My palms are sweaty and my hands start to shake. I don’t know how this conversation is going to go.
“Storm.” Pope says my name like he might have already said it. I’m so in my mind that I didn’t hear him. Looking up, I find him seated on my couch. He pats the space beside him, motioning for me to join him.
Instead, I take a deep breath and steel myself for what is to come.
“How pissed are you?”
“Oh, I’m plenty pissed,” he replies, and I feel like crying. “But I’m not pissed at you.”
His answer has my gaze colliding with his. I don’t have a clue who he could be mad at besides me. He rises from the couch and starts pacing.
“I’m pissed at Winter for keeping this from me. How many years have I missed? Does my son think I didn’t want him? What the fuck?” He roars the last part.
His gaze darts back to me, but I’m frozen to the spot. He shakes his head as he continues. “I’m pissed at myself for taking so long to tell you how I felt. If I had the balls and manned up earlier, you wouldn’t have felt the need to hide this from me. You and I would have known where we stand with each other. But no, we have to deal with this first. And yeah, I am pissed at my club and all the fucking females for not telling me what was going on. So yes, yes, I am pissed, but not at you.”
Relief courses through my veins, but at the same time, I have a pang of overwhelming guilt.
“Pope.” I move toward him slowly, like he’s some kind of rabid animal and I have to be careful. “A lot is going on at the moment, but I need you to listen to me.”
He stares at me, waiting for me to talk.
“The top priority is Brogan. There can be no you and me if it’s going to affect him in the long run.”
“No.”
“Pope.” I soften my voice and try to make him see reason.
“No, Storm. I will not push you to the back burner again. You and I are going to sort this out here and now before we both go and fetch Brogan. Together.”
I’m stunned. Never has Pope spoken to me this way. There has never been an us and I gave up on there ever being one years ago. But he seems determined.
“I love you.” He doesn’t give me a chance to speak. “I have always loved you and the biggest mistake I ever made was letting you walk away all those years ago, letting you think I didn’t. So no, I will not accept us not being together.”
He stares at me intently as he waits for me to reply, but I don’t have one. So many things have been thrust upon me in the last weeks that I simply don’t know how to answer him. I do know I love him, but it seems like we keep trying to do this at the wrong time. Maybe it just isn’t meant to be.
Chapter Ten
Pope
My heart is bared, my soul laid out before her, and she remains silent? I feel like I am losing her without ever having had her. I can’t let that happen, I can’t let her be in my life without being mine. I never should have let her leave in the first fucking place. Closing the gap between us, I cup her face in my hands, and without giving her a chance to pull away, I kiss her. At first, the kiss is tentative, her full, soft lips pressed against mine. Her posture is rigid and I know she’s thinking too hard. I need to get her out of her head. For the first time in my life, I might actually have to work for something I want.
Slowly, I part my lips and use my tongue to trace the seam of her lips. I gently ease my hand into her hair at the nape of her neck and tug. When she still doesn’t respond the way I want her to, I fist her hair harder and tug again. She gasps and I take the opening I need, pushing my tongue into her mouth. She tastes like coffee and tequila and I know I will forever be addicted to the taste. Plundering her mouth, I move my hand from her face, down to her hip, and pull her body into mine.
Tentatively, she strokes her tongue across mine and I can’t help the growl that escapes me. Her body goes pliant against mine and inside, I can help but celebrate. But before I take it too far, I pull away from her lips and rest my forehead to hers. Both of us are panting loudly in her quiet apartment.
“Storm.” My voice is hoarse from the emotions I’m feeling, as well as the intense arousal.
“Don’t let us both continue to live being unhappy. I know you want me, I know you feel something. Let’s do this. Me and you and Brogan. We can all be happy.”
