SIN FOR YOU: ROCKTOWN INK, BOOK TWO

by Gray, Sherilee

  But this wasn’t a sudden revelation, though. I’d been coming to the same conclusion on my own over the last few months…and yeah, being with Bull had helped me see it.

  But right then, it finally all just clicked.

  Somehow, I got it together to drive to work.

  I thought Logan might try to convince me to listen to him again, but I didn’t have to worry. He didn’t. He did his work and I did mine. Probably a good thing, I was still so raw after my conversation with my dad. I felt his gaze on me, though, hot and intense.

  We didn’t talk much besides me giving him my drink orders.

  And later, when I’d finished my shift and went out to my car and started it, I sat there stunned when I realized the right front headlight that had blown the night before was going again, and the heater that kept dying was again blowing warm air.

  Bull.

  My tummy squirmed and I headed for home.

  The next night when I came out, the snow around my car had been dug away, and the day after that I woke to find he’d done the same to the path to my front door.

  This went on for the rest of the week. He was still doing things to make my life easier, little things and not-so-little things, without a word, without expecting a thank-you.

  He was still looking after me, still trying to protect me.

  I’d tried to tell myself I only wanted a sexual relationship with Bull, but I thought I might have already been half in love with him before this even started.

  I’d fallen hard for the big man; there was no denying it anymore. I couldn’t fight the truth. I didn’t want to.

  We’d only been seeing each other for such a short time, but I already knew Bull, and I loved it all. Every part. It didn’t matter that I didn’t know if I was truly ready for a relationship or that I was terrified that I couldn’t give Bull everything he deserved, that I wasn’t enough. It was too late. My heart had already made the decision. I loved Bull. I was in love with Bull.

  I just didn’t know if he truly felt that way for me in return, or if that beautiful, caring, protective part of his nature had just fooled him into believing his need to take care of me was something else, something deeper.

  I glanced across the bar. It was closing time. Bull had been talking to Dice and Dane for a while earlier. They’d looked deep in conversation, so I waited.

  They were finally finished, and Bull was at the open fireplace, stacking the firewood he’d just brought in for the next day. I watched him head out back, calling goodbye to the other bar staff as they left.

  We were finally alone. I took a steadying breath and followed him.

  The cellar door was open, the light on, so I headed down the stairs.

  “Bull?”

  “Yeah?” He was at the far side of the room.

  I walked over, and he watched me approach. I didn’t miss the way he shifted in those big boots, or the way the muscles in his arms flexed as he clenched and unclenched his fingers.

  “Hey,” I said as I reached his side.

  “Hey,” he said back.

  His chest was rising and falling rapidly and his eyes were intense, moving over me again before locking on mine.

  “Okay?” he said.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” It was a complete lie, of course. I was far from okay. “Look, I just wanted to thank you…for all the stuff you’ve been doing for me, but you don’t need to do it anymore.”

  God, I missed him. Just the thought of leaving in a week, of not seeing him every day, physically hurt so badly. I’d been on the verge of a panic attack more than once since I handed in my notice just thinking about it. That in itself should have clued me in on my real feelings for Logan, but I’d been too afraid to face them.

  I made myself say what I came to say and tried to find the courage to tell him how I felt. “You don’t need to feel obligated or responsible for me.”

  He frowned one of his Bull frowns that I loved so much, the kind that made the center of my chest warm. All versions of Bull’s frown made my chest warm.

  “You think you’re some kind of obligation to me?”

  “I know you promised Mase—”

  “Jesus, Quinn,” he said suddenly, and I could see he was shaking slightly. “I’ve tried…fuck, I’ve tried to stay away from you, to give you time and space like Cal said, like Mase said—fuck, even Dane told me to give you some space.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

  Mase? “What are you talking about?”

  “I know you think my feelings for you aren’t real, or, shit, you’re too scared to believe them, and, sweets, I know why. Your past. My past. Fuck, take your pick.”

  “Logan—”

  “But that’s not it, Quinn. That’s what got in the way of us staying together: your piece-of-shit ex making you think you’re not enough, not good enough; the guilt I felt about my family, fucking with my head. But it’s not the reason I feel the way I do about you. It’s not. I don’t have some white-knight complex, and you’re not some goddamn burden or responsibility to me, and I don’t…I don’t know how to make you fucking believe that.”

  My heart clenched and started beating faster, but Bull wasn’t finished.

  “You know, I think I fell in love with you the moment I saw you again, when you walked into the bar and demanded a job that first time. I just didn’t want to admit it to myself. I didn’t think I was good enough for you. Hell, I still don’t, if you want to know the truth.” He shook his head. “But I’m not one of those guys that hurt you, baby. I’m not. And I promise you I will never do anything to make you cry ever again. I’d rather cut off a fucking limb than make you cry.”

  God, he really was in love with me. My heart was beating so fast, I could barely catch my breath.

