for anything else. While they were content in each other’s arms, she played with his chest hair. “I talked to Verónica.”
“What? When?”
She told him. “It was a fast call, I wanted to know what she wanted.”
“I told you that’s taken care of, Cookie. She no longer has any evidence.”
“I know, and I’m grateful for that, but I also know bitches like her don’t go away. Not when she has a crazy husband behind her like Ruiz. I had to know what she wanted from me.”
“And, what is it?”
“She wants me at a high stake table in Denver next week.”
Tad pushed himself up in bed until his back was to the headboard, he didn’t bother switching on the nightstand light. “She wants you to play for her?”
“That’s what she said.”
“Has to be more than a bitch wanting to win a few grand.”
Roux shrugged her shoulders; she didn’t care if there was a reason behind it. She only knew what she had to do to end this. Women like Verónica Ruiz were on a constant power trip, falling over their own egos in a bid to always look like they were on top. Roux had come across many of her type in the few years she’d been at gambling tables.
She played for fun, because she could win, she was good at it and she liked money. Never once did her ego play a part in it.
“You do this for her, Roux, and she’ll keep asking for more, you know that.”
“I know. It’s why I’m not gonna win for her. I’m gonna take her money and lose the whole fucking lot. The bitch thought I cheated. Now she wants me to cheat for her.”
A slight smile cracked the edge of his mouth and Roux scooted through the sheets to lay her head on his belly. His hand came to her head, a gentle possessive touch, running his fingers over her twin tragus piercings. “You sure about this?”
Surprise entered her eyes as she looked up at him. She’d expected an argument. A demand she didn’t go anywhere near that woman again.
“You’re not going to talk me out of it? Or lock me up.”
Tad chuckled. “Would it do any good? I trust your judgment, Cookie. I’m your man, not your boss. I don’t want you in any danger, ever. You know that already and sometimes I’m gonna act as your man first, that’s how it is, baby. But I’m also gonna have your back in anything you do.”
Roux scrambled up to her knees and climbed into his lap, putting their lips inches apart as she smiled and tangled her fingers around the back of his neck.
“You keep showing me how much you are my guy, Tad. You keep surprising me and making my heart fuller.”
“Good, baby. That’s my job, yeah?”
“What’s my job?” Her smile brushed against his lips, teasing them open so she could suck his bottom lip until he grunted.
“Driving me fucking mental.”
“I’ll take that,” she grinned and then squealed when he grabbed and rolled her under him where his mouth took charge and kissed hell out of her. “If you do this, then I’m going to be there too, to look out for you.”
“I already thought you would be.”
He blinked and Roux laughed lightly. “You assumed I’d fight you on it? I want a real life with you, Tad. That means all aspects of it. I know coming from two MC’s there’s always going to be things you can’t discuss with me; I get that, and I accept it. But the things you can talk about I hope you will. Anything you tell me is safe with me. You and me, we’re our own club, Tad. I trust you and that means knowing you’ll always have my back and I have yours.”
“Ah, Cookie, I love you, girl, you get that? How much I fucking love you.”
The look on his face said as much and she smiled through the darkness at him, cupping both sides of his face, she kissed him. “I love you too.”
“You and me in this thing always, yeah?”
“Oh, yeah. You signed for a Tucker, there’s no give backsies now, hard luck.”
Lips, soft as silk touched the corner of hers. “We live a hard life, Cookie, you know that more than most. If anything happens to me—and it could—tell me you’ll go on to live a full life. I need to know you’ll be formidable in everything you do. You’ll be ruthless but gentle and you have my blessing from beyond to live a life worthy of you. You need to always grab at happiness, no matter what, understand?”
On some level she knew what he was asking of her. Anyone in a MC knew that day could come where they lost their life. It was sometimes a world of violence. She also knew the Souls mostly ran a clean club. Until they didn’t, so the risks were there. But thinking of a day when Tad wasn’t here, even for a second… shit, that rammed pain all the way through her and she pressed her face into his shoulder.
“I know this turned serious, baby, just for a second, okay?”
“Can you say the same, if I said I want you to be happy and have another life?”
The growl blistered her ears, making Roux grin. That’s what she thought.
A love like theirs came only once. It
was too huge to be shared with anyone else.
Would she go on living without him? Yeah, it was basic human will. But she’d never want another happiness like she had with Thaddeus.
“If anything were to happen, I’ll be okay, baby. And you promise me you’ll be okay too.”
“Promise.” He rasped.
That was all that needed to be said for now. Because whether he believed it or not, she intended to have the longest life with this guy.
She wasn’t lying when she told him he’d signed up for a Tucker. There were no returns on her.
Cuddling her biker, the silence soothed her until she gave a giant kitten yawn with sound effects.
Tad laughed and pulled her closer. His gaze was intense as he threaded his hands through her loose hair. Tipping her head back, he stroked soft lips down her throat, sucking her wildly beating pulse. “I know it’s late, and you’re tired but, Cookie? I need to put you on my cock right now, yeah? Need to feel you sinking around me, taking me deep.”
She moaned. It was unbidden and rushed arousal through her.
She wanted that too. So much.
Roux was already lifting up on her knees so she could watch him grab his long hard cock. Sitting it up against his stomach it was no effort at all to slide down and take him in. She was so wet that he pushed in easily.
Their conjoined groans became music.
“My perfect girl.” He damn near moaned into her mouth.
“My awesome man.”
“Fuck your man,” he commanded, a timber so deep it rushed over her skin.
Her lips met his.
Kissing Thaddeus Savage made her feel more alive than any drug ever could. The high he caused was unmeasured … and addictive.
“I love you. I don’t know what it means not to love you.”
Oh, god. She felt the same way. Her love for him sometimes felt like she had a monster living in her body, taking over every normal feeling and making it unbearable to cope with unless he was near. It was dangerous and lovely all at once.
He moved her on him slowly with the help of his hands gripping onto her hips.
Roux moaned into his lips. Teasing him with flicks of her tongue. “Your dick is so grateful to be inside me, isn’t it?”