by A. E. Fisher
I nodded my head, somehow sated by his answer.
Wolf lifted his free arm, reached over to where the whiskey sat on the bedside table, and pulled it toward him. He unscrewed the lid, the cap spinning off with expert ease and enough speed to fall from his grip, dropping to the floor and rolling across the wood. I listened to it disappear to a place where we wouldn’t be able to find it. My eyes were mesmerized as he brought the bottle to his lips, his eyes on my face as he tipped it upward, a mouthful of whiskey swallowed before he pulled the bottle away.
I watched as his tongue slowly collected the moisture left on his lips before it disappeared back inside his mouth.
Without a word, he tilted the bottle toward me.
My hand reached out, my fingers brushing Wolf’s as I brought the bottle to my face. The sharp smell of the whiskey made my heart race as I pressed it to my lips, the glass still warm from Wolf’s touch. He wordlessly watched as I tilted my head back and let the warm liquid rush down my throat, the burn hitting the bottom of my stomach before pooling and spreading across the rest of my body. I didn’t put the bottle down until I needed to surface to breathe, the alcohol hitting my senses hard.
Wolf took the bottle from my hands and set it back on the bedside table.
My face felt warm and my body limp as I let it lean forward, my head fitting in the gap where Wolf’s neck met his shoulder. I sat there for a long time, matching my breathing to his own, feeling the warm alcohol slowly take its desired effect as my drowsiness began to grow.
At some point, Wolf rolled us both back onto our side, tucking me into the warmth of his chest, his chin resting on the top of my head.
“Wolf?” I whispered.
“Yeah?” he grumbled, his own tiredness clear in his voice.
“How do you do it?”
Wolf was quiet for a moment, and had I not been on the verge of falling asleep, I might have thought my question was too vague for someone to understand. But somehow, Wolf knew exactly what I meant, and with a worn, tired voice, he said to me, “You pick your battles. Fight what you can today, and what you can’t, know that you can fight it tomorrow or the next day. Don’t be impatient. Every fight can be won. And you will win one day. Make sure when your time comes, you die a champion. Make sure you never let it break you.”
Every word was so perfectly repeated that I knew they were ones that had been told to him a long time before. And now it was his turn to tell them to me.
I pressed my face deeper into his neck, and in the night, my voice was soft and quiet when I whispered, “Thank you.”
Then I fell into a peaceful sleep and didn’t stir again until morning.
Chapter Seven
Wolf
Rustling woke me from my sleep as I tightened my arms around the empty space in front of me. I groaned, realizing my grip must have slipped when I finally fell asleep last night.
Anna had slept through the rest of the night. It had taken her almost an hour to fall asleep when we’d first gone to bed, and it had taken nearly all my might not to move as her hands traced each one of my tattoos. Her touch was timid and even soft as she delicately smoothed over my knuckles and fingers one by one. It was one of the rare times I’d ever seen her so gentle and quiet, and it surprised the fuck out of me.
I was just glad she didn’t notice my erection growing under my boxer shorts. If expecting Anna to go straight to sleep was a mistake, then putting my nose in the crook of her neck so all I could do was smell her was a colossal fuckup.
And then, when she woke up after her nightmare...
The moment between us was deeper than I’d felt with anyone in such a long time. And when she touched the back of my neck, the black paw print, I could barely hold on to myself. I wanted to shut her down like I did whenever anybody mentioned my past, but I didn’t. Anna was so vulnerable that I couldn’t bear to shut her out; so instead, I opened my soul to her. And once I opened myself and saw Anna open herself in return, accepting what I had done—which I hadn’t for almost twenty years—felt easy. It had felt right. Anna had felt right.
Overall, I woke up with my emotions raw and my defenses violated and in desperate need of a tobacco fix.
I reached my hand out for my cigarettes and nearly groaned when I remembered I’d put them on the other bedside table. I let out an annoyed growl before flipping over onto my other side and—
“What the fuck?” spluttered from my mouth as my eyes moved to the round, beautiful ass pointed high in the air, only a single pair of black lace panties sliding between each cheek.
