Putting the car in park, he turned to face me. “Go ahead,” he encouraged. “Get it all out of your system. But you’re going back to the clubhouse with me.”
I thrust his arm away and smacked him across the face. “I don’t need, nor do I want, your damn protection. I’ve been taking care of myself for more than half my life. I’m a big girl. I can handle anything anyone tries to throw at me.”
“Really?” He leaned back against the door, his large frame blocking out the entire driver’s window. “So you’re ready to shoot back when bullets start flying at your head? You’re ready for the bombs these bastards are so fond of using?”
“As long as you’re not around, I don’t think I have to worry about that shit,” I sneered. “They’re after you and yours, and as of the moment you put that shit in my coffee, I’m no longer yours.”
His hand shot out, pressing me back into my seat as he leaned forward. Stopping just inches from my face, he blew his breath softly over my lips as he spoke. “You will always be mine, Kelli. I’m not letting you go. Ever.”
A derisive snort left me. “So you want to keep me around even though I betrayed you?”
“Fucking hell, I don’t think you betrayed me now. Okay? Is that what you want to hear? Fine. I don’t believe you betrayed me. I don’t think you would have or ever will betray me.” He cupped the side of my face, his green eyes intense in the weak lights coming from the dash. “I knew it before I took you to the cabin. But I had to be sure. Don’t you understand that, baby? I had to be sure.”
I turned my face into his palm, pressing my lips to the meaty part, and then opened my mouth. He jerked back as my teeth sank into his flesh. I smirked at him as he checked to see if I’d drawn blood. I didn’t have the metallic taste in my mouth, so I knew I hadn’t gone deep enough to actually make him bleed.
“Now you’re sure.”
“Are you done now? Feel better?” He grinned as he settled back in his seat. “Did biting me help?”
I lifted a shoulder, bored with the entire conversation. “Not even close. It was just payback for the way you manhandled me at work. If we’re going, let’s go. I need to figure out where I’m sleeping tonight.”
The palm of his hand hit the steering wheel in frustration. “Goddamn it, Kelli. You’re not sleeping anywhere but with me.”
I sighed tiredly. “Look, Colt. I can see you want things to go back to the way they were before all this shit started. But I can’t. Just because you trust me, doesn’t mean I trust you.”
“What—”
“I don’t trust you not to do any of this again. I don’t trust you to put my well-being ahead of your fucking MC.” He started to interrupt, but I cut him off, my anger rising all over again. “You could have killed me. A little more of that drug and I would have OD’d. And you don’t even seem to be sorry about it. So, no, I don’t fucking trust you.”
“I wouldn’t have let you die,” he growled. “You were in no danger of that happening.”
“Oh, please!” I pushed on his shoulder, fed up with him. “If you hadn’t gotten what you wanted, when you wanted it, I would be buried out in those mountains right now. I’m not a moron, damn it.”
He grasped my wrists and pulled me across the console. I landed against his chest, the steering wheel at my back. His jaw was tight as he lowered his head and pressed his lips against mine in a punishing kiss. The kiss barely lasted a few seconds before he jerked his head back.
“No matter what you would have said, there was no way I would have let anything happen to you. I never would have harmed you. Never. Whatever happened, happened. I’m in too deep with you to have let anything hurt you.”
“Don’t you understand that you did hurt me?” I cried. “That this thing between us, whatever the hell it was, is now broken?”
He brushed my hair back from my face, his fingers caressing my cheek and jaw. “I’ll fix it,” he vowed with a quiet vehemence. “Just give me a chance.”
Chapter 9
Raven
The coolness of the breeze felt good on my skin. I inhaled deeply, smelling rain in the distance, and closed my eyes. Every muscle in my body was tense, but I couldn’t let anyone tell. I needed to be strong. For Lexa and Max. For the club.
For Bash.
As crowded as the clubhouse was, it was almost impossible to find a place to pause and just breathe. So I’d come outside in the hope of finding a few stars I could gaze at and ask the universe what the fuck it was doing to us. I’d found my solace out by the fence and parked my ass on the ground, leaning against it to support my already aching back.
The sound of gravel crunching under heavy boots had my head jerking up, ready to tear into whoever had dared bother me during my five minutes of me time after all the work I’d done all day. My gaze latched on to Bash, and my heartbeat settled into a steadier pace.
“What are you doing out here by yourself?” he asked with a dark look as he dropped down beside me.
I laid my head on his shoulder when he put a hand on my thigh. With him touching me, I was at peace for the first time all day. “I just wanted some time to decompress. Everyone is fed, and Lexa is sleeping. Max is with Rory and Matt.”
I felt his lips press against the top of my head. “It’s all going to be okay, Rave. I’ve got this.”