Wrath and I are alone again.
He stands and holds out his hand to me. “Come stay with me.”
I blink up at him in surprise. “Why?”
His mouth twists in annoyance, but his voice is gentle when he answers. Well—gentle for Wrath. “Tonight was kinda crazy. I want to make sure you’re safe.”
I tilt my head to the side. I am jittery, but he has no idea why that whole gangbang thing bothered me so much. “None of the guys will hurt me.”
His jaw clenches. He points at the couch. “You slept on me last night and survived. This time we can actually be comfortable in my bed.”
“You haven’t wanted me in your bed in a long time.”
His voice takes on a harsher edge. “Trinity, don’t push me tonight.”
I want him to order me up there. Boss me around like he’s so good at doing sometimes. Let me know that he wants me.
But I sense he’s struggling with something. Curious, I take his outstretched hand and follow him to his room. He closes the door behind us and I lower my head waiting to see how he wants things to happen.
The sound of him shuffling through drawers gets me curious and excited. What’s he up to? I peek up in time to see him toss a T-shirt and pair of boxers on the bed.
“I’m going to take a quick shower. Get dressed for bed,” he says without looking at me.
Huh?
Moving over to the bed, I plop down and run my fingers over the faded Harley T-shirt. Bringing it to my nose, I inhale—detergent, mixed with Wrath’s unique scent.
I glance up at the bathroom door. He didn’t invite me in. This is all too fucking weird. Especially after our kiss downstairs. Balling the clothes in my fist, I perch on the side of the bed and wait for him to emerge.
He finally does and my mouth goes dry at the sight of him. Bare-chest, water droplets still clinging to his inked skin. His blond hair is darker from being wet and frames his face in a way that should be captured on film.
When he notices I’m still dressed, he quirks an eyebrow at me.
My shoulders lift and it takes a second to untie my tongue. “I wanted to take a shower too.”
“Sorry, I should have let you go first.”
Yeah, or invited me in with you.
My fingers trace the inside of my arm, pinching lightly to make sure I’m still awake.
“I left a toothbrush on the counter for you.”
Too stunned to speak, I scurry in the bathroom. As promised, there’s a brand new-in-the-box toothbrush. Boy, he really didn’t want to let me out of his sight. It’s not like I couldn’t run downstairs and grab my own toothbrush or nightclothes. I rush through my shower, quickly pat myself dry and toss on my borrowed jammies.
Wrath’s already in the bed when I emerge. He turns and smiles. My breath catches. He doesn’t smile a lot, but when he does it always levels me. Tonight’s no different.
“Come on, it’s been a long day.”
I approach the bed and wait to see what he wants.
“What are you doing, get up here.”
He takes up so much space, the only spot open is a sliver of mattress against the wall. He holds out his hand. When I take it, he yanks me to him, hooks his arms around me and spins me into the space next to him. Then he pulls the blankets up over us, and shuts off the bedside lamp.
“Wrath?”
“What, Trin?”
“You really just want me to sleep with you?”
“Yes, Trin.”
This sleeping next to each other thing is giving me serious emotional itchies. We were close to something happening downstairs earlier. What changed his mind? Inga? Did he remember that I’m a whore just like she is? If only he knew the truth. Turning over I press up against his solid, comforting body. Everything seems to be in working order.
“What’s wrong now, Trin?” he rumbles.
“Nothing.” I shift again trying to get comfortable.
“Do you need to get fucked?” he offers without opening his eyes.
I scoot away so fast my ass bumps into the chilly wall. “No.”
“Then go to sleep.”
I roll over on my stomach. When that doesn’t work, I sit up and punch the pillows.
I turn to face him. “Wyatt, if I had said yes, would you?”
He sucks in a deep breath and lets it out slow before answering. “That’s not why I wanted you here.”
“Then why?”
“Fuck. I told you why. I liked waking up with you this morning.”
“Oh.”
He holds his arms out to me. “Come here.”
Finally, something I’m familiar with. But he just arranges me so my head rests on his chest. His arm curls protectively around me settling on my hip. It makes me feel cherished and protected. And weird.
Eventually, his breathing turns deep and even. I manage to drift off too.
