"I'm hiding from my husband."

It's those five words that have all the air leaving my lungs and my vision seeing red. Hearing Grace's voice shake when she makes her confession has my fist clenching at my side. Shit Jake, calm your ass down. It's not the married part that's fuckin' with my head, because a quick bullet to the motherfucker's head will solve that problem. No, it's the fear in my Little Bird's eyes right now that has my anger soaring. I note the tremble in her body, and that alone is telling me she is afraid. She's scared of this bastard, she's afraid of opening up to me, and my gut is telling me I am not going to like what I am about to hear.

Keeping my emotions in check, I go against Grace's orders, and I take one, two and three strides towards her until we are toe to toe. Reaching up, I cup her cheeks with my palms while relishing the feel of her silky skin on my rough, callused hands. I watch as her eyes close and she takes a shuttered breath before releasing it. "Tell me, Little Bird." I urge. Opening her eyes, she meets my stare.

"I'm scared." She confesses.

"I know you are, but you don't have anything to fear with me."

Digging her nails into my forearm while I keep my hold on her face, "The last time I allowed myself to get close to a man, it nearly killed me…literally," she chokes out.

"I would rather die than harm one hair on your gorgeous head, and I'd kill any motherfucker who dared to try," I say with conviction. Using the pad of my thumb, I swipe away the tears streaming down her face.

"I know you won't hurt me, Jake. I left because I was afraid," Grace whispers.

"I suspected as much, but make no mistake, Little Bird, you will be coming home with me. Consider your wings clipped." I feel her body tense at my words.

"You can't just show up and make demands, Jake. It doesn't work that way, not anymore. I refuse to have another man control me."

"I don't want to control you, Grace. I want to keep you safe, and the safest place for you is with me. Don't put me in the same category as that bastard because unlike him, everything I do will be for you. To make you safe and make you happy. You will always be my top priority." Hearing the truth in my statement Grace closes her eyes tightly and nods. "First things first though is we are going to go sit down, and you are going to tell me as little or as much about what's happened to you. I won't force you to give me everything, at least not right now, but I need something from ya Grace."

Taking a deep breath, she agrees and leads me over to sit with her on the sofa. I sit down first and Grace goes to sit at the other end, but I'm not having any of that so, not letting go of her hand I pull her down to sit on my lap. "It's been six months since I've had my hands-on you babe, I need you close." At my confession Grace's body melts into mine.

Chemistry is something we never had a problem with. We both have felt the pull towards each other from the moment we met; her hesitation is what had me treading carefully.

It takes Grace a few moments to collect herself before she begins to speak.

"Two years, ten months, and five days. That is how long I have been running from my husband. It was also the last time he beat me so bad I landed in the emergency room. It was not my first hospital visit, but it was the one where I met Finn and he convinced me enough was enough. Detective Finn O'Rourke is the officer who took my statement at the hospital."

Grace must have felt me tense underneath her and she pauses to look at me. I run my hand up the length of her back encouraging her to continue.

"Anyway, my husband told Detective O'Rourke I had been mugged, but I could tell by the expression on Finn's face he wasn't buying it, and when my husband stepped out of the hospital room to take a phone call, Finn called me out on it. I didn't say a word to confirm nor deny his suspicions. I was too scared. Why would I have reason to trust another man, especially one I didn't know. That and my husband and his family are very powerful. Escaping was nearly impossible. I was watched twenty-four seven. I did escape though, I took a chance that night and trusted Finn. He helped me escape my husband, and he's been helping me hide ever since. He found Polson for me. He rented the space for me. The bakery, that was all him. A complete stranger. After time I got to know Finn and his reasoning for helping me and the way he makes complete sense now." Grace says the last statement with a somber tone. I'm also curious to what she means by her husband being powerful, but decide not to press. Not when she's finally opening up to me.

"I married Ronan when I was twenty-one, and in the time we have been married I have had two broken arms, a broken ankle, many fractured ribs and more black eyes and busted lips than I can count along with several concussions. All the while receiving pitied looks, people looking the other way. But what pissed me off the most where those who constantly asked; why do I stay, why don't I leave him."

Lightly gripping her hips to interrupt her Grace looks at me. "You stayed because he would have killed you had you tried to leave."

With tears streaming down her face she nods her head and then buries her face in the crook of my neck and sobs. I want Grace to know I would never judge her for staying in the situation she was in. Women who are in abusive relationships work strictly on fear and survival mode. I know in my heart that is what Grace was doing all those years she was with that soon-to-be a dead man. She was surviving. A little while later her tears stop, and she looks up at me. Even with swollen red eyes and a tear-streaked face, she's still the most beautiful fuckin' woman. "No more storytellin' today, babe. You did good, and I'm proud of ya. Thank you for trusting me enough to give a part of yourself."

