He reaches out, grabbing my wrist and pulling me back to him.
“Fuck, it’s not what you think.” He runs his other hand through his hair like he’s trying to find the words. “I didn’t want to share you yet, and I wanted you to get to know me before you got to know the president of the Ghost Riders. Hell, you saw a lot that first night you were here and I was fucking shocked you let me in, but I didn’t want to push it. I’ve been working on making you fall in love with me before you saw the rest.”
He leans down a little, bringing his face to mine. “You play by all the rules and are way too fucking good for me, but I’m selfish and I want you, and I’ve been trying to make sure you can never slip free. No matter what you see.”
I close the distance between us, molding my lips to his. Lucias instantly kisses me back, taking control of the kiss like he always does, pushing his way into my mouth. I don’t know how long we’re like that before I hear someone catcalling.
Lucias growls, pulling his mouth from mine. I turn to see Cas standing in the doorway of the building.
“Don’t worry. I smacked Bulldog on the back of the head for giving your old lady a hard time,” she says. Lucias just shakes his head. “Izzy, do me a favor and don’t bring up the whole shooting me thing. I finally just got Vincent out of my ass. Literally. Let’s let sleeping dogs lie.”
I just nod. I haven’t seen her since that night, and she seems really okay with the fact that I shot her. She turns and goes back inside.
“Alright, let’s do this.” Lucias takes my bag from my shoulder and puts it over his, then takes my hand, pulling me towards the door.
I stop, yanking on his hand.
“I love you,” I tell him, because I want him to know that. No matter what I see on the other side of that door, nothing will change that. If all the things he’s been telling me about how he feels about me and what I mean to him are true, then that’s all I care about.
He turns to look down at me, then drags my body to his once again. His hard-on digs into me.
“You did not just fucking tell me that before I have to walk in here with a group of my brothers and introduce you,” he growls, making me smile. Lucias has been telling me he loves me from the beginning, but he told me not to tell him until I knew for sure. I’d known, but I could tell it was important to him. He wanted to hear me say it when I really knew him, because he wouldn’t ever let me go once I said it. But I think that was a lie. He wasn’t letting me go long before that. Months before, even.
I stand on my tip toes, giving him a quick kiss on the mouth, making him growl again.
“Let’s do this so you can take me back to your room and you can hold me captive again,” I say with confidence, wondering why I even doubted this man moments ago. It doesn’t matter if I fit in. I fit with Lucias, and that’s all that matters.
14
Walking into the clubhouse, I’m holding on to Izzy’s hand like it’s my lifeline. Hell, maybe it is. She’s come to mean more to me than I ever thought anyone could, and I don’t like having her far from me. I never wanted her tangled up in this life, but she’s mine, so there’s no way around it.
I meant what I told her about no secrets. I’ll tell her everything about this life and won’t leave anything unsaid between us. I was glad she didn’t ask, just because I don’t want to dirty her up with the shit our club does. We only do what we have to in order to protect our area and our businesses. We do what needs to be done to keep money in our pockets and keep our community protected from piece of shit biker clubs like the Five Aces. I’m not out looking for fights, but when someone threatens our territory or our pockets, it’s time to lay down the law. People like them only respond to strength, so we dish it out hard and fast. It doesn’t happen often, but we aren’t boy scouts, and I’d like to keep Izzy clean from this life for as long as I can.
I look back at the corner and see Bulldog keeping his distance. That’s probably smart for now. He didn’t know who Izzy was, but I’d still like to ring his bell for making her think I was with someone else.
Savage and Julie are here tonight, and I walk over to where they’re sitting cuddled up next to the pool table. Julie is about to pop, but she’s still got on a short skirt and tank top and is practically lying across Savage’s lap.
When they see us approach, I notice Savage slip his hand out from under her skirt and bring his fingers to his mouth. Julie has yet to see us, obviously lost to whatever it was Savage was doing under that skirt.