Melt My Heart: A Valentine's Day Collection

by Rachel Cross

  His gravelly voice soothed her soul and she nodded her agreement. That’s all she ever wanted. He needed her the same way she needed him.

  “Honey,” she said and his eyes came back up to her face.

  He moved his hips, never taking his gaze off her. She grabbed onto the bedspread and when he placed his finger over her clit, she moaned and brought her legs up to his shoulders. He leaned forward, bracing his hands on the mattress beside her head.

  The turmoil he’d created and nurtured inside of her for one long year boiled over. She wanted to remain right here for the rest of time, with Bruce inside of her and her wrapped around his body.

  The power of his strokes increased, the desperate need for release built, and she gasped. He loosened her clutch on the blanket and linked their hands together.

  “Wait for me,” he ordered.

  She nodded, but she was so close.

  He drove faster and deeper, touching parts of her that had never been touched. Her muscles clenched and spasmed, stretching and reaching.

  “That’s it,” he said. “Give it to me, sweetheart. Give me everything.”

  She gave him everything. Flailing her head, she moaned.

  Bruce leaned down, burying his face in her neck. His groan vibrated against her skin as each wave of her orgasm brought him closer. She slipped her hands out of his and wound her arms around his neck. His weight came down on her with a groan of pleasure, and she lay there breathing heavy, skin to skin, hearts racing.

  Against her ear, he whispered, “Mine.”

  Bikers were a different breed and although she grew up in the lifestyle, anything less from bossy and demanding from her man would be a disappointment. She took his overprotective stance and stubbornness for what it was—him taking care of her.

  She closed her eyes. This completeness and connection with Bruce was what she’d waited for. For three hundred and sixty-five days.

  “I like the sound of that,” she said, snuggling closer.

  “Me too. But I’m not getting something…” He kissed the side of her neck, then grinned—a sexy, knowing, full smile that curved his lips and the corners of his eyes. “Do you want to explain what Bruce-Rocked-My-World Day is all about?”

  She laughed softly and shook her head. He rolled to his side, taking her with him. She yawned in contentment. She had a year’s worth of things to tell him but right now, she wanted to enjoy having him with her.

  Chapter Three

  Kristen lay curled up on her side, sound asleep. Bruce refused to move from his position behind her, cupping her breasts and enjoying her warmth. After the second time of having sex, he couldn’t make himself wake her up, even though he lay beside her wide-awake and worried about their future.

  Pete was going to kill him.

  It was against the club rules to fuck with another member’s daughter, wife, or sister. Her dad was part of the second riders and rode beside Bruce. They trusted each other, but last year everything changed.

  Pete forbid him to have any contact with Kristen, and he’d respected his brother’s wishes. The worst thing he could’ve done was come between Kristen and her dad, and until last night, he tried his damnedest to hold to his promise.

  Whether Kristen told her dad what had happened between him last year or Pete found out on his own, he had no idea. Nevertheless, he’d paid severely for having sex with Kristen, because Pete found out and threatened to cut him out of the club. Without Bantorus MC, he was a dead man to the only life he knew and loved.

  His dick hardened. He grimaced, because there was no way his body was listening to his head. He had to fix everything before he went any farther with Kristen.

  She snuggled closer, rubbing her ass against him. He had to go claim her in front of enough members, so her dad wouldn’t find out about him taking his daughter again … and again. He removed his arm and moved away from her.

  Kristen rolled over and reached for him. He froze when her finger wrapped around his wrist. It would be easy to crawl back in bed and have one more time with her, watch her lose control, before he had to go over to the bar and rouse the few leftover members who’d crashed after the MC party. He put his knee on the mattress and let his weight sink down.

  A loud bang followed by the sound of broken wood rocked the small cabin. He jumped off the bed, reaching for his jeans and the pistol in his vest. Where the hell was his vest?

  He had a bad feeling he knew who was on the other side of that door. Last night, he hadn’t exactly been discreet about leaving right after talking with Kristen. Someone had ratted him out again. If he knew Pete, he’d probably asked one of the brothers to dog his tail over the last year to make sure he stayed away from Kristen.