She takes a deep breath and nods. She steps away from me but takes my hand as she leads me to her bedroom. Stopping at the foot of her bed, she turns to face me again. Slowly, like she isn’t sure of what she’s doing, she raises her hands to my shoulders and starts to work my cut off. When she gets it past my arms, she folds it with care and places it on the stool in front of her vanity. Returning to me, she lifts the hem of my t-shirt to remove it. I don’t speak, don’t tell her to take off her clothes the way I want to. She needs to be in control at this moment and this is me giving that to her.
She doesn’t show the same care for my clothes as she did my cut, instead, tossing my shirt to the floor. As she stares at me, her breathing accelerates and she touches my bare skin. Her nails run over my tattoos and then my abs before she moves around me. She touches the tattoo on my back and plants a kiss between my shoulder blades. I always knew Storm loved the club, but her reverence to my cut and the tattoo of our patch on my back almost unmans me. It’s enough to nearly bring me to my knees.
She turns me around so I’m yet again facing her. Pushing, she walks me back toward the bed where I wait on the edge. She has a plan and I’m smart enough to know not to interfere. Taking three steps back, she smiles at me, but it’s not the smile I’m used to. Instead of the self-assured Storm I have always known, the woman in front of me is almost shy.
“Tell me what you want.”
The words leave her on a breath, no louder than a whisper. She’s dressed in jean shorts and a black halter neck top. She isn’t wearing the shoes from earlier, having kicked them off somewhere along the way.
“Let me see you. Show me what is mine from today on out.”
Chapter Eleven
Storm
Letting go is easier than I thought it would be. Even with our history and all the drama we have been through, when his lips touch mine, my walls crumble and I succumb to him. Not that I was really putting up a fight. And even knowing all the challenges we are going to face, I’m doing the selfish thing and taking what I have always wanted.
With Pope staring at me with hunger in his eyes, I lift the hem of my shirt over my head and toss it to the floor. Slowly, I undo the button on my shorts and slide down the zipper, allowing it to fall to the floor. I stand in front of the only man I have ever wanted, ever loved, in nothing but a set of neon-pink lace underwear.
I don’t know why I feel self-conscious. I take my clothes off for a living, after all. Pope has seen me naked before. But this different. This is more personal than stripping, just me and him in my room. All the doubts I have ever had about myself and my body suddenly flood to the forefront.
“You are fucking exquisite.”
The words rumbling forth from Pope have me forgetting everything. With newfound confidence, I stand in front of him. His hands find my hips and guide me between his legs.
He runs his lips along the lace cupping the underside of my breasts, causing a full-body shiver to work its way through me. Straddling his lap, I feel his hands go to my ass. His erection is pressed up against my center. I can’t resist the urge to grind down on him, and he thrusts up toward me. I reach for the clasp in the front of my bra and undo it, allowing my breasts to fall free.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.” For a moment, he doesn’t look at me, just stares at the ceiling.
When his gaze does return to mine, I can see the heat there. Before I can comprehend what he’s doing, I’m thrown on my back with him standing between my legs. His hands skim from my hips to my breast, where he tweaks both nipples, my back to arching off the bed. His lips follow the same path his hands just took before sucking a nipple into his mouth. He growls a
gainst my breast, biting hard.
“I wanted to take it slow, I swear to God I did. I wanted to do right by you, but my control is slipping and all I can think of is fucking you so hard your headboard leaves a mark on the wall.”
Goosebumps break out over my entire body at his confession. Cupping his face in my hands again, I look straight into his eyes.
“Who wants soft and gentle when they can have real passion?”
He pulls in a sharp breath then kisses me again. The passion and need he can put into one kiss steals my breath. His hands are everywhere as he grinds his erection into my center. He doesn’t ask permission anymore and gone are the slow, soft kisses and touches. I permitted him to lose control and he has. This is a claiming.
He grips my underwear on either side of my hips, pulls, and the sound of ripping can be heard as the torn piece of material is discarded over his shoulder.