My poor, confused cock stands at full attention the next morning. Not his fault. We haven’t slept with a woman without fucking her in a long damn time. This makes two nights in a row, with the woman I want more than anything. It’s not that I don’t want to fuck her—one glance at the tented sheet confirms that. I just want not to fuck things up more. I can only imagine what sort of bad memories last night’s events brought up for her. My plan was to make her feel safe and let her know that she means more to me than sex.
This morning, with Trinity still tucked firmly against my side, her warm breath tickles over my ribs. I inhale her fresh, soapy scent and my cock’s even harder. I take a few more deep breaths and calm myself before drifting back to sleep.
Not sure how much later it is, but I groan and arch my hips up before I’m even fully awake. Soft fingers stroke my cock harder pulling me fully out of sleep. Holy fuck. If she keeps this up, my balls are going to be bluer than my fucking eyes.
I clear my throat, but my voice still comes out all rough and raspy. “Trinity, what are you doing?”
Instead of answering, her warm, wet mouth closes over my dick.
My muscles tighten, jerking me upright. “Oh, fuck!”
Nothing has felt so amazing in a long time.
“Trin…babe…oh,” I babble like an idiot, as I’m falling back against the pillows.
She keeps happily bobbing up and down my dick, driving me nuts. Using one hand, I grab her leg and pull her closer to me. From this angle, I can run my hand all over her plump little ass. I need the distraction or I’m going to blow in the next two seconds. By feel alone, I find what I’m looking for and slide one finger deep inside her, searching for the right spot. Her hips jump and I’ve got her. I add another finger and work them slowly in and out. My thumb finds her clit and gently brushes over it until she moans around my cock.
“Wyatt.”
“Don’t stop, babe.”
Her mouth closes around me again and my brain stops. She wriggles her hips, making me realize my hand has also stopped moving. I really can’t take any more of this. She started it, so I’m not going to feel bad. My free hand reaches over to my nightstand and drags out a condom. I’ve got it out and ready to go, before she even realizes what I’m doing.
“Come here, Angel Face.”
She sucks harder and shakes her head. Sweet motherfucking heaven. My palm connects with her ass and she lets out a startled yelp. It’s enough to get her attention, and give me some room to squeeze into the fucking rubber. My hand settles on her hip, kneading her flesh.
“Get on top of me.”
Her lashes flutter and she hesitates.
“Now.”
All her skin from chest to cheeks flushes pink. But the no-nonsense tone was what she needed to get her to straddle me and sink down onto my cock.
“Fuck, angel,” I groan as she slides down, then back up. Christ this is better than I’d been imagining since the last time we’d fucked. And I have one hell of an imagination when it comes to Trinity. “Don’t stop,” I rasp out.
She shakes her head in a determined way. “No. Can’t.”
“Good.” She keeps at it slow and steady, every single time she grinds her hips into me, I bite my lip to keep from blowing. “You feel amazing,” I praise, while arching my hips up.
Her throat works, and she looks down at me with wide eyes. “You too.”
“Too much?” I ask easing back down.
She nods and I can’t take any more, I sit up and pull her tight against me, taking her mouth. Her legs wrap around me, and I gently lower her to the mattress. “You with me?”
“Yes.”
That’s all I need to hear. I take full advantage of our position and pump into her strong and steady. She throws her head back and I plant my face in the curve of her shoulder, licking and sucking. Her nails rake over my back and the need to come slams into the base of my spine.
“Are you close, baby?” I whisper against her ear.
She mutters a few words that sound like “It’s okay.”
Uh, hell no. I push up shoving my hand between us, brushing against her clit. She lets out a startled gasp and lifts her hips, seeking more. I keep sliding my fingers over her nub until she trembles and her pussy convulses, squeezing me so fucking tight it steals my breath.
“Good girl.” She’s so out of it, she doesn’t even respond. I push her knees up and hammer into her. Seconds later, the pressure increases, squeezing my balls into a mind-blowing release.
Fucking hell.
I drop down a bit, nuzzle her throat, lick the sweat from her skin and finally kiss her.
This is perfect.
