I woke up in my room in Hatch’s arms. And it was glorious, utterly decadent and right where I wanted to be.

He wasn’t perfect, he was far from it with his prison background and ties to crime, but I wasn’t perfect either. Not that many men could find out about my own family ties to organized crime and understand why I needed to get away. So many of them were glamorized by the money and my father’s power and wanted what he had.

Hatch was different. He was simple and yet so complicated. He wanted a simple life but was a deeply complicated man.

And my god, he could fuck like a rock star.

I shifted, my body aching from all the positions we’d tried. It was a good ache though, a satisfied ache that filled me with smug pleasure.

“Morning, kitten,” he said in a voice thick with sleep. I was about to reply by grabbing his cock and climbing on board, but my stomach answered for me with an embarrassing loud rumble that almost shook the sheets.

He opened one eye, stared at me and grinned. “And good morning to you too, kitten’s belly.”

“Are you hungry?” I asked, my cheeks flaming.

“I could eat. In fact, we probably should eat before you devour me to appease the goddess of hunger that lives in your stomach.”

“Ha ha, now don’t tick me off or I will definitely eat you up,” I replied and growled as I nibbled at Hatch’s chest and throat. He caught me in his arms and pulled me for a kiss in spite of what must be dragon breath in the morning.

I finally broke away when my stomach growled again, protesting the lack of food going into it.

“All right, let’s get you fed before we fuck…again. I was never that good in school, but even I don’t know if I can count as many times as we managed to fit into a single night,” he grinned and opened both his eyes, fully awake.

I rolled off him, climbed off my bed and smiled. “Nine times. Seventeen orgasms for me though, so I’ve got you beat. Although it could be eleven if you count the two time you stayed hard and stayed inside as separate.”

“You were counting,” he chuckled and stood up next to me, once again almost startling me with his height and the width of his massive shoulders. He was pure perfection, and his tattoos were beautiful in the morning light. I wondered if we could get inked together some time, come up with our own design to share our bodies in more way than sex and love.

He dragged his jeans on, no underwear, and slid into his tee shirt. It had been tossed onto the floor and was wrinkled now, but I loved it. He looked good when he was rumpled, especially since I knew the cause.

I grabbed my nightie and robe and pulled my thick hair back into a pony tail. I might need some help getting the knots out later, I had a feeling being mashed against the pillow and fucked hard wasn’t exactly good for the hair.

I took his hand and led him into the kitchen area of the hotel suite my father and I called home.

We’d moved in here after mom had been killed, he thought it offered more security for us than the mansion we’d once had outside of town. He wanted me close to his business so he could keep an eye on me, which only added to the constant itch I felt to get away from him.

“How would you like an omelet?” Hatch surprised me when I was digging through the cupboards looking for coffee.

“You cook?”

“Oh yeah, it comes from years of essentially being on my own and then the work I did in the prison kitchen. I took the weekends when the wood shop was closed, it let me use my creative side and kept me out of trouble.”

“I would love anything you make. I’m not exactly that good at making anything, I was going to suggest instant oatmeal or cereal. How about I get the coffee going, though? That’s one thing I’m an expert at.”

“Sounds perfect,” he replied, bent to kiss the tip of my nose, and went to work.

After I set up the coffee maker, I watched him work and it was magical. It had been a huge turn on to see him work the wood for the bar, but watching him prepare our breakfast was just as exciting.

He was skilled, that was obvious, but he managed to make it look easy. He even had me whipping the eggs and cutting up the veggies and I didn’t even spill or cut my finger off.

It was progress.

I served our coffees, found out he took it black and strong like I did, and he set our plates down at the dining table.

He watched as I took the first bite of mine and I literally groaned in pleasure. It was utterly delicious and I was certain I had died and gone to heaven.

Not only had I found a man who could fuck me like a demon and make me feel like an angel, but he could feed me too.

As if there had been any doubt before, but at that moment I knew something as sure as I knew the sun would set that evening. Hatch Malone was my man, and I was never letting him go.

“Is it okay?” he asked, his brows knitted in concern.

I swallowed and moaned again. “Oh fuck yes, in fact if you didn’t make me feel so good in bed, I would probably still consider keeping you around for making me feel so good at the table.”

“I’m sure I could find other ways to make you feel good at the table too, kitten,” he said suggestively and put his hand on my knee under it.

“Who’s your friend?”

I jumped at the sound of my father’s booming voice coming from behind me. “Daddy,” I said in a voice that was a little too bright and a little too brittle, showing how much stress had just leapt into my body at his mere presence.

Hatch took his hand off my knee and slid his chair back. He stood and turned towards my father, held his hand out and said, “My name is Charles Malone, I’m dating your daughter, Sir.”

“Charles?” I asked with a small snicker. “That’s almost presentable.”