There’s no preamble as he pushes two fingers deep into my heat. He works them in and out of me in quick succession and even though I would have sworn it wasn’t possible, I only get wetter for him. The sound of him working his belt loose has me squirming on the bed. Every sound is amplified in our passion, the sound of his zipper sliding down, his belt buckle as it hits the floor, the crinkle of a condom wrapper.
He moves his fingers to make space for his erection. The thick head of his cock is poised at my entrance, but he doesn’t move.
Taking a deep breath, he stares at me. “I need to be sure you want this. Because we can stop. It will probably fucking kill me, but we can. But if we do this, that’s it, you’re mine.”
I don’t answer because I don’t have to. I have always been his. In a move he probably wasn’t expecting, I twist my body, roll us over, and straddle him, impaling myself on his thick shaft.
“Fuck!” His curse is a shout as he throws his head back. I don’t ever want to stop now that we’ve started and I intend to prove that to him. Slowly, I roll my hips, getting accustomed to his size. His hands grab my hips and hold me still for a moment before he pumps into me.
“Oh, God.” I mewl, throwing my head back.
I can’t remember a time I ever felt so full or felt someone so deep in me. His hands on my hips guide me back and forth, setting a pace that’s bound to drive us both insane. Placing my hands on his chest, I ride him for all that I’m worth and soon feel my orgasm barreling down on me. He moves one of his hands from my hip to my clit and starts rubbing in small, fast circles with just the right amount of pressure applied.
“Come for me, love. Show me.”
His words send me over the edge, and I’m screaming his name as I come harder than I have ever come in my entire life. He pumps into me twice more and roars his release.
Chapter Twelve
Pope
Storm lies on my chest with my dick still buried deep inside of her. Our breathing has evened out and at this moment, I know what it is to feel peace. She smiles against my chest before pushing up. Grinning, she gets off the bed and enters the en-suite bathroom.
“Where are you going, woman? I’m not nearly done with you.”
“Well, you don’t really have a choice. Your son is waiting for me to come and pick him up,” she shouts from the bathroom. The sound of the shower starting has me moving toward the bathroom to join her.
“I have a son.” The smile on my face couldn’t be any bigger as I face her. “I have a son and I have my woman. I didn’t think this was in store for me today.”
Storm turns to face me as I get into the shower with her. She smiles softly as she places a kiss on my chest.
“I’m glad you’re happy, Colin. I was really worried. And Brogan is terrified you wouldn’t want him.” Her eyes go sad at the thought.
“Don’t you worry about that. I want him. I want to get to know him and I damn sure want to make up for the lost time. You’ll see, everything will work out just fine. I promise.”
Leaning down, I take her lips in another kiss. Slowly exploring her mouth with my tongue while running my hands all over her body. My cock is already hard again, but I need to prioritize. Pulling away, I stare into her eyes.
“I would love nothing more than to fuck you against the shower wall but we need to get going. So let’s finish our shower and go fetch our boy. And I promise to make you scream later.”
Smiling, she grabs the soap and we both get started on finishing our shower. We have somewhere we need to be.
****
Brogan waits quietly in the backseat of the car and eyes me wearily. Not one of us speaks and the silence is uncomfortable. I watch him carefully in the rearview mirror as he sits straight and stares ahead. Dark hair like Winter, which is a little longer than most boys his age wear it, and green eyes that look exactly like mine. His skin is tan, which I know he didn’t get from my pasty ass but from his mom’s side, and he’s tall for his age. Like almost five feet tall, but I don’t know if that’s normal or not.
From the corner of my eye, I can see Storm wringing her hands. I reach out and grab one before giving it a light squeeze. She smiles at me but it doesn’t reach her eyes. Her nerves are shot and the fact that we aren’t talking doesn’t help.
Getting to the apartment complex, I park her car in its designated spot and get out. I open the door for Brogan to get out, then move to Storm’s side of the car. After closing the door behind her, I take a deep breath and turn toward Brogan. We need to get upstairs and start a conversation. There are tons I need to say to him and things that he probably needs to say to me. But he isn’t there anymore. He was standing right beside the car and now he isn’t.
