by Levine, Nina
I’ve been asked if there will be more books featuring King and Lily. I don’t plan to write them another book, but they will feature in future Storm MC books, just like all the other couples do. And I will probably continue to write free bonus scenes featuring them because there is so much more of their story in my head that I will need to get out at some point. If you love bonus scenes, make sure you join my VIP list so you can access my Alpha Vault where I store these scenes, free for all email subscribers.
Enjoy! And thank you so much for your continued support!
Nina xx
King & Lily: The Wedding
For me and all my King lovers.
Thank you for embracing my imagination.
Roses With Thorns
“A soul mate usually only comes once in your life to shake things up, show you true love, and stand up to you in ways no one else ever has. They adore you yet challenge you to your fullest potential. A soul mate relationship isn’t only peaches and cream, it’s roses with thorns.”
~ Anon
Chapter One
King
Lily would be the death of me.
The absolute fucking death.
I threw some whisky down my throat as I kicked back on one of the couches in the clubhouse and watched as she made her way around the guys, chatting and having a fucking Friday-afternoon catch-up that was cutting in on my time with her cunt.
I’d made it clear to her when she’d arrived half an hour ago that she had ten minutes tops before I wanted us out of here and on our way home. Her ex had the kids this weekend, and I planned to take advantage of every second alone with her.
“You were in a good mood earlier. What’s made you grouchy this afternoon?” Kree asked as she placed another whisky in front of me. She followed my gaze towards Lily. “Ahh. You know, she’s good for the club. The guys love her and the way she’s taken an interest in everyone and their families. Let her be.”
I drained my first glass of whisky and reached for the new drink. “I’ll let her be for the time it takes me to drink this.”
Kree sat herself down across from me. She had the look in her eye that she got when she was about to share her thoughts with me. They were usually unwanted thoughts she should just keep to herself. But Kree wasn’t a woman ever deterred by anything I had to say. “You’ve slowly been growing moodier and moodier the last couple of weeks.” She paused briefly at the arch of my brow, but only briefly. “Hear me out. You might actually like what I have to say this time.” Another pause, marked by the slight smile forming on her lips. At my nod, she continued, “There are three more weeks until your wedding and I can already see how those three weeks are going to go down. My suggestion is you bring the wedding forward. It’ll save a whole lot of issues caused by your grumpy ass. At the rate you’re going, I’m concerned you’ll fuck a lot of shit up before you get that ring on Lily’s finger.”
This wasn’t something I hadn’t thought of. Fuck, at this point, I wondered why I’d given Lily eight weeks to plan the wedding. I’d spent the past few weeks listening to her, Brynn, and Hannah go on about the finer details of it. I wasn’t interested in any of that. All I cared about was that my woman was happy and that she had my last fucking name. I wasn’t convinced Lily was happy with all the planning she was doing; from where I stood, it seemed to me that with each passing day, she was growing more stressed by all the shit she had on her mind.
I emptied my glass of whisky and stood. “Thanks for the drink,” I said to Kree before making my way to Lily.
Placing my hand to the small of her back, I cut in on her conversation with Devil. “We need to talk.”
The command in my voice captured her attention. Turning and meeting my gaze, she said, “I was just telling Devil about—”
“Now. My office.” This was said with more force. A demand I wasn’t backing down from.
Her forehead wrinkled as a frown formed on her face. She didn’t argue with me again, though. Lily had figured out fast when to go up against me in my clubhouse and when not to. We’d never had to have a conversation about it; she was good at reading me. Better than anyone. And she knew now was not the time to argue.
She led the way to my office. Silently. That silence ended when I closed the door behind us.
Facing me, annoyed, she said, “That was rude, King. I was in the middle of a conversation and you know it pisses me off when you do shit like that.”
Closing the distance between us, I wrapped one hand around her throat and backed her up against my desk. The heat that my touch always brought to her eyes hit me deep in the gut, intensifying the feelings roaring through me. I needed to be inside her and I fucking needed it now. “Been waiting all fucking day for your cunt, Lily, so I don’t give a fuck if you’re pissed off. After I’ve had you, you can take as many shots at me as you want.”
My lips crashed down onto hers, taking any further argument she had with them. A second later, my long, deeply satisfied growl filled the room as I stripped away everything between us except our need for each other.
Her hands came to my clothes, tearing them off while I ripped hers away. Dragging my mouth from hers, I spun her around, placed her hands to the desk, gripped her hips, and thrust inside.
Christ, give me strength.
I was coming out of my fucking skin, which was fucking ridiculous because I’d had Lily this morning. And two or three times every other day since I’d made her mine. This insatiable need I had for her was unlike anything I’d experienced, and it was sending me fucking crazy.
It was also causing me to grow rougher with her each day, and today was no exception. I shifted my hands, hooking one arm around her waist and one hand around her neck again. My grip was tight. I knew she’d struggle for breath, but for the fucking life of me, that only turned me on more.