Anna leaped up at the sound of my voice, her clothes in her hands pinned to her chest as her eyes whirled to meet mine. I didn’t think it could get worse, but as my eyes rose and saw that she was also only wearing a deep red, lace bra that peaked out just behind her clutched clothes, I knew that I was wrong.
“Don’t scare me like that!” she snapped. Her eyes looked down at her bags before looking back to where I lay in the bed and then down at the clothes pinned in front of her chest.
“I could say the same thing,” I ground out, my eyes sinking back down across her body. I could feel my mouth watering at the sight of her deep, sultry curves. Where you could see the ribs of the girls in the club, Anna’s body was covered in soft, cushioned skin that smoothed over her bone structure. Her broad shoulders and heavy rack balanced with her wide hips, both covered in a soft, almost innocent pale-pink skin tone. She didn’t have a thigh gap, and the way her legs pressed together only made me want to sink my teeth into them. I could imagine my marks all over her skin, and the image near made me explode then and there.
Fuck, it was too early for this.
It must have been written all over my face because, as my eyes rose back to hers, I saw Anna take an unconscious step back. “I’m going to get a shower,” she snapped, taking her clothes over to the door.
When I quickly rose out of bed, Anna stopped in her tracks, her eyes going down to the bulging erection in my boxers. I didn’t even say anything before a husky but firm “No” came out of Anna’s lips.
Whatever moment we shared last night obviously became invalid now, because Anna was back to normal, which meant I needed to prepare myself to get burned. I’d always been the type who liked to play with fire.
“That word isn’t allowed in this room,” I growled, my feet prowling across the wooden floor, my eyes locked onto hers.
“I don’t care about your rules, Wolf,” Anna scoffed, bundling her clothes under her arm as she set one hand on her hips, jutting her waist to the side. “And the only reason I’m in this room is because you won’t let me sleep in someone else’s room.”
“You’re free to go sleep in another room,” I said and watched her eyes widen with surprise. “But if you do, they die.”
“What?” Anna snapped. “Don’t be fucking ridiculous. You can’t kill one of the brothers for letting me sleep in their room.”
“I can,” I promised, taking a step toward her. “And I will.”
Anna took a step toward the bathroom as her eyes searched my face. Judging by the deep scowl, I knew she could tell I wasn’t joking. Even so, I saw her eyes flicker to the door with longing.
“Try it,” I dared.
She whirled her head back on me with a vicious scowl. “Fuck you,” she snapped, picking up her feet and barging past me and into the bathroom. I let her go, watching her ass move in those tiny little panties while forcing myself not to move before I went and tore them apart.
“Fucking perv,” she hissed, punctuating it with a slam of the door.
Chapter Eight
Anna
“Auntie Anna,” Adair called, tugging at my shirt and pulling me from my daze. My mind had been going over last night again and again as I looked into the empty screen of my phone. I turned the phone off, tucking it in my back pocket as I looked down at the young boy.
His blond curls and bright green eyes were the spitting images of his father’s. I felt my heart pang just a
little as I reached up and helped him climb onto my lap. Noble had been a brother in the club, one who’d filled his life with women, sex, and bikes and did it smiling all the way. He’d been a carefree bastard, and I’d liked that about him. His only problem being the nonstop flirting.
“Mia and Chloe asked me to choose between them,” Adair announced to me. “But I don’t know who to choose.”
Yep, that trait had been passed on to his son, too.
I forced myself not to burst out laughing at the kid’s deeply concerned frown, obviously feeling that it was a very serious issue to him. Adair had only just turned four years old, and the girls he had to choose between were six and eight. Chloe and Mia were Ripper’s two daughters, and they’d both been smitten with him ever since he joined the gang a year ago.
“Don’t even think about it,” Hunter interrupted as he dropped down beside me, his wife, Mallory, squeezing in next to him. “I’m fed up with Ripper being up my ass about you flirting with his girls.”
