He looked deeply into her eyes and Rosalind felt like something clicked into place inside her because Toby was telling her that he wanted their relationship to be more than just friendship. It was something she’d been dreaming about since she’d realized she was crushing on him over two years ago when she’d finally discovered boys. All the other girls were dating and talking about boys and she’d realized that she felt that way about Toby, only she had thought he would never see her as more than a child.
“Toby––I don’t know what to say. Are you saying that you want to date?” she asked, trying to make sure that she wasn’t misunderstanding what he was telling her because once she let her heart believe that he wanted to be her boyfriend, she would be crushed if she was wrong.
“No,” he said and she felt the softly uttered word like a blow. She shut her eyes again feeling the sting of tears, aching so hard that she didn’t know what to do because when she hurt like this Toby was the one she went to. Now that he was the reason for the pain, what was she supposed to do?
“I’m saying that I want to marry you, Rozzy,” Toby whispered as his lips slid across her forehead gently. Those words made her eyes pop open in surprise but his next words astonished her. “I love you, Roz. It’s why I nearly went insane last year when you showed interest in Tommy Harris. I beat the crap out of him, you know. Told him to leave you alone or I’d kill him. I’d had a bit too much to drink and well, he was talking about asking you out and I lost it. I couldn’t allow him to take you from me.” Rosalind stared up at him wondering how she hadn’t known that was the reason he’d always hated Tommy. She had always suspected their rivalry was about a girl but she had never in a million years thought it was because of her.
“Toby, I wasn’t really interested in him like that,” Rosalind said.
“I didn’t know that. I was crazy because I wanted you for myself and he was talking about dating you. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to handle it, so I made sure he never asked.” Toby looked sheepish as he leaned forward to kiss her lips again. This time his tongue teased her lips.
She couldn’t believe what was happening. She’d wanted him to feel this way about her but she’d never thought it would actually happen. She gazed up at him, her eyes wide, watching him grin lopsidedly at her when he pulled back.
“Um––what does this mean?”
“Rozzy, it means we’re going steady. You’re my girl and I’m your man. Well, that’s what it means if that’s what you want it to mean,” he told her while looking into her eyes intently, his face twisted into a worried expression.
“I do! I love you too. I just never thought it would happen. I thought we were just friends.” Rosalind still couldn’t seem to grasp that this was really happening and she wondered for a moment if she was still asleep. She pinched her arm hard, letting out a yelp when it hurt her, earning a loud chuckle from Toby who grinned wildly before leaning in closer, his lips brushing hers again before pulling back to smile down at her.
“No, babe, you’re not dreaming and you’ve been more than just a friend to me for a long time. I’ve just been waiting for you to be ready for our relationship to change.” His lips moved towards hers until there was barely a breath between their lips before saying in a husky, rueful voice, “I was beginning to think it wouldn’t ever happen and that I was going to have to make a move if I wanted to be more than just your friend because you were taking too damned long.”
Toby’s lips took hers in a gentle kiss that stole her breath and Rosalind knew that after this she would always belong to him.
Chapter 2
Present Day
Roz could feel someone’s hand holding hers and she could hear voices speaking but she couldn’t force her eyes open no matter how hard she tried. Pain throbbed in her head for a long time and then something cold and soothing was injected into her veins and suddenly the pain was gone. It didn’t help her escape the almost dream-like state she was in where she was floating as she listened to them talking, their voices fading in and out as she seemed to fall in and out of a deep sleep.
The memories that were swirling around inside her wouldn’t let her go. She could hear Toby speaking to someone he called Lance as she faded from one memory to the next, listening when she could for his voice because she was desperate to hear it.
She wanted to tell him that she’d looked for him for over three years and that she hadn’t meant to leave him but she couldn’t seem to find a way out of the maze of memories that assaulted her. She would rise above the tide thinking she was going to wake only to feel her mind slipping back in time once again.
Spring 2131
Roz moaned. Toby’s hand covered her breast making her heart pound. Her lips tingled from where his teeth tugged at her bottom lip as he moved down kissing her neck. Her body was liquid with desire. Her blood fired with a need so strong that she almost couldn’t bear it. Toby pulled back, sitting up in the seat next to her, his hand caressing her face and his breathing heavy.
Roz sighed in frustration.
Toby hadn’t allowed their relationship to get past the heavy petting stage despite having been together for over two years. She was ready for their relationship to move to the next level only it hadn’t.
She knew that he’d had sex before with other girls. Not since they’d started dating, but before they’d become a couple she knew that he’d been with other women. She was beginning to think he didn’t want to take this further with her. Had his feelings for her changed since he’d told her that he wanted to marry her two years ago when they became more than just friends? Was he now regretting it? Was that really why he was planning to leave Cartersville instead of wanting to find a better life for the two of them? Sitting up, she leaned towards him trying to get him to kiss her again and perhaps take this further because they were running out of time.
He kissed her back when she took his lips with hers. His hand slid around her side under her shirt, his thumb rubbing across her nipple. Toby let out a loud groan freeing his mouth from hers. “Roz, babe, we need to stop. I only have so much control and tonight I’m at my limit.”