  “Honey, what was that?” Kristen sat up in bed.

  “Do not fucking move.” He shoved his jeans on and spotted his vest half under the bed. He scrambled around the edge of the mattress and removed his gun. “Whatever you do, don’t open the door after I close it.”

  “Get your ass out here, Grennan,” Pete yelled from outside.

  “Is that my dad yelling for you?” Kristen stood, grabbing the blanket and wrapping it around her naked body. “What is he doing here?”

  Bruce dipped his chin and looked at her. “Take a guess.”

  “Oh.” She clutched the blanket tighter. “I’ll get dressed and go talk to him. It’ll be okay. I’m an adult, and I’ll tell him nothing happened and you didn’t break any rules.”

  Bruce shoved his pistol in the back of his jeans and approached her. Then he put his forehead to hers and said, “To him, you’re his baby girl. It’s not okay what I did. I promised him a year ago, sweetheart, that I wouldn’t touch you.”

  “Shit,” she mumbled. “I never said a word to him. It wasn’t any of his business what I do and who I do it with. I had no idea he knew or I would’ve tried to help you. I thought you stayed away because you were mad or you didn’t like what happened between us.”

  “I’m not blaming you.” He kissed her hard, picked up his vest, and slipped his arms through the holes. “Stay inside.”

  He left her in the bedroom. In the main area of the cabin, he saw the damage on the door. What the fuck?

  Daylight shone through two slices on the wood. He walked over, turned the lock, and strode outside.

  Pete stood in the parking lot with an ax in his hand. Bruce’s chest tightened. Father or not, Pete was not going to swing an ax around Kristen. That shit stopped now.

  Rain, the president of the MC, talked quietly to Kristen’s dad, but the straight set of Pete’s shoulders and the hate coming from his gaze spoke volumes. The old man was not listening to their president.

  He stepped off the porch and walked over to meet the man who wanted to kill him. “Pete.”

  “You son of a bitch.” Pete hefted the ax to his shoulder. “I warned you not to touch her.”

  There were a million things Bruce regretted. He wished he’d made more time for his folks instead of thinking they’d be around forever. He could’ve treated the bitches better when he was young and new to the club. And, he never should’ve left Kristen a year ago.

  What he didn’t regret was having sex with her or listening to his heart.

  “I’ll apologize for breaking my word to you, but I’m not sorry for being with your daughter.” He held his hands out to his sides. “You, of all people, should know how special Kristen is, and she didn’t deserve for me to walk away because I respected her old man instead of putting her first in my life and thinking about how she’d hurt afterward when I couldn’t explain what had happened.”

  Rain stepped forward. Bruce held up his hand, stopping his president from interfering with what he had to say. “Pete, think back over the last year. You think your little girl was happy? I stayed away and in the process, I hurt Kristen. I’m the one who took the smile from her face and put the attitude in her voice. You saw it and even mentioned it to me several times. I should’ve manned up and went against you back then, and I
didn’t. That’s on my back, not hers.”

  Pete shook his head. “You lied.”

  “Yeah, I did because I should’ve told you how I was feeling about her. She’s my everything. If I have to choose between Kristen and the club, I’ll pick your daughter … today, tomorrow, for life. She’s it for me, Pete. She. Is. It.”

  Bruce took a deep breath and slipped his arms out of his vest. “And I’ll lay down my colors to keep her.”

  He tossed the leather to the ground at Pete’s feet and a hush fell over the crowd that had gathered on the outskirts of the lot. Not since he’d left his parents’ house at sixteen years old had he felt this vulnerable and scared. The Bantorus MC took him in and let him hang around until he was twenty-one and could prospect. Pete gave him a job sweeping the garage, gave him dinner every night, and made sure he went straight to the bar to check in with Rain every night before crashing in one of the cabins.

