I nod, understanding washing over me. “I can do that. You’ve been safe too, right?”
His jaw tightens, a muscle ticking beneath his beard. “Always am, baby. We’ve talked about club business being what it is, businesses that I can’t tell you about, but I have my brothers at my back.”
I nod, not pushing for more details even though questions burn on my tongue. Instead, I rise on my tiptoes and press my lips to his. Shadow responds immediately, his hand tightening in my hair as he deepens the kiss.
When he pulls back, he shoves his face into my neck and inhales.
“You look tired,” I say, having noted this when I first saw him.
“Yeah, haven’t slept,” he answers, his breath tickling my neck. “Figured, I’d crash in your room here tonight.”
My heart flutters at the suggestion. Well, it wasn’t so much a suggestion as him stating he was going to do something.
“I’ve never had a boy in my room,” I tell him, teasingly, trying to lighten the mood around him. Get his mind off everything, even if it’s just for a moment.
Shadow lifts his head and meets my gaze once more while he stares at me with one brow cocked. “My little mouse is never gonna have a boy in her room, but she’ll have her man in her bed tonight.”
Oh wow.
The gravelly, deep tone of his voice courses through me heavily.
Yes, please.
I would very much love to have my man in my bed tonight.
Though with a full house, I doubt we’d be able to do anything other than sleep.
“Don’t worry, baby, I’ll make sure you stay quiet with me inside you and you coming around my dick,” he utters quietly enough that there’s no chance anyone but me hears him, making me blush.
“You need to eat dinner first,” I blurt out, not thinking, my cheeks heating even further.
“You gonna feed me?” he asks.
“Yes,” I tell him, no hesitation in the simple word. “It’s bingo night in town, so I told Judy to go have fun. I’d handle dinner tonight. Though, I will say, I’m not the best cook, but I was planning on frying up pork chops that I have soaking in buttermilk in the fridge.”
“Chops sound good to me.” He chuckles and tilts his head down to press his forehead against mine. “Fuck, baby, I missed being with you. Club’s still trying to figure out what’s going on, but we’ve hit a dead end. Lucifer ordered me to get some rest before I end up doing something stupid.”
“Why would you do something stupid?” I ask, sliding my hands up his chest to cup either side of his face.
“Because I don’t like not knowing what’s going on and who’s behind the fire at the bar. I don’t like the fact my cousin could’ve been taken from me. And I don’t like that this shit is pulling me away from our bed in the middle of the night when all I wanted to do was be able to hold you to me as we both slept. The fact whoever is behind it is still out there and could be planning something else doesn’t sit well with me. My gut is telling me something big is about to happen, and I don’t know which way this is going to turn.”
I suck in a breath at his admission. This is going to turn ugly, and no one knows what’s gonna happen. My man is troubled by it, and there’s nothing I can do to help him. All I can do is be here for him, support him the best way I possibly can, and listen to him when he needs me to. I’ll do everything he needs me to do to help him through it all.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Della
“Why are you mucking out the stalls?” Shadow asks in my ear. His voice rough and gravelly through the phone, making me smile.
I didn’t need him to be in front of me to know he’s stressed. I could hear it in his voice. Plus, it’d been written all over him yesterday and early this morning when he left to head back to the clubhouse to meet with his brothers and get back to it. There was a lot going on, so I tried to make sure he didn’t have to worry about me.
With me being at the ranch, he has nothing to worry about. I’m safe out here. There’s always someone around between the ranch hands, my brother, and Judy. Though, Judy headed for the farmer’s market this morning, right before Maddox started Dylan’s lesson. She wanted to get some fresh produce, and some more of the jam I really like. I asked her to pick up two jars, one I can take to Shadow’s house, and some other things. The woman had a list a mile long of what she wanted to pick up.
I also wasn’t telling him that all the guys were out working away from the barn and house. Maddox had gotten a call from Tyler about a hole in the fence that needed to be fixed before any of the cattle roamed over there and ended up off the property. This had cut into Dylan’s riding lesson.
So it was just Dylan and me.
“Well, I’m giving Dylan a lesson in taking care of your horse. You can’t just learn to ride without doing the rest of the work that goes with it,” I explain wholeheartedly. I was having a great time. Dylan and I were laughing and joking. I even shown the kid how Rex stomped his back hoof when I scratched just right behind his ear.
