Once releasing my wrists Hound kisses the tender skin. My first instinct is to knee him in the balls and run, but I’ve been running to and from trouble all my life. I’m tired of running. I know he means what he says. This man will do anything in his power to give me a life…a love worth fighting for. Its only that I’m torn between my loyalty to the Harlots and my desire to reach out and take hold of the pretty picture he’s painted in my head. This isn’t just about me and what I want. Other lives hang in the balance. Hound can promise me whatever he wants, but it doesn’t mean that Carlos won’t blow it to bits.
He’s not a man who accepts defeat.
He won’t take this lying down. Being given Mona and territory in exchange won’t matter. The disgusting asshole won’t appreciate being slighted.
“You should be with Zoe, or a woman like her.” The words fly from my lips before registering with my brain.
“Where the fuck did that come from?”
I turn to my side and stare at him. “You want a life that I don’t know if I can give. This stuff with Carlos. It’s going to be ugly.”
“Has nothing to do with Zoe. She made it clear I wasn’t the man she wanted in her life. I won’t lie and say I didn’t want to give it a go. I was prepared to step into her life and take on her and her girls. She called it quits and then you blew into town, and I knew that we never woulda worked in the end.”
“You’re a simple man. I know that. Being with me isn’t easy. I have a lot of baggage. Plenty of trouble following me.”
“You came here. Knew you could count on Viking and his brothers to take your back. I’m one of those men. Darlin’, no one has ever loved you like me. Stop making up dumb excuses and trying to talk me off you. Ain’t gonna happen. I know the score. Know the price. I’m willing to pay it tenfold if I get you in the end. So what. North Carolina Harlots lose their foothold. The bitches who want to pick up those pieces will. Sanchez is gonna take them out one way or another. Might as well get what we can out of it. Mona is fucked. Even if Sanchez doesn’t want her, she’s done. Know you feel some sort of way about her and your club, but babe, if the situation was reversed, she’d give your ass up no question.”
Deep down I know he’s right. Only person who had my back down there was Rosie. “Tell Murder to reach out to Rosie.” Her name burns on my tongue, but he’s right about all of it. I made my choice the moment I left town. Rosie made hers the second she covered for me.
“Get cleaned up. I got a couple calls to make.” He squeezes my hip. “You even think about running and I’ll tan your ass.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” I tell him what he wants to hear. I have this sexy as sin man ready to protect me. Who wants me to have his baby. It’s crazy. More than insane but there’s this piece of me who is daring to dream. To believe I’m worthy. No more self-doubt. No more questioning how he really feels.
Hound kisses my lips then rolls off the bed.
“Like coming home to you. Like it a fuckuva lot.” He shoots me a sexy grin then nabs his jeans from the floor fishing his cell phone from a pocket.
His sweet words replay through my head. Like coming home to you.
I like it too.
I shove up and move to the bathroom. His semen coats my thighs. I should be terrified of the prospect of the idea of creating a life with Darius only I take my birth control religiously.
Damn it. I start the shower and think back. When was the last time I took my pill? Shit. Did I bring my pills? His magic dick has made me stupid.
As I wash my hair using his product, I’m glad my man has great hair and takes measures to take care of it. Bet if the guys knew he had girlie salon quality shampoo and conditioner in his shower they’d give him hell.
I scrub my fingers over my scalp also thinking I need to get something for Pam and her little ones. Though I’m sure the Ol’ Ladies have set into motion making sure Link and her son are fed. The bathroom door opens, and Hound pokes his head around the frame.
“Gonna make us some lunch. You got a craving for anything special?”
“I’m not picky.”
“Right. Brought your bags from Pam in. Get your stuff sorted. Pick some drawers in the dresser. Whatever you need to do then meet me in the kitchen.”
Pick some drawers. Shit. This is happening. Not letting you go a second time. You’re home. You’re mine.
I rinse my hair and get out the shower wrapping his fluffy towel around my body. I’m his and this is home.
After sorting through the clothes Pam gave me, I claimed two drawers. I need to make a run at some point to get new underwear and some bras, but it can wait until tomorrow. We’re now in the living room spread out on the couch. Hound behind me an arm over my waist, his lips sliding up and down my neck as he whispers sweet nothings, with a leg thrown over my thigh while watching some reality show about roughing it in Alaska. She-Ra has taken up residence in the floor between the couch and the coffee table. The house is quiet, and I can’t help but think this is how life will be with him. Contempt. Perfect.
If only there wasn’t the threat of a potential double murder charge and the Sanchez cartel looming over my head. I know my brother and Hound would never let anyone hurt me and that they’re big tough badass alpha males who can handle their own. Yet there’s this sinking dread settled into my gut like an anchor that I can’t shake. I don’t know how to handle calm after living in a world full of utter chaos for so long. Growing up my brother and I didn’t have it the easiest. Our parents fought nonstop. Our old man was an alcoholic who took his fists to his family until my brother fought back and beat his ass. I try not to dwell on the past. The only way I can move is forward. Only this time I’m doing it with a good man at my back.
His cell vibrates on the coffee table, and he rolls partially over me to retrieve it. He glances at the screen and sits up bringing me with him. “Gotta take this.”
I slide my legs, tucking them to my side allowing him to shove up as he slides a finger across the screen.
“Talk to me.” He grunts and nabs his empty beer bottle off the table then goes to the kitchen out of earshot. The dog shadows him and I stay put.
I don’t want to be a woman who spies on her man but I’m curious if this call has anything to do with my drama. It’s tempting to lower the volume on the television, but I have to trust that if there’s something I need to know he’ll tell me. I stare at the Tv, but I can’t concentrate on anything other than wondering what’s being discussed on this phone call.
Images of Archer and Gia dead flash through my head flickering like an old movie. The blood. The fight we had. How much I hated them in those last moments they were alive. They died in such violence. No matter how I felt about them I didn’t want that for them. Not like that.
I look up when Hound strokes my jaw. I didn’t hear him enter the room. “Where’d you go just now?”
I shake my head. “Just thinking.”