I pull her face towards mine, and my mouth comes crashing down on hers. It's been too long since I've had her taste on my lips. When I run my tongue over the seam of her lips it is all the encouragement she needs to open up for me, and when she does, she lets me know she is just as starved for my taste as I am hers.

We kiss for what feels like forever, only forever is not long enough when it comes to this woman. In one swift movement, I grab Grace by the waist and shift her on my lap so that she is now straddling me. Her work uniform bunches up around her waist, and I can now feel the heat of her pussy against my dick which is straining against the zipper of my jeans, demanding to be released from its confines.

Grabbing a handful of Grace's red locks, I gently pull her away and when I do the look on her face robs me of my words. Her swollen lips and lust-filled eyes are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. "Tell me you want this baby. Tell me you're finally ready to become mine completely."

With a dazed look, she nods. "Words, Grace. Answer me with words," I demand.

"Yes, Jake, I want this. I'm ready."

Hearing all I need to hear, I swiftly stand from the couch with Grace still in my arms. With our bodies moving in sync, she bends her legs around my waist and wraps her arms around my neck. Striding towards the bedroom not once do our eyes break their connection. Clearing the doorway of the bedroom, I kick it shut with my booted foot before making my way to the bed. Releasing Grace, her body slides down mine, and I don't miss the hitch in her voice when she feels my erection through my jeans. "Arms up, babe," I tell her gripping the hem of her uniform. Complying, she raises her arms above her head allowing me to slip it off exposing her lace covered breasts. Tossing her clothes to the floor, I then run my palms up the sides of her tits which are slightly more than a handful and hook my fingers into the cups of her white lace bra pulling them down.

My mouth waters at the sight of her dusty pink nipples, and it leaves me no choice but to go in for a taste. "Fuckin' perfect." I say just before my mouth is on her, taking her. Grace lets out a moan as I swirl my tongue around her nipple.

Fisting my hair, she arches her body into mine, and when she does, I award her other breast with the same attention. When my mouth leaves her body, she whimpers out my name.

"Jake."

Trailing soft kisses up her neck and behind her ear, to the place I know drives her wild, and she shivers. "Shh, baby. I'm going to take care of you." I say unclasping her bra and letting it fall to the floor behind her. "Lay down on the bed."

Without a flicker of doubt, my brave woman does as I ask. The push and pull of the past two years have lead us to this moment. Once Grace is laid out for me in nothing but a pair of white lace panties, I take a moment to ingrain this vision to memory. For a moment I see a look of uncertainty cross her face. My pause has caused Grace to feel self-conscious, and she raises her arms to hide her body from me. "Don't ever hide your body from me, Grace. I only stopped because I want to take you in. I want to burn the vision of your gorgeous body into my brain." With a wicked grin, I drop down to the floor in front of the bed and lean back on my haunches.

Gripping Grace around her knees, I pull her to the edge of the bed making my intention known. "It's time I get a taste of this sweet pussy you've been keeping from me. You don't know how many times I've jerked off to the thought of you ridin' my face." When I go to hook my thumbs into the waistband of her panties, Grace blurts out my name and covers her face. "What is it, babe? You want me to stop?" I ask.

"No," she answers quickly. "It's…nobody has ever done that to me, and my husband is the only man I've been with."

Taking a deep breath to tamp down my anger because the last thing I want to do right now is talk about him, but I realize she's feeling nervous and I need to calm her down. "Well, then I'm a lucky bastard because I'll be the first and last man ever to know what your pussy tastes like." At my declaration, our eyes lock in a heated gaze, and her body relaxes.

Moving forward, I continue with sliding her panties over her hips exposing her small thatch of neatly trimmed hair. Once I have removed the last strip of clothing, I run my hands up the inside of her thighs pushing them open. One look at Grace's beautiful pussy wet with her desire and I can no longer hold back. Without another second, I lean forward and swipe my tongue through her folds stealing my first taste, the sensation causes Grace to cry out and her sweet sound fuels my need to make this experience the best. "Come for me, Grace." I growl just before I suck her clit.

"Oh god, Jake!" She screams fisting my hair and filling my mouth with her essence.

Emerging from between Grace's legs, I stand and reach behind me pulling my shirt off over my head and use it to wipe my face and beard before adding it to the pile of clothes already on the floor. Peering down at my woman's sated body I smile, "You taste like somethin' I've been missing for years, babe."

"What's that?" She asks.

"Forever. You taste like forever, Grace," I tell her honestly.

