“That was pretty spectacular.”
“What the fuck?” I breathe at the same time Hawk shouts my exact words.
Sable lets out a laugh, but seems completely unbothered. Whore. “Your appointment is here, Hawk and Trista is downstairs. She was giving me daggers, so I bounced.”
“Thanks,” I say through gritted teeth.
She gives me a grin. “The thanks are all mine. You two are hot.”
Thankfully, she doesn’t stay, and she turns and walks away from us before I can scramble down and beat the shit out of her the way that Trista did not too long ago.
Hawk’s boom of laughter interrupts my stare down of her back. Shifting my gaze back to him, I arch a brow, looking into his smiling eyes.
“You’re sexy when you’re giving someone a fuck yourself vibe, I’m just glad I’m not the recipient.”
“Do you want to be?” I snap.
He presses his lips together, his shoulders still shaking as he slips from my body and helps me to my feet. “Not really.” He chuckles.
Rolling my eyes, I lift my hand and cup his cheek.
“You okay? That was okay?” he asks, his voice raspy and low.
I hate that he’s asking. I hate that he has a reason to ask. I hate everything that happened to us that is causing both of us to be unsure about the other.
A month ago, he wouldn’t have asked me shit, he would have taken. A month ago, I wouldn’t have worried about anything other than the aching pleasure he gives me.
“I love you, Orson,” I breathe. “That was perfect. No more asking.”
He dips his chin, his gaze finding mine. “No more asking,” he says, repeating my words.
“No more, daddy.”
His lips touch mine, his tongue sliding across the seam and he bites my bottom lip before he lifts his head. His eyes search mine, never looking away and then he smirks, a shit-eating grin, the one I remember from before, the one that I fell for instantly.
“Get dressed, get your shit handled. Then you come back here, get sexy, and party a little with me before I head out.”
His words are an instruction, a demand, and it’s exactly what I need to hear. “Yes, sir,” I breathe.
He chuckles. “Fuck yeah, baby.”
It doesn’t take me long to get dressed, mainly because I’m headed to the salon where I’m going to have my hair fixed and my makeup done. Actually, both Trista and I are having a full day of beauty and I cannot wait for it.
Slipping into my romper and sandals, I pull my hair into a high messy bun and start to walk out of the room. Locking the bedroom door behind me, I think about how odd it is for us, how certain things have changed.
Neither of us wants doors locked while we’re inside of the room, though leaving them unlocked has a serious drawback, like when people like Sable can just burst inside. I supposed I have to take the good with the bad at this point.
We’ve both agreed that we will always lock them when we leave. There’s something that just plain feels safe with the doors locked, if we aren’t in the room.
Nobody can go inside and lie in wait, even though the odds of them doing that here at the clubhouse are slim, neither one of us are in a place where we feel completely safe and comfortable and I doubt we ever will be again.
Once I’m in the bar, I scan the room looking for Trista when my gaze catches Keaston standing with his back to the bar and his head turned in my direction. I’d forgotten. How could I have forgotten him?
Making my way toward him, I’m careful not to get too close. I’m okay with Hawk, but other men, I don’t know when I’ll be ready to be near them again. Keaston must sense my hesitation, because he doesn’t move an inch as I approach, in fact, he freezes.
“You okay?” he asks, his voice low and husky.
“I will be,” I admit truthfully. I am not okay right now, and I probably won’t be for a long time, but I think that I will be, eventually.
He dips his chin in a short nod. “I’m leaving, headed down to LA.”
“When?” I ask.
“Tomorrow, guys here got me in with the Beasts down there to prospect.”
“You want to be a Savage Beast?” I gasp.
He smirks. “Like it. A group of like-minded men. I feel good being here, I don’t feel so lost.”
Pressing my lips together, I nod a couple of times. “Thank you, Keaston. I don’t think that I ever truly thanked you properly, but thank you.”
He presses his lips together, his gaze searching mine. “There’s no reason for your thanks. Your man was right. I was protecting you, partially to help you, but mostly because I wanted you, but it’s me who should be thanking you,” he says.
I blink, unsure of what he’s about to say next. I bite the inside of my cheek as I wait, and I must admit that I’m a little surprised by the end of him expressing gratefulness and thanks. It is definitely not what I expect him to say, not at all.
“Without you forcing Hawk to bring me, I would have never found this club and I would have never found Sable.”
“Sable?” I ask.
He dips his chin. “Yeah, I’m taking her with me.”
I almost breathe a sigh of relief, mainly because I can’t stand the old ho, but then I press my lips together. I don’t want a nice guy like Keaston to be stuck with someone like that, not her. He deserves someone better. He’s good, genuinely he is a good person.
“You know what she is?” I ask on a whisper.
Though judging her feels really fucking shitty, mainly because I am not much different than her, not in the slightest. I want to make sure he knows exactly what he’s getting when it comes to her.
“She is a clubwhore, I get that. I know what it means, and I’m good with that. She makes me happy, that’s all I care about,” he states.
I’m unable to hold my smile back, it takes over as I look at him. He’s happy. Truly happy and in turn that makes me feel the same way. I’m just glad that I didn’t hurt his feelings, especially after all he did for me, I’m glad that he doesn’t feel as if I led him on, because that was the last thing that I ever wanted to do.