Panic envelopes me and for a moment, I feel like I might not be able to breathe. Where is he? Where did he go? I turn to Storm to ask her, but she’s smiling at me. What the fuck is she smiling about?
“Funny, isn’t it? How someone so small can have such a huge impact on you so quickly. You didn’t even know he existed a couple of hours ago and now he’s the center of your entire universe. Luna says it’s normal to feel panic, in the beginning, every time you can’t see them. Welcome to parenthood, Colin.”
Taking my hand, she leads me around her car. Just beyond the car is my parked Harley, with Brogan standing beside it. He has his hands in his pockets as he stares at the bike. Storm releases my hand and walks away. “Go talk to your son. You don’t need me for this. I’ll start on dinner.”
It sure as shit feels like I need her for this. What if we have nothing in common? What if he doesn’t like me? What if Winter lied about me knowing about him? What if… Dear Lord, I have never been this terrified in my entire life and I have been shot at, threatened with knives, and almost blown up once. I do business with some of the scariest, most ruthless men on the planet, and the thing that terrifies me most is my nine-year-old son.
Every step I take toward him feels like I might be walking to my doom. I don’t know a fucking thing about kids. What the fuck was Storm thinking leaving me alone with him? Standing beside him, I don’t speak a word, I don’t even look at him. I need to control the air flowing into my lungs, suddenly feeling like I might pass out from lack of air.
“Mom told me you liked motorcycles. Said since you were just a little older than me that you were always riding around on one trying to give Grandma Faye a heart attack.”
Brogan’s voice is soft and he sounds unsure of what he wants to say.
“Your mum told you about me?”
Brogan looks up at me, his green eyes identical to mine. “Yeah. She told me about you and showed me photos of when you were younger. She also told me about Aunt Storm. Said that no one knew about me but that one day she would tell you all and we could all be family again. But then she got sick.”
He sounds so sad when he talks about her. I don’t question the move as I lean in and hug him. He doesn’t push me away, but he doesn’t hug me back either.
“I’m sorry about your mum, bud. But I am glad you’re here. We can get to know each other and make up for the lost time.
There are a lot of things that I don’t know about you and you don’t know about me. And there are so many people here who are going to be part of your life now.”
He nods, slowly moving away from my embrace. “I like your bike. Will you take me with you sometime? Mom said she never liked it, that you always went too fast and she was afraid of falling. But I think maybe she was just chicken.”
Laughter bubbles forth from me.
“Well, that is true. Your mum was a chicken, especially when it came to speed. Let’s get you a helmet this week and we can go for a ride one day after school. How does that sound?”
Brogan is doing all the work, all the talking, and making this easier for me than I would have expected. I’m grateful to Winter that she didn’t say stuff like I didn’t want him, which would have been something we might never get past. But knowing that she told him about us and then kept him away from us still pisses me off. There’s nothing I can do about that now though. The past is in the past and we will all just have to learn to live with it.
Chapter Thirteen
Storm
Colin spends as much time as he can with Brogan and they quickly become best friends. During the day, Brogan goes to school, and at night, we act like a happy family. I suppose it’s not acting when we all are happy. Colin stays over every night and sleeps in my bed. We lose ourselves in each other every chance we get. The sex is better than I ever could have imagined and we have very few challenges in our relationship. It helps that we have known each other for most of our lives and know what tends to set each other off. There is one thing that has been a bone of contention between us.
Colin doesn’t want me to return to work. He hates the thought of other men watching me and says that it has always bothered him but that he didn’t have a right to say anything. I told him that I wouldn’t be some woman he had to look after and would continue doing my job. I don’t want to be a stripper for the rest of my life, but the money is good. As soon as I have enough saved up, I will get a shop and start up my bakery, but until then, this will have to do.
The Pope Page 4