“Good, ‘cause you’re gonna be on the back of my bike often, little mouse,” he murmurs, lowering his head, his lips brushing mine.
His kiss deepens, and I melt against him, my fingers threading through his hair. The taste of him is intoxicating—like whiskey and something uniquely Shadow. When he pulls back, I’m breathless, my heart hammering against my ribs in a way I’ve never experienced before in my life. It’s exhilarating.
I want to protest when Shadow pulls back, his eyes dark with promise in the fading light of the evening. “Let me show you my place.”
My body shivers at the gravelly tone of his voice, and I whisper, “Okay.”
Shadow takes my hand, leading me up the short path to the porch. The house isn’t large, but it looks well-kept, with a single rocking chair on the front porch. Not what I expected from a biker, though I realize when it comes to this man, he’s full of surprises with the layers that make him who he is.
Soft and gentle. Rough and rugged. Complete badass when he wants to be. Yet caring when needed. He’s the full package and everything I always wanted.
The moment Shadow unlocks the door, opens it, and turns to me with a grin, the butterflies in my stomach start fluttering a hundred miles a second.
Without warning, he lets my hand go, scoops me up, one arm behind my back, the other in the crook of my legs, and carries me over the threshold as if I were his bride on our wedding night.
“Shadow,” I gasp and hold on tight as he prowls through the house like a man on a mission.
“Time to finish what we started at the clubhouse, little mouse.”
Oh boy, I love the gruffness his voice has. The rasp of it when he calls me little mouse. It goes straight between my legs. The sound of those words makes my whole body shiver with anticipation. I can’t help but remember how his hands felt on me in his room at the clubhouse, and we hadn’t even gone further than him barely touching me and making out like two teenagers learning to touch each other and fumbling our way through it.
As Shadow carries me, I catch glimpses of a living room with a large leather couch, some motorcycle parts on a coffee table, but my attention is fully on the man holding me against his chest. He consumes my every thought.
The moment he has me on his bed, his lips find my neck, and he growls. “You’ve been driving me crazy all day. Watching you laugh and having a good time around my brothers, seeing you fit in like you’ve always belonged there.” He peppers kisses along my jaw. “Fuck, nothing better. I knew you’d fit right in with everyone.”
My body heats up at his words, and I can’t help the soft moan that escapes my lips. His praise makes me feel like I’m floating, like I’m exactly where I’m meant to be. Where I dreamed of being when I was younger and just a girl crushing on the hot guy who happened to be friends with my brother and my best friend’s cousin.
“I felt like I belonged there,” I admit on a whisper. My hands trailing up his arms, under the sleeves of his tee, feeling the hard muscle there flexing.
“Good.” Shadow’s eyes darken as he hovers above me, his weight supported by his forearms on either side of my head. “You have no idea how much that means to me,” he says, his voice rough with emotion. “Bringing someone into my world isn’t something I do lightly. Never before have I brought a woman to the clubhouse with the intentions that I did with you.”
“What does that mean?” I ask, unsure if I want the answer or not.
“Means that I didn’t do it lightly as I said,” he murmurs and leans down to brush his lips against mine once more swiftly. “The only women that I have been with in the past have been for nothing more than fucking.”
“Ugh.” I don’t really like that, but I also know he’s not a choir boy. I also know I haven’t withheld sex in the past, either.
“Only there’s a huge difference in having them there and having you, Della.”
“What’s that?” My heart patters against my chest, feeling like it were going to pound right out at any given second.
“You, I wanted to keep in my bed. Keep next to my side. Them, they were gone the second I was done with them.” Shadow reaches up and strokes the apple of my cheek with his thumb. “They were forgettable where you are not. I want you right where I have you. In my bed here. I want you in my bed at the clubhouse. I want you on the back of my bike, and I’ll tell you this, little mouse, none of them, and I mean not a damn one of them, ever got to take that ride you got tonight.”
Wow.
Tears prick at my eyes, and I’m not even sure why. I’m not a crier. Maybe it’s the intensity of his words or the way he’s looking at me like I’m the most precious thing in his life—something to be cherished to hold onto.
“I don’t know what to say,” I whisper. My voice trembling slightly, my hands curling around his neck to hold on. I might be on my back, but the need to hold onto him is nearly overwhelming. I feel as if I were in freefall.
Shadow brushes his lips against mine, gentle yet possessive. “There’s nothing to say, little mouse. Just feel. Know that you’re mine as I’m yours.”
Oh my.
Those words go straight to my heart, securing themselves there.
More than that, I do as he says and just feel. Every touch, every breath, every beat of his heart against mine as he lowers his body closer to mine. His weight is comforting, grounding me when I feel like I might float away from the sheer intensity of what’s happening between us.
“Tyler,” I breathe his name like a prayer.