“I’m so happy for you, Keaston.”
“Thanks, babe. You good?” he asks again.
Licking my lips, I nod my head. “I’m really good,” I admit.
I am too, being with Hawk now, it’s exactly what I imagined it could be. Ignoring all of the shit that the senator put us through, pushing that aside, what we have now is what I wanted. It’s everything and it’s real.
“Good, you know I’ll see you again, yeah?” he asks.
Smiling, I give him a jerk of my chin in a nod. “Yeah, I do.”
“You’re one of a kind, Avah. A true badass bitch, babe.”
Laughing, I shake my head a couple of times as Trista appears next to me. She asks me if I’m ready and I nod my head, but before I walk away, I know that this will probably be my last time to talk to Keaston, the party tonight, then him leaving tomorrow doesn’t really give us another opportunity.
“Be happy, with her, with yourself.”
“You got that right, babe.”
Chapter Thirty-One
AVAH
Taylee sits next to me, quiet as she can possibly be, and it almost appears as if she wishes that she could disappear into the chair as the technician paints her toenails.
Our hair is done, mine taking longer than usual because my extensions were such a mess, I think that the stylist cried a little as she worked on me. Now they’re out, my hair is thinner and shorter, but it needs a good long break.
“So Sable is leaving, you’re staying, and you and my dad are being gross together. Seems like life is going to be back to normal and it’s going to be good,” Trista chats from the other side of me.
“Don’t say that,” I warn.
“Why?”
“Don’t jinx shit. Life is never good for long, something always happens,” I point out.
“Always,” Taylee whispers.
&nbs
p; “So, what’s going on with you and Worm?” Trista asks, changing the subject.
I’m glad for the topic change, because I want to know too. They seem pretty cozy. I think he likes her but I’m not getting an extremely sexy connection between them yet. Not in a burning desire kind of way, so I don’t think anything has happened between them yet. I’m super curious.
Taylee’s cheeks turn bright red and I wonder if it is more of a sexy than cozy after all. I watch as she squirms in her chair, letting out a heavy sigh before she looks down at her lap, then lifts her gaze up and shifts it to meet mine. Her eyes flick from me to Trista, then back to me again.
“I really like him,” she whispers. “He’s kind, smart, and funny, but he doesn’t feel the same way.”
I let out a bark of laughter at the same time Trista giggles behind me.
“Girl,” I hiss. “He likes you, plenty. Just watching him watch you in the clubhouse today, I saw all I needed to.”
“You didn’t see him last night,” Trista laughs. “He couldn’t keep his eyes off of her, he was eye-fucking her from across the room. I’ve never seen him like that, it was kind of cute,” she says with a big smile.
“It wasn’t cute when he was having sex with that woman,” Taylee snaps.
Pressing my lips together, I try to collect my thoughts. I’ve been that woman, maybe not with the club, but in other situations. That woman was just doing her duty, but I know Taylee doesn’t see it that way, especially when it comes to the man that she has feelings for and wants for herself.
“Sometimes it’s the way of our world,” Trista says gently. “You have to decide if you can live with someone’s past, with their current actions, then you have to talk to them to see what they want for their future.”
I almost laugh, because I know what Trista went through with Taz. He was a total fucking asshole, kept her as a secret while he did whatever the hell he wanted, and only chased after her when she finally had enough of his shit and left.
I gave her props for not running back to him the second he snapped his fingers, even if I personally think she gave up the kitty far earlier than she should have. Though, I’m not really one to talk, because I get it. Hawk looks at me funny and I’m practically whipping my panties off instantly.
“Do you think he can live with mine? With my past?” Taylee asks her, voice barely above a whisper.
Reaching out to her, I wrap my fingers around her hand and I squeeze. Thankfully the technicians have stepped away, our time here is done and all we have to do is wait for our toes to dry.
Focusing my gaze on hers, I press my lips together before I speak. “Taylee, trust me when I tell you that no other man will accept your past more than these men will. They have seen it all, been through it all, and the women that are part of their group, us, we have too.”
“Almost all of us, Taylee. Almost every woman who belongs to a Beast has been through some serious shit. And yet, they find a way to love us because of it. Or maybe it’s because we’re so strong and what happened to us hasn’t brought us to our knees, it’s made us all stronger.”
“I don’t feel strong,” she breathes.
Shaking my head, I squeeze her hand again. “You are the strongest woman I know, Taylee. I have seen what you’ve gone through, and trust me when I say, it takes a strong woman to go through what we went through and come out breathing, let alone able to function.”
“Am I functioning though?” she asks.
“You’re here with us, you’re waking up every day, and you’re attracted to a man. I would say you’re not only functioning, you are fucking succeeding.”
Her eyes fill with tears and I reach forward, wrapping my arms around her in a hug. A few minutes later, after we’ve wiped our tears, fucked up our mascara, had to have it fixed, and paid our bill, we leave the spa.
“I didn’t realize Eagar had a spa like that,” I point out as we’re walking toward Trista’s car.