We’re quiet as our breathing returns to normal. I hate to move away from her, but I sit up and get rid of my condom. She’s limp as a noodle when I pull her up on top of me. My lips press against her forehead, and my hand strokes over her hair.
“Babe. You know that’s not why I asked you up here, right?” I want her to understand that while the sex blows my fucking mind, I want all of her.
Trin settles next to me, pulling the sheet up to practically her chin. Her nose scrunches up as she turns to face me. “Why then?”
Is she kidding? “I like spending time with you. We’re more than that, don’t you think?”
“More than sex? Sure, I guess.”
Well that’s not encouraging. “We’re friends again, right?”
I hate the way she hesitates. “Yeah.”
“So maybe we explore that for a while.”
“What are you trying to say, Wrath? You want me to be your girlfriend?” Disbelief drips from every word.
Girlfriend. No.
Old Lady. Wife. Soul-stealer. Yes, yes, and yes. “Would that be so horrible?”
She shoots up so fast, my head spins. The fuck? She inches her way down the bed and jumps down to the floor before I can wrap a hand around her ankle to stop her.
“You’ve gotta be kidding. Club whores don’t become ol’ ladies.”
I swear to fuck if she calls herself that one more time… “Says who? And stop calling yourself a whore.”
I gotta say, I’m pretty insulted at the way she’s jumping into her jeans with both fucking feet. She can’t get away from me fast enough and it’s starting to piss me off.
“Where are you going?”
“To my room.” She holds out a shaky hand to me in a stop gesture. “Don’t. Just don’t. We’ll talk later.”
We’ll fucking talk all right.
Wrath’s clearly lost his fucking mind. I try not to slam the door on my way out of his room. Thank fuck no one’s in the hallway to catch me leaving.
My heart skips as I pass Teller’s door and Swan steps out. He hasn’t asked me into his room in a long time. We always use one of the unoccupied guest rooms, and I don’t know what to make of it. I must startle her too, because she jumps when she sees me.
“Morning,” she whispers.
“Hey.”
She follows me downstairs. “Were you with Wrath?” she asks.
I toss her a look over my shoulder. She’s usually not very talkative about who we bag. I just nod.
Her mouth curves into a smile. Swan’s a pretty girl. Tall, lean, and graceful. Awfully delicate to be tossed around by a bunch of bikers, when you think about it, but she doesn’t seem to mind. She’s also fond of using the champagne room here to practice her ballet moves, which I find amusing.
“What’s so funny?” I ask.
She startles and holds out her hand. “Nothing. Just the trio of terror was bitching about how he hasn’t been with any of them in a long time now.”
That stops me. “What?”
“Ginger, Cherry—”
“Yeah, I know who you’re talking about.” The memory of Cherry leaving Wrath’s room a few weeks ago is still enough to spike my anger. And Ginger, I’ve wanted to choke that bitch out for years.
I refuse to examine why I’m suddenly feeling all violent.
“Cherry’s been bitching up a storm since he tossed her out of his room before she got to suck him off,” Swan adds.
What the hell?
She barely takes a breath. She definitely doesn’t notice my jaw hanging. “They’re worried he found some citizen girlfriend, like prez did.”
I snort at the very idea of Wrath taking up with a woman like Hope. Nothing against her, she’s perfect for Rock. Wrath, not so much. “Unlikely.”
“Well, duh. Any girl in this house with half a brain knows he’s been in love with you for years,” she says with a giggle.
What. The. Fuck.
Her eyes widen at the expression on my face. “Oh.” She quickens her pace, probably to get away from me.
I follow her into the downstairs bathroom, a thousand questions burning on the tip of my tongue. She turns the corner and lets out a shriek.
“Those bitches!”
Shaking myself out of thoughts about Wrath, I step up behind her to see what she’s so upset about. The bag of stuff she keeps tucked under the bathroom vanity has been emptied, all its contents dumped into one of the toilets.
Jesus Christ. I’ve been meaning to talk to Rock about getting lockers in here for a while now. Even though I’m not the one who stuffed her leotards and tights in the makeshift porcelain washer, I feel guilty.
Wrinkling my nose, I take a closer look. “Tell me it’s just water?”