  “You think you’re an obligation to me? Never. You think you’re not enough…fuck, woman, you are everything. I don’t take care of you because I’m trying to make up for my past mistakes. Yeah, I’m protective of you, but not because of the things I’ve blamed myself for all these years. I look after the people I love, or fucking try to. And, sweets, you’re one of them. I love you so much I can’t fucking think straight. And I’m going to keep on loving you, even if you can’t love me back.”

  I stood there, frozen in place, stunned.

  Bull tucked my hair behind my ear. “I’ll be waiting, Quinn, hoping that one day you’ll be ready. I’ll always be waiting for you.” Then he let me go, strode across the cellar, and disappeared up the stairs before I could reply.

  Like he already knew what my reply to his declaration would be. Like he didn’t think there was a way I could possibly love him back.

  He loved me.

  How could I doubt him after what he’d just said? How could I have ever doubted him? I’d been so afraid, afraid to let him in, afraid he’d walk away like all the rest.

  That I wasn’t enough for him, that I never could be. I’d let fear hold me back.

  When I came back up, the bar was silent, empty, the lights off, the glow from the fire an orange wash over the room. I raced to Bull’s office but he wasn’t there.

  God, had he already left?

  I grabbed my keys, panic filling me to overflowing, and ran for the door to the parking lot. Shoving it open, I ran out into the snow. It was falling heavily…

  And there by my car, in his coat and hat, was Bull. He had a shovel and he was digging snow away from my tires.

  Taking care of me…still taking care of me.

  God, I loved him so much. So very much.

  He straightened and turned, like he’d sensed me standing there. There was snow stuck to his beard and eyebrows, and his eyes turned soft when they locked on me.

  He was the sweetest, loveliest, growliest, sexiest man I had ever seen.

  “Sweets, I was just—”

  I ran at him, the sound of the shovel clattering to the ground echoing around the empty parking lot a moment before I hit his chest and was lifted off my feet. His arms locked around me, one hand on my
butt, the other going to the back of my head, holding me to him as his mouth came down on mine.

  Then we were moving, heading back inside. Bull carried me into the dark empty bar and to the couch over by the fire.

  “I love you,” I said against his lips. “God, I love you, too.”

  * * *

  Bull

  Quinn lay beside me, naked and warm, pressed in tight. I was still buried deep inside her, cock pulsing after coming so hard my head was spinning.

  The crackle of the fire was the only sound besides our heavy breathing.

  I looked down at her, her eyes closed, face flushed, lips puffy and dark, black hair spread out around her head and shoulders.

  “I love you, Quinn.” I touched her beautiful face. “Look at me,” I rasped, the same words I’d said in the ranch guesthouse, needing to see it even though she’d said the words.

  Her lashes fluttered open.

  “Tell me you believe me, that you know that I’ll never hurt you. That you know I’ll never leave you alone, because the idea of being without you is…fuck, I can’t think of anything bad enough to describe it besides actually being without you. Nothing could be worse than that.”

  “Yes,” she whispered. “I believe it.” She cupped my jaw, fingers brushing over my beard.

  “You believe me?” I rasped.

  Her eyes warmed, warming me as well. “Do you know why I hounded you for a job here?”

  I shook my head. “Why?”

  “Because no one makes me feel as safe or special, because I trusted you to treat me with care in your own unique, frowny, loveable Bull way while I was at my most vulnerable. No one makes me feel the way you do. I just wanted to be near you. I always want to be near you, Logan.”

  “Fuck, baby,” I choked out.

  “I love you, too.” Her hands slid up and down my back, her legs still wrapped around my hips. “And I know with every part of me that you would never purposely hurt me. I know it.”

  I pressed my forehead against hers. “You’ll let me take care of you?” I said, voice shot to shit.

  “If you let me take care of you,” she said back.

  I was pretty sure my heart would burst right out of my chest in that moment, but somehow it didn’t. It just got a whole fuck of a lot fuller, and it felt amazing. “Deal.”

  Then my girl wrapped herself around me and pulled me down for another kiss.

  I was pretty sure in the history of kissing, nothing topped it.

  Until she kissed me again.

  Epilogue

  Quinn

  Eighteen months later

  I squeezed Cassy’s hand as Cal’s truck rolled up outside the ranch. Cal and Bull were back from seeing Dane in Black Stone. Dane hadn’t been home since he left over a year ago, and Cal and Bull wanted him back at Rocktown Ink where he belonged.

  We were all desperate to see him but hadn’t expected him to follow our guys home.

  The rumble of a Harley filled the air, the bike pulling up behind the truck. Dane kicked out the stand, swinging his leg over the seat.

  The sound of a horse whinnying had Cassy and me glancing over at the barn in time to see a flustered-looking Everly lead Aiko outside, shove her foot in the stirrup, throw her leg over the mare’s back, and take off across the field so fast she was nothing but a blur.

