Blood was the price I paid for the most perfect week of my life. I couldn't wait to start getting set up for the bar in the autumn. No, scratch that.

I could barely wait for anything these days. Living my life safe and free, being his old lady, tutoring the kids. The world was so bright and new it was almost overwhelming. I could've managed it easier, if only I could get a good night's sleep.

But Rabid wasn't interested in that. And every time he put his hands and lips on me, neither was I.

We woke up in bed together one morning, about a week after I'd gotten branded and he showed me the new bar site.

I wrapped my hand around his cock as he pressed his lips to mine, a good morning kiss I'd never forget. Only way I wanted to wake up for the rest of my life.

One, two, three kisses, and his fingers were grabbing at my hair. He took hold and worked my face to his just like he wanted. His tongue darted in and out, deep and possessive, rhythmic as the pulse tap dancing in my blood.

Jesus Christ. How was it possible to want a man so much when you'd had him practically every night?

My body didn't have any answers. The flesh was insatiable, and it hummed when his skin was on mine. Wet heat flooded my core; hungry, slick emptiness begging to be filled.

“That's how you wake me up, babe?” he growled with a smile. “Careful. You're gonna get a couple loads in this pussy before you've even had your morning coffee.”

“Fuck the coffee.” He laughed. I was dead serious, giving his dick a squeeze. “You know what I want.”

His tattoos and hard muscles were sexy as ever. But there was something extra adorable about him when we first woke up. I ran my hand through his messy crop of dark brown hair, inhaling his scent. Pure masculine need surrounded me, and I wasn't just talking about the hands on my ass.

Rabid was everywhere. His scent soaked into the sheets, wafted off his skin, invaded me with the same wondrous curiosity as everything else about him.

He pushed one hand between my thighs, spread them apart, guiding them toward his waiting cock. He was hard in seconds, hot steel throbbing in my hand.

The twitch in his dark eyes ordered me to ride his cock.

Not so fast. I resisted. I wanted to have some fun first.

I slipped out of his groggy grasp and led my mouth to my fist. Hearing the surprised groan rumbling in his throat when I drew his swollen tip past my lips sent more tense heat purring through my core.

Sucking him off was a total joy. I went deep, went hard, pressing my tongue tight to the crown lining his head. In just weeks, I'd learned his soft spots, and one day I'd make him come wrapped around my tongue.

His abs stiffened underneath my resting hand. I reached down and played with his balls, marveling as they drew tighter and harder, ready to burst at the seams.

Fuck. For this man, I'd be filthy.

I'd fuck him, suck him, take his come anywhere. I was his old lady now, damn it. And I knew enough to realize a good old lady had all the skills of a whore and the love of an angel to keep her man satisfied. I wanted to work his body until he couldn't think, rupturing inside me, fused to any opening he chose.

My cheeks were on fire as I bobbed my head. Ground zero for the fire racing down my body, a full body lick charged with lust, eradicating everything except the wanton need to have him inside me, to feel his dick turn to granite before it exploded.

I was so focused on pleasing his cock with my mouth that I didn't realize how lazily I'd left my legs laying near his head. Growling, he jerked my head up by the hair, then picked my legs up and threw them over his shoulders.

“Rabid, this is supposed to be all for you right –“

“Fuck that shit. I know it is, baby. You wanna work it like I want? Then you'll come 'til your eyes roll white with my dick in your mouth. Keep sucking while I hold your thighs open.”

There was no asking. No compromise. Rabid gave the commands that made me wet, and I never said no, even when part of me wanted to.

I realized how stupid 'no' sounded the instant his tongue curled inside me.

Oh, God. Oh, fuck. Oh, no.

I tried to match his pace. I sucked his dick harder, pumping the base with my hand, nudging his balls in my other palm. He growled into my pussy like a starving lover, hungry to possess me, crazy to make me come.

And the feral need in my own body embraced his licks. After a minute, it was twice as hard to focus on his dick. He was miles ahead of me in multi-tasking.

