“No. First, I would have to order one and second, don’t you have to be home for them to deliver stuff?” Tessa demanded, now looking at Jennifer like she was the one who’d lost her mind.
“Okay then. Wait, did Buck know you needed a new one? Because if he did then that’s likely what happened. I mean men in the club have a certain way of doing things and if he knew you needed a new one…” She paused, her brow raised as her voice trailed off and she gestured in the air before shrugging, like Buck replacing her fridge was no big deal.
“Yes, but where did he get it from and how much did this monstrosity cost?” Tessa was feeling a knot forming in her stomach over the thought of how much the ones she’d looked at had cost and this one was much bigger than those were. Damn, that man.
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Jennifer said shrugging again.
“Not worry about it?” Tessa demanded.
“Well if he put it here when he knew you weren’t home, it’s likely he wouldn’t allow you to pay for it anyway.”
“What? Of course I have to pay for it.”
“No, you don’t. I bet he was hoping you wouldn’t notice,” Jennifer said, sitting on one of the stool and looking at her with a little grin.
“How would I not notice? It’s fucking huge and new.” Tessa was staring at her open-mouthed, wondering how Jennifer thought Buck would think she wouldn’t notice this damned thing in her kitchen.
“Men don’t really notice shit like this unless a woman points it out. My aunt bought a new state-of-the-art stove and dishwasher and had them installed while Uncle Croc was on a run. He came back and was home for almost a month before he even noticed. It’s like they’re oblivious to things that don’t matter to them. Now if it was a new TV or couch, maybe he would have noticed right away but anything else and men are just oblivious. So yeah, he likely thought you just wouldn’t notice.” Laughing, Jennifer moved over to inspect the new appliance.
“I can’t believe Buck would think I’m that big of an idiot.”
“This is nice. It even has an icemaker in the door that isn’t mounted inside the fridge. Wow, and a separate drawer for the meats. You could fit a ton of food into this thing,” Jennifer cooed, looking like she’d fallen in love with the damned thing. Tessa refused to look because she was going to tell Buck to take this back to wherever he’d bought it because it was too expensive for her.
“Stop having orgasms over my fridge and explain how he thought I wouldn’t notice a brand new stainless steel appliance in my kitchen?” Tessa demanded, shoving the milk into the conveniently-sized shelf in the door and the eggs onto another shelf.
“I did. Men really don’t notice things unless they are pointed out and I can promise you if you try to bring this up he will just ignore you. That’s the way men in this club deal with anything they don’t like to hear. It’s best just to let them have their way and be done with it in these cases.” Jennifer grabbed the meats Tessa had bought at the store and stored them in the freezer.
Tessa just shook her head because she didn’t see how letting them get away with that would change their behavior. She wouldn’t be ignoring this or allowing Buck to decide that she needed him to buy her things.
“Besides he likely got it from someone the club had trouble with anyway.”
“Wait, what do you mean?” Tessa asked, feeling a little worried that her new fridge was stolen.
“Oh, well when someone crosses the club they typically start offering anything of value to them to get leniency. It never works, but the guys do take the shit they offer and just handle whatever needed to be handled afterwards.” Jennifer handed her the salad she’d purchased to put inside the nicely spaced crisper.
“I don’t even have the words. I will have to explain to that infuriating man that this monstrous thing has to go back wherever it came from,” Tessa grunted.
“Good luck with that, hun. I’ve been around this club since I was eight and my parents died. Things don’t change much,” Jennifer said, a laugh escaping her.
“Your parents died?” Tessa hadn’t known that and she felt bad that she hadn’t questioned why Jennifer lived with her aunt and uncle.