  Cassy had grown close with the younger woman after Dane moved, and had taken her under her wing. Thankfully Dane hadn’t seen Everly speed off because Eves wasn’t quite as ready to see her best friend as we were. Which was not surprising, and if Dane wanted her to talk to him, he had some serious work to do.

  “How will I tell him Everly works and lives here now?” Cassy said, watching her go and bouncing her nine-month-old son, Jack, on her hip.

  “It’s going to be fine.” I hoped so anyway.

  Dane took off his helmet, as the doors to the truck opened, and then all three Calero men were walking toward us. Dane looked—God—the same but also nothing like the boy he’d been before. His hair wasn’t blue anymore; it was dark and buzzed off. All the piercings were gone, and he was bigger. Not as lean. He looked harder, and it broke my heart when his dark eyes came to me and the wicked glint that had once been there was nowhere to be found.

  We’d visited him in Black Stone, of course, as often as we could, had seen where he lived, where he worked, but seeing him here, home, was a shock to the system.

  I rushed forward, with Cassy right beside me. She passed her and Cal’s son to Bull who was closest, and we engulfed Dane in the mother of all group hugs. “You’re coming home?”

  He chuckled, squeezing us both and kissing us each on the top of the head. “Yes, women, I’m coming home. You may shower me with affection and food. Lots of home cooking would be great.”

  We pulled away and Bull came up beside me, wrapping one of his arms around my waist and tucking me in against his front, Jack still in the other. Bull’s mouth came to my ear. “Thank you for being so amazing.”

  “You don’t need to thank me. I love Dane,” I said, taking Jack’s soft little hand and kissing it. He giggled.

  Bull grinned down at his little cousin then back at me. “I know, sweets, but not getting married until he had his head on straight enough to come home and be a groomsman was going above and beyond.”

  “It was my idea. Besides, it’s just a piece of paper. I know you’re not going anywhere and neither am I.” I knew it down to my soul. What Bull and I shared was like nothing else I’d experienced or could have even imagined. No one could touch it, could touch us. I never knew two people could love each other this way, could trust each other like this.

  Cassy took Jack and handed him to his uncle. Dane held him a little awkwardly at first—not surprising since they hadn’t spent a lot of time together—but he got the hang of it pretty quick, and going by the way Jack had hold of Dane’s lips and was laughing like crazy, he had a new fan.

  Cal and Cassy led Dane toward the house, and Bull pulled me to a stop when I started to follow, wrapping both arms around me. “You want to set a date?”

  “What…now?”

  “Yeah, why not?” he said, hand sliding to my ass and squeezing, right over the bull’s head and horns he’d tattooed on my right butt cheek to celebrate our engagement.

  “Okay,” I said, grinning. “I don’t need anything big or fancy, though. I don’t want a whole bunch of people either. Just our families.”

  When Bull’s eyes lost some of their joy, I curled my fingers around the side of his thick neck and gave him a little squeeze. “Do you want to invite her?” He hadn’t seen his mother in months, but the last time he had, nothing had changed. She was still as toxic as ever. One of the last times she’d called, I’d answered while Bull was in the shower and told her if she wanted money to get a damn job. Of course, she called again later and acted like it’d never happened. I despised the woman, but she was Bull’s mother. If he wanted her there, I’d suck it up.

  He shook his head. “Nah, I don’t want her ruining our day.” He pressed his forehead to mine. “I told her I wasn’t giving her another cent the last time she called, not unless she gets help with her drinking. I’m not useful anymore. I’m not sure I’ll hear from her again.”

  I hugged him tighter. “You have me, and you have everybody in that house.”

  “It’s all I need. You’re all I need, sweets. Christ, I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  I took his hand, ready to lead him inside, but Bull lifted me off my feet and threw me over his shoulder instead.

  I burst out laughing as he jogged up the stairs.

  * * *

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  About the Author

  Sherilee Gray is a kiwi girl and lives in beautiful New Zealand with her husband and their two children. When she isn't writing sexy, edgy contemporary and paranormal romance, searching for her next alpha hero on Pinterest, or fueling her voracious book
addiction, she can be found dreaming of far off places with a mug of tea in one hand and a bar of Cadburys Rocky Road chocolate in the other.

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  Also by Sherilee Gray

  Rocktown Ink:

  Beg For You

  Sin For You

  Meant For you

  Knights of Hell:

  Knight’s Redemption

  Knight’s Salvation

  Demon’s Temptation

  Lawless Kings:

  Shattered King

  Broken Rebel

  Beautiful Killer

  Ruthless Protector

  Glorious Sinner

  Merciless King

  The Smith Brothers:

  Mountain Man

  Wild Man

  Boosted Hearts:

  Swerve

  Spin

  Slide

  Axle Alley Vipers:

  Crashed

  Revved

  Wrecked

  Black Hills Pack:

  Lone Wolf’s Captive

  A Wolf’s Deception

  Stand Alone Novels:

  Breaking Him