Burned(Devil's Blaze MC 2)(57)
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I tell her.
She looks up at me, her arm loosely draped around my waist. Those damn gray eyes grab ahold of me yet again. If she knew how deep she had her hooks in me, that fear I see in her eyes would disappear.
“Don’t, Hunter,” she whispers.
“Don’t what?” I ask, confused, my finger sliding down the bridge of her nose.
“Don’t tell me lines. I don’t need them.”
“You think because I’m telling you you’re beautiful that I’m automatically feeding you a line?”
“Listen, you’re a player, I get that. But I don’t need the lines. You’ve already bagged me. For the time we have left, just—”
“You need to shut the fuck up now, Katie.”
I put a hand in her hair when she tries to pull away from me. That’s not happening, not after what’s gone down between us.
“Weren’t you listening to me at dinner?”
“Well, yeah, but—”
“Katie, there’s no buts. I’m not playing here.”
“C’mon, Torch. We barely know each other. We agreed, one week, and—”
“Hunter.”
She looks confused. “What?”
“I’ve noticed. When you let down your guard, you call me Hunter. When you’re building up walls for me to break down or planning on saying something to piss me off, I’m Torch again. Let’s clear it up right now. To you, I am now and will always be Hunter. No more fucking walls, no more jumping through hoops. Just you and me.”
“We barely know each other,” she repeats.
I pull her face closer to mine. “I don’t give a fuck.”
“Hunter, you have your club to look out for. Bethie explained to me how that works. I have my sister.”
“You’re not listening to me, sweetness. I said I do not give a fuck.”
“You’re being crazy,” she says. “There’s too much between us. It would make being together impossible.”
“Do you care for me, Katie?”
“You were a one-night stand.”
“Do you care for me, Katie?” I ask again.
“How are we ever supposed to make things work? I have to protect my sister, Hunter. I have to.”
I won’t stop asking. “Do you care for me, Katie?”
“Hunter…”
“Answer my question.”
“I don’t know how to do relationships!”
“Katie,” I growl.
“Yes!” she finally cries out. “Okay! Yes! I do! But … I have to put my sister and niece first, Hunter. Bethie risked everything for me. She saved me!”
“Sweetness, I told you that, whatever happened, Skull was not involved. You said he had a traitor who helped set Beth up before. Is it too hard to think that person is the one who sent Beth that note?”
“I’m not stupid. It occurred to me, to both of us. But, that was Skull at the movies, that was Skull in that picture, and Colin told us that Skull was working with him because he wanted his daughter, that he would stop at nothing to get Gabriella back.”
“And you can trust Colin? And not me?”
“He had a recording of Skull swearing revenge.”
My spine stiffens at this new bit of information. “You never mentioned this before.”
“I was… Shit, Hunter, I’m not even sure I’m doing the right thing, talking to you now.”
I rest my forehead against Katie’s. “I know it’s hard. I do. But I don’t want to walk away from this. I want more of you. I want all of you.”
“If you’re playing me, Hunter, I will cut off your balls.”
“I care about you. I don’t want to give you up, not ever. I don’t care if it’s been days, weeks, or months. I know that you’re it for me. Trust me, Katie. I won’t let you down.”
My club always came first—until her. Katie is an obsession I can’t give up. An addiction I crave. She’s a fire deep inside, a beautiful flame that leaves me burned with a heat that I keep wanting over and over. I will find a way to make this work. I don’t have a choice because this woman is my future.
Katie watches my face closely. I don’t even blink. I’ve laid it out. I have nothing to hide from her. She is my priority. Then, finally, she nods her head.
“Tell me, Katie.”
“Okay, Hunter. I don’t want to give you up, either.”
Her voice shakes and I know how hard this decision was for her. I kiss her gently, conveying the hundreds of things I’ve told her and all the things I haven’t yet. I will make this work.
I have to.
“Hunter! Let’s get going, Romeo. Shake a leg!”