  To lose his colors just because he loved Kristen killed him. Pete was more than a brother; he was family. The old man had guided and took him under his wing, taught him about the road, how to do maintenance on his bike, club loyalty, and most of all how to live to code. More than anything, he hated to see the disappointment on Pete’s face.

  “No! Don’t,” Kristen cried from behind him. “Please, put your vest on.”

  He turned and watched her walk off the porch wearing nothing but the shirt he’d left in the cabin in his hurry to settle things over with her dad. He moved toward her and blocked her from going closer to her dad.

  “Sweetheart, go back in the cabin. I’ll handle your dad and his decision,” he said. “Let him do what’s right, in his own way, or you’ll never be able to live with yourself if you cut him out of your life.”

  She shook her head. “It’s my dad.”

  She stepped around him and faced her father. The hurt coming from Pete stabbed him in the gut, because the person who’d be scarred the most over their actions was Kristen. He pulled in a breath and moved in beside his woman. She slipped her finger into his hand and he held on tight, supporting her in the only way he knew how.

  “You went behind my back, secretly, knowing the consequences for Bruce and putting his life on the line,” Pete growled. “He’s a fucking Bantorus member, and off limits to you.”

  “It’s my decision, daddy. Don’t hold that against Bruce. He’s Bantorus, but he should be allowed to care about whoever he chooses.” Kristen glanced up at Bruce before turning her attention back to her dad. “You want to be mad, then be mad at me, but do not ask Bruce to strip off his colors, because you know taking his badges will kill him. You raised me within Bantorus, and making him choose between his family and me is wrong. So wrong it hurts me.”

  “He went behind my back,” her father spit out.

  The soft gasp from Kristen was the last straw. He let go of her hand and stepped between father and daughter. “Pete, I asked Kristen to be my woman last night before anything more happened, and I did that out of respect for you. I love her, man. I could promise you I’d wait until you wrap your head around that fact as the truth, but we both know I’d never hold up my part of the deal. I’m telling you to your face right now, we’ll be together whether that’s here with Bantorus or away from the club. Your choice.”

  Pete’s narrowed glare pinned him to the spot. Several seconds ticked by, and Bruce wanted to promise him he’d stay away from Kristen, but he knew deep in his heart and in his head, he’d fail. Kristen slid in beside him, and he put his arm around her shoulders and he curled her to his side. Her hand went to his stomach, and together they waited for the verdict.

  Finally, Pete dropped the ax at his feet, turned, and walked off without uttering a word. Bruce lifted his chin and watched his Bantorus brother, his boss, his riding partner, and his woman’s father, mount his Harley and ride away. Kristen sniffled, and he held her to his chest. Over her head, his gaze landed on Rain.

  “You got a problem with us being together, speak up now,” he said.

  “You’re off schedule at the garage until Pete puts you back on.” Rain gazed around at the crowd and looked back at Bruce. “Looks official to me. I’d use this time to take your woman on a ride and let the air clear.”

  He nodded. When the others walked away, Bruce let out his breath. “It’ll be okay, sweetheart. Give your dad time.”

  She rubbed her cheek against his bare chest and he watched her throat work before she spoke. “You love me?”

  “Been loving you for a year.” His hand slid along her back, under her hair, and held her in place. “Not another day is going to go by without you in my bed and at my side.”

  Then he swooped her up in his arms and marched her back to the cabin to prove he was good on his word.

  Chapter Four

  After another night-and-half-a-day of marathon sex, trying to see who could wear the other person out the fastest, they finally emerged to get food from the bar. They ate while surrounded by questioning glances from the Bantorus members, whom she assumed knew the whole story. Kristen glanced at Bruce standing in front of his Harley and crossed her arms. Physically, she was sated and riding a sexual high. Mentally, she was ready to fight.

  “You’re wearing it, or you’re not getting on the back of my bike.” He held the new half helmet he’d purchased when he ran out to buy a box of condoms earlier in the day.

  She shook her head. “I’ve rode on the back of dad’s Harley since I could walk without wearing a brain bucket. I’m not doing it.”

