Page 22 of Tempted By Shadow

“You did it,” she whispers. “You’re patched.”

I pull back just enough to look at her. “I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

“You sap.” She laughs, wet and happy, and I kiss her right there in front of everyone. I don’t care. I’ve got the patch on my back and the woman I love in my arms, and nothing else matters.

Later, in her apartment — our apartment now — she pushes me down onto the bed and climbs on top of me.

“Careful,” I warn her, gesturing at my ribs. “Still healing.”

“Then lie still and let me do the work.”

She pulls her shirt over her head, reaches back to unhook her bra, and I stop thinking about my ribs entirely. She’s gorgeous — flushed and eager, looking at me like I’m everything she’s ever wanted. I reach for her, palms sliding up her thighs, but she catches my wrists and pins them to the mattress.

“I said lie still.”

She frees me from my jeans, wraps her hand around my cock, and I groan at the contact. She strokes me slow, watching my face, a wicked little smile playing at her lips. Then she rises up, positions herself over me, and sinks down inch by inch until I’m buried inside her.

She rides me slow at first, finding her rhythm, her hands braced on my chest. I grip her hips, guiding her, watching her face as pleasure builds. Her head falls back, lips parting, and the sounds she makes drive me out of my mind.

“Faster,” I manage. “God, Naomi, please⁠—”

She moves faster. Harder. I thrust up to meet her, and she cries out, nails digging into my chest. The bed creaks beneath us. Nothing exists except her heat around me, the slick slide of our bodies, the way she clenches every time I hit that spot inside her.

“I’m close,” she gasps. “Shadow⁠—”

I sit up, pulling her flush against my chest, and she wraps her arms around my neck. The new angle drives me deeper, and she sobs against my shoulder.

“Let go,” I tell her. “I’ve got you. I’ll always have you.”

She shatters, crying my name, her whole body shaking. I follow her over the edge a heartbeat later, groaning into her neck, holding her so tight I’m not sure where I end and she begins.

After, we collapse together on the sheets. Her head on my chest, my arms around her, both of us breathing hard. My ribs ache. I don’t care.

“I love you,” she murmurs against my skin.

I press a kiss to the top of her head.

“I love you too.”

I’m finally a Sons of Ruin brother. I’ve got the girl I love. And for the first time in my life, I’ve found my place.

EPILOGUE

TWO MONTHS LATER

“You’re being ridiculous.”

Naomi’s hand finds mine as we walk up the path to King and Demi’s front door. I’m carrying a bottle of wine — Demi’s favorite, according to Naomi — and trying not to look like I’m about to face a firing squad.

“I’m not being ridiculous.”

“You’ve known my brother for two years. You’ve bled for him. You literally have his club’s patch on your back.” She squeezes my fingers. “It’s just dinner.”

“It’s not just dinner.” I stop at the bottom of the porch steps. “Two months ago, I was his prospect. He told me to do something, I did it. That was the dynamic. Now I’m supposed to sit across from him and make small talk while he passes me the potatoes?”

“Yes. That’s exactly what you’re supposed to do.”

“He’s your brother.”