“It’s not my fault, Uncle Hummer!” Adair whined, giving him his best puppy dog eyes. A new skill he’d mastered thanks to Jax’s helpful tutoring.
I flashed a look up to Mallory, whose eyes softened on her little boy. She didn’t get in between them, though, choosing to just watch from the side as Adair continued to defend himself against his uncle. Hunter had been Noble’s brother, and once he’d learned about Adair being Noble’s son, he had literally dragged Mallory back home to Fellpeak so he could raise his nephew; and after a long year, the two finally got married.
Adair climbed off my lap, upset after losing an argument with his uncle, and headed back over to where the two girls were.
“That’s new,” I said, watching his little feet stomp on the floor as he weaved through the brothers that were crowded in the small confines of the compound. Many stopped to talk to him, now referring to the boy as “Prince” for his kind but flirtatious ways similar to his father’s, but Adair ignored them in his escape.
“Kid doesn’t like doing what he’s told.” Hunter sighed. “It’s a genetic flaw.”
Mallory slapped his chest, giving him a mock scowl. “He just really likes Mia and Chloe equally.”
Both Hunter and I scoffed at that one. The kid was such a flirt. He just loved the attention.
I looked down at my phone screen, realizing I had brought it out into my lap after Adair left. “No new messages” blinked up at me.
I sighed and turned the screen off, flipping it over on my lap.
“Expecting a call?” Hunter asked curiously, looking over my shoulder at my phone.
“I’ve already learned not to,” I grumbled, scowling at the phone once more, ignoring both Hunter and Mallory’s curious looks, both waiting for me to elaborate further. I didn’t.
The two just nodded and accepted my answer, leaving me to stew for a few more moments before the pest made his appearance.
I watched as Jax released one of the girls from under his heavily tattooed arm with a wet kiss before he swaggered over to our corner. His dark eyes searched around the room as he dropped himself down on the coffee table in front of us. Not finding what he was looking for, he turned back to me and, with a sly grin, said, “Hiding from Wolf, huh?”
“No,” I denied, but obviously Jax didn’t believe me. Just as he opened his mouth to argue with me, the man in question stormed into the room. His footsteps were heavy as he marched along the dark oak floors. Eyes turned his way and watched as their president moved through the crowd.
He didn’t stop to talk, pushing his way through until he found himself by the bar. Lamb stopped what he was doing to meet Wolf’s eyes. Their lips began moving, and although everyone else had gone back to their own business, I couldn’t take my eyes away from the huge Russian, watching carefully as his frown deepened the longer his conversation with Lamb lasted.
By the time it was over, Wolf’s face was contorted into a deep scowl. Lamb put a beer on the side of the bar, and Wolf picked it up as he moved toward the back door, opening it up and stepping out into the back garden before shutting it behind him.
I didn’t wait as my legs had already lifted me from the couch, ignoring Jax’s jibes as I made a beeline for the same door. I slid it open, letting the warm afternoon air hit my skin as I stepped out onto the concrete. The large yard, fenced off by a chained fence on three sides, the other leading round to the car lot, was in the process of turning from green to yellow with the change of the seasons.
I stepped onto the concrete path around the side of the building and, seeing no Wolf in sight, followed it around the back of the building. Sure enough, hidden in the shadow of the compound, stood a lone man with a cigarette in his mouth.
Wolf kept the cigarette between his lips, his other arm crossed over his chest as he looked up into the sky, puffing a breath of smoke into the breeze.
Noise was absent behind the building crammed top to bottom with big, burly bikers inside the soundproofed walls. Despite being on the edge of town, the club was still close enough to houses that they worried about noise complaints, and so sound-proofing had been the solution to stop the sheriff coming to the property to arrest them for something whenever he could.
As I approached, Wolf turned to look at me. His eyes scanned me from the tips of my boots to my tight blue skirt and red shirt. It covered my chest this time, since I didn’t have the chance to actually choose my clothing when Wolf woke up this morning and ate me alive with his eyes. Then he pissed me off, so I had made it to the bathroom before I realized the clothes I had grabbed.