I went numb every time he growled his pleasure, sucking my clit into his mouth. He held it there in rapture, a flicking, nibbling, wavering pleasure that made me see red.

Fuck. No!

I wanted to make him come so bad. I wanted to fight through the pleasure, show him I had full control even with what he was doing to my body. But the pleasure was too intense. My thighs began shaking in his rough hands, and my pussy tensed up, giving the sharp tingle that let me know climax was imminent.

Rabid knew it too. He squeezed my thighs harder, so rough it almost hurt, furiously swiping his tongue across my clit. His teeth pinched harder, and I was over the edge before I knew what hit me.

I screamed with my mouth half filled with his cock. My lips tightened into a tight ring, and his hips thrust, fucking my lips while I lost my mind.

The convulsions made me see stars. For a second, I saw what a total slut I'd become in this bed with him, and I didn't regret it for a single second. Even in sex, he challenged me, and I looked forward to a lifetime together learning to please him better than he did me.

He sucked and lapped at my pussy until my ass went soft. I had to take his cock out for precious air, panting and beaten, feeling the need for more between my legs.

“Flip over, baby.” Rabid smacked my ass, helping me reposition with his hands. “Fucking shit. You almost had me. Nearly lost this nut in your mouth while you were coming.”

“Yeah?” My heart swelled with pride. Maybe I was getting better at this than I thought. “There's always next time. You'd better get in and hold on tight. My pussy's going to milk every drop out of your balls.”

He bared his teeth. My signal to grab his dick and help guide it into me. I straddled him, trying not to give away how bad I still needed it as his length filled me. Jesus, I always forgot how big he was until he was up in me, curling and stretching my soft wet walls apart.

Rabid grabbed my ass. The sucking counted as our foreplay. He showed me what he was after in every fierce thud of his hips against mine. The bed rocked madly beneath us, pitching and whining with his thrusts.

I tried to keep up with the frantic pace. Thankfully, his hands were there to move me along, faster and smoother than anything I could've done myself. I glided over him, riding fast and hard, clenching my teeth every time my clit dragged against his pubic bone.

His hands dug into my ass cheeks. It should've hurt, but the pleasure overwhelmed everything, tuning my senses to love in every sensation he shot through me.

“Ah, fuck. Come the fuck on, baby girl. I wanna see you sweat.”

He fucked harder. Faster. Sweat steamed on my skin, and so did a bright red blush. It was like feeling my whole body gradually submerge into a hot, steamy pool of pleasure. The impulse came slow, even though he was fucking me frantically, shaking my entire body with his rattling hips.

A minute later, I was bouncing on his cock. He shoved me up and down, back and forth, side to side like an honest-to-God ragdoll built for jerking off his dick.

He took his pleasure rough, without apology, and my pussy loved every second of it.

I tried to hold back as long as I could. When I closed my eyes there was nothing but the thud-thud-thud of the headboard slapping the wall behind us, his jagged breaths, my own heartbeat slowly bleeding into my ears.

Then the explosion came.

Raw heat blossomed inside me, a dozen points at once, coalescing around the inferno in my womb. My pussy clenched tight around his dick and convulsed. I lost it. He was still jerking my hips around like he owned them, grinding my clit on his short, rough hair, digging so deep and sharp inside me that I thought he'd rip me in two.

Rabid grunted, snarled, and added his masculine fury to mine a second later. Hot seed shot inside me, pouring more molten goodness into the foundry my body had become, wrecked on this lust.

We rocked. We panted. We came so hard I almost went blind.

You can laugh at me wilting on his dick, coming completely undone, unhinged, unchained. I would've done the same thing if anyone else told me about this sex.

Difference is, I lived it.

I came on his dick so hard it defied belief. Fireworks exploded in my head and in my pussy too, spreading heat and shrapnel to every nerve, every inch of me. Everything had to burn fused to this man before I could finally settle down.

His dick was still pulsing as I started to come down. Low, rhythmic growls slurred out his lips, the primal sound a man makes when he's fully mated to his woman.