He shot me a look that made me shut up, but couldn’t get rid of the smile on my face. I stood next to him and said, “What he said. This is my boyfriend.”

“And fiancé, if she’ll have me,” Hatch…aka Charles, said. “I’d like to take her to California with me where we could start our life together.”

My father ignored Hatch’s hand and glared at me, his look sending ice straight into my veins.

“Over my dead body,” he said in a cool, calculated tone. “There is no way I would let my only child and sole heir run off to live with some filthy biker.”

“I’m no longer a biker, Sir,” Hatch said, his voice maintaining his calm demeanour. He’d told me about learning to de-escalate conflict in prison, and man, that was going to come in handy here.

“But you were. And judging by your place of origin, your tattoos, and your jacket, I know the club. But we wiped you off the face of the earth, all you Blood Soldiers. It was lucky for you that you were still locked up when my men moved in.”

I’d never seen my father’s eyes so dark or so evil. I shivered and looked at him like he was a stranger, like I’d never met him before. “What are you talking about?” I stepped back and felt Hatch’s strong arm circle around me protectively.

“I was in a club,” Hatch said, his voice thick with emotion. “They weren’t the nicest people around, but to me they were my family. And kitten, it seems as if your father had them all killed.”

“Why would you do that?” I demanded, grasping at Hatch’s hand, as much for my support as his. “Why would you fight some biker gang down in California?”

“They had your mother murdered. Ask your boyfriend all about it.”

“I know nothing about that,” Hatch replied.

“You mean that was the gang you had taken down last year? Hatch’s people?”

My father nodded. “Yes, and now you can see why it’s no coincidence that he showed up here on our doorstep. He’s using you to get to me, Kitty. There’s no other explanation.”

“That is an outright lie,” Hatch growled menacingly. “I had no idea who you were until today, and to be honest, I still don’t know who the fuck you are and why you would accuse my family of killing your wife.”

“I was given solid evidence of the matter,” my father insisted, his eyes never leaving Hatch’s face. “I trust the men in my employ.”

“You should rethink who you trust, because I can guarantee we never killed your wife, not up here in Vegas. We were strictly territorial in Cali.”

My body was so tense it felt like my back would snap if I moved. “Dad, can we please have a talk here? If Hatch is saying they didn’t do it, then I believe him. As much as I want to know who killed Mom, I trust his word.”

His eyes flickered with rage, but he reigned it in. Little did he know, I was leaving with Hatch the first chance we got. “Fine. As to your request, no, in spite of you claiming to have nothing to do with the death of my wife, you may not take my little girl away from me.”

“That’s not up to you, Sir,” Hatch said, holding me tighter, I relaxed as the heat of his body warmed me up. “It’s up to her and me. We’re the ones building our life together, I was asking out of respect to you.”

“He’s right, Dad. You can give us your blessing or you can never see me again. It’s up to you.”

My father, ever the businessman, weighed his options. I could see the wheels turning in his head as he thought things through.

“I suppose I’ll see you when he dumps you and leaves you broke and broken somewhere on the side of the road. No good can come from you going with a man like this, mark my words.”

And like that, my father single-handedly destroyed any hope I’d had of us ever being close again. He’d chosen his prejudice and his whores over his own daughter, and it hurt.

It hurt but I had Hatch, and I knew my father was wrong. He would never leave me, he was the one ride or die person I had left in my life, and I was okay with that.

I was more than okay with it. I was thrilled to be with a man like him.

I didn’t say a word, I quietly took Hatch’s hand, left everything on the table, and led him to my room.

I heard my father raging outside, yelling at the cleaning lady to get it all picked up while he stomped around and finally left.

“Are you okay, kitten? That was pretty fucking harsh. But I swear, it wasn’t us. We didn’t kill your mother. Blood Soldiers had no dealings in Las Vegas, we knew it was Nuggets territory.”

“Nuggets? Those are the guys who work for my dad,” I exclaimed. “Then it was a set up. They set your gang up and made them take the fall for it. But for what? Did they kill my mother?”

“Were they your father’s partners before your mother’s death?”

“No, they were there right after though, helping him through it…but…”

“What is it, kitten?”

“They’re the ones who changed him, who led him into darker places. Oh my god, Hatch, we have to tell him. They set you up, they killed my mother.”

He held me close while I babbled and processed the horrible revelation, not only had the gang destroyed my life by taking my mother from me, they’d destroyed me all over again by turning my father into the monster he’d become.

All I had was Hatch now, and all I could do was pack and leave with him, turning my back on the man who had once called me his little girl…and hope that in the future I could repair my relationship with him and prove to him that the man I loved was innocent of anything my father believed.

At least I had Hatch though, I couldn’t imagine being alone in the world, especially not after finding a man as absolutely perfect for me in every way as Hatch Malone seemed to be.

Love would see me through, and love would help me heal.