I wasn’t a vain person, however, and didn’t really mind the clothes.
It didn’t stop Wolf, though, as his eyes lingered an extra second on where my curves were most pronounced before turning and staring back into the distance.
His shoulders slumped further with every step I took until he was lounging against the wall, lessening the distance between our faces by a few inches. He was still taller than me by a long shot, but at least this way when I stood in front of him, I didn’t have to crane my neck to look up at him.
His eyes were trained on me as I blocked his view, but aside from that, he didn’t move. I stood and watched him take one deep, long breath of his cigarette, blowing the smoke out one side of his mouth so it didn’t touch me.
I waited for him to explain what his heated conversation with Lamb was about, but after another minute passed and he didn’t say anything, I gave up.
I stepped forward, positioning myself between his outstretched legs. He didn’t move as I reached up and gently plucked the cigarette from his lips. I put it between mine, taking a long drag, the familiar feeling of nicotine spreading through my lungs. I held it for a moment longer than I should before blowing the smoke in the breeze.
I saw Wolf’s eyes darken and his arms tighten around his torso at the view I was giving him.
“Heard any news yet?” I asked, veering away from the growing heat in his eyes.
“No,” Wolf grunted.
“Jeez,” I sighed, taking another drag of the cigarette. “You’re so grumpy.”
He cocked an eyebrow at me, whether in annoyance or amusement, I couldn’t tell. I swore his face was made for the sole purpose of frowning at me.
He finally unwound a single arm from his chest but didn’t move from the wall where I still stood between his legs. His arm reached out, snatching, without the gentleness I had given him, the cigarette from my fingers. “Don’t touch my cigarettes,” he said, lifting it up to his thin lips, purposely letting them touch the faint red mark my lipstick had left around it. He took in a deep breath before letting the smoke blow out of his lungs.
I scoffed. Reaching up and snatching the cigarette right back from him, I wrapped my lips around it and pulled in a deep breath. I held it tighter in my mouth, making sure I left a darker mark as I filled my lungs with smoke. When I finally pulled it from my lips, I pushed onto my tiptoes to blow the smoke into his face. “Fuck your rules.”
&nb
sp; Wolf’s chest stretched as the smoke was sucked into his lungs, his eyes never leaving mine as he allowed it to swirl in his chest before the smoke came back out of his lips on a deep, rough growl. I watched, unable to look away as each cubic meter rolled from his body, mesmerized by the dirty and hot feeling it left burning in my chest.
His eyes narrowed on me as I took a small step forward. Lower against the wall, his face was closer to mine, and I let my blue eyes clearly drop down to his lips then back up to his eyes. He didn’t move, but it was like I could hear the rippling of his muscles beneath his gray shirt as I leaned my chest forward, allowing it to press against the arm still wrapped around his chest. His other arm was clenched into a tight fist by his side, as if forcing himself not to reach for me.
I knew I was baiting him, knew I was practically begging him to make a move. But I also knew he wouldn’t. As much as I knew I was the one who always ran away, Wolf never chased. When he had his lips on my neck, he had hesitated, which had given me the opportunity to get away. Whatever moment we shared, whatever chemistry, none of it could break the stalemate between us.
The thought forced a pathetic laugh from my lips as I shook my head. I looked up, watching him frown as I took a step back. “This is stupid,” I said. “I’m going ba—”
I didn’t get a chance as hands came around my waist, dragging me back. I met a face full of his chest, but as I turned to snap, my words were stopped.
I was tangled with the taste of whiskey, smoke, and most of all, Wolf, as his hands latched to my sides, pulling me with almost impossible strength into his hard body. His tongue wrapped around mine, forcing it out to play as he growled against my lips.
I tried to fight, but I found my strength slipping as his hand reached up and tangled in my hair. He pulled, forcing my head back and giving him more access. His kiss was hot and demanding, and I found my body softening into his as he dragged the fire I kept buried deep out into the open. I moaned against his lips despite myself, and his hand tightened in response.