“Fucking hell,” I rasped against her ear as I pounded harder into her. “It’s fucking with my head how much I need you.”
She was unable to speak, but her moan let me know how much she was into this. Lily’s love for my filthy ways increased daily. Our nights were spent with me taking more than any woman had ever allowed me to take, and her begging for every second of it. How I managed to make it through my days dealing with the club shit we had on was beyond me when she was on my mind almost every damn minute.
As my fingers dug harder into her skin, her hands came up, reaching for my head. She grabbed my hair and pulled it, letting me know she was at her limit. Usually, I’d ease up at this point, but today I was so fucking wired for her that I took a moment to give her what she asked for.
She yanked my hair again.
Rougher.
Madly.
Furiously.
I let her go and spun her to face me again. I wanted my eyes on hers while I fucked her. What I wasn’t prepared for was something Lily had never done.
She pushed me away, anger bleeding from her.
Catching her wrist, I demanded, “What the fuck was that for?”
“That was for you being an asshole this week. You’re getting moodier and bossier, and I don’t like it.”
“You knew what you were signing up for when you chose me, Lily. You can’t fucking pick and choose what you want from me.”
She snatched her wrist back. “Yeah, I did, but I’m drawing the line here. Something’s going on with you, and I wanna know what it is if I’m gonna be the one to bear the brunt of it. That’s what I signed up for. Give and take. You sharing some of your burdens. Me supporting you through shit.”
Jesus fucking Christ she was blazing with the kind of anger and passion and fight that spoke to me. Everything she’d said was right, but I wasn’t used to being called on my shit. I wouldn’t take it from anyone but her, and even then, I’d only allow it very rarely. Hell though if it didn’t spark fire and lust and the urge to bend her over this desk and force her to just accept what I wanted to give. And yet, that was the beauty of our relationship—she didn’t always give me what I wanted, b
ut she sure as fuck gave me what I needed.
“You know I won’t discuss club business,” I said, working my jaw. I might have liked her fight, but I had no intention of starting down the path of involving her in club stuff.
Her eyes still flashed with anger. “I don’t want to know your club business, King. Fuck.” She exhaled loudly, frustrated. Then, taking the step that brought us skin-to-skin again, she stabbed a finger into my chest. “I just want you to let me help you. To let me take care of you like you take care of me. I need to feel like I’m contributing to this relationship, too.”
“You are fucking contributing to this relationship.”
“What, by spreading my legs every fucking night and allowing you to pound your frustrations out on me?”
“Fucking hell, Lily, if that’s all you think you contribute to us, we need a long fucking talk about shit.”
She raised her brows, giving me a look of exasperation. “That’s what I’m telling you. We need to talk more!”
Sharing my load wasn’t something I was good at or something I needed to do. I wasn’t built that way—my father had seen to that. And I couldn’t see that changing. Not even for Lily.
When I didn’t respond straight away, she continued, “All I’m trying to say is that I love you, but you make that hard when you’re the King you’ve been this week.” She stopped for a moment before saying, “You don’t have to handle your stress on your own anymore, King.”
A text came through on my phone as she uttered her last word. It was bad fucking timing, and usually I wouldn’t even look at it, but I had club stuff going down that it could relate to, so I reached for my phone.
It was club shit and I had to take care of it now.
Either the look on my face or my body language let Lily know what was going down. She was used to me taking off to deal with things, and never had a problem with it. But today I didn’t miss the disappointment that flashed briefly in her eyes before I said, “I have to go.”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
As she bent to retrieve her clothes, I gripped her arm and pulled her close. Kissing her, I forced my tongue into her mouth, demanding she kiss me back.
Lily could never fully shut down on me. Not when a glance or a touch or a kiss had the ability to fuel her desire.
She needed me as much as I needed her.
By the time I ended the kiss, her arms were wound tightly around me, her body was pressed hard against mine, and she was moaning into my mouth.
As I exited the room a couple of minutes later, she called out, “King,” and hit me with another kiss before pushing me away and saying, “I fucking love you.”
One of her rules was to never let me leave for club business without telling me she loved me. One of her other habits was not to calm down fast from a fight if we left it unfinished.
Hell fucking help me.
Chapter Two
Lily
“Why are you stomping around this house all feral?” Adelaide asked half an hour after she’d answered my plea for company, which was approximately fifteen minutes after King had left to take care of club business. She’d met me at home with a bottle of wine and my favourite snacks. Three different kinds of cheese plus an assortment of gourmet crackers. My girl knew me well.
I slammed the cutlery drawer closed and passed her a knife for the cheese. Every cell of my body blazed with irritation and frustration. God, how I loved King, but God how the man pissed me off sometimes.
I met my best friend’s eyes. “It’s like he’s fucking built with weaponry that zeroes in on which button to push which day for maximum capability of pissing me off.”
Addy’s brows pulled in. “So what happened today?”
