It was one of the few instances I didn’t make it in time. Lorna had it out with Mig. She was hurt, and she was tired, but she didn’t want to tell me about it. Well, whatever it was couldn't have been that bad with the way she wiggled her ass in front of me on the bike. A distraction, more than likely to stop me from blacking out on another Scaler. The sound of the motor drowned out the thumping of my pulse, beating against my eardrums. I could barely focus on my reasons why I was holding back from her.

Her heart didn't belong to me, not yet. I had to keep that at the forefront. So I made sure that when we arrived at my place, I gave her the bed and told her I'd take the couch. A twinge of disappointment peaked from behind those hazel eyes. That soft brown hair got tossed into a bun as I placed fresh linens on the bed.

"Thank you, Preston," she said softly. "You're always there for me."

"Are you ready to tell me about what happened tonight?" I asked her.

She shook her head, "No, but just know that I'm going to be fine, and as soon as I'm at a hundred percent, I'm going to take care of it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she said firmly, "I know that you will defend me and fight every single one of my battles, but this is one I want to resolve on my own. Okay?"

"I don't think taking Miguel on by yourself is the greatest plan," I told her honestly. "It's okay to have help. It's okay to have me backing you up. It's okay to use me to fight these kinds of battles. I swear, Lorna, I will never let anything happen to you, but you have to give me the chance to show you that."

She approached me slowly with a softness in her gaze, "You've shown me that too many times to count. I want to show you and everyone else that I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Why don’t you guys believe me?”

I took a step back, eyeing her from head to toe, took a deep breath and started from our last altercation, “That twisted ankle wasn’t the best demonstration. The fact that you can’t scale right now is another. Do I need to remind you about what your father did to the East side of the city?”

“That wasn’t my fault. He overreacted, as usual,” she rolled her eyes.

“Just get some rest,” I told her backing away, “I don’t want to fight with you. I don’t want to argue. I want you to be okay, Lorna.”

“And I’m trying to tell you and everyone else that I will. No matter what happens, or if I get hurt, understand that I’m going to be fine. I wish I could prove that to everyone. More importantly, I need to prove it to you,” she said with a glint of sadness.

“Me?” I think I knew more than most that she’d be okay.

“Yeah, because if you know and understand that I’ll be fine without you jumping in to fight every single one of my battles, that will give you the time you need to show me how good you are at other stuff,” she grinned. “There has to be more to Preston Cane than being Lorna’s protector. I want you to show me what you’re good at, Preston. Like that kiss. You were great at that.”

I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks and other places. So I pushed all my reasoning, all of my excuses; I drove it all out of my mind and led with my heart. I knew what I was good at and holding back from Lorna wasn’t it. Pulling her in close to me, I waited for her to push me away or to tell me we shouldn’t. But instead, she inched up onto her toes kissing me gently on the lips. We paused, pulling back from each other, gazing into her eyes, I had to ask her, “Do you want to see everything I’m good at?”

She sat down on the bed and pushed herself until her back pressed against the wall. Her breast moved up and down as if she were nervous, but her words could never be mistaken, “I want you to show me everything. Show me the truth behind why you always show up for me.”

Licking my lips, I shook my head and crawled onto the bed, slowly sliding her legs open. With a single talon, I cut her out of her pants and sliced her shirt open to reveal a perky set of beige nipples staring at me. I took one in my mouth while my fingers entertained the other. Moans of pleasure escaped her lips as she ran her fingers through my hair. I couldn’t wait to taste every inch of her. I moved down from her nipples to her belly button, circling my tongue down her torso, stopping just above her waist.

With a seductive glance up to her, I spread her legs even wider to give me more room to work. The first flick of my tongue between her folds caused her hips to buck. Her flesh tasted sweet. I couldn’t get enough. My mouth continued to work over her pleasure, trying to make her climax as much as possible before I showed her the rest of Preston Cane.

Her eyes closed as she slid down onto her back. With me on top of her, I wasn’t sure why I suddenly felt a wave of hesitation over me.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered stroking the side of my face as I hovered around her entrance.

“Nothing, this feels right,” I told her.

“So what are you waiting for?” she asked me.

I slid inside of her walls with ease, filling every inch of space. Lorna’s head tilted back as she sucked in a breath of air while I pushed myself deeper and deeper inside of her. I wanted to tell her everything that was on my mind, but at that moment, I became focused on her pleasure. Her face flushed red. Her body writhed against mine. We tossed and turned over the bed, falling deeper and deeper into each other with every thrust, with every kiss, and with every touch of our bodies against one another. I couldn’t believe that this was happening.

