Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 43689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
“No. I met Knuckles while I was in… uh, I mean, Knuckles was the one who recruited me here.” The last thing I wanted to do was remind her I’d done time, but it was like the fucking pink elephant in the room. All the guys here had done time.
“You met him in prison?”
My gaze shot to hers and I stopped in my tracks. I started to snap at her. Not because she’d done anything wrong, but because I was embarrassed. But she didn’t give me a disgusted look or a superior smirk like she thought she was better than me. No, she just looked like she might have asked me if I’d moved here from New York or some shit.
I nodded my head slowly and we continued on. “Yeah. Knuckles said I’d need a support system when I got out, and a good job. I have that and a place to live in the compound.”
“Do you like being part of a club?”
I thought about her question for a moment. We’d reached her door and she just looked up at me, waiting patiently for my answer.
“Yeah. This is my home. The guys here are my brothers and their women my sisters.”
“So it’s more than just a motorcycle club to you.” Christ, the woman was curious but in the best way. She seemed to see things few others I’d met outside of Kiss of Death did.
“Yeah. I’d die for these people, Ellie. And they’d do the same for me.”
“Well, this is me,” she said unnecessarily, hiking a thumb at her door. She faced me, leaning back against the wall. “Thanks for walking me back, even if it was mostly silent brooding on your part.”
I nodded, already taking a step back. “Night.”
Before she could respond, her door cracked open slightly, and a black shape darted out, wrapping itself around my legs. I froze, looking down as the cat rubbed his head against my boot, purring loudly.
“What the fuck,” I muttered, unable to move as the cat circled my legs, his tail curling around my calf like a living rope.
Ellie giggled, the sound making my stomach do a weird flip. I stared down at the cat, unsure whether to shake him off or remain still.
“Want to come in and meet the others?” Ellie asked. “They’re probably curious about you. Cats can sense when someone doesn’t like them, you know. Usually makes them more interested in being friends.”
I nodded stiffly, my eyes still on the cat, who had settled on my boot like he owned it. “Fine. But you might want to pick up this little monster so I don’t accidentally kick him trying to walk.”
“See? I knew you liked cats.” Christ, her smile… How could one woman be so fucking lovely and so eerily exotic at the same time?
But there was something in Ellie’s eyes, a warmth and openness, that made me want to be near her when I knew I wasn’t nearly good enough.
“So?” she prompted. She had picked up the cat and now stood with her hand on the knob of the open door. “You coming in? I promise they don’t bite. Well, Lucifer might, but only if you really deserve it.”
I should have said no. Instead, I found myself nodding, a bewildered agreement that surprised me as much as it seemed to please her.
“Great!” She pushed the door open wider, gesturing for me to enter. “After you.”
She let the cat down and he trotted off into the suite, tail straight up in the air. I followed, wondering how the hell I’d let myself be manipulated by this one small woman and her cat into coming into her private space where I’d be alone with her. Where her sweet smell would drive me fucking crazy and I’d sit there and take it just to bask in the light that was Ellie.
As I stepped over the threshold, I felt like I was crossing more than just a doorway. It seemed I was stepping over some invisible line I’d drawn for myself, one I hadn’t even realized was there until I was already on the other side of it. And there, right in front of me on my side of the line, was Ellie. And, God help her, I wanted to make her mine.
Chapter Three
Ellie
I watched Chains hesitate at my threshold, his broad shoulders filling the doorway as Binx wound between his legs like a furry serpent. The cat’s purr rumbled in the silence between us. Chains looked down at Binx, then back at me, his steel-blue eyes unreadable in the dim light of my apartment. Something shifted in his expression, a small surrender, and he stepped inside.
“Thanks for humoring me,” I said, closing the door behind him. “Binx doesn’t usually take to strangers. I wanted to see if he could coax the others to like you.” I smiled up at him, really studying his reaction.