Risky and Wild(7)

“Listen, Pint-Size, I can't just … casually see you.” I stare back at him as he reaches down and twirls the fork around his fingers. “Or shag you.” That smile's back, turning my own lips into a frown. “Remember how I asked you if you'd ever considered a different life?”

I swallow hard and pick up my own fork. I can feel my heart beating in my throat like a trapped bird. I swirl some of the angel hair pasta on the tines and then look back up at Royal.

“Of course I remember that,” I say as I stare back at him and wonder what the hell I've gotten myself into. “But I … I thought we were agreeing to, you know, see each other. Not … shack up.”

Royal tosses his head back and laughs, tucking his hands behind his head and smiling at me.

“For better or worse, cupcake, you're staying here. What do you think Mile Wide's gonna do with my ol' lady if they catch her all by her lonesome?”

“I'm not your old lady,” I say as I put the pasta in my mouth and try not to groan. It's good. Really good. And it was made by an outlaw biker. How weird is that? “Doesn't that mean, like, your wife or something?”

“It means exactly what you think it means,” he says and then he's twisting his own fork into the food and pausing to check his cell when it buzzes. A frown creases his mouth as he sets it back on the table and looks over at me with raised brows. “It means you're bloody mine.”

“Right. Like you're mine,” I confirm, narrowing my eyes. I don't know much about motorcycle clubs except for what I've gleaned from TV, movies and Google. But here's one thing I do know: I'm not subservient or submissive to anyone. And I won't bow down to a brotherhood or take a backseat. “Royal, you know I'm not like those other women.”

“I know,” he says as he looks up at me, studies my face with a darkness clouding his features. “It's why I like you.” His mouth curves up into a small smile. “You know, I'm not like the other men either.”

“How so?” I ask as he takes hold of his plate and shoves it, right off the table. I gawp as it crashes to the floor in a spray of pesto and pasta before I turn to look back at him. A second later, my plate goes next and Royal is standing up and lifting me from my chair, laying me across the top of the table.

My breath comes in panting bursts as he climbs up on top of me, and I pray to God that this table is as sturdy as it looks.

“I don't think women are inferior twits. On the contrary,” he whispers, putting his face at that sensitive spot between my shoulder and my neck as I arch my back into him. The hot heat of his mouth teases my skin as he talks. “I'm one of the few that knows the real truth. You're all far more fucking keen than we lot are.”

“You're just saying that to make me forget about the old lady thing,” I gasp, but even though I know it's true, it's working. Royal's rough hands slide up along the sides of my thighs, push my skirt up to my hips. I reach down and clamp his wrists in place as he raises his head, putting our faces inches apart, his hard body lying partially atop mine. “I'm not sure … this thing between us …”

“You don't have to do anything you don't bloody want to,” he growls against my lips and then pauses. “Thing is, the club doesn't give a fuck about protecting the mayor's daughter … but my old lady? Different story. Listen up now, it's all or nothing with me, Lyric. I can't just shag you on the side and take you to dinner on a date. If you really want to see what this shit is between us, I need you to go all in, love.”

“I won't wear a … property of patch or anything like that,” I tell him, and I'm dead serious. Things are strange in my life right now. Being around Royal is tearing up who I thought I was inside. I'm starting to question what I really want from my life, if politics and austere buns and skirt suits are really me. But I'm also not about to trade one type of control for another. I won't do it.

“Hmm, negotiable maybe?” he asks, but I think he's joking. Either way, it isn't happening. I relax my hands on his wrists and let him push my skirt up the rest of the way, revealing the pink crotchless panties I've been wearing all day. Normally, I dress in lingerie for myself, to express the feelings I can't let anyone else see.

Today, I did it for him.

“Holy hell,” Royal hisses as he sits up and pushes my knees apart. I let him, watch his face as he takes in the view, and do my best to breathe. “Oh God, this is fucking glorious. You really are full of surprises, aren't you?”

Royal puts his left palm up next to my face, and when I turn my head, I can see the pair of pistols above his wrist. With his right, he reaches down and takes my chin, turning me back towards him as he smirks and leans over, pressing his hot mouth against mine.