Shedding the rest of my clothes, I bring my body over the top of hers, and I don't miss the shocked look on her face when she looks down between us and gets her first look at my cock. I give her a knowing smirk when she visibly gulps. Laying my body flush against hers, I grind my heavy erection back and forth through her slick folds, and the feel of her heat has me almost coming. Leaning down further to where we are now chest to chest I rest my forehead on hers. "I don't have a condom. This was not my intention when coming here. Please tell me I can take you bare, babe," I say, my control hangin' by a thread. "I'm clean, Grace. There hasn't been anyone since the moment I laid eyes on you." Seeing a flash of doubt cross her face, I continue. "I mean it, baby; it's only been you for over two years. No way was I going to stick my cock into anyone but you. And I knew it was going to be worth the wait." At my confession, Grace thrusts her hips upward causing her wet pussy to rub against my cock, and a deep growl to rumble in my chest.

"I'm clean too, and it's also been awhile for me, but I'm not on anything, Jake," she says thrusting once more.

"I'll pull out. You good with that?" As soon as the word yes leaves her mouth, I place one of her legs over my shoulder and wrap the other one around my waist. I then place the head of my cock at her entrance and in one swift move I bury myself balls deep as the room fills with the sounds of Grace's cries of pleasure mixed with the roar of mine.

Pausing for a moment not only for her to adjust to my size but also so I can gain some control over my body, so I don't come before we even start. A second later I feel Grace's delicate hands slide up my chest and around my back, pulling me closer to her.

"I need to feel you. Please, Jake," she pleads.

Giving her what she asks for I begin to move sliding my shaft in and out of her tight heat with slow, purposeful strokes as the coarse hair on my chest rubs against her hardened nipples. With both of our bodies covered in sweat, I start to feel a familiar tingle at the base of my spine letting me know I won't be able to hold on much longer. Grinding my pelvis down, I connect with her clit, and the friction causes her pussy to spasm around my cock. "I want you to come for me one more time, Little Bird. Let me feel your sweet tight pussy come all over my cock." As soon as the command leaves my lips, Grace's pupils dilate, and her mouth opens as she screams out her orgasm.

Something I learned a long time ago is my shy timid woman loves my dirty mouth. No longer able to hold back my release, I reluctantly pull out of the sweetest pussy I've ever had, wrap my hand around my cock and begin to pump. A few strokes later, jets of warm cum land all over Grace's pussy. I may not have come inside her, but I can still mark her as mine.

My body collapses next to hers; I pull her into my side, neither one of us saying a word for a few minutes. At this moment, words aren't needed. Grace knew this time was coming as well did I. We both know we have a lot more to tell each other. I know what Grace told me earlier about her past is only the tip of the iceberg and I have yet to tap into things about my past. Grace knows I was married, and my wife passed away years ago, but I've never delved into any details. Maybe she never asked out of fear that I would in return ask about her past. But something tells me that's not the case. I feel she will wait for me to tell her when I am ready.

Allowing myself to think about things, I believe Grace has been going slow with me the same way I have for her. Granted her reasons are not entirely the same as mine.

"What are you thinking about so hard?" Grace's soft voice asks, bringing me out of my thoughts. "I'm thinkin' about how I'm ready for us to move forward. How I want you in my life, in my home and my bed, and on the back of my bike. Are you ready to come home, Grace? Are you ready to trust that I can take care of you and that my club and I will do whatever necessary to protect you?" Twisting my body, so I am face to face with her, I cup her cheek and use my thumb to wipe away her tears. "The last six months have been killin' me, Little Bird. When you left, you took my soul with you. I love you, Grace." By the time I finish pouring my heart out, which is something I don't ever fuckin' do, but this woman has me by the damn balls. "Are you done running? Are you ready to come home?" I ask once more.

Choking past her emotions, "Yes, I want to come home."

A couple hours later I'm lying in bed watching the rise and fall of Grace's chest. It's almost like my mind won't allow me to sleep, because if I do, I'll wake to find her gone. Shifting beside me, Grace rolls to her side facing away from me and the sheet covering her body falls below her waist exposing her bare shoulders and torso to me. And what I see peeking from beneath the sheet has all the air leaving my lungs. Scars. Some so bad the skin is slightly raised. Some are criss-crossed and some...fuck. Grace was whipped. That's exactly what her back is covered in. Scars caused by someone taking what I'm guessing is a belt to her. Lifting the sheet, I let my eyes travel down and I see more of the same thing on her lower back. Dread settles in my stomach because I know in this moment that my woman, this beautiful, amazing and caring woman knows abuse.