“Yeah, I guess. They’re still a bag of filthy twats, though.”
I snicker at her description. “Oh yeah. No doubt. Hang on, I’ll go grab a plastic bag. You can wash them downstairs.”
I’m livid as I walk down to my room. Those three are getting bolder. I suspect Roxy’s one of the girls who tossed some bullshit at Hope the other night too. Swan’s sweet, soft-spoken, and never has an attitude. Even though we’ve never talked about our pasts, I suspect she enjoys hiding out with a bunch of bikers because she’s running from something similar to what I left behind. Fucking around with her stuff that way really pisses me off.
Once we take care of her clothes, she runs back upstairs to ask Teller for a ride home. Can’t blame the poor girl. I pocket a small box I’ve been saving for a special occasion and head to the kitchen.
I’m almost giddy when I spot the toxic trio—Roxy, Cherry, and Ginger—at the table hanging all over Ravage and Stash. As soon as Rav spots me, he holds out his arms. “Where you been, baby girl?”
Ignoring the glares from the three bitches, I give him a quick hug. “Around.”
“I’ll say,” Ginger mutters under her breath. That’s rich coming from her. I ignore it because I have something so much better than a witty comeback in mind.
Smiling brightly, I ask if everyone wants coffee. Of course none of the three bitches offer to help me in the kitchen, although Roxy takes great care reminding me that she only drinks decaf.
I’m very aware of this fact.
The other two nod along. They pretty much do whatever Roxy says or does.
Breezing into the kitchen, I find Hoot already has a pot of coffee going. “Morning, Trin.”
“Morning. Can you hand me the orange carafe?”
He frowns but plucks it off the shelf and hands it to me. “Can you go check if Sparky needs anything?” I ask, to get him out of my way.
His eyebrows draw down again, but he leaves the kitchen.
Perfect.
I have no intention of making a separate pot of coffee for those three cunts. Well, not a pot of decaf coffee anyway. Dumping the entire box of laxatives in the coffee pot, I muse that caffeine will be the least of their concerns in two to four hours.
After Trinity stormed out of my room, I tried hard to go back to sleep. I considered going after her, but I actually want things to work this time. Chasing her down when we’re both pissed off isn’t going to accomplish much.
I’ve got another two weeks until the big fight. Two more weeks of close quarters with Trinity. My dick gets hard just thinking about her in her tight little workout clothes, helping me out at the gym.
My door slams open, banging off the wall, and I bolt upright.
Trinity storms in, kicking the door shut behind her.
“What the fuck, Trin?”
She plants her hands on her hips and stares me down. “I know you haven’t been fucking any of the other club girls.”
My jaw drops. “What?”
“I know I’m the only girl you’ve been with in a while, so what’s going on?”
Where is this coming from? What’d she do, go question every chick in the house while she was gone?
Crossing my arms over my chest, I glare right back at her. I’d get up, but I’m still naked from earlier. Trin seems a little unpredictable at the moment, so I prefer to keep my dick safely hidden beneath the sheet. “Why are you so concerned about who warms my cock all of a sudden? You hate me.”
Her bottom lip thrusts out in an irresistible little pout. I hate when she makes that face. Every single time, it makes me want to give her everything, kiss her, snuggle her, whatever the fuck she has going on in her nutty little head, I want to do to make her smile.
“I don’t hate you,” she whispers. “Why would you say that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I suggested we try being together and you ran out of here like I tried to set you on fire.” Fuck, as soon as the words leave my mouth, I wish I could take them back.
She shrugs off my thoughtless comment. “Well, you haven’t always been super nice to me either, you know.”
“I fucked up. I’m trying hard here, Trin.”
“Why are my fuckups still topics of conversation?”
“What are you talking about?” To my knowledge, Trin never admits to fucking up. She’s a tough little bitch.
There’s that fucking pout again. This time she glances at the floor. Something’s weighing on her. “The way you’re always telling everyone what a slut I am.”
Aw, fuck. “What are you talking about? I’ve never called you that.”
“No, but you’ve implied it and worse.” She lifts her gaze, piercing me right down to my soul. All my shitty behavior over the years and especially the last few months comes rushing back.