“Yeah, mom overdosed and dad killed himself because he couldn’t take it. Spent a year in foster care before they finally tracked Uncle Croc down and he took me in.” Jennifer didn’t seem upset about the story but Tessa felt sympathy tug at her heart.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Uncle Croc took me in and him and Aunt Tilda didn’t have to. Now if I’d stayed a foster kid that’s when you should be sorry. In the year I was in the system, I had four foster homes. That’s a hard life for any kid and tragic because some of the places don’t feed or clothe the kids properly. My social worker kept telling me to stop reporting the bad things to my counselors. Seriously, they said that to a seven-year-old. Thankfully they found Croc and I was sent to live with him. I was a real terror but they straightened me up and now I wouldn’t have wanted any other life.” Jennifer smiled and shrugged.
Tessa didn’t know what to say to her young friend. She was so wise for a twenty-year-old; maybe it was the fact that she’d been raised around a harder sort of life that made her seem wiser than most of the young people she knew. Or maybe it was that the young people she knew didn’t know anything about the world because they lived behind reinforced fences.
“Wow, I just realized how terrible my story sounded, but I was lucky. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me because I turned out just fine. Now let’s get this show on the road. We need to work off all the carbs we’ve been eating at our girls’ night every week for the past month.” Jennifer shooed her into the bedroom to change into her workout clothes. Tessa allowed her to usher her into forgetting—at least for the moment—that she had a bone to pick with a certain male.
Tessa didn’t bother to turn on the light in the bedroom. Her eyes were adjusted to the dim light enough that she could stumble to the bed. She was exhausted. After a two hour workout with Jennifer and working her shift at the bar, she was beyond tired. She pulled the covers back tugging at them when they didn’t want to budge, frowning a little as she flopped down inside them, letting out a little sigh.
She was just starting to feel comfortable when a hard arm snaked out to curl around her waist, making her scream and slap at whoever was in her bed. She sat straight up in the bed wildly hitting the male who was trying to pull her closer. She yanked on the little chain on the nightstand lamp flooding the room with light, earning a male grunt when she elbowed him in the chest to manage the task. She glared at the last man she expected to see in her bed tonight, her mouth hanging open as she stared at him.
“Was the screaming necessary?” a gruff male voice asked as he looked up at her from the bed, running a hand over his closely cropped hair.
“Since I wasn’t expecting you to be in my bed. Yes, yes, the screaming was necessary,” Tessa growled, her eyes narrowed to slits as she glared at him. “What are you doing in my bed?”
“Duchess, I’m tired, can’t we do this in the morning?” Buck asked, his eyes watching her softly.
“No, Buck, we can’t. Now why the hell are you in my bed? Did yours get stolen or burned or, I don’t fucking know, bedbugs? Because I am pretty damned sure you should be in it instead of mine.” Tessa couldn’t believe the audacity of the man. How did he expect her to react to him breaking into her house and crawling into her bed?
“Duchess, we both know how this argument is going to end so let’s just skip to the end. You want me as much as I want you and I will likely end up in your bed often,” Buck muttered sleepily.
“Wha—were you not there for the conversation we had at the bar?”
“What conversation?” Buck asked, his look oblivious and innocent as he propped himself up in her bed’s fluffy comforter. Tessa decided right then and there that the man was impossible.
“The one where I said we weren’t sleeping together again because it wasn’t a good
idea,” she said from between clenched teeth, her face hardening into a glare. Buck rolled his eyes; he actually rolled his eyes at her before he replied dryly.
“We both knew that was bullshit so I ignored it,” Buck explained, reaching across the bed to pull her back down onto it with him. She was so angry over his insane comment that she wasn’t prepared to fight him and ended up on her back beneath him.
“It wasn’t bullshit!” she screeched, her hands pushing against his chest trying to shove him off but he just let out a loud sigh before he leaned forward, his lips hovering above hers, leaving her slightly breathless.
“Yeah, duchess, it was,” Buck said before his mouth was taking hers in a deep kiss that made her moan and arch against him on the bed. She hadn’t meant to allow him entrance but he’d managed to coax her tongue out to play without much effort, allowing him to thrust his inside her waiting mouth, swirling around hers intoxicatingly. That intoxication had nothing to do with the flavor of bourbon on his tongue and everything to do with the man himself.
