Better.
Intimate.
“I wanted to let you know that I have to go to work tonight. It’s a twelve-hour shift from three to three. I won’t be back until probably four or five tomorrow morning. I’d like you in my bed when I come back here.”
“You’re coming back here?”
He hums and gently guides my face forward. His lips touch mine, then I feel his tongue slide along the seam of my lips before he gently shifts me backward. I bite the inside of my cheek, working the skin back and forth as I wait for his response.
“I have a small house. I usually stay there when I’m on duty, but since you’re here, I want to at least sleep beside you for a few hours.”
I don’t know why that makes my heart skip a beat, but it does. “Are you sure?”
His gaze searches mine, and then he clears his throat. “I’ve never been surer of anything in my life, Mill. You are my fuckin’ woman, and the only place I want to sleep is beside you.”
“When do you have to go to work?” I ask.
I’m breathless, my heart is slamming against my chest, and I have to squeeze my thighs together.
I want him.
Right here and now, I want him.
“I have to leave here in an hour. I’ve got to get my uniform ready and shit. But I’ll be back early in the morning. Do you want me to wake you up?”
Oh. Hellyes.
“Yes,” I exhale.
He chuckles, his fingers still curled around the back of my neck. He gently tugs my head close to his again until my lips connect with his. He doesn’t deepen the kiss. Instead, he slides his tongue across the seam before he speaks against my mouth.
“Yeah, I’ll wake you up, Mill.”
We stay that way for a while. I eat my muffin and drink my coffee, which are both absolutely fantastically amazing. I’m not sure I ever want this to end, but it does, about an hour later, and then he’s gone.
Off to work.
I watch him go with a bit of sadness consuming me. I know he’s coming back in less than twenty hours, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want him to stay with me. Always. The independent woman I once was has seemingly vanished, because I want him right here, next to me, forever.
“You doin’ okay, girl?” a deep, rough voice calls out behind me.
I look back at Shocker, who hasn’t left his post at the bar but has shifted around to face me. I smile, nodding a couple of times. “I’m okay,” I respond.
He grunts, shakes his head once, then speaks. “No, you ain’t, but you will be. The girls’ll sort you out.”
I start to ask him what girls, when the door to the club opens, and there stands not just Lainey, but Lainey and a whole-ass posse… and kids… at least four of them, maybe more.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
MILLIE
The women move asone unit, kids toddling or being carried along with them. I can do nothing but watch, but then Lainey takes a step out of their unit, and my whole body trembles.
Lainey was one of my best friends. She’s the whole reason I ever even met Axton. I wrap my arms around her before she gets the chance to do the same. I can’t believe it’s been ten years since I hugged her.
When I left Thunder Rock, I left her as well as Axton. I cut her off just like him, and I hated every second of it. Eventually, I became numb to them both, but those emotions, those feelings, they come flooding back right now. Tenfold.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper against the shell of her ear.
