Karmen
I was in bed. Alone.
When we got back to the clubhouse, Cora had gone straight to her room, and Nickel had taken me to his and locked the door on the way out. He had spoken two words to me, and neither of them were words of endearment.
“Stay here,” he had grunted.
Stay. Here.
That was all I got from him after I had been almost kidnapped.
Granted, I hadn’t really acted like I needed anything more than that. I seriously was pissed off that Morski had even tried anything tonight because I had so many plans for Nickel after we got home, and now they were all ruined.
I had turned on the TV before I had fallen into bed and had Legally Blonde playing quietly while I plotted Morski’s demise. I knew neither Nickel, and certainly not Pipe, were going to let me help, but I could always daydream of Morski disappearing or being eaten by a bear. Nickel and the Fallen Lords taking care of him was high up on my list of things to happen to him. I liked Nickel and his friends on this side of the prison bars.
Nickel was surprised that I hadn’t freaked out, and honestly, I was surprised as hell too that I hadn’t broken down like Nikki. When Handel had let me go, all I wanted to do was go after him and demand to know why he thought I had to pay for something my dad had done. My life was finally something more than just existing, and now some douchebag was trying to take it away from me.
The door opened, and Nickel slipped into the room. “You’re still up?” he asked, surprised to see me sitting up in bed. I had turned off the overhead light, but I had the lamp on the nightstand on.
“Can’t sleep.”
“Adrenaline,” Nickel mumbled.
Not really. At least, I didn’t think it was. “Where were you?”
Nickel walked into the bathroom, ignoring my question, and I heard the water in the shower turn on. “You tired at all?” he called.
Obviously not all since I was still up. “No.”
“Come keep me company in the shower.”
I tossed back the covers I had pulled over my lap and shuffled into the bathroom. I was just in time to watch the show of Nickel undressing. I leaned against the doorframe and crossed my arms over my chest. “Are you mad at me?” I really wasn’t sure what Nickel was feeling.
He shook his head and pulled his shirt off. “No. I figured you were the one who was pissed at me.”
I had been for a few minutes, but then my anger had shifted to Morski because he was the one who had caused the night to turn to crap. “Not at you.”
He discarded his boots, kicking them next to the toilet, then his pants hit the floor. “Who you mad at?”
“Morski.”
“Not me for siding with Pipe about taking Nikki home?”
Was it annoying that Nikki couldn’t come back to hang out with me? Yeah, but I understood why she went home too. “Not really. I’ll just see her at work tomorrow.”
“You gonna get in with me?”
“I already showered.” After Nickel had dumped me in his room, I had been a caged animal for a bit and had tried to shower to calm my nerves. It hadn’t really helped.
“Then help me shower.” He turned to look at me, and his fatigue was written all over his face. While I had been pissed at Morski for ruining my girls’ night, Nickel had been meeting with the club figuring out how to actually take care of the problem and not just daydream of him getting eaten by a bear.
“Need someone to wash your back?” I joked.
“I just need you.”
And that’s where it happened.
Nickel standing in his bathroom, the weight of the world weighing down on his shoulders, and all he wanted was me.
I was completely and totally in love with this man.
“Okay,” I whispered. I quickly shimmied out of my pajamas while Nickel took off his boxers and slipped into the shower.
The water was pouring over his head when I stepped into the shower. I grabbed the loofah I had left in the shower and squirted some of the manly body wash I had bought him. He had fought me on it at first, saying that men didn’t use body wash, but he still used it because I had bought it for him. I lathered the soap into the loofah then scooted closer to him.
“I almost lost you tonight, and I’ve barely had any time with you,” he confessed as I ran my hand and loofah over his back.
“I’m still here,” I whispered.
He bowed his head, and let the water run down his neck. He was stuck on the fact that he felt he hadn’t kept me safe, even though I was standing there with him in the shower.
I tossed the loofah on the floor and wrapped my arms around him. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He turned around, his arms circling me. “I love you, Karmen. I’m not going to wait any longer to tell you. I didn’t want to scare you by telling you, but honestly, I know I can’t go another day with telling you. I love you, baby girl.”
I stopped breathing.
He loved me.
I had the sense of panic, but I didn’t run. I couldn’t run from this man anymore. I licked my lips, trying to think of the right words to say. There weren’t any words more right than the ones that were on the tip of my tongue. “I love you, too. I’ve loved you since you called me baby girl.” I closed my eyes, afraid that I gave away too much. The last wall around my heart fell, and Nickel was the one who stood inside the rubble. I was his.
He crashed his lips down on mine. There wasn’t anything more to say or do than to just feel everything he was giving me.
His fingers delved into my hair, tugging my head back, and his lips traveled down my neck, scorching a trail of kisses. My hands traveled over his back, wanting to touch him everywhere but not knowing where to start.
“Goddamn, I love you so much,” he mumbled.
He pressed me against the wall and whispered in my ear, “Say it again.”
“I love you,” I gasped.
He growled low and nipped my earlobe. “How the hell did I get so lucky?”
I was the lucky one, but Nickel’s roaming hands robbed me of all thought.
His tongue touched my lips, and my mouth instantly opened, welcoming him. He kissed me deep and hard as I went up on my toes and pressed into his body.
Everything was different. It was like I was kissing him for the first time. Touching his bare skin for the first time. It was different because I was finally giving him all of me, and I was drowning in the fact that he loved me.
His mouth broke from mine, but he didn’t move far away. Our heavy breathing mingled, and I stared into his eyes. He dropped a kiss to my shoulder and stepped back. “You got two seconds to get out of here before I fuck you against the wall.”
It was a warning I could tell he thought I should heed, but that wasn’t how I took it. Goosebumps sprung up on my skin, and I knew there wasn’t a chance in hell I was going to get out of this shower without Nickel.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and threaded my fingers through his hair. “You can’t get rid of me. Not with the threat of having your way with me. That’s a guaranteed way to make sure I’ll stay.”
His hands went to my ass, and he lifted me up. “You were fucking made for me.”
My legs wrapped around his waist, and my head snapped back as he pressed me against the wall and sunk into me. A shiver ran up my spine as he thrust deep and hard.
My moans mixed with his low grunts every time he slammed into me. I was in a slippery, slick fog with Nickel giving me exactly what I needed.
I arched my back, pressing against the wall. “Yes, please,” I pleaded, needing more. Nickel pounded into me, his eyes connected with mine. His bottom lip was clenched between his teeth, and this moment would forever be etched into my mind. Nickel Cunningham was mine, and nothing was going to take him away from me.
My orgasm slammed into me, and my legs instinctively tightened around Nickel. He groaned loud, my name ripped from his lips as he pumped his hips feverishly. He sealed his lips to mine, his tongue mimicking the thrust of his hips. I moaned into his mouth as he thrust one last time, and he filled my pussy with his cum.
He buried his face in my neck, his breathing heavy and labored. “Son of bitch,” he gasped. He lifted me from the wall, my arms wrapped around his neck, and he managed to turn the water off with his foot and step from the shower.
I shakily stood, a shiver running through my body. Nickel grabbed one of the new fluffy towels I had bought and wrapped it around my shoulders. “Dry off, do whatever you need to with your hair, then meet me in bed. No clothes,” he ordered.
Nickel grabbed another towel, dried my hair, then quickly toweled himself off. “Two minutes,” he warned as he walked out of the bathroom.
I stood there, not knowing what to do next. What does one do when their life finally lines up the way it should and everything feels right even if you have some crazy guy after you trying to kill you?
You dry your hair and crawl into bed with the man who was going to make everything right.
Sans clothes.
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