Tessa didn’t know why his touch sent her body into shivers of pleasure and total slutty abandon but it did. She could almost feel the passion rising inside her every time she got near him. It was unnerving.
Buck’s teeth caught her bottom lip and tugged gently before his mouth slipped down to her throat and he sighed. His mouth caressed the hollow of her throat. Tessa moaned and tried to catch her bearings enough to shove him off her.
She realized he’d been in the same spot for a long time when her desire began to cool slightly and her head cleared. That was when she realized his big body was suddenly heavy, pressing her into the bed in an almost suffocating manner. It was also when she realized that the big bastard had just fallen asleep while making love to her.
Chapter Fifteen
“You can’t just break in whenever you want to,” Tessa roared.
Buck wanted to cover his ears to escape the woman’s insane refrain as she told him this for the fourth time. She’d already told him this same shit when she’d awakened to find him in her bed again a few nights ago. He wasn’t really giving it much merit. She didn’t really mean it and he’d proven that to her several times to make up for the night he’d fallen asleep on top of her. He had hardly been able to keep his eyes open and even with his body’s urgings to take her, he’d been unable to stay awake.
“Okay. I won’t break in anymore,” he told her, trying to make her calm down. He couldn’t understand why she was so worked up about this. If she’d give him a key he wouldn’t have to break in but the stubborn woman refused.
“You said that when I told you the first time and yet here you are in my shower!” She flung her hand towards him glaring. Buck took in the view appreciatively when she flung one hand up losing the death grip she’d had on the towel, revealing a line of creamy stomach and a hint of breast. Deciding that this conversation was going nowhere fast, he took a step forward.
“Nu-uh, no, you stay where you are. No putting your hands on me to try and shut me up. I am not going to allow you to blow my mind with desire. It’s not happening tonight. You’re leaving.” Tessa tried to look serious about her threat and Buck almost let out a snort. They both knew better than that bullshit. One, he wasn’t leaving, and two, she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.
“Duchess, I’m not going anywhere except maybe to bed with you right after our shower.” Buck didn’t like the rude little noise of displeasure she made. Or her rolling her eyes like she did. He was done with this conversation.
“Buck, you can’t just muscle your way in here and take over. The next time you break in I’m calling the cops.” Tessa did her best to sound firm but Buck knew that was utter bullshit. She wouldn’t call the pigs in to try and handle their little war but she thought the threat would deter him. Ha, good luck with that sweetheart, he mentally challenged her even as his hands reached out to jerk the towel from her body.
Damn, his woman was fine.
Buck almost had to roll his tongue up as her creamy brown skin was revealed to him. His cock twitched, jerking forward like it was begging to push inside her, and Buck listened to its urgings. He needed to fuck her against the shower wall. He had given up fighting his need for this woman weeks ago. He’d become addicted to the feel of her slick pussy gripping his cock. He wasn’t sure if it was riding bareback or her that made him almost insane to get back inside her but he didn’t really give a fuck. He loved sliding inside her after a long day and feeling the world explode around him in pleasure as she blew his mind.
He wasn’t an idiot and he had been checking to see if she was still taking her pills but he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t like to have another little miniature Tessa with emerald green eyes and a childish giggle around. It should concern him that kids were something he wasn’t too worried about with her and it likely would if it wasn’t for the fact that he was keeping her. His hands reached out and grabbed her hips pulling her into the shower, his mouth covering hers in hot demand.
Tessa kicked the car door shut with her foot trying not to lose her grip on the bags of groceries she’d bought on her way back from the mani-pedi she’d treated herself to today. She’d even sprung for the gel polish because it chipped less and working at the bar she’d figured it was a good idea. She’d had a little extra cash this week because of Buck and his bikers.