“So don’t stop, Toby,” Roz told him, trying to kiss him again.
He pulled his hand from beneath her shirt and held her off grinning. “Sweetheart, you’re not ready for that yet.”
Sitting back on the other side of the truck with a huffy sigh, she crossed her arms over her chest frowning at him. “I think I can decide that for myself, Toby. I’m eighteen and the ‘you’re not ready’ bullshit you’ve been spilling for the last two years is getting old.”
Toby sighed, looking slightly grim as he watched her carefully as if he were waiting for her to explode. Roz thought it was likely his grim look was because she was starting a fight he wasn’t ready to have. Maybe she was wrong about how he felt about her. He didn’t seem to have an issue making love with other girls so maybe it was that he just didn’t want her? That thought made a sharp ache spear her chest as she felt tears threaten.
“I know how old you are, Rozzy. I just don’t want to rush into this. We have our whole lives to take this step and rushing it isn’t a good idea,” Toby told her, still watching her with his green eyes slightly illuminated by the light inside the cab of the truck, his face shadowed in the dim interior.
“Do we have our whole lives, Toby? Or are you just not interested in making love to me? You didn’t seem to have an issue screwing Maribel or Casey,” Roz snapped, her eyes flashing at him in the darkness. She watched his face become a scowl and Roz wanted to take back what she’d said. She had so little time left before he left her for who knew how long and she didn’t want to spend that time fighting.
“Damn it, Roz,” Toby growled, leaning his head back into the head rest looking tired, frustrated, and maybe a little hurt by her accusation. “It’s different between me and you and you know that since we got together two years ago I haven’t touch anyone but you.”
“Yeah, it’s different because you don’t want
me,” Roz petulantly responded.
“That’s not true and you should know that. I love you. It’s just that sex is a big step and you aren’t ready. You’re only eighteen,” Toby cried sitting up, his brow furrowed.
“Well I just don’t understand what the issue is. You were having sex at eighteen. I’m ready! Besides, you’re about to leave in three weeks to go out and make a better life for us. What if you get out there and find someone else?” Roz voiced her true fear because the thought of never seeing him again was breaking her heart. She loved him more than anything. He had been her rock for more years than he knew and she didn’t want to lose him.
Actually she couldn’t bear to lose him.
Reaching out, he cupped her cheek, his eyes softening as he leaned forward brushing her lips with his in a tender caress. “Rozzy, that’s never going to happen. I love you more than you will ever know. You’re it for me, baby. I know me leaving is hard on you and if I thought I could avoid it I would, but working in the metal plant for the rest of my life isn’t going to allow us to live comfortably. I want you to have the things you need and want without having to worry. If I can get into one of the better MC gangs then I will be able to provide a better life for us. And you’ll be safer.” Toby rubbed across her cheek, his eyes holding hers as he spoke.
Roz felt her heart twist inside her because she knew he loved her and yet she always questioned it. She didn’t know how he could love her. She was nothing special. She had ordinary wheat-colored hair, medium-sized breasts, and skinny coltish legs that weren’t really sexy.
“I don’t need a better life, Toby. I just need you,” she desperately told him, her heart squeezing because it was the truth. She didn’t want him to leave her.
“Awe, babe, you have to understand that I can’t allow you to settle for that. You deserve better than having to slave over at the drycleaners every week. When we have children I don’t want you to be like your mom. She’s worked so hard to take care of the two of you for the past five years. I helped as much as I could, but you know it wasn’t enough with the medical bills that piled up.” Toby kissed her forehead, pulling her in to rest on his shoulder and holding her close.
She knew that he was right but she didn’t want to think of him leaving, even if it was for only a year. He was sure that he could get into one of the clubs and come back for her by then. Roz was afraid that he would get out there and discover that she wasn’t what he wanted after all and never come back.
“Rozzy, I’m not going to forget you. You’re mine and I intend to keep you. By now you should know that.” Toby sounded weary. His arms tightened around her. “If I’m not back in a year, you’d damn well better wait on me. I won’t be happy if I come back and you aren’t here waiting on me.”
“Huh, maybe I won’t. I might hook up with some other man while you’re gone, have you thought of that?” Roz told him, a slight smile curling her lips because the very idea was laughable. She loved him and the idea that she wouldn’t wait on him was ridiculous.
Toby sat up, twisting so that she was being crowded back into the seat, his mouth mere millimeters from hers. His hands gripped her arms hard and she felt his fingers digging into her skin. Not painfully but in a grip that was unbreakable.
“I don’t think so, babe. You’d better wait on me or I will not be nice. You’ve never seen me really pissed but if I come back here and you’re with another man, I just might kill him.”
“You wouldn’t kill him, Toby, don’t be overly dramatic. You’d just beat the hell out of him.” Roz rolled her eyes as she was pressed back into the seat. She knew Toby and he wasn’t a killer. Toby pressed his nose against hers, his eyes dark with an emotion she had never seen before, his expression serious.