By the time I was ready to orgasm, we were drenched in sweat and had changed positions more times than I could count. It was the best sex I’d ever had.

After we climaxed together one last time, I went into the bathroom to clean up. I brought her out a warm washcloth to wipe my very essence that dripped out of her sex. A part of me wanted to go another round, but I noticed something. A fresh trail of scars down her back marred her beautiful, naked, body.

I bent down to get a closer look, but she turned away from me and smiled, “You know you’re going to have to get me a brand new set of clothes right?”

“Yeah,” I said dismissively. I wanted to look at the injury, “Turn around, Lorna.”

“Round 2?” she smiled.

“No, show me why you can’t scale!” I said with anger replacing every ounce of lust and desire I’d just felt minutes ago.

She finally took notice of the shift in my mood. After pulling the sheets up to her neck, she folded her arms across her chest and turned to face the wall.

“I told you that I was going to be fine. I’m going to take care of it!”

“Did Mig do this to you?” I wanted to cry as I ran my hands over the circular scars where it was clear an Onyx Skull’s tail punctured her.

“No one else has been battling with me lately, at least physically,” she glared at me from the corner of her eyes.

“I’m going to go take care of this once and for all,” I growled.

“Preston, DON’T” she screamed out to me.

“NO! I’ll make sure he never hurts you like that again! Just stay here until I get back! I promise you, Lorna, he will never be allowed to do this to you or anyone else!” I threw my clothes back on and darted out of the apartment.

“PRESTON! PRESTON!”

It was then that I realized I only got as far as I did because she didn’t have any clothes to throw on. And without her ability to scale, she was liable to be taken as someone’s pet. I took advantage of it as I raced toward the Onyx Skull headquarters.

There wasn’t some elaborate party going on this time, but it still had an uncomfortable aura lingering within the space. It didn’t take long for Skinner to find me wandering through his playhouse of pets and Scalers. I only wanted to get my hands on Mig.

“The one you’re searching for is not here,” Skinner said without an introduction. He pulled the newest pet of his close to him. This girl was different from the last one. She was definitely into it, and him, as she wrapped her arms around his waist before sliding her hands down into his pants. The smile that spread across her face was almost as broad as Skinner’s.

“I need to get my hands on Mig, Skinner. I can’t have any interference from the Skulls when I do either, I told him.”

“Finally, a duel over the princess. How delightful,” he moaned as the girl stroked him in front of everyone. Skinner snatched her hands out of his pants to tell her, “You will not distract me right now. Go shove some pussy in your mouth.”

He tongued her down with a kiss that was neither passionate nor sexy. My face twisted in disgust, turning away from the display of debauchery. It wasn’t anything like what Lorna and I shared.

When he finished with her, he turned back to me, “I’ve heard things about the future of Black Harbor. It seems like a new regime is trying to take control? Say it isn’t so my Sapphire brother.”

“I can’t tell you anything for sure,” I shrugged.

“Well let’s make a deal then,” he offered with a sly grin on his face. I didn’t want to trust Skinner, but as creepy as he was, he never lied.

“I’m listening,” I sighed.

“Mig isn’t the best ally for us here. He brings a lot of trouble behind him because he doesn’t know how to treat certain people with the respect they deserve. His carelessness brings you here more often than I like. It also threatens to bring Golden Daddy down here which will ruin every ounce of progress we’ve been working towards in rebuilding this place.”

“I understand, so what’s your deal?”

“I will give you Mig, delivered on a silver platter if you promise to bring me in as the head of the Onyx Skulls. They all listen to me anyway,” he reasoned.

“I think it’s because they’re all scared of you,” I said looking around the room.

“And rightfully so,” he bowed his head, “Rumors are circulating that a certain Black Sapphire wants us all to bend to his will while you and your father want to keep things as they are with a healthy respect amongst the clans. No one wants a war, Preston, but we will not be turned into servants for the Sapphires or any other clan. We deserve to be present while the future of Black Harbor is negotiated.”

My father’s words rang in my head. He wanted anyone but Skinner. There was no other option. His word was as good as gold with me, as he’s never betrayed me before. So I held my arm out telling him, “If you bring Mig to me, then you will be given the seat for the Onyx Skulls within the Heads of Clans.”

He grabbed my arm by the elbow, pressing his against mine and we shook on it.

“One more thing,” I warned him before heading out, “If another Onyx Skull should challenge you and win, they will take your seat, Skinner.”

“I see no problems with that,” he smiled. “No problems at all.”