My body feels so relaxed, like I could melt through the car seat covers. Kai has his fingers laced with mine and occasionally brings my hand up to kiss my fingers. He loves me, he’d do anything for me, he said the words and isn’t worried that I didn’t say them back.

Kai’s F100 is full with my meagre possessions. When we pull into his driveway, a Harley is parked there.

“Fuck it,” Kai says with a sigh.

“What? Who is it?”

Kai kisses the back of my hand. “Come meet my father. Stay close and don’t listen to a word he says, okay? Don’t ask questions and I’ll explain anything he has to say after he’s gone. I need you to trust me.”

“I trust you. Completely.” I do trust him, but I’m less than excited about meeting Malek. For Kai, I give it my best shot of enthusiasm when I say, “Let’s do this.”

Kai grins at me, kisses me quickly and gets out of the car. I climb out my side and Kai grabs my hand and we walk together into his home. It’s old with newly renovated sections but it definitely needs a woman’s touch. I don’t have much time to look around as Kai leads me from the front to the back of the house and into the kitchen.

Standing on the back deck with a beer in his hand is a large, older man, covered in tattoos. He doesn't turn around even when Kai opens the back door and walks us out.

“Make yourself at home,” Malakai greets him sarcastically. Slowly, Malek turns to him, his gaze quickly diverting to me when he realises I am at his side.

“Well, well, what do we have here? The elusive redhead graces me with her presence,” he sneers at me, a look of disgust adorning his face. “About fucking time you let her out of the bedroom, boy.”

Kai pushes away from my side and is up in Malek’s face, his hands fisting tightly at his sides. “Watch what the fuck you say, old man,” he spits out through gritted teeth.

Malek takes a step forward, pushing Kai back on his heels. Although Kai towers over him in height, his father is as wide as he is tall. He looks up from Kai’s chest and snickers. “She’s a pretty little thing, I’ll give you that, son. Tell me, can your old man take her for a test run?”

“Fucking bastard!” Kai is on him in seconds, a stronghold around his throat, the other hand fisting his dirty biker shirt beneath his cut. Malek’s laugh thunders over the back yard, not at all perplexed that his son has him bent backward over the high-set railings around the deck. “You keep your fucking hands to yourself, you slimy old prick, I’m warning you,” he spits.

I watch, waiting for the force of both their weight to cause the railings to weaken and snap, causing them both to fall to their deaths. My breath is stuck in my throat, my feet won’t move although in my mind, I am running toward them.

“Kai,” I whisper, my hand reaching for him but I stand too far away. Louder, I add, “Malakai, he’s not worth it. He’ll never get his hands on me.” Malek has quietened down and the door behind me flies open with zest. I spin on my heels, my eyes wide with surprise and fear as I take in a tall, much younger looking man dressed in leather, eating something that looks like a marinated chicken leg. Sauce hangs on the corners of his mouth and drips down his hands as he takes in the scene before him.

“Step the fuck away, Malakai,” he warns, but doesn’t make any attempt to approach him. Slowly, Kai steps backward, bringing Malek with him until he is standing upright in front of him again. He looks to the other man.

“Fury,” he nods in his direction before returning to my side. He embraces me, cocooning me in his arms as I burrow into his chest.

“Callie, meet Malek, Crude Souls Prez and my...ah...father.” He shifts awkwardly on his feet as the word father leaves his mouth, like it pains him to say it. Malek stands silently brooding, his unfriendly glance burning through my soul.

“And that there is Fury, his sergeant at arms.” He throws a pointed finger toward the taller guy still snacking casually on his chicken drumstick.

Fury smacks his lips together and almost purrs, “Mmm, welcome to the club, Red.”

I give a hesitant smile and slight nod as Kai kisses my cheek, grabs my hand and leads me inside behind him, leaving both men on the deck staring after us.

“Sorry, baby,” Kai says as we make our way to the living area. “Let me show you around so you can start making yourself at home.”

“Home?” Malek saunters in behind us, unnoticed. His predatory stare has me pushing aside thoughts of Rance.

“Yes, home. Callie is moving in here with me, and you’ll treat her with the respect she deserves.”

Malek scoffs. “So, you’ve staked your claim, eh? That was fuckin’ quick, even for you, player.” I clutch Kai’s hand harder as he tries to pull away from me to take a shot at Malek. During my days of recovery, Kai had told me he was known as a player, his history as a man whore as he’d put it, but I didn’t have to like hearing about it. Right then, my only worry was getting him out of this room and away from Malek.

“Show me our room, babe? Maybe we can start there,” I offer, giving him a seductive smile meant only for him.

“Time to ride out, Malek. Let’s go.” Fury takes charge and within minutes we are alone, the sound of Harleys leaving the property, a distant memory.

*****

TWO DAYS LATER AND I was completely moved in with Malakai. My heart melted when I walked in from my appointment with my solicitors to find my bed had been moved into our room and Kai’s was now in the spare room. It was a simple gesture, but he knew how much I loved that bed in the short time I’d had it. He also understood the sentimental value as Missy had dressed it up to be almost identical to my mum and dad’s before they passed.

The best part of being locked up in a house recovering with Kai by my side was our conversations about nothing and anything. It’s like a year of getting to know one another was compacted into a short week and as much as I struggled with Kai’s physical response to me, our emotional connection grew in leaps and bounds during that time.