He slipped out reluctantly. I rolled, crashed back on the bed, pulling my phone off the nightstand. I checked the time and almost did a flip.

“Shit! We've got to get going, Rabid. We're going to be late!”

“Aw, baby, are you fucking with me? You know I can't get enough of you in the morning...” His words melted in a growl.

He was on top of me again, kissing and pawing at me, rabid and wild as his name. I laughed and batted him away. I used the bear on his chest as a target and slapped it hard with my palms.

“Come on. We need to run through the shower and gulp some coffee. Dad's lost his sense of time, but the nursing home sure hasn't for Sunday visiting hours.”

Snarling, Rabid pulled himself away. “Fuck. All right.”

He slid off the bed and stuck a hand out to help me. I caught a dangerous glimpse of his strong ass before he turned. God, I think I loved that ass more than he loved mine.

“We'll take our shower together,” he growled, dragging me into the bathroom. “We'll be on time. I'm fucking you again – fast and hard. Don't keep my dick waiting.”

I shook my head. He was crude and insatiable, but damn it, he made me smile. Soon, the water was running, bathing us the same way it did on the night we narrowly escaped our deaths. His dick jerked taut against my belly, ready to go less than five minutes after we'd finished in bed.

“You're such an animal!” He reinforced what I said with a growl, flipping me over and pinning me to the wall.

My eyes sizzled with mad heat as he pushed into me. “Fucking right, babe. You know I gotta do something to blow some steam before I meet the old man who raised you.”

* * *

We rode like hell through town. The sex set us back a few minutes longer than I would've liked. Not that it wasn't totally worth it.

So was taking this furious ride on Rabid's bike. My hands pinched tight to him as he weaved around corners, blowing through the green lights before they showed a hint of yellow. To anyone who didn't know him, it would've looked like showing off, but I'd been around him long enough to know it was all natural.

This was my man, shamelessly brash down to his fingertips.

We pulled up to the nursing home with a couple minutes to spare, a little more than an hour before the visitor's cutoff. Knots pulled at my stomach, anxious and melancholy. I'd waited for this day since I was a little girl, the day I'd introduce my dad to the man I'd fallen in love with.

I just wished he still had the mental capacity to understand it. Whatever. Wishes weren't in the cards. The best I could hope for was a flash of lucidity, just enough to talk to us and take us in. Maybe on some level, he'd understand what was happening, even if it came later when I wasn't there to see it flash in his eyes.

“You need a minute, baby?” Rabid asked, noticing the slowness in my step when we got to the door.

“No, I'll be fine. This was my idea.” I gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “I need this, and I'm glad you're here. It means a lot to me.”

He grinned. “Family's everything. I'm down with meeting your daddy today. It's a lot easier with him in town than driving you up to Washington to meet my ma. Don't worry. That day's gonna come too.”

The sincerity in his voice reminded me he really wanted the whole package. This old lady thing was like being engaged in an outlaw biker's world.

My new tattoo burned, our new lives inscribed in ink. There was no looking back with my hand in his.

Just forward, forward.

I knocked on the door to dad's room – an old habit that didn't really matter here. He rarely answered.

He was at his spot by the window, gazing out. Dad didn't turn his head until I put my hand on his shoulder. I sighed, knowing it wasn't a good sign for a lucid day.

“You again, baby?” He looked, surprised to see me. “Weren't you by for breakfast an hour ago?”

I shook my head. “No, dad. That was someone else. I'm here to introduce you to someone today.”

He nodded, let me help him turn his wheelchair. Rabid gave a respectful nod when he saw my dad for the first time. The old man's eyes went wide.

Suddenly, he reached for my hand, gave it a tighter squeeze than anything I'd felt in years. “Fuck me backwards. You've finally decided to come out of your shell! That's cause for...celebration. Yeah, come on. Wheel me the hell out of here.”

I started to wheel him forward, but he signaled me to stop when we were next to the door with Rabid. “What's the boy's name?”

“Charlie, sir.” Rabid stuck his hand out. “Road name's Rabid.”

