I grab what I need from the weapon stash and head into the bar to have a whisky before I leave. The clubhouse is slowly emptying after the wake for Knuckles and I find an empty table in the corner of the bar.
I’m strapping myself with weapons when I look up and see Zara entering the room. She knocks the breath clear out of me in the same way she did at the cemetery earlier. Four years without laying eyes on her has been too long. Those four years have been kind to her. Hell, they’ve fucking blessed her with more beauty than she already had.
Zara is stronger now. I can tell that just by looking at her. It’s in the way she holds her head high; in the way she walks with a confidence she didn’t have before; and in the way she smiles. And holy hell if the femininity she moved with before isn’t now accentuated by a sexy confidence that is all woman.
I watch her talk with some of the guys and catch up with the girls. She laughs, and Jesus, the sound curls through me, tightening my gut.
And then she sees me.
She’s with Monroe when it happens. Listening to something Roe is saying.
Her entire body stills.
Her lips part.
Her cheeks flush.
And without hesitation, she comes my way.
31
Zara
* * *
I try to tell my feet to stop walking towards him, but they have a mind of their own. So do my eyes. They can’t take themselves off his forearm where he’s strapped a knife and is now rolling his sleeve down to cover it. It’s not the knife that gains my attention, though, it’s the muscle he’s packed on since I last saw him.
When I finally bring my gaze back up to meet his, need hits my core. This man has featured in far too many of my dreams over the years, and while I want him more now than ever, I respect that he’s committed to Lynette. It didn’t surprise me when Holly told me all those years ago tha
t Lynette had moved in with him. And it hasn’t surprised me that he’s stuck by her side, raising their son together. I used to bug Holly for updates in the beginning, but I stopped doing that when it hurt too much to hear they’d built a family. At that point, I refused to hear a word about him. Now, though, I can’t stay away. I desperately want to hear his voice and see him up close. I just need a glimpse of him and then I’ll go back to staying away.
He stands and meets me, eyes firmly on mine. “Princess.” It’s a slow, deep rumble that falls from his lips when he calls me by the name only he uses, and it reaches deep inside, touching everywhere it shouldn’t.
“Hey.” It breathes out of me, laying my want down for him to see. To feel.
He doesn’t miss it, and his own desire flares in those blue eyes I’ve wanted on me for years. These stolen moments with my wish granted won’t ever be enough. “I heard you’ve moved back.”
“Yes.” I struggle to restrain myself from asking all the things I’ve wondered about over the years. How does it feel to be a father? Are you happy? Do you love her? Do you miss me as much as I miss you?
Fury takes that in as his gaze slowly drops to my chest, to my stomach, to my legs, and then lazily, like he has all the time in the world, covers every inch again on the way back up. He’s undressed me without removing a single piece of clothing and I can’t deny I want him to do it again.
As his eyes find mine, Winter calls out from behind me, “Fury. We’re leaving.”
Regret creases Fury’s features. We share one last silent moment of simply watching each other before he grabs his phone off the table and says, “It’s good to see you.”
When he moves past me, his scent engulfs me. It’s too much. I should not have come to him. We’ve barely said a word to each other, and yet it’s like we’ve whispered a million. A million that should never have left our souls.
I gather myself while giving him time to exit the property. As I’m leaving the clubhouse, Mum catches up to me. “Come for dinner tomorrow night.”
I know I’m not going to feel like leaving my hotel room tomorrow night. Not after spending the day helping Holly paint her house. How she convinced me to help, I have no idea. But Mum needs this. She’s going through a lot with King, not to mention all the club stuff going on; she needs her daughters. So I nod. “Sounds good. I’ll come over a little earlier. We can hang out.”
“I would love that. You can help me make your favourite vegan dish.”
“You’re making a vegan dinner?”
“Yes. It’s not every day my daughter finally moves home where she should be. I’m celebrating with your favourite food.”
I smile. God, I love my mum. “I’ve missed you, too. And I’ll pick up all the ingredients we need.”