“Oh my God, Kai, you didn’t!” I run down the hall toward the open bedroom door and jump into his arms, launching us both back a few steps until we fall onto the comforter. Laughter fills the room and Goat, who followed me into the house, closes the door behind us. At Kai’s request, Goat accompanied me to finalise my inheritance payment. Malek insisted on Kai working in the bar this morning so he couldn’t go. It is my birthday tomorrow and my final gift from my parents would be in my new bank account in the next day or two.

Everything was finally falling into place. Now legally Callie Harper, I have transferred my car into my name and I’m living on a few acres by the river in sunny Queensland with a man I absolutely adore. A man who treats me like his queen. Nothing can ruin this moment for me.

“Thank you, baby.” Kai rolls me over onto my back and covers me in kisses.

“For what?” he asks, hiking up the skirt of my sundress and lacing his fingers beneath my panties. I moan as he slides his finger through my wet folds.

“You don’t know how much it means to me that you made up my bed in here,” I tell him. Pulling his face to mine, I trace his bottom lip with my tongue until he opens and devours my mouth.

Parting from the kiss, Malakai adds, “It’s a fresh start, Callie. You and me.” Between heated kisses peppered over my neck and collarbone, he continues, “I won’t have you living in the shadows of my past misdemeanours. And that means I will not have you sleeping in a bed I used for entertaining.”

His words conjure up an image of naked bitches and my man, but I refuse to let it take hold. This moment is ours and ours alone. “Just you and me, Kai. I love the sound of that.”

“You fuckin’ better.” My hips explode from the bed at the sudden but welcome intrusion of his fingers in my pussy. “Why don’t you show me just how much you love it? I think we should christen our bed.” I laugh as he winks at me, his mouth now covering my breast, my dress pushed up around my neck.

“I believe that ship has sailed, baby,” I moan and buck my hips to meet his hand, urging him to fill me further.

“Not in this room it hasn’t. Now let’s get you naked.”

“Argh,” I cry as his hand moves from between my thighs. His wicked grin tells me he knows just how much I need him and he loves it.

Within seconds we are both fully naked. Kai flips me over to my stomach, wedges a cushion beneath my thighs and takes possession of my wet pussy with his lips while his fingers work me into oblivion. I scream his name less than a minute later, a guttural cry that sounds foreign to my own ears.

“Fuck me. I wanted to make love to you our first time in here, but I need to fuck you, Callie. Like really fucking fuck you...hard, to the point I’m going to pass out if I don’t. Please, will you let me own you now and love you later?” I can hear the strain in his voice and when I look back at him, he sits staring at my nakedness; my pleasure running down my thighs. I love his hooded stare, the way his eyes darken when he is horny and burning with passion. 

“I’ll never deny you, Malakai. I’m yours however and whenever you want me.” When I’m with him, all of my past fades away. It’s as if nothing ever happened. All I feel is him, his possession of my body, I trust him with my life. He’s earned that and I know above all else, anything he was to do to me would be ours alone. No demons would ever find their way into our bedroom; our sex life. Callie Harper has been born again. Cindy’s demons have no place in moments like these.

His eyes dart straight to mine, a softness breaking through the possessiveness in his gaze. “Fuckin’ love you, woman. How did I get so lucky?” He groans as he pulls me back toward him until I’m on my knees, open to him at the edge of the bed. With one hand he pushes my head down, the other gripping my hip as he lines up his cock and slams into me in one strong, swift movement.

Insane pressure builds up in my core. I can feel him deeper than ever before. I’ve never felt so sated yet so out of control in my life. Everything he gives, I crave more of. Always more. He was too much but never enough all at once.

“Jesus, fuck, Kai, I’m gonna come,” I muffle loudly into the bedding.

“Not yet,” he commands, pulling all the way out, puffing his chest out at my infuriated squeal. “Need a second, I want to last at least a half minute, baby,” he pleads breathlessly.

“Please, Kai, I need you.” A rough palm lands on my left arse cheek and he is back inside me before my shriek has dissipated. I push my arse back onto his cock, silently urging him to take me deeper. Faster. I know he worries about being too rough with me, but before life with Randall became torturous and abusive, I enjoyed a varied and vigorous sex life.

The truth is, it’s never the sex that sparks bad memories for me, it’s the man handling outside of the bedroom, the abusive words and belittling comments that send me back to my days as Cindy. And Kai is none of those things with me. I trust him with every inch of my being and I need him to stop treating me as if I might spiral out of control at any moment.

Strong fingers grip my hips as Kai anchors me to him and picks up the pace, rocking into me with increased intensity. My breath hitches as the pleasure builds and our movements become frantic. My mouth falls open and a scream escapes as I shatter around his cock, pulling his own pleasure from him as I continue to move beneath him. His seed flowing from my body, he crashes over me, pushing me into the bed before quickly rolling to the side taking me with him.

Breathing heavily, Kai rises up on one arm and looks down at me. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asks, worry shading his features. “After everything you’ve been through, I thought you’d like it a little more...softer. But you did sound like you were enjoying it.”

My heart skips a beat. This is not a conversation I want to have with him right now, not after sex when I feel the most connected to him. I turn my head away, trying to think of the right words.

“Callie, I’m trying to understand, help me,” he pleads.

A sigh escapes me and I turn back to him. “I more than enjoyed it. Kai, I like it when you take charge and be a little rough with me. I’m not made of glass, I’m not going to break.” I reach out to cup the side of his face and he visibly relaxes under my touch.  “Babe, haven’t you noticed that in bed you don’t do anything unless I ask you? And I know that you will never go too far. Never do anything I won’t like. Rand—” I stop and shake my head, my ex-husband will never be in this room. “That man took so much from me, and baby all you ever do is give.”