“Jim. They used to call me Strum back when I could ride.”

They shook hands. Rabid's eyes widened, like he was surprised at the strength in the grip. For some stupid reason, that made me smile.

We all headed for the cafeteria, a little more room for us to sit down and chat. I got us all some coffee while dad fixed himself at the table. When I came back, the two men were talking about bikes, some stuff I didn't quite understand about how the old hogs were different.

“Grizzlies, huh?” Dad reached out and thumbed the small patch on the left flap of Rabid's cut. “I knew a few of those. The club was good in the old days, back before that fucker Fang started using 'em to run the nasty stuff.”

“Fang's gone,” Rabid said. “The club's cleaning up its act. I'm proud to say I'm a part of that. You don't need to worry about this patch being anywhere around your daughter, Strum.”

Dad's eyes narrowed. “Daughter? Huh, I had a funny feeling she'd end up heading back to her roots. I tried to send her out into the world on a different path. But you know what they say – you can't pick the way your kids grow up. You can only shape them while they do.”

My heart stuck in my throat. I didn't dare hope he recognized me, but I reached out and gave his hand a squeeze just the same. “You shaped me just fine, dad. I wouldn't be here with this wonderful man if it were any other way.”

Dad looked at me. Like, stopped, put the whole world on pause, and really looked.

“You did well for yourself, baby, if this boy's as honest as he looks. Take care of him. Keep him from getting into the crazy shit and you'll have a love that would make your mama proud.”

I gasped. Almost fell completely out of my chair. No kidding.

Rabid put his hand on my shoulder and looked at the old man. “My old lady's already doing a fine job making everybody proud. Mostly me. You raised a keeper, buddy. I'm gonna make sure she stays happy and safe.”

“Damned right, she will.” He gave Rabid a severe look. “You give her the love I can't. My mind's too far gone. The days like this are getting less and less...you got no idea how long I've been waiting for this. I've been waiting to see my girl with somebody strong, somebody she can trust...”

He trailed off. The bright spark shining in his eyes like beautiful stars slowly faded. When dad looked at me again, it was the vacant stare that always stabbed me in the heart.

I looked at Rabid, heading off the painful transformation, grateful for the moment, however brief.

“You did it, Charlie. He hasn't addressed me as his daughter since...” I couldn't even remember.

I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. Dad asked me about another razor. I laughed and apologized, told him I still owed him a few. I'd get it taken care of before next week.

After another half hour, we were wheeling him to his room. I tried to hold in the tears.

Dad was right about one thing – there wouldn't be too many days left where he'd recognize me as a human being standing in front of him, much less his daughter. One black day would come where he wouldn't be breathing.

I'd always dreaded it before, a bitter lining to the rare beautiful days like today. Before Rabid, there was nothing but a gaping void when I imagined any future without my father.

Today, for the first time ever, I saw that one was possible. And that meant even more to me than wearing his name on my skin and my shoulders. When dad was safely back in his room and we were ready to get on his bike, I stopped him, threw my arms around him, and pulled him close.

I managed to land a long, warm kiss on his lips without either of us turning into sex crazed maniacs. Rabid helped me onto his bike, his eyes wide, searching.

“What was that for, baby?”

“For being my rock. I know how sappy it sounds, but it's true.” I blushed. It was so hard to say these kinds of things, but it was getting easier with him. “You bring out the best in everybody, Rabid. You bring out the best in me.”

He handed me my helmet with a new grin on his face. “Babe, I think you're wrong about one thing. You haven't even imagined the best. Not yet. We've got a little while longer 'til my ring's on your finger and you've got my kids in your arms. But damn, you'd better believe I'm gonna work like a fucking dog bringing you all that and more. You're loving what I've brought out now? Just wait.”

He didn't say another word as he climbed on and started the engine. Tears rolled down my scarred cheeks, but they slid right off the stupid wide smile I was wearing.

I only hoped I could make my old man half as happy as all the incredible promises he'd made. I had my work cut out for me because I knew he'd deliver.