He frowned but nodded.
Putting her back to him, she took a deep breath, and pulled her nightshirt up. Next, she pushed her pajama pants down her thighs, and then removed her bra and panties. She stood before him, showing off her back for him to see.
“What the fuck happened to you?” he asked.
She gasped as the tips of his fingers traced a path of the scars on her back.
“Who did this to you?”
“My mother was showing me how dangerous the outside world can be. I was bad, and when a girl is bad, she needs to know her place.”
“What the fuck?”
He stood up and moved in close. She closed her eyes as he seemed to surround her with his warmth. This was how it always was with him. He made her feel protected, and safe. No one, not even Saint or her own father, could protect her.
His hand reached around the front, cupping her chin, and tilting her head to the side. “What the hell happened?
She crossed her hands over her breasts, and licked her dry lips again. “Mom didn’t like the club life, and she didn’t believe it was a good place for her daughter.”
“So what did she do?”
“She took me away. Dad got Saint, and Mom got me. Only, she was crazy, and she’d been able to hide it for so damn long that no one saw how deranged she was.”
“The bitch would beat you.”
“I’d ask her why I couldn’t go see my brother or father, and I’d get a beating for the trouble. She’d stop me talking to them, and she made sure that I was cut off from them.”
“No one knew?”
“No one. If they did know, they didn’t give any indication of what was going on.” She shrugged, and even that was painful to her in that moment.
“You think this would repulse me?”
“I didn’t know what it would do. I’ve always covered up.” She couldn’t bring herself to admit that she was a virgin.
Elena wasn’t ready to admit that to anyone yet, especially not to Pipe. He must have been with women who not only knew what they were doing, but were damn good at it. She didn’t know if she would be any good at sex, or how it would feel to be with him.
Would it hurt?
“Does Saint know what happened?”
“No. He seems to think I was protected while I was with my mother. He doesn’t know what was going on. Even our father didn’t know, and after a couple of months, they stopped coming around.” She had been alone. In high school she’d been known as the daughter of an MC, and treated as an outcast. There was no one to save or protect her. She’d been alone.
“You’re not going to be alone, baby. I’m going to be here, and I’m going to protect you every single day.”
“How can you protect me? You’re not even allowed here. If Saint knew you were here, he’d hurt you, and it would mean war between us.” She placed her hand to his cheek, and touched him. Life was so unfair that the one man she wanted more than anything, couldn’t be with her.
“I can protect you. I’m here, aren’t I? I think I’ve proven to you that when I want something, I can do it. We can make this work with just the two of us.”
She smiled, wrapped her arms around his neck, and claimed his lips just like he did with her. This was what she wanted with him, and she was determined for it to work.
****
Pipe was struggling with his control. Elena was pressed against the front of his body, and those perfect, ripe tits were against his chest. He still wasn’t wearing his cut, but he wanted to get as naked as she was.
“Baby, I’m struggling here.” He hated the fact those scars were on her body, only because it told him that she’d been hurt. Pipe was so damn angry. She’d been hurt by someone who was supposed to protect her, and that angered him. No one should hurt his woman, and if her mother wasn’t already dead, he’d have found a way to get to her.
He stroked his hands over her old scars. It didn’t take a genius to work out that they were given by a belt.