“I think we’re going to have more stuff like that soon. I think this little town is going to get its shit together, or maybe we’re just going to force it to,” Trista says with a laugh.
“God, I hope so, especially if I’m going to be staying here.”
We drive toward the clubhouse, chatting with each other, our moods lighter than when we left and I feel really good. I feel great, actually. I’m not perfect, I’m not healed from what happened, but I have hope and I feel light.
Once we arrive at the gates of the clubhouse, I’m surprised to see so many cars in the parking lot. “Is this party going to be huge or something?”
Trista glances to the side, her lips twitching. “This is your branding, babe.”
“My what?” I breathe at the same time Taylee hisses in the back seat.
“You didn’t know?” Trista asks.
Shaking my head, I look straight ahead. The cars and bikes are triple the amount that was here when we left this afternoon. They’re all here, they are all here for me. They are here to watch a hot fucking brand sear my skin.
“Is that what I think it is?” Taylee asks quietly.
Trista clears her throat. “It is. That’s how the men claim their women in the club. It basically means you’re married in their eyes. Then later maybe you’ll really get married?” Trista asks, turning to me as she shifts the car in park.
Pressing my hand to my stomach, I try to quell my nervous jitters at the idea of what is about to happen. The pain that I will no doubt feel. It’s unfathomable, unimaginable. I shift my thoughts to the question that Trista asked.
“Would it bother you, if we got married, if we started a family?”
This is something that I haven’t really asked her or talked to her about. She has mentioned me having children with her father, but she’s never really said if it would bother her. She acts as though it doesn’t and wouldn’t. But she’s my best friend and I don’t want anything to jeopardize that—ever.
“Never,” she breathes, reaching across the car and grabbing my hand. “He needs someone who grounds him. He needs someone who loves him. You do both, and I just want the both of you to be happy. It doesn’t bother me, not at all.”
“I’m glad, because I love him, Trista. I really love him.”
Trista smiles, then the door flies open and I turn to the side smiling at the sight of that man standing in front of me.
HAWK
Fuck me.
Gorgeous.
Avah is pretty dressed up or down, makeup or barefaced, but as she takes my hand and slips from the car, I can’t take my eyes off of her. She’s absolutely stunning. Partially it’s because she’s just beautiful, but it’s also because she’s about to truly become mine.
All I want to do is pick her up, throw her over my shoulder and take her to my room, fuck her until she’s screaming my name and her cunt is dripping with my cum.
Clearing my throat, I shake my head, shaking the thoughts away for now, knowing that I can’t do that yet, we have more shit to do tonight—seriously important shit.
“I need to go and put my dress on for the party,” she murmurs next to me.
Stopping, I turn and tug her body against my own. Dipping my chin, my eyes search hers. I still have no fucking clue why she would want an old fuck like me, why she would want to keep me and stay with me for any length of time.
Lifting my hand, I cup her cheek. “You in this with me, honey?” I ask.
“In this?”
She looks confused, but beautifully so, I’m almost unsure if I want to even clarify and continue this conversation. Sliding my thumb along the underside of her jaw, my eyes stay connected to hers.
“This life. Once you walk through the doors tonight, there’s no getting out. There’s no walking away from me. You’re fucking mine, Avah.”
I watch as she licks her lips, those green eyes never leaving my own. “I don’t care how old you are. I don’t care what a fucking mess you are. I don’t care that this shit you do is most likely illegal. None of it ma
tters. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Why?” I ask.
Her lips curve up into a grin. “I could simply just state, because you’re mine,” she offers, her smile widening. “But the reality of it is, I fell for you the instant I laid eyes on you. There’s nobody else for me.”
With a snort, I lean down, but I don’t kiss her lips knowing that she wouldn’t want her lipstick smeared. Instead, I touch my mouth to her forehead. One of her hands wraps around my waist and I feel her fingers grip the side of my shirt, before she shifts her head back, her gaze focused on mine.
“You could do better than some guy who is old as fuck, doesn’t own a home or anything of value other than a bike, has an adult daughter that he abandoned as a kid, and is part of an MC,” I say.
She lifts her hand, pressing her palm against my chest, the other hand still gripping my shirt at the side. “I could,” she breathes. “I could do a lot worse, too. But you act like I’m some pure and innocent sweet naïve thing.”
My lips twitch. “You ain’t?” I ask.
“God, you’re sexy,” she exhales.
We’re both practically panting and as much as I want inside of her, I know that right now isn’t the time. She needs to get her clothes on, because tonight I’m going to brand her and I am not sliding inside of her again until it’s official.
Taking a step back, I shift my fingers through my hair and inhale a calming breath. Wrapping my hand around hers, I tug her behind me and guide her into the clubhouse, and straight toward my bedroom.
I can hear her let out a giggle, then she hums as I fling her body into the bedroom. She practically goes flying across the room before she stops and rights herself. Slowly, she turns to me, but I haven’t moved from the threshold.
“Hawk?” she calls out.
Shaking my head slowly, I clear my throat. “Not until after the party,” I grunt, hating every word that leaves my lips.
UnWreck Me (Savage Beast MC Book 7) Page 22