Then she spills what’s been bothering her for the last eight years. What we’ve never acknowledged or spoken about. “You know what MCs normally expect of girls like me. But here, you could have said I was off-limits and they would have respected it. But you said nothing. I didn’t expect a property patch or anything more than what you were capable of giving me at the time. I didn’t think you wanted me. It wasn’t fair for you to be mad at me when you never said anything.”
Each one of her brutally honest words burns like acid. I’m not sure if we’re getting somewhere or if this will end up pushing us further apart. “Trinity, you know that’s not entirely true. I asked you not to do that for the club. We both know no one pushed you into being club ass.” I say it as gently as possible, because I’m really not trying to hurt her feelings. “I told…I’m not going to lie, it fucking hurt, Trin.”
My mind flashes back to the night all this shit got fucked up between us for real. All I can see is Teller pulling her up the stairs. Trin’s questioning eyes. And I sat there like an asshole and let it happen because I was too proud and pissed off. After my spectacular display of how little I cared, she went with Z not long after. That stung, because we’ve been friends forever. Still I said nothing. She and Teller got tight for a while. Then she, Teller and Murphy. I stopped paying attention after that. It hurt too fucking much. Because it was my own fault. I couldn’t be mad at my brothers because of the reason she said. I never opened my stupid mouth to stop it.
These last few weeks, working with her has been fucking awesome. I love getting up and finding her waiting for me downstairs every morning. Love having her around at my gym all day. We’re finally getting back to where we were before things went to hell. No. Actually it’s better. I don’t want to lose her.
I can’t fuck this up again.
Tears silently track down her cheeks. In the past I would have said something nasty to cut her even deeper. Never again.
Pulling her into my arms, I use my thumbs to wipe her tears away.
“I’m sorry,” she sobs against my chest. “I didn’t—”
“Shhh. It’s in the past now, okay?”
Her head tips back. “Is it? Can it ever really be in the past? Because sometimes I can’t close my eyes without seeing you and Ginger together. Or Cherry, or—” I place my hand over her mouth to stop her.
“I understand what you’re saying.” I pin her with a hard stare. “I do. I’m sorry I tried to push you into something you’re not ready for. But I want you to understand, you mean more to me than just sex.”
She shakes free of my hold but perches next to me on the bed, keeping her feet on the floor. “That’s how I felt when we first met. You kept coming back and I didn’t understand why.”
Laughter rumbles out of me. “It surprised me too. But I couldn’t stay away.”
“Then, it hurt the way you…didn’t care enough to—.”
“I’m sorry.” Using two fingers, I press them against her cheek and turn her to face me. “You don’t trust me yet.”
Her hand reaches up, grasping mine and pulling it away from her face. “It’s not just you. I don’t trust myself.”
I know exactly what she means and it doesn’t piss me off the way it would have a couple years ago. I understand her better now. Hell, I don’t trust myself either.
I bring her hand to my face and brush my lips over her knuckles. “We’ll work on it together, okay?”
Instead of giving me the answer I want, she blows me away with a question I’m not expecting. “Why didn’t you tell me nothing happened between you and Cherry?”
Fuck, how long was she gone? What’d she do, play dick detective the entire time? “What?”
“You never told—”
I sit up straighter and put my back against the pillows. “I didn’t want to make excuses. I still fucked up. I brought her up here intend—”
“But you didn’t? Why?”
Because I don’t want to get it up for anyone else. “She’s not you.”
“Yeah, but you thought I was across the hall with Z…”
“It wasn’t worth it.”
She stares at the wall as if trying to make sense of that.
“That night I spent like ten minutes gushing to Z about how you and I were getting along so well…and…I ended up feeling like such an idiot.”
It takes a second to absorb all that information. “Wait. What did you tell him?”
She shrugs and refuses to look at me. “I don’t know. That it was like when we first met.”
Reaching out, I brush my hand over her cheek. “Is that bad?”
Finally she looks at me with so much hurt in her eyes. “Yeah, because too many bad things have gone down for it to ever be like that again.”
She’s wrong. She doesn’t know it yet. But she’s wrong.