“Rozzy, I come back here to find you with another man and I will kill him. I couldn’t handle it. I just couldn’t. I love you too much.” Toby’s lips took hers then in a punishing kiss that stung her lips and made her desire burn hotter than it ever had before. She let out a little moan that was crushed against his lips as his mouth devoured hers for another long moment before he pulled back from her with a light nip of her lower lip that left it a little swollen.
“Toby, make love to me, please. Don’t leave me with nothing to hold onto,” Roz begged after a long moment of staring into his darkly seductive eyes.
“Rozzy,” Toby whispered, again taking her lips. This kiss was gentle, almost reverent and seemed to go on forever. When he finally pulled back from her he whispered softly, “Call your mother and tell her you’re staying at my place tonight.”
“Really?” Roz asked. She knew that him allowing her to stay with him tonight meant that he was finally going to make her his because he hadn’t allowed it since last year when things had gotten a little too heated in his apartment.
“Yeah, I can’t have you deciding to run off with some other man while I’m away because I didn’t show you that you belong to me, now can I?” he asked, a slight smile on his face.
Chapter 3
Present Day
Iron sat beside the bed, his gaze steady on the woman lying there.
His mind raced with unanswered questions, the least of which was how was she still alive. Since the moment when she had literally fallen into his arms from the truck, he’d been asking himself that over and over again.
Why had she faked her death? Was it to get away from him? Was that why she’d done it? How long had she been with the Headhunters? Had she been with them for the last fourteen years, he wondered, his head pounding with rage at the thought.
The notions running around in his head were dark and he couldn’t seem to forget the pain he’d felt the day he’d gone to get her and found out she was dead. It had ripped a part of his soul out and now to find that the pain he felt ripping him to shreds that day had been unnecessary made him want to fly into a rage. He should just get up and walk out of this room and forget that she was even here.
Shifting in the plastic chair that sat next to the bed that held the woman who had his mind swirling in such a slithering mass of confused thoughts, Iron wondered why he didn’t leave. Only he couldn’t seem to force himself to stand and walk away. He had never been able to walk away from her, his Rozzy. Iron watched her chest rise and fall slowly, her hand clutched in his own because he couldn’t seem to believe that she was really here.
He stared at the planes of her face seeing the small yellowing bruise above her eye where the nasty gash had been only hours before. Lance had repaired the cut leaving only that slight discoloration behind. He’d also knitted her broken ribs, checked for other injuries, and started an IV because she was slightly dehydrated.
Even though Lance told him Rosalind was going to be okay, he wouldn’t believe it until she woke. How she had this much power over him after so many years apart, he didn’t know. He just knew that until she opened her eyes he wasn’t going to be able to leave and it had little to do with the answers he wanted from her.
“Iron, she’s likely to be out for hours. You should go get something to eat,” Lance said from behind him. Iron turned, glancing at him where he hovered in the doorway, taking in the concerned look on Lance’s face. Iron knew that they were all worried about him since he’d said little since she’d fallen into his arms hours ago but he wasn’t ready to discuss Rozzy with them. He knew that they would be there when he did need to talk about it but for now he was worrying his family with his inability to share with them. They didn’t understand because they’d never seen him acting in such a way over a woman, hell, over anyone.
“I’m good, Lance.” He turned back to look at Rozzy, unable to look away from her for long. It was as if he thought she would disappear if he did turn his eyes away for longer than a second or two. He couldn’t seem to help the need despite what she had done. Maybe when he had the answers he needed from her he would feel differently about her but for the moment she was his sole focus.
“I can call you the minute she wakes. Go eat, doctor’s orders,”
Lance said firmly making Iron glance back at him.
“Lance, unless you plan on bodily removing me, I’m not going anywhere until she wakes. I won’t go easy and you would need at least two others to budge me and you would likely have to sedate me.” Iron laid out the conditions of his removal from Rozzy’s bedside. He wasn’t going anywhere, at least not before he got some answers.
“Iron, damn it, that girl isn’t going anywhere and she will likely be in no shape to handle whatever it is you have in mind when she wakes. She’s been through an ordeal and she is going to need time to recover.” Lance sounded exasperated and a bit out of sorts with him but Iron just snorted.
“Trust me, Lance, she wakes up and I’m not here and you’re going to have more than you can handle getting her to calm down. She won’t react well to being here. She hates hospitals.”
Iron glanced at Lance, seeing the surprise that crossed his face as something seemed to click for the man and he blurted out, “You know her.”
“Yeah, I know her,” Iron said, turning back to stare down at her. “At least I used to know her, likely better than I know any of you bastards.” He let out a rueful chuckle because he didn’t know her anymore and that was a painful realization. Rubbing the ache in his chest, he wondered who she was now.
“I see. Still the girl’s been through an ordeal and you being here might upset her. You should go and get something to eat. Maybe some sleep too. You’ve been here since last night and I know those chairs aren’t conducive to sleep so you didn’t get any last night. I’ll call you when she wakes.” Lance laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezing.
Melted Iron (Blue Bandits MC Book 3) Page 3