“Fuck,” I muttered, pulling my hair up into a messy bun. I was so worked up that even my hair was annoying me. “It’s more like what’s he done this week. He’s stressed about something and has been in a foul mood. I can deal with his moods, but this is something else.” I stopped, but only for a second. I had more shit to get off my chest. “And the way he takes care of all of us but never lets us take care of him. I’m over it.”
Addy arranged the cheese and crackers on a platter. “Well, we all know what I think of King’s moods, so I won’t go there. But that bit about being over him taking care of you, even I have to admit that’s one of his best qualities. And a far cry from how Linc used to treat you. So why the issue with it?”
Adelaide and King were still figuring each other out. She hadn’t fully come around to accepting my choice in a life partner, but she was at least trying. Usually I’d hesitate to whinge to her about my problems with him, but I was frustrated enough today to let them all out.
I threw my hands up. “Ugh. I don’t have an issue with him taking care of me. God, not at all.” Some of my frustration disappeared as I thought about how much I loved being with a man whose actions lined up with his promises. “But he needs to let me take care of him too.”
Addy nodded as she handed me a cracker with cheese she’d prepared and a glass of wine. “Here, honey, drink up while we accept the fact you’re marrying a man who will probably never give you that.”
I took the wine and drank some. More than some. A lot, because at the root of my crazy emotions was, I suspected, the feeling that she was right. King loved me. I knew that down to my bones. But that didn’t mean he was suddenly going to change his ways that were so deep in his blood that they ran through him like his blood.
The thing was, I didn’t want to change him. Not at all. I loved everything about the man, even his weapons of mass frustration. I just knew that for us to weather this storm of life, we had to figure out how to live with each other’s ways. Me blindly accepting his extreme mood swings and putting up with all of them? Nope, that was never gonna happen.
“I don’t accept that he can’t or won’t budge a little. I’ve already seen him make allowances for things that have come up between us. But, I think you’re right. It’s going to take some work and a lot of communication to get him to see how much this means to me.” I raised my glass. “I put up with Linc’s shit for a long time. I’m a strong woman. And I’m in this for life with King, so I’ll keep pushing him.”
Addy grinned as she took a sip of wine. “Oh I expect nothing less from you, honey. I just want to know if King’s ever been with a woman who has as much perseverance and backbone as you. I’m not sure he knows what’s coming.”
* * *
Adelaide left around 8:00 p.m., at which time I ran myself a bath. I took the remainder of the cheese platter in with me, along with a new meditation I’d found on Spotify, and did my best to calm myself down before King came home.
That was easier said than done.
I found it impossible to shut off the constant stream of thoughts about him. I loved King so damn much it physically hurt sometimes. I woke up needing him; I went through my days counting down the minutes until I saw him again; I lived for the nights with him once the kids were all asleep; and I went to sleep dreaming of the life we were building together.
I was consumed by King.
I’d never felt this in my life.
Ever.
And maybe that was some of the problem. Maybe I was out of my depth with knowing how to navigate the love and passion I had for him.
“How long have you been sitting in this tub thinking?”
The sound of King’s voice startled me. I’d been so lost in thought I didn’t hear him come home. I looked up, watching as he came and sat on the edge of the bath. Exhaustion lined his face.
One of the things that struck me about King was how he read people so well. In the grand scheme of life, we’d known each other for a blip of time, and yet he knew me better than anyone. He connected dots fast, and when we’d started seeing each other, he’d quickly connected my bath time with me sometimes losing my mind to the confusion that too much thinking could create. He knew that if I’d been in the bath too long, I could be a handful afterwards.
He studied me for a long moment. Contemplative. “Why?”
This was the King I needed right now. His earlier mood had shifted, giving me the man who listened and reflected on what I said. “I love you too much. I’m not sure I can see things rationally when it comes to you and how we are together. You push buttons I didn’t even know I have, and I’m confused about my reactions to some things that happen between us.” I sat forward, coming closer to him. “The only thing I know for sure is that I can’t get enough of you, and while that’s exactly how I want to feel about the man I love, I need to have boundaries surrounding my love. I’ve already had one failed marriage with no boundaries. I don’t want a second.” It hurt my heart to even consider our relationship failing, but I had to be realistic and smart this time around.
His chest rose and fell as he took a long breath, thinking about what I’d said. I knew his tells as well as I knew my own. “Boundaries aren’t something I’m good at, Lily.”
I searched his eyes, finding honesty blaring from them. King had told me he wasn’t good at relationships; I believed the opposite. I believed he’d just had to find the right person. That was true for everyone. With the wrong person, we didn’t flourish. We descended into a hell of bad arguments that had no hope of going anywhere. We suffered from doubt, indecision, and days of feeling less worthy than we were. With the right person, we grew and thrived. We felt supported and encouraged to be all we could be. Arguments led to better places, doubt was short-lived, and while our days could be hard, love took the edge off.