Tessa began walking toward the house, the bags digging into her hands with her keys awkwardly balanced to open the back door. She wasn’t sure why Buck had stuck to her side like a leach ever since they’d started having sex. It was like her not reacting to his announcement that he was leaving after that first time had messed up his head so bad that now he had something to prove. Not that she minded the sex because that was phenomenal but the man had boundary issues. More than once he’d broken into her place to pin her to the nearest surface and fuck her senseless. Or shown up in her bed like he belonged there. What worried her most about that was when she rolled over and felt his big body in her bed, she no longer panicked. She just sighed and snuggled into him.
They’d argued endlessly about that refrigerator that he’d claimed someone he knew was getting rid of. Tessa had looked at the state-of–the-art stainless steel appliance and knew that was bullshit. She just hoped it wasn’t from someone his biker club had killed that didn’t need the item anymore. A shiver went down her spine at the thought and she shifted the bags to unlock the back door.
Thankfully she’d read him the riot act about breaking into her place a few nights ago and since that little conversation he’d been absent from the bar and her place. She wasn’t sure how she felt about his disappearing act because she’d just been getting used to him being around all the time but the man couldn’t be allowed to just break in or show up at her place whenever he wanted. She pushed open the door to the kitchen and came to a dead stop, shock holding her immobile.
“Fuck you, assholes. I didn’t get my ass kicked by that scrawny motherfucker!” Peck yelled, slamming his hand down on the table.
“Like hell you didn’t. That dude had you on the floor and he was about to stab your ass when—shit,” one of the large, dusty bikers sitting at what looked like a brand new wooden table muttered.
Tessa was shocked because she had no idea what they were doing here. She only knew one of them—the one who’d been yelling—he worked at the bar and she’d never invited him to her home. Still frozen in the doorway wondering why six bikers were sitting at the table—a table that hadn’t even been in her kitchen three hours ago when she’d left—she felt anger begin to simmer inside her because she knew whose fault this was and she was going to kill him when she got her hands on him.
“Buck’s in the pisser,” one of the men blurted out, looking nervous likely because he could see the anger boiling in her eyes. She took a deep breath in and counted to ten mentally because this wasn’t their fault. No, it was Buck’s and she was going to rip him a new one when he got out of “the pisser” because this was going too fa
r, damn it.
“You’re an idiot, Chaos. Stop scaring her!” a man with Joker written on his leather vest muttered, hitting the man who’d spoken in the back of the head.
“Hey, that hurt motherfucker!”
“You’re all idiots,” the one leaning on her counter muttered.
Tessa watched him stand and walk towards her with his hands out in front of him like he was approaching an animal he was afraid to spook.
“It’s okay, we won’t hurt you,” he said soothingly as he reached out cautiously to take the groceries from her hands. Tessa allowed him to remove the bags only because they’d started cutting into her hand. He stepped over to the counter and laid the groceries out and began putting the cold things away in the fridge.
Tessa shook her head, feeling anger boiling inside her as she watched Joker come over to help him. Had these bikers really just taken over her kitchen? Because she wasn’t okay with that or with the fact that they were in her kitchen at all.
“Okay, boys, let’s get on the road before Tessa gets here—shit. Hi, duchess,” Buck said, pushing the door from the living room to the kitchen open and stepping inside.
“Don’t you hi duchess me! What the hell are all of you doing in my house?” Tessa growled as she took two threatening steps towards Buck.
“Fuck, she’s gonna beat his ass, isn’t she?” one of the buffoons at her new table asked.
“Most likely. Shit, my old lady gets that tone and it’s never good. Let go wait by the truck,” another one said. Tessa heard the scuffing of chairs and the men piled out through the door Buck had entered. She didn’t care because them leaving suited her just fine.
“Just calm down. Coot didn’t need this table so me and the boys brought it over,” Buck said, indicating the heavy wooden table that looked as new as the fridge he’d delivered a week ago did.
“I am not going to calm down! You broke into my house again and with a bunch of strangers this time, Buck. You have to know after our conversation that I wouldn’t react well to this.” Tessa could hear the shrewish sound of her voice but didn’t care.
Owned (Grave Diggers MC Book 1) Page 14