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)
“I’m sorry,” she finally whispered against my shirt.
I pulled back enough to look down at her face. “For what?”
“For bringing this mess into your life. Into the club.”
“Already been through this,” I said firmly. “You have nothing to apologize for. Not one Goddamned thing.”
Her hands fisted in my cut, clutching the leather as if it might anchor her. “I feel so stupid. Part of me still wants his approval, still wants him to be the father I remember from before everything fell apart. How fucked up is that?”
“It’s not fucked up,” I told her, brushing my thumb across her cheek. “He’s your father. That shit runs deep, no matter what he’s done.”
“I’m afraid,” she admitted, her voice barely audible. “Afraid of seeing him again, afraid of what he might do or say and that I’ll fold and let him manipulate me like he always did.”
“I won’t let that happen,” I promised. “I’ll be right there with you the whole time. We all will.”
She looked up at me then, her eyes clearing slightly. “Why are you doing this? Why are you all helping me? You barely know me.”
The question caught me off guard, not because I didn’t know the answer, but because the answer seemed so obvious to me. “Because you’re one of us,” I said simply. “Mine. Because from the moment you stood in that hallway with your three black cats and told me off, something in me recognized something in you. And because I care about you, Ellie. More than I’ve cared about anyone in a long fuckin’ time.”
Her breath caught, and I watched something shift in her expression, fear giving way to determination. She rose on her tiptoes, her hands sliding up my chest to curl around the back of my neck.
“Show me,” she whispered, her lips a breath away from mine.
I hesitated, searching her face for any sign of doubt. “Ellie, you don’t have to --”
“I want to,” she interrupted, her fingers threading through my hair. “I need to feel something good right now, something real. And this, what’s between us, feels more real than anything has in years.”
Her words broke something loose inside me, a dam I’d built against feeling anything too deeply since Larissa died. I lowered my head, capturing her mouth with mine in a kiss that started gentle but quickly blazed into something fierce and hungry. She made a small sound against my lips, pressing her body closer to mine, her curves fitting perfectly against the hard planes of my chest.
I walked her backward until her legs hit the edge of the bed, my mouth fused to hers. I needed to touch her everywhere, but I needed her in the Goddamned bed more. When we tumbled onto the mattress, I braced myself above her, not wanting to crush her with my weight. Her hair spread across the purple comforter like spilled ink, her eyes dark with desire as she looked up at me.
“You’re sure?” I asked, needing to hear it one more time.
In answer, she reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head in one fluid motion. The sight of her pale skin against black lace stole my breath. She was beautiful, ethereal in the dim light filtering through her curtains, and the fact that she wanted me, trusted me enough to be vulnerable with me, hit me like a physical blow.
“I’m sure,” she said, reaching for me.
I lowered myself to her, my mouth finding hers again as I explored the soft curves of her body with my rough hands. She arched beneath me, tugging at my shirt, pulling it over my head with shaking hands. When my skin met hers, we both gasped at the contact, electric and perfect.
“Chains,” she breathed against my neck, my name a prayer on her lips.
I wanted to take my time, to learn her body with reverent touches and kisses and watch her face as pleasure bloomed across her features. But there was no possible way I could wait. Not this first time.
I shoved her bra over one tit and found her ripe nipple with my mouth and sucked hard. Ellie arched her back, gasping in a breath and threading her fingers through my hair as she clung to me. She raked her nails against my scalp as I moved to her other breast. Every sound she made, every arch of her back, every tremor that ran through her body only fueled the fire burning in my veins. I wanted to memorize every inch of her, wanted to brand myself into her memory so she’d never forget this moment, never forget how good we were together. I needed to be… everything she ever needed.
“Please,” she whispered, her hands fumbling with my belt buckle. “Need you.”
The raw need in her voice nearly undid me. I helped her with my belt, my hands actually shaking as I worked the leather free. She pushed at my jeans, and I lifted my hips to help her slide them down.