  “Tori, Crystal, Taylor, and even Pauline wear one when they ride bitch,” he said.

  She shrugged. “So. I’ve never worn one, and I’m not going to start because you’ve made up some stupid rule. I don’t want a relationship where you push me around and can tell me what to do. I had enough of that with my dad.”

  He refused to respond to her insult.

  She pushed him more.

  “You wear it if you’re so excited over buying me a gift.” She raised her brows. “I rather have the condoms you purchased for my Valentine’s Day present.”

  “I don’t do V-day, sweetheart.” His lips twitched. “You’ll get the condoms as soon as you put on the helmet, and I take you for your official first ride as my woman.”

  Okay, she loved that part of his argument. She’d dreamed of the day of riding off on the back of her man’s motorcycle. She softened. “What if I told you I’m on birth control and have never had unprotected sex?”

  “Then we’ll throw out the box, because I can say the same.” He moved in fast and used his arm to pull her flat against the front of him. “What if I told you I want you to wear the helmet because the thought of anything happening to you kills me? This isn’t about you, sweetheart. It’s me. I need to protect you, and I can’t do that when you’re too stubborn to do what I ask. I’ll do anything to make sure you remain in my life, and that includes keeping you safe when we ride.”

  Okay, he won. She snatched the helmet out of his hand. “Fine. I’ll wear it. But, you wear yours, because I know you have one in your saddlebag. If you’re saving my life, someone’s gotta look after you, and it looks like that’s me.”

  “Deal.” He helped her latch the D ring under her chin, and then he kissed her nose. “That’s hot, sweetheart. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.”

  She laughed and rolled her eyes. “You’re such a liar. All it’s going to do is give me helmet hair. How hot will I be then?”

  Bruce put on his helmet, sat astride his Harley and grinned. “Hop on and when we get to where we’re going, I’ll show you.”

  Because she still wasn’t willing to let go of proving him wrong about the helmet, she climbed onto the bitch seat, and head butted the back of his neck. “Oh, did I do that? Sorry.”

  His body quivered against her in amusement. How could he make her smile when she looked stupid wearing the safety helmet on her head?

  “Jerk,” she said, on a laugh.

  She was finding out that nothin
g she did fazed him when it came to her. He’d put up with a few knots on the back of his neck, knowing he was protecting her. She loved that about him.

  Her father had been the same way with her mom before arthritis stopped her from joining him on his motorcycle. Then when her mom died at the age of fifty, when Kristen was fifteen, her dad lost his whole world. Even today, she wondered if her dad had truly succeeded at living his life without her mom. He was stuck trying to make everything perfect, as if keeping tight control in his life would help him recreate the life he once had.

  Bruce entered the road and took them onto I-5. Once he opened throttle, she laid her head against his back and closed her eyes. Besides riding behind her dad, she’d never sat on the back of any Bantorus man’s motorcycle. Rules prohibited any of the members from taking anyone but their woman or kid with them, and only on non-club time.

  The rumble from the motorcycle, the wind, and the road consumed everything. Her heart beat to the rhythm from the exhaust. The vibrations traveled through the bike seat and onto her bottom, down her legs, and comforted her.

  She stared at the tattoo on the back of Bruce’s neck. Excitement grew and she tapped his stomach with her hand. He turned his head. “What?” he yelled, over the noise.

  “I love you,” she screamed.

  His body quaked underneath her touch. She leaned her head back and laughed, letting the wind spread her happiness around.

  In her joy over her new status of being Bruce’s woman and everyone knowing about them, she’d forgotten that today was Bruce-Rocked-My-World Day. The first chance she got, she was going to prove she wasn’t the only one who could have a special day.

  Two hours later, Bruce pulled over in the Gifford Forest, atop Lookout Point, a secluded, yet breathtaking view of Mt. St. Helens lay in front of them. She climbed off the Harley and kept her hand on Bruce’s shoulder. “Wait a second.”

  She removed her helmet, shook out her hair, and swung her leg over his lap, straddling his legs to face him. His hands went to her hips and she kissed him softly.